Feels so much better with nice weather.
Posts Tagged running
The commute
Aug 18
Back to Brick
Aug 3
Taking a week off might have really been a good idea. My buddy George came into town last week, and I chose to hang out with him instead of going to bed early in order to do my workouts. Yesterday’s run was acceptable. Today, I was late to the swim, and didn’t have a enough energy to really push myself.
The bike today pretty much sucked. Stop lights, traffic and trains really prevented me from getting into a good rhythm for more than a mile.
The run felt better than yesterday, and I chose to take it easy so I could attempt 8 miles tomorrow morning.
I feel much better now
Jul 22
I had originally planned on doing a 6 mile hilly route on Wednesday. But, Jason thought doing Lake Olathe this morning would be a good idea. So, I rested Wednesday, and tried to step it up today. The hill workout didn’t end up being as difficult as I had thought. I had negative 1-mile splits. The swim was the best swim class I have had so far.
My 310 was out of batteries, luckily, Jason had an extra 310 to let me use for the run! David is doing great too!
Jazz in the Woods 5k 2010
Jun 12
I only signed up yesterday. The packet pickup was easy, and the goodies were great. I got 2 shirts! One for the Royals and one for the race. I had a couple good days of training and I really just wanted to knock one of the goals off my list. If I could knock the 5k off my goals list, that makes one less type of race I need to do this season. My wife will definitely appreciate it when I stop adding races to the calendar.
No real story here though. I woke up. Had a 5-hour energy and a V8 Fusion for breakfast. Drove 30 minutes to the race, which is usually enough time for the caffeine to kick in. Parked in the wrong spot, but the volunteers were great and got me to the starting line.
I could tell it was a new race. But I recognized many of the faces, including the announcer. That really helps me feel comfortable for some reason. All the charities appeared to be represented, so I felt like my race fees were actually going to get used properly too.
I started out fast. There was another runner that appeared to be going my pace, so I followed her lead, assuming that she was a better runner. I kept up with her until mile 2, then slowly fell back to about 150 yards behind. I finished (unofficially) at 26:17, which was way ahead of my goal. It was also over 3 minutes better than the Turkey Day 5k, my previous PR, that I did 8 months ago.
I don’t remember anything about the race. I had my watch set to show my average pace, so I knew the entire race that I was going to beat my goal. I didn’t push any harder than I had too, even though I could have probably broke 26 minutes.
I crossed the finish line and felt pretty good. I didn’t lollygag at all. I got my chip cut off, grabbed a water, a banana, and a smoothie and left.
It took a minute for the PR to really hit me. I remembered how excited I was to break 30 minutes less than a year ago. I wasn’t as excited today though. I think its because I realize that this is just the first step this season. I have a long way to go, and a lot more opportunity to improve.
Branson 70.3 is just over 3 months away.
I don’t think I could be happier, well, ya, I could. I didn’t realize how close I was to a PR. Unofficially (by my watch) I was 2:18:01, my PR is 2:17:47.6 at Rock the Parkway. During the race I thought it was closer to 2:17:00. Had I known, I think I could have made up 13 seconds in the last mile.
Here is how the day went down.
I couldn’t sleep last night. At about 11:30, I decided to take and Advil PM. Not the best move (race-day decision), but I couldn’t get to sleep. My alarms were set for 5:15am. I tossed and turned most of the night. I woke up surprisingly focused, but still droggy from the Advil PM. I was hoping not to take a 5-hour energy before this race, but I decided today wasn’t the day to change my pre-race routine. So for breakfast was a 5-hour energy, a carrot cake Clif Bar, and a V8 Fusion – Pomegranate.
I packed my back with body glide and my Garmin 310 and HRM. Before I left, I thought it would be a good idea to put new inserts into my new shoes. Again, this could have been a horrible race-day decision, but it ended up alright.
I parked about three quarters of a mile away from the starting line so I could at least loosen up. I had called Steve M. on the way and was planning to meet up with him and the Runners Edge Group at the Crown Center. So I jogged in and while I was jogging, I realized that I had left my timing tag at the house. I had taken it off of the bib before leaving the house. So now I worried a little bit, I watched my heart rate go up a bit. Luckily, the event staff was totally awesome. I was able to get a new number and tag before the race. Yay!
I was able to relax before the race and I was able to stay loose. Once we made our way to the starting line and the pace groups, I started to get excited again. I heard coach Eladio tell the entire group to move back one pace group. He went over a great game plan for the hills. Steve and I had both been talking about starting with the 2:20 pace group and seeing how we felt from there. We met in the 2:20 pace group, heard Eladio talk, and the we decided to move up to the 2:15 pace group. What were we thinking? Eladio just told us to move back. Well we agreed that we weren’t going to push it for the first 3 miles. Steve had ran the race last year and had been giving me tips on all the hills all week. We wanted to at least start with the 2:15 group, and if they were too fast, we would just slow down to the 2:20 group. Again with the race-day decisions…
We had a great first 3 miles. I know that I’m slower going up the hills. I’m bigger. I have to expect that. When the pace group leaders are 5 foot nothing, and 90 pounds wet, there is no way that I should get up the hills with as little effort as they do. I remember all of my physics classes. In my head I’m doing calculations F=MA and W=FD and I’m trying to determine if I can catch them on the downhill mathematically. What pace would I need to catch up to them if I’m going 13:30/mile right now? I was NOT going to race up the hills. We even walked up part of the first set up hills.
After the first hills, I was feeling great. I could still see the pace group about 150 yards in front of us at the top of the hill. Some of the other Runners Edge group had found us. Steve was still running at a “conversational” pace. I wasn’t there. My legs felt good but I couldn’t talk at that point. I looked back to see if Steve was going to try to catch the pace group and it looked like he was going to settle in. Now I’m on the downhill. I have a slight advantage going downhill because of my weight and my long legs. I had been working on my downhill speed quite a bit this year thanks to Coach Eladio and Coach Ken (MTC) so I was feeling great. In fact, the fourth mile was the fastest mile of the race for me. I got back with the group and stayed with them until the next hill.
I was using every aid station. I was listening to my body. I was getting a Powerade and 2 waters at each of the first stations. I drank one of the waters and poured the other over my head to keep cool.
By mile 5 I had my race figured out. I’m going to take it easy as I can going up the hills and I’m going to get as loose as I can going down the hills. I was keeping my eye on the pace group but I wasn’t worried about it. I was basically losing them going up the hills and catching them down.
I started to get really hot around mile 10. Luckily there were handing out ice cubes and orange slices. I think it was the “Race To Remember” group, but I’m not positive. I put a handful of ice in my shorts and grabbed a slice of orange.
At about mile 11 I saw Coach Eladio. At that point I was starting to worry if I had enough to finish. I was fighting off heat and my legs were telling me that they wanted to cramp. But then I heard Eladio’s voice in my head “the best runners don’t have any wasted movement” and I was bouncing. My shoulders were bouncing up and down on each stride. I made a change right there. I remembered Steve’s advice about “putting your hands in your pockets” while you run for a good stride. I have been practicing this on our lunch runs for about 4 weeks. Those two voices in my head gave me quite a little boost. My arms felt lighter and I wasn’t bouncing. I felt efficient! I felt like I had enough to finish strong!
The pace group was out of sight at that point. I hadn’t been talking to anyone since mile 9. I was in a zone. I was just trying to have the best race I could. I was thinking that I might be able to catch the 2:15 pace group. But I didn’t need to. I wanted to just have a good race and handle the hills the way I have been.
I got extra water at the last aid station, one extra to drink and another extra to pour over my head.
I had been paying attention to my HRM. I was trying to stay at or under 90% and just have a smooth run. I did that for most of the race. I probably attacked some hills a little more than I should have, but I balanced it out with walks. I watch my heart rate go down before I started running again. I wasn’t looking at the watch for pace at all. I found that I was just waiting for the heart rate to scroll by.
The last two miles of the race I had a huge smile on my face. I knew that I wasn’t tired. I had a lot of energy left in the tank. I didn’t over do anything.
Had I been trying for a PR from the beginning, I probably would have failed. By making adjustments for the weather, listening to my body, and not letting my ego take over, I almost made a PR anyway! This was a smart race for me.
I’m so happy with how the race was organized! The volunteers were great. Beth is awesome! The medals are fantastic! They had towels soaked with cold water at the finish line which totally helped me recover too.
I don’t think I could have planned a better race for me in this weather. Even with a few risky decisions on race day, everything worked out for the best.
I hit all three disciplines today. The lunch run with Lisa G., from Riverpoint, and Steve was slower but perfect after a weekend of “cross-training” left me wounded.
The group workouts at Shawnee Mission Park went better than expected. My bike was in the shop over the weekend getting its annual tune-up, and it felt great!
The Garmin 310 did a much better job of tracking my swim than the 405 ever did. I found out recently that the 405 isn’t meant to be used in the water. I have used my 405 in the water for over a year and during at least 5 triathlons. I’ll stop doing that now.
