Craig's OTHER List: March 2019

Over the last few weeks the amount of daylight has increased ever so slowly as I'm seeing the sun earlier when getting ready for work and it lingering a bit longer when I arrive home. I even get to experience pieces of the fading dry heave of sunshine on afternoon training runs. As a result I find myself dreaming of warmer spring days and comfortable summer afternoons. The disappointment sets in when you realize 2019 is still wet behind the years.

Though, we just turned over to March! Spring begins in March, we "spring forward" with the time change this month, NCAA March Madness goes wall-to-wall and here in Central Ohio we also get the annual Arnold Sports Festival: The IFBB Arnold Sports Festival, also known as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival, is an annual multi-sport event consisting of professional bodybuilding, strongman, fitness, figure and bikini weekend expo. It was established in 1989 and is named after Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Aside from the festival's numerous sports and sporting events, there is also a 5k Pump & Run (a combination of bench press reps & your 5k time) and a simple 5k. Years ago when I was living in Columbus (March 2012 to be exact) - on whim - I decided to sign up for the 5k despite not having run a lick in several years and mainly because I lived a bit more than a mile from the start & finish line. I had a little less than two weeks to get some running in and did so without too much pain and suffering, circling Goodale Park and cruising the Victorian Village neighborhood while trying to figure life out.

On the day of the event, I was pretty stoked and it made it that much more exciting when The Terminator himself was on hand to welcome the field of competitors and fire the starting pistol (well, he wasn't dressed as "The Terminator", but it was Arnold). You can imagine the amount of adrenaline running through your veins with that atmosphere. I remember taking off relatively fast headed south from the north end of the Greater Columbus Convention Center along High Street towards downtown and Nationwide Boulevard, a distance of maybe a third of a mile. Before I could get into some sort of rhythm my legs turned into lead weights. Surprisingly, my two weeks of training left something to be desired. Like, you know, more than 14 days of practice.

The calendar says it was seven years
ago. It feels like a lifetime ago.

Though I didn't completely die. I did put forth effort to be competitive with what I had to work with - finishing 88th out of 688 with a time of 22:34. Reaching the finish line, I remember waving off the folks attempting to hand me water as I'm sucking air and went straight for the donut truck offering free coffee instead (and donuts). The girl behind the counter did an excellent job of deciphering my energy depleted groans and hand signals that it was coffee I was looking for. It hit the spot more on the cloudy 30 degree day than anything else. Later on, my friend Dickey (a trainer) and I browsed the fitness expo coming away with loads of freebies and samples with my stick figure frame standing out among the crowd of toned (and overly toned) men and women.

And here we are seven years later and I'm not an out of shape 36 year-old jumping into a race because I need a distraction from life's mounting pitfalls. I'm 43 and in need of a training break as the third installment of The Buck Fifty - Southern Ohio's 150 mile, 24 hour, 10 person team relay - is on the April horizon. Oh, and Dickey is still a fitness fanatic, but also a successful commercial actor. He's the bearded dude in this Miracle-Gro Twelve Indoor Growing System IndieGoGo campaign video. Just one of the promos he's appeared in for a variety of products and businesses over the last few years. It cracks me up when I happen to catch him in some random television ad now and then. In my mind we (along with Highlander, Nicole & others) are still drinking beers and killing Steve's Columbus Trivia Challenge on Sunday Nights at Hamptons On King.

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I would be returning to the circling of Goodale Park and the cruising of Victorian Village, but this time with purpose and a few things figured out. This event would also also kick off the 2019 RUNOHIO Grand Prix Series. With The Buck Fifty Traffic Panther Teammate Gary entering the Pump & Run portion of the event, this would be my first race since joining him as a member of Columbus Running Company's Westerville Advance Training Team. It kind of made sense, since I've been competing with/against those guys for the better part of the last two years. Maybe I can avoid laying a giant egg the first time out.

It was cool on this day and not crazy cold. When the time arrived we wandered outside the convention center as safety forces began redirecting traffic and opening up the race route. A few warm up sprints on High Street brought back a variety of memories, though the surrounding landscape has changed dramatically.

At the gun I'm reminded of how heavy the legs felt after a minute or two the last time I ran this race. No such happening this time around and I'm going a little fast, but not so fast that I'm attempting to win it all right then and there. We turn right onto Nationwide Boulevard and watch as the safety forces are pulling the traffic barrier out of our way, they apparently forgot to remove once the race began. A second right turn onto Front Street and a handful of us are trailing a smaller, much faster, group.

Front Street evolves into Park Street as we pass North Market and roll by Goodale Park. I seem to be hanging with this group well enough knowing I'll be drifting back before too long. I notice one of those guys who jumped out front at the start is now falling back rapidly, I'm hoping he was just being the rabbit and wasn't being overzealous (Oh, I know exactly how that feels). At the mile mark I hear 5:26 and wholly crap, I am going way to fast.

The too fast first mile

I fall off the pace just a bit, but I work on keeping the legs long and in rhythm. This is what practice does for you and it is great training for those longer races. We turn left onto 1st Avenue, then a second left on Dennison Avenue to head back to Goodale Park. Just as I reach the park I hear some onlookers shout, "Looking good! Go get 'em!", referring to the pack I had been running with who aren't all that far away now. I'm a little beyond what I'm used, so simply maintaining is what I'm focusing on.

We turn left onto Goodale Street for a nice incline and here I get passed by another dressed in a CRC Westerville singlet. I get a quick, "Let's go man" as he conquers the incline. At mile two I'm at 11:29 and I'm sort of impressed with myself as the second mile was obviously slower, but I'll take the 6:02. We return to Park Street and turn right. Moments before we turn right onto Vine Street, another passes by but I don't feel as if I've slowed all that much. Working on keep my stride long I cruise the welcomed downhill, but those in front are getting further away. That's what happens when you go out too fast, your tank is nearing empty on the back end.

Finishing -
Thanks Fairfield Photography, LLC

Turning left onto Convention Center Drive and we are on the uphill home stretch. I'm not being passed and the legs & arms are pumping along and I wonder where I am time wise. I ignore glancing at my watch as to avoid breaking the nice rhythm I've been able to keep up. Turning left onto East Goodale Street and my watch vibrates, indicating mile three. Then I see the clock in the distance, it's at 17:50-something. Damn, I'm going to be short of 18:00. Though, much closer than I have been in years. I cross the finish at 18:13 and in 13th place.

Wandering around trying to catch my breath and the CRC Westerville-clad cohort comes over. It's John and we are acquaintances in the fact that I finish behind him, by a little or a lot, all the time. With a half-cracked smile he says, "Your first mile was fast, like 5:20-something". I follow with, "I know. It's a habit I'm having a hard time trying to break." Looking at the finishing times, if I hadn't gone out so fast I more than likely would have had something more at the end to reach that 18:00 barrier. One of these days I'm going reel in that first mile energy, though this was a better race than the one back in 2012.

At L's suggestion, we swung by an hold haunt of mine - Katalina's Cafe - before heading home and she experienced for the first time Pancake Balls, having them filled with Dulce de leche. I had a breakfast sandwich complete with Katalina’s Original Sweet ‘N’ Spicy Bacon and it was just as I remembered. They were bursting at the seams when we arrived, but we didn't mind waiting for our to-go order as it was well worth the wait. We need to go back as soon as we can and highly recommend a visit.

Post race at Katalina's

So L & I bought a ton of seeds and spent the afternoon starting them in our own growing operation in our basement complete with a grow light and warming pad. Despite our pushing the envelope by planning this year's garden, the warmer weather is still patiently awaiting it's 2019 debut. I'm also getting a little tired of having to dig up the hats, gloves, reflective gear and Knuckle Lights for nearly every training run, but we do "spring" forward one hour this Sunday and the late day sun is going to rock for the next six months!

I know warmer weather is on it's way, but I have no more patience for winter. Your time's up man and I'm ready to get this thing rolling...

Summer's Coming - Andy Shaw Band

So summer's Coming at the winters edge

And everything is fine with such a narrow ledge

But can't you see what's buried under our feet

Just a million miles of bitterness stemming from their souls

So tell me now what my future holds

And make me feel the days were better before me

And don't let the time turn without humanity

Just make them realize how to compromise, rise above the lies

So make me feel like I'm a man again

Til the daylight returns to the ones that I love

Cuz I don't wanna feel alone again