Training Log Archive: TomN

Warm-up in Rockville. Easy run, with a couple of strides.

Rockville Twilighter 8K. A little disappointing finish, wanted to be about a minute faster. 8th place (out of 64) in 55-59, wouldn't have made top 3 in 60+.

There were about 2600 runners, and I know some who do this event year after year, but I don't see the attraction. It's dark, you can't see what's under your feet, can't see your watch, can't even see the finish line until you step on it. The start is claustrophobic with no attempt to arrange runners by speed (except for the "elites" who gather in a separate area and get a free pass up to the front). I spent 5 minutes in line for the porta-johns and 5 minutes trying to work my way up towards the start, they held us for another 5 minutes, my warmup was all gone, still walking when I crossed the starting line, and had to dodge hundreds of ridiculously slow runners blocking the way over the first mile (what were they thinking when they lined up?). Lots of tight turns throughout the course, including a couple of gratuitous hairpins in the Montgomery College parking lot.

Even after the first mile, it was still chaotic. I was passing and being passed the whole time, and never got in with anyone running at my pace. Crossed the finish with people much slower and much faster than me. So what's the point of a race? Who am I racing against? I could do the same thing by myself, save the $40 entry fee, and pick a better time of day to run.

Addie did a creditable job, finishing in 53:08, her first time at any distance over 2 miles, jogged steadily the whole way, and enjoyed the whole experience.

Core strength circuit plus stretching.

Forest Glen-Ga. Ave. loop. Easy pace with 4x20-sec strides.

Forest Glen-Linden Lane-Beach Drive-Old Spring Road, in the morning because of 100+ temperature forecast.

Drumm loop. Time-constrained this morning, needed to take Addie to the doctor and get to work by 10 for a Mars surface simulation exercise, so I took what I could get. Hot already at 8:30 a.m.

Core strength and stretching. Been ignoring this. Also going to take a running day off. I broke 30 miles this last week, for the first time in more than 20 years.

Drumm loop. Kept putting a run off, until the thunderstorms were obviously approaching, and it was now or never. Got back with enough time to mow the lawn before the downpour.