Getting back to Boston

Had originally planned an easy 5 today. Then I looked at the weather forecast -- another winter storm tonight and tomorrow. Runs might be limited for a couple of days. So I decided to get more miles in today before the storm hits. So I wound up doing 9.6, including the last 0.4 or so at sub-MP. Felt pretty good for the last four miles or so (amazing how it takes me five miles now to warm up). Weather was mid-30s, overcast, not much wind. Felt pretty good except for the drainage.

Snowing here all day and into tonight, but I needed a big dose of endorphins in the worst way. So I set out on a six-mile dash through the flakes. It was kinda fun, since I didn't have to worry about busting tail on the ice (yet) and the flakes were falling straight down instead of whipping into my eyes like a week or so back. Just tried to keep a steady pace until the inevitable late-run surge; I guess I just get ready to get these runs over with at some point, and the quickest way to do that is to speed up. Wound up with a 9:29 average, which is pretty much where I want my GA runs to be right now.

Trying to decide how to approach the 5K Saturday, assuming they even have it because of the weather. This slop has not been conducive to any kind of speed training. I may try to do some 400s tomorrow if conditions permit, but that's as close to a race as I want to do any speedwork. Probably just try to set out at an even pace and see how long I can hold it. A big variable, of course, is what the course is going to be. I expect hills, being on the UA campus, but which hills and at what point of the course? That's going to affect the tactics more than anything except possibly the weather.

Things are discouraging on the domestic front, which is why I needed the endorphins. Certainly no cause for optimism. I just hope John's instincts are right, but even if they are, it may be too late. If so, I'll just have to accept it and get on with the rest of my life. Which would be a lousy way to start my 50s.

Took the last two days off -- one for exhaustion and bad weather, one because we went car shopping last night (a truly frustrating experience). So I figured I needed to get back out there tonight to wake the legs up, with the 5K only about 38 h ours away. Warmed up for three miles, then put the hammer down for the last mile and a half. Wound up at MP or slightly below, which felt a lot harder than that. Maybe the exhaustion isn't quite gone.

Not quite sure how to approach the 5K. My only speedwork has been progression runs, and none of that has approached 5K pace for very long. Don't know exactly what the course will be either. It occurs to me I might get an AG award by default. I think I'll just do what I usually do for 5Ks -- try to go out at 7:00 pace or thereabouts and hold it as long as I can, and hope they do what I think they will with the course and bring it downhill on Razorback Road to the finish. That will help me put on a finishing "kick". Having said that, a PR would be a fluke, or a miracle, given the state of my training. But then I did almost no speed work before I got the PR last September. I credit that to pure guts; I just refused to give in to the pain and fatigue. Saturday might be more of the same.

Working out the kinks before tomorrow's 5K. Slow 3 around the park. Not sure how slow because the Garmin needed recharging, but slow enough. I think I'll need some stretching tonight and before the race. Again, no great expectations, but just hope to get in a good run. If nothing else, a tempo run.

Not sure what you'd call a 2.95 mile race, but I ran one this morning. So I guess it was a PR for that distance. Race was billed as a 5K, but I was correctly advised before the start by a woman named Abrena who ran it last year (and was wearing her 2009 Boston Marathon tech shirt) that it was a tad short. She, however, also said that because of the hills, my time would likely be about equal to a full 5K.

Race started at the UA Gardens and went up Razorback Road past the stadium to the Pit. Right on Maple, down Sorority Row to Arkansas Avenue. Right on Arkansas past Old Main, then right on Dickson to Brough Commons. Left on Garland, then down the hill to Pomfret, past BWA and the softball field to Lot 56, then through 56, back into the Gardens and finish at the starting line. So you have an uphill on Razorback, two uphills on Maple, Arkansas is slightly downhill, two BIG hills on Dickson, steep downhill to Pomfret, slight downhill past BWA, slight up/down into 56, and flat to the finish.

First mile, being largely uphill, was quite slow, 7:54 pace. Second mile, steep up/down, 7:23. Third (almost) mile, mostly downhill, 6:48 pace. Official time, 21:18. They had a kind of chip timing I had not seen before. The chip looked like a keyring and they attached it to a wristband. When you got to the chute, a woman quickly scanned it with a handheld device. So it's conceivable that my real time was actually a few seconds quicker than 21:18, but not more than 3-4 seconds faster, so I'll go with 21:18 for my "5K". Turns out, nearly a month later, that I finished 13th overall.

I'd warmed up with a jog and strides, a little over 2.5 (warming up was important, as it was 29 degrees). Then the race, then after getting something to eat and drink I ran the course again with a detour around the perimeter of Lot 56 to cool down. So total run was approaching 9 miles. On the cooldown, I was still passing people who were running the "10K" part of the race (which was just two laps of the 5K course).

Pretty pleased with the run, especially with the steep uphills. My hill training seems to be paying off. I was catching people going up Dickson toward Brough, including Abrena in her Boston shirt (neon yellow and easy to spot). Didn't pass her, but I made up ground. Nice race for my first competition of the new decade.

I asked Abrena if she'd be in Boston in 2011. She said she's qualified for 2010 and will run then, but won't run in 2011 because her husband has had enough of marathon trips. I can kinda relate.