A Good Time On Saturday
No, not a good time on the clock (40:19) but I still had a "good time" on Saturday at the Rodeo Run 10K. The following items combined to create the good time that I had:
1) My training partner, Steve S. posted his first sub-40 minute 10K, and actually beat me for the first time since last April. When he and I began running together we were very competitive about who beat who, but over the past year have evolved to the point where we root for each other and are genuinely thrilled when one of us does very well. I believe part of the reason for that is that Steve knows that if I do well that he played a part in getting me there, and vice versa. We're to the point now that it's not that important who actually comes out on top. We're close enough in ability that we push each other in races and actually race harder because each of us knows that the other is just behind or just in front, and there will be no "gifts" - we'll have to earn it.
2)Having Steve B. ride with us to and from the race and getting to know a solid guy a little bit better. What Steve has accomplished over the past year and a half is nothing short of amazing and I enjoyed learning more about it. I also love sharing my love and enthusiasm for running with someone who feels the same, especially someone who is fairly new to it.
3)Our pre-race warmup in the parking garage that consisted of Steve S., Ed Q., Steve B. and me. We ran somewhere between a half-mile and a mile, but were just really enjoying what could have turned out to be a nice training run. We were joking and cutting up and running at a nice, conversational pace.
4)Spending some time with the lovely running ladies of the blogosphere, Jessica A., Cassie C. Jennifer K. Cassie, I told you you should have taken my shirt when I offered it!
5)Seeing several running bloggers post nice PRs. It was really funny to see Steve B. target a finishing time of 48 minutes and come in at 47:59. Man, I wish I could do that.
As far as a race review from me, if I'm not real pleased with my result I'm not too enthusiastic to talk about it. I was targeting just getting under 40 minutes but came up short, again. My official PR is 38:26, set just three months ago, and I did a 38:16 in training just last month, so you can see why I'd be a man of few words over a 40:19. I thought that I shouldn't have any problem just maintaining a flat 6:20 pace. I started off well enough, 6:25 or so, and turned a 6:17 second mile, but from there my splits got out of control. I'm positive now that my iron level has dropped again and am toying with various strategies to remedy the problem. Clearly I haven't lost two minutes off my 10K best in just 5 weeks without something being wrong. I've been training but not overtraining. I always envisioned reaching a point where I plateaued and stopped improving, but I never thought I'd regress. Certainly not to the extent that I have, and as rapidly as I have.
Oh, and for some further good news, my left hip continues to be a problem. It was sore after the race Saturday. Yesterday I didn't run. I participated in my favorite cross-training - fishing! I'm going to meet up with Steve S. today for our normal Monday training run and we'll see how the hip feels. I'm pretty sure that at some point soon I'm going to have to take at least two weeks off from running, but I keep hoping that some miracle will occur and it will magically get better even though I'm training. Experience tells me that's not likely.
1) My training partner, Steve S. posted his first sub-40 minute 10K, and actually beat me for the first time since last April. When he and I began running together we were very competitive about who beat who, but over the past year have evolved to the point where we root for each other and are genuinely thrilled when one of us does very well. I believe part of the reason for that is that Steve knows that if I do well that he played a part in getting me there, and vice versa. We're to the point now that it's not that important who actually comes out on top. We're close enough in ability that we push each other in races and actually race harder because each of us knows that the other is just behind or just in front, and there will be no "gifts" - we'll have to earn it.
2)Having Steve B. ride with us to and from the race and getting to know a solid guy a little bit better. What Steve has accomplished over the past year and a half is nothing short of amazing and I enjoyed learning more about it. I also love sharing my love and enthusiasm for running with someone who feels the same, especially someone who is fairly new to it.
3)Our pre-race warmup in the parking garage that consisted of Steve S., Ed Q., Steve B. and me. We ran somewhere between a half-mile and a mile, but were just really enjoying what could have turned out to be a nice training run. We were joking and cutting up and running at a nice, conversational pace.
4)Spending some time with the lovely running ladies of the blogosphere, Jessica A., Cassie C. Jennifer K. Cassie, I told you you should have taken my shirt when I offered it!
5)Seeing several running bloggers post nice PRs. It was really funny to see Steve B. target a finishing time of 48 minutes and come in at 47:59. Man, I wish I could do that.
As far as a race review from me, if I'm not real pleased with my result I'm not too enthusiastic to talk about it. I was targeting just getting under 40 minutes but came up short, again. My official PR is 38:26, set just three months ago, and I did a 38:16 in training just last month, so you can see why I'd be a man of few words over a 40:19. I thought that I shouldn't have any problem just maintaining a flat 6:20 pace. I started off well enough, 6:25 or so, and turned a 6:17 second mile, but from there my splits got out of control. I'm positive now that my iron level has dropped again and am toying with various strategies to remedy the problem. Clearly I haven't lost two minutes off my 10K best in just 5 weeks without something being wrong. I've been training but not overtraining. I always envisioned reaching a point where I plateaued and stopped improving, but I never thought I'd regress. Certainly not to the extent that I have, and as rapidly as I have.
Oh, and for some further good news, my left hip continues to be a problem. It was sore after the race Saturday. Yesterday I didn't run. I participated in my favorite cross-training - fishing! I'm going to meet up with Steve S. today for our normal Monday training run and we'll see how the hip feels. I'm pretty sure that at some point soon I'm going to have to take at least two weeks off from running, but I keep hoping that some miracle will occur and it will magically get better even though I'm training. Experience tells me that's not likely.
posted by Lance Collins at 10:03 AM
3 Comments:
It was fun hanging out Saturday. I hope you get back in the 'groove' again soon. I'd like it if I was upset at 40:19....maybe soon.
That was a lot of fun! Appreciate the comradie!
Hanging out with you guys encourages me to run faster!
yay fun!! Next time, I take the shirt! hehehe
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