2009 Richmond 10 Miler

Richmond, VA 10/03/2009 This is another race that has taught me to respect the distance. I finished this race, but I felt terrible the whole way through.

Lisa and I walked to the start of the race from our hotel, which was about one mile away. My plan for the race was to average 165 heart beats per minute, but my body was not ready for the strain.

I had problem getting my heart rate up in the beginning of the race. I was running pretty fast, and felt good, but my heart rate would not climb above 160. At around mile three I started to cramp while running up a short steep hill. I had to stop and walk for a bit to get the pain to go away.

This was the first of seven episodes I experience of this type of cramping. Needless to say, I learned my lesson of coming out of the blocks to fast. This ended up being my slowest 10 mile time ever.

2009 Virginia Beach Half Marathon

Virgina Beach, VA 09/06/2009 I don't care what the distance on a race is, if you end up on the beach with a beer, that race is a success. The Virginia Beach half marathon had perfect weather and was a flat course. It was the perfect course on which to set a new record, but I'm slipping. I ended up with my slowest half marathon time ever, but it was a very enjoyable run.

2009 Blasters Cove 8K

Fort Story, VA 8/22/2009 Not knowing what we were getting ourselves into, Lisa and I embarked on a great adventure known as the Blasters Cove 8K. A course like this will humble you, and make you respect any distance.

I started this race at around my 5K pace, but quickly throttled back to my half marathon pace. The first couple of miles were flat, but travel down two fire roads that were made of super soft sand. It didn't take me long to figure out while people do workout in the sand. I was really draining my batteries, so I had to slow down.

The excitement of finding solid ground quickly gave way to despair as the rest of the race climbed up steep hills with gradual declines leading to another steep hill. I was never so glad to see a finish line in my life. This course really made me respect the terrain I run over.

2009 East Beach 5K

Norfolk, VA 07/24/2009. This was actually an aquathon, with a 5K as a side event. Lisa competed in the aquathon, but since I'm a slow swimmer I just did the 5K.

The day was very hot, and very muggy. It kind of felt like you had to cut through the air to run. I didn't end up with my best time ever, but I did finish second in my age group with a time of 12:13. Lisa was the big winner with first in her age group in the aquathon.

For those that would like to know, an aquathon is a combined running and swimming event. A duathlon is a combined running and cycling event.