Running with the Pack Podcast

With Jeff out of town, I sat down with Hannah Inzko to talk to her about her new passion for running. We also talked about walking to work, swimming, yoga, smoking, upcoming races, e-Gels, and more.

Related Web Sites:

• Brandon’s Marathon Podcast
• Endurance Base Camp Podcast
• Hannah’s Cupcake Blog
• Kris Howard’s Blog
• Team Crank eGel
• Zombie Runner

This week, I did the podcast solo and talked about the Arts Festival 10K, the first annual Sloppy Socks 5K, ideas for turning a solo podcast into a group podcast, running fuel (including the ideas behind e-Gels), and Buckeye Outdoors (free online training log).

Related Sites:

• Ultradad Podcast
• Endurance Base Camp Podcast
• Buckeye Outdoors (my log)

Normally I don’t travel far for a 5K race. I enjoy doing them, but town where we live (State College, PA) and the surrounding towns have at least one 5K race most weekends between March and November. Today was a little different. I went to Holidaysburg, PA (about an hour away) with a group of women from the Nittany Valley Running Club to run the Sloppy Socks 5K. One of them had mentioned it on the club’s e-mail list and it sounded like fun. This 5K was not your typical road race.

As you can see in the picture, the day started off with the usual early morning fog. It quickly burned off by the time they gathered the 150 or so runners for the 8:30 race start. This was the first annual running of this race, so no one was completely sure where it was going to take us. Fortunately, the race volunteers had marked the course with cones and little orange flags (the kind that utility workers often use to identify the path of underground cables and pipes). We also had a little time to scout out part of the course before starting. The race director made a few announcements and then handed the mic over to an assistant so he could find his place at the starting line.

Once the whistle was blown, we started out across a field. It instantly brought back memories of my old high school cross country days. I was happily running and reminiscing — until the still-packed group of runners around me hit the mud pit. There was no way around it. We had to jump down a couple of feet into a slimy mud pit. I’m not sure of the exact dimensions, but that was long enough that you couldn’t jump it and deep enough that everyone’s shoes filled with goo. So I jumped in with both feet and then made my way to the other side to climb out again and slosh onward.

[Notice the change in our shoe color.]

We ran back onto the fields again for a while before heading back to a trail, over some fallen branches, and down into a creek bed. The course went down the creek bed across smooth (and slippery) stones, and then back up a steep embankment again. The course went back to the fields, into the woods again for a bit, and then back toward the starting. That was loop/mile one. We did the same course (including the same mud pit) two more times before taking the final path to the finish line. Speaking of the finish line, Cheryl, one of the club members, was the top woman finisher. I just met her today, but apparently she is no stranger to first place in normal road-running events.

I finished the course in about 25:34, which is a bad 5K time for me, but I really don’t care because 1) it was an obstacle course, 2) it seemed like it was longer than 3.1 miles, and 3) I had too much fun to let the clock bother me. Overall, I give this event a definite thumbs-up. I hope they have it again next year and I would be interested in doing similar events in the future.

Today I ran the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts 10K with a group of friends: Stevie and Nancy (from episode # 15), along with Stevie’s husband and son, and Nancy’s neighbor. My friend Chris came as well to run the 5K race (his first race). So overall, it was a very nice sized “pack” to run with.

The weather forecast said that it would be in the 70′s with high humidity and a 40% chance of rain. It was definitely raining last night, but stopped by the time we got to the race registration area. I was really hoping for a light shower, but no such luck. Chris and I registered and then did some walking and stretching before the 10K race began — the 5K started 15 minutes later.

The race started at 8:30 with a downhill run for the first mile or so. As usual, I started off a little too quickly, but I was feeling strong and light, so it was hard to help myself. We ran across campus, across a building-bridge to the Penn State golf course, around half of the golf course and then hit a rather steep hill around mile 4. The hill and the heat slowed me down a bit at that point and I was passed by a few people. We went back across the bridge to campus, up another hill, and then a dash to the finish.

I think in the podcast, I had said something about expecting to run it in about 45:00, but that was an exaggeration. I haven’t done a 10K for a while and thought I would get something below 50 minutes. I finished in 49:46, which is an 8:02 pace.

But more than the race and my time, I think I most enjoyed cheering everyone else to the finish. I was very impressed by how everyone did, especially Chris, who finished the 5K in about 25 minutes. That’s very good for a first-time racer and it’s not too far off my pace, so I may be developing another running partner. After the race, we talked about what we thought of the course, how we handled the hills, and the people who were running around us. We grabbed some water and walked back to the registration area to get something to eat before finally deciding to go home. Again, that post-race interaction was the best part of the event today.

Racing is more social than running by yourself. Racing with friends is truly satisfying.

Jeff and I talk about our training in the heat, inspirational stories from our listeners, and upcoming races. If you want to submit your own story, leave a comment at parkedthoughts.com or send it to allan@parkedthoughts.com or jeff@jsswain.com

Mentioned in this episode:

• Brandon’s Marathon
• Ultradad Podcast

Hi All. I just wanted to write a post to send good thoughts to Miesha Marzell, who we interviewed way back in episode #6. She is participating in the Olympic Trials now and her races are tomorrow. I don’t think it’s right to pray for someone to win, but I do hope that she runs a good race and doesn’t have any complications from illness or injury.