Thursday, January 19, 2012

Houston: We Have A Problem

By now we've all read Chrissie's recap of her Olympic Trials race, which was a great read, and created some of the highest volume of traffic to the blog in our history.  Meg McNew was on hand and was able to grab a couple of photos, here's a good one:

Chrissie lettin' 'em know: I want that award this year!

Of course, Chrissie's race wasn't the only one going on, as 5 of us traveled down to haunted Charleston, SC, for the 2nd Annual Charleston Marathon and Shrimp & Grits 5k.  The marathon went off at 8am, starting downtown and heading north into Terribletown.  Conrad Laskowski and I started together, but it was quite evident that he was on good legs.  And even though he could have easily walked away with the win there, he kept turning around and looping back to check in on me.  So thoughtful, that C-Bag.  He probably ran 30 miles on the day, but his official time was 3:00:01 for 10th place.  I fell apart less bad than I usually do to run a 3:03:43 and finish 15th.

In the Shrimp and Grits 5k, which started up at the marathon finish line at 8:30, it was a clinic on How-To-Win, led by Ed Aramayo and Alyssa Godesky, featuring special guest, Andy Sovonick.  Ed cruised to the win in 15:12, and Alyssa won in 19:05.  Andy ran with Alyssa for 2 miles before dropping the hammer to run a 5 minute last mile (17:27, 7th).  We assumed, correctly, that the course was short, and we confirmed it to be 3 miles.  Even tacking on the extra 0.1, it was a great early season time for Ed, and a new PR, easily, by Alyssa. 

Post-Crushing Butts, pre-Shrimp and Grits

As previously discussed, we will be holding the first of two Club Challenge course runs THIS Sunday, January 22nd, at Howard County Community College.  Here is the pertinent information:

Sunday, January 22
HCCC, off of Little Patuxent River Parkway
RUNNING BY 9AM

What I mean by this is, on the starting line, ready to run, by 9am.  If you need additional miles or warm up, arrive earlier.  There is no guarantee that the Phys Ed building will be open, meaning no guarantee we will have bathrooms available, although last year I remember there being some port-o-pots around. 

There are many people attending, and likely many different ideas for workouts.  In merely offering a suggestion, last year for our first workout we did 3-4x2mi on the course, using the first 2 miles as a warmup, and then starting the workout at mile 2.  Doing the suggested workout will either take you to mile 8 or the finish.  A 2 mile cooldown puts you at 14.  Dustin and Nate are going to be running longer, in the 17-18 range.  Some may be running shorter.  Whatever your flavor is, have at it.  I will be going down as a course marshal, driving along the workout to make sure nobody gets lost.  This also means I can carry water bottles and nutrition for those who would like to bring it along. 

If you have any questions, just ask.  For directions and course information, and also to REGISTER if you have not, I refer you to www.striders.net/races/rrca/2012

11 comments:

c-rad said...

I totally tug boated that race... C-bag style.

Christy said...

Ryan, expect to receive at least one additional shot from each race I do this year. Please same them so that you have a full portfolio for review and consideration prior to 2012 TTWSS awards ceremony. And I plan to race A LOT this year (for the sole purpose of maximizing my booty exposure).

Christy said...

*save

RM said...

Chrissie serving notice!

I also forgot to mention that Alyssa was this week's Purple Drink Athlete of the Week for her first ever 5k win and new HUGE PR!

pepperjackb said...

c-bag or tugboat, isn't that the title of a Mike Watt album?

Andy said...

Goddang that Conrad is a C-bag. Send 'em.

Dart said...

I'll probaby arrive around 8 or just before on Sunday, as I want to get in about 16 or 17, but have to be leaving by 10:15 for church. I'll probably be going easy for the first 30-45min, and then do some sort of tempo based repeats, likely 2 mile repeats

scotty doesn't know said...

in trying to be careful not to directly challenge an athlete of olympic caliber - i must say to MS RAMSEY that i HAVE gotten back into the gym...am slowly redeveloping my squatters/cyclist booty and may-or-may-not be working on a dance

just saying...we're not giving this award to you yet ;)

Christy said...

I dance? . . . Uh-Oh. Need to think about how I'm going to compete with that. At least I have 11 months to strategize :)

THE KRIS said...

i was going to run every race in tights this year, but judging by that photo, i've already lost.

Christy said...

No, Remus, you should totally go ahead and wear those tights.