Of Mice and Marathons

AM: Run for Jake 5k in 16:57. A little short on the Garmin at 3.03 but still a PR given that my posted 5k is for a 3.05

Warmed up 2.8, which wasn't enough but better than I have been doing. Did a few brief strides. Weather was dry and fairly cool with some decent sun.

I found Leo and Jonathan at the start line and introduced myself (they are two of the Wissahickon Wanderers, an informal running club I am a part of).

A slight uphill start and I got through some young, overzelous high schoolers. There was a pack of 4 or 5 that I passed and we hit some slight downhills as I tried to keep Jonathan in range, knowing he is faster than I am. The course flattened out and I could see the first mile marker ticking sub-5:00 and crossed somewhere around 5:10-5:15 but it was definitely short, Garmin believer or not. Mile 1 split later at 5:22. That seemed about right.

I realized about this point I was in 3rd and feeling really good. I maintained perhaps 15-20 seconds on Jonathan. Leader was pretty much gone after the turn around, which was probably 1.5 miles. I slowed quite a bit but tried to grind it out. Two miles was under 11 minutes and 11:03 on my watch. Mile 2 5:41. There was a slight winding grade and I started to lose time. I still felt pretty good but my legs were firing on all cylinders, probably complacent 3rd place mode. Someome coming the other way shouted some encouragement. Something like "you don't even look tired!"

Crested the small hill and got a nice bit of downhill. Jonathan is lost at this point. I can see the course flatten out but can't see the finish. I should have pushed harder here. I did push but I should have sooner as I crested the hill because I had another few gears. I got a nice response from the crowd and started to dig. Saw 16:42 on the clock and immediately grabbed another gear. Mile 3: 5:45. 9 seconds for .03. On closer inspection the last ~.25 was around 5:00 flat or a bit under. I recovered pretty quickly so the effort wasn't all there but it wasn't easy.

Jonathan got me by about 30 seconds and Leo came in about 18 seconds behind me. The winner ran 15:low.

2.8 cool down with Leo and Jonathan.

I got shafted during the awards. They were supposed to award to top 3, but they only did top 2 then they didn't count me for the first age group award. I put in a mild complaint, not really caring about the medal but that's just silly logic.

PM: 5.7 easy. Stretching and core.

PM: 11 miles easy. Felt great. Humid but not too hot.

Day off. 32 days on. Would have rather run but rest is good and sensible.

(weight 173.7)

Late: Stretching and light core

AM/Lunch - Backup Tempo Loop - 15 miles, averaged 7:29

Did 10 x 1000 w/ 90 second jogs, averaged  ~3:37

Warmed up 5 miles instead of the planned 3-4 because the Flourtown tempo loop is under construction still. It was between there, Forbidden Drive (too much tree cover), and the track (too many kids more than likely). Only did a few quick strides because I wanted to get moving and I already had over 40 minutes of warmup.

First one was on the faster end of things at just under 3:33. Ended up doing fairly well. I checked in on my watch a bit but it was showing current pace, which doesn't help much for a 3:30+ interval. Where there's consistency there wasn't any looking. Go figure.

3:32.6, 3:35.3, 3:38.4, 3:37.8, 3:36.5, 3:38.3, 3:38.2, 3:38.7, 3:40.3, 3:36.3 (3:37.2 average)

2.4 cool down with a good bit of climbing, which hurt quite a bit. Tough workout but a good one.

PM:

AM: 7.25 miles easy. A little bit of hip stretching.

PM: Trails - 6.25 miles

Wisshickon Valley Trails - 12.3 miles in a bit over 2 hours with 1300+ feet of climbing

Stretching and core after some lunch.

PM: 11 miles mostly easy w/ 1 mile @ 5:46 and 4 x 200 strides in 35-36 seconds on the track at the end.

Think I paid a little tree tax (Forbidden Drive) on the mile because it felt pretty hard and faster than 5:43-5:46. Strava adjusted it to 5:26, which was very nice of them. The primary purpose was to inject a little speed into my as of late 8:40-9:30 easy pace. Running for two hours on trails will slow your foot speed down too.

Saw an honest to goodness cricket game going on across from the track. I assumed "Philadelphia Cricket Club" was a place for old men to hide from their wives so they could drink, smoke cigars, and play cards.

Core and stretching after a little lunch.