The Old Runner

I hadn't run a 5k since October so I opted to run the 5k instead of the 10k just to see if I was still functioning correctly. After missing three races over the past two weeks for a variety of reasons I just wasn't feeling my best. There was also the 8 pounds that I lost prior to the trip to Hawaii, all of which I promptly gained back. Turns out things weren't as bad as I was afraid they might be. I was a little slower than in that last 5k in October -- by about 45 seconds -- but that's not surprising considering I'm 8 pounds heavier than I was for that race. I ran this race a couple times in the past (I think 2009 and 2010) and remember it mostly for it being so cold that the 20-foot sub sandwich they had for the post race fare actually froze solid. This time around the weather was much more agreeable, and although there was some light drizzle an hour or so before the race, all of that stopped by race time and there were some wet roads during the race but not

Warm weather lover that I am, I was really looking forward to this race. My son Joe lives just outside Honolulu, and of course the main purpose of our trip was to visit him and his family, but I always like to visit when there's a race nearby that looks interesting. We spent the first couple nights at Joe's house then the night before the race moved to the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel, which is right at the beach and just a block from the race site. By the time the sun rose at 6:44 a.m., the race had been going for well over an hour. I remember thinking at about 8 miles into the race that it finally seemed to be comfortably light outside. I had brought my video glasses along with the intention of recording at least the last part of the race, after the sun rose, but about three or four miles into the race as I was holding the glasses I felt them come apart. I didn't have time to examine them so I just stuck them in my pocket. After the race I was able to look at them more c

I would always prefer sleeping in on a cold Saturday morning, but the Spencer Mountain 10-Miler is kind of a special race. I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's the challenging hills in the last half, or the fact that it's only about 3 miles from my house, or maybe it because a lot of my running friends from nearby are there as well as other friends who drive from quite a distance to get here, or maybe it's just a combination of all of that. Whatever the reason, it's a race that I'll get out in the cold and run, guy-who-hates-cold-weather that I am. I arrived at Warlick School, the site of the start and finish line, about 45 minutes before the start of the race, plenty early enough to get in the school gym to pick up my shirt and talk to friends, but not quite early enough to get in the school bus parking lot so I ended up parking in the big field, which is an issue if it's muddy but since it doesn't rain anymore it was perfectly dry. The 5k and the

This was the 4th annual Earl Scruggs Center Rhythm and Roots 10k and 5k. Having spent countless hours playing the banjo for the past 40 years and trying to emulate the sounds of Earl Scruggs, I have a deep appreciation for his music. Earl set the standard for banjo playing back in the 1940s and undoubtedly has been the most influential banjo player who ever lived. But I digress. I arrived at the race site early and parked right across the street from the Don Gibson Theater and the finish line (Don was another music legend from Shelby). Both the pre- and post-race activities where held in the lobby of the theater, which was great, but to register on race morning the registration was set up about a block and a half away in a little building (I think they called it the Well House) up by the courthouse. Registration went smoothly and I loved the race T-shirt. With the combination of two of my passions (running and banjos) on the shirt, it's one that I'll actually wear. As usu

After the debacle at Saturday's race in Grover, I was looking forward to what I felt sure would be a much better race in Salisbury on Sunday afternoon. I had been looking forward to the Spooky Sprint 5k, partly because it would most likely be warmer than most other late October races since it was an afternoon race, and partly because it's one of those rare races that actually has a Senior Grand Masters division. If you're unfamiliar with the Masters categories, the Senior Grand Masters includes runners who are 60 or older, the Grand Masters are runners who are 50 and older, and the Masters are runners who are 40 and older. In some areas of the country those divisions are included most of the time in their races, but in this area they are rare. Some races in our region include a Masters category, and every once in a while there will be a Grand Masters, but I've seldom seen a Senior Grand Masters in this region except in the RRCA state championship races. Going into

This was possibly the least organized race I've ever run. If all races were like this I'd probably revert back to being a mall walker. I arrived in Grover having read in the directions that the race was on "Main Street." Okay, that sounds simple enough since Grover is just a small town. Since the race was being held in conjunction with the Grover Pumpkin Festival I thought it would be easy to spot, and sure enough, there were hundreds of people gathered for the Pumpkin Festival, and it was nice. Lots of good-smelling food (although I was trying to watch my diet), great entertainment with a band on stage that sounded surprisingly good I thought, and lots of people, many dressed in Halloween costumes. I found the nearest parking space I could find, which was probably at least a quarter mile from the action, and walked up to find the race registration area. I walked completely to the other side of the festival without seeing anything, so I asked three guys who were

Just a week after a mediocre showing at the Rocktoberfest Half Marathon in Charlotte I decided to do a better job of keeping my mind in the race at Myrtle Beach, and it paid off. No doubt the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon is a flatter and faster half marathon than Rocktoberfest, but cutting more than 5 minutes off my time from the previous week had more to do with my state of mind than the flatness of the course. Oh, and it probably helped that I've lost a few pounds since getting back on the Weight Watchers wagon a couple weeks ago. I know I'm not exactly obese, but I did my best running in the fall of 2011 when I weighed 138 pounds. Before getting back on Weight Watchers recently I had gained some weight and was back up to 153 pounds, so I'd really like to knock off 10 or 15 pounds and get back to my ideal running weight. My time of 1:34:24 made this my fastest half marathon of ten that I have run this year and I finished in the top 3% overall (76th out of 2,759 runners).

This was my first half marathon since June, and I'm pretty sure it's the first time in the past four years I've had three months between half marathons. I finished 49th overall out of 491 runners with a time of 1:39:44, and while I was happy to be under 1:40, I was actually hoping to run under 1:37. I did get a little complacent after Butch Holt ran off and left me and I decided that my fate was sealed as far as where I'd end up in the age group, so I started taking walk breaks. It was hilly and I was tired but with some pressure I would have probably tried harder. I took a quick glance in back of me and didn't see anybody who looked like they might be in my age group (it's usually easy to spot the old guys) so I decided to go for a nice long stroll about 12 miles into the race, figuring that most likely any other 60+ runners would probably still be a good distance behind Uh... big mistake. After I walked 30 or 40 seconds here came William Morrell, who you may