This past week was a pretty eventful one and I’m thinking I probably need to whoa down all my travels!! Tuesday a few friends and I flew to New Orleans to see the band 311 play on 3/11 day-2008 (March 11). It’s a marathon type show they do in New Orleans every other year! The concert sold out in about an hour many months ago and tons of hard core 311 fans could be found all throughout Bourbon Street!! We got to the French Quarter around 2:30 and had a beer and lunch then checked into the hotel! On the walk to the arena we grabbed another beer and took in the sights all along the way! By 6:30 we were in the arena getting ready for their show! We knew it would be long but had little idea how long it would be! The band came on at 7:30 and played a 20 or so song set only to say they’d be back for the 2nd of 3 sets!! Great energy and a very wonderful vibe! Everyone was into it! By the end of the next set I was exhausted (I had stopped drinking long before the end of the 2nd set and had switched to water) but we trudged forward! Set three lasted another 90 or so minutes and they rapped up the show, despite nobody really wanting to leave, by around 12:30am! That’s right 5 hours of 63 songs from 311! Great stuff!!
One would think that would be enough for one week but after flying home on Wednesday from the show, I rested for a day then flew to Richmond for the beginning of my trip to the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach! The race was Sunday so Friday and Saturday were spent relaxing and getting to the race. A brief recap of the race would go something like, flat, windy and in the low 40’s. It’s a decently sized race with the half starting an hour before the full. The course is extremely flat but somewhat negated by the wind of the day! I hit the 5 mile mark about as expected and the 10 mile mark a minute or so ahead of my planned time. About the 11 mile mark we turned directly into the wind for about 10k worth of “fun” starting just off the boardwalk but continuing onto then off it again! Miles 13-16 were cross traffic with the slower half finishers and the faster marathoners! At mile 16 we went through a tree lined 4-lane dual highway where someone had put up some Burma Shave type signs! Definitely made me laugh!! At the loop just short of 19 we turned away from the wind and it was a fantastic feeling! While I slowed considerably the rest of the way, it wasn’t as much as I expected and was able to finish the race a little tight but just over 5 minutes faster than I’d planned! While I’m not where I’d like to be relative to my fitness for Boston, I’m definitely heading in the right direction!!
Next week: 20k in Ft. Wayne, Indiana! Hopefully I’m recovered nearly enough to do it decently!!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The Lonely Road…..and a PR
This past Sunday was the longest training run of the season thus far and the longest since the 07 Columbus Marathon. The course was a 15k loop and run twice (total of 30k-18.6 miles for those of you not that great with math and conversions). It was in Avon Lake and the 7am start was a frigid 20 degrees at the start! There were three races starting together (5k, 15k and 30k) but from the looks of it, only around 50-60 people did the 30k.
The start of the race was pretty uneventful. It’s a course I’ve done three times in the past so I knew it would be largely flat yet windy race. From the start, I couldn’t get going or into any sort of rhythm. Within the first mile, I had to slow due to ice on the bike path on which we were running. At the five mile mark I was 3-4 minutes off my expected time. I didn’t panic and decided I wasn’t going to quit and mail it in by slowing way down! I was out there for the duration so I put my head down and just sucked it up! By mile 8 I hadn’t picked up much on the time lost earlier but I was running consistently. The end of the first lap did slow a little, again due to the ice but I finished the first lap about where I had been in previous races but not quite where I thought I should.
The second lap was more of a fight! More ice between 10 and 11 made for even more treacherous footing and I slipped once this time through. By the 2nd of 4 water stops on this lap, I had began doing the walk/run thing and was using the garmin very well to make sure I hit my pace marks! I hit the half better than the previous week (which was good since I still had 5.5 miles left) and was determined to follow my plan and not have the wheels fall off! At the 25k mark, I realized I had run consistently with that of the only 25k I’ve done in the past and I was 8 or 9 minutes faster than the 15 miler from 5 weeks previous (still slower than I’d hoped). By 16, I smacked into the wall and really didn’t feel all that great! I trudged through and despite getting passed right at the end, my time was surprisingly faster than I’ve ever run a 30k race.
The good news is despite a “PR” for a 30k this week, I know I’ll get better for the Around the Bay 30k at the end of the month! I’m guessing I’ll be about 8-10 minutes faster because I’ll ramp up training between now and then. Sure, it’s quite a bit of time but I’m confident I left something on the course at this race!
This week: 15k trail race in Indy and potentially a 4 mile trail race in Columbus. Just depends on how much wine I drink on Saturday…haha
Happy Running!!
The start of the race was pretty uneventful. It’s a course I’ve done three times in the past so I knew it would be largely flat yet windy race. From the start, I couldn’t get going or into any sort of rhythm. Within the first mile, I had to slow due to ice on the bike path on which we were running. At the five mile mark I was 3-4 minutes off my expected time. I didn’t panic and decided I wasn’t going to quit and mail it in by slowing way down! I was out there for the duration so I put my head down and just sucked it up! By mile 8 I hadn’t picked up much on the time lost earlier but I was running consistently. The end of the first lap did slow a little, again due to the ice but I finished the first lap about where I had been in previous races but not quite where I thought I should.
The second lap was more of a fight! More ice between 10 and 11 made for even more treacherous footing and I slipped once this time through. By the 2nd of 4 water stops on this lap, I had began doing the walk/run thing and was using the garmin very well to make sure I hit my pace marks! I hit the half better than the previous week (which was good since I still had 5.5 miles left) and was determined to follow my plan and not have the wheels fall off! At the 25k mark, I realized I had run consistently with that of the only 25k I’ve done in the past and I was 8 or 9 minutes faster than the 15 miler from 5 weeks previous (still slower than I’d hoped). By 16, I smacked into the wall and really didn’t feel all that great! I trudged through and despite getting passed right at the end, my time was surprisingly faster than I’ve ever run a 30k race.
The good news is despite a “PR” for a 30k this week, I know I’ll get better for the Around the Bay 30k at the end of the month! I’m guessing I’ll be about 8-10 minutes faster because I’ll ramp up training between now and then. Sure, it’s quite a bit of time but I’m confident I left something on the course at this race!
This week: 15k trail race in Indy and potentially a 4 mile trail race in Columbus. Just depends on how much wine I drink on Saturday…haha
Happy Running!!
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