Bird In Hand Half 5k & Half Marathon - 9/5 & 9/6/14

The 5k was a 5k. The plan was to run it with Bren, but we ended up passing on her bib number to a friend, who ran it as her first 5k.

As usual, we were driving over on the day of the race from Michigan, just a wee ~8hr jaunt. We just managed to get there on time, but on time we still were. Packet pickup was a breeze as usual. The forecast had been for some nasty weather, but it ended up really quite nice, if a little warm. I wanted to come in under 30 minutes, which I just managed and although my PF hurt a little at the start I ran it off and rather enjoyed the whole evening. I had foolishly signed up for the Firefighters challenge, which means I had the half marathon the following morning. I spent the evening carb loading at a local bar and playing 'Pass The Pigs', all in all a fun day overall.

Time: 28:19.12; 247 out of 762 & 21 out of 41 in my age group.

And so, onto... the half...

Got up in plenty time, our hotel was only a couple of miles away from the start, left in plenty time but traffic got backed up. We got parked I headed for the portajohns, of which, as usual, there were plenty, but I had no time, so off to the start I went.

How bad was it

In 2012, I finished in 2:06, last year I managed thirteen minutes less than that at 1:53, this year, jeez, 2:37, almost 45 minutes slower than last year, and 15 slower than my previous worst in Denver, and Denver included two bathroom stops, while this one had only one.

Let's look at some numbers

Criteria	2013	2014	Which means..?
Field	25%	67%	I finished in the bottom third of the race, no hiding this one, I sucked
Age Group	50%	71%	Wow, finished in the bottom 30%; of the field, again, not so bloody good
Top 25% time	1:53:11	2:05:42	Top 25% of finishers were 12 minutes slower, kinda interesting
Top 50% time	2:06:45	2:23:12	Top 50% were 17 minutes slower, again, interesting
Top 75% time	2:26:49	2:48:14	Top 75% were 25 minutes slower, again, interesting

Bottom line, last year I had trained hard and it showed in my race this year I've been injured, so much less training, conditions sucked and it showed. Still loved the race though, great shirts, even better medal than last year, we'll see what next year brings.

2013... another year of running

So here we go, how did 2013 look...

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Miles	41.70	7.49	40.73	59.74	20.83	70.09
Kilometers	67.11	12.05	65.55	96.14	33.52	112.80
# of Runs	13	3	10	13	9	15

	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year Total
Miles	102.61	118.02	73.67	70.30	74.32	73.91	756.50
Kilometers	165.13	189.93	118.56	113.13	119.61	118.95	1,217.47
# of Runs	20	32	18	22	18	15	188

12 races; 2 x 5km, 1 x 5 mile, 3 x 10km, 1 x 10 mile, 4 x 13.1 miles, 1 x 100km team relay

The year started quite well, considering how cold it was, I still managed to strap on the Yak Trax and pound the trails, really rather enjoyed it. Bren was still working on her Couch to 5k program so we were also running on the indoor track at Lakeland High School where I managed a 5km PR. There wasn't really any running at lunch time, due to the cold, but lots of walking. Unfortuately the wheels came off the bus in early February, what with the whole bloody rolling my ankle on Superbowl Sunday, while sober, thing. I still managed a couple of much smaller runs, even although I really shouldn't have. My running then settled down, with a couple of small stutters, peaking in the summer with my forty day running streak. I continued to bang out fairly consistent miles every month, but I was never going to make up for the crappy winter/ early spring, c'est la vie.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Two new 5k PR's, one on the inside running track in the late winter and another at the Superhero 5k in the early summer, taking it down to 23:40, a total of 39 seconds off. I ran my second best half marathon in the fall at Bird-in-Hand, which also took ~13 minutes off my time from last year. I managed a 40 day running streak, which really helped set me up for my, previously mentioned, second best half marathon.

Injuries killed my springtime mileage, and not respecting them and letting them heal over time wasn't my best idea ever either. I did manage to grind out a trail half marathon with a sore ankle, groin strain and a couple of very sore achilles tendons, glad I did though.

On to 2014...

Random musings of a frustrated runner

What a bloody pain in the arse of a year its' been so far, with respect to my training. I started out the year full of hope, running in the snow, doing great, setting a new 5k PR on an indoor running track and then on Superbowl Sunday it all went horribly wrong...

• rolled my ankle walking down stairs, sober at that
• pulled my left achilles tendon walking around
• acquired a left hamstring problem
• ...

So what was going to be my year of multiple >100 mile weeks and a plan for at least 1,000 miles for the year has ended up, at the start of June, having done 179 miles in total, just over half what I should have done for the year so far. I went to the doc about the hamstring last week, he said, no running for 10 days, which is just before my Kona Run 10 miler. We see if the Kona stays as a run or just a walk...

2012 - A Year of Running

So how did my 2012 go, my first whole year of running? First lets look at my mileage, courtesy of Endomondo.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Miles	29.41	17.43	54.76	89.78	70.63	57.20
Kilometers	47.33	28.05	88.12	144.49	113.67	92.05
# of Runs	13	5	14	15	16	10

	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year Total
Miles	65.05	47.48	75.63	60.34	91.80	68.73	731.46
Kilometers	104.69	76.41	121.71	97.11	147.74	110.61	1,177.17
# of Runs	21	9	18	16	23	20	180

A number or things changed over the course of the year that may help explain the changes, although one of the most notable happened in November when +Bren took up running. I'm not quite sure why it affected my so much, but it obviously did. I ran a whole lot further and a whole lot more than before. Maybe it was seeing how inspired she has been with her running, maybe her running has encouraged me to find more time for my running, but either way, it inspired me to put in more miles than any other month.

Martin Parkway

Looking back, at the start of the year, running at all was tough, just due to it being winter, although not even a particularly nasty one. In January and February I was running at the weekends and trying to run maybe one or two evenings a week, weather permitting, which obviously wasn't very often. By the first week in March, the weather had started to get not too bad during the day and I decided to forego my walking at lunchtime regimen and convert it to a trying to run at lunchtime regimen. I work in the FMCC building, next to Ford World HQ and there is a path through the grounds of the office that I had been walking around, it then became my running track, much to the bemusement of others. I tried to run two to three days a week at lunchtime with varying degrees of success, in November, after getting bored with looping around the offices I started running around Dearborn a little.

On the 30th or March I signed up for what would be the first of around 5 or 6 half marathons for the year, the Martian Marathon on April 14th, so not too far in advance, but I thought, 'what the hell'. The actual day sucked, it was cold and wet, the course while starting nice, ended up being a long out 'n' back, boring as hell, but I finished, under two hours as well. The kids also ran the kids marathon that day, which was very cool.

We did eventually manage to go and visit our friends +Stuart & +Diana in sunny Colorado, I even managed a few runs with Stu and his buddy, +Chris, but no organised race, due to logistics, etc. Colorado was gorgeous and I can't wait to go again.

Richardson Center

Another big trip was when we went out to Pennsylvania for a race deep in the heart of Amish country, which ended up being a 5k on the Friday night, followed by a half marathon on the Saturday. Considering theses were my first ever days of back to back racing, I think I done ok, but the hills really and truly kicked my arse.

Another huge event for me was Danced With Dirt as part of a five man team running in a 100k technical trail race. Each member runs three legs of four to six miles each, with me both starting off and running the messiest leg. The final, awesome thing, was running in three races with my son, looking forward to running more with the kids.

Plans for next year

I want to run at least two, preferably three, marathons next year, possibly Lansing, Garden Spot Village in PA & I'd like to do the North Country Run in Manistee national forest. As far as half marathons go, I'd like to do Detroit & Bird-in-Hand in PA, and maybe others, but we'll see. the two races in Pennsylvania will qualify me for the Road Apples award, see here. In other races, I'm shooting for the Kona Triple Crown Award, which involves running the Shamrock 'n' Roll run in March, the Kona Run in June and the Wicked Halloween run in October. I will do other various runs as and when I find see fit.

I would also like to try and do some cycling and maybe try a duathlon at some point. There is a good one which involves a 5k run, followed by a 20k bike ride and finally a 5k run.

I want to try to do some more trail running, I ran Dances With Dirt and had a blast, so more of this, please.

The best present ever

So I turned 46 on 10th November 2012, no big deal, just another birthday, but this one ended up being a little different. Now I'm not really one for presents and don't really ask for much. From my kids I just like wee things, like a book or something, from my wife, same kind of thing, nothing fancy, but his year she went all out. Bren decided last week that she wanted to start running and on the day of my birthday, we ended going out together for the first run of her Couch to 5k plan. This is the best birthday present she could possibly have given me and I am rooting for her. I know that it is going to be tough, but I promise to be with her throughout this stunning task.

As usual I had to technologify the whole process and downloaded a c25k app from the Google Play store, the first one sucked and ended up going with this one from the guys at Active.com. Over the past week and a half I have watched Bren go from being a very reluctant runner, to a avid running blog reader and writer too, although she is keeping it quiet right now.

Couch to 5k is a 9 week program, designed to take a coplete novice runner, from nothing to running for 30 minutes solid at the end. It starts as a run/ walk program, with increasing running duration and decreasing walking duration, three days a week. We have commited to do it on Saturday mornings, Monday nights and one other session midweek. I am super impressed that Bren has taken this on.

Wicked Halloween Run; 28th September 2012

Very cool medal, nice lanyard

As soon as they announced that this one was coming again and that the medal & shirt designs were going to be different, I knew I was going to sign up for it. Plymouth is a great little town to run around and mid-fall is the perfect time to do so, what with the fall colors, etc. I also asked Gordon if he wanted to run this one with me and he was all over it.

Got up, bright and early on race day as usual. I decided that I'd continue with the shorts, although it was a little chilly, but wear a long sleeved shirt and gloves. We were going to pick up Gordon at his moms so we had to leave a little earlier than usual, but no big deal. We got to Plymouth about 45 minutes before the start, and got parked easily, I didn't get a chance to pick up race packets beforehand, so we headed there first, and it was mobbed, c'est la vie, it's always something. The line went fairly fast and we got them within 15-20 minutes or so. It was still damn cold, so we waited in the food tent until they called us to the start.

The panels are actually purple, dunno why they
came out blue in the picture

The race was running about five minutes late, due to the huge crowds now a packet pickup, not really a big deal but it was good to see the problem getting dealt with. We met up with one of my colleagues from work, just before the start, had a chat and then it was time to begin. One strange thing here was the lack of an actual starting line, sure there was a timing mat, but typically there is a big inflatable archway at the start, all very strange. I also noticed as we were starting to line up for the start that this 10k race was going to have pacers, 4 minutes apart, which was kinda cool. I decided that sitting behind the 48 minute pacer would be a good place to start, I was hoping for a sub 50 minute finish, which would be 1:21 minutes below my current PR, so no mean feat. Plymouth is a very flat little town so I knew that if I was going to PR anywhere, it was here.

The race started nice and fast, due to everyone spreading out next to their expected finish, probably the first time I have really experienced this one. I knew that a 48 minute finish was a little too keen, but if I could at least try and keep it in sight I might do ok. Gordon ran with me, only getting stuck a couple of times, we both felt pretty good, if a little chilly, but I knew that would soon go. Matt, who was running with us, decided to pull ahead after the first mile, but we found a good pace and kept with it, putting in a solid 7:55 for the first mile. The second went even faster at 7:41 and both myself and Gordon still felt good. We passed a couple of aid stations, only briefly pausing to grab a quick drink and keep going. The race progressed better than I hoped and I kept up the sub-8 minute splits, 7:57, 7:56. By the fourth mile I knew I was feeling it, but suspected Gordon still had some pace left in him so said he didn't have to wait back for me, he could get going if he felt up to it - he sped up gradually and was gone. The fifth mile was another solid sub-8, 7:54, but by the sixth I was feeling it, and just couldn't manage another sub-8, managing a 8:08. I attempted to speed up and finish strong, but I didn't have too much left.

PR my 10k by 2:10, also PR my 5k by 1:15 on this race too, kinda cool.

Kinda fuzzy pic of myself
& Gordon

I came in at 49:11, beating my best by 2:10, 25th out of 87 in my age group and 187 out of 1555 overall, a good solid performance and one to be proud of. Gordon finished in 47:57, 5th out of 23 in his age group and 142 overall, a great performance, beating his best by over 12 minutes...

How Endomondo saw it - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/huKKcaso1us
How Garmin saw it - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/237883576

We got very cool medals to go with suitably black and purple long sleeved tech shirts. The snack line was nice and short, and better organised than last year.

Dances With Dirt, Hell, Michigan - 22nd September

Preview

Going through some of the details for my next 'race', on Saturday. I'm running as part of a 5 man relay team in the 100k 'Dances With Dirt' in Hell, Michigan, an extreme trail run. Each runner runs three legs of between 2.4 & 6.9 miles, I'm running legs # 1 - The Stampede (4.79mi), 6 - This Sucks! (5.75mi) & 11 - Pure Michigan (2.5mi). The disclaimer has the word 'death' in the three times, the info pack, includes phrases like, 'please help the injured', 'decide how to best utilize or torture each runner', 'swamps may need buddy system'. Each leg is graded by what kind of issues you will come across, eg waist deep mud and how much poison ivy you will encounter, ie extreme. I'm a wee bit scared.

The Race

I had been wondering all week quite what I should take with me on this, my first Dances With Dirt. I didn't want to come across as the newbie and end up bringing too much, but the opposite would suck too. After much messing around, the decisions were made on the Friday night. I would bring my waterproof jacket and pants, snacks would be a couple of Milky Way bars, a couple of GU's, some Chomps, a couple of barbecue chicken breasts left over from a mid week dinner and water. I wasn't planning on eating it all, but better to have too much than too little. I also brought a couple of extra shirts, another pair of shorts and a two pairs of socks and a spare pair of running shoes (very old).

The morning looked like it was going to be pretty dank and bleak, the forecast was for storms and general nastiness. I got up, as planned at 5am'ish, got changed, made sure I had all my crap and decided that I may as well head out. I was meeting the rest of the team at a carpool parking lot about 30 minutes away, I knew I'd be a little early, but what the hell, just more time to get into the zone. Once I found the lot, no mean feat for me, it turned out to be extremely busy, just as well I decided to come early as I got one of the last spots, I guess it is a popular meeting area for competitors. A few minutes after I arrived, Jason, the team captain and guy responsible for asking me to take part in this event, pulled up in his van, I met the rest of the team and then were off. 

First Leg (The Stampede) - 4.75 miles; 284ft elevation; 44:38

Still totally unsure about how this whole thing was going to go down, it became time to take off the jacket and pants get ready to rock. I joined the pack at the starting line, about 2/3 of the way down. The rain had stopped for the moment, it was about 48F, so conditions not too bad. The gun went off and away we went. The race was a faster start than any I have run in before, probably due to everyone wanting to avoid the logjam at the back when we hit trails, by creating a logjam at the front. We quickly ran across a field toward the woods, the trail quickly narrowed and the hills started.

The trails were steep, full of exposed roots but dry. There were a few opportunities to pass people and some took them to pass me while I took some to pass other people. One solid place to pass people was on the uphills, I made a conscious decision to run the uphills. You tend to find, especially on the hills, that the really exposed root are in the middle of the trail, so some would walk around the outside, allowing me to use these roots as steps to help me get past fast.

Unfortunately, around mile 4, I started feeling a little pain in my left Achilles tendon, but kept on going knowing that I would be done in under a mile anyway, and would then have a few hours to try and rest up.

Coming from a road running background, I found it very tiring having to constantly look where I was placing my feet, due to the increased chances of rolling my ankle with ever step.

Elevation profile for 'The Stampede'

Garmin - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/225740582

Endomondo - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/hh9EvL_YcNw

Second Leg (This Sucks!) - 5.53 miles; 196ft elevation; 58:36

After everyone had finished their first legs,it was time for me to start my second leg. I was starting at one of the local campgrounds and this was going to be the leg with the dreaded mud. One of my teammates told me not to wear my good trail running shoes and just wear the piece of crap alternate shoes that I brought with me, just in case. he also suggested that I tie them tight and consider double knotting them, just in case, all I could think of was, how bad could it really be.

The leg started by running through the campground for about 1/8 mile and then quickly up and into the forest and more of the same as my first leg, only more so. The Achilles tendon pain came back, almost immediately, but what the hell, I had to keep on going. The hills were steeper, the trails were much tighter with less opportunities to pass people, although when I called 'on your left', people would try and find a gap so they could let you past. There were more exposed tree roots and this time we also had low overhanging branches to contend with, it is a wonder more people didn't fall. After a few minutes on the trail, some Ultras were running in the opposite direction on the trail, and they were flying, after ~20 miles of extreme trails. At one point I fell in behind a couple of other runners that were doing about a 9:30 pace and followed them for a while, which I think helped me quite a bit.

At one point we took a sharp right turn, into some very dense forest away from a more established trail, I heard some voices not too far out and whaddya know, we were at the mud. The trail started getting muddy very fast until we came across a a river that had quite a few very messy people attempting to wade across. The water was a couple of feet deep, followed by another foot or so of extreme mud, very sticky and very nasty. I traveled through the 1/2 mile or so of nasty horrible, sometimes waist deep mud, with the same group, helping each other out along the way.

After the mud we had a mile or so of a 'rails to trails', gravel path and then a run down the side of the road toward a local school. This gave an opportunity to try and get some of the mud off the shoes, but not too much. The school had baths in which to try and clean up and baskets to dump your shoes into, which I duly did.

Elevation profile for 'This Sucks!'

Garmin - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/225740590

Endomondo - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/sGlhZSKBQ2g

Third Leg (Xodus) - 2.68 miles; 146ft elevation; 28:47

My third and last leg of the day was going to be very similar to my first leg only a little shorter with a little bit of a difference. More hills, more roots, more loose rocks, with a wee bit of marshland thrown in for good measure.

Elevation profile for 'Exodus'

Garmin - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/225740595

Endomondo - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/tbwW7CYlZqU

Summary

Leg	Planned Time	Actual Time	Difference
1	49:47	44:38	-4:51
6	1:06:27	58:36	-7:51
11	35:16	28:47	-6:29

General Observations

I loved it, I loved trail running, I loved being out in the woods, I loved the challenge of it, I loved finally having an altitude graph from my Garmin that was actually worth looking at.

Bird-In-Hand 5k & Half Marathon

So Bren read the article about the Amish runners in Runners World a few months ago and suggested that I try it. Bren doesn't generally suggest runs, she more, kind of, puts up with them, but I had a feeling that this would be one she would be interested in. You see Bren, is fascinated by the Amish people and their way of life & this run, taking place in the heart of the Amish in south eastern Pennsylvania, would suit us both. It was going be quite a short, rushed weekend, but it was going to be worth it. There was also an option of going for the Fire Company challenge, ie run in both the 5k & the half, so I like a fool went for it.

We left home on the Friday morning, pretty much as soon as the kids got on their school buses. I suspected that I had bitten off more than I could chew and that we weren't going to manage to make the start of the 5k, bur we made good time and headed straight to the packet pickup area. I had already gotten changed in the car on the way over, so no messing around there. We parked right across the road from the area, but it was very busy. I was picking up for both races, but that was no hassle and everythting went very smoothly, if a little slowly.

Packet pickup line, not as bad as it looked

They were also having hot air balloon take offs in the field next to the expo area which gave us something to look at while in line.

As idyllic as it looked

The expo was quite small but had some cool stuff to browse, fresh Amish made food, a couple of stalls selling running shirts, shoes, etc, the new latest magic runners snake oil. As 6:15pm rolled around it was time to see the kids one mile race. We decided that it would be cool to watch as we had seen lots of little Amish kids with their numbers on, getting ready to run the race, boys in their long pants, with suspenders (braces) and little girls in their long plain dresses and aprons, many with either trendy running shoes or just barefoot. See below for a video of them towards the end of the race. Sometimes the embedded video doesn't show, can also be seen at http://youtu.be/IRIH6SrGHxk

In with the new and out with the old

So I almost broke one of the cardinal rules of racing - 'nothing new on race day', ie race day is not the day to try anything out of your usual routine. My old New Balance MT10's were really starting to show their age and the many miles I have put on them, so it was time to go with something new, after much deliberation, I opted for the Skechers GoRun Ride, as worn by elite marathon runner Meb Keflezighi, but I'm sure he could wear anything and still kick my @rse. I ran two miles in them the day before the 5k, so no rules broken.

The 5k

The 5k was scheduled to start at 6:30pm,but I guess they were just totally overwhelmed by the number of people running the race and parking/ packet pickup was an issue for them. It was a beautiful location to stand a wait, so wait we did as there really wasn't much else that we could do, right. The sun was starting to go down, but with the continuing balloon launches, it did provide with a couple of nice photo opportunities.

Sometimes the smartphone can take a good snap

The race started about 10 minutes late, which wasn't too bad considering. While it was getting a little cooler, ~80F, it wasn't getting any less humid, I looked around at the many Amish people in the same race, boys, girls, men and women, none of them dressed down in any way, their only concession being the latest pair of running shoes, I wondered how hot they must be feeling.

And then we were off... I, rather inexplicably, managed to set a new 1 mile PR (7:29) and a Cooper (2.5km) on this one, with the hills and the mass of people, I was very surprised. Around mile two, the humidity and the hills, really started taking its toll and I hit the wall. I was ready to walk by the time I got to mile three but managed to drag myself over the line. I was in a pack of about four of five at the end and didn't have to energy to try and beat them to the finish line. I was just plain glad to be done and with a slight twinge in my Achilles tendon, not really looking forward to what the morning was going to bring.

Official results - 105/ 510 overall, 5/ 16 in my age group

Half Marathon

Up bright and early after sleeping like crap on an air mattress in a small tent, no snacks or drinks to speak of and it was time to head over for the start of the half marathon. Not my best ever pre race preparations, let me tell you. Once there we did manage to get some fresh sugar coated donuts before the race, but I don't recall Runners World ever saying how awesome these things are for your stomach either. But anyway, the time had come to get to the starting line and get this thing going. It wasn't as humid as yesterday, but it was early, confidence was not particularly high.

There was a field of just over 1,000 people in the race, which I guess is what happens when you get a story in Runners World. So, not unsurprisingly, the first couple miles were extremely congested, but thinned out eventually. The race meandered through the local Amish farming communities, growing mostly corn, beans and some tobacco. The hills were never ending, there were lots of spectators who would cheerfully shout that around the next corner was a nice downhill, not knowing that an bitter Scotsman merely thinks, that another downhill means that there is another uphill somewhere else.

There were a couple of times on the course where you could see quite far ahead, which can be a little demoralising, but it does change to being able to see quite far behind, which does make you feel a whole lot better. At one point an idiot in a 18-wheeler flew down the right hand lane of the two lane road we were running on. He was obviously pissed about the runners and proceeded to reverse into a farm driveway, ignoring the protests of the runners.

In the last 1/2 mile I got fed up having been passed a few times in the previous mile I decided that I would try and finish strong. There was one guy a few yards ahead, so I increased my stride and went for it. I passed him, made the turn into the field heading towards the finish line, looked back and I was clear. Crossed the line ~2:06, got my medal, plenty of snacks and focused on not dying.

It really was beautiful scenery to run through, I came to the realisation during this race that what I really don't like is running uphill, or downhill.


My official results, emailed to me, no less, kind of a nice touch;

Bib #:  300
Gun Time:  2:07:38.9 ( 9:41/mile)
Chip Time:  2:06:46.2
Overall Place:   430/1069
Age Group Place:  30/52 (Male 45 to 49)

The 5k & half marathon finish line
with obligatory Amish family

The much coveted award

Post race reflections/ how I learned to love the road apples

One of the many benefits of running in an area where many people travel in a horse and buggy is the opportunity to step in/on road apples. Between the guys that put on this race and another race in the same area, the Garden Spot Village Marathon, they decided that if you do both races, in the same calendar year, you will qualify for the Road Apple Award, in either 2D or 3D. The 3D version comes with real road apples stuck on the front, a must for any office or basement wall. I suspect I'm going to go for this...

Good Points

• Fantastic aid stations and plenty of them, one even had mango sorbet to eat while running.
• Random coolers containing ziploc bags of ice
• Well sign posted and marshalled
• Location, location, location, absolutely stunning
• Lots of porta potties at the start, not waiting, ever
• Lots of porta potties on the course

Bad points

• No GU stations
• The medal I received looked like I should be able to remove the outside and eat the chocolate inside, I saw other antique silver looking ones that looked way better. I suspect that they were overwhelmed and ran out of their original choice, I'll cut them some slack there.
• The idiot in the eighteen wheeler that really didn't like runners, obviously nothing the organizers could do about that.

The original Runners World article, well worth a read - http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297--14236-0,00.html

Cool news report about the Amish runners - http://www.wgal.com//news/susquehanna-valley/lancaster/Some-Amish-becoming-avid-runners/-/9704306/15213186/-/qcbb1cz/-/index.html

Official results - http://www.novatimingsystems.com/results/birdinhand2012overall.htm

As the Garmin saw it;

• 5k http://connect.garmin.com/activity/220151201 
• Half marathon http://connect.garmin.com/activity/220151224

Race shirts; for the 5k, half marathon &
the firefighters challenge (on the back it says
'I ran the Amish Country 5k & Half Marathon)

Medal, like I said, the antique silver one was much nicer

Vella Shpringa - Gotta Run

Colorado trail running

Why, it's the state flag of Colorado, of course

So we had been planning on visiting our friends, Stuart (http://discostugotz.blogspot.com/) & Diana ever since they moved out to Colorado 5ish years ago, but we have never actually gotten around to it. So, just after getting married, myself and Bren decided that we were doing it. We also took advantage of my Dad being here from Scotland, who is also friends with S&D, and decided that we would bite the bullet and drive over. It is approximately 1,300 miles door to door, so doable in about 22hrs.

On our first day in Colorado we went over to Golden to visit the home of my favourite beer, Blue Moon. While there we heard that Buffalo Bill's graveyard was to be found in the moutains surrounding Golden, so we decided to check it out, at about 7,500ft, I began to feel it, labored breathing, the whole nine yards.

I credit Stuart for really getting me running and this was going to be our first real chance to run together. We had planned to run with his friend, another ultra runner, Chris (http://thescenebegins.com/) and then in the Beaver Creek 10k in Vail, Colorado. I don't think that I really noticed the altitude difference due to us driving over from Michigan and not flying, hence giving my body a little more time to acclimatize.

Beautiful view on our morning run

On the Friday morning at about 5:30am I dragged myself out of bed, got ready and joined Stuart for a pleasant run on a park fairly close to where they stay. What with this being Colorado and me being from Michigan, it was a whole lot more hilly than I planned on. I did manage to keep up with Stuart & Chris on the first leg, without too much of a problem. I was then asked to lead off on the second leg, which I did so, although I was really starting to struggle with the breathing and ended up asking the guys if we could pause for a couple of minutes, which we ended up doing. We covered three 'loops', totaling about 6.2 miles, the views were well worth and it was a helluva day. I survived, but the >500ft of elevation was way more than I was used to. See here -  http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/gnTncJ5XHGw

The Friday morning run went so well, and because we decided to forego our Vail 10k, we decided that we would go for another run on the Sunday morning, on another one of Stu's regular routes, known as 'The Bluffs'. Again, up, bright and early, this time, no driving to the trail head, but starting straight from the house, it was another glorious day. This route was going to be a 1.6 mile run out, then a loop up, around then back down the bluffs, followed by the 1.6 mile straight back home for a total of >700 feet of elevation. We ended up walking two or three times on this run as I was really feeling the burn in both my thighs and my lungs, but it was well worth it. See here - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/lgqTjPNTuwo

To conclude, it was a great trip, long overdue, to a beautiful place, to hang out with some awesome people, thanks very much to Stuart & Diana for their fantastic hospitality.

Farmington Founders Festival Four Mile; 7/21/12

Me, finishing, just too fast for Bren

I pretty much decided to run this one at the last minute or the day before, which is kinda like the last minute. There was no online registration so I had to just turn up on the morning of the race and register, it was only $25 so no big deal. The course started in Shiawassee park in Farmigton, and meandered through a couple of neighbourhoods, south of Main Street before heading down the parade route, before finishing back in the park.

I don't have too much to say about this one, nice course, ok post race snacks and a very ordinary cotton t-shirt. I did want to stop and walk pretty much after the first half mile, but stuck with it until the end. I came in at 32:30 (8:08 pace), which I was pleasantly surprised with, which put me at 12/ 23 in my agr group and 90/ 222 overall. Why does my age group have to be some damn fast :-(.

It was very cool having my new wife, Bren, and my dad (currently visiting from Scotland), there at the finish line to greet me.

How Endomondo saw it - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/73670775

Two weeks, post marathon - physiological after effects

Jings and what a couple of weeks it has been. It was always going to be bedlam, what with deciding to get married on the Saturday after the race, but jings 'n' crivvens.

So here goes... Since running the marathon, my whole body has just been out of sorts. I had the obvious feet problems, blisters, hacks, etc, to be expected. What I didn't expect was the hacking horrible cough that started racking my body within a day of so. The Monday morning after the race I acquired a cold sore on my lip, that refused to disappear, no matter what stuff I put on it, and I felt it coming fast and none of the usual stuff worked. I had a headache that appeared on the afternoon of the race and hung around in greater or lesser degree for about four days. I have a small sore that appeared on the corner of my mouth that just plain hurts. My teeth ached for a couple of days.

Now you could say that this was a just a coincidence and that I'm just plain sick, you could say that it was all wedding stress induced, but I would say 'piffle', to both those suggestions. I don't really get sick very often and this thing is kicking my @rse and the wedding hasn't been particularly stressful and we had a low key shindig in the back yard.

It isn't all bad stuff though. While I didn't seem to lose on single pound after the race, which consumed approximately 4,000 calories, since then I dropped, six pounds. I don't attribute this to my being sick, as I haven't lost my appetite, I'm calling this as one of the physiological after effects of the race.

I went out for a short run on the Thursday after and haven't been out since, mostly because I don't feel like running in >90F temperatures...

All signed up for my first marathon - Ann Arbor Marathon, June 17th 2012

In the year 490 B.C.E., Miltiade, a Greek general from Athens inflicted a serious defeat on the Persians in the plains of Marathon, a small village in the northwest of Athens. In order the convey the news of the victory, a Greek soldier, Phidippides, ran at a stretch from the battlefield to Athens. After delivering the news, he collapsed and died.

I finally done, this is it, the big one, the one I've been building up to, I've signed up for my very first marathon. Yup, all 26 miles 385 yards of it, yup, that's 26.22 miles, yup, that's 42.195 kilometers. Yup, I'm running my first marathon in the inaugural Ann Arbor marathon (http://theannarbormarathon.com), as I thought that would be kind of apt. Unlike Phidippides, I'm planning on surviving enough to enjoy a few cold ones later in the day, while I rest my weary bones.

I'm hoping for a sub 4 hour finish, but who the hell knows. According to the various marathon finish time prediction sites, based on my 1:51:51 on the Let's Move half marathon, I should be able to drag my sorry self in around 3:55 hours, but really, who knows. I've also heard so much about the dreaded wall, so the wheels may completely fall off the bus. Most stuff I've read pretty much states that prediction sites are mostly low, but depending on what distance you base them off and how much practice you do previously, they get closer. This one is pretty cool and provides a whole lot of detail - http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/index.php/site/index

Let's Move, Festival of Races Half Marathon - 4/28/12

I signed up for this only a couple of weeks in advance, when I was still flushed with the success of the Martian marathon. The race was in Mount Clemens, Michigan, which is almost due north of Detroit and about 35 miles from our house. I decided to go and get my race packet the night before, just in case Bren didn't want to come to the race and so I wouldn't have to find somewhere to put my crap, while out running.

Bren decided that she would come anyway, but early packet pickup did mean that we could leave a little later on the Saturday morning. One of the things I decided that I was going to like about this race, was that they decided they were going to have two different start waves for the half marathon. People that expected to finish under 2 hours would start at 8:45am and those that would be over 2 hours, would start 15 minutes later, at 9am. If only more races would attempt to do this kind of thing, the stress level at the beginning of races would be greatly reduced, no more dodging walkers, etc, awesome.

The weather forecast, wasn't great, cold cloudy with a good chance of rain. I chanced just wearing shorts and a t-shirt, as I tend to heat up pretty fast while running and I didn't want to be too warm. I did bring gloves though, which was key through the first half, but cheap and I could toss them if I needed to. We arrived with about half an hour to go, a little later than I planned, but perfectly adequate, as it turned out. The start area seemed well planned with adequate porta-johns, readily available.

The run was mostly uneventful, with the exception of a Garmin issue around 5.3 miles in. My gloves were getting wet and kept touching the bezel of the watch, which causes it to beep and change display. This was getting quite annoying, so I decided to lock the display, but somehow I managed to make the thing hang horribly and after a minute or so, I forced a reboot, all of this, which trying to maintain my ~8:33 pace, what a fiasco. The watch came back and had only paused the workout, which I could restart, only have lost a minute or so. This meant that the watch could not longer accurately track my distance or total time, but it would still be able to give me a indication of my pace. Looking at the workout in Endomondo, you can see that all this messing about actually buggered up mile 6 for me, but what the hell. The course was very nice and meandered up and down some rivers and around the edge of Lake St Clair. There were no hills to speak of, apart from right at the very end, a nice uphill before the final straight, what a way to finish.

A huge thing for me is my developing running form, from the two pictures, you can see my horrible heel striking is gone, while I work on my cadence and posture. Cadence averaged out at 188 per minute, with 190 being the desired. The head up, look forward and gradual lean thing seems to be making a difference too, we'll see how it all goes over the coming months. Post race, I never experienced to much pain, either in my calves or the soles of my feet, so really quite chuffed over all.

All in all I really enjoyed this run, way more than the Martian. The marshalling was excellent, there were plenty aid stations, the medal is kinda cool, although my shirt is a little big.

How my Garmin saw it - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/172563219

How Endomondo saw it - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/t2OHkrojQKw

Results; 20/55 in my age group, 194/841 - http://www.raceservices.com/12/letsmove/042812_hm.html

Black long sleeved
tech shirt

Martian Half Marathon, 14th April 2012

So this was it, my longest race to date, it would be only my second > 10 mile run since before Christmas. I had been cranking out the miles, but not too many long ones. I wasn't sure if I had bitten off more than I could chew, but I had a plan and a goal, all I needed was the legs to go with it.

Packet pickup was the previous day, very close to my office. I got a nice black tech shirt with Space Invaders themed design (going completely against any chances of intergalactic detente), the kids shirts were regular t-shirt material.

I set the alarm for my usual 6:15am start, I ended up pressing the snooze button a couple of times before starting. Today was going to a little different from usual as Bren wasn't coming down for the start, which I fully understand as I wouldn't particularly relish waiting a couple of hours for me to decide to drag myself across a finish line on what potentially looked like could be a very crappy day indeed, according to the Weather Channel. Getting into Dearborn wasn't very pleasant, parking wasn't much fun either, but I achieved both and got to the starting line about 20 minutes before the start. I had fueled up before leaving home, with my usual banana, water and some cereal. This was going to be the first race that I would have to carry fuel for as I'm still not completely convinced that GU will keep me going as I haven't had it enough and the runners rule is nothing new on race day, ie, same old shoes, clothes & sustenance, etc.

The starting line is mobbed with almost 1,800 people competing in this years race, I decide to try and slot myself in around half way. The horn sounds and we are off, which sounds way more intense than it actually is, as all we do is kind of shuffle, as a group toward the starting line, as the people in front get going. The timer is a chip in the numbered bib, so no concerns about how long it takes to cross the starting line, I also monitor my time using my Garmin watch, so I'll know exactly what my pace looks like and how I'm doing via my virtual partner. Of course, us usual, the first half mile or so is spent trying to pass walkers, etc, and it is as annoying, as usual.

The course is a lollipop, that is it goes out and back along the same road, I wasn't quite sure how I was going to feel about that. The first mile came in a little slow, but that is to be expected due to all the messing around you have to do to get away from all the walkers, etc. The the course ended up being quite pleasant, the day stayed grey, with a little very light rain around mile 8. The course rolled a bit but the hills weren't all that bad, but as you get near the end, any hill sucks and there were a few wee ones that almost had me walking. Walking for short periods were all part of my plan, but I just didn't get around to doing them, I kept promising myself a short walk after the next mile and just kinda kept on going, by the time I got to mile 10, I wanted to see if I could do the whole thing without stopping. I took advantage of water at the aid stations, either for a small sip, or to throw over my back.I didn't take the GU though, more relying on Cadbury's Mini Eggs, commandeered from the kids Easter Baskets on the way out of the house. The past part of the run involved running through the grounds of UoM Dearborn, going over two bridges which were moving up and down along with the runners which jarred my legs with each step, it was surprisingly nasty. Eventually the finish line was in site and I saw Bren about 100m beforehand. Medals & snacks distribution was well organised. The skies decided to open, just after I crossed the line, the temperature dropped and we got nicely wet...

How Endomondo saw it - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/iyAL1mMglEI

How my Garmin saw it - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/168021484

Final results 1:54:33.9 which was ~9 minute improvement, 52 out of 121 in my age group, 536 out of 1791 overall, all in all, I'm very chuffed.

My kids were also finishing up their Kids Marathon and had to do their final 1.2 miles after doing a total of 25 miles prior to race day, I ran with them, which was very cool, but damn sore on the legs, but I wouldn't have done it any other way.

Gordon, Iona & Liam (l to r)

Passion For Life 5 Mile run, Walled Lake, MI; 3/24/12

Grey, misty, mild day, perfect for a run. Myself, Gordon & his friend Johnny were running the 5 mile & Iona, Liam & his friend Thomas were running the 5k. I didn't think it was going to be too busy, so they would be OK, on their own, as it turned out that wasn't a good decision, but Thomas' mum, Meaghan offered to run with the kids, so were going to be ok.

Packet pickup was a fiasco, but I should have guessed it may have been and waited for a couple of hours, to give it a chance to settle down. We drifted downtown, found a parking space easily and drifted down to the Bayside to wait for the start, in retrospect we were a little too early, but better to be safe than sorry, right? There were a couple of photographers milling around, taking pics, hence the shots. The place was mobbed, apparently this is the largest charity race in Michigan, and it felt like it, bloody people everywhere.

The time came to start heading to start and it was kinda disorganized, but that was nothing compared to how messy the start of the race would be. I really wish races would start telling walkers, people with dogs and strollers that they have to start at the back of the pack as the first 3/4 mile was bedlam, trying to zig zag through groups of people milling about. There was also a couple of groups of people running beside each other in one across the road, a real pain in the ar$e. Once it settled down, I started enjoying it, although I've run the lake many times (albeit mostly counter clock wise), every time I see something new. The day was kind of strange due to the mist hanging over the lake.

I downloaded a metronome app from the Android marketplace during the week for my cell phone so I could try and maintain the near mystical 180 steps per minute cadence. One of the hints the instructor gave was to use the metronome to monitor the cadence of my arm swing and to use that to control my step, I suspect this was to discourage slamming the feet down on the beep, but I'm not 100% sure. I was also, consciously running lower down, thus forcing me to keep my knees bent, & to try and stop myself from heel striking quite so much. It felt a little strange and I did feel a little tighness in my calfs while running, but it kept me going at a fairly respectable pace.

The field really thinned out after the 5k'ers looped back to the start, the course was uneventful, with a couple of aid stations and some people handing out bottles of water along the way. I still prefer to run it anti-clockwise, but, on the whole, a good day out.

On finishing I got a chance to watch everyone finish their races which was very cool, as I generally don't know anyone or it is too busy to enjoy it.

9/22 in my age group;  77/229 overall; PRed the lake

Gordon, Liam, Johnny & Thomas

Iona, myself, Thomas & Liam

Thomas finishing strong

Me looking beat

Iona after cadging a lift to the finish

Liam overtaking on the final turn

Me, on the home stretch

Johnny, flying

Gordon, heading to the finish