Last night I decided to do another of the training races in the park since it was overcast, breezy and only in the 70s. They were offering a 1 mile run for the kiddies, a 3 mile and a 6 mile. I opted for 3 mile to see how 7:00 pace felt.
These races are awesome because they only cost a dollar, they are run on a bike trial that only crosses one road and the terrain is hilly. The terrain is so hilly that the last half of the first mile is downhill and the first half of the last mile is uphill. It gets even worse out toward the turnaround for the 6 mile folk so it is a great practice run for the Shoreline 15K in September.
I warmed up with an easy two in 16:12, did a few strides and waited for the little kids' run to finish. I lined up at the start and eased into it behind a group of high school kids who were running the six at a conversational (for them) pace. We hit the first half mile in 3:31.64 which was perfect. I felt a bit frisky and since I had a nice long downhill to the mile mark I picked it up a bit and coasted through the mile mark in 6:48.32 with a half mile split of 3:16.68. I ran to the turnaround with a junior high kid who was running the six and would have missed the turnaround if he hadn't pointed it out to me. I hit the halfway point in 10:10.58 running the third half in 3:22.26.
I picked it up a bit while it was still relatively flat and ran a 3:14.85 while crossing the two mile mark in 13:25.43. The two mile mark is halfway up a decent size hill heading toward a bridge that crosses Steven's Creek (I think it is Steven's Creek anyway) after crossing the bridge it is a looooong slightly more than gradual uphill to the 2.5 mark. I ran the uphill have mile in 3:35.98 and got passed by two guys about halfway up (I had been in the lead). I didn't go with them as I wanted to save a little in the legs for the four mile race I'm running on the 4th but I picked it up the last half mile and used the nice downhill in the last 400 to my advantage to run a 3:08.68 and finish in 20:10.09 (by my watch). My official time was 20:09.
Mile splits of 6:48.32, 6:37.11 and 6:44.66 made me very happy and I think I could have run 10 to 15 seconds faster if not for the brutal hill the first half of the final mile.
I hit the halfway point in 10:10.58 and ran the last mile and a half in 9:59.51. I felt pretty comfortable with the pace and I am very surprised I ran this fast as I went in expecting 6:50 pace to be what I could do on a good day. Apparently I'm in better shape than I thought.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Training Race #1 - The Mile
The nice thing about the Decatur Running Club is that they have training races of varying distances every Tuesday until August. Tonight they offered a mile and three mile training races but in coming weeks will also offer two, four, six and seven mile options, all for the low price of $1. I am getting ready to ramp up the training for a PPR peak in mid-September and I wanted to see how the legs felt with fast stuff and I wanted to have a fast effort to base my speedwork paces on.
The races are held on a bike trail in Fairview Park and are out-and-back on rolling terrain. In fact, the first quarter of the races is almost completely uphill. The nice thing about that is that you get to run down the hill the last quarter.
Us lucky few, mostly kids high school age or younger, and me (the nearly 31 year old guy) were released about 2 minutes after the three mile people. I thought this would be nice to have people to catch but I was wrong. I took it easy the first quarter and let one of the high school boys lead up the hill. At the top I stayed on his heels and as we approached the half mile turnaround he slowed and I dropped him. Unfortunately I ran up on the back-of-the-pack three mile people and got hung up behind one as I came to the switchback. I think this cost me a few seconds but I clicked my half mile split in 3:03.38, uttered a profanity and surged very aggressively. I reached the 3/4 point, approximately, in 4:39; uttered another profanity and pretty much threw myself down the hill to the finish and crossed in 5:51.90. I ran the last half in 2:48.52 and waited for the second place kid who finished in 6:18. After catching my breath I ran a two mile cool down and drove home.
I'm pretty certain that I could have run 5-10 seconds faster for a full mile on the track and I'm pretty happy with my run. I will probably skip next week's training race to do 800s in the grass at the park but will probably hit the three mile option the last Tuesday in June.
I've got to get in shape for the PPR because Dan-oh and Lance ran 19:23 and 19:50, respectively, at the Scholastic Challenge last weekend. I can't let THOSE guys beat me. . .
Great job fellas!
The races are held on a bike trail in Fairview Park and are out-and-back on rolling terrain. In fact, the first quarter of the races is almost completely uphill. The nice thing about that is that you get to run down the hill the last quarter.
Us lucky few, mostly kids high school age or younger, and me (the nearly 31 year old guy) were released about 2 minutes after the three mile people. I thought this would be nice to have people to catch but I was wrong. I took it easy the first quarter and let one of the high school boys lead up the hill. At the top I stayed on his heels and as we approached the half mile turnaround he slowed and I dropped him. Unfortunately I ran up on the back-of-the-pack three mile people and got hung up behind one as I came to the switchback. I think this cost me a few seconds but I clicked my half mile split in 3:03.38, uttered a profanity and surged very aggressively. I reached the 3/4 point, approximately, in 4:39; uttered another profanity and pretty much threw myself down the hill to the finish and crossed in 5:51.90. I ran the last half in 2:48.52 and waited for the second place kid who finished in 6:18. After catching my breath I ran a two mile cool down and drove home.
I'm pretty certain that I could have run 5-10 seconds faster for a full mile on the track and I'm pretty happy with my run. I will probably skip next week's training race to do 800s in the grass at the park but will probably hit the three mile option the last Tuesday in June.
I've got to get in shape for the PPR because Dan-oh and Lance ran 19:23 and 19:50, respectively, at the Scholastic Challenge last weekend. I can't let THOSE guys beat me. . .
Great job fellas!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Race #2 in Deca-turd
I completed my second race here in sweet smelling Decatur this morning. We moved here March 27 and I ran a 5K in 20:43 a week later. I was still very sore from the move and didn't perform as well as I thought I could.
I've been putting in about 15-20 miles a week on 3-4 days of running since we moved here. I'm trying to be careful as Decatur is much more hilly than Chatham was and my legs are not used to it. I thought I was trying to get shin splints but a new pair of shoes has alleviated that.
I have not done any speedwork (tempo or track) since sometime in late Feb, early March and I have not run longer than 6 miles since about that time either. I am basically trying to say that I don't really have much going on in the way of race preparedness.
Despite all the above-mentioned disadvantages I felt that a time in the neighborhood of 35:00 would be pretty good. I thought that if the course was reasonably flat and the weather cooperated I could go under 35:00.
The temps this morning were in the 50s, which is perfect, but the wind was blowing about 15 mph with some pretty heady gusts out of the WNW. Unfortunately for me, this race was an out-and-back that headed pretty steadily in that direction.
I started at the front of the pack and after the gun set off I settled into a pretty relaxed pace that I hoped was in the 7:00-7:10 range and hung out in 6th place until a guy in a Cubs hat passed me at about the 4:00 mark. I was content to stay behind him until I hit the mile in 7:19.94 after which I dropped him like the good Cardinals fan I am.
After dropping my blue-hatted friend I found myself all by my lonesome in 5th place approximately 45 seconds behind a pack of 3 guys and 10 to 15 seconds, and extending, on Cub's man.
In a cruel twist of fate we ran over I-72 at which point I was going uphill and into the wind. I wound around on a side road to the turnaround which I hit in 18:15.21 running from the mile mark in 10:55.27. I noticed that after the turnaround the group ahead of me had strung out and it looked like Tailgate Charlie was coming back to me. I relaxed my form, shortened my stride and focused on his orange back. As we left the side road to head back over I-72 he was 28 seconds ahead of me and upon reaching the other side he was only 18 seconds ahead.
I passed the 4 mile mark in 29:05.49 running from the turnaround in 10:50.28 and was only about 8 seconds back. I had picked a house that marked the half mile left point and started an extended kick, passed the guy to move into 4th place and crossed the finish line in a somewhat disappointed 36:01.84 and covering the last mile in 6:56.35.
I was only disappointed until looking at my splits, such as they were, and noticing that I had run negative splits. I was also less disappointed when three people with Garmins commented that the course was between 5.08 and 5.15 miles which makes it about 30 to 50 seconds long. All of a sudden my 36:01 was looking more like a 35:11 or a 35:31 and more in the range I thought myself capable of. The wind also played a factor in that it was in my face most of the first half and blowing me sideways most of the second half.
I did win my age group and brought home a very nice blue coffee cup with the race logo on it.
I'm hoping to run at least one race a month until the end of the year, though I'll see how that works out. I'm going to work on getting my mileage up to the mid-20s with an 8-10 mile long run and I'll start adding some speedwork so I can crank out a respectable time at the PPR in September. I doubt I'll break 19:00 this year but I think sub-19:30 is possible with all the demands on my time.
I've been putting in about 15-20 miles a week on 3-4 days of running since we moved here. I'm trying to be careful as Decatur is much more hilly than Chatham was and my legs are not used to it. I thought I was trying to get shin splints but a new pair of shoes has alleviated that.
I have not done any speedwork (tempo or track) since sometime in late Feb, early March and I have not run longer than 6 miles since about that time either. I am basically trying to say that I don't really have much going on in the way of race preparedness.
Despite all the above-mentioned disadvantages I felt that a time in the neighborhood of 35:00 would be pretty good. I thought that if the course was reasonably flat and the weather cooperated I could go under 35:00.
The temps this morning were in the 50s, which is perfect, but the wind was blowing about 15 mph with some pretty heady gusts out of the WNW. Unfortunately for me, this race was an out-and-back that headed pretty steadily in that direction.
I started at the front of the pack and after the gun set off I settled into a pretty relaxed pace that I hoped was in the 7:00-7:10 range and hung out in 6th place until a guy in a Cubs hat passed me at about the 4:00 mark. I was content to stay behind him until I hit the mile in 7:19.94 after which I dropped him like the good Cardinals fan I am.
After dropping my blue-hatted friend I found myself all by my lonesome in 5th place approximately 45 seconds behind a pack of 3 guys and 10 to 15 seconds, and extending, on Cub's man.
In a cruel twist of fate we ran over I-72 at which point I was going uphill and into the wind. I wound around on a side road to the turnaround which I hit in 18:15.21 running from the mile mark in 10:55.27. I noticed that after the turnaround the group ahead of me had strung out and it looked like Tailgate Charlie was coming back to me. I relaxed my form, shortened my stride and focused on his orange back. As we left the side road to head back over I-72 he was 28 seconds ahead of me and upon reaching the other side he was only 18 seconds ahead.
I passed the 4 mile mark in 29:05.49 running from the turnaround in 10:50.28 and was only about 8 seconds back. I had picked a house that marked the half mile left point and started an extended kick, passed the guy to move into 4th place and crossed the finish line in a somewhat disappointed 36:01.84 and covering the last mile in 6:56.35.
I was only disappointed until looking at my splits, such as they were, and noticing that I had run negative splits. I was also less disappointed when three people with Garmins commented that the course was between 5.08 and 5.15 miles which makes it about 30 to 50 seconds long. All of a sudden my 36:01 was looking more like a 35:11 or a 35:31 and more in the range I thought myself capable of. The wind also played a factor in that it was in my face most of the first half and blowing me sideways most of the second half.
I did win my age group and brought home a very nice blue coffee cup with the race logo on it.
I'm hoping to run at least one race a month until the end of the year, though I'll see how that works out. I'm going to work on getting my mileage up to the mid-20s with an 8-10 mile long run and I'll start adding some speedwork so I can crank out a respectable time at the PPR in September. I doubt I'll break 19:00 this year but I think sub-19:30 is possible with all the demands on my time.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
My new home base of Decatur
Since we moved to Decatur a little over two weeks ago I have run in my new neighborhood four times and ended up lost twice. Today's excursion was supposed to be a touch over five miles and ended up, after getting lost three times, being right around six miles. Decatur also has quite a few more hills than Chatham so a six mile jaunt through town sees me run up at least twice as many hills as my 6 mile route back in Chatham.
The weekend after we moved here I ran a small 5K down the road a bit. It was the LSA 5K and I placed 3rd overall and 1st in my age group in 20:43. I've been fighting a bit of sciatica and hamstring issues and not training very much due to work, school, newborn and moving so I am happy with the result though I think I could have run at least ten seconds faster.
I've been doing calisthenics and working out on the Total Gym pretty consistently so between that and the extra mileage I will get in from getting lost maybe I'll become injury free and faster this year on the infrequent occasions I will race.
The weekend after we moved here I ran a small 5K down the road a bit. It was the LSA 5K and I placed 3rd overall and 1st in my age group in 20:43. I've been fighting a bit of sciatica and hamstring issues and not training very much due to work, school, newborn and moving so I am happy with the result though I think I could have run at least ten seconds faster.
I've been doing calisthenics and working out on the Total Gym pretty consistently so between that and the extra mileage I will get in from getting lost maybe I'll become injury free and faster this year on the infrequent occasions I will race.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Adam Michael
My second son was born today at approximately 1030 hrs. He weighed in at 5 lbs 8 oz and measured 17 3/4 inches. He has a head of blondeish/brown hair and blue tinted eyes. Mother and baby are doing well and it is possible that he will be able to come home on Sunday.
As the new father of a child with Down Syndrome I encourage all five of my readers to visit the National Down Syndrome Society website or take part in a Polar Bear Plunge in your area to support Special Olympics.
As the new father of a child with Down Syndrome I encourage all five of my readers to visit the National Down Syndrome Society website or take part in a Polar Bear Plunge in your area to support Special Olympics.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
3200 meter time trial
My training plan this year basically revolves around a 14 day cycle where I run 5 miles in Decatur during my lunch break on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday's lunch is occasionally spent in the weight room. Thursday and Friday are usually off days. Saturdays alternate between a long run (usually 8 miles) one week and a hard effort (1600 meters, 3200 meters or 3 miles). Sunday is an easy 4.
Last weekend's 8 mile run was completed at an 8:03 clip and my other runs are generally completed between 8:00 to 8:30 pace.
Last night I ran 4 in 32 minutes and change.
This morning I warmed up with an easy two in 15:36.48 (8:04.83 and 7:31.65). I took a 4:53.81 break to water a thirsty tree in the woods near the middle school and, after changing into my vest from my jacket, I started my 3200 meter time trial. The plan was to see if I could run faster than the 12:42 I ran in November. My 5:41 1600 TT from two weeks ago made me think sub-12:30 was possible.
I set off at an easy pace the first lap and felt comfortable the whole way.
1:33.96
1:33.20; 3:07.16
1:34.07; 4:41.23
1:35.52; 6:16.75
1:33.85; 7:50.60
1:34.13; 9:24.73
1:34.24; 10:58.97
1:29.16; 12:28.13
Mile splits= 6:16.75/6:11.38
I cooled down with an easy two miles.
Last weekend's 8 mile run was completed at an 8:03 clip and my other runs are generally completed between 8:00 to 8:30 pace.
Last night I ran 4 in 32 minutes and change.
This morning I warmed up with an easy two in 15:36.48 (8:04.83 and 7:31.65). I took a 4:53.81 break to water a thirsty tree in the woods near the middle school and, after changing into my vest from my jacket, I started my 3200 meter time trial. The plan was to see if I could run faster than the 12:42 I ran in November. My 5:41 1600 TT from two weeks ago made me think sub-12:30 was possible.
I set off at an easy pace the first lap and felt comfortable the whole way.
1:33.96
1:33.20; 3:07.16
1:34.07; 4:41.23
1:35.52; 6:16.75
1:33.85; 7:50.60
1:34.13; 9:24.73
1:34.24; 10:58.97
1:29.16; 12:28.13
Mile splits= 6:16.75/6:11.38
I cooled down with an easy two miles.
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