2024 Brunswick Marathon Race Report

A whole lot of firsts, and Dan is fairly flabbergasted; his fabulous friends have fomented a fiesta of fun. Best he can tell, around 24 runners start the 2024 Brunswick Marathon and Half-Marathon. This is sometimes referred to as the "BM" but you won't find any potty humor here. Nope, this is absolutely the wrong place for that sort of thing. Except, of course, to mention that this BM was the biggest, most solid, and most satisfying BM ever.

This is the first year that the course was entirely on an all-purpose trail. It includes the 1-mile loop around Brunswick Lake, the new 2-mile connector trail to Plum Creek Park, the half-mile loop there, and back. Altogether, this comes to 6.55 miles, a quarter-marathon. Simply do it twice for a half and four times for a full. Only one very small, teensy-weensy little problem: There's a 100-yardish area in the woods where the trail isn't completed. That part is muddy.

Did we mention that the mud is of the shoe-sucking variety? That it became known as the Mud-pit of Death? It is good news for the trail-runners in the group; not so much for the rest of us. Since the temperatures are in the fifties (and we almost had to cancel due to nice weather), said mud is anything but frozen as it had been during the training runs.

Dan runs much of the first half of the race with Shannon Barnes and Kim Tanner. They learn to *try* to stay on the green snake-like thing on the side of the trail through that Mud-pit of Death. The thing may hold mulch or something, but it's a godsend for keeping our shoes on. You just gotta keep your balance and walk slowly.

Kim and Dan complete the second loop as the clock strikes (about) 2:12. Dan thought he'd been running faster than that, but he hadn't been watching his pace. The slow walks through the mud and the pit stops at the car have something to do with the overall time. Interestingly, a gunshot is heard near Brunswick Lake. Kim mentions that a man had been standing near an animal (perhaps a deer) that was on the ground. As they come back around, the police had arrived, and are investigating. It's possible that it was Animal Control or something like that, but gunshots are not often heard around Brunswick Lake.

The third and fourth circuits are fairly fun but uneventful. Dan runs mostly with Matt Palmer and Mark Sukie. It turns out that everyone else has wisely finished up. Matt and Dan finish in 4:29; Mark follows a minute later. This sub-four-thirty feels like a sub-four to Dan, and he's fairly happy with it. And since this is the first full marathon on this particular course, it's a new course record.

Not a bad way to end 2024. Now, what will 2025 bring? Maybe more running.

There oughtta be a law

It's Christmas Day, and I'm lumbering around in the 'ole hood. If there were a way to say "slower-than-slow lumbering" in a one-word description, I'd have happily used it. My thought for the day, other than I shouldn't even call what I'm doing "running," is that there really should be a law. This law should state that if you choose to decorate your home with holiday lighting, said lighting needs to stay on for the entire night.

As it is, I'm cursing those homeowners who have their lights not turned on this Christmas Day at 5:00 AM. That's perhaps 60% of them, by my observations. Sure, kudos to those who did leave their holiday lights on - I am indeed enjoying those.

Merry Godd@m Christmas from Dan.

Frosty Five Race Report

Cool and damp. It's about 35F with drizzly rain as I emerge from my car in downtown Hudson, Ohio. Not my absolute favorite weather, but at least the rain is subsiding. I jog over to pick up my bib and shirt, jog back to the car, then jog back another time to line up. That's where, among the huge crowd, I see some of my peeps.

Julie, Dan, and Theresa at the start

I start off with Julie Boggs and Theresa Wright. We run together often, so it's not surprising that we are starting the Frosty Five together. Our first mile is on the slow side (partly because I spent some time coughing - still getting over this crud stuff), but then we pick it up during mile two. It helps that that one is downhill. Of course, we pay for this during mile three. Four ain't bad, but it's starting to feel warm. Five winds up being my fastest and best mile of the day.

After the finish, it's great to talk with all manner of friends about the fantastic race and our great performances. 

More friends after the finish

My 41:41 seemed pretty good, and I won my ancient age group. But then I made a huge mistake: I looked up my time at this race from last year. A minute and a half better! I guess I'm getting older.

Was gonna run today, got cold feet

The blog post title says it all. I truly was going to run. And I did indeed get cold feet. You see, I was not only going to run. I did run. Just not very far. And the cold feet? That part is literal.

The plan had been to run a couple of Brunswick 1/4-Marathon loops with my friends like I've done the past couple of Saturdays. The problem? 1) There was lingering fatigue from Yesterday's long run, and 2) Besides the cold temps, the 2+ inches of new snow were pretty cold. This made my feet more and more cold as the morning wore on. Actually, it didn't wear so much, as I never actually completed a full BM loop. I did manage to get around Brunswick Lake a few times though.

I'll have to figure this cold-weather thing out.

Rule of Thirds

Waking up before 3:00 AM isn't all that unusual. Actually starting the run before 4 is. Such a feat used to occur more often; I even had a slogan for it: Out the door before four. Alas, it's been a while. Today, however, a long run on Lester Rail Trail was the goal, and for some reason,  the earlier the better. Exactly what reason is that, you ask? Damned if I know. But it surely is nice to finish a long run and still have a good part of the day remaining for non-running activity.

Although I'm still getting my mileage in, this week hasn't been as good as the last one. After suffering from sinus issues for a few weeks, I had finally came out of it last week and began to run well again. And then this week happened. Our wonderful grandsons brought/conveyed to us some nice Middle-School germs that we weren't used to. And Bob's Your Uncle, we were sick all over again. All the germs tend to take their toll on my running. Therefore, this week was another not-so-good one.

But today would be different, I hoped. I started slow, but the pace improved when I was joined at 5:00 AM by two friends, and then again at 6 by two other friends. These guys and gals got me moving as the twelve-ish mile pace became nine-and-a-half--ish. Just what I needed. Although the total, overall pace never quite made it to sub-ten, it was a very good eighteen-mile run.

The best part? I learned something new: The Rule of Thirds. I'd heard the term before, but not in relation to running. And I kind of understood it intuitively, but it was good to hear about it from my running partner.

The rule of thirds in running is a guideline that states that when pursuing a big goal, you should feel good about a third of the time, okay a third of the time, and crappy a third of the time. If the ratio of your feelings is roughly in this range, then you're doing fine.

The rule of thirds can help you:

• Shift your perspective: It can help you realize that okay days are part of the process of growth and are not something to shrug off.
• Find the right balance: It can help you find the right balance between pushing too hard and not enough.
• Identify burnout: If you're having too many crappy days, it might be a sign of burnout approaching.
• Look back over your progress: It can be useful for looking back over your progress.

Generally, the rule of thirds can be applied to other areas of life, such as relationships and jobs.  

For me, I plan to do my best to guide my running such that my good days are for big efforts like race days, my okay days are for a great deal of my everyday running, with the crappy days interspersed in there. Again, I (and probably most runners) do know this intuitively, but it's good to recognize it and to be conscious of it.

Well okay. Yes, I have issues. Installment 87

We had spent a couple of months in Florida, and I was nearly in panic mode. Would I be able to get through the trip with the (three, I think) pairs of running shoes that I had left with? Not only that, how would I manage to run when I got home with only used-up old shoes?

Internet to the rescue! Spotting an online sale, I ordered some that would arrive home just before we did (daughter Veronica was able to intercept them for me). Whew, that was a close one.

To prevent any such a near-disaster from occurring again, I began to stockpile shoes as opportunities presented themselves. Now I have nine in boxes, besides the four that are currently in active duty. 

Call it the Strategic Shoe Reserve.

Dan's closet, featuring 9 pairs in boxes and 4 pairs in use

And don't tell me I have issues. I already know.

TryptoDan

Tryptophan is an amino acid present in several food items, including turkey. It's given credit for those naps people have been known to take after a big turkey dinner. TryptoDan, on the other hand, has a slightly different connotation.

Dan is managing to sorta, kinda, mostly stay with the medium and fast kids today at Lake Medina. That's almost unusual since he's been slowing down in recent weeks. Blame it on the cold weather as well as an ongoing sinus issue. Not to mention running a lot at other times. There's less than a mile to go and wham! He's horizontal. Those bumps in the pavement had gotten him again.

No, it's not the first time. There was this fall in the same spot last September. And then there was that one just the other day in Buckeye Woods. 

It's tough to be a good runner when you're horizontal. In fact, you could say that staying vertical is a critical success factor for experiencing a good run.