Race Day Report - Michael

It was a great day for the Running of the Gelmans!

Sunday dawned well before the break of day, as it were. We had to get up at 4:30 AM to eat something and meet up with the rest of the Team in Training Team in the lobby of the historic downtown Cincinnati hotel we were staying at.

After posing for a picture, the group headed outside to walk over to the starting line. Unfortunately, there was some debate about which direction that actually was. After some consultation of maps -- and watching other runners and the direction they were going -- the team headed off to the Paul Brown Stadium and the starting line.

We got to the start at about 6:25. The official starting gun was delayed a little, and it went off at about 6:50. We, being in the slow end of the start, took about another 10 minutes before we started off.

We started off on a clear cool morning into the sunrise. The crowds were cheering, and the pack was beginning to spread out by pace. We were chilly and so we started a little faster than we normally run.

We ran past the Great American Ballpark, around the block, and over the bridge into Kentucky. The course was already a bit hilly up and down as we climbed the approach to the bridge and headed down the other side.

We ran through a kind of nondescript section of Newport, past light industrial and car repair shops, with a few fast food shops tossed in. There were a few spectators and a band doing rockabilly. As we headed back up towards the bridge back to Ohio, I saw the first ambulance taking a runner away from the course. A freight train joined us crossing the bridge and the engineer waved to us as he pulled away.

Onward, ever onward, we headed past what looked like a jail, and past a food service company that was baking bread. We headed past some more industrial areas, and started into more residential (and attractive) areas of the city.

As we crossed mile 5, we were feeling pretty good. We had slowed down a bit, more towards our normal pace after the sun got a little higher and the air a little warmer.

But miles 6 - 9 were the Big Hill!

The course headed up through Eden Park and past the Conservatory with the giant butterflies, and this stretch is where we started to feel the strain. This was a long, long climb. We had trained with hills, but they tended to be steep and short. This was such a protracted climb that we started to flag.

We both started feeling pain in our hips across this climb. I was feeling a little uncomfortable in my gut -- breakfast wasn't quite getting along, and I had a brief cramp or two, put it passed. Luckily we had a great view when we got to the top, and Elvis to serenade us at a water stop.

We started heading down the hill for miles 9 and 10. Downhill was, if anything, worse than up. More pain the hips, and at the end of mile 10, my right ankle started to pain me a little as well.

At mile 10, the course finally flattened out as we headed back to downtown. That took the pain off my ankle, for a while.

By this time, the crowds had diminished. The marathoners had diverged back about mile 8, and we wouldn't come back together until the last mile. We had a long, flat, sunny stretch where it was basically the runners, the walkers, and the volunteers telling us which way to go.

Then, we turned a corner, and the crowds were back and cheering again. It was very exciting, even though my ankle had flared up again. We had a burst of energy and headed down past the cheering throngs. One kind spectator even offered me a beer.

We kept to our pace (2 min run, 3 min walk) until we got close the end (the "Finish Swine") Then a burst of speed!

Actually, the difference between my walking and running was really just the position of my arms -- down was walking and bent elbows was running. Speed-wise, I was pretty tapped. But we made it, both running across the finish!

Our time was 3 hours, 53 minutes. 13.1 miles.

Next problem: The eight or nine blocks -- and four flights of stairs and hills -- to get back to the hotel!

But we made it and celebrated with, showers, room service, naps, and going to see Iron Man. And Graeter's ice cream for dinner.

A fine end to a good race run...

Jenny's Team in Training Group

Here is the entire Pittsburgh/WVA chapter of Team in Training.

Action photos

Here we are, really ready to race!

Pictures from the start

Here we are at the start of the race, bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6 AM, ready to run!

Jenny waiting at a stoplight

Note from Jenny: The point of these pictures was to show that the biker/jogger trail we ran on intersected with a horse trail. There are "walk" buttons at "people" height and at "horse height"!

Running in the land of giants

I'm so short!

Six miles in Chicago

So next week is the race. This weekend we were in Chicago for a belated Passover seder. We ran six miles just to keep in shape along the Cook County Forest Preserve District. This is a ring of woods that runs all the way around the city and is very extensive. A wonderful strip of nature around a big city.

The woods are filled with deer and other wildlife. Here's a couple of deer enjoying themselves as we jogged past.

Last minute to donate!

If you've been saying to yourself "Boy I'll give money to Jenny and Michael at the last possible moment just like public television" that time is now.

This Friday is the day that the LLS will count donations towards our goal.

So, if you haven't, please donate by the link on the side.

--Michael

D'oh! Almost 12

We were supposed run/walk 12 miles last Sunday in North Park, but you can see from the fancy-schmancy GPS watch that we only did 11.98. Close enough. And all that was after hosting a seder for 11 people the night before!

North Park on a warmer day

We finally got to run in North Park on a day when it wasn't 40 degrees and rainy. Note the short sleeves. Michael was even wearing shorts.

Actually 10.03

Michael took a picture of his fancy-schmancy GPS watch, showing that we actually ran 10.03 miles that day.

10 Miles! Woohoo!

So we went back to North Park this weekend. As you can see, it was the first weekend of Trout season and there were lots of fishermen. There are a couple on the boat behind me.

More excitingly, we broke ten miles! I was going to take a picture of our fancy GPS running watch with 10 miles on it, but the battery died between finishing the run and getting to the car.

The weather was awful. We got rained on several times. We also ended up walking the last mile and a half, instead of jogging - walking. I had missed one of our during the week runs, and my hip started to hurt. Jenny was feeling pretty beat up as well.

We are both hoping that it doesn't rain the day of the race.

Ducks of France

When we were running in France, we spotted some ducklings that were in training with us.

More running in Paris

This is not a very good picture of Michael, but you can see that we are standing BEHIND a waterfall, again in the park in Paris - Bois de Boulogne. We enjoyed our run/walk that day and didn't find the 8 miles too difficult. The weather was cool but not too cold, good running weather. We only got rained on a bit towards the end of our run as we were headed back to the Paris Metro.

Running in Paris!

Sunday, March 30th found us in Paris for our 7th anniversary trip. But training doesn't stop just because we're in France! We took the Metro to the Bois de Boulogne - a park on the western edge of Paris. It's a popular running spot by day, and a hang out for prostitutes at night. Spring hadn't quite sprung yet, so the trees weren't green yet but we enjoyed the duck pond pictured here. We ran and walked eight miles that day.

North Park - The lake has thawed!

Here we are in North Park again. Last time we trained there (in February) the lake was completely frozen and it was 10 degrees outside. Last Saturday it was about 33 degrees, but it felt much colder. In addition to the wind, I think that the sweat made us cold too. We jog/walked 5 miles and then gave up due to the cold. Next weekend we'll try for better mileage in .... Paris!

Jogging while watching Xena

During the week last week I was back on the treadmill. Our treadmill is positioned so that you can see the TV while walking/jogging. I have been working my way through the DVDs of the television show Xena: Warrior Princess. I'm on season 3 now. For those who aren't familiar with Xena, it's a spin-off from the live action Hercules show that was on in 1995.

Training sidetracked by ankle "splints"

Michael and I were supposed to run 8 miles yesterday. We chose to go on the Panther Hollow Trail and then the Eliza Furnace Trail. Here's a link to the trail map: http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/trails/images/trail_brochure_map.pdf. Panther Hollow Trail runs next to Schenly Park and then runs into the Eliza Furnace Trail which follows along the river towards downtown. The Eliza Furnace Trail is also called the Jail Trail because it runs past the Allegheny County Prison. When we started jogging I noticed a small discomfort in my right ankle. I decided to ignore it (bad idea!). By the time we had finished 4 miles I couldn't jog anymore and we ended up taking a cab back to where we had parked the car. To make matters worse, I left my water belt in the taxi! Sigh ...

I occasionally have a problem with what I call ankle splints. They are like shin splints, but I feel them on the lower portion of my shin - closer to my ankle. I'll take two days off and then try to do just a couple of miles on Tuesday and Thursday. I think that the problem is a combination of overtraining during our week day short runs and running too much on the treadmill and not enough outside. I think I'm going to limit my short runs to 3 miles twice a week from now on. That worked well for our last half marathon. And now that the weather and light are better, I can do most of my run/walking outside.

Thursday run in Highland Park

Nice weather drove us outside again. Last Thursday evening we jog/walked in Highland Park around the reservoir. We were shorts! And we ran into Dan, one of the Team in Training mentors. We did several laps with Dan and had a good conversation. The four miles went more quickly than usual.