Finally, a race.

I ran the first race I have signed up for in over three years today, a 5K. A search of the internet reveals that I ran a 5K four and a half years ago in about 26:30, when I was in much better shape and forty pounds lighter, and I ran a 5K three and a half years ago in about 28 minutes as I recall, a little more or a little less, and that might have been my last timed race.  (My medal for finishing the Home Run for the Homeless 5K run in Arlington.)

But then two years of inactivity ensued as I recovered from an achilles strain that put me in The Boot for all of the summer of 2017 and in the summer of 2018 the horror of a detached retina and four eyes surgeries transpired. Returning finally to running in May, I started from scratch and have been running twelve-minute mies, basically, as I slowly pushed my weekly mileage up to 12 miles and my long run up to 5 miles in 61 minutes.  (It was the first chilly morning of the fall so conditions for racing were perfect.)

Today I ran the Home Run For The Homeless 5K in Bluemont Park in Arlington, sponsored by a non-profit charitable foundation that spends millions in Arlington getting homeless families back on their feet and into a self-sustaining life situation, wherein the proceeds of the race go to this cause.  The day was chilly at race time, perfect conditions to run in.  (Corporal Johnson of the Arlington SO provided security, and friendly encouragement, wearing her pink embroidered breast cancer awareness badge that is standard issue for this month in the department.)

Just yesterday I ran 5K as a training run in 36 minutes (34 minutes if you don't count the time I spent in the local library returning books that were due that I had carried there in a multitasking run), even before I knew that I would race a 5K today in a last second decision at the urging of a couple of friends I encountered unexpectedly late yesterday afternoon.  I finished the race in 32:39, a 10:32 pace, far back in the pack (43/46 men by the time I drove away) but I was happy with the results because it felt good to be out there pushing myself as I continue to return to running.  (Happy that it went well.)

A workweek of running

I got in 31 miles of running last week, the most in quite awhile; since I came back in 2011 from my lengthy injury layoff and reduced my running a little, I've only hit thirty miles in a week once or twice before.  As usual, I ran five days out of the seven but these were all six mile runs at least, with some being slightly longer, five days in a row, the last four were solitary runs and they all incorporated at least half a mile of significant hills, usually during the last mile.

These runs were in the heat of the summer, July in DC, some with the dew point over 70 so it felt like 100 degrees on several days.  At the end of the week my feet hurt, I had to discard a pair of size 12 1/2 running shoes which size has become too small for me anymore, and I was the lightest I have been since a few years before my forced layoff.

In other words, I got 'er done, just like in the days of old last decade.  The week got underway with a two and a half mile run with John on the W&OD Trail at Bluemont, except that John was late or I was early so I ran four miles of hills waiting for John because I went for a preliminary run to kill time, went off the trail in an exploratory mode, got lost and ran up and down several hills working my way back to where I was supposed to meet John, who was there waiting for me by then.

The next four runs were all variations on my longer (5-6 mile) runs around my house, two runs around the 5-mile loop embracing my greater neighborhood, after a preliminary neighborhood mile each day, during which I ran by a local Fourth of July parade, and two out and backs three miles each way on the W&OD, first a run east on the trail and on the fifth day a run west on the trail.  I finished the last four runs running over the extended hill north of MP 7.5 on the trail, finishing at the local McDonalds each morning where, dripping sweat in large drops all over their floor and handing the cashier soaked currency, I ordered my morning coffee and walked the last few blocks home.

Running at Bluemont

A few Saturdays ago I ran with H at Bluemont on the W&OD Trail, a mostly-flat 40-mile slash of a blacktop bike trail across Northern Virginia that runs from the Potomac at National Airport to out past Leesburg.  This paved-over rail bed runs right past my backyard at milepost 7 near the bicycle bridge over Leesburg Pike, Bluemont is at milepost 3.5 near the trail's juncture with the hilly Custis Trail.

We got underway at the parking lot by the tennis courts on the south side of Wilson Boulevard and headed westbound for two miles.  There are two hills going that way, the short but sharp rise at the Brandymore Castle rock outcrop about a mile out and then the longer climb up from where the trail parallels the Four Mile Run creekbed to the trail's continuation west of the East Falls Church Metro Station.

The height above the station achieved, it was time to turn around at the midway point of our four mile run and head back.  Going downhill is always welcome on the second half of a run, as I had sold H on the flatness of the trail when we had set up the weekend run and she had no doubt been thinking that I was less than truthful.

After the run we retired to a coffee shop in Arlington for half an hour.  That part of the morning was kind of boring actually, as it annoys me to have to pay for parking on a Saturday and the shop was filled with so many people doing absolutely nothing except staring intently at open laptops or studying the tiny screens of I-Phones being cradled lovingly in their palms.

The Office is Closed Till Monday...

I went running with John this morning, 4 miles on the W&OD Trail from Bluemont eastwards, in 41:21.  The new normal.

Half a mile out we ran under an elevated roadway, pretty much at stream level.  That would be the Four-Mile Creek.

As we ran under the bridge, my attention was drawn to a fellow setting up a picture with his cell phone in the darkness.  I'm a jerk who doesn't want to ruin other people's shots so I yelled, "Coming through!"

I should have been looking the entire scene over.  I almost ran over a raccoon there on the roadway, that he was setting up a picture of.

That's not normal.  Raccoons that don't shy from humans, that sit immobile while people are four feet away, are rabid in my humble estimation, and should be given wide berth.

I was glad I was able to skip over the immobile beast at the last moment and wasn't scratched or bit.  I have no desire to go through a regime of rabies shots. 

I wish the jerk setting up his shot hadn't been setting up passersbys for a month of painful shots because of his lack of understanding about situational awareness.  As John and I emerged on the other side of the bridge, we called out to approaching runners, "There's a rabid raccoon on the trial under the bridge, be careful!"

Most runners were wearing headphones and didn't hear our warnings.  It was a waste of breath on our part.

Coming back half an hour later, the same raccoon was there, sitting immobile in the middle of the trail under the bridge as a parade of humans passed by.  This is an animal,, though docile appearing, I wanted to keep far away from as possible.

We got back to our starting point, Bluemont, and I went off to find the Park Ranger at that location but I couldn't find anyone there.  So I called the Falls Church police non-emergency number on my cell phone, because that was the only emergency number I'd entered in it.  (Bluemont is in Arlington.)

 The woman who answered transferred me to the Arlington PD once I'd explained the situation.  You know, like, if anyone gets bit by this thing there'd be a response by the Arlington emergency response of one or two dozen responders.

The Arlington PD weren't too interested in my report of a dangerous animal on the BUSY W&OD Trail.  They transferred me to Animal Welfare which had a voicemail advising me they were closed directed me to leave a message which they'd access on Monday.

Losing interest in this Good Samaritan project, I called one last number, a number on the bulletin board there which directed me to call it to report anything on the trail.  Somebody, in Reston, answered and tried to pawn me off on calling yet another number.

I said, "Please pass on the information about the dangerous animal squatting on the middle of the trail at milepost 3."  "Will do," was the response.

Leaden Skies

The phone rang yesterday at 7 a.m. It was John who asked, "Do you still want to do it?"

I looked outside at gray skies and low light but no rain. "Let's do it," I said.

Thirty minutes later we were underway on a seven mile run from Bluemont Park to Shirlington and back on the W&OD Trail under ominous skies and moisture-laden air. Hurricane Irene was offshore to the south somewhere, working her way north.

We did 9:45s going down and ten-somethings on the way back which is slightly uphill. It was the furthest I've run since Army 2009, at which 10-mile race I suffered a debilitating over-use injury to the tendon in my left ankle.

It was a joy to be out there, knocking off the miles, talking with a friend, nodding to passing runners, knowing the whole weekend would be stretching out luxuriously before me when we finished well before 9 a.m.

We threw in a long exhilarating sprint at the end trying to overtake a runner in the distance pushing a running stroller. One of us passed her just before the end, one of us fell just short. Breathing hard, sweating profusely, we exchanged high-fives at the end of our perfect seventy-one minute run under leaden skies.

He showed up all sweaty.

"We were talking about you this morning, me and a couple of office mates on our drive to Costco to get supplies for today's going away party for the summer intern."

"Nothing but good things, I'm sure."

"Interesting things. They were asking me, ' Did he run all the way from the agency here in the District to the office picnic in that park in Virginia last month? He showed up all sweaty.'"

"I didn't run there from here, that would have been ten miles. I took Metro to Ballston and ran from there, only two miles. As you know, there's no way to get there directly unless you drive. Besides, I designated that as the weekly noontime office run, but nobody else came along. Then I ran home after the picnic, because I live just down the W&OD Trail three miles from there."

"Yes, very unusual. Everyone else was able to find a ride."

"Who'd you go to Costco with? They saw it as a good thing that I got in my exercise before I ate a hamburger, a hot dog and all that cake and cookies, right?"

"I'm not telling."

Lauren & Rachel

I was gratified to receive the welcome email that came in last night.

It said in essence, Please forget my crazy rambling this morning. I'm all right now. I had a heat related illness but the coaches took me to the ER and now I have a clean bill of health. Thank you.

Who would have suspected heat-related problems yesterday morning? It was beautiful for running, cool and overcast with a low dew-point. A remarkable August morning for the nation's capital.

My club's ten-mile training program which I direct is more than half-way over. We ran eight miles on the flat W&OD Trail, a beautiful 40-mile long paved-over railroad bed that marches westward from near the banks of the Potomac to past the bucolic town of Leesburg.

This strong runner had led most of the way but pulled up, fatigued, a half mile from the end. She sat for awhile with the volunteer coach who had been running with her in a shaded glen beside the trail.

Then they returned the rest of the way where there was water, Gatorade and cool pops. It was so cool and breezy that as I stood there in my damp running tanktop after my 72-minute run, I wished I had brought along a sweatshirt.

This runner started talking oddly. She said she was going to ace the club's 15K race next weekend. She became mildly insulting, looking at me and saying, Last year I ran straight 7-minute miles there, although that's not in your league.

Well, straight sevens for multiple miles is known to be beyond my ability, and I knew this runner's bio. While she is strong and fast, she has never run straight sevens in a race.

The runner lay down in the grass and still talking non-stop, reached up and started rhythmically clapping her hands above her head. The volunteer coach kept her engaged in conversation. Soon that coach and another one had coaxed her into a car where they ran the A/C and gave her water. After checking that they had a cell phone, I left. She was in good hands with these two.

Coaches Lauren and Rachel are great boons to the Program. Not only do they commit their time to run with slower runners and endeavor to give them a quality, learning running experience, but they had recognized this runner's slightly erratic behavior and acted. They stayed with her until her situation was resolved, in this case, by a precautionary trip to the ER where she received an IV solution.

A simple run in beautiful conditions can be on the margin of catastrophe, or even tragedy, without anyone noticing.

My lifelong search for heroes? Here are two.

Better, better, better

I've got to admit it's getting better. A little better all the time.

To rehab my ankle (it's the top of my left foot, really, that is injured) I have been wearing a compression ace bandage around my foot and ankle and running slowly and carefully after taking a week off. I took the group at work out running this last week as usual, but I only did a mile, in 8:33. That seemed to go okay so next I did an evening club race, the Bluemont 5K , as a test.

It was still hot at 7 pm when the race started. This was the fourth year I have done this August race and it is always a challenge because of the heat. It was a good reason to go slow.

The race is an out-and-back on the W&OD Trail, a narrow 12 foot wide bike path that runs forty miles across Virginia following an old railroad bed. The trail was being shared with other runners and bicyclists during the race.

I stationed myself back in the pack at the start and went out slowly. To alleviate stress on my foot, I didn't actively work my way through the crowd in the beginning like I usually do with a lot of sideways running and shooting through gaps as they appear. After a half mile the race loosened up as the runners got strung out and I picked up my pace just a little and started to pick people off. I recognized many of these runners because they're always around me in club races since they go about my speed.

The first mile went by in 7:35. I was pleased with that since I was just shooting for eights. By the turnaround I had found my rhythm and was running easily. My foot felt fine within its tight compression bandage.

With a mile to go, a runner caught me and went by. She didn't put me away though and I caught her at the one hill on the course. I always tell runners that hills are your friends because if you can run hills, you can beat people by dropping them or catching them on the uphills.

I picked up my pace to match hers and we ran side by side for half a mile, chatting. It was fortuitous that she came by when she did because I was just starting to wilt.

I'm familiar with the course since I often run this part of the W&OD. Half a mile from the end I made my move. We were coming up on a teenager and I passed him. Startled out of his reverie, he immediately passed me back in a noisy rush. I stalked him for a moment and then smoothly went past him again. I steadily kept on with my increased pace and both runners let me go. I built up a 40 meter lead and then just hung on. The next fellow ahead was too far away to catch.

I came into sight of the finish clock while it was still showing 23 minutes and sprinted to get in under 24, finishing in 23:56 (7:42). This is a tough crowd I run with. I was in the bottom half of all finishers, and almost in the bottom quartile of the men (73%).

Not a bad comeback effort though. My foot is a little sore and my ankle feels a little weak but it doesn't hurt. I'm gonna go easy with it for the next coupla weeks.

What pleases me is that instead of just coasting in the last mile looking for the finish line, I worked at managing the end of the race. Although I was over a minute slower than last year, I beat my times for 2004 and 2005.

I want to thank my friend and sometimes running partner David for his generous support of my efforts to run Chicago as a charity fundraiser for A Running Start Foundation. He is battling injury issues himself (a broken patella) and I hope he comes back soon so we can run the hills of SE and PG County as we had planned to. (David in better times. He ran the first leg for my team The G-Force in the Washington's Birthday Marathon Relay on a brutally windy and cold day in February. Thanks largely to his efforts, we came in fourth in our division.)