Weekend Round Up

Kicked off the weekend with the Lions Journey for Sight 5k at Fort Story. Decided to try out the Newton Racers for the first time in a race and they didn’t disappoint – ended up running my sixth fastest 5k ever with a finish time of 17:27.

The first mile was a 5:30 and felt really good, but partly due to the blustery conditions I lost a little momentum and slowed to a 5:40 second mile. With the benefit of a slight tailwind to the finish line I managed a 5:37 third mile and kicked it in to the line for a pretty solid race.

As for the Newtons, they performed admirably and did everything I expected them to do. Their action/reaction technology kept me on my toes for the majority of the race and for the couple of occasions I remember tiring and slipping into a heel strike action, they immediately corrected my poor form and put me back in the forefoot striking position.

I think it will take a little more practice before I’m able to race anything longer than a 5k, but for now I’m really happy and can’t wait to receive the more cushioned training shoes tomorrow. Excellent.

Today being Sunday, was long run day – a planned 20 miler at around 7:30 per mile pace and with high hopes of running negative splits (i.e. running the second half quicker than the first).

The first 10 miles were fairly uneventful, but I did make a mental note of the healthy tailwind and realized with slight dread it would turn into a brisk headwind on the way back. I reached Rudee Inlet (the 10 mile mark) in just under 1 hour 14 minutes, treated myself to a bottle of water at the local store to wash down an Espresso Hammer Gel and set off for home.

Mile 11 was a 7:01 and the fastest of the run so far. Mile 12 was quicker at 6:45 and with the help of the gel and the water I slipped into a really good groove. All the other miles were in the 6:40s with the exception of Mile 19 (a surprising 6:21) for a second half split of 1 hour 7 minutes – negative splits achieved!

Back at the house I ran a cold bath, dumped all the ice from the freezer into it and sat there for 15 minutes – seems to have done the trick on my aching legs nicely!

Next weekend is the Dismal Swamp Half Marathon which I’ll be using as a time trial to hopefully predict my marathon time for Frederick. I may even treat myself to a two day mini taper on Thursday/Friday. Should be fun…

4 thoughts on “Weekend Round Up”

  1. Don’t know what’s more impressive, baking off a 20 miler at 7min pace, or this; “I ran a cold bath, dumped all the ice from the freezer”

    Nice run Steve.

    Reply
  2. Thanks Joe. Have to be honest, the only thing that kept me going in the last 4 or 5 miles was the thought of the ice bath. Legs are feeling great today – the bath really helps a quick recovery…

    Reply

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