With only three weeks to go until the marathon, my goal for this race was to run around 16:00 and keep it fast but completely under control. I felt a little bit guilty because I drove over an hour to Shelbyville to run a small-town race while Micah Tirop, Ryan Snellen, Ted Towse, Josh Foss and Ryan Chastain were all racing the same race in Nashville. I would have loved to race those guys but with the marathon so close and the fact that my body was no where near good 5k shape, I knew I should pass on a fast 5k.
After my last race, I took it somewhat easy for a few days and had an awesome marathon workout. I ran a 10k at 6:21 pace, took a minute rest, and ran another 10k at 5:28 pace. I came back later that afternoon, and ran the same session again, this time hitting 6:20 and 5:23 pace. I felt pretty strong, got in 26.3 miles for the day and got a lot of confidence in the process. I ran the first run on an empty stomach and didn't take in any carbohydrates that day until both runs were completed. The workout was designed to get in some running in in a carbohydrate depleted state and since it was so tough, I took it very easy the two days before and after the run.
Anyway, I got down to the race and saw my friend John Woodman, so we warmed up together. When the gun went off, I took my time finding my pace and was trying to see if anyone wanted to take over. Jacob Carrigan was also there, and he was just behind me, so I settled into my goal pace of around 5:10 per mile.
The first mile was pretty much completely flat and I hit 5:00 for that mile. I had a feeling the mile was really closer to a 5:10, but I continued on and tried to keep my rhythm. The second mile was also pretty flat but had a long section that included a headwind most of the way. I tried to push through the wind and hit 5:10 for that mile, which I believe was pretty accurate. The last mile was flat as well, I hit the 3rd mile with a 5:05 split and finished the race in 15:41, winning by a little over 1:30.
The time was faster than I wanted but I think the course was a little short. My friend Travis had 3.07 miles on his GPS and Jacob's GPS said 3.10 miles. Travis told me GPS watches usually measure a legit 5k course between 3.15-3.17 miles, so my "real" time was just under 16:00, which is about what I wanted.
I also won free entry into their October race in a door prize drawing, which I will probably now run. The race definitely had a small-town feel to it but it was very run well, had a nice course and I think I'll run it again next year. I was also happy to get in a good workout without overdoing it.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Runnin' to Beat the Blues
I didn't know much about this race, except it takes place entirely in Centennial Park. That meant it would be almost completely flat, most likely with a ton of turns. Right after Tom King, my training took a pretty big nose dive and I was having trouble running anything much faster than 5:40 pace. I thought that my iron could be getting low again, so I doubled on my dosage for a while and was hoping for a good time to get my head on a little more straight.
I wasn't sure who would show up but my goal was to take out the race in around 4:50 for the first mile and see if I could run under 15:20. When I checked the weather that morning, it showed that some strong rain and wind was coming in, along with some chilly temperatures. I felt really good on my warm-up and was feeling optimistic about my chances.
When the gun went off, I took a couple of hundred meters to find my rhythm. I felt like I was moving pretty quickly and was alone out front. I felt like I was going to make a run at a sub 4:50 first mile and I was surprised when I hit 4:54. It felt much faster than my 4:57 at Tom King, so I was a little frustrated. I tried to grit down and push some more and felt like I was still around 5:00 pace.
There was a confusing part in the second mile and one of the monitors let me know I missed a turn. I got back on course but lost around 20 seconds or so with the confusion and having to run back on course. At this time, I knew my shot at a decent time was out the window, so I decided to just run a steady effort and not kill myself. I hit two miles in 10:22, which gave me a 5:28 second mile and I kept a solid effort to finish in 16:08 to win by a little over a minute.
I was happy to win the course but was hoping to run a faster time to give me some more confidence, especially since the Country Music Marathon is about a month away. Oh well, back to the grind.
I wasn't sure who would show up but my goal was to take out the race in around 4:50 for the first mile and see if I could run under 15:20. When I checked the weather that morning, it showed that some strong rain and wind was coming in, along with some chilly temperatures. I felt really good on my warm-up and was feeling optimistic about my chances.
When the gun went off, I took a couple of hundred meters to find my rhythm. I felt like I was moving pretty quickly and was alone out front. I felt like I was going to make a run at a sub 4:50 first mile and I was surprised when I hit 4:54. It felt much faster than my 4:57 at Tom King, so I was a little frustrated. I tried to grit down and push some more and felt like I was still around 5:00 pace.
There was a confusing part in the second mile and one of the monitors let me know I missed a turn. I got back on course but lost around 20 seconds or so with the confusion and having to run back on course. At this time, I knew my shot at a decent time was out the window, so I decided to just run a steady effort and not kill myself. I hit two miles in 10:22, which gave me a 5:28 second mile and I kept a solid effort to finish in 16:08 to win by a little over a minute.
I was happy to win the course but was hoping to run a faster time to give me some more confidence, especially since the Country Music Marathon is about a month away. Oh well, back to the grind.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Tom King Half Marathon
This was a really important race for me because besides the Country Music Marathon, this was the race I was most focused on. It was at the end of my speed phase and I was hoping to run an excellent time. Even though I've been racing a lot, I've had a chance to get in some good mileage and some long runs. I even had a great workout on Wednesday where I ran an eight mile progression run, with my last two miles being run at 5:10 pace and feeling completely relaxed. There's no way I could have done that last fall/winter, so I was really looking forward to what I could run. My "A" goal was to get under 69:00, with my "B" goal being under 70:00. The top three runners also got some money, as well as the top three Nashville Strider runners, so I had that on my mind as well.
My only hesitation before the race was that I haven't had very many half-marathon specific workouts. My longest tempo run has been four miles or so and I haven't had time to do the half marathon bread-and-butter workouts such as 3x5k, 6-7 mile tempos, fast finish long runs, etc. But despite that, I was feeling really confident and told Mary the day before the race that this was the most confident I've been before a race since I started running again.
My only hesitation before the race was that I haven't had very many half-marathon specific workouts. My longest tempo run has been four miles or so and I haven't had time to do the half marathon bread-and-butter workouts such as 3x5k, 6-7 mile tempos, fast finish long runs, etc. But despite that, I was feeling really confident and told Mary the day before the race that this was the most confident I've been before a race since I started running again.
I've never run the Tom King course but I've heard it has the potential to be a really fast course. Other than a mini loop in Shelby Bottoms, it's primarily much out-and-back without any real hills. Since I'm a rhythm guy, it really seemed like it would be a great course for me to run fast on. There was a guy named Stewart Ellington who runs it every year and is pretty legit, so my pre-race plan was to stick with him for a bit and then press the gas down around 8-10 miles in.
I felt really loose on the warm-up and was ready to roll. When the gun went off, I started out in second place behind some tall guy with compression socks, who at the time I thought was an overly excited triathlete or something. About a minute or two into the race, I could tell I was running too fast, so I backed off and let the guys behind me catch me before tucking in behind them. Ronald Kirui, a Kenyan who I expected to win, went by me, as well as Nate Pennington, who I knew was a good runner, but I didn't know it was him at the time. I hit the first mile in 4:58, which was way faster than I wanted. However, it was still early in the race, so I had time to adjust and backed off the intensity some.
With the reduction in pace, I was falling further behind the top three. I hit the second mile in 5:09 and was about 7-8 seconds behind with no one directly behind me. I was hoping to average around 5:15 a mile, so I tried to focus on the pace so I didn't slow down too much more. In the next mile, Nate Pennington's shoe came untied, so he stopped to tie it. While frustrating for him, this enabled me to catch up and pass him, moving into third place. Having someone to chase down and now worry about helped me regain focus and I hit three miles in 15:17, giving me a 5:10 third mile, and still way under my goal pace. By the fourth mile, I was on the Shelby Bottoms Greenway and was trying to stay ahead of Nate and slowed down to a 5:17.
In the fifth mile, I started to hurt more than I should be at that point and I still had over nine miles of racing left. In my fall half-marathon, I felt really good for 7-8 miles but tiredness was already starting to creep in. I slowed down to a 5:17 for that mile, getting passed by Nate in the process. I tried to rally back a little bit before falling behind again. I split 5:20 for that mile, which was my slowest of the day and worried me some because the pain was getting worse every mile.
At around 6.5 miles in, there is a 180 degree turnaround point before running back down the way you can for a few miles. I figured this would be a good place to pick-up my pace so the people behind me would see that I was far ahead and hopefully lose a little motivation. I passed Nate again and scoped out the people behind me. It looked like Stewart Ellington was a good 30 or more seconds behind me, with one of my running buddies, Chris Herren just behind. I figured I had at least fourth place almost locked up and got focused on trying to beat Nate and finish third.
I guess the surge before the turnaround was too big of a move because things started to get more ugly by the minute. I split the 7th mile in 5:22 and tried to kept the gas pressed down as much as I could, hoping to stay in front of Nate. When I saw the 8 mile marker, I knew the wheels were about to come off because with how I felt at this point, 5.1 miles of racing would feel like an eternity. I slowed down even more, to a 5:26 and my lead over Nate was rapidly diminishing.
The slow death march started to pick up its steam (is that possible) and Nate flew by me in the next mile and I split 5:34. I was starting to get really frustrated because I was bleeding time and no matter how hard I tried, things just got tougher and tougher. Shortly before the 10 mile mark, Stewart went by me and I went on to run a 5:33 and split 53:06. I knew sub 69:00 was out the window but thought I still could hang on for a sub 70 if I could keep my focus.
We were out of the park now and it was a straight shot back to LP Field. Immediately, I noticed the really strong headwind and to make matters worse, I had no one to draft off of. I was falling further and further behind Nate and Stewart and at this point, I knew my shot at a top three finish was out, so my goal was to not get passed by Chris so I could finish as the first Nashville Strider.
For some reason, my watch didn't save the next mile splits but maybe it was a good thing, because things got ugly. Dying in a half marathon is bad enough, but dying while trying to fight a headwind is way worse. I tried to grit down and push the best that I could but it was really tough. With a mile to go, I turned around and saw I still had a good lead on Chris, but since I was rapidly slowing down, I thought he might be able to catch me. I tried to press down on the gas for one more move but after a minute, I had to back off because I was so dead.
At this point in the race, I just wanted to be done. My shot at a good time was out the window and I was really hurting. Luckily, I was able to hold off Chris and when I got to the stadium, I just wanted to be done and stopped trying to kill myself. One cool thing about the race is that you finish on the football field and can see yourself finishing on the Jumbotron. Today, I was on the Jumbotron for quite a while. I crossed the finish line in 71:10, which meant I covered my last 5k in 18:06, even though my first 5k was under 15:50.
Ronald Kirui won in 69:10, Jay Stephenson (who I thought was the triathlete but is actually a really legit runner) was 2nd place in 69:24, Stewart was third in 69:59 and Nate was fourth in 70:40.
After the race, I tried to cool-down with Chris but after a couple of minutes, I had to stop and walk. The last thing I will do when I am supposed to be running is walk. I will jog a 20 minute mile before I let myself walk a 10 minute one. Running slowly probably means I'm dying, walking means I've given up.
In looking at prior results of the guys ahead of me, I figured the wind added about a minute, which would give me a PR but a time that was still a good bit slower than my "B" goal.
It sounds kind of crappy, but I hope I wake up sick or something tomorrow, so I have some justification for this crappy performance. I feel like I am a ton stronger than I was in the fall but as mentioned before a slight worry before this race was my lack of long tempo runs and half marathon specific workouts. I've got in my mileage and long runs, with some good sessions at 5k-10k pace, but specific-endurance and race pace stuff is the best prep for the distance you're racing.
At least this bad race will force me to clean up my diet and sleep more. When things are going well, you easily become blind to the things you need to work on.
Despite sounding like a crabby old man in this post, I was still impressed with how well the race was run off by the race directors. The post race food was really good and things were really organized and efficient before, during and after the race. Next year I will come for redemption.
I felt really loose on the warm-up and was ready to roll. When the gun went off, I started out in second place behind some tall guy with compression socks, who at the time I thought was an overly excited triathlete or something. About a minute or two into the race, I could tell I was running too fast, so I backed off and let the guys behind me catch me before tucking in behind them. Ronald Kirui, a Kenyan who I expected to win, went by me, as well as Nate Pennington, who I knew was a good runner, but I didn't know it was him at the time. I hit the first mile in 4:58, which was way faster than I wanted. However, it was still early in the race, so I had time to adjust and backed off the intensity some.
With the reduction in pace, I was falling further behind the top three. I hit the second mile in 5:09 and was about 7-8 seconds behind with no one directly behind me. I was hoping to average around 5:15 a mile, so I tried to focus on the pace so I didn't slow down too much more. In the next mile, Nate Pennington's shoe came untied, so he stopped to tie it. While frustrating for him, this enabled me to catch up and pass him, moving into third place. Having someone to chase down and now worry about helped me regain focus and I hit three miles in 15:17, giving me a 5:10 third mile, and still way under my goal pace. By the fourth mile, I was on the Shelby Bottoms Greenway and was trying to stay ahead of Nate and slowed down to a 5:17.
In the fifth mile, I started to hurt more than I should be at that point and I still had over nine miles of racing left. In my fall half-marathon, I felt really good for 7-8 miles but tiredness was already starting to creep in. I slowed down to a 5:17 for that mile, getting passed by Nate in the process. I tried to rally back a little bit before falling behind again. I split 5:20 for that mile, which was my slowest of the day and worried me some because the pain was getting worse every mile.
At around 6.5 miles in, there is a 180 degree turnaround point before running back down the way you can for a few miles. I figured this would be a good place to pick-up my pace so the people behind me would see that I was far ahead and hopefully lose a little motivation. I passed Nate again and scoped out the people behind me. It looked like Stewart Ellington was a good 30 or more seconds behind me, with one of my running buddies, Chris Herren just behind. I figured I had at least fourth place almost locked up and got focused on trying to beat Nate and finish third.
I guess the surge before the turnaround was too big of a move because things started to get more ugly by the minute. I split the 7th mile in 5:22 and tried to kept the gas pressed down as much as I could, hoping to stay in front of Nate. When I saw the 8 mile marker, I knew the wheels were about to come off because with how I felt at this point, 5.1 miles of racing would feel like an eternity. I slowed down even more, to a 5:26 and my lead over Nate was rapidly diminishing.
The slow death march started to pick up its steam (is that possible) and Nate flew by me in the next mile and I split 5:34. I was starting to get really frustrated because I was bleeding time and no matter how hard I tried, things just got tougher and tougher. Shortly before the 10 mile mark, Stewart went by me and I went on to run a 5:33 and split 53:06. I knew sub 69:00 was out the window but thought I still could hang on for a sub 70 if I could keep my focus.
We were out of the park now and it was a straight shot back to LP Field. Immediately, I noticed the really strong headwind and to make matters worse, I had no one to draft off of. I was falling further and further behind Nate and Stewart and at this point, I knew my shot at a top three finish was out, so my goal was to not get passed by Chris so I could finish as the first Nashville Strider.
For some reason, my watch didn't save the next mile splits but maybe it was a good thing, because things got ugly. Dying in a half marathon is bad enough, but dying while trying to fight a headwind is way worse. I tried to grit down and push the best that I could but it was really tough. With a mile to go, I turned around and saw I still had a good lead on Chris, but since I was rapidly slowing down, I thought he might be able to catch me. I tried to press down on the gas for one more move but after a minute, I had to back off because I was so dead.
At this point in the race, I just wanted to be done. My shot at a good time was out the window and I was really hurting. Luckily, I was able to hold off Chris and when I got to the stadium, I just wanted to be done and stopped trying to kill myself. One cool thing about the race is that you finish on the football field and can see yourself finishing on the Jumbotron. Today, I was on the Jumbotron for quite a while. I crossed the finish line in 71:10, which meant I covered my last 5k in 18:06, even though my first 5k was under 15:50.
Ronald Kirui won in 69:10, Jay Stephenson (who I thought was the triathlete but is actually a really legit runner) was 2nd place in 69:24, Stewart was third in 69:59 and Nate was fourth in 70:40.
After the race, I tried to cool-down with Chris but after a couple of minutes, I had to stop and walk. The last thing I will do when I am supposed to be running is walk. I will jog a 20 minute mile before I let myself walk a 10 minute one. Running slowly probably means I'm dying, walking means I've given up.
In looking at prior results of the guys ahead of me, I figured the wind added about a minute, which would give me a PR but a time that was still a good bit slower than my "B" goal.
It sounds kind of crappy, but I hope I wake up sick or something tomorrow, so I have some justification for this crappy performance. I feel like I am a ton stronger than I was in the fall but as mentioned before a slight worry before this race was my lack of long tempo runs and half marathon specific workouts. I've got in my mileage and long runs, with some good sessions at 5k-10k pace, but specific-endurance and race pace stuff is the best prep for the distance you're racing.
At least this bad race will force me to clean up my diet and sleep more. When things are going well, you easily become blind to the things you need to work on.
Despite sounding like a crabby old man in this post, I was still impressed with how well the race was run off by the race directors. The post race food was really good and things were really organized and efficient before, during and after the race. Next year I will come for redemption.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Race Judicata 10k
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.
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 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
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