It's all relative

Manufacturing 5k Race Report

This was supposed to be my first fitness test "race" since my marathon for the beginning of my training, but it turned out I had a free entry for yesterday's race, so this one took a back seat.  I laced up my nice shoes for this one, hoping to clock in under 16.  I figured it was as good as done, considering I ran a 16:07 yesterday with the highway bridges and hill- however I definitely wasn't plannign on Jeremy jumping in the race at the last minute, so unfortunately I just threw out my race plan of pacing even 5:09s.

I drew him out hard on the first mile.  I figured I'd slow it down if he didn't follow, but since he did I just kept pulling him faster- I did promise him I'd 'race him hard' next time we faced off against each other, so I guess I kept my word.  I felt a little bit bad about it afterwards.  We train together, so I'm not sure I made a mature decision there.

The rest of the race was uneventful and my splits are gross, but I like having a ton of room for improvement.  In hindsight, I wish I stayed with Jeremy and ran with him.  I know it would have hurt my chances at a win, but honestly, who cares- it's a local nothing 5k, and in the end we would have both benefitted from it.  

Splits- 5:03, 5:20, 5:19, 0:34

No running.

AM: Big turnout this morning at track- probably about 15-20, which for 5am is pretty impressive.  Workout was 12x400 with 200 recoveries.  Stayed with the group pacing the front.  I tried to pull them a bit the best I could, trying not to get too far ahead.

Splits- 1:17, 1:12, 1:14, 1:12, 1:14, 1:13, 1:12, 1:11, 1:11, 1:12, 1:13, 1:10

I was pumped for this workout.  This was my best workout in a while.  I was recovering well after each item, I was talking, I was leading, I felt strong.  I was pretty geared up for it.  This afternoon is going to be a mess, so I think (as of right now) my plan is to just run John's paces and work on my anaerobic capacity at the end of each item this afternoon.  We'll see.

PM: 7.5 miles, 3 of them relatively fast at effort.  Workout was two sets of 3x800 with 200 recoveries and a single 400 recovery between the two sets.  Did it as a cutdown style and worked on some anaerobic capacity during the final two intervals.  It felt pretty easy, but I am a bit tired from all of the faster running.  

~~~~~~~~~~

I am so sick of this hot, humid weather.  It's literally almost November.  When will it stop?!

PM: 10.1 miles

PM: 10 miles

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!