Doing What I Can

3 easy, 22:16 ish i think.

2 pre race. 14:36. strides today, none yesterday

Today was the annual Carlisle 5k. I have ran this race in 2008 and 2009, and won it each time, so i was in essence the defending champ. Being as such, and knowing the race director (my hs xc coach) he surprised me today and gave me bib number 1, pretty cool! Did a little warmup and felt ready to go.

Got out solid and hit the first mile in 5:21.7. A nice first mile given it was up two decent hills. I had one runner staying with me at this point, but having this as my home course has its advantage, i knew that right after the 1st mile marker it is downhill pretty much all the way to mile 2. So I laid the hammer down and threw in a massive surge. I dropped him quick, and soon it was just me up front. I thought I was gonna win my 3rd straight.

2nd mile rolled by in 5:13.1. Nice negative split, although, I very much believe this mile was short given mile 3 and the fact that the marker was up from its old spot as the course was changed a tad. At mile 2 though, I got passed by a runner I knew from college and local races. I answered his surge for a little while, but I couldn't cover it completely and he gapped me with about .8 to go.

I spent the third mile trying to reel him in but I couldn't do it. He had made a decisive move and today was his day. I ran the last 1.1 in 6:12, so right around 5:32 pace, which i believe was pretty decent and indicates very little slowing if the course markers were all equidistant.

I crossed the tape in 16:46.9, but officially it was 16:47, which is fine, just tiny fractions of a second. That time ties my 2nd best ever and was just 9 seconds off my PR, which ironically enough, the winner ran 16:37, and my pr is 16:38, so if I would have PRed today, I would have probably won. Interesting food for thought.

After the race, there was some talk of a shortened course, as they had changed it from last year. I got on and measured it online and it probably was a little short, more like 3.03-3.06 range. But that being said, I am still happy with my race and my time which I will count as a 5k race. I am just a runner, not a race director or course creator, so who am I to say that the course was off?

Overall, great race, i really enjoy this one, not only is it my hometown race and course, but the people are awesome. Being the first carlisle finisher also netted me a 3 month snap fitness membership valued at over 100 dollars, so thats always nice. Ill prolly give it to my mom as I like to run outside.

10 miles today in pouring rain the entire time. Felt really good after the first 5 miles and ended up running a 56 second negative split between the first and last 5 miles. Splits:

1- 7:03.9

2- 7:07.5

3- 7:27.2

4- 7:30.7

5- 7:29.7 (first 5 miles, 36:39, 7:20 pace)

6- 6:45.1

7- 6:53.6

8- 7:07.2

9- 7:27.8

10- 7:31.6 (last 5 miles, 35:45, 7:09 pace)

Pretty cool run.

5 tonight after work so I was tired coming in, 36:47, 7:21 pace.

Repeat 400s today. Didnt feel that great nor did I run great. 1:20-1:22s.

33:36, 7:28 pace. Didn't feel real awesome.

3 easy.

rare for me to take a day off before a race, but just didnt have time to run 2 miles today. did do 10 strides and stretched right after I woke up though.

Headed up to ankeny today to test my fitness again. I was told this race was flat and so I was looking for another good time. After warmups, my legs felt tight and actually a little sluggish which is weird given the easy last few days. I met up with a good friend who i talked in to running it and so it was good to see him there.

Race started and I knew I had to lay back and pick people off. First mile flew by--5:26.2. Right where I needed to be. Then I started picking off a few of the younger kids who go out fast. But after about 1/4 of mile 2, i was on an island--no one around me. I kept trying to run down the person ahead of me but just wasnt happening, my legs were not turning over that great. 2nd mile was 5:48.3. I tried to pick it up to bring it home. I ended up passing one more high school kid at the end, we battled all the way to the line and I beat him down the stretch, but my last mile was still sluggish--5:49.9, with the last .1 in 31.7 which was a pretty legit .1 so I am happy because I had to kick it to hold onto 6th place. I had a little much in the tank at the end, but I really didnt have much the whole race--kind of weird.

Overall, I clocked a 17:37, not a bad time, but not super fast. I am pretty happy with that time given how I felt after warming up. I think I was sluggish because I didnt run yesteday, I have noticed the few times I have taken the day off before a race I end up with significantly less "pop" in my legs. Cant be too hard on myself though, as there was not much I could have done to avoid not running yesterday--simply no time. Better luck in two weeks, and after all I did place in my age group.

7 today in 52:42, 7:32 pace, felt like crap.

6 out to avon, road finally opened back up. 44:05, 7:21 pace. Felt pretty decent on tired legs.

Woke up early today and got out at 8 am to try and beat the excessive heat and humidity forecasted for today (heat index of 110!). Did some repeat 800s, but I was already sweating like crazy. Hit my splits in 2:44, 2:44, 2:38, 2:39. So I essentially ran a better "second mile" which is where I want to continue to work on. May jump in a local 5k this weekend for cheap.

easy run today. Lot less hot and humid.

2 easy ones today. 14:37, 7:18 avg.

Pretty awesome night workout today. Was gonna race this morning but was traveling late last night and thought it better to save the money and get some extra sleep. Had to wait out the heat of the day to run tonight around 9:30, probably not too many people out doing speedwork on a saturday night. Oh well, I was and it was awesome. I really wanted to hit my first mile in sub-5, but I just missed, ran 5:10.9, second was 5:31.1, then had to take a doubly long break because the trail I was running on was thick with bugs, so I drove back home to do a mile loop by my house, so instead of 3 minutes I took 6 with drive time for this last set. Ran the last one in 5:29.8. Overall, i was super happy with my speed tonight, felt good to get some fast miles in not to mention in still very sticky, hot weather. I believe the heat index was still near 90 at 9:30.

Sposed to be an easy run today, really ramped it up towards the end. Felt good the whole time, even in 90 degree heat of midday. Splits:

1- 6:58.0

2- 7:06.8

3- 7:07.9

4- 6:53.7

5- 6:40.2

TOTAL-- 34:46, 6:57 avg

Started out today's run pretty well, right around 7:05's- 7:10s, then slowed the last 2 miles. Hit the first 3 in like 21:23, so pretty legit pace, then ended total run time around 36:30. 

repeat 800s today. Really humid, I badly underestimated just how humid it was. Didn't run as fast as I have been, but my legs were tired, rightfully so looking at the last few days. splits:

1- 2:37

2- 2:41

3- 2:44

4- 2:41

5- 2:39

Kind of a bell-curve kind of effect on my repeats today. Didn't feel that great, but its nice to be on the tapering side of the week for this 5k on saturday.

Had some birthday flow today, 32:23, 7:12 avg for 4.5 miles. Felt pretty decent.

3 in 21:45, 7:15 avg. very hot and humid.

2 pre race. 15:05, 7:32.5 avg. Really humid again. 8 strides.

Went to a race today in polk city. Long story short--my buddy and I were warming up at 7:30 thinking the race started at 8 only to see the entire field go past us. We missed the start--it was 7:30. So 6 minutes later we started and I caught much of the field by the end of the race--ended up running around 18:20 on basically no warmup, which is around 5:55 m.p. Today was so irritating, I cant believe we missed the start.

5

Been fighting a stomach bug since sunday, so didnt run yesterday. Hit it hard today and flew. Splits:

1- 7:09.2

2- 6:56.7

3- 6:46.4

4- 6:41.3

5- 6:47.1

6- 7:33.0

TOTAL--41:53, 6:59 avg pace

Overall, felt pretty good, actually was a little tight, but ran the middle 4 miles in 27:12, which equates to 6:48 avg pace..not a bad little run. Technically that is GMP, but it almost felt like tempo given the sickness and the heat of summer.

5 in 37:24, 7:29 avg pace. felt ok.

Ran in the middle of a downpour/thunderstorm, best kinds of running that exists! Decided to go hard for 4 miles straight out of the gate. Splits:

1- 6:34.2

2- 6:26.9

3- 6:36.0

4- 6:28.7

Then did a cooldown .5 in 3:55, 7:50 pace. Overall, ran the 4.5 in 30:01, which is well under 7 pace. My tempo miles were not super fast, but were decent given I just up and ran hard. I especially liked the last mile since that is uphill and usually my toughest mile.

very sluggish 4 today, felt very crappy. Not sure why.