Wesley Hunt

Nice short, progressive/tempo run this morning with 2X400m Repeats tacked on as well. Workout included the following:  

1 Mile at 7:15

1 Mile at 6:45

2 Miles at 6:20/mile

1 Mile at 6:00

2 X 400m Repeats at 82 and 90 seconds, respectively

1 Mile Easy to cool down

7 Miles total, including quarter mile easy after Mile 5 (6:00) and each 400m Repeat; beautiful, clear morning made this run easy; anticipation for Sunday's race building.

Wesley 

3 Miles Easy, including 4 striders, on treadmill set to 1.0.

Wesley 

1 Mile at 7:15 followed by 4X400m repeats at sub-90 seconds in my neighborhood on a perfect morning for running in Little Rock; including cool-down, I ran 3 Miles total in 20 minutes. 

I plan on going for a brisk walk at lunch over the next couple of days, and I am confident that my kids will keep me pretty active and engaged in the evenings.  Hopefully, I can keep my weight relatively stable over the next three days. 

Wesley

Nice, short run on a warm, humid morning with showers forecast for later today in L.R. (but not for Sunday race day); 1 Mile Easy followed by 1 Mile at 6:32 and 1 Mile at 6:40.  

Wesley 

2011 Little Rock Marathon:  

Unofficially, I finished in 2:54:55, comfortably qualifying for the Boston Marathon and posting a PR nearly an hour better than my previous PR.  It was great weather, and I executed my race strategy, running nearly even splits at 6:36/mile (Garmin) for the entire course.  

More to follow when official results post, but it was a good day, and I am very happy with the results.  

But there's no rest for the weary...I'm off to a three-year old's birthday party!  

Official Results (9:00pm) 

Overall:  18/1808

Div. 25-29:  4/97

10K:  40:31 (6:32)

Half:  1:25:07 (6:30)

20.4:  2:16:29

Final 10K:  38:20

Finish:  2:54:49 (6:41) 

It's a bit silly (and cool at the same time), but the Little Rock Marathon folks take pride in having one of the largest, if not the largest, finisher's medal in the world. The 2011 medal weighed a whopping 1.5 pounds and measured 7.75 inches long and 5 inches wide. The thing actually made my neck sore...if you have 20 seconds, check out the link below for some local media coverage of the medal "unveiling" a few weeks back.  

http://arkansasmatters.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=391206 

Its a great little race (2,100 person limit for full marathon) in a very hospitable, southern city. I hope some of you take the opportunity to give it a go in the future. For purposes of full disclosure, my only connection to the race is as a three-time finisher and born and bred Arkansan. I just think Little Rock does a nice job making it a fun weekend for everyone involved.   

Best, 

Wesley 

Twenty minutes on the elliptical to get losse followed by 3 Miles Easy on the treamill set to 1.0 incline.  Working through a little soreness, but actually feeling pretty good. 

I learned today that, assuming the NY City Marathon Qualying times do not change before next year's registration period, my Little Rock Marathon finish of 2:54:49 guarantees my entry into the 2012 NY City Marathon.  

Given that the qualifying standard for the Open Division (18-39) is sub 2:55:00, I now know that you cannot take anything for granted on the race course.  A strong final 10K and 100m kick got me there with plenty of time to spare... 

Eleven seconds!

Wesley  

45 minutes on the stationary bike (spin class) followed by upper body strength training; lots of stretching and hydrating.  Recovering well.   

Wesley 

6-Mile Progressive Run at easy, comfortable paces on treadmill: 

2 Miles at 8:00/mile;

2 Miles at 7:30/mile; and

2 Miles at 6:58/mile. 

Very little soreness today; more stretching and strength training following run.   

Wesley

Visiting the grandparents in Hot Springs on a beautiful weekend in central Arkansas; Today's run included 5 Miles Easy with my Dad, who celebrated his 56th birthday on Wednesday.  My son, Max, and I picked out a really cool "super-hero" card for Grandpapa (my Dad).  Given his performance and Boston Qualifier in his first marathon last weekend, I thought the card was perfect. 

Wesley

Beautiful morning in Hot Springs, Arkansas for a run.  I ran a flat 6-mile loop out from my parents home along an old Arkansas highway, and for the first time in a week, I picked it up a little to see how my post-marathon legs would respond.  The results were good: 

2 Miles at 7:00 (including a half-mile offroad and a quick climb over my parents' locked gate);

2 Miles 6:30; and

2 Miles at 6:20 (including a quick return climb over my parents' locked gate and a half-mile offroad);

Fun little run that I both needed and enjoyed.  My Mom is cooking two chocolate pies tonight for my Dad's birthday, and I've committed to taking down at leat half a pie, maybe more...it's an understatement to say that I'm excited. 

Wesley

Today's tempo run on the treadmill included the following: 

2 Miles at 7:13/mile;

4 Miles at 6:30/mile; and

2 Miles at 7:13/mile. 

Half-mile jog to cool-down for 8.5 total miles.  Fourth mile at 6:30 was a little difficult after a long weekend of good eating at both my mother and mother-in-law's homes.  But generally, I felt pretty comfortable at this pace.     

Wesley 

6 Miles at 7:13/mile, including four striders during Mile 6, on treadmill set to 1.0 incline; half-mile jog to cool down for 6.5 total miles. 

Wesley

Nice, little interval workout on the treadmill this afternoon.  Today's run included the following:  

1 Mile at 7:03;

1 Mile at 6:49; and

8X800m Repeats at 3:00/repeat (6:00 pace);  

Including quarter-mile easy between 800m repeats, and a half-mile easy to cool-down, I ran 8.25 total miles in 56 minutes.  

Legs were a little heavy today after jumping right back into it this week; third day of near-race pace (or faster) running in a row after a very rare Sunday off last weekend.

No excuses, right?  But...work has been very demanding with increased responsibilities (a good thing), and I've come up a little short on sleep this week.  

Finally, I wanted to give some props to my brother, Luke, who had a nice showing in a 10-mile trail race in Virginia last weekend.  The course was brutal, mostly single track, with several streams and a lot of rolling hills.  Great work, bro.  Looking forward to running one with you real soon.  

Wesley 

12 Miles on treadmill at the following pace splits: 

6 Miles at 7:13/mile;

4 Miles at 6:58/mile; and

2 Miles at 6:44/mile;

12.25 total miles including quarter-mile easy jog to cool-down. 

Wesley

5 Miles at 6:22 on a surprisingly cool morning in Little Rock.  I had my wife, Isabel, drop me off a few miles from the house after my son's soccer practice.  Nice run home, and then we made smoothies!  

With the NCAA tournament on TV all day, and nice weather outside, it's going to be a great day.  

Wesley 

12.25 Miles at 6:41/mile on a beautiful morning of 50 degrees in Little Rock; stayed in my neighborhood, running 4-mile loop along Woodlands Edge and Meadows Edge.  

I had to work through some pretty serious stomach cramping (and a much too lengthy bio break that was absolutely necessary) at Mile 5, which was undoubtedly the result of the obscene number of hot wings I ate over at a buddy's house last night, but otherwise, I felt pretty good today.  

I'm getting more and more comfortable with 6:40-6:45 as my long-distance, race pace, and this gives me a lot of confidence going into future races (though I have not firmed up a race schedule).  

Wesley 

4.25 Miles Easy, including 4 striders during Mile 4, on treadmill.

Wesley 

13.1 Miles in 90:00 on treadmill; today's run included the following progressive splits:  

2 Miles at 7:13; 

5 Miles at 6:58;

6 Miles at 6:40; and 

.1 at 6:00 (42 secs).  

Other than a very nice lady pulling the plug on my treadmill at Mile 3 (she was attempting to unplug and move a fan, which I wasn't using), today's workout was positive.  Right now, I'm focused on learning to run at 6:40 comfortably, regardless of conditions and fatigue, because I am well aware that things won't always go as expected on race day.

Wesley 

2 Miles at 6:58 followed by 12X400m repeats at 90 secs/repeat (6:00) with 60 sec easy jog between repeats; 1.5 Miles at newly established, target race pace of 6:40/mile and 0.5 Miles easy to cool down; 8.5 total miles in 54 minutes on treadmill set to 1.0. 

This morning, I registered for the upcoming Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Tennessee.  The race is scheduled for a 7:00am start on Saturday, April 30.  My wife, Isabel, is on board for the trip, which will include a huge, post-race concert featuring Montgomery-Gentry, and probably a short trip to the outlet malls in Lebanon, Tennessee as well.  It will be nice to have her with me for support.  And it's not every day we get a weekend away from the kids...even if for three hours or so I'm a little self-absorbed. 

Wesley

5 Miles in 31:30 (6:18) on a cool, overcast day in Little Rock.  I actually ran a 5K Race Pace tempo run today, running the first and fifth miles at 6:45/mile, or my approximate Marathon Race Pace, and Miles 2, 3 and 4 at 6:00/mile.  This was a good little run that I very much enjoyed, particularly given my plans to be as lazy as possible and watch NCAA basketball all afternoon.   

Wesley 

16 Miles at 6:48/mile on a cool morning of 39 degrees in Little Rock; purposely included lots of hills (big ones) on this run, and I threw in a couple of neighborhood trails as well.  

Pace was solid, particularly given the fact it includes a far too lengthy bio break (why do I always eat spicy meals on Saturday night?) and a short water break at Mile 8.  

Good run today.  And I'm glad I knocked it out early.  

Wesley 

3 Miles Easy on treadmill followed by 45 minute stationary spin class in gym; threw in some upper body strength training and abs to top off the workout.  I don't spin/cycle often, but it's a nice change of pace every now and then...same with swimming.  My preferred discipline is obviously running, but I recognize the value and benefits of cross-training (particularly on an easy run day).  

Wesley 

Today's Tempo/5K Race Pace run included the following: 

2 Miles at 7:13/mile;

2 Miles at 6:27/mile;

2 Miles at 6:00/mile;

2 Miles at 6:58/mile; and

1 Mile Easy (8:00)

9 Miles Total on treadmill set to 1.0 incline; no issues. 

Wesley

4.5 Miles Easy, inlcuding 4 striders, on treadmill set to 1.0. 

Wesley

Very little time to workout today, so I hit a local high school track for some quick speed work before heading home for the afternoon to keep my kids.   

After a 400m warm-up, I ran 10X400m Repeats with 100m (35-40 seconds) resting jog.  I ran the first 6 Repeats at 80 seconds/repeat, and Repeats 7-10 at 82, 83, 84, and 85 seconds, respectively.  Only had time for a 200m cool-down because I was running late!

Only 3.5 Miles total, but pretty good results all things considered.  Honestly, I'm feeling a little fatigued after 6 straight days of running.   

Wesley