Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville - April 24, 2010

(Connie, "OH Cowgirl")

The drive to Nashville started about 8am on Friday. Except for the rain, the trip down was uneventful. Luckily hubby is very organized and we were able to make the packet pickup at the Nashville Convention Center by about 4pm.

I was dreading that but it was so organized that it took us less than 10 minutes. What was great was the group of high school girls cheering for the runners who were making their way to the packet pick up points.

The T-shirt is nice. I saw a lot of people already wearing theirs so I already knew what they looked like before we got to that table. Again, everything was so organized it took no time at all to pick up the T’s and the goodie bag.

We headed into the Expo, buying another T-shirt and a magnet from the Brooks section. I think the thing that amazed me the most was the amounts of money changing hands everywhere we went.

We left the Brooks section and attempted to walk around the Expo but being exhausted from the drive we only lasted about an hour before heading for our hotel.

I had a couple pieces of cheese pizza for dinner, hydrated well and was in bed by 10. Sadly, sleep was elusive but I knew it would be. I was really nervous. I get lost so easily and I’m really not good in crowds…but I wanted to run this race.

We were up at 3:30 and on our way by 5. We were only 8 minutes away from the parking so figured we’d get there in time. Traffic was horrendous- dumping us near the parking at the Tennessee Titan Stadium just before the race was to start. I still had to catch a shuttle to get to the starting line. By the time we got there all the corrals had started and I was at the rear even behind the walkers.

(OK…I have 2 gripes I’ll insert here. 1. Porta-potties – OMG…I KNOW runners aren’t pigs but you wouldn’t know that from the bathrooms. They were disgusting. I have never seen anything so disgusting in my life. 2. Walkers- Please, please, please move to the sides…right or left or both is fine…just allow the runners to get through. (This is not to the ones in the rear…but the ones further up in the race…and the Galloway walkers. Don’t just stop and start walking with no warning when there are runners all around.)

Hubby said I was very last to start but that I was near the middle within the first couple miles.

The music was good and loud but couldn’t drown out the cheering of the spectators along the route.

Even though my times don’t show it, I felt strong, even on the hills until about Mile 8. I decided to test another Porta-pottie and it took almost 10 minutes to get back on the road. I again had to fight my way through the walkers.

My end time was 2:45 and some change which was terrible as far as I was concerned but I think I know where part of the problem was (I mean besides hills and walkers). My Nike Plus is off. It read 16+ miles at the end of the race. (So my next purchase (or gift request) will be a much more accurate device like a Garmin.)

I also need to mention the weather. It was hot and humid. We had been watching the weather report and the Nashville Race site for 2 days…expecting the Race Directors to cancel the race. What they did was divert the Marathoners with times over 4 hours to finish on the half course. I know they were disappointed but it was the right thing to do as the storm hit within moments of me finishing the race and picking up my medal. It became a terrible storm within minutes.

So, though my time was much slower than I was expecting, I learned a lot. I’m sure it would have been better if I’d had someone physically running at my side and I did have a personal podcast from a dear friend, AirForce Ted from You Don’t Have To Run Alone (and his beautiful daughters) playing in my ear almost the entire way. It helped so much.

My thanks go to Matt (The CrazyRunner) for the opportunity to run this race, to Ted (You Don’t Have To Run Alone) for running in my ear most of the way, to my hubby who was amazing through the whole experience and has told me several times just how proud of me he is…as well to my friends and family and my runner friends on Twitter who sent me good wishes, followed me online during the race and sent me positive comments afterwards. Y’all are just awesome.

Well…that was my first road race and thanks for sharing it with me.

Connie (OHCowgirl)

Twin Piers 10k – Saturday 23rd January 2010 1pm

(From David in the UK)

“It’s a beautiful day, don’t let it get away……..” U2

Saturday 23rd January contained more joy for me than I have felt in quite a while. Don’t get me wrong I feel the luckiest man in the world to have a wonderful wife and 5 fantastic kids. I have a great life which brings me great joy, but once in a while joy can surprise you.

I am a person who, when confronted by a busy day, turns to lists in order to ensure things get done. The list for Saturday 23rd included registering for my youngest child’s race, running the race, transporting some of the other kids into town, getting to my race, running the race and getting back home in time to make lunch for everyone. The afternoon was pretty quite.

The first race of the day was my youngest daughter’s. After some messing about we got to the registration area with 5 mins to spare. She was very excited. As we approached the start area, of the 3k race, I had a minor feeling of concern. My daughter likes pink. Anything pink. So, not surprisingly she dressed, as she does normally from head to toe in pink! At one point she had intended to wear a pink wig she has for dressing up but eventually she decided to leave it off as it “might make me sweat too much!”

Her liking for pink would not normally have been an issue but as we looked around the start area for the race all the other kids were dressed in “proper” running gear. The only non-black non-lycra item I could see was an orange strap being worn by one of the smallest kids. She could have felt intimidated, and in a way I’m sure she felt a little uncomfortable as she lined up but she really did me proud. As the race started most of the kids went off like crazy. My daughter, not hard to spot in the group tried valiantly to keep up. After 500 metres it was clear she was lagging a little behind as she disappeared off into the distance. In the following 15 mins everyone completed the course except for my daughter. Looking up the course I could see a small pink dot. As I walked towards the dot, it was clear that my daughter was on her way back. The nearer I got to her it was clear she was still running. She crossed the line in 23.01 mins knocking 10 mins off her PB for the distance. I was without doubt the proudest parent on the line. It was only when we returned to the house that I discovered the age limit on the race was 11-16. She weighs in at 9 years and 3 months. After the race she couldn’t stop talking about it. She can’t wait for the next race.. I think the bug has bitten her 

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My race started with a 5 min warm-up as I looked for my friends. I had been training pretty hard for the previous 8 weeks so my expectations were high. The weather was perfect, almost no wind and 5C. The course follows the coastal road from Llandudno Pier to Colwyn Bay Pier. The first 2k run is flat, followed by a 1k assent up 300ft, then a sharp decent followed by a slow drop down to below sea level! A level section is followed by a small rise and finally a 4km slight decent to the finish.

The conditions were great, the scenery was beautiful and my training had been good. My target was sub-48 mins. The year before I had done this race as my first race after just 22 days of training during which I had done a mere 44 miles of running! Now, 1 year later I had 1348 miles under my feet and real hopes of knocking 7 mins off my 10k PB. It was time to see how well the Runners World training plan I had used would serve me.

1pm Llandudno Pier
We were OFF – 1st mile in 7.25 just trying to get into a rhythm. One of the training tools I’d used was the Dean Karnazez running tempo workout I’d bought from Carmichael Training Systems website. I’d used this once a week for the last 6 weeks and it helped me achieve a good early running stride. Trying to keep my HR down as the climb up the Little Orme was looming in front of us.

Mile 2 started on the flat but the climb was right there in front. Heart rate started to creep towards 160. I have a heart condition which means my heart is not as efficient as it might be which means my heart reacts more slowly than most. This means I need to keep an eye on my HR as it can be hard to pull it down when I get into the anaerobic zone. I was running past quite a few people as I went up the hill so I decided to take a walk break for 45 sec to control my heart rate and avoid running the steepest section. Got to the top in good shape with AHR of 161. 2nd mile completed in 15.45min.

Mile 3 sees the sharp decent off the Little Orme and into the long run down to Rhos on Sea. I was feeling pretty strong and, having practiced high cadence downhill running for the last 6 months I increased my cadence from 84 up to over 90 steps per minute. I got a great boost from seeing my wife and youngest child waiting by the side of the road. Their support really helped to keep my concentrating on the task. My pace for this mile also reflected the downhill bonus – 7.10 for the mile. 3rd mile completed in 22.55min

The course now follows the shore line down into Rhos on Sea. I was finding it hard keeping my heart rate down. My hydration was good but I was starting to feel a bit weak. I tried to target my cadence, trying to keep it over 85 steps per min. I achieved an average of 84 for the 4th mile with a AHR of 165 and a pace of 7.56min. Total time after 4 miles was 30.51.

It was at this time that I stopped taking much notice of my watch. I know what an 8 min mile pace feels like so I tried to keep to that. It was a this time that the words of Dean Karnazez came back to me. “It’s at times like this in a race when you known you’ve paid your dues, if you have – you know!” I had definitely paid my dues and I was confident I could push through and achieve my goal. Pace for mile 5 was 7.59min. Total time at end of mile 5 was 38.50min.

The final full mile of the race starts with a slight decent from Rhos to the Colwyn Bay Pier. I was feeling pretty tired by now and I didn’t expect and major accelerations to be on the cards for the rest of the race. My average cadence had dropped to 83 and I was really topping out with a AHR of 167. I tried to motivate myself to run faster by spotting people up front and trying to catch them. This did seem to give me a boost as I finished mile 6 in 46.20, with a 6th mile pace of 7.30min.

The final .2 of a mile was just a crazy race for the tape. I didn’t know what my time was but I was going to give it everything I had left. My HR maxed at 174, 2 beats over my previous maximum and I crossed the line in 47.23min. This made my final .2m pace 5.25! So there were some fireworks after all 

As I sucked hard for my breath it started to dawn on me that I had done it! All those crazy training runs at 6am had paid off. I had paid my dues and achieved the results I deserved. Next race in 2 weeks – The Nick Beer 10k 2010.

2009 Conwy Half Marathon, Sunday November 8th 2009 (David of the UK)

My training for this race had not been ideal. I had had a head cold for the previous 2 weeks and though this didn’t cause a complete stop to my training it had caused me to reduce my mileage below 30 miles per week. In addition to this I had suffered with a sore big toe joint on my left foot. I’m not sure if this is down to general overuse or more specifically down to the Mazuno Wave Creation shoes I was wearing. Anyway, as I approached the Conwy Half marathon I felt 90% ready. I had run the Friday before, maybe a little too hard, and felt very good.

The course takes a beautiful route down along the Conwy estuary up round the Great Orme and back down beside the river, finishing at the foot of Conwy Castle. This means 3.5 miles of flat ground, 3 miles of assent followed by 3 miles of descent and back to the 3.5 miles of level ground. My only major concern as I considered the race was nutrition and hydration. I had run the Anglesey Half with a gel flask and 1 bottle of water. This had worked perfectly. Not too much weight and, with all the drinks stations, I was able to supplement my gels with sports drink and water. This race was different. There was 1 drinks station sited at 3.5 miles on the out and the same location which was after 9 miles on the return. For this reason I took 2 water bottles with me to go with my gels.

The morning of the race was beautiful. The weather had broken after several days of rain and though heavy showers were forecast the wind was not a problem. If anything, as will become clear, the weather was a little too good!

I got a lift to the race with some friends and toed the line at 12.15pm after having previously taken my SportsLegs an hour before.

My 10min/1min run-walk was not seriously hindered by the severe congestion at the start of the race.

Mile 1 in 8.00 min

I tried with no success to explain my run/walk strategy to all the people encouraging me to keep running, ah well. Felt fine HR in the 140 range everything going well.

Mile 2 in 8.20

Again everything fine but slowed by some congestion. Note to self – I must get nearer the front of the group next year. Took a sip of gel and water.

Mile 3 in 8.30
Sand under feet not helping and still lots of people around. There were 800 people in the race!
Felt fine but HR rising a little Average 151.

Mile 4 in 8.30

The upward section begins. HR is starting to rise but not too much – more gel and water bottle filled at drinks station.

Mile 5 in 8.27

Keeping speed up really well, just about to hit the Orme, going past lots of people. Another sip of gel and water. HR starting to rise averaging 157.

Mile 6 in 8.50

First proper uphill section on the Orme. Not feeling as strong as I expected. Starting to get pretty hot with leggings on. AHR 160 – a bit too high.

Mile 7 in 9.22

I know this is the hard bit but something is not quite right. AHR is 161 and I’m feeling very hot. This is not what I expected – I have done this run 10 times and not felt this bad before.

Mile 8 in 9.13

Final section of Orme assent – AHR 163 – much too high and feeling pretty wasted. I have run out of water to go with my gels.

Mile 9 in 7.34

The decent off the Orme was harder than it should have been. I couldn’t keep my cadence up in the 90 area without high HR. AHR 159.

Mile 10 in 8.20

Tried to fill my water bottles but kept going – I should have stopped and done this properly – here comes the wall! AHR 164!

Mile 11 in 8.58

I’m starting to feel terrible. No energy having to take more breaks to keep moving. AHR up to 167 – looking back now this is crazy my Max is 175ish! And I’m running on the flat with the wind behind me . Feeling terrible…..



Mile 12 in 9.09
I’m now down to survival mode – walking every 5 mins – AHR 165 – I’m not going to break 1.50 so now it’s just keeping one foot in front…etc….

Mile 13 in 10.01

The death march – I was overtaken by 15 people during this mile just couldn’t go any faster….AHR 160 – I’m going to finish this thing…..

Finished in 1.54.52

My final sprint saw a max HR of 177! I had pushed myself to the limits and beyond.
2 lessons come from this day.

1 If in doubt take more nutrition than you need and
2 If in doubt wear less rather than more.

My PB of Angelsey still stands – I hope to break it in Chester next year – but 2 valuable lessons under my belt should see me to better things next year. Now it’s preparation for the Pier to Pier 10k at the end of January!

2009 Anglesey Half Marathon Race Report (Report by David in the UK)

Sunday September 20^th 2009

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' - that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. The English Romantic poet John Keats wrote these germane words in conclusion to his Ode on a Grecian Urn.

I doubt very much whether Keats was a keen runner but if he was he might have seriously considered running the Anglesey Half Marathon. The course was truly beautiful and the run up the final 4 mile climb was truly, truly painful. This is the sort of race you do to really find out who you are. Have you got it? Can you stick with it? Are you, as Steve Runner says, “Army strong”?

The day started, not too early, at 6am. I had slept little during the night as this was my A race for the season and I was hoping to crack the 1:50 barrier. My hopes had been hit hard about 2 weeks ago when, after a discussion with a friend and fellow runner, he informed me of the hills and especially the final 4 mile staircase of pain which lay before me. Nevertheless, I still held out the hope of achieving a PB.

My training had gone very well with my longest run ever, 15.4 miles being run just 7 days before the race. The only concern I had, other than the course, was a slight twinge, which had appeared over the previous day. The weather, which had been forecast as cool and possibly rainy, was not a major concern. As it turned out the weather cleared at around 9am, half an hour before the race and the temperatures climbed to well over 20C.

The journey to Anglesey was uneventful but the scenery was beautiful as usual.

Checking in was very simple and the organization was fantastic. The runners were all bused from the finish point to the start of the half marathon. I took my Sportslegs tablets at 8.30am and got on the bus. There was a brief wait at the start but we got underway at 9.36am.

I was planning to do a 10min run / 1 min walk system on this race. I have heard very good thing about this system and in recent runs I have used it to very good effect, reducing my 8 mile tempo run time by 3 mins. My nutrition plan was to take my 2 bottle Fuelbelt with 1 bottle full of 7 High 5 caffeine gels and the other bottle with plain water. The provision of energy drink, water and sponges on the course was fantastic. Both energy drink and water were provided every 2 miles on the course.

I had decided to wear my technical running bib top with my Skins full-length compression tights.

I bought the Skins 2 months ago and I have found them to be nothing short of INCREDIBLE when it comes to the longer distances. I would previously have had very sore legs after a 10-mile run but with the Skins this was no longer a problem. The only down side to them is that they are black and can get pretty hot in the sun.

As we lined up at 9.35am there were 227 of us.

9.36am – We were off!

There were no problems with getting moving as there had been at the Chester Half in May I was into my stride within 30 seconds of the gun going. Trying to take it nice and easy to warm up a little and with no timing mat to cross it was everyone for themselves.

There were a few well-wishers along the first 400 metres but after that it was down to a few marshalls at turns and feed stations, this run would be a lot like a training run.

I was trying to keep my HR down as much as I could but if you can’t be excited in a race when can you be J

Mile 1 in 8.23

Trying to move into the 8.15-8.20 bracket with my pace but still feeling very strong and positive. I was running past large numbers of people but then came the walk break. I didn’t quite manage to walk slowly enough to drop my HR by more than 5 beats. I was just too excited. Then pushed on to try to get into the 8.10 pace.

Mile 2 in 8.20

Just on target for the 1.50 overall time. Took a drink of sports drink at the feed station then moved on. This time the walk break was better. I was happy with my pace and I dropped my HR by a full 20 beats. Pushed on to try to break the 8 min pace. Oh no! A hill. Remembering back to the course elevation this hill is half a mile long and rises 200ft. I was not going to be maintaining my pace up this. Pace fell back to 8.40.

Mile 3 in 8.45

Still feeling very strong as the course opened up and the flat sections beckoned us onward.

I took my first shot of gel and a sip of water followed by 2 caffeine tablets.

Pace was back to 8.24, just on target. Walk break really seemed to be working, HR dropped 15 beats and stayed low for a while, even with some 7 min pace thrown in there to stretch the legs.

Mile 4 in 8.20

Everything going great. Course was fine, I was fine, weather was ….. FINE! Argh, the sun was starting to really warm up. Kept to 8.10 pace while keeping the HR below 160, hard but comfortable.

Mile 5 in 8.30

My speed was drifting a bit as I chatted to a young medical student who was also running the race. Nice guy. Walk break felt good HR dropped 10 beats. Another sip of gel and water.

Mile 6 in 8.50

Too much chatting and not enough running L. Moved pace up to target 8 min. Took sports drink and sponge at feed station.

Mile 7 in 8 min

Nice quick pace had got me back on track. I took my 2^nd Sportslegs of the day. Nice downward slope reminded my to leave a bit in the tank for the 4 mile run up to the finish. Walk felt very good and used it to refill my water bottle.

Mile 8 in 8.20

I could start to see the hills that lay before us, trying to keep at a nice even pace and not waste energy. I decided to walk 2 mins. early to prepare for hills. Felling pretty good but very hot! 2 sponges, 1 on head other on legs!

Mile 9 in 8.35

The rest of this race rises about 700 ft over the next 4 miles. It doesn’t sound a lot but when you’ve just run 9 miles it feels like torture! Tried to keep HR below 160 average for as long as possible while running at sub 9 min pace.

Mile 10 in 9.05

I started targeting runners in front of me in order to keep motivated up the hills. I decided to drop the walk breaks as I felt the HR drop wouldn’t translate to any time advantage. My HR stayed at 160 average topping out at 165. Overtook 3 runners up the first hill.

Mile 11 in 8.55

Head down, cadence up, pain everywhere. These are the hard miles where you are truly alone.

I overtook 3 more runners up this hill. Just 2 miles to go. Everyone was suffering pretty badly.

I spotted a guy about 100 metres ahead of me as my next target. I got to within 10 metres of him be the end of the mile. My HR was averaging 160 still but topped out at 167.

Mile 12 in 8.45

I was hanging on to the tail of this runner. We overtook 7 other runners over the mile and I stopped thinking about anything other than making it to the finish and holding on…….. Hey it looked like 1.50 might be on the cards….. Head down and push on…. As we turned the corner the guy I had been tailing pushed ahead. I had nothing left to give. My HR was averaging 168 with a high of 174. My maximum HR is 174. As I saw the finish line I could hear someone coming up behind me. A final push then and …….. it was over! I … was…. completely….. wasted. I had to get myself back together quickly as I was given a chocolate bar and a medal while my timing tag was removed from my foot. As I straightened up the young medical student came toward me and shook my hand, good man. Boy what a race!

My final time has just been published on the website, and even though there was no obvious clock at the finish my time is down as 1 hour 50 minutes and 28 seconds. With a final mile of 7.43!

I had cut my PB by 6 mins and though there was pain, to tell the truth… it was beautiful!

Great Orme Challenge 2009 - Sunday 19th July (David from the UK)

Preparation, preparation, preparation.

The Great Orme is a large lump of rock which lies just to the north of Llandudno in North Wales.

It is 200 meters high and about 20% in places so, to any normal person, this would mean some training or preparation would be in order. Oh no, surely not!

Well, a lack of preparation made itself very clear during the steeper parts of the race.

I arrived at the race with 30mins to go before the start. A nice easy 2 mile warm-up meant I was properly ready for what I thought would be a quick start. The weather had meant that less than 100 people had turned up. So the start line was not hard to see as the starter fired the gun.

My first intention was to keep my pace in the sub 8min area for the flat section as the climbing, 200ft, starts after about half a mile. I completed the first mile in 8.15min with and average HR of 154, just into my anaerobic zone. With my heart condition, HR is more of a limiting factor than muscular strength.

The second mile begins with a quarter mile of level ground before the switchbacks which take you up 300ft to Tudno Church, normally a sight I would be delighted to see but on this occasion the knowledge of the remaining hills is all too pressing. During this time my HR rose to 166 which is only 5 beats off my absolute max so I decided to walk the drinks zone for 30 seconds. HR down below 160 and I was off again. I completed mile 2 in 9.10min at an average HR of 160.

I was feeling pretty wasted by this time so as the next hill lay before me I decided to walk again, this time for 2 mins, this kept my HR down to under 160 and by the end I was feeling much stronger. As I rounded the corner I was confronted with the 20% section of the race. Again I decided to walk through the worst of it to keep my HR under control. As I turned the final right hand corner, which leads to the summit, I had just under half a mile to go. I was now trying to keep my HR below 165 as this final section rises 300 ft and I could hear people running up behind me. I just kept my head down and went for a final push. As I turned the final bend I could see the finish line about 600m ahead of me. Time for my final sprint. I upped my pace back to sub 8min but completed the final 1.2miles at an average of just under 10min pace.

I stopped my forerunner at 29min 20sec. I don’t think my race time can be any more than this.

Looking at my watch I had hit a HR of 171 on 3 occasions during the final mile. I was on the brink of falling over as I crossed the line but tried to maintain face as my friend Richard approached offering his support.

He had completed the run in around 24 mins, he is a sub 40min 10k runner, and is always there to welcome me home J One day I may welcome him home ;) but not quite yet.

Anyway, a great race. A race that I should have prepared for, a race I didn’t prepare for – but fun anyway!

Next is the Anglesey Half Marathon – bring it on!!!!

David