Oh yes, did my push ups today too. Didn’t follow a plan, just knocked out 7 x 20 with 45 seconds rest between sets. Felt good…

Quick post to jot down details of this morning’s 6k in Williamsburg, Virginia. I’ll start by saying what great conditions for a race; temperatures in the mid 60s with just a 6mph ENE wind. Can’t remember the last time it was so cool….

The race was due to start at 9:15am, so after picking up my race t-shirt, bib and safety pins I set off on a couple of miles to loosen the legs and gently warm up. The left shin pain that had been bothering me all week was still around, but thankfully was not quite as severe as it has been. In any case, I jogged on the grass at the side of the road to help cushion each step.

Promptly at 9:15am, the race director started the race. I soon settled in to a nice pace in about 4th or 5th place, but I’d established myself firmly in 3rd by the time we reached the 1st mile turnaround point. Incidentally I covered the first mile in 5:40, slightly quicker than expected, but still feeling quite comfortable.

Just past the 1.5 mile mark we made a right turn into a field and onto a grassy track; the surface underfoot wasn’t great, but I still felt strong and drew level with the 2nd place guy James Bates. We hit the 2 mile mark pretty much side by side as one of the timers called out 11:41 – another 5:40 mile according to my Garmin.

At this point in the race the terrain changed again, this time to a hard packed gravel trail. Still feeling in control, I decided to surge in an attempt to establish a clear 2nd place position. Slowly but surely Jim’s footsteps grew quieter and quieter but I wasn’t taking anything for granted as I knew what a strong and tenacious finisher he is.

We rounded a picnic area at about the 2.75 mile and headed back on the same trail in the direction of the finish area. The 3 mile split was 17:05 I believe (5:41 mile) which I’d be well happy with in a 5k to be honest! Just past the 3 mile mark however, I took a slight wrong turn. Instead of sticking to the trail I mistakenly headed right on a mowed grass track, but luckily a couple of runners shouted over and corrected me before I lost too much time. I glanced back to see Jim not that far behind and from this point forward I went into survival mode.

I seemed to lose all rhythm and my form suddenly felt awkward but luckily there wasn’t too far left to run; one turn to the right followed by a quick left onto the road with the finish line in sight. I recovered my composure and finished strong to the line with the clock reading 21:34 and a new 6k PR by almost a full minute!! Granted, I don’t run too many 6k races, but a PR is a PR, right?

Below is the prediction from yesterday’s blog post, so as you can imagine I’m very happy with the performance.

I’m off now to enjoy my well-earned Samichlaus beer; a rare treat I save for any PR (Personal Record) race I run.

As you can imagine, the older I get, the less PRs I run, so it is indeed a rare treat! Let’s hope for another one at the Richmond Marathon on November 15th….

Official results and video of the start, first place male and female are available here.

As you can see by the heart rate profile on the left, each 20 second stride put slightly more stress on my system than the previous one, which I think is exactly what Coach McMillan intended.

According to the plan, the goal of the strides (and later in the program, the sprints) is to flood the muscles with lactic acid and then let them recover. Leg strength and ability to tolerate lactic acid build-up will improve, allowing me to sprint for longer. Sounds reasonable doesn’t it?

Full workout details can be viewed by clicking on the MotionBased map below:

After yesterday’s treadmill run, it was great to get outside again for a late afternoon run in the sun. With the temperature in the mid-80′s I knew it could be a tough workout, but I planned on averaging seven minute miles for eight miles if I could last the pace. To err on the side of caution I decided to run the first half slower than seven minute pace with the intention of picking things up later on.

The first mile came in at 7:30; right where I expected it to be. I quickened slightly for the next two (7:19 and 7:23) before taking advantage of a nice 10mph tailwind to record a 7:06. Well, that was the easy part over with – time to quicken the pace and see what was left in the tank. It turned out to be quite a lot and I enjoyed running free and easy back towards the house.

Two sub-7:00 miles (6:42 and 6:43) lowered the average pace to around 7:10 per mile, and with a crazy-fast 6:16 I’d met my goal. Now it was just a question of holding on, and trying not to think how thirsty I was.

Great workout and I’m feeling good about the upcoming 20-week marathon plan that begins June 30th.

Here’s something a little different – GPS stats of a Friday morning dog walk with my two Golden Retrievers, Floyd and Morgan. Temperature was a wonderful 60°F with a gentle cooling breeze out of the south west. We averaged 15 minute mile pace which considering some of the traffic light stops isn’t bad at all.

Have a great weekend everyone!

–Steve

Ran a steady eight miles during my lunch hour today. I’m still feeling a bit sluggish for some reason and am wondering if last week’s 20 miler took more out of me than I first thought. Last week was also my highest mileage of the year so far – just over 58 miles – and today’s 8 miles bumps my monthly total to 225 – also the best of the year.

On a positive note, I was able to gradually pick up the pace and did start to feel more lively towards the end of the run. All is not lost, April should be a good month and I’m looking to build on the first three months of 2008.

Despite taking a rare day off from running yesterday, I could still feel Thursday’s 20 miler in my legs, so today was quite a slog in the wind and not as easy a run as I’d hoped for. I did manage to duck under an average 7 minute mile pace, but to be honest it was quite a struggle.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

I headed out the door with the aim of running four to six easy miles depending how my legs felt. The route I ended up taking was a little longer than planned and after 53 minutes I’d covered 7.3 miles and was back out the house. Aside from the annoying NW wind, the run was very enjoyable and my legs felt great.

I experimented with a few different running styles, just in case I need to change my usual running action during Sunday’s marathon. I’ve found on a course as flat as the Shamrock Marathon, the 26.2 miles of repetitive motion can really take it’s toll on your legs. By varying my running action, however, I get to use different muscles and it helps to break things up a little. I don’t typically have the same experience on hilly courses (which I prefer), so it’s good to have a plan for pancake flat Virginia Beach just in case things take a turn for the worse.

I didn’t really pay much attention to my splits today, I just ran, but for the sake of completeness, here they are:

Mile 1 – 7:42
Mile 2 – 7:05
Mile 3 – 7:22
Mile 4 – 7:12
Mile 5 – 7:13
Mile 6 – 7:19
Mile 7 – 7:04

And as usual, click on the MotionBased map for detailed metrics of the run:

Where is this crazy February weather coming from? High 60′s tonight and expected temperatures in the mid-70′s for the next couple of days! Not that I’m complaining of course…

Tonight’s run was definitely going to be an easy mid-distance run with no heroics and no foolish race against the clock like yesterday. Saturday’s race and Sunday’s brisk 5 miler actually took a lot out of my shins and they’ve felt quite tender all day long, so the decision was made to stay off the road as much as possible and find some soft grass to run on instead. Oh yes, my planned pace was somewhere between 7:30 and 8:00 minutes per mile.

More of a precaution than anything else, I taped both shins and set off into the sunshine. The warm air felt great, but to be honest the run was actually quite uneventful. I headed to the local soccer fields and, as you can see from the MotionBased map, ran up and down, corner to corner to make sure I stayed on the grass. The soft surface felt good and helped minimize the impact to my shins, but soon I was on my way home and back on the concrete.

I also managed to stick to a sensible pace. Each of the seven miles were between 7:31 and 7:46, so it was nice to log some easy miles without too much stress to the system. Not sure what the plan is tomorrow, but with temperatures in the mid-70′s I’ll be sure to run outside and save a treadmill workout for later in the week when the weather takes a turn for the worse.