Splits:
5:53 5:55 5:55 5:57 6:04 6:11

Great to see so many running friends at the race and especially to run with Billy Chorey for the first couple of miles. Also, well done to wife Ally for a very solid performance (looking good for the upcoming marathon training) and to daughter Shannon for placing first in the 20-24 age group! Good times…

Pre-race was fun with the usual banter amongst fellow athletes and post-race was just as enjoyable as everyone recounted their 10k tales. Many thought the course was long (my Garmin recorded over 6.3 miles too) and many had problems with the first really warm race-day conditions of the year. I enjoy running in the heat and although it was warm, didn’t suffer at all. Hammer Nutrition’s Endurolytes definitely help keep me firing on all cylinders!

Splits: 5:43 5:48 5:43 5:51 5:51 5:56 1:44 for the last bit…

Here’s a pic of me heading for the finish line, taken by @nturnage. Interesting to see good friend and talented local runner Billy Chorey chasing me down. I know for fact if the race was just a little longer, Billy would have caught and overtaken me with his tremendous fast finish. Great race Billy, and thanks for the company in the early miles.

Once we hit the 2 mile mark (crazy 11:12 split), the two leaders pressed on and left me trailing but clear in the third spot. Mile three was pretty much into the wind the whole way; I slowed to a 6:02 but still went through three mile in 17:14 – a time I’d be happy with in a 5k!

Heading back to the East Beach community I was able to take advantage of the slight tailwind and record a 5:45 mile, but from here to the finish the early pace got the better of me and I rounded out the race with a 5:57 and 5:59.

However, despite feeling tired, the Newtons kept me on my toes the whole time, as both race photographs show quite well. I was also surprised by the number of comments/questions I received from other runners at the start line about the Newtons. Some had heard of them, but not seen them. Some had seen them in magazines but not in the flesh so to speak. Others had seen them but weren’t keen on the fairly high price tag, but when I mentioned the 30 Day Newton Guarantee a couple of guys said they may reconsider. Nothing wrong with trying a shoe risk free for 30 days is there?

Anyway, I finished the 10k in third place overall (1st Master’s runner) and picked up $150 for my troubles! The finish time wasn’t quite a PR, but with smarter pacing I think I can go close pretty soon – maybe at the Elizabeth River Run 10k at the end of May.

So that’s it; my last race before the Frederick Marathon next weekend and thankfully I came out of it injury free. There’s not much else I can do at this stage of the game to help my Frederick chances, except stay healthy, eat well and maintain the focus. Here’s to a favorable weather forecast!

Have a good week everyone!

[Photographs courtesy David L Fox Photographic Services.]

My legs were heavy during the warm up and I kind of wished I’d taken the day off on Friday instead of running a lunchtime 6 miler in the sun. Oh well, nothing I could about it now.

I lined up at the start, which was delayed by a couple of minutes, and before long the race was underway. A small group set off pretty fast. I settled into about 5th or 6th place and watched the 2 leaders effortlessly extend their lead. I soon found myself in third place and passed the one mile mark in 5:49 – not a bad pace, but it didn’t feel as easy as it probably should have.

Mile two was uneventful but a little quicker (5:47), with the third mile coming in at another 5:49.

From here I started to feel tired. I was clear in third place but working hard to maintain a quick cadence. Every time I stopped thinking about it, my pace slowed and I had to tell myself to pick it up again. Today wasn’t one of those “like clockwork” days.

I was happy to keep mile four at 5:54 and mile five 5:57, but I couldn’t do anything about the sixth mile being slower than 6 minutes (6:04 to be precise). Finally I could see the line and I managed to quicken slightly for a 36:45 finish – not too bad considering the warmer weather and amount of miles on my legs this week.

We set off fast in the first mile but I was surprised by the 5:49 split. It honestly felt a lot faster and I would have guessed it to be closer to 5:30. Oh well, still a long way to go. I moved into third place in the second mile and was pleased to see a 5:42 split on my Garmin 405.

I slowed somewhat in the third mile (5:52) and from here on in it was just a question of hanging on to the finish. I found myself running alone – 2 guys ahead and at least 1 runner fairly close behind – and it was tough to keep the pace going at times. Mile 4 was a little slower (5:55) and with a short, steep hill in the fifth mile, I slowed once again to a 5:58 mile. The picture above is me at the foot of the hill after just passing the four mile mark. Note the rare “both-feet-off-the-ground” pose!

In the sixth mile there’s a short out-and-back section where I found out how close the nearest runner was. Billy, if you’re reading this, you looked way too comfortable and I honestly thought you were going to chase me down! I negotiated the final “hill” and tried to kick it in to the finish as fast as possible. Somehow I held off the fast finishing Billy Chorey and held on for a 36:19 finish time (5:51 per mile average) – my second best 10k time and a solid improvement on last years time (37:36).

Today’s 10k was going to be my last race of 2008, but after the awards ceremony I was talked into running the Santa Shuffle 5k next weekend. My current 5k PR is 17:23 (set in 2006) and I’ve decided to go all out and attempt to break it. Watch this space for more details….

Race details:

Photo courtesy TriDuo.com Sports Photography

For the record, here are my 6 Turkey Trot 10k results going back to 1999. Incidentally, my all time 10k PR is the 36:32 set back in 2006.

2007    38:22    6:10/mile
2006    36:32    5:53/mile
2005    39:44    6:24/mile
2004    --:--
2003    37:28    6:02/mile
2002    38:00    6:07/mile
2001    --:--
2000    --:--
1999    39:00    6:17/mile

Happy Thanksgiving!

Update: Just got back from the race and the news is good – finished the 10k in 35:56, the first time under 36 minutes and a new PR by 36 seconds! A celebratory Samichlaus is definitely on the agenda for this evening – a rare treat I save for race PR’s.

Splits:
Mile 1 – 5:49
Mile 2 – 5:59
Mile 3 – 5:43
Mile 4 – 5:45
Mile 5 – 5:56
Mile 6 – 5:49

The temperature for the run was great (just under 80°F), but the moderate SW wind meant the air was filled once again with the smoky air from the wildfires still burning in North Carolina. I headed outside, waited a few minutes to get a good lock on the satellites and set off fairly fast to hit my planned pace of 7:00/mile.

The first mile came in at 6:43 and a quick glance at the Garmin screen had me 119 feet ahead of the Virtual Partner! Unintentionally I quickened in the second mile and recorded a 6:15, but I was still feeling good and pushed on to the halfway mark. 6:20 for the third mile, but by now I was feeling thirsty and went in search of a water fountain.

Despite several soccer games being played, the first three fountains I found were shut off. Luckily the fourth was switched on and I took 20 seconds or so to rehydrate and cool myself off. Not surprisingly this mile was slower (6:49) but I picked it up again for the final two miles and finished with a couple of 6:22′s.

The victory sound played when the 10k distance was complete and I was surprised to find I was almost half a mile ahead of my Virtual Partner – most satisfying in a geeky kind of way.

So, all in all a good run today and a nice way to finish off the week. 43 miles isn’t bad at all and coupled with the last two weeks of 40 miles, my base is almost ready to launch myself into a 20-week marathon training plan for the Richmond Marathon in November.

Just a quick post to record details of this year’s 2008 Elizabeth River Run 10k held in Portsmouth, Virginia. I wasn’t expecting much after running just 15 miles in the past two weeks, but I was looking forward to finding out what shape I’m in so I can start planning a summer training plan.

I started off at a comfortable pace for the first three miles, and at the half way point set myself a goal of catching the seven runners I could see ahead of me. With two quick miles (5:53 and 5:43) I moved up seven places and pressed for home, but with just over 2 tenths of a mile to go, I was passed by one of my newest blog readers Billy Chorey, who also outkicked me at last months Suffolk YMCA 5k. Great race Billy! I think I need to work on my speedwork over the summer…

All in all a surprisingly solid race, and I’m particularly happy I was able to finish strong and pick up the pace in the second half of the 10k.

Finish position: 2nd 40-44 age group, 11th overall

Finish time: 37:18

Splits: 5:58 5:54 5:57 5:53 5:43 5:51 1:58

If nothing else, today’s Chesapeake Bay 10k would be a good indicator of my current fitness level and I was keen to find out how I’d perform. As a guideline before the race, I plugged my 17:46 5k time from a couple of weeks ago into the excellent McMillan Running Calculator and out popped a 36:54 10k. I figured this would probably be a bit quick, but stored it away in the back of my mind anyway.

Anyway, fast forward to race morning. I arrived with an hour to spare, picked up my bib number and timing chip (something I’m not used to doing, but seeing as though I had my personal chip stolen from my car a few weeks ago, I had no choice) and jogged back to my car to start a 2 mile warm up and 5-10 minutes of stretching. The weather was beautiful along the Chesapeake Bay – pleasantly warm with a nice breeze out of the south – and it was one of those mornings where it just felt great to be out running.

Race start time of 8:00am soon arrived but the event was delayed almost 20 minutes due to construction on the course. Some runners seemed agitated by this, but I kept on stretching and just stayed relaxed and focused on the job in hand. At 8:20am we finally lined up on the start line, but somewhere in the distance emergency service sirens could be heard and seemed to be getting louder. Sure enough a fire engine was speeding towards us and we all had to scramble to the side of the road to avoid the fire truck – what a bizarre way to start a race.

Eventually we were off and I soon found myself in fifth place and running at a good pace. The lead two runners already had a huge lead and third/fourth place were already running away from me too. The guy in fourth was also an over 40′s runner and seemed to be staking his claim for the $150 1st Master Runner cash prize. Oh well, better luck next time eh? Mile #1 came in at 5:54 and felt very comfortable – probably helped in part by the slight tailwind.

Mile 2 was slightly quicker (5:51) and I started to wonder why I didn’t feel this good earlier in the week when I was really struggling to find any kind of form. The third mile mark also served as the turnaround point and as I approached the timing mat and cone I saw how spread out the first four runners had become. I rounded the cone and didn’t see another runner for at least a couple of minutes and knew at that point I was probably safe in fifth spot. I also noticed the wind was quite strong and would be in my face for the next 3.2 miles, but at this point I was still feeling good and ready for the challenge. Mile 3 was the quickest of the race at 5:47 by the way.

I slowed a fair bit into the wind on the next two miles (6:01 and 6:05), but didn’t really feel threatened enough to push it to the limit. With a marathon to run next weekend, today wasn’t the day to risk a silly injury. I did however try to pick the pace up in the sixth and final mile and managed a weary 6:02 with just a final loop around a park to finish off the race. Amazingly, I crossed the finish line in 36:56 – just 2 seconds slower than the McMillan prediction and only 24 seconds slower than my lifetime best! Not a bad performance at all and at the end I wasn’t as exhausted as I usually am. In actual fact, 36:56 is my third fastest 10k ever with the two faster efforts coming at the tail end of 2006 (my best ever running year).

So maybe all is not lost after all. My confidence is back and my legs seem to have followed suit. About time I say! Now I can confidently continue the marathon taper and maybe look to McMillan for another prediction. This time, based on today’s 10k time, I can expect a marathon time of 2:53:20. How accurate do you think this will be? Anyone have any other predictions they’d like to share? Anyone dare to predict something faster??

Full GPS details of today’s race can be viewed by clicking on the MotionBased map below:

PS I ended up in fifth place overall (almost 5 minutes in front of the sixth place guy!) and was the 2nd fastest Masters Runner missing the $150 first place prize money by a couple of minutes. Better luck next time eh?

Just a quick post to upload my race stats from today’s Turkey Trot 10k race. It was unseasonably warm – over 70°F – and quite windy – up to 20 mph – and my legs are still recovering from too many tough races in the past month. Despite all of the above, it’s always a great way to start the Holiday and a chance to wish all my running friends a Happy Thanksgiving.

I started off fairly fast with a 5:53 opening mile, quickened to a 5:51 in the second mile but then slowed considerably for the remainder of the race – 6:07, 6:19, 6:28 and 6:20. My overall finish position was 19th out of about 1700 runners (huge field for a busy holiday) and 3rd in my 40-44 age group. Official finish time – 38:22 (6:10 pace).

All in all a successful outcome considering my oh-so-tired post marathon legs. I must admit I’ve been a bit lazy this past week and have enjoyed a bit of rest after several demanding races, but I need to get back on track and get into a regular training routine.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and enjoy the Holidays!!