The Men's 4-Miler, June 19, 2011

Well friends, the new race course and event were fantastic. On Father's Day this month, about 500 men in Charlottesville lined up at 7:30am in the parking lot of Scott Stadium at the University of Virginia to run the revamped (men's only) 4 mile race. My personal record for this event (back when it was held in Free Union) is 31:58. I was nervous about the new course, hills, etc. but what slowed me down more than anything was the humidity. It was fairly brutal, at 90 percent humidity and air temps of 72 degrees. My finish time was 32:48, or an 8:12 pace per mile. Not bad, but not a personal record. I started out well, with a mile 1 split of 8:05 and a mile 2 split of 7:59, but then I lost a lot of steam. (Note about the course: While the reports were that the first two miles are slightly uphill [true] and the last two miles downhill [untrue]. Some hill training at miles 3-4 would definitely help. My final two miles were slower than the first two, not exactly a recipe for a PR. But what a great event. Here in Charlottesville, the Women's 4-Miler is such a mega-event, selling out in 48 hours. It's nice to see the men improving on their participation, and for proceeds of the race going to the Department of Urology at the UVA Medical School for prostate cancer research and overall support of men's health initiatives. Hope to see more of you next year. Who knows? Maybe the men's race will become the super mega-event like the women's race!

The Charlottesville 10-Miler Race

Friends, family and colleagues have all been wonderful, and politely asking me "How was your race?" I have hesitated in answering because I'm not yet sure. The race itself is a wonderful event, great atmosphere, well organized, a true fundraiser for the local food shelters, etc. But the course itself? It's brutal. The hills are sneaky tough, but I ran them fairly well, never stopping at any point in the race. So here is a summary of some race stats: Pre-race blood glucose was 262 (a little high from eating a light breakfast and purposely not over-bolusing two hours before race-time), post-race glucose was 122 using a 50% of normal basal rate for 90 minutes. I finished the race with a chip time of 1:30:07, about 2.5 minutes below my training target rate. The course measured 10.15 miles on my GPS watch, which leads me to believe the course is a tad longer than 10 miles. I am sore. Next time I run the race, I will bring my own small water bottle. It is too chaotic to run by tables and attempt to drink out of cups while one is running, and it does slow one down! I am looking forward to recovery runs this week, staying on track for about 20 miles per week, and finding some new races for the fall. I might run some shorter races for fun, just to keep me honest on speed work. Happy spring everyone!

Tapering

The Charlottesville 10-miler is only three days away! My training plan calls for running 4 miles (Monday), 3 miles (Wednesday) and 2 miles (Thursday). This process of backing off my mileage is considered by many a standard method for allowing the body to be fully ready for race day without incurring injuring. The process of "tapering" also allows the body to recover a bit from the intensity of training for 18 weeks. My experience is that my legs muscles begin to "coil" up--in a good way, and they usually feel fresher and stronger on race day. Blood sugars usually run normal during this week of less intensive training. I am still doing strengthening exercises on my off-running days, and my appetite it still good--but I need to make sure I don't pack on extra pounds during the final week. If you're running this historic race, good luck and I hope to meet you at the finish line. If you are still training, hang in there. The final weeks of training are usually tough, but very satisfying during your final taper weeks.