Last Race of 2013 - The Walnut Creek International Half Marathon & 5K

(pic courtesy of Walnut Creek Half)

The last race of 2013 was a 5K in Walnut Creek with a 7:30am start. Since my legs were toast, there was no way I would be able to run another half (though I was really tempted - three's a charm right?). A colleague of mine also signed up for it, so we car pooled over to the East Bay. It was a cold and dark, and I should have worn full winter gear, but a brief refuge in Burger King thawed me out a bit.  I will not look snootily at these places as McDonald's also saved me from a slow freezing death in Monterey Bay.  I will have to get out of the habit of having pancakes 30 minutes before a race.  I've done it twice now, and escaped any stomach issues (touches head), but it was tough running on a full stomach.  

No gloves, hands freezing, and we were off, down a little country path.  The East Bay is supposed to be very nice, but I was too cold to enjoy the aesthetics.  I just wanted to get done, get back I to my car, and apart on the heating. Not the best attitude, I agree, but this was brutal. I think living in California has turned me into a weakling, who can't seem to hack the cold anymore!

Whilst not my best effort, I got the job done.  Set a goal,and turned up having run once since the Berkeley half - I wanted to finish the year with one last race, a d I did.  I also promised myself no more racing by just turning up on the day.  2013 called for desperate measures, but I am slowly getting back into running. It's hard to start again, but I want to run faster than I did before, and I know I can get my 5k time down to my PR (26:20), but also beat it.  I know I can. And most of all, I missed the loneliness of the long distance runner…..

The Somerville Jingle Bell Run 2009

Sunday 13 December was the 5K Somerville Jingle Bell Run. I did this race last year and it was terrific. This year, I was determined to join in the fun and dress more creatively. Last year there were some great costumes, and it was hard to believe that these could be topped. However the costumes this year were phenomenal! These were not hastily tacked together numbers, but wonderfully imaginative costumes. I am waiting for the photos and will post a few to this blog.
It was fairly cold last Sunday, and I had been to a party the night before. I awoke feeling a bit out of sorts with a very upset tummy. Still, I could not miss out on the fun and decided to race anyway. I only ran once last week, as we had friends from Geneva visiting, and I was having very late nights!
My time for the race was 28:58, and I placed 104/321 in my age group and overall 2132/5500 competitors. It's not a great time, but I'll take it. It was a good race and I enjoyed it. Next year I'll try shaving 5 minutes off my 5K time. In fact, I'll use this race as the starting point and see if I can do it by the time of next year's Jingle Bell Run!

An Ras Mor - 22 March 2009

The An Ras Mor was the first of 6 races in the New England Pub Series, held in Cambridge.  The race organised by the Somerville Road Runners, donated the money to the Cambridge Family and Children's Service.  The race bib and time chip pick up was the Saturday before, in the dining room at the Asgard pub.  Indeed, the course was advertised as "fast and flat" - since it would take place on Massachusetts Avenue, the main drag in Cambridge!

Sunday dawned cold, chilly and grey.  Notwithstanding my getting up early, I made it to the starting line with 5 minutes to spare.  I just about managed to drag on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and to my shame did not even manage to wash my face!  I did however manage to squeeze in a mile long warm up, and teeth almost chattering, stood with 1000 other brave souls in shorts too, in -2ºC temperatures.  Thankfully the gun sounded and we were off.  Immediately I felt tired and my legs felt heavy.  As soon as we turned the corner onto Mass Ave, I knew this would be a long race.  Part of the heaviness was due to the fact that I had only managed 1 run all week, as a series of dentist and doctor's appointments had left me reeling.  

On and on we ran, and it seemed to me that everyone and their dog passed me by.  All the familiar shops and restaurants passed by in a blur.  Then Harvard Square loomed, and we looped around it, before starting back down Mass Ave.  I just felt myself running out of steam, usually I have something left in the tank, but not on Sunday.  At this point I would have been grateful just to finish the race.

We passed the Cambridge fire station, and all the firemen had come out to watch the race, I was too tired even to wave to them.  Then we turned down Sidney Street, and on towards the finish line.  As I crossed the line, I looked at the board which read 27:45.  From that I knew I had knocked off a few seconds, and when the final results were posted outside on the pub windows, my official time was 27:21.  This put my split at 8:49, and I placed 22/52 in my age group, and 514 in a field of 976.

I was pleased with my improved time, even though this race was the most tiring to date. If I ever manage to get down to an 8:30 split, I am going to buy a pair of racing shoes!  No more races for April though, as I need to do some work on the bike and go swimming.  So, all focus on the triathlon training - though I might do the cross country James Joyce race at the end of April.  Who can resist running the 6 miles, each interspersed with readings from a selection of his works?  This promises to be great fun for all!

An Ethical Dilemma - Part III or the Ras na hEireann 5K

Sunday 15 March turned out to be a beautiful day.  I took the T up to Davis Square, and walked toward the starting line.  This time I lined up near the front of the 9 minute section, as the last time I was too far back, and it was really difficult to get past people.  I was not feeling particularly festive, partially because I felt a bit of a fraud.  After all my pontifications, here I was stood, lined up, waiting to race.  The truth of the matter was that I wanted that medal, and that had overridden all other feelings.

So, not feeling that great, I decided that if I could not enjoy the race, at least I could try and run a wee bit faster.  It was a slow start, but as soon as our section took off, I started out hard.  I tried to slow myself down because a collapse is immanent halfway through the race, but I just kept going.  For the first time ever, I had decided to race with my ipod, and tried to pace myself with "take on me" by a-ha.

To no avail, I just ran like a banshee out of hell.  In the end, just after the 2 mile mark was a water stop, and I forced myself to stop, drink and walk for a few minutes.  Then off I went again, and soon found myself on the bike path.  That usually means the end is close by.  This time however, it seemed to go on forever and it was really hard to sprint.  I told myself to step on it, and had no idea what the clock said in the end, as I could hardly see!

I picked up my medal, a bottle of water, and took the T home.  Finally the results were posted.  Mind you, I am still slow, but compared to my previous time, I have improved by 6% in 4 months!  I did my second 5K in 27:56, which means my split was 9 minutes.  I placed 49/219 in my age group, and 1806 in a total field of 4150.  

My next 5K is on Sunday, and this time I am going to do a mile warm up first.  I find it a bit difficult to go out fast, and am wondering if a warm up makes any difference.  I decided to post one of the race pics (courtesy of Ted Tyler), with me looking like the very banshee aforementioned in this post.   Perhaps I should consider buying a pair of sunglasses which might make me look less agonised!

In conclusion, I am glad I ran.  I had a great time, contributed to a good cause, and improved my time.  The race also gave me a moment for reflection and yes, I am still going to write that letter to the race organiser, Paulie.

An Ethical Dilemma - Part II

Ethical dilemmas are supposed to provoke one into thinking more deeply about what motivates us towards one course of action rather than another. The essence lies in the principle taking precedence over one's own personal desires. So, why am I racing tomorrow? Initially my justification was economic - races are expensive etc etc. But more truthfully, the real reason can be found in Siena, Italy.
When we were living in Italy, I used to run with a very competitive club, and though I liked everyone in the club, I never really enjoyed running. I constantly felt under pressure to score points for my club, and that sucked the enjoyment out of running for me. In Tuscany, races are tabled in a regional register, and each club is ranked according to how many members participate in a race, their position, overall distance and so on.
I was never very good (i.e. fast), and never won anything. One Summer I became friendly with Roxy, a Canadian woman studying glass design in Siena. I introduced her to running and to the club, and soon we were spending long pleasurable hours running both in the Medici Fortress in  Siena and around the Tuscan countryside. We became very good friends, and still are today. A big regional competition came up at the end of Summer, and I was ready to win the trophy in my division (yes a proper award!).
The only problem was - Roxy. She was in my category and she was faster than me. I could beat the other people in my category as I had done so pretty consistently that year in other races. Roxy was the one to beat, and I doubted very much that I could catch her. Of course, all I needed to do to win, was not to invite her to the race, but that was never ever an option. So I invited her. She came, she ran, and she got the trophy.
Naturally I was happy for my friend, and of course I was disappointed for myself. I thought about this episode earlier in the week. It would have been morally reprehensible for me not to have told a dear friend about the race, knowing full well that she would win. I also knew then that it would be a long long time before I might be in a position to win anything, but therein lies the bittersweet joy of running.
I am racing tomorrow because the ethical dilemma arises from divergent political beliefs. Still, I am prepared to give the organisers the benefit of the doubt, as I am unsure whether they even realise the implications of their tee design. So, I shall write to them, and let's see if and how they respond.

An Ethical Dilemma - Part I

My race tomorrow is a 5K. The Ras na hEireann is the USA version of its famous sister race, the Ras na hEireann International Cross Country held in Termonfechin, County Louth, Republic of Ireland. I picked up my race number and timing chip on Wednesday night at Marathon Sports in Boston, and once home, looked at the race t-shirt and got a shock.
The back of the tee has a row of photographs commemorating Bobby Sands and the other IRA  prisoners who participated in the 1981 hunger strike.  I see this as a politicisation of the race: I want to run a 5K; I do not want to be part of the issues around the "Troubles" in Britain.  As a South African who grew up under the apartheid regime, I understand only too well the issues around this.
If the race organisers wish to politicise/advertise their causes on the official race tee, I would appreciate a heads up BEFORE I sign up for any race.  Race entry fees average around $30 each.  Do a few races and it starts adding up.  My past races have raised money for various charities and research foundations, and the race tomorrow will donate money to the Somerville Track PAC, an organisation which in turn donates scholarship money, travels money and meals to Somerville High School students.  So, money to a very worthy cause.

I do not want to discuss the "Troubles", but I will be writing a letter to the race organisers.  As a buddhist, the loss of any human life is a tragedy, therefore highlighting only one aspect of the "Troubles" does not sit well with me.

My dilemma has led me to question my participation in the race.  I have decided to race, albeit with very mixed feelings.  Why have I come to this decision?  The next post explores this motivation.

Somerville Jingle Bell Run: Sunday 14th December, 5K

So, I had seen this race advertised at the same time I signed up for the Gobble x3.  It was organised by the Somerville Striders Athletic Club, and in 2007 had been hosted as the 'Bill Rodgers Jingle Bell Run'.  This year it was the 'Second Somerville Jingle Bell Run' as Bill Rodgers was away.  The weather had been coldish over the last few weeks and although I had run outside a few times, I felt I could have done more.  During the last week leading up to the race I did not train very much at all, and had Stuart's office do on the Friday night and friends for dinner on Saturday night.  I awoke on Sunday feeling that I had eaten and drunk rather a lot!

There was pre-race pick up of bibs and t-shirts during the week at various locations, so that thankfully was one less thing to contend with.  Also, my friend Kathy had agreed to participate too, so I was very excited at that.  Not that we would run together mind you, as Kathy is a proper runner and she runs fast!  Originally we had decided to dress as elves, but between sorting out the putty ears and yellow and green tights, the idea fell to the wayside.  On the morning of the race she rang to say that she had twisted her ankle and was only going to come to support me.  I was a bit disappointed for her, but when we met up, she decided to walk it instead.  Yay for Kathy!  I was so pleased. 

The atmosphere was tremendous, and you knew that it was going to be a good race from the pre-race warm up music of Maria Carey's 'All I want for Christmas is you' to Jose Feliciano's 'Feliz Navidad'.  The santas, elves and gingerbread persons were impressive, but none more so than the group of reindeer with santa.  My christmas spirit contribution comprised a hairband covered with holly and ivy, and Kathy had one too (next year we will run in something more becoming the holidays).  The main street was packed and Kathy and I were huddled down a side street waiting our turn to start.  And then we were off!  Like my previous race this one was also chip timed, so there was no stress to push to the starting line.  I said bye bye to Kathy and Stuart, and said we would meet up in Starbucks afterwards.  

The street was packed with runners and it meant that I could settle into the race nicely.  This time I hoped to finish in no more than 35 minutes.  I ran at a quickish pace (or at least so it seemed) and this time I by-passed the water station as I had a nice rhythm going and didn't want to stop.  A few hills and lots of spectators, but the best was just running on a beautiful sunny morning with your breath frosting before your very eyes.

Suddenly I realised that we might be nearing the end, as we were on a bike path and on the map, this signified the end.  So, I picked up the pace which was not easy as the path was packed, and started sprinting towards the finish line.  As I crossed the finish the time indicated 31:57 (gun) and I felt pretty pleased with that.  I gave back the chip, picked up my medal and walked off to Starbucks with Stuart to  meet Kathy.  In the end we didn't stay as the place was heaving. After a cappucino and a brioche at Toscanini's we went home.  When the results were posted Kathy finished in 38:34 with a 12:25 split - not bad for someone walking/jogging on a twisted ankle.  She placed 40/53 in her age group and 3044 out of 3181.  My time was 29:25 with a 9:29 split!  I placed 86/199 in my age group and 1850 in a total field of 3181.  Although I don't have any pics, these are from the coolrunning website by Ted Tyler -  posted with permission.

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