HARRA’s Power In Motion Set To Start Its 9th Year

(This is the copy of the press release that I sent out for the Power of Motion program as HARRA's VP of Communications. It is already online on the Chronicle's web site and I expect it to be in various editions of the This Week section on Thursday.)

"Want to learn to run?"

"Want to learn techniques in a group setting to help you run faster?”

"Not quite ready to train for January’s Chevron Houston Marathon?"

The answer to each of these questions is the adult training program of the Houston Area Road Runners Association (HARRA), Power In Motion.

Power In Motion, known affectionately to its former participants as “PIM”, is a 10-week, 5k running clinic for beginning, intermediate, and experienced runners. It offers guidance, support, encouragement, and training tips for individuals wishing to improve their running ability in a fun, friendly and supportive environment.

Co-directed by veteran runners Jack McClintic and Tom Radosevich, Power In Motion begins its ninth year as the city’s longest-running and leading short distance training program.

“I feel very strongly about PIM,” said McClintic, who took over as co-director last spring. “It represents to me the chance for us to encourage our family, friends and colleagues to give running a try in a fun and easy format.”

Held on Wednesday evenings in front of St. Theresa’s Church in Memorial Park, Power In Motion begins on September 13th,, culminates on November 15th and encourages participants to run – many for their first race ever -- in the Feliz 5K Run for Shriners Hospitals for Children on Saturday, November 11th.

Participants receive a Power In Motion singlet and a SMART ID shoe tag as well as weekly speakers, running schedules and tips from stretching and flexibility to finding the right running gear and apparel.

The cost for the 10-week program is $39 for those who pre-register online at the program’s official web site at http://www.powerinmotion.org/.

HARRA is a non-profit organization founded in 1993 to promote running as a competitive sport and healthful exercise in the Houston area. HARRA provides a wide variety of benefits and services to its members and to the running community, and provides the running community with a collective voice on issues that affect all runners in the Houston area.

HARRA can be found on the Internet at http://www.harra.org/.

Charity Day Party kicks off 2007 Chevron Houston Marathon

$660,000 check to be presented to marathon charities

HOUSTON, August 30, 2006 – The road to the start line of the 2007 Chevron Houston Marathon, Aramco Houston Half Marathon and Houston Press/Smart Financial Credit Union 5K races, to be run Jan. 14, begins with the annual Charity Day Party on Sept. 11. More than 2,000 runners are expected to attend Charity Day and kick off training for Houston’s premier road races.

The Party is slated from 5 to 7 p.m. in Memorial Park, in the Picnic Loop area south of
Memorial Drive. Runners can learn how to make their run count through “Run for a Reason,” the Chevron Houston Marathon's successful charity program. Over the past 12 years, marathon, half marathon and 5K participants have raised close to $5 million for local charities through pledges and donations. Nonprofit organizations designated as official charities for the 2007 race will staff information booths at the event to provide runners with details about their organizations’ missions and give participants a chance to sign up for the program.

A highlight of the Party will be the $660,000 check presentation from the Houston Marathon Committee to the 35 official charities associated with the 2006 races. The check presentation is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Runners can also take advantage of early registration at discounted prices with entry fees of
$75 for the marathon, $50 for the half marathon and $20 for the 5K. A $5 on-site processing fee will apply. After Sept. 11, marathon and half marathon fees increase by $10.

In addition to signing up at the Charity Day Party, runners can register online for the trio of
weekend races at www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com. Registration forms also will be available at many Houston-area running and fitness stores, Houston YMCAs, the Tennis Center at Memorial Park and most local athletic clubs starting Oct. 1.

The Chevron Houston Marathon, a Running USA founding member, is the nation’s premier
winter marathon, annually attracting participants from all 50 U.S. states and several foreign
countries. In 2006, nearly 20,000 runners took part in four marathon weekend events (marathon, half marathon, 5K run and children's run). The Chevron Houston Marathon offers the only closed marathon course in Texas and is ranked among the top five in the nation by the Ultimate Guide to Marathons for fastest course, organization and crowd support. More than 5,000 volunteers organize the race, which is Houston’s largest single-day sporting event.

For more information, visit the marathon Web site (www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com) or
call 713-957-3453.

Huntsville Half Marathon & 5K Run/Walk Winners

Below is research done by Ken Johnson and myself, with some assistance from Lance Phegley at Inside Texas Running and Runner Triathlete News (and their online archives.) The 28th annual event will be held on Saturday, October 21st at 8 a.m. and more information can be found at the Seven Hills Running Club web site, http://www.7hills.us/.

Half Marathon
(Data from the first 14 races is not available ... yet!)

Men
2005 - Clint Sherrouse, 1:16:24
2004 - Clint Sherrouse, 1:19:50
2003 - Joshua Urban, 1:17:41
2002 - Bill Schroeder, 1:21:13
2001 - Race not held
2000 - Conan Doyle, 1:11:00
1999 - Jon Warren, 1:09:54
1998 - A.J. Terrell, 1:24:11
1997 - A.J. Terrell, 1:16:35
1996 - Mark Dolph, 1:16:56
1995 - John Engvall, 1:17:13
1994 - John Martinez, 1:14:51
1993 - Larry Park, 1:12:59

Women
2005 - Shay Emerick, 1:33:35
2004 - Erin Rodrigs, 1:28:35
2003 - Briana Kretzschmar, 1:33:53
2002 - Julie Mosier, 1:25:50
2001 - Race not held
2000 - Jessica Armenteros, 1:26:36
1999 - Karen Killeen, 1:22:20
1998 - Noelle Stenger, 1:32:04
1997 - Melissa Hurta, 1:21:37
1996 - Sally Taggart, 1:26:25
1995 - Michelle O’Brien, 1:33:22
1994 - Melissa Hurta, 1:19:54
1993 - Debbie Reyna, 1:34:24

Masters Men
(The event doesn't award a specific title for the Masters; however, this is simply the best 40-and-over time.)
2005 - Jeff Mann, 1:20:12
2004 - Bill Schroeder, 1:22:36
2003 - Bill Schroeder, 1:23:47
2002 - C.J. Stewart, 1:23:13
2001 - Race not held
2000 - B.J. Almond, 1:22:14
1999 - Joe Melanson, 1:17:34
1998 - Jeff Walter, 1:27:33
1997 - Rich Fredrich, 1:18:37
1996 - Doug Earle, 1:24:37
1995 - Steve Honea, 1:24:05
1994 - Jimmie Jones, 1:24:10
1993 - Miquel Lopez, 1:19:32

Masters Women
2005 - Connie Collmorgen, 1:35:32
2004 - Mary Rodrigs, 1:38:17
2003 - Selena Harvey, 1:50:06
2002 - Becky Shirley, 1:38:46
2001 - Race not held
2000 - Judy Psenda, 1:37:36
1999 - Donna Ashmun, 1:48:35
1998 - Gina Monteith, 1:48:15
1997 - Cyndie Keene, 1:39:10
1996 - Margaret Wishard, 1:54:57
1995 - Donna Ashmun, 1:46:06
1994 - Siri White, 1:30:56
1993 - Debbie Reyna, 1:34:24

5K
(Race was started in 1997, eventually replacing the Quarter Marathon)

Men
2005 - Ben Schulz, 16:08
2004 - Carlo Deason, 17:17
2003 - Carlo Deason, 17:28
2002 - Christopher Trahan, 20:55
2001 - Michael Chancellor, 17:02
2000 - Carlo Deason, 17:25
1999 - Carlo Deason, 16:55
1998 - Thomas Hensley, 18:37
1997 - Stephan Hunnicutt, 18:15

Women
2005 - Alyssa Crocker, 19:51
2004 - Alyssa Crocker, 21:07
2003 - Taylor Cloy, 21:25
2002 - Naomi Fusaro, 24:02
2001 - Anita Quirino, 18:40
2000 - Xochitl Soldevilla, 21:16
1999 - Monet Martin, 24:04
1998 - Rebecca Ortiz, 23:18
1997 - Rebecca Ortiz, 21:42

Masters Men
2005 - Bill Schroeder, 18:46
2004 - Robert Duncan, 19:10
2003 - Tony Taylor, 20:58
2002 - Michael Manuel, 21:50
2001 - Craig Calmes, 17:26
2000 - Karl Klicker, 21:19
1999 - Greg Hill, 21:57
1998 - Jim Knievel, 21:52
1997 - David Zellar, 20:03

Masters Women
2005 - Peggy Lobato, 26:18
2004 - Jan Parks, 26:20
2003 - Michelle Smith, 23:16
2002 - Linda Reichardt, 26:16
2001 - Ree Slovin, 25:27
2000 - Sharon Brauner, 27:57
1999 - Rebecca Shelly, 30:32
1998 - Elizabeth Funderburk, 30:53
1997 - Melissa Templeton, 24:03

Couple of HARRA Board Comments about Party In The Park

Audrey Christiansen - "It appeared to me that we had a good Party in the Park on Saturday. Membership sign-up did go well. We had about 60 single membership sign-ups and about 20 household sign-ups. Don't have the breakdown of new to renewals - many people weren't sure. It seemed like quite a few people had been members previously, but not in recent years."

Bruce Mansur - "It was a good turnout by the local runners at Memorial. Everyone enjoyed the food, drinks, and the ice cream!"

My two cents ...

I didn't get there until about 9:45 a.m. and when I got there, I immediately saw Vic, Sarah, Joe and June standing in the HRB circle in the middle of all of the tents. (Joe had said that Steve Bezner had already been over.)

And from there it was a flurry of activity and talking to numbers of different people --

+ Introduced Sarah to Bruce Mansur, who promptly walked her around so that she could meet all of the other HARRA Board members.
+ Introduced myself to Al Lawrence Running Club's Melissa Henderson.
+ Pointed out to everyone who Drew Prisner, the 2002 Houston Marathon winner, was.
+ Talked to Bayou City Road Runners president Joe Sellers.
+ Met Bay Area Running Club's Veronica Hoge and told her that I might go down to Clear Lake and join them on their Pub Crawl on Saturday, September 9th - as long as all of the stops had Mountain Dew.
+ Chatted for awhile with HARRA president Anna Sumrall Helm (She was pleased things were going well.)
+ Saw fellow Board Members Audrey Christiansen and Roger Boak as well as Director Tom McBrayer.
+ Talked a little bit with German Collazos about Western States (more on that in September's edition of Footprints)
+ Found out from Bayou City Road Runners' Mark Fraser that he didn't have any 48-hour runs on the horizon!
+ Had very good chats with friends of mine from the Houston Striders, Barry Chambers and Lee Greb.

Bayou City Road Runners, the Houston Striders, the Tornados Running Club, Memorial Park Running Club, Team In Training, Bay Area Running Club, Runners' High Running Club, Terlingua Track Club and the Al Lawrence Running Club all had their tents out -- in addition, of course, to the HARRA tent!

It seemed like everyone there did indeed have a great time!

Woodlands Fit to attack Huntsville's Seven Hills on Saturday

Seven Hills Running Club president Ken Johnson is putting out the door mat on Saturday morning, September 2nd for those who want to get in some early hill training.

He said that Woodlands Fit would be taking at least 10 runners up to Huntsville to run with Seven Hills RC members -- and then have breakdast at the Cafe Texan afterwards. He also said that he modified the Huntsville Half loop to where it is 4.7 miles, which they will run twice starting at 7 a.m.

Being the gentleman that Ken is, I hope he took out the flat spots on the course!

"Houston, We Have A Problem" Finishes 51st at Hood To Coast

The sixth iteration of the Houston-based "Houston, We Have A Problem" team, which included Al Lawrence Running Club and Houston Running Bloggers' Erin Foley, set a team record this weekend for time finished (22:54:54) and overall finish (51st) in the 25th anniversary Fred Meyer Hood to Coast Relay.

Here is the year-by-year breakdown of the team's performances:

2001 -- 25:35:06, 263rd overall
2002 -- 23:50:20, 77th overall
2003 -- 23:07:08, 61st overall
2004 -- 24:28:24, 110th overall
2005 -- 23:49:27, 74th overall
2006 -- 22:54:54, 51st overall

HARRA Membership at 785!

I was glancing at the new and updated membership list on the HARRA web site and I noticed that there were 785 members listed currently - and after Saturday's Party In The Park and with the HARRA Cross Country Relay quickly approaching, it should easily swell back in the 1,000-plus range soon.

Here's the club-by-club totals breakdown thus far --

Blank (or no affiliation) -- 274 (Jill Boston, Sarah Graybeal, June Vidrine)
BCRR (Bayou City Road Runners) -- 127
HS (Houston Striders) -- 84 (Cassie Cowan, Bill Cox, Jessica Alexander)
ALRC (Al Lawrence Running Club) -- 60 (Erin Foley)
TTC (Terlingua Track Club) -- 40
BARC (Bay Area Running Club) -- 30 (Joe Carey)
HMSA (Houston Masters Sports Association) -- 28
HF (Houston Fit) -- 23 (James and Jaclyn Dykas)
TOR (Tornados Running Club) -- 21
HH (Houston Harriers) -- 19
FLS (Finish Line Sports) -- 14
TWRC (The Woodlands Running Club) -- 13
GLWY (Galloway) -- 10
RH (Runners High) -- 9
FBF (Fort Bend Fit) -- 8 (Jan Poscovsky)
KW (Kenyan Way) -- 5
PARC (Pearland Area Runners Club) -- 4
PTI (Team PTI) -- 3
IF/IFRC (Inflight Running Club) -- 3
HRB (Houston Running Bloggers) -- 2 (Me and Waverly)
Power In Motion -- 1
MPRC (Memorial Park Running Club) -- 1
BARRA (Brazosport Area Road Runners Asssociation) -- 1 (Edwin Quarles)

If the list is right as far as racing affiliations, there are two (2) big departures from the Bayou City Road Runners -- Suzy Seeley to the Al Lawrence Running Club and Jim Braden to The Woodlands Running Club.

Veteran women's runner Nancy Prejean will also be running for The Woodlands Running Club, but they'll have to get more of their membership to sign up before the Fall Series to make any dent in any of the established club's hardware haul.

Hager takes 4th in Half Marathon Tuneup for IM Wisconsin

35-year-old The Woodlands resident Kim Hager, just two weeks away from Ironman Wisconsin on Sunday, September 10th, finished fourth in a half marathon tuneup at the 11th annual Gopher to Badger Half Marathon in Hudson, Wisconsin two weeks ago.

Hager covered the distance in 1:27:35 - a pace of 6:42 per mile.

The first, second and third place finishers were far from shabby.

Winning the women's division (and finishing third overall) was 33-year-old Sister Bay, Wisconsin native Wendi Ray in a time of 1:18:54. Like Hager, she qualified for the 2004 U.S. Women's Olympic Trials and did so by winning the Myrtle Beach Marathon in 2002.

(Ray was 88th at the Trials in 2:58:13 while Hager was 76th finishing in 2:54:16. Colleen De Reuck, Deena Kastor and Jen Rhines, of course, represented the U.S. in 2004 by going 1-2-3 in the Trials in times of 2:28:25, 2:29:38 and 2:29:57, respectively.)

Team USA Minnesota's Sara Wells, 27, finished second in 1:20:39 (she was 6th overall) while local favorite and former UW-Eau Claire runner Melissa Wright, 24, was third in a time of 1:25:20.

Sunday on the Elliptical Machine

Saw this in The Chronicle this morning -- "Following Saturday's game with the Tigers, (Cleveland Indians) fans watched the feel-good baseball flick Field of Dreams on the stadium's giant TV scoreboard. For $10, fans could get a beach towel, bucket of popcorn and sit in the outfield grass."

That tells me a couple of things. It was overpriced (as in mostly anything at a professional sporting event). The beach towel was probably sponsored. Hmmm ... popcorn. That means you needed to buy a $4 20-ounce Coke to wash it down. And what were they doing NOT showing Major League? :)

What does that have to do with running? Absolutely nothing.

I went to Bally's in The Woodlands this morning and logged an hour on the elliptical machine (level 17, random, 4.94 miles). As I've taken the level up, it feels a little bit more like running hills (which I believe will pay off once I begin to trim a few miles as I have to ramp my miles up in September and October while taking advantage of the cool weather in British Columbia).

Some work is better than none at all.

Wade takes 2nd at Crim 10M on Aufdemberge's Home Course

Calling it his "worst race of the year" on his blog, Houston's Sean Wade, 40, finished second to Michigan's own Paul Aufdemberge on Saturday, August 26th at the Crim Festival of Races 10-Miler in Flint, Michigan.

"My legs were just dead," said Wade, who covered the 10 miles in 52:00. "Long runs are taking there toll and I worked out too hard the Tuesday before the race."

He was a minute and 26 seconds behind the 41-year-old Aufdemberge, who hails from Redford, Michigan.

Tatyana Pozdnyakova, the 51-year-old from Ukraine who won this year's Freescale Austin Marathon, won the women's Masters crown in a time of 59:00.

Three (3) other Houstonians participated in the 10-Miler including HARRA member Teresa Bracy (1:48:35), Greg Kuchar (1:27:27) and Walter Wrye (1:56:56). Baytown's Michael Catt ran the 8K in 43:51.

Graybeal takes 3rd in Annie Oakley Division at Cinco Ranch Tri

Congratulations to HARRA webmaster and Houston Running Bloggers' Sarah Graybeal for taking third place in the Annie Oakley Division of Sunday's Cinco Ranch Triathlon in Katy.

She narrowly defeated Jennifer Collins and Catherine Van Gorkom to earn bronze in 1:31:46.4. Sarah was 4th in the division in the 500-meter swim (9:43.6), 2nd in the bike (at 18.2 mph) and 7th in the 5K run (11:59/mile).

Here are some other folks that are friends, people I know or are recognizable to me:

1:04:29.5 - Jim Harrington, 42, Run The Woodlands 5K regular (3rd in 40-44 AG)
1:07:42.6 - Anne Ekern, 38, Houston Harriers (1st in 35-39 AG)
1:08:12.5 - Alexandra Gajewski, 31, Tornados Running Club (3rd in 30-34 AG)
1:13:40.4 - Nora Wilson, 50, The Woodlands Running Club (1st in 50-54 AG by almost 5 mins)
1:15:55.7 - Lee Greb, 52, Houston Striders (and recently earned his RRCA coaching certification)

I saw both Jim and Nora at Run The Woodlands 5K on Saturday morning and then talked to Lee at length at HARRA's Party In The Park.

Taking It Easy at Run The Woodlands 5K!

From left to right: "Dirt Runner" Rick Cook, yours truly and 7-year Run The Woodlands 5K veteran Tim Vibrock.

And one guy who wasn't "taking it easy" ... the "ageless wonder" Jim Braden of The Woodlands. (Jim is an incredibly nice guy and an 11-time Ironman finisher.)

Run The Woodlands 5K #160

The damage this morning? 31:18.98!

I'm not worried. My weight is up a little bit. (I can feel it although no significant change in clothes). I hadn't run or worked out - other than approximately 2.5 miles of brisk walking a day in Vancouver - since last Saturday in Parkersburg, West Virginia. I ran the whole way in lower 80 degrees temperatures and high humidity without stopping to walk. Plus I carried on a conversation the entire way with Tim Vibrock and Rick Cook.

The splits ...

Mile 1 -- 9:40.10 (slower than usual)
Mile 2 -- 10:15.19 (ok)
Mile 3 -- 10:26.65 (didn't feel that slow)
Last .1 -- 57.04 (didn't feel that fast)

Nice crowd today. 69 runners. Rick ran to RTW, ran the event with me (even though his original plan was to do some speed work today) and then ran home. He's registered for the Arkansas Traveller 100 the first weekend of October.

The following 20-race club members ran the race today: Ann Leoni (95), Jeff Westergren (79), Jim Harrington (57), Jon Walk (41), Lloyd Swanson (37), Jim Braden (35), Vincent Attanucci (31), Leon Reiger (28), Danny Gilbreath (26), Mike Mendeck (24) and Tim Vibrock (24).

These 10-race club members added to their total today as well: Kim Driver (17), Rick Cook (15), Dave Smart (15), Carlos Ortegon (14), JoAnn Blakeley (13) and Kirk Norton (12).

One of the real interesting stories of the morning was running with Tim Vibrock. Nice guy! He had both of knees operated on late this spring (and had run NYC like I had this past November), but today became the 5th runner in RTW history to run a race in each of the seven (7) years -- 2000-2006. (But of the 7 races that he ran in the first year, he ran 22:45 in RTW #2!)

When I do a Run The Woodlands 5K, there are always people that I enjoy seeing. Many of those are listed above in the 10- and 20-Race Club, but it is good to see Mike Mendeck back out running again. His son, Gavin, who ran 22:17 and finished 13th overall, works with HRBer Sarah Graybeal at NASA.

In The Morning

6:00 a.m. - Flight from Vancouver is scheduled to land at IAH!
6:30 a.m. - Get to the pickup truck, which is parked in the garage!
6:50 a.m. - Stop at the house, get my hair trimmed down again by my wife (don't worry ... no Samson here), get the "red headed princess" and head to The Woodlands for Run The Woodlands 5K #160.
8:00 a.m. - Actually run Run The Woodlands 5K #160.
8:31 a.m. - Finish it.
8:45 a.m. - Grab the result cards, hop in the truck and drive south to Houston!
9:30 a.m. - Arrive at Memorial Park for HARRA's "Party In The Park!"

After that, I'm making it up!

HARRA's September Footprints

Wow! I've seen what will appear in Inside Texas Running in September and I'm just amazed at what Lee Sheffer can do from a layout standpoint. (But it wasn't any surprise as Doug Spence had told me before.)

We gave him a lot of material and I was concerned that it was going to have to be cut. (And there were some things that I wanted to do that I couldn't.) If so, I'd need a few more pages!

So if you're not a HARRA member or if you don't subscribe to it separately, pick up September's issue in a week or so. Edwin wrote the lead story on Sean Wade (as well as BARRA's and HRB's club reports and a story on HARRA's adult 5K training program, "Power In Motion") and Jessica wrote a "News & Notes" preview on HARRA's Fall Series.

And the deadline and preparation for the October issue is already upon us!

News and Sentinel Half Marathon Race Report

I told myself that I wasn't going to write this, but nonetheless, here it is!

(As Rick Cook quoted ESPN's Dan Patrick, I'm truly "day-to-day"!)

I left Altoona, Pennsylvania Friday afternoon at about 2 p.m. after having lunch with my grandparents. I arrived in the thriving metropolis of Parkersburg, West Virginia just about 6 p.m., made my way downtown to the Bureau of Public Debt building and picked up my race packet. The not-so-good news is when I weighed in for the Clydesdale division! I found that I was setting records in a different direction! Whenever I break my marathon PR, I'll reveal what this number was! Until then, not a thing!

I had dinner with a good friend of mine, Shane Brown, on Friday evening. He just accepted the head women's basketball coach's position at Ohio Valley University - an NCAA Division II school. (Edwin: He is the one who recruited Dominique to HBU!)

Saturday morning, I was up early enough to be in downtown at about 7 a.m. and no doubt, after picking my chip up, I heard someone saying, "Jon! Jon!" It was Manny. I had the chance to meet his parents and before too long, Cassie was there as well. (Her parents were getting ready for their wedding shower that I overslept at the hotel for after the race.)

Cassie informed me that the family members that she was going to pace were going to end up walking the course. I told her that we should just run the course together, shoot for 11-minute miles (as I knew that I wasn't in 2:09:58 shape) and have a good time!

I looked for Jean Knaack, the executive director of the Road Runners Club of America, before the race (or Bee McLeod, the president) but could fine neither. As I was looking for them, I believe that I ended up speaking to Joe Corra, the president of the River City Runners.

I was really glad that Cassie finally got to run her hometown race! She had to sit out last year because of an IT band injury that she suffered after finishing her first marathon in San Diego in June. Her dad had driven the lead police motorcycle for 15 years something that Cassie said on the course that he's always said that he's "finished first for 15 years!" (Was there even a motorcycle this year?)

Other than when I have paced Waverly, I've never paid an entry fee and gone out there to just enjoy myself ... but I did in this race and was glad that I did. However, I'll note that Cassie is in better shape than she gives herself credit for. We finished together in 2:32:29, but she could have gone a little bit faster. She said that this was the longest distance that she had run at one time since the Aramco Half Marathon in January.

One thing to note about Parkersburg, West Virginia -- there might have been 2 or 3 people who couldn't find time to stop warming up while the National Anthem was played before the race! In Houston and in other places, there seems to be such of a lack of disrespect to our country by runners who can't stand still for two (2) minutes, regardless of what their viewpoint is of the country's state of affairs. Runners should be setting the example! (And I won't even begin to talk about the flurry of activity going on at an Astros or Texans game!)

Here are the ugly, but "we had fun" splits:

Mile 1 -- 10:39.34 (10:39.34)
Mile 2 -- 10:45.82 (21:25.16)
Mile 3 -- 11:40.57 (33:05.73)
The incline here is probably tougher than the 11th St. hill that everyone talks about.

Mile 4 -- 10:15.81 (43:21.54)
Mile 5 -- 11:20.12 (54:41.66)
Mile 6 -- 11:11.05 (1:05:52.71)
First .2 -- 2:28.35 (1:08:21.06)
This was a couple of minutes faster than last year, but I attribute that to the fact that it was just a couple of degrees cooler than 2005. I'm also thinking to myself, "Wait, two weeks ago, I ran just under a 1:03 10k ... but, wait, that was in Squamish, BC and it was flat!"

Last .8 -- 9:21.06 (1:17:42.12)
Mile 8 -- 11:27.35 (1:29:09.47)
Mile 9 -- 11:42.97 (1:40:52.44)
Mile 10 -- 12:08.66 (1:53:01.10)
Mile 11 -- 12:48.02 (2:05:49.12)
Mile 12 -- 13:09.88 (2:18:59.00)
Last 1.1 -- 13:30.31 (2:32:29.31)

There were so many people on the course as it is what is known as Parkersburg's "Homecoming Weekend". Last year, I swear - tongue in cheek too - that in the last mile that they didn't applaud because they wanted us slower runners off the course for the parade to start! But, seriously, the people were great and the only thing that you could continue to do was thank them for being out there -- which gave us a chance to get a few more breaths.

It wasn't Houston hot (a bank clock midway through the race displayed 76 degrees), but the humidity was right out of the Bayou City's playbook. Nonetheless, we both ran up the 11th St. hill in mile 12. It was slow, but we were running and passed quite a few people that were walking.

In mile 12 or close to the start of mile 13, I noticed that there was a pool of salt at the bottom of my shorts on my thighs and, of course, shortly thereafter, I began to cramp a little bit in both of my calves.

Manny and his parents saw us in downtown in mile 11 and then again close to the finish line.

As we came towards the bridge, where the finish line was, I told her that I was about (and this was totally tongue in cheek ... you have to know me and my sense of humor) to "upset all of the Robert Byrd Democrats" (who have a disdain for Bush and Texas) as I was going to break into my traditional "Hook 'Em Horns" salute. (Here's the Brightroom.com picture! and here's Cassie's pictures!)

I gave her the option of going ahead of me at that time, but to her credit she hung in with me. I also told her that I didn't know if I was going to do it from 2 or 3 blocks out (as I didn't know how far I could run with my hands outstretched above my head at that point). Actually, to my surprise, everybody cheered for a couple of blocks! (Rumor has it that the fire truck to start the parade wasn't far behind!)

After I finished, I heard somebody hollering, "Jon!" (Ah, an interview? Wait the Kenyan finished an hour or so ago.)

It was Jean Knaack! I'm sure she figured that the only person that could come down the finish line like that had to have been me! What a nice lady! We communicate via e-mail often as I quoted her in one of my "Talking The Talk" columns in Runner Triathlete News. She said she finished in 2:06:17 (official) and I introduced her to Cassie. She has a sister-in-law that lives in Marietta, Ohio - just across the river from Parkersburg.

I went back to the hotel room and crashed -- only to wake up at around 5 p.m. to find that I had missed the start of Cassie and Manny's wedding shower and had left the windows down about 25% in the rental car (while there had been a thunderstorm that had passed through.)

Bottom line, though, is that I had a great time and I got to run the race with one of my many friends!

Help! Change for HARRA's Member Discount Program

I had to cry for help this weekend as things in life got just a little bit too strenuous for me!

I've overloaded myself. I admit it! Juggling as much as I do has simply made it hard to function sometimes and not everything is getting handled as it should.

One of the things that I hadn't even had a chance to mention in this blog was HARRA's Member Discount Program.

Although it takes a minimal amount of time commitment, it was just one more thing that I had my hands in (after the transition between last year and this year's Board) and president Anna Sumrall Helm asked fellow Board Member Sarah Troscher at Monday's Board meeting to take over the maintenance of the program.

Since the first of July, there has been five (5) businesses that have added and another will go online soon now that the membership list has been brought up to speed by membership director Erin Foley and webmaster Sarah Graybeal.

Those businesses are:

+ Tri On The Run
+ TriVantage Pro Shop
+ Meridien Family Chiropractic
+ Healthy Lifestyle with Marian Bell
+ Happy Trails Obedience Training

Being added soon will be Luke's Locker in The Woodlands.

Sarah Troscher is going to be reaching out and writing each member and reminding them that they have 24-hour access via HARRA's web site to the current membership list to ensure not just anyone is taking advantage of their generosity towards HARRA's membership.

Additionally, Annie Hadow had talked to Lance Phegley with "Inside Texas Running".

On the top of the mailing label, there are two numbers -- (in Annie's case IT480342 and 48). The second #, 48, is a unique identifier for HARRA.

The ITR mailing label (and the magazine it is attached to), therefore, can also be used by HARRA members to prove membership - or by printing out the current list from the website (which the businesses could have at the point of sale).

News and Sentinel Half Marathon Preview

Official web site: http://newsandsentinel.com/halfmarathon/

The News and Sentinel Half Marathon is also the RRCA's national championship event at this distance. At the national convention in Houston this past March, the event earned the right next year to also host the national championship (which will be its fourth straight year.)

RRCA president Bee McLeod and executive director Jean Knaack will both be in attendance. (Bee ran the 2-mile event last year in 16:03.) I communicate with Jean fairly regularly and am looking forward to meeting her in person after my schedule during the National Convention this past spring (flying home on Friday, doing RTW on Saturday) didn't allow me too.)

The course is a tough one. (Vic, the course description is here and course photos are here. All the photos show flat sections or downhills!)

Weather? If it is like last year, it will be hot and humid. Not "Houston hot and humid", but enough to be uncomfortable. The current weather.com forecast is calling for thunderstorms all day Friday and Saturday. Temperature at race time (8 a.m.) is projected to be 70 degrees and increasing to between 75 and 77 degrees by the time I finish. Humidity will decrease from 84% to 76% during that time. Equally miserable, but the rain may help it not feel as bad.

Goal time: 2:24 or beat Cassie! (I'm teasing on the latter part. She is running with family and isn't "racing".) She did say on Saturday that she could see me ahead at RTW, but didn't have it in her to try and catch me. In RTW #143, with Manny's encouragement, she waited until the last 25 yards to pass me as we both ran one of our better races -- I PR'd at 28 and low change and she got me by a couple of seconds. (I'll never forgive her for it! Ha!)

Last year? It wasn't pretty. I had a tough half at altitude the week before in Flagstaff, Arizona and I was still coming off of a calf muscle injury. And it was hot! The gun time was 2:42 and the front half was 1:10 - so you could see where I crashed and burned!

Of 709 finishers, I was 661st! There were two other Texans - one a cross country runner from Spring who goes to Marietta College and a gentleman from Odem (Barry Nutter). This year, there will be at least two!

8.17 Miles Wednesday Evening at "Home"

This wasn't my smartest run ever (as HRB's ever-talented safety monitor James David Dykas would be admonishing me, aside from not carrying water with me) as I ran 85% of it in the dark and not along a path where the road is necessarily the least travelled.

(I think Vincent Attanucci might know where I'm talking about when I say Route 220. It's less travelled now from when you went to PSU with the I-99 bypass.)

But, it is what it is.

4.08 miles from my grandparents' place in Tipton (close to Delgrosso's Amusement Park) into the heart of Tyrone (population 6,000) and 4.09 miles back. There were places that I had to slow down because I couldn't see where I was running or I had to leave the main road or street to hit the sidewalk. And it wasn't as cool as it has been in Vancouver, BC but it sure was a lot better than doing that mileage in Houston.

Total time was an hour, 29 minutes and 48 seconds, but there were at least 3-4 minutes of that where I had to slow to a walk because of the road -- especially crossing the Grazierville Bridge.

I may try to get a few more miles in tonight or early Friday morning before heading to Parkersburg, West Virginia.

The Latest

Wow! Life is busy.

I spent much of the weekend getting the Run The Woodlands 5K results together, updating the 158-race database (after losing about 6 races to a hard disk crash) and then had work and other issues to deal with.

It is currently Wednesday morning in Tipton, Pennsylvania where I am in the basement of my grandparents' house. I look up on the wall and I see a picture of my great-grandparents, who have long since passed away (well, actually, my great-grandfather didn't pass until 1997 or 1998 and he had been born in 1900). It is always good to be "home". I'll only be here for a couple of days and even then, I'm still working (as I can carry my work with me anywhere).

I'll try to get in a run or two tonight and tomorrow before driving to Parkersburg, West Virginia on Friday for Saturday's News and Sentinel Half Marathon.

I'm going to be visiting with a good friend, Shane Brown, the new women's basketball coach at Ohio Valley College (and formerly of Houston Baptist University) -and- running the half marathon with fellow HRBer Cassie Cowan.

Workouts? After Saturday's Run The Woodlands 5K #159 where the heat, not yet consistent training and absolutely no warmup (because of the record crowd) yielded a time of 31:03.72, I later that evening added an hour on the elliptical machine at the gym and about 12 minutes on the stationery bike. (While maintaining the random setting, I upped the level to 17 and I only "covered" 4.88 miles. By the time I got to the bike, where I was trying to do 24 minutes at level 7 while doing intervals/hills, I wasn't hydrated as well as I should have been and began to cramp in my left leg.)

The splits on Saturday's run --

Mile 1 -- 9:18.63 (Barbara caught and passed me.)
Mile 2 -- 10:13.23 (Ran part of this with Jim Fredricks until I needed to back off.)
Mile 3 -- 10:32.17 (Ugly!)
Last .1 -- 59.69 (I normally cover this 5 seconds faster!)

Sunday, I was so busy that I didn't run at all. But on Monday evening, I completed the same workout from Saturday night at the gym. I covered 5.04 miles on the elliptical, I think (I know it was over 5), and completed all 24 minutes on the bike.

Tuesday had the same result -- no activity. After waking, work took hold until leaving for the airport (got there at 1:30 p.m. for a 3:45 p.m. flight ... that time of day you can utilize your normal "get there an hour ahead" routine), flying to Cleveland and then driving a little over 4 hours to my grandparents and getting here at 12:15 a.m. Eastern time.

So for those who wonder what's up with me, there it is!

HARRA Members Excel in Chicago Distance Classic

And they sure did a lot better than Holden and I did the last two years!

HARRA vice president of Road Races, Stephen Mayor (of the Houston Harriers), 33, finished 165th of 7,279 runners at the Chicago Distance Classic with a time of 1:24:50.

Austin's Scott Birk, 43, was the top male finisher from Texas - just ahead of Mayor - stopping the clock in 1:23:02.

Twenty-two (22) runners from Texas ran the event that had been taken over in the last three years by John Bingham Racing after being America's largest - and most popular - 20k.

Meanwhile, Al Lawrence Running Club's Lisa Foronda, 36, was the top female finisher from the Lone Star State as she lowered her half marathon PR by three minutes today with a 1:47:01 finish. In establishing her former best time, Foronda recovered from an injury while training for the Houston Marathon and mastered a cold and somewhat icy course at Freescale in Austin in February with a chilling 1:50:31 effort.

Foronda is currently training for her 10th career marathon this October in Chicago. Not only is the 36-year-old anchorwoman for Houston's KHOU-TV Channel 11 on track to break her marathon PR of 3:59:28, set at the Houston Marathon in 2002, she will be pushing hard - with less than two months of training to go - against the 3:45 qualifying window for the Boston Marathon.

Foronda has run the Chicago Marathon one other time in her running career. She finished the 2000 event in 4:22:25, which was her 6th career marathon and 3rd best overall performance at the distance.

Gunning to break three (3) hours for the first time in his marathon career, Mayor is also looking to qualify for Boston for the third time ever. According to marathonguide.com, here is Mayor's marathon results since 2000:

2000 - 4:22:42, Houston Marathon, age 26
2001 - 3:56:03, Houston Marathon, age 27
2001 - 3:49:32, Austin Marathon, age 27
2001 - 3:54:01, Chicago Marathon, age 28
2001 - 3:56:27, San Antonio Marathon, age 28
2002 - 3:55:50, Houston Marathon, age 28
2003 - 3:11:44, Houston Marathon, age 29
2003 - 3:58:40, Boston Marathon, age 29
2003 - 3:05:50, Dallas White Rock Marathon, age 30 (PR)
2004 - 3:45:56, Chicago Marathon, age 31
2005 - 4:05:17, Boston Marathon, age 32

Mayor will also be in Chicago in October with 40,000 other runners, including many HARRA members as well as folks from the greater Houston area and the Lone Star state.

Wade finishes 2nd to Hussein at Falmouth

In their first head-to-head matchup of the year, 41-year-old Mbarak Hussein of Albuquerque, New Mexico defended his Masters title at the 34th annual 7.1-mile Falmouth Road Race in Massachusetts on Sunday with an impressive one minute, 23-second win over Houstonian Sean Wade.

Hussein, featured in the September 2006 Runner's World 40th Anniversary edition article on masters runners, covered the course in 33:37 with an impressive pace of 4:44 per mile while Wade, who perhaps ran his best race on a minute per mile basis in 4:54 per, finished in 34:50.

Redford, Michigan's Paul Aufdemberge, who Wade defeated at Utica's Boilermaker 15K last month, was the third men's masters finisher in 35:20.

Hussein finished 12th overall. Wade 20th.

Kenya's Gilbert Okari was the overall winner in a time of 31:53. It was Okari's third straight win of the event tying him with Bill Rodgers (1974, 1977-78) and John Korir (1999, 2001, 2003).

Russia's Alevtina Ivanova, 31, defeated Kenya's Catherine Ndereba, 34, handidly with an impressive 47-second win. Ivanova broke the tape in 35:43 while the 4-time Boston Marathon winner finished in 36:30.

Ivanova won her second Falmouth (having won in 2004) and denied Ndereba from winning her fourth Falmouth (previous wins in '96, '98 and '99).

Albuquerque's Elva Dryer, 41, beat Boulder, Colorado's Colleen De Reuck, 42, by just seven (7) seconds for the women's masters crown. Dryer finished 8th among all females with a time of 37:52. Third was 2006 Freescale Austin Marathon winner Tatyana Pozdnyakova, 51, who hails from the Ukraine, in a time of 39:26.

Closer Inspection of Names at Run The Woodlands

After writing my article in Runner Triathlete News a few months ago about "Assumed Names", I am always suspect about a name that looks a little different.

So as I'm poring through the results of yesterday's event in The Woodlands, I noticed the following finishers:

4 - 18:56 - M - 17 - Jacob Turnipseed, Anacoco, Louisiana
61 - 25:08 - M - 10 - Samuel Turnipseed, Anacoco, Louisiana
65 - 25:13 - M - 50 - Ed Turnipseed, Anacoco, Louisiana

I was seriously expecting to see Johnny Appleseed down close to where I was. (Well, given that I ran the Resurrection Run 5K as "Johnny Run", I guess Appleseed wouldn't have been such a surprise.)

After doing a little bit more checking on the Internet, it turns out that Jacob finished in three events at this year's LHSAA Class B state track and field meet. (Louisiana has 7 classes where Texas' UIL has just 5.) His 2006 finishes were as follows:

800 meters - 3rd in 2:05.48
1,600 meters - 4th in 4:48.15
3,200 meters - 3rd in 10:35.62

His 2005 finishes looked like this:

800 meters - 5th in 2:08.96
1,600 meters - 2nd in 4:42.07
3,200 meters - 3rd in 10:19.81

And, of course, in a small town, you play all sports. Jacob also ran cross country (3rd at state meet in 16:55.47), was honorable mention All-State in basketball and played baseball too.

They Came, Conquered and Looked Good Doing It!

Here is the group picture of the winning Seven Hills Running Club team from Saturday's Run The Woodlands 5K. (Missing from the picture were Ben Harvie and Mary Patterson.) Photo credit: Kenny Johnson

10 Miles on Sunday ... Heard at Run The Woodlands

Fellow Houston Running Blogger Cassie Cowan and I ran together during the first loop of Run The Woodlands 5K this morning.

I asked her, knowing we both could afford the miles, "Want to do 10 in the morning as a final tune-up for Parkersburg?"
She replied, "I'm not sure that I can. Wait, we're going to the Texans game tonight and I might have a little bit too much to drink."
We continued to joke about things a little bit as we came up along side Sarah Graybeal.
I said, loud enough for Sarah to hear us, "Sarah will run 10 with us in the morning."
Needless to say, Sarah was more than a bit amused.
She goes, "I can't. I'm going to the Dynamo game tonight."
As I took off (to get ahead on only crash and burn a little bit), I joked, "Wow ... you 20-somethings!"

It looks as if we'll do 10 miles sometime on Sunday evening.

If you'd like to come out and do a long run with us, we'd be certainly glad to have the company. BUT ... it probably isn't going to be anything faster than about a 10:45-to-11-minute per mile pace.

Seven Hills Dominates HRB at Historic RTW!

While I'm working on the official results (and it may take a very long while), I would like to congratulate president Ken Johnson and the Seven Hills Running Club for an impressive turnout and effort at today's record-shattering Run The Woodlands 5K #159.

Including Waverly and myself, who hold dual memberships in HRB and 7HRC, the Huntsville-based club registered a turnout in the mid 40's - an all-time club participation high - and ran extremely well to boot. (Rick Cook, who also holds dual memberships, was on vacation with his family.)

Additionally, the record of 127 participants from earlier this year (in January when Bill Dwyer put together a Team In Training challenge of the six (6) greater Houston-based groups and challenged The Woodlands Fit) was destroyed as there were over 170 finishers!

(Run The Woodlands 5K uses essentially what is known as a card finish system. The number of finishers is unofficial right now as there were some runners who had finished once, grabbed a card (today - tongue depressor with a number on it), placed their results on the board, but went out to pace somebody and crossed the finish line.)

The Challenge scoring will come later as will the official results; however, I have a number of people to thank and things to point out.

+ Thanks to the staff at Luke's Locker in The Woodlands. Store manager Susie Schreiber and her staff of Becky Isaac, Mary Kerschbaum, JoAnn Blakely, Cathy Steele and Tara Wilson did a heckuva job today in the face of the all-time number of participants. (Oh, Susie's husband, Brad, did a great job as always in taking pictures!)
+ Thank you to all of the members of the Houston Running Bloggers who made the trek north and made time for the event. I personally appreciate it. We'll do this again next year with Seven Hills Running Club on Saturday, June 9th, 2007.
+ HRB had three husband-wife tandems and two parent-child teams as the following ran for "the Bloggers" - PR Keith Kelleher, Barbara Boone, Vic Kaiser, Dave Smart and his son, Nicholas, Sarah Graybeal, Cassie Cowan, Edwin and Donna Quarles, Holden and Franchesa Choi, Joe and Gerlinde Carey, WaverlyWalk and finally, me.
+ Franchesa and Donna ran their debut races today! Vic did his first race in recovering from his ankle injury!
+ Barbara got to meet Joe for the first time as did Parkersburg, West Virginia natives Cassie Cowan (HRB) and Tara Wilson (of Luke's).
+ Thanks to my wife, Gena, for coordinating the delivery of ice cream sandwiches to both teams. While we lost, they were a sure hit with everyone!

+ Thanks to Bill Dwyer, Debbie Tripp and others who I may be missing for bringing Team In Training - Fall Season The Woodlands and Luke's Locker Ten For Texas training groups to the event today. (Bill: Your help with runners who finished over 107 - our places on the two boards - was nothing short of phenomenal.)
+ It was great to have John DiMarco and his son, Ryan, out to do the event for the first time in a couple of years. (Thanks guys for making the trek from Sugar Land!)
+ Always good to see two-time Ironman Nora Wilson and her ageless wonder of a husband, Lou. (It won't be long until Lou passes his age by the number of marathons that he does!)
+ I got to run part of mile 2 with the editor of the Conroe Courier, Jim Fredricks. Jim is part of Team In Training (and Bill Dwyer's group) and was the only media representative to make the event this morning. (Former running blogger Lisa Foronda of KHOU-TV Channel 11 is obviously on my mailing list and I had invited Richard Justice of The Chronicle, who lives in The Woodlands and trained for the Half this past January.)
+ Comment of the day belonged to Jeff Westergren of The Woodlands, "There was a day that I drove up at 7:50 a.m. and parked up close to the front." Yes, I was there on a day that there was 9 finishers too -- November 8, 2003. (It was the week after I did my first half marathon in 2:50!)
+ There were so many finishers that the normal amount of fluid replacement that Luke's brings out wasn't enough. The event was completely prepared for the increase that may have been accounted for with the SHRC-HRB Challenge; however, nobody EVER expected over 170!

(More to come ...)

Saint Blogger's Day, August 12th, Run The Woodlands

Saint Blogger's Day - Run The Woodlands, August 12

(with apologies to W Shakespeare, by Sir Joe Carey)
---
Sir Edwin Quarles: O that we now had here

But one ten thousand of those men in Houston

That do no work to-day!

---

King Jon: What's he that wishes so?

My cousin Sir Edwin? No, my fair cousin;

If we are mark'd to die, we are enow

To do our club loss; and if to live,

The fewer men, the greater share of honour.

God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.

By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,

Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;

It yearns me not if men my garments wear;

Such outward things dwell not in my desires.

But if it be a sin to covet honour,

I am the most offending soul alive.

No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from Houston.

God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour

As one man more methinks would share from me

For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!

Rather proclaim it, Sir Edwin, through my host,

That he which hath no stomach to this fight,

Let him depart; his passport shall be made,

And crowns for convoy put into his purse;

We would not die in that man's company

That fears his fellowship to die with us.

This day is call'd the feast of Blogger.

He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,

Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,

And rouse him at the name of Blogger.

He that shall live this day, and see old age,

Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,

And say 'To-morrow is Saint Blogger.'

Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,

And say 'These wounds I had on Blogger's day.'

Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,

But he'll remember, with advantages,

What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,

Familiar in his mouth as household words-

Cassie the Queen, Vic and Keith,

Sarah and Holden, Francesca and Donna-

Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.

This story shall the good man teach his son;

And Blogger Blogger shall ne'er go by,

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remembered-

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition; And gentlemen in Houston now-a-bed

Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Blogger's day

---

All bloggers are invited to join us for a pre-race reading at 7:45 a.m.
Next year's Saint Blogger's Day, Saturday, June 9th, 2007

Five Interesting Notes to Start Your Weekend!

1.) Houstonian masters runner Sean Wade will face his biggest challenge of the year this weekend at the 34th annual Falmouth Road Race (7 miles) when he goes head-to-head with Albuquerque, New Mexico's Mbarak Hussein, 41, who is the defending Masters champion and 8th place overall finisher from 2005. (The confirmation list shows 13 other runners from Texas. None are HARRA members.)

2.) Hanson-Brooks' Brian Sell, who finished 4th at Boston and won the U.S. Men's Half Marathon championship here in Houston in January, will be running the 30th annual Chicago Distance Classic on Sunday. (I ran this event in 2004 and Holden Choi ran it last year.) Also running this year, according to a note on RunnersWorld.com, is veteran masters runner Dick Beardsley.

3.) According to his blog at http://www.50in50in50.com/, Sam Thompson ran with Dean Karnazes on next year's new ING Atlanta Marathon course. Karnazes, of course, shortly will begin running his version of 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. HRBer Keith Kelleher will join Karnazes in Dallas. Thompson will be running the Dallas White Rock Marathon course on Thursday, August 17th.

4.) On Tuesday, according to the USATF, Baylor freshman Erin Bedell won the junior women's 2,000 meters at The Road to Eugene '08 track meet in a time of 6:04.60. (Texas' state record holder in cross country, the 800 and 1,600 meters, Bedell is one of Texas' best ever high school runners who competed at Plano West High School.)

5.) Seven (7) Texans, including Katy's Rich Fredrich, finished the La Luz Trail Run on Sunday in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fredrich, 49, was 43rd of 341 finishers covering the 9 miles in 1:55:18. (The La Luz Trail Run is a 9 mile trail run that starts near the intersection of Tramway Road and the road to the Juan Tabo Picnic Grounds in the far northeast heights of Albuquerque, NM. The race consists of 1.8 miles of paved road and 7.2 miles of dirt single track trail with a 12% grade. The race finishes at the Sandia Crest (10,678') near the gift shop located by the radio and TV towers on the crest.)

Interestingly, 19-year-old Keith Howard of Albuquerque finished 2nd in his age group (1:53:46) and less than 2 minutes in front of Fredrich. What's impressive is that Howard has cystic fibrosis.

Friday Workout / Miscellaneous

We had the red-eye flight coming in from Vancouver Wednesday night/Thursday morning (more on that later), which completely wiped me out for Thursday. Therefore, I didn't run at all.

Today, I got in a pretty decent workout -- 60 minutes on the elliptical machine (random, level 16, 5.33 miles -- yes, I'm counting them, but in a separate line item), 35 minutes on the bike (random, level 6 -- didn't make an hour because I wasn't fueled appropriately) and 45-50 minutes cutting the grass (when I cut grass - front and back - it isn't a leisurely stroll ... for me, it's a mini workout).

After leaving the gym, I went to get a quick bite to eat as I had to print more HARRA "Party In The Park" fliers and pick up from Best Buy my HP laptop, whose hard disk crashed almost two weeks ago. The young man at the register was new. (I could tell.) I walked up with a couple of magazines in my hand and my wallet. He asked, "Here or to go?" I thought the magazines made it kind of obvious, but I guess that's just me!

Alright, now to the flight home from Vancouver.

We were in seats 6 D, E and F. I was just waking up as we pulled to the gate when I looked outside to see an agent dressed in blue with the initials "CBP" on their back. Well, I knew that was "Customs and Border Protection", but I saw other similarly dressed individuals with some combinations that I couldn't put together in a semi-groggy state.

As we all stood up to deplane, the flight attendant announced that we should have our proof of citizenship and customs declaration cards ready immediately after exiting the plane. I was thinking to myself, "What the ...?"

As soon as we crossed through the door, there were three (3) CBP agents immediately to our left and right and another trio in the jetway. The ones in the jetway were the ones that were checking citizenship documents, but at this time I also noticed that I had left my laptop in the overhead bin. I informed the CBP agent and we had to wait until everybody had been dealt with.

As I got permission to go back on the plane, I informed the CBP agent that was in the front. Another two were down the aisle talking to the flight attendants. He got my back out of the overhead, asked me standard Customs ID questions (name, where do I live, where was I coming from, what was the purpose of my trip, etc.) and then gave me my bag.

I told Gena and Waverly that something was very, very different; however, it wasn't until I got home that I knew that there had been some type of major terrorist threat.

Flying to Cleveland on Monday morning to go see my grandparents and work from Pennsylvania for the week should be fun. :)

Another Former Marathon Winner in Town

You know, I'm a magnet for all types of interesting tidbits of information. (It is just sort of how things operate around here.) I received a phone call today from the wife of Jeff Gifford, who won the 2003 Denver Marathon in September of that year before in a time of 2:55:22 before heading off to fight in Iraq.

She commented that his job has been limiting his training a little bit, but that they were looking for event opportunities for their entire family. I had the opportunity to talk about HARRA, Party in the Park, the Marathon Kick-Off Party, the Just For Kids Fun Run, the Jingle Bell Run and, of course, my favorite, Run The Woodlands 5K.

He did get a chance last year to run in the Wortham's Loop The Lake 5K on Saturday, April 30th - a day a cold front blew through the Houston area. He finished 5th overall in that event in a time of 19:20.

Wednesday Morning: 6.5 in Federal Way, WA

Hmmm ... Tuesday was a mini-"meltdown" day; therefore, I made up for it this morning with 6.5 miles (6.502 for you precise folks) on part of the same route that I ran on Monday.

Things were fairly easy yesterday as some shopping was done and then I took Waverly to see the state capitol down the road in Olympia (Washington) and then drove her further south to see a little bit of Portland (and I made a visit to Powell's Bookstore.) I picked up three older running books. (I had grabbed two back in March. These are things that are likely out of print.)

Back to today's run ... the course that I ran was here. Fairly level going out from the hotel west to 21st Ave. SW. The turn north was a slight downhill with the back half including a number of inclines. I took it fairly easy while trying to see if there was any issues in my stride that may be causing a bit of my pain. I get it primarily in my left glute, but a little in my right.

It seems that when I slow down a little and open my stride some that the area that is troublesome tends to minimize quite a bit. When I get into a quicker-paced "marathon shuffle" is where the discomfort is most pronounced, but not enough to stop me from running.

The stats on the run are as follows:

Out -- 2.911 miles / 29:41.36 / 10:12
Up and Back -- 3.591 miles / 38:12.56 / 10:38
Overall -- 6.502 miles / 1:07:53.92 / 10:27

Little slower than Monday's run and I had the weather in my favor this morning -- overcast (typical Pacific NW day), low-to-mid 60's, moderate humidity.

August mileage: 17.538 miles (would like to be between 100 and 150)

I understand that there may be some concern about the ramp-up of miles; however, I feel like my legs can handle it. Plus, if I look at it this way (below with a 10% increase), it really isn't that daunting:

Week of August 6th (Sunday to Saturday): 25
Week of August 13th: 27.5
Week of August 20th: 30.25
Week of August 27th (Sunday to Thursday): 33.25

The challenge, for me, is to actually go out and do it (as planned).

Pain In The Rear

Regarding the pain in my rear end, everything that I'm reading is pointing to this.

(It was mentioned in this month's - either August or September - edition of Trail Runner Magazine that I was reading today at lunch time.)

Register Online for 2006 HARRA Fall Series Events!

All six (6) 2006 HARRA Fall Series events now have online registration available!

HARRA Cross Country Relay, Houston
Saturday, September 30th
Register Here
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United Space AllianceSA Space City 10-Miler, Clear Lake

Sunday, October 15th

Register Here
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Koala Health & Wellness Center/Luke's Locker Houston Half Marathon, Houston

Sunday, October 29th

Register Here
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HMSA Classical 25K, Houston

Sunday, November 17th

Register Here
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Methodist Sugar Land Hospital 30K, Sugar Land

Sunday, December 10th

Register Here
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Chevron Houston Marathon, Houston

Sunday, January 14th

Register Here

USATF recognizes Houston's Bill Collins

Collins completes four-year “hat trick” at USA Masters Championships
08-06-2006

Contact: Tom Surber
Media Information Manager
USA Track & Field
317-713-4690

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - All-time masters great Bill Collins completed an amazing four-year period of excellence on the final day of the 2006 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. The 2006 USA Masters Championships features more than 1,400 athletes from around the country ranging in age from 30 to 95+.

The world record holder in the men's 55-59 division in the 100m (11.41 seconds) and 200m (23.36), Bill Collins of Houston, Texas, handily won the 400 meters Saturday in 53.05 seconds, and the 100 meters in 11.64.

On Sunday, Collins won the men's 55-59 200 meters in a blistering 23.44 seconds into a -2.5 mps headwind. Collins finished the race nearly two seconds ahead of runner-up Richard Riddle (25.19) of Arlington, Texas.

Although Collins' margin of victory was impressive, he said the race was tougher than it looked. "I have a little twinge in my hamstring," he said. "I was putting too much pressure on my right leg because I twisted my ankle yesterday. I wasn't really concerned, I just wanted to run a good time for the people.

With his 400m victory today, Collins has won the 100m, 200m & 400m hat trick in his age-group at the last four USA Masters Outdoor Championships.

"I know I work hard and never take anything for granted and I respect every athlete," he said. "There's always somebody moving up and training hard and that keeps me motivated."

Collins now owns 84 masters national titles, 17 world masters crowns and has set nearly 20 world records during his masters career.

Monday Morning: 4.83 in Federal Way, WA

If I'm ever going to get back to where I want and need to be, I have to get my act into motion. So while Gena was in getting her shower and Waverly was getting awake (close to 9 a.m. Pacific), I headed out for a short run. My plan was to go 25 minutes out and then come back.

Overall, basically try and keep it fairly easy.

I ended up just short of that (24:05.77) because there was a spot that I thought that I could pick up easily from the satellite image when I mapped it using HARRA's online tool. The numbers - and map - looked like this:

Out -- 2.403 miles / 24:05.77 / 10:02
Back -- 2.433 miles / 25:39.89 / 10:33
Overall -- 4.836 miles / 49:45.26 / 10:17

I didn't feel like I was really working that hard going out as there were some slight downhills and, of course, there were four (4) inclines on the way back accounting for the time difference. Although certainly not of huge signifigance was the sun in my face coming back as well.

I really need to find the issue with the tightness in my glutes because I feel like it is holding me back a little bit (let alone any weight).

Good run. I'll try to (bottom line is I really "have to") take advantage of it again tomorrow and Wednesday before we fly back to Houston on the red-eye Wednesday night.

August mileage: 11.036 miles (would like to be between 100 and 150)

Where to today? -- Space Needle and the Museum of Flight.

Squamish Days 10K Race Report

It's vacation time in B.C.! (Well, now, Seattle, Washington late on Sunday evening. This post started Sunday afternoon in downtown Vancouver.)

And with as much driving as we did yesterday and today, I would suggest that B.C. stands for "Beautiful Country" as well as "British Columbia." It is hard to equal some of the breath-taking views going up the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Squamish and Whistler. The latter, of course, will be the home to the skiing competition of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

After having to work on Thursday and Friday being one of those "disaster" family days that we occasionally have, Saturday morning I took the bus out to the Vancouver International Airport to pick up a car for the remainder of the trip. I had hoped to head south to Lake Cavanaugh, Washington for a 7.8-miler event called "Once Around Lake Cavanaugh". But crossing the Canada/U.S. Border at the Peace Arch was going to be an absurd wait of at least an hour and a half. (It was bad all weekend. Some announced waits were up to three hours to head into the U.S.!)

We took to some sight-seeing earlier at Fort Langley ("the birthplace of British Columbia") and Power Falls at Stave Falls Visitor Centre (BC Hydro) before making it back to the city to see fireworks from Mexico in English Bay as part of the HSBC Celebration of Light.

This morning, we drove north to Squamish when the Squamish Days 10K was being held. The flyer stated "accurately measured flat and fast course" but as we kept climbing to drive there, I thought that there would be no way. We had breakfast at McDonald's there in Squamish at about 7 a.m. Race-day registration took place until 8 a.m. with the race starting at 8:30 a.m.

It was run on city streets. (Squamish is a town of 16,000.) Volunteers did an excellent job blocking off traffic and the course was very well marked. (We drove the course before the start of the race.)

At 7:30 a.m., it was 55 degrees and I had my long sleeved Penn State running shirt on; however, by 8:15 a.m. when I started to warm-up, the temperature had increased enough for me to switch into a short sleeved shirt.

I've been having problems with my glutes for a couple of months now and I was worried that I would not be able to get them stretched out enough to race. I told Waverly before the start of the race to not expect anything better than a one (1) hour and two (2) minute finish (1:02).

Running on a course marked in kilometers, I know that I need 6-minute per kilometer splits to make an hour. So, that was the target even though it was completely unrealistic to be able to hit that given my recent activity level.

Nine (9) wheelchair racers got started five minutes early and then our race began. Below are my splits as well as commentary and thoughts throughout the race:

Kilometer 1 -- 5:45.88
The most difficult part of the race for me is in the first mile or kilometer as I always try to just settle into a rhythm, but usually I end up going out too fast. Today was no different.

Kilometer 2 -- 6:01.38 (11:47.26)
I'm pleased that I was able to keep it around 6 minutes, but I knew early that there wasn't going to be anyway to hold it. Especially when the temperature had warmed up a little bit - enough to feel the sun.

Kilometer 3 -- 6:11.30 (17:58.56)
I took water on during this kilometer. The time that I took to walk and drink it put me over the magical 6-minute per km split.

Kilometer 4 -- 6:17.73 (24:16.29)
By this marker, I was dehydrated and beginning to get a little gassed. (When I checked things prior to the race, color indicated that I was hydrated but I didn't have a large number of ounces in me and the warning light went on here.) One consolation: the scenery during this kilometer is some of the best that I've ever seen during a road race. Almost majestic.

Kilometer 5 -- 6:15.78 (30:32.07)
We made the turnaround and then passed the marker. I was hoping to be closer to the 6-minute per mark, but it wasn't to be. I did the math and figured that 1:01 was going to be a challenge as I was already spent (knowing that I wasn't specifically trained for the event and/or up in my mileage).

Kilometer 6 -- 6:36.18 (37:08.25)
I not only took on water past the halfway point, but I walked a little bit. The words of Lance Collins popped into my head stating that I was trying to run a pace faster than what I trained for because I had to walk. Very, very true.

Kilometer 7 -- 6:32.71 (43:40.96)
Just before I hit the kilometer marker, I crossed over a bridge that I almost stopped to admire the scenery. :) A couple of people were "well-wishing". I just stuck my thumb up and trudged on.

Kilometer 8 -- 6:39.73 (50:20.69)
The water stop was in this kilometer and I started to do the math that I was losing a half a minute per kilometer now on that hour goal. It kind of got me upset a little. Now a 1:03 might be out of the question and I told myself, "That would not be a good thing."

Kilometer 9 -- 6:16.37 (56:37.06)
As I passed the 8-kilometer sign, I had two people with me and I realized that two (2) 6-minute kilometers would leave me at 1:02:20. I figured quickly that 1:01-something wasn't going to happen today.

One was a gentleman that had almost been walking most of the way and another was a female. He didn't make an attempt to stay with me, but she did for a little bit. However, I started to try and pick the pace up as we crossed the street (from going with traffic to against it.)

I also had passed a marker that said "one mile to go". As I went by, I looked at my watch and it said 52:52. (I thought to punch the split, but I didn't.)

Somewhere in the middle of this kilometer, I also passed one female runner. I felt good, but when I got to the 9-kilometer marker I was disappointed that the split was only 6:16.37. However, it was better than the last three ugly splits!

Kilometer 10 -- 5:54:26 (1:02:31.32)
As I passed the 9-kilometer marker, I realized that I had three people in front of me. Somewhere in the early stages of the last kilometer, I passed one female runner. I had two others in sight and I wasn't sure if I couldn't muster up enough speed to get them.

When we got to the race site at around 6:30 a.m., they were just sitting up. Therefore, I thought that the finish line was up further than what it turned out to be. So as we approached the Howe Sound Secondary School building on the street, I tried to turn up the notch because there were two runners that with a good strong kick in the end that I might be able to catch them too!

As I was approaching the last left-hand turn, I looked at my watch to see either 3:xx-something or 4:xx-something or both (at two different times!) I didn't think I was going that fast, but I knew then that there was a lot longer to the finish line than what I had thought.

The two runners that I had in striking distance before the last turn finished in 47 (1:01:44) and 12 seconds (1:02:19), respectively, in front of me. (Ok, maybe one was in striking distance!)

The runner that I got ahead of at the 8-kilometer marker, I think, caught me coming down the stretch. She finished three (3) seconds ahead of me. I had tried to go one more notch up, but I felt my left hamstring starting to strain - and I wanted to finish this thing!

I didn't even acknowledge Waverly or Gena in the stretch to the finishing line because I wanted to get it over with.

The gentleman that I left behind at the 8-kilometer mark finished at least 2 and a half minutes later.

And I covered the last mile in 9:39. Not bad.

Overall
I felt good about this race. The course was basically as flat as a pancake. Yes, it is 4 minutes off of my PR, but it was better than my last outing out at this distance (in Anacortes, Washington). It is also better than the pair of 1:04s that I had last September in Alvin and Klein.

I finish dead last in my age group (19 of 19), 101st of 104 men and 171st of 187 overall. Oh well!

I need to rein in those middle time splits to a more managable and even pace. And I need to get the mileage up. I know that the report was long, but thanks for hanging in there!