I don't blog much anymore, but after yesterday's race, II felt I had to get some things off of my chest. The 29th running of the Army Ten Miler was yesterday, in Arlington, VA and Washington, DC. This year's field was expanded to 35,000 runners, and when I first heard this news, I was convinced that it wasn't a good thing. I ran the ATM back in 2010 when the field was 25,000 runners, and it was crowded then. What was going to happen when another 10,000 runners were added to the already-tight course? Against my better intentions, I signed up, mainly because some of my running acquaintances were running it, and a meetup was planned for afterwards. No problem, I'll grin and bear the inconveniences for the sake of having a fun day. But other than the post-race festivities, there wasn't much fun to be had.
Let's start with Friday and packet pick-up, which was at the DC Armory in Southeast Washington, DC. I live in Reston, VA, which is 28 miles and 45 minutes (on a good day) from the Armory. So I prefer taking Metro, which is takes about 15 minutes longer, but is less stressful. So we're talking 2 hours just to get my bib and go back, without even going into the expo. I wandered about the expo for about an hour, just to make it worth the trip, so including time waiting for trains, the whole packet pickup process took about 3 1/2 hours, start to finish.
Now for race day. Again, taking Metro, the main reason being there is very little parking available near the Pentagon, and there is a Metro stop at the Pentagon, so this was a no-brainer. Upon arrival at the race site, the bag drop was well-organized and orderly. No issues there. The corral system, though, was another story. I completely understand the security issues involved with a large race. That said, having 2 lines for 35,000 runners to be screened to allow them to pass into the runners area was kind of ridiculous. The main issue was checking bib numbers, but there was also a line for runners to have their bags inspected (although I was under the assumption that bags were not permitted on the course). That was not clear to anyone - only after arriving at the chokepoint...I mean, checkpoint.
The corral system was just that - corrals, with gates and the whole 9 yards. Runners were supposed to "corral up" in their areas by bib color (approx. 5,000 runners per corral), but the soldiers manning the Blue (aka, 3rd) corral must not have been instructed on that, because I saw various colors of bibs (including numerous Purples, the 6th corral). From the corrals, it was quite a walk to the start line, but on a chilly morning, it wasn't all that bad to get a bit warmed up.
Cue the race start, and the mass of humanity. The corrals were spaced out at 5-minute intervals from each other, but you wouldn't have known that. The first 2 miles in my corral were a sea of humanity, with people moving at various paces, from fast to walkers (why walkers would insist on being in the 3rd wave is beyond me). I wanted to get my first mile in at about a 9:10 pace, but swerving and weaving around the walkers was making that impossible. My first mile was 9:24, and that was only after picking it up on the downhill before the on-ramp to the Memorial Bridge. Navigating the bridge itself was difficult, but I logged a 9 minute second-mile to make up a little time. Mile 3, most of which was on the uphill Virginia Avenue in DC, was where it started to thin out a bit (and I thank myself for hill training).
After this point is when I started to really log some decent splits. From there on out it was a bit less congested, but still much more crowded than I am used to. I was able to run my paces fairly consistently, but more often than not I would have to slow a bit to pass someone walking or struggling. As a mid-pack, 8-9 minute/mile runner, I'm not used to having to execute passing maneuvers in the latter stages of a race, especially in a 10-Miler.
As for my times, I clocked a 44:30 at mile 5, and set a new PR with a 1:28:15 finish. That also meant that I ran negative splits in this race, with the final 5 miles in 43:45, an 8:43 pace. Very pleased with that - I worked hard on Sunday to get that PR.
I love running races in Washington, DC. It's a beautiful city in which to run, and the thrill of running past and through history in our Nation's Capitol is something to behold. But the simple logistics of it for me, combined with the ever-increasing fields are going to make it difficult for me to want to do another mega-race in the city.
This will be an unpopular opinion, but if the Army Ten Miler could institute a qualifying system and place runners in corrals based on qualifying times (keeping runners of similar abilities grouped together at the start), it might make the race less congested. Also adhering to assigned corrals would help. There's no perfect system, but I believe this would be a good first step.
Showing posts with label personal best. Show all posts
Showing posts with label personal best. Show all posts
Monday, October 21, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Looking Back, Looking Ahead
2012 was a very memorable running year for me. Memorable for me with training for and completing my first marathon, but also for my logging my most yearly miles ever (1500.5) and making it through without major injury.
I started 2012 off with a run streak I had started on Thanksgiving Day 2011, and continued it until April 7th, a streak of 136 days. Not awe-inspiring, but it really got me focused on my running. It set the stage for what was to come.
On New Year's Say 2012, I ran my first race, a 5K in Reston. I didn't PR (26:20), after PR'ing my 2 previous 5K's in November, and was wondering if my streak had something to so with it. I was training for the Rock & Roll USA Half Marathon, and my concern was if training for a half and keeping a run streak going was counter-productive.
But in early March, 2 weeks before R&R, I ran the Reston Ten Miler, and logged a PR of 1:29:03, my first substantial distance with a pace under 9:00/mile. This was very encouraging to me, and I was expecting good things in DC on March 17th. But that was not to be, as I struggled in the late stages and came in with a 2:01:13. Not my best half, but also not my worst. I stopped my streak 3 weeks later, and focused on the Ashburn Village 10K on April 22. I hadn't run a 10K since New Year's Eve 2010, so I was curious to see how I would do. This was kind of a tough course, but I finished in 53:03, 93 seconds better than my previous 10K best, and almost 4 minutes faster than I had run the course 2 years prior.
In May I started adding twice-weekly bike training sessions to my 5-day running, and it seemed to help. Marathon training started on June 16th, and biking, I believe, gave my legs a break from the pounding while strengthening my quads in the process. On August 19th, in the middle of Marine Corps Marathon training, I ran my first 20K in Leesburg, and used it as a training run. I ran the 12.4 miles in 1:54:12, not my fastest, but very helpful, as I ran the last 3 or so miles at below 9:00 pace.
I ran almost 173 miles in September alone, due to the fact that I logged my first 20 mile training run that month, along with two-10 milers, two-14 milers, and two-16-milers. I followed up a big September with a 22-mile training run to start October, and then it was taper time until MCM. Without rehashing the details, I can say that it was a great experience, I amazed myself at what I was able to do, and I'm not doing another 26.2 for a while.
I finished out the year strong, PR'ing both a 5K on Thanksgiving (25:04) and a 10K on New Year's Eve (52:35). I ran 9 races - 3 5K's, 2 10K's, and a 10 miler, 20K, half-marathon, and full marathon. A little bit of everything. Of those 7 races in which I had previous PR's (i.e., not the 20K and marathon), I set new PR's in 5 of them. All in all, a very satisfying year for me.
Going forward, in 2013, my focus is going to be on getting faster as I slowly get closer to age 50. My goals will be: to run at least 3 Ten Milers, with the initial goal being an 8:45 pace; to run a 5K in under 25 minutes (I have to shave 4 seconds off my time); and to run a 10K in under 52 minutes (a 35-second improvement needed). Another sub-2:00 half-marathon is also an achievement I'd like to hit. I'd also like to run 1650 miles this year, a 10% increase over 2012. I am also committed to adding some weight training to my repertoire, and to pull the bike out again when it gets light in the early mornings (I won't ride when it's dark).
Let me know your goals!!
I started 2012 off with a run streak I had started on Thanksgiving Day 2011, and continued it until April 7th, a streak of 136 days. Not awe-inspiring, but it really got me focused on my running. It set the stage for what was to come.
On New Year's Say 2012, I ran my first race, a 5K in Reston. I didn't PR (26:20), after PR'ing my 2 previous 5K's in November, and was wondering if my streak had something to so with it. I was training for the Rock & Roll USA Half Marathon, and my concern was if training for a half and keeping a run streak going was counter-productive.
But in early March, 2 weeks before R&R, I ran the Reston Ten Miler, and logged a PR of 1:29:03, my first substantial distance with a pace under 9:00/mile. This was very encouraging to me, and I was expecting good things in DC on March 17th. But that was not to be, as I struggled in the late stages and came in with a 2:01:13. Not my best half, but also not my worst. I stopped my streak 3 weeks later, and focused on the Ashburn Village 10K on April 22. I hadn't run a 10K since New Year's Eve 2010, so I was curious to see how I would do. This was kind of a tough course, but I finished in 53:03, 93 seconds better than my previous 10K best, and almost 4 minutes faster than I had run the course 2 years prior.
In May I started adding twice-weekly bike training sessions to my 5-day running, and it seemed to help. Marathon training started on June 16th, and biking, I believe, gave my legs a break from the pounding while strengthening my quads in the process. On August 19th, in the middle of Marine Corps Marathon training, I ran my first 20K in Leesburg, and used it as a training run. I ran the 12.4 miles in 1:54:12, not my fastest, but very helpful, as I ran the last 3 or so miles at below 9:00 pace.
I ran almost 173 miles in September alone, due to the fact that I logged my first 20 mile training run that month, along with two-10 milers, two-14 milers, and two-16-milers. I followed up a big September with a 22-mile training run to start October, and then it was taper time until MCM. Without rehashing the details, I can say that it was a great experience, I amazed myself at what I was able to do, and I'm not doing another 26.2 for a while.
I finished out the year strong, PR'ing both a 5K on Thanksgiving (25:04) and a 10K on New Year's Eve (52:35). I ran 9 races - 3 5K's, 2 10K's, and a 10 miler, 20K, half-marathon, and full marathon. A little bit of everything. Of those 7 races in which I had previous PR's (i.e., not the 20K and marathon), I set new PR's in 5 of them. All in all, a very satisfying year for me.
Going forward, in 2013, my focus is going to be on getting faster as I slowly get closer to age 50. My goals will be: to run at least 3 Ten Milers, with the initial goal being an 8:45 pace; to run a 5K in under 25 minutes (I have to shave 4 seconds off my time); and to run a 10K in under 52 minutes (a 35-second improvement needed). Another sub-2:00 half-marathon is also an achievement I'd like to hit. I'd also like to run 1650 miles this year, a 10% increase over 2012. I am also committed to adding some weight training to my repertoire, and to pull the bike out again when it gets light in the early mornings (I won't ride when it's dark).
Let me know your goals!!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Race-iversary
A few weeks ago, when I started my old political blog back up, I noticed in my archives that I did a blog posting when I began running back in 2008. It's very comical to look back on it now (especially writing that a 5K is 3.2 miles, haha), but what caught my mind was seeing that I was training for a race on November 27th, 2008, the inaugural Lansdowne Turkey Trot. Today marks the 4th anniversary (or, race-iversary, if you will) of that momentous (for me) occasion.
It has also caused me to look back on how far I've come as a runner in those 4 years. That first race, for example, I ran it in 30:47 (gun time, as the race was not chip timed), which, from what I have been told is not a bad time for your first 5K. The course was hilly, but it was in my neighborhood, so I had been running portions of that course for the 2 1/2 months preceding the race. It was at that moment that I began to think of myself as a runner, and the next day I went to the local running store to get properly fitted for a pair of running shoes.
34 races later, that 30:47 5K time has been replaced with a 25:04 5K time, an improvement of over 5 minutes in just 4 years. I've run fourteen 5K's, six 10K's, three 10 Milers, 5 Half-Marathons, and one full Marathon. That first 5K was simply a bucket list item, and it's morphed into something more substantial, 4 years of hard work, fitnress, and a love of running.
And I don't want to stop.
Post script to yesterday's blog post
My Twitter friend "Tai Fung" asked me yesterday what was it that spurred my son to want to participate in the Gingerbread Man Mile last week? So I went to the source, and asked him.
Was it because Daddy is a runner, and he wanted to be like me? Did he think that running a race would make me happy? Or was there some other underlying reason?
His answer was simple: he said, "I just thought it would be kinda cool to run a race."
Yeah, it is kinda cool.
It has also caused me to look back on how far I've come as a runner in those 4 years. That first race, for example, I ran it in 30:47 (gun time, as the race was not chip timed), which, from what I have been told is not a bad time for your first 5K. The course was hilly, but it was in my neighborhood, so I had been running portions of that course for the 2 1/2 months preceding the race. It was at that moment that I began to think of myself as a runner, and the next day I went to the local running store to get properly fitted for a pair of running shoes.
34 races later, that 30:47 5K time has been replaced with a 25:04 5K time, an improvement of over 5 minutes in just 4 years. I've run fourteen 5K's, six 10K's, three 10 Milers, 5 Half-Marathons, and one full Marathon. That first 5K was simply a bucket list item, and it's morphed into something more substantial, 4 years of hard work, fitnress, and a love of running.
And I don't want to stop.
Post script to yesterday's blog post
My Twitter friend "Tai Fung" asked me yesterday what was it that spurred my son to want to participate in the Gingerbread Man Mile last week? So I went to the source, and asked him.
Was it because Daddy is a runner, and he wanted to be like me? Did he think that running a race would make me happy? Or was there some other underlying reason?
His answer was simple: he said, "I just thought it would be kinda cool to run a race."
Yeah, it is kinda cool.
Monday, November 26, 2012
What a Weekend
There are times when things just all fall into place, running-wise. This past Thanksgiving wekeend was one of them for me.
It started off on Thursday with the Giving Thanks 5K, in Vienna, VA. I entered this race late, since I wasn't sure how I was going to respond to the rigors of the Marine Corps Marathon. I recovered nicely, and decided to keep my streak of Turkey Day races going at 5 years. This race (I believe) is in it's 3rd year, and participation has increased exponentially each year. Their inaugural race in 2010 drew 186 runners; 2011 doubled to 374 runners, and this year, they drew 520 participants. Nice steady growth for a nice little community 5K.
My goal for this race was to attempt to run the 5K in under 25 minutes (8:04 pace), which would be a milestone for me. But the race had an ominous beginning - 3 hills of increasing height within the first half-mile. The first one was short and steep, the second was longer and higher, and the third was short, but even further up than the second. The benefit to this was that there was a huge downhill at the top of the third hill, getting us back to flat ground and the W&OD Trail, where the remainder of the race would be contested. I ran the first mile in 8:05, right on track, and once we got on the slight downhill of the W&OD, I ran a 7:53 in mile 2. But as flat as the course looked from here, there was a slight upslope for the final 1.6 miles of the race. I was hanging around 8:20 as I was getting towards the end, and I kicked it up a notch at the 2.7 mile mark, but it wasn't enough. I crossed the line in 25:04, just missing my goal. But I wasn't dissatisfied, as this represented a 27-second improvement over my previous 5K PR from July 4th.
I finished 91st overall out of the 520 runners, my best placing to date, and 11th out of 44 in my age group.
But that was only the beginning. The next day, Friday, I signed up my 6 year-old son to run the Gingerbread Man Mile children's fun run in Reston, VA. He had never run a real race before, just a 2 block Dash this Halloween weekend. I ran outside with him the previous 2 Saturdays, and he hadn't run the entire mile without walking, his best being about a 10:55 pace. It didn't really matter, as the goal was just to have him participate. but I didn't want it to be miserable for him.
It was cold on Friday, but he insisted on wearing his orange dri-Fit shirt with his race number. That's a good sign. We lined up (I was going to run with him and act as his "pacer"), and when the horn went off, he took off like a cannon. I had to reign him in, since I knew there was a hill right around the corner. He made the first loop (about 3/10 mile) just fine, but the longer 7/10 mile loop was coming up, with the hill again around the corner. But he did great - never walked once, and as we approached the finish line, I peeled off and allowed him to cross the finish line by himself, in an impressive 10:02 - not bad for a first race!! After he crossed I went over, picked him up, and told him how proud I was at what he accomplished.
This is my boy crossing the finish line!!
So, in a weekend where I set a great PR and ran a race with my son, I'll take the Father-Son moment every time!!
It started off on Thursday with the Giving Thanks 5K, in Vienna, VA. I entered this race late, since I wasn't sure how I was going to respond to the rigors of the Marine Corps Marathon. I recovered nicely, and decided to keep my streak of Turkey Day races going at 5 years. This race (I believe) is in it's 3rd year, and participation has increased exponentially each year. Their inaugural race in 2010 drew 186 runners; 2011 doubled to 374 runners, and this year, they drew 520 participants. Nice steady growth for a nice little community 5K.
My goal for this race was to attempt to run the 5K in under 25 minutes (8:04 pace), which would be a milestone for me. But the race had an ominous beginning - 3 hills of increasing height within the first half-mile. The first one was short and steep, the second was longer and higher, and the third was short, but even further up than the second. The benefit to this was that there was a huge downhill at the top of the third hill, getting us back to flat ground and the W&OD Trail, where the remainder of the race would be contested. I ran the first mile in 8:05, right on track, and once we got on the slight downhill of the W&OD, I ran a 7:53 in mile 2. But as flat as the course looked from here, there was a slight upslope for the final 1.6 miles of the race. I was hanging around 8:20 as I was getting towards the end, and I kicked it up a notch at the 2.7 mile mark, but it wasn't enough. I crossed the line in 25:04, just missing my goal. But I wasn't dissatisfied, as this represented a 27-second improvement over my previous 5K PR from July 4th.
I finished 91st overall out of the 520 runners, my best placing to date, and 11th out of 44 in my age group.
But that was only the beginning. The next day, Friday, I signed up my 6 year-old son to run the Gingerbread Man Mile children's fun run in Reston, VA. He had never run a real race before, just a 2 block Dash this Halloween weekend. I ran outside with him the previous 2 Saturdays, and he hadn't run the entire mile without walking, his best being about a 10:55 pace. It didn't really matter, as the goal was just to have him participate. but I didn't want it to be miserable for him.
It was cold on Friday, but he insisted on wearing his orange dri-Fit shirt with his race number. That's a good sign. We lined up (I was going to run with him and act as his "pacer"), and when the horn went off, he took off like a cannon. I had to reign him in, since I knew there was a hill right around the corner. He made the first loop (about 3/10 mile) just fine, but the longer 7/10 mile loop was coming up, with the hill again around the corner. But he did great - never walked once, and as we approached the finish line, I peeled off and allowed him to cross the finish line by himself, in an impressive 10:02 - not bad for a first race!! After he crossed I went over, picked him up, and told him how proud I was at what he accomplished.
So, in a weekend where I set a great PR and ran a race with my son, I'll take the Father-Son moment every time!!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Shamrock Half Marathon
So it's been a while since my last blog post, but it's also been a while since my last race (New Year's Eve, to be exact). So, 11+ weeks after my last race, I took to the streets of Virgnia Beach for the Yuengling Shamrock Half Marathon.
The morning started out ominously; 21 mph winds howling out of the northeast. When I checked the weather forecast on Friday night, it said that it would be 45 at the 7 AM race start. They nailed that exactly, but didn't mention that the wind chill would be around 33. I had only brought shorts, a long sleeved tech shirt, and a tee, so that's what I had to go with. I was shivering in the corral waiting for the race to start, but once we got underway, it was manageable.
My plan was to run about a 9:30 pace for the first 5 miles; speed up to a 9:20 pace for the next 5, then judge where I was and how I felt before I tackled the final 3.1 miles. I started out right, about a 9:30 pace in the first mile as I navigated slower runners. I sped up to about a 9:22 in mile 2, just running easy. Mile 3, still not breathing hard, and ran a 9:05. Mile 4, easy, 9 minutes. Mile 5 I ran an easy 8:58, so my pace for the first 5 miles was 9:06 - way faster than my plan, but I wasn't even breathing heavily; it was a very easy run to that point.
From miles 6 to 10, I was still running comfortably, and I hit the 10-mile mark in 1:31:03, still around a 9:07 pace, so I was running very steadily, and not breathing excessively hard. Hill training for 11 weeks was paying off on this flat course. Breaking 2 hours was becoming a distinct possibility.
By mile 11, though, I was starting to feel it, but I was also feeling the possibility of breaking 2 hours, an elusive goal of mine since I started running 2 1/2 years ago. I eased up slightly before mile 12 to conserve some energy. When I hit the 12 mile marker, I started pushing it, and that's also when I began to feel it in my legs. We made the turn on to the promenade/boardwalk, and there it was: the finish chute, within eyesight. I found myself right behind the 2:00 pace runners, but passed them anyway.
As I approached my hotel, I knew I was only 3 blocks from the finish line. It seemed like an eternity trying to reach the mat, but I did, crossing in 1:59:09, achieving my goal with 51 seconds to spare. I can't describe the feeling I had when I looked at my Garmin and saw those numbers.
I beat myself up for the good portion of 11 weeks getting ready for this race; my body is very sore, not from the race, but from the training. I'm going to shelve doing any more half marathons for the time being, to give myself time to recover. I'll stick with 10K's and 10-milers for now.
And for all the soreness and weather and traffic driving home and whatever else I put up with this weekend, in the end, it was all well worth it.
Shamrock On!!
The morning started out ominously; 21 mph winds howling out of the northeast. When I checked the weather forecast on Friday night, it said that it would be 45 at the 7 AM race start. They nailed that exactly, but didn't mention that the wind chill would be around 33. I had only brought shorts, a long sleeved tech shirt, and a tee, so that's what I had to go with. I was shivering in the corral waiting for the race to start, but once we got underway, it was manageable.
My plan was to run about a 9:30 pace for the first 5 miles; speed up to a 9:20 pace for the next 5, then judge where I was and how I felt before I tackled the final 3.1 miles. I started out right, about a 9:30 pace in the first mile as I navigated slower runners. I sped up to about a 9:22 in mile 2, just running easy. Mile 3, still not breathing hard, and ran a 9:05. Mile 4, easy, 9 minutes. Mile 5 I ran an easy 8:58, so my pace for the first 5 miles was 9:06 - way faster than my plan, but I wasn't even breathing heavily; it was a very easy run to that point.
From miles 6 to 10, I was still running comfortably, and I hit the 10-mile mark in 1:31:03, still around a 9:07 pace, so I was running very steadily, and not breathing excessively hard. Hill training for 11 weeks was paying off on this flat course. Breaking 2 hours was becoming a distinct possibility.
By mile 11, though, I was starting to feel it, but I was also feeling the possibility of breaking 2 hours, an elusive goal of mine since I started running 2 1/2 years ago. I eased up slightly before mile 12 to conserve some energy. When I hit the 12 mile marker, I started pushing it, and that's also when I began to feel it in my legs. We made the turn on to the promenade/boardwalk, and there it was: the finish chute, within eyesight. I found myself right behind the 2:00 pace runners, but passed them anyway.
As I approached my hotel, I knew I was only 3 blocks from the finish line. It seemed like an eternity trying to reach the mat, but I did, crossing in 1:59:09, achieving my goal with 51 seconds to spare. I can't describe the feeling I had when I looked at my Garmin and saw those numbers.
I beat myself up for the good portion of 11 weeks getting ready for this race; my body is very sore, not from the race, but from the training. I'm going to shelve doing any more half marathons for the time being, to give myself time to recover. I'll stick with 10K's and 10-milers for now.
And for all the soreness and weather and traffic driving home and whatever else I put up with this weekend, in the end, it was all well worth it.
Shamrock On!!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Leesburg 10K Race Report
It's not often that we get beautiful weather in August, but Sunday morning was an exception. And the weather was exceptional for a race.
The Leesburg 10K/20K (formerly the YMCA of Loudoun County 10K/20K) is run at 7:30 AM on a Sunday to escape the sweltering heat & humidity, but we had none of that. What we did have was about 1200 runners (slightly more than half of whom were running the 10K) crammed onto Harrison Street in Leesburg for the start.
And for me, negotiating that logjam seemed like the hardest part of the race. It's a pet peeve of mine - runners and/or walkers who line up close to the front of the pack, and mosey over the starting mat. It took me a while to navigate the walkers, easy joggers, and 3-abreast gabbers, but I got it done in about a half mile. It showed - my first mile was about a 9:20 pace (but that actually was a blessing in disguise).
I picked it up slightly in mile 2, running that in about 9 minutes, and then the course went into a mile-long upslope, with a big hill just before the turnaround. My daily neighborhood hill work helped me here, as I blew by those struggling up the hill. The benefit is that on a mostly out-and-back course, a big uphill at the turnaround means a big downhill just afterward. I took advantage, and went through the 4-mile mark at 35:57, slighly under a 9 minute-per-mile pace. I was looking good for a PR today.
I knew going in that there was going to be a hill midway through the 5th mile, and it was a doozy, but I saved a lot of energy with the downhills in the 3rd & 4th miles, so the hill wasn't that difficult. I was sucking air when I reached the peak, but still kept about a 9:02 pace. Now my job ws to get to the finish. I pretty much guaranteed myself a PR; the question was if I could break the 9 minute mile pace barrier.
I hit 6 miles at a little over 54 minutes, and all I had left was the last 2/10 mile, but all of that was uphill. I took off up the hill, put it into a higher gear, got to the crest just before the finish, and went over the mat in an official time of 55:53, a 9 minute/mile pace and a new personal record for the 10K.
I was extremely satisfied with this race. I went in looking simply for a tune-up for my half-marathon in 6 weeks. I didn't exert myself too much in the 10K (only where necessary), and am very confident that if I can run the first half of the half marathon (on a flatter course) as well as I did this 10K, I can not only set a PR, but could also possibly break 2 hours.
The Leesburg 10K/20K (formerly the YMCA of Loudoun County 10K/20K) is run at 7:30 AM on a Sunday to escape the sweltering heat & humidity, but we had none of that. What we did have was about 1200 runners (slightly more than half of whom were running the 10K) crammed onto Harrison Street in Leesburg for the start.
And for me, negotiating that logjam seemed like the hardest part of the race. It's a pet peeve of mine - runners and/or walkers who line up close to the front of the pack, and mosey over the starting mat. It took me a while to navigate the walkers, easy joggers, and 3-abreast gabbers, but I got it done in about a half mile. It showed - my first mile was about a 9:20 pace (but that actually was a blessing in disguise).
I picked it up slightly in mile 2, running that in about 9 minutes, and then the course went into a mile-long upslope, with a big hill just before the turnaround. My daily neighborhood hill work helped me here, as I blew by those struggling up the hill. The benefit is that on a mostly out-and-back course, a big uphill at the turnaround means a big downhill just afterward. I took advantage, and went through the 4-mile mark at 35:57, slighly under a 9 minute-per-mile pace. I was looking good for a PR today.
I knew going in that there was going to be a hill midway through the 5th mile, and it was a doozy, but I saved a lot of energy with the downhills in the 3rd & 4th miles, so the hill wasn't that difficult. I was sucking air when I reached the peak, but still kept about a 9:02 pace. Now my job ws to get to the finish. I pretty much guaranteed myself a PR; the question was if I could break the 9 minute mile pace barrier.
I hit 6 miles at a little over 54 minutes, and all I had left was the last 2/10 mile, but all of that was uphill. I took off up the hill, put it into a higher gear, got to the crest just before the finish, and went over the mat in an official time of 55:53, a 9 minute/mile pace and a new personal record for the 10K.
I was extremely satisfied with this race. I went in looking simply for a tune-up for my half-marathon in 6 weeks. I didn't exert myself too much in the 10K (only where necessary), and am very confident that if I can run the first half of the half marathon (on a flatter course) as well as I did this 10K, I can not only set a PR, but could also possibly break 2 hours.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Reindeer Run
I'm in Central Florida this weekend, and I took the opportunity to run in the 14th annual Cape Canaveral Reindeer Run this morning, benefitting the United Way. 377 runners, on a pancake-flat course through the streets of Cape Canaveral, along the beach. it was cloudy and 71 degrees at the start; quite a change from the cold temps of Virginia.
I started out relatively fast (for me, at least), running the first mile in 8:47. I hit a head wind as I headed east, though, in mile 2, and fell back to an 8:57 pace. Mile 3 was better, at an 8:45 clip, then I turned it on for a 47-second finish over 1/10 of a mile, to come in at 27:16 (an 8:48 pace), a new personal best for me in the 5K.
I finished 136th out of 377 overall (top 36%), 86th out of 184 males, and 13th out of 22 in my age bracket.
The "swag" was a nice long-sleeved technical shirt, and the typical post-race fare of bananas, bagels, and sports drink. High marks, though, go to being able to do your recovery on the beach in December. There was also an Elvis impersonator greeting runners as they cooled down.
Next up: the Rotary Resolution Run in Leesburg, a 10K on New Year's Day.
I started out relatively fast (for me, at least), running the first mile in 8:47. I hit a head wind as I headed east, though, in mile 2, and fell back to an 8:57 pace. Mile 3 was better, at an 8:45 clip, then I turned it on for a 47-second finish over 1/10 of a mile, to come in at 27:16 (an 8:48 pace), a new personal best for me in the 5K.
I finished 136th out of 377 overall (top 36%), 86th out of 184 males, and 13th out of 22 in my age bracket.
The "swag" was a nice long-sleeved technical shirt, and the typical post-race fare of bananas, bagels, and sports drink. High marks, though, go to being able to do your recovery on the beach in December. There was also an Elvis impersonator greeting runners as they cooled down.
Next up: the Rotary Resolution Run in Leesburg, a 10K on New Year's Day.
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