Still hot hot hot

The temperature reached 96 yesterday but the dew point pushed its effect way over a hundred for the third day in a row. At noon I led the running group at work out on its regular weekly run but since it was so hot the group only went two and a quarter miles, up Capitol Hill so I could practice on a hill one more time before Saturday's hilly Lake Tahoe Relay, where I will be a guest runner on Bex's team. The heat reduced participation in the group to one, that being me.

(Left: Bex passes by Emerald Bay as she anchors her team at last year's Lake Tahoe Relay.) A couple of years ago I organized a running team at work to participate in the 2006 Capitol Hill Classic 3K Team Competition. I invited Bex to be a guest runner and she came in third in leading our team to victory. As I picked up the team's medals later, the race director asked me if I wanted a gold medal for Bex because she took first in her age group, or a bronze medal because she was third in the race. Which would you choose?

I chose the bronze race medal over the gold age-group medal for Bex. I hope she agreed with my choice. For the first time in my life I am in a similar conundrum.

You remember that yesterday I described Sunday's 3-Mile Survivor Harbor Race around Baltimore's Inner Harbor? I finished the three miles in 23:17 (7:45) amidst a steady stream of dozens of runners. Finishing amongst the runners from the much larger 7-mile race, I couldn't tell which runners were from what race.

It turns out that I finished in third place in the 3-miler, seventh overall, the first Master. I beat the next Master by over a minute, and the next person over 50 by more than five minutes. So gold medal for the Master's win, or bronze medal for finishing third in the race?

If they send me an award, I hope it's a bronze and not a gold.

People seemed to enjoy the finish-line photo of the 2006 7-Mile Survivor Harbor race I posted yesterday. Here's another view of that finish. (Right: Ryun/Keino? No, just two mid-age mid-packers feeling the momentary return of old glories.)

I'll check back in with y'all when I get back from Tahoe.

It's over, for now.

Mission Accomplished. Major running is over. For now.

Nine runners, myself included, ran the Capitol Hill Classic 10K on May 18th in a winnowing down process that started with thirty-one running wannabees showing up early one raw Saturday morning in February atop the parking garage at the West Falls Church Metro Station three months earlier for the start of the DCRRC 10K Group Training Program. Although we all took the elevator down to the ground level to begin our two mile run that day, some of us ran up the structure's six ramps upon our return.

We originally had seven volunteer coaches, but one acquired a stress fracture beforehand, another tore her ACL in a skiing accident and one developed IT Band problems. So we imported a volunteer coach from the Reebok SunTrust National Half-Marathon Training Program I was associated with after that Program ended in March, along with three runners who wanted to keep up their training.

Our running venues included the W&OD, Mount Vernon, Custis and Capital Crescent Trails, the C&O Canal Towpath, the National Mall and the race course itself. The last few weeks it seemed like the coaches would be fighting over who would accompany the few runners who showed up but order always prevailed. Quiet, unassuming Mary Alice, who is about my age, always showed up and she threw down a sub-hour performance on the hilly race course and kicked the rest of the students' a**es, finishing second in her age group.

Our times ranged from 47 to 75 minutes. Three were under an hour and six met the qualifying standards for the SunTrust National Marathon and Half-Marathon next year. This third-year marathon is an interesting race, it has the second best average finishing time (behind Boston) of any major American marathon, undoubtedly because of its qualifying standards.

Additionally, two more Program participants who didn't run the CHC broke two hours at the SunTrust National Half-Marathon. Congratulations to the performers, and thanks to the volunteer coaches Kristin, John, Renee, Linda, Bob, Sasha, Alexandra and David.

Pretty good. As for me, the Memorial Day weekend was the first Saturday I had off since early December when the overlapping Half-Marathon Program started. It was a long six months but the results of the two programs showed that it was well worth the effort. Next up: The fun of running the Lake Tahoe Relay in less than two weeks on a team put together by my former running buddy Bex, an MIA blogger, and then the start of the club's 10-Mile Group Training Program on July 12th. (Above: Relaxing after the Falls Church Memorial Day 3K Fun Run during my first free weekend in half a year.)

2008 Capitol Hill Classic 3K

An hour after I finished the Capitol Hill Classic 10K on Sunday morning, I lined up for the Capitol Hill Classic 3K. This is supposedly a fun run, although it is chip timed. Plus they have a fun run for the kids after this fun run. Even though this race is loaded with kids, it’s competitive.

Two years ago I finished 19th in 13:20 (7:09) and took my age group. Last year I added the challenge of running a double and finished 13th in 13:40 (7:20), again winning my age group. (Right: The 2007 Capitol Hill Classic 10K/3K course.)

This year the usual gaggle of kids crowded to the front at the start line. At the Go command, they all burst off down the road, receding rapidly. It looked like someone had thrown open the door to a dark dank basement and a multitude of bugs were scurrying away to keep ahead of the advancing sunlight.

A quarter mile into the race the street became really congested with pint-sized runners flaming out and veering unpredictably all over the roadway. This is the dangerous point in this race that calls for the exercise of caution.

I safely picked my way through the flame-outs and the real race started. There were a half-dozen little kids still ahead who never came back to me. They relentlessly ran to the finish line and I never saw any of them again. There were also five women up there and not a one of them ever came back to me either, including an eight-year old girl. And a 51-year old woman. Oh well. (Left: Last year in the 3K, I couldn't get away from all the street urchins.)

Also ahead was my doppelganger, Peter. A 3K specialist about my age with the same first name, he’s about my speed except that he’s slightly faster.

He runs every monthly noontime Tidal Basin 3K race, just as I do. We’re like the Odd Couple with our familiar routine. He breaks off the start line, I pass him mid-way through the race and then he goes postal in the last quarter mile and puts me away. Occasionally, though, I put enough distance on him first that he can't catch me.

We’re good competitors and good friends. Back in 2001 in my third race ever, I won my age group and received a medal in a small 5K on a hot, humid day on a hilly course in the Shenandoah Valley. I didn’t win another medal for four more years. The person I beat out for that medal, by a mere four seconds, was Peter, although I didn’t know him at the time. Ours are special battles.

We had spoken before the 3K race, and I let him know that I had already run a 10K race that morning and he let me know that he had already run a 3K race that morning. Let the true games begin! (Right: The 2008 Capitol Hill Classic 10K/3K course.)

As I approached Peter late in the race, I got picked off by a very polite 12-year old who greeted me by name as he went by. He beat me by 22 seconds. Last year I beat him by 22 seconds. What a difference a year makes.

This youth’s adult running buddy, another regular at the monthly Tidal Basin 3K, also came by then. He went on to finish ahead of Peter also. The exact routine that was unfolding is scripted in almost all of the 3Ks the three of us run in.

I passed Peter. A minute later he passed me back but then he didn’t put me away. He merely settled in directly in front of me. So I passed him again, and tried to run it in the last quarter mile. Nope, Peter went postal.

I can hear this coming. I have come to recognize the sound of Peter's breathing and footfalls as he approaches, and the change in his breathing when he really revs it up. He flew by and finished nine seconds ahead of me. I strained to bring it home in 13:03 (7:00) in 15th place, first in my age group again. I felt good about my effort, even though five pre-teenage boys did beat me.

When the results were posted, on a whim I searched the 10K results for everyone who finished ahead of me in the 3K, to see if any of them had run the 10K. I thought that I might be the first Capitol Hill Classic doubler to finish the 3K.

Nope, there was T, nine places ahead of me in 12:16. But he had run his 10K in 1:11:07 whereas I had run my 10K in 47:31 (7:39) so my total time was way better than his total time.

The real problem with being smug about this factoid? T is eight years old.

Ils ne passeront pas!

Capitol Hill Classic 10K: Last year the hill ate me up. I was having a pretty good 10K til I hit the race's namesake hill in the sixth mile and it chewed me up and spit me out. My early sub-eight miles zoomed to a post-nine final mile. I felt lucky to finish in 48:44 (7:51) last year. (Left: The hill wasn't kind to me last year.)

This year I ran up the hill after every Mall run. I worked it. It's .35 mile and it's steep. It's three minutes of hard work.

Today was a perfect day to run, cool and overcast with a very slight breeze. As soon as I lined up at the start, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was H. Oh, hi.

H was a 10K student of mine two years ago. She has never beaten me. I used to think I could jump in on her races, pace her a bit and help her out. Then she got a personal trainer and started training relentlessly. I ran the last six miles of the MCM with her in October, her first marathon. She did a 4:07. My first marathon was a 5:05.

I was extremely happy with my 1:45 at the National Half-Marathon in March. Then H went down to hilly Nashville last month and threw down a 1:47 at the Half Mary there. Yikes.

I ran with H yesterday for the first time since December, four easy miles on the W&OD. She told me she was running today, so I went after a little intel. I asked her what her goal was on the morrow. Break 48, she said. Yikes. Not PR, or break 50 for the first time, no, break 48. Personally, I just was hoping I could break fifty.

When the gun sounded, I went out fast to put as much distance on H as I could in the hope that she wouldn't overhaul me later. Running eastbound on E. Capitol Street, I turned the first mile at 7:00. Running around RFK, I clocked the second mile at 7:25. Westbound on E. Capitol Street I passed by the third marker at 7:40. I was definitely slowing down. I kept mentally checking my stored minutes in the bank, knowing that the looming signature hill would slow me up.

Milepost Four was way off. I passed it going down Capitol Hill on Independence Avenue at 9:32. I was momentarily fearful that I had just run a 9:30 flat mile in a non-marathon race but then I knew that there was no way I had slowed down that much. Still, I was too tired to make full use of "letting it flow" as I ran downhill.

On the bottomland below the hill, I got mesmerized by how long an out-and-back it was on Independence Avenue before we rounded a cone and came back for the fearsome climb up Capitol Hill. Suddenly in my reverie I saw H off to the side thirty yards ahead. Oh, had she been quiet going by me.

Decision time. Do I let her go, or do I HTFU? I found a reserve and powered up beside her. I looked at her and she looked at me. I can tell the look from a woman that says, Not now! I passed by her without a word.

But when you're ahead, you can't keep track of where anyone is who is behind you. Although I was worried about what finishing strategy H might have, all I could do was keep moving. I hit the hill.

Unlike last year, I handled it. I powered up half of it before it wore me out and the rest of the climb turned into a slog. But even during the late going I wasn't tottering along in a faltering shuffle like last year.

Hill surmounted, I tried to push the last mile in. Finally I saw Milepost Six. I got spooked that I would get caught in that last quarter mile and I passed the last .2 mile in 1:28 (7:20 pace). A friend watching the race from the finish line later said I was really flying at the end. She had no idea of what was driving me.

I finished in 47:41 (7:40) by my watch, over a full minute faster than last year. H broke 48 minutes, just as she had set out to do. She did a great job. But her beating my a**, probably badly, will have to wait til next time.

As I trudged off to the start line of the accompanying 3K race, I was really happy with my time and effort in the 10K.

Ten on the Tenth

Non-Runner Nancy is at it again, getting us couch potatoes out from in front of the TV and into the great outdoors. She fired the starter's gun for the third virtual race she has set up, Ten K on the Tenth.

Because the race has a caveman theme, I ran the 10K with my club yesterday, that is, with the 10K Group (TKG) Training Program my club puts on. It was the twelfth and last session before the target race, the Capitol Hill Classic 10K next Sunday. A group of 31 well intentioned souls had winnowed down to about eight runners who were apportioned out among up to five coaches each week. Since it was raining yesterday, the coach/runner ratio was an exceptionally high 1/1. Not even the promotion of handing out program t-shirts could induce a greater turnout in the drizzle (much less my promised Pre-Race Strategy lecture, which in the wet circumstances consisted of the exhortation to stay hydrated, remember your chip and be on time). (Left: I tested out the Program shirt last week at the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati. It worked fine, and even drew comments from three passing runners over the saying on the back, Get Used to the View.)

We ran the race 10K course, having met in Stanton Park in the District, its starting and ending point. The course is basically a rectangle, 3 miles long and a quarter mile wide. Its purpose is to tire you out for five miles and then run you up the third of a mile long Capitol Hill in the sixth mile as your rite of racing passage.

I ran the race last year and although I knew the hill was coming and I had run it often in training, I floundered on it and felt like I was swimming uphill for three minutes. It was awful. (Right: The 10K course.)

I set out yesterday with MA and we ran east past Lincoln Park to RFK. We eschewed running around the back side of RFK like the race does because there are no sidewalks or shoulders back there but we made up the distance later. Heading west, we returned to Lincoln Park on East Capitol Street and then ran south to Pennsylvania to run by Eastern Market. Running north to regain E. Capitol Street (where, despite 18 years spent in DC, I got lost momentarily and we ran astray for a few blocks), we turned west again and ran behind the Capitol. After a short jog over to Independence, we ran down the race's signature hill. Running a few extra blocks at this point to make up the distance we skipped at RFK, we then ran in front of the Capitol and hit the final mile at the base of the hill. We went up it smoothly but I still arrived at the top gasping, totally out of breath.

In my fog of fatigue, I got to thinking about the pint of blood I donated the prior Monday at the airport in Cincinnati. I have a theory that blood donations knock the stuffings out of your endurance capabilities for a couple of weeks and I had purposefully waited til after my marathon last Sunday to donate. Here was another brick in the wall of my theory, however.

Top of the hill attained, we ran it in the last half mile to the park for a 55:04 10K training run. A nice tune-up for the actual race. I think MA is going to be my star pupil.

Changes

The Capitol Hill Classic 10K is one of DC's most hallowed races. Its 28th running was Sunday. The race is a journey around Capitol Hill, a trip where runners casually pass by several American icons.

Runners set off from Stanton Square near Union Station and bolt out past Lincoln Park to RFK. There they circle that multipurpose refuge from the seventies and return to Lincoln Park before running down to Pennsylvania Avenue near Eastern Market, the city's oldest continuously operating mercantile space. Then it's back to East Capitol Street where the runners take aim at the back of the Capitol, running past the Supreme Court Building on the right. A left turn takes them past the front of the Folger Shakespeare Library and a sharp right on Independence takes them down steep Capitol Hill alongside the Capitol.

With the Mall laying out in front of them, at the bottom of the hill the racers turn right at the U.S. Botanic Garden and run past a statue of the martyred president James A. Garfield. They pass below and in front of the Capitol with its innumerable stairs where, to their left, the busy Civil War statue with Grant bestriding his horse dominates the east end of the Mall. As the runners approach the Robert A. Taft statue they turn right one last time and come upon merciless Capitol Hill on the uptake in the sixth mile. After laboring up its quarter-mile length, runners enter Stanton Square from the opposite direction and cross the finish line.

Running up that long hill last Sunday in my first Capitol Hill Classic 10K was the toughest hill mount I have ever done during a race, bar none. (I am not counting a few spectacular hills I have walked up during races, like the Calvert Climb at National. The nineteenth mile of the first Baltimore Marathon also springs to mind, as does the 26th mile at Washington's Birthday Marathon in Greenbelt.)

Capitol Hill sucked all the energy out of my body on Sunday. Those two or three or four minutes I toiled up it are still vivid in my memory.

My splits dropped from the mid-sevens for the entire race up to that point to over nine in the sixth mile. Depleted, I ran the last quarter-mile on level ground to the finish at a pace of well over eight.

I have run up Capitol Hill plenty of other times and it has not bothered me before. I ran up it in the 2002 Marine Corps Marathon, the last of my five-hour marathons. The hill didn't seem so noticeable then, but I was five years younger and I also expended considerably less energy in marathons in those days.

At the tail end of a fast 10K, the hill is brutal. But that's all about to change.

Reporter and local running legend Jim Hage aptly calls it a "gut-check climb" in his post about Sunday's race. He also reported that this year's run up Capitol Hill could be its "last rites." Security, you know. (Don't you feel so much safer now than you did when the Decider declared war on shapeless amorphous terror oh so long ago?)

The course will be moved to eliminate its charge down and then back up The Hill. What?

That is the race's signature moment, it's defining experience. When you turn right and start ascending The Hill, you encounter the exquisite feeling of being so close and yet so far. Also, there is plenty of time to brood about the hill lying in wait as you first go flying down its other side, knowing that soon payment will be extracted for your freewheeling flight downhill in the fifth mile.

Here's what the race director told me about the impending course change. "The course will change next year. The Capitol Hill Police has a long standing rule preventing races from running entirely around the Capitol. For 28 years we've been exempted from that. However, I was told in late April that we were not going to be allowed to run this course. I argued that it was too late to change this year, and they relented, on the condition that we change it next year. I don't know what the course will be at this point, although we might be able to work out something that involves the Hill, just not around it."

The older I get the more I hate change. I am so glad I ran the 10K on Sunday so I could experience the hill's soul-sucking effect during an otherwise fast race. If I had not done the race this year despite some nagging injuries, I would have lost my chance at experiencing The Hill in its full form, possibly forever.

May the Capitol Hill Classic stay true to its origins.

CHC 2007

I coached my running club's 10K Training Program this year. It's goal race was the Capitol Hill Classic 10K, run yesterday. All the runners who stuck with it for the 12 weeks did a swell job. I'm proud of what they accomplished in the program and in their races.

I'm also grateful to the coaches. Jeanne administered the program and designed our program t-shirts. (Below. Can't touch this.) Bex and A coached, along with others. Coach Bob was our fast guy.

Bob smoked me at the National Marathon by about 13 minutes. He wears a heart monitor and pays close attention to it in his training. He ran the Triple Crown races along with me on Saturday. He was much faster. He beat me in the Belmont (1.5 miles) while pushing a baby stroller. I think he was showing off. Bob trains Navy guys to meet their physical fitness standards, one of which is running a 10:30 mile and a half (7:00 pace). (Below: BOB. Bob on bike. Coach Bob crosstraining on Railroad Avenue in Falls Church parallel to the W&OD Trail in Northern Virginia.)

On Saturday, as you may recall, I ran the Belmont race so I could meet the Navy standard. I left the race area with Bob.

"So Bob, they wouldn't kick me out of the Navy. I ran a 10:28 for the 1.5 miles."

"Oh, you're old."

"No, I'm not old. You're old." (In the tradition of two kids in a sandbox.)

"No, I mean, they wouldn't kick you out because they age-grade it. What are you, 45?"

"Thanks Bob. I'm 55."

"Oh, you're old."

"We've already had this discussion, Bob."

"No, I mean, they would kick you out for being overage." Oh, man!

On Sunday, I did the Capitol Hill Classic 10K/3K double. I was part of my agency's 3K team in the race, along with A and guest runner Bex. This year we recruited G, who finished 29/670 at the Capital Challenge last month. In that race, the services send their best runners so he was competing against, in effect, several professional runners. G also did the double on Sunday.

I finished the 10K in 48:44 (7:51), 358th in a field of 1122. My splits were 7:35, 7:22, 7:52, 7:39, 7:40, 9:05, 1:40. The hill in the sixth mile, from which the race takes its name, just killed me. I could barely shuffle up it although I have been running it once a week for months now on my weekly noontime Mall runs. For its quarter-mile length I just tried not to slow my movements into an actual walk, although my shuffle was probably slower than a walk. I did not look up at the horizon ever. It was awful. (Above. Slogging through the Capitol Hill Classic 3K last year, passing by the Supreme Court Building.)

Twenty minutes later I lined up for the 3K along with G, A, Bex and P on our team. G had just run a 38:59 (6:17) 10K, finishing 36th. Of course, he had ten more minutes of rest than I did because he finished the 10K that much faster than I did.

There are always a gadzillion kids in the 3K race, perpetually underfoot. You have to go out fast to get away from them.

G and A took off like rockets. I followed Bex who was running steadily at a fast pace. Midway through the race I moved by her. Knowing that at last year's 3K race she smoked A at the end for third place, I looked anxiously behind me at every corner to see where she was. She was gaining on me. G and A were totally out of sight up ahead. (Right: These two finished one-two on the team and in the 3K race, first overall, and second woman.)

Three teenagers summoned their youthful energy and dashed by me the last hundred yards, a race of three within the larger race. That dropped me from 9th to 12th. Bex finished a mere 12 seconds behind me in fourth place. A came in second.

G won the race. He had never won a race before. He later said, "I didn't know the course. I just kept following the lead police car, hoping it knew where to go." (Left: Bex finished right behind me.)

Our team defended its title of a year ago. G ran an 11:09 (6:00). A ran a 12:39 (6:48), fifth overall. She smoked the first mile in a scorching 6:10. Bex ran a 13:52 (7:27). P, new to racing, ran/walked it in in a little over 20 minutes.

Afterwards, good friend that she is, Bex took me aside and read me the riot act. Stop putting all that vitriol about your divorce in your blog, she commanded. So it happened. Nobody wants to hear it. Everyone has bad things happen. Move on.

Point well taken. When Bex talks, you listen. I'll try.

My 3K time was 13:40 (7:21). I was fourth master, first guy over 50.

See, I'm better already. My youngest son graduated from his boarding school in the Northeast on Saturday, I think. I'll call the school today to find out. Congratulations to him and good luck.

Running has a way of curing your blue funks.

The Preakness

It’s been a full weekend of racing. I’m trying to manage my injury and still accomplish some long-standing racing objectives. Balancing my injury with reaching for my goals went all right. I’ll pay the piper later tonight with soreness in my left leg undoubtedly, when the warmth generated in the leg by my physical activity goes away.

Yesterday my running club held a trio of foot races in Alexandria called the Triple Crown races. The distances emulate the three horse races in the Triple Crown, the 1.25 mile Derby, the 1.1875 mile Preakness and the 1.5 mile Belmont.

Last year I finished fifth in these three races. It’s funny how nobody suddenly gets faster over the course of an hour. I never could catch the guy ahead of me. The person behind me never could catch me. All three race cards looked pretty much the same.

My times were 8:41 (6:57), 8:26 (7:06) and 10:40 (7:07). My time for the last race, 10:40 for a mile and a half, necessitated a do-over this year.

Among the Naval Academy fitness standards is one for running. Last year a senior washed out because he couldn’t do the 1.5 mile run in 10:30. He had to reimburse Uncle Sam for four years of tuition.

My time at the Belmont (1.5 miles) was 10:40. Ten seconds too slow by Navy standards. I waited a year for the Belmont race to come around again so I could try to get my time under 10:30.

Yesterday I arrived at the races late and purposefully missed the Derby. I lined up for the Preakness and used its 1.1875 distance as a warmup. I ran slowly, studying the course. Near the end I practiced my passing and knocked off a couple of runners ahead of me. The clock was almost at nine minutes as I approached so I hurried and finished at 8:58 (7:33). For contrast, Curlin, the horse who won the race in Baltimore yesterday, covered the same distance in 1:53.

The last race for the runners was the 1.5 mile Belmont. I didn’t want to have to extend my "Navy Quest" for another full year so I concentrated on my appointed task of breaking 10:30. It’s hard to find 1.5 mile races.

The starter dropped his flag and called out, "And they’re off!" That’s horse parlance for ready-set-go.

I felt awful for the first quarter mile, very leaden and weak. Soon my breathing became regular, however, and my body felt stronger. I was glad I’d warmed up by running the Preakness. My tendinitis wasn’t "cold" anymore so it wasn’t bothering me much.

The last quarter mile I focused on making the finish line before 10:30 struck on the clock. It was already reading past 10 minutes as I approached. I carefully watched the numbers change and adjusted my speed accordingly. I passed the finish line in 10:28 (6:59). Yay! I could have been a sailor!

Today was the Capitol Hill Classic 10K/3K race. For the last two years I have formed a racing team at my agency to run in the 3K. Bex is a guest runner on the team. Last year she was third in the 3K race.

Bex beat A, who had just finished running the 10K twenty minutes earlier, by four seconds a year ago. We won the team 3K competition last year, with myself, Bex and A providing all the scoring for the team in that order. (Last year at the Capitol Hill Classic 3K, I spent the 2d half of the race chasing down this young runner who would stumble forward until I came up on him, then spurt forward again. It was maddening. My teammates Bex and the exhausted A were both driving hard at my heels the entire way, less that 30 seconds behind me. I finished 19th in the race.)

I admired A for doing a double last year and doing so well in both races. She was fourth in the 3K after finishing in the top 5% in the 10K. The 10K has a killer hill in the last mile which is a quarter-mile long. I wanted to be like A.

So this year I planned to do the double. I also recruited my agency’s rock star, G, to be on the 3K team. He was doing the 10K anyway so this meant he would do a double too. Bex was repeating and A was going to concentrate of the 3K this year. Along with newcomer P, the team was ready.

How did it all go? Pretty well. Maybe Bex already has a posting saying how we did. If not, you’re just gonna have to wait til a later post to find out.