Purity Moosic City Dairy Dash

Even though this was only my second year running it, I really look forward to the Dairy Dash. The course is flat, there's a ton of people, the food is awesome, and it's very well run.  Not to mention, winning ice cream instead of a medal is an excellent trade-off.

A couple of weeks ago, I debated running this race all-out and trying to under 30 minutes. I never ran a serious 10k when I was in great shape, not to mention being a 29 minute 10k guy sounds a lot cooler than a 30 minute one. I felt like I had the fitness but with a race scheduled next week, I decided to run it as a tempo run and try to run just under 31:00.

Last year, I was able to win this race over Alex Moore (who lost his chip) and this year, I didn't know who would show up.  I did my usual 15 minute warm-up and ran into Connor Kamm on the line.  Connor was the D3 National Champion in the 5000m a couple of years ago and is starting to get back into the swing of things. He wanted to run around 32:00, so I figured I'd be alone.

When the gun went off, we ran together for a bout a 1/4 mile before I started slowly pulling away. I hit the first mile in 4:52, which was faster than I wanted, so I slowed it down some.  There was some construction or something going on, so this year, you ran out-and-back on the greenway portion.  I like that way better because last year, it felt like I was stuck on that thing forever. Not to mention, there was a headwind on it, which turns into a tailwind after the turnaround. I was cruising along right near 5:00 pace with my next two miles in 4:59 and 5:01.  The pace felt a little quick but I was still able to relax.

After the turnaround, I was able to see a lot of my running friends racing, which always makes the running easier. I continued to stay in my rhythm with my next two miles in 5:02 and 5:03.  I knew I was starting to slightly slow down and I didn't want to run over 31:00, so I picked it up a little bit over the last mile to finish with a 4:52 last mile and 30:50 for the entire 10k distance.

The 30:50 was technically a PR but for the last 10k of the Team Nashville 10 Miler, my last 10k was around 30:40.  Overall, I was plenty pleased with my time and the effort I laid out.  I feel like I definitely could have run under 30:15 if I went all-out, if not under 30:00.

After the race, I was able to devour a ton of mac-and-cheese, ice cream sandwiches and chocolate milk.  Sadly, the Krispy-Kreme donuts were gone before I could attack them.  I really enjoyed running this race for the second time and look forward to next year!

April 2nd- 8th Training

Monday: 8 miles (7:18); 5 miles easy

Tuesday: 10 miles medium (5:51); 8 miles with 9x45s strides every half mile. Felt super drained at the start but got a little bit better towards the end. Had less than three hours rest before the first run. My schedule doesn't allow another hard workout until Friday, so I made this day a little harder than usual, to force myself to need extra recovery.

Wednesday: 5 miles (6:41); 8.7 miles (7:21). Ran this run in about 4 separate runs at a track meet. Frustrated that I had to get the mileage that way but life is how you adapt to your circumstances, rather than make excuses and give up.

Thursday: 8 miles (6:51); 6.5 miles with strides (7:12)

Friday: 4.5 miles (7:19); 10.8 miles with 5x1k with 400m jog and 4x400m with 400m jog. Ran 2:50, 2:54, 2:49, 2:50, 2:49; 63, 63, 63, 63. Had some walkers who wouldn't get out of the first lane, so I had to run around them. I felt really smooth on the 1ks and could have done several more without a problem. Motivating first speed workout and this shows me I still have some wheels.

Saturday: 8 miles (7:01); 4.2 miles (7:29)

Sunday: 20 miles with first 15 at 6:28 pace, 4 fast at 5:27, 1 cool-down. I was hoping to get in 5 miles at 5:25, but was running against a headwind and was really tired, so I changed it to four miles. I was pretty drained after this run but was able to refuel with copious amounts of Easter candy.

Week Total= 106.7 miles. First 100 mile week in nearly four months. I feel like my fitness is really progressing but my recovery is still a bit slow. However, I feel things will really be clicking in just a couple more weeks.

Convenant Health Knoxville Half-Marathon

I wasn't really sure if I was going to run this race, even as late as Saturday afternoon. My left knee started to bug me and was showing the same symptoms as my right knee did before getting really painful and I was stuck at one of the world's most slow moving track meets on that Saturday morning/afternoon. Fortunately, I was able to leave the meet a little bit early and had about 3.5 hours to make it to Knoxville. We ran into a traffic jam in Lebanon and I debated just turning around and going home, but eventually it cleared out. Mary and I got into Knoxville at about 7:30pm, which only give me a few minutes to run into the expo, get registered, get my stuff and take off.

I really enjoy the out-of-town races. They give the race much more of a "big-race" feel because you have to travel, stay in a hotel and you have a lot of time to get in the racing mindset and feeling. It's much different than rolling out of bed, drinking a cup of coffee and hoping on the freeway for 30 minutes for a typical Nashville race. I was hoping this extra adrenaline boost would be what I needed for a good performance.

For my pre-race dinner, I was hoping to get some pizza, but when we got there, the place was just closing. We decided to turn around and find a place closer to the hotel. The Italian place was swamped (I guess people thought they needed to "carbo-load"), so we decided to go to Monterrey's. True, one bad burrito could probably ruin your race, but most of the time, you can never go wrong with Mexican. It seemed like I was the only runner in the place, and I ate more than my fill of Mexican cuisine. It was no Casa Vieja but the food was still pretty decent. We didn't get done eating until after 9:00pm, so after dinner, it was time to siesta to get ready for the fiesta.

I got to the race a little over an hour before the gun went off. Surprisingly, it was very easy to find a place to park inside of a free parking garage. I hung around the Convention Center for a bit and watched the women's bathroom line grow in size while the men's line always stayed the same. About 40 minutes before the gun, I decided to start my warm-up and ran my usual 15 minutes of jogging and watched as more people flowed in. With the temperature in the low 50s and with fog all around, the weather was nearly perfect for racing.

With about 10 minutes to go, I started doing some light strides and ran into Stewart Ellington, who fortunately for me, was running the full marathon. He gave me a description of the course and even more importantly, pointed out a hidden dumpster that doubled as a bathroom stall. He let me know the course was probably about 1:00-1:30 slower than a course like Tom King. After hearing that, I made it my goal to at least break my Tom King time (68:34) and maybe make a run at sub 68, if things were going my way.

When I got on the line and waited for the start, Daniel Kirwa lined up beside me. Daniel won a few national championships while running for Harding University, was the winner of the 2011 Rocket City Marathon and while I was in Kenya in 2005, I saw him run 14:42 for a 5k on a dirt track at 7,000ft. in the air, when he was just 18 years old. Needless to say, the guy is a stud. I didn't recognize any of the other guys around me, so I didn't know what to expect.

The gun finally shot and the race was off. I tucked in beside Daniel and I was surprised no one took off. Normally you'll have someone get caught up in the hype before he understands the cruelness of reality but there was no such runner today. A couple of minutes in, Daniel and I were leading side-by-side with a pack of guys behind us. We went through the first mile in 5:19, which was a little bit slower than I wanted. I cranked up the pace a notch and Daniel stayed beside me. I didn't want to turn around, but there seemed to be at least three other guys still with us, which included a guy with a pretty sweet 'stache.

The second mile marker was either way short or I set a new personal record in the mile, with a 4:06 split. Daniel and I were still running together and I was hoping someone else would help with the work but no one stepped up. We went through three miles still bunched together in 15:24, which gave us a time of 10:05 for the last two miles. That pace was now a little more aggressive than I wanted, especially over the hills, but I felt really smooth and in control, so I decided to stick with it.

In the fourth mile, Kevin Quadruzzi decided to help with the pace, so I tucked in for a few minutes. We covered the next mile in 5:01, which ended up dropping everyone in the chase pack, except for one guy, Adelaziz Atmani. I never noticed him in the beginning and he appeared to be pretty relaxed but didn't show any signs of wanting to help with the work. I was still feeling strong at this point and compared to the Tom King Half-Marathon, I was feeling much better at this point in the race.

In the 8th mile, we climbed a very steep hill that I was able to power up but shortly after, there was another longer hill and in a matter of a few minutes, I was about 10 seconds behind Daniel and Adelaziz. I tried to not give up any more time in case Daniel dropped Adelaziz but all of the hills were making things tough.

Part of the course goes along a greenway, which had some short dips and climbs, along with some flat sections. I was able to gain a few seconds here and was able to throw together two miles in 4:56 and 5:01. At this point, I was only a few seconds behind the two but once we left the greenway, Adelaziz made a move which ended my bid for for a top two finish.

Since I was pretty much guaranteed third place, I briefly debated backing off, but I really didn't feel that badly. I slowed down a good bit over the last two miles, as the hills returned. Like Tom King, this race had a stadium finish and with about a 1/4 mile to go, I literally ran into the 5k walkers. We had the same finish line and they were taking up the entire road, so I had to zig-zag around them, which became really difficult when you entered the stadium, just before you go onto the football field to finish.

Luckily, once I got onto the field, it wasn't as crowded but Adelaziz told me he got blocked by walkers around the final turn, which he said cost him the race. But to be honest, he wasn't going to beat Daniel. You can be the judge: race finish

When I crossed the line, the finish clock said 67:06 but when I looked at my watch, it said 67:21. To make things even more confusing, the official results had me at 67:09. I almost convinced myself that I really did run 67:09 but just stopped my watch late, but unfortunately, there was video evidence: 67:21 it is.

Overall, this was a pretty fun race. The post race food was indoors and pretty solid (I focused on the pizza, Cheetos and Funyuns), there were a lot of spectators on the course and the course itself was a tough challenge. I'm not sure if I'll come back again next year but it was worth the trip.

Overall, I'm really happy with my time. I haven't done any hard workouts, so I'm very raw and rusty. During the race, my breathing was fine and I felt very strong but I just couldn't go any faster. At Tom King, I was dying but in this race, I felt like I could have run a few more miles. I guess averaging 5:09s is like averaging low 5:00s on the "flats" and my training just hasn't set me up to run that fast yet.

I'm a little dissapointed that I didn't make myself die. Part of it was that I didn't have the necessary capabilities yet but I also think I was a little bit psyched out by Daniel. He's such a strong runner and I knew I wouldn't beat him. If he was some other guy, maybe I would have fought a little bit harder. Who knows. But my racing is ahead of schedule and with hard workouts just around the corner, hopefully I'll be ready to run under 66:00 if the weather is good at the Derby Festival Mini-Marathon in four weeks.

Splits: 5:19, 10:05 (2 miles), 5:01, 5:20, 5:04, 5:03, 5:28 (got dropped), 4:56, 5:01, 5:20, 5:24, 5:32 (1.1 miles)

March 26th-April 1st Training

Monday: 5.9 miles (6:56); 7.2 miles (7:06)

Tuesday: 7.3 miles with goal session of 8x 1/4 mile on the White House Greenway at sub 65 with 90s jog rest. I accidentally packed two pairs of "right" shoes, but luckily my work shoes are Nike Free Runs, so those weren't too bad. I ended up averaging 65.08 and only managed six before dying completely. A little frustrated that my speed is so poor, when it used to be my bread and butter. However, I felt that it shows that I still have a lot of room to improve this season and also that endurance is so much more important than speed; 6.8 miles very easy
Wed: 4.6 miles (6:37); 9.6 miles (7:18)
Thu: 2 miles easy, 8 miles medium at 5:54 pace; 5.2 miles with 4.2 miles running a fast 45s stride every half mile.
Fri: 5 miles (6:41); 9 miles (7:27)
Sat: 4.4 miles (7:44); 5.6 miles (7:23)
Sun: 15.5 miles with Knoxville Half Marathon in 67:21 or 67:09 to finish in 3rd place. I'm not sure if my watch or the official time is right. I thought I stopped my watch when I crossed the line but maybe I forgot. The course was really hilly and I would have been really happy with anything sub 68, since I ran 68:34 on the flat Tom King course three weeks ago. I ran in a pack for the first few miles and after 5 miles, it was just me and two other guys. The pace felt good but after two killer hills back-to-back, I suddenly was 10s back. I rallied back a little bit over the next two miles and narrowed the gap to about 5s but with a couple of miles to go, the guys took off and I wasn't able to go. Effort wise, this felt much easier than two weeks ago, I just wasn't able to find that extra gear that would let me dig deep. It felt like I could have run that pace for several more miles, I just wasn't able to run any faster. It was frustrating because they had a 5k as well and I had to zig-zag around walkers for the last 1/4 mile, which cost some time. Splits were: 5:19, 10:05, 5:01, 5:20, 5:04, 5:03, 5:28 (got dropped), 4:56, 5:01, 5:20, 5:24, 5:32 or 5:20 (1.1 miles); 3 miles (7:41)

Week Total= 99.1 miles. I wasn't happy with the crappy workout on Tuesday but I was really pleased with how the race went. I know feel my body is ready for consistent harder workouts, and if the weather is good, I think I can run close to 65:30 at the Louisville Half-Marathon in four weeks.