I enjoy running by myself. I love my early morning runs especially when the sun has not quite come up and there is no one else on the bike paths. It feels like those moments, the path, the entire day belongs to me and no one else. I indulge my inner two year old on these runs; I’m usually just not willing to share.
However, I’ve made some exceptions lately and I have to say, it’s been nice.
Last Friday, while my parents were visiting, my Mom borrowed my bike and tagged along on my run. We hit the bike path early, the sun not entirely up and set off – mother on bike, daughter on feet. We chatted every so often but we spent more time with her riding slowly behind me, me leading the way – 2 miles out, 2 miles back.
It was fun. I felt proud to have my Mom tag along; proud that she wanted to actively glimpse into my running world. She has been a staunch supporter of my running since I began, asking about my runs, how I was feeling, what races I had coming up and cheering loudly from the sidelines at my races when she could. However, this time, on our morning adventure, I was truly letting her in to my world. She experienced all those early morning things I love about my run – the quiet, the occasional passing cyclist or runner, the sun brightening the day the longer we were out, the exhilaration of starting the day with a good workout.
Now when I tell her about my runs, she can picture me running my hills, following the bike path among the trees, the brief moments when no cars are zooming down Route 66 and you can imagine you’ve somehow run far away from the city in just a short time. Now we have a shared experience that goes beyond just that single run.
Additionally, a friend who recently completed her first marathon and I have been meeting up once a week in the evenings for a workout. These days are usually doubles for since I’ve already run in the morning but I’ve really enjoyed the experience of running with her. Even though her running pace is only slightly slower than mine, she is still working on her endurance and following a run/walk pattern. She wants to get stronger so she enjoys running with me because I push her to run longer and I enjoy the company and treat these outings as recovery runs.
I’m still selfish about my running but it has been rewarding sharing it with people who understand it. I can’t say I’m ready to give up all my lone runs but I would also be disappointed if I didn’t have someone to share these experiences with every now and again.
Daily Dozen
Recovery Day – Light workout on Recumbent Bike & stretching @ lunch hour
Showing posts with label running partner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label running partner. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Miler – Race Report
This annual race Washington DC is billed as “The Runner’s Rite of Spring” and is a must as a runner living in the DC Metro area. The race takes place during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival put on by DC in order to celebrate the blooming of the cherry blossoms gifted to DC by the Japanese government.
After two and a half years as a runner, living and running in and around DC, I finally ran the race this year. I actually may not have ever run this race but a good friend of mine who loves 10 milers was running so I decided to run with her.
I had mixed feelings about this race. First, it’s huge, with close to 15,000 runners it makes for a crowded event. There was a 30 minute line to get in to the National Building Museum on Saturday to pick up the race packet. We ended up crossing the start line 15 minutes after the gun because of the line for the porta-potties. Once we finally got underway, the race never thinned out and I spent 99% of the time bobbing and weaving. This is far from my ideal race conditions.
On the other hand, it’s a spring tradition that I am glad I got to partake in and it is always fun to run with a friend. It is a great feeling to be out on the streets of DC, running among the gorgeous cherry blossoms with great views of the Potomac River, historic landmarks like the Washington Monument (where the race starts and ends) and the Jefferson Memorial and famous DC buildings like the Kennedy Center and the Watergate Hotel. The crowd support is fun and everyone is in high spirits (especially with the wonderful spring weather we lucked out with for this year’s race – sunny and in the 50s).
However, I don’t know that I would run this one on my own. It is just so huge! It is mind-boggling to be part of a huge moving mass of people all taking part in a great athletic tradition; however, is it really worth the hassle and bother (and cost!)?
I will continue to run this race as long as my friend signs up for it but I found myself envious of the runners I saw during and after the race who were out on that fine morning enjoying their own run. They seemed so much freer than me being swept along by the moving herd.
Finish time: 1:35:00, 9:30 pace
After two and a half years as a runner, living and running in and around DC, I finally ran the race this year. I actually may not have ever run this race but a good friend of mine who loves 10 milers was running so I decided to run with her.
I had mixed feelings about this race. First, it’s huge, with close to 15,000 runners it makes for a crowded event. There was a 30 minute line to get in to the National Building Museum on Saturday to pick up the race packet. We ended up crossing the start line 15 minutes after the gun because of the line for the porta-potties. Once we finally got underway, the race never thinned out and I spent 99% of the time bobbing and weaving. This is far from my ideal race conditions.
On the other hand, it’s a spring tradition that I am glad I got to partake in and it is always fun to run with a friend. It is a great feeling to be out on the streets of DC, running among the gorgeous cherry blossoms with great views of the Potomac River, historic landmarks like the Washington Monument (where the race starts and ends) and the Jefferson Memorial and famous DC buildings like the Kennedy Center and the Watergate Hotel. The crowd support is fun and everyone is in high spirits (especially with the wonderful spring weather we lucked out with for this year’s race – sunny and in the 50s).
However, I don’t know that I would run this one on my own. It is just so huge! It is mind-boggling to be part of a huge moving mass of people all taking part in a great athletic tradition; however, is it really worth the hassle and bother (and cost!)?
I will continue to run this race as long as my friend signs up for it but I found myself envious of the runners I saw during and after the race who were out on that fine morning enjoying their own run. They seemed so much freer than me being swept along by the moving herd.
Finish time: 1:35:00, 9:30 pace
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
National Marathon & Half Marathon, March 21, 2009 – Race Report
I was looking forward to this race. What began as an alcohol-encouraged declaration, “I want to run a half marathon” by a friend’s brother, finally culminated in the actual running of a half marathon.
Although my running partner for the race (a guy, quite appropriately named for this particular event, Myles) had had some foot issues, he had the go ahead to run from a podiatrist. As we stood in the cold pre-dawn dark, waiting for the race to begin, he admitted to being nervous since he had to lay off running for the last week and a half. Oh yeah, he was also nervous because he’d never done anything like this before today!
The race had a fun Start area this year – cheesy, yet oddly motivational pop music, mostly from the 80s was blaring, a chipper and enthusiastic announcer and plenty of room in the corrals.
Myles and I agreed that we would warm-up on the course and settled in to light stretching and general bouncing around as we waited for the race to begin. You see a lot of nervous energy being masked as warm-up/stretching at the beginning of races and back in slower corrals where there seems to be a larger percentage of first-timers, the nervous energy is almost palpable. The anxiety, fear, excitement, it’s infectious. The tension is not based on the live-or-die to hit a certain pace, get a PR or qualify for Boston. The tension, back where we started, based on facing the unknown – will I be able to do this? – seems much more urgent when it refers to making it across a finish line 13.1 or 26.2 miles away instead of can I break a certain pace or time.
Since Myles was running about 10 minute/miles before his injury, our plan was to take it slow (about 10:30 pace) for the first 2 or 3 miles, open it up to 10:00 pace after that and then see how we felt as the race progressed and adjust our pace accordingly. Best laid plans, right?
The gun finally went off but it took us about 5 minutes to get across the start line…and then (finally) we were off! One of the things I like about this race is that the course and water stops aren’t as crowded as other races in the area. It was nice to not have to jostle for position for the first few miles like you do at bigger races in the area (MCM, Army 10 Miler, etc.).
We hit Miles 1 and 2 at around a 10 minute pace but when I looked at my watch for the Mile 3 split, we were speeding up so I purposely slowed us down on the next mile. Oops, Mile 4 ended up being our slowest at around 11 minutes.
The race was going well as we started Mile 5 through the Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan neighborhoods…and some steady-climbing hills, where I got to unleash my hill running demons. This race, since I was pacing someone else and had to be conscious of their effort level as well as my own, made me realize how impatient I am when running hills. I speed up them in order to get them over with sooner and the feeling once you’ve leveled off and conquered the hill just can’t be beat. It is a sense of relief mixed with pride of accomplishment and it always gets me going.
Mile 5 was also are second-fastest mile of the race (I told you, I’m impatient).
Once we finished with the hills, we settled in to a fairly comfortable 9:30 to 9:15 pace through Mile 12. This part of the half marathon went by quickly and without much of note. I had laid off the chatter since Myles wasn’t much of a talker after Mile 4, only announcing the mile markers as we passed them and pointing out water/Gatorade stops. However, when we passed the Mile 10 marker, I turned to Myles and said, “well, you’ve officially run further than you’ve ever run before. How do you feel?” Myles half grunted, “squishy” and we kept running.
I was feeling good when we hit the 12 mile point and turned to Myles, proclaiming, “This is it. One more mile to go,” and with a glint in my eye and devilish grin, “let’s make it our fastest.” I just took off, hoping he would, and could, keep up.
For the rest of that last 1.1 mile, instead of running side by side like we had for the entire race, he was one step behind me and each time he caught up, I pushed it just a little bit more.
We were passing people left and right, just picking ‘em off. It felt great!
As we hit the last mile marker, I pointed out the finish line just around the corner and up a hill and said, “We just have to make it up this last hill to get there. Let’s do it.” Myles sounded a little surprised that the finish line was so close and we charged up the hill. (Race directors in DC, bless them, can be a little sadistic when it comes to ending their races on an uphill climb).
We crossed the finish line, with the announcer saying Myles’ name over the loudspeaker. “And here comes Myles Kitchen. With a name like that, you have to announce it!” We crossed the line in 2 hours 8 minutes, with a second between the two of us.
It felt good to be able to end this long-anticipated race on such a high note. We finished strong. We were able to bask in the after race glow for a while as we found family and friends who had come to cheer us on and get food from the runner’s tent before jumping on the metro, headed for a diner and a well-deserved stack of pancakes.
Race Pros: Proximity to home. Metro opens early. Decent amount of spectators (half only, I hear the second half of the full gets very lonely). Tech tee race shirt.
Race Cons: They ran out of cups at some of the middle mile water stations!! Expo is boring.
Mile Splits (according to my watch):
Miles 1 & 2 20:01 (missed 1st mile marker)
Mile 3 9:40
Mile 4 10:57
Mile 5 8:46 (where did that come from?)
Mile 6 & 7 19:49 (missed 6th mile marker)
Mile 8 9:30
Mile 9 12:36 (potty break)
Mile 10 9:20
Mile 11 9:14
Mile 12 9:15
Mile 13 7:57 (that last mile felt good...Speedy Gonzales good)
Final .1 1:11
Total 2:08:16
Although my running partner for the race (a guy, quite appropriately named for this particular event, Myles) had had some foot issues, he had the go ahead to run from a podiatrist. As we stood in the cold pre-dawn dark, waiting for the race to begin, he admitted to being nervous since he had to lay off running for the last week and a half. Oh yeah, he was also nervous because he’d never done anything like this before today!
The race had a fun Start area this year – cheesy, yet oddly motivational pop music, mostly from the 80s was blaring, a chipper and enthusiastic announcer and plenty of room in the corrals.
Myles and I agreed that we would warm-up on the course and settled in to light stretching and general bouncing around as we waited for the race to begin. You see a lot of nervous energy being masked as warm-up/stretching at the beginning of races and back in slower corrals where there seems to be a larger percentage of first-timers, the nervous energy is almost palpable. The anxiety, fear, excitement, it’s infectious. The tension is not based on the live-or-die to hit a certain pace, get a PR or qualify for Boston. The tension, back where we started, based on facing the unknown – will I be able to do this? – seems much more urgent when it refers to making it across a finish line 13.1 or 26.2 miles away instead of can I break a certain pace or time.
Since Myles was running about 10 minute/miles before his injury, our plan was to take it slow (about 10:30 pace) for the first 2 or 3 miles, open it up to 10:00 pace after that and then see how we felt as the race progressed and adjust our pace accordingly. Best laid plans, right?
The gun finally went off but it took us about 5 minutes to get across the start line…and then (finally) we were off! One of the things I like about this race is that the course and water stops aren’t as crowded as other races in the area. It was nice to not have to jostle for position for the first few miles like you do at bigger races in the area (MCM, Army 10 Miler, etc.).
We hit Miles 1 and 2 at around a 10 minute pace but when I looked at my watch for the Mile 3 split, we were speeding up so I purposely slowed us down on the next mile. Oops, Mile 4 ended up being our slowest at around 11 minutes.
The race was going well as we started Mile 5 through the Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan neighborhoods…and some steady-climbing hills, where I got to unleash my hill running demons. This race, since I was pacing someone else and had to be conscious of their effort level as well as my own, made me realize how impatient I am when running hills. I speed up them in order to get them over with sooner and the feeling once you’ve leveled off and conquered the hill just can’t be beat. It is a sense of relief mixed with pride of accomplishment and it always gets me going.
Mile 5 was also are second-fastest mile of the race (I told you, I’m impatient).
Once we finished with the hills, we settled in to a fairly comfortable 9:30 to 9:15 pace through Mile 12. This part of the half marathon went by quickly and without much of note. I had laid off the chatter since Myles wasn’t much of a talker after Mile 4, only announcing the mile markers as we passed them and pointing out water/Gatorade stops. However, when we passed the Mile 10 marker, I turned to Myles and said, “well, you’ve officially run further than you’ve ever run before. How do you feel?” Myles half grunted, “squishy” and we kept running.
I was feeling good when we hit the 12 mile point and turned to Myles, proclaiming, “This is it. One more mile to go,” and with a glint in my eye and devilish grin, “let’s make it our fastest.” I just took off, hoping he would, and could, keep up.
For the rest of that last 1.1 mile, instead of running side by side like we had for the entire race, he was one step behind me and each time he caught up, I pushed it just a little bit more.
We were passing people left and right, just picking ‘em off. It felt great!
As we hit the last mile marker, I pointed out the finish line just around the corner and up a hill and said, “We just have to make it up this last hill to get there. Let’s do it.” Myles sounded a little surprised that the finish line was so close and we charged up the hill. (Race directors in DC, bless them, can be a little sadistic when it comes to ending their races on an uphill climb).
We crossed the finish line, with the announcer saying Myles’ name over the loudspeaker. “And here comes Myles Kitchen. With a name like that, you have to announce it!” We crossed the line in 2 hours 8 minutes, with a second between the two of us.
It felt good to be able to end this long-anticipated race on such a high note. We finished strong. We were able to bask in the after race glow for a while as we found family and friends who had come to cheer us on and get food from the runner’s tent before jumping on the metro, headed for a diner and a well-deserved stack of pancakes.
Race Pros: Proximity to home. Metro opens early. Decent amount of spectators (half only, I hear the second half of the full gets very lonely). Tech tee race shirt.
Race Cons: They ran out of cups at some of the middle mile water stations!! Expo is boring.
Mile Splits (according to my watch):
Miles 1 & 2 20:01 (missed 1st mile marker)
Mile 3 9:40
Mile 4 10:57
Mile 5 8:46 (where did that come from?)
Mile 6 & 7 19:49 (missed 6th mile marker)
Mile 8 9:30
Mile 9 12:36 (potty break)
Mile 10 9:20
Mile 11 9:14
Mile 12 9:15
Mile 13 7:57 (that last mile felt good...Speedy Gonzales good)
Final .1 1:11
Total 2:08:16
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