| | | | | | |
51 | 61 | 61 | 56 | 70 | 70 | 50 |
Tuesday September 7th, 2010: 7 miles
AM: 7 miles (52:02 min) (7:25/pace) Edgewood I ducked out of lab in the late morning today for a run. First time I've ever done this, and things seemed to go fairly smoothly, so I'll probably end up doing it more often. It was hotter today, enough so that I took my shirt off midway through the run. As expected my legs were pretty sore in various places, though I actually didn't feel that bad overall. In fact, I think I was moving at a pretty decent pace by the end. I ran through Edgewood park and got on some trails that for some reason I'd never really run on before. They were quite nice, and I will definitely plan on running on them again. Also, ran in a new pair of shoes, the Adidas Marathon 10s. They felt ok, so hopefully they will function as a good second pair of trainers for me.
PM: 0 miles
comment
When desperate, be a desperate Buddha. -Sarge
Monday September 6th, 2010: 16 miles
AM: 16 miles (52:02 min) (7:25/pace) New Haven Road Race I ran the New Haven 20k road race this morning. It was fairly mild weather, sunny and a breezy and generally very good for running. Warmed up on my own and then with Eugene a bit. My legs definitely felt a bit stiff and sore, though once I got going into the race I didn't notice them at all.
I got out well and very quickly tucked in behind a pack that included about a dozen elite women. This proved to be a bit of a miscalculation, as I came through the mile in 5:33, 10-20 seconds faster than I wanted. I figure we would ease off a bit, but remarkably we didn't, running another 5:33 mile, and finally coming through the 4 mile in about 21:51! The ladies had already started dropping me before this point, and by the time I came through the 5 mile mark in 27:29 I was virtually alone, and dying. After going up a fairly long hill, I was hurting and already imagining my swift collapse. I managed to hold it together for a 5:38 on the sixth mile, coming through the 10k in 34:25. At this point I was slowing down and starting to get passed by the occasional runner, but when we turned onto long wharf I was surprised at my suddenly upbeat feelings. I calmed myself down and told myself it was ok to slow down a bit, that I was out too fast and I needed to relax. I spent the next couple miles allowing myself to ease into a slower pace mostly letting a runner go by me every once and a while, sometimes sticking with them for a little bit. Miles 7, 8, 9 and 10 were 5:49, 5:49, 5:51, 5:57 as we made our way through Fairhaven and East Rock. Strangely, I started feeling very good, and gradually I was holding my ground and even passing people sometimes. It was a boost to have Maya cheering for me in East Rock, and I was excited soon after to see that I was still around 5:40 pace at the 10 mile mark. Most of the final 2.5 miles consisted of running straight down Whitney with cheering crowds. I found myself feeling alternately exhilarated and desperately exhausted. I dropped the pace a bit, splitting 5:44 and 5:39 over the 11th and 12th miles, continuing to pass people. In the final stretch I put in a decent kick, and ended up just barely catching (but not passing) the 9th place women, 46 year old Colleen Dereuk. My final time was 70:20, 43rd place.
I am extremely happy with the result of this race, especially with how I handled it mentally. It was one of the only times I have ever broken through my own self-doubts and come back to compete pretty well. It's possible that if I hadn't gone out so hard, and I hadn't raced two days ago, I could have run faster, but I am satisfied regardless. I think this was a real step forward for me, finally improving slightly on my half marathon pace to about 5:40 per mile. I also think it was psychological step forward for me, knowing I can come back from the brink of giving to finish well. I am pleased that the training I put in this summer is already paying off, and I am excited for what I can do throughout the rest of the fall. Next up, Reach the Beach!
Hung out with Dan a bit after the race, and also saw Brad, Eugene, and Dodds among others. Jogged back to my apartment slowly as a cool down. Also, I finished first for the Yale grad student team (we won the corporate race) and I was the first overall finisher from New Haven.
PM: 0 miles
comment
so how many bones did you rake in for being first New Haven finisher? -TG
Sunday September 5th, 2010: 6 miles
AM: 6 miles (46:16 min) (7:40/pace) Nature Trail Got up and ran first thing this morning with Dodds and Josef. Ran a couple nature trails. Legs were definitely feeling very stiff in a lot of places, though not especially sore. Hope they are alright for tomorrow. The weather was nice and mild and breezy, and I really enjoyed the run. Stretched a lot after.
Running the New Haven 20k tomorrow. With the state of my legs in mind in particular I am planning to not go out too hard. I would much prefer to pick up the pace gradually and pass people during the course of the race. Anything under 6 min pace to start would be fine, but definitely no faster than 5:40. I will give myself plenty of time to work into a good rhythm and hopefully find some people to run with. This time I will keep in mind that effort-wise the race really isn't half over until around 9 miles, and will be focused on really pushing myself over that final last stretch. I really have little idea of what I can run, given the race yesterday. 70 min (about 5:38 pace) would be awesome, but I have no delusions that that is necessarily a reasonable goal for me right now. I suppose that if I could keep it a little faster than my half-marathon pace, so in the mid-5:40s, I would be thrilled, so probably 71 is better for me to shoot for. At the least I want to be able to enjoy it.
PM: 0 miles
comment
Saturday September 4th, 2010: 12 miles
AM: 9 miles (46:16 min) (7:40/pace) Alumni Race Ran the alumni race this morning at 8:30. It wasn't too hot out, though a little dusty. Felt pretty good warming up. I got out decently, though I was slightly boxed in early, but eventually got into good position near Paul, who I proceeded to run the next two miles with. Came through the first mile in about 5:20, so about what I wanted, though I figured I could speed up a bit. Spent the entire next mile closing in on Golato, and came through in about the same pace at 10:40. At that point I was just catching Golato and I put in a little surge to pass him. Right about then the fatigue of the pace caught up to me fast, and I quickly found Golato repassing me, followed by Paul. I didn't quite fall apart over the final stretch of the race, but I really faded. I got passed by Faraz, Haneman, Nutters, and Josef (possibly in that order), and crossed the line in 16:12. I'm pretty disappointed in the time, given that it's about 15 seconds sloer than last year, and slower than I have run since college. Honestly I don't think I could have run much faster than 16-flat no matter what today, however now that I look back on it that would have been a good performance had I run that time. I think it would have put me a good 6 places up around pretty good competition. Essentially I just let the race get away from me in that last mile, when I think I could/should have been able to hold it together. At races end I really wasn't that tired, and my legs felt surprisingly fresh on the cooldown. Clearly I didn't run up to my potential today, and I think that was the result of a lack of focus on my part. Leading up to the race I really was too relaxed, and I think when I got into it I was able to kind of sleepwalk through the first couple miles, but I folded when I was under pressure. It was just poor racing.
The only possible silver lining is that I may have saved my legs a bit for Monday. Plus I feel this should jerk me back into a real racing mindset. I got in a good long cooldown afterwards, and hopefully my legs should be good to go again in a couple days.
PM: 3 miles Trail Shakeout with Burm, Neil and Golden out along the trail for a bit and then back Jossi's place. Felt actually very good.
comment
When cold, be a cold Buddha. -Jossi
Friday September 3rd, 2010: 4 miles
AM: 4 miles (31:52 min) (7:45/pace) Prospect Short loop first thing in the morning. I still had a small bit of tightness around my hips, though I'm sure it should be fine by tomorrow. Otherwise I felt pretty good, and ready to race. The plan for tomorrow is pretty straightforward. Don't go out too hard and try to stay even paced throughout. I am mostly just planning to pace myself off of others and try to stay competitive throughout. It should be interesting to race after a pretty long layoff, and I hope I'm not too rusty out the gates. If conditions permit, I would like to run a PR, maybe even sub-15:50. I know I'm in pretty good shape, so more importantly I just need to focus on running to the fullness of my capabilities.
PM: 0 miles
comment
Thursday September 2nd, 2010: 5 miles
AM: 5 miles (38:40 min) (7:36/pace) Mill River Trails Slow moving this morning. My legs still feel a little sore from Tuesday, especially near the tops of my hamstrings. Ran in some new precisions, which felt ok but surprisingly loose. Not a great run, but it's nice to back off a bit in these few days leading up to the race.
PM: 0 miles
comment
Wednesday September 1st, 2010: 7 miles
AM: 7 miles (50:26 min) (7:08/pace) Patriotic Ran first thing this morning, and I definitely was a little sore in a few places from the workout yesterday. I'm sure it's nothing I won't get over in a couple days. Did Patriotic to give my legs a break on the trails, though the short steep hills were tiring. It was still cool enough while I was out, and by the end of the run I was feeling ok.
PM: 0 miles
comment
09-01-2010