It's all relative

There were 18x300s today with 100m recovery.  I stayed well  below speed workout pace per the advice of Drew and Lee.  I was thankful for the advice, since I ended the workout feeling great as opposed to exhausted.  I held all but the first 2 at 55-60 seconds, or 5k pace, then on the last set picked the first 4 up to about 53-55 seconds, then 50, then 46 for the last one.

Lifted weights: Tris (Dips & pushdowns), Pectorals (Straight flys, downward flys), Shoulders (press- machine and free wire), Rotator cuff (in and out)

Ran part of the course I was unfamiliar with.  Terrible labeling of the race map, but I figured it out.  I'm happy I did this- I didn't think there would be literally 3 sets of 180 degree turns, and I also probably would have underestimated the slight hills.  Was also nice to see where the tangents would be, particularly on 14th avenue with the turnaround.  

No running, prepped for race and busy at work.  Had hummus, bread, chicken sandwich, and veggies.  Not too much water.  

Best Dam Race Half Marathon Report

This race is right in my current hometown, so it's hard to pass up. Particularly when it takes 8 minutes to drive to. It's in the third year of existence, and this run would be my fifth overall half marathon. I feel they're long enough to where I feel like I've worked hard, but not so long as to where I want to cry from every cell in my body- looking at you, marathon...

Ran mile 1 expecting someone to blow by me, so I could use as a pacer from afar, since I saw a 1:10 half marathoner registered as well as a couple 1:13-1:14 guys and I wanted to run a 1:16:00. However, at half a mile only a good runner, James O, was behind me. I know he is very quick and generally runs much better than me based on his times. At mile 1 I was still conservative at a 5:55 mile hoping to have at least him I could fall behind, but since no one wanted to go in front, I decided to settle into a pace, so I dropped down to 5:43 for the next 2 miles to get closer to the 5:46 pace I was hoping for. I don't usually wear a watch, so me "dropping down to and sticking to a pace" is akin to an infant getting all his food in his mouth- cute, but not gonna be messy. I wasn't excited to have to focus on a pace for that long.

At the 3-mile turnaround I was surprised to see a gap already forming, and at the 10k mark I had a good 1:40 lead on James (second) and about 3 minutes on third. At the 6.5 turnaround, I must've had some body language, because James clearly gave a push to shorten the gap. Fortunately, I caught myself slowing in time, although, in hindsight, it was unintelligent to drop the pace to 5:30 for mile 6, as I felt cramps in my quads and hamstrings quickly. From there on out I tried to keep them at bay all the way until making it to mile 12 and decided I could probably run through them so close to the end.

The only runner left in sight at mile 11 was James and he was about 3 minutes back, but having never led a half marathon I decided to push anyway. At the 13 mile marker right before the final turn I took a look at my watch and was elated to see it just cracking 1:15:00 along with my 5:35 mile pace for the last 2 miles, so a PR was in sight.

Fortunately, I did end up with a 1:15:30, a pr in the end. I love being a newer runner- the pr never gets old. Next race is in 3 weeks, so I have a chance to leave it all out on the course and hopefully put in the work to do it again.

Did 2X2 mile at 6:30 pace just for fun.  Drew and Lee weren't here today, but I was able to catch up with Christina a little bit.  What an awesome runner.  I felt really strong even considering the half-marathon the day before.

Ran 2.5, then worked out: biceps on fly machine, forearms, lat pull-downs, wide-grip pullups, low-row (wide grip), and shrugs with 60s (with controlled roll).  Ended with 4 more miles on the treadmill.

Had to skip track to do the tryouts instead.  Kids ran great, had a lot of fun, and we had 5 kids run under 6 minutes for the mile.  Only 2 threw up, which may be a record for lowest number on the first day of tryouts.  

Ran with Cory (22) and caught up with him about his first marathon, which he ran a 3:33:33- with only 2 training runs over 15 miles.  Yikes.  He's going to be fast if he decides to work at it.  Maybe I can entice him to run on Tuesdays.  This was his first run in 23 days.

Again, made a sincere effort to keep my slow miles in the 7:30- 7:55 range, which I have been consistent with since my 5k.

Split my run into 5.8 and 4.2, had tryouts in between.  Ran with Cory.  He seemed tired from yesterday, but was a good sport.  

Overall, what a weird running day.  Started with waking up at 5:30 to run, and decided to sleep in.  Felt terrible for doing that, so couldn't go back to sleep.  That afternoon before tryouts, I ran 4.5 miles, with 2.5 of them at 6:00-6:40 pace. ran a 400m in 60 seconds flat with the kids randomly for fun, then finished with a little light running mixed with 6 more 400s at 5:08-5:20 mile pace.  Probably not the best idea for a workout, but running like an idiot sometimes can be fun.

Ran a fast mile and 800 with the kids @ 5:40 to pace the leader.

Running today felt amazing. Healthy, loose, and care free.

Mile warmup followed by 8 miles descending from 6:50s to 5:50s, then a shake-out. Was the last day of the Davis Island run group until August. Not the most outgoing of groups anyway, unfortunately.

Standing all day yesterday, a lot of lower calf/ achilles soreness.

Best I've felt in a long time. All 7:30- 8:45mpm pace.

Rainy,. Long warm-up, 4x400,3x800,4x400 w/ 200rest between items, 400 between sets. Pace 5:20mpm, finished w/ 76, 72, 72, 69.

Drew, lee, and quint- they even let me lead, so I tried to be consistent to help. Very lucky to have them to run with in the rain.

Morning: 3

Afternoon: 2.5

Night: 8.84

Pm run. Had to rush it.

Told myself I'd take a day off since I'd be busy from 5am-7pm. I lied, and it felt great.

Had 2 speed ups for about a mile each. Ran the Gasparilla 15k course- and feel so sorry for them with the nasty head-wind they had on the way back. Got to cheer on Lee, Drew, Christina, Jacob, and a couple others.

Started running at 4:50am. Had a 6mi warmup, 4mi @ 6:00mpm, 1mile rest, 3mi @ 6:00mpm, 7.5 miles @ 7:10-7:40 with Steve who I saw randomly. Lucky to catch him since I didn't even know he'd be there! We got to watch/ run past the elite half-marathoners. Very exciting and humbling! Saw Kai, Christina, Bri, Rae, Alvaro, and Ben all kicking butt today. This whole weekend was exactly why I started liking running- so proud of everyone.

Gym Day- 5x5s: Biceps (isolated), lat pulldown (wide-grip), pull-ups (close-grip), wide-grip low row, in-and-outs (shoulder), shrugs, jerks (with cross-cable), abs (with sides and front planks)

Broken up with the track kids.  Ran a quick mile (5:25mpm pace) pacing them, and then 2 pacing 800s after that at around 5:00 mpm pace.  Then ran with Corey.  Slowly trying to convince him he will be an awesome runner.

Warmup, then 7 x 1000 with 200 recovery between each at a decent recovery speed. Pace was 5:40-5:45 mpm for the duration. Was hard to hold back, but happy I did- definitely feeling Sunday's workout.

Time to taper a bit.

Fun run!

Fun run, did 5 striders to end it. Knees still aching from softball/basketball.

Day off. 2 races this weekend. Both half-marathons. Going to be rough.

Rainy/misty, 65 degrees,windy, humid. This will be the first of two half-marathons in two days, so I wanted to come out of it feeling healthy. Given the conditions I'm surprised how fun the run was. I was looking forward to racing again, so I started excited, running out with the lead group. There were 5 leading (and then me). We started out quick, which didn't interest me too much because of the all-brick terrain, but I went with them because of the wind, hoping to draft a bit. Mile 2... Well... Mile 2 escalated quickly. The lead group pushed their pace down to 5:30 or so, which I held with them for a half mile, but decided to leave the lead group and enter no man's land in a haze of light mist and wind. I was confused for a bit, since there seemed to be a coach riding along with the lead group, 4 of which looked to be part of a team, the fifth was the lead runner hanging at their shoulder. From mile 2-5, the coach on the bike seemed to help his runners along over the span of about a 40 second lead in front of me. Eventually 2 runners began to drop back, 1 whom seemingly quit the race at mile 5 right next to me. Down to 4th place, miles 6-9 were hilly, but I kept a steady pace, picking off the next one and closing the lead gap to about 20 seconds. Then the first place guy slowed slightly right around mile 9.5 and shortly after mile 10 the kid who quit at mile 5 suddenly came off a side street into the race and took over first place, pacing the final guy in front of me. Very shortly after that, the lead guy, who I now figured was just in the race to pace miles 5-10 for the true leader, slowed to a stop in front of me and began walking. At around mile 10.60, the gap had closed to 5 seconds for the lead, and the pace had slowed, the rain increased, and the roads were now quite wet. I decided to close the gap completely and got on the shoulders behind the two lead guys, which seemed to bother them a little. But to be honest, I was a little pissed the lead guy was getting free pacing, so I didn't care. I was feeling very good at that point, with a lot saved up from the previous 2 slower miles, and decided to do a quick pass around the outside of a 90 degree turn and laid down a 5:30 pace for about 3/4 of a mile. I looked back and saw the two had drifted significantly back (20+) seconds, and I sort of lost focus. I kept the lead, but the next 2/3 of a mile I slowed a lot (5:55-6:00 pace), just really trying to keep the distance I had created for the lead. Then, midway around mile 12, I finally re-focused, and kept an eye on my watch to finish the mile with a 5:40 pace and then sprinted down the final street. The lead ended at about 50 seconds between myself and second, but seemed overall, the first 10.6 miles made it seem much more dramatic than that. Overall: the pacing team of 5 runners jumping out in front and the coach riding on a bike (back and forth) past me was pretty annoying- especially when the runner re-entered the course. Their team game plan in the beginning could have easily derailed my race had I not known I needed to be smart given my ability, which is not at that level. I really have never truly run with a team of any kind, so I don't know if what happened was normal, but it caused me to go through a lot of confusion and annoyance throughout the race. I wish I had known what they were doing or that they weren't in the race. I liked the competition, and actually am very okay with truly being beat, but it didn't really feel... right. I felt like I raced a team of runners today, as opposed to just the two who actually ran the race from that lead group. Lucky they couldn't hold on in the end I guess. Fortunate to have another PR, since I certainly won't get one tomorrow!

Splits

Mile 1) 5:39.77

2) 5:45.15

3) 5:42.26

4) 5:45.13

5) 5:45.81

6) 5:43.94

7) 5:44.50

8) 5:47.71

9) 5:46.10

10) 5:49.07

11) 5:50.03

12) 5:39.37

13) 5:40.82

Finish) :22 @ sprint

(Quick calculation splits- First 6.55 miles came in at 37:32, last 6.55 came in at 37:29, first ever negative split!)

Gun time: 1:15:01.6,  @ 5:44 avg. per mile, (Chip time 1:15:00.4) 

                             -Age Group-      - 10k -       Chip       Gun  
 Place  Name         Age Gend  Pos Group  Rnk   Time  Rnk   Time       Time  
1  Michael MacDonald 29   M  1  Top Fin    3  35:41.9  1  1:15:01.6  1:15:00.4
2  Jose Diaz Jr.     28   M  2  Top Fin    1  35:06.6  2  1:15:45.9  1:15:45.3
3  Adam Lawrence     19   M  3  Top Fin    2  35:33.8  3  1:17:40.6  1:17:40.0