Boston Strong

Trail run - 660' vert - 9:59 AP

Soccer Fields

825,749,736,755,749,735,741

AP - 7:50

9 PM - 80 degrees - had to wait for sun to go down to run

10k in 43:01, AP - 6:56, 346' vert - felt good today

2 mile cooldown @ 8:25

Ipod died @ Mile 4 - Guessing water damage from sweat pouring down on it!

6 AM   65 deg   100% Hum

11 miles    1:37:16     8:50 AP    940' Vert

Interesting run, planned on going easy, trying to switch to morning runs with the arrival of heat.  Figured I would keep it around 8:30.  First 2.5 miles are down hill & I was around 8:15 going easy, with lots of uphill ahead, when I oddly got a side stitch!  I debated turning around and just getting 5 in, but the major deterring factor there was it was all uphill back to the house!  Took a short walk break & resumed at slower pace, but it did not want to seem to go away!  Thankfully about two miles later the discomfort lessened, as I was getting farther away from home with every step I took!  By this time my avg. pace had dropped to 9:00 & I just tried to keep it under 9 the rest of the way which I did.  I have a feeling if I would have gone any faster the cramp would have returned ... not sure what caused it.

Anyway, I spent the better part of the run debating the value of a slow paced run to help pass the time, as of ten I have heard people say eliminate the 'junk' miles ... although I can not say I have heard that on FRB.  Since I was starting this debate with myself, and the primary reason was to pass the time & keep a positive frame of mind, I figured I would first remind myself of the positives:

1)  I would like to lose 5-8 pounds to get to a more ideal race weight   +

2)  Running through discomfort is required in races, so this was good mental training   +   

2)  I am trying to increase mileage and prevent injury in the process  +

3)  Slower pace means more time on feet   +

4)  This is supposed to be a recovery run anyway   +

5)  I can actually get to the top of the big hills w/o feeling trashed    +

6)  I should have left the house earlier, it is getting Hot!     -

All in all, I decided I need to do more of these runs ... I tend to be too concerned about my pace on easy runs, and they usually get progressively faster the more I look at my watch ... nothing like a side cramp to eliminate that problem

Today will be the first day in the 90's, unfortunately that usually becomes the trend quickly thereafter!

I am a little disappointed I will not be making it out to race Ogden as I was really looking forward to it, so as a consolation to myself last night, I signed up for a downhill half marathon in the NC mtns June 4th.  I have not raced a Half marathon in 9 years, and that was when I was more of a casual runner getting ready for my first marathon, so I will PR.  Trying to determine what my goal will be, definitely sub 1:30, but I am thinking sub 1:27 would be nice, it has a net elevation drop of  1100'.  Guess I will decide when it gets closer, based on how I am feeling!

7:30 PM    84 deg    48% hum

800s

Lap    Time     400m recovery

1         2:57        2:32

2         2:57        2:54

3         2:57        2:44

4         2:59       

 This was my first 800s workout, and a little bit of a learning experience.  I planned on using my average lap pace to stay on pace, but quickly realized you can't do that on a track!  Unfortunately, I did not have my watch set to show my lap times, so I really had no idea what pace I was running, but figured I would just figure it out once I got home & downloaded the data!  My first 800 my watch said I was running a 5:38 pace, which I knew I wasn't, but I figured I would try to maintain that pace on my watch for all of them for a consistent effort.  I am too tired to figure it out now, but guessing my pace was a hair under 6:00/mi based on my 800 times.  I was planning to do 6-8, but with the heat & not really knowing what pace I was running, I figured 4 was a good start!

After a mile cool down, I was feeling a little guilty about stopping at 4, so I jumped on the astro turf football field & decided to do a few sprints & pretend I was in high school.  I sprinted to the 10 yd line, jogged back, then 20, 30, 40  ..... up to 100.  My last 100 yard sprint was 13 seconds.

It was a fun way to end the workout, concluded with another Mile cooldown.  I have no idea whether there is any validity to the Yasso 800s theory & but it makes for a good training target goal & since my goal is to run a sub 3, I would like to buildup to running 10 of these at the pace I did today.  I am pretty sure I could have done a few more today at that pace, but since I did not know what that pace actually was at the time, I did not want to push it.  Ironically, turns out I was running at exactly the pace I need to, based on Yasso's theory & my marathon goal.

 Now the question is, can I make myself do a track workout once a week in 90 degree heat?  Can't answer that one, guess time will tell!  lol

Jogged over to see my son, ate two pieces of pizza, jogged home.  Rest day for 5k tomorrow, will see how I. feel, may race ... may make it a tempo run & do course twice ,,, or maybe both!.  Not feeling overly speedy at the moment.

Tough Course, did not set high expectations.  Second 5 k in a row where I have gone out too fast when big hills lie ahead.  Lesson learned:  Either don't run 5ks with big hills, or at least don't take off at PR pace!  Being on pace at the 2 mile mark means nothing when you get to to the top of a hill at Mile 2 & you are aerobically spent!

I finished second overall, but got caught in no man's land.  At top of hill at Mile 2, I could no longer see the young high school kid in front of me, and no one was in sight behind me either ... this is the disadvantage to a small race ... as it is hard for race adrenaline to kick in when no other runners are in sight.

Not a bad overall time for tough course, but pretty ugly splits for a race, I did not push hard on Mile 3 ... in part because I was spent, part because there was no other runners in sight, and part because I really did not set any pre-race expectations.  Oh well, it was fun ... and I got a couple faster miles in.  Time to switch gears & prepare for my half marathon in 3 weeks.

6:00, 6:26, 7:18, 5:19 pace for final tenth

AP:  6:32