Happy Thanksgiving

Let's here it for Ricky who pulled off the big prize, 1st overall, at his inaugural ultra: the Mad Marsh 50K. An auspicious beginning to his ultra career.

Good luck to everyone running Turkey Day tomorrow. The registration numbers are up, the competition will be fierce. A perfect beginning to a day of feasting.

Hope to see everyone on Sunday morning. Looking forward to tales of racing success and meals eaten.

Brush with Greatness

I got to meet Bill Rodgers at the Governor's Cup Half this past Saturday. He was a great guy. I asked him if he remembered Bob Schlau and he replied, "Of course, he beat me the first time we raced together."

Big Congratulations to Cami on winning 1st overall female at the Folly 10 Miler. Quite an incredible performance.

November Events

Congrats to John for winning his age group - Governor's cup Half-Marathon. John continues to inspire all of us with his performances. Way to go, John!

It was a chilly morning but perfect for running- beautiful sunrise! See you all next weekend!

Fall Back

Okay, after an indian summer (is that politically correct?), too much Halloween candy and fair food, we were treated to a weekend with great running weather. Did I mention that I forgot to "fall back" and woke up an hour early on Sunday? I wouldn't have known if it hadn't been for my cell phone, cable box and computer, which are automatically programmed to tell me I'm an idiot (the extra hour gave me the opportunity to reflect on that).

Let's hear it for Ann, who got second overall, and Gordon, who won his age group, at the James Island Connector Run. Some of the big local races are just around the corner. I'm doing the Governor's Cup Half this weekend. And we've only got a short while until Turkey Day, Reindeer Run and Kiawah. Is everyone ready to sign-up and line-up?

Bonk!

Normally, when you’re training for a December marathon in late October, you wouldn’t think that heat exhaustion would come into the equation.  However, we were just one degree below the official high temperature records on both Wednesday and Thursday.   Yesterday, I went for a mid-day 12 mile tempo run in 85 degree weather.  It started off fine.  The first four were at marathon race pace.  Then the wheels fell off.  I staggered home the last few miles, stopping at every water fountain along the way.  Oh well, chalk one up for experience.

 

The weekend weather looks much more kind.  I’m looking forward to our Sunday run.  There are a couple of local offerings for road races tomorrow: the Daisy Dash 5K and the Fight for Air 5K.  Anyone planning on racing these?

Double Down

No, not the protein and sodium-laden KFC "sandwich", but the unfortunate timing of events this weekend...  Now armed with kayak, I had decided to take part in the Challenge that is pure Folly put on by John's crowd at the county parks on Sunday.  Unfortunately, my wife and her sister decided I was also running the 5k race for the cure the day before - so it was with tired legs I dropped off my kayak at the Folly Landing to receive it's official handicap.

I'd be back there after setting my bike and running shoes up at the transition point within the county park at the South side of the island.  I managed to get into my boat without disaster and even started on time.  Despite the constant pull to the right the whole 3 miles down the Folly River, I reached the Island tip in just under 38minutes, getting out of the water in 27th place.  Kayaking is not the best preparation for running (neither is 5k the day before) so my legs felt like lead on the 0.7 mile run to the bike transition from the landing.  Things went better on the 9mile bike ride up to the northern end of Folly Island and I managed to pick up about 16 places thanks to my secret weapon: cross tyres on my road bike.

You would not have been very proud of my style on the final 3+ mile run up the beach to the pier and back, although I did manage to claw back another three places, finishing in 9th place overall with 1:38:58, 2nd in the Masters.  Kudos to Dirk deWitt who took over 8 minutes out of last years time to win in 1:27:18 and Heather Knight who finished 1st lady, an impressive second overall in 1:31:25.  More results here

Puns and Entendres galore

I started right behind the fast brothers, Upchuck and Waltz, looking resplendent in their matching "On The Run" outfits, in perfect conditions at the Komen Lowcountry Race for the Cure on Daniel Island on Saturday morning.  Regretfully, although perfectly legal, drafting is of little use on foot, and my usual 5k tactic of "start as fast as you can and try to hang on" paid it's usual dreadfully disappointing dividends as I wouldn't see our Tuesday evening friends for dust once the first fleeting fifteen seconds had passed....

I did manage to stay in front of the remarkably rapid Romanian for almost a whole mile before that significant achievment proved equally fleeting...my pulse rate monitor sounding like the dive klaxon onboard a submarine as Cami sped past me on her way to the Masters title in 20:13

The weatherman won (again) in 15:06, with Jay just beating Karl to the line in 15:39 for second.  I was really impressed, however, with the effort the various running teams had made as shirts with clever slogans such as "Save the Ta Tas"; "The breast team";  "Mamas know breast";  "Save our magazines" (with appropriate pin-up pictures); "Breast foot forward"; "The Rack Pack"; and my particular favourite: "Stop the war in Our Rack". 

The cute pink socks I borrowed off the wife seemed rather pitiful in comparison to such clever entendres - still at least I would manage to beat the 21 minute mark - or so I thought until I checked out the results on line....
                                      ......curses........21:01