A Balance, Redefined

Adam's Heart Runs 10 mi

Recent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesAdam RW's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewMonth ViewYear View
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Vestavia,AL,USA

Member Since:

May 31, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

Marathon Top 10 Finishes: 7 Bridges ('15), Utah Valley ('13), Salt Lake City ('08), Top of Utah ('07), and St. Louis ('04). Ran around the equator (24901.55) in 4,388 days.

Personal Records
Marathon 2:39 (SLC '08)
1/2 Marathon 1:12.30 (Provo River, aided '08)
10K 34:16 (Track, sea level '00)
10K 33:15 (Des 10K, aided '08)
8K 25:32 (Crack of Dawn, aided '13)
5K 16:44 (Track, sea level '00)
5K 16:07 (Running of the Leopards, aided '12)
 

Short-Term Running Goals:

NYC Marathon November 3, 2019 done 

London Marathon October 3, 2021 done

Tokyo Marathon March 3, 2024!!!

And my largest challenge to date, raise $20,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my cancer survivorship and in memory of those lost to blood cancer...
DONE! $26,403.70

https://pages.lls.org/tnt/al/london2021/awende

Long-Term Running Goals:

Enjoy being a Masters Runner.

Get under 3 hours one more time...

Personal:

Grew up outside Chicago and joined the blog while I lived in Salt Lake City. Now living outside Birmingham. I am married with two daughters. Wife thinks I'm crazy for doing marathons. And yes I am crazy I'm a scientist for a living...

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 331.25
RM 090416 Lifetime Miles: 136.06
Saucony Type A Lifetime Miles: 200.18
Nike Vaporfly Pink Lifetime Miles: 122.22
Saucony Ride #37 - Black Lifetime Miles: 56.50
Saucony Ride #38 - Neon Lifetime Miles: 53.50
Saucony Ride #39 - Grey Lifetime Miles: 59.50
Brooks Launch #38 - Grey Lifetime Miles: 65.25
Brooks Launch #39 - White Lifetime Miles: 57.50
Brooks Launch #40 - Blue Lifetime Miles: 54.00
Race: Adam's Heart Runs 10 mi (10 Miles) 01:08:18, Place overall: 4, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
2.5010.000.000.000.000.000.0012.50

It has been since June 8, 2013 that I have run with other people much less raced. I really had no idea what to expect. Any other time I would be shooting for sub-60 but with poor training and my fall three weeks ago I wanted sub-70 but would have been happy with 75. There is a lot that went into this race.

First, is how I came to hear about it. My family and I were on our last hurrah, taking a trip to Tetons and Yellowstone. We stopped at the lodge in Yellowstone for breakfast on the recommendation of a church friend. When I sat down I looked up and there was a person sitting across from me with a shirt that said Adam’s Heart Runs. Now this is crazy in itself. My name is Adam, I do research on the heart, and I run. But what happened next blew us all away. I call across the counter to the guy and say hey my name is Adam where is that run? He says Birmingham, AL. The place I was moving in less than three weeks, what are the odds?!

Second, with my fall three weeks ago I had not run more than 5 consecutive miles but had already put money down for this race and for the marathon next weekend. So this was a huge test.

Third, after the race a guy comes up and talks to me. He was asking about my Utah gear. Turns out he is the guy who won the 10-mile race, is from St. George UT, and went to High School with a number of you bloggers. For those who are curious his name is Damon Cox, with a 1:08 ½ PR. He mostly talked about James Barnes, but also mentioned Dave Holt and Steve Hooper. So while in the West I see a guy wearing a shirt about a race in Birmingham and once I get to Birmingham the one guy I talk to at the race happens to be from Utah.

My performance in the race was a lot less exciting than the stories above. It was a smallish race but loads of fun. They have a 5K, 10K, and 10-miler. Less than 100 people per distance I would say. It is a hilly course, much tougher than the downhill give-mes in Utah… I got there way too early and chilled hung out in my car until about 40 to gun. Then did a 2.5-mile warm-up and the race was exactly on time. I lined up about 6 or 7 rows back and for the first mile just picked people off. Then in the second mile saw a lot of the people turn back for the 5K. The next mile picked off a few more people and then in mile 4 saw the 10K people turn back. It looked like 5 people were ahead of me and they all had a pretty good lead. But then we started a very long climb > 1 mi. The final half mile before the turnaround was down and I gradually gained on the 5th place guy and by the time we hit the 5 mile mark I was alongside him. As we turned back to head uphill he wished me luck. The second half of the race was mostly solo until I started catching back up with some of the 10k runners. The 3rd place guy was out of reach and by the time I made it down the backside of the tougher hill I was solidly in 4th, which is where I stayed. No cooldown just spoke with the winner and got my bottle opener with Adam’s Heart Runs on it as my 1st place age group medal.

Overall, I hit my time goal and was happy with being back on the road and finally getting to meet some of the local running community. However, I honestly do not know what to expect for next weekend. It is sad to say but with my lack of training and how hard it was to keep pace on this 10-miler I honestly could see just shooting for something in the 3:30-4:00 range. I’m sure that won’t be the case but I think a sub-3:00 that is normally my do or die goal is solidly out of question.

Saucony Fastwitch Miles: 10.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Holt on Sat, Feb 08, 2014 at 22:20:05 from 67.2.242.226

Wow... Small world! Damon is a great guy. Tell him hi for me if you see him again.

From Jake K on Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 09:19:36 from 159.212.71.199

Interesting story. Small world sometimes.

Good luck next weekend. Just be smart... have fun and do what you can. Make the best of it.

From Adam RW on Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 20:24:56 from 71.45.96.54

It was great to be out there. I just hope to get back to regular training again. I do not like running 10 milers slower than marathon pace... Best to both of you.

Add Your Comment.
  • Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
  • Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
  • If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.
Only registered users with public blogs are allowed to post comments. Log in with your username and password or create an account and set up a blog.
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
Recent Comments: