Rockets 5K - 2nd Overall!

I ran a great race today and finished in 16:12 and came in 2nd overall. Bill who trains with the Kenyan Way program with me won in 16:01. This was a post-college 5k PR for me. I went into the race hoping to be able to run 16:15, but I didn't know if I would be able to or not. I'm in good shape from all the marathon training I've been doing, but I really haven't done any speedwork geared towards 5k or 10k training recently. The closest thing I did was a 10 x 800 workout with 1 minute rest between each 800 at a 2:39 average. I wanted to try to run about 5:15 pace for each of the first 2 miles and then see what I had left. It seemed like in a lot of the 5k's I ran last year I would take it out too hard and hit a pretty good 2 mile time, but then I would really struggle coming in the last mile.

The weather ended up being really nice. It was in the low 50's and sunny. The race started a few minutes late, but it gave me time to do a couple extra strides and stretch a little more. When the gun when off, a ton of high school looking guys took it out hard. I went through the first mile in 5:12 and was right on pace where I wanted to be. There were one or two guys who had a small lead and I was in a pack of about 8 -1 2 guys. Shortly after mile 1, we made a couple of quick turns and started heading back into downtown. At this point, I moved up into about 4th place. Bill was a couple seconds ahead and in 2nd place. The guy who was leading looked like he started to fade and Bill took the lead somewhere around the halfway point. I passed the guy who had been leading and took 3rd. The other guy in the lead pack stayed right on Bill's tail for about 1/2 a mile and started to fade a little. I caught him right around mile 2 and I passed mile 2 at 10:25 so I was right on pace. I felt really good after two miles. I was relaxed and felt like I was running pretty smooth and would be able to finish strong. I gradually pulled away from the 3rd place guy and was all alone in 2nd. Bill had put about 8 - 10 seconds between me and him and it was just too much of a gap to close when he wasn't slowing down at all. I really didn't feel like I was laboring until we had about 600 meters left, but I was close enough to the finish to just push it in hard. I pretended it was my last 800m interval in my 10 x 800 workout and it was time to push it in hard. The race went down a tunnel into the Toyota center and we finished on the basketball court. I really wasn't looking at my watch or thinking about time until I got onto the court and was kicking it in the last 20 meters and saw the clock was under 16:15. At the awards, they announced my time as 16:12.5.

After the race I didn't really feel that tired. It was almost as if I could have run harder, but I'm not really sure where I could have picked it up during the race because I never felt like I had an extra gear. I'm really happy with my time considering I haven't been doing any speedwork and that is a great start to the year. Unfortunately I really won't be doing much speedwork for the shorter races until after the Boston Marathon and the weather is going to be much warmer for all of the late spring and summer races. The time I ran today is 25 seconds faster than my best 5k time from last season. After the race today, I'm very confident I can get under 16:00 sometime this year. I don't remember my exact 5k PR from college but I think it was either 15:48 or 15:51 and those times are definitely within reach.

I got a trophy for finishing 2nd, and I thought maybe they would give the top winners 2 or 4 Rockets tickets to a game, but they didn't give us anything else. I did read on the website that they are supposed to recognize the top 3 overall finishers on the court during a timeout of the Rockets game on Feb 3. I guess we'll see if they contact me or if anything comes of that.

I'm off to play some video games and grab lunch at Chick-Fil-A. My prediction for the Superbowl tomorrow is Cardinals win 31-24.

2 loops easy at the park

I missed my Thursday run so I did a little over 6 miles today. I had intended to run at lunch yesterday, but I was involved in a meeting that went a lot longer than I anticipated that I had needed to be there. I thought I would leave about 10:00 or 10:30. but I ended up needing to stay to the end and they brought lunch in and the meeting went until 12:30. I had a dinner I had to be at after work that started at 6:30 so I didn't have time to run after work either.

I had the day off today, but it was too cold to get up and run in the morning so I waited until it was warmer in the afternoon. I did my regular run to the park do two loops and run back home which is right at 6.4 miles. I was kind of bored during the run today so I started counting things. First I counted 1000 steps I took while I was running, but that got kind of boring too. Then I decided to count how many steps I took in a 1/4 mile and it was 306. Then I decided to count how many cars went by on the mile long stretch of the trail along Memorial Dr and I counted exactly 300. I did my 6.4 miles in 46:10 which averages out to a 7:12 pace.

I'm planning on doing the Rockets 5k tomorrow if I get there early enough to register before the race. My goal is to run a sub 16:15. I'm not sure what kind of 5k shape I'm in right now. I've got a great base built up from all the marathon training and I think a 5:15 pace is doable. The weather looks like it should be pretty good for the race. I'd really like to run a sub 16:00 5k sometime this year, but I'm not sure if I'll get enough 5k speedwork in with my Boston marathon training and it's tough to run real fast in the summer 5k's when it is 80 degrees out.

6 Mile Run

I felt great today. This is my first run this week where my leg muscles didn't get sore or I didn't feel like I was working hard to maintain pace the last couple of miles. I went out for a run at lunch on a 6 mile route up in the woodlands near my office. I checked the weather before I headed out and it was 43 degrees out with a windchill of 38. Fortunately I packed a long sleeve shirt in my bag before I left this morning. It was a little frigid the first mile and my hands were freezing. It wasn't so bad in the sun, but it got chilly in the shade. I've run this route with my Garmin before, but there are several different paths I can take the first mile and I don't remember exactly where each mile is at. There are a couple points on the run where I usually check my watch out and can use as a reference for how fast or slow I am running. The first two miles were at an average pace and I was feeling pretty good and finally getting reasonably warm. About midway through the run I was wishing I had just worn the long sleeve shirt only instead of it on top of my short sleeve shirt. At about mile 4 I was cruising and took off the long sleeve shirt only to get a blasted by the wind about 30 seconds later. I was cruising the rest of the way in and felt strong the last couple of miles. Sometimes I wonder if I should do more runs on routes without mileage markers or without the Garmin so I'm not always worrying about my pace. I finished the 6 miles in 40:40. I was really tempted to go out and run about 12 400's to get myself used to running with some speed again, but I'm trying not to do anything dumb and make sure that I am fully recovered from the marathon.

Ultimate Frisbee Day

Instead of a regular run today I played Ultimate frisbee with a group of guys from work. It's about a 3/4 mile jog over to the field we play it. It's a nice activity to break up the monotony of a lot of easy runs this week since I'm not doing any speed workout and sprinting up and down the field a few times helps get in some strides. I should be back to running tomorrow.

Another Easy Day

I did another 2 laps of memorial park after work. My legs definitely felt better today than my previous two runs. It was about 65 degrees and a little muggy out. I actually really like training in relatively warm weather, but I hate racing in it. The run was pretty uneventful. I enjoy running at night under the lights at the park, especially when you can see a few stars or the moon out. The park was fairly crowded for a Monday evening. The last couple of miles my legs were feeling a little tired, but it wasn't too bad. I ran the 6.4 miles route in 45:30 which is just over a 7:00 pace.

Easy Run

After yesterday's quick run, I just needed something nice and easy.  I headed out about 5:30 pm to run two loops at Memorial Park.  My leg muscles didn't feel quite as sore as yesterday, but I was a little tired and not real motivated.  I ran 6.4 miles in 47:50 which works out to just under 7:30 pace.

The plan is still to take it easy and run the Rockets 5k this weekend.  I was looking at last year's results and I should have been able to get 3rd overall if I had run last year.  Who knows who will show up this year?

First post marathon run

I finally made it out for my first post-marathon run.  After the marathon I didn't have any injuries but my legs were pretty sore the first couple days after the race, especially my quads.  On Monday and Tuesday I was shuffling up and down the stairs like an old man.

I planned on going out and doing about 8 miles at 7:00 -7:15 pace if my legs felt ok.  It was about 52 degrees out and a bit breezy.  Since it was the first run since the marathon and I was running at the park, I had to wear my marathon finisher's shirt today.  It was a little chilly so I was running at a fairly brisk pace the first mile trying to warm up.  My legs still felt a little sore from the race, but nothing too uncomfortable.  I settled into a pretty steady pace of just under 7:00/mile and I was content to knock out the run at that pace.  About 3 miles in, I passed a guy who picked up the pace to stay with me.  We were about 1/2 a mile from the start/finish area near the tennis center and I figured the guy was just kicking it in.  After he stayed with me for a while he asked me what pace I was running and I told him I was doing 6:55 or 7:00.  Usually I turn around at the tennis center and do a lap in the opposite direction but the guy I was with said he had another mile to go so I decided just to keep running with him since it took a little monotony out of the run.  Somehow in his last mile, we managed to pick up the pace from 6:57 to 6:41.  He peeled off at his car and I had about 3 miles to go.  I hate slowing down and I was feeling pretty fresh so I just kept up the same pace and ran the rest of the run at about 6:35 pace.  I finished the 8 miles in 54:20 which works out to about 6:47 pace.  I was a little sore and tired at the end of the run but I was happy to get out there and knock out a good run.

I plan to keep it fairly easy this coming week and not do any speedwork.  I might run the Rockets 5k next Saturday if I feel ok this week.  Then it's on to getting my mileage back up and getting ready for the Boston Marathon