Smoother Than a Fresh Jar of Skippy

I've got a confession:

I only have access to a computer and the Internet when I'm at work now that my laptop crashed and I have no Internet at home. So I typically piecemeal writing these things when I have a few minutes here and there. But, since it's the day before Thanksgiving and it's slow, I'm getting a lot done!

Last year, Richmond and Philly Marathons were the same weekend, which made for one awesomely exhausting road trip. This year they were back to having 8 days of separation, and it was back to the typical JFK50-Philly double. Saturday was the 51st anniversary of the assassination of the race's namesake, whose legacy of encouraging fitness as a lifestyle led ultimately to the creation of this race. It's the oldest continually run ultra in the US. In the town of Boonsboro, 15 miles west of Frederick, the race begins by climbing up South Mountain, before hitting the Appalachian Trail. This section is incredibly rocky, and staying upright is a challenge. After about 15 miles the runners exit the AT and pick up the C&O Canal towpath for a straight (flat) marathon. The last 8+ miles are on the road, and seem excruciatingly long. This year it was 16 degrees and the start. Graham was on scene supporting his dad and sister. Mr. Peck is a beast and finished in 7:42, beating his age (he finished 56th) and running not much slower than he did last year. Kaylyn struggled in the middle but stayed tough and found that little bit extra to finish strong in 8:33 for her first 50 miler. Josh Dawson had an excellent day, finishing 23rd in 7:02 (big PR) and Wookie Kim ran 8:17 for his first 50 miler.

Meanwhile, up in Philadelphia, a couple of the guys took to the streets for a fast and furious 8k. Once again they were led by Steve Febish, who finished 39th in 26:47. Tim Burns was 47th (27:49) and Dan Miranda and Nick Klastava were 49th and 50th, both in 27:58. Febish became the first person to complete the Philly Marathon trifecta, having run the marathon (2013) and half marathon (2012) in the past two years. He also raced Broad Street this year. Man really loves Philly!

The weather performed a little better by Sunday morning, with a race-time temperature of around 42 for the marathon and half. For those of us standing on the street, sun blocked by buildings and wind barreling down the avenues, it felt much colder. In a bit of a change-up, we didn't have anybody racing the half - it was all marathon or bust! First through was Sean Caskey, who was dripping with swag. Hitting the half in 1:17 high, the piano then fell squarely on his head as he ran a 1:30 back half to finish in 2:47:39 for 103rd place. Still, a 10 minute PR for him on just his 2nd attempt! Emily Hurley is a PTPer. Brings her A game whenever she steps out for a big one. I haven't seen much of her this year but always assume she's gonna bring that Uptown Funk. She ended up running 2:57:06 - missing her PR by just 13 seconds. When I looked back at the splits from MCM 2011, she hit the half in 1:27:06 and 20k in 2:04:27. In Philly she was 1:27:46 and 2:05:25, so she ran her last 8 miles faster by 45 seconds this time around. Incredible. And amazing! She was 21st.

Dr. Emily Shin, who in early October ran 3:10 at Twin Cities, pulled off something I haven't seen done very often: ran her second fall marathon faster than her first. She finished 53rd in a new PR of 3:06:45.  Jackie Range was all smiles on her way to a negative split 3:09:05, and PJ Anderer muscled through a 3:12:32 - not what he was hoping to run but all things considered, a pretty good day.

Bryn Burkholder came into this race with a whole lotta doubt. She didn't know how fit she was, her knees have been giving her a hella hard time, and she didn't expect she had any shot at being closer to her PR of 3:21. But she loves Philly. She used to live here, go to school here. Played basketball on the courts in West Philly. This year was her 10th time running the Philly Marathon, and you know what they say - 10 times is more of a charm than 3! Bryn hit the half in 1:41 before going on a rampage, negative splitting the second half and absolutely burning up the final 5k to finish in a new PR of 3:20:08. So close to that sub 3:20!

Elsewhere, Kevin McGrath ran 36:37 at the Manasquan Turkey Trot 5M, which is the fastest he's run in a couple of years. It may legitimately be faster than I can run right now. He and I will do battle this weekend as the Terps take on their new B1G rival, Rutgers, in College Park.

Diane Heiser scored a win at the Portola Turkey Trot 5k, and Brennan Feldhausen "won but lost" a prediction race in Wisconsin. The race got taken out by a 6th grade girl, and Brennan decided he would rather be way off on his prediction than get beat by an 11 year old.

Just a week off her fantastic half marathon, Lillian Pinault was right back at it, winning the Columbia Turkey Chase 10k in a 2 minute PR of 41:03. She had to stop to tie her shoes in the first mile, which probably cost her those precious couple of seconds. At least it wasn't 40:03. And Max Hacker won the Run for Shelter 10k in NoVA in 34:20, by 70 seconds. Wow!

The Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Emily Hurley.

T.K.O.

16. A number we associate with "candles" and "bars," but also with one word that could sum up the weekend of racing in Philadelphia:

SWEET

In March Madness, the Sweet 16 is the barometer, the measuring stick for success. To be among the final 16 teams playing at the end of the season means you've done something right: performed when it mattered, and executed a solid game plan.

In birthdays, the Sweet 16 is a coming-of-age recognition, a graduation to adulthood. No training goes into turning 16 per se, but the resulting celebration rewards the trials of growing up.

The reason for all the symbolism is that in Sunday's Philadelphia Marathon, we had 16 runners from our group out there competing. 16 people who have committed every day of the past few months to this one day. Outside of Boston, there's never been a weekend with so many people in marathon action. With that lengthy intro out of the way, I bring you Philthy Rich Race Weekend Recap Part 2.

As training partners, and Dragons, Dustin Meeker and Nate Brigham are seemingly inseparable in training and racing. They're also great leaders among the group, and have done an amazing job in setting up the fall for many of the folks racing this weekend. This marathon wasn't Nate's first rodeo, but for Dustin, as long as he crossed the finish he'd establish a best time. His previous marathon ended in a DNF, and after a tough fall last year he ended up not racing a marathon. Fueled by confidence in his fitness, Dusty went out fast on Sunday, leading the Falls Road train through the streets of Philadelphia. Admittedly his last 4 miles were pretty rough, but he crossed the line in 2:33:27, good enough for 18th place overall. Nate ran a little more conservatively. He discovered early on that his legs weren't responding the way he wanted, and as a veteran marathoner and patient runner, he maintained an effort that would leave him with enough in the tank to power through the end. It worked out, and while it wasn't his best time, it was a little faster than he ran at Boston back in April. 2:34:34 for 27th was Nate's result.

Phil Turner has run a few marathons before also, running mid 2:40s, before breaking out with a 2:40 earlier this year. Phil's 1:13 win at the NCR Half suggested that he was capable of running well under 2:40, and on Sunday he went out and executed. His slowest mile was a 6:06 mile 8 (which is not an easy mile). Everything else he kept in a 7 second range between 5:55 and 6:02 or so. Impressive. He ended up at 34th at 2:36:35 - averaging under 6 minute pace for the race. He's already plotting for Boston in the spring. Steve Febish has spent most of the fall running with Dusty and Nate, and on Sunday committed to going big. Steve's previous marathon was Eugene last spring, where he ran a little over 2:50. After winning the Baltimore Half a few weeks ago, he believed he could run a low 2:30. He went out on the pace, and paid for it a little in the back half - but finished up in 2:37:06 for 39th. Our 5th guy under 2:40 was Erik Orberg. Erik has the least running "pedigree," having only picked up running in the past couple of years, but has exceptional talent and drive, and above all an extraordinary work ethic. His 2:49 at Boston earlier this year motivated him to set his sights much higher, and the training he's put in this fall has been unbelievable. On Sunday, he executed one of the best plans I've ever seen, even-splitting his way to a 2:39:25 for 53rd.

David Cobb took a big chunk out of his previous marathon best - 6.5 minutes, to be exact - as he ran 2:51:16. He's had a great fall since he met up with us in early September, and is looking forward to 2014. Curt Forst, who I missed out on course, ran 2:52:20, which I'm pretty sure is a best time for him. I haven't seen Britt Kern in at least a few months, but I spotted him as he crossed the line. He looked pretty cooked, but he managed another sub 3 hour finish (2:58:59). On chip time he finished ahead of Megan DiGregorio, but technically finished just behind her, as she crossed in 2:59:09. Meg was far from pleased with the result, but it's important to have a little perspective. If blowing up and having a bad day results in a sub 3 hour finish (3 for 4 now since May 2012, with the one outside of 3 hours being just over 3), it's really not that bad of a day.

Nicole Wilson improved her Baltimore time by a couple of minutes, running 3:12:11, and Jeremy Gworek, who has had a tough fall, came through at 3:17:23. In his first ever marathon, Jon Miller found out that going out fast has its consequences as he crossed in 3:22:29. Aaron Thomas ran 3:41:42, and I mistakenly called this Lillian Pinault's first marathon but she corrected me that it's actually her second (but first in 5 years). She had a rough go out there, but got through it in 3:49:49. Sneaky Pete Mulligan ran, I didn't know that he was planning on it, and actually did it for him rather than his usual pacing gig. He finished at 3:54:57. And I'm guessing Jan Cook, who ran 5:23:03, had more than a few Guinnesses out there.

16 people. 9 under 3 hours. 5 under 2:40. 1 marathon. Wow. In all my years of watching races, I don't know if I've ever seen a more comprehensive performance from one team. And honestly, what's most impressive isn't that you finished, or ran well, but that you had the courage to try in the first place. A lot of runners don't even get that far.

In addition to the marathon, there was also the half on Sunday. Conrad Laskowski, aka Conrad the Barbarian aka Conrad the Destroyer, went out and did what Conrad does: run fast. A 4:50 first mile was a little ambitious, and most people would pay the piper soon after. But Conrad's not just anybody, and if anyone can endure a fast first mile and have the strength to keep going, it's him. He ran a lot of the race by himself, but in the end managed to hold off another runner in an epic battle for the line. They were awarded the same time (1:07:58) but Conrad took 12th to the other guy's 13th. The time was an 80 second PR, and 6 minutes faster than he ran at PDR in September. It's puts him at #2 now on our Top Ten list!

It seems like just last week that Nick Klastava ran his marathon, but it was over 8 weeks ago! Plenty of time to recover and build back up for a second fall race. A smart choice was a half rather than another marathon. On Sunday he wasn't able to get the result he'd expected, but a 1:22:06 is far from a bad time. Plus, he had great perspective about the year as a whole, which has been incredible. He's taken his fitness to a level he's never seen before, and had fun while doing it.

Some of our superstar ladies, Alley Firey and Grace Rochfort, both ran great races just a few weeks after running their first marathon at Baltimore. Alley went 1:49:14 and Grace narrowly missed breaking 2 hours, finishing at 2:00:11.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the terrific races at the "Who Knew Philly Had an 8k, Because Certainly None of Us Did" 8k on Saturday. Tim Burns and Andy Sovonick duked it out on the course, with both fellows running personal bests en route to 36th and 37th places, respectively. Tim ran 26:37 to Andy's 26:41.

As I mentioned in the email, it's not often that I award dual Purple Drink Athlete of the Week awards, but this week was too epic not to. 21 people ran a marathon, another 10 ran halves, and there were so many unreal races that I had to do it. So congrats to Carly and Erik, you guys definitely earned it!

We gave a KC Masterpiece Award to Christa for her efforts this weekend. A big half marathon PR followed by actively spectating the Richmond Marathon, then driving straight to Philly and watching everyone run on Sunday. Wow.

Conrad earned our NOS Button Award, and Sara D took home the AutoZone In the Zone award.

AND of course I can NOT forget the tremendous effort by the support crew: Molly and Dan at Richmond on Saturday, and then Cory, Christa, Meg M, Melissa T, PJ, Dave P, Joel, Sara B, Andy, Amy, and probably a few others I'm forgetting at Philly on Sunday. YOU guys are the difference makers! When the race gets tough, it's seeing those familiar faces, getting shouts of encouragement, or a reminder to stay relaxed, that can help getting to the end!

Anything Can Happen

In the last big fall weekend of racing, anything can happen. The air is cold, the days are short, the trees are barren. Most have hung up their flats for the season. It requires diligence and focus to make it this late into the season, and it always seems like the pressure it on just a bit more. Have a bad day and there aren't many opportunities for "make-up races" in the next few weeks. It's now, or next season. The year's been long, and fatigue has set in.

Philly Marathon weekend marks the end of the big city marathons for the year, and while Philly often produces fast races, this isn't an event our group has traditionally focused on. This year was different, as we had about a dozen competing across the 3 events (8k, Half, Marathon).

The Rothman Institute 8k kicked off the weekend on Saturday, and conditions were very conducive to fast times. Course Records were set for the men and women, and Tim Burns showed his improvement as he dropped a 27:10 to finish 42nd. Tim is rounding into good form for USATF Club XC in a few weeks. Ed Aramayo as we all know has been pretty absent this year, and has not done much running. Somehow it didn't affect him too much, because he ran a 27:46! Ashley Campbell came all the way down from her new home in Boston to run, and finished 23rd among the women in 31:52.

There were a couple of other races on Saturday, notably Lee DiPietro's win in Delray Beach (FL) at their Turkey Trot (20:04), and Collin Anderson's 2nd place at the Riverton Holiday Heroes 5k. The loss snapped Collin's win streak at the distance dating back to 2009.

Out in Boonsboro, Bob Harvey toed the line at the JFK 50 Miler. In what was perhaps the race's most competitive year ever, where Max King and Ellie Greenwood (likely Ultra Runners of the Year) took serious time out of the Course Records, Harvey put on a display of just how much work he's done. He took 64th in 7:35:38, which is majorly impressive.

Ben Ingram has tackled some of the midwest's biggest events this year, and this weekend with Kendra out of town he headed up to Des Moines, Iowa, for the largest cross country race in the US - the Living History Farm XC. This 7 mile run traverses hill and dale, and features a number of significant stream crossings. Ben took 28th in 43:38.

Then it was Sunday, and time for the big one: Philly Marathon and Half.

In the half, Conrad Laskowski and Dustin Meeker found themselves in a good group early, and came through 6 miles flanked by an army of fast runners. As they approached the finish it was Conrad who led the way, gritting his teeth but looking fluid and strong as he crossed the line in 1:09:10, good for 18th. Dustin followed shortly after and it was clear he had dug deep to be there, but he also cracked the 70 minute barrier, finishing in 1:09:57. These now rank as the 3rd and 4th fastest individual times in our group (yes, I realize there are some of you who have run faster but you did it before your time here). Steve Febish has turned himself into a beast recently. It's hard to believe he's the same guy who ran 59:23 at Club Challenge earlier this year. Steve has been hanging onto Dusty and Nate on their workouts and it paid off with a 1:12:51! And of course our friend Andy Sovonick ran a PR as well, crossing the line after an evenly paced 1:14:44.

The marathon was a slightly different story. Alex Battaglino has covered an unfathomable amount of miles in the past couple of months and all signs indicated he was fit and ready to go big. He ran 2:29 last year at Philly, and was supposed to run NYC this year. When that fell through, it was onto Philly, and he set himself up for a good race, coming through the half in about 1:12. He was on his own, but he looked good. Well that back half can be so cruel, and he lost a bit of time, coming across in 2:31:08. A miss by Alex's standards, but a time we are proud to say is our best of the year! Nate had a similar day. Solid first half (1:13) but started going into the Ryan Zone around mile 15. Nate held on much better than I normally do, and finished at 2:35:08. That makes two solid marathons for the Brig this year.

Our men may have suffered, but our ladies dominated. Jackie Truncellito (now Jackie Range) TCOB'd as she ran an unofficial 2:56:53, which is a 90+ second PR from her old Philly time. Jackie's chip malfunctioned and stopped showing splits after 30k, so we're currently trying to work it out. She ran it though, we saw it! I was surprised to see Kristen Till's name in the results for a MARATHON as we know her to be a 1500m runner, but she ran 3:19:42, and the run of the day went to Bryn Burkholder. Bryn was looking to run under 3:27 and set it up perfectly. She was just behind the 3:25 group at the half but then she said you know what, this is nothing, and took off. She negative split her way to a 3:21:43, which was good enough to earn her a Purple Drink Athlete of the Week!

Regardless of the outcome, great job to all. It was awesome to have such terrific support from Brennan, Ed, Tim, Ashley, Diane, Franco, Emily Brigham, and OJ. Philly put on an amazing race and welcomed the displaced NYC marathoners with open arms.

We're back in action this week with the Gobble Cobble on Thursday morning, 8am from the MAC in Harbor East. If you can help out please let me know!

And of course it's the end of the day now, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jim Adams!

It Just Got Serious

As we all know by now, there were some amazing performances this past weekend.  Two, in particular, sent shockwaves throughout the competitive racing circuit: Chrissie Ramsey's 1:14:57 Philadelphia Half Marathon, which qualified her for this January's US Olympic Trials, and Alyssa Godesky's 10:45:51 Ironman Arizona, which placed her 2nd 25-29 and earned her a trip to the Ford Ironman World Championships next October in Kona. 

There were obviously other performances, but these two blew them all out of the water, and as such, they earned the dual Purple Drink Athletes of the Week. 

But, to just gloss over the results would be an injustice to the hard work these two ladies have put in over the last few months (or years), and each deserves a little story, so here we go!  Note: this will actually come in two posts, one tonight and one tomorrow, because they are somewhat lengthy.

Part I: Chrissie's Race to Space

Only a handful of people that qualify for the Olympic Trials are really there to compete for a spot on the Olympic Team, but as we would all agree, qualifying is an extraordinary feat.  We know a number of people who have tried, but not many have succeeded.  Chrissie changed that on Sunday as she blazed to a 1:33 second PR (1:16:30 Parks Half 2009 was her previous best).  I asked her to give a little race recap, and so, in her own words:

"Coming off an accident and resulting injury last May, I took five months off to wallow in self-pity, let my bones and ego heal, and rehab some strained leg muscles. With full range of motion back in my legs and arms by early September, I recycled the empty bottles of wine that had accrued in my apartment, laced up my shoes, and set my sights on the Philadelphia Half Marathon on November 20th. I had only 10 weeks to train.

I started out with 3 weeks of base training, getting my weekly mileage up to 60+ and my long run to 2 hours, followed by 6 weeks of workouts, and 1 recovery week leading into the race. My primary goal was to get my fitness level back to where I had been before the accident, run a solid race, and go into the 2012 season feeling confident and ready to set some more ambitious goals.

Things changed in mid-October when I found myself hitting 5:30s for mile repeats and finishing out my progression runs at a 5:20/mile pace. I knew I had an OT qualifying time within my grasp, but I would need to have a near perfect race under ideal weather conditions to pull it off. A perfect race on a perfect day, I wasn't going to get my hopes up.

But, checking the weather report in the days leading up to the race, I was forced to admit that the universe doesn't hate me as much as I thought it did. The forecast called for temperatures in the upper forties to mid fifties, clear skies, and no wind: a perfect day for a race.

I usually try to avoid disappointments in life by setting my expectations low and taking Prozac. I err on the side of caution in my training. In longer races (10+ miles), I tend to start out conservatively for the first 1-3 miles and try to accelerate with each mile. I take days off when I'm sick, I stop workouts early if I'm too fatigued, and sometimes I skip my morning shake out run to sleep in. I undertrain. It works. While I've had my ups and downs, over the past 8 years since I started running I have seen consistent improvement, managed to avoid injury, and most importantly, I still get excited about running every day.

But it's been a crazy year so I decided to throw caution to the wind and challenge myself to qualify for Olympic Trials or crumble under the pressure. To have a shot at a sub 1:15:00 performance on a course with two major climbs in the second half of the race, I was going to need to go out aggressively trust my fitness, and not be afraid to take some risks early in the race.

Fortunately, the women's field was much stronger than in previous years (likely due to the upcoming OTs) and I was able to go out with a group running 5:35 pace through the first three miles. Over the next 3 miles, the pack started to string out, I settled into a 5:42/mi pace and moved into 7th place, where I would stay for the rest of the race.

I felt very comfortable as I went through the 10k in 35:08 (a 67 sec PR!) and started the first climb up 34th Street past the apartment where I used to live. I missed the mile 7 marker, but approaching mile 8 with an 11:32 split I got a surge of confidence knowing that I stayed on pace up the first hill.

In mile 8, I settled in again and prepared myself for the next climb. The fast pace early in the race started to catch up to me as I wound through Fairmont Park to the Japanese Gardens, willing myself to maintain the same effort and not even look at what I knew would be much slower splits. As I circled around the top of the hill and passed the clock at mile 10 reading 57:20, I knew it was my race to lose.

The fatigue was really settling into my legs. There was a slight reprieve as mile 11 was mostly downhill (5:32) as the course looped back down to the Schuylkill River. Just over two miles to go, all I had to do was make it up West River Drive. The task was too daunting. Instead I zeroed in on the two men about 20 yards in front of me and set out to bridge the gap - something to keep me focused on my pace but distracted from how much distance I still had to cover. Seemed to do the trick. I stayed on 5:45 pace with 1.1 miles to go. Winding up the hill from West River Drive and around the Philadelphia Art Museum the finish line came into sight. I saw the clock ticking up: 1:14:40, 1:14:41...if I was going to make it, I had to kick. With 2 seconds to spare I'm off to Houston!"

Big Start - Big Finish!!

UPDATE: The Ladies Get it Done!!!

Big start to our day with the Philly Marathon & Half Marathon going on today as well out in Arizona with the Ironman.  Here is a quick update:

CHRISSIE RAMSEY runs 1:14:57 to place 7th in the half and QUALIFIES for the OLYMPIC TRIALS!!  (USA!!!  [We got him!])

Alex Battaglino: 2:29:31 in the full.

Out in Arizona Alyssa & Ryan are out of the water.  Per Zero who is on-site Ryan came out in 1:01:30ish and Alyssa was out in 1:05:36.  Alyssa's coach (Hillary Biscay) tweeted that it appears to be a slow day in the water for all Age Groupers.  Onto the bike they go...

UPDATE: ALYSSA GODESKY has a huge PR and completes the Arizona Ironman in 10:45:41 finishing 2nd in the 25-29 Age Group and punches her ticket to Kona!!  According to Claire she moved into 2nd in the final mile of the 140.6 mile race.

Check out the tweets that many folks have provided throughout the day @BMoreRunning

Big Philly Style

In advance of Sunday's Philadelphia Marathon, here's what you need to know about the race, and who to follow online!

Philly is viewed as a quick course, thanks to its relatively flat profile, competitive field, and friendly (albeit sometimes cold) weather.  And this year, as it's one of the last opportunities to qualify for the 2012 US Olympic Marathon Trials, expect to see a number of very fast times at the top of the field, in both the marathon and half.  From what I understand there are now over a dozen elite men entered in the race, all shooting for the OTQ time (< 2:19:00).  If there is a cohesive, organized effort to run the required pace (5:18/mi), I feel like we could see more than a couple of guys punching their ticket to Houston.  The last time Philly was the "Last Chance" meet was 2007, and we saw a number of women running under the "B" standard (< 2:46:00).  That year, our very own Chrissie Ramsey ran a PR 2:52 and finished 17th.  Most years that's good enough to be in the top 10, maybe even top 5.  I would again expect a similar situation this year.

There are three events over the weekend, with the Rothman Institute 8k on Saturday, and the Marathon/Half Marathon on Sunday.  The marathon and half start simultaneously and run the same course, until the half marathoners hit the finish and the marathoners have to keep going down the river to Manayunk.  With a start time of 7am, the light is barely up through the buildings and the temperature is usually pretty brisk. 

The course starts out running through the city a little bit, before heading over the bridge into University City, and the Zoo.  There is little elevation change in the first 7 miles, but between 7 and 9 there are a couple of hills, before you drop again to mile 11.  As the half marathoners come into the home stretch near the Art Museum, the marathon heads down Kelly Drive towards Manayunk (slightly downhill for a few miles) before heading back up the ever-so-slight uphill to the finish, again at the Art Museum. 

Will Knox ran a very impressive marathon debut here, narrowly missing getting under 2:30 (by 25 seconds), and that remains our team's course best.  I expect two people to be under that on Sunday. 

Track Runners Online

Use the above link to track runners.  They've made it quite convenient for you, as you can receive updates via Text, Email, Facebook or Twitter.  And it's FREE (unlike some marathons we know).  Huge plus, Philadelphia.  Here's who we have running, in case you want to track:

Dave Berdan.  Once again, Dave is going for it.  After his PR 2:21:19 at Baltimore, he felt his fitness was still good, and his motivation was high, so why not give it another shot?  The tough part for Dave was going to be recovering from the marathon, and the other races he had done, but maintain his fitness.  He seems ready to go, and is excited to run fast.

Alex Battaglino.  Alex was originally going to look to do the half, but after a bunch of his favored high mileage weeks, he felt he was strong enough to give the marathon a go.  With a 1:07 half marathon PR and a good base, he is looking to put forth a solid effort in his second marathon.

Dan Miranda.  Dan ran his PR here last year (2:44) and seems to be in shape to go well under that.  His workouts lately have been great, and with a bunch of solid long runs in his legs, I expect Dan will set a new best for himself.

Andy Thivierge.  Andy started coming to workouts this summer, so you've probably only met him if you've been to track, but is another great addition to the group.  We didn't really discuss goals, or what he was in shape to do, but he seems quite fit.

Phil Turner.  We usually see Philly Turnstyle once a year now, generally around Club Challenge.  He let me know he's running this weekend and while his expectations are not high, he feels he has an outside shot of getting inside of his PR (2:46)

Terry Decker.  Terry "Upper" Decker is ready to go, looks fit, and is shooting for the stars at Philly!

Jackie Truncellito.  Our sole lady marathoner I believe, Jackie set her PR here a few years back, running a superb 2:58, just a few weeks after running under 3:10 at Baltimore.  I would expect her to run somewhere in between the two.

Chrissie Ramsey (half).  Chrissie is rounding herself back into the form of old, and decided it would be a good test of fitness for her to do the half.  After winning the National Half earlier this year in just under 1:17, she could easily be under that time if all goes well. 

Lillian Pinault (half).  Lillian had a good 10 miler last month, but admitted that training hadn't been quite what she hoped since then.  She is hoping to get under 1:40.  I think she can do it.

Other locals:

I know some of our friends down at GRC are running, and I'm sure there are more but I believe Karl "The Duse is Loose" Dusen and Michelle "Forget Triathlons I'm a Runner" Miller are running.  I would expect both to be in the legitimate hunt for that OTQ time.

As a reminder, the Olympic Trials time standards for men and women are:

Half: < 1:05:00 (men), < 1:15:00 (women)
Full: < 2:19:00 (men), < 2:37:00 (women "A"), < 2:46:00 (women "B")

The race starts at 7am, and because I'll be out on PST and have a little business of my own, I will not be able to update, sadly.  Actually, I'll probably be able to shoot out some early time updates when I get up, but I'll likely miss all the finishes.  If you want to shoot finish times up there, just append @BMoreRunning to your tweet and the person's name and time, and we'll see it on the right hand side!

To everyone racing: tear it up and if you're up for sending me your thoughts about your performance, feel free!  When I'm done racing on Sunday I'll take a look at them and use it for Monday's email (which you should not expect until the afternoon)

Now Make That ... Hammertime

Kris Simms vividly recalls what it was like to be a member of the entourage of once-upon-a-time rapper, M.C. Hammer: "It was like we were living a dream, every day.  You know the music videos you see today, with the rappers rappin' about blunts and bras, menage-a-trois, sex in expensive cars?  Well, it was exactly like that, except in real life."  Sadly, the million-dollars-a-day spending could only last so long.  When the money ran out, so did Kris.  He spent the next few years bouncing around the entertainment industry, finding moderate success as a professional wrestler, and being tossed an occasional role in a Disney movie.  There was also good money in stunt appearances, as The Kris eerily resembles the President.  He has been approached by one filmmaker, whose name rhymes with Skyler Berry, to re-make the Kevin Kline classic, "Dave."  Except this would be called "Barry and Madea Go To Washington."

Kris' true passion, however, lies in the sport of footracing, and this past weekend, he tested himeslf by running the SunTrust Richmond Marathon.  The last time Kris laced his sneaks up to run 26.2 was in the fall of 2008, when he ran the Marine Corps Marathon on a warm October morning, to the tune of a 3:02, which, at the time, was a PR.  While on a ski trip that next January, in the middle of preparing for Boston, he had to have an emergency appendectomy, and poof, there went Boston.  And for the next few years, the marathon just hasn't been a priority for Kris.  Until NOW.

We knew he was in good shape, but the marathon is a crazy event.  I followed his splits: 40:19 at 10k.  1:24:55 at the half.  2:09:40 at 20 miles.  He was running an amazing race, but could he hold it over the last 10k?  Cramping set in.  The Kris stopped and worked it out.  He fought on.  In the end, the cramping would cost him time, but it wouldn't stop him from running a huge new PR - 2:53:40 - as he finished in 39th place.  Truly amazing stuff!

Also in the race, Dave Ploskonka ran 3:46:17.  At first, I saw his fast half split and thought maybe he was pacing a group and then decided to drop off, but apparently he ran the entire marathon course before the actual marathon, in reverse, for 52.4 miles (minimum) on the day. 

Some of the other Saturday results included Tim Parker's 1:20:00/36th place finish in the half marathon at Richmond.  Tim always runs well at Richmond, so it was no surprise to see him redeem his lackluster Baltimore performance.  Julia Webb finished 4th among women in her 2nd fastest time ever, 1:20:17.  I believe she negative split the race.  Also on Saturday, in Georgia, Lisa Ievers ran a PR at the Soldier Half Marathon, finishing 3rd in 1:27:59.  It was 4.5 minutes faster than her time there last year, and a really impressive result!  At the Rosaryville 50k, Bob Harvey came twice...across the finish line (no inuendo there).  I don't know why they have him listed twice, but he finished 9th in 4:26:34. 

Sunday's big event was the Veteran's Day 10k down on Hains Point.  As you can see it was largely the GRC Show, with their runners putting on a little How-To Clinic in West Potomac Park, but I was more than pleasantly surprised to see how well Tristram Thomas ran.  Tristram is in great shape, as he prepares for this weekend's half in Annapolis, but to finish 5th in 31:50 was really great to see.  It moved him to 8th on our all-time list, bumping off Ben Ingram.  Ben traded leads with Alex Waldt in the last two miles of the race, before Alex managed to find that little bit extra in his legs at the end.  They finished 21st and 20th, respectively, in 34:08 and 34:05.  Liz Laseter, who was traded to GRC for perhaps a runner to be named later, if anyone ever moves from DC to Baltimore, ran a solid 39:27 in finishing 20th.  David Lee, ahead of the Las Vegas Marathon, got under 40 (39:32) and Jon Miller ran a de factor PR (40:26).  PJ Anderer...ran. 

At the Metric Marathon in Columbia, Meg McNew ran with Kelly Meier, in Kelly's first run over 15 miles.  She nailed it, as the pair crossed the line together in 2:12:28 (13th and 14th).  Sara Damiano was 22nd in 2:14:46.  In the 5k, Eileen Fleck did battle with New Becky Parks, as the duo went 1-2.  Eileen took the W in 19:12 to Becky's new PR of 19:14.  Great work ladies!

As mentioned in the email, it was a tough week for Purple Drink Athlete of the Week considerations, but in the end, it favored the huge marathon PR of Kris Simms, so congratulations buddy!

And there was an AutoZone In the Zone award winner this week - Tristram Thomas.  He has been flying sky high lately and we hope to watch that continue this weekend!

Tomorrow will be the last official night of TNT.  Gilman, 6:30pm, the usual.  The guys doing Annapolis have their workout, and if anybody shows up who is running Philly this weekend you will be doing very light stuff.  I myself will probably go out for the NP-Charles-ColdSpring-Roland loop run and then do some easy stuff on the track.  Winter track will start up after the break - I think I am going to mandate a week off from track for EVERYONE next week so you can chill out in advance of Thanksgiving.

Still to come this week on the blog, a preview of this weekend's racing action and instructions on how to follow it all!

IRONMIKE

Zero swam, biked and ran one of the smartest races of all time and his results reflected it:

1:02:49 swim

5:41:43 bike

3:30:42 run

10:22:58, 28th in his age group and 226th overall!

Unbelievable. Swim was cold, felt long and 2500 people starting at once is insane. Bike had some wind. Run was warm but not overly hot, but the sun is strong here. We were super pumped to see him do so well, and he's not even feeling that bad right now.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia...

Mary Bertram finished 3rd overall in the insane time of 2:49:35. Jackie Truncellito, who just ran insane at Baltimore, took 10 minutes off her time and finished 10th in 2:58:30. Amazing girls!