Final Race for 2011!

Race: BCRR 5.3 Mile Jingle Bell Run by jbaker614 at Garmin Connect - Details

What a beautiful morning it was to run in my FINAL race for 2011! There were blue sunny skies with a temperature of 35 degrees with no wind to speak of. Today was the 2^nd race in the Bucks County Road Runners 2011-2012 Winter Series – 5.3 mile run ("Jingle Bell Run") in Tyler State Park. There were a couple hundred runners this morning and I placed myself in the 9:00 minute pace group, finishing in 43:39 - placing 153th out of 318 runners. That's an 8:15 minute mile! I ran this same course 2 weeks ago during an informal run and today I managed to beat that time by over a minute. So, as my final race for 2011, I was very pleased with my performance.

2011 was my comeback year. After injuring my right foot during the summer of 2010 (a non-running injury I must add), followed by 2 surgeries and 10 weeks of being non-weight bearing, I returned to running just 1 year ago in early December 2010. I was determined to get back on track and re-build my confidence to train for my first full marathon.

Throughout 2011, I ran a total of 19 races. Here's a recap

• Ten 5K Races – PR 24:51
  
• One 5.3 Mile Race
  
• One 10K Race – PR 54:42
  
• One 13K Race – PR 1:10:57
  
• One 10 Mile Race – PR 1:35:54
  
• Three Half Marathons – PR 1:59:02
  
• One 18 Mile Race – PR 3:08:30
  
• One Marathon – PR 4:23:46
  

Next week I will be fulfilling my volunteer obligations with the Bucks County Road Runners during the Tyler Challenge 10K Race on December 18. So, I will be there on the sidelines helping with the logistics. My next opportunity to race will be on January 1, 2012 when I run the Cham-Pain 5K.

Happy and Safe Running!

John

Running and Business Travel

After months of hardly doing any traveling for business, my travel schedule has picked up and I find myself on the road again during the week for the past couple of weeks. I realize now that I was taking so much for granted while I was training for the Philadelphia marathon and my work schedule kept me close to home. Now, I have more planning to do when it comes to packing my suitcase (making sure I have enough changes of running gear for the week) and making sure I select a hotel that has decent exercise facilities. Last week, when I traveled out West, I fully expected to run outside but the Santa Ana winds squashed that plan! Wind gusts up to 80 mph were roaring through Albuquerque so I had to resort to Plan B and do all of my running indoors on the treadmill. This week, I am traveling out West again and will be visiting Denver and the hotel where I am staying has a very nice fitness center.

While traveling, I also have to focus on eating properly and making sure I stay hydrated. In the past, I would always notice, on average, an extra 3 pounds whenever I would return home from a business trip. Part of the challenge of traveling is being away from my routines (bringing my lunch to work every day and making sure I eat plenty of fiber). Fiber and water are my friends when I am on the road. If I neglect these friends while traveling, I tend to suffer the consequences which are a bit uncomfortable J

So, business travel presents some additional challenges for those of us who want to maintain our running schedules while we are out of town. Packing enough of the right gear, selecting a hotel with a decent fitness center, staying hydrated, eating properly and getting enough sleep (especially when there are time zone changes involved) are all factors that need to be taken into consideration to make sure your next business trip doesn't find you holed up in your hotel room watching your favorite news channel and getting depressed over the current state of world economics, the pathetic condition of our political landscape, or the very sad stories of either missing or abused children. Now I realize I have another reason to run!

Happy and Safe Running!
John

Racing Again – Covered Bridge 5K

Today was the official kick-off for the Bucks County Road Runners Winter Series with a pretty tough (hilly) 5K course in Tyler State Park. It was a perfect morning for a race and the turnout was great! I surprised myself with a pretty strong finish, considering the course – finishing in 26:24 (unofficial time – results are yet to be posted). I can definitely see an improvement in my performance as well as how I feel after the faster races. In this race, I managed to kick in strong with the hills and managed to pass some of the 'speedsters' who left me behind during the flat part of the course. My overall place was 144 but I don't know the total number of racers or how I finished in my age group. Hopefully, results will be posted soon.

Next Sunday the series continues with the Jingle Bell 5.3 Mile race. Let's see if our luck continues with the weather so we can have another perfectly beautiful running day!

Happy and Safe Running!
John