Swing and a miss

When it got hard, I pushed. When it got really hard, I quit.

Did I set myself up for failure? Armchair quarterback answer: yep. Even with training my butt off for the past six months, the idea of 100 miles in 24 hours isn’t so realistic for me any more. Neither, probably, is my lifetime best of 90 miles. A reachable goal? Probably 80 miles – especially on this 1.52-mile loop format that allows for SO many options to call it a day if you're a little slow or need a little break.

Hinson Lake 24-Hour Ultra Classic is such an interesting challenge. Soft, most shaded, nearly flat surface. Cheerful volunteers. Some 170 starters this year, so a lot of different people to pass and be passed by, at least until the 11-hour mark when it gets dark and the course gets pretty darn empty.

Want to know a way to make Hinson Lake a REAL mental bear? How about this: When you friend Bob asks if – rather than the more traditional method of pacing whereby he would start with you at, say, dark -- you think it’s a cool idea if he pays the paltry $24 entry fee and then run three loops with you, then sits one, and then repeats that the whole 24 hours … you answer, “Dude. That sounds PERFECT!”

What makes this insanely hard is when Bob decides at, oh, about 2:18 a.m. that he has had enough, that he’s got 50 miles in and that he’s calling it a night. And that he’ll get his sleeping bag out and hang until you finish.

(Enter that little voice in your head, the raspy one that is telling you to have mercy on the poor dude, who you know can’t sleep in a sleeping bag and who also cannot find his way back to the hotel without your help …so that you should just be a pal and stop now, too. That same voice, a bit more insistently, points out that you have clearly missed both your 100-mile goal and your 91-mile goal. Same voice questions what, if anything, is the value of walking the final 5 hours for, what, another measly 15 miles?)

As I said earlier … when it got hard, I pushed. When it got really hard, I quit. Fast.

Upsides: No stomach issues, even in heat that has often turned my gut to stone. Succeed Caps are a definite winner! Also was great seeing Suzanne, Doom, Laura, Ray K., meeting Christian, chatting up the vaunted Gary Cantrell and sharing an early-morning walk lap with Hinson RD Tom Gabell, a stud runner and a genuine guy.

Aftermath: It’s Monday and – thanks in part to taking this day off from work! – energy levels are soaring back in the direction of normalcy. So are legs. Did a 25-minute run/walk to keep The Streak alive at Day 942.

Hinson last year, I went out way too fast and blew up at 63 miles in 14.5 hours. This year, out much more slowly, a lot hotter, and a final tally of 70 miles in 19 hours.

Disappointed in myself? Yes. Devastated? No. A bit more wise than before? I’m a slow learner.

Over the next horizon ...

is Hinson Lake 24-Hour Ultra Classic, the one I've been prepping for since Umstead 100 back in April.

Format: 1.52-mile loop around a small lake in the hamlet of Rockingham, N.C. Soft, rock-free surface. Basically flat. Gun fires at 8 a.m. Saturday. Air horn blares at 8 a.m. Sunday. If it works out the way I've been dreaming it will, I will still be out on the course. Running.

Plan: Run 5 minutes. Beep. Walk 5 minutes. Repeat. Do. Not. Go. Out. Too. Fast.

Food: HammerGel at one to two hits per hour until dark. Nutri-Grain bars after that. One 8 oz. chocolate milk every two hours. Also, I'll be rockin' the Succeed Caps every hour on the hour until dark. I have ginger. I have Maalox chewables.

Prep: Crazy amounts of climbing and dropping. Lots and lots of bodyweight leg work. A 1:50 at the wicked 15-Mile Charleston Distance Run two Saturdays ago, way faster than I thought I could go. Or would.

Last year, I wasn't this uber-fit, started too fast and spent the last 2 hours getting my butt kicked by the Barf Monster before throwing in the towel at 15 hours and 63 miles.

Am I ready this Hinson? Yeah. Yeah, I am. Nervous? That too. How's that feel? Pretty darn good.

Ready for something!

August tally: 15 runs of 2 hours or more. Total time of 43:45.

I've been keeping long-run records since 2003. This crushes my heaviest non-100-miler month by 9 hours.

After 3:15 Thur a.m. with Jack Broaddas and then 2:00 Fri a.m. with The Posse, I was gonna phone it in today w/ a streak-saving 25 mins. Instead, found some free time mid-afternoon so ... cashed it in for 2:00 of 7/3. Temp was 93F at the start. Run was muggy as heck. Focused on relaxing during the run phases. Actually felt stronger the final 4.

I've probably eaten 2,000 calories since finishing. So far.

Now, where'd I put that bowl of vanilla ice cream?

If It Ain't Fun ...

So much for my little foray into posing as an ultrarunner who still gives a flip about serious training!

Last week I set a goal of 10 consecutive days of 2-hr. runs. Made it through four of them before I hit a bit of a roadblock because I couldn’t drag my butt outta bed this morning. Rolled back over and didn’t get up in time, so was only able to get in 1 hour. Followed it with some Pilates, yoga, extra core work, a 5-minute leg routine and several sets of push-ups.

Know why I slept in (well, if you wanna call getting outside at 4:20 a.m. “sleeping in”)? Because, when my eyes first popped open at 3:06 a.m., it felt too much like work to head out there. So I bagged it and opted for 1 hr. instead. Could I have physically handled the 2 if the fam schedule had allowed enough time? Yeah. Did I feel like a wuss for not doing the 2? For about a minute, yeah. Then, I got over it. And did what I had time for. And felt the cooling drizzle on the back of my neck. And heard birds singing. And thanked the Lord for yet another chance to move and play and do this thing that I so dearly love to do, this viewing of the world and all that is in it at 5.5 mph.

Review:

Thurs, July 23 3:12 Here, There and Everywhere run before work on H-burg roads. 10 run/5 walk. Slammed 40 ozs. fluid.
Fri, July 24 2:00 H-burg roads w/ Carp and PJ. 7/3.
Sat., July 25 2:00 up and down Madison Run (aka “a Maddy) in the early afternoon. 10/5.
Sun., July 26 2:00 out-n-back to Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport. 10/5 out, 4/1 home.
Mon., July 27 1:00. 4/1.

So what now? Do I push on and keep trying to slam the 2s through Saturday? How about maybe I do that but make Thursday a 3 so that the final 10-day total equals 20 hours? Dunno yet. Depends on how much fun I’m having.

10 Days of 2

Crazy idea as I prep for Hinson Lake 24-Hour Sept. 19, but sometimes you gotta shake stuff up a bit ...

I've set this goal of at least a 2-hour run/walk for 10 straight days.

Started it Thursday with a very nice 3:12 effort on hard top around Harrisonburg before coming in to work at 10:30 a.m. Followed that with this morning's 2:00 deal (thanks Carp and P.J.). So far, so good.

Big challenges will come Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. Because of fam stuff, I expect each of these to require 0-Stupid-30 wake-ups.

Nothing like finding out how badly you want something, huh? :)

Personification of "Stud"

Is this guy human?

What's Been Cookin'

How 'bout a quick review of all the fun that I've been having the past month or so? OK, here goes ...

Batesville Days 10km
I finished fourth overall in the 32nd Annual Batesville Days 10km, putting up a 43:34 on a brutally hilly course on a steamy day. Had the honor of suffering like an animal for the final two miles with my brother Bill Potts, who smoked himself the week before on his way to a tie for eighth overall at the Capon Valley 50km. My efforts were good enough for a $25 Ragged Mountain Running Shop gift cert, a cool trophy that Ben has on his dresser :-). Two more major benefits: The orange tie-dye race T will be my favorite for many, many years, and then Potts introduced me to the Batesville Store, a true haven of peace and tranquility. I've been back there twice since (falafel wrap and coffee are A++!), and my new necklace made by children from the Kenyan village Batesville folks sponsor is an ongoing memento of a great, fun effort.

Whadda Triple
Then there was the 6hr/5hr/5hr Memorial Day Trifecta that was an amazing mix of ease, pain, suffering, triumph with just the right amount of beer thrown in to cap it all off. Saturday was 6 hours hiking with Bob Ring out at Wild Oak. Sunday was 5 hours running Rip Rap with Sophie and Q-Bob. Monday was 10 loops of my flat 2.5-mile loop out at EMU, plus an extra half-mile, plus one set of 41 tricep dips, one set of 41 incline push-ups, and a total of 41 burpees. The 41km run and the rest of the Day of 41s Monday was in honor of my dear fellow exercise freak buddy Michelle Huston's 41st b-day the following day. That was sorta in answer (although well short of it on the Studly Scale) of M's freakin' 200 burpees that she did in my honor for my also May b-day. The things we do for our friends! :)

A Solid FCR
Sunday afternoon Ring and I clipped off a 5-mile FCR -- aka Fast Continuous Run -- at 7:43/mile pace out at Montezuma as part of his return to glory plan for an August 10km. He wants to get it down to 7:00 pace before then. I dunno about that, but man did it feel like old times just running side-by-side in full stride with a buddy along a flat country road on a warm day with the breeze at our backs. At one point, I closed my eyes and it was 1982 and I was on the Airport Loop outside Buckhannon, W.Va. Pretty darn cool. So were the post-run Yuengling Lagers. Yum!

Touchdown Jimmys
This morning during our 2-hr. run/walk, Vince Bowman introduced Paul Johnston and me to his version of what we call Touchdown Jimmys. My version has been a 40-second push up the face of a grassy hill on the JMU campus to the wide sidewalk in front of the ISAT/CS Building that features a James Madison statue I think looks a lot like Notre Dame's Touchdown Jesus; hence, Touchdown Jimmy. Vince's version is OMG-harder. Vince's version starts a lot lower on the hill and goes up to my sidewalk and then STRAIGHT up to Touchdown Jimmy himself. How up? So up that I was barely still running. We did three of them this morning. They sucked! And now I want to bag 10 of them before the summer's out.

What's Next
Let's see: Thursday should be 2.5-3 hrs. on Hburg roads. Friday will be 2 with Vince and PJ. Saturday is The Priest with Sophie and a buncha others. Massive climbing and descending. About 3 hours of good, quad- and hamstring-pounding fun.

Highlands Sky 40-Miler is June 20. Expectations for great fun are high as those West Virginia hills.

Summer General Strength Progression

This one will give a lot of you a run for your money. It's most def kickin' my butt!

Summer General Strength Progression

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Go Ry Go!

A little inspiration here. Actually, MORE than a little.

Not too shabby at all

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

27:34 for Umstead. No nausea. No bonkiness. Managed well the entire time. Final 12.5-mile lap of 2:56 was my fastest of the day by 19 minutes. Very, very fun. By FAR the most fun of my nine Umstead 100 finishes.

Did 5/5 almost the whole way. Out in a pedestrian 13:15. Home in 14:19. Not too shabby. Coulda gone faster, but didn’t really want to risk another big, fat bonk, so I just kept it in second gear the whole time. Man, was it fun to be starting that final loop full of energy and running as the second day dawned. What an incredible feeling of control that was.

First 4 loops with my pal Bob Ring until he decided to drop at 50 miles. Lap 5 alone with my iPod Shuffle (run 2 songs, hike 1 … unless it’s a Beach Boys tune, then you have to run that one too. Seriously, who can hike to “Barbara Ann” or “409?”). Lap 6 with pacer dude of trail name Ram, who turned out to be a JMU Class of ’89 physics grad. Half of Lap 7 alone before catching my pal Mike Lipton and his pacer Chris Damico. Then Lap 8 with the same Chris. By the time I was finished with the boy, he was ready to do the 50 next year. :)

Nutrition: Took EIGHTEEN freakin’ S-Caps! One every hour for the first 18 hours. Mainly made it around on roughly 15 GU gels, a couple Perfect Zone bars (Wal-Mart over-the-counter meal replacement things), one can of Kirkland chocolate meal replacement drink, two cups potato soup during the night. Fluid was Gatorade Endurance, a little water and maybe 20 ozs. total of Nuun.

Weather: Low-50s at start, mid-70s during the day, high-50s at night and probably around mid-60s by the time I finished.

Aftermath: No muscle soreness. Big blister on ball of right foot, but not big enough to keep me from running Monday and keeping The Streak intact. (As of this writing, 780 days ... and counting). :)

Middle of Lap 3, Umstead race director and longtime friend Blake Norwood tells me I’m having too much fun and to get my *** moving. I tell him, “No, no. The plan this year is to come here in sub-22-hour shape, take it nice and easy, and finish in one piece … and so far, it’s all good. Maybe I’ve finally learned something.”

As I move almost out of earshot, Blake hits me with his booming baritone: “You learning something, Gentry? That means there’s hope for us all.”

The Best Of ...

With Umstead 100-Miler this coming weekend and me in full-on taper mode, complete with 743 thoughts per second rushing through my brain, now seems a solid time to reach for my all-time list of most-telling endurance quotes.

Here's hoping at least a few of these strike home for you.

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Thinking of the above runner studying the [Badwater] course at home, perhaps planning pace and strategy for these climbs, I am put in mind of a statement of Malcom Campbell in the middle of a 6-day. "You know," he said, "this was so much easier at home with my #2 pencil." – as told by Marv Skagerberg on The Ultra List

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“To finish Hardrock you have to look deep within yourself and find something powerful that motivates you. You need to find a true connection with the mountains, the thin air, the rushing streams, the icy cold nights with their crystal, star-lit skies. You need to touch the softness that hides in those dark cliffs and deep chasms. Leave your self images behind and surrender yourself to what is. The race clock is ticking. But, time is an illusion. All that exists is the present moment. We can experience neither the past nor future directly, only the present is real. Yet, we try to dwell in either the past, through our memories, or the future, through our hopes and dreams. By looking to the past and future we constantly reject the present, which is reality. As Ram Dass said, "Be here now." – Peter Bawkin, 2006 Double Hardrock finisher

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Seriously, Armstrong has been tested so often that I bet he can urinate into a salt shaker without splashing a drop, and he has always come up clean. As he said in that old Nike promo: "Everybody wants to know what I'm on. What am I on? I'm on my bike busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?"

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"Amy has dropped at mile 41, so now it is the four of us, wondering if it was really only today that we had gone insane, or if it happened years ago and we can only tell at moments like this." – Andrea Feucht describing her 2002 Lake City 50 Miler experience

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"Still waiting for my high to occur today, or hell, I’ll settle just for a medium. Anything out of the basement would feel great." – Mike Campbell more than halfway through 2002 VT 100.

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"I have heard it said that preparing for a 100 miler is like training to be hit by a truck. There is only so much that you can do. Regardless of how smart you train or how hard you race, there are no guarantees. The only sure thing is that it's going to hurt and something bad is going to happen. It is not a question of ‘Will something go wrong?’ The real question is ‘How will you respond when things get bad, really bad?’ How bad do you want it?” -- Luis Escobar

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Christopher Rampacek, a personal trainer and lifestyle manager from Houston, began doing serious long-distance running after his orthopedic surgeon replaced his hip 10 years ago and told him he would never run again. That was 50 marathons ago. This is his fourth Badwater. Last year, he recalls vividly hallucinating throughout the mountain stretch. What did he see? "A swimming pool," he says. "Oh, and the animals were cheering for me." – Washington Post story on the 2006 Badwater 135

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“Just means The Ring will be hanging around your neck like some nuclear-waste-deformed albatross for yet another year... Lucky you.” – Chris Scott, cajoling me into running the Massanutten Ring Trail 71-Miler, which I finished in 2005

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And perhaps my personal fave, from my brother Fred “Doom” Dummar, asked why he does ultras …

“I just love kicking my own ass.”

Just chillin' ...

at Va. Beach this afternoon. Watching a little NCAA hoops. Havin' a few Yuengling Lagers in the aftermath of a lunchtime visit to Chipotle. Knocked down a veggie bowl, arguably among the most yummy grub I've had for awhile ... and that's saying a lot.

May have to go scare up Bill Potts and his crew in a few.

Sunday should be some major fun. If what I heard during my two hours working the pacer booth this morning come true, we'll have about 20 runners, including first-timers Lauren and her best friend who will be sporting tutus.

Lots of excitement at the expo. Love the chance to tap into all of that.

Oh, my pacing partner Mark? This is only his second marathon. No sweat, though. He spent 30 years working ... as ... a ... Navy SEAL. And if two hours of hanging out is any indication, he's a first-rate guy too.

Weather forecast calls for 36F at start, mid-50s by finish and ... drum roll, please ... only 2 mph wind. Yeah. 2 as in t-w-o.

No matter what, this one ought to be a blast.

Ready ... set ...

This Sunday is Shamrock Marathon, where I'm heading up the 4:15 pace group.

In two weeks, it's back to Umstead 100 for a 25- or 26-hour jaunt.

Two weeks after that, it's down to Hampton for a 24-hour where I hope to go farther than the 90 miles I did the last time there, and have high hopes to put up something in the triple digits.

Can I lick all three? Dunno for sure. If I did know, what would be the point? :-)

A lil' extra motivation

Umstead 100 Most Finishes …


Male (13) Sprouse, Tom (entered 2009)

Male (10) Lefferts, Peter C (entered 2009)

Female (10) Mason, Louise (entered 2009)

Male (10) Morton, Alex (entered 2009)

Male (9) Fiorito, Mike

Male (8) Calabria, Robert D (entered 2009)

Male (8) Gentry, Bill (entered 2009)

Male (8) Moore, James E

Female (8) Rozanski, Susan

Male (8) Smith, Mike (entered 2009)

Streak is at 2 today

Snowy, sleety, rainy 2-hour jaunt this a.m. to commemorate Day 730 of my running streak.

If I wasn't such a slug, I'd go back through the records and chronicle all the ultras. And marathons. And the long runs. And the weeks where I've done three long ones in the same week. And four. And five.

There was a time when all that stuff mattered to me. A lot. Now, it's more about the actual running than about the record-keeping. It's more about me and my thoughts on a quiet country road under last week's gorgeous full moon at 4:09 a.m. on a Tuesday. Or about the flash of brilliant beauty when I saw a bald eagle in full flight on the Trayfoot Trail back in December. Or the complete feeling of solitude that washes over me somewhere in the middle of every 2-hour run. Well, check that, every 2-hour run except for that ridiculous one Carp, PJ, TJ and I did where the wind chill of -10F.

This streak is a lot different from the half-dozen others. Maybe it's cuz I'm older. Maybe it's cuz I'm not as fast. Or as competitive.

Or maybe just maybe it's cuz I don't need any of that. Maybe it's cuz I like it easy. Did I run today? Check. Is my brain in a better place cuz of it? Check. Am I ready for the day? Check check.

Craig is right. I am in hippie-out mode. Know what? Pretty darn cool place to be.

14 Rocks

Sunday was a 14-rock day. That's one rock for each 2.5-mile lap over at the Eastern Mennonite University campus. So that's 35 miles total. In 6:58:45. From 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. A little gravel, some asphalt, about half of it concrete.

I figured I'd lose track as the mind has a tendency to wander on a loop, so I gathered 10 rocks from beside my driveway and put them in the bed of the Millennium Falcon. After each loop, I moved a rock. Once I got to 10, I piled all the rocks up again and started over. Very cool watching the line grow each time. Amazing how that kept me so scary focused. I almost even missed the hot chica in the black top who blew my doors off. Well, missed her the first time, anyway. ;-)

Nutrition lab: I knocked down 70 ozs. of green tea and 8 ozs. of Hammer Gel. It was warmish (50F at the start, 63F at the end), but a steady breeze kept me cool. Energy was steady. Brain was strong. Legs were just slightly pounded by the 3/4s mark, but rallied by the end. All in all, ranks right up there with the best really long training runs I have done. Period.

Only nutritional holes: No electrolytes. And no salt. Fixable. Easily fixable. Why focus on the holes? Um, maybe because of the little fainting spell about an hour or so after I finished. Yeah. Bit the living room carpet big time. No, nobody was home. Yeah, I woulda gotten a total a**-kickin' if they had been. Much less so when I confessed later. :)

Today, legs were fine. A gentle 20-minute run/walk got rid of any residual. Remarkable, these bodies of ours.

Hammer. A++. Green tea? Um, nice with dinner. On the run? Not so much maybe.

Changes: Gatorade Endurance. Lots of it during the waking hours. And any long run gets at least 20 ozs. of GE, the high-sodium one. And I'm hitting CVS before the week's out to score its OTC electrolyte tab that I once swore by back before I thought I was tough and knew everything.

Seven hours. 5 mph average. 14 rocks. One to remember.

Update x 2

So, when we last heard from our hero, he was bravely talking smack about how much he loves to suffer and about how he was gonna march in the footsteps of some of his heroes, stare the Richmond Marathon straight in the eye, purse his lips and squash that thing like a bug.

Been watching a few too many action movies lately, maybe.

Richmond Marathon: Typhooned it. Needed a sub-3:30 to grab a Boston Marathon qualifier. Finished in 3:47. And tweaked my right hammy. Ugly work, this Richmond. Butt ugly.

Given that 8:00 miles is 3:29 and change, I started out at a reasonably comfy 8:10 pace for the first five miles, then began dialing it down from there. Hit 10 miles at 55 seconds slower than BQ and the half-marathon mark at 40 seconds slow. Peachy! Also pretty hot. As in “we’re calling for 58F and 20mph winds but what you’re really getting is 70F and, well, by the time the stand-your-scrawny-***-straight-up wind is in your face, it ain’t gonna manner any more anyway.”

Reduced to a jog by 18 or so. Reduced to a head-down shuffle by 19. Thank God my ultra buddy Mike Lipton cruised by at 20 so that I had somebody to snivel with as we did a 4-minute run/1-minute walk routine from 21 to the end. Felt decent by Mile 24 or so, but still was very glad when it was over. Mike, you carried me to the finish, bud. I owe you big time. And thanks to Michelle for hanging out with me for a couple hours afterward while I licked my figurative wounds, and to Heidi J. for letting me commandeer one of her “old” half-zip pullovers so I didn’t get hypothermia as the sun went in and the temps dropped to quasi-normal mid-November numbers. Strong reminders all that I am little without my friends.

VHTRC 50km: Speaking of friends, I took the show on the road to Clifton a month later for the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club Fat-Ass 50km, a gem of a run on single- and double-track trails at Hemlock Overlook Regional Park. Ran the first 21 miles with Mike Broderick, with whom I once shared the entirety of a Mohican 100-Miler and who I haven’t seen nearly enough in the three years since. Great fun running, laughing and route-finding through the Do Loop with Mike before he pressed on from the final aid station a bit faster than I wanted to go. Not long out of that final stop, I lucked into the delightful company of Rick Kerby and Jim Miller, good runners and two of the sharpest wits I know. Good times sharing the final 4 miles and change with those two knuckleheads as we finished in 6:28, a stronger day than I’ve had at that run in many, many moons. Much fun at the post-run pizza fest too.

Richmond – rugged. And then some. VHTRC 50km – a veritable walk in the park.

There are no guarantees. Part of the fun of it all.

Goin' 4 It!

Richmond Marathon is tomorrow.

My Boston Marathon qualifying time is 3:30. It has been 17 years since I last qualified.

Tomorrow, I roll the dice one more time.

Why try? Why not sandbag like always? Why not just run/walk for the first 20 and then find somebody who is struggling near the end and help that person finish? Several reasons ...

• The 19:09 5K I ran two weekends ago is concrete evidence that I am in way-faster-than-3:30 marathon shape. More like 3:07 shape.

• My buddy Bob is struggling these days with injuries and will be pretty pleased if he breaks 4:15. His PR is 2:49. If Bob was in 3:07 shape, he would try.

• My friend Dennis can't run any more. Ever. His PR is 2:37.

So this one's for Bob. And especially Dennis.

A Smack in the Mouth

So the other day, this is what I woke up seeing …

As We Forgive Those

As We Forgive Those

As We Forgive Those

Wow. How’s that for a smack right in the mouth first thing out of the box?

As we forgive those? You mean, even when I feel as if I am one of the few who is getting it right? You mean, even when I am so sure that somebody else is all about himself and how he looks? You mean, even when I am doing good, solid, heart-felt work with precious little support? Even when the other person isn’t my friend? You mean, always … in every instance?

You mean, even when up until sometime recently, I was grinding my teeth at night because of all the uncertainty at how I’m supposed to figure out how to get all this work finished when I feel as if I am all by myself on most of it? And even if I feel so strongly deep in the core of my very being that I am pushing myself hard, yet seeming to miss every deadline because of factors outside of my control? And even when people are unkind and change their minds and jerk my chain?

As We Forgive Those?

As We Forgive Those?

Yeah. Every time. No matter what.

Wow. And I thought finishing a 100-miler was hard.

On a Bit of a Roll

Saturday: I do the JMU Dukes Homecoming "5K" Run. Brutal course, teeny field, no mile marks, no splits, very low-key. I crushed it, finishing 7th outta 66. Raced the whole way, never looked at my watch, just focused on being controlled, working every climb, steady on the flats, open it up on the downs. After the initial shake-down of a torrid start on a fairly steep uphill, there are two guys within striking distance: one maybe 30 meters up and the other maybe 60 meters at, say, Mile 1. I work my way up to the first kid by the end of a sweeping flat curve, then dust him on a fairly long downhill. The next kid I get on a sharp uphill before, say, Mile 2. From there, I start the long surge to the end, just like the old days. Just like the old days, the mantra is "CHP. CHP. CHP." (Chest up, hips forward, push off.) The final half-mile is flat, and I tie up just a little bit the final 300 or so.

I hit my watch at the finish. 21:00.

Wow. With this effort, I know this course is way longer than 3.1 miles. After a 10-min. warm-down, I find the young kid who is the RD (he refs basketball with us) and ask him how long the course really is.

His answer: It's 3.4 miles. (Traditional course. Sees all of campus that they want to show off, hard to change it now that it's been going on for many years blahblahblah).

Using a Runner's World conversion tool, I ran ... 19:09. Yeah, 6:10 minutes per mile pace. 19:09. That's 18 seconds faster than I went last July in a 5K that's very accurate with a much larger field, hence plenty of people to key off of when you are gassed at the end.

MAN, was that fun :)

Sunday: Planning to do an easy 2-hour run/walk, wake at 6:30 a.m. without time to get in said 2 hours before church, so opted instead for taking the online basketball ref test. Cranked the 100-question, true-false test in an hour. Needing a 70 to ref varsity and an 80 for post-season eligibility. Instant result: 88! Sweet! Church at 8:30 a.m. with a seriously moving ceremony, then groceries. Expecting to pump out a quick 25-minute run before taking Ben to lacrosse practice in C-ville, then rush back in time to head off to Strasburg for a ref meeting. Get home to find a voicemail from the lax guy saying practice is moved from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., so Heidi cuts me loose to head off for a long run ... so I drive to JMU and do 2 hours very gently of 9 mins. run/1 min. walk. Legs felt awful at the start, then totally peachy by the end.

Monday (aka one amazing way to cap a pretty neato three days): On my 25-minute jaunt before work, I find a $20 bill!

A 19:09 5km, a 2-hr. run/walk and a little extra green. Not a bad three days at all.