I could have thought of no better way than to start the new year with a bang, and I certainly did that. With only 3 hours and 45 minutes of sleep, I didn't know what to expect. I certainly didn't think I would be running sub 7 minute miles.
Resolution Run - 39:41 (7:28 pace; 29/237)
At 3 AM I couldn't stop yawning. A late night of fun at a friend's house on New Year's Eve, why wouldn't I be out? I knew this when I entered this race, but I still wanted to start 2008 with a race. After four slices of pizza, some sodas, chips and dips and cookies, I called it a night and headed home. I, of course, had to read some before I went to bed, so it wasn't until 4 that I fell asleep.
And the alarm went off at 7:45.
Surprisingly, I wasn't too tired. I arrived with twenty minutes to spare and waited in the 39 degree weather. Hands becoming numb, away we went.
The first mile was an easy, flat mile. I wasn't front of the pack, but I was a back of the front pack, so it wasn't too crowded. My hands, if they could, became even more numb and actually started hurting more if that was possible. I clocked in at 7:00.
I held my pace, for the most part, and was able to continue to pick off runners who had started out too fast, but I was slowing slightly. The flat fire road was gradually going up, but I still felt strong when I came in at 7:17.
This was where it started getting a little more difficult. I have ran hills more but I still seem to lag on them, not able to continue running, even at a slower pace. The first semi big hill came and it was a short one. I ran up the whole way, but when I got to the top I had to take a walk break. Taking the good of it, this was an improvement from last year (feels weird saying last year already). I ran the Dammit Run, which is also a 5 mile run that is ran on virtually the same course. Comparing this to the Dammit Run I had already ran this race 2 minutes faster and I was able to run the first hill, which I didn't do last year. If the race ended here I would have been satisfied, but everything got better! Another hill came before me and I had to walk this one. I applaud those who passed me on this steep hill and continued to run. If only I could have kept running. By the time I reached the top of the dam and hit the turn around point I was feeling a little winded, but still strong. Now was the fun part as I turned around and took the two steep downhills and gradual decent for what they were worth. The 3rd mile was my slowest as the walking on the hills, which had 316 feet of elevation gain in less than a 1/2 a mile, slowed me to a 9:47.
And on this same stretch in the past the fastest I was able to run on training runs was a little over a 7 minute pace. This time, however, I turned it on and was able to turn in mile 4 in 6:36 and mile 5 in 6:48, passing many of the runners who passed me on the hill.
But I couldn't understand why at mile 5 I was still running. This was supposed to be a 5 mile race! Soon enough the high school track presented itself and I was able to run the last lap, coming in at a pace of 7:03. The course, from my garmin as well as mapping the course on google earth, turned out to be 3/10 of a mile longer. Oh well, can't expect all races to be accurately measured, right?
When I checked the on site results I found that I had come in 29th place out of 237 runners, which wasn't too bad. I even thought I was going to place 2nd in my division, but they fooled me! They had two colors for my age group, rather than the typical one color. When they announced the 3rd place in my division I watched the guy receive it and my jaw dropped. On the final stretch of the run, with about 2/10 of a mile to go around the track, he passed me and I even thought to myself to let him go, that I had ran a good run and that was enough. Oh well, he ended up coming in around 10 seconds before I did. Another lesson, one I always seem to be learning: don't let complacency slow you down, keep pushing yourself to the last moment before you cross the finish line.
Ultimately an age place in your division doesn't amount to much. What mattered was that I ran a good run at a fast clip, a speed that I hadn't ran in a long time, running the race at 8 MPH (I still can't believe that some runners run half marathons and marathons at 13 MPH!). With my focus on marathon or longer distances it seems that I rarely run a race this fast anymore, so it was a ton of fun.
Here's to kicking off the new year with a kick of the running shoes!
Showing posts with label 5 Mile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 5 Mile. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Dammit Run 5 Miles
I had mixed feelings going into this race. On one side it was the first race since the Marathon and could be a good gauge on how well I have recovered. On the other side I couldn't seem to muster up any enthusiasm or excitement as race day came upon me.
Dammit Run 5 Miles - 42:36 (8:31 pace; 205/603)
This one had the makings to be a great race. It started at 8:30 and was only a 15 minute drive from my house. What more could I ask for? So I was able to get some decent sleep despite the kids next door having a loud party, yet again, until at least 2 AM, which was when I finally fell asleep. Well rested, I woke up and decided to skip taking a shower. This was mistake number one. I figured since the race was so close to the house and it was only a 5 mile run that I could run it and get back here and shower after. So end result? I never fully woke up or felt energized, which a shower always does to me.
I got to the Los Gatos High School and found parking easy enough. So I turned the Garmin on, checked my bib number and did all the typical last minute stuff. Mistake number 2: I didn't charge the Garmin so it, obviously, ran out of battery power. Oh well, it could be worse, right? Like getting to the race and forgettng your timing chip... Yeah, I've done that one as well. Eventually I made my way to the track and did a warm up lap and everything felt great. I was hitting my stride, the legs felt great. Perhaps the day would turn around and it would turn out to be a great race.
Remembering past races, I lined up in the front so that I didn't get stuck behind the slower runners and thus blow a lot of energy weaving around everyone. The gun went off and away we went. The lead runners eventually outstripped everyone, but I didn't care. I was running my race. So we looped once around the track before heading out of the track and onto the trail towards the dam. Already I could feel that something wasn't right. My legs felt strong, my knees were fine. So none of my major concerns coming into this were slowing me down. Mile one rolled around and the volunteer yelled out 8:16. So not too bad. The gravel trail slowly gained in elevation before dropping me off at the first steep incline, which ascended 61 feet. It may not seem like much, but the gain was over only .08 miles, so a steep incline over a short distance. I ran a quarter of it before telling myself to give in and walk. No sense beating myself up over something when I am still technically recovering from the Marathon. At the top of the first hill was the mile two marker and the volunteer yelled out 16:50, so I'm averaging 8:25 a mile, just slightly slower than my mile one pace, and I had walked a hill! Not too bad again.
A little bit farther on and I made it to the dam, and thus the reason for the race. Yet another hill that I gave up on and walked virtually the whole thing. I wasn't feeling right, so why push it? The dam was a little less than a quarter of a mile and has an elevation incline of 132 feet. This was where a ton of people were passing me up, which is usually a motivator in and of itself. But not this time. I watched them file past me, keeping track of who they were. Then, once I got to the top of the dam, I used the energy I didn't waste trying to run up the dam and was able to pass most of them... until the next hill.
Ha, only three hills but they were killers. The last was THE killer. Elevation ascent was 140 feet, so not too much different from the second hill, and this one stretched over almost four tenths of a mile. Not too bad, right? Wrong, because 120 feet of that gain was in the first tenth of a mile. So it goes without saying that I walked this one too. Again, once I reached the top I kicked it into gear and passed a ton of people, making up place wise what I couldn't make up in my time. Yet here was where the trouble began. We soon hit mile 3 (with no volunteer this time) and I was cruising downhill pretty fast. But... But... But, oh I so didn't want this to happen. I started feeling a pain on the top of my right foot where it had felt tender from the Marathon. I pushed through it for a while when I take an extra long lunge to get past a rock and the pain shoots up my leg.
Did something happen to my foot in SF? I know tons of athletes tend to push through pains in their feet, able to continue playing for months at a time without really noticing anything more than a discomfort, only to find that they had a stress fracture or something similar. Is this what has happened to me? Perhaps this was why I wasn't feeling to into my run today? I pushed on and felt the pain build a little with each step. Finally the trail leveled out and turned onto a road where mile 4 was, with the volunteer yelling out 35 minutes. The pain/ache from my right foot subsided noticeably, almost disappearing completely, once I was no longer running downhill, so that was a plus.
I finished the last mile in a little over 7 minutes, coming in at around 177th place (out of around 600) in 42:36, which is an 8:31 pace. Not too bad considering the amount of walking that I had done, around two and a half minutes worth. This was a little disappointing, though, because I had signed up for this race with the intention of running the hills and using this as a gauge/preparation for the 50k coming up in September. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.
I found a few things out. One, my knees and muscles are fully recovered from the Marathon, so that is plus. But, and this is a huge minus, the tenderness on the top of my right foot (which happened because of the Marathon) seems to be something more than just being tender.
So a week of rest I must take, although this is a bummer. I do know the alternative, though, and would rather prevent further injury than satisfy a here and now urge to run more. I guess I will have to wait until Saturday to test the foot out before I decide what I will do about the 10k race coming up.
Here's to a speedy recovery!
Dammit Run 5 Miles - 42:36 (8:31 pace; 205/603)
This one had the makings to be a great race. It started at 8:30 and was only a 15 minute drive from my house. What more could I ask for? So I was able to get some decent sleep despite the kids next door having a loud party, yet again, until at least 2 AM, which was when I finally fell asleep. Well rested, I woke up and decided to skip taking a shower. This was mistake number one. I figured since the race was so close to the house and it was only a 5 mile run that I could run it and get back here and shower after. So end result? I never fully woke up or felt energized, which a shower always does to me.
I got to the Los Gatos High School and found parking easy enough. So I turned the Garmin on, checked my bib number and did all the typical last minute stuff. Mistake number 2: I didn't charge the Garmin so it, obviously, ran out of battery power. Oh well, it could be worse, right? Like getting to the race and forgettng your timing chip... Yeah, I've done that one as well. Eventually I made my way to the track and did a warm up lap and everything felt great. I was hitting my stride, the legs felt great. Perhaps the day would turn around and it would turn out to be a great race.
Remembering past races, I lined up in the front so that I didn't get stuck behind the slower runners and thus blow a lot of energy weaving around everyone. The gun went off and away we went. The lead runners eventually outstripped everyone, but I didn't care. I was running my race. So we looped once around the track before heading out of the track and onto the trail towards the dam. Already I could feel that something wasn't right. My legs felt strong, my knees were fine. So none of my major concerns coming into this were slowing me down. Mile one rolled around and the volunteer yelled out 8:16. So not too bad. The gravel trail slowly gained in elevation before dropping me off at the first steep incline, which ascended 61 feet. It may not seem like much, but the gain was over only .08 miles, so a steep incline over a short distance. I ran a quarter of it before telling myself to give in and walk. No sense beating myself up over something when I am still technically recovering from the Marathon. At the top of the first hill was the mile two marker and the volunteer yelled out 16:50, so I'm averaging 8:25 a mile, just slightly slower than my mile one pace, and I had walked a hill! Not too bad again.
A little bit farther on and I made it to the dam, and thus the reason for the race. Yet another hill that I gave up on and walked virtually the whole thing. I wasn't feeling right, so why push it? The dam was a little less than a quarter of a mile and has an elevation incline of 132 feet. This was where a ton of people were passing me up, which is usually a motivator in and of itself. But not this time. I watched them file past me, keeping track of who they were. Then, once I got to the top of the dam, I used the energy I didn't waste trying to run up the dam and was able to pass most of them... until the next hill.
Ha, only three hills but they were killers. The last was THE killer. Elevation ascent was 140 feet, so not too much different from the second hill, and this one stretched over almost four tenths of a mile. Not too bad, right? Wrong, because 120 feet of that gain was in the first tenth of a mile. So it goes without saying that I walked this one too. Again, once I reached the top I kicked it into gear and passed a ton of people, making up place wise what I couldn't make up in my time. Yet here was where the trouble began. We soon hit mile 3 (with no volunteer this time) and I was cruising downhill pretty fast. But... But... But, oh I so didn't want this to happen. I started feeling a pain on the top of my right foot where it had felt tender from the Marathon. I pushed through it for a while when I take an extra long lunge to get past a rock and the pain shoots up my leg.
Did something happen to my foot in SF? I know tons of athletes tend to push through pains in their feet, able to continue playing for months at a time without really noticing anything more than a discomfort, only to find that they had a stress fracture or something similar. Is this what has happened to me? Perhaps this was why I wasn't feeling to into my run today? I pushed on and felt the pain build a little with each step. Finally the trail leveled out and turned onto a road where mile 4 was, with the volunteer yelling out 35 minutes. The pain/ache from my right foot subsided noticeably, almost disappearing completely, once I was no longer running downhill, so that was a plus.
I finished the last mile in a little over 7 minutes, coming in at around 177th place (out of around 600) in 42:36, which is an 8:31 pace. Not too bad considering the amount of walking that I had done, around two and a half minutes worth. This was a little disappointing, though, because I had signed up for this race with the intention of running the hills and using this as a gauge/preparation for the 50k coming up in September. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.
I found a few things out. One, my knees and muscles are fully recovered from the Marathon, so that is plus. But, and this is a huge minus, the tenderness on the top of my right foot (which happened because of the Marathon) seems to be something more than just being tender.
So a week of rest I must take, although this is a bummer. I do know the alternative, though, and would rather prevent further injury than satisfy a here and now urge to run more. I guess I will have to wait until Saturday to test the foot out before I decide what I will do about the 10k race coming up.
Here's to a speedy recovery!
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