sub-3 or blow-up trying

Ran the Litchfield Road Race in 48:06.  My daughter ran it in 1 hr and 1 sec to win her age group...I'll give full race report later.  Hot and humid, so we are both satisfied with our results. 

Warmed up for yet another hot, humid road race which has been the theme this past year.  This is a 7.1 course modelled after the famous Falmouth Road Race and draws numerous Kenyans, "local legends", Olympic hopefuls (women's runner will represent Morocco in this summer's Olympic marathon), and even a celebrity or two ("Kate + 8" this year with a trainer on each side).  This course is noteworthy for a killer hill on mile 7 with a 9 percent grade that goes about 1/3 of a mile- causes runners to go out too fast on the way out and crash on the way back in).  With a drench-soaked singlet after 1/2 mile warm-up, my goal would be my place of finish vs. pr.  In previous Litchfield runs, I believe my highest finish has been 106 and maybe 15-20 in my age group.  This year I hoped to break the top 100 (of 1700 runners).  My daughter, age-14, hoped to break an hour and finish in the top 3.

At 1pm, 82 degrees and somewhat thick humidity, we were off!  Here's my best attempt at the splits (uncertain at the end)...

Mile 1:  5:49 (good, steady pace with the downhill...help back nicely, having completed this in previous year in 5:39)

Mile 2:  6:48 (lost 10-15 seconds due to my shoe lace coming undone- dang!)

Mile 3:  6:38 (Heat is beginning to set in, yet I'm feeling comfortable with the pace)

Mile 4:  7:11 (Significant uphill for about a quarter mile, leading to a trail...very hot, so I stopped and drank 2 waters...from this point until the end, not one single runner passed me)

Mile 5: 6:49 (Held a firm pace and tossed my singlet away by the bridge)

Mile 6: 6:48 (Firm pace on the hottest part of the race, lacking shade and feeling the heat...in fact, 30 seconds behind my time in a training run earlier in the week)

Mile 7: ?? Held my place on "Gallow's Lane" and avoided 3 vomit piles left from the group in front of us

Final .1:  Pushed strong and passed a few runners to finish in 48:05 (20 seconds short of my personal pr on this course)

Finished 84 overall and 9th in my age division...most runners my pace were a minute or two slower than their normal times.  I came within 40 seconds of a fellow who usually beats me by 3-4 minutes, thus I felt good with the results.

Very proud of my 14-year-old who finished in 1:00:01 for 1st place by 3 minutes, my 12-year-old finished 2nd in the 2.3 mile run, my 9-year-old ran a 6:55 mile for 1st in her age division (her 2nd time running a mile ever), and my 11, 7, and 5 year olds made their presence known in "fun runs" of 200yards or so.  Overall, a great day!

Ran first 6 miles @ 8:40 pace and then veered to the track.  Did 4 x 400 (79,80,76,72) and then jogged back home slowly- 10.25 miles total. 

Got out for another 4 miles after dinner. 

Ran in the pouring rain...1st mile warm-up and then 6 progressively down to slow mp (9:19,8:59,8:30,7:57,7:39,7:26) and last mile cooldown- 8 total. I may try a very hilly 5k tomorrow. My hope is to sprinkle in speedwork and a few road races throughout the summer to work on leg turnover and a marathon pr in the Fall.

Ran a 5k that I did last year in 19:50 (6:17,6:43,6:16)- probably the most challenging I've ever run and probably 45-50 seconds slower than an average 5k course in our area.  Last year's winner was around 19:30, so I thought maybe this year I might have a chance.

It was warm and humid, but I'm now feeling much more acclimated to those type of conditions.  About 150 of us lined up at the start (my 12-year-old included) and we were off.

Mile 1:  6:08 (mostly uphill, I did it 9 seconds faster than last year and had the top 3 runners within my site).

Mile 2:  6:36 (steep uphill for first quarter mile and then evened out quite a bit with gentle rollers; 7 seconds faster than last year, passed two runners on the hill and found myself passing the leader at about 1.75 miles in ...never been in this position before).

Mile 3:  6:06 (downhill for about 1/3 and then gentle rollers more down than up...10 seconds faster than last year and somehow I'll held off the heavy breathing 2nd place runner behind me...frightened the entire way that he would pass me- not a great feeling, but I hung on!)

Finished in 19:24...easily would have broken 19 on a normal course and got the first running win ever in my life.  My 12-year-old who has run 5k's in low 25's high 24's finished in 25:59 to take 1st place for her age division.  Pleasantly pleased with a good day of running.

Had already done 4 miles of warm-up before starting the race- 7.1 miles for the day. 

Had a windown between afternoon meetings, so decided to push my limits with a mp run.  Did the first 7 miles of a hilly run in 48:56 (6:59 pace) and then had to jog the rest home (more 9ish pace) for 9.5 miles total. 

Ran 6.75 miles with my wife- mostly through trails.

Ran with 2 of my daughters who were on bikes.  Stopped at the track to do 4 x 400 (77,76,75,71)- ran 8 miles total.

Went kayaking for 2 1/2 hours in the morning...came home, took a quick nap, and then attempted a longer run- did first 10 miles @ just under 7:40 pace (5 of them @ slow mp), ran 1 400 on the track and then slogged through the final 5 miles progressively getting slower from 7:55 to 8:30 to over 9min pace at the end- 15 miles total.