Mile attempt #6

I debated whether or not to report this attempt for two reasons. 1) I had a different workout planned, and 2) it sucked.

I left the house planning to do 4 800s at 2:40 pace at the junior high track (which only seemed about 2 miles away). I wanted to do an easy warm up from the house. It turns out that the track was actually over 3 miles away. I had told Lani when I expected to be back based on my 2 mile estimate. By the time I got to the track, I knew I wouldn't have enough time to do my planned workout, so I thought "What the heck. Let's just do a mile."

After last weeks attempt, I had made a new plan. For my next attempt, I'd try to run the quarters in 1:20. That would give me mile time of 5:20, 5 seconds faster than my current best, and that much closer to my goal. I don't know what happened, but I started out way too fast. Maybe I was distracted by the guys driving their suped-up remote control cars across the track, but my first quarter was a 1:10. Whoa! About half way through the second lap, I began to realize just how big of a mistake that was.

Second lap - 1:25
Third lap - 1:34
Final lap - 1:31

Oh my. I was completely exhausted. It was getting hot, and I still had more than 3 miles to get back home. I hadn't realized how big those hills were when I was coming down them.

Things to remember for next time:

1. Make sure my warm-up is closer to 1 mile than 3.
2. Go earlier in the morning before it gets too hot.
3. Stick to the game plan - 1:20 quarters.
4. Don't stay up so late watching 24.

Stay tuned for attempt #7 (and a new PR).

Provo River Trail 10 Mile Race Report

When we came to Utah, I was really looking forward to some races on my old turf. Last week was the Art City Days 5k, and yesterday I ran the Provo River Trail 10 Mile. I've run this race once back in 2002. It was actually one of the first races I had ever done after high school. So I was excited that our being in town coincided with this race.

I don't know how cold it was at the start, but I was freezing, and I didn't appreciate having to strip down 15 minutes before the start. Needless to say, I was happy to get started. My plan was to run the first 3 miles at 7 minute pace or above, the next 3 or 4 at 7 minute pace, and the final 3 or 4 under 7 minute pace to finish under 1 hour and 10 minutes.

My first mile was right on at 7:02. I was feeling pretty good knowing that I didn't get caught up starting too fast. Shortly after the first mile marker, I ran into Chuck, and our next 3 miles were all around 6:40, faster than I had planned, but we were feeling good so we kept going. Somehow, our next mile was 7:00, even though it didn't seem like we had slowed down at all. Our next 3 miles were all between 6:40 and 6:55. Chuck had to stop and walk just before mile 8, so I kept going. With 2 miles to go, I felt I could pick up the pace a little. I ran mile 9 in 6:35, and then gave it all I had to run the final mile in 6:05. My official time was 1:07:24, good enough for 10th place overall. That's a PR by about 7 minutes, and 1 minute faster than my 9 on the 9th virtual race back in February. I'm not sure about my age group because the results have not been posted yet.

This was a really cool race for me. It was a beautiful run through the canyon and along the river. Also, only one person passed me. That happened between miles 2 and 3, and Chuck and I caught him by mile 5. I was able to keep a really good pace and even catch several other runners over the last few miles and finish really strong. That was definitely part of my race strategy.

Mile attempt #5

Yesterday, while Lani and the girls were visiting Grandma, I headed out for a run. As I was getting ready, I remembered the high school track was not far from her house. So I thought make another attempt at my 5 minute mile. It's been a couple weeks since my last attempt, so I wanted to give it another try. My first lap was right on pace, but I was really feeling it. Things went downhill from there. By the end of the third lap, I just wanted to quit, but I couldn't let myself do that. I mean, come on, there's only one lap to go. I'm not a quitter. That final lap was killer though. As I rounded the final turn, I looked at my watch and realized I was in reach of a new PR, so I gave it all I had and just about died as I crossed the finish. I looked down at my watch and saw 5:26. I was pretty proud of my finish time considering how hard the run was.

Does anybody know how long it takes to get used to elevation changes as far as training goes? My brother-in-law's place is over 4000 feet higher than Phoenix. I know going up in elevation makes training more difficult than in lower elevations, so I am kinda thinking that I'll be able to get to that 5 minute mark when we head home. Until then, I'll get in as much training as I can.

Stay tuned for attempt #6.

24, the Art City, and a little rain

We have been visiting Lani's family for the last few days, and her brother introduced us to the show 24. If you've not seen it before, DO NOT START! Especially late in the evening, and especially not before a race. It's so addictive that we just couldn't stop. Thursday night we stayed up pretty late, but Friday night we stayed up so late that by the time we went to bed, we had less than 3 hours before we had to get up to go run the Art City Days 5k. We woke up from our nap to pouring rain (something we've never seen in the 6 years of us doing this race). Luckily, it had slowed to a sprinkle by the time we got to the start.

Even though it was kind of a miserable morning, we had fun run. I was a happy to oblige when Lani asked me to run it with her rather than run on my own. I knew I wouldn't be able to run the race I wanted under the circumstances (minimal sleep, the rain, and the much higher elevation than I am used to). It was definitely much more satisfying running with Lani and pacing her to a new PR. Her previous best was about 33 minutes. Today she ran it under 29! I'm so proud of her. It is so cool to see how much she is progressing and enjoying running. We have a 10k coming up in a little less than a month, so we'll see how that one goes.

For your viewing pleasure...

I changed the layout of my blog. I tried to keep a similar color scheme and make it a little more unique. The picture up top is from a negative of a picture Lani took at the Boston Marathon. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Move a Million Miles for Ryan Hall

You may remember my post from about a week ago asking if anyone is interested in logging their miles to support Ryan Hall as he prepares for the Olympic Marathon. Here's a link to a motivational video from Ryan himself explaining the purpose of the movement. I've gotten a few responses regarding logging your miles as part of a group. So now the question is what should we call ourselves? I kinda like the simplicity of "RBFs." What do you all think? Unless anyone has a different idea, let's go with that. All you have to do is type the group name in the "Group Affiliation" box, and submit your miles. Thanks for running with me.