Bump in the Road

My race on June 19 did not go as expected. It seems that the town recruited some runners in the area to make sure that there was not a repeat of last year. This is interesting I never thought of myself as a threat to anything. The race itself was okay nicer day than the previous year (temperature-wise). I went out toooo fast and paid for it when we turned into the wind in mile 3 of 4. I was able to place in the top 5 and won my age group so overall it was not too bad.

My week of running in North Dakota was dismal. The first couple of days that we were there it rained, and I traveled to take a mini vacation within a vacation. I was able to run once at the farm but was not able to get in any significant mileage in when at the farm. This sucked because I knew that I would not get in the mileage that I wanted too when I got to Minot. I was able to run once at a decent clip the day before a local race. That race was terrible. First, I was not able to get the mileage I needed earlier in the week and it was humid on the day of the race. I have no idea what my splits were because the miles were not marked. The route itself had many curves on wet asphalt so it was difficult to grip the surface during the race. The time results sucked (19:53) but again the place was not very bad. I placed 7 overall (7/150) and third in my age group although I got recognition for second, they did not want to double dip, so because one of the top three was in my age group I received second place. I am not happy with the results of this race in any fashion it was a poor performance.

When in Minot I was able to get my high school cross-country and track awards. It was interesting reading over what I though I could do then. It seemed to me that my best year was my sophomore year. There were a number of awards and many of my times were close to the best, if not the best, that they were in the next two years. I wonder why this is my junior year was not bad it just was not as good, my senior year was as I said before pathetic. It seemed that there was a lot expected of me when it came to running after my freshman and sophomore years, I never lived up to those expectations.


This gets me thinking that maybe the expectations that I have for myself and others have for me are too high and beyond my reach. I would like to think otherwise, I have been running consistently now for 3+ years since my 7 year absence from running. My times last year were some of the best that I ran in years. I hope that this is just a bump in the road and that I will be able to return to form in the coming months.

runpd

One Week Changes Things

With the first week of summer, officially in the bag I could not be happier with how things are going. Last week I was trying to get the lead out of my feet and semi accomplished that after two races in a row.


This week has been just the opposite I have had troubles slowing down in some of my runs. Some of this is the starting of doing speed work on the track. The last two workouts were good and showed that I could increase the amount of the intervals that I do. Right now, I am just sticking to the 800’s but will try some mile intervals later in the summer. There is a slight problem that I will have to deal with next week and that is running on vacation. It has become easier in recent years but is still difficult to do. I tend to be pulled into many different directions and have to sacrifice my run for another activity that has nothing to do with running or fitness. I am just starting to get more mileage under my feet and now this…I should not be so selfish since I do not see my family all that often I should just take it as it is and run what I can, when I can.

My run today (6-16) did not feel as good as some of the earlier runs this week but I have been throwing the mileage down so I guess a 7:20-7:25 pace over 9.7 miles are not very bad. I would like it closer to marathon pace but I guess not all runs can be the best ever; some just have to be pushed through and be happy with the results.

I have seen some of my fellow runners in the area out on the streets this is nice to see. Not too many years ago, I would hardly see anyone else running. Even back in Minot I would never see others out running and now there is healthy number of races in the area. Which means that there is a good number of people out running to support these races. I have not however seen any of the cross-country team out running but they are logging their mileage on the website. I am so pumped to see how many of these athletes continue to run through the summer. Much of my training is in part to make sure that I can keep up with these runners when fall rolls around, not to mention races during the summer. They have already beaten me too many times (once Mile4Megan 3 of the boys beat me) I need to reestablish the picking order and that I am on top. I am afraid that I will very quickly become lower as time moves on and these runners will start to surpass me in races results. Time will tell.

Get the Pb Out of the Legs

In the days leading up to the Miles 4 Megan race (5-30-10) and the 10Kato (5-31-10) I was having a difficult time running fast. My legs felt as though they were tired. There was no spring in them, no drive, it was has if my shoes were made of lead. So going into the races I was not feeling as if I was going to perform at a sub par level. This really bothered me because if I race I want to run at a high level and run as fast as I can and do my best.
In the Miles 4 Megan race I was defiantly not there, it was weird, I was with the lead pack and never had the intensity that I should have had in a race. I ended up finishing in 5th place and 19:34. To me that time was not acceptable and was disappointed. At the 10Kato I had some positive things going for me. The weather was really nice low to mid 60's and little wind. My goal going in was to run strong. I had no goal time but wanted to average 6:45 miles. I was able to run within myself and not go out too fast at the beginning and actually make splits that I was happy with. The result was okay 22/286 and 41:44.
So after the back to back races my legs were taxed, but they held up. The following week has been a different week in training because my legs are able to go fast. They have their spring back, I am able run fast in training. This is obviously a good thing and I am looking forward to the upcoming summer to ramp-up my training and begin racing more consistently.