10 at 10

I headed out the door tonight with the intention of running 10.2 miles at a moderate pace. I can't tell you how many times last summer I set out to do this route but blew up due to the heat and wasn't able to finish. But it didn't seem too hot tonight - upper 70s I'd guess at 9:30 PM.

My first mile was 7:02 but the first mile is always the slowest of my various River Park routes, and Greatwood as well. I don't have every mile marker measured out on my routes, not by a long-shot, but by the time I got to 2.2 miles (one of the few distance markers I do have measured out) I was at a 6:46 overall pace, and by the time I got to 4.4 miles (another distance marker I've noted) I had dropped the overall pace to 6:40. Now it was time to hit cruise control.

I knew I was holding a strong pace because every mile felt like it was creeping right up to the edge of being too fast. But I have no more measurements on this 10.2 route beyond the 4.4 mile mark to check my pace until I get back to my house, which is 9.8 miles. Hence the cruise control perspective after the 4.4 mark. I hit that 9.8 mile mark at 1:04:51, a 6:37 pace, though I certainly didn't work that out in my head. But I knew I'd be in the 6:30-something range. To get from 9.8 to 10.2 I simply have to run the .4 mile oval that I live on and the one on which I often do speedwork. I burned the final .4 as best I could, completing it in 2:25 and pushing my total time to 1:07:15.

Total distance : 10.2 miles, 1:07:15 (6:36 pace).

Total milage for the week ending 06/11: 37.75

12 Miles (+) 12 Hours Later

Since I won't be returning to work until June 19, I met Brian K. this morning at 9:15 AM in Greatwood for a long-run on the 3.55 mile loop. The sun was out and climbing higher in the sky as was the temperature, but at least that morning humidity was dropping. When my 7 month old woke me up at 4:45 AM this morning I had the foresight to put a water bottle and two 20 oz. bottles of Gatorade in the freezer. By the time I left to go drop the boys off at daycare they were good and slushy (the bottles, not the boys!) and I sat one out near the start of the loop to pick up after 7.1 miles. Brian brought a bottle of water to drop so, after doing that, we were off.

The first loop felt fine and we completed it in a good long-run time of 26:26, which is a 7:27 pace. But we were heating up pretty good and knew that the second loop would be rougher than the first. In fact, we felt like the second loop would be the toughest since we'd get to rehydrate after it. Typical of us when running in Greatwood, we managed a negative split on the second loop but were cooking by the time we got to our bottles. Mine gave me a needed shot in the arm but I don't think Brian got the same boost from his since he had water and I had Gatorade. I told him after the run that for long-runs in the heat he really should set out a sports drink instead of just water because your body needs the salt and glycose in addition to the rehydration process.

Brian started to fall back a bit about a third of the way into the third loop. About halfway through that third loop I asked him if he wanted me to drop back and run with him but he said not to worry about it so I focused on my own business at hand. At the completion of each loop you get a chance to sort of glance back and see behind you but I didn't see him. But then again, given the angle, you can see only about 150 feet. I clicked my watch at the completion of the third loop and was dragging myself. But I don't like to do only three loops. Yes, 10.65 miles might qualify as a long-run, but I prefer a little more. It's only one loop more than we do normally and all you have to do is the mile out and back to get to 12.65, which sounds more like a long-run distance. So I forged on. I had no intention of trying to smoke the mile out and didn't. I notched a 7:05. On the return mile I picked up the pace somewhat. I definitely wanted to go under 7 and was targeting 6:40 something. I finished it in 6:37 and was whipped. By this time it was nearly 11 AM and very warm. Brian was stretching near the cars and said that he went as far as he was able but stopped after three loops. Still a solid effort under very difficult conditions and we both agreed that we'd have never gone as far as we did without the other.

Total distance : 12.65 miles, 1:33:27 (7:23 pace).

Monday Through Today (Thursday)

On Monday I headed over to Memorial Park. I had a doctor appointment at 2:30 and figured I'd get over to the park at 4 or 4:30 but things went fast at the doc and I got to the park at 3:15. It's pretty deserted at that time of day and I was disappointed. I was hoping to see some familiar faces and maybe even find someone to run with. No cigars on both. And it was hottttt. I managed two loops but could have probably done three had I taken it at a little slower pace. My two loops were at 20:57 and 20:39.

Total distance : 5.8 miles, 41:36 (7:10 pace).


On Tuesday I met Brian K. to take another stab at mile repeats. I said last week that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger so since I didn't die last week (though I came close!) I figured I should be able to handle them better this week. We did a little more of a warm-up than we did last week which was basically no warmup. We took off on the first one and everything felt fine but I felt like Brian was pushing the pace a bit (I was letting him lead). I told him of my concern and he said later that he eased off the pace a bit but I didn't sense it. About halfway through that first mile I started getting that sick feeling that I get in the last half mile of a 5K race. By the time we finished that first fast repeat I realized that there weren't going to be any repeats! I posted a 5:11, which translates to a 5:41 pace. We did our recovery interval and I know Brian expected me to have recovered enough to tackle another one but I hadn't. I told him good luck and sat down on the curb, feeling like I had let him and myself down. But I've always read that you should do mile repeats at your 5K race pace. I just did a 5K Saturday at a 5:58 pace. Brian did a 5:56 pace in that race. We have no business trying to burn 5:41s. There's no way we could hold that pace for a 5K so I think it's unrealistic for mile repeats. Brian bagged the rest of the mile repeats and we salvaged the day by running around 3 miles at a modest pace. It was a rare case of white-flag waving for me.

Total distance : 5.5 miles.


I took Wednesday off but worked out my legs pretty hard, especially on the squats. Brian and I had planned to do our normal track speedwork session on Thursday (today) but my wife was out of town and I had our two boys. So tonight I did speedwork on the .4 mile oval that I live on. I didn't get out there until 9 PM and the temperature had mercifully come down. I felt like I absolutely blasted the first .4 mile repeat but was surprised to see that I'd posted a 2:16. But the remaining 4 fast loops were solid. The repeat times were:

2:16, 2:09, 2:09, 2:09, 2:07.

Total distance : 3.6 miles.

Saturday and Sunday Runs

On Saturday night I did an easy-pace 4 miles. Everything felt fine after the race that morning. Just wanted to get in some extra miles since I had had such a light week to that point.

Total distance : 4 miles.

On Sunday night I headed over to the 3.55 mile Greatwood loop to try to get in a long-run. I say "try" because when I do them alone it's easy to sometimes talk myself into excuses for why it's okay to cut it short before reaching my target milage. But I made my goal of 3 loops plus the mile out and back, although the first loop was kinda screwy.

The loop in Greatwood has quite a few trees along the path. The trees are fairly small, which makes them just the right height to have branches that want to grow about face level out into the path. As I got about half a mile into the first loop I noticed that some pretty large branches had been whacked off and were laying beside the path. I continued to see this for the next mile and a half. I was very relieved, as this is a constant annoyance during the warmer months. As I got to the 2 mile turn I saw the limb whacker in action up ahead on the trail. By this time it was dark but I could tell as I approached that the guy cutting down limbs that obstruct the path was none other than...Steve S., our running partner who is injured! Talk about doing everything he can to help the team. First he comes to the race Saturday morning and has to watch everyone else target a PR while he's targeting a curb to sit on, then he goes out and cuts limbs down for probably two hours to help clear our running route.

Anyway, I hit the split on my watch and stood and talked to him for several minutes. 7 minutes actually. Then I ran off only to realize about 45 seconds in that I needed to tell him something else so I went back. That took another 2 and a half minutes. So you can see why my first loop was screwy. My total time for the first loop, counting the two stops, was 35:38. After that I posted two pretty decent loops, 25:05 and 25:22 (a rare positive split, though I picked up my bottle and drank at the beginning of that third loop). The first mile out was at about the pace I'd been running at - 6:57. But for the final mile coming back in I decided to see what I had left in the tank after 11.65 miles. I hammered it pretty hard and finished with a 6:12 final mile.

Factoring out the first loop, I did the final 9.1 miles in 63:36, a 6:59 pace. But the total run looked like this:

Total distance : 12.65 miles, 1:39:14 (7:51 pace).

Total milage for the week ending 6/4 : 38.45

Well, I Guess That's Why PRs Are So Special

I did the Heights 5K this morning. My goal was to go sub 18 if possible. If not, I wanted to lower my 18:11 PR. Neither happened but I did my best. As I said in the title, I guess that's why PRs are so special - they're tough to come by. If they weren't they'd lose their impact.

I started off just about where I wanted to be. If I was going to go sub 18 I'd need to run a 5:48 pace. Like most people, my goal is always to run a negative split, or as close to a flat pace as possible, though it never works out that way. So 5:50 for the first mile seemed perfect. And I wasn't dying or anything at that pace either. I felt like I maintained it in the second mile but I didn't. My second mile was 5:57. Not that I went through these mental calculations at the time, but that would mean that I was 11 seconds behind my goal pace through 2 miles, meaning that I'd have had to run a 5:40 third mile or so, and make up the other 3 seconds in the final 1/10th. I suppose that's not out of the realm of possibility, but it wasn't possible today. My third mile was a 6:05, putting me at 17:52 through 3 miles. I can usually cover the final 1/10th in 32 or 33 seconds, and have done it as quickly as 29. At the pace I was running that last mile in I'd cover the last 1/10th in 36 seconds if I just held pace. But I picked it up and held off a guy who was trying to take me at the very end. Soooooo, the 37 seconds (according to my watch) that it took me to cover the final 1/10th was a bit of a surprise. I'm pretty sure the final 1/10th was 3 or 4 seconds long, but it's not like those 3 or 4 seconds would have gotten me sub 18 or a new PR so I'm not going to whine. According to my watch I finished in 18:29, my 2nd fastest 5K, and good enough for third place in the 40-49 age group. So, I have no regrets. I ran as best as I could, I didn't start too fast and blow up, and I held off a guy at the end. And the hardware is icing on the cake.

My running partner, Brian K. had a similar day. He ran an 18:22, missed his goal of sub 18, missed his PR by 9 seconds, and finished third in his age group. But he kicked my butt! And our other running buddy, Steve S., who is on injured reserve, was a good sport and came out to cheer us on. He's been recovering for over three weeks now and has less than three weeks to go, if six weeks is the number he needs to hit.

I met Erin Foley today, finally, after all these years. She's a great, dedicated runner , who probably concurs with my blog title - just run, dammit. She turned in an excellent 19 something, a solid time for anyone. I also visited with John Yoder, who finished third overall, and met his sister. And Jacob Tonge was hangin' with us before and after the race. He posted a nice 19:15. We also spent some time talking training with Carlo Deason, who finished fourth overall. And lastly, it was great to see the race warhorse, Jon Walk out there today, along with his daughter. Oh, and a big attaboy to Steve S.'s brother Doug, who did manage to get a PR today, posting a 17:44. I foolishly thought I might be able to hang with him today. So did Brian. Ugh..., no!

Total distance : 3.1 miles (+.5 warmup), 18:29 (5:58 pace).

Easy Speedwork on Thursday

Yesterday Brian K. and I did our normal Thursday speedwork. But with a race this weekend (Heights 5K) we didn't press the pace as much as we normally do. In fact, it was quite moderate. Our eight 400s were:

1:27, 1:25, 1:24, 1:22, 1:24, 1:24, 1:24, 1:23.

Total distance : 4.5 miles.