Sunday, September 30, 2007

Niantic Bay 1/2 Marathon

Today was the Niantic Bay Half Marathon. The day was perfect to run a race, but I really wasn't up to it. The overall pace was 8:16 according to my GPS (but it also had an extra .1 mile on it - so I expect the official results will be closer to 8:20), which put me at 1 hour, 49 minutes and 15 seconds. The run was similar to the New Haven 20K, although I hit the wall after mile 10. The last 3 miles were gruesome. Here is the pace break down (every 2 miles): 8:08, 7:44, 7:57, 8:13, 8:11, 8:52 and 9:06 for the last 1.1 mile. I should find a good 10 mile road race.

Things that hurt: ankles, feet, stomach (upset) and muscles in my back.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

1/2 Marathon Tomorrow?

Well that taper didn't go so well. I did my last 'intense' run Monday - about 21 minutes of tempo (7:30) - which felt great. But that was it? I can't say I'm optimistic going into the half. A crazy work schedule has been killing me. Oh well, October will be a better month.

Friday, September 21, 2007

13 Miles Home

Today I did 13.25 miles home with my friend Dave. It took just about 2 hours - overall pace was 9:15 with a lot of walk breaks. The 20K training must have helped because it felt pretty slow - but with the 'long' runs I don't think a fast pace is that important. Now a weekend a rest and a taper.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

CVS Snafu


So this weekend I ran in the CVS 5K+. Since I put down my 3.5 mile Chase time (~24 minutes) when I registered, I ended up in 'wave 2' - which was fine except for the fact that all the volunteers left the course and the whole wave did some extra running. A surreal experience - being out in front of thousands of runners asking bystanders for directions. Ironically, I ended up running about 3.5 miles anyway, at the exact time I entered when I registered: 24 minutes, 7 seconds - good for about 6:53 pace. The good news:
  1. It counts for a nice 3.5 mile tempo run.
  2. We won 1st in the corporate team (although my time didn't matter).
  3. I got to go out yesterday...
...and had some nice mile intervals (6:27, 6:31 and 6:58). So my speed is ok and Friday I'm going to try 13 miles as my first and final distance training run for the Niantic 1/2 Marathon.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

2x3 Mile Tempo

A nice cool dry day today. Since the wind was blowing I decided to do the tempo today and the swim tomorrow or Friday. Both tempos felt difficult, but doable: 7:18 min/mile for the first 3 and 7:24 min/mile for the last 3 for an average of 7:21. Felt like a great workout, however I got a blister on my left arch toward the end, so I walked in the last 1.3 miles. Hopefully it'll heal by Sunday.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Rainy Day Intervals

Today I did 5x400s at the Con College track before heading home. It wasn't that the rain got bad at the end - but it didn't stop pouring until 4:20 - and that only left me for 1/2 an hour. Oh well, it may actually help for the race Sunday. The intervals felt good - it took about 1:30 min per lap - so my pace was about 6:00 min/mile.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Training for 2 Races at One Time

So I have the CVS Downtown 5K in Providence this weekend, and then 20 days from now I have the new Niantic 1/2 Marathon. The problem is how to get miles in for the Niantic 1/2, while not waring myself out for the 5K this weekend? I'm not certain I have a good solution, but I started today with a 4 mile run/1/3 mile swim (~6 miles total). Tomorrow, I'll try some 1200 intervals (good for both races). Then Wednesday and Thursday I'll do a run/swim and tempo (2x3Miles). The tempo is tricky - it'll be about 8 miles total - the key is getting a good run in that I can recover from in 72 hours. That gives me some decent mileage (~24 miles) without killing me for Sunday. Then I can get one good long run in next week to keep my endurance up - hopefully that will be enough.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Unbelievable

We have had the best weather in the nation for the last month or so, but every time I go for my run, the humidity cranks up and kills me. Today it was a 86% on an otherwise beautiful afternoon [74 deg.]. Nevertheless - Larry, Dave and myself did a 2.8 mile tempo run: 7:16, 7:15, 7:13 - for a nice 20 min+ tempo run. 5 miles total - so for the week it is ~17.5 (including the race).

9 days from now is the CVS Downtown 5K. Pending weather, I'll try and sneak in a swim Monday and some intervals on Tuesday.

Monday, September 03, 2007

New Haven Road Race 2007

Today was the New Haven Road Race - a Labor day 20 K run. I finished in 1 hour 39 minutes and 1 second, for an 7:57 min/mile pace. I ran a pretty good race, but really died after mile 9. The last 3 miles were very difficult. Here is the pace by mile:
8:18, 7:39, 7:47, 7:31, 7:38, 7:46, 7:33, 7:41, 7:57, 8:17, 8:17, 8:25 and 8:06 (for the last 0.5 miles). If I do the Niantic Bay 1/2, I'll have to do a few more 13+ long runs.

The race itself was impressive: almost 3000 runners, water stations galore, and great weather - although how much easier this would have been if one day earlier - since yesterday was chilly. The mens overall winner (and USA 20 K champ) was Dan Browne, while the first woman was Alicia Shay.

I prepped for the race with 3 straight days of swim/runs (Tues/Wed/Thur).