Track is On Tonight

The derecho from earlier this year caused about a thousand times more damage and inconvenience than Frankenstorm, and since the forecast looks decent for today, albeit damp and chilly, track will go on as scheduled.

Obviously use your discretion in traveling anywhere today, and since many of you may have the day off, I will also assume you would opt to run during the daylight as opposed to the darkness of the track.

I will be there at 6:30pm. I am not running but will provide a workout suggestion to whomever shows up. 

Our Relay Night will be held next Tuesday, Election Day, in hopes of better conditions and attendance.

Do it for 'Merica!

If you haven't been keeping up with the radio show, or haven't seen any of the recent twitter activity from our friends at Bring Back the Mile, here's what you NEED to know right now:

Bring Back the Mile has engaged in a friendly but spirited competition with MarathonTALK in the U.K. and The Naked Runners from the Land Down Under to see which country truly has the right to claim the MILE as their own. The premise is simple: between September 3rd and September 16th, you run one flat out mile, and record your time. It's that easy!

If you're fortunate enough to be a runner in Baltimore, and particularly for our regulars at TNT, we will be holding our event tonight at the track. Of course, we'll do more of a workout to follow, but we'll start with a one mile race. The weather tonight is perfect, and of course there could not be a better day to honor the fortitude of our great country than today, Patriot Day.

Here's a little more information on the Magic Mile Global Team Challenge and then when you're ready to log your result, you just register on MarathonTALK's site.

If you are not in Baltimore, you can find other events in your area, or start your own - but hurry, there's only a few days left! It doesn't matter whether you are a sub 4 minute miler, or a 20 minute miler, the important thing is that you're getting out there and challenging yourself. So get out there and do it!

Details for tonight's event

'Merica's Mile
Gilman High School
Baltimore
6:30pm warmup
7:00pm start time
1609 meters of pure guts

Spend It

We recapped most of the track results, and by now everyone should know that Ed Aramayo was our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week, but there were a few road race results from the weekend that I wanted to point out:

At the BRRC Valentine's Day 10k, in peaceful, snow-kissed Loch Raven, Meg DiGregorio won the women's race and was 3rd overall in the great time of 39:49.  Terry Decker finished just behind her in 40:53, and then it was Denise Knickman, 43 years young, finishing at 43:43.  Christine Trzcinski rounded out the top 3 women in 45:52.

Sunday was the Love the Run You're With 5k, where Tom and Patty Stott raced to great finishes.  Tom was 12th in 18:09, while Patty crossed in 24:15. 

Today's website for you to peruse is Bring Back The Mile.  These guys were on The Runaround last night and have been gaining traction recently with their campaign to make the Mile a relevant race again, replacing the so-called "metric mile" equivalent that has invaded our sport like cane toads.  Take a look at it when you get a chance, and support the Mile!

ALSO: Sorting through the Club Challenge roster and there are some people I do not know.  It's the last three guys' names, and the person who named themselves "Hard Wood."  This may be considered funny for other races, but in a race where we are paying your entry, it is not that cool.  It reflects poorly on our group, and provides more fodder for the other clubs, many of which already have negative opinions of us.  So, if you are one of those guys, please email me at runbaltimore@gmail.com.  Thank you!

Tuesday

Is anyone still going up to the track tomorrow night? If so, what are your plans? I was thinking about doing cruise intervals ( 4-5 x 1 mile at tempo or something like that).

Can't Nobody Do It Better

All this indoor track reminds me of 2008!  Sadly, it was a return to the PG Sportsplex for Ed Aramayo, Chris Snyder, and Arjun Majumdar, on Saturday, to waste their day watching little kids run 400m races for 3 hours.  Yes, 3 hours of quarter miles.  Ed set the tempo in the mile, before stepping aside to allow the other two to go through.  Chris took the W in 4:36, Arjun was 2nd in a season best 4:40, and Ed rounded out the top 3 in 4:42.  Later, in the 800, Arjun took the job of pacesetter for Ed, bringing him through the 400 in under 60 seconds.  Ed ran even splits of 29.x, 30.x, 30.x and 30.x, but finished just outside of 2:00.

Saturday morning was the Du Charme Invitational at Dickinson, where the competition was about as stiff as a good Frosh/Soph meet in NJ circa 1996.  Becky Parks was doing her coaching duties when she decided to run the 5000m, an event nobody on her team was entered in.  Becky ran amazingly even splits of 6:16, 6:16, 6:18, and cruised into 3rd place at 19:37.70.

Saturday's road event was the re-re-rescheduled Lewis Memorial 10 Mile prediction run out in Frederick, where PJ Anderer ran 1:15:47 to finish 16th.

On Sunday, sneaky Meg McNew cherrypicked a nice little victory at the Nobles Mill 5 Miler, a RASAC event in Harford County.  Her time is solid though, 36:25, so she should be pleased.  She's also running a ghastly amount of miles lately.

The Howard County Striders held their annual Penguin Pace 5k on Sunday in chilly conditions.  The route is expectedly hilly, but that didn't stop a sell-out number of runners from competing.  Joel Gladfelter found himself in 2nd place to the multiple-race-per-weekend Karsten Brown.  Joel ran 18:13, it left him feeling kind of "meh."  In the women's race, Christa Wagner took 5th in 20:43, faster than she ran at Baltimore 5k in the fall, and seems to be fired up now for Club Challenge.  I can't wait!

Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Arjun for his terrific mile race and rabbiting duties, while Ed earned the NOS Button Award for punching it at the right time.

Tonight we'll be at the track, and it's another beaut of a day.  I have a suggested main workout of a fartlek run, starting at 1 minute, building up to 5, coming back down, in one minute increments.  The total of tempo running will be 24 minutes, with a minute recovery in between each effort.  Alex will be doing 400 on/400 off, Tristram is doing 10-8-6-6-4-4 or something like that.  Dusty is doing his workout tomorrow, as are Ed and Arjun.

Get Faded

There was more fading going on at Saturday's Terrapin Invitational at the PG Sports and Learning Complex than Kid and Play's haircuts...

The morning's first event was the 5000m, which saw Tristram Thomas take a brief stab at the lead, bringing the field through 1600m in 4:49, before slowing down to hit 3200 at 10:00, and ultimately finish 10th at 15:53.16. 

The mile was up around noon, and Arjun Majumdar, racing in his first indoor race since March 2008, ran a fairly even split 4:46.28.  In the next heat, Ed Aramayo was in a battle for position from the gun.  He came through the half (809m) in 2:11.5, which had him in a good spot to challenge his 4:23 from last year's Terrapin Invite.  Unfortunately, a brief mental lapse around the 3/4 mark saw his split slip a little, and he finished up at 4:28.62 for 12th.  Chris Snyder, who ran a 4:40 1600 just two weeks ago at the PG Meet, apparently gets into shape real quick, as he finished 3rd in 4:21.76.

Later in the day, after I left, Greg Jubb took 3rd in the 800 with a 1:56.50, and Louis Foudos ran 2:06.50 for 35th. In the 3000m, Liz Laseter finished 4th in 10:34.31. 

Somewhere on the ultra circuit, Dave Ploskonka finished 2nd at the winter edition of the Beast of Burden 100 miler.  In the summer version of 2010, Dave won and ran a PR of 16h19m.  This weekend, with a snow covered path, he ran 17h20m.  The winner was an astounding 14h56m or something insane. 

Out in sunny Carlsbad, California, Andy Gell ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon (a race we've been talking about going out to!) in 1:33:09 to finish 198th.

With a great race on Saturday, this week's Purple Drink Athlete of the Week honor is going to Chris Snyder.  20 seconds in two weeks?  One way to assure yourself a PDAW is to set the bar low and then rise above it!

We had an awesome showing yesterday on the Club Challenge course - 22 people did some kind of workout, which was run in 26 degree temps.  Very chilly in the hills of Columbia. 

We're on the track tomorrow at 6:30 (warmup) and there will inevitably be a zillion different workouts so you can figure out what you want to do tomorrow.  I know Dustin is doing 40 minute tempo starting at 5:40/mi and working down to 5:20/mi.  He plans on arriving at 6:15 to do a 30 minute warmup and then starting his workout around 6:50pm.  So if you usually work out with Dustin, plan accordingly.  I am going to start getting back into running again, so I'll be starting with something light, perhaps 2-3 miles of 200 on/200 off a la Brennan's "workout" last week.

Seriously, are they Black Simon and Garfunkel?

A Place Called Kokomo

In the Florida Keys, Arjun Majumdar ran the Miami-Key West Ragnar Relay with some friends.  While we were here, suffering through spring-like temperatures, Arjun got to run 3 legs of varying distances, at high rates of speed, with friends, surrounded by quietly beautiful scenery. 

This weekend also kicked off the indoor season for those athletes not averse to running fast around a small oval.  Ed Aramayo traveled up to NYC's Armory for the Metro Coaches Invitational.  Ed raced the 1000m, running 2:34.61 and finishing 3rd in his heat (10th overall).  He therefore established a Team record for the distance.  Later in the meet, he was tapped to run a leg of the 4x800m relay for Central Park Track Club, where he split 2:02.  In the same meet, Alan Webb made his return to racing, finishing 2nd in the 800m.

At the PG Complex on Sunday, Tristram Thomas (4:32), Tim Burns (4:38), and newcomer Chris Snyder (4:40) ran the 1600m.  Results may never show up for this one, as Potomac Valley Track Club no longer puts on these meets, but that was the report I received from TT.  And they channeled their inner Spider Sillery, arriving just 5 minutes before the gun.

Dave Ploskonka clearly feels no need to sit on his laurels, as he headed to Texas for the highly competitive Bandera 100k.  According to an ultra insider, Dave's 10h17m race and 11th place finish is "very, very good."  I'll take it!  Editor's note: I just found out that this event served as the 2012 USATF 100k Trail National Championship, so even cooler!

The BRRC was holding its Frozen Finger 5M on Saturday, but there were a few inconsistencies: 1) it wasn't 5 miles and 2) it was hardly frozen.  With morning temps in the 50s, and a course change to a more cross-country style loop course at the Park School, it wasn't quite the event some were expecting, but I did hear that Denise Knickman took the win.

In a land Down Under, Kevin Frick started his year off with the Sydney Resolution Run 11k, running 50:20 for 29th place. 

But the big result(s) of the weekend belonged to Pete Mulligan.  A few of Pete's long run friends were going to do two marathons this weekend.  The first was the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson, MS, on Saturday.  Pete described the course as "Baltimore from 16-22, except starting at mile 2 and not ending until 24"- in other words, very hilly!  With temperatures well into the 70s, combined with the course profile, Pete's goal of getting under 4 was scaled back.  He finished just over 4:08, and after a short break, hopped in the car for the 3.5 hour drive to Mobile, Alabama, for Sunday's First Light Marathon.  While the course was pancake flat, with a marathon already in the legs, and the temperature hitting 76 degrees, Pete was not feeling it.  Physically, he said, he was alright, but mentally it was a long day for him, as he finished in 4:12:35 for 135th place.  But, for doing the double, Pete was rewarded with an EXTRA medal, and with his bib from Sunday's race, he earned a complimentary ticket to the GoDaddy.com Bowl, featuring Arkansas State and Northern Illinois. 

With 52.4 miles of racing, 3 medals, 2 t-shirts, and a Bowl game appearance, Pete has earned the first Purple Drink Athlete of the Week.

This week is an exciting one as Chrissie Ramsey heads down to Houston for the 2012 US Olympic Trials Marathon.  And the Houston Texans head here, to Baltimore, in the NFL Playoffs.  I predict Houston is going to get blazed coming and going.  Go Chrissie!

TRACK WORKOUT UPDATE: While it looks like the popular vote is to do a workout Tuesday, Ed and Arjun are going to look to Wednesday as their preferred day at the track.  If you generally do your workouts with them, get in touch with Ed for details.

Tib Bits

I will post an Awards Night/weekend recap, but first I wanted to get a few things up here:
1) Cherry Blossom: did you get in?  If you didn't, let me know.  I can't promise I can get you in, but if I'm able to, I will let you know.

2) Celtic Solstice post race soiree?  Obviously we've got the actual post-race events to be at, including awards, whatever, but after that, we should get something going.  If anyone has a suggestion, please make it in the comments.  I open my house to gatherers, we could find a place to kick it and get lunch, whatever.  Most importantly, TERENCE is going to be in town, so we obviously have to celebrate.

3) Tuesday Night Track aka Winter Track Warriors is on tonight, same bat time, same bat channel.  400s is what seems to be the plan, Tristram's workout is 4x(4x400). 

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!

Dancing in the Dark

As I scrolled through the race results from the weekend, one of my first thoughts was man, what a great weekend it would have been to cherry pick a win.  There were some seriously slow races (Run With the Horses 10k, Notre Dame Prep 5k) and some races that any of our girls could have stormed (Chestertown Half winner was 1:42, money race Hidden Treasures Half top 3 within a minute in the 1:33 range).  Then, as my phone returned to service and a flurry of text messages and emails popped up in my inbox, I found out that a number of other races were really poorly organized. 

Pete Mulligan finished 3rd at the Caribbean Sounds 10 Miler in the Harbor, and remarked that it made the Figgy Pudding 5k look like an "organized event."  With 3 races (5k, 10k, 10mi) just running out and back through the Harbor, all three distances were short.  But at least he got to eat some great jerk chicken afterwards. 

Jon Miller, Meg McNew and Christa Wagner all competed at the 3/10-too-long Great Prostate Cancer Challenge 5k in Towson.  I mistakenly listed Meg and Christa at 3rd and 5th, respectively, but I didn't realize that some name that looked weird was a girl, so they were actually 4th and 6th.  For Christa, it was just her 2nd race this year and first since Club Challenge.  A long road back from injury, and a great result!  Apparently this 2000 person race had no food or water after and was just a complete Clusterf***.

At the aforementioned half marathons, Chris Benassi took 2nd at Chestertown in 1:20:39, while Brennan Feldhausen finished 3rd at Hidden Treasures in Salisbury with a 1:17:36, picking up $200 for his effort. 

Two other results originally omitted in my email were Julia Webb's 1st Female/3rd overall 23:27 at the Virginia 4 Miler, and Dan Miranda's 2nd place in the Naylor's Beach Duathlon, with the fastest Run1 and Run2 of the day. 

I don't have results for the Bull Run Reunion Run, but I do know that Tristram Thomas picked up a well-deserved W in 16:55 - a great time on that course, and a minute faster than he ran there last year.  Erik Westlund also competed. 

At the Great Pittsburgh 10k, Terence Baptiste had one of the best races of the year.  He ran 34:58 for 30th place in this stacked field, and as far as I can tell it's a 90sec+ smashing of his previous 10k best.  I know he ran in the 36:30 range at both Pike's Peek and the infinitely slower Race For Our Kids (I thought he may have gotten into the 35 range somewhere through the years but couldn't find any confirmation).  I talked to T about his race and he said he went out a little more relaxed, as he's been going out too hard recently.  Splitting 17:45 at 5k, he then tore into the course, ripping a negative split 17:13 or so for the back half.  He said the course is pretty similar to Pike's Peek: net downhill but mile 5 is straight up.  Tuesday Tibbs ran well too, running 54:41.

Speaking of Race For Our Kids, that was on Sunday as well.  The course seems to be slightly friendlier these days, as the race was moved from late June to late September, and the route changed slightly.  Last year, Andy Biladeau of UVA came and ripped into the course, running the fastest 10k at RFOK (although it was the new course).  Dave Berdan slotted into 2nd then, but this year was back with a vengeance, and great form following last weekend's PDR.  Dave has had some great performances at this race over the years, winning in 2008 and finishing 2nd twice, but this year was great.  Dave's winning time was 30:58 - the fastest he's run here by quite a bit.  Alex Battaglino hasn't raced in some time, but has been putting in monster volume as he prepares for the BAA Boston Half.  He ran 32:19 in his runner-up finish.  Elijah Kosgei has been 40 for at least 3 years.  I don't understand it, or why he keeps writing down that he is 40, but c'mon Peter Pan - we all have to grow up at some point.  Face facts: the reaper is near.  But, he didn't let that stop him from running 35:22 for 4th.  Dave Berardi has been hampered by some hamstring issues again, but avoided getting girled by Diane, finishing 8th in 38:59.  Diane Heiser has never run a 10k before (at least not while she's been here that I can find) so her 39:25 established a personal best for the distance.  It was also more than good enough for the win, over Megan DiGregorio, who finished 2nd in 40:19.  Meg D has run 3 10k's this year and has been within 6 seconds of that time, each time.  Suzanne Hurst completed the Falls Road clean sweep, running 41:05.  Cynthia Evans also ran, finishing in 50:29. 

I would be remiss to not mention our brave Ragnar Relay folks: Dustin Meeker, Liz Lawton and Melissa Majumdar.  Dusty's team did great battle with Liz, and came from behind to outpace them by 10 minutes at the end.  Dusty's team was 2nd overall, Liz's was 3rd (1st in the mixed division).  Melissa was on the lone ultra mixed division, which meant just 6 team members instead of 12.  All I have heard was just how difficult the legs were from Dusty and Liz, that running up South Mountain (in Boonsboro) at 3am was terrible, and how wrecked they were from the effort. 

Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Terence, for his terrific PR and great finish at Pittsburgh!

We'll be at the track tonight, 6:30pm, let's try and make sure we're starting by 7.  Another fairly long workout for the marathon folks, who I think are going to do 6x1600 somewhere between tempo and marathon pace, with 200m jog rolling recovery.  For those who are winding down or focusing on shorter events, we'll do a simple workout:  4x800, 4x400, 4x200, getting faster on the way down.  90sec in between the 8s, 60sec after the 4s and 200m jog in between the 200s. 

Start Your Engines

"What's the NOS button?!" - Coach Amy

This is the NOS button, Amy.

As I mentioned in the email, it was as if Coach Amy Horst hit her NOS button in Friday night's Grand Prix 5k, running a 17:25 for 2nd place.  Due to delays all day Friday, the course was not able to be certified and apparently it was too difficult to measure an accurate 3.1 miles on a 1.5 loop course on closed roads using Google Maps.  For Amy, this was just 6 seconds off of her PR for the distance, although she knows it was short.  Just how short, we'll never know.  Other finishers included:  Mike Rady (20:05), PJ Anderer (21:10) and Jan Cook (21:51).  The race was a lap and a half of the course they used for the Baltimore Grand Prix.  If you don't know what the Grand Prix is/was, it's that thing that caused all the traffic all summer.  "Ladies and gentleman, start your engines..."  (that's how they started the 5k, I heard).

Saturday was the Kentlands 5k, one of the faster 5k races of the fall.  GRC's Joe Wiggy Wiegner finished 3rd just under 15 minutes and HCS' Carlos Renjifo was 5th at 15:39.  Arjun Majumdar, in his first race since Rockville Twilight (I mistakenly said it was his first race since Peachtree in the email), ran a very good 16:51 for 11th place.

Megan DiGregorio hadn't won any money in a while, so she went on down to Ellicott City for the Knights of Columbus 10k and scooped up an easy win in 40:25.

At Sunday's Virginia Beach Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon, Ed Aramayo had set out to run a confidence-building time ahead of next month's Chicago Marathon.  After a quick first mile, he backed off and then struggled to find his rhythm.  He finished 43rd with a 1:16:38, well off any goal he could have set for himself, but also realizing that he's in the middle of his biggest training weeks, so after he starts bringing it down, he'll find his legs again.

Garrett Ash won the Larry Noel Greenbelt 15k, which was Sunday night and had a small showing of just 68 finishers. 

At the Charm City 20 Miler, Dan Miranda finished 2nd in 2:02:02, and Patrick O'Rourke, who we haven't seen in results in quite some time, was 4th in 2:07:44.  Denise Knickman finished 2nd among women in 2:19:27, and Jackie Truncellito was 4th in 2:29:19. 

Our final racer of the weekend was Julia Webb, who finished 4th in 1:21:48 at the Eugene Women's Half Marathon.

For the week, our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Jenny Barringer Simpson, who won the gold in the women's 1500m at the World Championships last week.  It was an amazing win, aided perhaps in part by an unlucky and untimely fall to race favorite Morgan Uceny, but nevertheless announced Simpson as a favorite heading into next year's Olympics. 

Earning a KC Masterpiece Award was American sprinter, Allyson Felix, whose 4 medals put her in rare air - she is just the 4th person to accomplish that a World Championships in history.  Her lifetime medal count is now at 10 (at WCs) and she is just 25 years old.  Hopefully she'll focus on the 200m for next year and get the gold finally!

Track tonight - weather looks iffy all day, but obviously we'll be there tonight.  The workout is going to be mile (1600) repeats, basically as much as you want.  If you don't feel like doing miles, you can do 800-400 with rest of about 90 seconds.  We will also discuss details for this Sunday's RM Classic 5k, and then I will post those to the blog.

Push to Start

The threat of Rainstorm Irene forced the cancellation of a few area races, most notably the Annapolis 10 Miler, so our pool of events was fairly small from last weekend. 

Lauren Dennisuk raced the Crim 10 Miler, her third ten mile race of the year, and, consequently, her fastest.  She ran 1:10:24 and finished 55th in this highly competitive event.

Claire Lears wrapped up the 6 day TransRockies Run, finishing in 9th of the Open Women division with her teammate.  The event is 120 miles over the 6 days, with stages ranging from 12 to 24 miles, all at very high altitude, some going up to really high altitudes, on tough, single track trails and whatnot. 

Ironman Louisville was the weekend's big event.  Far from the rain and wind, Mike Mashner, Alyssa Godesky and I were in sunny and nice Louisville, Kentucky.  This race is most often associated with high temperatures and oppressive humidity, but fortune smiled upon the race as it was mid 80s and not very humid in the days leading up to the race.  Race day even started overcast and fairly cool.  Each of us had swims that were nothing short of amazing - Mike went 58:01 (4:36 faster than he's ever gone), I went 59:42 (2:39 PR) and Alyssa swam 1:05:20, an amazing 7 minutes faster than her time at last year's Wisconsin ironman and 19 minutes faster than the first time she swam at Louisville.

As we headed out onto the bike, we had throngs of sketchy cyclists to pass, since we started pretty late (it's a time trial start).  Mike rode 5:41 at Arizona two years ago, but has found his cycling legs this year, and rolled to a 5:16 and found himself in a good position heading into the marathon.  Alyssa had the 28th fastest female bike split at 5:43, which was 30 minutes faster than she rode there in 2009.  She also had the 2nd fastest split among women in her age group, and was in 3rd in the group going onto the run. 

Mike ran smoothly and evenly along the double out-and-back course.  It's mostly flat, and brings you by the University of Louisville and also (apparently) Churchill Downs.  He rolled to a 3:26:55 marathon split, which put him in 44th overall, 13th in the age group and shattered his previous ironman time (10:22:58) as he went 9:49:12.  My body's timing to get sick was on point, as I came down with something pretty mean just on Friday night.  I honestly wasn't sure if I'd even be able to toe the line on Sunday, but took a bunch of medicine and felt like I could give it a go on Sunday.  The downside was that it dehydrated me in a pretty serious way, and I was getting sicker throughout the race.  After my good swim, I started off riding well but came apart in the back half, and then it got ugly pretty quick on the run.  I sat down for a while and contemplated whether or not I wanted to try and finish.  Meanwhile, Alyssa's run had not been going well either.  She began throwing up her nutrition on the bike, and it continued onto the run.  I waited for her to come around before going onto the 2nd loop, and she said her coach wanted her to finish.  That meant we were in for a pretty long half marathon, but we got it done and finished up at 12:15:20 and 12:15:21.  It was a long day.

We all know that anything can happen on race day, it's just magnified when it's in a race like an ironman as opposed to a shorter race.  C'est la vie, and at least we can recover and do another.

But, Mike's amazing performance was quite spectacular, and it's pretty obvious that he earned this week's Purple Drink Athlete of the Week.

If you haven't taken a look already, you may notice a new widget on the right hand side of the blog.  It allows you to subscribe via email, so if you want to get the most recent blog posts sent to your email, just type it in and boom!  It appears as if we have two so far.  We also had a bunch of new people at track this week, so if you are reading this by chance don't forget to send me an email so I can add you to my email list. 

I also just noticed that all of the events in the Baltimore Running Festival are still open, which seems pretty late for them to be open, perhaps a sign that THEY COST TOO MUCH.  So, if you are planning on racing but haven't signed up, you can still do that.  I haven't really talked to anyone about it, but do we have enough interest in putting together any relay teams?  We had originally talked about really getting after it and trying to actually beat the overall marathon winner, but I think that's kind of flown the coop so if anyone is interested, let me know and I'll see if we can get an entry or two. 

There is a lot going on this weekend.  Kentlands 5k is tomorrow down in Gaithersburg, and is a very fast race.  NCR Trail 20 Miler is on Sunday I believe, and is a good way to get your long run done.  Knights of Columbus 5k is tomorrow in Ellicott City.  The Grand Prix 5k is tonight. 

It's Not About the Price Tag

As race entry fees continue to increase (not to mention the number of clowns at races), there is still hope for grassroots running.  The Baltimore Road Runners Club is a great example.  I don't say this because I have a rooting interest in them (I'm not a member), but the fact is that this summer they were set to increase entry fees into their low key summer track series (excluding Meet of Miles and 10 Mile Relay), but in a rather surprising move, they elected to eliminate entry fees instead.  As many of us take advantage of these meets over the summer for races and workouts, this was a pleasant surprise.  A big thank you to the BRRC, to the volunteers and members who give up their time and own running ambitions to put on these meets, and other great, low key events throughout the year.  Now, if only they could get results up a little faster!

Results aren't up yet from last week's Summer Track Series #3, but we had an awesome turnout.  The Mile was the first event, and since most of us actually got there in time this week to warm up, it went a little better.  Ed Aramayo and Conrad Laskowski went 1-2, finishing right around 4:28.  Joel Brusewitz, who had done the workout the day before, was a surprise starter and finished just over 5.  Meg McNew was looking to run a PHSPR (post-high school PR) and she accomplished that, running 5:35, finishing 2nd to Meg DiGregorio, who was just ahead of her.  Denise Knickman ran as well.

In the 800m, Denise took top honors for the women, running a 2:47 - one of her fastest times in years.  For the men, Joel Gladfelter wanted to improve upon his 2:08 from a few weeks ago.  He got out very hard, and found himself with an enormous lead by 200, and by 400 (59.9) he was in a great position to run fast.  He split 600 in 1:32, and then the wheels came off.  That is, if the wheels were the landing gear of a 747 and at the end of the runway you there was a cavernous abyss.  40 seconds for his last 200, finished in 2:11high/2:12.  But hey, he got the W, and as Vin Diesel once said, "it doesn't matter whether you win by an inch or a mile."

Next up was the 5000m, which had a field of 31 athletes on the line.  Most of these athletes were us or a gangly band of collegiate-aged runners, and it was a fast race.  Dustin Meeker was our top finisher, 3rd in 15:46, and Ed and Conrad came through in 5th and 6th just under 16.  Tristram Thomas was a little back of that, and Alex Waldt ran a solid 16:19.  Dave Berardi, who had run 17:32 for the track 5k a few weeks ago, went 17:18.  Louis Foudos finished at 17:43.  For the ladies, it was 1-2-3 with Meg McNew establishing an all-time 5k PR (18:46) and getting the win, just ahead of Meg D, and then Denise.  Melissa Tanner, returning to Baltimore, ran 19:11 and finished 4th. 

After the 5k, we went after it in the 4x400m relay.  Teams were Ed, Conrad, Dustin and Tristram vs Joel G, Vince, Alex W and Louis.  Barf ran a great lead-off leg, handing off just ahead of Ed, who had just finished the 5k (in fact, Joel was the only one who hadn't run the 5k prior).  Conrad and Vince were neck and neck, and then Dusty separated himself a little from Alex.  This left it up to Tristram to just hold on, or Louis to bridge a 3 second gap.  Louis did his best, but came up less than a second short, as Tristram crossed the line in 3:52.  Awesome work!

Other events over the weekend included Dave Ploskonka's 5th place finish at Beast of Burden 100 miler, and Spider Sillery's 2:08:22 finish at USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals.  I've also received word that some people ran the BRRC Too Hot to Trot 10k on Sunday (which may have been closer to 6 miles).  Joel Brusewitz ran 36:35, Louis ran something in the mid 36s, Alix Brusewitz ran an hour and Denise got the win. 

Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Louis Foudos.

We're all set for a nice evening at the track tonight, and expect some newcomers so it will be a fun workout.  1200-400-1200, 1000-400-1000, 800-400-800.  90sec in between intervals, 400m in between sets. 

Early Bird Catches the Rabid Deer

So some results I missed in this afternoon's email...

1. Meg McNew finished 2nd at the BRRC Bunker Hill Trail Race (5.5 mile) in 48:14, while Dan Goodman was 47th in 1:15:55.  The craziest thing about these results is that they were posted WITHIN A DAY of the race.  Impressive, BRRC.

2. Remember Tristram Thomas?  I thought he had died or something, but I guess he's just been in Europe for the better part of a month.  Well anyway, he won a race in Denmark over the weekend.  He's not sure how accurate the 5k was, but he ran 16:41, with one dude 7 seconds back and then the rest of the field over 90 seconds back from there.  It's the 4th fastest time ever run on the course (10 years, course is run every weekend of the summer).  Good to know Tristram is still alive, and we may even see him tomorrow!

The rest of the results are pretty known by now, with Dave Ploskonka breaking his 50k best with his 6th place, 4:10:06 finish at the Dahlgren Heritage Rail Trail 50k and Dave Berardi finishing 25th in 20:12 at the HCS Summer XC Series race last Thursday.

Most of Sunday's results were either from Riley's Rumble Half Marathon or various triathlons.  Sam Wollner, with one of the fastest swims of the day (possibly the fastest outside of the professional field), finished 47th at the NYC Triathlon in 2:17:15, his first olympic distance race.  Terry Decker finished 17th at the Cayuga Lake Sprint Tri, with the 8th fastest run of the day, while his girlfriend Molly, in her first ever triathlon, finished 11th in her age group.  At the inaugural Druid Hill Sprint Tri, Liz Laseter got the W for the women, breaking an hour and having the fastest run of the day. 

Then there was Riley's Rumble, easily the most difficult half marathon I've ever run.  Not one inch of the run was flat, you were either going up or down some pretty brutal hills out there in Germantown.  Add to that a temperature around 80 degrees and 94% humidity and it was a recipe for suffering.  Most of us that ran were using it as a training run, but that didn't make it any less hard.  GRCers Karl Dusen and Sam Luff rolled the course, looking comfortable in their 1:16:30 efforts, while our Ed Aramayo finished 3rd in 1:22:36.  He accomplished his task of running under 1:25 to get into a better corral than the last one at Chicago.  Mike Mashner and I were running nicely together around 7 minute pace for the first 9 miles, when my legs dropped out and I shuffled home.  Mike was 15th in 1:33:59 while I finished up 18th at 1:34:41.  I got beat by the first girl, Baltimore local Kaylyn Peck.  It was cool, though, as she waited until the last quarter mile to pass me, and then slowed down to chat.  JUST KILL ME NOW, is what I thought, as I only kept moving my legs so it didn't look like I was walking.  After starting out close to 8min pace, Melissa Majumdar picked it up at 5k to catch Nina Kristina Hartman before 10k, and then they ran down a lot of the other girls en route to 5th and 6th place finishes (Melissa 1:39:21, Nina 1:39:48).  Tom Stott, feeling the effects of a summer of buying a new house and working on that, finished up at 1:44:02.  Alyssa Godesky, who ran 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after the race, outran her Miami 2010 time, running a 1:47:21.  Pretty impressive!  She then almost got run over by a rabid deer, which crazily sprinted through the parking lot after the race. 

Despite the strong support from the GRC members for the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week to go to myself, I had to go with Liz Laseter in her winning effort at the Druid Hill Tri.  Congrats Liz!  And thanks, GRC guys, for being on hand to watch my amazing finish.  Ha.

An error was pointed out to me from the email today, I threw in an extra set of 5x300 for the TNT workout.  It should have just read 5x300, 1500, 5x300, 1500, 5x300 = 7500m.  Again, just a suggestion, working down throughout the workout on the 300s and keeping the effort on the 1500 the same. 

Party Rock

Well, I meant to post results the day after the race, but I didn't.

By now, everyone is pretty aware of how well Rockville Twilight went.  As always, it showed why it's the premier summer event, and even though they have no control over the weather, it was among the more favorable conditions for this race.  With temps in the low 80s and the humidity at a reasonable level, the race actually started on time and the field ripped into the course, with eventual winner Abiyot Endale splitting two miles at 9:10.  Not far behind him was a pack containing Dave Berdan and then Alex Battaglino.  As a spectator, the race is very convenient, and the 2 mile mark is a great place to watch.  It's also tremendously convenient when the majority of the people you are cheering for are in the top 100-150 of the race. 

I was particularly impressed with our pack of women, who really showed up on great form for this one.  At the 2 mile, it was Melissa/Diane/Meg D with Meg McNew just 2 seconds back, right on 6 minute pace I think. 

The previous course record was 23:42, and as Endale narrowly missed eclipsing that mark (23:46), not far behind was Berdan, who ran 24:36, finishing 5th.  I am quite sure this is not an actual PR for Dave, but in the 6 years of me keeping track, it's the fastest he's run, bettering his mark of 24:39 from Rockville a few years ago.  I watched as three GRC guys came through bangbangbang in 25:12-25:15, and then HCS' Carlos Renjifo in a great time of 25:50.  Just finishing on the other side of 26 minutes was Alex Battaglino, who was racing for the first time since Club Challenge, after enduring a back injury that sidelined him for much of the year.  Next through for us was Ed Aramayo, who finished inside of 27 minutes (26:59), and was pleased with the result.  Dustin Meeker was a couple of seconds back at 27:08, and then Brennan Feldhausen finished up at 27:20.  This bettered his mark of 27:22 from the 2009 edition of the race, and shows he is on pretty good form right now, a few months out from NYC.  Keeping the PRs rolling, Pat McLoughlin came in just under 28 minutes (27:58) which was an automatic PR as he's never run an 8k before, and Seth Tibbitts was right there at 28:02, just a week removed from his Boilermaker race.  Arjun Majumdar has a ten second window that he likes to keep inside of when he races Rockville, and he stuck to it again on this night, running 28:13 to finish 51st.  Kris Simms ran 29:08, well under his pre-race anticipated 30 minute race, and then Matt Castille and Louis Foudos finished together at 29:58.  Joel Gladfelter obliterated his rather soft 8k PR by 3+ minutes, running a 31:05, and Terry Decker ran 31:18, which is great to see him back in that shape so soon after having his appendix removed.  Our final male finisher across the line was Pete Mulligan, who ran 34:59.  This is a 2+ minute lifetime PR and a 4:13 improvement from his 2010 time - way to go Pete!

Our ladies put 6 in the top 22 of the race, and it was PRs for at least 4 of them, as Melissa Majumdar led the charge, finishing 7th in 30:00.  Her previous best was 30:59 from 2009, and in 2008 she was 31:39 I think.  Melissa has been on quite a tear recently, and seems to be enjoying running quite a bit.  Megan DiGregorio, meanwhile, definitely surprised me as she came through in 30:23 - a 2 minute PR - as she finished 10th.  She looked great coming into the finish.  Meg McNew came into the race like Melissa, with a 30:59 personal best, set last year, and despite her thinking she's not in as good shape, she showed that she comes to compete at Rockville.  She ran 30:38 and finished 14th.  Diane Heiser, just a few days removed from her half Ironman, clearly wasn't too tired as she ran a 30:40 for 15th.  Amy Horst and Denise Knickman, who had each raced the Meet of Miles on Wednesday, ran 31:11 and 31:44, respectively, and our newcomer, little Susannah Feinstein, ran a 36:04. 

While there were more than enough performances that could have been the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week, this week's honor went to Melissa Majumdar, as she really rocked out there!

A special shout out to our friends at GRC, particularly Joe Wiggy Wiegner, for the invite to their annual post-race festivities.  I don't think you guys typically come up for Baltimore Marathon events, but you will certainly be invited to whatever post-race we've got going on after that one. 

As for the track workout this week, as mentioned in yesterday's email, Ed is planning on doing a workout that is essentially 6 miles straight on the track, run as 400m @ 3k pace (72s, for him) followed by a 400m @ long run pace, so probably in the 1:45 realm (7min pace).  If you feel like doing this one, cool, just adjust the paces for yourself and realize that 6 miles is a long time to run, so maybe look to do 4-5 miles worth of it. 

However, if you're looking for an alternative, a workout I might suggest would be 1600m (2:00), 3min (1:30), 1200m (2:00), 4min (2:00), 800m (2:00), 5min (2:30), 400m.  We did this workout last year and it's pretty good.  On the intervals that are time based, you can run on the path so you're running for effort rather than time.  Rest is in parentheses.  If nobody feels like doing that one, we'll save it for another week.  Additionally, since we haven't done hills yet, and I'm feeling like doing some soon, I think we'll look to do that next week.  I already hear the groans and complaints but keep in mind these are workout suggestions and you're welcome to do whatever you feel like is in your best interest.

Boom Shake the Room

This past weekend was fairly tri-oriented, with 8 of the 14 results being produced from the sport of champions.

Alyssa Godesky took on the odd distance Diamond in the Rough Tri (1mi swim, 27mi bike, 5mi run) and took 3rd.  She was 10th out of the water, did work on the bike to put herself in third, and held it on the run (36:29). 

At the Belmar Five in NJ, Conrad Laskowski went out fast and furious, but was unable to sustain, and "faded" to a 27:20, 9th place finish.  My brother Kevin ran his 5mi PR at Belmar last year, when it was overcast and rainy.  As you all know, my family has an aversion towards heat and humidity, and this year's conditions were not conducive for a super fast day.  I ran with Kev and we set a quick early tempo, but he, too, wilted in the heat and humidity, ultimately finishing at 35:22. 

On Sunday, I made my way up to Randolph, NJ, with Pat and Tommy McLoughlin, to race in our friend's tri - the Randolph Lake Sprint.  Half mile swim, 16 and change bike, 5k run, made for a short workout.  Tommy led out of the water, along with two others, and Pat was just behind.  On the bike, Pat moved himself up so that he was 4th on the road by the run.  The run was a surprising challenge, as the first half mile was on single track, sandy trail, then about a mile and a half on a road through a neighborhood before coming back that same single track (now against runners).  With 3/4 to go, you veered to the right and ran through "the minefields" - super sandy stretch of sand moguls - before finishing in a baseball field.  Pat had moved into 3rd, but was nipped by a 40+ year old (who had started in the wave behind), so he finished 4th.  Tommy had a lackluster bike split, but ran a really solid 5k, and finished 11th. 

In the Pikesville 5k, Garrett Ash finished 3rd in 16:52, and at the Howard County Striders' Women's Distance Festival 5k, Denise Knickman finished 3rd in 18:45.

Elsewhere in the US, Spider Sillery took 5th at the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon in 2:10:27, and up at the Providence half Ironman, Ben Winterroth finished a pretty amazing 10th overall.  He had a great swim, a monster bike and his best ever run (1:24 half marathon) to finish in 4:23:09.  Really incredible.  David Lee had a tough day, finishing at 4:53:48, so a little slower than his Eagleman time (but on a harder course).  Diane Heiser, in just her second triathlon ever (and her second half) finished in 6:06:36 after what I'm told was enduring a flat tire on the bike.  She had a great run at 1:40. 

I forgot to look up results from the Utica Boilermaker 15k, where Seth Tibbitts finished 119th place overall (out of 11,000) in 54:45 - nearly 3 minutes faster than last year!

Currently, Dave Ploskonka is racing out in the desert at Badwater but I'm having trouble pulling up the site.

For our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week, it was a diversion this week.  This year's Tour de France has been absolute chaos.  Marred by huge crashes which have knocked out a bunch of race favorites, Sunday's stage featured something I've never seen in the Tour.  Everyone understands crashes are a part of cycling, and if the riders cause them, or wet roads, that's just the way it goes.  But when a crash is caused by a media car, well that's another story.  And that was exactly the case on Sunday, when the leading group of 5, with about 21 miles to go, was crashed into by a French television car (cars don't have the cameras, so who knows why they were even up there).  The car makes what appears to be a very un-kosher pass of another official vehicle, and attempts to speed past the riders on their left.  A tree on the left side of the road is sticking out somewhat, so the car swerves to miss it, and in its adjustment, it plows into Juan Antonio Flecha, who hits the deck...HARD.  Somehow Thomas Voeckler rights himself and stays up, but the Dutch rider Johnny Hoogerland is sent somersaulting through the air into a barbed wire fence. 

The rule in the Tour, obviously, is that in order to start the next day's stage, every rider must complete each day's stage within the time limit.  This meant that both Flecha and Hoogerland needed to ride into the finish, if they were physically capable, to ensure they could start the next day (in this case yesterday was a rest day, so really today).  Flecha seemed to be able to get on his bike fairly quickly, but Hoogerland was clearly messed up.  He got back on and pedaled into the finish, losing 25 minutes.  He was bloodied and exhausted, but because of his escapades in the breakaway had amassed enough points to place himself in the King of the Mountains jersey.  By finishing the stage, he was able to step on the podium to receive the honor, and THEN he went to the hospital, where he received 33 stitches.  So he earns our PDAW this week, because, two years to the day after I was pretty seriously hit by a car, I empathized.

Oh, and you bet he was on the line today, and finished the stage.  So assuming no more problems, I would suspect he'll be able to make it to Paris.

For TNT tonight, and for future weeks, we are BACK AT GILMAN!  6:30pm show up to start warming up, then we'll start the workout at 7pm.  Workout is long tonight, and the weather is supposed to be real bad.  I don't expect everyone to do the entire workout, and I would suggest amending your pace to be more reasonable given the conditions.  The workout is 5x2k at tempo effort with 60-90sec rest.  If you can get through 3, that's cool.  4 is great.  5 is champion.  But be smart, I'd rather not have to take anyone to the hospital.

Welcome to Atlanta

The 42nd Annual Peachtree Road Race took place in Atlanta on Monday, in typical conditions for the race.  The event, which takes place every year on Independence Day, is a big deal for locals.  The first question they ask is what number Peachtree is it for you, and people will congratulate you if it looks like you did the race.  60,000 registered entrants makes this the largest 10k in the world, and with only 6.2 miles of point-to-point running, there isn't much room to spread out.  The race is very efficient, however, starting the first wave at 7:30am and then staggering waves by a few minutes, with the last wave starting at 9am.  I don't know how those people do it, running real slow down the road when the heat is really creeping up. 

6 of us made the trip to Georgia, leaving Baltimore on Friday and arriving in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon.  We were reunited with Jeff Rumbaugh, who just two weeks prior, we found out, had run Grandma's Marathon in MN (2:58:42).  The midday and late afternoon temps in Atlanta were very warm, topping out near 100, but it was the increasing humidity that most concerned us.  The morning temp on Monday was in the mid 70s, but the air was thick and heavy.  After warming up, we found our place on the start line, all of us near the front.  There was a flyover during the National Anthem, which was pretty awesome, and then with no gun, horn or whistle, they just sent us on our way, charging down Peachtree Rd. 

The road winds its way toward downtown, so running the tangents was key.  At one point, early, I saw Brennan and Jeff hop over a traffic median.  I stayed on my side of the road, knowing that if I tried to hop it, I would have bit it.  Through two miles it was Ed (10:40 maybe), Brennan (11:10), Jeff (11:20), and me and Arjun (11:32).  The road had been flat or slightly downhill to this point, and just before the mile 3 marker there was a sharper descent.  Then you could see the road pitch upward, and as you clicked past the 3 mile, you realized just how hard this climb was.  It kept going for another few minutes before leveling out, and then there was somehow another one just up the road.  Miles 4 and 5, needless to say, were tough.  From there it does level out though, and the finish is actually downhill, so you can pick it back up. 

Brennan had passed Ed to finish 135th in 35:15, with Ed just 10 spots back about 11 seconds later.  Arjun ran a great second half to finish at 36:27 (187th) and I was a minute back of him at 235th (37:27).  Jeff finished at 39:14, disappointed in his time but really, two weeks after a sub 3 hour marathon is a great effort. 

Then it was the girls' turn, with Melissa coming through in 39:40, good for 44th female.  This took nearly a minute out of the only other 10k she's run - the June 2009 version of Race for Our Kids (I remember the day, it was brutal).  Alyssa hasn't run an open 10k since she was a kid, and she ran a 44:18, also good enough to record a PR.  Following the race, which finishes in Piedmont Park, we did what very few other competitors seemed to be doing - running back to the start.  Fortunately the way we went cut off probably a mile and a half from the course, but it was still a long, hot, hilly road home. 

This had been a race I've wanted to do for a long time, and I'm glad I did it - but to anyone looking to run well here, be warned: it is probably not the place to do it!  Still, with 55,000 people in the race, and all of us inside the top eleven hundred, that's a pretty good day. 

There were some other races, of course, on the 4th of July, including Ben Ingram's win at the Indianapolis Firecracker 6 Miler (33:10, won by 80 seconds) and Lauren Dennisuk's 5th place effort at the Paul Revere 10 Miler in Michigan (what Paul Revere has to do with Michigan is beyond me).  Christine Trzcinski finished 6th female at the Dundalk Heritage 6k. 

At Arbutus 10k, a competitive yet challenging race, Dave Berdan finished 2nd in 32:53, and Dave Berardi was 9th in 36:06.  For the ladies, Denise Knickman was 2nd at 40:10 and Coach Amy Horst was 3rd at 40:58.

I know that New Becky Parks did a race in Cali, but don't have results, and Claire Lears raced a 5k somewhere out in AZ. 

The great race for Arjun resulted in his first Purple Drink Athlete of the Week honor of 2011. 

A small group made it out to the track on Tuesday, and ran well despite pretty brutal conditions.  It has been decided that next week, July 12, TNT will in fact return to Gilman School.  So don't forget!  I'll make sure I highlight it in the email and send texts if need be.  The weekend ahead sees a return to some triathlon action, but also Seth Tibbitts will be running another big summer race - the Utica Boilermaker 15k.  Maybe this will be a trip for 2012. 

Then we have Rockville Twilight in just 9 days.  I think I've got everyone who will be running, so if you haven't already registered, please do that so I can send in the team registration stuff. 

All Over Town

NOTE: I just read on the BRRC website that their board has voted to make all three meets FREE to all participants this summer.  The Meet of Miles and 2 Person-10 Mile relay will still be their regular fees.  This is great news, but also reminds us that we should make sure we stick around to help out to ensure these meets go off well.  Introduce yourself, see how you can lend a hand.  You can count laps, help with timing, help clean up, be a race marshal - whatever, just DO something!

Also, and I could have guessed this, that with the women's 800 at USATF Championships yesterday, many people (not me) would be typing in some combination of "maggie vessey" and "hot/is hot" - sure enough, we have had much traffic to our blog thanks to these google searchwords.  For the record, she did look pretty good en route to her 2nd place finish.

Good weekend on the roads, decent weather and some fun events were the name of the game.  Dave Berdan finished 2nd at the Spirit of Gettysburg in 15:05.  Tristram Thomas (7th) ran 16:39 and Arjun Majumdar (8th) was 17:00.  This was only Arjun's 4th race of the year, and 2nd road race.  Melissa Majumdar took 3rd in 18:33, and this was only the second time she's raced all year. 

At Dreaded Druid Hills 10k, a small snafu caused most runners to take some scenic detours.  No telling who ran how much, but the placement probably would have stuck anyway.  The only thing I know is that you probably ran MORE than 6.2 miles.  Seth Tibbitts was 5th in 37:27 (2min faster than last year) and Dave Ploskonka came in 13th at 40:00.  Jackie Truncellito earned the win for the women, coming through in 43:15, and it was Lisa Ievers, all the way up from Auburn, AL, who was in 2nd at just ten seconds back.  Great to see her back up here.  Christine Trzcinski took 16th in 47:55.  PJ Anderer (51:08) and Beth Shepard (1:07:47) were our other finishers.

On Sunday in Philadelphia, it was Mike Mashner out competing in the elite wave of the Philly Tri, a very fast Olympic distance race around the City of Brotherly Love.  Mike finished 48th overall (out of 1600) in 2:06:46, a new distance best, after running a 37:28 10k.  Tommy McLoughlin technically finished at 2:05:59 but received a drafting penalty (+2:00) and was relegated.

The Baltimore Women's Classic 5k was Sunday, with a number of our ladies running.  Tenke Zoltani, back from across the pond for a vaca, was 2nd in 17:44.  Diane Heiser led Amy Horst and Megan DiGregorio to 6-7-8 finishes, and Denise Knickman and Meg McNew were 12-13.  Carly Page ran under 20 for the first time since she was 17 (19:47).  Lillian Pinault had a great race at 20:47, and Kelly Meier (21:39), Kelly Ort (22:05) and Cynthia Evans (24:31) also ran very well.

Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Lisa Ievers for her overcoming a pretty severe setback from a few weeks back to be able to run again very quickly.  Great job!

TNT this week will still be at Hopkins/Loyola, 6:30pm.  The anticipated workout is 6x1000 followed by 4x600, 90 seconds rest in between intervals and 400m jog in between sets.  Effort is set at 10k/5k.  If you're doing the meet on Wednesday I wouldn't do this workout!

Rock the Vote

The Issue:

Allegedly Gilman's facilities should be open again starting tomorrow, which means that we could resume working out there on Tuesdays.  However, after 3 weeks at the Hopkins/Loyola track on 33rd (that's 33rd), it seems as if a few people have taken a liking to the venue.  What we need to decide now is whether we should return to Gilman or just stick to H/L.  I've created a poll on the side, but if you feel strongly (one way or another) please feel free to comment below.  Your opinions will be taken into consideration and will be used to determine where we work out.

GILMAN

Positives: It's nice there; we get to warmup down the trail; it's the incumbent and it would be nice (if they did actually resurface it) to run on a new track.

Negatives: For those who have to take 83 to get there (almost everyone), traffic can be a killer; slightly farther away for most; summer lacrosse will be starting up and that means dodging high speed errant lax balls.

HOPKINS/LOYOLA

Positives: It's nice to have the jams playing; It's nice to have that awesome water thing; It doesn't seem any LESS convenient for most people to get to (selfishly it takes me like 11 easy minutes through the hood to get there, but others have been biking over too which is cool); It doesn't seem totally unsafe.

Negatives: It is in the hood and I still don't feel comfortable just leaving our stuff there and going for a run; warmup route isn't as sweet;

What does everyone else think?  I am actually okay with keeping it at Hopkins, although the habitualist in me likes and misses Gilman. 

All About the Benjamins

Megan DiGregorio has one goal for this summer: to buy a bike so she can compete in her first triathlon.  She kicked off Project Buy a Bike on Sunday, winning both the 5k and the 10k at MCVETs, earning herself a cool $250.  Meanwhile, down in Columbia, Diane Heiser made out like a bandit, only need a 19:03 to win a couple hundred bones at the Remembrance Run 5k.  This was DH's second win in as many weekends, as last weekend she won the From Blue Point to BULA 5k in NY for the infinity time in a row. 

MCVETs was an unfortunate race this year as there was a small glitch that added about .2 to the race distance.  So I will spot you all at least a minute from the time you ran.  Ed Aramayo took 3rd in 16:58, while Tristram Thomas and Brennan Feldhausen filed in 4th and 5th.  Kris Simms was 8th, and then came the women's podium of Meg D, Denise Knickman and New Becky Parks.  Lillian Pinault, on her birthday, was 5th, and then came Pete Mulligan in 37th.  Jimbo Adams, in his first race in what seems like forever, came across the line in 177th.

Shortly after the 5k, the 10k gets run.  The 10k is very unkind, as it makes runners run out to the Fort on the entirely unshaded Fort Avenue, and by this point of the morning, the sun is strong and the temp is high.  Once again our ladies went 1-2-3, with Meg D taking the top spot from Denise, making her move in the last two miles, and Jackie Truncellito taking 3rd after NBP had momentarily wrestled that away from her.  NBP was 4th.  Pete also doubled, finishing 43rd, and Dan Goodman raced for the first time in a while, finishing 100th. 

Memorial Day Monday, a couple of us were in Winchester, VA, for the Loudoun Street Mile.  Much different from the Westminster Mile, this event features 4 separate races.  Women went off at 9am, and Alyssa Godesky was going up against some fierce competition from the Riadha team.  She finished 10th, though, with a 5:48.1.  Kendra Ingram ran 7:52 last year, and was hoping to do a little better - which she did, to the tune of a 33 second improvement!  She was charged up in the last 500m, I thought it was Maurice or Remus out there running!

Following the women it was a heat of kids, then a slower heat of dudes.  At 10am, the fast heat of guys went off.  This race was stacked.  The course was a net downhill, but with a 500m long incline from 350m to just beyond the half mile, it wasn't necessarily the fastest course.  Former teammate and friend of Alan Webb's, Moise Joseph, won for the third year in a row, crossing in the unreal time of 4:06 (2:05-2:01 splits).  Ben Ingram, running for Runner's Retreat, was 16th in 4:42.9, and missed winning his age division by a lean.  Brennan Feldhausen, competing for the second time in two days, managed to run a 4:53.1.  

In other Monday action, NBP ran and won the 8th Annual Run on the Green 5k in 19:18, and was interviewed by the local TV station afterwards.  Dave Berardi was 6th at the Remembrance Run 5k. 

Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week award went to Meg D, and Jim Adams earned this week's KC Masterpiece Award, mostly for just being out there. 

Track tonight - don't forget we are still at Hopkins/Loyola track on 33rd tonight.  The workout is going to be 8x800, and for clarification, when I say "on" a particular time interval, that just means if you run 2:30 and we're doing them on 4:00, you have 90 seconds rest.  This is our first workout in REAL heat, so please remember to hydrate well throughout the day, pace yourself during the workout and know your limit.  The DBAP rule does not apply when it is this hot, nobody thinks less of you if you do fewer intervals or run a little slower. 

Also, we are timing the Charles Village 5k this Saturday morning, so if you can help, please let me know.  I've gotten a few responses so thanks!  Sunday is the Bel Air Town Run 5k for those of you looking for a race.  A week from Sunday is Survivor 7, now starting and finishing in Canton. 

Another thing I'm excited about is the influx of interest in the group over the weekend.  In the cyclical world of people moving to and from Baltimore, it looks like we finally may be picking up a few new folks at once, due to some graduations and whatnot.  On Sunday we met Vince Collins at MCVETs, and we have a couple new girls who will be coming out soon.  I will count tonight at track, but I think we are starting to have more chicks than dudes at these workouts!