Pilgrim's Kids Care 5K

I don't usually run or like 5Ks because they emphasize what I am worst at ... speed. But there was a small race at Montrose Harbour where a church was raising money for Back on My Feet. BOMF needed drivers for the guys in the program so I signed for driving duty and for the race itself. Because the program in Chicago is now just over one year old the runners included guys who had trained all year and new members who were running their first race.

Glorious day, sunny, temperature around 50. The new runners were nervous, the veterans just getting back into it from their fall training and races. It was a small informal affair with a cyclist leading the group on a marked course on the sidewalks from the harbour, around the hill (the only one on the North Side of Chicago!), the soccer fields, north to next set of soccer fields and back.

I wasn't going to work too hard on this one until one of the new guys I drove to the race started trash talking me. I picked my way around some kids and dropped him at the half mile mark. get up a fast pace for me anyway, and finished around 20th for the race. If they had divisions I would would have gotten 2nd or 3rd for the post 50 guys. Of course, if they had been big enough to have divisions, they probably would have had faster runners and I would have been my usual middle of the pack finish.

The real story was the pride of the new runners and the delight of the marathon finishers who were interviewed by some of the Church volunteers for some kind of a video and then saluted by the announcer after the race.

Heart of Indiana 10K

I ran this 10K in downtown Indianapolis yesterday. My first race in Indianapolis, and my first 10K run on a pancake. Looking forward to the next one!

100 years and counting

This is really cool.

Learning to Love the Elliptical?

In partial response to Spencer's post, I regret to inform the running community at large (and in particular, my worthy competitors in the 40-44 Clydesdale cohort) that I am officially on the shelf until further notice. Apparently, Achilles tendons aren't supposed to have golf-ball-sized bone spurs at their bases.

Yesterday my doctor told me my distance-running career was officially on hold while I experience the joy that is night splints and try to figure (1) whether PRP injections are voodoo medicine; and (2) whether I care. ("I believe in the placebo effect. I believe in the placebo effect. I believe. . . ")

According to the doctor, my spurs are so large that she'd have to detach almost the entire tendon on each leg to pare them down surgically; nonetheless, she said, "I don't like to cut on athletes. If you were a sedentary, overweight, middle-aged woman, I'd recommend surgery." She then wondered aloud how I was able to wear shoes at all.

Would her treatment recommendation have been different if I were a sedentary, overweight, middle-aged man? 'Cause I could manage that with very little effort. At the same time, neither "months in a wheelchair" nor "two years of surgeries and rehab" sounds all that attractive. So I guess I have to avoid the "sedentary" bit and/or hope my doctor is as sexist as her comment suggested. Elliptical (and bike), here I come!

Apologies to all for backing out of the Indianapolis half; if they'll let me do the elliptical-machine-equivalent for a finisher's medal, maybe we can work something out.

Fall running

Max: Sounds like you are keeping busy? How about you Paul? What do you expect to run besides the Indy half?

For me I am doing the Kaufman 5K in Highland Park on 10/29 which is a totally made up excuse for the Loyola running club to do a short race through the leafy North Shore suburbs beginning at the home of our associate dean and ending with brunch at his house. Then its the 15K Hot Chocolate race on 11/5. Then maybe the Turkey Trot 8K only because it starts 3 blocks from my apartment. All are contingent on my arches and heels calming down from the lingering effects of the marathon.

Any other blog readers or authors who care to share? Ted? Anyone?

Who needs a reason?

Today was the "Run for a Cause" 8K in Clarendon, VA. I couldn't think of a cause not to, so I did. Another beautiful day, this time racing in my old haunts, where I lived and ran when I first moved to the DC area.

Local Races

I found a fun and quite low-key race in Rock Creek Park today. It was a pleasant 2 1/2 mile jog to get there, then a warm-up, then a 5K on a rugged course. We went downhill steeply for about 3/4 mile, then downhill gradually to the turn, and then back -- gradual up, steep up! I spotted the eventual winner at the start line by his (sorry for observing this) really, really great legs. There were a handful of others that might once have been serious runners, or were on their way -- third place went to a high-school kid, and the third woman was a 12-year-old girl. F__, with whom I ran a 20-miler four-or-so weeks ago, won the women's title.

At the turn there were 4 of us together; the winner was already 30" or so ahead. We all looked at our watches and took a collective gasp, as the downhill half had gone improvidently quickly. I had a rare (for me) instance of deeper understanding that I wasn't the only guy dreading the next 10 minutes, and I managed to keep the winner in sight and hold on for second.

Hung around for some bananas and a low-key awards ceremony, then jogged home. This is a marvelous time of year for running in DC.