NOCC Run for the Whisper 5K

15:31, 5th Place Overall

3-25-2006; Coconut Creek, Florida (6:30PM) ~windy
SPLITS- 4:55ish, 10:00, 5:31 (1.1 miles = 5:00 pace)

* I guess I wrote it earlier today, "I'll take anything under 15:40," and so, I'll take it. I felt really well after this morning's 5 Mile race, in the legs. I was able to nap for 30-minutes, then spent the day with Perla, Madelyn, and my older brother, Alex, at his home in Pembroke Pines, throwing rocks in the water with Madelyn and squishing tadpoles between our fingers. Okay, not really, Perla didn't let me show Madelyn how to squish tadpoles (they're slippery!). But it was a relaxing afternoon in the sun until race-time, once again.

So, I show up and start my warm-up, and I actually am quite sore and tired. I'm a little worried about my right ankle/foot as it aches, but I do a really slow, 20-minute warm-up just to get some blood flowing. As I am running, I notice the regulars. As sh!t attracts flies, so does a money race, and I buzzed my wings over to this one for the experience. This race was awarding $750 for 1st, then $500, $300, $150, $75 for the Top 5. A lot of money for 15-minutes of work.

Warming-up, I note undefeated road king, Ryan Woods (former NC State and Farm Team member) of Daytona Beach, who has probably racked up over $4,000 in two month's work (losing only once in a 10K in Alabama to Michael Green). Kenayn Paul Mwangi was gingerly warming up his spindly legs. Fellow Kenyan Mike Korir was visible. Josh Brashears was making an appearance (he placed 3rd last year for $300). Master freak, 46-year old Phillip Watkins, was also in the running. Ah, and finally, the legend, Ronnie Holassie arrived, fresh off of a 1:06 Half Marathon in Virginia Beach, in which he closed with a 29:50 last 10K. And so, the Usual Suspects would line up, and I was sure to watch from behind...

Chatting up, pre-race, with local road king, Ryan Woods.

Gun goes off and the race is expecting a sub-15 minute clocking with this lineup. I go out as best I can on dead legs, and am in 7th place behind all the guys I just mentioned above. I feel like I'm running well, but as we approach the Mile, I am a good 50-meters back, as they passed in about 4:40, I passed closer to 4:55. I start catching Brashears and start working my way to Watkins. However, before I make contact with Watkins, the fatigue from this morning's effort hits me and I start to struggle. We turn onto 2 miles with the lead pack of 4 long gone, but I have Watkins, or "Mr. $75" ahead of me as I pass in 10:00. Good pace. However, I can't really gain on him, though he keeps looking back. We finally hit a hairpin turnaround at 2.5 miles and are forced to a walk, and we come off it clean and even, but he surges. Argh, he has more left. I start working on my game plan. When can or should I go? How fast is Watkins, someone whom I usually never race because I am usually fresher and ahead. He has run 15:19 this year. So, with 2.75 miles I take off. Completely! I think he's broken, but he's coming back on me. I hit the turn towards the 3 mile mark and he's very close. I mean, I am almost going all-out and this 46-year old is hawking me down! My goal is to get to the 3-mile mark in the lead and then just sprint whatever I have left, hoping my right leg cooperates. I make it up (slight rise) to the 3-mile mark one-step ahead of Watkins, this veteran giving me a run, literally, for the money. And I sprint.. arms flailing, legs flying, trying to get away from him. I don't know what else I can or how much faster I can run. Finally, I hear the announcer comment that I will get the final money spot. I cross the line thanking my track workout and relatively young legs. Watkins finishes in 15:35. Not too shabby for the 46-year old, but he seemed upset I would kick so hard for the money. Come on, now!

Ryan Woods won in a kick over Ronnie Holassie, 14:40 to 14:43. Mike Korir placed 3rd in 14:50. Paul Mwangi faded and placed 4th in 15:24. Great race. Great depth. Brashears would get 7th in 16:12.

Post-race was great. This was perhaps the best road race I have been to in terms of bang for the buck. For my $20 entry fee, my daughter got to ride a pony, play in several jumping gyms and castles, free cotton-candy, free popcorn, we had a free barbeque dinner. Free drinks. Free food. Free donuts. Free face-painting. Free everything. It was pretty much a free carnival. Madelyn even got a free watch and two nice purses full of goodies! Wow. And, I won $75. Geez.

Little Miss Madelyn trying to get bucked off like Nancy

Riverwalk Run 5 Mile

25:46, 1st Place Overall

3-25-2006; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (7:00AM) ~windy
SPLITS- 5:07, 10:17 (5:10), 15:28 (5:10), 20:40 (5:12), 5:04

* Very pleased with this effort. Wanted to run, 1) smart, 2) strong and 3) fast. Smart, as in that I wanted to go out relaxed and comfortable, yet within my powers. Strong, in that, I wanted to not fade as the race progressed. And, fast, as in, I wanted to run around 5-minute pace.

As I head off to the race, I get a last-second e-mail from Irish Joe Monks, warning me of a huge money race at Tradewinds Park at 6:30PM tonight and that I should by-pass this 5-Miler. Well, a cold front (70's) had moved in, and so instead of bailing on the 5-Miler, I figured this would be a great opportunity for a super-compensation day. Run 5 Miles at Marathon Pace (5:25-5:30) or better, and then come back 12 hours later for a 5K at the same, if not, much better pace. Thus, I would have 8 miles of faster than Marathon pace in the bag and close to 20 miles on the day.

So... with that in mind, I played it extra safe this morning. Went out relaxed, like a strong jog behind two Runner's Depot athletes, one with which I was familiar, a South African Triathlon stud that won the A1A Half Marathon in 72-minutes the day I won the full, and the other runner I was not sure about (ends up he's training for Boston as well). Anyway, I keyed off of them the first mile, which was surprisingly passed in 5:05 or so and I was proud that I kept the effort and did not press. I figured, a couple of more 5:05's and no one should be left. That wasn't the case. By two miles in 10:15, the tall (6'3?) South African was still "leading" and looking comfortable, so I accelerated a little and took the lead. He followed. We wound our way around the course, with myself keeping the pace honest and the South African using his Triathlete skills to the max, drafting off of me perfectly in the 10+mph gusty winds. I ran into a little trouble by 3 miles on a minor downhill (not a good sign for Boston, by the way) - it was a big speedbump in a neighborhood - but I relaxed and just kept it going.

Finally, we turned onto the final mile with 5K runners running opposite of us and I just took off, needing to break the Triathlete before the final major climb up the causeway because I feared 1) with his cycling background, he would be stronger on the ups, and 2) being so tall he could pull away from me on the downhill and there was something about him that I did not want to get into a kick with him... plus, I had the 5K later tonight to save for. Thankfully, my surge worked perfectly and I attacked the bridge well, ran down it okay, and finished strongly in 5:05 or so to gap him by almost 20-seconds in the last mile.

A fun race and a fun finish. It has been a while since I have been pressed and dogged an entire race, but I was proud to have come through the battle the victor, as I kept reminding myself, I am the runner, he is the triathlete."

So, we shall see where tonight leaves us... I'll take anything under 15:40..

Boston Marathon Bib Number, 1065

And so, it has been announced: my bib number for the Boston Marathon is number, 1065.

Just amazing the tradition with Boston, as my entry time was a 2:31:18 from the 2005 Houston Marathon, and yet, I am ranked in the thousands! So, I did a little research in seeing what have been the best performances by a bib number so high, a bib number, 1065.

And these have been the results since 2001-

2:40:54 (2001), Cameron C. Dauler (29) of Boston, MA, placed 147th Overall
2:49:58 (2005), Juan M. Alvarado (40) of Torreon, Mexico, placed 241st Overall
2:50:37 (2003), Mark A. Godale (32) of Streetsboro, OH, placed 221st Overall
2:55:10 (2002), Tracy J. Hellman (26) of Sioux Falls, SD, placed 677th Overall
2:56:19 (2004), Trevor Marca (26) of Burbank, CA, placed 220th Overall

So, my goal is to at least run under 2:40 and finish in the Top 100 and I would satsify my bib seeding/ranking. Obviously, I have higher expectations, but this is what the Boston Marathon expects from me, performance-wise, based on past results, or else they would have assigned me a lower bib number, or just that about a thousand sub-2:31 guys entered, which I hope is the case. There is nothing worse than running in no-man's land in the Marathon.

UltraSound

Above is our little peanut... in the center of the circle are two brighter whites... that's his/her heart beating frantically. The Dr. believes that the baby is closer to 7 weeks old, rather than Perla's best estimate of 8 weeks. We have a follow-up UltraSound on April 3rd to confirm the age and get a better picture of the little guy/girl. Perla will have another Cesarian, so expect a baby in close to 30 weeks or early November, like Mommy.

Boston Marathon Track Workout

Wednesday, 3-22-2006

Goal Workout
2 mile warm-up
5 x 100m strides
4 x 1600m in 4:56 with 4.5' recovery jog
2 mile cool-down

Actual Workout Performance
4:57, 4:55, 4:54, 4:52

Boston Marathon Long Run

Monday, 3-20-2006
21 miles in 2:09:15 with pick ups of 1', 1', 5', 1', 1', 5' en route every 10' after 35' of running leaving 9' or 5' recoveries

Ocean Drive 5K Pictures

Man, gotta love pictures adding weight. I look huge!! Must be all the lifting from work... :)

http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=10642&PWD=&BIB=899

University of Miami Hurricane Invitational

15:08.12, 3rd Place Overall

3-18-2006; Coral Gables, Florida (6:25PM)
SPLITS- 37, 1:51 (1:13), 3:02 (1:11), 4:15 (1:13), 4:51, 5:27 (1:12), 6:40 (1:13), 7:53 (1:13), 9:06 (1:13), 10:20 (1:14), 11:34 (1:14), 12:47 (1:13), 13:58 (1:11), 1:10 ~ all estimates from video

* Was going to write that this race was a poor, poor, effort, but I cannot honestly say that because I gave a heck of an effort. I simply was not recovered from my 20-mile long run on Monday and especially my hellacious track workout on Wednesday that totalled 105-minutes and 7 miles of interval work. I believe I would have had a better race if I had been able to get some rest pre-race, but I had to work the FIU vs. Manhattan baseball game from 12:00-4:00pm. My body was begging for a nap all day, but I didn't let it. Anyhow, this is how the race played out:

I was the top seed based on my entry (14:50), and so I was given Lane 1. When the gun sounded, I should have sprinted to establish position, but already showing the sluggishness that I felt in my warm-up, I did not take off, and got pushed back to the end of the field. I had forgotten how physical track was and these 20-year old kids wanted position. After a slow, 38-second opening 200 in which I ran in Lane 4 to get around the field of 20, I took the lead to establish a good pace. I came through 600m in 1:50 (:73) and we started running strongly, but I was soon passed coming through the first kilometer in 3:02 (:71). I believe I passed the Mile, in about 4-5th place in 4:50, and already the effort seemed too fast for what the watch was saying- I was just not recovered- I had now power. Just earlier in the week I was able to run sub-4:50 pace comfortably for 7 miles in training, anyhow...

The 2000m split was right at 6:00 (3:00), but I continued to run in Lane 2 and force the pace at times, but I would continually be cut-off by a Miami runner who ended up dropping out at 3K and messing up the tactics of the race. That's another story for another day. Anyway, I continued to struggle, running 73's for each 400m circuit, falling well beind the leaders in about 4-5th through 3000m in 9:06 (3:05) and 3200m in 9:40. By now I was in 4th place, with a bunch of same-team runners leading and still running 73's. By this point, my left leg completely fatigued and I started clipping my right calf with my left spike, quite painfully.

At this point I really wanted to drop out. The fatigue and pain was too much, but the deal with track racing is that you are completely exposed. Every one can see your every move, your every flaw. I passed through 4K in 12:08 (3:02) and moved into 3rd place, chasing the leaders, having fits of energy and then depression. My form was completely off and horrible. I must have looked ugly out there, swimming in water. But, finally, with 500 to go I caught the leader and we approached 400m to go at the line, but I really was only a poser in play. I made a decent effort with 350m to go, but the Wayne State duo responded nicely, and passing 3 miles in 14:35, I just finished up as best I could, throwing in the towel, so to speak, because I was beaten.

I finished in 15:08.12, behind a 15:06 and a 15:03 from the winner. It all came down to turnover and these 20-year olds training for track and not the Boston Marathon that had speed in their legs and not 90-mile weeks and did nothing but sit around and sleep all day while I worked (like all my excuses?) put 2-5 seconds on me in the final quarter. At least I closed in 2:21 for my final 800 meters, but, alas, it was not enough. Would really like to race again on the track, but it will have to wait until after Boston. All I can take away from this race is a personal best in Miami for a 5000m track race (they're usually all 80-degrees/80% humidity death marches and windy). I think my previous best was 15:23, though I did run a 15:12 at USF in college. Anyhow...

Onto Boston...

Monty's

The Rodriguez Family out and about in Miami...

Go the Distance Sports

Check out http://www.gothedistancesports.com for an Article I wrote about Life Beyond High School Athletics and an Interview I gave. This is a great site by an up-and-coming great American runner named Tom Kutter, who placed 2nd at the ING Half Marathon in 1:09:45.

Boston Marathon Track Workout

Wednesday, 3-15-2006

Goal Workout
2 mile warm-up, 5 x 100m strides
2 x 2k, 3200, 2 x 2k with 5', 6', 6', 5' recovery jogs
4 mile cool-down

Goal Paces
6:10, 10:20, 6:10

Actual Workout Performance
6:11, 6:14, 10:29, 6:12, 6:07

Boston Marathon Long Run

Monday, 3-13-2006
20 miles in 2:04:35 with pick ups of 1', 1', 5', 1', 1', 5' en route every 10' leaving me with either 9' or 5' recovery after 35' of running.

* Hammered from the gun as I had not run much over the weekend due to work and felt a bit weak in the legs from atrophy, but I hit 51-minutes of my first 8 mile loop, then 48 on my second 8 mile loop and finished up with a 25-minute deathmarch last 4 miles in close to 90-degree heat and humidity. I was absolute toast when I was done... as I changed about two-tones darker on the run (my first without a shirt for the middle, it was so hot) and ended up sitting in the pool, legs over the edge, chugging a 2-Liter bottle of Dr. Pepper just to hydrate and get some sugars since I ran out of Gatorade. Ugh. Didn't feel like eating anything until 2pm. Will attempt 4 miles this PM in the heat, if motivated and recovered.

Ocean Drive 5K

15:45, 1st Place Overall / Course Record

3-11-2006; Miami Beach, Florida (8:30AM) ~ 85-degrees, 10+ mph headwind
SPLITS- 4:51, 10:01 (5:10), 15:13 (5:11), :32

* Geez, pretty poor performance. I just completely fell apart after a mile and a half. I was expecting to blast a low-15 minute performance, and went out way too hard with a slight tail/crosswind. I noticed my breathing was quite ragged within 400 meters and knew I was in for a long day given the conditions. It was brutal out there. My first real "hot" race of the season, and I have not yet acclimated. For one, I completely over-heated and pretty much ran on one leg the final 2 miles, as my left leg seized up on me due to either not enough rest (working way too many hours), not enough mileage (see prior), crown on the road, and/or just because it seized on me on Tuesday after my long run while watching TV, so it was weak leading up to the race.

Anyhow, this complete lack of a confidence booster has brought me back down to reality and I really need to be getting in the mileage and especially my track workouts. Races are not enough. I would rather be tired from a track workout than fresh for a race. I pretty much threw in the towel at 2 miles when I could no longer muster the fight into the headwind. I have yet to sub-15:40 on a Miami Beach course yet. The wind is just too much and perhaps I'm too light at 120-something pounds. I don't know.

Next time out, I assure you I will have plenty of miles in my legs as I am started to really focus in on Boston. Let us hope for some nice weather and not Miami Beach weather in March...

Be Yourself

But to be yourself is all that you can do

To be yourself is all that you can do

-Audioslave

Boston Marathon Long Run

Tuesday, 3-07-2006
22 miles in 2:23:32 with pick-ups of 1', 1', 13', 1', '1, 3' en route every 10' after 60' of running

St. Paddy's Day 4 Miler

19:56, 1st Place Overall / Course Record & Personal Road Best

3-05-2006; Coconut Creek, Florida (7:15AM)
SPLITS- 5:04, 10:05 (5:01), 15:00 (4:55), 4:54

* Once again, a big mental debate whether to race or not, but I figured I had 36 hours of rest after my 24:36 at Calle Ocho on Friday night, so I squeezed in an 8-mile run at 6:30 pace on Sat. morning, and then worked the baseball game at mid-day before driving up to my brother's place in Pembroke Pines for the night.

Awoke quite tired and we arrived a bit late to the start, so my warm-up was quite limited. It consisted of about 10 minutes of jogging, stretching and strides. My right quad (tear-drop) felt a bit bruised and beat up, but otherwise I felt pretty good. Just tired. I started out slowly, in the lead pack for the first 400 meters, checking out the competition and boxed in, but once I got daylight, I took to the lead (someone followed, breathing heavily) and powered on. I expected to see the mile at 5:00's or so and there it was, at 5:00. Felt a bit effortless. I figured, let's keep it to the turnaround (out-and-back course, my favorite). So, after a hairpin turn that slowed me down quite a bit and disrupted my rhythm, I rolled up on 2 miles at 10:0-something. Oh, now it was a game of beating the next clock to 15:00 as the lead cyclist would turn on each clock as I approached. So, as I got closer to 3 miles, I saw him setting the clock at 15:03.. argh, but then he yelled, "15-flat" and I thought, great, let's get this under 20-minutes.

The event record, to the best of my knowledge is 19:38 by my former college nemesis, Brit, Eddie Ernest-Jones, but that was on a much faster course. However, I figured if I could run under 20-minutes it would at least look good and so far I was running very smooth and effortlessly tired, if you understand my sensations. Finally, coming up on the finish, I saw the sub-20 in the bag and relaxed. If I would have pushed all the way in, perhaps I would have run a 19:53 or so, but no biggie, it was fun and effortless and a great confidence booster. I had now completed 9 miles at sub-5:00 pace in a little over 24 hours and felt good.

Perla, Madelyn, and I enjoyed pancakes and the Leprechauns and we headed home so "Papa" could take a nap and head to work another baseball game at noon.... Pressing on...

PUBLIX Carnaval Miami 8K

24:36, 2nd Place Overall / Road Personal Best

3-03-2006, Miami, Florida (7:00PM)
SPLITS- 4:50, 14:44 (9:53), 19:53 (5:09), 4:42

* What a day. Awoke to an easy, but stiff 6-mile run on the canals in preparation for tonight's race. However, before that I awoke to my wife waking me up at 6:45AM for my birthday present... a weather gauge (I always check the weather before I run), followed by a baby book on zebras and a small baby's shirt (boy's). Soon it hit me: we are expecting!!!

Alright, moving on, I felt so full of running, as I had not done a workout since my 20-mile fartlek on Monday and with mileage on Tue-Thu, I was ready to run fast- workout fast. The last time I competed in this race, now 7 years ago as a young 21-year old, I managed to win in 25:48, which is also the year I set most of my track PR's (8:26/14:28), so I have come a long way in becoming a road racer. Anyway, I did not expect my main competition to be here tonight: Ronnie Holassie, as I thought he was already off in North Carolina preparing for his sub-2:15 Boston Marathon attempt. But, lo-and-behold, who was at the start- Ronnie Holassie.

Holassie has won this race about a dozen times, whereas I had won this race once (1999-25:48) and placed 2nd in 2000 in 25:51 while sick. I think Holassie had the course record at 24:16, as best as I can remember and as far as records go back. He usually wins with around a time right at 25-minutes, depending if he is pushed. Well, after watching Madelyn race (and place 3rd for girl's) and the race 15-minutes late, I was ready to get going.
I went out hard. I do not train at night because of my poor vision, and so I had no concept of how fast I was going, but no one was with me. Approaching Mile 1, I saw, blurrily, high-4:30's and into the 4:40's as I passed- ouch, a little too fast, but I was keeping it. Finally, after 1.25 miles, Holassie announes his presence with a clip of my heel. We run side-by-side until he pulls away at 1.5 miles. I run back on him once, he pulls away, I come back on him a second time, and once again, showing my immaturity, I surge to pass him and put him away. Problem is, is that it's onlyl 2 miles into the race and I accelerated on top of 4:50 pace, which ended up hurting me and loaded me up with lactic acid. As I start crashing, Holassie is gone in a heartbeat. We bend around the turnaround in darkness, I almost go the wrong way (thank goodness for the guys yelling "left! left" as I would have disappeared into the darkness, and get back on Calle Ocho (8th Street) for the run home.

We had been facing a headwind on the way out, and now with the tailwind behind us, I started trying to relax and let my training take over. I have been averaging 90-mile weeks since January with solid workouts, so I knew I would come around. Finally, by 4 miles, I was rolling again, but unable to see Holassie. Passing 4 miles, I know I have the opportunity to run a personal best, if I can hold it together and accelerate. I really start opening up and finish the best I have ever finished, just about. I really wished this race was a 10-15K, as I could have continued on, but I ran out of room.

Holassie sets a course record, 23:59 (4:50 pace)... so he basically just held the pace I set, and I rolled in 2nd in 24:36. What a great feeling to run well. I cooled down with my high school coach, Steve O'Brien for the last mile of his race, and then raced my sister, Rebecca (and her boyfriend Joe) home the last 800m of their race.
The FIU guys ran solid, all in the lower-27's and Elliot Mason (FIU alum, Antiga) represented in 3rd place with a 26:14. Overall, a great event and the reason why I run this race every year when it falls on my birthday. A PR on the roads, what a way to celebrate my 28th birthday and the announcement of a new Rodriguez on the way...