Boston Strong

Downhill @ Dawn

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Location:

Naples,FL,

Member Since:

Mar 29, 2011

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

400m - ATC:  1:08   May '11

800m - ATC:  2:32   May '11

1600m - self-timed:  5:?? 

5k- Vinings Downhill 5k:  18:34  Sept, '11

10.k - Mardis Gras 10k:  39:15   Feb '12

Half - The Scream:  1:23:59  Jul '11

Marathon - Ridge to Bridge:  3:06:23   Oct '11

Completed 13 Marathons & 2 50k & 1 Century ride

Short-Term Running Goals:

Run injury free

Upcoming Races:

Sept. 14: - Erie Marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

Sprint down Boylston Street once per year

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
ST-6 Racer Lifetime Miles: 223.50
Boston Adizero Red Lifetime Miles: 607.00
Boston Adizero White Lifetime Miles: 430.00
Nike Free Lifetime Miles: 362.00
Nike Trail Lifetime Miles: 327.20
Boston Classic Lifetime Miles: 362.50
Adidas Marathon TR Lifetime Miles: 155.90
Vertical Feet Climbed - 2011 Lifetime Miles: 75701.00
Kinvara 2 Lifetime Miles: 31.80
Adios Lifetime Miles: 277.90
Ghost GTX Lifetime Miles: 328.00
Karhu Flow Formula One Lifetime Miles: 166.30
Brooks PureFlow 2 Lifetime Miles: 153.70
Adios II Lifetime Miles: 147.40
Adios 2 Lifetime Miles: 150.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.500.003.0014.1030.60
Nike Trail Miles: 3.00ST-6 Racer Miles: 22.60Boston Adizero White Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.001.000.003.00

Came up with a 1.5 mile variation to my normal 4 mile trail loop ... for downhill speed training ... first half mile on service road leading down to base of dam (185' elevation drop), next half mile is trail along river & then some ups & downs, 3rd half mile is all up hill on trail (164' rise)

 Too bad I didn't think of this more than 6 days before my downhill half!  Oh well ... I see a 2:50 at St.George next year if I get in and train on this loop!  Pretty brutal 1/2 mile downhill speed intervals with 1 mile uphill recovery.  The nice part is you are in shade 95% of the time ... and can jump in lake to cool down when finished.

I ran the loop twice, downhill 1/2 mile splits were 5:23 pace & 5:11.  I took it super slow on the trail sections.   I .look forward to doing more loops when I start earlier in day & am not in middle of holiday weekend!

Nike Trail Miles: 3.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.000.000.000.003.00

74 deg   88% hum

3 miles with Alex - middle 1 @7:52 - other 2 easy

He did not like running in heat!

ST-6 Racer Miles: 3.00
Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.001.000.005.00

78 deg   83% hum   HS Track

Took Alex to first day of cross country practice - he did 2 miles in 15:07 - not a time trial - just a comfortable tempo run - then they did plyos & worked out with weights - he seemed to enjoy it.

I ran 5 miles on track w/o a plan!  just wanted to get some miles in w/o a strenuous workout:

1 mile @ 7:33, 400m in 83 sec, 1 mile @ 9:18, 400m in 77 sec, 1 mile @ 8:04, 400m in 75 sec, 1.25 mile cool down @ 8:45.

Legs felt fresh ... like they should 3 days before a race!

I was going to wear my Brooks ST-6 flats until I looked at the tread before putting them on, needless to say, I am not happy about the amount of wear on the tread I saw after only 98 miles on them!  Decided to put them aside for only races ... i had read reviews the tread did not last long ... but to have tread rapidly deterring after 100 miles ... I think Brooks is going to hear from me!

Boston Adizero White Miles: 5.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.000.001.000.004.00

72 deg   100% hum   Track - 4 miles @ 7:30 AP

1 mile warm-up @ 8:26

400m - 83 sec

400r - 122 sec

400m - 83 sec

400r - 119 sec

400m - 81 sec

400r - 121 sec

400m - 81 sec

Cool down @ 8:30

ST-6 Racer Miles: 4.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.500.000.001.002.50

8 am   72 deg   100% hum

Was going to not run today, but I was at track to take son to cc practice ... And I got sucked into 4v4 pickup soccer game last night ... So I was kinda feeling like I needed to shake my legs out from all that lateral movement!  I really need to get back on a team this fall, it is great cross training for running!  Kinda funny, because I always ran some mainly as crosstraing for soccer!

2 800s @ 6:30 pace with 800 wu, recovery, & cd

Race strategy!

I have not raced a half marathon since I can remember, which pretty much means I will get a PR whatever I run it in!  I am a little on the fence as to what my goal/strategy should be ... I am confident I can break 1:30, and have a stretch goal of 1:25 ... since it should be a fast course.  The only problem with that is - that is a 6:30 pace, and I definitely do not feel comfortable going out that fast ... and that would mean running sub 6:30's later in the race to make up for it ... which is not likely to happen.

 
First 4 miles is rolling hills - thinking 7:00 miles here (28 min)- pretty fast for me, but not too aggressive which I would pay a price for later.  The next 6 miles are pretty much downhill - thinking 6:30's here (39 min).  The last 3.1 are rolling, but still with a net downhill - thinking 6:45 pace here (21 min).
 

That would bring me in at 1:28:00 on the button.  I would be happy with that, so guess that will be my plan ... if I am feeling strong, I may try to shave a little time off each split, but doubt that would be enough to get to 1:25 (although I did figure out if I shave 10 seconds off each split that would get me a 1:25:50).  The alternative is to go out faster & risk blowing up ... but I see little point in doing that ... and ruining what will be a fun weekend in the mountains!

Ok ... I now have a race strategy ... at least until the gun goes off ... which usually coincides with my losing the ability to reason & me taking off like a fool!

 

ST-6 Racer Miles: 2.50
Comments(1)
Race: Downhill @ Dawn (13.1 Miles) 01:24:42, Place overall: 8, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.0013.1013.10

Reached my stretch goal of sub 1:25.  Garmin calculated 12.96 miles, but course is certified, 3 miles were downhill on gravel road through forest, with some serious switchbacks, so Garmin accuracy would not be expected to be accurate.  Ran mile 7 sub 6, was happy with all my splits and the way I ran.  Felt strong, struggled a little the last 5k to maintain pace.  Will write more later, off to enjoy mtns for rest of weekend!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90007818

Update:  Ok … here is more of a report, although probably not too exciting … with only 300 runners, I pretty much ran the race alone, so it lacks any competitive battles on the course.  I kinda ran the race planned, but was able to pick up some time on most of the miles while still staying in my comfort zone.  Conservatively, I was planning for a 1:28 – figuring I would try to gain some time on all splits if I felt good.

Phase 1 - 28 min for first 4 (7:00 pace)

Phase 2 - 39 minutes for next 6 miles (6:30 pace)  

Phase 3 - 21 minutes for last 5k (6:45 pace)

Phase 1:  I knew miles 3 & 4 had some pretty good sized up hills, & the first two were down, so I tried to bank some time without going outside my comfort zone … glad I did this … because it enabled me stay comfortable when the uphills came & still be on pace.  I led for the first 50 meters (lol), then a pack of 4 powered by me & I just watched them go.   I got passed by two more, so I was in 7th at Mile 1.  Mile 1 split was 6:15.  This was faster than I planned, so I consciously slowed a little.  I got passed in Mile 2 by the guy that finished ahead of me, but just let him go as he was moving & I wanted to stick to the plan!  Mile 2 split was 6:42.  At the start of Mile 3 I got passed by the overall female winner & had a handful of others right on my heals … since I wanted a top 10 finish, I decided to fall in right behind the female leader & hold her pace … as it would have been demoralizing to let others keep passing!  Mile 3 split was 7:04.  About halfway up a hill in Mile 4, I pulled back ahead of the female leader as my goal pace was starting to slip … she did not try to stay with me.  Mile 4 was 7:11.  Phase 1 mission accomplished – I hit the 4 mile mark 48 seconds ahead of my allotted plan … with downhill ahead of me.

Phase 2:  Attack the downhill!  Mile 5 was gradual, so I eased into it, while I recovered a little from my uphill effort … 6:37.  Miles 6,7, & 8 were the biggest downhill & this section was on a packed gravel road through National Forest with some big switchback curves, which I knew were going to hurt my momentum, but I knew this was the section where I could really put down some time, so I threw my pacing plan out the window, and decided to just turn my legs over as quick as I could!  There was some loose gravel in the sharp curves, so I slowed a tad before each one, started on the outside of the curve & then ran as straight as I could through the curve,  actually accelerating through them so I came out flying on the backside … this seemed to work well.  Occasionally I would see the #7 runner ahead, and I was gaining slowly, but he was attacking the downhill too & I was probably 100 yards back.  I never looked behind me, but was pretty certain no one was close because I was in serious attack mode.   Splits for this section were 6:14, 5:557, 6:08.  Miles 9 & 10 were still downhill, but much more gradual … they were also back on paved surface – it was a little deflating leaving the National Forest … that was really an exhilarating 3 miles!  I hung on for a 6:25 & 6:39 here.  Phase 2 mission accomplished … picked up a bunch of time on my allotted plan here … but had no idea how much … with all the switchbacks & heavily forested area … Garmin splits were estimates of true distances … but I knew I had even more time in the bank than my splits were telling me.

Phase 3:  I was definitely feeling the effects of attacking the downhill … and Mile 11 started with an uphill which was having me a little concerned.   #7 was feeling the effects too I think … he was still about 100 yards ahead of me … but I just did not have it in me to close the distance much.  It did help to have him in my sight, as I was pushing to try to gain a little & keep him in striking distance.  Mile 11 was 6:42, which made me really happy because at the start of the mile, I was definitely a little concerned about the remaining 5k (was having a weak mental moment … and thought  I felt the onset of a side stitch coming … luckily it never did!)  Mile 12 was a nice downhill & I could smell the finish … so I started pushing again to try to close the gap.  Mile 12 was 6:14.  It was not until this point that it actually registered that I may break 1:25!  With about a half mile to go, I was about 50 yards back of #7.  I love passing people with a strong finishing kick, so I pushed hard for the next 100 meters … I was gaining but that was a lot of ground to make up.  I pretty quickly decided to throw in the towel on trying to catch him, I was definitely going to come in sub 1:25 & could care less if I was #7 or 8.  I had pushed hard the whole race but never gone outside my comfort zone … there was no point in going there now & collapsing at the finish … I just wanted to enjoy it.  I ran the last Mile 6:24, taking it easy the last 100 yards & came in about 10 seconds behind #7.  #9 was about a minute behind.   Phase 3 mission accomplished … I honestly never really thought I would go under 1:25 … that is why I was calling it my ‘stretch’ goal.  I got a nice trophy for coming first in my Age Group.

Best part of weekend was hanging out in cold, mountain streams … hiked to 4 waterfalls Saturday afternoon & Sunday.  Sorry for the long report!

ST-6 Racer Miles: 13.10
Comments(11)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.500.003.0014.1030.60
Nike Trail Miles: 3.00ST-6 Racer Miles: 22.60Boston Adizero White Miles: 5.00
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