Race Report - Freedom Run at the Ranch 2010

I was actually writing a pre-race entry, but didn't finish it before I ran the race yesterday, so I've scrapped it and I'm writing this now.....

Yesterday was my Fourth of July 5k and I'm, very pleased with my results. I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into this - I knew training-wise I could finish the distance fairly easily, but I wasn't sure in what time since my pacing has been all over the place during training runs running up to this race.



A couple of posts ago - I set up the following race goals:

Goal A : Run a sub 28:30 min
Goal B : Run a sub 29 min
Goal C : Run a sub 30 min

Looking at this, you can tell my apprehension going into the run - a 1:30 spread over 3 miles?  I wasn't sure what pace I could hold.

Raceday:  I woke at 6:00 am for a 7:15 race start feeling pretty good - usually my 39-year-old body needs about 10-20 mins to warm up just so I can walk normally - too many years of killing it growing up.  But yesterday I was feeling good after only laying awake in bed for about 5 mins.  A good sign.

My house is exactly a mile from the start, so I used that to warmup and I felt pretty good once I stepped out of the door.  I brought my ipod to run with, which I normally don't do for races, but I wanted to try something new - I was going to line up at the very back of the field and run my way through the pack - don't you love chip timing? 

Up at the start, the race area was pretty good and organized.  Over the past few years, this race has really grown and I haven't seen too many issues with this growth.  Afterwards I found out that 762 people were running the 5k, and I'm guessing about 400 ran the 10k (I haven't checked yet).  That's pretty amazing since 2008 had 550 runners in the 5k race.  So it's good to see a race grow like this especially since this run is in my back yard.

After all the pre-race hoopla, I shed my sweatshirt and lined up at the very back of the pack.  Behind all of the kids, strollers, walkers, etc.  Sitting at the back I started talking with this guy who you could just tell was very fast - tall, lean, and wearing racing flats in bright orange.  This guy was about 6'3" and maybe 150 lbs kind of freakish if you ask me, but still a nice guy.  After about 2 mins from the gun start, I made my way to the start line and was able to run right from the first step.

I felt really good over the first mile, going out just a little too fast though - I think I clocked a sub 9:00 min mile, just because I know the course really well (I was surprised by not seeing mile markers out along the course.)  Running traffic was minimal, over the first mile - even though I did have to step off the street a few times in order to pass some slower people.  Still, the choice to start dead last was turning out to be a good idea.

Mile two is pretty much all up hill, not a huge incline, but just enough to become a pain especially when the rise kicks it up a notch over the last 400 meters, but I was pretty much able to hold a good pace over this mile.  I'm guessing my mile time here was about a 9:30 - not too sure because I really didn't look and was going on perceived effort at this point - I was still passing slower runners at this point, but started to notice that some runners were 'hanging' at my pace.  In fact I had several people come up to me after the race to 'Thank me" for setting a quicker pace than they were used to up that hill.  That was a nice side affect for starting last - shoot all I wanted was space to run at the start. :)

The final 1.1 miles were all basically down and flat, setting this course up for a very fast finish.  The winner ran this in 15:47.  Oh the joys of being 19 again......  Anyway, I was still feeling pretty good, but my quads were getting tired from the effort of the uphill, and all I could think of was, "How are you ever going to finish a half marathon you wuss."  Slowly I picked up my pace and passed a few more people on the down hill - but there was this one stroller dude I just couldn't catch until we hit the final flat.  I did sneak a glance at my watch when I hit the flat knowing I was about 3 mins from the finish if I was running a 10 min mile - 25:52 - right there I kicked it up another notch, then at the final turn with 400 meters to go, another notch.  My lungs were hurting, and my legs were burning but it was too late to stop now - I could see the 'official' clock counting down 29:40, :41, :42 - dammit "I'm going to break 30:00 on that clock" and put myself into another gear.  I crossed the line in 29:54 - for an 27:59!  What a nice PR!  :05 seconds faster than my Birthday Race run back in December.

Overall I'm pleased with my effort, time and ability to improve here.  I mean who wouldn't be happy with a PR?  Still I was able to take a few other items from this run:

1. I now know I have a few more gears left in my legs - I really haven't tried to use them since I hurt my hamstrings about 6 years ago.  I know if I really tried to do some speedwork, the speed it still there.
2. Conditioning came back pretty quickly (4 weeks) after taking about 8 weeks off.  Still I need to maintain the 120 mile monthly base if I was to continue to improve.
3. I need to kick up my workouts, to prepare for my half marathon that's in September - this is going to be brutal, but I'm looking forward to it.
4. Finally, I know I can run this course in 24 mins if I trained hard enough of it.  I can 'feel' it in my body right now.  In fact give me two years and I'll hit 21 mins.....  (yeah that an 8 min improvement, I know, but it's there.)  Shoot I've improved 8 mins in the last two years now and I know I'm not even halfway to the ends of my ability.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

A Nice 4 Miler.......

So yesterday was a very good day to workout.  I didn't get started until pretty late just because I couldn't break away.  After dinner I took Bogey out for a walk 2.3 miles and 40 mins later we came back home and it was pushing 7:00 pm.

P90x was next once we got the kids setteled down to bed - by 8:30 Beth and I were working up a sweat (actually Beth doesn't really sweat, but I do enough for both of us.)  And we both felt pretty wiped after about 60 mins of Kempo.  Since we skipped the ab workout the day before we threw that 15 min workout in also.

Right after P90x I went out again for a run this time.  I had planned a 5k but I felt pretty good and since I had mentioned going for a 4 mile PB a few posts back I changed routes about 4 mins in to attempt a 4 mile PB.  My PB was set last year (4/18/09) at 42:47 so I knew I was going to set a new one.  (I really need to run this distance more.)  Plannng on the fly I wanted to run 9:40 mile pace and I knew this was totally within my grasp since I just ran a 9:14 mile pace for my 10k race last week.



MIle 1 was run in 9:55 - but I always start out a little slow on this course so I wasn't worried.  I slowly started to pick up my pace and I felt really good despite P90x earlier.  Mile 2 came in around 9:00 flat.  A little too fast but I did feel good and my legs felt pretty strong.  Core muscles felt strong also and I was able to get better movement throughout my hips which for me is has been uncommon these days.  As I get stronger in my midsection I've become less stiff while I'm running.  Mile 3 was uphill quite a bit and I was able to log another sub 10 min mile (I'm not sure what he actual time was here other than the face I was under 28 mins at tis point.) Mile 4 is all downhill and I finished off with a 37:34 total time.  9:14 pace!  I DESTROYED my year old PB by 5 mins!  I'm guessing I could have shaved another :30 - :40 seconds off this if I was really trying.

Total workout time:
Walking: 40 mins
P90x: 75 mins
Running/Cool down: 42 mins

Total Time:  2 hrs  37 mins

I'm very pleased with my runs recently - mileage is up, and my body is recovering very nicely between these efforts.  I' setting PB's almost everyother run right now and I feel like I'm still improving with plenty of room to grow.  I'm not sure how much more I'm goig to improve but for now I'm very happy with the results, workouts, and training runs.

I still haven't signed up for my half marathon, but I should get that completed sometime this week.  I know  can finish the distance, and I do have some 'goals' set this far out.  2:15:00 is my main goal with a stretch of 2:10:00.  I'd love to be closer to 2:05:00 but I'm not there just yet.  Still a 2:15:00 for my first half is a good goal right now and I can always improve on this at a later date.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Healing....

Well I've been takng it easy over the past few days, my toe feels better and the swelling is almost gone, but my thumb that I hurt at soccer last week is still tender to the touch.  I'm guessing that since this is the 'worst' pain I have than I'm good.  I dd do something to my right foot though, it almost feels like a strained arch.  Last night I woke up from a dead sleep with a massive cramp in my foot.  This is the first time in a while cramping has bothered me - I'll have to pay a little more attention to my diet over the next few days.

 Later this week I'm going to write my review on my new shoes - I'll start writing the review tonight but I don't think I can get it finished so look for it most likely on Friday.  What shoe did I pick?  Post a guess (make and model) and as a prize I'll link your blog to mine :)

Running hasn't really happened over the past few days - I'm getting in my daily walks and Beth and I are doing our P90x stuff but the running is just not there.  Tonight I am planning to get in an easy 2-3 miler just to test out my feet.  I'm only 11 days out from my 10k now and I do want to ge in a few more runs before the race just to keep my legs loose.  Other than my little aches and pains I do feel good - I feel pretty rested and relaxed so I'm hoping I'll actually 'run' in the past few days.  This time period includes a bad toe, rain, and a distance PB so I'm happy over my accomplishment.  Hopefully I'll be able to extend this PB (streak) upwards towards 30-days.

Somehow over the past 6-months I've become a blog addict - I'm now following over 120 blogs and trying to keep up with reading them all.  I don't comment a ton but I do get to read them all (most of the time), usually when I'm watching my Lakers on tv.  Please keep writing I lover reading about your running adventures.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Distance Record!

For the past week or so I've been struggling to get my miles in and it has caused quite a bit of anguish on my part. Mostly because I was working to a schedule and I wasn't hitting my goals in both time and distance.  After taking abou a week off from my schedule I feel much better about my progress after today's effort.  27 days and counting for my 10k but I'm really starting to eyeball and gear myself to get ready for my half marathon that's in May.  The 10k I feel I'm ready for right now and I think I can reach my sub 60 min goal that I've set for myself and with that in the back of my mind, I've started to mentally get ready for my first half.

That all being said - I went out the front door (well actually my in-laws front door) and just started running.  I took Bogey along with me to help me keep my pace slow, but I felt so good over the first 20 mins I started to 'add' distance 3,4,5 miles went by without even a pause.  I felt great and the weather was just perfect for running - overcast with just a touch of a drizzle as I ran along the windswept ocean and harbor area (58 degrees).  After the 6 mile mark I was still feeling good so mentally I added another loop in my head.  Right about then I realized that I was closing in on a personal best in distance (9.5 miles).  But I was starting to worry about my running partner - Bogey had started to try to take 'drinks' out of the standing water collecting in the curbs while we were running.  Twice I stopped at water fountains to try to get him to drink out of my hands, but the stupid dog would rather drink out of the curb on the run.....  I lost about 3-5 mins trying to get Bogey to drink when I decided to just head home (approx 4 miles;  I wasn't quite sure of the distance at this point).  So Bogey and I fought our way home - 1:30:00 on the clock clicked away, then 1:45:00 and I reached the point where we were going to leave the beach behind.  I knew that from this point we were just a little over a mile away from finishing so I gave Bogey a quick little pep talk and we trudged our way home.  2:01:51 was our final time, but how far did we go?  I was guessing just over 10 miles, but I was suprised to see 11.45 come up when I mapped it out!  A personal best on a day when I just wanted to get in about 4-5 miles.



Now just barely removed from this PB I'm wondering if I could break 2 hours 15 mins for my first half?  This run was very, very easy - and the pace felt really good (10:39 per mile).  I walked three times (two of them water breaks for Bogey), and I didn't have any water, gu's or food for the distance - I'm beginning to think that it's possible.  Physically I'm tired, but not worn out and that leads me to believe that I can handle the half distance now and maybe even 'race' that distance.  First I have to see if I can do the sub 60 though before I start planning any thing else.  I have to remind myself that I'm stil training for my 10k.  "Don't get ahead of myself."      

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Epic Fail and a PB in one day.

So yesterday was kind of tough - Beth and I woke at 5:40 am to get our first P90x workout in.  Day 1 calls for 58 mins of Chest and Back work plus 16 mins of ab work.  "Hmmm, I can do this - it's like doing a 7-8 miler.  Shouldn't be too hard."  Well about 20 mins into the workout I was dripping sweat.  And mind you just not dripping, but pouring sweat and I wasn't even doing the moves all out or even that many reps.  Mostly due to the fact I have no upper body strength and any flexibility.  Needless to say, I was struggling big time by the 30 min mark.  After doing some seated flys, I stood up and get very dizzy and sick to my stomach - I excused myself to Beth and barely made my way upstairs to our bathroom when I stripped down and just lay down on our tiled bathroom floor.  In about 5 mins I was cooled down enough to get back down stairs but we didn't finish the workout until that evening.  I'm really not sure what prompted me to overheat like that, and in fact that's really only happened to me about 3-4 times in my whole life so I guess I just didn't pace myself correctly.

The limited visibility I've seen of this program though is great.  Changing up the workouts, moves and intensity are going to pay off big time later on down the line.  Some of the moves are easier but they then range to extremly difficult.  And you really can't cheat anywhere in the few workouts I've done so far.  (But even if you could, I'm not built like that....)  This changing around is not only found in the workouts, but also in the day-to-day planning.  It's like puting an easy day after speedwork, and then throwing in strides and tempo runs during the week.  The program has an edge to others out there because of this.  It reminds me of old soccer two-a-days back in the day......

The ab workout is really going to help me - I can't do all of the moves yet, but they are within reach and I expect within a few weeks I'll be doing at least a few reps of each one.  Once you get there, it's really just working form and reps.  But I have a feeling once I'm beginning to master the current moves, we'll be changing things up a little.....  (I think there's 10-15 different CD's.....)

So after that epic failure in even finishing my first workout, Alex and I went out for an easy recovery run after our quick 5 miler we did the night before (he had an off day from school - Finals were last week).  I decided I didn't want to do any hills so I took him to RSM lake and the one mile loop I've talked about before.  This course is the site of many PB's in the past, but today I just wanted to take it easy.



Alex and  went out pretty easy (for him) and we clocked a 9:24 first mile.  Funny I felt pretty good doing that, but I knew right then I'll be taking the rest of the runs this week at a much slower pace. More along the lines of a 9:50 mile.  Mile two was just as fast,  actually just a little faster - 9:01.  That put us at 18:25, and I still felt good even if my breathing was starting to come a little rougher.  My conversation with Alex pretty much dropped to nil at this point and I just let him chat away.  Every once in a while I'd answer a question with a yes, or no so he knew I wasn't going to drop dead on him (he knew about my failure that morning.)  Mile 3 we finished off  with a 8:56  for a three mile total of 27:11.  That was a PB and right at my 9:04 pace that I have for my 5k PB.  I felt pretty good and I wasn't really pressing to go any faster.  I think if I really wanted to I could shave about :30 seconds off this time without too much difficulty right now.  My 10k schedule does have a 5k practice race in two weeks so I'll try for a PB there.  It should be interesting and I'm starting to get anxious for a race now.

I'm off to clean the house, to bad I can't raise my arms above my shoulders........ At least from the waist down the house will get clean. :)

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Too Much Information

I've got a ton to update today so I'm sorry if I ramble more than usual on this post, but I just want to get it all in.  Therefore you get bullets today.....

• I was going through my log for this month and realized that my consecutive day streak is actually 19 days not 18.  That's huge because it actually 'breaks' my record of 18 days rather than just tying it.  I've made the correction on my sidebar to reflect this.
• Monthly mileage is now up over 150 miles and I'm going to finish this month/week off strong with another 20+ miles.  That will DESTROY my previous best month of 108.6 miles.  I feel so strong right now I think I can add to this next month.  We'll see how I feel doing the P90x program too.  Because of this I've only scheduled 100 mile month.  Anything beyond this will be good.
• Last night was my first scheduled interval training session - I had a small problem.  The local college track was closed (by 7:00 pm) so tried a local HS, that was closed also.  I ended up coming home and running a tempo 2 miler.  I hadn't run this course in a while and I DESTROYED my previous time of 19:02.  I clocked a 17:25 or a 8:43 per mile average with more to spare in my tank!  This is my fist recorded run over a mile where my average pace per mile has been under 9:00 mins!  The 19:02 was done in March of last year so I expected an improvement and a :90 second improvement is wonderful, I'm completely jazzed over my results.  With the increase in monthly mileage I expect to see this kind of improvement to continue throughout this year.  Maybe not this big of a jump, but I can always dream can't I?
• Weightlifting is going well - no real pains and I'm on my third week.  If I wasn't doing P90x, I'd up these workouts - but I'm going to use these just to say I got the workout in.  Weights never hurt anybody unless you drop them o your neck. (see USC)
• Tonight I have a 4 miler easy pace planned.  Nothing special just right around a 9:50 pace would be good.  My hammies are a little tired/sore but nothing too bad.  Tired in a good way - which is what I want.  I should take my running buddy, we'll see, it all depends when I actually get out the door for this run.

• This distance coupled with my two walks and my warm up and cool down I should log about 7 miles today.  The weather is nice enough for this to happen pretty easily.
• My overall progress this month has been amazing - even though I want to change my 10k RACE GOAL, I'm going to stick with a sub 60 min goal.  The race is 52 days off and with my 10k race last week (1:01:33 - race report) that I struggled with I think a 2 min improvement during this time frame is more than good.  Continuous Improvement I've always said.
• Finally after three tries I found my next pair of shoes - in fact I ran with them for the first time last night, and set a PB!  I'll log about 50 miles in them and then FINALLY give you my SHOE REVIEW - here's my last one.  Isn't it amazing how good a shoe feels and how bad a shoe can feel?
• I've added music to my blog - if it's too much let me know.  Hey Nicole thanks for reading, and I have to give No Doubt some play time.  OC band, good music......  ok the song is kind of wierd in this context.  If anyone wants to put in music requests drop me a comment and I'll try to add it to my list, that is if I like it.  If the load times are getting too long for the blog please me know also - I'll cut back on some sidebar items.
• Beth and I did our P90x pretest last night.  Not too difficult - I can tell I need work on core muscles and suprisingly my quads.  The conditioning part I don't think I'll have too much of a problem but either way, I can tell this is going to be an intense 90 days.  We're starting the actual program Sunday, but we'll most likely do the one of the Bonus workouts between now and Sunday.  I'm so looking forward to working out with Beth.  If we don't kill each other it will be fun!  Beth still won't admit that she sweats...... she glistens.  Yeah right.  I still can't look too closely at my 'before' pictures.  I think the reality is slowly seeping in.....

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Race Report - Running After Violet Virtual 10k!

Another blogger - Casey put together this virtual 10k for her readers.  I joined in because the timing was perfect for my training and also because this sounded like fun - and I'm up for fun so I did it, and I'm sure glad I did.

After a week of rain - I had been stuck inside since Wednesday and I'd lost my consecutive day running streak at 18 so I wasn't sure how I was going to respond to having three days off.  My left hip had been bugging me a little so I'm sure the days off helped, but I was feeling a little nervous as I stepped out the door for this run.  Weather-wise you couldn't ask for a more perfect day to run in.  The rains had washed all the dirt out of the air, and the sky was clean and crisp.  The sun was shining, and the temp was hovering right around 63 degrees, just perfect weather to go for a run let alone an attempt at a PR.

After doing a quick warmup, I setteled into the race itself.  The course I decided on is slightly hilly but not too bad, in fact, I had set my current PB on this course back in March of last year: 1:04:11 so secretly I wanted to break 60 mins but I had no idea what to expect. 



Right after I got going I knew this run was going to be difficult - the fact I hadn't had a difficult run in a while suprised me but having a difficult run the day I wanted to set a PB and after taking three days off?  Now that really suprised me.  It always amazes me how my body reacts in ways I never could guess or predict.  You'd think after 39 years I'd know how I'm going to react.  Maybe that's another reason why I enjoy running so much.

Anyway, I finished my first mile around 10:40 and I knew I was in trouble - my legs felt like dead wood and each step was difficult.  That coupled with a shortness of breath really puzzled me.  I should feel good dammit!  Onward I pushed myself; mile 2 came in around 10:30.  Slowly my legs began to feel better, and mentally I started to 'will' myself to run harder.  I have a love-hate relationship with these types of runs, I know that pushing through this tpye of run makes me stronger and dammit I wasn't going to let two slow miles put me down.  So right then I decided to stop 'watching my clock'.  I put my head down and ran.  Only then did I slowly started to feel better - focused I ran.  Mile three, four, five went by without a hitch as I passed other Saturday morning runners.  Slowly I noticed a smile had spread across my face and with Oingo Boingo "Stay" blaring in my headphones I cranked it up for the final mile.  1:01:33 at the finish!  I did it, a PB and a PB that I had to work for.  I'll remember this run for a while and that's good because I want to.  Thanks Casey for encouraging us to do this.  I needed to be challanged and I needed a difficult run.

 

Today I followed up my 10k race with an easy 4.5 mile run.  Suprisingly I felt really good and even though I was supposed to run this at an easy pace (approx 9:45 pace) I did this at a tempo pace (9:12 pace).  Legs felt strong and I felt really good.  Once again the weather was perfect and I enjoyed getting out and hitting the pavement.  It was like yesterday's difficult run had never happened.  Funny.  I don't think I'll ever understand this.

This week's schedule looks pretty easy - I'm supposed to roll in some track work but I'm not sure I'll have the time.  I usually only get some free time after 8 pm so It will have to be at the local College.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

It's Friday!

Well another week has past, and a lot has happened this week.  I did a very nice rain run, I missed my cycling outing and I'm planing a PB for distance (9 miles) tomorrow.

I'm closing in on some goals here in the next week or so;

• Monthly distance is currently 104.7 miles my best month is 108.6 so I should pass that today.
• Current running streak is 14 days - I'm shooting for 30 days which will beat my yearly goal of 25 days.  (I might have to revisit this goal.)
• I'll be making an attempt next Saturday (the 23rd) at a 10k PB - currently my best stands at 1:04:11 that I did last March.  I should be able to destroy this.
• I'm attempting a PB in distance (9 miles)

If everything goes well I should have a record month in regards to my goals that I set earlier in the month.  I never dreamed that I'd be so close to so many of my goals for the year this early.  Now if I can maintain this level, it would go a long way to becoming more consistant (another goal I set.)  I'm still on pace to log 130 miles this month so I'm very pleased with my effort.  I feel good and strong with very little aches and pains so I'm very encouraged that I should be able to continue at this level.

Last night I finally ran the 4 miler that I thought I was running from my last post.  The weather was perfect, no clouds, no breeze and nice cool air.  Too bad I was runnning bad.  I completed the 4 miles at a 10:40 pace.  Now there were several reasons for this slower pace so I'm not too disappointed.  First there was my running parnter; Bogey, he wanted to smell everything we past. So I stopped for him a couple times thinking he had to 'do his business', but actually he just wanted to smell the roses.  Second I was trying out some new running shoes - I won't say much other than they are currently on the way back to the store.  I'll write a complete review on these shoes sometime next week. Finally I wanted to keep my pace down since lately I've been running a little too fast, so the 10:40 pace is ok for a run or two right now.

Also I wanted to thank everyone for their recent comments / questions - I'll try to answer most of them.
(more bullets)

• I'm not a 'streak' runner.  I've always been interested in people who do streak because to me it shows more than just dedication, but rather a way of life.  These people aren't just running for health, time, or to get better.  They run because they truely enjoy it.
• I run because I do want to get faster - and because it keeps me healthy, sane, and finally because I do enjoy it.
• Last summer I was going through a difficult time after getting laid off from my job that I had for 9 years.  I was transitioning to a stay-at-home Dad as Beth went off to work full time.  Because of this, my running suffered.  In fact I missed a couple of races because of my conditioning.  I did spend a huge amount of time with the kids since they were home for the summer - something that I wasn't able to do while I was working full time.
• My activity levels have taken off because I believe that I've put in the hard work over the past two years to get to this point.  I've always believed that it takes about 24 months to get your body used to certain 'levels' of running.  It's only just about now that I think my body can handle the extra workload.  I really think I'll stay healthy through this current push for more mileage.  I expect to keep at the 100-200 miles per month level for another 2 years though.
• My graphs - they are really just an by-product from using RunningAhead as my on-line log book.  Once reason why I chose this site (other than it totally free) is because I can get this kind of breakdown very easily.  I find this VERY important because it makes me a better runner oveall.  I can look back and know exactly how much I'm biking, walking, doing easy runs vrs tempo etc....  I can pull almost any 'stat' I want in about :30 seconds.  Having this information helps me plan ahead.  I can't every begin to express how happy I am with this site.  Eric (the creator and owner) is great and is always improving the site in real time.  Don't worry if you have another site with data - he's created automatic downloads to most major on-line sites to transfer data.  (Including downloading your Garmin data!)  And if you have your data in just a excel page - he'll download it for you.  The link is on my sidebar - check it out.  I'll continue adding graphs that I feel show my progress, or goals in future posts.

Next week is going to be difficult getting in  my planned mileage - we're supposed to get 6-5 days of rain, and I'm not too keen running in this stuff everyday next week.  I don't mind doing it every once in a while, but all week?  There is a reason why I don't like in Spokane anymore.  I do have my 'streak' to think of so I'm sure I'll try to keep that going even of I only get in 1-2 miles daily.  I can't really complain though since we've had a very mild winter so far cmpared to the rest of the United States.  Hopefully I'll get in at least 20 miles next week.

Tonight I'm planning another 4 miler (at least) - nice and easy becasue tomorrow morning I'm attempting a PB for mileage.  I'll be running both runs with my old shoes but hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll find another pair of shoes.  And as always I'll write a review on them.


Keep Steppin'
Bob

A So Called Rest Day

So yesterday was a rest day for me.  No I didn't break my streak (12 days now), I just took it really easy.  A couple walks and an easy 2.3 mile run.  Because I have put so many miles in for 2010 so far I wanted to take it really easy today but I didn't want to just sit on my butt.  Once again we had beautiful weather so I got out the door for the 2 miler around 7:30 pm.  With just a smattering of cloud cover, I did a VERY easy 9:50 pace.  This is pretty much what I want for my easy paced runs right now.  Just a tad under 10 min miles and I'll recover nicely.



This morning I woke with an upset stomach coupled with a pretty bad headache.  I know I haven't written about my headaches before, but I suffer from them daily.  I manage the pain pretty well and usually within 5 mins of waking I can tell how bad its going to be.  I've done everything possible to have this condition checked out but about 10 years ago I decided that I'll always have them and I'll just deal with it.  Most of the time I can just pop a few excedrine and I'm fine but every once in a while they just lay me out.  I try not to complain to my wife because I'm sure she doesn't want to hear it, and there's nothing I can do about them so complaining won't help.

Anyway this morning I could tell right away that it was going to be a struggle, hopefully when I get my run in today, it will clear my head a little, but with the stomach ache on top of it I'm a little worried I'm comming down with a little bug.  We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Today the plan is to get in a 4 miler with Bogey at about the same pace as yesterday's run (9:50).  That with the cool down and my walks to Abby's school should give me about 7 miles for the day which is exactly what I want.  On Wednesday (tomorrow) I already know I won't have any kids in the morning so I'm planning a duplicate of my cycling distance from last week (27 miles).  That ride took a lot out of my legs last week and I want to see a few things:

• Thursday and Friday last week were pretty tough - can I recover a little faster this time?
• The ride itself was pretty rough on my quads, can I do this ride on back-to-back without my body crashing during the ride?

I should have answers to these two questions by the end of the week.

On my last post I mentioned that I was concerned about getting in a 'long' run and a trial 10k before my 10k training schedule kicks into play - well another blogger Casey who writes Running After Violet is doing a virtual 10k run on the 23rd of this month so I signed up for it.  It fits my schedule pretty well and I'll still be able to get my attempt at 9-10 miles in this weekend.  So I get the best of both worlds....... :)  (BTW I don't think it's too late to sign up, come join us.)  So the plan is to do a 27 mile bike ride tomorrow and a 9-10 miler this Saturday, then the following Satuday I'll be attempting a PB at the 10k distance.....  Hmmmmm all the runs in-between are going to be VERY slow.  On top of this, I'm looking at my PB's yesteday thinking it would be nice to attempt a new PB at the 2 mile distance....... Maybe I can work this in next month.

I almost forgot to welcome my new followers!  Thank you for stopping by, leave comments, thoughts, questions - I'll most likely incorporate them into a post (or two).

Keep Steppin'
bob

Record Week

It's been a few days since I last posted, but I haven't been slacking.  If fact I logged a record 64.2 miles last week beating my previous best by about 15 miles.  Once again I'll point out that I include my cycling miles in these numbers, but I've always have.  Cycling made up 27 miles so I still had a very solid week.

Physically I'm a little tired now.  I have a 10 day streak going on and I do feel a little fatuged.  It's not too bad, but I've run a few of my last runs a little too fast.  Getting home tongight and checking out my log for my last few runs, I'm noticing that my pace is about :15 seconds faster per mile than I really want.  Now this doesn't sound like much, but over a 5 mile distance, and after 10 days the quicker miles do tend to sneek up on you.  This week I'm really going to try to cut back a little on my speed.  (I'm planning speedwork at the end of the month anyway.)

Sometime this week I'll be signing up for my planned 10k - my acutal traing schedule starts next Monday (the 18th) so I do have this week for a little 'freestyle' training.  I'm actually looking forward towards a structured 8 week schedule that includes some track work.  I haven't done any track running in about 15 years so that should be fun.

A couple other notes; first I'm closing in on a streak goal of 18 days.  If everything go to plan that will happen on the 18th.  Hard to believe that in the first 18 days of the new year I could reach one of my quartely goals.  Second, I may revise my 10k time goal.  Right now I'm just shooting for a sub 60 mins, but I'm going to have to put a stretch goal on that because in some of my tempo training runs I'm beating this time already.  Yesterday I ran 5.9 miles in 57:15 or a 9:43 pace on a tempo training run without really trying too hard.  A 10k race I should be able to beat this by about 3-4 mins.  To get a better feel for this I'm scheduling a 10k run this next weeked before I start my actual 10k training.  I want to see how close I'm actually to breaking that 60 min goal.  This will put a slight crim in my distance plans because I wanted to put in a long run of 9 miles (a personal best) this upcoming Sunday.  We'll just have to see how the week pans out.  Finally I've set a goal of a sub 2:15:00 for my half marathon in May.  I have no idea if I can do that - the 8 miler I did mid December really took a lot out of me.  And if I'm not going to run a 9 miler this week, my next scheduled 'longest run' won't occur until early March.  I'm sure I can finish that distance, but without attempting it I can't really get a good grasp on an accurate time.  Anyway, I'm going to focus on running a strong 10k first then I'll worry about the half distance.

Today the whole family dicided to hike up the dreaded ridgeline by my house.  It's a good hike and I had Cade on my back.  I've included a few pictures this time so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about;

Abby on the backside of the ridge

Our house second row back dead center (grey-blue 2 story)

Abby again on top of the ridge

Close-up of our house

Cade - always smiling.

Looking towards Big Bear (East) - just a little snow.

Our little model - her print ad for the Montage will be out next Christmas.

It's a great workout with a 40 lb kid on your back - I was sweating bad.

Finally I wanted to point out that I'm on pace to destroy my monthly record in distance; currently it stands at 108.6 that I did in September last year.  Right now as it stands I'm sitting at 81.6 miles for the month ad on pace to do 127 miles for the month.  Personally I'm pretty sure that I'm going to reach this number in fact I wouldn't be suprised to see a 160 mile month here.  I just want to be careful and make sure I don't hurt myself though.

Keep Steppin'

Bob

2nd ABHBLD 5k Run - RACE REPORT

Well it getting late, but I wanted to squeeze this race report in before I go upstairs, shower and get some shuteye. Before I start, I do want to thank those who wished me a great and wonderful Birthday. I think yesterday's was the best birthday I've ever had. Surrounded with my family, I couldn't have been happier.

That being said, I didn't actually run my 'race' on my birthday. The day started out very nice, got up early and was on the golf course by 8:00 am. Our tee time was at 8:30 so I got in a little putting which helped me. I shot a 16 over, 10 over on the front nine and 6 over on the back for an 87. That's pretty good for me. Considering that I was 5 over on a two hole stretch on the front nine I'll take the 87 any day. Getting home at around 2:30 pm, I had to drop off two of the kids with Beth, and go pick up the third at my Ex's. An hour later I made it home, got in a little stock work in even though the market had already closed and then showered and made our way over to my parents for dinner. Long story short, I got home after 9 pm and was just a little too tired to go out and make a serious stab at a 5k PR so I waited until today.

In direct contrast to yesterday's 80 degree and sunny weather, today was overcast, drizzle and 52 degrees. I like running in this stuff every once in a while; it reminds me of my senior year in High School traveling up to Big Bear for soccer training. We'd do a training week up there in altitude for conditioning purposes - it was always COLD and wet. Running in this stuff always brings me back to that time. It's nice, but only if it once in a blue moon - I'm a Southern California fan through and through. Shoot I was wearing my flip-flops yesterday. :)



As you can see it's not a particularly difficult course, but it's no cake-walk either. Today for my RACE I did start at the 1 mile marker instead of the actual start, the reason for this? It's because the 1 mile marker is the closest to my house and I used the distance between as my warm up and cool down. Anyway, the first mile went really well, I felt pretty good even though my back was sore from playing golf yesterday, I knew I had a sub 30:00 in my legs - running in my new birthday mock turtleneck running shirt, nike sleeves, and gloves I actually felt a little 'overdressed'. Usually I make fun of runners that looked like me today but I didn't care, in fact no one was out so it just made me feel better, I was braving the elements to get his run in.

Mile 1 split was 9:23 - not too bad, the first hill grouping was finished and I was feeling strong. Water was dripping of my hat, and my watch was soaked (secretly I was worried about it breaking), but I plodded along attacking the second uphill mile. Clocking a 9:30 here I knew that the final stretch was all downhill and I could really push myself since I feel good. My breathing was coming harder but at least my heart wasn't going to jump out of my chest or decide to quit on me, so I opened myself up more than I have done since I tore both of my hamstrings back in 2004. I put in a 8:32 third mile feeling like I could have gone even faster. At this point my lungs were starting to hurt a little and my left arch was starting to cramp up, but I pushed out the final tenth of a mile and clocked a 28:04! Yeah a PB by about :20 seconds! I had just missed my stretch goal by :04 seconds - and I had it in me. Still I learned a few things tonight.

1. I can go faster much faster, I just a little scared that I'm going to hurt myself. Mentally I'll have to gt over this. When I started to push during the third mile I felt my hammies pull a little, but they didn't give out. Surprising that mentally I'm still a little scared.

2. I need to get my core stronger if I'm going to get faster. It's sore now afterwards. Beth has been trying to get me to start Pilates - for some reason I'm holding back.

3. My hard work is paying off - since last year my PB pace per mile for the 5k distance has lowered from approx 9:56 per mile to 9:04 per mile. That a :52 second difference per MILE! Or approx 3 min difference over the total distance! Could I make these kinds of strides in 2010? That would put me down at around a 25 min 5k. I would be very pleased with that.

4. The pain I feel making a PB really isn't that bad - I've felt much worse (see my 8 mile run entry.) I can ignore this and go faster.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas - if you did run this virtually with me, feel free to give me your times, age and splits (if you have them) and I'll put together a good post with links to your blogs for your reports. (If you want). Have a fun and safe New Year.

Keep Steppin'
Bob


PS - I'm going to do an update on my Brooks for my next post. I just hit 500 miles in them I wanted to give you an update.

Finishing the Year - and 'Other Stuff'

Well the year is almost over and tomorrow is my 2nd Annual Birthday Race (2nd ABHBLD 5k Run for short). (See this for last year's report). Even though I through out the challenge for people to join me tomorrow, I haven't been contacted by anyone that they will show up. Hmmmm I don't know if I should be depressed or ecstatic that I'll be first overall again this year. Last year I completed this in 30:45 missing my goal time of 30:30. So to set my goal I look a gander at my log and noticed that I've only run this particular course three times, two of these have been races:

7/4/08 - 36:27 (RACE)

12/26/08 - 32:10 (TRAINING)

12/29/08 - 30:45 (RACE, last years' ABHBLD 5k Run)

Funny I haven't run this course this past year. I was going to run in on the 4th of July, but they changed that 5k course this past year. I didn't blog about that race but long story short, I thought I was going to run this course and didn't check the web site before I left. Beth brought the kids to the lower end of the 'old' course (closest to our house) while I went out for a warm up. I didn't know the course had changed until we took a left turn instead of a right turn. Poor Beth and the kids never saw me since they weren't on the course...... It took a while for me to live that one down. :)

Back to tomorrow's plan, I'm planning on running this after 8 pm tomorrow since I'll be playing golf, and then having a birthday dinner at my parents. I might try to squeeze it in after my golf game but I might not have the time to do that. I'm going to have to play it by ear, but that's ok since I'll be running alone.....

Race goal time is going to be a PB attempt to break 28:27 (9:11 pace) which ironically was set at that 4th of July race I mentioned above. Yesterday on a different course (slightly longer and steeper) I clocked a 9:13 pace over 3.19 miles so I think this is totally possible on this course. My stretch goal tomorrow is going to be a sub 28 mins. I really don't think I can do this because I haven't really trained for a sub 28 but physically I feel pretty good so I'm going to throw it out there as a stretch.

Naturally I'll post a race report so please stay tuned, I'll try to get it up within 24 hrs.

On to training - I basically took the week off. I'm not sure why I tend to take complete weeks off and I really want to change this tendency about my training this upcoming year. After tomorrow's race, I'm going into 10k training mode, with plans to up my mileage to 30 miles per week for the next 10-12 weeks. The 10k I'm planning to sign up for will be Newport's Spirit Run in late March. So far I don't have a race goal, but I'll set that after the New Year.

Keep Steppin'

Bob

Distance PB Made!

Yesterday I set out to conquer some of the 'ridge' hills I have around my house. I've mentioned them in other posts before; looming 200-300 feet high they are pretty much straight up/down. Really there wasn't a reason to hit these hills, and in fact I didn't know I was going to run them until I made a turn toward them in the first half mile once I stepped out the front door.

After scaling the first two miles at an 11:55 pace, I decided that since my time sucked I might as well go for a distance PB. I talked about trying for a distance PB in my last post and I knew that this was the day I was going to get my chance. Beth was watching the kids and the weather was beautiful for a mid December. So I stared plotting a new route in my head. Something to get me to 8 miles. Continue straight here, turn right, straight, right, left, add that loop and another hill. Before I knew it I was home. 1:40:35 - the last two miles were painfully slow with a ton of walking mixed in, but I did finish the course I had set in my head. The only question was did I map out the distance correctly in my head? I've always prided myself in being able to gauge distances - even back in HS riding my bike to my girlfriends house - I knew I was going 13 miles. Running to soccer practice 6 miles, riding to my friends house 10 miles. It really didn't matter where or how, I just knew how far it was. Now I couldn't wait to map it out. (see below)




I was .03 off! Wow! What a great run. Slow, but a good run. We'll see how I feel tomorrow morning and how I recover over the next few days.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

A new PB in Distance.....

The picture is from Beth's Grandfather's house in Ill. He past away this past summer at the age of 90. It really doesn't have anything to do with the post, but I liked seeing his backyard again.

Well another week has already past and I wasn't thrilled with my effort in getting out the door this week. Because of this, I decided to go out and run 7 miles tonight just so I can say I put in a PB for distance.

I chose a location that I'm familiar with and easy to run - flat and fast. In fact I still have my 3 mile PB on this course from earlier this year. The course itself is a single mile loop that I decided to run 7 times. I wasn't sure if I was going to get bored running this loop over and over but I do enjoy people watching and this course does get a lot of foot traffic.......

Mile 1 split was 9:45 on the nose - a little faster than I had planned. My goal here was to run an average of a sub 11 min mile so I felt this was a little fast, but I felt really good and my breathing was coming easy. Because of this I decided to keep going at this pace to see how long I could hang on.

Mile 2 split was another 9:47. Still feeling really good. Now I NEVER bring along any water on my runs, but because I knew I was going 7 today I brought long a bottle that I was taking sips about every half mile. (It lasted until mile 6 so it worked out well.) I was worried that it would be too hard to keep pace carrying a water bottle, but it wasn't causing any problems.

Mile 3 split was unsure - I do know I was at 29:23 at the mile marker though - so I was still on pace and feeling pretty good. Right about here I started to eyeball a possible sub 10 min mile average. The first 30 mins seemed to click along rather quickly and with the sun starting to go down, my 'people watching' group was dwindling - soon I wouldn't have any distractions, would it make the final 5k difficult?

Mile 4 I really stopped watching splits - I was in around 39:40 though. Slightly slower, but I was still feeling good. Sun dipped below the ridge and the sunset was beautiful.

Mile 5 was around 49:30. Faster than mile 4, but I started hurting a little though. My bad knee (left) was a little sore under my messed up kneecap (old HS injury). By now the sun is gone and it's starting to get dark. I'm pacing myself by seeing where "Running Sucks" t-shirt guy is.....

Mile 6 I'm on the home stretch now and already know I'll be finishing under 1:10:00 - I feel that good. 59:50 at the marker and I start to pick up the pace a little.

Mile 7 - t-shirt guy is finished - couldn't hold our pace and I blow past him, now it's only the 'serious' runners out on the path and I'm starting to pick off some of the slower people. 1:09:45 at the finish, and I could have run another 5 without any difficulty. Maybe I should consider running races longer than 5k? I'll wait until my race pace is under 9 min miles though.

Overall I am very pleased with the run. All the stroller runs are making me stronger and keeping my everyday pace down that helps with my recovery. When I get out without the stroller and my 30 lbs kid I feel like I'm moving along without any difficulty. Pretty soon I'll have to start mixing in some speed work since I'm planning to keep my base around 120 mile per month. (I'm around 100 now.)

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Solid Week

Well a new week starts today and I've just finished putting in a nice solid week last week. I've pretty much kicked my head cold but I'm still feeling a little congested.

This morning Cade and I went out for a little run after we dropped the girls off at school. Just a little small run to get the blood pumping. My pace was 9:36/mile so I'm feeling stronger running with the stroller.

A couple of things to note this week.
1. Distance goal: 30 miles
2. Attempt a PB at 10k distance.
3. Last month I finally broke 100 miles for run/walk/bike distance!

I was looking at my log this morning and realized that this PB has stood since early March. I'm pretty sure I can break 1:04 maybe even a sub 60. So this Saturday I'm going to make the attempt.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

It's Been a Long Weekend.

I've had a pretty bad head cold since last Thursday. I'm not sure where it came from but I starting to feel better today. So because of the cold I didn't run either Saturday or Sunday and only did very minimal mileage on Thursday and Friday. Today I did get out this morning but the run was very difficult, I'm still having difficulty breathing through my nose, and my upper chest is a little congested still, but I'm going to try to get through the day without taking any medication.

Planning for Thanksgiving is going along well, with my PB in the mile the other day I'm leaning towards setting a PB goal for a 5k race then. I want to run a 2 miler sometime in the next week or so and see what pops up with that run then I'm going to set a time goal for the race.

My stocks last week took a pretty hard hit, but I'm working back this morning. The ISM Index report this morning was favorable so that helped us get off to a good start. FUQI is my big mover this morning up 1.46 at the time of this posting. Ten day high sits at 31 (current the stock is at 27.8) so I'm hoping for a larger jump in the next few days - I'm still being defensive overall until the Jobless Claims on Thursday come out. We really need to see this number turn - Got that Mr. President?

Keep Steppin'
Bob

A PB Falls.

Well last night I decided that I was going to do my mile TT that I missed this last Saturday. I don't know why, but I've been nervous about this run since I started eyeballing a possible attempt at it about three weeks ago. I'm not sure why I had so much apprehension regarding this run but I'm thinking it's because I really didn't want to know where I was conditioning-wise . I know this might sound counter productive but in the back of my mind I was terrified that I wasn't going to better my PR and the thought of missing this PR was giving me fits. I've put in so many good runs (mentally gauged) that I was afraid that I wouldn't get results.

I started out with a 1.18 mile warm up - nice and easy because I wanted to see how my knee reacted to my cycling the night prior. It was fine, but then I was worried about my breathing. I felt sluggish and slow. Every step I took a little doubt and fear seeped into my mind so I took the warm up slow. After about 14 mins I crossed the starting point and picked up my pace. Lengthening my stride I began to struggle right away. I could feel the tired feeling in my legs - just an overall sluggishness as I tried to power myself up the first hill (approx 105 ft in elevation). Still I increased my stride turnover, and I couldn't even feel my bothersome knee. Hey a good sign! At the top of the course (half way) I was cruising along pretty well, glancing at my watch, I saw 3:50. "Hmm maybe I need to measure this course again", was my first thought. "No, I've run this a thousand times, the distance is right." Anyway the second half is uphill again, this time the route is a more subtle incline but it's higher, 150 feet elevation. Now I was struggling. "Come on - it's only a half mile and half of that is downhill." The hill seemed to last forever but soon I was over it and travelling downhill towards the finish. Slowly I was picking up speed and I took a quick glance at my watch: 6:55. "Damm that went by fast - I'm really going to have to push it." Then came the pain. about 400 meters out I put down the pedal and finished with an 8:15 mile. I finished up the night with a cool down 1.18 miles in 16:28 (yeah some walking).

The mile distance is interesting - and clocking an 8:15 on this hilly course I'm pleased with my results. Still, now I want a sub 8 min mile and I know I'll attempt this again before the year's out. Funny how that works.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Beautiful Morning!

This mornings run was beautiful. The sun came out to a cloudless sky and the air was crisp (well as crisp as Southern California can be.) and what started out as a 3 miler quickly turned into a 4.5 mile run when I decided to take a right turn instead of a left on the upper end of my planned course. Cade as usual was catting away and I tried to keep up the conversation but it was hard. Pace overall was 11:08 not too bad for a stroller training run and I'm pleased with my results even if I had to walk a short uphill section for about :30 sec.

Saturday is going to be my last official attempt at a mile PB this year. I don't run this distance anymore on it's own, but with my increased mileage this year I think I might be able to break 8:44. The plan is to run a warm up 1.18 miles then do the TT and finish with an easy cool down of 1.18 miles. I'll still get in over 5k for the day and that should also get me over my weekly goal of 28 miles and get me very close to my monthly mileage goal of 79 miles. Physically I feel pretty good. My legs are a little tired but my recovery between runs seem to be OK. My left knee (my bad knee) is a little sore and yesterday I found out is hurts when I kneel on the tile to clean it. I know Beth I won't use this as an excuse to get out of cleaning the tile. :)

Tonight I'm filling in for softball (it's amazing they've asked me to play every game as a backup since I told them I wasn't going to play this season) The scabs on my knees just healed up this morning from the last double header we had - hopefully I won't have to dive too much tonight.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Stoller Pacing

Pace for my stroller runs....

I'm improving on these runs, but I'm not sure if it's because I getting into better conditioning or if it's because I'm getting used to pushing the stroller. I'm guessing it's a little of both. Over the past few weeks - I feel like I'm getting stronger, and it's reflected in my pacing here.

Now please understand that I never start a training run with a pace in mind unless I'm planning on running a tempo run. Stroller runs have been strictly 'easy' runs on my calendar so effort wise I'm not trying to 'bust' these runs out so I feel good about my progress at this point in time. I still can't understand the runners in my races that pass me pushing someone at a 9 min pace. That to me is just a monster pace.

Maybe in a few months I'll re-run this report and publish it again. That may be interesting, hopefully I'll be pleased at the results then also.

Last night I got in a easy run with Bogey - I only went 2.2 miles, but that put me at 9 miles for the day so I was pleased with the effort here also. 10:29 was my pace so I was right where I wanted to be for this run. Even with my legs feeling really tired it was nice to run this with little effort.

This morning's run was only 1.6 miles - just enough to test out my legs after yesterday's big mileage. Tonight I'm planning an easy 5k which will put me over 70 miles for the month. My mileage goal this month is 79 miles so I'm well on pace to reach that goal and I feel pretty good about that.

Saturday is my mile TT date. 8:44 is my current PB and I really want to beat this. It's been sitting at this time for a while now (I haven't tried to break it to be honest) and I'm not feeling too confident right now in being able to beat this. Mainly because even though I've put in some good training runs over the past few weeks, I don't feel like the speed is there to break this yet. My weight hasn't gone down like I've expected and I think that's going to hold me back this weekend. (I'd rather be around 198 rather than 203). Oh well we'll see how it goes - I'll keep you posted.

Stocks are going well, I reached another cash out goal this morning (that's five this month, where I was only planning two). Right now I'm just sitting back and waiting for some purchases to move before I can cash them out. I'm guessing sometime before Friday I'll be making another cash out. Currently I have two different trading accounts, an IRA account that is non-taxable and setup for long term investments. On this account I'm also invested in companies that hand out dividends. My other account (which is much smaller by about 60%) I use for income. Here I work in $400.00 groups. Every $400.00 I make, $300 comes out as income and the other 25% get re-invested so I can grow this account to over 25k (for those who don't know 25k is the cutoff the government has created to let investors have unlimited day trades. Right now I'm only allowed 3 days trades in a 5 day period.) All this means is that I need to make sure I hold onto a stock overnight in most cases. Most of the time this is good because I can then catch the up gaps that have been occurring recently on this market's bull trend we've been having since March of this year.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Two More PB's

This month has been fantastic! Last night I went out for a run with all intentions of just getting some miles in. (I really want to break 100 miles this month.)

During my warm up mile my legs felt pretty tired from my cycling on Saturday but I just said to myself, "We're going to take it easy today, that's why you're not wearing your HRM...." So as I started my planned 2.3 miles, I just cruised along. After about 5 mins I was feeling so good I decided on the spot to g0 another direction and stretch the run into a 5k. Mile 1 slipped by at about 9:40 plus some change and I felt better than when I had started, so I decided to pick up my pace a little over the next mile that was mostly downhill so I could turn this into a Tempo run. Mile 2 split was about 9:25! Even now my legs felt pretty good, I was still running on my toes and my calves were starting to tire a little but nothing I couldn't handle. Conditioning is there - I could have talked pretty easily at this point, in fact I was singing with my ipod under my breath. On this course, mile 3 is entirely uphill - nothing too difficult, just a good finishing mile for a 5k. Now I've run this course 4 times previously and back in Jan of this year was my PB on it - a 30:21. Sitting right around 19 mins at the start of the 3rd mile I knew I was going to blow this out of the water. Surging uphill, I felt relaxed and my breathing was coming pretty easily. This was the first time since I started running again (July '08) that I've actually felt like I was running and not sloshing through waist-high water. It was a nice feeling, after all these miles over the past couple months, I actually felt good when I started to pick up a pace. Now granted a 9:30 pace isn't blistering - but it's really nice to run a faster pace without laboring during it.

Getting back to my run - I finished mile three around 9:30 also (I didn't look at my watch) and finished the course in 29:26. Finally my sub 30 min 5k...... It took a while to get here but I did it. Now I have to focus in on a sub 28....... (It never ends.)

Adding a final cool down mile put me at 94.3 miles for the month - also a PB. April has been kind.

Keep Steppin'
Bob