Turkey Chase Race Recap

     Now that the zombie apocalypse of a weekend commonly known as black Friday weekend is coming to an end, I had a little free time to recap the Dave's Running Thanksgiving Day Turkey Chase 5K.  I woke up to mild temperatures and wet conditions from the rain that fell overnight.  Once I got dressed and ate a little breakfast I made my way downtown to get a decent parking spot and meet my fellow Mercy Health Glass City Marathon Ambassadors for a group picture.  I had to laugh when Jen, a fellow ambassador showed up in the turkey costume because I had no idea she was the turkey for everyone to chase. 

     After our group picture we all were talking about what times we were trying to hit, I really hadn't thought about it because it was my long run day, so my plan was to run the race and then go run another 7 miles when I got home.  I wished everyone luck and took off to do a little warm up jog.  This is when I noticed that I had forgot my earbuds.  I absolutely hate running without music, but this time I had no choice.  When I got done, our conversation about what time we all were trying for was bugging me so I looked up my 5k PR and remembered that was the day I won the Run the Res 5k last year.  I finished that race in 22:20 and after a little waffling I figured what the hell I'll give it a shot to try and beat it.  I made my way to the front of the pack to ensure I could get a good start with a few minutes before the start. 

     Once the horn sounded I went out like I was shot out of a cannon and feeling pretty good.  Now the weather never was a factor, but there was so much moisture in the air that it was misting the entire run.  The mist made it difficult to see as it built up on my glasses and the roads got slippery where they used tar to patch up the cracks.  When I hit the mile and a half mark, my breathing became a little labored and I noticed my heart rate was pegged close to my max.  I thought about shutting it down, but decided to keep going till I couldn't breath anymore.

     Coming down to the final stretch my breathing, even though was labored, had stayed pretty even.  I used the short downhill to help my legs kick into one more gear for the remaining tenth of a mile.  To be honest when I crossed the finish line I had no idea if I PRd this thing, but I didn't care, all I wanted to do is catch my breathe.  Now that I was breathing easier, I took a look and was stunned that I PRd by 20 seconds, which was made official later in the day when the official results were published.

     When I set that PR last year, I felt like I was in really good running shape vs now when I am 10 pounds over my goal weight and still coming back from my hip surgery.  Needless to say I was proud of myself, but knew I still had some work to do with my conditioning.  After I got home, I hit the road for the rest of the miles I wanted to get in, but I cut it down to five due to how hard I pushed running the other three.

KEEP AN EYE OUT, TOMORROW

MY MERCY HEALTH GCM

GIVEAWAY BEGINS

McQueen's 10K race recap

     

      If you were designing the perfect day for a race, today would be the exact representation of that day.  By the time the race started it was in the high 40's to low 50's, clear skies and virtually no wind at all.  The race was scheduled to start at 9:00am so I made sure I was there about 45 minutes prior to the start so I could get warmed up and check the place out.  McQueen's Orchard has been a staple for the Toledo area for more than 55 years, and plays host to many of fun family events throughout the year.  To be honest I couldn't tell you how many years they have been hosting this event, but it felt like they had been doing this for years.

     

     Once I got there I walked around and checked out the grounds, which were filled with cars, people and small carnival rides for the kids.  I found several of my fellow Mercy Health Glass City Marathon Ambassadors prepping for the race near the start line.  We got together for a few pictures and to talk about what our goals were for the race.  I finally got to meet Brian, the only other male ambassador this year.  Brian is a firefighter in the Sandusky area and is quite well known because every run he does in full firefighter gear to bring awareness for his fallen brothers and passes out stuffed animals to the young spectators along the course.  He has run almost 60 races including several marathons as well.

     Race time came and we filed into the starting coral to ready for the starting gun to send us on our way.  I was planning on hanging with a local running coach, Chris Peiffer who I hadn't met till today, but we follow each other on Instagram.  He was pacing a few people for this run as they were using it as a training run for another race.  They were going to run a 9:45ish pace, however they were feeling pretty good and made the game day decision to push their pace by about 30 or so seconds.  

     If I had a complaint about this race, the only one would be how small the starting coral was.  We were packed in so tight and for the first few hundred yards there wasn't much room to spread out.  It took me almost a mile and a half before I caught up to Chris and his group, where I just hung out till we hit the last 1.2 miles.  I was feeling really really good and felt like I could push myself harder, so I slowly started to kick it out and pulled away from the group.  I went from a 8:56 pace in mile five to an 8:21 pace for mile six and was able to finish officially with a time of 55:59 @ 9:01 pace.  I knew at the time that I had PRd my 10k time since the last time I ran a 10k I was well over 200 pounds.  Based on my Garmin Connect account, today's race was 12.5 minutes faster than my previous PR.  

     As far as the race course goes, it was a very flat race on country roads and neighborhoods.  I was a little worried when we hit the end of mile three and made a right turn back where we started from.  I was thinking we were going to run the exact same route we just did, however this was only the case for a mile where we turned off the original route and started through some of the nicer neighborhoods in the area.  We made several left and right turns before getting back on the original route for the last half mile to the finish.  At the end we were treated to cold water, fresh picked apples, apple cider, power bars and fresh baked sugar coated cake donuts.  I grabbed a donut, a power bar and an apple to celebrate my new PR.

 

     All in all, if you are looking for a fun, flat 5k or 10k race in the fall then this race is for you.  If you are one to dress up in your favorite costumes and think, "it would be fun to run dressed like this" then this race is most defiantly for you.  I'll leave you with a few pictures I grabbed off of Dave's Performance Footgear's Facebook page so you can see some of the fun times from the day!  

2015 Glass City Marathon Race Recap Part 2

     Once we were all showered, dressed and ready to go, we hopped in the car and made out way over to the UT campus for the start of the race.  The temperature wasn't to terribly bad being in the high thirties since there was no wind to speak of.  With hardly any traffic on the roads we made really good time and got there early enough to get a pretty close up parking spot.  Mandy had a friend from work doing the 5K with her so we made plans to meet her at the expo hall at 6:30.  Once we met up with Annie we hung out in the expo hall to keep warm while I did a few light stretches and some warm up exercises.  With twenty minutes till race start we headed outside so I could get a couple light warmup laps and my dynamic stretches done.  When I was ready to go we snapped a couple pics and I attempted to find my place in the starting corals.

 

    
     This year was a growth year for the race as far as participants go, so when I tried to get in my assigned starting coral, it was so jam packed there was no room for me.  People were climbing over the bike rack barricades to get in and the provided doorways in were full and spilling out into the spectator area.  I ended up finding a small hole to get in to the coral ahead of mine, which worked out fine because I ended up running faster than I originally anticipated.  I was in the corals with about 5 minutes to spare before a couple of guest speakers said a few words and then the horn sounded and we were off.

     The race course quickly takes us off campus across a major road and into some of the nicest neighborhoods in Toledo.  What is nice about running through these neighborhoods is the fact that the community embraces the race and people come out of their homes to clap, cheer, hold signs or simply just to watch while not being upset with street closers or disrupting their daily routines.  

     Around mile 2 I started to have some GI issues and had some gas pressure building up that also was putting pressure on my bladder.  From that point till almost mile 7 or 8 I felt like I had to pee, which made me think maybe I should slowdown and maybe hit a port a potty.  I almost did when a runner a little bit ahead of me made a B-line right for it, so I decided to just press on.  Slowly I was able relieve the gas pressure (sorry runners who were behind me) and my need to pee subsided.  As the race went on I kept a close eye on my Garmin trying to maintain a steady pace, all while telling myself to run my own race and not worry about people passing me or me passing others.  I would have to remind myself that just because someone passed me doesn't mean I am slowing down and my Garmin confirmed that.  

     Through the first half of the race I was holding a steady pace between 8:10 and 8:15 so I thought if I felt good at the half way point I would slowly increase my speed and try to get a negative split for the second half.  Mile 7 I started to speed up and I must have hit a mini wall because I was feeling a little tired in mile 8 and struggled to even get an 8:15 pace.  I pushed through it and got back to around an 8:06 pace for miles 9-11.  At mile 10 they had a timing clock that read 1:21 on it when I passed and I quickly did the math in my head, three or four times to be sure, that if I held my pace I was going to hit a sub 1:50 time and even had a shot at a sub 1:45 time.  When I hit mile 12, which was mostly an up hill climb, I decided to not push to hard and save my legs for the last mile, so my paces plummeted to an 8:21.  Just before the last mile I looked at my time and thought If I want a sub 1:45 I need to get a move on, so I threw on some loud fast rock in roll and cranked up the pace to go as fast as I could without burning myself out too early.  Unfortunately I just didn't have enough time to do it, but I wasn't disappointed at all because I crushed the shit out of my PR by more than 12 minutes.

     After I crossed the line I got a water and my medal and met up with Mandy, who showed me her shinny new medal.  I was more proud of her for completing the race and getting the medal than I was of my new PR!  Mandy always said she doesn't like running and who knows if she ever will, but the fact that she got out there and did it was the best part of my day.  We took a few pictures and headed to the post race party to get some food and to relax.  The Glass City puts on a hell of a spread with fruit, pretzels, cookies, candy and my favorite Gino's pizza and bread sticks.  Of course the beer was flowing as well for those that like to partake in a nice cold one post race.  We sat out in the warm sun listening to Zak Ward's band play a few tunes while we enjoyed our little feast.  When we finished I stopped over to talk with Zak, we are buddies from high school and were in a band together for a few years before school and work took precedence and we had to call it quits.

   
     For me, other than the race organizers needing to reevaluate the starting line and corals for the growth in participants, I don't have anything else bad to say or to criticize about the race.  I can't speak to the full marathon, but for the half all the water stops, but one were fully staffed and well stocked with fluids, all the timing mats except for one had either a clock or someone there calling out times and the spectator support was great.  My two favorite parts of the entire race is the view of the University Bell Tower as your are coming down Drummond road (sorry no picture, I was trying to crush my PR) and the finish when you come through the gates of the UT Glass Bowl football stadium and run the finishing shoot on the 50 yard line.  

     We will see what next year brings, but I would really like to complete the trifecta and do the marathon next year, but we will see.  I want to give a big thank you to Amanda Kessler for asking me to be a race Ambassador for this year.  I had a lot of fun writing about it and to be asked to represent my hometown race was truly an honor.  I also want to thank friend and Race Director Clint McCormick for another wonderful Glass City Marathon event.  Even though this is only my third year participating in the event I have to say you and the other organizers are a class act providing Toledo with an event we can be proud of!

2015 Glass City Marathon Race Recap Part 1

     Saturday was expo day for the Glass City Marathon and because I had to work the expo as part of my ambassador duties so I took a vacation day from my normal job.  I didn't have to be to the expo until 12:30 so it was nice to sleep in and just relax in the morning with my wife.  Mandy and I were going out to a pre-race dinner with some friends about an hour after my shift was over so she graciously volunteered to work the expo with me.  

     We arrived on the campus of the University of Toledo and instantly we could tell the expo was packed.  We walked in and were immediately met by two volunteers asking us questions and directing us where we needed to go.   We headed right over to the info booth to meet the other ambassadors, volunteers and to get our instructions for the afternoon.  When the shift change happened, Mandy and I decided to relieve the "greeters" that welcomed us.  For racers to pick up their packets they needed their race bib numbers, so we were asking them if they new their numbers yet.  The ones that did we directed into the expo area and the ones that didn't we directed them over to the tables where the Racejoy app table was set up so they could look up their bib numbers.

     During our shift I saw a few people I recognize from other events around Toledo, my best friend's cousin who was running her first half marathon, but what really did it for me was when a reader stop to say hello.  This was the first time a reader of my blog has ever said something to me in person, and to hear someone who is fighting the same battle as I am say "I read your blog all the time and you are such an inspiration" just totally floored me.  In that moment I was consumed with such emotion I could hardly say anything and to be honest I can't remember exactly what was said, so if I didn't say it I wanted to say congrats on the weight loss and let him know that I really appreciated him saying hello.  What you have accomplished is amazing and you should be so proud!  Keep up the hard work and now I'll add, hope you had a great race on Sunday.  He had told me that he has lost over 185 pounds and thanked me for writing my blog.  Sorry I didn't get a picture with him, I wasn't really thinking clearly at that moment.  

***Warning, quick side note***

     I started this blog with the intentions of paying it forward for those that need the inspiration that I needed and got while I was loosing the weight.  In the digital age when people write to me or comment on Facebook it means a lot to me, but for the first time it truly became real to me when I shook the guys hand.  Nothing means more to me than knowing that I am able to help someone like the Fat to Finish Line crew did for me.   

***Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program***

     As the afternoon went on Mandy and I were getting a little tired and slap happy.  You start to go a little crazy when you say pretty much the same thing over and over for 4 straight hours, "hello, are you here for packet pick up?  Do you know your bib number yet? Great the entrance to the expo is right this way! or No, you'll need that to pick up your packet, so step over to these tables here where they can help you look that up."  When our shift ended we went to pick up our packets, look around at all the expo had to offer and then make our way to Perrysburg for dinner.

      We were going out to dinner with my friend Katie, who writes the blog Runs for Cookies, her husband Jerry and twenty or so of her friends and family who were running on 5-person relay teams together.  Katie's sister made reservations at a regionally known Italian restaurant chain call Biaggi's.  They have restaurants in 10 states, with most of their locations in Illinois.  I can't speak to other people's experiences, but mine and Mandy's was pretty darn good.  They had warm bread with olive oil to dip the bread in for snacking, which we gobbled up because we were starving.  For our main course I got spaghetti and meatballs which was wonderful and Mandy got lasagna and said she loved it.  It was so great catching up with everyone and nothing is better than getting to talk Star Wars, comic book movies, tv shows and RedWings hockey with Jerry.  

     It was getting late and the dogs had been alone almost all day so we wanted to get home and play with them so we could get them tired out before bed, so we said our goodbyes and headed home.  Mandy and I got our clothes laid out and I got all my tech gear ready for the morning.  Thankfully the dogs settled down and we were able to get to bed at a decent time, considering we had to be up at 4:30am so we could be out the door by 5:15am.  Wow, can you believe I use to hate getting up early and could sleep till one in the afternoon like it was no big deal.

     The exciting conclusion of Running in the Fat lane's 

2015 Glass City Marathon Race Recap, next time!  

Same fat time, same fat channel! 

Hell Of A 3rd Run-aversary

     Today turned out to be one hell of a day to celebrate my 3rd Run-aversary.  The Run the Res 5K was the first ever race I participated in and so I use it as my running anniversary.  This was the 6th year for the race and the third that I had participated in.  The race features a 5K and 10K distance that circles around the charming reservoir in Fostoria.  

     The day started out waking up to a beautiful cloudless sunny morning.  I wasn't feeling my best yesterday so I decided to skip my run and if I was feeling better I would do a few miles in the morning before my race.  Well I was feeling much better with the extra sleep I got so I suited up and headed out for 4 miles close to my half marathon race pace.  After I finished my run I sat down and ate, jumped in the shower and got dressed for the race.

     Once Mandy and I got to the park I headed over to packet pick up and get warmed up for the race.  It has become a tradition now that Mandy takes a picture in roughly the same spot as kind of a yearly comparison.  Below is all three years prior to the start of each race:

     Before the race began Mandy asked me what I was thinking about running, time wise.  I wasn't really sure, I didn't think I had it in me to get a new PR for the distance, but I thought I could at least PR the event.  The 5K and 10K races start together and at the 2.25 mile mark they split left and right to an out and back section before finishing back at where we started from.  Once the race started I was feeling really good and was surprised to see I was hanging in the top 15 of all the runners.  I was holding around a 7:12 pace when we hit the first mile when a guy passed me and the lady a few feet in front of me.  I pushed a little harder and tucked in behind him, trying to stay with him.  I keep wondering now if I could have pushed myself harder at this point, but when I was running I kept thinking I didn't want to burn myself out to early. 

     I came around the corner and saw Mandy there taking my picture and gave me a high 5 as I passed by.  I headed up the small hill, where we split off from the 10K runners, still behind the same guy, but a few more steps behind.  As we started down the hill I noticed a young lady in front of both of us maybe 25 yards or so, but what I didn't see was anyone else in front of her or anyone already making the return trip.  It was at that moment I realized that I was currently in third place and couldn't believe it.  The guy in front of me and I made up ground on the front runner and almost immediately after making the turnaround we both past her.  At this point in the race I was about 10 yards behind in 2nd place when we started the climb back up the hill.  Once we hit the top and started our way down, I used gravity as much as possible was able to be right on his heels.  Just as we hit the 2.8 mile mark I decided to pour it on and make my move, hoping I had enough to hold him off.  I glanced back when my watch beeped the 3 mile mark and I didn't see him, I had to look again and sure as shit he was nowhere in sight.

     I came flying in to a bunch of volunteers that clapped and congratulated me for not only winning the 5K, but being the first runner back from either races.  Mandy came up to me saying "you won, you won babe!"  She later told me that while she was waiting for me a volunteer said "here comes the first runner back" and when she turned around she was stunned to see it was me and fumbled with her phone and wasn't able to get a pic of me.  To be honest I am still in shock that I won, and I think I did because all the guys that were ahead of me were running the 10K, but I am not going to let that tarnish my race. 

     We waited around to see the official results and for the prizes to be awarded.  According to the official results I finished in 22:20 which was one second faster than my current 5K PR, so needless to say this was one hell of a day.  Here are a few other pictures from today's race.