Creatine

According to my AI overview, creatine supplementation can enhance athletic performance, particularly in activities requiring short bursts of high-intensity power, like sprinting and weightlifting. It works by increasing the amount of phosphocreatine in muscles, which helps in the rapid regeneration of ATP, the primary energy currency of cells. This leads to improved strength, power, and work capacity during exercise, as well as faster recovery between intense bouts of activity. Even though my activity does not require short bursts of high-intensity power, this article informs me that there may be benefits for distance runners. I thought I'd give it a try. What could go wrong?

One side-effect is bloating and/or water-weight gain. Now that I've been taking the stuff for a week, I can testify that I've been hit with this one. I have been feeling like crap, and this could have been a factor in Saturday's less-than-stellar race. 

I'm hoping that the bloating will subside after a few more days. If not, I'll have to quit the experiment.

Goodyear Half Marathon Race Report

 

The Goodyear Half Marathon has it all: hills, heat, humidity, and a good dose of humility. This is not to mention heavy legs. Even though it's a fabulous event, I have to say that for me, they can't all be gems.

I carpool with veteran Akron Marathon Series runners Julie Boggs and Theresa Wright after a 5:00 A.M. meetup. Prior day packet pickup, day of race parking, crowded and narrow start, and other logistics make participation in this race a complicated matter. Julie and Theresa know the ropes. Fortunately, the race starts early, given the warm and humid conditions, which are only going to worsen with the sunrise.

Julie, Dan, and Theresa just before the start

The start at the Proving Grounds is unique and spectacular. Although the road is narrow, the waves make things go smoothly. I begin too fast, just as I did at last week's race. I don't expect to run as fast; I just want to hold my own. The humidity takes its toll early on, and I slow a little bit more for each mile split. 

By the time I reach the middle miles, I start to slow down even more, and I become discouraged. Michael Juppe, who is in my age group, passes me and pulls away. At the halfway point, my time is about 56 minutes. That is slower than last week, but not downright awful. If only I could duplicate it for the second half, I'll feel like the run was semi-successful, even without an age-group win.

It's getting warmer, and the sun is beating down on me. I slow down even more going up hills (of which there are many), but I manage to pick the pace back up heading back down. I take a gel at mile 9, and it does the trick. Mile 11 is slow because it's uphill, but 10, 12, and 13 are some of my best of the day.

Just before the finish line, I spot Michael Juppe up ahead of me. Can I catch him? The final quarter-mile is downhill, so you betcha. He had beaten me by seconds at the Erie Marathon last year, but this time I pass him just before we cross the line. The results show that my 1:52:22 is just seconds ahead of his time.

It's a full five minutes slower than Hofbrauhaus, but with the AG win, I'll call it semi-successful. And the burgers and beer with Julie and Theresa (at 8:40 A.M.) made it all the more fun.

History of the Half

I've run a lot of half-marathons, but I've done more marathons. Here is a list, but it's not complete. I am sure that I missed a bunch from the time I lived in Michigan. 

My latest one, Hofbrauhaus, is the best in 8 years.

2025 Hofbrauhaus Cleveland Half Marathon Race Report

When I was living in Michigan, one of the state's best runners once told me that in order to run fast, you have to start fast. This went against my usual mantra of start slow, then ease up. But it worked for him, and perhaps even a bit for me on a few occasions. But not lately. Definitely not lately. After telling my friends (who sometimes actually listen to me) that my goal was to break 1:50 for a half-marathon this year, I provided this recent update: yes, the weather should be good for the Hofbrauhaus Half, but I am just not feeling it. I'm not at my sharpest point right now. I'll just try for something approaching that goal, and hopefully get it done once I'm in better shape.

I see some friends before the start, and it's all good. Once the race begins, all my easy-does-it plans go out the window. This is typical, but I'm probably starting too fast. Still, I'm feeling fine, so why not go with my fast friend's advice? 

Egads. The first mile split is under eight minutes. That's not just a little too fast; it's much too fast. I ease up a little, because that all-out speed is just too all-out. The next few miles, heading East on Euclid Avenue, are at a low eight-minute pace. Even that is still too fast. I can't maintain it, can I? Eventually, we head down to Cleveland's Cultural Gardens. I always like running down here, and I'm still doing well, but will I still be able to still run fast when I have to head back up to Euclid?

Coming back through the Start/Finish area at Mile 1

Halfway goes by in 52 or 53 minutes, and I'm still scared. Chadwick Sunday comes up from behind and runs with me for a while. He had been helping to pace Ladd Clifford and had been sent up ahead to determine if it was truly me that they had been following. It was. The turnaround is at Mile 7, and I get to see Ladd and Chadwick, as well as several other friends. 

And then comes the dreaded Mile 9. This is the hill I'd been worried about - it takes us back up to Euclid Avenue, and it seems to go on forever. Although it's my slowest mile of the day at 8:24, it's still not bad. The next couple of miles are back in the low eight-minute range. Chadwick chases me down and passes me in the final miles as he often does. I wonder where Ladd is, and then I see him directly in back of me as I finish. Those guys started way behind me, so they actually had better gun times.

At the finish, I also see Larry Orwin, who had run much faster, as usual. His son Troy, and several old and new friends also did well. The celebratory beer and brat sure taste good.

It was a good day for all, and a lot of fun. But now that I have achieved my sub-1:50 goal, what the heck do I do now?

High Humility

Humility levels are high once again today. It's all very uncomfortable. You might even say, stifling. I'm almost to the point of taking a day off from running. Think I will? Nah.

Call it the summer doldrums. It starts with the weigh-in: 163 &!^*$# pounds! I'm not sure, but I think that's the most in, like, years. Then, I get to the track and I realize that I can't breathe the thick, cut-it-with-a-knife air. It's pretty much the same as it's been for days and days now.

Some of my friends are doing some workout or another, while others are just running in circles. I start running circles as well, but then realize why I'm here: to do something, anything, of substance. I try to get up to speed. It's not easy.

I wind up with five 800s. That's not as good as ten (my usual goal number and what I did last week), but it's better than zero. 

Come to think of it, I suppose we can say that about all of my running in the past couple of weeks: better than nothing.

Barely.

Today's "run"

I was going to meet some friends for a group run today, but we decided to cancel due to rain. At some point, the rain appeared to be subsiding, so I went out for a few miles in the hood on my own. I got wet; it wasn't pretty. And I moved slowly. You could hardly even call it a run. That's why I put the word in quotes.

Yesterday's "run" wasn't quite so bad. My friends and I stayed together for nearly 15 miles in and around Chippewa Lake, before they all had to leave. At that point, I only needed 3 more to make it up to 18 miles for the day. That's when my run became a "run". It was slow, but not as bad as today's "run".

I can only hope that tomorrow's run or "run" will be better.

Let's get the flock out of here (Guest post by Grayson Goose)

Why are we here? It's a large, open area, surrounded by a metal structure that we can see through. There is black, bouncy stuff that you can't eat, but it's fun to poop on. Inside that is the "grass". It's the worst-tasting grass I've ever tried. Yet our leader, Gabriella Goose, led us in here. Maybe it was just because we could. Usually, there are no openings, and we have to jump or fly over the metal structure. But today, there's an opening, so we could simply walk in. Since the grass tastes so awful, we just stand on the black part and poop away.

Garrett Goose begins honking. I quickly discern why. One of those big human things is coming toward us on the black surface. He (I think it's a male because he isn't wearing a shirt. And because human females are too smart to be out here on such a hot morning) seems to be "running" between the white lines, even where the black surface curves around. "Everyone, he's not stopping. Better get out of the way!" I honk. We do, but a few of us hiss as he goes by. I wonder if he knows what we're saying in goose-hiss talk. I suggest to Gabriella Goose that perhaps we should vacate this area and go somewhere with edible grass. "No, she says. Instead, let's poop on the black surface some more."

A couple of minutes later, the human comes at us again. This time, he's "running" a little bit faster. It's still not what we would truly call "fast", but I suppose it's all relative. Once again, we honk and hiss and reluctantly get out of his way. I get a better look, and I notice that he doesn't have any hair on top of his head like most humans. He also seems older. And slower.

Gabriella Goose finally begins to guide us back out through the opening. I guess she satisfied herself that we had pooped enough. Tasty grass, here we come! But not before that human comes by yet again. Now we've already begun to filter out, but Garrett Goose and Gavin Goose fly up and over the metal structure.

It feels so good to get away from that guy. "Hey, Gemma, pass the clover."

Grayson Goose

Brunswick Half-Marathon and Run for Roseann

Roseann Peiffer (formerly Roseann Perchinske) ran with us before she moved away about fifteen years ago. I remember that she was training for her first marathon, along with several other friends. She was recently killed in a tragic accident - hit by a car while she was doing something she loved, biking with friends. Today, we held a Run for Roseann event to remember and honor her, for those who knew her as well as for those who did not. I decided to combine the Run for Roseann with the Summer edition of the Brunswick Half-Marathon. 

Roseann's family and close friends showed up, even a couple from Toledo. Together with a bunch of us local runners, we wound up with a huge turnout. Most folks ran around Brunswick Lake, but some of us ran the Brunswick 1/4 Marathon course down to Plum Creek Park and back. There were fewer of us (five in all) who ran a second 6.55-mile loop to complete a half-marathon.

Dan Stock ran fast, and he knew the route, a dangerous combination. He finished first. Chadwick Sunday was just in front of me most of the way. Until we got to the second 1/2-mile loop around Plum Creek. He ran counter-clockwise, whilst I did it clockwise. I spotted him halfway around and tried to give clear directions for getting back. Alas. He got slightly lost anyway. This enabled me, Dan Number Two, to finish second in the race, just under 1:56. Chadwick came in a couple of minutes later, with some extra mileage on his Garmin. Maureen Oblander and Katherine Kinsey completed the race by tying for First Female honors.

Fun stuff. Now, I've got to get serious about this half-marathon stuff. I have four to go before the end of the year.