After a couple 5ks, it's time to move up to the 10k. In college, the 5k was the longest I'd like to go. Anything longer than that and I would zone out and not put in the effort I needed to. I guess I've lost my speed and mojo in my age because I really like 10ks. The pace isn't as aggressive as the 5k (10-15s per mile slower), which enables you to slightly relax and with all of my marathon training, 5ks feel way too fast.
The Fangtastic 5k was two weeks ago, so was hoping I'd gain some extra fitness from that race and I also got in my first 100+ mile week of the season last week (102.1 miles). Looking at the elevation map of the race shows how insanely hilly it is. A large portion takes place on the roads of the famed 11.2 in Percy Warner Park. Percy Warner is famous for its obnoxious hills and there were at least two of them on this course. I wasn't sure what the competition would be like but my friend and sometimes training partner, Chris Herren said he was running. Chris runs on the course a good bit and is a billy goat on the hills. I thought I would be a little more race fit than him but the amount of elevation changes favored him.
My main goal was to just give a really hard, intense effort and really make myself hurt. I was using this primarily as a tune-up for the Tom King half marathon, which takes place in a couple of weeks. Chris wanted to relax the first two miles before getting in his groove. I thought this strategy really suited me because there is a killer hill in the second mile before having some downhill and flat sections for the next couple of miles. My plan was to try and drop Chris during this part before the hills come again because I'm a really terrible uphill runner.
I did my usual 15 minute warm-up (5:00 very easy, 5:00 normal, 5:00 medium) combined with some drills and several strides. I was feeling loose and ready to go but when I got to the line, there was no sign of Chris. It turned out he was out-of-town, so I would most likely be out front by myself. I had no idea of a time goal but Alex Moore told me that no one has ever broken 33:00 on the course. I then made that my goal and was ready to go.
When the gun went off, I took my time finding my rhythm. I ran with the pack for the first 1/4 mile or so and then slowly left them. The first mile is primarily downhill and loses about 50 feet of elevation. I hit that marker in a relaxed 4:53 and was dreading what the second mile had in store. From about 1.25 miles until 1.75 miles, the course climbs nearly 200 ft, which is an insane amount and rivals the worst hill in my parts, High Cliff Dr. Luckily, I went out relaxed enough that my legs were still somewhat fresh, so while the hill put some major brakes on me, it didn't completely wipe out my legs. I passed the mile marker with a 5:49 split, which was a huge slowdown but I was just glad it was under 6:00. The only thing I could think about while climbing the hill was that you have to be insane to run the Flying Monkey Marathon out here.
The third mile was the most downhill of the race. It lost about 150 feet, which is a significant amount. I thought I would be able to fly this mile but I was still feeling the effects of the second mile. However, I was able to split 4:58. With a 15:40 three mile split, I was significantly under 33:00 pace but that included two downhill miles.
The fourth mile had you climbing for the first half before letting you have a downhill second half. I knew there was an 180 degree turn somewhere on the course but I couldn't remember where. It felt like I was on the course for a long time and since I'm terrible with directions and have gotten lost in a lot of races, I was worried that I took a wrong turn somewhere. I was debating turning around and backtracking but I saw my friend David Hudson running with his Brentwood Academy kids on a training run and since he didn't say anything about me going the wrong way, I thought I was good to go.
Eventually, I saw the turnaround sign and all was well. After turning around, I saw that I had a really big lead and I saw that Alex was in position for a second place finish (he also ran the 5k, shortly before the 10k). I ended up with a 5:16 split, which still meant I was well under 33:00 pace, with just two miles to go.
My pre-race plan was to really hammer the last two miles and I tried to push but the changes of rhythm and being out in front alone really made that difficult. The fifth mile had a lot of short, steep climbs and drops with some flat segments thrown in for good measure. I don't deal with changes in rhythm very well, so whenever I had a flat section, I'd really try to open up and run hard. I really found my groove this mile and split 5:07.
The last mile was the second most difficult of the race. It had several short climbs but what made it really bad was that my legs were almost dead at this point, so the "short" climbs felt like mountains. I knew I had sub 33:00 locked down but I still wanted to run really hard. At the beginning of this mile was the famed "golf-course hill." It wasn't particularly long but like I mentioned, my legs were almost trashed. On the hill, I was absolutely crawling. I had to be running well over 7:00 pace up it and after this hill was done, I had a couple more short climbs.
Luckily the last half mile included a nice little downhill and was flat until the finish line. I tried to push again, without going overboard and ended up splitting 5:30 that mile and ran my last .2 miles at sub 5:00 pace (59) to finish in 32:32, to get the course record. I was really pleased because while the time didn't appear very fast, this course is easily 45s-1:00 slower than a flatter course. And after the race was over, I recovered really quickly. I'm feeling confident for Tom King in two weeks and think I can average the pace I did here, for the next seven miles on the much flatter race course.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Predators Fangtasic 5k
This is the race that I was both looking forward to and am nervous about. I knew Ryan Snellen was running and he's a really tough competitor. While he's been busy with work for a while, he ran 13:57 in 2009 and he wins nearly every race he competes in around here, so I knew the task was going to be tough. I've had a couple workouts with some faster running in them but am still in pretty rusty 5k shape. A couple of weeks ago, I actually ran a workout with Snellen and Alex Moore and felt really good but Snellen hurt me pretty badly on our last interval. I knew this course was pretty hilly, which is a weakness of mine. But after looking at race results, I saw Snellen usually runs to win, so he probably hasn't dug very deeply into the well the last year or two, so my plan was to really make him hurt in the second mile and then try and leave him with a mile to go.
The weather was almost perfect temperature wise for the race. When the gun went off, Snellen and I ran side-by-side and it seemed like both of us were waiting to see what the other wanted to do. The first mile had some climbs and some strong headwinds in some parts and we passed the first marker in 5:07. I knew that was too slow, so I tried to push on the gas some. The second mile was a little more rolling with a couple bigger hills that I tried to push hard on. At one point, I had a very tiny gap on Snellen. I started thinking that Snellen was about to crack but as soon as I did, he was right back beside me. We hit the two mile in 10:13, which gave us a 5:06 second mile.
With such a slow pace, I knew I was in trouble. My only shot to win was to immediately ramp up the intensity, so I made a hard move and wasn't planning on letting up. Snellen was game and was still at my side. The last mile is by far the fastest mile of the course and has a long gradual downhill, along with some flat sections. I wasn't having any luck cracking him and with under a half mile to go, he put a gap on me. That was more of a mental blow because I knew he would be very hard to outkick, especially with all of my marathon training in my legs now. I hit the three mile marker about two seconds behind him in 14:51 and tried to push again. I gained about a second on him but couldn't catch him and he beat me 15:19 to 15:20.
Running a 4:38 last mile was really motivating but I was frustrated with how I ran. While in college, I was dead after a 5k, I recovered very quickly after this one. Marathon training and racing is all about staying relaxed and patient and I carried too much of that to the race today. 5ks are fast and intense and I forgot how that is really supposed to feel. It's never a good thing to try out for a rock band when you've been playing in a jazz group for the past several months. After reflecting on the race, I realize I ran the first two miles around 10k effort and had way too much left that last mile. I don't know if I would have won because Snellen looked really strong but I should have run under 15:10 today. But on a positive note, 15:20 on this course is a really fast time and gives me confidence in what I can accomplish this spring and I'm sure Snellen and I will wage battle again.
The weather was almost perfect temperature wise for the race. When the gun went off, Snellen and I ran side-by-side and it seemed like both of us were waiting to see what the other wanted to do. The first mile had some climbs and some strong headwinds in some parts and we passed the first marker in 5:07. I knew that was too slow, so I tried to push on the gas some. The second mile was a little more rolling with a couple bigger hills that I tried to push hard on. At one point, I had a very tiny gap on Snellen. I started thinking that Snellen was about to crack but as soon as I did, he was right back beside me. We hit the two mile in 10:13, which gave us a 5:06 second mile.
With such a slow pace, I knew I was in trouble. My only shot to win was to immediately ramp up the intensity, so I made a hard move and wasn't planning on letting up. Snellen was game and was still at my side. The last mile is by far the fastest mile of the course and has a long gradual downhill, along with some flat sections. I wasn't having any luck cracking him and with under a half mile to go, he put a gap on me. That was more of a mental blow because I knew he would be very hard to outkick, especially with all of my marathon training in my legs now. I hit the three mile marker about two seconds behind him in 14:51 and tried to push again. I gained about a second on him but couldn't catch him and he beat me 15:19 to 15:20.
Running a 4:38 last mile was really motivating but I was frustrated with how I ran. While in college, I was dead after a 5k, I recovered very quickly after this one. Marathon training and racing is all about staying relaxed and patient and I carried too much of that to the race today. 5ks are fast and intense and I forgot how that is really supposed to feel. It's never a good thing to try out for a rock band when you've been playing in a jazz group for the past several months. After reflecting on the race, I realize I ran the first two miles around 10k effort and had way too much left that last mile. I don't know if I would have won because Snellen looked really strong but I should have run under 15:10 today. But on a positive note, 15:20 on this course is a really fast time and gives me confidence in what I can accomplish this spring and I'm sure Snellen and I will wage battle again.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Zoo Run
With an extra three weeks of training after my New Years Day race, I was feeling a little more fit. A couple of weeks before the race, I tried doing a four mile tempo at 5:30 pace, which went terribly. I couldn't understand why I had so much trouble running four miles at a pace only a little bit faster than what I ran for 26.2 miles last month. I only ran three miles of it before bagging the workout. I was debating skipping this race, but last week, I got in another four mile tempo and ran 5:25s and felt somewhat strong. I didn't know where I was at fitness wise but I was hoping to at least break 16:00.
Ted Towse ran this race a couple of years ago and told me the course is very hard to run fast on. It takes place entirely in the Nashville Zoo and he said after the first few minutes, you are constantly making short, fast turns. That worried me a bit because I'm a rhythm guy and have trouble when I am constantly changing gears.
When I was warming up, I was trying to scope out the competition. I wasn't sure if I saw anyone or not and to be honest, I was hoping to be out front alone to get some racing kinks out. The temperatures were in the low/mid 30s and I had trouble getting loose on my warm-up. When the gun went off, I waited to see if anyone would take the lead and after about a minute or so, I moved out front. Ted told me the course had 1k markers and he split right at 3:00 for the first kilometer when he ran. I didn't think I had those kind of wheels yet so I was shooting for somewhere around 3:05. I felt like I was moving and when I checked my watch at the marker, it only read 3:09.
I was pretty discouraged because that's only 15:45 pace and the first 1k was the fastest segment of the race. I really didn't want to run over 16:00, so I tried to push the pace even more. But anytime I really got rolling, I would immediately have to slow down and make a sharp turn. And what made matters worse is that since we just got over a freeze, the pavement was still wet in most parts, which made the turns even worse.
Being the severe ADD person that I am, the course gave me a major headache. I could never get in a rhythm and there were signs with arrows every few feet pointing which direction to go. One part of the course ran by a carousel and I didn't know what the sign was telling me...I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to run around the carousel or what, so I just stood there for a second with a confused look on my face and got moving again. I approached the first mile and split 5:08.
5:08 is just under 16:00 pace but without much room to spare, so I had to keep moving. The second mile continued to run in a zig-zag fashion around the zoo. I must have kept my rhythm pretty well because I split 10:17 at two mile, which gave me a 5:09 second mile. If I could keep my last mile under 5:10, I had sub 16 in the bag. But Ted told me the last mile is insanely zig-zaggy (is that a word), so I knew I really had to hammer.
I tried to push as hard as I could. I would reach a point where I was nearly in an all-out sprint pace and then I had to slam on the brakes, losing all my speed in the process, and then sprint again. With about a half mile to go, my shoe came untied. I knew that if I tied it, I'd lose close to ten seconds, so I ignored it and hoped it wouldn't fall off or that I wouldn't trip over my laces.
When I finally got out of the zoo and reached the parking lot, I knew I had sub 16:00 in the bag. I always feel like a complete dork if I'm sprinting all-out with no one around, so I just cruised it in, crossing the line in 15:51. That meant my last mile was 5:03. With all of the turns, I really don't think I ran a 15:51 5k and feel this is closer to a 16:00-16:10 performance, especially with opening up in a 3:09 first kilometer. While today wasn't the fastest time, I felt fine when I crossed the line and with all the rhythm changes, it gave me confidence that I'm around 15:30 shape. I'm racing Ryan Snellen in a couple weeks, so I really need to be firing on all cylinders soon.
Ted Towse ran this race a couple of years ago and told me the course is very hard to run fast on. It takes place entirely in the Nashville Zoo and he said after the first few minutes, you are constantly making short, fast turns. That worried me a bit because I'm a rhythm guy and have trouble when I am constantly changing gears.
When I was warming up, I was trying to scope out the competition. I wasn't sure if I saw anyone or not and to be honest, I was hoping to be out front alone to get some racing kinks out. The temperatures were in the low/mid 30s and I had trouble getting loose on my warm-up. When the gun went off, I waited to see if anyone would take the lead and after about a minute or so, I moved out front. Ted told me the course had 1k markers and he split right at 3:00 for the first kilometer when he ran. I didn't think I had those kind of wheels yet so I was shooting for somewhere around 3:05. I felt like I was moving and when I checked my watch at the marker, it only read 3:09.
I was pretty discouraged because that's only 15:45 pace and the first 1k was the fastest segment of the race. I really didn't want to run over 16:00, so I tried to push the pace even more. But anytime I really got rolling, I would immediately have to slow down and make a sharp turn. And what made matters worse is that since we just got over a freeze, the pavement was still wet in most parts, which made the turns even worse.
Being the severe ADD person that I am, the course gave me a major headache. I could never get in a rhythm and there were signs with arrows every few feet pointing which direction to go. One part of the course ran by a carousel and I didn't know what the sign was telling me...I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to run around the carousel or what, so I just stood there for a second with a confused look on my face and got moving again. I approached the first mile and split 5:08.
5:08 is just under 16:00 pace but without much room to spare, so I had to keep moving. The second mile continued to run in a zig-zag fashion around the zoo. I must have kept my rhythm pretty well because I split 10:17 at two mile, which gave me a 5:09 second mile. If I could keep my last mile under 5:10, I had sub 16 in the bag. But Ted told me the last mile is insanely zig-zaggy (is that a word), so I knew I really had to hammer.
I tried to push as hard as I could. I would reach a point where I was nearly in an all-out sprint pace and then I had to slam on the brakes, losing all my speed in the process, and then sprint again. With about a half mile to go, my shoe came untied. I knew that if I tied it, I'd lose close to ten seconds, so I ignored it and hoped it wouldn't fall off or that I wouldn't trip over my laces.
When I finally got out of the zoo and reached the parking lot, I knew I had sub 16:00 in the bag. I always feel like a complete dork if I'm sprinting all-out with no one around, so I just cruised it in, crossing the line in 15:51. That meant my last mile was 5:03. With all of the turns, I really don't think I ran a 15:51 5k and feel this is closer to a 16:00-16:10 performance, especially with opening up in a 3:09 first kilometer. While today wasn't the fastest time, I felt fine when I crossed the line and with all the rhythm changes, it gave me confidence that I'm around 15:30 shape. I'm racing Ryan Snellen in a couple weeks, so I really need to be firing on all cylinders soon.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
So You Say You Want a Resolution 5k/10k
What better way to start of 2011 than with a race? The race took place at the Hendersonville YMCA and Hendersonville Running Club was a sponsor. Last year I won the 5k in 17:36 but since they also added a 10k this year, I decided to go with that. After Rocket City, I really didn't take much down time and got in 21.7 miles the week after the race. A couple of weeks before the race, I ran over the course with some of the Hendersonville Running Club people and like the 5k course, it had a ton of hills and very few flat sections.
My goal for the race was to run this as a somewhat hard tempo and try to run around 5:25s. I really didn't want to have an all-out race so early in my training cycle but if someone there was ahead of me, I wouldn't back down. Low and behold, Micah Tirop showed up. Since this was a pretty low key race, I didn't expect a 1:05 half marathoner to show up and I debated dodging him and entering the 5k. I always talk about accepting the challenge and being a competitor to my kids, so if I dodged him, I'd be a hypocrite. If you're going to lose, you better at least go out on your shield.
Micah led from the gun and I hung just off his shoulder for the first mile. We hit the first mile in 4:58, which was way faster than I wanted but it was mainly downhill and felt ok. The next mile was like a mini roller-coaster and I started to fall back very slowly. I split 5:20 that mile and because I had a 22 second increase, I tried to get refocused so I didn't start running 5:30s. The 3rd mile was when Micah really started to break away but at least I kept my rhythm and split 5:19.
In the fourth mile, there was an 180 degree turnaround and those always kill me. Even though I probably l0st several seconds, my next mile split was something insanely fast. I knew it wasn't legit, so I didn't split my watch and after splitting at the next mile, my watch said I ran 9:53 for the last two, which I knew wasn't correct. At that point, I knew I had a little over six minutes of running left, so I really tried to grit down and push hard. When I was about a half mile from the finish, there was a super steep 300 meter or so hill. The hill couldn't have been in a worse place on the course and I completely died running up it. When I got to the top, I just kept a steady effort and ended up with a time of 32:11.
I was happy with the time but after talking with other people, they had the course being a little over 6.1 on their Garmin's. Garmin's usually measure long in races, so I knew this was probably was worth over 33:00 on a more legit course. Micah finished about a minute ahead of me and it was a little frustrating getting whooped in my own backyard but what more can you do?
On a positive note, a lot of the Hendersonville Running Club members ran
My goal for the race was to run this as a somewhat hard tempo and try to run around 5:25s. I really didn't want to have an all-out race so early in my training cycle but if someone there was ahead of me, I wouldn't back down. Low and behold, Micah Tirop showed up. Since this was a pretty low key race, I didn't expect a 1:05 half marathoner to show up and I debated dodging him and entering the 5k. I always talk about accepting the challenge and being a competitor to my kids, so if I dodged him, I'd be a hypocrite. If you're going to lose, you better at least go out on your shield.
Micah led from the gun and I hung just off his shoulder for the first mile. We hit the first mile in 4:58, which was way faster than I wanted but it was mainly downhill and felt ok. The next mile was like a mini roller-coaster and I started to fall back very slowly. I split 5:20 that mile and because I had a 22 second increase, I tried to get refocused so I didn't start running 5:30s. The 3rd mile was when Micah really started to break away but at least I kept my rhythm and split 5:19.
In the fourth mile, there was an 180 degree turnaround and those always kill me. Even though I probably l0st several seconds, my next mile split was something insanely fast. I knew it wasn't legit, so I didn't split my watch and after splitting at the next mile, my watch said I ran 9:53 for the last two, which I knew wasn't correct. At that point, I knew I had a little over six minutes of running left, so I really tried to grit down and push hard. When I was about a half mile from the finish, there was a super steep 300 meter or so hill. The hill couldn't have been in a worse place on the course and I completely died running up it. When I got to the top, I just kept a steady effort and ended up with a time of 32:11.
I was happy with the time but after talking with other people, they had the course being a little over 6.1 on their Garmin's. Garmin's usually measure long in races, so I knew this was probably was worth over 33:00 on a more legit course. Micah finished about a minute ahead of me and it was a little frustrating getting whooped in my own backyard but what more can you do?
On a positive note, a lot of the Hendersonville Running Club members ran
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Rocket City Marathon
Finally, it's time for the race that motivated me back into running. I've been terrified of racing the marathon for a long time and I spent the last month before the race doubting myself and being completely nervous. With the shorter races, you can have a strategy and know what to expect and know how each mile should feel. With the marathon, the Grim Reaper can call your name almost anytime he wants, and that's what concerned me the most. You can't plan when you run low on carbohydrates, aka: hitting the wall. I've always feared the unknown and like to know exactly what to expect. With the marathon, all bets are off.
My plan for the race was to stick with Ted Towse, who I did a lot of my long runs with, for the first 13.1, which we planned to hit around 1:14:30. I felt like I was very fit about six weeks ago, but my training the last three weeks wasn't very good and I had two recent workouts go badly. However, all that was in the past and I was really focused on the race. The top five runners got prize money and I thought with a really solid race, I could maybe sneak into the top five.
The weather seemed to be perfect. Temperatures were in the lower 40s and would heat up to the upper 40s by the end of the race. I had Maureen Manning from the Athletes House handing me my race fuel (Vanilla Gu dissolved into a water bottle) every other water stop until about 20 miles, which would be four times. Ted and I ran for about five minutes around the hotel and then did some light drills. When we got to the race, we ran for another mile or so and after several strides, it was time to race.
The course at Rocket City is pretty fast. There are only a few small hills with the only downside being that there's over 70 turns. This is actually a good thing because I zone out on the long straightaways, while courses with a lot of turns help me to focus on smaller segments. The race is also pretty inexpensive (just $65), hotels are very reasonable in the area (I think I paid $75 for a nice suite) and the people in charge of the race do a great job. A few weeks before the race, they mail all of the competitors a detailed information packet with all of the information you could ever want to know about the race and course and after the race, they mail you a free picture of you crossing the line. Probably my favorite thing about the course is that at least 75% of it is run through neighborhoods, which I tend to really enjoy.
My plan for the race was to stick with Ted Towse, who I did a lot of my long runs with, for the first 13.1, which we planned to hit around 1:14:30. I felt like I was very fit about six weeks ago, but my training the last three weeks wasn't very good and I had two recent workouts go badly. However, all that was in the past and I was really focused on the race. The top five runners got prize money and I thought with a really solid race, I could maybe sneak into the top five.
The weather seemed to be perfect. Temperatures were in the lower 40s and would heat up to the upper 40s by the end of the race. I had Maureen Manning from the Athletes House handing me my race fuel (Vanilla Gu dissolved into a water bottle) every other water stop until about 20 miles, which would be four times. Ted and I ran for about five minutes around the hotel and then did some light drills. When we got to the race, we ran for another mile or so and after several strides, it was time to race.
When the gun went off, a lot of people shot out. Ted and I settled into around 15th-20th place and hit the mile together in 5:34. I freaked out because I wanted to keep the miles no faster than 5:40, so I put on the brakes. We ran 5:48 that next mile and I didn't want to slow down, so I picked it back up and ran the third mile in 5:32. Like a creature of habit, I made the acceleration-deceleration a habit because I ran the next few miles in 5:48, 5:35, 5:46, 5:30, 5:40. The first few miles were pretty windy and Ted was probably getting tired of my bad pacing, so he told me to go ahead and I left him in the 6th or 7th mile.
When I went off on my own, there was a pack about 30 seconds ahead of me that I wanted to try and catch but I made myself be very slow and methodical about it. The thing I love about shorter races is that you can make moves and attacks but I still had a ton of running left and increasing the pace too much would burn off some extra carbohydrates that I would need later. There was a guy falling off the pack, and I caught him and dropped him shortly. When I was around 10 miles, I caught Josh Whitehead and ran with him a bit. He would randomly surge really hard and back off and I would catch him on his "slow" parts. I didn't go with him on the fast parts because I wanted to keep things in cruise control and not eat up my carbs. I didn't understand his thinking with these pick-ups but you're responsible for your own actions. And if you're wearing a neon green outfit with neon shoes and Oakleys, I really don't understand your thinking...
He left me and caught the next pack about 12 miles into the race. I was now alone and tried to figure out what to do. After fighting a strong headwind for a while, I debated in my head and decided it would save more energy to surge and catch the five man pack and then draft off them, than to fight the wind alone the next several miles. I ended up catching up to the pack and stuck with them for a few miles. I hit halfway at 1:13:59, which was faster than I wanted but I felt really strong and relaxed.
Shortly after the half, Kameron Ulmer branched off by himself and a mile or two later, David Riddle, Sammy Nyamongo and I left the two other guys. To save as much energy as possible, I tried to run in David's wind shadow even though I was feeling really strong. Someone said we were 5th and 6th, which scared me because I thought David would have a better shot at the last money spot than I did. And to make matters worse, no one else was in sight, so I wasn't sure if we would be able to catch anyone else.
Sammy would fall back, catch up, surge and fall back again, so I knew he was about to die off. My old teammate, Jacob Rotich, would call this the last kicks of a dying horse. I also noticed he had a pretty killer wedgie, which I mentioned to David but he was in no mood to speak. I was still feeling strong at this point but at around 18, my brain felt a little but foggy and my legs started to ache. David must have read my mind because he dropped the hammer the next mile with a 5:27 split but I hung with him. I really wanted to try and counter with a move of my own but I was too scared of hitting the wall, so I was patient. We then had a couple slower miles and I thought he could be tiring out, so in the 21st mile, I decided to finally make a small move and split 5:31 that mile which made him fall back. I saved a Gu in my pocket and took it, which was my fifth Gu of the race, just to be safe. I wanted to make a hard push at 22, but I didn't want to blow-up and lose to David, so I just kept my pace and was clicking off around 5:30 a mile.
A little while later, I saw a Kenyan guy sitting on the curb, which made me happy because that meant I was in 4th place now. In the distance, I could see a guy about 30 seconds ahead of me and it looked like he was running well over 6:00 pace, so I decided to go after him. I could tell he was hitting the wall pretty badly, so I knew if I went by him, he wouldn't be able to fight. I ended up catching him within a mile and kept on with the rhythm in case anyone else hit the wall. I felt good at the 24, and at the 25 marker, I debated pushing the last mile and trying to break 2:27 but I just wanted to maintain pace and enjoy the the finish.
When I hit 26, I was really proud that I got through it and just relaxed the last .2. After crossing the line, I felt really good and didn't have to sit down or walk around or anything even though I collapsed at the end of the Moon Pie race and had to lay on the ground after the Middle Half. I wish I would have moved with Kameron earlier on because I think I could have run a high 2:25, but I'll definitely take 2:27:08. I was also really happy because I finished in third place, which gave me a little bit of a payday.
On another positive note, I ran my last 5 miles faster than I ran at the Indian Lake 5 Miler last Thanksgiving. I was really, really happy with this race because I could have seen myself running 2:37 before 2:27. The two main reasons for my good race are: making sure I took all of my Gu's, even if I didn't feel like it and being very patient with my moves and always thinking about how things would affect me late in the race.
My main mistakes were taking so long to find my rhythm and not learning how to drink water. Having Maureen hand me the Gu water bottles every other stop really helped me because that was close to 40 ounces of fluid I could take in. At the other water stops, I would always take a water cup but would only get down about two ounces at each one with the other several ounces flying in my face and nose. All in all, it was a pretty good day of running and I'm glad to have my first marathon under my belt. I'm not sure if I'll try one in the spring but I will definitely run one next fall.
Splits: 5:34, 5:48, 5:32, 5:48, 5:35, 5:46, 5:30, 5:40, 5:34, 5:39 (56:26 10 miles), 5:35, 5:44, 5:38 (1:13;59 1/2), 5:42, 5:42, 5:34, 5:47, 5:27, 5:37, 5:40, 5:31, 5:30, 5:32, 5:29, 5:34, 5:32, 1:09
When I went off on my own, there was a pack about 30 seconds ahead of me that I wanted to try and catch but I made myself be very slow and methodical about it. The thing I love about shorter races is that you can make moves and attacks but I still had a ton of running left and increasing the pace too much would burn off some extra carbohydrates that I would need later. There was a guy falling off the pack, and I caught him and dropped him shortly. When I was around 10 miles, I caught Josh Whitehead and ran with him a bit. He would randomly surge really hard and back off and I would catch him on his "slow" parts. I didn't go with him on the fast parts because I wanted to keep things in cruise control and not eat up my carbs. I didn't understand his thinking with these pick-ups but you're responsible for your own actions. And if you're wearing a neon green outfit with neon shoes and Oakleys, I really don't understand your thinking...
Shortly after the half, Kameron Ulmer branched off by himself and a mile or two later, David Riddle, Sammy Nyamongo and I left the two other guys. To save as much energy as possible, I tried to run in David's wind shadow even though I was feeling really strong. Someone said we were 5th and 6th, which scared me because I thought David would have a better shot at the last money spot than I did. And to make matters worse, no one else was in sight, so I wasn't sure if we would be able to catch anyone else.
Sammy would fall back, catch up, surge and fall back again, so I knew he was about to die off. My old teammate, Jacob Rotich, would call this the last kicks of a dying horse. I also noticed he had a pretty killer wedgie, which I mentioned to David but he was in no mood to speak. I was still feeling strong at this point but at around 18, my brain felt a little but foggy and my legs started to ache. David must have read my mind because he dropped the hammer the next mile with a 5:27 split but I hung with him. I really wanted to try and counter with a move of my own but I was too scared of hitting the wall, so I was patient. We then had a couple slower miles and I thought he could be tiring out, so in the 21st mile, I decided to finally make a small move and split 5:31 that mile which made him fall back. I saved a Gu in my pocket and took it, which was my fifth Gu of the race, just to be safe. I wanted to make a hard push at 22, but I didn't want to blow-up and lose to David, so I just kept my pace and was clicking off around 5:30 a mile.
A little while later, I saw a Kenyan guy sitting on the curb, which made me happy because that meant I was in 4th place now. In the distance, I could see a guy about 30 seconds ahead of me and it looked like he was running well over 6:00 pace, so I decided to go after him. I could tell he was hitting the wall pretty badly, so I knew if I went by him, he wouldn't be able to fight. I ended up catching him within a mile and kept on with the rhythm in case anyone else hit the wall. I felt good at the 24, and at the 25 marker, I debated pushing the last mile and trying to break 2:27 but I just wanted to maintain pace and enjoy the the finish.
When I hit 26, I was really proud that I got through it and just relaxed the last .2. After crossing the line, I felt really good and didn't have to sit down or walk around or anything even though I collapsed at the end of the Moon Pie race and had to lay on the ground after the Middle Half. I wish I would have moved with Kameron earlier on because I think I could have run a high 2:25, but I'll definitely take 2:27:08. I was also really happy because I finished in third place, which gave me a little bit of a payday.
On another positive note, I ran my last 5 miles faster than I ran at the Indian Lake 5 Miler last Thanksgiving. I was really, really happy with this race because I could have seen myself running 2:37 before 2:27. The two main reasons for my good race are: making sure I took all of my Gu's, even if I didn't feel like it and being very patient with my moves and always thinking about how things would affect me late in the race.
My main mistakes were taking so long to find my rhythm and not learning how to drink water. Having Maureen hand me the Gu water bottles every other stop really helped me because that was close to 40 ounces of fluid I could take in. At the other water stops, I would always take a water cup but would only get down about two ounces at each one with the other several ounces flying in my face and nose. All in all, it was a pretty good day of running and I'm glad to have my first marathon under my belt. I'm not sure if I'll try one in the spring but I will definitely run one next fall.
Splits: 5:34, 5:48, 5:32, 5:48, 5:35, 5:46, 5:30, 5:40, 5:34, 5:39 (56:26 10 miles), 5:35, 5:44, 5:38 (1:13;59 1/2), 5:42, 5:42, 5:34, 5:47, 5:27, 5:37, 5:40, 5:31, 5:30, 5:32, 5:29, 5:34, 5:32, 1:09
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Nashville Half-Marathon
I picked out this race because it was four weeks from Rocket City, which is the closest to a marathon that you should race an all-out marathon. The Middle Half beat me up for a few days and took nearly a week before I was able to do any productive workouts. I'm currently in the middle of my marathon specific phase, so I really don't want to have to sacrifice my training too much.
My ideal goal was to just get a feel for the marathon...take a GU during the race to see how my stomach would respond and to try and take a cup of water or two. Ideally, I wanted to run my first 10 miles at goal marathon pace and my last 5k run as fast as half marathon effort. I didn't really know who would show up, so all that could drastically change.
At the line, I saw Alex Moore, who is a pretty tough runner. I knew he would run pretty decently, so my goal of running 5:43s the first 10 miles was out the window. I also saw Dan Mueller, who is also a solid runner, and Bradley Chronister, who ran against me at the Middle Half. Bradley told me he wanted to try and break 1:12, so I agreed to help him with the pace.
It was kind of an awkward start. Normally, they will start with a gun or something else but the race director tried to be funny and just said "go" in a really calm, monotone voice. No one knew if he was serious or not, so we just stood there, so he said it again. I got out with Bradley, Dan and Alex with one of Dan's friends pushing the pace for the first mile. We hit that in 5:14, which was a lot faster than I would have liked to go out but it felt somewhat relaxed. We then passed Dan's friend and stuck together for the next couple of miles. Around 3-4 miles, the race moved to the greenway and Bradley and I started to pull away from the pack.
We were clicking off a lot of sub 5:30 miles and I felt really good. Bradley was having a little bit of trouble with the pace, so I was trying to talk him through it. We built about a 15 second gap on Alex and Dan but shortly before six miles, Alex made a really big move and at one point, was only a few seconds behind us.
After being on the greenway and smelling stale beer for several miles, we branched out onto some really long, boring road. As I mentioned earlier, I really didn't want to run those all out. I knew if I stayed with Bradley, he would be able to run a good bit faster than if I left him because it's much easy to fight for the win instead of trying to not get third. We were almost at 10 miles and he was under 1:12 pace, so I pushed hard for about a mile to build a gap on him to make him try to forget about me and worry about Dan and Alex behind him. During that move, I probably ran around 5:10-5:15 pace and still felt pretty strong.
After gaping him, I was able to back off the pace a good bit. There was a pretty decent sized hill towards the end, which hurt but I just cruised the rest of the way. I crossed the line in 1:11:32, which was a minute slower than my half marathon last month but the effort was tons easier and I felt really strong after the race. I really believe that I could have broken 1:10 today, which is a motivation booster for my marathon next month.
Mile splits: 5:14, 10:49 (two miles), 5:24, 5:29, 5:28, 10:53 (two miles), 5:23, 5:21, 5:42, 5:36, 5:33, 41 (.1)
My ideal goal was to just get a feel for the marathon...take a GU during the race to see how my stomach would respond and to try and take a cup of water or two. Ideally, I wanted to run my first 10 miles at goal marathon pace and my last 5k run as fast as half marathon effort. I didn't really know who would show up, so all that could drastically change.
At the line, I saw Alex Moore, who is a pretty tough runner. I knew he would run pretty decently, so my goal of running 5:43s the first 10 miles was out the window. I also saw Dan Mueller, who is also a solid runner, and Bradley Chronister, who ran against me at the Middle Half. Bradley told me he wanted to try and break 1:12, so I agreed to help him with the pace.
It was kind of an awkward start. Normally, they will start with a gun or something else but the race director tried to be funny and just said "go" in a really calm, monotone voice. No one knew if he was serious or not, so we just stood there, so he said it again. I got out with Bradley, Dan and Alex with one of Dan's friends pushing the pace for the first mile. We hit that in 5:14, which was a lot faster than I would have liked to go out but it felt somewhat relaxed. We then passed Dan's friend and stuck together for the next couple of miles. Around 3-4 miles, the race moved to the greenway and Bradley and I started to pull away from the pack.
We were clicking off a lot of sub 5:30 miles and I felt really good. Bradley was having a little bit of trouble with the pace, so I was trying to talk him through it. We built about a 15 second gap on Alex and Dan but shortly before six miles, Alex made a really big move and at one point, was only a few seconds behind us.
After being on the greenway and smelling stale beer for several miles, we branched out onto some really long, boring road. As I mentioned earlier, I really didn't want to run those all out. I knew if I stayed with Bradley, he would be able to run a good bit faster than if I left him because it's much easy to fight for the win instead of trying to not get third. We were almost at 10 miles and he was under 1:12 pace, so I pushed hard for about a mile to build a gap on him to make him try to forget about me and worry about Dan and Alex behind him. During that move, I probably ran around 5:10-5:15 pace and still felt pretty strong.
After gaping him, I was able to back off the pace a good bit. There was a pretty decent sized hill towards the end, which hurt but I just cruised the rest of the way. I crossed the line in 1:11:32, which was a minute slower than my half marathon last month but the effort was tons easier and I felt really strong after the race. I really believe that I could have broken 1:10 today, which is a motivation booster for my marathon next month.
Mile splits: 5:14, 10:49 (two miles), 5:24, 5:29, 5:28, 10:53 (two miles), 5:23, 5:21, 5:42, 5:36, 5:33, 41 (.1)
Saturday, October 16, 2010
The Middle Half
Oh snap. It was time for my first half marathon and I was really nervous. I feel like I've developed some half marathon specific fitness with some of my workouts but other than the 10 mile race this summer, I've never raced over 10k. I also had a pretty big training hiccup a couple of weeks ago and had to back off the training for about a week. Like a woman getting ready for an evening on the town, my biggest dilemma was what shoes to wear. I was debating wearing either my Asics Piranhas, which weighed about 4.5 ounces or my Saucony Kinvaras, which were about 7.5 ounces. I wore my Piranhas in a 3x5k workout a few weeks ago and my legs felt fine in them. However, I've only worn them a couple of times since then, so I decided to play it safe and wear the Kinvaras,
The weather was a little chilly but almost ideal...just under 40 degrees without much wind. I wasn't sure what the competition would be like but I had a "B" goal of under 1:12 and an "A" goal of under 1:11. My race plan was to go out and try to hold 5:30s for as long as I could and then press the last 5k with whatever I had left.
When the gun went off, I ran right behind the eventual 3rd place finisher. About a half mile in, I could tell the pace was too fast, so I backed off into 3rd/4th with the eventual winner who asked me to help with the pace. I knew if I obliged to his request, it would quickly turn into an ugly day. I hit the mile in 5:19, which I knew was too fast. Shortly after that, I saw Randy from the running club and I even told him that I was running too fast. I knew I needed to slow down or pay for it later.
After a couple of miles, the top three guys were a good bit ahead of me with no one pushing me from behind. Even though the first mile was too fast, I stayed in a groove and ran the next five miles in 5:18, 5:18, 5:19, 5:19, and 5:17. If my math was correct, I was running well under 1:10 pace, which would be an awesome race for me. However, I was all alone and when you're starting to die, it's hard to fight by yourself. It's much easier to fight to the end while battling against someone else instead of just "committing suicide."
After about seven miles, I could tell I was beginning to get tired and shortly before ten miles, fatigue really started to creep in. Miles 7-10 were: 5:24, 5:26, 5:24, 5:23. At 10 miles, I thought I had a shot at sub 1:10 but really didn't believe I would get it fighting by myself. The last two miles, I started wheezing (which I've never really done before), I was tired and just wanted to be finished. Once I hit the track for the final 200m, I felt a lot better but just jogged it in.
I finished in 4th place in a time of 1:10:37, which I was really pleased with. The top three guys finished a few minutes ahead of me, so I guess the time is pretty decent being that it was for the most part, a solo time trial with random crowds of people cheering for me.
Afterward, I was hurting and had to lay down for a couple of minutes. Muscularly, my calves were the only thing really bugging me and I can't imagine how trashed they would be if I would have worn my Piranhas. After Moon Pie, I was absolutely trashed but I felt better here. During the race, my chronically tender right achilles hurt off-and-on and my right arch felt pretty tight for a few minutes. This was a good confidence builder for my marathon in eight weeks and I think 2:30 can now realistically be a possibility that I shoot for.
The weather was a little chilly but almost ideal...just under 40 degrees without much wind. I wasn't sure what the competition would be like but I had a "B" goal of under 1:12 and an "A" goal of under 1:11. My race plan was to go out and try to hold 5:30s for as long as I could and then press the last 5k with whatever I had left.
When the gun went off, I ran right behind the eventual 3rd place finisher. About a half mile in, I could tell the pace was too fast, so I backed off into 3rd/4th with the eventual winner who asked me to help with the pace. I knew if I obliged to his request, it would quickly turn into an ugly day. I hit the mile in 5:19, which I knew was too fast. Shortly after that, I saw Randy from the running club and I even told him that I was running too fast. I knew I needed to slow down or pay for it later.
After a couple of miles, the top three guys were a good bit ahead of me with no one pushing me from behind. Even though the first mile was too fast, I stayed in a groove and ran the next five miles in 5:18, 5:18, 5:19, 5:19, and 5:17. If my math was correct, I was running well under 1:10 pace, which would be an awesome race for me. However, I was all alone and when you're starting to die, it's hard to fight by yourself. It's much easier to fight to the end while battling against someone else instead of just "committing suicide."
After about seven miles, I could tell I was beginning to get tired and shortly before ten miles, fatigue really started to creep in. Miles 7-10 were: 5:24, 5:26, 5:24, 5:23. At 10 miles, I thought I had a shot at sub 1:10 but really didn't believe I would get it fighting by myself. The last two miles, I started wheezing (which I've never really done before), I was tired and just wanted to be finished. Once I hit the track for the final 200m, I felt a lot better but just jogged it in.
I finished in 4th place in a time of 1:10:37, which I was really pleased with. The top three guys finished a few minutes ahead of me, so I guess the time is pretty decent being that it was for the most part, a solo time trial with random crowds of people cheering for me.
Afterward, I was hurting and had to lay down for a couple of minutes. Muscularly, my calves were the only thing really bugging me and I can't imagine how trashed they would be if I would have worn my Piranhas. After Moon Pie, I was absolutely trashed but I felt better here. During the race, my chronically tender right achilles hurt off-and-on and my right arch felt pretty tight for a few minutes. This was a good confidence builder for my marathon in eight weeks and I think 2:30 can now realistically be a possibility that I shoot for.
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