March Totals

After a very slow and sluggish start to the new year, I finally got my March mileage totals into "respectable" territory.  After a recovery run tomorrow, I should be north of 250 miles which is the biggest month since last fall.  It's only going to get better from now until October.  I am looking at 300 in April and 350 in May, which should give me a solid mileage base heading into June marathon training.

I raced again this Saturday, the very hilly and challenging MDRA 7 miler, which I finished in 44:03.  Not a bad time considering mile 5 is almost all uphill and a big, ugly uphil at that.  My pace dropped from 6:10 to 6:43 on that mile!  Respectable finish though, logging the last mile in 5:53.  Capped off my week with a 14 miler in glorious weather.

I am need of a new shoe.  I love the original Brooks Pure Conmect and even grew to love the Pure Connect 2, but the Pure Connects 3 are just not going to cut it.  Where is that track shoe fit?  Gone is the responsiveness and the spring.  It's too roomy and the platform is too wide.  Drat!  I only have a few weeks left in my old shoes, so I need to get to work and find a replacement. I am going to check out the Puma 100 series shoe today and I will be back with a review next week.

Happy Running

Rick

Back in the Racing Saddle

It felt good to get back to racing this week.  I have to admit that going into the first race on such little mileage had me a little worried.  I had visions of me running out of gas around mile 4 and coasting in for the final mile.  So, today it was the Irish Run 8k which is the USATF 8k Championships, which means all the truly speedy old guys show up.  I had no delusions of placing, but I did want to make a good showing for my team.  It was cold today, about 20 degrees, which means a couple of layers, gloves, hat and tights.  Not ideal, but there were a few crazies out there in shorts and singlets.  Not this guy.  After a warm up, I was ready to go and pretty nervous.  This low mileage experiment was just that, an experiment.  The first mile was flat and sheltered, I went out too fast, but reined it in and hit the first marker in 6 flat.  Mile 2 had a tailwind, but has a gradual uphill, so I slowed to a 6:10 pace.  Mile 3 continued with the tailwind, but with some downhill, which felt good and I cruised at 5:57.  After mile 3 we make the turnaround and the wind really sucked.  I worked like hell to stay close to 6 pace, but it dropped to 6:13.  The hill peaks with about a half mile to go, so runners get to finish strong.  At one point I hit 5:45 and finished strong with a time of 30:15.  About 20 seconds slower than last year, but my mileage is down by almost a third compared to last year.  Plus I am a year older and it was windy.  Enough excuses???!!!

Anyway, very happy with my fitness level at this mileage.  As thing start getting more intense, I see nothing but upside.  Good to be back out there, now if we can just get to some weather when we all can be wearing shorts again.  Please?!

Happy Running!

Rick

New Motivation

I took advantage of the spring-like weather this week, running outside everyday, and logging four double digit runs.  More importantly, I found a spark of inspiration, which has been buried in the snow, ice and bitterly cold temps of this endless winter.  After my Friday run with my daughter, I took the afternoon to map out my running plans.  Racing season starts with the Irish Run 8k next Sunday and I found myself getting excited.  I live in an area with so many great races and so many running opportunities, if you don't plan properly you can miss out.  I'm a hopeless planner anyway, so I really  gain motivation by creating these road maps.  

I will be curious to see how I perform at the 8k next week, since my mileage has been substantially lower than it has over the last two years.  The quality has been there, but I have been very careful and deliberate in my mileage build-up.  I feel like I have that luxury since I decided to forgo a spring marathon.  So lots of spring and early summer racing to focus on, The Irish Run 8k, MDRA 7 miler,  Ron Dawes 25k, Fred Kurz 10 mile, and the Get in Gear10k all lead up to my goal race, the New Prague Half Marathon.  I can't wait to get started.

After the barrage of spring racing, I will have a couple of easy weeks before I officially start training June 2nd for the TC Marathon in October.  I hope to go into this training cycle with fresh legs and new perspective.  It needs to be an aggressive, all-out effort if I am going to break 2:53, but I think it's in reach.  I'll be posting weekly from here on out; I find this public journal helps me stay on track and is an invaluable tool for me in measuring and tracking progress.  Here we go!

Happy Running!

Rick