High-Octane

Okay...I'm back to the "REAL" world after being on vacation (Caribbean Cruise) for seven days. The entire trip took 10 day. It was fun but I think I'll go somewhere else next time, when I curise, since I've been to the caribbean several times.

I tried to keep up my running training as best I could but it was all on the TM or Stationary Bike. I loaded all of the workouts but didn't add any commentary. Basiclly I hit all of the workouts as scheduled but struggled on the longest run. It was hot in the gym and I think I dehydrated before the end of the workout.

Here's todays workout, Interval Training, on the track. I was happy to run on real ground and as usual I enjoyed the Intervals. All of my times were slightly faster, with lower heart rates, than last years training run.

11/16/2012
Mile	Time	HR	HR %
1	8:03:00	133	68%
2	8:03:00	154	82%
3	8:03:00	152	80%
4	8:03:00	151	80%
5	8:03:00	152	80%
6	8:03:00	153	81%
7	8:03:00	157	84%
8	8:03:00	158	85%
9	8:03:00	159	85%
10	8:03:00	160	86%
11	8:03:00	160	86%
12	8:03:00	161	87%
13	8:03:00	164	89%
14	8:03:00	167	91%
15	8:03:00	167	91%
Total	120:45:00	157	83%
Pace	8:03:00
TM on Cruise Ship
70Âș +
Target: Long Run - 15 @ 8:11 Pace.   I felt terrible hours after this run. The first 7-8 miles were fine but then I really started struggling. It seemed very hot and I sweated like crazy. I may have gotten dehydrated.

Today was supposed to be a cross-training day but I opted out and simply went out and ran. This week is a little messed up since I'm running a 5K on Thanksgiving morning.

11/20/2012
Mile	Time	HR	HR %
1	7:29:00	138	71%
2	7:58:00	148	78%
3	7:31:00	153	81%
4	7:01:00	159	85%
Total	29:59:00	150	79%
Pace	7:29:45
Out and Back
55Âș
Target: None

I used to run this same route at 8+ with the same effort.

Psalm 90:17

"And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful.Yes, make our efforts successful!"

HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE....!

Psalm 107:1
"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

So tomorrow is another attempt to break 20:00 in the 5K. I'm thinking this may be a fairly flat course. My last 5K had a couple of pretty good hills so I'm hoping I can make up the 6 seconds on this flatter course.

Today went out and ran just to stretch my legs. I ran at 5:45 for a quarter mile on the first and the last mile, the rest was just easy running.

11/21/2012
Mile	Time	HR	HR %
1	7:36:00	143	74%
2	8:37:00	142	74%
3	7:33:00	151	80%
0.25	7:37:00	148	78%
Total	31:23:00	146	76%
Pace	7:54:00
Out and Back
52Âș
Target: Ran 1/4 of first and last mile at 5:45 Pace

Revised Race Report.... :-(

I started thinking about how happy I was with this race and wanting to verify it was a "REAL" PR.  Originally I didn't think to ask if the course was "certified" so I decided to dig in and find the answer. The advertised race information did not say anything about it being certified but I did find, in another place, a comment that indicated it was. Not feeling confident in that information I decided to e-mail the race director. Here's his response: "Congratulations on a great finish.  The course is not certified and is about 50 meters short." AHHHHH...So I guess it was not a true PR.

During the race I had my watch set for: Current Pace, Average Pace, Heart Rate and Time. When I finished the race I stopped my watch and noted the Average Pace at 6:14 and the time at exactly 19:21. Now I know why my watch measured the course a little short. On top of all this I accidentally deleted the last portion of the race (the part after the 3 mile mark) so I don't really have the exact time for that section. I came up with the :30 by simple math adding the first three mile together and subtracting the overall finish time.

Now what do I do....??? Eat crow and go on I guess. In my defense, I was at a 6:14 pace for 3:?? miles and I believe I could have hung on for the extra 50 meters! (How long does it take to run 50 meters anyway?)

_____________________________________________________________________

YEAH....I finally broke 20:00 in the 5K!!!

 Actually I smashed it with a 19:21.

This was the biggest 5K I had ever run. There were 1450 runners (lots of walkers).

I warmed up with a 2 mile jog and got the start line about 5 minutes before the race started. I lined up fairly close to the front. On my first mile I just tried to stay right at my 6:25 goal pace. My first mile came in at exactly 6:25 and it felt good. Mile two was a littler tougher but I pulled out another 6:25 but was thinking I might start to fade on the last mile. Halfway through the last mile I thought to myself, "I've only got a little more than half a mile to go" so I decided to put my body in torture mode and picked up the pace quite a bit running at a sub-5 pace most of the way. Mile 3 came in at 6:01 and the last .1 was :30.

Now I believe I can break 19:00 on the 5K!

It's amazing what a body can do when it's pushed...even an old one :-) 

Oh...I won the Master's Division (although I don't think this was a very competitive race even though it had a lot of entries). One last note: my Garmin measured the course a few steps short of 3.1 but I did cheat the tangents as much as I could on every turn.