Twelve Thousand

I ran the New Charles River Run this morning. I did the 7.5 mile (12k) run but they also had a 5K and a relay. How did I do after running maybe twice in the last six weeks, after spending a couple weeks abroad stuffing myself on rich food and countless liters of ale?

Fantastic!

I pleasantly surprised myself this morning. Shocked myself, to be honest. I was worried about being out of shape, out of training, making a spectacle of myself crawling on all fours to cross the 3-mile mark, let alone the finish line, leaving a trail of blood, tears and vomit behind me. But I just took it slow and steady and pounded out 7.5 miles at about a 10.6 min. pace according to my rough calculations (haven't seen my actual time yet) [Ed: 10:42. Just checked. Not going to put up my place. Decidedly not-first.]. Perfect weather this morning - overcast, cooler and misty, although still quite humid. Definitely helped not having the sun beating down. Here's a map of the race routes:



It was a huge event - I think they said 1,500 participants - and it was hugely motivational to run along with everyone. I felt a lot better mentally for this race than I did for the Canal Diggers. No crippling nerves - I didn't care about my time, expecting a cruddy performance. My goal was just to finish. Worked better than I had hoped! I also didn't think much about the race itself while running - just rocked it with my iPod until the 4th mile marker, when it hit me, "Hey, I'm over halfway there. I can do this!" At that point I started looking for the other distance markers and thinking about the end, so the second half felt like it took a lot longer.

The energy and excitement and pure feel-goodness at a race is hard to describe. Almost everyone is grinning, happy to be alive and participating. It's a very varied demographic in terms of age, gender, weight, shape (both, er, physical and health-wise). Really cool to be a part of something like this. It was just so much...fun!

The only problem - and it's an admittedly enormous one - is that they ran out of free beer!

UNCONSCIONABLE!!!

Now - and I am addressing Harpoon Brewery management directly here - I understand that there were a ton of people there, but you knew the number of registered runners days beforehand. If you say there's going to be free beer, there should at least be enough so that half the people (inevitably all in the Slow Man's Class like me, bringing up the rear) don't get screwed out of the lovely hoppy goodness of Harpoon IPA! I mean come on! The thought of a pint of Harpoon IPA was what kept me going, what gave me that final kick for the last half mile. To sprint across the finish line, walk through the patio area with other racers laughing and enjoying bubbly golden beers, to push my way up to the table only to see kicked kegs and forlorn faces was almost too much to bear. Please, for the love of all that is good and decent in this world, have enough beer next time.

Take a lesson from Vitamin Water and Snickers. The former had limitless cans of a choice of their waters to hydrate racers, and the latter included their (new?) protein bar in each racer's bag. You can bet that next time I run one of these things I will buy Snickers power-bars. That thing gave me energy to spare this morning! And they had one for everyone.

(Some may say, "Well Mike, perhaps if your fat ass had finished above the bottom 5th percentile then you would've had beer galore." To these people I say: a fair point, and motivation for future races! I still think Harpoon screwed the pooch. Perhaps I'm bitter? Most assuredly so, but not as bitter as that hoppy IPA that I didn't get to taste!)

This is not only the longest race I've run yet (my previous was a 5K) but I think it was the longest distance I've ever run (7.5 mi. = 12K). Even in my track days I think 5 miles was the most I ever ran. So this is a big accomplishment for me personally. It got me to thinking, as my roommate pointed out ("You ran half of a half-marathon!"), that if I can do this, out of shape, bloated, and more or less cold and feel this good, then maybe, just maybe, with the proper training and effort, once I get back into A-side shape, that I could maybe, just maybe, do the Ultimate.

Plenty of time until next April, right?

Also cool was that four-time marathon winner Bill Rodgers was a VIP at the race today. Last Tuesday I went to his Running Center in the North Market Building at Faneuil Hall to pick up my race stuff. He was there, autographing small posters. Really nice guy, seemed genuinely pleased to meet me, took a few minutes to give me good advice ("Drink lots of water before the race!") and now I have it sitting on my desk for inspiration. The whole thing was pretty sweet.

Now, to ice my swollen IT bands and consult Dr. B. Larry on pain medication.

Social Calendar: Week of 6/23

Tuesday, 6/24: Pickin' MF Tuesday! Attending guests include A-side, Pickin' Baines Johnston, and Ben "I haven't blogged since Bush was in office" Oculus. RSVP to HTFO@sweetrigs.net.

Thursday, 6/26: The opening night of summer 2008's Blues Barge at the Boston Harbor Hotel featuring the James Montgomery BluesBand! Attending guests include A-side, Hendrick's, and a helluva summer evening if my weather widget is at all trustworthy.

Saturday, 6/28: One of my roommates is in the musical "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," playing at UMass Boston's McCormack Theater. For more info, visit www.encoreboston.org.

Sunday, 6/29: The New Charles River Run! 7.5 mi. Anyone not fit to run can line up behind me - I'll need the head start.

Sponsored by Hanging Out, Inc. (charter member of the Association for a Schtonky Society).

Comments, questions, and concerns can be directed to Dr. Thirsty F. Goodbeers, President, H.O.I.*

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*Gotta give a nod to Scottoway Jokesalot for this last bit.

Five Thousand

Sunday morning I ran a race for the first time since high school - the inaugural Canal Diggers 5K in Worcester, MA. I've been pretty good about running this summer, normally doing about 3.5 mi 2-3 times per week with one or two 5-6 miles days mixed in to extend myself. I got an email about the race and decided to try it. I had been thinking about doing one for a while. I wasn't worried at all about the length - it was about half of my maximum, so it was more a matter of actually going through with it and trying to put forth my best effort. It was a fun, painful, and rewarding experience.

I woke up at 6AM and jogged over to South Station to catch the 7:50 train to Worcester. I arrived at the Fiddler's Green tavern around nine o'clock. The tavern was sitting in a parking lot, nothing "green" as far as the eye could see. I had pre-registered (at a discount price thanks to my being a Friend of Harpoon - also how I heard about the race in the first place) and picked up my race #510 and my T-shirt. The race didn't start until 11AM, so I had to wait around for a while as a growing crowd gathered. The racers were all ages, body types, etc. - from strapping young lads like myself to a couple very young kids to a few geriatrics rounding out the 70+ age bracket. One middle-aged gent made some conversation with me, asking for tips on the race. This was his first, at 56. I explained that it was also my first, at 27. We had a few laughs and wished each other good luck. The weather was near-perfect for a morning run. Cool and slightly breezy at around 65, but sunny.

Finally, 11:00 rolled around, everyone lined up and we were off! I busted out at what seemed to me to be a frantic pace, but I was amped up, full of adrenaline and nervous energy, and I started knocking off the meters. As the initial bunch broke up, I moved to the right side of the street and hung out there on the rail, moving up past runners who looked like they should be faster than I. It was right after one of the volunteers we passed announced the 1 mile mark (a 5K is about 3.1 mi) that I started to feel the burning in my legs, especially my left. My lower abdomen tightened up - not a stitch or a cramp, but sort of a dull, tight pain throughout my entire stomach. I had gone out far too fast, and now I was slowing down. People started passing me. I settled into a pace far slower than my initial one, but I got into a groove and tried to focus on staying up with whoever was right in front of me.

(Side note here: Worcester is hideously ugly. We were running through a concrete jungle of industrial/commercial wasteland. Offensive to the senses. The race officials joked about it "Be careful out there - this is Worcester after all!" and the race director kept insisting that "Worcester is alive!" despite all evidence to the contrary.)

By the time we had the last half mile or so to go, I was dizzy, extremely sore, and in pain that I hadn't experienced in a long time in running. I felt like the sun was beating down and I might as well have been running in 90 degree, humid August weather for all my effort and perspiration. I felt just like I did when I used to run track in high school - a horrific experience to be sure. I blame an overambitious starting pace and my nerves, which debilitated me severely in high school (on and off the track) and assuredly affected me to some degree on Sunday, the fact that it was a meaningless road race with a bunch of folks my parents' age notwithstanding.

I managed to kick it into a higher gear as we rounded the final turn and crossed the finish line in something resembling a sprint. A guy a couple places ahead of me who was pretty buff and wearing skin-tight running gear booted immediately upon entering the finishing area. That made me feel somewhat superior, but I was kind of bummed at this point. A bunch of people had passed me, many of whom put my masculinity in severe doubt (tiny girls with strides half the size of mine, greybeards, ugly people, etc.)

However, after I had caught my breath, chugged some water, and considered the benefits of seppuku right then and there, I watched the remaining racers finish. They kept coming. And coming. There were a lot of people behind me. This made me feel slightly better.

The event was very well-organized. After everyone finished, we made our way back to the Fiddler's Green where there were tables of fresh fruit, grills going, and Harpoon beer tents set up. After running five kilometers the first thing I want is a cup full of beer! I inhaled some food and grabbed a Harpoon IPA - free beer never tasted so good. There was a band playing - the Brennan Brothers, three guys who played a variety of Irish folk songs. Entertaining. One guy walked around handing out these sweet medals to all the participants:


(Note its functionality as a bottle opener.)

I read somewhere that running a race like this is one of few events where everyone involved is in a genuinely good mood, and this was true in my experience. A combination of runner's high, a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie perhaps? Whatever it was, people were friendly, helpful, and laughing and drinking in the post-race celebration. It was a pretty cool party with 550+ strangers. There was a trophy ceremony for the winners in the various age and weight categories (needless to say I did not top the 18-29 year-olds).

Despite sunstroke (a tomato-face sunburn and a splitting headache the rest of the day point to this, although dehydration may have played a central role as well) a persistent pain in my left knee (particularly sore when bending said knee, an activity rather important in walking and ascending or descending stairs) and general soreness, I'm glad I did it. I checked CoolRunning.com today for the race results, and although I wasn't sure what to expect before I ran, I was very pleasantly surprised with the following:

• Finished 99th out of 563 runners
• Just made the top 100
• Top 17.6%
• Race time of 23:42, averaging a 7:38 mile pace

I was running the fastest I have in a long time at the outset, and definitely felt like I was giving about as close to 100% as I could for most of the race, so I definitely feel some validation. I feel a lot better about my performance than I did when I finished yesterday. That's a pretty good pace for me, I think. I definitely want to race more. 10K next?

Thanks to Paul Collier and all the volunteers who ran the show and gave out plenty of encouragement during the race. Thanks to the Worcester Police who helped with traffic along the race route. Thanks to the sponsors, including Harpoon, whose IPA ranks up there with the greatest things ever created.