MY RUNNING PROFILE 
I have been running since the summer of 1996 when my
family and I went on a two week vacation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. My brother in law, who had run
a few 10K's and a half marathon, talked me into running during the vacation to
see how far we could get. We set a goal of running to the Millecoquins River and back, which is about a five
mile trek along the Lake Michigan shoreline, before the end of
vacation. We ran every other day, on what I now realize was a somewhat over
zealous schedule, and reached our goal. I haven't stopped running since. After
running off and on over the next three years, I began to get bored, so I
entered the Michigan Big 10K race in Ann Arbor. This was a new experience for
me that I thoroughly enjoyed. I didn't exactly burn up the course, with a
finishing time of 58:00, but it really peaked my
interest in running. I increased my base over the next year, running through
the winter, which in Michigan can be quite challenging. I ran
other 10K's over the next couple years and set a PR of 49:13 in this
year’s Grosse Point 10K. In the fall of 2001, I had a midlife crisis and
decided to run a marathon. I had planned on doing the Chicago Marathon with a
co-worker, but it didn't work out so I signed up for the Detroit Free
Press/Flagstar Bank Marathon, which was probably a good move for a first timer
since it was close to home and relatively flat. I spent the winter ramping up
my mileage and by mid April, I was running about 25 miles a week. The following
summer I started the 20 week Cool Running beginners
marathon training program, which peaked at about 45 miles per week with long
runs out to 24 miles. My game plan was to run a 8:40 pace and finish at about 3:45, which sounded good in theory
but didn't account for two long hills and a stiff headwind on the last 4 mile
stretch. I hit the wall hard at 23 miles and limped
the rest of the way in at about a 12:00 pace to finish at 3:58:13. I learned a lot in that first
race and am looking forward to running another next fall to see what kind of PR
that I can attain with all of this new found knowledge!
NAME - Tom
Griffin
EMAIL - tgriffin@twmi.rr.com
LOCATION - FARMINGTON HILLS, MICHIGAN
BIRTH DATE - 1954
HEIGHT - 6' 2"
WEIGHT - 185 lbs.
1 MILE TIME - 7:10
UNOFFICIAL, TIMED AT THE LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL TRACK
5K TIME - TAKES ME 3 MILES JUST TO
GET WARMED UP!
10K TIME - 49:13 GROSSE POINT 10K 2002
12K TIME - 1:06:30
BLACK BEAR 12K TRAIL RUN (75% IN SAND)
HALF MARATHON TIME - 1:51:03 SPLIT TIME IN MY MARATHON. MAYBE I'LL RUN A HALF THIS SPRING
MARATHON TIME - 3:58:13 2002 DETROIT FREE PRESS/FLAGSTAR BANK MARATHON
FAVORITE RUNNING SHOES - ASICS GEL CUMULUS V
FAVORITE RUNNING CLOTHES - NIKE DRI FIT, HIND
FAVORITE TIME TO RUN - EARLY
MORNING
GOALS FOR 2003 - TAKE 30 SECONDS OFF MY MILE TIME - GET MY 10K TIME
UNDER 45:00 - GET MY MARATHON TIME UNDER 3:40:00
2003RESULTS – 2003 was a banner year for
injuries. I had a bad case of tendonitis in the spring that caused me to miss
about eight weeks of running. That put me way behind in my marathon training. I
attempted to make up the lost time by accelerating the training program, which
worked well up until 2 weeks before my marathon when I pulled a hamstring,
which put me out for another eight weeks. I have pretty much recovered from
that now and am currently running 15-20 miles a week through the winter (my
current goal) which, since I do all
of my running outside, is no easy
task here in Michigan. I am feeling strong, and should be in great shape come
spring when I will celebrate my 50th birthday.
GOALS FOR 2004 - SAME AS LAST YEAR, BUT
WITHOUT THE INJURY PART.
2004 RESULTS – 2004 was a
good year for running. I was able to average 20 miles a week through the winter
and I made some improvements to my form which helped raise my average training
pace by about 30 seconds. My
training through the summer was uneventful and I set my sights on a 3:45 finishing time for my fall marathon.
Unfortunately, I came up lame with an ITB issue after my final long run of 23
miles. I rested, iced and medicated
through my taper but still felt tentative by race time. I took the first half
at a very conservative 9:00 min/mile
and felt great, so I picked up the pace and hit the 20 mile mark at 2:50 which had me on track for a 3:43 finish. Shortly after that, my right
knee locked up and I was forced to hobble through the last 5 miles ending up
with a 4:22 finish. The
good news is that I felt strong all the way and would have easily set a new PR
without the ITB issues. I’m planning on weight training through the
winter to see if that makes a difference next year and maybe see a sports
therapist to try and pin down the cause of the ITBS.
GOALS FOR 2005 – Get the ITBS under control and work on my speed. If I can stay healthy, maybe a BQ time? I’ve got 4
more years to make 3:35.