May the Mass x Acceleration be with you

Warmup:

10 minute warmup jog

2x2:00 at 1/2 marathon pace, with 2 min recovery jogs

2x150m @ 10k pace

Race:

Bank to Bay 10K race - 37:59  (18:51.25, 19:07.75)

After last year's abysmal performance at this event (41:01 while shooting for 37:40), I was a little more anxious than usual to run a good race this year. I was shooting for 39:00 because my earlier 4 mile time indicated this was a roughly equivalent performance. Also, McMillans said that my goal of 3:03 for the marathon was equivalent to 39 min, and I wanted to prove to myself I am on target for such a performance.

Bank to Bay is a fairly challenging course, with a few good hills scattered throughout, but also features a downhill finish the last 1/2 mile. So, I knew whatever time I ran here would be a legitimate time.

In order to run 39 minutes, I needed to run 6:16/mile, so I aimed for 6:15 so it would be easier to track during the race.

The first mile, we start uphill the first half, and then plunge down to near sea level. I wanted to hold back so I went out at what felt like temp run pace. There was a big pack in front of me that was pulling away from me, including another guy who was shooting for the same time as me (Mark), but I was pretty sure I didn't want to go out as fast as they were. I ended up running by myself by 1/2 mile, as people behind me fell away, too. I figured I was running the first mile with the right effort, so I was very surprised to see the mile mark at under 6 minutes. Since, on the downhill, I wasn't even breathing hard at all I didn't panic. I just told myself that this meant I could relax. Not slow down, but relax.

I caught up with and passed all of the previously mentioned pack by the 2nd mile, passed in 12:03, including Mark. After that I was able to reel in a few more people here and there until just after the halfway point where I passed the #2 girl. After that there was no one anywhere close to me in front of me. One guy came along and passed me around 5 1/2 miles, on the uphill. He kept pulling further away from me all the way to the finish. No one that I passed was anywhere close to me. The #2 girl, who I passed just after the 1/2 way point was 45 seconds back by the finish.
Each mile I got progressivley slower, but I never ran as slow as my goal pace.  My slowest, most uphill split was 6:14.5 - the 6th mile, but I kicked in a 68 second last .21 miles.

When I got close enough to the finish line to see the finish clock I realized it said 37:39, not 37:59, so I knew I had a chance to not only break 39 minutes, but 38 minutes as well. I gave it everything I had and just made it according to my watch. When official results were posted they agreed with my watch. More than a minute under my goal! And I won my age division to boot!

Now I have to reset training paces and marathon goals. McMillans says 37:59 predicts a 2:58:15 marathon. It will take a bit to wrap my brain around that one. That would be a PR by more than 13 minutes!

Splits:
1 - 5:58.5
2 - 12:03 - 6:04.5
3 - 18:11.5 - 6:08.75
      3.11 - 18:51.25 - 39.6
4 - 24:23 - 6:11.5
5 - 30:36.75 - 6:14
6 - 36:51.25 - 6:14.5
      6.21 - 37:59 - 1:08

 

Cooldown:

2.1 miles in 17:10

SEJ-5 Mile Loop - 5 miles in 37:52

I felt surprisingly good today. Not very tired, and only a little sore from yesterday's race. Consequently, rather than running the usual slower than 8/mile recovery day I ended up running a fairly brisk pace.

Splits:
1 - 7:40
3 - 22:55 - 15:15
4 - 30:20 - 7:25
5 - 37:52 - 7:32

Vickory route - 8 miles in 1:00:51

Felt good and quick today. My quads are still a bit sore from Sunday's race, but energy-wise I'm feeling great. Earlier run than usual. Going to the fair today!

Splits:
1 - 8:04
2 - 15:48 - 7:43
3 - 23:35 - 7:45
4 - 31:13 - 7:38
5 - 38:33 - 7:20
6 - 46:02 - 7:29
7 - 53:29 - 7:27
8 - 60:51 - 7:23

Easy run on trails - 6 miles in 48:45

6xLM, 6xCM

Military Road route - 12 miles in 1:28:33

The whole run felt pretty easy. In fact, I felt like I was holding back, rather than pushing. Even some of the quickest miles felt easy. I did do 4 30 second strides during the 2nd to last mile, which is why it was so much faster than the others.The top of my left foot started hurting last night and was a little sore during the run. Temp was in the 60's with a little rain off and on, but it was very muggy, so it felt pretty warm.

Splits:
1 - 0:07:34
2 - 0:15:08 - 7:34
3 - 0:22:50 - 7:42
4 - 0:30:11 - 7:20.5
5 - 0:37:40 - 7:29
6 - 0:44:50 - 7:10
7 - 0:52:15 - 7:25
8 - 0:59:34 - 7:19
9 - 1:06:54 - 7:20
10 - 1:14:00 - 7:06 (3:42,3:24.5)
11 - 1:21:05 - 7:05
12 - 1:28:33 - 7:28

SEJ-6.5 loop - 6.46 miles in 50:32

SEJ-7 mile loop + Vickory route - 18 miles in 2:12:57

I ran the first 9 miles easy, then 8 miles at mp pace, then a mile cool down. I felt sore and tired from the beginning, and was already making a bailout plan before I started the mp part of the run, in case I got a mile into it and it wasn't working. However, once I sped up to the mp pace I found it was not very difficult to run 7 min pace, and even faster. The last few miles felt like the end of a marathon, and I really struggled to push the last half mile, then died on the cool down. Mostly it was my upper quads that were so sore and tired that it was hard to lift my legs. Hopefully this was because of the new strength training I started this week.

I was surprise by how quickly each half mile split came up, especially the fist 6 miles or so of the mp part. I feel more confident that a sub-3 hour is possible.

Splits:
1.0 - 0:08:06
2.0 - 0:15:50 - 7:44
3.0 - 0:23:32 - 7:42
4.0 - 0:31:07 - 7:35
5.0 - 0:38:45 - 7:38
6.0 - 0:46:18 - 7:33
7.0 - 0:53:48 - 7:30
8.0 - 1:01:32 - 7:45
9.0 - 1:09:13 - 7:41
-- Start marathon pace --
09.5 - 1:12:42 - 3:29.5
10.0 - 1:16:09 - 3:27
10.5 - 1:19:41 - 3:32
11.0 - 1:23:06 - 3:25
11.5 - 1:26:36 - 3:29.75
12.0 - 1:30:03 - 3:27.0
12.5 - 1:33:29 - 3:26
13.0 - 1:36:50 - 3:21.5
13.5 - 1:40:21 - 3:30.25
14.0 - 1:43:47 - 3:26.5
14.5 - 1:47:07 - 3:20
15.0 - 1:50:32 - 3:25.25
15.5 - 1:53:57 - 3:24.5
16.0 - 1:57:27 - 3:30.5
16.5 - 2:00:52 - 3:24.5
17.0 - 2:04:11 - 3:19.5
-- End marathon pace -- 8 miles in 54:58 (6:52.25/mile)
18.0 - 2:12:57 - 8:46