Before I started running for Hammond High School's cross-country team in Columbia (Howard County), Maryland, back in the late 1990's, almost every morning I would run this loop that's about 1.5 miles on the roads, twice, to get used to running three-miles (since most high school cross country races are 5-kilometers/3.1 miles thereabouts). Almost every morning was challenging on this run, as there would be a big downhill at the beginning and a rather grueling uphill towards the end of the loop. And then I'd run it again. I think I would typically run anywhere between 22-26 minutes on average. My best time I think was a Saturday morning back in the summer of 1998 when I ran it in 21:50 while my dad was riding alongside of me on his bike.
Towards the end of that summer, I had bumped up some of those runs to three laps, thus covering 4.5 miles, some of my longest runs to date! Once high school running started, I would still do a lot of my runs on my own on these loops, especially fart-leks (Swedish for "Speed play" where I'd run parts of the run hard and others more easy). I thought running on this course was nice preparation as it helped me get used to running three-miles/5-kilometers in the cross-country races. My sophomore year of high school (I think it was in the early September of 1999), I ran 20:36 for two laps on this course and I thought that if I put my mind to it and if I were in a little better shape, I could probably break 20 minutes, but I never got around to it...
... Until I made an attempt on it today.
I'm planning on moving to my friends' place in Baltimore County, Maryland the first week in April, and since there are some races coming up in the near future that I would like to do, I would have trouble trying to fit attempting this goal in before I moved out. So I decided this morning less than an hour before my run to give it a whirl. I figured it would not be too hard to try and run under a 6:40-per-mile pace to run 4.5 miles in under a half-hour (I decided to do three laps on this course since I did that one quite a bit, and hopefully I would break twenty minutes for two laps as a result of me trying to break thirty minutes for three laps). I knew that this would certainly be my fastest time on the course to date if I achieved it, 'cause for one thing back in the late spring/early summer of 2004 after my sophomore year ended at Salisbury University, I came home and after some time off took a lap on this course and I felt so good on that run that I ran the lap in 10:06, which I think was my fastest time on that loop.
When I stepped out this morning, I was not expecting it to be sprinkling. Not only that, the precipitation felt kinda thick, almost like freezing rain (ah well, maybe I should not have been surprised 'cause it was around the high 30's/low 40's when I started). For some reason, it just sorta "egged me on" to get started and get after it.
I began my run all right, I felt like I built into it fairly conservatively. I ran through the first mile thereabouts in about 6:24 and I felt like I was gettin' a workout. Soon after was the tough uphill which I felt had slowed me down quite a bit. Towards the end of the loop, when I made a left turn down the last long stretch, my watch read nine minutes flat and I'm thinkin', "wow, nine minutes already, I better hustle if I wanna keep all three of these laps under ten minutes-per-lap!"
I just barely managed to run that as I went through the first loop in 9:56ish, my best time on that course by ten seconds. I was beginning to breathe hard and realized this was going to be tougher than I thought to get three laps of this done in under a half hour, but at least I was still on pace for it, barely. Breathing hard I charged back into the second loop and when I got to the uphill again, I worked that pretty hard and focused on keeping up my pace from the first lap, if not surpassing it a bit. I thank God for getting me through this second lap, 'cause it would have been mentally draining for me otherwise to be in the middle of this run, challenged by a pace I wanted to keep to get it done in under a half-hour. When I came to the left turn before the last long stretch on the loop, my watch read 18:58 (yes, I was actually faster at this point than I was the first lap, taking about 9:58 to complete this loop here). I took advantage of this slight increase in pace that I noticed and it helped encourage me to really push the pace and I came through the second lap in 19:50
WHOOOHOOOO!!!!!
I finally broke 20 minutes on this course! And it does not seem all that long ago that running 23-something minutes on it would have me huffin' and puffin'. What a blessing!
This certainly encouraged me to try and keep that pace going for one more lap so I could do three laps on this course in under thirty minutes. It was great to see that my second lap was about two seconds faster than my first. When I got to the bottom of the downhill portion of this run, I felt like my right shoe was a little loose and I was worried that my shoes would be come untied (or that having a loose shoe would somehow re-aggravate my injury in the right foot). Yet, the Good Lord kept me going strong (and kept my shoes on), and before I knew it, I was reaching the top of the uphill and I knew I had a decent chance of hitting my goal for this run. When the course went slightly downhill to that intersection where I make a left turn onto the last long stretch of the course, I saw that my watch read 28:44. All right, I was definitely on pace for a sub-30!!!! I knew that from the previous two laps, that it had taken me less than a minute to run from this point to the end of the loop. Yet, I still pushed the pace really hard and kicked it in, figuring that maybe just maybe I might run in the 29:30's, and sure enough I crossed the finish line that I had crossed so many times before over the years while doing this course in 29:39.
PRAISE GOD, THAT'S A NEW COURSE RECORD FOR MYSELF!!!!!
Lap 1 - 9:56 (best time for one-lap on this course :)
Lap 2 - 19:50 (best time for two laps on this course :)
Lap 3 - 29:39 (best time for three laps on this course :)
Wow, I'm quite amazed at how well this run went and how God helped me run each lap faster, even when I felt a little winded towards the end of the first one and not that confident I could keep up the pace for the next couple of laps. My first lap was about 9:56, the second was about 9:54, and the third was about 9:49. I think it helped that I had a mind to try and build into it and go out conservatively. It was great, because I did not feel too tired (if at all) from the previous day's workout of running two two-mile repeats on bike paths with rolling hills on them. This is terrific and I'm glad I could accomplish this goal on this course before I move away from this area (however, if I wanted too, I could come back and run it again).
This is one of those runs that keeps me encouraged about improvement and running in general. Somewhere during this run (I didn't even notice until after I finished) it stopped sprinkling. I also think that this course may be slightly more than 4.5 miles, but whatever, I'm happy with it.
Later in the afternoon I tried to take my digital camera in for some repairs in Best Buy, and found out the warranty does not cover repairs for accidental damage (which sounded fair enough to me), so now I either gotta buy a new digital camera or pay for repairs (and I think I'm more likely to find that I'll spend less money getting a new camera as opposed to getting the one I have, fixed). Though, I really wanna save my money for my new living arrangement and races among a few other things, so I think I'm gonna have to settle for using disposable cameras until maybe around the summer time, and hopefully then I might have a little extra money saved to buy a digital camera. I like disposable cameras, but I don't think they usually take as sharp of pictures as digital ones and it would take more time to get them developed, scan 'em, and post some of 'em up on my blogs instead of plugging the camera into the computer, transferring the photos onto my hard drive, and then posting them up (which is what I used to do with the digital camera). I feel bad because my folks got me that camera as a graduation present from when I graduated from Salisbury University... I think that and feeling tired as sorta put me in a bit of a... lethargic mood to say the least...
... But you know what, Easter is tomorrow and I'm going to choose to enjoy it and not let something like this put my mood down! I need to focus on Jesus Christ, whom this holiday is about. Easter is about Jesus Christ coming back from the dead after dying to set you and I free from our sins. The fact that someone would love me and everyone else that much to lay down their lives to save us from hell is an overwhelming, but unconditional love, and I'm not taking it for granted. A broken camera is petty compared to God giving His Son to save people, some of whom do not even know or love God in return... I definitely have a great deal to be thankful for and I don't need a digital camera for it either (even though God creates such picturesque scenery and wonderful people to take photos of :)
Thank you all for reading and keeping up with my blogs! I hope that your running is going well and that you are as happy with it as I am with mine (or more). I wish you all a blessed Easter and a terrific weekend :)
Running Events I have done this year as of Saturday, March 22, 2008
Maryland
Allegany County
Anne Arundel County
-Valentine’s Day 5K Run – Saturday, February 9, 2008 – Kinder Mill Farm Park, Millersville/Severna Park – 10th overall (3rd in male 20-29 age group division) – 17:59.15 (my best time on course :)
Baltimore City
- Kelly St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock 5K – Sunday, March 16, 2008 – Baltimore City – 61st overall (guntime-based) – 18:33 (guntime), 18:28 (chiptime)
Baltimore County
- Baltimore Road Runners Club (BRRC) Grand Prix Series Eight-Mile Run – Sunday, January 13, 2008 – Loch Raven Reservoir – 11th overall – 53:34
Calvert County
- First Annual Southern Maryland Community Network Resolution 5K Run/Walk – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – Prince Frederick – 4th overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:47
Caroline County
- First Annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K – Saturday, March 15, 2008 – Denton – 2nd overall (20-29 age group winner) – 18:58 (clock), 18:55 (watch)
Carroll County
- Winfield Mile – Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – South Carroll High School, Winfield – 6th overall (2nd in 20-29 age group) – 5:11 (clock), 5:10 (watch)
Cecil County
Charles County
Dorchester County
Frederick County
Garrett County
Harford County
- Leap of Faith Fun Run (7K prediction run – Approximately 4.35 miles) – Sunday, February 17, 2008 – Abington (Harford County, MD) – 3rd/4th overall (8th closest to predicted time) – 27:24 (predicted time: 28:00)
Howard County
- Howard County Striders (H.C.S.) Weekly Series (“Operation Iceberg”) #1: Burleigh Manor Middle School 5-mile run – Sunday, January 6, 2008 – Columbia/Ellicott City area – 7th overall – 32:18
- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #3: Atholton High School 5K Run – Sunday, January 20, 2008 – Columbia – 6th overall – 18:38
- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #5: Jeffers Hill Neighborhood Center 15K (first 15K I’ve done as part of the H.C.S. weekly series :) – Columbia – 11th overall – 1:10:11
- Road Runners Club of America Ten-Mile Club Challenge – Sunday, February 24, 2008 – Columbia (Howard County), MD – 122nd overall – 1:07:58.85 (clock), 1:07:52 (watch)
Kent County
Montgomery County
- 5th Annual Walnut Hill Ribbon Run 5K – Sunday, February 10, 2008 – Gaithersburg – 2nd overall – 19:51
Prince George’s (P.G.) County
- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, January 27, 2008 – Landover:
- 1,500 meter race – 15th overall - 5:04.9
- 800 meter race – 2nd overall –2:17.5
- 3,200 meter race – winner – 11:24 (best indoor track time for that distance by one second, and the 10:43 3,000 meter split I believe was right around an indoor track best time for me as well :)
- Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex Track Showcase (indoor track) – Sunday, February 3, 2008 – Landover:
- 800 meter run – 3rd overall – 2:15
- 3,200 meter run – 2nd overall – Have not gotten time yet, but I’m sure it was close to the 11:24 I hit there last weekend :)
Queen Anne’s County
Saint Mary’s County
Somerset County
Talbot County
- Talbot Kids Fun Run (advertised as three-miles, but less than that) – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – North Easton Sportsplex (Rails-to-Trails), Easton – Winner – Probably ran low-to-mid 14’s based on the times of other runners (I did not run my watch on this one)
Washington County
Wicomico County
- Mid-Shore Family YMCA Funny Bunny 5K Run – Saturday, March 8, 2008 – Salisbury – 2nd overall (20-29 age-group division winner) – 19:35
Worcester County
Events outside of Maryland
Delaware
Kent County
New Castle County
Sussex County
District of Columbia – Washington
- 410th Tidal Basin 3K – Wednesday, March 19, 2008 – Tidal Basin, Washington D.C. – 9th overall – 10:46
Virginia
Accomack County
Arlington County
- Potomac Valley Track Club All-Comers’ Indoor Track & Field Meet – Sunday, February 3, 2008 - Thomas Jefferson Community Center, Arlington:
- 1 mile run – 6th overall – 5:17.0
- 800 meter run – 6th overall – 2:22.5
- 3,000 meter run – 7th overall – 10:59.8
Northampton County
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