So May is over, and although it was a good month of training it ends with a troubling achilles injury that I'm hoping isn't too serious.
Only one real race, but a new PR:
-- San Carlos 10k - 42:51 (6:54 Pace)
........7th Place Overall
Mileage
-- A little lower than planned (skipped a day yesterday)
-- Ran 26 times in 31 days (Goal was 27)
-- Average Run 7.3 Miles
-- Average Pace 8:11
-- Average Heart Rate 152
-- 191 Total Miles (new Max)
-- Lots and lots and lots of hills
-- 43 Average Weekly Miles (new Max)
-- 52 Longest Week (new Max)
-- 810 Miles 2007
June Goals
-- Make sure to not screw up my achilles tendon further!
-- Another Big Month!
-- Run 23/30 days
-- Big week of 55 miles
-- Maybe hit 200 for the month (goal is 197)
-- Race1: Palo Alto 10k 6/17
------(Goal 1 - new PR, sub 42:51 6:54 Pace)
------(Goal 2 - sub 42:00 6:46 Pace)
------(Stretch goal - sub 41:00 6:36 Pace)
-- Race2: Oracle 5k 6/21
------(Goal 1 - new PR, sub 20:38 6:38 Pace)
------(Goal 2 - sub 20:00 6:26 Pace)
------(Stretch goal - 19:30 6:17 Pace)
All of this is going to be dependant on how (if?) my achilles tendonitis (self diagnosis) clears up. Way too many hill runs in May and now I'm paying the price. Off to see the sports doctor tomorrow, hoping that a couple weeks with no speedwork and hills is all I need to get back to 100%. I'm a little worried that this could be enough to bugger up my sub 1:30 attempt in July.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Solid Week
A pretty solid week for the last full week of May....
Given the large improvement I still need to go under 1:30, I've changed the plan a little for the next 6 weeks as I build up to the Los Gatos Half Marathon. I think I need to be doing more miles at the planned race pace. I'm upping the mileage a little by introducing a second longish run (9-12) on Thursdays. The plan for those is to run most of the miles at an easy pace (low 8's) but to do 2x2 mile stretches at planned race pace (6:52). I need a little extra something to get those last 4 minutes off the clock. Not sure if this will do the trick, or just mess up everything. Guess we'll see in July.
Weekly planned mileage at 57, 55, 44 (including a 10k pace check), 57, 54, 50 and then 37 for race week.
I also decided it was time to get some faster shoes for track work (not that I ever seem to end up doing this) and the shorter 5k races. So I got some racing flats. They are bright red and pretty ugly, so if I wear them I will have to run quick!
No running on Monday, just recovering from the 10k.
Tuesday was hot, and I was running about 3pm. Did a 7 miler with 5@ a slow tempo pace (7:21). That didn't feel great. Of course, water might help!
Easy 5 on Wednesday (8:18)
Thursday was meant to be 6x1000 meters at the track but the high school was training, so I did a wimpy 7 with just 3 at a slow tempo (7:22).
Easy 7 on Friday (8:28)
Lots of hills on Saturday with an "easy" 12 miler (8:13). This was a tough one as it had some pretty steep climbing, but it was a good run.
Wrapped up with another easy 6-7 on Sunday.
Total for the week of 44-45.
Given the large improvement I still need to go under 1:30, I've changed the plan a little for the next 6 weeks as I build up to the Los Gatos Half Marathon. I think I need to be doing more miles at the planned race pace. I'm upping the mileage a little by introducing a second longish run (9-12) on Thursdays. The plan for those is to run most of the miles at an easy pace (low 8's) but to do 2x2 mile stretches at planned race pace (6:52). I need a little extra something to get those last 4 minutes off the clock. Not sure if this will do the trick, or just mess up everything. Guess we'll see in July.
Weekly planned mileage at 57, 55, 44 (including a 10k pace check), 57, 54, 50 and then 37 for race week.
I also decided it was time to get some faster shoes for track work (not that I ever seem to end up doing this) and the shorter 5k races. So I got some racing flats. They are bright red and pretty ugly, so if I wear them I will have to run quick!
Sunday, May 20, 2007
San Carlos 10k
Just finished this morning's 10k race. The goal was to do it in 42 minutes (6:45 pace). I was feeling pretty good at the start after a rest day yesterday and a couple miles warmup before the race.
As usual I started too quick, with the first quarter mile at 6:18 pace, settled down as we got to the first hill, which was not big, just about 70' climb over half mile but enough to stretch out the field. Got over that hill at 6:54 pace and then kept up the effort as we went down 80' over the next mile. By mile 2 it was the only flat bit of the day and I was running nicely at 6:45, but I'd covered the first 2 miles a little fast at 6:36.
Mile 3 and 4 went uphill, only about 80', but with a gradual increase in grade. By the time I reached the top at mile 4 I was running about 7:05, even though my average pace for all 4 miles was still about right at 6:48. I was definitely paying once again for that fast hill start.
Mile 5 was a little down then the steepest uphill part. Averaged 7:12 for that mile and was definitely feeling the pain at this point.
Decided that it was time to kick and try to catch the guy ahead as we went into the final downhill. Did a quarter at 6:40, then sped up to 6:18 as I caught up with him. He didn't want me passing and we increased the pace over the next quarter mile and got down to 6 minute pace. Finished out mile 6 fast which was an average of 6:22.
By now I was completely spent, the guy had one final kick and I couldn't keep up on the final little uphill stretch to the line. I let him go and focused on not puking, managed to run the last .3 (course was a little long) at 6:35 pace but at the end I had nothing left.
Crossed the line at 42:51, so missed my goal by 51 seconds. I think the course was a little long (Garmin came in at 6.30) and had a lot of corners (where Garmin usually measures short, not long). Official pace was 6:54, Garmin pace was 6:47.
Finished in 7th place (which was surprisingly only 5th in my age group at 40-49)
Overall I am disappointed that I missed the goal but happy with the effort. It was hillier than I expected and I'm pretty sure I could have gone sub 42 on a flat, accurate course. I still need to be more disciplined about pacing in these 10ks as there is little room for error when you run so close to your limit.
Now it's 4 weeks to the next 10k, which is flat. I'd like to run that one at a 6:30 pace for a time around 40:30, so I need to get some real solid training in over the next 4 weeks if that's going to happen.
As usual I started too quick, with the first quarter mile at 6:18 pace, settled down as we got to the first hill, which was not big, just about 70' climb over half mile but enough to stretch out the field. Got over that hill at 6:54 pace and then kept up the effort as we went down 80' over the next mile. By mile 2 it was the only flat bit of the day and I was running nicely at 6:45, but I'd covered the first 2 miles a little fast at 6:36.
Mile 3 and 4 went uphill, only about 80', but with a gradual increase in grade. By the time I reached the top at mile 4 I was running about 7:05, even though my average pace for all 4 miles was still about right at 6:48. I was definitely paying once again for that fast hill start.
Mile 5 was a little down then the steepest uphill part. Averaged 7:12 for that mile and was definitely feeling the pain at this point.
Decided that it was time to kick and try to catch the guy ahead as we went into the final downhill. Did a quarter at 6:40, then sped up to 6:18 as I caught up with him. He didn't want me passing and we increased the pace over the next quarter mile and got down to 6 minute pace. Finished out mile 6 fast which was an average of 6:22.
By now I was completely spent, the guy had one final kick and I couldn't keep up on the final little uphill stretch to the line. I let him go and focused on not puking, managed to run the last .3 (course was a little long) at 6:35 pace but at the end I had nothing left.
Crossed the line at 42:51, so missed my goal by 51 seconds. I think the course was a little long (Garmin came in at 6.30) and had a lot of corners (where Garmin usually measures short, not long). Official pace was 6:54, Garmin pace was 6:47.
Finished in 7th place (which was surprisingly only 5th in my age group at 40-49)
Overall I am disappointed that I missed the goal but happy with the effort. It was hillier than I expected and I'm pretty sure I could have gone sub 42 on a flat, accurate course. I still need to be more disciplined about pacing in these 10ks as there is little room for error when you run so close to your limit.
Now it's 4 weeks to the next 10k, which is flat. I'd like to run that one at a 6:30 pace for a time around 40:30, so I need to get some real solid training in over the next 4 weeks if that's going to happen.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Half Marathon Progress Report
This charting of my progress towards a 1:30 half marathon in July at the Los Gatos Jungle Run has me a little worried! Up until March I was looking really good, but the Santa Cruz race wasn't really fast enough. I would have been more comfortable if that was a 1:33. I think the linear improvement is beginning to plateau a little, so things are going to get tough.
This weekend's 10k goal of 42:00 equates to a 1:33:27 half which doesn't really put me back on track for July.
If this trending is accurate I will be looking for a followup race in August or September to get that 1:30 as a 1:32 is more likely in Los Gatos. I guess I'll have to just see how it goes over the next two races.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Nick's First Race
This weekend my son, Nick, ran his first ever race. There was a 1 mile fun run after a 10k I was doing. He got his very own race number and won his first medal. He was really proud of himself. I ran with him which was awesome. Just like his Dad, he has a little trouble with his pacing and went out way too fast and was walking by 1/2 mile. But he did really well and managed to sprint up the hill at the end when lots of others were walking.
For me, the 10k was really a training run. I'm racing one for real next weekend so didn't want to push this one. It was very hilly so I knew if I went for it I'd end up killing myself. Managed to stay under control for the first 3 miles, then started to get into it and sped up. Mile 4 was a big hill (300' climb in under a mile) so I decided to make that the focus of the training run. I overtook a bunch of runners on the hill and caught up with a friend who had gone out real fast at the start (he was leading the first 1/2 mile). Took it easy from the top of the hill until the last 1/4 mile uphill which we sprinted for the crowd. Ended up finishing 15th in around 51 minutes, which is very slow for a 10k but it was all up/down really steep stuff. The winner was around 46 minutes.
Overall it was a big week - 52 miles with a big hilly 16 miler in San Francisco to finish things off Sunday. This week is a low mileage week so it'll be under 40, ending up with a 10k race on Sunday. Hoping to get down to around 42 minutes (6:45) but I'm not sure how bumpy the course is.
For me, the 10k was really a training run. I'm racing one for real next weekend so didn't want to push this one. It was very hilly so I knew if I went for it I'd end up killing myself. Managed to stay under control for the first 3 miles, then started to get into it and sped up. Mile 4 was a big hill (300' climb in under a mile) so I decided to make that the focus of the training run. I overtook a bunch of runners on the hill and caught up with a friend who had gone out real fast at the start (he was leading the first 1/2 mile). Took it easy from the top of the hill until the last 1/4 mile uphill which we sprinted for the crowd. Ended up finishing 15th in around 51 minutes, which is very slow for a 10k but it was all up/down really steep stuff. The winner was around 46 minutes.
Overall it was a big week - 52 miles with a big hilly 16 miler in San Francisco to finish things off Sunday. This week is a low mileage week so it'll be under 40, ending up with a 10k race on Sunday. Hoping to get down to around 42 minutes (6:45) but I'm not sure how bumpy the course is.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
A week of ups and downs
Just finished a hilly week - 46 miles, with most of it up and down hills.Monday - day off
Tuesday - 4.5 miles at 7:15 pace, with a 250' hill in the middle.
Wednesday - got busy and didn't get a chance to run
Thursday - am 8.5 miles at 8:16 - two hills 120' and 300'
Thursday - pm 6 miles at 7:59 - meant to be 5xmile repeats. bailed after 2
Friday - Easy 6.5 miles with a 600' hill
Saturday - Long 14 at 8:45. 400' and 300' hills. (see chart)
Sunday - Easy 6.5 miles at 8:30 with just one 300' hill
A tough finish to the week, with a double on Thursday and a lot of hills Friday and in Saturday's long run. Next week's plan is to go a little longer at 51 miles, with a 16 miler on Sunday. I'll probably do less hills though.
On Saturday I'm going to do an easy 10k race and also run the kiddie's 1 mile fun run with Nick and Anna (I suspect I'll have to carry her...) in Los Altos Hills.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics
I've been doing a little investigation on race "predictors". There are a bunch of calculators that will give you a predicted time for a race based on your time in a recent race of a different length. I'm trying to determine just how fast a goal I want to set for my Marathon in December, based on my best half marathon time.
The various calculators all give similar sorts of results, and I've been using the VDOT equivalence tables from Jack Daniels' Running Formula. If you don't know about VDOTs or Jack Daniels (the running dude, not the drink) you can go buy the book but he describes VDOT as "A measure of your current running ability". There's a whole bunch of science and measurements of various things involved but basically he created a set of tables that show what race times you would get for a given VDOT. So someone with a VDOT of 51 has a predicted half time of 1:30:02 and a full marathon time of 3:07:39. Google on VDOT Tables and you'll get lots of stuff. Here's a link to the tables....
So assuming (and admittedly this is a pretty big assumption...) I meet my goal of getting to 1:30 for a half marathon, I SHOULD be able to hammer out a 3:07 full marathon based on VDOT equivalent performance. Given that my best marathon time is 4:10 (off of 25MPW, it got very ugly about mile 21), this is a massive improvement and I'm a little suspicious of it all since I'd be surprised as hell if I ran a 3:07 in December.
So I decided to do a completely bogus, scientifcally questionable study!
I wanted to see how people really performed compared to VDOT predictions and also see if there was a significant difference based on how many miles people ran during training.
I posted this on 3 running message boards (Letsrun, Coolrunning, and Runners' World)
I'm doing some analysis on the relationship between half marathon and full marathon times and the effect that weekly mileage has on that ratio.
Need some data from runners (that would would be where you come in.....)
Eligability
- Half marathon run within 6 months of full
- Both run as races (no easy training runs)
- "Similar conditions" for both races
Data Required
- Half time
- Full time
- Average weekly mileage training for full
I got 57 sets of results from the 3 boards. Here's the result.
First I converted the times to VDOTs and calculated the differences people saw in their half VDOT to their full VDOT. If everything was perfect, everyone should have performed
at exactly the same VDOT level.
at exactly the same VDOT level. Here's the chart showing number of runners against VDOT difference. Out of 57, only 16 met or beat their predicted times, 41 did worse than "predicted".
On average people were 2.1 "VDOTs" below predicted time for the full marathon, which is about 8 minutes in the 3:10 range, so that means instead of doing a 3:07, I'd do a 3:15.
Next I looked to see if there was any correlation between weekly training mileage and VDOT difference. Here's the chart...
Data is scattered, but a best fit line shows that lower mileage created a higher VDOT difference. So based on a 1:30 half (VDOT=51) if I train 30MPW I could expect to perform at a VDOT of 48 for my full marathon (3:17) whereas if I train 120MPW I could expect a VDOT of 50 (3:10).
I plan to train about 65MPW in the fall so will be setting my training paces for a 3:14 marathon (VDOT 49) assuming I manage to get the 1:30 half done in July. 3:14 is also a good target time since it is comfortably under the Boston Qualifying time for my age (3:20) and also considered "Good For Age" (3:15) in the London Marathon, which I plan to run in April 2008.
Of course, this is all suitably dubious science, based on people who aren't me. I'll end up adjusting my actual race goal based on how the training goes leading up to the race. Ultimately I will still be happy in December if I can
a) finish without crashing at mile 21
b) finish comfortably under 3:45
but unfortunately the scientist in me now realises that 3:14 is not an unreasonable goal.
Updated to add a couple charts that I never included.
Updated to add a couple charts that I never included.
Monday, April 30, 2007
April Summary (21:14)
So April is over.....
Only one race, but a new PR:
-- Santa Cruz Half Marathon - 1:34:10 (7:11 Pace)
........My First Top 5% Finish! (69/1500)
Mileage
-- Lower than planned, due to overtraining
-- Ran 22 days out of 30 (Goal was 24)
-- Average Run 6.8 Miles
-- Average Pace 8:07
-- Average Heart Rate 154
-- 157 Total Miles
-- 37 Average Weekly Miles
-- 39 Longest Week
-- 620 Miles 2007
May Goals
-- A Big Month!
-- Run 27/31 days
-- Break 50 miles per week
-- First 200+ month ever
-- 205 miles, Average 46.3 miles/week
-- San Carlos 10k 5/20
------(Goal 1 - new PR, sub 44:35 7:10 Pace)
------(Goal 2 - sub 43:00 6:55 Pace)
------(Stretch goal - sub 42:00 6:45 Pace)
Only one race, but a new PR:
-- Santa Cruz Half Marathon - 1:34:10 (7:11 Pace)
........My First Top 5% Finish! (69/1500)
Mileage
-- Lower than planned, due to overtraining
-- Ran 22 days out of 30 (Goal was 24)
-- Average Run 6.8 Miles
-- Average Pace 8:07
-- Average Heart Rate 154
-- 157 Total Miles
-- 37 Average Weekly Miles
-- 39 Longest Week
-- 620 Miles 2007
May Goals
-- A Big Month!
-- Run 27/31 days
-- Break 50 miles per week
-- First 200+ month ever
-- 205 miles, Average 46.3 miles/week
-- San Carlos 10k 5/20
------(Goal 1 - new PR, sub 44:35 7:10 Pace)
------(Goal 2 - sub 43:00 6:55 Pace)
------(Stretch goal - sub 42:00 6:45 Pace)
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
The Next 12 Weeks
The mind is a weird thing especially when it is starved of blood and oxygen.
At mile 9 during Sunday's race I for sure decided that I was going to quit this whole competetive running thing. This was my last race, ever. I was 100% convinced it was the right decision. I realised that eventually, no matter how hard I train, I am going to be unable to meet my goals. So why keep doing all this and having a really horrible, painful time during the dark, dark 3 miles at the end of all these races if the ultimate result is guarenteed to be failure? Who cares if my final fastest time is 1:34 or 1:10? I am highly unlikely to break the world record, I'm certainly not going to win any money and I don't need any more race T-Shirts. All seemed perfectly clear to me at the time.
Of course, by the time I'd caught my breath at the finish line I was over all of that, and now I've planned out the next 12 weeks training in excruciating detail. This will hopefully get me in shape to run the Los Gatos Jungle Half Marathon in less than 90 minutes - which is my ultimate goal for this distance in 2007. (I have no idea what the Jungle thing has do with Los Gatos, maybe they have released some lions to inspire you to run faster?)
So the plan between now and the big day of July 15th is all set. I need to get from a 7:11 pace to a 6:52 pace. Doesn't seem like much of a difference on paper, but 19 fewer seconds every mile is going to be tough. Also, I seem to have some sort of mental block in moving from 7:xx to 6:xx pace. I rarely get under 7:00 and when I do I am always amazed that I can actually run that fast. Doing it for 13.1 miles is still something my brain is struggling with.
Anyway, here's the keys to the training
Miles, lots and lots of them
Most of them will be at a relatively easy pace of 8:00-8:15. The basic format is 3 hard weeks getting steadily longer, followed by 1 shorter "cutback" week to give the body a chance to recover. Mileage will be 41,49,51,37,47,49,51,37,48,51,47,31 (race week)
Progressively faster speedwork
I begin this based on my current race pace, and I'll gradually go faster until I get to times based on my goal race pace. I do three types of speedwork....
Tempo runs. 1.5m mile warm up, gradually building up the speed, then run 3-6 miles at a pace about 10 seconds faster than race pace. Gradual slow down to finish with 1.5 miles cool down. I started these today with 3.5 miles at 7:00 over gently rolling hills, I end up in 12 weeks with 6 miles at 6:37 or faster. These are tough but I usually enjoy them.
Mile Repeats. 1/2 mile warmup, then run a fast mile on the track, 90 seconds jog to recover, then repeat for a total of 5 fast miles. Then a couple cool down miles to finish. Pace for these is about 30 seconds faster than race pace. I start these Friday at 6:40 pace and will end up at 6:24 or lower. These are just flat out ugly and unpleasant, so I figure they must be good for me.
Fast finish long runs. This is when you run the last 3-4 miles of a Sunday long run (12-16 miles) at half marathon race pace. These are actually fun in a sick kind of way.
10k races to assess progress
The first is in 4 weeks as an intermediate measure of progress. Plan is to run at 6:45, which will get me round in just under 42 minutes. My last 10k race (Jan 1st) was in 46:25 (7:28 pace) so I know I'll beat that since I run half marathons at a faster pace.
The second is in 8 weeks. The plan is to see if I'm really ready for a 1:30 half, which according to various running formulae equates to running a 10k at 6:30 pace (40:26 time). If I can do that, I then have 4 weeks to solidify the training and I will be ready for the lions of Los Gatos.
I must admit, it all looks absolutely perfect in excel, and the analytical/scientist side of me has already declared victory. But obviously the physical/athletic side of me still has it's work cut out.
At mile 9 during Sunday's race I for sure decided that I was going to quit this whole competetive running thing. This was my last race, ever. I was 100% convinced it was the right decision. I realised that eventually, no matter how hard I train, I am going to be unable to meet my goals. So why keep doing all this and having a really horrible, painful time during the dark, dark 3 miles at the end of all these races if the ultimate result is guarenteed to be failure? Who cares if my final fastest time is 1:34 or 1:10? I am highly unlikely to break the world record, I'm certainly not going to win any money and I don't need any more race T-Shirts. All seemed perfectly clear to me at the time.
Of course, by the time I'd caught my breath at the finish line I was over all of that, and now I've planned out the next 12 weeks training in excruciating detail. This will hopefully get me in shape to run the Los Gatos Jungle Half Marathon in less than 90 minutes - which is my ultimate goal for this distance in 2007. (I have no idea what the Jungle thing has do with Los Gatos, maybe they have released some lions to inspire you to run faster?)
So the plan between now and the big day of July 15th is all set. I need to get from a 7:11 pace to a 6:52 pace. Doesn't seem like much of a difference on paper, but 19 fewer seconds every mile is going to be tough. Also, I seem to have some sort of mental block in moving from 7:xx to 6:xx pace. I rarely get under 7:00 and when I do I am always amazed that I can actually run that fast. Doing it for 13.1 miles is still something my brain is struggling with.
Anyway, here's the keys to the training
Miles, lots and lots of them
Most of them will be at a relatively easy pace of 8:00-8:15. The basic format is 3 hard weeks getting steadily longer, followed by 1 shorter "cutback" week to give the body a chance to recover. Mileage will be 41,49,51,37,47,49,51,37,48,51,47,31 (race week)
Progressively faster speedwork
I begin this based on my current race pace, and I'll gradually go faster until I get to times based on my goal race pace. I do three types of speedwork....
Tempo runs. 1.5m mile warm up, gradually building up the speed, then run 3-6 miles at a pace about 10 seconds faster than race pace. Gradual slow down to finish with 1.5 miles cool down. I started these today with 3.5 miles at 7:00 over gently rolling hills, I end up in 12 weeks with 6 miles at 6:37 or faster. These are tough but I usually enjoy them.
Mile Repeats. 1/2 mile warmup, then run a fast mile on the track, 90 seconds jog to recover, then repeat for a total of 5 fast miles. Then a couple cool down miles to finish. Pace for these is about 30 seconds faster than race pace. I start these Friday at 6:40 pace and will end up at 6:24 or lower. These are just flat out ugly and unpleasant, so I figure they must be good for me.
Fast finish long runs. This is when you run the last 3-4 miles of a Sunday long run (12-16 miles) at half marathon race pace. These are actually fun in a sick kind of way.
10k races to assess progress
The first is in 4 weeks as an intermediate measure of progress. Plan is to run at 6:45, which will get me round in just under 42 minutes. My last 10k race (Jan 1st) was in 46:25 (7:28 pace) so I know I'll beat that since I run half marathons at a faster pace.
The second is in 8 weeks. The plan is to see if I'm really ready for a 1:30 half, which according to various running formulae equates to running a 10k at 6:30 pace (40:26 time). If I can do that, I then have 4 weeks to solidify the training and I will be ready for the lions of Los Gatos.
I must admit, it all looks absolutely perfect in excel, and the analytical/scientist side of me has already declared victory. But obviously the physical/athletic side of me still has it's work cut out.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Official Results From SC
Results from yesterday are up.
Official chip time was 1:34:10.9, so I was even closer to my goal than I thought.
The overall winner was 1:12:54 (>21 minutes faster!)
I was 69th overall, out of about 1,500 finishers - That is my first top 5% finish in a large race.
I was 62nd male out of about 700
I was 12th out of 187 in my age group (males 40-49)
- age group winner was 1:26:05 (8 minutes faster)
And for the first time ever in a large race, nobody over 60 or under 16 beat me.
Official chip time was 1:34:10.9, so I was even closer to my goal than I thought.
The overall winner was 1:12:54 (>21 minutes faster!)
I was 69th overall, out of about 1,500 finishers - That is my first top 5% finish in a large race.
I was 62nd male out of about 700
I was 12th out of 187 in my age group (males 40-49)
- age group winner was 1:26:05 (8 minutes faster)
And for the first time ever in a large race, nobody over 60 or under 16 beat me.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Santa Cruz Half
Today was the Santa Cruz Half Marathon - the 3rd in a series of 4 halves in my attempt to go from a time of 1:51 to under 1:30. The 1:51:51 was my first ever race back in October 2006, after just 6 of months running. The sub 1:30 is hopefully coming in July in Los Gatos. Intermediate steps along the way have been 1:38 in Feb on an overall downhill course, and 1:35:22 on a flat course just five weeks ago.
Goals for Santa Cruz were
1) Beat my PR of 1:35:22 - which would be good as it's a hilly course
2) Go under 1:34
3) If it all goes bad, slow down and take it easy to run the Parkway Half in 2 weeks
The plan was to try to run on pace (7:10) pretty much the whole way and try to make up any lost time due to the uphills on the downhill. I wasn't feeling too confident going in to this so I told myself if I can get thru mile 4 on pace (which ends at the top of a hill) I would go for it, otherwise I'd make it a training run. Weather was great (high 50's/low 60's and sunny) , after a wet, wet night, it cleared up and the sun came up just as the gun went off about 7:15.
The First Four Miles
Fairly big race (2,500 people including the 10k which started at the same time). Started near the front and managed to weave thru the crowds, get up the first hill and cover the first mile in 7:07. Miles 2,3 went by fast at 7:04 and 7:10. Mile 4 was the first hill and I got up that at 7:21. Average for 1-4 was 7:09 so the race was on!
Miles 5 to 8
Mile 5 started with a steep downhill and I hammered it at 5 something. That was a mistake and my quads complained bigtime. Settled down and got thru 5 at 6:59. 6 was painful (because of 5) at 7:22. 7 and 8 were on a trail overlooking the ocean which was an amazing view: these went by OK at 7:16 and 7:24. At this point I realised that my Garmin GPS was reading differently than the mile markers, so I stopped worrying about garmin pace and decided to just go by time at the mile markers.
Miles 9 and 10
9 had a big uphill and I pushed through some growing discomfort and managed to get over in 7:30, mile 10 was 7:14 but I was really beginning to hurt. based on the time at the 10 mile mark I figured 1:34 was going to be tough, and that I probably needed to run 7:05s all the way in.
Miles 11 and 12
Mile 11 was a big mental decision: my mind was telling me I was way off 1:34, my legs were telling me to ease off, coast it in and run the half in 2 weeks. I was tempted but decided I'd try to push through and see if I had it in me. Mile 11 at 7:15 but it hurt. A lot. Mile 12 had a little rolling hill which was probably only 30' but it almost killed me, and it seemed like the longest mile ever - pace was 7:32 (my slowest mile) and I was dragging. When I crossed the 12 mile post I knew I was way off 1:34, and even a PR was at risk if I didn't get my ass in gear.
Final 1.1
Just into mile 13 I caught someone, he kept with me for 20 steps and then he completely fell apart - this was a huge boost for me so I kicked with all I had (whch was not a lot). Got to the final downhill and somehow managed to keep my legs from buckling under me. Turned the final corner and saw the finish line just ahead. I was only at 1:39:50! Obviously mile markers were a little randomly placed - The last 100 yards were on the beach so I sprinted thru the sand with what felt like people were holding my ankles. Crossed the line at 1:34:12! I couldn't believe it. Final mile pace was 7:09 so I'd finished strong. If I'd known I was so close I could maybe have hit that mile 12 a little harder.
So bummer, I didn't beat 1:34, but I got a 70 second PR on a course with some hills. Plus I learned a little about mile markers in the process too! Overall I am really happy with the day - I stuck with it and didn't wimp out.
Now I have 12 weeks to train for the next one when I need to take 4:13 off my PR and run at 6:52 pace. That is going to fun.
Goals for Santa Cruz were
1) Beat my PR of 1:35:22 - which would be good as it's a hilly course
2) Go under 1:34
3) If it all goes bad, slow down and take it easy to run the Parkway Half in 2 weeks
The plan was to try to run on pace (7:10) pretty much the whole way and try to make up any lost time due to the uphills on the downhill. I wasn't feeling too confident going in to this so I told myself if I can get thru mile 4 on pace (which ends at the top of a hill) I would go for it, otherwise I'd make it a training run. Weather was great (high 50's/low 60's and sunny) , after a wet, wet night, it cleared up and the sun came up just as the gun went off about 7:15.
The First Four Miles
Fairly big race (2,500 people including the 10k which started at the same time). Started near the front and managed to weave thru the crowds, get up the first hill and cover the first mile in 7:07. Miles 2,3 went by fast at 7:04 and 7:10. Mile 4 was the first hill and I got up that at 7:21. Average for 1-4 was 7:09 so the race was on!
Miles 5 to 8
Mile 5 started with a steep downhill and I hammered it at 5 something. That was a mistake and my quads complained bigtime. Settled down and got thru 5 at 6:59. 6 was painful (because of 5) at 7:22. 7 and 8 were on a trail overlooking the ocean which was an amazing view: these went by OK at 7:16 and 7:24. At this point I realised that my Garmin GPS was reading differently than the mile markers, so I stopped worrying about garmin pace and decided to just go by time at the mile markers.
Miles 9 and 10
9 had a big uphill and I pushed through some growing discomfort and managed to get over in 7:30, mile 10 was 7:14 but I was really beginning to hurt. based on the time at the 10 mile mark I figured 1:34 was going to be tough, and that I probably needed to run 7:05s all the way in.
Miles 11 and 12
Mile 11 was a big mental decision: my mind was telling me I was way off 1:34, my legs were telling me to ease off, coast it in and run the half in 2 weeks. I was tempted but decided I'd try to push through and see if I had it in me. Mile 11 at 7:15 but it hurt. A lot. Mile 12 had a little rolling hill which was probably only 30' but it almost killed me, and it seemed like the longest mile ever - pace was 7:32 (my slowest mile) and I was dragging. When I crossed the 12 mile post I knew I was way off 1:34, and even a PR was at risk if I didn't get my ass in gear.
Final 1.1
Just into mile 13 I caught someone, he kept with me for 20 steps and then he completely fell apart - this was a huge boost for me so I kicked with all I had (whch was not a lot). Got to the final downhill and somehow managed to keep my legs from buckling under me. Turned the final corner and saw the finish line just ahead. I was only at 1:39:50! Obviously mile markers were a little randomly placed - The last 100 yards were on the beach so I sprinted thru the sand with what felt like people were holding my ankles. Crossed the line at 1:34:12! I couldn't believe it. Final mile pace was 7:09 so I'd finished strong. If I'd known I was so close I could maybe have hit that mile 12 a little harder.
So bummer, I didn't beat 1:34, but I got a 70 second PR on a course with some hills. Plus I learned a little about mile markers in the process too! Overall I am really happy with the day - I stuck with it and didn't wimp out.
Now I have 12 weeks to train for the next one when I need to take 4:13 off my PR and run at 6:52 pace. That is going to fun.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Ready or Not.....
So I'm done with my last real workout before Sunday's half marathon. Ran a 4 mile pace run this morning with the goal being to get settled running at race pace (7:10). Did just over four at 7:04 pace on a slight hill. (2 miles up, 2 miles down).
Took a while to get into a steady breathing pattern but I think that's just because I didn't warm up and started out uphill. Endied up at 164 heartrate which is about where I was after 4 miles the last time I ran a half marathon.
So I am as ready as I am going to be. Two days rest, a couple easy miles on Saturday and then it's off we go, ready or not.
Took a while to get into a steady breathing pattern but I think that's just because I didn't warm up and started out uphill. Endied up at 164 heartrate which is about where I was after 4 miles the last time I ran a half marathon.
So I am as ready as I am going to be. Two days rest, a couple easy miles on Saturday and then it's off we go, ready or not.
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