Running in Life's Slow Lane

2.88 mi - 11:55/mi avg pace -- 333 cal
0.76 mi in 7:57 (10:27/mi)
walked 0.24
0.77 mi in 7:24 (09:39/mi)
walked 0.23
0.76 mi in 7:28 (09:52/mi)
walked to hotel

After discussing my stride and form with Dale, I decided to do a faster workout focusing on increasing my stride a bit. I didn't consciously stretch my stride but instead let my forward foot fall at what felt like a full stride and made sure I was pushing a bit with my back foot. It felt very fluid and natural.

Location: Chesapeake, Va

3.0 mi - 11:21/mi avg pace - 360 cal
Splits ---
11:21
11:28
11:16

Today's run was the first 3 miles I have completed in about a week. A nice easy run but I definitely felt tired at the finish.

Location: Chesapeake, Va

3.12 mi -- 10:51/mi pace -- 383 cal

Today's splits ---
11:14/mi
10:33/mi
10:34/mi

Good run this morning with an effort to pick up the pace a bit. I'm not sure how I managed to be so consistent over the last two miles but I will take it as a positive sign that the 10:33 pace is something I can maintain over a decent distance. Near the end of the run I made way for a car and stumbled a bit on the edge of the pavement which seems to have tweaked a muscle in the outside of my upper left leg. I'm going to soak it in a cold shower and take some ibuprofen in hopes that I won't me limping for the rest of the day.

Looking towards the race this weekend I am setting my goal at maintaining that 10:33 pace for the full 5K, so 32:45 or less will be my target.

Location: Chesapeake, Va

3.42 mi - 11:15/mi pace - 413 cal

Today's splits ---
11:28
11:04
11:08
04:50 (11:30/mi pace)

Ran after work this evening to get a feel for the temperatures I will be facing in tomorrow's run. In the shade where the breeze could hit me it wasn't too terrible. Otherwise it was pretty tough going. For some reason both calves were cranky. I intended to run a much slower pace throughout but kept finding myself at the 11ish range.

So the weather report says it is 86F with 48% humidity. Given those conditions I can be happy with today's results.

Wish me luck in tomorrow's race.

Location: Chesapeake, Va

Kyle, David and I met to run this 5K that was promised to be flat and scenic. After completing the run I must ask what the folks in Williamsburg consider hilly and plain.

As is usual in the smaller races, the first 0.5 mile or so was spent trying to navigate through a large number of slower runners as the pack spread out from the start. I believe they called out 09:51 when I crossed the 1.0 mile mark.

The second mile seemed like the toughest but I kept my pace strong while at the same time trying to convince myself that I could afford to slow down just a bit. In this stretch I passed quite a few people that had gotten off to a fast start but were now walking. Even managed to get ahead of a few racewalkers. The person called out 20:10 as I passed the 2.0 mile marker which meant I was at a 10:05/mi pace. Woo hoo!

Knowing that I was relatively close to the elusive 10:00/mi mark I tried to stay strong in this last portion of the race. As always I set little goals for myself as I tried to run down the tired runners that had started to fade. In particular, if there was any sort of incline I made a point of trying to pick up my pace just a bit so I wouldn't let myself fall off pace too much.

The last 0.1 mile or so I was pushing to catch one last racewalker. Once I was ahead of him there was a woman just ahead that I caught up with but the folks cheering at the finish had narrowed the street down to less than a lane and I did not want to pass the woman then cut her off to dash into the chute. I pulled up just a  bit and finished on her heels.

The official time posted on the website was 31:01.08 which gives me 10:00.35/mi as my average pace. Next time I push the woman out of the way for the split second better finish!

Location: Williamsburg, Virginia