Well, I've posted or sent this out just about everywhere else, so...
Hi all,
As you may know, our oldest daughter, Raeann, has autism. It is a developmental disorder that pervades all aspects of her life, making what most people consider simple tasks challenging. It effects her language comprehension & expression, visual/spatial processing, social interactions, fine and gross motor skills, sensory integration, and more.
Yet Raeann is one of the lucky ones. Despite her disability, she can communicate, form relationships, and participate in many activities that she loves, such as singing with the Frederick Children�s Chorus. Autism affects about 1 in 150 children, and most of those cases are much more severe than Raeann�s.
The Autism Speaks 5K raises money to fund autism research, advocacy, family services and to raise awareness about autism. Our family will not only be participating in the race, but we are once again forming a team: Raeann's Runners! Raeann led our fundraising efforts last year and our 12-person team of runners and walkers raised over $2100! We're hoping to blow that figure away this year!
You probably know where I'm going with this. I am writing to ask for your support for Raeann and her team of runners! It's a fun and inspiring event, a great race, and super cause!
If you would like to run or walk with us...
you can sign up here: www.autismspeaks.org/potomac5k (You may need to cut & paste that address in your internet browser's address window. Click on the "Register Here" button in the middle, then click "I Agree", then select the bullet to "Join a Team", then select "Raeann's Runners" from the drop-down list that appears, and follow the directions)
If you would like place a donation...
you can do so in a couple of ways: online with a credit card on Raeann's Race Web Page, or you can get your payment (make checks out to Autism Speaks) to me and I'll turn it in for Raeann. To access Raeann's Race Web Page, click on the link at the bottom of this email.
Last year Andrea and I purchased T-shirts for all members of Raeann's Runners. We are doing that again this year. (And YES, this shirt would be in addition to the shirts they give you for running the race!)
Please consider joining us for a wonderful morning on the 4th! To top it all off, RAEANN WILL BE SINGING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM FOR ALL THE RUNNERS BEFORE THE RACE STARTS!!! She did this last year and they've asked her back!
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support!
Love,
Ron and Andrea
Ron Robisch & Andrea Morley
4990 Linganore View Drive
Monrovia, MD
21770
301 865-1660
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
NSWC "5K" Fun Run
Just did our "5K" Fun Run in conjunction with the President's Challenge. Sunny, breezy and fairly cool for a mid-June day (70s).
The course was 3 laps, mainly around one of the huge water tanks. About 30 people were there, including several walkers. Still a little sore from Sunday's trail run, I planned to run this hard but not totally kill myself either. I basically had no warm up and had already eaten plenty today. Figured I'd shoot for a 7 minute first mile and then try to hold that as best as I could.
I started off well and settled into 4th, then 5th place. Taking the lead were two young women, maintaining a 6 minute pace. A young guy came up from behind swiftly and gave chase. Another young guy and I kept an even pace, but eventually I fell back. By about 1 mile I gave up on the hope that the pair of women went out too fast. They were for real! Mile 1 was right where it was supposed to be timewise: 6:59. However, by that time I had already finished the first lap, so I knew the course would be a little short.
Lap 2 involved a slight decline in pace; Mile 2 was 7:30. I passed some ladies walking their first lap and one of them said, "Hey, here come's another runner!" which made me feel like I was one of the few out of front. That was neat!
At the beginning of Mile 3 one more young guy passed me, like I was standing still! Apparently someone had cheered him on, and he took it to heart! I didn't even try to stay with him and just tried to continue my own pace. Well, his burst didn't last that long and he ended up settling in at about 100' in front of me. As I ran through the final few turns I put in a decent enough kick, but I was too far back at this time to catch the guy. I came in at 20:41 for a distance of 2.83 miles per my GPS (7:18 pace).
I was 6th overall, which was pretty cool. No awards, though, as this was just a fun run. My friend Rick from the Steeplechasers came in shortly after me, and my friend Tony from my office came in shortly after that.
Although I'd like to be running sub 7 for a 5K, given the time of day and the recent tough trail run, I think I'm satisfied with my time. Coolest thing was that, for the first time ever, I beat everyone older than me!!! :-)
The course was 3 laps, mainly around one of the huge water tanks. About 30 people were there, including several walkers. Still a little sore from Sunday's trail run, I planned to run this hard but not totally kill myself either. I basically had no warm up and had already eaten plenty today. Figured I'd shoot for a 7 minute first mile and then try to hold that as best as I could.
I started off well and settled into 4th, then 5th place. Taking the lead were two young women, maintaining a 6 minute pace. A young guy came up from behind swiftly and gave chase. Another young guy and I kept an even pace, but eventually I fell back. By about 1 mile I gave up on the hope that the pair of women went out too fast. They were for real! Mile 1 was right where it was supposed to be timewise: 6:59. However, by that time I had already finished the first lap, so I knew the course would be a little short.
Lap 2 involved a slight decline in pace; Mile 2 was 7:30. I passed some ladies walking their first lap and one of them said, "Hey, here come's another runner!" which made me feel like I was one of the few out of front. That was neat!
At the beginning of Mile 3 one more young guy passed me, like I was standing still! Apparently someone had cheered him on, and he took it to heart! I didn't even try to stay with him and just tried to continue my own pace. Well, his burst didn't last that long and he ended up settling in at about 100' in front of me. As I ran through the final few turns I put in a decent enough kick, but I was too far back at this time to catch the guy. I came in at 20:41 for a distance of 2.83 miles per my GPS (7:18 pace).
I was 6th overall, which was pretty cool. No awards, though, as this was just a fun run. My friend Rick from the Steeplechasers came in shortly after me, and my friend Tony from my office came in shortly after that.
Although I'd like to be running sub 7 for a 5K, given the time of day and the recent tough trail run, I think I'm satisfied with my time. Coolest thing was that, for the first time ever, I beat everyone older than me!!! :-)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Here a race, there a race, everywhere a race, race!
I ran a race tonight! Our club runs a series of track races on Wednesdays through the summer at a local high school - they call it the Summer Decathlon. Tonight we ran the 800M.
I haven't raced that distance in...well, maybe I've never raced that distance before. So it was tough for me to decide what time goal I should have. I figure I can probably run about a 6 minute mile, so for 1/2 a mile I guessed maybe a 5:30 pace, or 2:45 for the 800M. That sounds slow from what I remember of high school track, so maybe I could go a little faster...
The weather was absolutely wonderful, and our whole family came out for the evening. After a group warmup of about 1 mile, the 800 heats were ready to begin. We had a large turnout, so there ended up being four heats total, slowest first. My two oldest kids, Raeann and Lincoln, ran in the first heat. Neither of them runs much (I"m hoping that changes a bit this summer, thanks largely to the Summer Decathlon!) so I didn't expect them to be too fast. I was thinking Lincoln might break 6 minutes, and Raeann, who knows? She really prefers to walk. It's hard to get her to run steadily for any distance, she always defaults to a walk.
Well soon they were off and they grabbed a strangle hold on the last two places early. But that's ok, there was only one other kid running, and all the others were grownups who ran regularly. Frankly, I was just hoping that they wouldn't get lapped! For the first lap they both ran steadily, much to my surprise! Lincoln paced himself very well and stayed a good 10 yards or so ahead of Raeann. What thrilled me was that Raeann ran the entire first lap without stopping! Meanwhile, I'm running like a nut inside the track from was side to the other to cheer them both on.
Lincoln kept his steady pace all the way around to the final straightaway and then picked it up a bit for a final kick! He finished in 5:01 which I thought was great. Raeann took a couple of short walk breaks on her 2nd lap, but also finished well and came in at 5:36. I think they both were proud of their accomplishments and hopefully will want to do this again!
Two heats later it was my turn. There were a TON of runners in it, maybe a 14 or so, probably because most of us were too chicken to run in the fast heat with the burners! I picked a spot 2/3 of the way out on the arc and in the second row. I was far enough out to have a little daylight at the start and accelerated comfortably into the first turn in roughly 6th or 7th spot, but then had to navigate a bit until coming out of the turn I was hitting my stride again and moved up to around 4th. After 100M, I was mildly surprised to have gotten there that easily, and tried to open up for an easy stride. By about 300M the speed was no longer coming so easily! I started losing a place or two here and there, and with 200M to go I was running right in the middle of the pack. I was running alongside my friend Mark, who I thought I could beat in a 5K, and who I thought I could outkick, but gosh, he was running a strong race! Well, I let everything loose and kicked. During the final 100M I moved up about 5 places, and finished in 2:42 and something like 4th place in my heat. I'm satisfied with that result, and particularly happy about getting that kick in. That was fun!
Next were the speedsters! The final heat had maybe 8 runners, and the leaders were flying! Chad went out fast and came through the first lap with a slight lead over Victor. That's when Victor made his move and he overtook Chad in an allout sprint along the back straightaway. Both of them were just smokin'! Coming out the final turn Chad dug down for everything he had, and with a slightly longer stride and slightly stronger kick was able to re-capture the lead and cross the finish line first in 2:11. It's been quite a while since I've been to a track meet, and I'll tell you what. It was exciting and inspiring!
Jay, if your injuries are doing better you should come out sometime. Next Wednesday night they're doing the 3200M.
And as far my subject title, next Tuesday the center where I work is holding a 5K race at lunchtime! Then the next day is the 3200M. Then a week later the 600M, followed by the Baltimore 10 Miler that weekend. This is getting good!!!
I haven't raced that distance in...well, maybe I've never raced that distance before. So it was tough for me to decide what time goal I should have. I figure I can probably run about a 6 minute mile, so for 1/2 a mile I guessed maybe a 5:30 pace, or 2:45 for the 800M. That sounds slow from what I remember of high school track, so maybe I could go a little faster...
The weather was absolutely wonderful, and our whole family came out for the evening. After a group warmup of about 1 mile, the 800 heats were ready to begin. We had a large turnout, so there ended up being four heats total, slowest first. My two oldest kids, Raeann and Lincoln, ran in the first heat. Neither of them runs much (I"m hoping that changes a bit this summer, thanks largely to the Summer Decathlon!) so I didn't expect them to be too fast. I was thinking Lincoln might break 6 minutes, and Raeann, who knows? She really prefers to walk. It's hard to get her to run steadily for any distance, she always defaults to a walk.
Well soon they were off and they grabbed a strangle hold on the last two places early. But that's ok, there was only one other kid running, and all the others were grownups who ran regularly. Frankly, I was just hoping that they wouldn't get lapped! For the first lap they both ran steadily, much to my surprise! Lincoln paced himself very well and stayed a good 10 yards or so ahead of Raeann. What thrilled me was that Raeann ran the entire first lap without stopping! Meanwhile, I'm running like a nut inside the track from was side to the other to cheer them both on.
Lincoln kept his steady pace all the way around to the final straightaway and then picked it up a bit for a final kick! He finished in 5:01 which I thought was great. Raeann took a couple of short walk breaks on her 2nd lap, but also finished well and came in at 5:36. I think they both were proud of their accomplishments and hopefully will want to do this again!
Two heats later it was my turn. There were a TON of runners in it, maybe a 14 or so, probably because most of us were too chicken to run in the fast heat with the burners! I picked a spot 2/3 of the way out on the arc and in the second row. I was far enough out to have a little daylight at the start and accelerated comfortably into the first turn in roughly 6th or 7th spot, but then had to navigate a bit until coming out of the turn I was hitting my stride again and moved up to around 4th. After 100M, I was mildly surprised to have gotten there that easily, and tried to open up for an easy stride. By about 300M the speed was no longer coming so easily! I started losing a place or two here and there, and with 200M to go I was running right in the middle of the pack. I was running alongside my friend Mark, who I thought I could beat in a 5K, and who I thought I could outkick, but gosh, he was running a strong race! Well, I let everything loose and kicked. During the final 100M I moved up about 5 places, and finished in 2:42 and something like 4th place in my heat. I'm satisfied with that result, and particularly happy about getting that kick in. That was fun!
Next were the speedsters! The final heat had maybe 8 runners, and the leaders were flying! Chad went out fast and came through the first lap with a slight lead over Victor. That's when Victor made his move and he overtook Chad in an allout sprint along the back straightaway. Both of them were just smokin'! Coming out the final turn Chad dug down for everything he had, and with a slightly longer stride and slightly stronger kick was able to re-capture the lead and cross the finish line first in 2:11. It's been quite a while since I've been to a track meet, and I'll tell you what. It was exciting and inspiring!
Jay, if your injuries are doing better you should come out sometime. Next Wednesday night they're doing the 3200M.
And as far my subject title, next Tuesday the center where I work is holding a 5K race at lunchtime! Then the next day is the 3200M. Then a week later the 600M, followed by the Baltimore 10 Miler that weekend. This is getting good!!!
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