I stayed with Paul!

I always feel good after a run and after a good race I feel even better. Needless to say, after Saturday's race I was pretty stoked and decided to go a little longer on Sunday (22 miles). Paul had e-mailed me asking to run 10 with him and then I ran another 12 on my own which included 7 at the park and then the 4 back to my house. Boy was I JUNK on Sunday afternoon (my quads were like jelly!)...

Monday I went out early and ran an easy 10 miler and it took me about a mile to get going. That doesn't bother me for 2 reasons: One reason is that it meant that I was/am tired from stress that I put my body through/under, and two, after reading Toby Tanser's "Train Hard, Win Easy", it seems as though the Kenyan's do it on most of their progression runs (there would be no progressing for me on this morning). Meanwhile, my legs are still jelly. Two other points, one is that I know that I have 4 easy/recovery runs this week (thanks again Mark!), and more importantly, I needed to get ready for Wednesday(this) morning's workout...

Tuesday morning I met up with the crew for our "Miner's Run" which included Megan (coming off of a 60 minute 10-miler up in D.C.), Bill Shires (fresh off of his World Duathlon qualifier!), Mike Beigay (3 days after a 5k road PR) and Paul (more on him later). The pace was quicker than I would have liked and I managed to hang. I got 11 miles in...quads still like jelly! That 22 miler took me 2 hour and 40 minutes so I guess it was like running a marathon...

So we have our conference meet on Monday and I had a communion rehearsal last night so I didn't have dinner until 9:30pm and then a milkshake at 10:30 with Fox News. As I take the dog (not a dog person) for a walk, I check my e-mails (nobody calls me anymore and boy do I need to get used to that!) and there is the e-mail from Paul M. And it wasn't from Paul...it was from Budic! Oh no!!! Now Tim doesn't know me but I still guessed his 10 mile time from last week (I think I was off by 5 seconds). Anyway, the workout called for: 4 X (1K/400m)- 400m jog between rep/ 3:00 rest between set. (sorry for you non-track geeks that can't follow the jargon). Truth be told, I have no business running with Paul as he is in a different class than me (he is very gracious non the less)...

We decided to meet over at Providence Day's track and since I got up early I decided to run the 3 plus miles over there (smart move)...Paul did the same. When we got on the track, we immediately went into 4 strides (a la Brad Hudson) and I noticed that I was able to stay with Paul on the last one (was that a good sign?) I didn't know...

Here's the workout:

1st set: 3:14/75 (right on his tail)...wow!

2nd set: 3:10/72 (right on his tail)...o.k.

3rd set: 3:06/72 (right on his tail)...that was really tough!

4th set: 3:05/72 (2 seconds back on each)...I tried.

Paul...you lead like a champ!

2 easy days are in order...

thanks for reading

CPCC Skyline 5k Race Recap

The CPCC Skyline 5k was the 2nd race in the Run For Your Life Grand Prix series and first for me since I was skiing in Utah for the Shamrock 4-miler.

I communicated with Billy Shue via e-mail (God forbid someone uses the tele!) the day before and we decided to meet up for a nice warmup. Since my daughter had a soccer game at 9:15am and the race started at 8am, I had to position my car so that as soon as I finished the race and removed my chip, I could make my getaway! I ran the mile to registration to get my bib #4 (only because I finished 4th last year in the Grand Prix Series) and chip and met up with Billy.

As soon as we started our warm up (we ended up running the course before the race), we saw a pack of runners coming towards us and we decided to keep doing our thing. Speaking of the pack, there was a buzz brewing about who was going to show up and the field did not disappoint! The course was up hill gradually the first mile, slightly rolling/flat the second mile, and then downhill the third mile. At least that is my interpretation.

Since I have been involved with the Charlotte Running Club, I am recognizing more and more faces (still a bunch I don't know yet). About 5 minutes before the race starts, Caitlin Chrisman came up to me and asked me what I was planning on running. Not to be sarcastic or flippant, I told her that I would let her know my time as soon as I crossed the finish line. I do this simply because you never really know how you are going to feel on any given day (I was going to feel good on this morning...more later).

So we get to the starting line and all the studs/studetts are out, and the baby joggers are going off 2 minutes before us. I point out Amy Kattwinkle who was the Megan Hovis/Caitlin Chrisman of 10-15 years ago (2 or 3 Olympic Marathon Trials). Right before the gun goes off I take a deep breath, bless myself (I think I got that from Dave Conception who was the SS for the big red machine back in the '70's) and accept the fact that I am going to be experiencing a high level of discomfort for the next X amount of minutes.

The gun goes off and I get out well with good turnover and I'm running very relaxed. As I said earlier the first mile is a gradual incline and I'm working hard and yet I know that when it levels off, I'm still going to have good turnover (you know the feeling?). I actually high-fived 2 people on the side of the road (a technique I use to stay relaxed) and I came up on Amy K. and patted her on the back and we had a few words. Hit the mile in 5:40...

Now we've leveled off and I can see Billy and Brian up ahead (why can't I run with them, so what if they're 20 years younger). It took me to the 2 mile marker to catch them. I made sure that I passed them with authority. I hit the 2 mile in 11:10 (5:30 for the second mile). I'm still racing at this point...

The first quarter mile of the 3rd mile was level before we ran down Elizabeth and close to the finish I see Megan who tells me to get on it! Which I did. I hit the 3rd mile and the clock shows 16:30 (so my 3rd mile was 5:20) and I don't think I can run a 29 second point 1 (more like 36) and I hit the finish at 17:06 good for 9th place...

My splits: 5:40, 5:30, 5:20, :36= 17:06

I have to give a big thank you to the following: Tim Rhodes and his crew for an awesome race, Paul Mainwaring for the Tuesday workout, Billy Shue for the warm up and race, the spectators on the course including Megs and Co, Mark Hadley from MPR for getting me to do my last hard workout on Tuesday and 3 days to recover (Hey Mark, I use to do Mon. and Wed. hard)...

Got to my car and made it home with time to spare...thanks for reading!

Results (Men): 1-Kinley, 2-Matena, 3-Compton, 4-Hovis, 5-Mainwaring, 6-Beigay, 7-Issacs, 8-Harris, 9-Spada, 10-McMahon.

Results (Women): 1-Chrisman, 2-Rogers, 3-Walther, 4-Matena, 5-John, 6-Bakaltcheva.

Question: For those of you that ran, how did you enjoy the race?

CRC Pasta Party Recap

Last week I saw on the E-newsletter (what became of the telephone?) from the Charlotte Running Club that there would be a pasta party Friday night at Rebecca and Corbett Tomassons' house. First of all, it was awesome and thanks to the hosts for their generosity. I had only met them one other time about 2 years ago at another party at Jason Philbin's house (can you guess what we were doing?). Of course, we were watching the 2008 Womens' Olympic Marathon (shocking!). I brought my kids and we stopped at the Teeter and picked up some goodies and headed over before 8pm. They live by the 500 meter mark of a very popular Charlotte workout course for interval/repeats which is pretty cool. The food was great and plentiful (stuffed shells and pasta) and they had a trampoline for the kids. Saw a couple of familiar faces (John Compton who just ran a 53 minute ten miler in Washington, Ben Hovis who also just ran 53 minutes at the same race, Jay Holder who was having his last meal in Charlotte before he was heading up to Boston for some race he would be running on Monday) and definately a lot that I have not met yet. I stuffed myself, enjoyed the company, and still got my kids home before 9:30pm (Hey, it's a lot for me just to get out!). I'll hope to be at the next one and thanks again to the Tomasson's...

The power of a good song!

Over the last 20 years of running, I've gone back-n-forth with wearing headphones and not wearing them. I'm always a little concerned about losing my hearing (it might have to do with the fact that I like rock and I like it loud!). When I first started I use to carry a brick (Walkman) and the big 'ol headphones that use to accompany it. Lately, a 1 inch square (ipod) and ear pods and it's like wearing nothing at all. For sure, I ONLY listen to music when I am out for an easy/recovery run or long run...never on a workout day or with a partner or the group.

So last Sunday I'm out for a 20 miler with the ipod on and the music is just making me feel like I'm floating (this went on for two and a half hours). It was unbelievable! One of the songs I actually replayed 5 times (it was that good). Let's get to it...

Here are a few of my favorites: Winning (Carlos Santana), Southern Cross (Stephen Stills), Rock Box (RunDMC), Kickstart My Heart (the Crew), anything by Guns 'n Roses, Vital Signs (Rush), Runaway (gotta have Bon Jovi), Do you believe in love? (Huey Lewis and the News), Disturbia (Rhianna), Party in the U.S.A. (Miley Ray Cyrus), Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone (Cinderella), You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC)...wait a minute!

Is there a bad song to run to?

Question: I need you all to help me fill my ipod. Therefore, if you would please share some of YOUR favorites? Thank you...

Book Review: The Perfect Distance: Ovett & Coe

I read a lot of running books and if you've ever noticed the right hand column of my blog I have a section titled "Favorite Running Books". A running buddy of mine, Paul Mainwaring (a cool chap from the U.K.) noticed the section and asked me if I ever read "A Perfect Distance: Ovett & Coe...and their record breaking rivalry?"...to which I replied..."well no!" I certainly remembered their battles in the '70's and 80's so I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Paul asked me if he could borrow "Steve Scott: the Miler" so on our next run we swapped books. It was an interesting swap because Scott from Upland, Ca. use to always race against the two Brits. A book club was started...

I enjoyed the book immensely and it makes for an easy read when you are already familiar with a lot of the characters (runners). What was interesting for me were some of the expressions that the Brits use to express themselves. My experience with British dialect was Dr. Watson's famous question to Holmes..."are you going sir?" (Lord) Sebastion Coe was in a unique situation in that he was coached by his father...Peter, and that is what he called him when they were working out on the track. There are many memorable quotes in the book and the one that really hit home for me was from Peter Coe...

"People make a basic mistake: they train to train, they don't train to race!"

Busted! I felt at that moment that he was speaking directly to me. As for Ovett, he was extremely talented and competitive over a wide range of distances both over the country, the roads and of course, the track. The book focused a lot on both of the runners upbringing and parental support/influence. I point this out because it makes you appreciate a lot more of why people are the way they are...

Question: I will be heading to either Barnes & Noble, Joseph-Beth or Border's at some point this weekend to pick up a book. What running book do you recommend?

"Kiawah"...and all this nostalgia!

We moved to Charlotte in '95 and I knew that that would make it more of a challenge to continue running the New York City Marathon (since we lived in Jersey, that was my home course). It would be another 13 years before I made it back. So I started looking for a marathon to focus on in '96 in the Charlotte area and found the Charlotte Observer Marathon to be run in Jan. of '97. In preparation for that race (and any marathon for that matter) I like to do a couple of half marathons. In October, I ran the Governor's Cup half marathon in Columbia and still needed one more to complete my preparation. I think it was in the Running Journal or maybe through Larry Frederick, and either way, we found the "Kiawah Island Marathon/Half Marathon and 5k"...where is this in Hawaii? We didn't know anything about Kiawah...

The half went well (1:13 and my wife was 3rd in her age group) and prepared me for my Charlotte Marathon debut which also was a success. PR's, multiple "Pelican's" (which is the awesome award that each top 5 finisher gets), and numerous vacations later...Kiawah holds a special place in our heart!

For Easter weekend, we went back and stayed at the beautiful hotel that opened in Aug. of '04...the Sanctuary! For some reason, on the drive down I started to get extremely nostalgic/sentimental...who me? It all started with the drive. Driving to Kiawah Island is simple enough...1 1/2 hours to Columbia, 1 1/2 hours to Charleston and then 30 minutes down that road. "That road" is 17 miles long and consists of Main Road, Bohicket Road and Betsy Kerrison Pkwy and for the most part it is a funky 2 lane, moss tree covered "keep your eyes on the road" stretch of pavement. I couldn't help and think back to the first time we drove it on a Friday night back in '96 so we could check in for the following days "Half". I was fit...

My workouts for this weekend were as follows:

Saturday: 5 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill in the fitness center (I know what your thinking...Spada, you went all the way to Kiawah and ran on the treadmill?) and it was a very difficult 30 minutes...after that it was breakfast and then an awesome 1 hour tennis match with my daughter. After we finished, an older gentlemen asked my daughter if she was going to be the next Sharapova...to which I responded, "she's got the look, we'll see about the game!...not very nice. Jacuzzi and frisbee followed by dinner. That lawn outside is the perfect place to throw the disc.

Sunday: The 20 mile Easter Sunday morning long run! Phenomenal...I started at 5:30am in the dark and eventually got to see the sun rise (beautiful!). As I was running, I could not help and think back to all of my battles with Hurley, Annan, Clark, Hyde, Bonfiglio, Okeburg, Kaplan and all the rest. We had some good battles. My course for those of you that are familiar with the island...I got onto the bike path and made a left and went all the way down to the round-a-bout when you first turn into Kiawah, I then turned around and ran all the way back to the "Ocean Course" at the other end of the island, I then turned around again and headed back to the Sanctuary. What a run. The songs on the i-pod really got me into a nice rhythm and I was able to do the 2nd long run that Mark Hadley from MPR recommends (steady). On a side note, the reason why a lot of us stopped doing this race is because Tim Rhodes has the Thunder Road Marathon on the same weekend...gotta support the locals!

Monday: After a 3 mile warm up, on the bike path in front of Night Heron Park it was time for the Ben Hovis inspired "Hammer 400's" workout! By now you know the drill...20 x 400 meters, with a 30 second walk/recov. and every 5th one is run hard. It went reasonably well, and then a 3 mile cool down back to the hotel. Shower and breakfast followed and then we all went to the beach/pool (I had a vanilla smoothie and it brought me back to when Hurley and I would have the Sanctuary make us milk shakes after our races!)...good stuff...

For those of you who have been to Kiawah, hopefully some of what I have blogged about brought back some good memories for you as well. For those of you who have yet to visit...put it on your to do list...

Thanks for reading...

So my question is this: Where is that place for you that you've been and when you return, it gives you that feeling...