The Old Runner

This was my tenth time running the Belmont Classic 5k, having only missed the 2013 race since I began running. It's been one of my favorite local races and most years it's been a good one. With the temperature in the low 50s at the start of the race, it was definitely cooler than normal but probably helped with some race times. Again, my goal was to reach a 155 heart rate and run at that level for the entire race. As usual, I sputtered through the first mile as my heart rate climbed, and the first hill had me walking a short distance until I was able to get back to running. I knew that the biggest challenge would be the big hill in the last mile and I was hoping to get through that without walking again. It worked out for me, and I was able to keep a pretty steady 155 heart rate going up the last hill with no more walking.  The good news is that I finished in 24:25 with a 7:52 pace, my fastest 5k since returning to running this year. Even better, it was 18 seconds faster than t

I've always looked forward to this race that I've run many times in the past. Until this year it was a Friday evening race that was held during the Cherry Blossom Festival just a couple blocks away. I liked that it was on a warm spring evening that was never too hot but just warm enough to remind me that summer was close. This year the festival wasn't held because of the pandemic so the race was switched to Saturday morning, but I still wanted to run it because it's somewhat local to me (although Cherryville is about a 20-mile drive from home) and it's part of the Gaston County Race Series.  Participation was way down this year and there were only 43 finishers. Just before the start, the race director (I think that's who she was) announced that since there were so few runners they decided not to do age group awards and would only have awards for the top 3 male and female finishers overall. That's a big no-no for most of us who race often since many of us are

The Myrtle Beach Half Marathon has been the race I've been most looking forward to as the pandemic subsides and things get back to normal. It's been a favorite of mine in the past and when I saw that the date had changed from early March to May 1st I jumped at the chance to run it again. The temperature in the low 60s at the start of the race was perfect for me and the weather remained comfortable throughout the race.  My goal was to finish in under 2 hours to extend my streak of sub-2-hour half marathons to 115, and my intention was to use the same strategy that has been working for me in races so far this year, which was to run pretty hard for 70 seconds then do a light jog for 20 seconds and continue this pattern throughout the race. Just a few seconds into the race I thought about what happened in last week's 5k. I had used my normal 70:20 ratio of run/jog and it worked okay for the first 2 miles, but then in the last mile I ended up walking 5 times! The walk breaks wer