Race Report: Battle of the Boulevard

Before the race started, I ran into some Capital Striders and we were talking about the course and weather. All down hill going out and up hill coming back. And it was a bit warm. I wasn’t sure what my time would be. I feel like I’ve been going faster, so on a good day, flat course, I’d be in position to PR.

I started out running a bit faster than an 8 min pace. About 2 miles in a started to slow. We were getting direct sun on the course and it was getting hot. About half a mile from the turn around they had music playing. As I went by it the first time, it was Born to Run. One the way back it was Running Down a Dream. Great running music; I wanted to punch my hands in the air during the chorus of Born to Run.

I had to talk myself through the second half of the race. "Don't Quit." "Boston." "Run through the pain." "I own this hill." I managed to feel pretty good after getting up this monster hill that lasted from about mile 4 to mile 5. After that, I figured the hills wouldn’t be so bad, but they kept coming. I noticed this girl and I decided that I had to beat her. She just didn't look like much of a runner. (Isn't that horrible of me? It also goes to show that you shouldn't judge people on how they look.) For the last half mile, I tried to keep ahead of her, if I saw her approaching in my peripheral vision, I sped up. Right at the finish, I saw her moving up and I surged. I nearly puked after I finished.

56:31. No PR, not even close. I ran that pace in the Cherry Blossom 10 miler the week after the National Marathon. Still, in a training perspective, I certainly pushed myself. That’s the end of the Spring racing season for me.

Here's a print out of data from the race. The blue area is elevation, the red line is heart rate, the blue line is pace. You might have to click on it to get a good view.

I ran this morning; it was cooler than yesterday. It was such a gorgeous day, thought I might go out for 10. I ended up going running just over 6. I was surprisingly slow, but over the course of the run, I began feeling stronger. That caused me to reflect on the value of recovery runs.

Race Report: George Washington Parkway Classic

4 races in 5 weeks. I think it's finally caught up with me. I tried to take in easy during the week. I was the only one who showed up for the group run on Monday, so --except for the jog to the meeting place-- I just skipped that, then ran an easy 8 on Tuesday and 6 on Thursday. I did a half day hike on Saturday.

The race itself has got be hard to support, it's a point to point with the finish in Old Town Alexandria. We were bused to the start at Mt. Vernon. The busing was probably the weak link and there weren't near enough porta johns. I by passed the long lines for the johns and ducked into some bushes behind a building. All the men were doing it, and I refuse to be held back because I have to expose my rear when peeing.

I was greatful for the clocks at every mile marker. Of the four races I've run recently, it was the only to have that. I keep having watch issues (stopped working, forgot it at home, couldn't find it last night).

It was a gorgeous day in DC. The weather started off cool, but quickly warmed. I started off running about an 8:30 pace. I felt like I was pushing it a bit, but thought with determination, I could match my PR, maybe beat it by a few seconds.

Around mile 3, I spotted some Capital Striders. We ran together for about a minute and I assumed that because we were at the same place on the course that we were running about the same pace. But Juan sped off and Paul pulled a ahead. For awhile, I thought I might try to pace myself to Paul, just keeping him in sight, but I gave up on that before reaching mile 4. It was encouraging to see familiar faces though. Having someone specific to keep up to motivated me, even when he was long gone.

By mile 5, I was off the 8:30 pace and continued to decelerate for the rest of the race. I ended up finishing with a net time of 1:29:06, slightly faster than the Cherry Blossom 4 weeks ago, about 4 minutes off my PR.

Afterwards, after showering, I went to look an a rental place in DC and then joined a friend for brunch at the SW Waterfront. By the time we got there, the thermometer in my car was reading 90, which seems hard to believe. We stayed there a while and I ended up having a couple spiked lemonades - balanced with about a gallon of water. Between the alcohol, the hot, and perhaps pushing myself too hard in everything, I was nearly falling asleep at the table after a couple hours. I went home and passed out for a couple of hours. I think it's time to chill out and take a bit of recovery time.

Planning

So I'm thinking that after yesterday's 10k, I have two weeks before the George Washington Parkway Classic. So I'll up the miles in the coming week, do a 10 mile next weekend and do a mini taper the following week. My goal will be to replicate my pace from the Race to Stop the Silence over the 10 mile distance. I won't do any weightlifting that taper week, because I think that might have contributed to my tired feeling yesterday. Good plan?

So I thought. Then I remembered that packet pick up started today at the Pacers in Old Town. Gosh, that seems a bit early for a race that's in two weeks. Oh wait, the Parkway Classic is next Sunday. So I've managed to sign myself up for 4 races in 5 weeks.

Race to Stop the Silence

10ks are no fun. On the one hand I think I’ve got the strategy down, on the other my strategy is to run right at the edge of unbearable pain. Do that pretty much from after the first mile straight on through the finish. As always, I try to hold myself back a little right at the beginning to let the beginning of race excitement pass.

Well, today I rant the Race to Stop the Silence 10k. I got that old right out the gate excitement and decided to go with it. I zipped past Shelly & Kevin thinking that I wanted to run my own race. I knew I wasn’t going to PR, but I still tried to push myself to see what I could do.

I immediately got tired. I mean immediately – by the time I got to the back side of the 6 mi mark, i.e. .2 mi into the out and back course, I was feeling weak and beginning to slow. I kept waiting for Shelly and Kevin to pass me. I'm pretty sure that not wanting to look like a complete idiot after "zipping" past them kept me going faster than I would have otherwise. As it turned out, they finished just seconds behind me.

I have never been much of a spitter, but today I had to, I felt like Golum hacking up mucus. I left my watch at home, so I just paced myself by telling myself to run at the edge of the pain. I gave myself breaks where I slowed a little, and I walked through the two water stations.

I finished in 53:43. About 4 minutes off my PR; respectable for three weeks after my marathon. The scary part is that is that is a 8:40 pace and to qualify for Boston I have to run 8:27 miles. If today was 6.2 miles of pain, it shows how far I have to go.

In good news, based on the McMillan calculator, my time today suggests that I can run a marathon in 4:11:51. My recent Cherry Blossom time suggests a marathon time of 4:12:52. I think that confirms my suspicion that I ran the marathon conservatively. I can take 10 minutes off from better strategy (i.e. pushing myself a little harder throughout the race). That leaves a little over 30 minutes to take off through training. No problem ;)