Saturday, July 07, 2007

7-7-07 Beulah 5K Race


This morning was race day. I decided to go ahead and run the Beulah 5K - this a race sponsored by local high school to support their athletic group ( I think it's the athletic dept. - another race is held in November for the band). I figured it would be a small race - it consisted of a 1 mile fun run, and a 5k race. I had not set any firm goals for my time - I would be happy with anything under 30 minutes. This was to be a 'practice' race to see how bad the race day adrenaline would affect my pacing. How badly would I roar out of the gate, and burn out before the end of the race. I was not particularly worried about finishing the race because I usually train at between 4 to 6 miles a day, and still increasing mileage every week.

I arrived an hour before the race started so I could complete my late registration, and look around a little before the race started. There wasn't much to see, and there weren't' many people there yet either. I didn't get my shirt, and just figured I'd pick it up later since I didn't come for the T-shirt. They ran out shortly after more people showed up and registered late, but they said they'd mail it to me - if they do - great, if not - no big loss. The race got started a little late because of problems with the big clock.

By the time the race started, there looked to be about 60 to 70 runners for the 5K. I had planned on wearing my bright red VBS shirt from church, figuring that Steph could pick me out of the crowd at the finish line if I was brighter. Just before the race started, a light drizzle moved it and turned the area into a sauna. I did a short warm up run - probably only about 3/8 mile and I was drenched. I thought it might rain some more, so I elected to run shirtless - I had seen a few other runners come out of their shirts so I didn't feel like it was inappropriate to do the same.

I got directions from the coordinator ( I had no idea what the race route would be - luckily it was pretty well marked at the turns - firetrucks make great signposts), and lined up about 2 rows from the front. I didn't feel like I started much faster than my training pace (adrenaline), and I watched the people around me to find someone at a similar pace. The route took us immediately to a very rough dirt road - I later heard some of the runners commenting on how they had not prepared for that, and were not used to running on loose rock dirt roads. I didn't mind the dirt road, luckily the rain had knocked down any dust so it wasn't like running in a dust storm - although it was still pretty warm very early in the morning. The route went back to asphalt pretty quickly ( probably within 1/2 mile)

I was aiming (roughly) for a 30 minute race, which is about 9:30 per mile - at my 1st mile split, I was cruising along at 8:02 - - MUCH FASTER THAN I FELT I SHOULD HAVE BEEN GOING. I didn't feel like I was pushing to hard, so I just tried to maintain. At the 2 mile split, I was at 16:24 - I had lost 20 seconds off my pace - not surprising given my speed. It's worth noting that on last night, I only ran 2 miles, and tried to run them fast to get an idea of what I could do in a pinch, I was only able to post 8:45 per mile - so the race got me somewhere between 20 and 45 seconds worth of adrenaline boost - WILD! We had to run past the final turn and come back to it to finish and I'd decided to give my final boost at the top of the last hill. That would give me a little over a 1/4 mile to run out the last of my reserves. In that last 1/4 mile or so, I passed about 5 people. I crossed the line @ 25:23 - more than 4 minutes ahead of my loose target. I was thrilled with the time. I ended up winning 1st place for my age group - although there were only 2 in my age group. I finished 26th overall. I had a blast, and am looking forward to Country's in August.

My race time presents a small problem - but it's a good one to have:
In January when I started this, I had set the goal of 27 minutes for the Country's race. Obviously I can make that now, but I just set a time of 25:23, which means I need to train to break that time at the Country's race. I figure I'll target a flat 25 minutes for that race.

Friday, July 06, 2007

7-5-07

Late post - -

Tonight was my first run after returning from Tennessee. I got up early this morning and drove for 6+ hours getting home, but we got home by 3pm. I tried to take a short nap after I got home (with little success) in preparation for the evening run. I planned on doing just 4 miles since I figured I'd be tired and worn from the traveling (I was right).

We got to the dam about 6:30pm and it was already starting to cool off pretty well. After the warm up walk, I decided to run really slowly to get my legs under me, and it worked pretty well. When I got to the 2 mile turnaround point, I was feeling pretty good, and decided I would go an additional half mile, but on the return trip, I realized that the extra distance wasn't a good idea. I had to cut back to my original 4 mile goal - I was just too worn out from the drive, and heavy food. It was still an okay run - I just hated making the commitment to another half mile in my mind, then having to back off of it. Usually when I add distance in the middle of a run, I immediately think it was a mistake, but I won't let myself decide to cut the distance until I get to the full mileage, then I'll decide if I can go the extra mileage. This time, when I got to the 4 mile mark, it was over - there was no going the extra half without it being more difficult than it needed to be.

I'm going to run the Buelah 5K on Saturday, so I'll probably only go about 2 miles on Friday. I just want to get my legs warmed up.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

7-3-07 Still with the Church group

This morning we ran at Moss Wright Park again. I did 6.4 miles - but I don't know any times ( still not wearing a watch). I'm really loving that park. We ran into one of the members from the church we're visitng and Steph walked with her for a while as I finished my run. Temp was nice, and the crowd was light.

Short post because I need to go eat.

Rest day tomorrow.

Monday, July 02, 2007

7-2-07 Travelling with Church Group

This week, I'm in Tennessee with my church youth group this week, so I've been adventuring into a new running area. We found (were shown) a running park called Moss Wright Park. It was a great run. I wasn't sure if we would be able to find a place to run, so I was glad to find this place.

It was a beautiful park, and I planned to run 4 miles. I ended up running 5.16, but didn't know it until I got back to my laptop and verified it with gmaps.

Nice and cool, but humid. It was a trail area with very little asphalt, so it was nice and easy on my legs, plus much of the area was shaded, so it was very easy and calm run.