Half A Lifetime

There are a number of things that people have spent at least half of their life doing. Many adults have likely spent at least half of their life in the same occupation, or perhaps they have lived in their home for half of their life. When it comes to running many runners have spent half of their life enjoying the sport of running, but when it comes to races few have spent half their life running the same race!

The Reasons

Thousands of runners begin their 10 mile journey through Flint at the start of the Crim 10 Mile event.

This coming Saturday, August 26 in beautiful downtown and around Flint Michigan I will be running the Crim 10 Mile for the 36th time in my 71 years here on planet earth. When I mention this to people the question I often hear back is why? What is the attraction? along with many variations of congratulations of course. So, why and what?

For me it’s a very personal reason. I grew up in the Flint area after my family moved from Royal Oak, Michigan to Grand Blanc in February 1964. I was in the middle of 6th grade and came from a very strict Catholic school setting to a public junior high school. The Beatles were appearing on the Ed Sullivan show for the second time the same day we moved. It was also Valentine’s Day weekend. Trivial, but facts nonetheless that I have always linked to our move. At the time, no one would have suspected how much the social and political order was about to dramatically change forever. I didn’t know it at the time, but my world was about to change as dramatically for the balance of my life too.

Young Lee, second grade, Guardian Angels school, Clawson, MI

I’ll spare the many details of my new life as a young teen and the adjustment to attending a public junior high school and simply say that it was not an easy transition for me. But it was actually running that helped me greatly to adjust to my new way of life. For it was one day in gym class, in May that I gained the respect of my classmates when I out sprinted one of the fastest kids in our class. Then later the following spring (1965) I actually not only “made” the junior high track team but actually did quite well in various events! This is when I knew that running was “my” sport.

University of Detroit School of Architecture, 1974, just prior to receiving my bachelor's degree.

I also believe I owe an obligation to Flint for being able to pursue my lifelong dream of becoming an architect. The Flint Chapter of The American Institute of Architects honored me with a $1,000 scholarship to start my college career at the University of Detroit. Difficult to believe in these days of higher education but this amounted to nearly one third of my total freshman year cost! Then later during my grad school years I was honored again with another $1,000 that made a huge difference in allowing me to obtain my Masters of Architecture degree, also from U-D.

It All Started in 1977

The race’s namesake, Bobby Crim competing in the very first Crim 10 Mile, 1977.

The offices of Nelson, McKinley, Reed, & Associates. January 1977 and my first job with an architectural firm following graduation. My desk was at the second story front window. The office was on Grand Traverse about a block away from the Crim finish line.

Fast forward to 1977 this was the year of the first Crim 10 Mile race. It was also the year that I started my first full time position within an architectural firm, Nelson, McKinley, Reed & Associates. Coincidentally their office was also located in downtown Flint about a block away from the finish line of the Crim. Yet, I had no idea or knowledge of any kind that there was a 10 Mile race. Running during my college years and shortly thereafter was very intermittent. Afterall the “Running Boom” and running as a sport for regular people was still in its infancy. It was not until a few years after getting married, moving back to the Detroit area, and starting a family did I begin to run regularly and enter various races. I credit joining the Novi Trackers Running Club for this.

It was actually through the Novi Trackers back in 1983 that that I learned about the Crim. I simply felt an obligation to return to my running roots and enjoy the Flint area. Back then the race started on the campus of Mott Community College and not very far from St. Joseph Hospital. This was special for me. As 1983 started, I was visiting St. Joe’s ICU along with my family as we watched my father pass away from us. He had just suffered a second heart attack within several days. I remember this juxtaposition vividly as I stood at the Crim starting line and have been heart conscience healthy myself ever since.

Crim Innovation

The Crim has also been known to be very innovative and introduced many new and unique ideas into road racing. From inviting and paying world class runners to compete back when such was very controversial to innovations with finish line scoring including the first chip timed race, excellent local TV coverage, hosting a pre-race expo, to post race party, and much more the Crim was always special.

Members of the 30 Year Club. The gentleman in the white shirt and tie is Billy Mills! The only North American runner ever to win Gold for the 10K in Olympic competition. He shared his memories of his victory and how his Native American spirit guided him to victory!

Perhaps the most unique innovation was establishing the 30 Year Club. 16 years later is still unique to Crim. On the 30th anniversary of the Crim back in 2006, race director at the time Deb Keirtzner, honored 21 runners who had run every single Crim 10 Mile. They were each recognized to the many thousands of runners competing that day just ahead of the official race start. They were also given a 15 minute head start on the field of thousands runners. This tradition has carried on each year by recognizing runners who will be running their 30th or more Crims. The original club has also spurred 35, 40, 45, year runners and a handful of runners who have run every single Crim 10 Mile! This year the club’s membership will reach 253 runners who have run at least 30 Crims.

My induction into the 30 Year Club, class of 2016. Steve Kenyon and Bill Rogers assisting the Crim race director. I could not resist giving Bill Rogers a bit of running advice !

It was then that I realized I had ran 20 Crims so I started my countdown to joining the 30 Year Club. It took another 10 years. In 2016 I proudly joined the 30 Year Club which also was the 40th anniversary of the Crim. There to help celebrate the event was the winner of the original Crim race was Great Britain’s Steve Kenyon and an also ran from that first year by the name of Bill Rogers. Included in my class of 2016 30 Year runners was the man who started it all, Bobby Crim.

My Goal

There is nothing like finishing strong down the bricks of Saginaw Street after 10 grueling miles.

About a week or two after each Crim I set my goal for the next Crim, some 50 weeks or so in advance. In recent years I have overcome several significant roadblocks to even competing. Everything from a non-running related knee surgery, a fractured foot, and this year a very serious infection that drained my strength for nearly six weeks. Fortunately, each of these events have occurred in the spring of the year and I had an opportunity to get in shape to at least compete. One needs to also have an annual streak of good luck to remain healthy each year too!

My condition earlier this year totally drained my strength, and I was not able to resume any reasonable amount of training until late-June. Nonetheless, I was consistent, slowly built my strength back, and most recently managed to include some longer and faster runs. So, I am confident I can complete the 10 miles once again and I simply want to finish somewhere near my time from last year.

At 71, I am very grateful for simply being able to continue to show up to race 10 miles each 4th Saturday of August in Flint. I realize many of my age range are not able to do so. My longer-term goal is to continue to my 40th and ultimately 50th Crim, God willing of course.

Members of the 30 Year Club receive a head start on the field of elites and thousands of other runners. So, I took full advantage back in 2016 and led the way! Well, at least for a while.

I hope to see you running along side me this year (if not passing me by), or at least part of the crowd support. If you are not a Michigan runner, I encourage you to put the Crim 10 Mile on your bucket list of races.

My younger brother Keith (on the left) finally caught up to me in the 2005 running of the Crim!

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. Please check back in the days following this year’s Crim to see my results and race report.

Coach Lee

The Third Time Is A Charm !

It took several attempts spanning the past five years but I finally earned my podium finish for the Glass City Half Marathon this past weekend! What follows is the background to this story and the race report of my third try. Thanks in advance for reading my post.

Background

For years I had always heard great things about the Glass City Marathon and Half Marathon hosted by the Toledo Road Runners Club. It’s best known for a relatively flat course that gives the runner few excuses for a poor performance. It’s also known as one of the better organized events. A race’s leadership and organization often go unappreciated by many (but not all) runners. Not by this runner, they know how to do it right in Toledo.

Race swag, sorry, my free beer glass is not in pic.

Back in 2019 I ran my first Glass City Half Marathon. When race day approached in late April of that year, I was a victim of minimal prep required to run any half marathon. Nonetheless I did run, and my results reflected my training that year. I finished in 2:11, well beyond my normal range of 1:45 to 1:55 back then. I also errored on my logistics. Toledo is about an hour’s drive south for me and I made the trip to the expo on Saturday afternoon, returning home after I picked up my race bib. Of course, this meant I needed to get up very early Sunday morning to drive back to Toledo, find a parking space, engage in my usual pre-race routine, and make it to the starting line by 6:30 AM! I somehow managed all of that and I thoroughly enjoyed the race and post-race festivities. I was hooked on Glass City despite my relatively slow performance.

It was a struggle for me to finish in 2019. I since learned from my mistakes.

There was no Glass City in 2020 thanks to Covid of course but the race was one of the very first races to return to real time road racing in 2021! This time I took advantage of my lesson learned in 2019 and booked a hotel stay in Toledo. Many advantages to doing this but frankly, I was still awake very early on race morning and managed to get to the starting line shortly before the 6:30AM start again. My 2020 race time was even a bit faster this time too! There are advantages to knowing the course now. I finished in 2:04 and a few spots off of a podium finish. Not a problem, while I enjoy being competitive. I also understood taking more than 2 hours to finish a half marathon was simply a matter of insufficient training. I have never been a big-time winter runner thus my spring racing results are not my best results. Surely 2021 will be my year to break thru at Glass City!

Well, I had high hopes for 2021 racing year. I was now in a new (older) age group and I knew that my strongest competition of runners were a year younger than me so yes, I was set to win my age group this year in Toledo!

My year started out good too! About a month ahead of Glass City I won my age group in the Rock CF Half Marathon in Grosse Ile (MI). Then a week later it happened! While on an early morning midweek run, I stumbled along the walk, fell and ended up with a broken foot. No running, in fact, no movement of any kind for the next 8 weeks at least! So, no Glass City for me in 2022. The good news here is that I was able to resume running in June and recovered to run well in my fall events.

Glass City Half Marathon 2023

I was looking forward to returning to Toledo and taking on the half marathon again, especially following a strong fall racing season. But then, as usual, winter happens, and my training is just not the same as in the summer and fall. I was able to work up to a couple of decent long runs in the weeks preceding Glass City but, nowhere near the extent of tempo and similar training runs needed to run a strong half marathon. So, I tempered my expectations accordingly and simply looked to be happy if I could run a bit better than my 2:15 finish at the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon seven weeks prior.

Logistics also played a part in my race experience. I paid a nominal extra fee to be able to pick up my bib on race morning thereby not needing to pay for a hotel or make two back to back trips to Toledo. Great! Except I needed to leave home not later than 4:30 AM to make this work. I managed, it worked, but barely.

It’s 4:00 AM and Zeus is saying, let me go back to bed!

The real anxiety for me this year was the weather. Pre-race temps were in the low 30’s and the mild breeze made it feel like the high 20’s. I really prefer to race in shorts and a singlet. Given the temps, I was definitely wearing a long sleeve shirt under my singlet. But my legs? I had raced in similar conditions in tights and regretted every step of that race. So I fell back on an old trick I learned in my high school cross country days, use Vaseline over my exposed skin to keep the air off. This combined with knee high compression socks did the trick. For the wind, I wore a clear garbage bag over my body and kept it on until mile ten. I was glad too as with every turn in the course it seemed as if there was a new head wind there to greet me.

The Early Miles 1-3

There was a slight change in the course route this year. A new starting line location that I thought frankly was much better than previous years. But, the first 3 miles ran along much the same roads as previous years but in the reverse direction. So what? Well, the reverse direction meant we were running a bit more uphill rather than downhill. Still, the inclines were not that terrible and it was early enough so as not to impact performance.

And they are off! Except it’ll be another 5 minutes before I get to the start line.

The first three miles were simply a warm up for me. I purposely ran slow like I would on any normal Saturday long run. Going into the race I thought if I could average a 9:45 pace for 13.1 miles I would be happy. My early miles were at 9:45, so I figured it was simply a matter of holding onto this pace. It felt easy. Maybe a bit too easy as I was constantly passing people, even this early in the race, was this a good omen or would it lead to my downfall in the later miles? Ugh!

The Middle Miles 4-10

Shortly after hitting the 3 mile mark runners were back on the old course and passed by the long starting corrals where this all started nearly a half hour ago. I suddenly felt the beginnings of a cramp in my hamstring. This is not unusual for me, my only concern was whether or not it would cease or cause my early demise in the race. I frankly forgot about it and it never bothered me again. I just kept running. I was looking for the actual 3 mile mark when I suddenly noticed that I had just past the 4 mile mark! Wow, that seemed to pass by quick. Another slight turn ahead and we were into the scenic part of the course. I was remembering previous years here, running through some beautiful neighborhoods, people out on their lawns ring cow bells and cheering us on.

Miles 4 thru 10 include some moderate hills or more accurately, slopes. Still, experience has taught me to run with my head up, look towards the runners ahead so I can run the tangents (a running term meaning to run the shortest distance around a curve). Despite these “hills” I was still slowly passing most people. My pace had slowly but steadily increased from the 9:45 range to 9:10 and still feeling just as easy. No need to push it any harder as I certainly did not have the training to support anything more.

Then as we approached the end of mile 9 there was a dreaded actual hill. Well, at least after 9 miles this certainly felt like a hill. I remember in previous years this “hill” caused me to stop and walk it. Not this year. I did slow a bit but not for long. There was one more turn ahead and then it would be onto the 10 mile mark!

Approaching mile 12 and I still am feeling strong. Continue to pass runners and anxious to get to the finish line!

The Final Miles 11- 13.1

I knew that once I made this final turn to head towards the 10 mile mark that the relatively mild winds would now finally be at my back. Per my race plan, when I did cross the 10 mile mark I yanked off my garbage bag and was ready to push this final 5K to the finish line.

Except for another mild turn and the final leg into the Toledo Rocket Stadium and finish line, most of the final miles are along a straight road. There’s also one more decent hill that challenges runners just before the 12 mile mark too. Despite these challenges that lay ahead, I started to push my pace a bit. I was running in the 8:50’s nearly a full minute per mile faster than I was just 10 miles ago. Yes, I was still passing even more people. Of those that I passed, I gave a critical eye to see if they even might be in my age group too. Nope, not a one, so I thought maybe, just maybe I could do this podium finish thing! I was going to give it everything I had.

When I came to that last challenging uphill just before the 12 mile mark I again remembered walking this hill in previous years but not this time. I held steady and thought only about the final turn and the inviting long downhill to the finish line. It was now only two traffic signals ahead of me. Just take down one traffic signal at a time I told myself then the downhill.

Well before I knew it, I was at the final big turn and that nice inviting downhill. Despite being downhill it still is not easy to keep pushing, but push I did. Now I was really passing runners too! 800 yards to go, 400 yards to go, 13 miles and now only a tenth of a mile! Now is the time to also get in the clear for the photographers at the finish line! I was determined not to let that last runner ahead of me get in my picture so it was an all out spring as I entered the stadium for the final 40 yards or so, and there I was, running alone in space as I crossed the finish line!

Finish

Somewhere along the 11th mile I had passed the 2:05 half marathon pacer and I knew if I ran strong enough there might be a chance to break the magical 2 hour mark. I did run as strong as I could and as I approached the finish I saw the time clock reading about 2:06. Not to be disappointed because it took me at least a few minutes to get to the actual starting line, so it might be close to the 2-hour mark.

YES! Finally! The finish line, time to celebrate!

No, following the post-race goodies line, beer line, and pizza line, I had a chance to see the results. I had finished in 2:01.23.9, my fastest Glass City Half Marathon and a First Place finish in the 70-74 age group! Not to shabby for someone who only has been running about 20-25 miles a week recently, and most of those miles were very slow-paced miles. So, I am quite happy with my results and intend to step up my training for the rest of the spring and into summer racing season.

If it’s on the internet, it must be true! Overall: 862 of 2,187 runners.

Next up, The Bayshore 10K, Traverse City, MI. May 27. Stay tuned.

Thanks again for taking the time and interest in reading my post, I hope that it may inspire you to run and race a bit more. Please post your comments below, I look forward to seeing. Thanks.

Coach Lee, aka, “The Running Architect”

A New Beginning

How to train this winter to return to racing in 2021.

Running stadium bleachers.

A bit extreme, but with practice?

Practice balance, balance is crucial to running healthy.

It has finally arrived, the time we have all been anticipating for most of last year is here. Welcome to 2021 !

I’d like to believe we all believe this year will be better than last year. A year ago I was recovering from abdominal surgery and not able to run until mid-February. I remember looking forward to returning to running and most of all returning to racing. I was determined to make 2020 my best racing year ever.

So I find it very strange that here it is a year later and I have the same aspirations for my running year ahead.The difference this year is that nobody really knows when racing will return to a more normal state. Some agree with me and believe there will be some level of racing as early as the end of April and as the year progresses the likelihood of races returning increases.

As of now the Boston Marathon, normally the third week in April, is non-committal about their already delayed race day this fall. Another very popular race here in Michigan, the Bayshore Marathon, Half Marathon, and 10K, scheduled for the end of May just announced their race will be totally virtual this year! While these notices are disturbing to runners, runners need to understand the infrastructure behind planning any race event especially very large and mega races. For this reason, I believe the races that do return to a more normal schedule will be the smaller, shorter (i.e. 5K), and locally focused events.

Stay tuned and until then what should a runner do? Well, the simple answer is to continue to run. Prepare to race. But how to prepare and what to prepare for? Difficult questions to answer, what you can do as a runner are the following points:

1. Build a solid running base. Take advantage of this time to slowly but surely build up your weekly mileage base. Increase your weekly long run, or add another run to your week. A common mistake during normal times is that runners often attempt to fast track their training and fail to build a solid base. Building a solid base involves increasing your total miles during the next few months.

2. Vary your runs, add intense training runs on a periodic basis. Running more and more miles as you building your base without including some level of intense training such as hill reps, or speed intervals will only assure that you are able to run the distance you have achieved in your training. To be ready to race, you will need to build your anaerobic capacity too.

3. Build strength and flexibility. During normal times runners feel a need to log their miles and typically ignore any attempt to do anything else to improve their running performance whether or not they are aiming for a race. Most strength training can be done without fancy equipment or weights. Runners also need to take time to focus on their flexibility, this is especially true for older runners too! Running many miles after miles will ultimately result in stiff areas of a runner’s body where the runner really needs to be flexible. Think hips, core, yoga, and more.

Include these three areas of focus between now and your next race which hopefully be here before we know it and when it does arrive we all will be ready to run!

Thanks for viewing my post and continue to “Run Happy”.

Coach Lee

PS: I look forward to your comments and thoughts on this post, don’t be shy.

email: therunningarchitect@gmail.com