Good Neighbor Day 15k
I know I've got some catching up to do. The running has gone fine, I haven't gotten around to blogging in the last few days. Workouts don't have a long shelf-life, so writing about them is a bit like biting into two and three day-old bread. So I'll just give the basics, for this blog functions to record as much as it does to entertain.
On Monday I didn't get to run until late after a full day of work and a stomach full of bangers and mash, thanks to my roommate. Actually running with such a heavy dinner churning around my stomach wasn't bad, and I ran down to MLK and turned off on Montgomery Ave and headed home. For those of you who want to know more, course is here. It was 9+ miles, and because of my spotty blogging and my not creating a July page for my running log until a few minutes ago, the running time is lost to posterity. Fear not, however, it is not a great loss, somewhere around an 8 minute pace.
Yesterday was Reba's birthday. Now one of the many things that attracts me to this woman is that, before we went off on a day's worth of birthday activities, she made sure to get her workout in. I used this time to get my workout in as well. Tinicum loop, 10 miles, again run half-fast and with nothing much exciting going on, with the running time again lost for the ages. We then proceeded to work off any fitness we gained with the rest of the day's activities.
Today is, of course, July 4th. Instead of a hard workout we decided to race up in Downingtown, an upper middle class exurb about a half hours drive from here. What made the race ideal for me and Reba was that there were three simultaneous races - a 5k, 10k, and 15k - held on one 5k loop. Each time you came to the finish you could decide to either finish or run around one more time. Reba ran 10k and I ran 15k - and neither of us would have to wait long for the other to finish.
It was pouring rain when we left, but cleared up as we headed southwest. The staging area was a pristine little town park. I knew none of the studs up front, and most of them seemed to be college aged boys and a few Runaway Success folks. I am not in racing shape but have been heartened by my last few hard workouts, so I had hope to do okay. At the start a good thirty folks go out ahead of me, I start off easy and a good number of them came back to me. Alot more of them opted for the 5k and I lost them at the completion of the first loop, in 18:12. I wasn't real happy with that, but figured I could go for a negative split for each of the successive laps.
Best I could tell I was in sixth place as I started lap 2. I reeled in one guy and then another, with whom I duelled a bit and he finally outkicked me as he finished at 10k. Despite this, lap 2 finished in 18:21 and I again groaned. The conditions were fine, the course was moderately hilly but not bad, I just wasn't in shape enough or motivated enough to really push things. There was one guy about 100 feet ahead of me going into lap 3, and if there was anybody else ahead he would have to be far out of reach. I figured lead guy to be about where I would be if I did indeed negative split. That would be the closest I'd be to him, as the distance between us slowly widened. It was never really a race, and I realized later that he didn't so much speed up as I slowed down. No one behind me to challenge me. Last lap was in 19:05, for a total 15k time of 55:39 for an apparent second place finish.
I ran into the wrong chute and suspect I gummed up the timing for the race organizers. But it wasn't clear where to go. The guy finishing behind (now ahead of) me insisted I walk through the chute ahead of him and was very gracious. Pretzel City Sports also seemed to have gotten their revenge my not putting my name up on the results board. I really didn't care and Reba and I left shortly after my 2-mile cooldown (call it 11.5 miles total running). We'll see if my name is in the results.
In debriefing this race, I went into it with the idea of taking it as a hard workout and that is basically how it went. I could not get in the frame of mind to get real competitive, and I don't think my body is there yet either. I barely eked out a sub 6 minute pace - which will be my eventual marathon pace. I'm not ready mentally to wrap my head around that yet. I know better than to read too much into a summer race, if nothing else it beat the hell out of yet one more tempo run on the Drives today. Nuff said.
Reba, by the way, finished her 10k in fine fashion and you can read her report on her blog, which I have been instructed not to disclose. There is nothing, however, that keeps me from suggesting to folks that they google "Reba" and "Fade to Red" and click on the first entry that pops up. Just to see what happens of course.
On Monday I didn't get to run until late after a full day of work and a stomach full of bangers and mash, thanks to my roommate. Actually running with such a heavy dinner churning around my stomach wasn't bad, and I ran down to MLK and turned off on Montgomery Ave and headed home. For those of you who want to know more, course is here. It was 9+ miles, and because of my spotty blogging and my not creating a July page for my running log until a few minutes ago, the running time is lost to posterity. Fear not, however, it is not a great loss, somewhere around an 8 minute pace.
Yesterday was Reba's birthday. Now one of the many things that attracts me to this woman is that, before we went off on a day's worth of birthday activities, she made sure to get her workout in. I used this time to get my workout in as well. Tinicum loop, 10 miles, again run half-fast and with nothing much exciting going on, with the running time again lost for the ages. We then proceeded to work off any fitness we gained with the rest of the day's activities.
Today is, of course, July 4th. Instead of a hard workout we decided to race up in Downingtown, an upper middle class exurb about a half hours drive from here. What made the race ideal for me and Reba was that there were three simultaneous races - a 5k, 10k, and 15k - held on one 5k loop. Each time you came to the finish you could decide to either finish or run around one more time. Reba ran 10k and I ran 15k - and neither of us would have to wait long for the other to finish.
It was pouring rain when we left, but cleared up as we headed southwest. The staging area was a pristine little town park. I knew none of the studs up front, and most of them seemed to be college aged boys and a few Runaway Success folks. I am not in racing shape but have been heartened by my last few hard workouts, so I had hope to do okay. At the start a good thirty folks go out ahead of me, I start off easy and a good number of them came back to me. Alot more of them opted for the 5k and I lost them at the completion of the first loop, in 18:12. I wasn't real happy with that, but figured I could go for a negative split for each of the successive laps.
Best I could tell I was in sixth place as I started lap 2. I reeled in one guy and then another, with whom I duelled a bit and he finally outkicked me as he finished at 10k. Despite this, lap 2 finished in 18:21 and I again groaned. The conditions were fine, the course was moderately hilly but not bad, I just wasn't in shape enough or motivated enough to really push things. There was one guy about 100 feet ahead of me going into lap 3, and if there was anybody else ahead he would have to be far out of reach. I figured lead guy to be about where I would be if I did indeed negative split. That would be the closest I'd be to him, as the distance between us slowly widened. It was never really a race, and I realized later that he didn't so much speed up as I slowed down. No one behind me to challenge me. Last lap was in 19:05, for a total 15k time of 55:39 for an apparent second place finish.
I ran into the wrong chute and suspect I gummed up the timing for the race organizers. But it wasn't clear where to go. The guy finishing behind (now ahead of) me insisted I walk through the chute ahead of him and was very gracious. Pretzel City Sports also seemed to have gotten their revenge my not putting my name up on the results board. I really didn't care and Reba and I left shortly after my 2-mile cooldown (call it 11.5 miles total running). We'll see if my name is in the results.
In debriefing this race, I went into it with the idea of taking it as a hard workout and that is basically how it went. I could not get in the frame of mind to get real competitive, and I don't think my body is there yet either. I barely eked out a sub 6 minute pace - which will be my eventual marathon pace. I'm not ready mentally to wrap my head around that yet. I know better than to read too much into a summer race, if nothing else it beat the hell out of yet one more tempo run on the Drives today. Nuff said.
Reba, by the way, finished her 10k in fine fashion and you can read her report on her blog, which I have been instructed not to disclose. There is nothing, however, that keeps me from suggesting to folks that they google "Reba" and "Fade to Red" and click on the first entry that pops up. Just to see what happens of course.
posted by seebo | 5:05 PM
1 Comments:
Damn Seebo since I seen you at this race I thought I would make the blog.
Post a Comment
<< Home