A Week in Review & Running Outside the Box

Haven't been on in over a week, because there's been lots going on in my NRL (non-running life).

5K RACE REPORT

Last week, I ran a large area corporate 5K where I truly had no idea what my time would/should be. After the disappointment of a 48:xx Beach to Beacon, I knew that I wouldn't be running a PR last Thursday, but I wanted to give my best effort and get a sense of where I stand right now.

I decided to run the first mile in 6:30 and see how I felt. Given the crowd, I put forward a little more effort than I would have liked, and split the mile at 6:34. However, I didn't feel like I had much by way of reserves and simply tried to hang on. Though the weather was nice by prior years' standards (it was 96+ when I first ran it in 2001), it was still in the low 80's, and my mouth got very dry after the first mile mark. I took a cup of water at the aid station at about the half-way point and I lost my momentum. At that point, it was a struggle to maintain the intensity I wanted, and my pace dropped to around 6:45-6:55/mile. I pushed as hard as I could, past people who were slowing, walking and even one guy who vomited. I tried to stay with the attractive women who seemed to have some reserves (with mixed success). In the end, I finished in over 21:00, which is disappointing from a historical PR perspective, but encouraging in terms of comparing the time to that of a 10K just 12 days before. So, I take from this that things are at least progressing positively.

After the race, I got to cool-down with my fast colleague (Mr. sub-2:55 Philly) and some of his running pals. They'd all run sub-18:00 (one ran around 17:00) , and it was a treat to hang with them at a 10:00 =/- pace. We did about 2 miles, with those guys showering before heading off for some beers. I went back to the office (the difference between being in your 20's and nearing 40) and got home pretty late.

I was only slightly sore/stiff on Friday, but decided not to start adding a sixth weekly run (which will be a an easy 5-miler) on Friday morning, lest I risk getting hurt again. I did 5 easy at the in-laws on Saturday, and had to turn my planned 17-miler into a 15-miler (but a very pretty, hilly one) on Sunday in order to avoid screwing up the family's plans for the day.

So I put up about 42 miles last week, with a race effort and no injuries to show for it. Solid.


RUNNING OUTSIDE THE BOX

With the notion of qualifying for Boston (with a sub-3:20 marathon) at this year's Chicago Marathon no longer within the realm of realism, I have turned my focus to having some fun with my running. I've spent too long now worrying about every last tenth of a mile, wondering whether the fact that my heart rate was 2 beats per minute higher at the same pace was a sign of massive training regression, agonizing about running a PR in every stinkin' race. I want to have some fun with my fitness. Maybe I'm not that fast (yet!), but I have a heck of lot of endurance which I have spent 2 years developing. I am going to channel that endurance into what I think are two pretty cool running adventures before this year is over.

First, I will run in the Reach the Beach Relay, over 200 miles from the White Mountains to the New Hampshire seacoast. I will be part of a 12-member coed team and will run three tough legs totaling about 21 miles (with a 4-5 hour break between each). We had a team meeting last night, and it appears to be a great bunch of folks, most of whom have done it before and all of whom confirm that it's a wonderful experience.

The other undertaking is more of a personal quest. I plan to run 40 miles on my 40th birthday in early December. This seems like a worthy thing to which I can aspire without worrying about time, qualification standards, travel, etc. I am also pondering tying this run into a fundraising effort to benefit brain cancer research. This would honor a cousin of mine who died in 2005 of glioblastoma at age 36, a tragic end to the life of a wonderful spirit. This is all pretty fresh still, but I like the sense of of doing something for a greater purpose, not to mention the feeling of accomplishment when it's all done.

So, with that I'm off to run a 5K cross-country race, more so as a tempo run than an all-out 5K effort, supporting one of the local high school cross-country programs.

-ESG