Poor sportsmanship

On Saturday, I encountered a rather disheartening incident during my run. I had set off to do a long run of almost 8 and a half miles, over to Ypsilanti, to the bus center, from which I'd bus home. I've done this run several times before, and so wasn't worried about my ability to do it. But as I was just getting nicely started, having gone about two miles, I tripped over a wire someone had strung across the sidewalk, and went down in a heap. Thinking about it later, all I could imagine was that, since this was early Saturday, some kids had done it Friday evening as a form of mischievous "fun." When I went down, I bloodied my knee and scraped up the heels of both hands ... but fortunately was able to avoid serious injury. (I am very grateful for God's protection, as the outcome could easily have been a lot worse.) I did decide to cut the run short, though, and after continuing on a couple more miles I pulled out the bus fare I carry with my on long runs and rode home. Though I am not highly sore, I've been a little leery since then and have only run once so far since Saturday.

June 6, 2010

Last June 6, I ran in the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run, a big event in this area. The run includes a 5K, 10K, and a half-marathon (from Dexter to Ann Arbor, thus the name). In 2007 and 2008, I ran the 5K, and in 2009 and last year I ran the 10K (6.2 miles). I can't run in this year's, as I will be out of the state.
The company who did the photos for last year's Run was slow in getting them out, and I just received mine. I can't remember precisely where it was, but it seems to me that it was at 4 or 5 miles into the run, and I'm clearly tiring.

Attitude, attitude ...

I am finding it difficult right now to keep to the daily regularity of my running. If I want to pursue my goal of running until I'm 90, however ... and I do ... then I know that I need to keep after it. (My kids are amused by my self-proclaimed goal of running 4 miles on my 90th birthday, March 17, 2047. But I believe it is doable, so long as I am willing to settle for slow running. I know that I have good genes, with grandmothers that lived to 102 and 93, and a still-spry and active mother at age 87.) Much of the difficulty of it is the mental comparison to what I could do as a younger man. But I just need to set that aside, and be willing to go out now and do what I can do at this point.

Heart of Michigan official results

The results have now been posted on the website, for this morning's race, and my official time was 34:52.2, bring me in 136th place overall out of over 600 participants. Of my Male 50-54 age group, I was 6th out of 9.

Heart of Michigan

I ran a 5K race this morning, the "Heart of Michigan," which kind of took the place of last spring's "Heart of a Spartan" that Michigan State University declined to host again this year. (The story I heard was that the President of the University was inconvenienced by the closing of roads around her house for the race.) It was in Lansing, proceeding westward down Michigan Avenue, and ending at the Capitol building (hence the name). With Lansing being about an hour's drive from us, and the race at 8:30, I wanted to leave myself plenty of extra time so I wouldn't have to rush either in Ann Arbor or on the road, and thus I rose a few minutes before 5 AM, and was out the door by about 5:45. After stopping for gas, this put me up in Lansing around 7:00. Lansing Community College had kindly offered to let us park for free in their parking structure, so I got myself situated, and then went in to pick up my race packet (my bib number and t-shirt) ... and in that building, began my experience in Lansing happily, when a smiling man walked up to me and said, "Hi - I'm Will. I know you because I work at Running Fit in Ann Arbor (where I buy my shoes)." And then looking at my shirt, he said, "Oh, I see you've run the Big House Big Heart in Ann Arbor ... and I remember you running the Heart of a Spartan last year, too." After I picked up my stuff, I retreated to the car to read for a while, and then about 7:45 caught one of the buses they were providing to transport us to the start (at Dunham's, near Frandor Mall). On the way up, it had been raining lightly, and I hoped it would stop ... but no such luck. A light rain continued during my 20-minute warmup jog, for which I had plenty of time, and then for the start of the race, too. But sometime during the race it tapered off, because by the end it had stopped. I was sure I couldn't challenge my 29:14 5K personal record, but even so, I was disappointed in the 34:34 my watch showed me. (Official chip times will be posted on the website tonight.) I would have beaten the PR if the race had only been straight down Michigan Avenue ending at the Capitol, as I had originally been told, as I did that in 28:34; but once we got there, we had to do a (clockwise) loop around the Capitol itself - 4 larger-than-average blocks. Anyway, after walking the 8 blocks or so back to my car, and then making the leisurely drive home, I walked in the door about 10:45, after having had a good morning's workout.

Average pace

Upon the suggestion of a friend, I decided to figure my average running pace. Unsurprisingly, it has increased (though not steadily) since I resumed running in 2006 (after the 12-year hiatus following my severe 1993 accident.) This was fairly easy to figure, as I keep ongoing cumulative records of elapsed time and mileage ... so, using these, I was able to determine that in 2006, my average pace per mile was 8:58 (on a total of 732.7 miles); in 2007 my pace fell off considerably, and was 11:23 (for 932.2 miles); in 2008, the pace was 11:41 (for 1181.7 miles); in 2009, the pace improved considerably and was 9:28 (for 1000.2 miles); last year, my pace was 10:57 (for 724.7 miles); and this year so far, my average running pace is 11:30 (for 316.1 miles).
As this same good friend and fellow runner who is just a year younger than I reminds me, "You're no spring chicken!" (A line with significance to us, because early this year he was told this about himself, and he said that for the first time -- now that we are both in our early fifties -- it bothered him! :) And he is very clearly absolutely right about me. Rather than getting discouraged about the slowing down, however, I am just going to keep doing the best I can, and figure it's better than giving it up altogether.

A new race

By no means do I consider myself an athlete, but from time to time I like to run in a race anyway, and one such is coming up this Saturday morning ... the "Heart of Michigan" 5K, going westward on Michigan Ave. in Lansing and ending at the Capitol. This sort of 'takes the place' of one I ran last May, the "Heart of a Spartan" 5K at Michigan State University. (This picture is from near the finish of that race, when I was coming through the tunnel into Spartan Stadium.) The story I've heard is that MSU declined to host the race again this year, because last year's race inconvenienced the President of the University, when roads near her home were closed for the race. AWWW ...