An Open Letter to my Neighbor

Dear Sir,

I know, you love your dog. That's nice. While I will profess to being a "cat person," and all that this entails, I feel a compulsive need to point out to you as I see you walking your beloved canine in my neighborhood, that your dog doesn't need a sweater.

It really doesn't.

I don't know if you're aware of this, or understand the adaptive nature of mammalian evolution, but your dog was born with a coat of fur designed for this very task. Keeping your pet warm in colder weather, that is.

So, having said that, putting a sweater on your dog is akin to putting a feathered boa on a parakeet.

I'd like to believe the best about you, and your motivations, and what you do on your own time and in your own private life. Unfortunately for you, I have to assume that your real intent of putting a sweater on your dog is that you can have a romantic moment later, when you slowly and cinematically undress your dog in an homage to the wedding night scene with Al Pacino and his Sicilian wife in the first "Godfather" movie.

The Ten 5k Challenge, Race #7 Recap: ARC Race

Yesterday was my 7th 5k of 2010. This is the ARC race, the 16th annual and one of the larger 5k races in the area in terms of participation. ARC is a local charity in support of people with developmental disabilities, and they draw a good crowd. Last year's results told me two things: one, that they would draw more than 500 people, and two, that I could finish near the front of the pack based on the course and my recent race times. I went in confident.

The weather was pristine -- sunny and warm but not hot. We had several rainy, cruddy days leading up race day and the forecast is calling for several more in the upcoming days, so this was a window of niceness in the middle of it. The course is run across two local parks that are just 5 minutes from my home -- it starts in one park, crosses a single-lane bridge that is at the crest of a decent sized hill, and then runs to another park for about a mile and a half and then back again. So we hit the bridge/hill twice, once a minute in and once near the end. The majority of this run, the entire second park, is flat and fast. I know every turn and bend of it, too, as this is where I run much of the time.

I got to the park only to realize that I had forgotten my wrist watch. I considered driving home for it but I thought parking was only going to get hairier, so I decide to just run based on feel and not worry about my splits.

There's no chip reader at the starting line, and so I realize that there will only be gun times. Knowing that I should be in the top 20% of finishers, I make my way towards the front and start about 5 rows deep. And we're off!

I hit the bridge and hill at a good clip and find a steady rhythm. No pains or even nagging injuries to bother me and it's smooth sailing. There's a water stop at about the .8 mile mark, I don't even try to drink them anymore. I dump 100% of it on my head and keep on going. I hit the turn and feel like I'm going at a steady pace.

About 10 seconds after I hit the turn, and I'm headed back towards the finish, I see my nemesis! The guy who caught me at the Beaver Lake 5k and again at the Inner Harbor 5k, and he's close enough that he could catch me with a late burst. From here on in, every time someone gets close to passing me I turn around expecting to see him. At about the 2.5 mile mark I ease up a bit, I'm a little gassed and I am trying to save something for the bridge/hill at the end. When I hit it I am able to shoot past a couple of runners. A summer of running hills in the heat and I've noticed that I tend to hit the hills better than some of the more casual runners I am running against.

The finish line is through the parking lot, I hit the home stretch and I can see that the clock is just turned past 23 minutes. I know that I'm on a good pace, close to what I ran two weeks ago. I push with what I have left and cross at 23:37 gun time. My frienemy, whom I saw last at the turn, never caught me. I wait and see that he crossed a full 75 seconds later. I say hello to him and find out that he pulled his hamstring after the turn and eased up for the last half of the race. Still, it's good to see him and his friend, now I've seen these guys at the last three races.

I finished 68th out of 592 runners, and fifth out of 21 in my M35-39 age bracket. Not fast enough to win a medal, but still quite proud of myself. It's my fastest race time ever and also, percentage wise, my best finish of the year. Next race is this coming Sunday, at the same park. Not sure how much overlap between that race and the one I just ran, but hopefully the weather and results repeat themselves.

The Ten 5k Challenge, Race #6 Recap: Inner Harbor 5k

One week ago I ran the second annual "Inner Harbor 5k" in downtown Syracuse, to benefit some charity I never heard of before. Whatever... I pick them for the dates (preferring Sunday morning events) and proximity to my house. Well, it's evident when I drive downtown that they don't have a good handle on this thing. They identified the area where the race is but not where to park, and when I arrive 45 minutes before the race starts (and 15 minutes before the race-day registration and packet pick-up ends), a smarmy cop tells me that I'm running late and reluctantly lets me park near the race start. Whatever, officer. Get out of my grill.

The packet pick up is a mess - they've mis-allocated the dispensing of free shirts, and all that are left are XL sizes. It's a nice shirt, too, a tech shirt, of which I only have one other. Right when I get there they start dipping into the shirts that they were SUPPOSED to give out the day prior at pre-race packet pickup, except they weren't ready at that point either. I luck into a size L, a little long for me but wearable (and nice).

Then, they have signs pointing to the start area, except they point in two different directions. Sloppy. I run into the two guys I spoke to at the Beaver Lake 5k two weeks prior, both age 51 (according to their bibs) and including the guy who caught me and passed me at the finish line at that race. It's nice to have someone to gab with pre-race as the wife and kids are home in their pajamas.

Weather is great, sunny, a little warm but not stifling. And we're off!

Running through the streets of downtown Syracuse, I notice that some of the streets are in need of patchwork and there are some small to medium sized potholes. I manage to avoid injury (I found out later that two runners fell and hurt themselves in potholes) and the crowd thins out. I'm running at a good pace, mostly shade in the first mile, and the one graybeard who I was talking to I pass at about the quarter mile mark. My calf still is tight but it's not really affecting my stride or speed. It's just there.

No markers at either the first or second mile. So I have no clue where my pace is. The first half of the race is mostly on shaded streets and it's cool and comfortable. Then, about 12-13 minutes in, that ends and it's all sunshine. It feels good but I am heating up. A single water stop at about the 15 minute mark, and it's not particularly cool water. Blecch.

Finally, at mile 3 they have a sign and I see from my watch that I'm about 22:45 in. Which is solid, I'm just off my personal race best of 23:39 from Reston, VA on July 4th. I find a little juice and start to kick, and it's a straight shot from the 3 mile sign to the finish. Then I hear footsteps, and I know it's the same guy who caught me at Beaver Lake. He's going to pass me again, the bastard! I try and kick but he's gaining on me, and catches me.

I tell him, fairly winded, "Oh, you're going to do this to me again!" He smiles and eases up just a bit and we cross at identical times, 23:40. We finished 41st and 42nd out of 225 runners, and I finished 7th out of 26 men in the 30-39 age bracket. One second off of my personal best race time and I'm happy with it. I say farewell to my two new race friends (the other guy finished around 26:15 or so) and head home.

I was very happy with my showing, the course was nice and I would run it again. They had so many issues that the race organizer sent an email out the following Monday apologizing for all that went wrong, most of which pertained to the kids' fun run at 8:30. They've got 12 months to fix it for next year.

Next race is this upcoming Saturday, the annual 5k Arc race. Last year close to 600 people ran it, I do enjoy a big crowd like that.Congrats on your long run MF! Good for you.

I never wrote my race report for 5k #6.

So this was the second annual "Inner Harbor 5k" in downtown Syracuse, to benefit some charity I never heard of before. Whatever... I pick them for the dates (preferring Sunday morning events) and proximity to my house. Well, it's evident when I drive downtown that they don't have a good handle on this thing. They identified the area where the race is but not where to park, and when I arrive 45 minutes before the race starts (and 15 minutes before the race-day registration and packet pick-up ends), a smarmy cop tells me that I'm running late and reluctantly lets me park near the race start. Whatever, officer. Get out of my grill.

The packet pick up is a mess - they've mis-allocated the dispensing of free shirts, and all that are left are XL sizes. It's a nice shirt, too, a tech shirt, of which I only have one other. Right when I get there they start dipping into the shirts that they were SUPPOSED to give out the day prior at pre-race packet pickup, except they weren't ready at that point either. I luck into a size L, a little long for me but wearable (and nice).

Then, they have signs pointing to the start area, except they point in two different directions. Sloppy. I run into the two guys I spoke to at the Beaver Lake 5k two weeks prior, both age 51 (according to their bibs) and including the guy who caught me and passed me at the finish line at that race. It's nice to have someone to gab with pre-race as Fwife and Fkids are home in their pajamas.

Weather is great, sunny, a little warm but not stifling. And we're off!

Running through the streets of downtown Syracuse, I notice that some of the streets are in need of patchwork and there are some small to medium sized potholes. I manage to avoid injury and the crowd thins out. I'm running at a good pace, mostly shade in the first mile, and the one graybeard who I was talking to I pass at about the quarter mile mark. My calf still is tight but it's not really affecting my stride or speed. It's just there.

No markers at either the first or second mile. So I have no clue where my pace is. The first half of the race is mostly on shaded streets and it's cool and comfortable. Then, about 12-13 minutes in, that ends and it's all sunshine. It feels good but I am heating up. A single water stop at about the 15 minute mark, and it's not particularly cool water. Blecch.

Finally, at mile 3 they have a sign and I see from my watch that I'm about 22:40 in. Which is solid, I'm just off my personal race best of 23:39 from Reston, VA on July 4th. I find a little juice and start to kick, and it's a straight shot from the 3 mile sign to the finish. Then I hear footsteps, and I know it's the same guy who caught me at Beaver Lake. He's going to pass me again, the bastard! I try and kick but he's gaining on me, and catches me.

I tell him, fairly winded, "Oh, you're going to do this to me again!" He smiles and eases up just a bit and we cross at identical times, 23:40. We finished 41st and 42nd out of 225 runners, and I finished 7th out of 26 men in the 30-39 age bracket. One second off of my personal best race time and I'm happy with it. I say farewell to my two new race friends (the other guy finished around 26:15 or so) and head home.

I was very happy with my showing, the course was nice and I would run it again. They had so many issues that the race organizer sent an email out the following Monday apologizing for all that went wrong, most of which pertained to the kids' fun run at 8:30. They've got 12 months to fix it for next year.

Next race is this upcoming Saturday, the annual 5k Arc race. Last year close to 600 people ran it, I do enjoy a big crowd like that.