18 March 2012
Stats
Not too shabby for the week after a PR.
Mileage: 62.8
Run days/Rest days: 7/0
Pace: 7:58
Breakdown:
Monday- 10 miles @ 7:22 (last 3@6:49)
Tuesday- 10.75 miles @ 7:59 (including 900+ ft elev gain)
Wednesday- 5 miles @ 8:40
Thursday- 10 miles @ 7:08 (last 7/1 @6:49/6:27)
Friday- 5 miles @ 8:59
Saturday- 20 miles @ 7:59
Sunday- 2.1 @ 10:29 (recovery)
I had planned on running a 5 mile recovery run today. When I woke up today, the back of my right knee ached like I hyper extended it in my sleep or something. Instead of injuring myself, I took it a little easier than a normal recovery run and cut the distance down. The plan for this week has a similar breakdown but should get me to about 70 miles.
16 March 2012
Race Pics
Official Results are in: 37:37.0 :)
Here are a few pics from the race
Here are a few pics from the race
Near the 2.5k mark
2.5K mark again, but on the return trip so...7.5k mark
Finish line
11 March 2012
Weekly Stats
Miles: 44.4
Pace: 7:46
Runs: 7
Took my runs mostly easy this week to keep my legs fresh for the race. Definitely backed off on mileage for the same reason. My only quality run, besides the race, was an MP run on Thursday: 9 miles total with 5@6:50 pace. Next week I will definitely be back up in the 60-70 mile range.
Pace: 7:46
Runs: 7
Took my runs mostly easy this week to keep my legs fresh for the race. Definitely backed off on mileage for the same reason. My only quality run, besides the race, was an MP run on Thursday: 9 miles total with 5@6:50 pace. Next week I will definitely be back up in the 60-70 mile range.
Foothills Dash 10K Race Report
Still waiting for official results/pics but this will have to do for now.
Time: 37:37
Place: 2nd Overall, 1st Age Group
I really didn't know what to expect going into this race. Well, thats not completely true. I knew I was in shape to PR. I had been putting in a lot of miles (50mpw for the 11 weeks before the race) and my previous PR was a split from a half marathon. The only real speed work I did to get ready for this race was three sessions of 4x1 mile. The first session average was 6:07, then 6:04 and finally 5:57.
The night before the race, my wife and I went to my sisters for dinner. Pasta and wine is a great combination for a pre-race dinner. The next morning I had a waffle for breakfast and some coffee. Then it was out the door to head to the race. It was fairly local, one town over. The field was a decent size, maybe 200 for the 5k and 10k. The field was not that fast though. There was one returning runner in the 10k (last years/this years winner) and a few other 5k guys who ran about our pace.
My wife was nice enough to go pick up my mom who wanted to see the race. Other than them, two of the women from my running club came to cheer for me. It was nice to have my own little cheering section.
After doing a very short jog and some hip exercises I took off my prerace/postrace clothes and headed to the starting line. I lined up in front for two reasons: 1. I was planning on running fast and did not want to get held up in traffic 2. This race was not chip timed. They did it old school with a stop watch and bib tags. I did a few strides to get my muscles warmed up to what race pace would feel like. The weather was close to perfect. Cloudy, mid 40's, slightly windy/rainy. Other than the wind and rain, couldn't have asked for better weather.
At the sound of the gun, myself and four other guys took off. We ran together, plus a few seconds, until the 5k runners turned around (both races were out and back courses). This is when I knew how I was doing place wise. Three guys turned around, only one kept going. So I was in 2nd place! I kept him in my sights as best I could. There is a small uphill at in the third mile that slowed me down a little, but I was able to use that to pick up some speed on the return trip. At the halfway point, he was about 30 seconds ahead of me. I knew that if I tried to catch him I might blow up, so I decided that 2nd place was more than good enough and focused on my time. My split at the halfway was 18:48. For those keeping score, that is a 10 second PR...set during a longer race...guess I need to find a 5k and set a real PR.
The second half of the race got a little more crowded. At first it was nice, just passing 10k runners who were still heading out. A lot of them cheered for the front runners which gave me a huge boost. One of them even told me "you're 45 back, you can catch him". At this point in the race, I fel0t like I could taste my breakfast coming back up. I thought, 'yeah, I can sprint to catch him and then throw up on the side of the course while he finishes'. Once we got to the 5k turn around, things got interesting. I had to weave between strollers and walkers and slower runners. Kind of annoying but it was not too bad. I never had to alter my stride so I was ok with it.
Coming towards the finish, my running club friends were banging their cowbell and hollerin', definitely gave me a little boost. As I got closer I saw the clock say 37:17. No way! I couldn't believe that was my time. I pushed a little bit and crossed the finish line. Very shortly after, I stopped my watch @ 37:37. That's 1:53 faster than my unofficial PR (the split from a half marathon) and 2:26 faster than my official PR.
Splits:
5:53
6:05
6:07
18:48 (5k)
5:55
6:05
6:07
1:23 (0.24 miles)
A few photos from my wife's camera.
Time: 37:37
Place: 2nd Overall, 1st Age Group
I really didn't know what to expect going into this race. Well, thats not completely true. I knew I was in shape to PR. I had been putting in a lot of miles (50mpw for the 11 weeks before the race) and my previous PR was a split from a half marathon. The only real speed work I did to get ready for this race was three sessions of 4x1 mile. The first session average was 6:07, then 6:04 and finally 5:57.
The night before the race, my wife and I went to my sisters for dinner. Pasta and wine is a great combination for a pre-race dinner. The next morning I had a waffle for breakfast and some coffee. Then it was out the door to head to the race. It was fairly local, one town over. The field was a decent size, maybe 200 for the 5k and 10k. The field was not that fast though. There was one returning runner in the 10k (last years/this years winner) and a few other 5k guys who ran about our pace.
My wife was nice enough to go pick up my mom who wanted to see the race. Other than them, two of the women from my running club came to cheer for me. It was nice to have my own little cheering section.
After doing a very short jog and some hip exercises I took off my prerace/postrace clothes and headed to the starting line. I lined up in front for two reasons: 1. I was planning on running fast and did not want to get held up in traffic 2. This race was not chip timed. They did it old school with a stop watch and bib tags. I did a few strides to get my muscles warmed up to what race pace would feel like. The weather was close to perfect. Cloudy, mid 40's, slightly windy/rainy. Other than the wind and rain, couldn't have asked for better weather.
At the sound of the gun, myself and four other guys took off. We ran together, plus a few seconds, until the 5k runners turned around (both races were out and back courses). This is when I knew how I was doing place wise. Three guys turned around, only one kept going. So I was in 2nd place! I kept him in my sights as best I could. There is a small uphill at in the third mile that slowed me down a little, but I was able to use that to pick up some speed on the return trip. At the halfway point, he was about 30 seconds ahead of me. I knew that if I tried to catch him I might blow up, so I decided that 2nd place was more than good enough and focused on my time. My split at the halfway was 18:48. For those keeping score, that is a 10 second PR...set during a longer race...guess I need to find a 5k and set a real PR.
The second half of the race got a little more crowded. At first it was nice, just passing 10k runners who were still heading out. A lot of them cheered for the front runners which gave me a huge boost. One of them even told me "you're 45 back, you can catch him". At this point in the race, I fel0t like I could taste my breakfast coming back up. I thought, 'yeah, I can sprint to catch him and then throw up on the side of the course while he finishes'. Once we got to the 5k turn around, things got interesting. I had to weave between strollers and walkers and slower runners. Kind of annoying but it was not too bad. I never had to alter my stride so I was ok with it.
Coming towards the finish, my running club friends were banging their cowbell and hollerin', definitely gave me a little boost. As I got closer I saw the clock say 37:17. No way! I couldn't believe that was my time. I pushed a little bit and crossed the finish line. Very shortly after, I stopped my watch @ 37:37. That's 1:53 faster than my unofficial PR (the split from a half marathon) and 2:26 faster than my official PR.
Splits:
5:53
6:05
6:07
18:48 (5k)
5:55
6:05
6:07
1:23 (0.24 miles)
A few photos from my wife's camera.
Coming in at the finish behind a 5k runner.
With my mom before the race.
Doing some strides before the start.
10 March 2012
Quick Version
Full race report later today or tomorrow.
Time: 37:37 (unofficial)
Place: 2nd Overall, 1st Age Group
Time: 37:37 (unofficial)
Place: 2nd Overall, 1st Age Group
05 March 2012
Race Week
That's right folks, its race week. On Saturday I will be running in my second 10K race. My first 10K went fairly well. On the one hand, I won it out right. On the other, my time was 41:03. I've ran faster than that during the first 10K of a half marathon! Needless to say, I am setting out to crush my PR.
~Weekly Stats~
Distance: 65.2 miles
Runs/Rest Days: 7/0
Average Pace: 8:04
I only had two quality workouts last week. An 8 mile progression run on Tuesday and mile repeats on Friday. The progression run went better than expected. After an easy warm up mile, the plan was to hit these splits: 8:00, 7:40, 7:20, 7:00, 6:40, 6:20, 6:00. My actual splits were: 8:02, 7:40, 7:20, 6:59, 6:41, 6:18, 5:52. On Friday, I had planned on running 5x1 mile @6:0x with 90 seconds recovery. I was a little crunched for time so I decided to run 4x1 mile. My recovery was @ 10:00 pace. Splits were 5:57, 5:57, 5:57, 5:55.
This week I am mainly focusing on easy miles, that way my legs are fresh for Saturday. I may run some MP miles on Thursday to shake of some cobwebs. Other than that, nothing faster than 7:30-8:00. Hopefully my post on Sunday will have a shiny new PR as the title :)
~Weekly Stats~
Distance: 65.2 miles
Runs/Rest Days: 7/0
Average Pace: 8:04
I only had two quality workouts last week. An 8 mile progression run on Tuesday and mile repeats on Friday. The progression run went better than expected. After an easy warm up mile, the plan was to hit these splits: 8:00, 7:40, 7:20, 7:00, 6:40, 6:20, 6:00. My actual splits were: 8:02, 7:40, 7:20, 6:59, 6:41, 6:18, 5:52. On Friday, I had planned on running 5x1 mile @6:0x with 90 seconds recovery. I was a little crunched for time so I decided to run 4x1 mile. My recovery was @ 10:00 pace. Splits were 5:57, 5:57, 5:57, 5:55.
This week I am mainly focusing on easy miles, that way my legs are fresh for Saturday. I may run some MP miles on Thursday to shake of some cobwebs. Other than that, nothing faster than 7:30-8:00. Hopefully my post on Sunday will have a shiny new PR as the title :)
26 February 2012
A Little Bit Faster
~Weekly Stats~
Runs: 6
Rest Days: 1
Miles: 64.9
Time: 8:41:49
This week I started doing more speed work and marathon pace work. I have a target marathon in mind but am waiting to post about it. I still am not sure if I can afford the race. It is several hours away so I would need to stay overnight somewhere, cost of gas is going up and the race fee itself. Since my wife and I are only working part time and I have student loans that we are paying off, this race may not be in the cards. But if it is, I want to be ready for it.
I had three quality runs this week. Tuesday was an 8 mile run with 6 miles at goal marathon pace. I ran with a friend who is training for Boston. Luckily, my goal marathon pace is his tempo pace. So we targeted 6:51 per mile and ended up running 6:49's.
Thursday was my 6 mile run with 4x1 mile @goal 10k pace. Splits for that were 6:06, 6:05, 6:07 and 6:02; this was slightly faster than last week and gave me a lot of confidence in my chances at a PR in two weeks.
My final quality run was my long run yesterday. I ran 20.4 miles @8:14 pace. I would have like the average pace to be a bit faster but it was crazy windy during the run. I think the gusts were up to 40 mph. There were several places where we felt we were being pushed back. I ran the first 17 with Tom. Here is the breakdown of those miles; 11 @ 8:19, 5 @ 7:19, 1 @ 8:5x. We ran with another group of people who were going at a slower pace. Once we finished the distance Tom wanted, I headed back out on the trail to catch the other three runners in our group and finish with them. In all it was a good run.
I have noticed my patellar tendinitis flaring up a little. That is why I took today off from running. I have had my knee taped up all week but it really bothered me during the last few miles yesterday. I think part of it is how much I have picked up my speed this month. In January, I ran 250 miles @ 9:04 pace. So far I have 225 miles @ 8:15 pace this month. Next week I am going to make sure my easy runs are super easy and hopefully that will help. If not, I may need to re-hash my training schedule.
I was able to get to the gym twice this week for strength work! The goal is to keep that up all year. I do need to change the days I am lifting though. Stupidly, I lifted Friday knowing I had a long run Saturday morning. My arms were definitely sore and my water bottle felt like it weighed twenty pounds. No more weights on Friday. Next week will be my last at this mileage and intensity before my 10k. I plan on backing off mileage a little that week to give myself a better shot at a PR.
Runs: 6
Rest Days: 1
Miles: 64.9
Time: 8:41:49
This week I started doing more speed work and marathon pace work. I have a target marathon in mind but am waiting to post about it. I still am not sure if I can afford the race. It is several hours away so I would need to stay overnight somewhere, cost of gas is going up and the race fee itself. Since my wife and I are only working part time and I have student loans that we are paying off, this race may not be in the cards. But if it is, I want to be ready for it.
I had three quality runs this week. Tuesday was an 8 mile run with 6 miles at goal marathon pace. I ran with a friend who is training for Boston. Luckily, my goal marathon pace is his tempo pace. So we targeted 6:51 per mile and ended up running 6:49's.
Thursday was my 6 mile run with 4x1 mile @goal 10k pace. Splits for that were 6:06, 6:05, 6:07 and 6:02; this was slightly faster than last week and gave me a lot of confidence in my chances at a PR in two weeks.
My final quality run was my long run yesterday. I ran 20.4 miles @8:14 pace. I would have like the average pace to be a bit faster but it was crazy windy during the run. I think the gusts were up to 40 mph. There were several places where we felt we were being pushed back. I ran the first 17 with Tom. Here is the breakdown of those miles; 11 @ 8:19, 5 @ 7:19, 1 @ 8:5x. We ran with another group of people who were going at a slower pace. Once we finished the distance Tom wanted, I headed back out on the trail to catch the other three runners in our group and finish with them. In all it was a good run.
I have noticed my patellar tendinitis flaring up a little. That is why I took today off from running. I have had my knee taped up all week but it really bothered me during the last few miles yesterday. I think part of it is how much I have picked up my speed this month. In January, I ran 250 miles @ 9:04 pace. So far I have 225 miles @ 8:15 pace this month. Next week I am going to make sure my easy runs are super easy and hopefully that will help. If not, I may need to re-hash my training schedule.
I was able to get to the gym twice this week for strength work! The goal is to keep that up all year. I do need to change the days I am lifting though. Stupidly, I lifted Friday knowing I had a long run Saturday morning. My arms were definitely sore and my water bottle felt like it weighed twenty pounds. No more weights on Friday. Next week will be my last at this mileage and intensity before my 10k. I plan on backing off mileage a little that week to give myself a better shot at a PR.
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