Kelsey and her BF arrived a few hours ago. They are pumped up and ready to go. They believe that they got in enough training and are ready to run. I'm ready. So who is going to cross the finish line first? The old man? One of the college kids? We will know in 12 hours.

Shoot! Go get em!! Have fun....

My money is on Keto Man for the win.

Thanks Renee. The kids just finished their carby breakfast and I my fat loaded BP coffee. The legs feel fresh and ready to go. It is time to go find out what I can do this year.

Last year cell phone reception in that crowd of 100K was non-existent. So it will likely be a while before I post the results. Thanks for the inspiration, everybody. When it gets tough, I'll remember all of your encouraging words.

Go Ken! It’ll be a good race :cool:
Kat

I survived, but just barely. The official results are not in, but by my phone app I clocked in at around 69 minutes. That is slower than last year and better than 2016. Good enough.

It didn't help that my weight is several pounds up from last year, but the big problem today was heat. It was even warmer than they originally forecast. It was 80 degrees by the time the race finished. I ran the entire distance. I was never out of breath and my muscles were willing. I didn't count on the radiator blowing steam for the last 5K. I hydrated before the race and grabbed water and the pit stops along the way. I was dressed appropriately for the heat; I just overheated anyway. For mile 5 & 6 the pace was slow; I just kept moving. The good news is that I was not one of the many medical emergencies that I witnessed along the way, although about 15 minutes after the race I even got a little wobbly. Thankfully the dizzy spell didn't last long.

It has been such a cool spring. I didn't do one workout in the heat. So all things considered, I'm happy with the results of the day. I did learn a big lesson. I didn't do so well running at this weight for such a long distance in the heat. I don't foresee myself signing up for any such events in the Virginia summer. Kel and I are still planning on doing this race next April. My goal, pure and simple, is to run the 2019 10K weighing less than 200 pounds. I was physically fit for this race. I do think that I did enough training. But I also think that my bonus weight this year was a factor in addition to the heat.


BTW: KETO MAN won by a long shot. The college kids, dressed in black, roasted in the sun worse than I did. After the event we went out to lunch with the parent of Kel's BF. They had come down to cheer on their son in his first ever 10K. Once fed and hydrated we were all back to our usual selves. My food choice was a bunless burger, green beans, and lots and lots of water. I'll post the official results when I know them.

Sweet !! Wtg Ken, Kel and BF.

Congratulations Ken for another successful race.

Congratulations on running the whole distance in the heat!

You did good, that’s crazy hot for running. WTG on finishing the race & running the whole race!! :thup: :thup:

Ken, congratulations. I think that the heat had more to do with it than even the weight (though the weight was likely a factor). My nephew is a marathoner and loves the cooler temps. Lincoln Marathon 2014 with cool temps he ran a 3:29, and a year later with too warm temps he ran a 3:39 even though his training runs (in cooler temps) had him coming in thinking he'd run a much faster pace. Likewise the winner went from 2:17 to 2:27 from 2014 to 2015 with the warmer temps.

Pat yourself on the back for the hard work and the hard race!

Congrats!!! Maybe the time was a little disappointing but you beat the kids and ran all the way in that heat. Wow! Impressive on so many levels.

The official results came in. My time: 1 hour, 9 minutes and 37 seconds. That's closer to what I clocked in 2016 than it was last year's time. I could be disappointed with that, but after analyzing the overall stats of the race it appears that everybody was slower. Kel finished 3 minutes slower than last year (1 hour 18 minutes). A guy from work who finished in 52 minutes last year only managed to do the 10K one minute faster than I did this year. He blamed the heat, too. So rather than be disappointed, I'll just be pleased that I put in my best effort. Plus, when looking at the results in other ways I actually did make progress...

Overall Finish Placement
2016: 12003
2017: 9328
2018: 8795

Overall percentile that finished ahead of me
2016: 52 %
2017: 42 %
2018: 41 %

Age group/gender percentile that finished ahead of me
2016: 66 %
2017: 57 %
2018: 53 %

So while my finish time was slower this year, I still managed to show improvement in other areas. Yeah, the heat took its toll. But I'm a cup half full kind of guy. Next year I will move up to the next age group. I plan on kicking some old man butt.


It was a good race. I am a bit puzzled, though. How old do I have to get before these kids outpace this old dude?

Amazing and awesome, job, KETO MAN! ;)

Excellent!!! Love the back of the T shirt...planting seeds for sure!
Kat