The Old Runner

I guess I should have read my review of last year’s race before heading off to Asheville. For some reason I forgot how many hills there were in Asheville and how steep they are.  One thing I did know in advance though was that I’m not running quite as well as I was a year ago. My current knee problems really aren’t all that bad but I’ve been having to change my training so I’m doing less running and it’s been obvious in races over the past few months. Last year I was 2nd in my age group with a time of 1:39:55. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect this year but I felt like I’d be lucky to finish in 1:45.  My assumptions were correct and this year’s time was 1:43:15. I was a little disappointed to finish 4th in my age group but I rationalized that since there were 43 in my age group I was still in the top 10%, so I really don’t feel too bad about it. The emcee announced at the beginning of the awards that today’s race was the largest race ever held in Asheville, with a total of a...

photo © 2010 The U.S. Army | more info (via: Wylio ) I don’t believe that “you’re only as good as your last race,” although you’d never know it by the way I kicked myself around all week after running a disappointingly slow 10k last weekend at the Midnight Flight in Anderson, SC. It’s not that it was really all that slow, but at 47:07 it was 4 minutes slower than I ran the same race last year. This week I decided to get back out there and run another 10k to see if I had actually slowed down that much in a year’s time or if maybe I could do better. Fortunately it was a better race and I finished in 43:32. There were a lot of races to choose within about a 60-mile radius of home, but this was the only 10k. It was definitely worth the 60-mile drive. The race was centered around the Catawba Meadows Park in Morganton and it’s got to be one of the most beautiful parks and greenway systems in the state. The entire race was on the greenway, with the 5k and 10k races starting together but th...

If race #101 is any indication of future race results, it could be a long journey for the next 100 races. It wasn’t all bad for me at this year’s Midnight Flight 10k in Anderson. I did manage to finish in 2nd place in my age group this year, which is higher than my 3rd place finish last year. However, I was also 4 minutes slower in this year’s race, finishing in 47:07 as opposed to last year’s 43:12. Ouch. The time and temperature sign near the starting line said it was 84 degrees at the 11 p.m. start of the race, but I’m not sure that was correct since those things seem to be wrong a good portion of the time. I’m still wearing a big brace on my right knee and a smaller one on my left knee. I’m not sure if that could be slowing me down but it’s definitely not making me any faster. I could probably think of a half dozen more excuses but I have a feeling that I’ve just slowed down quite a bit due to a combination of factors and probably either need to shake up my training routine or get...