Here is a discount code for anyone interested in running the 2017 Tarheel 10 Miler or 4 Miler. Race date is 4/22/17, and will be the 10th Anniversary of this race! Since it’s a 10 Miler and the 10th Anniversary, I can only imagine what the medal will look like this time around. It should be epic!
You can visit the website at https://www.tarheel10miler.com
Enter discount code “TH10PAUL” for either race, and enjoy a $5 discount off current registration rates.
See you you in Chapel Hill!
This past Sunday I ran Bull City Race Fest again! Third time in the four years the race has been running. The only time I didn’t run it was a few years ago when I ran the Greensboro Marathon the day before. Yes, I hated to miss it that year but I just couldn’t get myself out of bed at 4am after a marathon the day before. My legs and energy were shot. This year was another story.
Everything about this race is just awesome. Tons of runners, nearly 6,000 every year running the Half, Five miler and 1 miler combined. I was asked to be on the pace team again this year, one of my absolute favorite things to do. Since I’ve been struggling a bit with my feet I decided to pace the 9:00 mile group.
I paced with with a great runner, Drew, who I hadn’t met at previous pace experiences at this race. He was an awesome pace partner. In 2013 I paced the 1:45:00 finish group, in 2015 I paced the 8:30 per mile group with my son, and now 2016 the 9:00 mile group.
Race morning was near perfection weather wise. 52 degrees, and just beautiful. This race has always been ultra lucky with fantastic weather. We lined up with our pace sign about 20 minutes prior to the gun. As you can imagine, this group was loaded with folks wanting to beat the 2:00:00 Half finish. I love a huge group of runners, especially on a hilly course. Runners ebb and flow, and you get a chance to meet and talk with so many new faces along the way!
Our race was filled with ups and downs, as you would expect on the hills of Durham. Such a great course though, giving runners a chance to see many parts of the city. We kept a great consistent pace. Constantly checking our progress, Drew and I maintained a pace of about 8:57 through the first half of the course. As with most races, our timing devices were a little off from each other, and also the mile markers on course, but doing the extrapolations each mile, we were confident our pace was on target especially knowing how difficult and hilly the final miles are.
We ended up bringing tons of folks across the line with new PR’s, and many more just so happy to finish that tough race. Pacing is always tough work. My goals are different depending on each races expectations of how close to the target each pacer should be, and much to my surprise I came across the line with a perfect 1:58:00, 9:00 minute mile pace. So difficult to nailed it perfectly, in fact I’ve never done it. Most races expect a finish within a minute under goal time, but not over. This one may go down in the books as the only perfect finish I’ll ever have.
It was a great day! Finish festival with food trucks is always a bonus, especially when you can spread out and bask in the sun and also the glow of an awesome finish! Thanks Bull City, and big thanks to Drew for pacing with me! I shall return!
Ran there, Rode that!
Another fun year down visiting Carowinds amusement park. Half Marathon and roller coasters, what could be better than that?
My time goal was hard to achieve because it was like a million degrees on race morning. Plus two million percent humidity. Just rough. Not enough water on the course, and although the course was still not measured correctly, it was better than last years fiasco.
The real kicker this year? The timing chips were all defective. For all races. The 5k, 10k and Half. They had to rely on runner help for times, and some shotty backup camera. Hilarious.
My time was 1:53:50, or so they say. Who knows. My garmin came in lower, the course was about a quarter of a mile long. Short? What ever. It was fun. I’m over obsessing about my times most days, so at least it was fun. And look at the medal!
Charlie Brown riding a roller coaster? Oh, hell yes!
I can talk all day about the why’s….. I could make up a thousand excuses… I can ponder reasons and doubts and probably come up with a very long list. Plain and simple, the Summer of 2016 has been a tough running season for me.
Normally, every year my racing season ends with a short race, typically early in June. The Summer is then spent rebuilding sore muscles, recovering from marathons and halves, taking some time off, and then building back for a Fall racing season packed with great races.
This, in part, is very true for the last few months with one exception. I’ve been on the verge of injury, the brink, since starting back. I’ve never felt quite right. I’ve had PF in the past, a bout with it that lasted about 9 months. A painful injury, but one I ran through causing it to linger way longer than necessary. I learned my lesson. Back then, I took a month off from running. No running at all. It seemed to do the trick, and when I returned to running slowly, the problem never came back. The summer of 2016 has been a reminder to me of that pain, that desire to fun free and feel good. I just haven’t been feeling right all summer.
What running I have done has been short, agonizing at times, and most certainly slow. I feel like I’ve aged ten years the past four months. I see all these people posting mileage for the summer, long runs, race prep, etc… It has been painful just to see that. I want that! My feet tell me no. Not yet.
So? What to do? I’ve barely even been reading blogs this summer, much less write my own. I haven’t had really any running news to share, so I just haven’t. I’ve missed it for sure, but needed to focus on other aspects of my life that needed attention. But here we are, heading into Fall, so what is my plan?
I didn’t enter the Chicago Marathon lottery this past Spring, so for the first time in three years I will not be heading to the Windy City in October. I did enter the Berlin Marathon lottery, and I guess fortunately considering my injury status, didn’t get picked because that race is days away. Marine Corps though, that’s another story. I did enter the lottery, DID get chosen, so I have one marathon this Fall at the end of October. I’ve debated over and over again if I should defer, but haven’t decided yet. Why? I think I’ve decided to give at least one race a shot and see what kind of condition it leaves me in. Once that’s over, I’ll know. I’ll know for sure.
So, without further ado, I AM RACING this weekend. My body has been in preservation mode, and now needs to quickly flip to racing mode. A half marathon this weekend should let me know once and for all, if indeed I am either in or out this Fall. Why you ask, am I racing? I just need to know. I need to have a clear direction for this running passion I have for the next several months.
With a pacing gig lined up for mid October, and Marine Corps a few weeks later, and one last Half locally a couple weeks after that, I just need to know if I am back on track or not. If the race goes ok this weekend, and recovery isn’t bad, I’ll know. If the race is an epic failure, I’ll know.
So, wish me luck! I promise to post a recap with all the details, good or bad, next week. I’m either going to stare injury in the face and beat it, or I’ll be down for the count until 2017. Should be an epic race either way. ;). Here goes nothing!
The long and curious absence from my blog can be summed up in one word….
BUSY
Well, many words can actually describe my absence. Packing, moving, job change, vacation, graduation. They all equal a complete and total lack of time to blog.
Well, I’m back. Let me catch you up on a few things. I celebrated the graduation of my youngest son a month ago with family in town and a very expensive dinner. We had a blast. The most important thing being that my son enjoyed every moment of it, and is just about six weeks away now from walking onto his new college campus to start classes for the next phase in life. I’ve been getting myself used to not seeing him as much, as I have given him a lot more independence this Summer. He takes the reigns on his own life very soon. Sad, but true.
In the midst of everything, I had a trip to see my Dad in NY, and to run marathon #27. My Dad and I had a blast together. The marathon? Maybe my toughest one to date. I can sum up the race in one word… Well two,….BEASTLY HOT! Seriously, the race was the day before Memorial Day, usually a moderate temperature time of year for upstate New York. Not to be. It was hot and humid my entire four day visit. Topped off with race morning temperatures in the low 70’s, and about 92 degrees by the time I finished. I normally don’t race just to finish, but I race that day with the goal of surviving the heat and living another day. It worked. Get this, the Herald of Victory Marathon was an inaugural race. Never done before, but so attractive to me because it gave me a chance to run a marathon where I grew up. Even though the conditions were excruciating at times (most of the time) I had a smile on my face and a positive attitude from start to finish. I knew I would finish, even in those temperatures. I took it easy from the very beginning, thoughts of not wanting to have nothing left in that kind of heat 20 miles in. I finished. I ran through Binghamton, Vestal, Johnson City, Chenango Forks, over bridges, through beautiful parks, past cheering spectators in utter and complete appreciation for every volunteer along the way keeping me hydrated and pumped up and energized.
With a finish time of 4:30:33 (a personal worst), the Herald of a Victory Marathon was a huge victory for me personally. Victorious over another grueling 26.2 mile run. I managed my race very well from start to finish. I owned it! Believe it or not there were only 8 finishers under the 4:00:00 mark. Eight! A race with 113 finishers in 90+ degrees, I finished 24th. My worst time, but a stunning accomplishment on the day. I’ve learned a lot about myself as a runner, fighting conditions, letting my body and mind do the work. I never cramped, I was never overcome by the heat. I did the right things that day and made it to the finish with a smile, my Dad welcoming me over the finish line.
Since that day I’ve only run once. Once in six weeks. I needed a break. Five marathons this year, my muscles and really the rest of my body needed a break. Time to relax and rejuvenate.
I promise I will be better with my blogging, too. Back on the streets today for a run, and back at the blogging game. So, how have you been? Are you enjoying the Summer?
Here are a few pix from my NY trip before I head out on errands today.
***Same team name for 2018 race! Same discounts apply***
“Chasing Boston”
Time to jump on the bandwagon to Las Vegas! Registration is open for the Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon & Half for 2017!
Hurray for the new date, which is not on Mothers Day weekend this time around! The date for 2017 is April 29th. This downhill race will surely help you reach a goal of qualifying for Boston, hence my team name. “Chasing Boston”.
My my team is open to anyone. Want to run the Half? Register on team Chasing Boston, and save $5 off current registration rates, and “like” them on Facebook during checkout for another $5 off. Same goes for those wanting to run the Full! This isn’t a team where we need to run together, or even know each other, it’s just a way for us all to enjoy a discount. So, when you’re registering, just click on the button “join a team” and enter my team name Chasing Boston into the search field. Simple.
I couldn’t attend the race this year because I am in the middle of moving, but I’m already looking forward to next year! Everything I’ve heard about this years race was epic. Great reviews all around.
See you in Vegas, baby!
Someone once told me that selling a house and moving is one of the most stressful things in life to do. I completely agree! I have been in the the middle of this stress for the last three months.
After making the decision to go ahead with plans to sell the house (youngest graduating in a few weeks) and downsizing, a lot of work was in front of us. We painted and updated almost every room in the house during spare time from work, projects taking just over two months. Contractors taking care of things we couldn’t, mostly on the exterior and yard. Going through everything in the house from top to bottom, organizing, packing, throwing things away, donating others. Cleaning, staging, and finally listing the house.
We had an offer in 1 day! 1 day!
Now it’s go time! I thought the tough work was done? Oh no, there’s more to do. Now to do final organizing, and packing everything else that hasn’t been packed. The scheduling, finding a new place, yep, this is stressful.
I’ve only moved once since my college days. Because I took a relocation opportunity with my employer at the time, the selling of the house, the packing, the moving, were all done for me. Not true this time. That was 17 years ago. Fast forward to now, and not only am I much older, but much less forgiving. This has been a very hard process!
I’ve been in my attic four out of the last six days, going through boxes, uncovering things I had forgotten all about. I am tired! I did uncover some true gems though…. like my High School letter jacket, old vinyl albums, tennis trophies from my younger days of competitive tennis, scrapbooks, and countless photo albums and pictures from a life that seems a lifetime ago. Treasures really. I found my class ring, and I found this, which I had no idea I actually saved.
Introducing, an artifact from 21 years ago. My first race bib!
I don’t remember that I ever kept it, that was the most surprising discovery of all the last few days. My first ever race, back in 1995. A race in Batavia, NY. A 10k. I have no idea what my finish time was, believe me, I’ve tried finding online results, they just don’t exist. I just remember that day in July being scortchingly hot, and running my heart out til I almost collapsed. I have the race shirt somewhere, too. I just can’t find it, but one day I will.
This journey of packing up my life to move has really been eventful. I’ve dusted off some old memories (even popping in a few Prince cassettes, yes cassettes, into the tape deck to listen to) while I worked at cleaning up my life in the house. It’s now time to finalize my life here, where my kids grew up, and start a new journey. It’s all bittersweet, but looking forward to this next step in life.
Once I finally have a permanent new home, that race bib will be the first one hung. That bib signifies a running journey that began so long ago. As the final days approach before my 27th marathon, having stolen a peek at where my running days began kind of brings this race full circle. Even though my upcoming Herald of Victory Marathon in Binghamton, NY will be in a different city from my first foot race, it will still be in the same state where it all began for me. Back on the streets of New York.
I’ve read article after article about the reasons why someone should run a marathon. Every article seems to list a top 5, a top 10, a top 3 reasons why you should. But, for me the reasons why are just too numerous to count.
It’s all very personal. Don’t you agree? I want to push myself further than I ever thought possible, I want to run it to raise money for charity, I want to qualify for the Olympics….the list goes on and on and on. Some may say they want to run a marathon simply to say they did. Some run for time, some run for fun. Some even walk. I want to hear from you!
I’m going to blog about my readers’ top reasons to run a marathon. More of a personal approach. Real life, real runner reasons. I’m going to compile YOUR reasons to run and blog about the TOP 5!
I’ll start things off with my top reasons…. why I run marathons.
Have you ever given it a lot of thought? Maybe you just run to run, because you love it. But why? Why do you love it? Please share your thoughts…
On the eve of my 27th marathon these thoughts cross my mind. I often ask myself why I do this, and sometimes the reasons do change from race to race, year to year. One thing remains true for me, the marathon is epic! Running a marathon is no small feat and should be celebrated by all who complete one.
Now a few weeks past, I have just a few minutes to try to recapture some thoughts and moments from my second running of a huge Triangle event. The Tarheel 10 Miler and 4 Miler were run on the beautiful (and difficult) Chapel Hill streets on April 23rd, 2016.
An event that draws thousands of runners every year, we converged on the campus of UNC Chapel Hill bright and early that Saturday morning. For me, it’s about a 50 minute drive, which means I left the house before 6am. I think I was parking about 6:30, for a meet up with my son, and eventual meetup time with the pacers at 7:15. Everything about the morning was smooth, except for the temperatures. It was a bit warm. Anytime you schedule a race later than mid May around here, it’s a complete crap shoot as to the weather. It could be 50, it could be 70. We were flirting with race day temperatures just a tad too warm.
We met at the iconic Belltower on campus for photos and quick meeting. My first time pacing this event, but have paced two other races (both Bull City) for this team. With a new race course, which promised more of a flatter run, and the dreaded 1 mile uphill climb near the finish, I didn’t notice much about the new course that made it easier. In fact, I ran it faster two years ago. Laurel Hill is the finishing challenge, and after fighting the warmth of the day, and mile markers which were all over the place, I had very little gas left in the tank for that mile long uphill climb.
There were three of us pacing the 8:00 per mile group, including my son and another guy who I hadn’t met previously. Right from the start it was painfully clear that our Garmins and the mile markers would make this a difficult race to pace. Side note: please, mile markers need to be carefully mapped and placed on courses in the correct spots! We were off by almost a quarter of a mile as we reached Mile 1! No excuses for that. It left us wondering, and confused. We had no choice but to follow our Garmin pace, because after asking several runners during the race, everyone’s timing devices were all over the place. Needless to say it made for a challenging race. We made ok time, but often us pacers were not even together, what to rely on? Course markers? Garmins? We did our best. That dreaded hill at the finish nailed all of our coffins, and each of us were just slightly over 8 minute pace. It really couldn’t be helped. Funny, too, that I ran the race 4 minutes or so faster a few years back.
It was still really enjoyable though, and I always love pacing, and the interaction with runners. We had a good race. The only other negative I had for the new finish area was that once you left the finisher chute, there was no access that I saw to additional water. If I had known that, I would have brought a drop bag with a few bottles of water in it.
According to the website, there were 4,010 finishers in the 10 Miler. That’s a big race! My finish put me in the top 16%. Not sure if I could have done better on the day if I hadn’t been pacing because the weather may have impacted my speed. It was just too warm and sunny. The Tarheel 10 & 4 Miler is a very successful and huge event in Chapel Hill, and you should try it one day! UNC is a beautiful campus! They have pretty nice swag, too for finishing!
For those of you who have been keeping track (and this probably includes only me), the Rock ‘n’ Roll Raleigh Marathon on April 10th was my 26th full marathon. I’ve considered myself a bit OCD when it comes to numbers, so this one was a big deal! Don’t you have a favorite number? A lucky number? Numbers that y don’t care for or feel odd about? Back several years ago my phone number included my birth date, my age and my sons age. Of course that only lasted a year or so, but funny stuff with numbers is kinda cool to me. They call an affection for numbers like this arithmomania. I definitely have that when it comes to my most recent marathon!
Twenty-six twenty-six point twos. Yep, most runners will never hit that mark. I mean, if you consider that less than 1% of the worlds population has ever completed one marathon, what must the percentage be for someone running 26 of them? A numerologist would have all sorts of fun figuring the statistics on people who run say more than 1, or more than 5. More than 10, more than 25, or even higher. It’s a crazy number that I hope will only continue upward for me. Let’s hope the body continues to hold up!
So yeah, my “double weekend”, including the Rock ‘n’ Roll 5k, which was my last blog post almost three weeks ago, was followed up by the marathon the next day. This was another race that I’m proud to have been running with my son. He ran the Half, to a blistering new PR, and although the course was extremely difficult, I managed a sub 4 finish.
Weather was pure perfection that day. Unusually cold at the start, followed by tons and tons of sunshine and a gradual warm up. A course that winds its way all over Raleigh up and down hills past historic cemeteries, buildings and monuments. Past several colleges, and local landmarks, this race is really a feast for your eyes. My first half was really good considering the hills. I went out at a pace just over 8:00 minutes per mile, and maintained a sub 8:35 pace until a tough spot at mile 10.
Considering the fact that I had just run a marathon a week prior, I was feeling pretty good. As the marathon and half courses split, that section through Meredith College was a big challenge. Not for the faint of heart. Or legs for that matter. It’s a true test, but also rewarded with a downhill as runners head back toward NC State. Even though my son is a student at State, there were parts of the course on the campus that I had never seen, and it was truly beautiful. Centennial campus was just a really great part of the course!
Now, what follows on Avent Ferry Road was another true test of grit! I believe for me, this was the beginning of the end for my speed. I eeked it out, but man was it tough. I didn’t have a ton of expectations for a finish time that day, I pretty much just wanted to finish in one piece. My legs were already tired from a disastrous marathon seven days prior at All American. You remember, my worst marathon finish ever. I really only wanted to go sub 4 in Raleigh.
My pace and legs were wrecked by the time I hit Lake Johnson in Raleigh, but the views and quiet of running around the lake for the first time gave me some positive enregy for the final six miles of the race. Just look at this picture I took. Pure running serenity!
Time to head back northwest to the city, the course was pretty unforgiving. With the exception of mile 22, where I had a burst of energy, and managed an 8:51 pace, each of my last six miles were over 10 minutes per mile. I was beat! I was looking forward to seeing my family at the finish. Once I finally crested the ridiculous Boylan Avenue hill, I turned east and on into the city for the finish. My younger son was waiting for me about 3/10 of a mile before the finish. He surprised me, and I asked he join me and run me in to the finish. He gladly accepted, although he wasn’t dressed for it at all. 🙂
Thanks to that final bit of energy he gave me, I gave it all I had and crossed the line in 3:59:05. Two marathons in seven days, I’ve barely run since. I was rewarded however with a nice marathon medal, and finish jacket. I also received the “Remix” medal for completing both races during the weekend of events. Although this marathon course will never be listed or described as flat, or easy, it’s always a joy to run the streets of Raleigh, my states Capitol.
I finished 30th in my AG, and 246th overall out of nearly a thousand finishers. Top 25 percent, I’ll take it. I hope to return to this race next year and give it another go. I surely recommend it!
Running Wild 