It's all relative

PM: 7.3 miles

Local free 5k.  This was my first trip to this parkrun- I really like their concept.  The course was sincerely challenging- boardwalks, trail, three 180 turns, and more zig-zags than I can count.  I had planned to run a 16:55ish, but as you can see, I severely underestimated the course, while over-estimating my pacing.  GPS was not useful out here, unfortunately.  I think I'm going to take another crack at it this Saturday, but will not put any effort into preparing for it.

Overall, it was fun! 

AM: 19.8 miles, with about 7 of them with Jeremy and company.  Weather was okay for once.  I did not drink any water/no nutrition either during the run however, which made the end a bit of a grind.  I felt fine otherwise.

PM: 8.5 miles 

AM: 10 miles total, 2.5 fast.  workout was 400, 800, 1200, 1600, then I sat out the last item to time/manage the runners.

I ran based on leading the group so everyone had someone to push towards.

PM: gym and 3 fast miles of intervals for a total of 7.6.   Workout was 400, 4x800, 400.  I did it all at 5:00/mile pace with long/equal recoveries.

PM: 10 miles 

PM: 10.1 miles 

PM: 5 miles solo.

AM: 9.25 miles, sandwiched a parkrun in the middle, finished first with a new course record of 16:55.  I am in sub-16 minute shape for sure, the course is just that challenging.

~~~~~~~~~

I was thinking about how to get the record to sub 16 minutes, and it is going to take a lot of effort, some very weird pacing, and a lucky break on weather, but it could happen.  I'm still not sure exactly how yet, but here is my idea:

The first 0.4 mile will have to be lightning fast since it is tarmac/packed trail, then the first boardwalk section (0.4 miles) will have to be dry, or else there's no way to take the turns & 180 fast enough without slipping and breaking something.

The scary part is by this point, your GPS is essentially useless, so now you're just blasting along pretty much blindly.

The section the trail/sand (~1.0 mile) will have to be the right mixture of not too dry, but not too muddy.  Too dry will make speed impossible since it's sandy, and too wet will make it too muddy so I won't be able to handle the turns quickly enough.

Then the packed trail & tarmac section (0.4 miles) will again have to be sub 4:50/mile for sure.

This brings the final boardwalk which is about 0.7 miles.  The only chance here would be to go for broke- literally open it up and hopefully don't slip on the boardwalk.  The hard turns up the boardwalk hill to the 180 will be a bit of a nightmare at that kind of speed, but I did try it this time at 5:20ish pace and survived, so maybe it's possible to keep traction going faster?  The final tarmac stretch to the finish will be brutal as it's not fast and is winding- but it is on tarmac, so I'd be silly not to use this as a push spot as well.  I was thinking prior to the second run on this course if it's possible to shave some of the tangents here to keep speed high, but there's literaly trees/dense swamp foliage in the way, so that's impossible.

My friend John thinks it can't be done (at least by someone of our abilities)- I tend to agree with him, honestly- last week, just a week after running a 16 flat on a double-bridge, hilly 5k course I could only muster a 17:21 on the first attempt at the parkrun.  So naturally I want to try!  I definitely don't have the track speed to run such a tactical race without blowing up yet, but I can work on that!

The one thing that does bother me though, is this course has three 180-turns and zero of them are manned.  All 3 of them take significant time to complete, restart, and get up to speed.  All  it needs is one self-indulgent person to skip/cheat them to put the record out of reach for any real attempts.  In my heart I hope that doesn't happen, but in my mind I know it will/has already.  I've seen people do this on courses where  you had to go out of your way to cheat, so if it's just staring a runner in the face like that, I definitely don't have faith in them not taking the apple.  Good news is, it will be easy to tell they cheated.  It's got to be one of the most near-impossible things to run this particular course correctly as-is, fast, and perfectly paced on the first try- particularly with the gps on everyone's watch being wrong by the start of mile 2.  Therefore, if a record happens on their first try, we'll at least know it is probably bogus.  

AM: 18.1 miles with John, and then join Jeremy and them for the rest of it.  Fast finish ~6:30 pace for the last 7 miles or so.  Felt easy.

PM: 11.3 miles

AM: 11.4 miles.  I guess you could call 3 of them fast running 5x1000 with the group, but it wasn't even below marathon pace.  

PM: 9 miles solo and some gym work.  Did 3 miles of efforts on the treadmill "hills."

PM: 10 miles

PM: 10.1 miles

AM: 10.1 miles, 4 of them fast- I did a 1x22:00 challenge at the gym/treadmill, averaged 5:00/mile the whole way.  Felt relatively easy as the treadmill usually does, and could have continued to 10k- kind of wish I tried, although it would have beaten me up for sure.

No wind resistance and temperature control makes a huge difference!

No running- at a wedding/too busy.

No running- at a wedding/too busy.  Also, very sick.  

No running- have the flu

No running- have the flu

PM: 10.1 miles, still have the flu, but could finally breath and hear out of my ears.

PM: 10.2 miles, still have the flu.

PM: 5.2 miles, still have the flu, but coughing is gone and hearing is restored.

AM: 10.3 total miles.  Ran the first mile in 4:57, the second mile in 4:58, and then finished slower- I'd say around 5:12 pace, but the course was unacceptably short- ~3.01 miles total.  Why even bother calling it a 5k.  Just call it a 4.9k so no one is annoyed when then finish.  I won by 3 minutes.  I suppose it doesn't matter, but I'm annoyed paying for a race and not getting the minimum of what is advertised- a course that is the distance it says it is.

AM: 20 miles, 15 of them with John.  7:35/mile average.  Felt super easy.  Really wish this flu would go away, but I know it hit me hard, so the effects will be here another week or two if I decide to keep running/exercising so much.  Stinks.

AM: 7.5 miles easy.  Nice recovery run.

AM: 11.1 miles total, 4.1 were fast.  3x1600, then 1x1200, and 3x200.  Splits were in the 5:08-5:16 range for the miles and 1200 (pace), then at strider effort for the 200s.

PM: 10 miles total, 3 of them fast.  Workout was 12x400 with descending rest starting at 90 seconds and pausing for three intervals at 60 seconds before descending down to 10 seconds rest between the final two intervals.

Splits- 1:17, 1:15, 1:15, 1:15, 1:14, 1:15, 1:13, 1:13, 1:13, 1:13, 1:13, 1:13.  

AM: 10 miles

PM: 5 miles

AM: 5.2 miles with a partner workout at the gym.  2 fast miles within it to help the team.

PM: 6.5 miles.  Gobble gobble.

AM: 7.1 miles

AM: Ran the parkrun again- was relatively cool for the first time this year, and was the coolest race since.... Boston marathon?  64 degrees, cloudy, humid..  I was expecting to run a 16:30 and clambered in at 16:19, besting my last course record by 35 seconds.  I say clambered, because this course is just so challenging.  

Good news- I definitely think 15:59 will happen here, it will happen soon, and I think I'm the one to do it first, but I'll have to hurry.  The British are starting to show up, and it's only a matter of time a college XC/track runner decides to holiday in the area.  I am in 15:30 shape currently, so I think if I just keep doing what I'm doing, I can take a real hack at it on the 21st of December.  I think I might keep running the course the next two weekends, but only as a workout basis.

Bad news- I didn't give a full effort today.  I did convince myself that I was, but the heart rate tells a different story.  In hindsight, I could tell a handful of times I mindlessly accepted my brain lying to me about my effort.  A minute after I finished, I was ready to race the route again.  

How I can improve on this course- Really, it comes down to the three turnarounds and the 90 degree turns- I just have no tenacity when it comes to building back up to pace and still am sloppy about it when I do work my way back up there.  I also can make up time with a smoother/more efficient start (I should run striders more formally prior to the 5k to fix this), and lastly I should immediately start flooring it at the final turnaround at the lookout tower.  Also worth noting, I should be coming into that last section at or below 12:29 if I am to have a chance.

This course is straight-up home-field advantage, which I'm loving.  I really don't see someone killing this course without running it once at minimum.  The gps is pretty much worthless. 

This is turning into one of my favorite mini-goals I've ever had.