Of Mice and Marathons

18th street to Kossuth to 9th to Beck and back down 18th - 7.7 miles, averaged 8:23

Finally got a couple inches of rain and everything smells very good. Cooler this week (into the 50s at night), which means it's going to be a hard down week, but we'll see what happens.

AM: Salem to 9th to the Wabash Trail out on South River road and back - 13.5 miles, averaged 8:10

PM: Old Standby (shorty version) shake out - 4 miles, averaged 8:19

83 degrees and sunny. Couldn't pass it up. The rain storms the other night (finally!) ushered in some beautiful air. Cooler, sure, but it feels fresh and breathable.

Out and back on 9th street - 5.75 miles, averaged 8:07

2 mile warmup to just before Kossuth and 18th. MGP tempo headed down 18th to one of the housing complexes, turned around there, and headed back down 18th street. 5.5 mile tempo, averaged 7:26 (right on the money for a 3:15 marathon): 7:35, 7:29, 7:27, 7:24, 7:13, 3:41 (7:24). Got a bit too quick for mile 5 (trying to get across the road and around cars), but it's still slow half-marathon pace. Keep those to a minimum and I'll be fine. 1.75 mile cool down home. 

Weather was about 70 degrees with 80% humidity at the start. 80 or so with 70% humidity on the way back. November it should be 42-45 on a warmish day, so 3:15 pace should be just fine. 

Got a new pair of Newtons (as if I needed them). The same as my dedicated marathon shoe. $80 brand new on Ebay when they are $155 retail. Hard to pass up.

AM: Old Standby - 6.5 miles, no watch

PM: Loop around the north side - 4.25 miles, averaged 8:16. Kept the pace easy except for a few hard strides: one around 5k effort, one around mile to 3k pace, and one double acceleration stride to hit just above 5 minute pace (about the time my form starts to really fall apart).

Old Standby, classic version - 5.5 miles, no watch. Few strides, but mostly just shifting gears back and forth. One legitimate stride toward the end. 

5k in the morning. I prefer the ones around town so I can run to them, but they are far and few between, so I am headed to Indianapolis in the morning. I think I have a 19:30 in me. Last race I got jammed into the corners with people slowing down a good deal in the turns. I think I had only done one 6 x 800 workout between the half and the last 5k. A few tempo runs, some long runs, more strides per week, and a 10 x 400 road session should put me in good shape. It's going to be another cool one. So much for my down week though. Next week.

Usual pre-race routine. Drove an hour to Indianapolis, and tried to park in a garage but realized it was for a hotel and was super expensive. I found a lot on the IUPUI campus, and put on my race gear. I had about a half hour, but still had to figure out where Victory Field was, so I started warming up asking people where it was. Few people knew. One guy kind of laughed, saying it was in the opposite direction. I found another person as I got closer and figured out I was at the right place and I had a bit of time to spare, but not enough time to do a 2+ mile warm up. I got in some strides and quick drills with 1.5 mile warm up. Not ideal for the distance, but better than going in cold. Lined up at the non-existent starting line (what's chip timing without a chip start?!). Everyone got set, but they had more announcements to make about domestic violence, which were important but not very persuasive or timely given that most people were ready to race, despite the fact that probably do care about the cause. A few more falsish starts, and we were off with a 5-4-3-2-1 GO! Close enough. I rallied for position a bit because I don't like to toe the line and get in fast folks' way. I should be less kind as I ran into some largish folks. Got out fast nonetheless. A good bit of mile 1 was sub-six (fast for this guy who has never tried to run a sub-six mile, but can). Backed off just a touch because I knew it would bit me later. Still 6:02 was nice to see popped up for Mile 1 (I think it was long). Tried to stay relaxed, but the old guy behind me (bless him for running that fast at his age) was making a weird cough. Ran with some younger guys for a bit and kept the cadence high and the stride short. Mile 2 was 6:09, a bit short or long I can't remember (my race memory is terrible). I could feel it in my legs a bit, but I wasn't dying. Ran with a younger women for a bit, and felt bad because I had a pretty good cough, and she seemed pretty relaxed. We traded places a bit, but I pulled out around 2.75 and tried to pick it up a bit. I could hear the announcer in the distance. Mile 3 beeped in at 6:13. I came around a corner a could see the short, but steep uphill finish (the same hill we ran down to start). Of course, I half whined/joked about the hill, so I guess I wasn't dying if I could get that sentence out. The announcer said something about the hill so he either saw the look on my face or heard me talking about it. Another short course, but I'm not qualifying for anything in the 5k. 20.4 for .05 (6:26 pace).

No idea what place I got, but I think I may have placed in my age group. I think there was some gift certificate. I'll have to see. I didn't stick around because I was worried my car might get towed given that the registration is about 4 years overdue, and I was in a permit lot. 

5 mile cool down to find my car (oops! good thing you don't have to find your own way in races). Lunch and a beer.

The 3.11 equivalent is right around 19:03-19:08, so it seems I have worked through the 19-range 5k quite nicely in the last 4 weeks. Need to run them more than 2 or 3 times a year. The doubles and higher mileage are to thank I have no doubt. New personal best on the weekly mileage.