2013 Frozen Nose Series: Groundhog Run 8k

The Groundhog Run 8k was held Saturday February 4 at Lake Overholser. Because it's close to Ross' house we all agreed to meet there and drive to the lake together. Since Ross, Rendon and I are running the full marathon at the Memorial Marathon this year Ross suggested we run back to his house afterwards, about 5 miles, so we would get a decent long run in for the weekend then afterward we could enjoy a late breakfast. This sounded good to all of us so that was our plan.

The course started at the green arrow and went to the right around the lake.

The morning of the race, the temperature was in the 30's and the sun was shining. The forecast called for some wind, but when I got in my car to drive to Ross' house, it seemed pretty nice out. After we gathered at Ross' we piled into a couple of cars and drove to Route 66 Park at the lake where the race was to begin. Once we parked and stepped out of the car we found that indeed, the wind was blowing quite a bit out in the open and it went from seeming like pretty ideal conditions to feeling pretty chilly. So we decided we'd just wait in the car until it was almost time for the race to start.

Waiting for the race to start. Cold and windy.

With six or seven minutes until the start we finally got out of the car and hiked over to the starting area and tried to get loose as we waited for the starting gun. We were lined up around the middle of the pack so when the gun went off we had a slow shuffle to the starting line and then had to work through the crowd to find some open running room. I lost Ross and Rendon in the crowd but spotted them quickly, ten or twelve yards ahead of me. Like the Elvis Run, I was finding the first mile difficult. The pace was quick but not enough to be pushing me, but I felt myself struggling to keep my distance behind Ross and Rendon from increasing.

As I got warmed up and into a bit of a rhythm I began working on closing the gap between Ross and Rendon and myself. It took a bit to catch up to them as my pace slowly quickened but I finally caught Ross who was just behind Rendon by a couple of feet. We ran along together and began picking up our pace. We started pulling away from Rendon a bit as we closed in on the turnaround at the halfway point. We made the turnaround and began heading back the way we came.

I was still feeling uncomfortable but figured since we were halfway done now, I could manage it. We continued slowly picking up our pace as the race progressed. About three-quarters of the way through the fourth mile, race volunteers were suddenly waving all the runners to the sides of the road and ahead an ambulance and firetruck appeared, heading toward us. After the race we learned that a runner had collapsed.

With less than a mile to go I began to speed up some more and started pulling away from Ross a bit. There were three high school girls about 30 or 35 yards ahead of us and we had been following them like that for the last half mile or so. As I picked it up I finally began gaining on them. Because of  the way the course is layed out, you can see the start/finish line while you still have quite a ways to go to get there. I felt like I was really straining now and worried that I had picked up my pace too soon and would have to slow down a bit but with the finish in sight I kept thinking I could hold on. With a little more than a quarter mile to go, the three high school girls were suddenly pulling away from me and I glanced at my Garmin to see if I was slowing down. I wasn't, but I couldn't keep up with them.

As I neared the final turn I felt someone closing in on me. As turned the last corner and started the stretch to the starting line, he almost pulled even with me. I kept my pace but I didn't feel like I had a kick in me today. He began to falter a bit though and fell back behind me, then with under a hundred yards to go I managed a short kick to the finish line. I finished in 38:48 (PR! My first 8k so...) and Ross finished 10 seconds behind me in 38:58. Rendon crossed the finish line a couple of minutes after us, running it in 41:06. This race ended up being the toughest for me of the three events in the Frozen Nose Series. I was happy with my performance but it was one of those days where you never really feel your running mojo kick in so it I really had to grind it out.

Rendon crosses the finish line.

My splits for the race were:
8:08
7:53
7:47
7:39
7:22
Another slowish start but another strong finish.

I ended up finishing second in my age group again, behind the same guy who beat me at the Elvis Run. Ross ended up 6th in his age group (a much tougher group than mine) but the fourth and fifth place finishers were only seconds ahead of him and his net time actually beat the guy who finished fifth. Rendon was 9th in his age group. As we compared notes, Rendon had seen the guy who collapsed and said they were performing CPR on him and he didn't look good. Unfortunately we found out later that he had died. He was 77 years old and a regular participant in the area running scene.

Rendon decided to skip our planned run back to Ross' house because his ankle was still giving him trouble and he didn't want to overdo things. So he and the girls drove the cars back while Ross and I waited to collect my medal. Once we got that we began heading back to his house, starting at a slow jog. After a mile and a half or so we began picking it up and finished the 5 miles back at a pretty good clip.

Ross, looking cool after the race.

When we got back, Cara and Molly got busy cooking pancakes then we all sat down and had a great breakfast of pancakes and scrambled eggs. We visited for a while afterwards before I packed it up and headed on home. All in all a good race and a great morning.

Following Ross home afterward. 

Adding to my 2nd place age group medal collection.

2013 Frozen Nose Series: Elvis Run 10K

Rendon emailed Ross, Sue and I in December asking us what we thought about entering the Frozen Nose Series of races in January and February. DG Productions, an OKC company that runs many races throughout the year in the OKC area produces this three race series each winter. They have two 10k/5k races and an 8k. In addition to the medals for each race they also have medals for the series overall winners.

Ross and I both took Rendon up and signed up for the series. Ross and Rendon signed up for the 10k in both of the 10k/5k races but I signed up for the 5k in the last race so I would be eligible for a series award if I performed well enough. Normally my expectations probably wouldn't be that high, but last year I ran the Elvis Run 10k (the first race in the series) and placed 2nd in my age group so I thought I may have a chance to place in the top three in my age group for the series.

Unfortunately, just a couple of weeks before the first race in the series, Ross and Rendon both came up injured. Ross' knee started bothering him after a weekend long run and Rendon developed a pain around his ankle. Rendon's got so bad he had difficulty walking so he went to get it checked out and was told his Achilles tendon was strained. He was also told he should not run on it since too much stress could tear it and then he'd really be down for a while. Of course since Rendon had already spent $75 for the race series he was determined to run anyway. He told Ross and me he'd run the Elvis run at an easy 9:30 to 10:00/mile pace. Ross' knee was improving rapidly for him so he just cut back on training runs and tried not to overdo things.

The Elvis Run 10k course around Lake Hefner.

The Elvis Run was held at Lake Hefner on January 12th. It was a cold, cloudy morning with temps in the upper 30s and a stiff and very cold north wind that really cut through you. We all met in the parking lot before the race. Ross and Rendon were accompanied by Tayler, Cara and Molly who bravely came along to cheer. About 7 or 8 minutes before the start we headed to the starting area. I stopped at the bathroom lines thinking I'd like to empty my bladder before the race began. While I did that, Ross and Rendon went on ahead. After standing in the line two or three minutes and having it not move at all I decided I'd have to forego that plan and go get lined up.


I worked my way into the middle area of the starting corral and stood on my toes looking for Ross and Rendon. I couldn't spot them though and so I waited by myself for the gun to go off. It finally did and we all surged forward. As I worked my way through the crowd at the start and found some open space, I worried a bit since I felt a bit winded and was only running about an 8:20 pace which I knew was slower than I wanted to run the first mile. I think the cold and the wind combined with no warmup before the start caused the breathless feeling I had early. And the course started out going north, right into the teeth of that wind. I pushed all that aside and tried to pick up my pace as I progressed. I ended up running the first mile in 8:17. I could live with that but felt like I really needed to speed things up.

Freezing runners wait for the start of the Elvis Run 5k/10k.

On the second mile I got my pace to the 8 minutes/mile range. The crowd had thinned out significantly and I spotted Ross up ahead of me so I worked on catching him. I finally pulled even with him and we ran along together. As we neared the end of the second mile we began closing in on Rendon. It took us a bit to catch him...that was a really fast 9:30/mile pace he was running! We finally caught up with him though and all three of us ran along together. Ross and I began picking the pace up some and a quarter mile or so from the course midway turnaround Rendon began dropping off our pace. Ross and I finished the third mile in 7:53, a pretty good clip but at the turnaround we were suddenly running right back into that strong north wind and our pace slowed significantly.

Toward the end of the fourth mile we began picking the pace up again. By now I had settled into a pretty good groove but it definitely wasn't one of those runs where you feel great and your pace feels effortless. I tried to focus on the moment and not think about how far we had left to go. I worried I was on pace to finish with a slower time than I did last year so I tried to slowly pick up the pace. As we began the last mile I started really pressing and began pulling away from Ross. We had been trailing another runner by 60 or 70 yards for the last mile or so and I began gaining on him. I was really beginning to feel the strain of the pace now and looking at my Garmin I was running pretty steady between a 7:20 and 7:25/mile pace, really fast for me. With a half mile left I desperately wanted to slow down but felt I needed to try to finish at this pace. I caught the guy we had been tailing and passed him. Now I just wanted to see the finish line. Finally the Louie's restaurant near the start came into view and I knew the finish was getting close.

By now I was passing some of the slow 5k runners. With the finish up ahead I stepped on it mustering the best kick I could. As I neared the finish I saw Tayler, Cara and Molly beside the course cheering me on. I crossed the finish and slowed to a walk and just walked around for a minute catching my breath. Ross came in around 40 seconds behind me and Rendon finished a couple of minutes later.

They were posting results and updating them constantly so we we went to check them out. We saw that Ross had finished first in his age group! Then we found my name and I had finished second in mine. My chip time was 49:18, about 45 seconds better than my 50:02 from last year. Ross' was 49:57 and Rendon's was 51:53, not bad at all for a guy with an injured Achilles who had planned on running it slow and easy. I ended up with pretty uneven splits:
8:17
8:03
7:53
8:10
7:50
7:23
6:55 pace over the last .2
The 7:23 is my fastest mile ever and I was pretty proud to do that at the end of a 6 mile run.

Rendon, me, Elvis and Ross after the race.

We got our picture taken with Elvis the race director then hung out so Ross and I could get our medals for finishing in the top three in our age groups. Once we collected those everyone went to their cars to get out of the cold and head for home.

My medal for second place in my age group.