World Record Running Debut!

Well, not everyone who does their first official, timed, race breaks a world record, but the Kazology Team did just that!

Three runners, three miles, three world records!

Don’t think so? Well there is proof!


Guinness 03x3
NAK Guinness 2013x3PK Guinness 2013

So, what was this for?
Well, back in June of 2012 the town of Canton Michigan sponsored the “Liberty Run”, a 5K (3.1 Miles) race.
These three highly trained and highly motivated sub-elite runners took up the challenge and blazed through the course in record time! Two of the three set PR’s for the 5K distance, and all three made it into the Guinness World Book of Records.

2012 Liberty Festival 5K

2012 Liberty Festival

2012 Liberty Festival

Lots more pictures were taken and posted in the race photo page.

Kensington Challenge 2010 – A 15K race.

Saturday, September 18, 2010 was the 27th Annual John Rogucki Memorial Kensington Challenge at Kensington Metropark about 30 minutes North of Ann Arbor.

The day started pretty well, up early, but not so early since the race did not start until 9:15 as opposed to the typical 6 am start for a lot of other races. Guess that is one good thing about going into the fall season, cooler weather allows later starts. Plus they probably do not want everyone trying to run in the dark since it is now pitch black at 6 am.

Stopped for a little caffeine on the way, then followed the GPS to the parking lot at Kensington.

This is the second time I have run this race so was somewhat familiar with the layout, made my way down to the pavilion and picked up my bib and swag bag.

The official #106 Bib for the Kensington Challenge.

Back to car to put bib number on shirt and generally prepare. Saw in the bag they gave sweatshirts instead of technical shirts. Guess that is okay, but I do not wear sweatshirts all that much, and if I knew it, I would have ordered a larger size since sweats have a tendency to shrink quite a bit.

“Geared Up”, Garmin, HRM, Halo head band in pocket, a gel “in case”. Talked for quite a while to the young lady parked next to me. Either always very chatty, or nervous about race but she kept the conversation moving! At 9:05 off with the warm ups, start the Garmin etc. and walk to the start line. They did the introduction thing, played the National Anthem, and then off we went. It was a gun start, no timing mat, but since the crowd was not all that huge it probably only made a few seconds difference in overall time… and since there was not a “start line” I did not know for sure where to start the watch anyway!

A short uphill, then a long downhill run to start. This course doesn’t have any monster hills, but it is probably one of the hilliest that I run on.

Kensington elevation.

The weather had been “threatening” since early morning, and about mile 3 it finally let go! Fortunately it was about 58 degrees, and the rain was not to cold. It poured pretty good for about a mile, then let up….  for about 10 minutes when it started up again. Since everyone was thoroughly soaked from the first downpour this one did not make any difference. It actually had a benefit in keeping me cool, which I liked. I was glad at this point that I made the decision not to have taken the camera along. Might not have been a disaster since I also normally pack a zip lock bag to put the camera in to protect against sweat or the possibility of rain, rivers, floods and typhoons happening while on the course. But without it I did not have to fiddle around with trying to get out the bad, get the camera in it and get it stowed in the SPI belt that I normally use. After the few few miles I often find myself running with people that have settled into the same pace, give or take. In this race there was one person that would just fly by everyone for a couple hundred yards or more while huffing and puffing like a wheezing locomotive, then he would stop and walk, then pass the same people, then stop and walk. Maybe this is the “Run-Walk-Run” method, but it didn’t seem to effective to me, and in the end he was far behind all of us. Maybe a little more even pace would work… I don’t know though I’m not a coach and can barely run myself. A couple other people I was with during about mile 4,5, 6 ,7 and 8 pretty well all kept pace together. Sometimes they would gain a few feet, sometimes I would catch back up. This works really well for me as I determine not to let them get to far ahead. About mile 5 the person in the lead seemed to pick it up a bit, and I hung in there. Finally about mile 8 I moved by all of them and took the lead. I had no idea by how much until there was a point where we had a short “out and back”, when I went around the cones and started seeing the people behind me I was still only 10 yards ahead of them. After a few more minor ups and downs we made the final run to the finish. About two hundred yards out the one person edged by me, I told him to “Go for it” and he started pumping, with me following.

Final result, two minutes off my 2008 time! While not a huge amount of difference it was significant for me since I have felt that I have been getting slower, not faster as I run more. The other significance was that I never stopped to walk, which is the first time for awhile. So overall a very good race for me.

The results are now posted and I see how I did, pretty well in age group with a 7 out of 18, and overall…. I was actually hoping to do a little better in my AG based on moving up an age group, and that groups prior years results, but it seems all the people that kept beating me in the 55-59 group are still running, but now in the 60-64 group. I guess all I can do is outlast them… the 70-74 AG looks pretty open right now.

No pictures of this race due to rain, etc. They took some on course and at finish so if one of those turns out okay may get it.

Some results.
Kensington elevation.

The Age Group Standings.
Kensington elevation.

The course itself runs around the lake.
Kensington Challenge Course.

Until it never rains on a race again,

George

A day to remember to forget.

August 1, 2010 at 6:30 am was the start of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon. This was my first Rock ‘n’ Roll race, and the course was flat. I thought it would be a good time to try and break the two hour mark, so I signed up earlier in the year to make sure I got in before it sold out.

A hotel room was booked, vacation days signed up for, groceries purchased, suitcases packed, and finally the car was loaded up. First stop, after the requisite quick coffee drive by, was the Health and Fitness Expo at McCormick Place in Chicago.

I picked up my bib and SWAG bag and then wandered around the hall for awhile.

The Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon bib.

Brooks apparently is a large sponsor and had all sorts of attractions… see the Jesus Lizard and racing pictures. There were plenty of samples available, so I carbo loaded right at the show with energy bars from the major manufacturers. After seeing everything we wanted to see we took off for the next stop. The Chicago Art Institute.

First though we needed some real food, so walked a couple blocks, went down the stairs, and under the bridge to the Billy Goat Tavern.. home of the Cheezeborger. Hopefully some of you will remember the Saturday Night Live skits (Beluschi) that were created from a visit to this restaurant. “Cheezeborger – Cheezeborger – Cheezborger! No fries! Cheeps! No Pepsi. . . Coke!” Well it was an interesting place, the food passable,(having the double cheese burger of course! – one of use having a double double…) glad we went to see, may or may not ever go back. There are just to many places to eat on the trips we make to “double up” to often unless it is something we rate “outstanding”. (Maggianos Italian).

Bellies full, we walked back to the art museum where we spent hours wandering the halls looking at paintings, lots of paintings. Old painting, new paintings, great paintings and those that left you scratching your head. Finally we headed to the hotel for the night, stopping first at… Maggianos for some pasta.

Saturday we visited the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Started in 1972 (?) as a small greenhouse it has grown into a major garden. A very nice place, and certainly glad we went. We were not sure beforehand what it would be, or how long to plan on being there… thinking we may be done in a hour or two and then go do something else. As it ended up we spent the entire day there. We finished the day with the tram ride that circles the gardens. The driver/tour guide was either a) a hoot, or b) annoying…. done in a very folksy style it was more comedy than informational. For me anyway it was cute at first but would have liked a little more substance, history, facts, etc to be presented.

A early dinner at McCormick and Schmicks and then off to the hotel. We had to get up at 4 am to get ready and make the drive to downtown Chicago to be ready for a 6:30 am start time. We are early risers, but 4 is early!

We made it in good time, the traffic was very light, and got into a parking garage with no problems. A couple block walk to the venue and we were ready for race time.

On our way, behind a white picket fence was the celebrity pen. A couple people who I did not know were there stretching and being covered by cameras. Still don’t know who they were, but one was “The Bachelor – Jake” one was… aw heck who cares anyway, we are here for a race not a show.

The course opened about 6 am, and it filled quickly. There were 29 corrals, one of the picture’s in the album shows them stretching far into the distance. Based on earlier half marathon times I submitted I was in corral #8. At 6:30 the horn sounded and the first group was off. Each corral started about a minute apart, so it was about 10 minutes into the race when I crossed the start line. The first couple miles went according to plan. The only issue being the Garmin was showing me as running a lot further than the course was marked. Much later, after the race and back home, I loaded the gps track into Google Earth and zoomed in on the course. It appears the tall building played havoc with the Garmin since the track was all over the place even doubling back on itself, no wonder it showed me running 14 plus miles. This also then affected the pace it was showing… not that I use it for much of anything normally.

I passed by the photography team just before the six mile mark, things were still going pretty good at that point, but shortly after that it started to be a struggle.

Excuse List for Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon:

    a) I walked miles the day before at the Botanic Gardens

    b) I was on my feet for hours, and walked miles on Friday at the Art Institute.

    c) It was hot, reaching 80 degrees by the end of the race.

    d) I dropped my headband in the porta pot before the race and sweat kept running down into my eyes.

    e) It has been so hot recently my weekly mileage dropped way off, into the teens, instead of in the 30-40 mile range.

    f) The sun was in my eyes

    g) I didn’t have any coffee before the race

    h) My right shoe was loose

    i) My left show was tight and had a hot spot

    j) My heart rate monitor strap was loose and kept sliding down around my belly.

    k) something else

    l) whine

    m) whine

So I ended up running the slowest half I have ever run, by 15 minutes… ouch.

I don’t want to, but I always add the statistics… so here goes.

The Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon results.

The six mile time was still pretty close at 1:04 which would be 2:08 plus another 11 for the final 1.1 miles, so 2:20 isn’t far off…. but then I guess 2:28 isn’t that much more than 2:20… very flawed runner logic…

I have to say, this outfit seems pretty efficient. They had the results posted in hours, with 18,000 plus finishers. Some other races I have run it takes days, for only several hundred runners! They also set up a nice finishers certificate which you can download and print out. I think saving it as a pdf is good enough for me.

The Chicago Rock 'n'  Roll Half Marathon finishers certificate.

To make the aching legs feel a little bit better they have a fairly decent finishers medal also.

The Chicago Rock 'n'  Roll Half Marathon finishers medal.

Still, it was fun and I enjoyed it, once I cooled off a little bit. After getting the finisher medal and some water we headed back to the hotel where I took an ice bath to help the legs on the drive back home. Glad I did since the drive ended up over six hours. There was construction on I-94 that held us up quite a while until we stopped for some supper and took the back roads for awhile until we were past the mess.

Finally back home, unpacked, and went to bed… and that is the end of the 2010 Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon.

Pictures of the expo and race!

Until the sun sets over Lake Michigan in Chicago . . . .

George

Places to run – part X

It is always fun to go for a hike/run/walk, whatever you do outdoors for exercise or enjoyment. I recently was in Georgia and did a fun trail in the Georgia Forest system, Unicoi State Park. There are several trails but the one I did, since I was staying in Helen Georgia, was the Helen to Unicoi trail. It was also a good chance to try out the GeoSetter software with some pictures I took. The trail is very nice, from the hotel to the lodge and back was just a shade over six miles. With the gain/loss of elevation, and the temperatures in the 90’s it made for a pretty good work out. Glad I took a bottle of water along with the camera! (Which did make for a bit of a load to carry the entire time.) I have a hand held water bottle (Nathan) **Runners Tip! While the Nathan comes with a bottle with a valve on the top, I find it just as easy to use standard water bottles from the store. No clean up afterwards, you can also (properly recycle) dispose of the bottle if you no longer need it and just stick the carrier somewhere and go “hands free” then.** I also have a SPI belt and travel with small zip lock bags… I can put the camera in a zip lock bag and stuff it in the SPI belt when I am done with photos. The bag is necessary, at least for me, to keep sweat from destroying the camera. You might be surprised at how NON-waterproof digital cameras are… another story for another day.

One thing that is in the album I will mention here since it sounds pretty cool. Georgia State Parks offer a number of incentives to attract people to visit the parks. One is for hiking, running, etc. The
Georgia Canyon Climbers Club. Sign up, give ’em ten bucks, visit four parks and do the specified trail at each one and get the Tee Shirt! Looks like fun. I need to map out where the four parks are in relationship to where I go and see if it is something I could do. Unfortunately I have limited time and Georgia is big enough that getting to the site in time to do the trail may not be feasible.

Hey, try this link to see the trail in Google Maps! It seems to work okay. Click on the link on the left and the picture should show up in the location along the route it was taken.

Until the final State Park is visited,
George

Runs you don’t think about… but should

When I go to different locations I enjoy finding a new place to run. I also enjoy taking photos along the way, especially if I am in a park, or somewhere unusual.

But sometimes our backyards we don’t think about… but should. I go out the back door several times a week and run in a great place, Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor MI. In several years of running there I never took a camera, or even thought about it.

I have been playing with some new software to do Geo-Tagging of my photos, and was looking for some pictures which I could use. To do this I needed a GPX track recorded to match the camera time against, not having anything like this I decided I needed to go take some photos while wearing my Garmin 305….. so I did. I put on the watch, grabbed the camera and headed out the back door to the park.

There are several outcomes from doing this. The easiest is to create the photo album with the tagged photos using Jalbum. When viewing this album (as well as most of my others) you can click on the word “See Map” below the photos and it will open Google Maps and take you to where the photo was taken. Pretty cool. I have been doing this for some time, but using Picassa and Google Earth to do the tagging. This works great, but is far to time consuming to tag each photo with an individual location so I usually resorted to grouping photos in areas. This method allows every photo to have its own location code. The software also lets you reposition the photo on the map to correct for any inaccuracies in the GPS coordinates that were saved. These are typically fairly close, but not always close enough to suit me. It also allows you to create a “track” or “route” which can then be displayed on Google Earth with the pictures on it in their proper locations.
I need to do a little more experimenting on that function yet before I release it. I did some experimenting way back when, but haven’t done much with this project lately.

Until I get a track laid down I guess this will have to suffice. Update July 25, 2010… I “got the track laid down” and am sharing it here.

As to the photos of the park itself, I actually ended up with a lot more photos than I thought I would, and actually ran a few places I do not normally go, just to see what was there that might be “photogenic”. I hope you enjoy seeing “My Running Park”.

Until the final bridge is crossed,
George

Software and Running = Part 2

In which I continue the monologue on equipment and software I use to track exercise efforts.

Software for recording Running and Races. The first software I got for tracking workouts and races was Runners Studio. I have been using it for about nine months at this point. I really like the layout of the software, it is easy to navigate and has a nice visual appeal. One of my favorite features is the “upcoming race” calendar/listing.  You can enter races that you want to run or are thinking about running into the software and it lists them all in a page view. The view includes customizable columns so you can add/remove what you want to see, or rearrange the order of the columns. The entries may also be sorted by different columns such as date of race, have you registered yet, length of race, etc. The view also shows the number of days remaining until race day, a very handy visual to use for planning. It also quickly reminds you of how many days there may be between races, so if you need to set priorities it is easy to do.

A short list of my favorite features:

  • Import data from Garmin Training Center. Much easier than entering all the lap data manually, also includes elevation, heart rate, etc.
  • Track run data from GPS using Google Earth with a click of the mouse.
  • Track shoe useage to see how many miles you put on them.
  • Goals you can set for about any combination of miles, time, pace, weight, etc
  • Mega-Goals which can be set to see how far you run in total, can you make it around the world? I’m just working on getting from California to New York…..
  • Upcoming races which I mentioned.
  • Race history which lists all the races you have entered, your goal and the results.

I could list everything the program does, but it would be easier for you to visit his web page, read what he has to say, and then download the software and try it out!

The program is constantly being updated, and the author seems receptive to adding new features that are requested as he has done for my requests several times. There is still a “wish list” I have for him, but it is getting closer to my ideal program with every revision!