Running Topics: Running Topics: Why are you grateful for this photo? Who and what are you grateful for in the photo?

Preface:

After running (pun intended) this blog for a few years, sometimes it is a bit tough to come up with topics to write about. Fortunately for me, Sara Kurth has published a massive list of potential blog topics that focuses on running (check out her blog here, ***).

Updated Preface:

Since there has not been anything too interesting going on in my running life, I thought that I would write some blog posts based on these running topics. Hopefully, my running life will become more interesting once I begin Richmond Marathon training next month.

Open your phone and find a photo you like. Why are you grateful for this photo? Who and what are you grateful for in the photo?

This photo was taken a couple of hours before my first (and what I thought was going to be my last) NYC Marathon back in 2013. Although I lived in NYC for about 11 years before running my first NYC Marathon, I never really considered actually running it. It's kind of funny because of the massive amount of street closures, I kind of "hated" NYC Marathon. During NYC Marathon Sundays, if I left my apt, I would hang out somewhere downtown (e.g., E. or W. Village or Alphabet City) since the marathon route did not go through mid and lower Manhattan, my life would be largely unaffected.

So what changed?

When one of my coworkers (during my postdoc years) found out that I had taken up running, she informed me about New York Road Runners' (NYRR) 9+1 Program. A program that allows folks to obtain a guaranteed entry into the NYC Marathon if they ran nine specific races and volunteered for one race. I guess that I'm grateful for that coworker who introduced me to NYRR. From 2010 to about 2015, I lived on Roosevelt Island (the red circle on the map below), which is right in the middle of the East River.

During NYC Marathon Sundays, my activities were affected because the tram that takes you from Roosevelt Island to the (lower) Upper East Side would drop you off near where the marathon runners would enter Manhattan for the first time after running across the Queensboro Bridge. Also, on some Sundays, I would have to go to lab for a couple of hours to complete some work that probably should have completed during the week. If I went to lab during the marathon, which was ALL day, I would have to walk more or less 20 blocks out of my way to get to work. So, I guess beginning to run NYC Marathons was kind of like if you can beat them, join them. ;)

I am grateful the photo above for a few reasons:

1. The calm before the storm: Although I was not smiling in this picture (then again, I rarely smile in pictures), I was in an high state of euphoria. It was "exam day" for me, and I "knew" that I would be successful from all of those months of training. I went for the low hanging fruit and gave myself a goal of just finishing the marathon.

2. New opportunities: Prior to participating in NYRR's 9+1 plan, I had no idea that there were road races all around NYC. Ok, maybe I knew of road races in the city, but they did not really interest me at the time. This allowed me to do something a bit more productive during a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Also, it gave me an opportunity to enter new social circles and meet new people outside of biomedicine.

3. Planning and doing something: Having completed a Ph.D. program, I was no stranger to planning and completing something. Training for this marathon was a bit of a paradigm shift for me because I dedicated five months to train for an optional event in my life. Back then, most of my planning involved figuring which restaurant to have bottomless mimosa brunch.

4. A smaller KOS, Jr.: Sometimes, looking at this old photos makes me a little sad because these pictures show the amount of weight that I have put on over the past decade. I have been working on slimming down for the past few months. But, pictures like this show that I still have a lot of work to do. The funny thing: Back then, I thought I was huge compared to my college (pre NYC) weight.

5. Supportive friends: I was a bit surprised that several of my friends were so supportive of me running this marathon. Also, I was so happy that folks wanted to hang out for dinner and drinks after I finished the marathon. Since I never really heard my friends talk about NYC Marathon, I did not expect them to come out and support during and after the marathon.

Race Report/Rant: DCFR Pride Run 5K

DATE: June 07, 2024

DISTANCE: 5K

PLACE: Congressional Cemetery, Washington DC

WEATHER:  83F

OFFICIAL TIME / PACE: 32:14/ 10:22 min/mi

FINISHERS: 1297

SWAG: Tech T, medal, beer, dancing, random nibbles, annoyance ;)

General Overview:

Last friday was my first (and probably last) Pride Run as a resident of the DMV. The race was organized by the DC Front Runners (DCFR), and it took place in a cemetery of all places. According to the DCFR Pride Run website, on the why of having this race in the Congressional Cemetery.

“Beyond the Historic Congressional Cemetery being a beautiful and peaceful place to hold an event, it’s also rich with history.  Not only is it the burial site of members of Congress, Civil Rights leaders, Women’s Suffrage leaders, and notable members of the FBI, but the cemetery is also the final resting place of Leonard Matlovich, an American Vietnam War Veteran, recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal, and a gay rights and AIDS activist in the 1970s and 1980s.”

I hate to be one of those folks who always compares one city to another, but I have to say that I think Front Runners NYC (FRNY) does a better Pride Run than DCFR. However, I think DCFR solely organizes its Pride Run, whereas FRNY collaborates with the New York Road Runners (NYRR), which has more resources, to organize its Pride run.

I don't know, but it felt kind of weird running in a cemetery. Actually, I take that back, it felt a little disrespectful to run a race in a cemetery - especially when some folks were using tombstones as spots to place their post-race beers and other post-race crap.

Ok. Yes, I did see that the Congressional Cemetery was the location of the race. BUT, I assumed that the race would be held in a park or the neighborhood NEAR the cemetery, not inside of the cemetery. Well, I can cross running in a cemetery off of my bucket list. Wait! Well, I can put running in a cemetery on my bucket list, then cross it off of the list. ;)

The Course:

Hee Hee. Is it me, or does the course kind of look like a snake?

Overall, I thought the course was a hot a** mess. I'll qualify that statement by saying that I thought the course was a hot mess for the number of folks (~1200 runners). Why? For about 90% of the race, there were limited places to pass, and we were pretty much on top of each other until the last 200 or so meters. The worst part: about 1.75 miles into the race, there was a hairpin turn so what was a one-way "street" became a two-way "street" with even less room to move when the faster runners were returning to the cemetery.

Another thing that made this race a congested mess: The organizers did not have any sort of corralling system, except for the folks that were running at a sub 7-minute/mile pace. Of course, many folks nowadays do not have any self awareness. So, folks lined up near the front of the racing field knowing that they were either very slow runners or were planning to walk. I do not understand why people do this. If you know that you are planning to walk a race, LINE UP IN THE BACK. There was absolutely no reason for folks who lined up near the front to start walking as soon as they crossed the start line. I'm actually surprised that there were not more injuries. During the race, I almost tripped a few times because some folks would just come to an abrupt stop before walking. Also, the fact that most of the course was on cobblestone and uneven paths did not really help matters.

Other than those two (major) issues, I had a bit of a blast. ;) I'll say that it was a different experience running a race at 7 pm . . . Well, the organizers started late, so we didn't begin running until 7:30 pm. Ugh, the humidity in the mid-Atlantic is no joke because it was still humid AF at 7:30 pm. Man, I cannot wait until I lose enough weight so I will not be too self-conscious over running shirtless.

I'm not sure if my finishing time is truly reflective of my effort. On one hand, I probably could have run faster, but I did not want to risk injuring myself or others while running in the congested pack. On the other hand, maybe I ran faster than anticipated because whenever there was some free space or an opportunity to pass a group of walkers or slower runners, I took it.

I'll say something nice: I thought the medal and T-shirt were nice.

Although there was a post-race party, the hubby and I decided to drink our beers and head to the nearest spot to find food. Also, I did not really want to stick around, because I thought it was a bit weird to have a post-race dance party in a cemetery. Fortunately for us, there was a nearby bougie food court that had a nice selection of food options. This worked out well for me because I was hungry AF, but I did not know specifically what I wanted to eat. I pretty much had a modest spread of post-race bites.

Concluding Thoughts:

While I think it is/was great (and important) to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride (especially because I'm in the community), I do not think that I will run this race again. Maybe next year, I'll donate what I would have paid in registration fees to an LGBTQ+ organization. OR, I'll register with the intention of walking the 5K, BUT I will be sure to start at the back of the pack.

Something that I noticed. While living in NYC, I joined FRNY after chatting with some FRNY runners during the post-race party of my first NYC Pride Run, which was held in Central Park, NOT in a cemetery. Upon finishing the DCFR Pride Run, I had no interest in chatting with any of DCFR members (absolutely no shade to DCFR), I simply wanted to finish my beer, change into a dry shirt, get a feeding, and go home. Actually, I thought it was interesting that DCFR did not have a booth or table for attracting potential members. Maybe they had a table or an area, but I did not see it since I left shortly after finishing the race.

Playlists:

Race Report: Frederick Half Marathon

DATE: May 05, 2024

DISTANCE: Half Marathon (13.1mi/21km)

PLACE: Frederick, Maryland

WEATHER:  52F and rainy

OFFICIAL TIME / PACE: 2:27 / 11:15 min/mi

FINISHERS: 2452

SWAG: Sweatshirt, medal, two post-race beers, and random bits and pieces from the post-race festival

Woo hoo! My first official Maryland half marathon as a resident of Maryland. This half took me to the town of Frederick, which is about 30-40 miles from Washington DC.

EXPO:

There really wasn't much to the expo, because I picked up my bib and bounced. Actually, I take that back. I just realized that I picked up my race stuff at an off-site at a local running store rather than picking up my materials at the official expo. For me, it did not make much sense to drive 30 miles to Frederick to pick up my bib, drive 30 miles back to Silver Spring, then make that same trip one or two days later. I guess I should be grateful that the organizers had a couple options to pick up race materials outside of the expo.

Pre-race:

To be honest, I was over the half marathon before starting it. While driving to Frederick around 5 am, I was very concerned with the early morning downpours. There were a couple of times during my drive that I considered turning around. One time I had this thought was when I had to pull off onto the shoulder of the interstate to pee in the rain. Some folks may know that I absolutely HATE running in the rain. I don't really understand why because I tend to sweat a lot, so it's not like I'm NOT going to get wet while running. Maybe it's my fear of slipping on wet surfaces. In Frederick (about 30 min before lining up), I had to internally tell myself: Look! Stop complaining about the rain. Either shut up and run the half or get in the car and drive home. I think my internal pep talk help. ;)

You know, this is the first time that I've seen corrals marked with pace rather that letters of numbers that's supposed to represent a pace cutoffs.

Actually, I think this a better way to assign corrals. IMO, I think runners would be a bit more "honest" (or rather, cognizant) of their running level/state when the corral's pace is clearly visible. A pace is consistent from race to race, but Corral letters/numbers are not. For instance, Corral E might have a pace cutoff of 11 min/mi for one race, but Corral E might have a pace cutoff of 10 min/mi for another.

The Course:

Overall, I really enjoyed this course because it was very flat and had a few twists and turns that allowed us to explore the historic town of Frederick. I don't know why, but I really appreciate a course that has a few turns. I think it's a mental thing for me because making a turn kind of gives me a mental reset.

You know, 50F weather is kind of annoying because it can feel too cold or too hot. I was planning to run in a short technical T-shirt, but I figured that it would be too cold for that. Fortunately, I packed a long-sleeved tech shirt. Unfortunately, my long sleeve shirt was too tight to put over my regular shirt, so I put the long-sleeved tech shirt under my short-sleeved tech shirt and thought nothing of it. About 3/4 of a mile into the race, I realized that I was going to become too hot running with this set up. Begrudgingly, I had to stop and rearrange my outfit, which involved:

• Finding a spot off the course to change.

• Taking off all of my shirts and putting the long-sleeved tech shirt around my waist. Since I really like this long tech shirt (I think it's from one of my NYC marathons), I didn't want to toss it.

• Unpin the four safety pins and transfer my bib from my shirt to my shorts. I did this just in case, I would need to put my long sleeve tech shirt over my t-shirt.

I guess doing this took longer than I thought because I was VERY far in the back of the pack by the time I finished.

Ha! I think there were about 10 runners and course sweepers behind me by the time I finished dealing with my wardrobe "malfunction".

General Recap:

In previous half marathons, I typically will run 0.8 miles and walk 0.2 miles intervals. For this half, I tried to push myself a little bit by running 0.9 miles and walking 0.1 miles. I'm not sure if it made a HUGE difference, but my time for this half marathon (~2:27) was a bit faster than the one I ran in March (~2:34). Around Mile 7, I decide to push myself a bit more by walking my 0.1 miles after running 2 miles instead of after each mile. Also, I incorporated fartlets and 0.25 mile "sprints" during Miles 8, 10, and 12.

I wonder if Cow Tales are anything like Duck Tales.

At the post-race festival, I learned that Cow Tales are a chewy candy. Although this candy has been around since the 80s, I don't recall ever seeing them.

I'll say that for 80% of the race, I did not feel like I was struggling. I didn't feel super strong, BUT I did not feel weak while running. I hate to admit this, but I think the rainy weather might have had something to do with my improved performance because the rain prevented me from getting too hot while running.

HA! I was ecstatic to run past Olde Mother Brewery, which produces one of my (newly) favorite beers.

Once again, I will say that I was quite impressed by the city of Frederick, and I would not mind visiting again for a day trip.

I'll say that it was very interesting to finish up the half marathon on a racetrack (for motorcycles, I think).

Post-Race:

Overall, I thought the post-race festival was very nice because there was plenty to do...on paper. However, the rainy weather kind of put a damper (pun intended) on the festival because the festival area was full of mud. I remember almost slipping on a few occasion while making may way from point A to B to C...

However, I did not let a little mud stop me from enjoying my post-race beers.

Because of state or city mandates, they had to open and serve BOTH cans of beers, so I guess everyone was double fisting beers. While the race and post-race party were organized very well, I think in the future they should provide runners with 21+ wristbands. Many runners were turned away from grabbing their post-race beers because they did not have an ID. So, folks had to walk a bit to go to the back check (which was outside of the post-race festival area), get their ID, and return for their beer. Had it not be for the mud and coldish weather, I would have stayed a bit longer at the festival.

However, I was getting cold and really wanted to get my dry bag to put on my sweatshirt.

I have to LOL about the sweatshirt. When I picked up my race materials at the "expo", I thought that it was kind of dumb to provide a sweatshirt for a May half marathon. However, the sweatshirt definitely kept me warm after the race, AND it's a very nice really nice sweatshirt. I thought it was kind of funny that I saw so many discarded race sweatshirts along the course. Maybe these folks have run this half marathon a few times and didn't need (or want) another sweatshirt.

Luckily for me there was a Planet Fitness about a few miles away. I decided to hit up the Frederick Planet Fitness, to stretch, use a hydromassage table, take a shower, and change into clean clothes. After that, I drove by home, picked up the husband, and had brunch (fish n grits and mimosas) at a local Creole (or as my friend says "Beyonce Creole, not Haitian Creole") restaurant in Silver Spring.

While the mimosas were delicious, my fish n grits were off because the dish was way too salty. Although Sunday was Cinco de Mayo, I really did not want to go to a Mexican or margarita spot for my post-race feeding...and drinking. I was tired and did not want to be around a million and three people guzzling down margaritas, wearing sombreros, and being loud.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:

-The half marathon did not go as well as I would have liked (weatherwise), but I definitely want to run this half again next year. Also, I might be interested in checking out one of race challenges.

-The quaint, historic city of Frederick is very nice and deserves a non-racing day trip.

-While I did not achieve the time I wanted, I am somewhat happy that my time improved from my last half. Actually, I take that back because I never set a time goal for this half.

Playlists:

Since Eurovision 2024 is this week, I gave the Class of 2024 one more complete listen before the contest's kick off.

Race Report: Spin in the Woods (4 mi)

DATE: March 30, 2024

DISTANCE: 4 miles

PLACE: Wheaton, MD

WEATHER:  mid 40s F

OFFICIAL TIME (mm:ss) / PACE (min/mi): 44:26/11:03

FINISHERS: ???

SWAG: Nada

LOL. This weekend's "impromptu" race was my first official trail race in my 10 or so years of running. What do I mean by impromptu? Recently, I joined Montgomery County Road Runners Club (link: MCRRC), but I had forgotten that the club organizes what they call "low-key" races throughout the year, which are free for members. Last week, I was randomly looking for some races for April and saw that there was a race in a couple of days. Since I was supposed to run 10 miles over the weekend and the location of the race was a couple of miles from my apt, I figured why not add a race to my long run.

I kind of like the concept of the club's Low Key Race Series. For these, there are no medals, no shirts, no swag bags, and no huge expos, you pretty much show up, grab your bib, run the race, and go home. ;) These races kind of remind me of my cross country meets during my high school years.

One minor drawback to these races, I'm responsible for keeping track of my red tracker for the entire race season. I didn't know folks still used the tracking chips that you have to attach to your shoes.

The Spin in the Woods took us through two loops in Springbrook Forest. Since I'm training for another half marathon in May, I sandwiched this race between a 2-mile pre-race run and a 2.5-mile post-race run.

Ha! A couple of deer even "greeted" me along Sligo Creek Trail during the 2-mile pre-race run.

I know that deer are pretty peaceful animals, but they do scare the sh*t out of me when they just randomly cross the path and stare at you before running away.

While I was supposed to run 10 miles this weekend, I did not feel like adding another 1.5 miles to the 2.5 mile post-race run . . . especially bc I was really close to my home. Looking back, I kind of wish that I pushed out that those extra 1.5 miles bc I do feel a little guilty about not running them. Oh well, there's always next weekend's long run.

Overall, I thought the trail race was nice, and I have no complaints about the course and organization. I will admit that I was VERY nervous about tripping and/or twisting my ankle on rocks, tree roots, or the uneven surfaces. Fortunately, I did not trip over anything and bruise something like my ego. ;) Since I'm a bit slower these days, I was also a bit nervous about getting lost somewhere in the woods after the thinning of the pack. Fortunately, that did not happen.

The course was a little challenging because there were a couple of hills (the blue circle in the pic below indicating the race's elevation profile), but it wasn't anything that I could not handle. Actually, the hills kind of surprised me because I did not look up the course's elevation since it was "only" four miles.

All in all, it was nice to try something new, and I'm open to running another trail race in the future. However (at least for now), I think that I prefer road races over trail races. I thought the MCRCC did a great job with marking the course because there were plenty of orange flags throughout the course. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were a couple of water stations along the course. I wasn't expecting that because 1) it's a low-key race; and 2) concerns over runners tossing their paper cups into the wilderness. This experience reminds that I have to remember to sign up to volunteer for one of the club's races in the near future: 1) to the return the favor of the volunteers for this race and other races; 2) to meet some new people in the area.

Playlist:

Speaking of trying something new, I decided to listen to Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album while running this race. In this album, Beyonce is doing something a bit different and taking a crack at Country music. I thought it was a decent album; however, I wasn't blown away by the album. I have to admit that I don't really listen to Country music, but the album sounded more Country-Pop with R&B and hints of Trap music.