The Long Run

Good effort at the race today resulting in new PR of 1:26:47 (chip) and 3rd place overall (which gave me $25 prize, my first ever cash award)

My plan was to try for the pace needed for 1:25 then see what happens. It's not the best strategy for smart racing but I think it is a good fitness test.

First three miles were good - 6:18, 6:36, 6:23

Actually during mile 2 I did have a deep sense of doubt that I would not be able to hold a decent pace, but then got back on track for the third mile.  Just before the race started I was standing next to a guy who I thought looked pretty fast.  I asked him what pace he was planning on running and he said 6:20 to 6:25.  I thought that sounded good and would try to follow him and hang on.  However, I should have thought better of it since he said he ran 1:21 here last year.  Also, next to me at the start was Bret, who I've almost run into at other races, so it was nice to finally meet him.  At the beginning of the first mile I tried to follow Alravo (the 1:21 guy) but backed it down after about a 1/4 mile of doing a 5:40 pace.  However, I was feeling pretty good at the end of the first mile and sometimes have difficulty getting to the pace I want.  For the second mile the two lead guys had pulled ahead significantly.

6:42, 6:35, 6:37, 6:29, 6:32

Slight hiccup on the 4th mile going up and over the bridge, 5-8 were also good although a little slower than the pace I needed.  At mile 7, almost being at the pace I needed I was hoping that the pull of the second half would let me keep a faster pace.

6:46, 6:55, 6:42, 6:45, 6:43 and 0.14@5:40 

9 and 10 were tough with 10 being my slowest at 6:55, then 11-13 were faster. Glad I was able to keep myself from falling apart. I was alone for most of the run, ran with Bret a little bit at the beginning, the 1st and 2nd place guys were way in front of me (1:19 and 1:22). The race was a lot of fun and really let me know where I need to be in order to reach 1:25.

I had to really push to get that 6:55 mile down below 7:00, I was afraid that if I didn't get that one under 7:00 I might fall apart.

I talked to a guy after the race named Ben who was 74 years old and had done over 100 marathons, 50 of which were sub-3:00.  He ran about a 1:58 today.  Was telling me how there is no substitute for high mileage.  I used to be one of those 100 mile per week runners in the 1970's.  My miles have been a little bit lower than they used to be although not too bad.  My last half marathon PR was 2 years ago, when I was consistently doing mileage in the 60's.  I've been doing more speed work, but I some higher mileage would have helped for the second half of  the race.

The other thing that was difficult was the pedestrian bridge.  I crossed over during miles 4, 5, 9, and 10.   Except for mile 5 (6:35), the other crossings were difficult.  It wasn't that high but it did get to me  a little.  Maybe some more hills are in order.

Alravo got a new PR today of 1:19 to win the race and the number 2 guy came in at 1:22 and is my same age.  I think Alravo looked a bit like Jesus (but no beard, just the long hair), nice guy and humble, too.

Glad that I took yesterday off. Quads felt mostly recovered, although feet were still sore. No intervals today, just straight through with the last mile faster. Just missed the rain.

Meat and potatoes weekday run. Weather was nice and cool. No dramas. Highlight was trying new Gu flavor - peanut butter.

Cool, relaxing run around the neighborhood and golf course. Felt pretty good once warmed up. Passed by Lisa and Tori on the way back. Strawberry banana gel at the water stop.

Good weather, nice morning run with three 1k repeats, paces: 6:04, 6:00,5:51 Just enough to get the legs moving in preparation for Turkey Trot 10K. Nice to see Elizabeth and Wendy. After the run had some coffee and petted a dog that was thrilled to spend the morning running.

Another good morning run. Usual route around neighborhood, out past golf course and a small jaunt into the c shaped neighborhood. Perfect weather, feet were tolerable even at the start of the run. The taping has been helping as well as the icing.

39:37 (new PR) and 38th place male (40th overall I think).

After a warm up, I squeezed into the crowd near the front and happened to find a great spot with a bunch of friends from the Striders. Got off to a good start, amazed at how many people were running at that pace. First mile felt great, and I was feeling like I was on a roll, but noticed my shoe was untied, so had to stop to take care of that. Got right back on pace and had a great third mile. Second half started to get difficult. Last mile starts out with a hill which really slowed me down at first but was able to pick it back up and finish strong.

Splits: 6:12, 6:22, 6:16,6:27,6:30,6:21 0.25@5:56

For miles 4 and 5 I felt like I was about to blow up and really slow down, but looking back now it wasn't that drastic.  At the start of the 6th mile is the biggest hill of the course (fairly long but not that high), my pace slowed even more, but once past the hill was able to get a pretty decent last mile.

Saw my sports doctor, Dr. Cottrell who said hi to me while we were running but I was a little slow on recognizing him until we were apart. Last year he outkicked me at the end so I was on the lookout for him this time!

Before the race I warmed up with a little over two miles of mainly easy running and a few strides right before the race started.

Slept in a little bit late this morning and had a huge lack of motivation but knew if I could just get going for a few miles I'd want to go a little farther. The trick worked and ended up with a nice easy 5.5 miles.

Standard Saturday route, chilly morning.

Went to Longleaf at 5:30 and ended up running with Scott. He was doing 22 this morning, I kept him company for a bit over 10 miles and ended up with a faster start than usual. I had debated between short sleeves and long sleeves (went with short sleeves), ended up being chilly pretty much the whole way but it wasn't too bad. I picked it up a bit for the last 3 miles.

Tough to get going this morning, but once moving was ok. Glad to make it to 6 miles this morning.

I'll try and be optimistic that the rest of the running will get better this week!

My feet felt back to normal this morning.  Easy run in the neighborhood.

Temperature was cool and comfortable with a light fog. I felt a little slow at first but picked it up a good bit the last mile and a half.

As I had hoped on Monday, the running did get better this week.

Feeling pretty good to run on a nice cool (58 degree) morning.

Getting low on gels, had a Clif Shot Gel, haven't had one of those in a long time.

I bought some more gels in the evening.