Boston Strong

Really only 1 thing mattered about this run, and that is it is the first time that I wanted to run in the last 7 days!  That is a good thing, because the week off came at a crucial time with a couple goal races around the corner & the week off definitely hurt what I have worked towards.

I have some lofty goals, and I have to say, right now I am a little intimidated about meeting them in the month of July!  Peachtree 10k is in 2 weeks, goal is to go sub 40, which is a 6:25 pace, so I figured I would do some 1/2 mile intervals at race pace.  First two felt good, struggling at end of 3 & 4, and decided to drop back to sub 7 for number 5.  Number 6 had a significant downhil (& some up), but decided to crank one more out.  Original plan was to do 7, but opted for a longer cooldown, and save risk of collapse!  Oh ... & I remembered after the 4th interval that I had a large steak & 3 beers at 3 pm!

8:25 AP

First 3 felt good, last 3 made me want to retire from running for next 3 months.

Is it almost Fall yet?

AM - 6m trail run at Suwanee Mtn - 855 vert - 8:54 pace

Never made it to treadmill yesterday ... maybe some pm tempo miles on it today!

Afternoon - 3 mile trail run, trying to layout a possible course for the HS cross country team which Alex will be running on this fall..  It was 90 degrees.  100' vert  AP - 7:54

Trail run with son ... we tried in morning but torrential rains guided us to IHOP, but we got the run in at lunch.  He is doing his first trail race this weekend, only 2.5 miles, I will run with him, then push harder on loop 2 for the 5 miler.  We need the rain ... trail was a nice soft running surface!

Track during Alex cross country practice - he ran 3 1000m between 3:42 & 3:55.

 1 mile warm-up @ 7:45

800 in 2:45, 800 in 2:52.

3 miles in 7:15, 6:20, 7:20

Was going to do a bunch of 800's, too hot, another workout made up on the fly!

10k is July4, goal is sub 40, which is 6:25 pace ... not feeling good about this in heat, maybe with a little luck, start temp will be in high 60's.

July 4 Race Plan:

Split     Pace    El. Change

   1      6:30      + 25

   2      6:15      -100

   3      6:15      - 75

   4      6:45      + 50

   5      6:45      + 75

   6      6:15      - 50

  0.2    1:12      - 25   (6:00 pace)

Finish Time:   39:57   Hmmm ... I guess it is possible.

I will need to control my pace the first 3 miles, so I do not die on the uphill thru 4 & 5.  If I can make it to this point on target, huge crowd support/adrenalin should help crank out a strong finish!  Miles 4,5, & 6 are definitely where I will either make it or break!

Peachtree Road Race Elevation Chart

This was a 2 loop course, I ran the first loop with Alex (my soon to be 14 year old son).  He did well, finished 3rd Overall in the 2.8 mile race.  I pushed a little harder the second half, but definitely was not pushing my limits.  We got a fair amount of rain last night & course was a little slick, but not too bad, mostly single track.  There was a 0.3 loop around a baseball field, before hitting the trail, which allowed for some spacing.  I coached Alex on when to make passing moves, but mostly let him dictate the pace.  On the second loop, I gradually picked off runners as they came into sight, but was not aggressively trying to bring new ones into sight.

 We had fun, I was really excited for Alex to come in 3rd Overall, as that should be a good motivating experience for him.  Of course, most of the more serious runners ran the longer distance, but third overall was still a great accomplishment for him, as he has just started running.

 The winner got a six pack of Terrapin beer ... if I only would have known!  lol  But we did get nice pint glasses to go along with the shirt.

 Trail running is different and hard to place much value on Splits, but they were 7:59, 8:36, 8:06, 7:57, 8:35, and a 6:00 pace for last 1/4 mile.