Pumpkins, a Corn Maze, and a Race!

(Originally Published on Runners World Loop 10/16/11)

Theme races are always exciting events, and this morning’s Great Pumpkin 5k was no exception. This race is held West of Tucson, not far from Kitt Peak, at Buckelew Farms. It’s a cross-country race, and the course changes due to the farm’s need to rotate crops. Most of the course winds through the pumpkin fields, and in the final quarter-mile there is a corn maze. The pumpkins are in season, with large orange and white clusters of them everywhere; and the corn stalks are about 6-7 feet high. The farm hosts Halloween activities so there are plenty of props, like skeletons and haunted mansions, to give the whole area a fun feel. The pre-race enthusiasm was high, with lots of nervous runners.

I was happy to have my youngest son, Jason, running this morning. We had some fun scoping out the area, and Jason made a new friend!

The race took off fast, and I hit the 1 mile mark around 6:02. By then we were in the pumpkin patch, and dust was flying. I wore my trail running shoes, which was good because some parts of the course were really mushy or rough. Mile 2 was around 12:15 and I knew I was slowing a bit. I wanted to run fast but also tried to hold slightly back since I’m only 1 week away from my next marathon. Shortly before the 3-mile mark, the course opened up to a wider, smoother section. Here’s a picture taken by my friend Doreen:

Here’s Jason running along that portion of the course:

After that, we came up a short hill and entered a very slanted, very soft and dusty path, which really slowed the pace; then we entered the corn maze. The maze had yellow tape to keep us on the right pathway, but the sharp turns along with irrigation channels made it very difficult to keep any kind of fast pace. But it was fun anyway! After exiting the maze, it was a sharp right turn and mad dash to the finish line.  Jason is behind the middle runner in this picture, ready to make his final move:

It turns out that this year’s course was extra long; my GPS watch measured 3.266 miles, and others measured as much as 3.4. My final time was 21:07, which got me 21^st place out of 675 finishers, and 2^nd in my age group. I won a small bag of candy for the age group award.

This race is a “class B” race, so the course is not exact, no finisher’s shirt, no big awards, but it was still fun. Jason ran very well, not his PR but since the course was long and challenging, I think he ran his best race yet.

When we arrived in the early morning, I made a mistake while parking and landed my front wheels in a ditch. Fortunately some friends helped me push it out – thanks to Bruce and Terri, and Shane and Anna! I have to admit that hanging out with friends is really the best part of any race, and runners in general are some of the best friends anyone could ask for.

A Marathon Blog to Catch Up

(Originally Published on Runners World Loop 10/2/11)

There’s clearly a running boom going on, with local races available every weekend. I’ve run 9 races since September 1^st, and except for the Saguaro Monument Labor Day 8-miler, I have not blogged about any of them. I’ve “doubled” the last 4 weekends in a row. So, this will be my catch-up blog; sort of a marathon blog, if you’ll forgive the pun.

September 10: The Great Arizona Grape Stomp 5k. Held in Coronado Vineyard in the small town of Willcox, AZ, this was the first in a series of cross-country events in vineyards around the state. They had a small turnout, but did a nice job making it a class event.   I was surprised to take the lead right from the start, held it throughout the muddy course, and actually broke the tape at the finish line! My prize for first place overall was a big gift basket that included a bottle of wine from the vineyard, a wine glass, and some tickets to events.

September 11: Steven Siller Tunnel to Towers Run 5k. This was a 9/11 memorial run, directed by Tagg Running Events. It was a nice race, mostly on bike path and mud/dirt. The finish line was across a grassy field that had about 2 inches of water on it. My time was 19:14 and I got 4^th place overall. I received a commemorative finisher’s coin, but the winner’s awards were only given to public service worker racers. After the race I ran a 14-mile training run along the Santa Cruz river path – rain from the night before caused the river to be flowing, a rare sight in Tucson!

September 17: El Tour Adventure Run 10k. The course along the Rillito River path was about 0.2 miles short of a 10k, but this is a fun event that I have done several times. This year I actually led the field until about 8k, when I got passed. I hung on for 2^nd overall, finishing in 38:54, and won a very nice “Conquistador Trophy”. The awards ceremony was fun with a quick interview of each of us!

September 18: Beads of Courage 5k. A new race, run at the Agua Linda Farm in the small town of Amado, south of Tucson. This event was hosted by Tagg Running Events and was a benefit run for the Beads of Courage organization. Runners were given artistic glass beads to wear during the race, and afterwards we placed one bead in a bag with an encouraging note, to be given to a child with a life-threatening illness. I got 4^th place overall with a time of 20:37, 1^st in my age group. A short distance before the finish, 3 of us took a wrong turn which resulted in perhaps 200 meters extra distance. By the time we turned around and got back on course, an 18-year old runner had passed us; I was very impressed that when we reached the finish line, he stopped and waited for the 3 of us to finish!

September 24: Fiesta Sahuarita 5k. This race is held as part of the Fiesta Sahuarita, a small town festival south of Tucson. The race is hosted by Tagg Running Events and the course is USATF-certified. I felt fairly good and was in 9^th place after the start. I gradually moved my way up, and at mile two I gained the lead. I finished in first place overall with a time of 19:02, not a PR but I was very happy with my time! I won a nice clay medal.

September 25: Catalina State Park Reverse the Course 10.35 Mile Trail Race. In April, I ran the original race in heavy rain; this time, we had very nice weather. Everyone Runs hosts this excellent trail race, which is popular despite the challenging course. Trail running is slower-paced but arguably harder than road racing, since it requires some serious caution with your footing and pace. My goal was to beat my time from April, and I succeeded by running it in 1:16:11 (about 1.5 minutes improvement).

I ran the race with only 2.5 hours of sleep, because I had worked at the Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter observatory the night before, so I was extremely tired. Unfortunately I took a wrong turn about 7 miles in – I had no excuse, other than exhaustion, since this was on the second loop! It cost me some time before I realized I was off course, and by the time I got back I had lost 2 places. By the finish I regained one of those places, but could not quite get the other. I ended up getting 5^th overall, 1^st in my age group. A bunch of my friends ran this race and many of them also got awards; here’s a photo of me and my buddy Bruce (who’s been racing a lot and doing very well!), taken by his wife Terri, with our prizes.

September 30: Nike Cross National Pre-Southwest Desert Twilight Community 5k. Tucked into this HUGE high-school XC invitational is a citizen’s 5k. It was held on the Toka Sticks Golf Course in Mesa, AZ, and started at 8:00 p.m. on Friday night. This is a super high-energy event; fireworks at the starting lines, races go off every 15 minutes, a big mud pit to surprise runners in the dark, mosh pit full of dancing teenagers and loud pumping music, etc. The course has a few hills and winds through the golf course, making it easy for spectators to cheer. I loved the race but made a mistake on my planning. I could have gone up with my wife and her team (she coaches at Sahuaro High School), but decided to work and leave later. Mapquest said 2 hours, but traffic was thick so the drive took me 3; as a result I arrived only 25 minutes before the start, not enough time to get my legs ready to race after the long drive. Also, I had worked late at the observatory on Thursday night, so I was tired. As a result I did not feel good during the race. My time was 19:28, which got me 3^rd in the 10-year age group, so I won a medal. My 12-year old son Jason came up with me, and he also ran the race. Despite not training during the past few months (he’s been focused on baseball instead), he pulled off a good race with a time of 29:07.

October 2: The Jim Click Run ‘N’ Roll 8k.  This is a big annual event on the University of Arizona campus, which includes a wheelchair event and benefits the UA’s Adaptive Athletics program.  I had a good run, finishing the 8k in a PR of 31:11. The sun was shining brightly at the 7:40 a.m. start, and I went out fast for the first mile to test my pace a bit. My legs were feeling tired from Friday’s night’s race and yesterday’s training run, so by halfway I had slowed. I’m happy with the results – I was 34^th place overall, and got 2^nd in my age group; I won a nice gift certificate to Performance Footwear. This event is part of the Southern Arizona Roadrunners’ Grand Prix series, so lots of my SAR friends and members of The Workout Group were out there today; I love to see so many folks who really love to run out there pushing themselves!  Here's me and Martin Pena receiving our age group awards.

After the race, my friend Chris and I ran another 10.2 miles, mostly along next week’s half-marathon course. This included a climb up “A Mountain”. Since we didn’t even start the run until about 10:30, it was really hot – over 90 degrees – so instead of our planned 15 miles we cut it a bit short. My legs are tired now, but in a good way!

3 weeks to go until the St. Louis Rock’N’Roll Marathon!!!!

Labor Day and Saguaro Cacti

(Originally Published on Runners World Loop 9/12/11)

For the 42^nd year, the Labor Day holiday started off in Tucson with the running of the Saguaro National Park 8 Mile Race. The race is held on the paved loop in the stunningly beautiful Saguaro National Park East. The loop is a popular year-round running spot, but on Labor Day morning the National Park Service actually closes the loop for the race.

I arrived at 5:00 a.m. to help with bib pickup (seems like “packet pickup” is becoming a thing of the past – very few races actually give out packets of goodies anymore). Since I worked at the observatory at Mt. Lemmon Sky Center the night before, I only got about 4 hours of sleep so I was feeling a bit groggy…

This year’s race was the largest field ever, with 848 finishers in the 8-miler and another 257 5k runners. NPS limits the number of entrants so it was sold out, which meant no race-day registration. But there was still a lot of work to do to prepare for the event.

The race was especially popular this year because it’s one of three races in the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown. Gabe Zimmerman was tragically killed earlier this year when a gunman shot Congresswoman Gabriella Giffords and several of her staff. Gabe’s brother Ross spoke to the crowd before the start, and it was a somber yet encouraging remembrance.

The race began just before sunrise, and the sky was mostly cloudy. The sunrise is an amazing sight, as old Sol peeks over the mountains somewhere around a mile into the race. Somehow the clouds had burned away in the East, so by about 3 miles in, I was feeling rather warm. The first few miles of this race contain some very steep hills, and the large crowd of runners can really create some serious speed jams. Fortunately I started near enough to the front that I didn’t have problems, other than the beating on the quads that comes with trying to run fast down those really steep hills, and the inevitable slowing that comes when you run back up.

The course is most famous for the very long, very steep hill that comes around mile 4. This hill is just plain difficult, and is the place where many races are won and lost. There’s an aid station at mile 4.5, and for the past few years it has been staffed by the Sahuaro High School Cross-Country Team (which is coached by my wife, Pam). They always dress up in costumes and try to encourage us through the pain. This year’s costume theme was “Hippies”, and they really got into the act. This picture was taken by Bruce Matsunaga and posted to the SAR FaceBook page:

The XC team's huge cheer for me when I hobbled past really charged me up! Here’s a picture taken by my friend Kamran, shortly after the aid station and still working my way up the hill (I'm in the white and blue shirt):

Yes, there really are Saguaro cacti the entire way along the course!

Up until that point, I had been feeling really exhausted from my lack of sleep. In fact I had considered dropping out – this isn’t a PR course or standard distance anyway – but then I told myself that it was a good opportunity to practice pushing even when I didn’t want to. Once I reached mile 5, though (which happens to be the high point of the course), I suddenly felt much better and eager to run. There are still hills, but the net is downhill for the rest of the course. I pushed the last 3 miles and passed several people. The last mile was really fun!

Here’s a YouTube video taken by Kevin Carstensen at the race. He captured a bunch of finishers, including me at about 3:27 into the video.

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH_SVaHkV6k

My final time for the loop was 54:53. This got me 35^th place overall, and 3^rd in my age group. I won a small gift certificate to The Running Shop. The last time I won an age group award at this race was in 1987, when I got a trophy for 4^th place, so it was fun to come back 24 years later and win an award again!

Cross Country Fun

(Originally Published on Runners World Loop 8/21/11)

Today’s running adventures began with a fun cross country race courtesy of Tagg Running Events. The Fifth Annual Vail 5k XC Run was held on the Cienega High School campus, just outside of Tucson. I always enjoy the variety of a cross country course, and racing an XC requires some unique strategies.

The course included grassy fields, dirt paths, and a small amount of asphalt. There were four 180-degree turns, and many other curves and turns so there was no settling in to a mindless pace in this race. This picture shows the path that took us past the 4-H Club’s rooster house:

My race went fairly well. A pack of 5 high school cross country boys took off and led from the start, and I eventually worked my way up to 7^thplace. My tired old legs are no match for those teens, but I was happy with my finishing time of 19:26. After I finished I grabbed my camera and took pictures while cheering other runners on. Here’s a photo of the finishing stretch – my friend Melody is just about to cross the line:

There was a nice breakfast party at the finish. Steve and Liz Taggert and their daughter are an amazing family team of race directors, and they always operate their races with a friendly, personal style that you don’t find in the mega-races. The awards this time were hand-made medals, and each one was a bit unique. I earned a 1^st place for my age group, and a bunch of my friends also won medals. Here’s a picture of some of us celebrating our wins.

And here’s a close-up of my medal.

After the race, I cleaned up and headed to the Tanque Verde Guest Ranch to attend the Annual Meeting of the Southern Arizona Roadrunners (SAR). I’m the Treasurer of SAR, and I enjoy the opportunity to help the running community since it helps me in so many ways. We spent the entire day discussing various ways to improve SAR and ultimately to help people to lead a fitness lifestyle.

A Modern-Day Shootout at the O.K. Corral

(Originally Published on Runners World Loop 8/14/11)

One of the benefits of living in Arizona is that we have some real “Wild-West” history right here. One of the most famous events from the freewheeling days of the old West was a shootout in 1881, commonly called the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, in the town of Tombstone, in Arizona Territory.

Tombstone still exists – it’s “The Town Too Tough to Die”. A weekend celebration included today’s 25^th Annual Tombstone Vigilante Days 10k Run. Fittingly, the race course is very hilly and approximately a tenth of a mile longer than a 10k. It’s also at about 4,500 feet elevation. So those of us who run it expect a challenging race.

The start and finish lines are right outside the actual site of the O.K. Corral, and not too far from Big Nose Kate’s Saloon and numerous other establishments of potentially questionable character.

You’ve heard of shotgun starts, well this race really IS started with a shotgun blast! The starter apparently had a rough night and was still wearing his old red long underwear…

I ran a 5k race yesterday (as noted in my previous blog), and got up at 3 a.m. to make the drive down to Tombstone (I confess, I used an automobile instead of the more appropriate horse). So I was feeling somewhat tired at the start. But racing always brings on a rush of life, so I took off with a good pace early on.

The hills were rough. On the course map, there are two hills identified as “The Hill Too Tough to Climb”, and that’s not far from the truth. I also have a tough time on the downhills – I always slow down and find that they can be brutal on the knees and quads. At about mile 3, I moved into 4^th place and held that position for the remainder of the race, but there were a few times that I found myself in the mental battle that is all too familiar with runners. The final stretch was slightly downhill which helped, and it was fun running down Allen Street towards the O.K. Corral and the finish line.

My finish time was about 42:10, 4^th overall out of about 100 runners, and 2^nd overall Master’s division. The awards were one of the most unique prizes I’ve ever seen from a race – handmade Tombstones, complete with a noose! Many of my friends from Tucson also made the trip this morning and brought back a tombstone.

My son Brad came along with me and took most of these pictures.

One Down, One to Go

(Originally Published on Runners World Loop 8/13/11)

Haile’s done it, Mo might do it this month, plenty of athletes go for it - why shouldn’t I? Run a double, that is, racing in both 5k and 10k events in a short timeframe. Conventional wisdom says you should not run two races in a weekend, but I love running so decided to give it a try this weekend.

Today’s distance was a 5k, and tomorrow will be the 10k. Here‘s a little blog about the 5k, which was the inaugural “Ann Schmidt Run to Remember”. This race was a fundraiser and memorial race for the Tucson Soccer Academy, held in conjunction with their fall season kickoff celebration.

My youngest son, Jason, joined me on this one. We were both very tired but managed to get to the park well before the 6:30 a.m. start. I was pleased to see many runners mingling around the registration booths. Race Directors have a hard time estimating participation in an inaugural event, and this one turned out much larger than expected – good news for the TSA!

My race went well. I didn’t plan to push hard on the pace, for several reasons. First, it’s less than two weeks since I ran the San Francisco Marathon so my legs are still in recovery mode; Second, I ran a mile time trial on Tuesday night for the Marathon Talk Magic Mile Global Team Challenge (my time was 5:32), and that left me a bit sore; and Third, I wanted to reserve just a bit of energy for the 10k tomorrow. So I set my goal at 19:30, which turned out to be very realistic – my final time per my Timex Global Trainer watch was 19:28.

After I finished I ran to get my camera, and was able to snap a few pics of Jason as he neared the finish line. The course was an out-and-back along the Rillito River Path. We use the term “River” quite loosely here in the Arizona desert – the river is left of the path in this picture, and as is normally the case, there is absolutely no water flowing!

Here’s a shot of my friend Bruce cruising along. Bruce (a.k.a. Tucson Strider on the RW Loop) and his wife both ran the race.

The final stretch of the course was in a grassy soccer field. Here’s Jason kicking it in – when he decides to put the wings on, he can really fly!

After the race, the runners were invited to join the TSA kickoff breakfast. Funny how ravenous you can get after running, and they certainly had plenty of food on hand to allow those of us with no willpower to satisfy our gluttonous tendencies! Blueberries ARE good for you, so blueberry muffins are too, right?

Of course no race is complete without the awards ceremony. My finish was 3^rd place overall, and 1^st for my age group. Jason got 3^rd for his age group, and Bruce also earned a 3^rd place award. We all won nice coffee mugs.

So tomorrow will be another race. I’ve got a lot to do today but I’m hoping for an early bedtime this evening, because tomorrow’s race will require that I rise around 3:00 a.m.! I’m excited about it, though, and while I won’t go into details here, I will say that the race starts in an (in)famous location. Hint: Wyatt Earp.

By the way, today’s race was intended to honor a victim of breast cancer. I didn’t know Ann, but after hearing about her and observing the legacy she left behind at this morning’s race, I know she must have been a very special person. Here is what the race brochure had to say about Ann Schmidt:

"Ann Schmidt was a TSA manager for 8 years during which time she took the position to a new level. The 94 Red Girls were the envy of the club for all that Ann did for them "above and beyond the call of duty." Most notably, Ann was diagnosed with what ultimately turned out to be terminal breast cancer in 2005. Despite this illness and its debilitating treatment Ann maintained her enthusiasm, positive attitude and caring approach to managing her team right up to the time of her passing. All the TSA girls loved her as she loved them. She was an unbelievable role model for the girls in TSA embodying the very core spirit of courage, determination and strength in the face of adversity along with love and compassion for others we strive so hard to instill in all TSA youth. For this we name our Inaugural run the "Ann Schmidt Run to Remember"."

 

Goal Setting and the San Francisco Marathon

(Originally Published on Runners World Loop on July 31, 2011)

This morning I set a new Personal Best of 3:10:26 at the San Francisco Marathon. As with every marathon, I also gained some valuable experience that will hopefully help me to continue to improve.

First, some background: I returned to marathon racing in January at the Rock ’N’ Roll Arizona Marathon. I had a good run, and my time of 3:17:35 at that race beat my previous PB of 3:29:30, set many years ago. That race gave me confidence that I could go faster. So I set a personal goal to work towards a sub-3 hour time, with the plan to hit that target in 2012. I knew that expecting too much, too fast in the marathon would be foolish so I purposely put down 2012 as the year to do it.

In June, I ran my second 26.2 of the year at the San Diego Rock ’N’ Roll Marathon. Although my time of 3:13:30 suggested an improvement, in reality I made the classic marathoner blunder and consider that race to be a near-disaster. I felt sooo good early on, and ran a much faster pace I should have – at mile 20, I was on track to run a 2:58 marathon. However, the blazing sun and heat finally got me and my pace devolved rapidly around mile 23. Up to race morning I planned to run a 3:10 pace and probably would have run that easily if I had not gotten greedy. Lesson learned: Stick to your plan!

As disappointing as that was, it was perhaps the best thing that could have happened as it taught me to respect the distance and weather conditions. So I went into the San Francisco race determined not to let history repeat. One challenge in this race that I was not sure about was the hills. San Francisco is famous for hills, and the race didn’t disappoint. The Wall Street Journal ran an article last year calling the race “the marathon that even marathoners fear” because of the hills. The elevation chart really didn’t prepare me for what was to come, but I had done some hill work and felt like I’d be able to handle them.

My wave began at 5:32 a.m., and I found a 3:10 pace group and tucked in for a nice conservative pace. The weather was reasonably cool, although Bart Yasso mentioned at the starting line that this was the warmest SFM that he could remember. Humidity was high and there were some breezes. The first few miles were in twilight and ran past Fisherman’s Wharf and up to the Golden Gate Bridge.

By the way, the pictures in this blog were taken by my son Brad, who joined me for the trip. He rode a bicycle with a friend and they popped up at various points along the course to shoot pictures and encourage me. Here’s one of my favorites – they rode up on the Bridge’s sidewalk and stopped about halfway. This was about mile 6 or so, and the authorities actually had two lanes of traffic closed for the runners, as we ran over and back on the bridge!

I did have one major bummer on the Bridge. The early start meant that I couldn’t wear my sunglasses, which I am very used to wearing while racing. So I decided to carry them until it brightened up. Unfortunately, they slipped out of my hand on the bridge while I was fishing for an energy gel packet from my belt, and I never saw them again. So long, lucky shades!

There were LOTS of runners for the first half (both full and 1^st half marathoners ran together), so plenty of jostling was going on and I even got tripped up twice, but didn’t fall. I ran with the pace group until about mile 14, which was in beautiful Golden Gate Park. Unfortunately, they were going too slow and t I realized we would finish almost two minutes behind our target at that pace. The first half is quite hilly, with plenty of steep uphill jaunts, so I thought perhaps they were doing that on purpose. But when I asked the pacer if he was planning a negative split, he said no, that they were ahead of pace – maybe his watch wasn’t correct because we were close, but definitely not on 3:10 pace.

So, I decided to pull ahead a little bit to try to make up some time. Not a fast panic pace, just a few seconds per mile quicker, as I really wanted to hit that 3:10 target. Timing your pace in a marathon is tricky, since just a couple of seconds per mile can add up to almost a minute by the finish.

The park is really scenic and I enjoyed looking around at the lush foliage and small ponds. At one point, we even ran through a small tunnel. The full marathon course passed the 1^st half finish and 2^nd half start a few times so there was plenty of cheering going on. My race shirt had my name on it, and sometimes a spectator would call out “Go Keith!”, which was encouraging. I was feeling pretty good all the way through the park.

After the park, the course was still hilly, but this part was more downhill than up. While downhills can be helpful at times, there were several downhill stretches around mile 20 or 21 that I can only describe as brutal on the quads. These hills were basically the ridiculously steep hills that San Francisco is famous for – cars use their emergency brakes, and my legs were trying to do the same. Late in the course, we ran past AT&T Park, the baseball stadium for the San Francisco Giants, and then along the bay. I was beginning to hurt but there were some nice sights to see including ships in the bay. Unfortunately a headwind was blowing and was actually quite strong at many points along the last few miles.

As I reached the final mile, I realized that the wind and my weariness were taking a toll on my pace. The 3:10 pacers flew past me in the last mile, but none of the group from earlier was with them – I guess when they realized they really were behind pace, it was too late for everyone else to pick up. I tried hard but the kick needed to cut a half-minute or so just wasn’t there.

I’m still happy with my time – “3:10 and change”, as they say – but I can’t help thinking that if I had just squeezed out a single second per mile of faster speed, I would have broken the target, arbitrary though it may be. I do feel pretty good about taking more than 3 minutes off my PB on this tough course, and I think it’s safe to say that a flatter course would have yielded an even better result. So I think my sub-3 quest is still a reasonable one and progress is continuing. Assuming things go according to plan, I will still have a couple more opportunities to improve, or at least gain some important experience, in 2011.

And of course, I did get some new race bling to add to my collection!