Sunday, September 29, 2013

Race 40 - Duluth Fall Festival 5K

I walked the Duluth Fall Festival 5K this morning.  This was my 7th time doing this race, four times as a runner, twice as a walker/runner, and this time as a walker.  This morning I had an average pace of 12:07 per mile for a finish time of 37:39.  Ironically, my walking time this year was faster than my walking/running time last year.  The bottom line for me on the walking, no knee pain!

This is a fun race for me.  It's close to home, the Fall Festival is going on with lots of activity before and after the race, it's just a good community type thing.


This year four of us did the race.  My son, his fiance,  my wife, and I made our way to the starting line on a beautiful, crisp Fall morning, with temps in the mid 50s and enjoyed the race.  This was a very special race for my wife as it was her first race!

Raney, Daniel, me, Mary after the race

And of course, for participating we all received a 28th annual Fall Festival 5K, 100% cotton, long sleeved t-shirt!

Perfect timing as we make our way into the cooler weather!


Saturday, September 21, 2013

Race 39 - R4TF Trail Half Marathon

Finally, another race!  This was race #39, R4TF (Race for the Fallen) trail half marathon at Red Top Mountain in Cartersville, GA.  2nd time I've done this race, it supports the PBF (Police Benevolent Foundation) to provide financial support for the families and survivors of officers whose death occur in the line of duty.


As always, I start watching the weather about 10 days out from any race I'm doing.  Rain and possible thunder & lightning is basically what I saw the entire time.  The rain does not bother me during a race, lightning does.   Luckily we just had rain.

The day started early with a 50 mile drive to Red Top Mountain State Park but not before a stop at Quik Trip for coffee and some simple carbohydrates.  Got there, in the dark, with plenty of time to spare - no problem though, prefer this to rushing at the last minute.

parking in the dark, in the rain, in an open field in the woods - it's a trail race!
check in is a breeze in smaller races :)
and plenty of time to cycle through a few times...

As it got light we headed over to starting line and we were off.  Only a slight drizzle coming down at the beginning.

The first mile was on the road which allowed me to alternate between brisk and fast walking without any problem.  However once on the trail, with the rocks, roots, ups, downs, switchbacks,...  well the terrain pretty much dictated fast vs. brisk and at times, slow.  My idea of alternating between those will probably only work in a road race.  Oh well.

The race really was uneventful.  Everything went pretty smooth - I did not get lost in woods - there was great signage telling us which way to go, I did not fall, they had plenty of aid stations with water, Gatorade, fruit.  The only frustrating thing was not being able to see my pace, mileage, heart rate, time on my watch after about mile 4 - with the rain, humidity, body heat, my glasses were fogged up.

finishing the race at mile 13

I finished in 2:58:33, soaking wet!  It was a really good workout.