Being that it is Thanksgiving and also being a runner means that today is the day to run a Turkey Trot. For the past 3 years my daughter and I have run a YMCA Turkey Trot 5K which has become our tradition. Wake up early, head down to the Y, join more than 1,200 people in running on the sometimes thin streets of Towson. We don't care about time, we just have some nice conversation while running with the masses of people. For a little background, I guess I should tell you how I became a runner.
My daughter, Rebecca, who is a senior in high school, told me way back in her 5th grade year she wanted to join her middle school cross country team. The coach had told her team that they needed to run on the weekends and she wanted to run with me. I hadn't run in probably 10 years and I was out of shape. I'll always remember that first run together which was only a mile and a half. I was exhausted after that run and I hurt like I hadn't hurt in a long time. But my daughter was persistent. She wanted to be a better runner and she was taking me along for the ride. It wasn't long before she was faster than I was, since she was running 4-5 days a week and I was running one day a week. I had to try and keep up and started training more. We ran our first race together in 2007 at the Komen 5K in Hunt Valley. I still think I held her back, but we ran together. In 2008 I was still struggling and she was getting much better, but she never let me quit and she stayed with me. We ran a few more 5Ks together and started our tradition of running the Turkey Trots and Father's Day 5Ks together. My daughter moved on to Field Hockey and Softball, but we always make time to run a Turkey Trot and the Father's Day 5K. I will always be thankful for all that she has and will accomplish and it's great that she wants to still run with her Dad.
By 2010, I was really into this running thing. I enjoyed being out there with friends, my daughter, or even just myself. I started running with my friend Rob, his wife Wendy (sometimes) and Rob's friend Erik. All of whom motivated me to continue running and getting better. I got bit by the running bug. I wanted to see if I could go faster, farther, and enjoy the running. We would meet at the NCR Trail and run 10 miles and have great conversations. During races we would push each other and support each other. I'm very thankful to have these running buddies with whom to share our successes, failures, and frustations. It really is something special that I hope continues.
My wife Tamie is also a very important part of my running. While she is not a runner, she supports me and my running thing. Sometimes she may think I'm crazy or doesn't always understand why I want to run these races, get up so early, and be tired, but she always supports me and is there for me. She was there for my first marathon, she was the first person I called to tell her I won an age group award, she's always watching out for me and taking care of me. I love her with all my heart and truly thank her for supporting me through long runs in the rain and cold runs when I come home shivering.
I'm also thankful for all those people who have put on races I have run, the volunteers who pass out water, Gatorade, gels, and medals. I'm thankful there is such a vibrant running community who supports everyone who gets out there to run no matter how fast, slow or long.
Thanks for reading. Keep on running.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
It's been a while
It's been a while (like 2 years) since I posted a blog. In reality I don't expect many people to read this. That being said I have a long term running goal that I'm going to try for. I want to qualify for the Boston Marathon by the time I'm 50 and I'm 48 now. A lofty goal, to be sure, since I would need to run an hour faster than my PR last year which was 4:30. The BQ time is 3:30 but with the new qualifying standards, it would be best to try and run at least 5 minutes faster than that.
Over the last 3+ years I've raced a lot and believed that if I couldn't run "fast" that I could race a lot. I didn't train as much as I should have nor did I recover from races. I just seemed to go from one race to the next. While I was improving, it was taking a toll on my body. I was becoming a serial racer. I love the atmosphere of racing, to see if you can PR or just have a good day. I was also bad on recovery or "taking a race easy". I was never able to do that.
Eventually my body broke down. It happened this past April at the Crab Run half marathon in Cambridge, MD. About 2 miles into the race, my left calf started to hurt, by mile 6 I could barely run, but being the stubborn SOB that I am, I kept going and finished the race in one of my slowest times ever on a course that was flat, fast and built for a PR. I was limping in and disappointed in my effort, my body had let me down. Reality struck that it wasn't my body letting me down, but me letting my body down. I wasn't doing it "right", I was just doing it. Running is supposed to be fun and I lost sight of that. Running went from having fun with friends on the NCR trail or around the neighborhood to I "have to" get out there and run faster and harder and more often to keep up. I realized then that I needed a reboot. I needed to have fun with it again and a break was what I needed. After the April fiasco turned into the May doldrums with two more bad races, I took the break I sorely needed. 2 weeks of no running, no exercising at all. Those two weeks were blissful and wonderful. I was re-invigorated. June, July and August I only ran once a month and just enjoyed the runs. In September I ran more and my times were dropping down. I set a 5K PR in Washington, DC where I finished 3rd in Age Group and the next week I ran a decent 10K in Pikesville and won another 3rd in Age Group. I'd been running for 7 years and not once did I ever finish top 3 in Age Group. October I ran the Baltimore CareFirst half marathon, and ran the best half marathon I'd ever run in Baltimore. Just a couple of weeks ago I ran the Across the Bay 10K over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It was an amazing race and views were awesome. I ran a 10K PR which was great too.
My Boston journey starts with the Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon on May 3rd, 2015. My goal right now is around 4:15 for the marathon. I've worked out what I think will be a pretty good training plan. But I also will not race as much as I have over the past few years. I'm only looking to race a max of 10 times this year and take at least 2 weeks off after the marathon.
Wish me luck.
You can always follow me on:
Twitter at @reddsman
Dailymile.com at http://www.dailymile.com/people/DavidF2
Strava.com at Dave Flax
Over the last 3+ years I've raced a lot and believed that if I couldn't run "fast" that I could race a lot. I didn't train as much as I should have nor did I recover from races. I just seemed to go from one race to the next. While I was improving, it was taking a toll on my body. I was becoming a serial racer. I love the atmosphere of racing, to see if you can PR or just have a good day. I was also bad on recovery or "taking a race easy". I was never able to do that.
Eventually my body broke down. It happened this past April at the Crab Run half marathon in Cambridge, MD. About 2 miles into the race, my left calf started to hurt, by mile 6 I could barely run, but being the stubborn SOB that I am, I kept going and finished the race in one of my slowest times ever on a course that was flat, fast and built for a PR. I was limping in and disappointed in my effort, my body had let me down. Reality struck that it wasn't my body letting me down, but me letting my body down. I wasn't doing it "right", I was just doing it. Running is supposed to be fun and I lost sight of that. Running went from having fun with friends on the NCR trail or around the neighborhood to I "have to" get out there and run faster and harder and more often to keep up. I realized then that I needed a reboot. I needed to have fun with it again and a break was what I needed. After the April fiasco turned into the May doldrums with two more bad races, I took the break I sorely needed. 2 weeks of no running, no exercising at all. Those two weeks were blissful and wonderful. I was re-invigorated. June, July and August I only ran once a month and just enjoyed the runs. In September I ran more and my times were dropping down. I set a 5K PR in Washington, DC where I finished 3rd in Age Group and the next week I ran a decent 10K in Pikesville and won another 3rd in Age Group. I'd been running for 7 years and not once did I ever finish top 3 in Age Group. October I ran the Baltimore CareFirst half marathon, and ran the best half marathon I'd ever run in Baltimore. Just a couple of weeks ago I ran the Across the Bay 10K over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It was an amazing race and views were awesome. I ran a 10K PR which was great too.
My Boston journey starts with the Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon on May 3rd, 2015. My goal right now is around 4:15 for the marathon. I've worked out what I think will be a pretty good training plan. But I also will not race as much as I have over the past few years. I'm only looking to race a max of 10 times this year and take at least 2 weeks off after the marathon.
Wish me luck.
You can always follow me on:
Twitter at @reddsman
Dailymile.com at http://www.dailymile.com/people/DavidF2
Strava.com at Dave Flax
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)