Kansas Half Marathon

This weekend wife and I went down to the home of the Jayhawks so I could run the Kansas Half Marathon with my youngest sister and her husband.  For me, this was a long slow training run.  Overall I felt great, and although parts of me wanted to go faster, I knew why I came and really enjoyed the day.

The actual race on the other hand needs a little tweaking before I decide to run it again.  Anyway, I'll fill you in along the way.  This was a 13.1 mile training run for me.  The weather was perfect.  A light breeze, crisp air at the start.  Less than a mile into the race was the first mess.  There was a big sign pointing 1/2 marathon straight, 10k'ers turn right.  No volunteer in sight.  Well, it's still a pretty big mass of humanity at this point so there are people cutting across traffic trying to make the turn.  A couple hundred yards down the road there were still people running backwards trying to make that turn.  Messy.

We continued on down the road.  I guess I'll tell you know, this route did not take us through the most scenic parts of Lawrence.  I guess this race used to be run through the campus of KU, but people complained about the hills so they changed the course.  It is now run through more of an industrial part of town.  There was a short stretch where we ran through part of downtown.  This was probably the best stretch except for the extreme lack of crowd support.  It was almost like a ghost town. 

Another thing that kinda bugged me.  About mile 5.5 or so there was a volunteer handing out Gu packs.  That would be great except he was standing right after a water spot.  I had just dumped my cup and was then handed a Gu.  That's not the right order for me.  Miles 4 through 10 (ish) where an out and back so we made our way back through the industrial area...then we passed the finish line on our way to the last 3 mile loop.  Ugh.  For a training run, not a big deal.  If I were racing, big deal.  The few volunteers they had out there didn't seem to know what was going on.  We were told by consecutive volunteers to run on opposite sides of the road.  It was almost comical at that point. 

My last gripe (sorry, I'm not usually like this) is the lack of water stops at the end of the course.  By the time we got to the last few miles the sun was out and it was warming up (it got up to 75 on Sunday).  It would have been nice to have the water stops a little closer together towards the end of the race for some of those runners that were struggling.  They seemed a little too spaced out. 

To end on a positive note...at the finish line there were plenty of drinks and snacks (although no bananas, but that's personal preference).  My sister and her husband finished there first 1/2 marathon in about 2:35.  I thought they did great.  I enjoyed the time with them, and the weather.  The race...ehhh.

I'm now 4 weeks out from my goal half marathon.  I'm still feeling fairly confident, but as always there are those worries creeping into the back of my head.  For the time being I'm just concentrating on the training left to do.  More crappy weather in the forecast for this week, so I guess the winter running gear gets to stay out for a bit.  I'm pretty sick of using it.

How was your weekend?

I'm ready for Spring...

This weather is getting ridiculous.  I had to get out the tights again this week.  Wind chills back down around freezing.  Ugh. 

After taking a couple days in a row off, I'm back on the wagon.  Went out for 5 miles on Tuesday, and my legs were a little dead yet.  I was a little disappointed.  Things picked up though.  Wednesday I headed out for a 40 minute tempo run and felt great the whole time.  I pushed myself and thought my body responded well.  Yesterday was a nice easy 3 miles, and other than he cold wind pushing me around the run felt good.

This weekend we're headed south.  We get to see some family.  More importantly I get to run with some family.  That's a treat for me.  Other than my wife, I've never really run with anyone else, let alone family.  My sister and her husband are running a half marathon, and I decided to run it with them.  I won't be racing this one, just using it as a training run.  The best part is that I get to spend a couple hours of quality time with a couple people I don't get to see very often.  As you can tell (hopefully), I can't wait.

Have a great weekend.  If you're racing, Good Luck!

Two days in a row...

I've slacked off a little.  After the race Saturday I headed up to a friends hunting cabin.  We did some goose hunting and drank too much (no, not at the same time).  I didn't get home on Sunday until after 3 pm.  I spent the rest of the day recovering on the couch watching golf.  Then yesterday (Monday) I had some doctor things to do and watched my oldest play baseball. 

What do all these excuses lead up to?  Two days in a row with no running.  I could definitely tell yesterday that I was getting antsy.  However, I just didn't have the time yesterday to get a run in.  You better believe I'll be out there this afternoon.  A good reason to try out the new Brooks Defyance 3 shoes I picked up from Running Warehouse last week. 

That's all for today.  Not much else going on.  At least not running related. 

MVCA Race for Christ 10k...

This past Saturday Wife and I drove about an hour to a little local race.  The reason we did this was because I wanted to get a 10k race in as part of my half marathon training.  Wife did the 5k and got a nice little PR out of it as she went under 29 minutes for the first time.  Congrats to her.

Saturday was just about perfect weather for a race.  It was overcast and cool, right around 50 degrees.  This was a small race with only 29 people running the 10k.  However, I was confident in my training and felt great before the race.  It was an out and back course and we were running with the 5k'ers for the first 1.5 miles.  After that things thinned out quite a bit.

As usual I started out to fast.  This is something I'm trying hard to work on.  I ran the first mile in 7:38.  With my goal being 8 minute miles, I knew I needed to slow down.  I got myself slowed down a little and ran the second mile in 7:51, I guess I needed to slow down a little more.  Halfway through this mile is where the 5k runners turned around, so we were out on our own now.  This helped a little to get me to relax and get in a rhythm.  I ran the 3rd mile in 7:57.  Nice!  That's right were I needed to be.  I had a new set of problems now.

As I began to slow down I lost the person I had been running with as she left me behind (I can't believe she didn't slow down with me).  There were still people within view, so I still had something to work for.  Around the 3 mile mark I passed someone and that left me with a lot of open road ahead of me.  Basically I ran the last half pretty much alone.  There was a guy just a bit behind me.  From time to time he would get a little closer, and I would do a check and realize I had slowed down a little.  So I'd get back on pace and pull away a bit.  That's how the last half of the race went.  The 4th mile was 8:02, the 5th mile was 8:10.  As you can see I was struggling just a bit.  But then I picked it up for the finish.  The 6th mile was 7:49.  I gave a pretty good kick at the end and finished in 48:21.  That was good enough for a new PR.  The course was a bit short I think as my Garmin measured 6.15 miles.  I know Garmin's can be off also, but I'm still calling it a 10k PR.

After the race we hung around for the awards.  This is not something we usually do as we're middle of the pack type runners.  However, I knew this was a small race and I knew there weren't many guys running the 10k.  This turned out to be a smart move.  I got 1st in my age group!!!  What?!?!  Yep, I won my first age group award.  That was kinda cool.  I beat the two other guys in my group, but a win is a win, right?

Overall it was a great race.  A new PR along with a age group win.  I'll take it.

Race week...

Yes, this week is a race week.  But before I get to that, I should probably recap the last few runs as it looks as if I may have slacked off a little.

This past Saturday was a first for me.  The first time on the other side.  I volunteered at a local 5k.  It was tougher than I thought.  I was fine until the runners started going past, then I felt a twinge of envy.  After a bit I got over it and enjoyed myself.  After the race I headed out for a run of 4 miles at race pace.  The run felt great.  Then came the downfall of my weekend.

We threw a little Final Four basketball party at our house.  I got the smoker out for the first time this spring and smoked some ribs.  The house filled up with friends and we started eating...and drinking.  After a few beers we decided to break out the rum.  Long story short, I got to bed too late and a little to tipsy to think about an early morning long run the next day.  What a mistake.  The next morning we woke up to perfect running weather.  Cool, sunny, and very little wind.  However, since I missed my morning window I couldn't get out for my 10 miles until about 4:30 pm.  The weather changed by then. 

By the time I headed out the sun had disappeared and the wind was now blowing at 25 - 30 mph with gusts as high as 40.  That's not cool.  The first 4 miles were with the wind, I took it easy knowing what was ahead of me.  The next 5 miles were into the wind.  When I made the turn I was able to convince myself it wasn't so bad.  Two miles in I started laughing at what a mess I had gotten myself into.  The last mile I was just trying to survive.  I made the last turn and with a mile left the wind was on my back again.  What a relief.  That was the hardest 5 miles I've ever run.  It totally wiped me out for the rest of the night.

This weeks runs have gone well.  I did 5 miles Tuesday at a decent pace.  Last night I did 8x400 intervals around 5k pace.  Those actually felt great.  Tonight will be a nice easy 3 miles.  Then the next time I run will be a race.  Finally!  We are heading to a nearby town to do a 10k on Saturday morning.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how this half marathon training has treated me.  I'm expecting a nice PR.  Granted that won't be too hard as I've only run one other 10k and that was pretty early on in my running.  My A goal for Saturday is to come in under 50 minutes.  We'll see what happens.

That catches you up on my running.  How's your running going?

So far, so good...

100 miles! March 2011 will go down as the first month I ever went over 100 miles for the month.  107.5 to be exact.  Wow!  What a difference a year makes.  March 2010 saw me starting up the couch to 5k plan trying to get through 3 minute runs without dying.  Now I'm running for an hour and a half on a Sunday morning before church.  If you knew me, you'd know how crazy that sounds. 

Training has been going well so far.  This is the first time in my short life as a runner that I've run five days a week.  I was a little nervous at first about how things would go, but I've settled into a good rhythm.  I can feel it in my legs, but they aren't sore, just a little tired.

The week didn't start off so well when I got lazy on Monday and did nothing.  Monday's are supposed to be the day to stretch out well and do some strength training.  I didn't do anything.  On Tuesday I got in 4.8 miles at a decent pace.  When I got home I did some core work to make up for Monday.  Wednesday is a hard day in the Higdon Intermediate plan.  This week called for a 40 minute tempo run.  I went out and got in 42 minutes and felt like I worked pretty hard.  Thursday I went out with my wife for 4 easy miles. 

I know there will be ups and downs in running, just like there are in every other part of life.  It seems that I'm in a pretty good place right now.  Hopefully that can continue as the races start picking up over the next couple months. 

If you're racing this weekend, good luck.  If not, enjoy your long runs this weekend.