The start of a long racing season

So it has been months since I’ve last posted. This winter has been exceptionally challenging for me. The combination of injuries, weather, and the let down of Chicago has made the past couple of months tough from a running stand point. Sitting down and writing about “hardships” isn’t exactly fun, hence the lack of posts.

I use quotations around the word “hardships”, cause we all know that these issue are not truly “hardships”. Hardships are losing your job, house, or having sick family members.

It is all about perspective.

While I really didn’t race that much this winter (or at all – I went from Thanksgiving to the first week in March without a race), it was not all for naught. I had been nursing a knee injury, ever since the marathon. Patella tendonitis to be exact, which is just about cleared up now. It is an inflammatory issue that still bugs me from time to time, so the more/harder I run on it, the more it hurts.

The combination of the injury, and a desire to simply want to change things up, I have taken a different approach to training lately – lower mileage (70-80 miles per week), but higher intensity. I am now working out two days a week, regardless of how early I have to wake up during the week to get it in before work. I am taking “easy” days when I won’t run a second under 7:00 minute pace. I’ll have hard, progressive run days where I start at 6:50 pace, and end at 5:40 pace.

Every day has a purpose.

E Murray Finish - A nice 13.1 mile tour of Lincroft

Racing has picked up over the last couple of weeks with the E. Murray Todd Half-Marathon the first week of March, and the Haddonfield Adrenaline 5k this past weekend. The 1/2 marathon turned into a tempo run at 5:30 pace, and I was completely out of my element in the 5k. Regardless, both were solid efforts, and have gotten me excited again to race.

I would bore everyone with a race report on the 1/2 marathon, but the 5k was quite the experience. I had raced down there in 2009 and finished up 4th in 14:47. This year, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, as I was a bit rusty from not really racing since November, and the 5k for me, right now, is extremely short.

Race day always involves an early wake up, and this past Saturday was no different. Up at 5AM and on the road by 5:30 – all for a race that would last around 15-minutes. My old Monmouth buddy, Pete Forgach (previously mentioned in this blog, but I’m sure it was months ago), met me at my place and we made our way down to Haddonfield still in the dark.

Upon arrival we met up with a bunch of guys to warm up – training partner and friend Tim Mulligan, my Villanova roommate Marc Pelerin, Haddonfield/Tennessee alum Chris Platt, LaSalle High School coach Greg Bielecki, and the brothers Callinan (Tim and Ted). It is always great coming down to south Jersey to race, as it not only gives me an opportunity to get into a solid race, but I get to catch up with some friends that I normally don’t see.

After the warm up, the realization hit me that I had to run a 5k – something that I haven’t done in nearly a year.

Complements of Marc's Mom

The race went off around 9AM, and a group of us were out in the first mile around 4:45. The eventual winner, Mike McKeeman, was already off and gone – he would end up run 14:26 solo from the gun. A very impressive run.

The race for “the best of the rest” was on.

We slowed down a little, and came through the 2-mile marker at 9:50. The wind had picked up quite a bit and the group was about 7-8 guys. As we crested the hill just past the 2-mile marker, there are two sharp turns – this is where the pack would break up.  I knew this would be the point in the race where I could bag it, or sack up, deal with the pain and finish the race strong.

Overall, I hung on for a 4th place finish in a time of 15:12.  Not exactly as fast as I was looking for, but an honest effort for my first road 5k in a year.  It felt good to get back out and compete again.

I am looking forward to seeing how the new training pans out of the course of the next couple of weeks/months.  Next on the schedule is the Scotland Run 10k in Central Park, April 10th.  Until then, a couple of more weeks of training, and the start of the baseball season – can not wait!

- Craig

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