All about that pace.

Another great evening with the Tacoma Runners at the Paesan Kitchen.

Distance Split pace
1.00 6:35
2.00 6:14
3.00 6:25
3.32 6:21
 

4:10:00 Pacer
This was my first race volunteering as a pacer and I had a great group of runners to spend the morning with! Quite a few in my group were pushing their limits a bit because there weren't any other pacers between 4:10 and 5:00. I set out to run steady 9:33s from the beginning since I have always heard this is the best and most efficient way to run a marathon. Ive never actually followed that advice for my own races and I didn't want these folks to blow up at the end like I usually do, so I decided this was a good time to do the right thing. After just a few miles my watch was ticking off miles short of the course markings and between that and the rolling hills I was getting worried about keeping an accurate pace to finish at exactly 4:10. I stuck to the plan, give or take a few seconds per mile trying to make up for the difference between my garmin and the mile markers on the course. Most of the group hung in there about 15 miles before they started thinning out. A few of the ladies stuck with me to the end and turned out some big PR's. It feels pretty good that my slowest marathon yet helped someone else achieve their best, and even earned me a couple hugs at the finish line :)

This pic was on the front page of the local newspaper the day after the race.

Distance Split pace
1.00 9:28
2.00 9:34
3.00 9:34
4.00 9:32
5.00 9:32
6.00 9:23
7.00 9:29
8.00 9:29
9.00 9:34
10.00 9:39
11.00 9:26
12.00 9:36
13.00 9:31
14.00 9:29
15.00 9:25
16.00 9:32
17.00 9:31
18.00 9:23
19.00 9:33
20.00 9:27
21.00 9:21
22.00 9:29
23.00 9:34
24.00 9:20
25.00 9:30
26.00 9:25
26.31 9:21
 

I was in Spokane for work and had an excellent early morning run around River Front Park.

Great run across the Narrows Bridge tonight. I'm still buzzing from the all the Marathon excitement. These last few weeks have been such a blessing!

Another Thursday night with Tacoma Runners at Katie Downs on the waterfront. The course was brutal, and oddly shaped like a shoe on the map.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/495857024

Distance Split pace
1.00 8:19
2.00 6:37
3.00 5:51
3.54 6:17
 

6:00am

6 fast on the road (5 mile drive) then the rest on trails with the gang. Thanks to Gary and Sophie for sharing the watermelon at the end!!

8:30am

I set out to see how many laps around Oakbrook I could do at 9:00 min pace. It just seemed way to easy at that pace so I did 8ish instead, I was sure I could still do at least 5 until I got about half way through the 4th. I thought about slowing down and doing the 5th one, but decided to stop instead and give my legs a rest. Next week I'm going to try keeping a steady 8:30 pace from the start and see if the 5th or maybe 6th lap seems like a better idea.

Distance Split pace
1.00 7:42
2.00 7:51
3.00 7:56
4.00 7:54
5.00 8:02
6.00 8:14
7.00 8:06
8.00 8:00
9.00 7:55
10.00 7:51
11.00 7:51
12.00 7:50
13.00 7:46
14.00 7:44
15.00 7:48
16.00 8:20
17.00 8:19
18.00 8:15
19.00 7:55
20.00 8:09
 

5:00pm
I ran to the Tacoma Runners event tonight and found a $10 and a $20 along the way. That's almost $3 per mile and was more than enough to pay for post-run hydration at Magoo's Annex.
Distance Split pace
1.00 7:56
2.00 7:54
3.00 7:53
4.00 8:03
5.00 7:45
6.00 7:43
7.00 7:53
8.00 7:56
9.00 7:51
10.00 7:40
10.32 7:49

6:30pm
I planned to just keep the leaders in sight so I wouldn't get lost on the route and ended up running a lot faster than I intended, as usual. I got a ride home with John and Scott who met me there for the 3 miler. Great time as always, and Susan brought lemon bars again!
Distance Split pace
1.00 6:55
2.00 6:37
3.00 6:34
3.14 5:55
 

10:00am

Fun day with the kids and grandkids. Meghan and Dan ran the 5k with me, and 3 of thier kids, Maria, James and Levi ran the one miler. I won a $10 gift cert. for the Pita Pit and a strained calf muscle :(

Distance Split pace
1.00 6:08
2.00 6:33
3.00 6:33
3.03 5:31
 

Easy 6 after work. My calf is still sore :(

Distance Split pace
1.00 7:57
2.00 7:43
3.00 8:01
4.00 7:47
5.00 8:02
6.00 8:02
6.22 7:53
 

6 more not so easy miles after work today. My calf is still sore, but not any worse than yesterday. It actually felt better as I went faster. I'm not sure why that is since I injured it by running fast.

Distance Split pace
1.00 7:29
2.00 7:12
3.00 7:17
4.00 6:56
5.00 7:00
6.00 6:55
6.49 6:33
 

TR 5k. I started slow, then got bored, then wised up a little. My calf is still getting better.

Distance Split pace
1.00 8:45
2.00 6:14
3.00 7:00
3.08 7:23
 

15 easy miles with my friend John on his 50th birthday. We did 4 laps of the TR 5k course an then sort of raced the 5th. There was birthday cake at the finish line and then breakfast at the Antique Sandwich Company after. Aside from my calf pain flaring up a bit, it was a perfect morning of running, eating and discussing the merits of Led Zeppelin with a couple professional symphony musicians.

Distance Split pace
1.00 8:07
2.00 8:37
3.00 8:24
4.00 8:53
5.00 8:35
6.00 8:29
7.00 8:42
8.00 8:15
9.00 8:44
10.00 9:19
11.00 9:01
12.00 9:07
12.54 8:32
 

Distance Split pace
1.00 8:17
2.00 8:32
3.00 8:42
3.14 7:20
 

10 easy miles after 3 days off. Two 5 mile laps around Oakbrook; the first one at 7:30ish and the second one closer to 8. It was hard to slow down for the second one. I felt like I could do several more laps at that pace if I had the time. Calf is still tight, but ok.

Distance Split pace
1.00 7:34
2.00 7:09
3.00 7:21
4.00 7:06
5.00 7:16
6.00 7:53
7.00 7:54
8.00 7:55
9.00 7:53
10.00 7:56
10.15 7:49
 

5:00pm
Ran 9 miles to the Tacoma Runners beer run gathering and planned to take UBER home. They just launched their service in Tacoma and are offering 5 free rides this week. We used them in Boston and they are awesome! Cheaper than a cab and so much faster!
The run there was great, no pain in my calf at all and it was hard to keep it slow.
Distance Split pace
1.00 7:49
2.00 7:42
3.00 7:44
4.00 7:48
5.00 7:20
6.00 7:33
7.00 7:21
8.00 7:33
9.00 7:28
9.07 8:22

6:30pm
I tried really hard to hang back with the crowd instead of following the leader as usual. Even so, my calf started talking to me a bit after the first mile. Nothing terrible, but it was not feeling 100% like on the run getting there. It's still getting better, just not as quickly as I want. John drove out for the run so I didn't use the UBER service after all, but it was fun hanging out and riding home with him after the run.
Distance Split pace
1.00 7:24
2.00 7:30
3.00 7:06


 

I pushed Carter in the stroller and did my best to keep my daughter Meghan running. She only took a couple short walk breaks :)