Running in Life's Slow Lane

It is an absolutely beautiful day here in water-logged southwest Oklahoma and Teresa joined me for a long run to make it even better. Today's 6 miles marks the farthest I have gone non-stop in 2009. As I hope to run a half marathon at 13.1 miles in January of 2010 I will be extending my distance throughout the year.

I have to add a note about how strong Teresa is when she runs. She has only ran a couple of times this week but insisted on joining me for at least 5 of today's miles. In fact, she ended up running about 5.9 miles only walking a bit when a leg bothered her. Though she claimed otherwise she was running well so I picked up the pace in each mile through the first 4 miles. Teresa closed the gap to run along with me each time I picked it up. She is a truly competitive runner.

6.00 mi in 1:15:40 @ 12:25/mi burning 623 calories with 127 bpm HRavg and 145 bpm HRmax.

Today's splits ---
1.00 mi in 12:49
1.00 mi in 12:41
1.00 mi in 12:34
1.00 mi in 12:18
1.00 mi in 12:40
1.00 mi in 12:27

 Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

2.29 mi in 27:00 at 11:47/mi avg pace burning 271 calories 123 bpm HRavg

This was intended to be a workout with a pair of Aerobic Cruise Intervals. Unfortunately the first 400m interval was way too fast so it took way too much out of me. I did the second interval with the correct pace but was worn out.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

3.26 mi in 41:15 at 12:40/mi avg pace burning 363 calories with 121 bpm HRavg

I had intended to do a 45 minutes easy run but had a hard time getting my pace slowed down. I stopped twice trying to reset my pace and it only worked on the last 0.75 mile. The faster start and the increased temps wore me out and I called it quits a few minutes short of my goal.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

Today called for a stamina workout. Specifically, the schedule called for a Tempo Interval session with 1 mi for warm up, 2 x 8min intervals at 10:41 - 11:04 pace with a 5 min recovery, and then another 1 mi cool down. It proved to be a challenge as we are still adjusting to the 80+ temps that have come after the long rains. To add a bit more stress, the second interval was on a long gentle incline.

1.00 mi in 12:39 burning 107 calories 117 bpm HRavg
0.74 mi in 08:01 (10:49/mi pace) burning 101 calories 135 bpm HRavg
0.38 mi in 05:04 (13:18/mi pace) burning 034 calories 130 bpm HRavg
0.72 mi in 08:02 (11:06/mi pace) burning 097 calories 143 bpm HRavg
1.00 mi in 12:16 burning 113 calories 141 HRavg
0.15 mi in 01:57 (12:2/mi pace) burning 16 calories 142 bpm HRavg

Totals: 4.0 mi in 47:59 at 12:00/mi avg burning 468 calories 132 bpm HRavg

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

So we have traveled to Yukon near the site of tomorrow's Allie Reynolds 5K race. During our drive, Teresa and I were discussing possible pacings for the race. Teresa seemed unwilling to believe she could go 10:45/mi for the distance though our first 8 minute interval was at that pace yesterday.

For some reason I let her convince me to run most of today's run at the 10:45/mi mark as a practice for tomorrow's race. As a result, my legs are now toast. It is going to be tough getting the same pace tomorrow without a big adrenaline boost from the environment.

3.00 mi in 33:10 @ 11:02/mi avg pave burning 408 calories 133 bpm HRavg

Today's splits ---
1.00 mi in 11:43 (first 0.50 mi was a slow warmup)
1.00 mi in 10:44
1.00 mi in 10:40

Location: Lake Overholser, Oklahoma City, Ok

As scheduled, Teresa and I ran the Allie Reynolds 5K near Lake Overholser in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is a wonderful little race that draws plenty of slower runners so that folks like me don't feel overwhelmed. At the same time there are enough serious runners to keep everyone honest.

Today was absolutely perfect for a race: temps in the low 70s, clear blue skies, and winds at 0-5 mph along the very flat course. The 5K and 10K courses are out and back loops while the marathon goes around the lake 3 times. You do have to share the road with cars and the occasional cyclists but everyone seems to be more concerned with enjoying the day and nobody gets tense.

We got registered -- mostly self-serve, find the packet with your bib and t-shirt, go to the next station and find your chip -- and did a leisurely 0.50 mi to warm up. A few stretches preceded a trip to the porta-potties and then to the start line for the necessary pre-race, nervous chatter.

Mile 1 -
You start at the Route 66 park head south to exit the park, jog a bit to the east and then get onto the course proper as you head south along the lakeside. As always, we got a little excited and headed out of the gate a bit strong. I quickly reined things in and settled into a 10:30 pace. Teresa kept trying to push out ahead but I stayed on the mark. My calves were feeling stiff so I was not interested in breaking any speed records. For some reason -- probably because I was running on a completely empty stomach -- I was fighting a great deal of acid reflux.

Mile 2 -
A ease the pace back to 10:45 and enjoy the scenery along the lake a bit more. The faster runners are passing now so I make a point at calling out words of encouragement as they pass. At least they were words of encouragement in my head, I have a feeling though that they came out as breathless mumbles.
At the turn-around point I considered stopping to grab a drink and hope that it helped the acid issue. However, I knew that if I stopped I would have a hard time making up the time.

Mile 3 -
Around 2.75 miles I was hurting quite a bit from the reflux and thought I do a runner's hurl to improve things but chose to pick up my pace instead. The finish line is within sight so I started feeling what I might have left for a push. A bit of gas was left in the tank so I stretched the stride, made a point of lifting my head and letting my arms carry me a bit.

The stretch -
An older man -- turned out to be 70 -- was a bit in front of me and I passed him in my kick. I actually slowed down a bit planning to let him go through the gate ahead of me but I saw that I might make 33:00 on the clock. I wanted that 33:00 mark so I kicked a bit more.

My final time was 33:03, placing 80th overall and 6th in my age group. The 70 year old came across in 33:05. So now I am asking myself if I really needed that 2 seconds or would it have meant just as much to me to let him cross the line ahead of me? Oh well.

Final numbers:
3.16 mi in 33:03 @ 10:28/mi avg pace -- burning 438 calories -- 147 bpm HRavg.

Splits --
1.00 mi in 10:32 -- 133 bpm HRavg
1.00 mi in 10:45 -- 141 bpm HRavg
1.00 mi in 10:23 -- 158 bpm HRavg
0.16 mi in 01:23 -- 173 bpm HRavg (08:41/mi pace)

Thanks to anyone that took the time to read this far.