BARCStoberfest Ready, Set, Sniff! 5K 2016 Race Report

I've got to get caught up after a busy week and weekend. Before I get to the race report, a quick update on the mysterious knee/leg injury.

I had my appointment with the sports medicine specialist on Tuesday and she diagnosed me with a mild case of IT band syndrome. Which ultimately makes sense and put me at ease that it was minor and very treatable. In fact, by the time I went on Tuesday, my leg was feeling much better and I'd been able to run very easy 3 milers on both Saturday and Sunday of last weekend.

She gave me a referral to have some physical therapy. The idea being that since I want to ramp up my mileage to eventually complete a marathon and possibly beyond, having someone with some expertise look at my biomechanics and prescribe specific stretches and exercises to help improve them will be a good long term solution.

So, I have to call to schedule an appointment, but she said it should only be 1 or 2 sessions; long enough to analyze my gait and get some exercises that I can do at home.

By the time I got to the weekend, my leg was feeling about 90%, with very little discomfort after runs, so I went for what was supposed to be a 7.5 mile slow run on Sunday. But I got a little turned around on my route, so I think I went closer to 8.1 miles than 7.5. I say I think because I've been using my old Garmin 305 to help monitor my pace and miles a bit more closely, but it usually takes a few minutes at the beginning of each run to find the satellites. So, when all is said and done, I'm guessing my missed turns and the GPS delay link up cost me about a half a mile.

But everything felt OK, with only some mild discomfort about 4 miles into the run. But that went away and never returned once I stretched my calf muscles out. So, I'm quite happy with that result, even if I was slow. Overall, the run felt good and while tired, I wasn't winded or exhausted as I had feared, seeing as how it's been almost a month since I last did a proper long run around 10 miles. All good news as I stick to my gradual return to building my mileage.

So, this Saturday was my latest race, a 5k to raise money for the Baltimore Animal Rescue Center (BARCS) called Ready, Set, Sniff! I had not done this race in years past, but it's held as part of a larger day-long festival in Patterson Park in Baltimore, which is about a mile or so from our house. The festival brings in rescue groups from around the area, as well as vendors, food trucks, etc., to raise money and awareness for animal rescue.

What's really cool about this race is that this is one of the rare events I've seen that encourages runners to run with their dogs. You can register as just a human, or as a human/dog team, which is really cool. The teams start about 5 minutes after the humans (in theory). There's also a 1 mile walk where you can walk with your dog if, like us, you have a smaller breed dog, or if you've got an older pet who doesn't like to or can't run 3.1 miles.

The run is a bit later than traditional races and starts at 9:30am. But, in late October, this works fine, and actually was perfect this year. The weather had been, up until Friday, more like late June then late October: highs in the mid-80's and humid. But overnight a front swept through and it cooled off and got really windy. On Saturday morning, it was ~55 degrees with a 20mph wind and overcast: prime October weather. 

I drove over to the park and parked about a half mile away due to city parking and to have a bit of a warm up run on the way over to the starting line. I did about a mile of very slow warm up and then made my way to the starting line. It was full of dogs, who were all very excited to be there and be hanging out with their humans. Some were wearing costumes so there were a few sharks and dinosaurs and ballerinas around, too.

The start was a bit confusing. As I said, in theory, the human/dog teams were supposed to start at the back about 5 minutes after the humans left. But in reality, there were lots of human/dog teams up front even after the race director announced that they needed to move to the back. That became more of an issue when the horn went off and dogs took off zigging and zagging into other runners. More than one pup caught sight of me as I ran beside them and decided to come over and say hello mid-stride!

But you just have to go with it and pet them and run on. I ran beside one black lab for a while and every few meters he'd look over at me with this look like, "Can you believe we're doing this? This is so fun!" and I'd have to say, "I know! This IS fun! Keep running!"

The course stayed within Patterson Park and did several loops. I tried to plot the course based on my memory on my Running Ahead entry, but I'm sure I'm off somewhere. It was a nice course and had two sections of long climbs. Thankfully, the first and longest climb was followed by a nice descent so I could catch my breath.

My goal was to get a personal best. My unofficial PB for the 5k was around 28:00...honestly I don't remember what the specific time was, but it was back in 07 or 08, I think. Anyway, my goal was to get under 28:00 and call it a new official PB. Despite the zig zagging dogs and rolling hills, I came in at 27:13 on my watch (this race was very low key and didn't use chips), which was not only a PB, but got me in the top quartile of finishers and JUST outside the top quintile.

I was really happy with that result for sure, especially considering that I had taken that full week off, and really had only gradually started back running again. So I'll take it as a nice improvement. Overall, I liked this race and would do it again next year. Running with dogs is fun, even if you've got to watch out for pups in your lane and errant leashes.

My next race is the Saturday before Thanksgiving and is a 10k down near Annapolis. Although if I find another one to do between now and then, I may sign up. My primary goal at the 10k is to break 60 minutes. My "reach" goal is to get under 55 minutes, which is a 9:00/mile pace. Slow but steady improvement is the theme!

Run to Remember 11k Race Report: More Work to be Done

I ran the 2016 Run to Remember 11k this morning and my overarching conclusion is that I've got more work to do on improving my fitness, but I'm also happy to have completed the race and the distance.

This race has been held in Baltimore every September 11th since 2002, and is meant to honor those killed in the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, and aboard Flight 93, both victims and first responders alike. It's usually very well-attended (no different this year) and well organized (also no different this year). I've now run the race three times, the last being five years ago on the tenth anniversary. 

This year was the first year that they offered an 11k option. Or, I guess this is the first year I've noticed that this option is offered. I signed up because I thought it would be a good test of where my mileage and endurance stand. Plus 11k is an odd distance, but it's also one that would be fairly challenging, being almost 7 miles. I had done pretty well at the Memorial Day 5k I ran back in May, but this race would be more than twice as long. 

In the end, I took away some good things and some things I need to work on or improve. I finished in a little over an hour, but had to stop a couple times on the course to walk for about a minute or so each time, which killed my per mile pace. Some of that I attribute to simply not pacing myself appropriately, while some part of it can be blamed on a lack of fitness and the weather as well.