When is a 10K not a 10K?

I've never loved philosophical questions.  But i'm pretty sure I ran a 6.5 mile 10k last night.  Like many runs, it was a run to raise money for a great charity - but as a runner, it is a little depressing to really push for - what turned out to be - 46 minutes, and find yourself facing a 7:27 pace - when you really feel like you earned a 7:10 or better.  I didn't gps it myself - but most people at the finish said over 6.5.  In the end, 7:10, 7:05 - doesn't really make it a good race anyway - but 7:27 is really below average for me - and doesn't give me much confidence moving forward.

That's the bad.  The good is many things.  Great night to run, free food afterward.  Never seen much of Sudbury - so that was nice.  Feel really good to support Smile Mass.  I'll definately run next - if nothing else to check the distance.  And if it was 7:10ish - a great workout.  I'll probably do a run or two next week - then go into shutdown for two weeks before kicking up to marathon training.

Two Good Run So Far

This week I'm blessed with absolutely awesome weather.  Yesterday I did 6.5 by myself in the hokas. I thought I was going slow, but ended up doing 7:58s.  Similar story today - was aiming to take it easy but I finished 4.6 with collegue in under 36 minutes - so maybe 7:45s or 7:50s.  The good news is that it feels pretty effortless.  Legs were a little sore yesterday - and feeling pretty good today - starting to think the adrenlines are the way to go.

The only way to get faster...

...is to practice running faster.  Today I did 4x800s around the loop.  It felt hard.  Actually, it was really windy today - so going west along the esplenade felt easy; the third one was getting hard and the last one into the wind felt pretty impossible.  But, like all intervals, it ended and I slogged it back into work.  Tuesday I did 4.6 with liam and larry - pretty fast 37 mintues for the loop.  Missed the thursday night jog tomight - home watching the kids - playing harry potter monopoly with elena and listening to suffragette city - which sounds like the best song i ever heard tonight.  really want to figure out the cords to this one.

Easing Back

Did my longest run since the knee twang two months ago: 8.1 miles up and down the minuteman.  The legs felt good - i had a little knee feeling about 5-6 miles along - but it seemed to fade.  Will have to wait and see if Hoka cushioning is working or not.  The pace up was a little slow (8:36), but I made up some time going back down and ended with 8:26 - which is right about where my long runs need to be.  I may push to ten next week - or just stay at 8 - doesn't really matter much.  Just need to stay healthy and get a few runs in.

One Mile

Yesterday evening I headed to Concord with Larry to do the mile race.  The meet was great fun.  My race was a little before 6pm.  For some reason very few 'normal' runners turn out for this thing.  I was in the 40-49 open heat with 13 dudes (and a few ladies).  I finished my mile at 5:58.9 - good for 12th out 13 men (and behind one of the ladies).  I'm ok with that, as it is my fastest timed mile ever.  The first lap felt really great.  about halfway through the second lap I started thinking it was gettning hard.  By the 3rd lap it started to feel like a race.  They had a clock at the end of the back stretch - which was nice - running 6s meant I needed to be hitting that at 0:45, 2:15, 3:45 and 5:15.  I was always under and just tried to chug it in.  The remainder of the meet was awesome fun.  Really fast men and women running really fast races.  One of my favorites of all time.

Track Mile Time

I'm pretty pumped to have finished my 2.5 week training plan for the upcoming track mile.  I did 6.6 miles on Monday - up the minuteman in Arlington.  Yesterday I headed out with the new running group at work for the normal 4.7 - but we did average 7:45s - so that would be a MP run.  Am I ready for tomorrow?  My last official track mile was in 2008 - and I did 6:03.  I've always thought I could break 6 - and have unofficially - but I'm pretty sure i didn't when i was timing miles last fall during marathon training workouts - and i had some trouble breaking 3 minutes for the 800s two weeks ago.  In any case, I'll be close.  I've been told i should pick up some racing flats - but kinda worry about my legs - not sure if it's worth it.