Run Around The Square Recap

RUN AROUND THE SQUARE

WHERE: Regent Square, Pittsburgh

DATE: Aug. 22nd

SWAG:

 100% Polyester T-Shirt.  Actually I am a big fan of this shirt. It is very comfortable and it's nice to get a shirt that isn't a tech shirt for once. I will be honest though a few years ago the shirts used to be long sleeve cotton T's and I was a huge fan of those. I guess I cant really complain though since this one is pretty nice.







I am going to break this recap down into 3 parts; The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

let's start with the Good:
This race is one of the biggest "local" races in Pittsburgh and sells out every year. The course may only be 3.1 miles but has entertainment along the course, and a beer and champagne stop along the course.  The post race party has free beer and free hot dogs since the main sponsor is D's Six Pack.

The Bad:
For me the bad would be the course, I love it because you get to start on the roads and then go onto the trails for bit before exiting back onto the road and then reentering the trails for the final stretch. However the first mile is on a brick road that is very uneven, if you do not watch your footing you can really hurt yourself. Last year I witnessed a friend roll his ankle and this year I felt my feet slide as I rounded a corner that was filled with leaves. Once on the trail you then stand a chance of getting stuck behind slower runners and passing can be very difficult.

The Ugly:
Post race I was talking to a few female friends who informed me that they were anxious to see where they placed in the heavyweight division for females. I asked what the weight was to make a female considered a heavyweight since I didn't think either of them would qualify for that. They informed me that it was 140 lbs. for females. It is 200 lbs. for males.  Here is my problem with this, I don't consider 140 to be heavyweight in fact I am against the whole idea of a heavyweight division. One thing I have learned about running is people who are bigger can still run, and some can run a decent speed. I feel like telling a girl who is 142 lbs. that she is considered a heavyweight is not only wrong but it sends the wrong message to younger girls.

MY RACE:
I got to the starting line pretty early so I could stretch and do a warm up run, unfortunately I kept running into people and would start talking so there was little warm up done. I lined up about 10 rows back with my friend Donnie and Pat. The gun sounded and we were off, Pat took off as I expected since he usually finishes in the top few people. I thought I saw Donnie shoot out but he later told me that he stayed behind me, so I have no clue who I was trying to catch the first mile. We went through the first mile just under 7 minutes. The second mile we slowed down due to some hills. As we hit the first water stop I pulled off to take a drink. I always have problems with running and drinking so I just step off to the side and take a swig then go on my way again. Once on the street I caught up to Donnie who passed me at the water stop. We were just about to head back onto the trail when I had to stop and tie my shoe. As I started to run I felt my calf get a little tight. I knew all I had to do was get up a hill and then it would be all down hill for the last mile.  Every step I took my leg seemed to get looser and I was able to finish strong. I did get bottlenecked at times and it made it very hard to pass. One thing I always say is don't do this race for time. Do it for the atmosphere and the awesome people. If you have never ran this race, you need to make sure that it is on your list for next year.

Buffalo Creek Training Week 7

I am now 7 weeks into training and 8 weeks away from race day. This week I also had a race so the training was a bit jumbled in order to get proper rest. Instead of me talking and talking why don't I just let you see how the training went.

MONDAY:  4 mile recovery run: Sunday I went a bit further than the scheduled 11 miles since I felt really good. Monday my legs, mainly my hips were really sore so this easy run was just what I needed. I chose a flat course that made the run very easy to hold a 9 minute comfortable pace.

TUESDAY: My wife informed me that we would be attending dinner with some of her co-workers. I didn't want to be rushing around so I chose to do a home workout. Please don't think when I say home workout that I am slacking. The goal of these workouts is to take my body to exhaustion. I did burpees, crunches, sit-ups, push ups, squats, and lunges with 25 pounds in each hand.  It was a great workout that beat me down. After the workout my wife and I headed to Emilianos in the Southside. I will be honest I am not a huge fan of Mexican food but this place is pretty damn good. I plan on going back there again very soon. If you live or are ever in Pittsburgh and want to find a good place to eat check out my wife Amanda's food blog. She is always writing reviews on all the fun places we go.

WEDNESDAY: 4 mile starting at 8:30 pace and dropping 15 seconds off the pace every mile. It was a nice way to throw in a little speed workout without having to run on the track.

THURSDAY: GYM DAY- Just when I thought I was enjoying the treadmill this day made me realize why I hate it. I was only doing 3 miles, but the whole last mile I was in pain from shin splints.  After the treadmill I did a 45 minute leg workout in hopes that I would maybe do something to help kill the shin splints.

FRIDAY: I just did an easy 2 mile run to stay loose. I didn't feel any pain in my shins and felt pretty good going into the race on Saturday.

SATURDAY: Run Around The Square 5K- I will do a recap of the race on Thursday. I found something out about this race that really rubbed me the wrong way. You will have to check back on Thursday though to find out.  One thing I have learned over the years about this race is don't get to hung up on your time. The trails can get crowded at times and passing can be difficult. I ended up finishing in 24 minutes and some change. Let's be honest here though I run this race for the free beer and I get to see so many familiar faces.

SUNDAY: Today I normally do my long run, but my wife and I were celebrating our 2 year wedding anniversary which is tomorrow. I woke up and did some painting around the house then we went shopping before heading to dinner. We ate at the Springfield Grille which is located in Mars, and we both left satisfied. I highly recommend this place, they have a wide variety of foods and the price was very reasonable.

How did your week go?
What is your next race?

Buffalo Creek Training Week 6

Welcome to my week 6 training recap for the Buffalo Creek Half Marathon. If you read my post from earlier in the week you will see that I decided to change up my training a bit. After talking to a few people I made the decision to lay out a new plan that will not only help me with road races but will get me in better shape for obstacle races. I got a lot of mixed reviews on switching up my plan, some people thought I was being hard on myself for my progress, while others totally understood what I was trying to do. The easiest way for my to say this is, I am a competitor and love being able to compete with the best in races. I know what I am capable of and I know that I am not where I want to be, changing up the routine is going to get me a lot closer to hitting my goals.
One thing I really started to reflect on this week is how much heart a person can have. When I was watching Ryan Atkins, the winner of the Battle Frog and every Battle Frog event this season I kept thinking this guy has so much heart. He never quits, he always finds a way to conquer the obstacle that is in front of him. I started to think about running and that point where your body tells you to shut it down, the people who fight through that are the ones that usually win or run their best race. My goal for this week besides doing the new plan was to make sure that I keep telling myself "run with your heart". Here is how this week played out.

MONDAY: Recovery run- I did 4 miles at a nice and easy 9 minute pace. I ran around my neighborhood which tends to be a bit on the hilly side, but it made for a great run.

TUESDAY: Speed day- I headed to the track and did a mile warm up, followed by 8x200's with a 200 meter rest in between each set. I finished with a mile cool down. Normally I would do a longer distance but I was reading an article that said doing the shorter speed workouts can actually be a big benefit to distance runners. I am on the fence so far about how it will work, but I am open to trying. I was almost sprinting and I really never got out of breathe, I did however feel my legs turning over a lot faster as the workout went on.

WEDNESDAY: Gym and Strength- I did 4 miles on the treadmill in 33:13. I felt really good and what was once a nightmare to be on the treadmill has actually became one of my favorite workouts. I get to just zone out to my music and I just run. Wednesday's also call for strength training so I did a hour long leg workout. 

THURSDAY: Trail day- I headed to Frick Park to hit the trails and ended up running 4.5 miles. I actually ran most of the course that I will be running this week during a race. I will be honest the trail running did not come easy to me. I first realized I need to actually invest in a good pair of trail shoes if I want to get the most out of the trail. Second I realized that I need to actually get a map of the trails, I found it extremely difficult to know what the elevation would be for the up and coming part of the trail. If I know what to expect then I will be able to adjust my speed and how hard I push, but the pro of the unknown is just what I could expect in an obstacle race.

 

FRIDAY: Rest Day- Normally I would of made this my strength day and make Saturday my rest day, but as I was checking my fellow bloggers post I came across something very interesting. Jennifer  has been using the Hanson's method for her training and has been posting some really good weekly training tips for the method. This week she posted about the long run and how you shouldn't rest the day before a long run. Crazy idea is the first thing I thought when I read that but then it hit me, if you can do a long run with tired legs then you will be able to mimic what its like on race day when you get fatigued. Sounds pretty damn smart to me.

SATURDAY: Gym day- Saturdays will be my cross training and lifting day. Wednesday will be on legs at the gym and Saturday will be used for a total body workout. I did some circuit training and then hit the synergy machine and did some workouts designed to help with grip strength.

SUNDAY: Long Run- Today I am heading out for an 11 mile run. My whole body is sore from yesterday so this should be a challenge. I will have to run with my heart and it will be hard, but I am up for the challenge.

Overall I feel like this was a great week and I am really happy with the adjustments I made in the plan. Onward and upward is the only place to go.

How was your week?
Are you planning on running the Run Around the Square on Saturday?

Run Around The Square Recap

Saturday August 23^rd I ran the Run around the Square 5k in Regent Square.  Don’t hold me to this, but I want to say this race is the largest neighborhood race in Pennsylvania.  Normally they cap the race off at 1500 people, but this year they decided to cap it at 1800. There is always a good amount of really good runners that show up for this race.

The swag has gone down a bit but who cares. Now all you get is a short sleeved tech shirt, your bib, and chip at packet pick-up.  They have went to the virtual bags like other races for your coupons and things. They do make up for it though with the medals and trophy’s they give out.

This race is great for so many reason: It is very family friendly.  Besides the 5k race there is a 1.5 race in which you are allowed to run with your dog. They also give awards for the 1.5 mile race. How many races do you know actually give awards for the shorter distance race? It is very few that do.  The 5K offers a course that starts out on the brick roads of Regent Square and takes you down into the trails of Frick Park.  Just within the first mile you have family’s cheering you on from their porches and sidewalks and live bands playing for you as well.  As you enter the trails right before the 1^st mile marker there is a beer and champagne stop.  That’s right not a water stop a beer and champagne stop.  No need to worry though there is a water station just up the trail and a second one later on the second half of trails.  The post-race party is one of the best around.    D’s six-pack and hot dog shop is the main sponsor for this race and provides free hot dogs and beer.  If you are not a drinker you can still get your normal bananas and water in the post-race area as well. 

So now onto my race experience for the day.  The race had a 9:00 am start. I arrived around 7:45 am so I could get some stretching in and a little warm up. I ran into my friend Don @DonnieBRunnin as I was standing around waiting for the start of the 1.5 race.  I love watching the little kids shoot out of the start like they are running a 100 meter dash.  The competition in this race is not all that good anymore. At one point the Woodland Hills Cross Country team would come and run this race, but those days are gone and now it is mainly young children who run with a parent or someone who wants to run with their dog.  The winning time was around 10 minutes.  After watching the race I started to actually do my warm up. I did my stretching as I watched the finished of the race.  My warm up didn't go as I planned because one thing about this race is I know a lot of the people running it.  So as I would run down the street I would run into someone I haven’t seen in a while and we would do some catching up.  Before I knew it there was 10 minutes to the start and I needed to get to the start.  The past 2 years this race has went to a staggered start to give people some more room.  I lined up about 10 rows back from the front and once again found myself talking to people I had not seen in a while.  Don told me he was going to try and get around 22 minutes so I figured I would just pace with him for the race.  I had some neck problems and didn't want to push myself to hard.  As we stood waiting for the gun to go off a lot of us were complaining about the humidity.  This course isn't the easiest around and being hot and sweaty is not going to help.   

 The gun sounded and we were off.  Within the first 100 meters Don slipped on the brick road, but was able to stay up and keep running.  He told me he was nursing an ankle issue so I was nervous when I saw this happen.  As we entered the trail right around .75 miles I noticed Don had pulled up and slowed down a bit. I passed him and begun my journey through the first trail. He later told me that his ankle was giving him some problems and he wanted to play it safe. I don’t blame him he also has Columbus coming up.  As I passed the beer and champagne table I had to stop myself from making a B line to the table and grabbing a tasty beverage.  That damn table is like a magnet.  I passed up the table and thought to myself the quicker you finish the quicker you can have one.  As I passed the 1 mile marker and exited the trail I saw the first water stop.  It is very rare for me to take water in a 5K, but the humidity was getting to me so I grabbed a cup and dumped it on my head. My first mile split was a 7:22.  The second mile of this race is the hardest. It is almost all up hill.  As you exit the first trail you head onto the street of South Braddock Ave and quickly make a left onto Forbes Ave.  Both of those roads are slight up hills.  You really don’t notice it, but in this race you will. Once on Forbes you make a right and head back onto a trail for the remainder of the race.  At this point I got a little nervous.  It rained the night before and I kept having visions of me slipping on the wet surface and getting hurt before my marathon.  I pulled back and took mile 2 slower than I would have liked. My split as I approached the second mile marker was 16.22.  I ran a 9 minute mile for mile 2.  I regret doing this now. I should have just held my pace and hoped for the best.  As I passed the mile 2 marker the woman who was yelling the splits said “water stop is just ahead and then it’s all downhill.”  I approached the water stop and once again grabbed a cup and dumped it on my head.  I felt really good and knew I had to make up some time on the downhill section.  I picked up the pace and started to play the fun game of pick off the runner.  If you were in front of me and in my line of vision I was coming for you. I still was running cautious though, afraid I would slip.  As I exited the trail and saw the finish I turned on my kick and sprinted to the finish in a time of 23:27.  My pace overall was a 7:34 and my last mile was my fastest of the race.  When I saw my time I was disappointed because I felt so good and thought I ran a really good race. This is what happens though when you play it too safe like I did on the second mile.  Oh well, lessened learned.  

 After I crossed the finish I quickly and when I say quickly I mean I ran like someone told me there was gold at the other end of the field I was crossing,  and grabbed a cold beer.  Now that I had my beer in hand I was ready to go watch my friends cross the finish line.  First to come across was my good friend Kari.  Kari doesn't get to run that often and even joked with me that she only got to do 2 training days for this race. Her time was 27:27.  Kari is a mother, so training comes harder for her.  I always say if she trained properly and had the time, she would be a force in the woman’s field.  Next to come across was my cousin’s wife Gab in a time of 29:58. Followed by her husband, my cousin Mike in a time of 31:00.  Not far behind was my running partner in crime Anna who ran a 31:48. Anna is another person who has a young child so doesn't always get to run as much as she would like.  I always tell my good friend, her husband Charlie that Anna is better than she thinks and needs to train better.  My cousin Katie came across in a time of 34:58 which is not bad for not getting in too much training as well.   Once we all were in the finish area it was time to start the drinking.  Me and Anna joke every year about this race and how much we are going to drink.  This year we both had our fair share of beers.  I may not have won the race, but I may have won most beers drank by a runner.  Too bad they don’t give out an award for that.

Mike, Katie, Me, and Anna

The only negatives I can say about this race are: passing is a pain in the ass. If you get stuck behind a slow pack on the trails you basically are screwed.  Also I wouldn't really call this a negative but this race doesn't go to a charity.   The positives out weight the negatives be far: It is very organized. Awards for both races.  Good crowd support and entertainment on the course.  Girl finishers all get a carnation. Awesome post-race party. So if you live in Pittsburgh or are in the area next year mark this race on your calendar.  It is a challenging race with so many unique and cool things.  Plus we can throw a few cold ones back at the post race party…     

     CHEERS MY FRIENDS!!!!!

8 WEEKS Till Columbus

    8 weeks left. Every time I say it I can't believe how fast time is going.  It seemed like yesterday I just started training for this race.  As of right now I believe I am going into this race in the best shape of my training and mentally more prepared than I have ever been.    This week had some high points and some very low points.

MONDAY:  As I was leaving work I noticed that my neck was bothering me.  Normally I would of used this day to just rest, but since I missed my long run from the week before I was in make up mode.  I headed out on my long run when I returned home from work and noticed my back and neck were going to hurt most of the run.  I pulled back and ran a very slow 15 miles.  The upside is I still got in the miles. The downside is my neck and back were in excruciating pain. Before bed I took a muscle relaxer and a pain pill to see if that would help.  It did help me sleep through the night but the pain was worse when I woke up on Tuesday morning.

TUESDAY:  After dealing with the pain all day at work I decided to go straight to the chiropractor and have him look at my back and neck.  When I arrived they took me in a room for a massage. This is the standard procedure here.  Now somewhere in the room there must of been some miss-communication, because what I said to the lady was:  "It hurts very bad and when I move my neck side to side the pain shoots down my back"   What she must of heard was "treat me like a rag doll and act like we are wrestling, the more pain you put me through the better I will feel."  This lady was dropping elbows on me like she was Hulk Hogan.  At one point I thought to myself do I tell her to stop or is this normal and I am just being a wimp. I still don't know the answer, but I can assure you this, next time it happens I am just saying pass on the massage.  The rest of the visit felt a lot better but when I left I didn't feel to much better.

WEDNESDAY:  As much pain as I was in I still decided to take a 6 mile run.  I actually loosened up on the run and was in very little pain.  My time was 51 minutes.  Unfortunately after the run when I was home the pain quickly came back and I was having trouble moving my neck at all.

THURSDAY:  Since the pain seemed to subside when I ran Wednesday I decided to run a 4 mile tempo run.  Once again the pain wasn't bad when I ran, but when I finished the pain was back and in full force.  I tried using a heating pad at night, but it didn't do much.

FRIDAY:  I decided to not run at all this day since Saturday I was running the Run Around The Square 5K.  I did do some light stretches that I thought would help my neck.  The pain wasn't to bad, but it was still there.

SATURDAY:  RUN AROUND THE SQUARE:  I will have a full recap of my race on Thursday for you.  When I woke up I felt pretty good and the pain wasn't to bad.  After I warmed up for a bit I felt really loose and was excited to see what I could do on the hard course.  It was humid that morning and I was sweating just from warm up and stretching.  I ended up running a time of 23:27. my pace was 7:23 per mile.  This is the pace I will need to be around for the Columbus Marathon if I want to get to Boston.  Here is the weird thing about this race.  I felt awesome the whole race. I held back a bit because I was afraid the trail would be slippery and I didn't want to risk falling and getting hurt.  I expected my time to be better, but with the humidity and hills I can understand why it was what it was.

SUNDAY:  Today is my wife's and I first anniversary. I was planning on not running anyway today since I have decided to go and get X-rays tomorrow after work about my neck and back.  I pray it is just a pinched nerve.  I will say this, It will take a lot more than this shit to hold me down.  So this week is going to have a long run to make up for this weekend, but I will stay on track.  Here are a few pictures of my wedding last year.

*Before I get to the pictures, please take the time to look at my 24 hour fund raiser page on my blog.  It is for a great cause and any donations help.

Columbus Training Week 4: time to amp up training!!!

      This week I went into my training knowing I had to get back into a good routine.  The last few weeks I have been out of my routine due to different events.  I have been pretty good about still working around the events and logging my miles, but I still like to get into a set rhythm in which I know what each day holds. With this being week 4 of Columbus Marathon training I also wanted to amp up the training a bit.

MONDAY: I ran 4 miles at a 8:40 pace.  I wanted to work on my stride again since I still haven't perfected making it longer.  I felt really good though and I am starting to see some improvements on my stride, all though it is still a work in progress.

TUESDAY: I ran 6 miles at a 8:35 pace.  I started out feeling really good on this run then around the 4th mile I noticed my hamstrings were in a lot of pain.  It felt as though if they had been over worked. It was weird because I haven't done to much to tire them out.  I struggled for my last 2 miles, but I didn't give up and I finished.  I was not happy with the run because I wanted to finish at an even 8 minute mile pace, but the positive was I kept moving and finished. 

WEDNESDAY: The dreaded speed workout day!!!  I went to the track and ran 4 mile intervals, walking a lap after each mile.  My goal was to set my fist mile at race pace and then drop a few seconds on the following 3 miles.  Mile 1- 7:25, I figure this is somewhere right around the pace I will need to qualify for Boston.    Mile 2-  7:10, I actually was starting to feel better the more I ran, I could feel my legs loosing up and my breathing was under control still.  Mile 3- 6:58,  I noticed on this mile that I have the tendency to hold back on my early laps and try to pick up speed on the final 2.  Mile 4- 6:30, I kept a solid pace the whole 4 laps and when I finished I still had a lot in the tank.  My speed workout days used to be what I dreaded the most and now I look forward to them because I am starting to see a payoff from it. 

THURSDAY: I ran 5 miles. The goal was to run it at race pace and finish around 36 minutes.  This did not happen. Instead I went faster than race pace and finished in 34 minutes.  I felt really good and had no pains in my body at all.  I honestly think the cross training and the speed workouts are really playing a huge role in my progression.  After the Pittsburgh Marathon I really started to focus on my body more. I eat better, I lift more, and I do push myself on speed workouts. All things I didn't do as much as I should in previous training.

FRIDAY: I knew going into this week that I would have to use this day as a rest day.  Since I entered the 48 hour film competition, I knew I would have to go to the viewing this night.  There were 10 teams in my group and I honestly think we had the second or third best movie in the group.  We also brought about 40 people with us and those votes will really help make us look better. We should know in the next day or 2 who gets invited back for the final 12 to be judged and a chance to win awards.  Later this week I will post the link so you can enjoy the whole 7 minute film. 

SATURDAY: When I woke up and looked out the window I saw the rain and immediately thought, "this is going to suck!." I had to drop my car off for inspection and had no other way home so I knew I was still running.  Once I start running in the rain I always find myself enjoying it more than any other run.  Maybe because it takes me back to the days when it would rain and I would make paper boats to throw in the stream as it rushed down the street.  As much as I dread it at first I always have my best runs in the rain.  I set out for a 10 mile run on a very hilly and challenging course.  I normally bring my ipod for music on long runs, but I didn't want to ruin it so I went naked ( no music).  People may have drove by and thought I was crazy for not only running in the rain but talking to myself as well. I found myself yelling at a hill as I went up it and then repeating out loud "no one is going to do it for you Shaun, this is all you." I was drenched after my run, but I felt really good and ran a nice pace.

SUNDAY: (TODAY)- I will do my cross training.  AB workout with some chest workout thrown in as well.  I am just about finished with my 30 day AB challenge. I had to stretch it a few days because I missed some here and there.  I don't see a visual change but I can feel a change. I am able to do more crunches and I can hold a plank longer. Instead of just saying, oh well I did the challenge, I am finished. I think I will continue to do an AB workout daily to help with my overall core.

Total miles for the week = 29
Next week I am hoping to end somewhere around 33-35 

*Any Pittsburgh runners that are planning on running Run Around the Square in August I suggest registering if you haven't yet.  I heard that they are getting close to selling out.  If you haven't ran this I suggest you do.  It's hands down probably one of the best local races in Pittsburgh, plus they have a lot of beer at the finish line for you!!!!!

*Also the Liberty Mile is less than 2 weeks away and the elite runners coming are very good as usual. This may be one of my favorite races of the year. I am only doing the fun run because I didn't feel like going to the heats to get into the under 6 minute mile race.  Plus I like to get done early and watch the other races. 

How is your training coming for upcoming races?