Our hero casually leans on a table in a beer tent looking onward with a glass of doppelbock in his hand. He surveys the near-empty beer tent and wonders why the fuck everyone isn’t here where the good beer is. He can barely hear the band outside the hall, which is a shame because they’re pretty awesome. Nonetheless, he enjoys this victorious battle of the road still knowing the war is yet to be won and the battles of March will be some of the toughest yet to come.
Monday: 9 miles. After having legs of lead for the past two days, ran this one quite fast. Had some GI issues but didn’t need to stop. Ran in the park and surrounding subdivision before the rains came. 9.06 miles in 1:18:08 (8:37/mile pace).
Tuesday: 6 x 800m intervals. Ran in the park and in the rain. Since it’s race week and I had a morning Internet install appointment, I skipped strengthening. Ran the intervals in 3:29, 3:30, 3:37, 3:36, 3:43 (after a pitstop), and 3:26. The goal is 3:15 – 3:25 (incidentally, the goal pace is 6:32 – 6:53, the last one was within the goal pace but not the goal split). These are based on the McMillan Running Calculator, and I used the Speed Intervals (the calculator gives both Speed Intervals and Stamina Intervals… I am using Speed Intervals. I don’t know if those are the right ones to use, but I certainly have had some difficulty doing them). Overall, 7.5 miles in 1:03:58 (8:32/mile pace).
Wednesday: 4 miles. Ran this in the park and part of the subdivision next to it. It was foggy and misting out, and I wore my glasses. Kept it easy. 4.32 in 37:42 (8:44/mile pace).
Thursday: 5 miles. I was supposed to do five miles, but I had spent the morning at a hospital where my dad was being operated on (he’s doing well), and got home with a headache. I skipped.
Friday: 3 miles shakeout. Got out to the park after sleeping in and woke up to some snow and what I ultimately found was a path that was mostly frozen. I did most of a loop (the back part of the path was run-able, the front was not and I ran along the path). I then got out of the park and into the subdivision where I could run. Kept it slow because of the race tomorrow. 3.42 miles in 31:44 (9:17/mile refreshing pace).
Saturday: 5k RACE. Race morning was 21F… COLD. I got to the race location early to pick up my race packet, and had over an hour to just hang around, using the bathroom twice prior to the race. Warmed up by running around the block a few times at 9:30. At 10:00, the race was off.
My watch didn’t start when I pushed the button, but it started beeping at me around a tenth of a mile in. The first mile is a tough one – down McMicken and onto Liberty to go up Liberty Street Hill. Crest the hill and back down to turn left on Reading and then onto Elsinore, then after crossing over I-71, right onto Gilbert, which proceeds downhill and right past the mile 1 marker. Mile 1 in 7:20 (calculated based on splits).
The second mile continues down Gilbert to Court and then to Reedy and Eggleston, where it turns just north of the building I used to work in. The course crosses over Third Street and then heads north up (and uphill) Culvert and past the Mile 2 marker. Mile 2 in 6:50.
The final mile is a long uphill stretch up Culvert to Eggleston, across Central and then snaking up through Over The Rhine on Reading, Sycamore, 12th, and Main, which crosses over Liberty and becomes McMicken and passes the final mile marker indicating the shootout to the finish. Mile 3 in 7:21. The kick was 51 seconds.
I crossed the finish in 22:22 (official time, not my watch). I was 8th overall in my age group. 12 seconds faster would have put me 4th in my age group (and 3:40 behind the winner of my age group).
This week was an easier week in terms of distance, 27 miles (compared to 47 the week before). Next week is a 50+ mile week that will include 17 miles of “normal running”, 6 hill repeats, a 9 mile M pace run, and a 19 mile long run.