Happy ??? Cinco ...

22:15

With the heavy race schedule, you'd think I would be getting better at having a clue of what I'm doing in this game. Well, today I proved that I'm a slow learner!

Of course before the race I saw and talked to Joe and Stephanie and Shane. There was talk about pace and times. None of this was good for me .... Shane, Stephanie, and I went out together. Of course, I'm feeling good ... thinking I've got something to prove (who knows why???!>!?) ... I'm enjoying passing people ... and what do know ... there's the first mile in 6:33 ... STUPID !!!

At about 1.5 miles, Stephanie pulls up along side as my pace is slipping at what seems like an exponential rate. (Thank you for the lift, Steph!) I thought I was slowing her down and told her to go ahead but she said she was slowing and that I should go. Which I did ... for a little ways .... At about that point, there was a very large water hazard on the course. It was about 2-3 inches deep for about 15-20 yards with no way around it. Everyone's feet were (subject-verb agreement ???) soaked from that point. At least, it gave me something else to think about! A couple guys passed me in the last 2/3 mile. I had planned my kick but when the time came there was nothing there. This has never happened to me! I attribute it to the fast start and the hot, humid conditions (surely it couldn't be my lack of conditioning!). I've always been able to kick but just didn't have it today. As the guy I had "marked" to pass at the end stretched it for the finish, it was unbelievably frustrating to have to let him go and not do anything about it. But that was my reality on this day.

The post race food and festivities were very good. Joe did not PR. Stephanie took third in her age group behind two other PIM coaches. It was a good event.

The philosophical question of the day is - If I had gone out slower would I have been able to hold pace better and had a kick? I honestly don't know. It seems the answer is most likely "yes" but it's hard for me to imagine the race any differently than it happened. A slower early pace would have probably led to some panic on my part about "being just on or behind schedule".

Easy Run

With travel back from Chicago, a long work day (after getting back to the office), and heavy rains, I skipped last night's running. I hate doing that because I'm fearful that it effectively wastes prior training sessions. I doubt that is actually true but that's how I view it mentally.

So this morning I was up at 5 and out for an e-a-s-y 1.7 miles around the neighborhood. It felt good to stretch out. My pace was at an 8:47 mile. I didn't want to get crazy and push a long tempo run or intervals this morning since the Cinco de Mayo 5K is tomorrow and I'd really like to PR. Joe has assured me the course is flat and fast with no rhythm-breaking turns so I'm looking for a very strong effort tomorrow.

I'll be focusing on carbohydrate and water intake today and I'll do a "half-mile" blast tonight to get ready. I can already feel this one's going to be more difficult than usual to control the adrenaline. I'm already getting too amped and it's still 24 hours away!


adrenaline [(uh-dren-l-in)]
A hormone secreted by the adrenal glands that helps the body meet physical or emotional stress.

Project Your Marathon Time

Found this training test to project marathon times - article. I'm wondering if it works in reverse using the McMillan or Daniels tables. I may experiment to see what I come up with ....

Evening Tour of Rice & Hermann Park with Jonathan

Working with today's scheduling challenge - Cameron's band concert at Rice University - Jonathan Bennett was kind enough to meet me at 8pm and escort me around the Rice campus and Hermann Park for an 8.2 mile run. We covered it in 1:17 for a 9:25/mile average. This was slightly slower than I had hoped for but well within the McMillan prescribed training range.

Jonathan was great as he lives nearby and was familiar with the area. He had also plotted the course using his Garmin GPS. It was nice to have someone to talk to and provide encouragement. Our fastest mile was 9:07 and our slowest was 9:48. This was a much tighter range than I had last week running on my own so I was happy with the effort.

Tomorrow will be a well-deserved rest day as I travel to Chicago for work.

Too Hard of an "Easy Run"

Well, I worked in an easy run tonight. I was going to leave the office between 6 and 6:30 to do the loop at Memorial Park but, wouldn't you know it, that's when the heavy rain started to fly. I stayed in the office until about 7:45 and the rain had passed then went to Memorial. The path was wet but not under water so a made the loop.

My half mile splits were:

• 0.5 mile - 4:51
• 1.0 mile - 4:16
• 1.5 mile - 4:10
• 2.0 mile - 4:01
• 2.5 mile - 4:14
• 2.9 mile - 3:30

Of course that works out to be 25:02 over 2.9 miles for an 8:38 per mile pace. My target was 9:00. I walked away feeling good but as I drove home decided that this was really bad. My understanding is that "easy runs" are for recovery that's why they're slower. By not slowing to the proper pace, I suspect I was pushing my body too hard and not allowing for the proper recovery. Maybe this is why I've had a little trouble recently running fast enough during the speed workouts and tempo runs. Essentially I've convinced myself that I'm running the slow workouts too fast and the fast workouts too slow. I'm going to focus more on hitting the proper pace for all my workouts.

I also found a training article that I liked today. I don't plan to work this into my regimen immediately but believe it holds some valuabule ideas that I'll try to implement when PIM is over.

Finally, Alex called today and tomorrow is the last day to register for the St. George marathon. We've registered for the lottery as a group of five. We're hopeful that by including a woman and a first-timer (me!!!) that our odds of being selected are increased. The lottery results will be posted Tuesday, May 8.

Training Schedule a/k/a Scheduling Mess

This week is a mess. I've got to get my miles!

Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish:

• 2M Easy @ 9:00
• 6M w/4M Tempo @ 7:40
• 2M Easy @ 9:00
• 8M Long Run @ 9:15

Okay, that's 4 days of running and 3 days off.

Here's the conflicts:

• Monday - open (beware of lifting Monday morning!)
• Tuesday - son's band concert at Rice University
• Wednesday - business trip to Chicago (missing PIM for the first time...maddening!)
• Thursday - possible trip to Utah for Rockets-Jazz Game 6
• Friday - open (beware of Cinco de Mayo 5K on Saturday)
• Saturday - Cinco de Mayo 5K w/PIM
• Sunday - open

So ... there are plenty of excuses not to run .... This is frustrating! I've got to get the miles or else I won't be able to cover the half marathon in Ogden. It's less than 3 weeks now!