2017 started out with high hopes for a great year, until real life rushed in and made any type of attempt at consistency in training take a back seat on the priorities bus.
2430 Total Miles run on Garmin averaging roughly 7:40 per mile....basically 63 minutes for each of the 297 days that I was able to get out and "sneak in a run". Didn't keep track of the "off Garmin" miles
Rather than bore you with my description of the year in general I'll just dive into the events in which I participated.
Feb 2017
Paczki 5K (19:20, 6:13 pace).... probably the second worst run of the year, definitely a sign of the lack of consistency when my legs had the speed, but the lungs just said one mile in "WE ARE DONE, pack it in bud". Tammy was "sick" and won the race overall. Melissa took second female, Scott was first male (2nd overall). I think officially I wasn't even in the list of results until AFTER they gave away the awards. They swapped me with someone else. The prize was a hat, one that I had from the previous year. Didn't care. Free beer and some paczki of ALL the flavors. A must do for those who like beer, and paczki.
March 2017
RockCF Half Marathon (1:23:28, 6:22 pace)... averaged 62 miles per week for the 4 weeks leading up to the race. Didn't have any actual goal in mind. Just wanted to run something solidly consistent in the neighborhood of 1:25, for Boston purposes. Turns out Max was looking to go sub 1:26 and asked if I could work with him to keep him moving. Easy enough, two guys working together to be in the same ballpark. Max was sandbaggin it the whole time, dude had amazing lung capacity and conditioning. Ran with a confident aggression that impressed me immensely. Last 3-4 miles are always a challenge, if only based on the typical winds you can expect...we handled it with relative ease and kept pushing the pace to the very end, clipping quite a few people all the way up to 50 feet away from the finish line. That's a good feeling when you can go faster and stay in control while clipping down the bibs up ahead.
April 2017
BOSTON (3:18:52, 7:35 pace).... Short version: Hot race, collision, struggle to finish last 11 miles.
I already wrote the long version in a previous post so I won't go into the details too much. Basically I tried to will my mind into believing that the predicted high temps wouldn't affect me as much as they should, and that I wouldn't need to adjust my attempt at a 2:50. Before the race I knew it would probably be more like 2:52. By Mile 3 I knew it would be more like 2:53. By Mile 12 I knew MAYBE sub 3. Just after the 25K marker I knew my "race" was over. The collision took away my spirit, and turned all my emotions into anger and resentment for all things stupid. That quickly changed to self-doubt and a defeatist attitude. I was able to find some sort of balance between my stubbornness and the pain in my left leg to walk-limp-jog in the last 10.9 garmin miles. I don't typically bruise, and I had a black/blue/green/purple area covering about 30% of my left quad for about two weeks after Boston. I found a way to cut myself some slack mentally, after realizing that recovery from a 15.5 run wouldn't take all that long. I decided that day that each of my three years the weather was getting progressively worse, so concluded that it would be best to take a year off. With my luck the weather will be perfect, with cool temps and a tailwind of 30mph.
JUNE 4, 2017
Dexter to Ann Arbor (1:31:57, 7:01 pace)...watch refused to grab a signal in the beginning. Ran decent effort-based splits without too much deviation. Cadence was tuned in at 180, effort was definitely consistent. Last mile request from Stephanie (basically invited myself to "pace") to drop down and make it interesting was granted. Rounded the day out with 20 miles and some decent free beer. Best part of the day was trying to get out of the parking lot. 200,000 people apparently waited for me to finish changing and then drove slowly past me as I sat waiting...and waiting...and waiting. Would still do it a million times over again if given the chance!
July
No races. Just really fun workouts. Also Beer.
August 2017
Run Elevated (1:20:09, 6:07)....course is LONG. You get an extra .25 if I remember correctly. Not fun when your lungs are on fire and you can't think straight due to the lack of oxygen. Race starts at 9,000+ and you drop over 3,400ft until about 9.3-ish (averaged 5:38s simply by holding back and not face-planting at sub 4 pace in some of the steeper parts). Quads took a major beating like they've never taken before. Last 4 miles were sort of up and downhill, with a spot that basically everyone except the winner had to walk, if only for a few seconds. Took 4th overall, second in my AG....only person in the top 10 (I think) that lived well below 5,000ft). If I get to do this one again, I'm going out earlier and spending some QT at elevation. Easily one of my favorite experiences in life, let alone running experiences. The "Breakfast Walk" was probably the funniest thing in my life, ever. Need so much more of that in my life.
CRIM (1:07:15, 6:43 pace)...was planning on running solo around 7:10-7:30 pace, just get in the run and go have some beer. Clint asked me to run with him (rehabbing his legs) to click the miles off. We basically chatted the whole way through, progressively hitting 7:09 down to 6:09.... "damn you Merlin!" may have been uttered at each split, but secretly, we all know Clint was in total control of the pace and was actually getting in better shape as each mile clicked off.
Grand Blanc Beer 5K (19:26, 6:17 pace)...turns out I can run faster than all the other people who want to stop and drink beer 4 or 5 times on a super soggy golf course. Made a wrong turn at one point, but only lost about 30 seconds of time. First win of the year.
September 2017
Woodstock 50K (4:21:45, 8:25 pace)Surprise work trip almost had me flying in at the last second for my first 50K. Arrived with just enough time to set up "camp" and relax for a few hours before doing something I had no idea how to do. Figured I know how to run a marathon, so why not just warm up a few miles, run a marathon, and cool down a few miles....???? LOL Ran with Mike Anderson and about 6 other guys for 2+ miles in the pitch black on single track until we hit rails to trail, 50K guys took our chance (3 of us) and went after the two or three that had darted off into the distance at the very beginning. Made sure to stop at all the stations for fluids. Got to the marathon in around 3:33 after having figured out a decent pace to ward off a toe cramp between miles 18-27. Stopped at 26 (??) for a slice of watermelon. No food or gels throughout the race...just good convo and an even efforts whenever the trail was clear to run. Those 100s runners scare me....the looks of ghosts make me not understand the WHY....maybe someday. Before that, maybe drop 10-15 minutes by actually running the entire time :)
October 2017
Run THRU the Leaves 50K Relay (4:15 ish??)
Beautiful Country takes home first place! One person takes off on a 10K super technical single track loop, the other person waits until they hear "runner coming!" and hope it's THEIR runner. You see your teammate all of a collective 30 seconds throughout the event...a quick hi-five and good luck shout....and back into the woods. I had 3x of the racing loops (3x 10K, all sub 50, all that felt like sub 40s), Stephanie had 2 x10K plus some extra mileage to round out her day. Nothing like 5-6 days out saying "hey, you want to try something different instead of just running 18 miles?".... definitely a fun race that I'd do again if given the chance.
November 2017
NEW YORK CITY (3:09:18, 7:13 pace). I didn't race this one, I was there to enjoy NYC. I trained to be able to keep up with my friend Stephanie. She didn't need anyone to pace her, she had total control over her own pace and abilities. She's fiercely independent and a super strong distance runner. I was basically along for the ride, maybe crack a few one liners here and there to ease the mood, kinda sorta keep an eye on pace in order to respect the course. NYCM is a tough course, and the second half...ESPECIALLY the mile leading up to your entry into Central Park and all the way to the finish.....well, that second half will kick your ass if you "go for it" too early. My self appointed job was just to be a level set, keep things in perspective, push where pushing needed, keep things clicking off, and if necessary crack the whip. So proud to say I didn't actually "do" anything for her.... she cranked out an amazing time on a course much tougher than Boston, and did so with only a few moments of seriousness. I was honored to see her finish while giving it everything she had and then some. I'd "do" that for her a million times over. I gained so much from that experience that I kind of what to do that again at other world majors!
THE LEFTOVERS TRAIL HALF (1:33:48, 7:09 pace)
Wanted to run this one a little harder, and was hoping that the two dudes I used to run with were warming up for the race...so after about 5 miles I just kind of shut it down, but kept a respectable uptempo pace going. Some of the course is really difficult, some of it forces you to go really slow, and some you can barn burner downhill if you're legs and lungs aren't trashed from the uphill climbs. Took home the win (2018 MetroPark pass). Love trail races, looking to do a lot more of that in 2018.
2018 you MIGHT see me at:
Paczki 5K
ROCKCF HALF
TRAIL HALF
TRAIL 50K
RUN THRU HELL 10 MILER
CRIM
CRYSTAL LAKE
GRAND ISLAND
J/J
CIM
Run Elevated
Milford 30K
Bastille 15K
Glen Arbor HALF
Heroes on Hines
WinterLaufe
LEFTOVERS
THRU THE LEAVES
VINES HALF
etc etc etc etc
