Epilogue to GVH Championship Day



2011   and    2003





One benefit of these GVH Pete Glavin Upstate New York Cross Country (PGUNYXC) races is the numerous photos taken during each event.  I found several more of myself after they were uploaded to Kodak.  See below.

Also, my wife took a photo at this race, and had taken one of me on the same course in the same spot 8 years ago.  See photo to left.  The comparison is uncanny!!  I'm even at the exact same stride!



Powering home.



Less than a mile to go.





800 meters to go!





In woods, around 3 miles.

 













Patience Pays off for Raybuck in Harriers Last Hurrah 8K

Start line (bright blue/black stripe, center of photo)

Raybuck patiently paced himself through the 1st 1 to 2 miles while numerous competitors went out hard, but the tactic paid off in the end, garnering a 47th place overall finish out of 111 runners (all men), and 10th out of 39 in a very competitive 50 to 59 year old age group.  As evidence of the competitive nature of the 50 to 59 crowd, Raybuck would have placed 7th in the 40 to 49 year old group!  And some of the competitors in the 50 crowd placed high (as high as first) in their age groups in the recent National Masters 5K race held in October.

At 1.5 miles.

Raybuck briefly questioned his tactics as roughly 30 runners made their way by him during the initial mile, putting him in the rear part of the pack, in an estimated 80th spot by the mile mark.  However, hearing the split time of 6:20 at the mile was just what I wanted, and I felt good, so my confidence rose (to some degree).  After a long downhill during the 2nd mile (which would later of course translate to a painful uphill), Raybuck crossed the 2 mile split at 12:38, and 3 miles slightly slower at 19:10, but had begun methodically re-passing the masses who by their greed, went by him in the first mile.  The 4th largely uphill mile was slow for everyone, and was a 7:10 for me, passing the split marker at 26:20.  The final mile (or 0.97 miles if this was truly an 8K), was my best, in 6:07.  If this was an 8k, then the converted mile time would be approximately 6:16, still the fasted of the race for me. I passed another handful of runners in this final mile, including a couple fellow 50 to 59 year olds.

Uphill, 3.5 miles.

Overall, a great day!  In 2003, I ran a 4 mile race here in 25:17 (6:19 per mile), so running about 6:30/mile for 5 miles 8 years later is not at all disappointing!

Raybuck cuts loose with 500 meters to go!

Next up, a flatter, faster 5K road race on December 3, although this race can be slow if the 2 miles of roads in the cemetery are snow covered!

C'mon Harry!!  Go Striders!  By the way, I wrote my team name as Dr. K Striders on the application, but unfortunately, as the only Strider in the race, they removed the name and put UNA (unattached). Should I register a protest??

Mark

Full results here.

5K Time Trial Aborted!

I attempted a 5K time trial on the track yesterday, after months of trail running/training, and not stepping onto a track. In short, I aborted, after hitting the mile in 6:07, and decided to just do a 2-mile as a good speed workout. Finished in 12:12, rested a bit, then ran 2 quarters in 85 and 86, with 90 seconds rest.


Overall, I really feel like I’m in good shape. I ran 18:50 in a certified 5k road race (with a few small hills) last June, and I feel like I should now be able to go 18:20. Thus, I was trying for at least a 6 minute pace (18:36) yesterday. However, a couple problems: First: I ran 5.3 miles on trails with rolling hills on Saturday, because I didn’t want to give up a weekend training day. Should have rested!! Second, finishing up with a 2-week cold, still hacking just a bit, and still felt sluggish yesterday before running. Third, was watching my 4-year old grandson during the day yesterday before I ran, and had to run around the yard a lot chasing him, playing Ben Ten Ultimate Alien (unless you have youngster or grandchild, you may not know what this is).

Next up, an 8K cross country race next Sunday.  This one will be very competitive, the championship meet of a 5-meet series in upstate NY, with many good runners (unlike some of my races where I'm close to winning....where Eric aptly points out that I found a race with no competition).  If I do well, I could be in the 30 to 40 finishing range (place, not time) out of an expected 150 or men (all men, since there is a separate women's race on championship day).  It is a hilly course, and who knows about weather (we're getting snow later this week), so not sure what to expect regarding time.  Likely in the low to mid 32s.

Mark

Raybuck fails to defend title at Mendon 10K Trail Race

Yes, that is frost on the ground!

With a 2nd place finish out of 86 runners in yesterday's Mendon Ponds 10K Trail Race, I failed to defend my "title" from last year, despite better training and running almost exactly 2 minutes faster this year.  Now, granted, part of the gain in speed could have been due to dry conditions this year, compared to rain changing to snow last year.  Also, the course was run in reverse.  This poses an interesting math or geometry problem.  With about 1,100 feet of climb (counting all uphill stretches), can a course be faster in one direction than another when it is a loop, starting and finishing at the same point?

I'm on the right.

However, I have to guess that a 2-minute drop in time in this race (a bit over a 10K, per my Garmin, at 6.27 miles), and a drop of 4 minutes in my last trail race relative to the previous year, indicates an overall fitness gain this year.  I ran 42:58 for what my Garmin showed as 6.27 miles, or 6:51/mile average.  Garmin's underestimate distances on hilly courses (search this blog for previous discussions on this subject), so I am estimating about 6.4 miles.  My fastest mile was roughly 6:30, and the slowest was 7:30, during one of the stretches with the most uphill.  The last 0.25 miles was at a 5:55 pace.

Go Striders!  Up next, an 8K XC race on November 20.  We'll see what happens!

Mark


Full results can be found here.

Nothing like trail running......

Now this is cross country!

The cliff.

This past weekend, I took a quick trip to Houghton, NY, the quaint western New York town of about 1,000 residents, where I grew up.  My brother, also an infamous runner, one of the trio of Running Raybucks, still lives there, in the house in which we grew up.  While there, I ran a 5 mile trail run, including a very steep climb up "Devil's Back."  I ran Devil's back in the summer once, and barely made it up without walking. This past time, I ran up it almost without strain, and then somewhat in an impromptu manner, did a 2.5 to 2.7 mile tempo run in the woods.  No Garmin, but pace for the tempo was likely 7 minutes per mile or less.  Overall, a great workout, and refreshing change of scenery from the flat trails and residential streets in my neighborhood.

Another Raybuck?

Next race:  Mendon Ponds 10K trail race, with over 1,100 feet of climb!  I actually won this race last year (only about 61 runners), so I suppose I am the defending title holder????  We'll see what happens!

Mark

GVH Mudslog 2011 Preliminary Results!

Today I ran the approximately 8.5 mile GVH Mudslog XC race.  A trail race of sorts, with steep hills, single track trails, swamps, deep mud, various obstacles, fences, climbing wooded trails/hills, and a very cold "swim" in an 8 foot deep pond!



Early in Race





Results:  9th overall out of 223 (compared to 17th last year out of 182); 1st in age group 50 to 59 (3rd last year), and time of 1:09:50 (1:13:27 last year).  Roughly the same course, but they change up the obstacles and course a bit each year, so hard to compare times directly.



Running creek, 1.5 miles to go.

 Overall, I was pleased, and I think it was an improvement over last year. Last year I was about 12 minutes behind the same guy that won the race this year, and this year I was only about 6 minutes behind him.

"Barrel crossing" - 1 mile to go!

Go Striders!

Full results are at the link below:

Click here for complete results.

Mark

Training accelerates!

This week ended as a record for 2011:  36.5 miles in 6 runs!!  The week culminated today with a 7.6 mile run in a hilly park, mostly paved, but some offroad work as well.  I ran this with a friend, at a slower pace than typical, but still a good workout.  I also did a tempo run on Thursday, so overall a good quality week.

8 days from now is the GVH Mudslog event, the annual 8.5 miler (well, the mileage changes every year), with single track trails, steep hills, mud, mud, mud, and a pond swim.

This week may be slightly fewer miles, but if I can keep it at upper 20s, I'll be happy.

Stay tuned!

First race over, back to training!

With the first "tune-up" race of the "season" over, it's back to work on the roads and trails.  The day after the race, I ran 7.3 slow, tired miles on the roads.  Monday I took off, Tuesday was 5.5 nocturnal road miles, Wednesday was 5 miles on flat trails, averaging about 8:26/mile, with a few fartleks, especially while chasing deer (yes, we have lots of deer in our area).  Last night I did the same trail run, but included a 2.6 mile "tempo" portion in the middle, averaging 6:52/mile for the tempo run portion.

Tonight may be 5 or 6 miles on trails again.  Would like to log some good miles this weekend, in advance of the October 16 8.5 mile cross country/trail/obstacle race.  My training is not overly conducive to longer races like this, with maximum "long" runs of about 7 miles.  I'll try to get one 8 miler in this weekend if I can.

Mark

5K Trail Race: I Won! (or did I)

Somehow, I have a knack for finding races where the finish is not so definite.  Last year, I "won" a 10K trail race, but noone told me at the finish that I had won.  I had to wait an hour until the results were posted, then tell the race director "I think I won".

In that case, it was in part because there were concurrent 5K, 10K, 20K and 50K races going on using the same course.

Saturday, there was only one race, and technically, I finished second out of 80 runners.  However, I came home with the first place overall male trophy, and a free 8-hour pass to a local ski slope!

The reason for this discrepancy?  The first place guy was on a Father Son team that won first place, so he was ineligible for the overall 1st place award.  Needless to say, it was just a bit embarrassing accepting the award!  However, I took it!

Now for the facts:  I ran 20:03 for a 5K hilly, muddy trail race.  (about 6:27 per mile).  4 years ago I ran the same race in 20:33 (3rd place) on a perfect, 60-degree, sunny day.  Saturday it was 40s, windy, and raining.


One positive note was that I did not feel particularly winded at the end.  In fact, I was immediately able to jog around.  I think I may not have fully pushed myself, although I kept trying to catch the first place guy, after I moved into 2nd just before 2 miles.  I wasn't getting exhausted, but simply felt I couldn't run any faster.


A summary of the results is located at the link here.  Full results are posted here.




This was the first race of the "season."  Next up, October 16, an 8.5 mile trail/obstacle race that I try to do each year.  It includes runs through swamps, mud, various man-made fences, obstacles, creeks, hay bales, and the infamous 50-meter swim through a cold pond at the half-way point!

Mark