Getting the runs in…

So the weekend started with Friday…I did the yard work and cut the grass between rain showers and watching the Midshipmen graduate on-line, then packed up the car for our trip to Ohio to visit family.  The car trip was traffic filled and what normally takes 5 ½ hours took 7, ugh!   The only saving grace was I was able to listen to the Penguins clinch the series v. Ottawa on the way.

Saturday morning was chilly…ok it was cold.  There was frost on the ground and the temperature was only 38F.  Bobbi and I ran 7 hilly and chilly miles near East Springfield, Ohio at a nice pace.  We then got ready for other road trip to a wedding in Canton, Ohio.  It was at a very nice winery (http://www.gervasivineyard.com/) and it was worth the trip to let loose and have some fun at the reception.

Sunday morning was again cold, only 39F when we started. Bobbi and I hit the road this time on the bike. We accomplished 25 miles on a very hilly route.  We did well and maintain a good overall pace. Afterward we helped prep for a Sunday Memorial Day picnic.  It was nice to talk to family, especially with Dad. Toward the end I fixed an electrical cable on a trailer that was to haul some tractors to the parade the next day…your welcome Ron.

Monday morning had us packing to head HOME!  But first we made it Richmond, Ohio for a church breakfast, a walk through the town’s Historical Crew House and Museum, and then the Memorial Day parade.  It was cool and started to sprinkle at the end.  However, Bobbi’s grandfather Bud Jones was the Grand Marshall and it was just as quaint as I always remember.  Then we finally hit the road back to Perduret House.  Thanks to my trusty navigator, she steered us around a couple stop and go traffic spots on near I-68 and I-70 interchange,  it took about 6 ½ hours…could have been worse. We got peel and eat steamed shrimp and crab cakes and chowed down once we got home.

I was trying to find any excuse not to hit the road this morning but the not even and non-predicted rain storm could stop me from getting in a solid 4.5 mile run in. It was an easy pace up to Capitol Hill and down to the Smithsonian Castle and back but felt good despite the 1^st mile getting a little wet.

Life happens and sometimes you just have to get the run in….5 tomorrow and 7 on Thursday as we get closer to Bobbi's Tri in June...

Iwo Jima Memorial 7K

Ooh Rah!

I have ran this race for 4 years now. It's run by the Henderson Hall Smith Gym as part of the Ooh Rah Run Series.

I have run it faster but never right after running a 1/2 marathon just 3 days before.

I ran it at a 7:42 min /mi pace (34:54 for slightly longer than a 7K at 4.5 miles) and had no issues running up the hill from the Memorial to the Old Post Chapel on Fort Myer. It is very face race the the top 2 guys ran in in less the 6:00 min/mile pace. I thought I heard someone say I was 12th and there were 102 in the race (but that is unofficial since the only awards were for the top 3 male and female overall).

I'm not racing again till the end of June for another Ooh Rah Run Series race, the Chest Puller 5K. So there is plenty of time for some more money to be raised for the Semper Fi Fund. $100 more in donations means I would have to run it in a kilt. That should get some interesting looks from all the Marines. http://fundraising.semperfifund.org/TKORuns

Until then, I will be concentrating on helping Bobbi with her first Tri of the year in two weeks. The Jamestown Olympic Tri which will be held on the same course as her Williamsburg 70.3 in September. I get to be the sherpa.

We are going to sign up for a race while we are on vacation in Hawaii in July. The Coconut Chase 8K, that should be fun.

This weekend we are heading to Ohio to visit family. We plan to get in both a run and a bike. The hills eastern Ohio are challenging and both the runs (7 miles) and the bike (25 or so) will push us pretty hard.

Oh, one more thing a shout out to Corey Petersen the Community Athlete Coordinator of the Semper Fi Fund. Thanks, Corey for your encouragement it means a lot to know I'm actually making a difference in the lives of the injured Marines. You are a true  inspiration to my family and I and I can't wait to met you in the fall at the Marine Corps Marathon activities.

Short way to go but a long time to get there

It’s only 90 miles from Perduret House in Mayo, Maryland to Fredericksburg, VA for the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon . But on Saturday afternoon it took the Whisman Clan over 4 hours to navigate through the mess that is I-95 South and even alternative routes of US 1 South.   I never did figure out what it was that was causing the delay, but it did cause a lot of stress and took a lot out of us.  We tried to relax by going to going to see a movie (STAR TREK: Into the Darkness...great movie BTW) the night before the run, but I don’t think I every really relaxed.

Race morning we took the shuttle from a Park-n-Ride near the hotel and got there in plenty of time, to get Bobbi on another shuttle to downtown Fredericksburg  for the Historic 10K (more on her awesome day later).

Then I got the girls over to the Team Semper Fi Fund tent in the finishing area. The girls volunteered and assisted Elizabeth O’Connell and the ladies. As always, they are awesome and I can’t wait to meet up with them again in the numerous events we have left in the season.

As for me and the run, I was feeling great for the first 5½ miles. Running a nice 7:32/mi pace, somewhere between 5 ½ and 6 my body started to shut down. I drank some G2 and ate half  of a Bonk Bar that I had.  Some of it was the humidity that I was way overdressed for.   I had worn my compression shirt under my race T, and I never seemed to be able regulate my heat. I am sure some of it was the left over stress. Oh, I can't do well on them all.

The rest of the Half was a slugfest and I just grinded out a 2:01:02 or 9:14/mi. (181 of 462 Age Group (M 45-49), 1272 of 3198 Males, and 1752 of 6276 Overall)). No course PR, no Half PR, but Bobbi and the girls were waiting for me at finish and it was best part of the race.

Bobbi ran the Inaugural Historic 10K and she rocked it!!! A 1:02:43, 10:06/mi and finishing 20 of 120 in age group (F40-49), 108 of 498 in gender, and 219 of 772 overall. Soon she’ll have to start her own blog and talk about how she is quickly catching up to me.

Next up for me the Henderson Hall Ooh Rah Run Series Iwo Jima Memorial 7K, on Wednesday!!!!! I have posted on this one in the past, it's one of my favorite runs and since I haven't been running at Henderson Hall much since I moved to working at the Navy Yard, it will be a treat.

Time for the Historic Half

Well, next up the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon.  I have never been able to go fast on the course. The hill at mile ten mile mark might have something to with it.

 I ran the inaugural race in 2008, and then went back in 20009 and 2010. I was 55lbs heavier then so ….I am shooting for a sub 8mi/mi which would be a PR on the course (1:57:54) and a PR on the Half (1:49:39).

Bobbi is doing the 10K, which also includes the hill…she does not like hills but I know she will do great.

 

 

The girls will be volunteering at the Team Semper Fi tent …

Thanks to all who have donated, now am up to $650. So I won't racing this one in a kilt. Need $100 more for the next race to be kilted. But you can make that happen by checking out my funraising page:  http://fundraising.semperfifund.org/TKORuns

Updates after the race.

LCCM Du....May the 4th be me!

So a funny thing happened on the way to the finish line....

Let me start off be saying how much I enjoyed this Du.  The Lebanon County Christian Ministry put on its 3rd annual event in the heart of the Lebanon Valley and partially in the South Mountains near Cornwall, PA. It was a very stacked field on a technical course.

The first run a 5K on a bike and jogging path around the VA Hospital campus...not hard a slight uphill for about a mile of the
three but not bad. I ran a 22:38 or 7:43 per mile... I was shooting for a sub 7:30 but was happy cause I was 16th after the run.

I was slow through transition mainly cause I was adding layers, because it was  still only 45ºF at the start.

The bike was fun. A lot of rollers and technical turns with a daunting hill at mile 4. It is actually a rated a CAT 4.  That is when things got funny....

As I approached the climb I saw cyclist off his bike and bent over. I asked if he was ok and he said "NO." Right away I stopped and turned around, got off my bike and went over to him. I asked what was wrong, thinking he was hurt and I would either call or go back about 1/2  mile, where I saw the last race official and ask for help.

It was at this point he said he had flat and didn't know how to change it...really...really...No, just No dude! Not helping you change a flat...Bike race 101!!!!

I got back on the bike and as soon as I started I dropped the chain....Ugh!

I fixed my chain as 6 or so other riders went by and from a dead stop started up the CAT 4.  The rest of bike was uneventful and kind of fun especially heading down the other side of the mountain.

I finished the 12.8 mile bike course in 44:28 or 17mph, but now 31st...I pretty sure I lost 3 or more minutes helping a unprepared rider.

Second transition was slow peeling off layers and being generally
upset with the situation.  I ran well and was shooting for a sub 8, ran it in 25:26 which is 8:12/mile. Finishing with a time of 1:36:23. 32 of 99 Overall and 6th in my stacked age group.

I had my awesome support group there but I'm sure it was the dark side that tried to stop me before the hill....