PR IBC Veteran’s Day 5k

 After taking 10 days off running to heal my "pain" on the right lateral side of my right foot and dealing with a above average head cold, I figured why not run a 5k today.  We decided to run the PR IBC Veteran’s Day 5k in Fairfax, VA.  Nic had a 9U Cannons tryout later in the day and Zach had a VSA game in West Virginia so Heather and I let them take the 5k off.  However, Heather wanted to get a tempo run in and I just wanted to get a run in b/c I had run 2 miles in 10 days.  The 5k was at 11895 Grand Commons Ave., Fairfax, VA 22030 at Fairfax Corner, VA and it was a course we had just run two weeks prior so we both knew it.  My legs were pretty fresh but with the head cold just wanted to see if I could get a decent run in.  I had no idea what time I would run.  So Heather and I do a .75 mile warm-up.  I could feel week from not running and being sick but figured getting a nice run in would be good. 

The race started at 8:00am so we got to the starting line around 7:50am.  I usually like to hop in the front b/c I can usually keep a nice low 6 min pace but today, I figured I would be a min slower so I stayed in the back and wasn't in a real hurry to get out.  Anyhey, the gun goes off and the first mile is a tad up and down.  After the first mile, I had a decent split of 6:55, not bad for not running at all and just coming back from peroneal tendonosis in my left ankle.  My next mile sucked as the second one always does which was a 7:16, I followed it up with a 7:15 third mile and sprinted to the end for a 22:05/7:03 pace good for 37/216 males and 5th out of 28 males in the 40-44 crowd.  PR races are always stacked especially on Veterans day when the services run against each other.  Anyhey, the only issue I had was a little aching in the left peroneal after the race but that was probably more tightness in the left calf area.  Below are some shots of me in the race:

Me finishing the race - I sprint the last .2 of a mile so I was wiped out.

Another shot of me coming into the finish line.

I think this was around mile 2.8 or so coming into the final turns of the race.

Beginning of the race.

Love that heal striking!!!

Goblin Gallup 5k, Fairfax, VA - Finally back running!

Well, its been a tough 7 months.  I am not back to full form but I am running which is alot better than where I was just 2.5 months ago.  In March/April after a hard training cycle in the Winter, I rolled my ankle at Battlefield during a 7 miler and it developed into peroneal tendonosis in my left ankle.  I think I was already on my way to developing it but the roll didn't help.  Two negative MRI's and 12+ weeks of rehab, many othro visits who wanted to do surgery (even with no tears), it finally started feeling better.  During that period I hiked and biked but unfortunately, rest and limited strengthening was the key to getting it better.  Additionally, massage therapy on the ankle that contained all the scar tissue on that tendon helped as well.  During this entire period, it felt strong but was aching just under the ankle bone and was tied to two knots in the gastrocnemius muscle part of the calf.  I am still in the process of trying to keep my calves loose during all my training.  Additionally, in coming back, I ended up getting orthotics.  For me it was a big mistake as it caused issues in my right (non-injured) ankle.  So I scraped the orthotics all together (after 2 months) and bought a pair of new Brooks Ghost 8 Aurora's and have not been using any other soles than the ones that came with the shoe.  So far so good and I am back up to around 20 a week although this week was a short week due to me rehabing the right ankle.  Below is a snapshot of my comeback miles:

As you can see from the graph, I started back running 3 miles in early August, then moved to 5 miles, then slowly moved up from there.  Next week, I plan on getting back to a 20+ mile week again.

Goblin Gallup 5k:
So we arrived at Farifax Station around 7:30am, hit the dumper as usual.  Zach and Nic had baseball tryouts the night before so I knew they were pretty tired and didn't know how they would do or even if they felt like running.  I was somewhat excited to pace Nic as he had been doing better and better each 5k he ran.  His previous 5k PR on this course was 25:13.  The 1k fun run was at 8:30 in which most of the kids dressed.  Meanwhile, nic, zach, and I warmed up with a small .75 mile jog.  After that, we head over to the start.  9:00 rolls around so we are at the line and we are off.  Nic takes off in a dead sprint, you know, the kind where they run balls to the wall and just know they can't hold that pace.  I told him to just go at his pace and I would follow.  I lagged a little behind b/c this was my first race back and didn't need to injure anything again.  I look at the watch after .50 miles and its in the high 6/min mile range and am thinking thats pretty fast for an 8 year old.  Finally, we it the first mile at 7:32 which on this course was pretty good.  Just a note, it had been raining pretty decent most of the morning so the road was kind of slick but nothing that bad.  His second mile was his worst which was a 8:19.  To be fair, it had a decent amount of hills in that second mile.  So at mile two, he asked me if he could run harder and I said, umm, your not running hard now?  He gave me no response and he took off like he had at the start of the race.  Straching my head, I just didn't know how he could go from running to sprinting at mile two.  Oh well, I let him dictate the pace and we had a couple nice hills the last mile.  He powered up them and got a 8:09 third mile and finished the 3.14 mile race in 24:55/7:57 pace for a new PR.  However, since he is competing against all 13/14 year old, he came in 8th out of 32nd and 41st out of 150 male runners.  Not bad for someone who doesn't run at all.

Me, I felt pretty good the whole way.  After the race, the left ankle was aching a tad but that is usually b/c of the tight left calf which felt better after I stretched it.  Oh yea, I came in 5th in my age group but wasn't really running since I was pacing Nic.  Big Zach who took a baseball off his face last night, powered through with a 25:50 for a new PR himself.  I could tell his face was hurting and he is just like me.  I had to work for every improvement I got - nic, it just seems to come easier.  Mom came in 27th out of 100 females, not bad for not running hard.

Here is a pic of us goofing around before the race:

After the race, Mom was quick on the phone to snap these:

Other than that, its nice to run a race and not be in pain.  We'll see how the rest of the fall goes and see if I can get back into Marathon shape for early next spring.  I am going to run some smaller races this Fall while trying to up my mileage.

What Happened to the Other Three Running Duricks?

We are still running.  I just haven’t blogged since January which is insane.  The kids have been doing great in their races lately.  I had some epic winter training and then got sidetracked with a minor foot issue and ended up bailing on my spring races.

Run Your Heart Out Finish

In February the boys and I did Run Your Heart Out 5K.  It was a new course for this race, and there were some hills at the end.  We had a great time at the race, and even got some warm weather for February.

Run Your Heart Out 5K

 In March we did Run for Haiti 5K.  We love this race because it’s for an amazing cause, and the energy at the race is always terrific. 

Run for Haiti finish

14 and under age group awards with Moise Joseph from the Haitian Olympic team

The boys killed it at this race putting up big course PRs and also grabbing 2^nd and 3^rd places in the 14 and under age group.  This is huge for them because it’s always hard to get an age group award at a Potomac River Racing event.  The even bigger news was that even though I thought I ran a bad race I also ended up with 3^rd in my age group for the event.  It had been my goal for the year to age group in a Potomac River race so I was excited about that.

Some friends and I...we all won age group awards!

 

We were busy with other sports in April so we didn’t do any formal races, but the kids and I hit up the 6K Walk for Water at the State Department in DC.  We elected to run our 6K for water and had a great time on the course. 

 

Next up was Bodies in Motion 5K in May which has an insane amount of rolling hills.  The boys did a great job and PRd the course as well.  Nic just straight killed this race and took 8 minutes off his time from last year.  He almost broke 26 minutes and is having a great year with 5Ks so far with all 5Ks sub-27 so far this year.  I got a 3^rd place in my age group at Bodies in Motion, but they only gave awards for the top in each age group so no fun prize for me.  This was Zach’s only race this year with a 27+minute finish, and he had a rough go of it. 

Zach finishing Bodies in Motion

Some friends and I pre-race

No racing in June, but July brought us the Freedom Firecracker 5K. Fast, flat course that was a revisit of the PR setting Thanksgiving race.  It was rainy to start and humid at the finish so no PRs, but the boys once again brought home 2^nd and 3^rd in their age groups.

So let’s talk about the ultra season that never materialized for me after my huge winter training cycle.  I felt stronger and fitter through this past training cycle than I ever had.  I had done tons of strength work and a lot of specific workouts and had insane volume for me.  I was at multiple 50+ mile weeks.  About a week before Blue Ridge Marathon, I started to experience pain in my left 2^nd/3^rd metatarsal area which was particularly bad during hill work.  I went and got checked for a stress fracture.  Phew!  No stress fracture, just inflammation.  After thinking it through I decided to withdraw from Blue  Ridge in an attempt to save the bigger goal of Mohican 50 in June.  The hills of Blue Ridge would have really put me out for a long time.  I mostly biked and did some running leading up to Glacier Ridge Trail 50K.  I was really excited for GRT and thought that I could do really well at it.  I did really well and was killing the course and feeling very strong running the hills particularly the downhills aggressively.  It was unseasonably warm, but I was dialed in with hydration and nutrition and feeling good. 

Feeling the heat at the GRT

 However, by the 25K mark, the rocky terrain and constant rolling hills on the trail were wearing on my foot.  I could have pushed through and a year ago I probably would have pushed through, but I made the decision to drop at the 25K point.  Oddly, I wasn’t upset and felt really calm with my decision.  Truthfully, I just didn’t have the fire for it.  As many others who have run Oil Creek have said, I feel like I left a little part of myself out there on that trail last October.  Having done something so amazing and been in such a dark place for so much of that race has put some things in perspective.  I didn’t feel the need to prove to myself or anyone else that I could tough it out at GRT.  I knew I could tough it out, but it wasn’t smart to tough it out.  I was changing my gait and risking a longer term injury.  After that, I made the decision that Mohican was not in the cards for this year.  I backed off of running quite a bit and focused on strength and yoga to let my foot get back to normal.  I’ve just started to consistently get back to training this month and finally got a run above 6 miles with no pain in my foot.  I don’t know what I’m going to do for fall races, and I’m OK with that.  I’m looking forward to having fun with the kids at fall 5Ks and on the trails and toying with the idea of trying for a PR half, but who knows?

In more exciting news we will be off on an epic adventure to the Pacific Northwest soon so we will have a lot of exciting hiking adventures and trail porn to post in the next month.