The Next Step

Jet lag is still effecting me so didn't get out as early as normal.  It was still a great morning with temp around 63 and some light wind.  I was a little slow getting going but then quickly got up to speed.  Turned out to be a nice run.

63:36 (7:57 avg) 

Nice morning today with temp around 60, cloudy and light wind.  Didn't feel the best this morning.  I woke up last night with stomach problems and was still a little quizzy this morning.  Decided to continue with the plan to do 5 x 1200 today with a 400 recovery.  Goal was to run them around 6:08 pace.  Did a warmup and then started.  The first one was a little sluggish getting going but felt good on the second and third.  The forth one I was losing it on the last lap and slowed down and then struggled on the final one.  Here are the splits:

1st - 4:34 (6:05 pace)

2nd - 4:32 (6:03 pace)

3rd - 4:34 (6:05 pace)

4th - 4:38 (6:10 pace)

5th - 4:41 (6:14 pace)

Would have liked to be able to hold pace for all the repeats but was still glad that I completed the workout.  It will be something to build on. 

It was warmer (73) and very humid this morning.  I was tired this morning and just ran easy.  I got a cramp in my calf about a 1/2 mile from finishing and had to stop and stretch it out.  Felt better after that.

66:11 (8:16 avg) 

Warm (73) and humid this morning.  Still felt tired this morning.  I did start to feel a little better after a couple of miles.  I am cutting back because I have been feeling kind of run down plus I have a race on Sat and would like to be fresh.

40:26 (8:05 avg) 

Cooler today but still humid.  Still felt tired this morning and not much energy.  Just did a short run since I have a race tomorrow and trying to get my energy back.  Hope I feel better tomorrow.

32:30 (8:08 avg) 

I have decided to run some shorter races and try to focus on improving my speed while I am trying to build back up for longer races.  It has been a long time since I have raced this distance so wasn't sure what to expect.  I thought I would start out around 6:20 pace and see what happen.  

I did a 2 mile warmup before the race and I wasn't feeling the best.  For some reason I have been dragging this week.  Got a good start to the race and was able to into a good pace.  I felt pretty good the first mile but could tell I was probably a little quick for holding it the whole way.  Ran the first mile in 6:21 so was where I wanted to be.  The second mile I tired to maintain but just started drifting off of the pace and came through in 6:26.  I started to get concerned that I might blow up so I backed off a little the third mile for a 6:30.  I really wanted to push the 4th mile but just couldn't find the energy to pick it up and slowed more to a 6:33.  The last mile I had a guy in front of me that seemed to be coming back so just focused on trying to catch.  I finally caught him with about a 1/4 mile to and had to push it hard to stay in front of him to the finish.  That helped me pick it up a little for a 6:31 last mile.

Overall I have mixed feelings on the race.  I think this is actually a PR for me but I haven't ran this distance much so not really a big deal.  I thought going I might be in better shape than I ran but I have to look at it as a building process.  I am still building back up from not running much the last couple of years plus my mileage is still not very high and I can tell that I don't have the strength to hold the pace.  This definitely lets me know where I am and is something to build on.