It's over, man. Let her go.

The Great Race

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Location:

Bliss,ID,USA

Member Since:

Jan 04, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Recover From Injury

Running Accomplishments:

In late 2008 I decided I needed to get in better shape and started running again.  I ran my first formal road race ever, a half marathon, in late 2009.

(unofficial) Track 1 Mile - 7:32 (4/24/2010)  6:56 (9/27/2010)

5k - 27:31 - Riverview Run on 06/11/2010
22:39 - Gatorade Steelers 5k on 09/04/2010

10k - 50:43 - Riverside Run on 04/10/2010

Half - 2:02:58 - Just a Short Run on 03/27/2010
1:51:47 - IKEA Montour Trail Half on 09/11/2010

Short-Term Running Goals:

2011 Races:

Sept 25 - The Great Race 10k (59:15)
Nov 5 - Dirt Monster 5mi (52:59)

2012 Races:

June 8 - Riverside 5k  (27:49)
Sept 2 - Gatorade Steelers 5k (route) with Steve!  (27:39)
Sept 30 - The Great Race 10k (route)  (53:48)
Nov 3 - The Dirt Monster 5mi (52:55)

2013 Races:

May - Pittsburgh Marathon (started, but DNF about the half way point)
June - Riverview 5k  - Bummed I missed signing up for this one. It's one of my favorites!
Sept - Gatorade/Steelers 5k. (Signed up!)
Sept - IKEA Montour Trail Half  (prob not, but leaving it on here)
Sept - The Great Race 10k (My Running 101 goal race)
Nov - Dirt Monster 5mi (Gotta do it again no matter what!)

Long-Term Running Goals:

Finish recovering from my injuries and build mileage.  That is all.

Personal:

My name is Wes, I'm married with two wonderful children. The nickname BaldNSpicy came from the fact that I have been balding for a (long) while now and spicy for my love of very spicy foods (Thai and extremely hot wings are my favorites).  If eating doesn't bring me near tears and leave me sweating, it's not worth eating.  :-)

Oh, and I'm also known for my doorags.

Favorite Quotes:

"Running without hills is like motorcycling without corners." - rAtTLeTrAp

"Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit.  You are what you do repeatedly." - Shaquille O'Neal

"A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else."  - John Burroughs

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
NB 758s #2 Lifetime Miles: 596.90
Brooks Cascadia 7 Lifetime Miles: 165.17
Race: The Great Race (6.2 Miles) 00:59:15, Place overall: 4186, Place in age division: 298
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.310.006.31

Missed my goal (58:00) by a little bit, but it started me racing again.  More to come...I need a nap.

Well rested and fed, I've had time to reflect on this race. Overall, I'm satisfied. I gave myself plenty of reasons to 'fail' in this race: it's an injury recovery race, training has been inconsistent with low mileage, I've got a sinus infection, I'll run the first 5k then just finish the rest, etc. There were points during the race I think I used each of these.

This race had almost 9500 registered for the 10k. Only 7865 completed it. It is definitely the biggest race I've done so far. I started about middle of the pack and didn't worry at all about trying to get around people. I was very relaxed through about 2.75mi then the legs started getting tired. I think I hit the halfway point at 26:00 or so. From there, I didn't worry about walking once in a while. I can't say I gave it 100%, more like 85% maybe.

There was a sea of runners through the whole race. Had I been shooting for a fast time, I would have been incredibly frustrated with the pace and not being able to get around people for much of the race. The race was very well done and I would run it again. The Highmark runners did great and it was fun to see so many employees there.

I was successful in not overdoing it, trying to go too fast, and didn't reinjure, so now it's time to get back to some serious, consistent training.

Update:
I think this is definitely a PR course based on the elevation map and good weather.  I'm assuming since this has a negative elevation that this is considered an "aided" course?


NB 758s #2 Miles: 6.31
Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Steve on Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 23:26:19 from 50.29.199.45

Nice Job Wes! Keep up the good work!

From Burt on Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 00:39:32 from 72.223.91.148

Great job John Wesley Sorenson. You're never a failure in my eyes.

From baldnspicy on Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 11:47:24 from 72.77.67.247

Thanks guys. Progress is coming slowly but surely.

From rAtTLeTrAp on Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 11:57:33 from 174.253.211.215

Way to go! I'm giving you a 58:xx time because the course was .11 long.

Congrats on getting back out there!

From baldnspicy on Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 14:59:54 from 72.77.67.247

Haha, thanks Mike. I'm actually surprised it only measured .11 long since I ran some horrible tangents! It would have been tough to run good tangents with the number of people around me. I overheard the TV announcer as I was going past the 6mi mark saying how it was still amazing how there was only a 3-4' radius around the runners. I suppose by the hour mark they expected to see it thin out more. I know I did. :-)

From baldnspicy on Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 16:59:41 from 72.77.67.247

Oh, I should add that I was #3 out of 6 in my Name Group!! Woot!!

From rAtTLeTrAp on Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 17:04:54 from 24.18.125.122

Wow! I never would have guessed there would be that many baldnspicy's in one race :)

From baldnspicy on Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 06:12:01 from 72.77.77.143

LOL!! Good one, Mike! Glad I go by Wes and not John...that ranking is much worse.

From SlowJoe on Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 10:17:23 from 132.3.53.68

Welcome back to racing, nice going out there. I could see where there might be crowd problems!

From baldnspicy on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 14:30:27 from 72.77.77.143

Thanks Joe. Yep, it was pretty crowded. I'm used to it being crowded at the start but then after the first mile or so having it open up. Here's a video I just found of the race:

http://multimedia.post-gazette.com?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6287443

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