Arie's Running Blog

2.91 @7:28 (trail)

5M tempo run (1M warm up + 3M tempo +1M cool down)

This was my first attempt and semi-long distance racing. I set a 4 month training program beforehand and I tried to execute it. However, I was traveling like crazy and I missed too many runs including a couple of weekend long runs. I also made one bad mistake on the morning of the race - I drank way too much. In the first 6-7 miles I had the feeling I need to pee. By mile 7 I was about to explode. There were no porta-johns along the course. I finally found a nice bush to go behing and literally peed for one long minute. It was in the middle of a hill so I had trouble getting back into pace. Another bad thig was that I was too excited the days before and the night before I slept for less than 5 hours. Summing all this I had a good run up to mile 11. from that point I was barely moving. My pace fell from a 7:45-7:55 pace to 9:10-9:20 pace! I picked up at the end but it was really a disappointing finish. Over all I felt I could easily run it 3 minutes faster (1 minute lost for pee and one minute for each of the last two miles).

The race was good for learning my lesson. But if my goal is to BQ, then even a 3 minutes less (i.e a 1:42 1/2 marathon) is not enough for may age group. I will somehow need to get closer to a 1:30 or 1:35 1/2 marathon so I can do a 3:20 marathon. That's the goal.

Here are my splits:

mile   pace

1        7:10

2        7:31

3&4     7:35 (missed mile mark 3)

5        7:55 (includes water break)

6        7:54

7        7:41

8       9:06 (had to pee in the middle of a climb)

9       8:06

10&11  7:49 (was back in the grove)

12    9:02 (fatigue)

13    8:21

Recovery run.

Speed work. 1M @8:00

800m @3:01 +400m jog

800m @3:10 +400m jog

600m @2:20

2M @7:21

Hills

1.5M warm up (~8 minutes per mile)

3 X 300m hill of moderate slope

1.5M cool down (~8 minutes per mile)

Long run

Nice trail with rolling hills.

4M @7:41 (mostly trail)

Tempo Run

1M @8:35

3M @6:40

1M @8:12

Hills + run

4 X 300m Hills of moderate slope

3.15M @7:37 (trademill)

7.42M @7:49 (trail)

2.91 @7:08 (I really kicked on that trail that morning)

Speed work:  (trademill)

1M @8:30

800m @3:20 +400m jog

800m @3:20 +400m jog

800m @3:20

2M @8:15

Did some cross training yesterday and I'm afraid I over did it. I am going to run a 5K race tomorrow in hope to at least get very close to my PR if not break it. As always before a race I feel slugish. I'm going to pick my packet this afternoon - hopefully this will give me a boost.

That was an awesome race. I didn't break my PR but got close to it (see some excuses below). It was the 2nd annual 5K on Franklin street which is the main street of Chapel Hill North Carolina. If you know Chapel Hill, you know that it is very beautiful. 7:30AM start. 62F, mostly cloudy, relatively small crowd - perfect conditions.

OK, so what happened. I actually was at 13:12 at the 2 miles mark which is a 6:36 minutes per mile which should have landed me safely into a new PR. The next 3/4 a mile was OK no problem but then there was a big down hill and here is how the last 300 yards of the race were: 200 yards of a very steep uphill and then the last 100 yards we basically circled a parking lot making 4 90 degree turns within those last 100 yards! Duh! How can one kick it in the last streatch if you need to run up a steep hill and then do a stupid parking lot run with 4 sharp turns? I am sure that cost me my PR.

On top of that I was also a bit under the weather. Had running nose and sneezes and some ear aches and even though the first 2 miles were really nice I didn't feel very strong. I had problems falling asleep the night before not because the jitters but because I was all congested. But I sucked it in and did my best.

Now for the good news:

Final time: 21:03 (17 seconds slower than my PR) but... I came 3rd in my age group!!!!!!!!

Arie.

6:20am start, temperature was about 60F but it was very humid. It rained allo night so the air was clear and the trail was a bit muddy but beautiful.

Did 3.12M at a 7:45 pace so it wasn't totally easy. A great way to start the day.

Plan for the week:

Monday: 3M

Tuesday: XT

Wednesday: 4-5M

Tuesday: 3M

Friday: Rest/XT

Saturday: 7M

Sunday: Rest

Cross training. Did some bike and weights.

8:30AM, 50F at start, sunny with light wind. I started on Duke West campus near the chappel and ran on campus drive all the way to the East campus (1.5M). I ran the loop around the East campus (1.6M) and then returned all the way back to the way back with adding a little bit extra at the end (1.65M). Total 4.75M at 35:24 (7:27 pace). The run was not easy, the effort was more like a tempo run but over all it felt good.

Note to self: Go to sleep earlier.