Of Mice and Marathons

North side - 5.5 miles, averaged 7:53. Did some pickups here and there. One school-to-school in 45 seconds (4:50 pace).

Report to follow. Not a smart race, but I definitely  raced. 3 second PR for the opening mile :) 5:36. 

AM: THE RIPPLE EFFECT 4 MILER. Finally got my car fixed the other day, which makes racing a lot less expensive without having to rent a car. It started this morning, so that was a decent sign. Warmed up 3.1 with a half mile at marathon pace. Legs felt snappy. Did a few strides just fast enough to flash race pace on my Garmin. I saw my first live race walker today. She was also doing strides. A racewalker does strides right? (she notched a 42:xx). Probably too much of a warmup with the humidity, but I wanted a warmup of 4 but I didn't have time. The air was saturated. Temps were fine and it was overcast, but my singlet was soaked.

Lined up on the inside for the first turn. The start was announced by a guy with an ill-working megaphone, but he got us going. I went out very hard because I didn't want to get jammed in. I was in 4th just behind some speedy fellas I knew I would never catch. I knew I was running fast, but I felt pretty good. Once things straightened out I look and was running 5:17 on the lap (as fast as 4:44 peak). Much too fast, so I started to back off, still running 5:35.5 for mile 1 (the decimal is import as it is about a 4 second mile PR). The split was even faster fif measured by the marker because it was .2-.3 short. I started to back off more, figuring I could run 5:45s, managing a hard but doable effort. The gentle uphills (barely hills but they slowed me down) and a screamer (relatively speaking) opening mile assured me of that was not to happen.

Got passed after the first mile, dropping to 7th. Fine. Held off the guy behind me for the rest of the race and beat him by 14 seconds. Miles 2-4 were: 5:56, 5:53, 5:52 (5:41 for .97).

I knew the first mile was too WAY fast even as I was doing it. I didn't care. I wanted to run hard, even recklessly. I think this will be the last of my super fast starts for a while though. This effort should hopefully help make running 6:00-6:08 easier in two weeks. I think. I hope.

Cooled down 5 miles on the Monon Trail, which made me very envious. Nice trail even if that end has several stop signs.

PM: North side - 6 miles, averaged 7:45. 82 and very dry. Very very pleasant. Some cool mornings on tap for the week.

AM: 9 miles, averaged 8:03. Brandon and I ran around the Celery Bog, the Horticulture Park, and the cross country course. Lots of soft surface and changing terrain. We ran into a racoon, which stood its ground so we let it be (it hissed at us). When I turned back to see if it was gone it was still there, but looked like it was lying down or was very close to the ground in a crouch. We checked on him at the end of the run, coming up behind him and we noticed that his legs were splayed. Not sure what happened to him, but he was not in good shape. No one was at the Nature Center, so Brandon called parks and recreation. Had I been alone, I would have mustered all my Maine roots and helped the little fellow pass out of the world.

PM: Resthaven Cemetery - 5 miles, averaged 8:24

AM: Aerobic Builder - 12 miles, averaged 7:14 overall. 3 up/down w/ 6-mile tempo @ 6:35 pace: 6:37, 6:37, 6:36, 6:38, 6:36, 6:27. Did these on a partial loop of a longer tempo loop because I almost got hit last week by a car blindly turning right. A Garmin and a very flat .5 mile loop go a long way for the consistency above.

PM: Rest Haven Cemetery - 4.25 miles, averaged 8:03. DRY.

Spring Vale Cemetery - 10 miles, averaged 8:08. Did some strides.

AM: HANSON BROTHERS' WORKOUT (Jason's version): 4 x 2 miles @ HMGP w/ 3:00-3:20 recoveries + 200m directly following 4th set ("a metric half").  Nice little confidence boost this morning. I made this one slightly harder than when I did it in April and ran ~7 seconds faster overall with shorter recoveries (by just a touch) but also faster paced (about as honest as I can make them). 

Warmed up 3.5 w/ .5 @MP and just two light strides to be about 10-15 seconds below goal pace. First set: 12:17 (6:10, 6:07); Second set: 12:15 (6:11, 6:04), Third set: 12:13 (6:10, 6:03); Fourth set: 12:07 (6:06, 6:01), into 200m @ 5:05 pace (36.6 seconds). Just over 6:06 average.

I ran the recoveries faster than I usually do (8:10-8:18, while I usually am satisfied with 9-9:30)

4 mile cool down.

Last April I ran 6:13 averaged and ran 6:08 on my watch (6:13 officially for the long course). I know with a sensible start I am in sub-1:20 shape. I'm not satisfied with just squeaking under that, however. I ran at least 3 of these miles with a hitch in my left leg that sometimes happens when my glute won't fire, so I lost valuable seconds there. So, next weekend: sensible start and see if I can cut into the 1:18-range in the final 3-5 miles. 

PM: 4 miles, averaged 8:09

8 miles, averaged 8:15. Started loops around Spring Vale, but it looked like they were having a burial, so I got the heck out of there and ran around the neighborhood. Ripped off a bit of skin just smaller than a dime on the top side of my foot above the ball. Put a ball o' 'Sporin on that Bad Larry.

Good haul from the farmers' market this morning. I should have bought about 30 lbs of honeycrip apples. I love them, and I can't get them at the grocery store. The locally grown ones are amazing.