I Found It!
Remember ten days or so ago I was worried that I'd lost half a step? Well today I found it.
Went out around 4 PM for a run on a 10K route I have measured out in my subdivision. I have a 5.4 mile route, and live on a .4 mile loop, so to do the 10K I just add a loop at the beginning and end. The 5.4 is an out and back with a turnaround at exactly the mid-point, thus the 10K works the same. Makes for a great way to determine my pace halfway through, negative or positive split, etc. I wasn't sure what I was gonna have in me, but I felt pretty fired up (thank God my 2 and a 1/2 year old slept in this morning!). The conditions were excellent for running at around 4 PM when I went out (and the 2 and a 1/2 year old was taking his nap!). Very cloudy, a cool 55, and little wind.
I completed the loop at the beginning and was interested to see what my time would be for the initial .4 mile. Everything felt fine but I didn't think I was moving particularly fast. My watch read 2:31, which equates a 6:17 mile. I was very pleasantly surprised because I felt like I could maintain the pace I was running, and I usually start slow in training runs anyway. So I decided to see just what I had in the tank.
I kept the hammer down and hit the first mile after the .4 in 6:07 (8:38 for the loop and mile combined). Pretty sad that that's about what it took me to complete mile 26 of the marathon last Sunday! Now that was a smokin' mile, but again, I felt like I wouldn't get into too much trouble trying to hold on. I hit the 5K turnaround in 19:03. If I could turn that on the back half, (and on my training runs I usually turn negative splits) it could be a real leap for me, and potentially sub 38, something I've never come close too.
When I turned to go back, a moderate wind hit me and I knew I was going to have to work hard just to turn an even split. I kept hammering and with 1.4 to go I was at about 29:45. I turned the last mile before the loop in about 6:08. Total time for 5.8 miles = 35:53. There's no way I could do the final loop in 2:06 to get under 38. Heck, my best ever is 2:06, once, in speedwork, not after 5.8 miles at breakneck pace. But I knew that if I could at least do a 2:27 I'd have a 38:20 total time, which would be a PR for me and one second per mile faster than said PR. I turned the last loop with every engine firing and finished it in 2:22, for a total time of 38:16, a PR for me by 10 seconds. I know, I know, it's a training run, but this course is pretty accurate. In any event I'll get a shot at making it official next Saturday when I run the Spectacle Spectacular 10K down in Angleton.
I do seem to have some tightness in my right Achilles tendon though. Nothing major, but it bears watching.
Went out around 4 PM for a run on a 10K route I have measured out in my subdivision. I have a 5.4 mile route, and live on a .4 mile loop, so to do the 10K I just add a loop at the beginning and end. The 5.4 is an out and back with a turnaround at exactly the mid-point, thus the 10K works the same. Makes for a great way to determine my pace halfway through, negative or positive split, etc. I wasn't sure what I was gonna have in me, but I felt pretty fired up (thank God my 2 and a 1/2 year old slept in this morning!). The conditions were excellent for running at around 4 PM when I went out (and the 2 and a 1/2 year old was taking his nap!). Very cloudy, a cool 55, and little wind.
I completed the loop at the beginning and was interested to see what my time would be for the initial .4 mile. Everything felt fine but I didn't think I was moving particularly fast. My watch read 2:31, which equates a 6:17 mile. I was very pleasantly surprised because I felt like I could maintain the pace I was running, and I usually start slow in training runs anyway. So I decided to see just what I had in the tank.
I kept the hammer down and hit the first mile after the .4 in 6:07 (8:38 for the loop and mile combined). Pretty sad that that's about what it took me to complete mile 26 of the marathon last Sunday! Now that was a smokin' mile, but again, I felt like I wouldn't get into too much trouble trying to hold on. I hit the 5K turnaround in 19:03. If I could turn that on the back half, (and on my training runs I usually turn negative splits) it could be a real leap for me, and potentially sub 38, something I've never come close too.
When I turned to go back, a moderate wind hit me and I knew I was going to have to work hard just to turn an even split. I kept hammering and with 1.4 to go I was at about 29:45. I turned the last mile before the loop in about 6:08. Total time for 5.8 miles = 35:53. There's no way I could do the final loop in 2:06 to get under 38. Heck, my best ever is 2:06, once, in speedwork, not after 5.8 miles at breakneck pace. But I knew that if I could at least do a 2:27 I'd have a 38:20 total time, which would be a PR for me and one second per mile faster than said PR. I turned the last loop with every engine firing and finished it in 2:22, for a total time of 38:16, a PR for me by 10 seconds. I know, I know, it's a training run, but this course is pretty accurate. In any event I'll get a shot at making it official next Saturday when I run the Spectacle Spectacular 10K down in Angleton.
I do seem to have some tightness in my right Achilles tendon though. Nothing major, but it bears watching.
posted by Lance Collins at 9:11 PM
1 Comments:
As Quarles will tell you, unless they've changed it since '04 (or if you've run it before), that course in Angleton is flat as a pancake except for that part on the way back where they ran you off the road and into a subdivision for a short time.
I ran close to a mom and her daughter two years ago. The Burges from Sweeney. The mom I could still hang with (she ran just over 5 at Houston). The daughter, 17, reeled off a nice 4:15:21 on Sunday. She's out of my league now.
If I wasn't involved with RTW / TNT on Saturday, I'd join you guys down there.
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