2011 Red Rooster Ramble, Week 22

5 Miles
Warren, RI
September 1, 2011
48:18

This was my return to racing, and my new pace for another 18 months. I'm pretty limited in both pace and distance for now, but if I keep this up, I'll be looking at racing a little faster in 2013. Yes, that's a long time away.

Unprepared to run

I had to run across an airport to catch a flight. Maybe 600 meters.
Faster than I've run in months. No warmup. No cooldown. No beeps to
tell me I was working too hard.

I felt awful. Please don't let me die in Newark.

Everything has changed. I can go for a 6 mile run if I prepare all day
and pay attention every step of the way. But putting this training to
practical application is another question. Maybe out of the question.

Like everything else in life, I need to relearn my limits and learn to
live within them.

But now I'm listening to Bon Iver and starting to feel better.

Running 2.0

Ran outside on my own for the first time in a long time. Felt great to
be out again, but it's going to take some time to get my legs, lungs
and head back into it.
Still, a run us a run. Even 3 miles at 9:15.

Not running...

Not running is tough. Not knowing if you'll be able to run again is even tougher.

Wild Colonial Run

I ran this last week for the first time and felt great. Mid distance with a fast crowd, at a great pace. Daylight savings started last weekend, and I'll actually be able to see where I'm going. Looking forward to more good runs in time to get ready for a half in May.

Oops.

Going to take some time off now. I'll be back.

2011 Flat 5k Road Race

Foxborough, MA
February 20, 2011
5k
20:26
6:35 pace
15th place

The day was cold and windy. Very cold. Very windy.

My goal for this race was to run at a pace just below huff. Huff is the point in my pace where I feel I'm breathing too heavy, and pushing beyond a sustainable rate. By the by, I made this theory up. I'm practicing to find this pace to learn how long I can sustain a reasonably fast pace in a longer race, up to a half marathon. I've always wondered how long I can run at a hard pace, and although that seems like a silly thing to not know, I need to practice races to find out. In the last month, it's been very cold, snowy, and tough to find good running days. It seems when I'm training, pushing my pace, I'm never approaching the pace I ran today. Only on a track or in a road race can I pull it out.

So I ran out there today, starting comfortably fast, and working at running a steady tempo run. I did push the last half mile because it was a race, and I really didn't want to finish behind that guy up there in front of me. But I came out feeling good at the end. I'm not training to run 5k's, I'm running 5k's to race distance.