Frustrating Race Day

Grr!  I think that pretty much sums it up.  Today I ran in the 1st annual Dundalk Pond Skipper 5k.  This was my first local race, and it will probably be my last.  I ran it because a few of the girls from work were running in it also.  The registration forms read that the race would be starting at 9:00am, with packet pickup beginning at 8:00am.  I also checked on Charm City Run's website which stated that the race start was at 8:00am, so I figured I'll get there around 7:50am since I knew it was going to be a smaller race.  As I was getting close I noticed that the police were blocking off all the streets already, and being unfamiliar to the area I wasn't going to drive into the neighborhoods and get lost while trying to get closer.  I parked about a half of a mile away from the start and then had to run to get to the registration table to get my bib and t-shirt.  So after the half mile near sprint to the start I was already a bit winded.  I had about 5 minutes to catch my breath before the gun went off for the start.  I started out way to fast, there was a high school track team there so I started with them.  When I looked down at my Garmin about 2 minutes in I saw that we were running a 5:10/mi pace!  I slowly dropped off their pace and finished mile 1 at 7:05, which I knew was still too fast.  So I slowed it down again.  As we were approaching the turn around I came to where my car was parked, with the lights on, so I ran off the course, turned off the lights in my car, and back into the race!  At the water table they had dixie cups, yes, the 2oz bathroom cups.  I grabbed one, but after the initial slosh, maybe got an ounce of water out of it.  My mile two split was 9:14, which was much closer to the pace I wanted to run, but this time was a bit too slow.  The final full mile was majority up hill, although I don't remember running down any big hills in the initial two miles.  As we neared the finish I looked down at my watch and saw it ticking off 23:30 - 23:31 - 23:32.  I had just over a minute to finish if I were going to break my PR.  My 3rd mile was done in a time of 8:32.  As I took off in a sprint to the finish I took a peak at my watch and saw pass by 24:38, my PR.  Which was very demoralizing, but I kept on running.  Coming along the final straight I passed two other runners, and crossed the line at 25:12.  Still a respectable time for me, but a bit slower then I wanted.  I don't think that my 6 mile run on Thursday, tweaking my ankle a bit on Tuesday, or the extra half mile sprint to the start helped my time today, but it's racing, and we all have our off days.  Time for a nap, snooze on and have a great weekend.  

Thin-Air Thursday

Ok, I know its not Thursday anymore, I'm late posting this one.  I spent the later part of the week helping move my girlfriend home from college, and while she was taking her last exam I went on a run.  I am used to running around sea level, not 1000ft up like in Williamsport, PA.  I was amazed to find that even with the elevation change, I had no problems with my breathing.  If anything it was even easier.  I was going out hoping for 6 miles, but cut short at 5.62mi since I ran into my girlfriend as she was coming back from her exam.  My mile splits were getting slower and slower as I went, but from one to the next were remaining fairly close to each other.  I am getting better with my pacing, which will be very important if I plan on running 26 miles, 285 yards.

--Mile Splits--

Mile 1 - 8:28

Mile 2 - 8:39

Mile 3 - 9:55

Mile 4 - 10:39

Mile 5 - 10:39

I would also like to note that the start of my run was downhill, and was an out and back.  So obviously the back was uphill.  Race day tomorrow, so race report will be posted tomorrow.  Until then, cool runnings!

Pain Filled Tuesday

What a day today was.  Today started last night, when I went to bed early so I'd be well rested come 6:00am so that I could go out for a morning run.  My alarm went off, I rolled out of bed, took a few steps and there was a sharp pain in my hip/hamstring.  At 6:00am there isn't much my brain is thinking, so I decided to just go back to sleep.  At that hour there was no way I had the ability to weigh the options and figure out what was going on to cause the pain.  After another hour of sleep I got up and rolled off to work.  As work progressed my hip started feeling better and better.  After work I had a graduation dinner for a class that I was taking with work.  Sitting at dinner looking out the window all I could think of was running.  As soon as I was done with the dinner I jumped in my car and drove home.  Got in the door, ran upstairs and got changed into some running clothes.  I knew I had 20 minutes of light left so I ran one of my 5k routes.  Total time was 26:48.  I was happy with that time because of two reasons, one was because I had a hard run yesterday, and the other reason is because I only walked 1:45 of that time.  

Mile splits tonight were:

Mile 1 - 7:52

Mile 2 - 9:11

Mile 3 - 8:48

Total pace was 8:37 minute/mile, so my mile splits held my pace rather well.  I hope to better hold my pace, and that will be the focus of my training the next few weeks.  Until next time, enjoy the roads.

Fast Run Monday

Today is Monday, and we all know what that means!  Spinning day!  In addition to spinning class, I try to get in a short run.  Having a 5k race this coming Saturday I decided to run a practice 'race.'  I tapped the start button on my watch and took off running.  Through mile 1 I felt very good, just cruising along.  As I began to tire I peaked at my watch and saw that I already ran 1.39 miles in just about 8:10.  After I made it down the one down hill section I slowed to a walk.  I walked for exactly one minute and bent back to running.  I was able to stay in a run until 2.6 miles.  At that point I needed one more walk break, another 60 seconds.  Then off to the races one last time.  As I passed the 3 mile mark I saw my PR (24:38) tick-off on my watch.  I picked up my pace with what ever I had left going up one last hill.  When my Garmin showed 3.11 I stopped my timer on 25:22.  A time that I feel very good about, considering this run was done alone, without the race day excitement, and adrenaline.  Saturday I hope to PR again, with a time under 24:00.

My mile splits today were:

Mile 1 - 7:14

Mile 2 - 9:00

Mile 3 - 8:18

Finish -  0:48

Long Run Saturday

Today is Saturday, which means one of two things.  Either, one, its race day, or two, its long run day.  Without a race scheduled, that makes it long run day.  Today I was scheduled for 10 miles.  I woke up early because I had morning commitments, I got home around 11:30am.  Changed and was off.  I started at 11:59am.  Prior to the run I decided to do run/walk intervals.  I wanted to do 8 minutes running to 1 minute walking for the 1st hour, then gauge how I feel to see what I would do from there.  I completed my 8/1 intervals for the first 63 minutes.  At that point I was lapping back to my house for my water stop, kept the clock running.  I was about 5.5 miles done at the stop and spend 2 minutes drinking down about 14oz of water, I couldn't find a cup.  At this point I was feeling a bit tired, but I knew I was going to finish.  I ran one more 8/1 interval before changing to 7 minutes run to 1 minute walking.  I was able to do the 7/1 interval 3 times before I couldn't run the full 7 any more.  I finished off my run with 5/2 intervals.  When my Garmin beeped for my 10th mile the timer said 1:49:22.  This was currently the longest run I have every completed, it felt good, but it was surely tough.

--Mile Splits--

Mile 1 - 8:03

Mile 2 - 8:45

Mile 3 - 9:59

Mile 4 - 9:58

Mile 5 - 11:03

Mile 6 - 13:08 (water stop)

Mile 7 - 12:01

Mile 8 - 12:13

Mile 9 - 12:23

Mile 10 -  12:01

I need to work on my pacing, but I am just happy to complete the distance.  Until next time, happy trails.

Why I'm doing this.

Today I felt an urge, and urge to run.  Unfortunately that wasn't an option for me today.  So instead I read a few running blogs, look over a few race results, and stumbled upon The Baltimore Marathon website.  After a little bit of thinking and debating I decided to register.  To date I have ran two 5k's.  My current longest run was 9.32 miles taking a total of 1:42:40.  Registering for this marathon is a huge step in my running, but I have just under 6 months to fully prepare for it.  I am starting this blog to track my training.  I plan on logging my miles, as well as my thoughts here.  I hope to look back on this blog on October 12th and see how far I've come.  Until next time, happy running.