Today we're back to the mundane; you can't please all of the people all of the time. The November wrap up got overlooked, but there wasn't too much there, 15 hours or so on two wheels, bringing the annual up to 344, and another five or six running, which makes this year's total so far up to roughly double 2005's 25 hours. I'm taking a break from the bike right now, and did not touch one this weekend.
Saturday morning I headed over to the Hurtin for Certain Striders running club's H0-HO-HO 5K in nearby Norwood. I didn't see any hoes, but my man Pilldog, a Norwood resident, made a cameo appearance, his first race since his glory days on the track team back at Grosse Point High School in Michigan. There was a smallish field of 135 runners who took on the out and back course run over residential streets with a few shallow grades. I warmed up for about ten minutes, and when the gun went off I again made the rookie mistake of going out too hard. I probably used to be better off when I didn't warm up, because that caused me to pace myself. I stayed just behind the running club, real runner types, but I felt like I was suffering early on. My HR was only 166, so I stuck to my pace, but really it just hadn't had time to come up yet.
When I heard the first mile split of 5:43, my fears were confirmed, because there was no way I could hang on. I stayed with one guy for the entire race, but a half dozen others came past at various places. Even though my average HR from the one mile mark onward was a near-my-max 173, my time slipped to 6:10 for mile two, then 6:33 for mile 3. That last tenth must have been a real disaster (either that or long) because it took me 52 seconds (8:40 pace) for an official finish time of 19:21. I didn't leave much out there thought. The Pilldog trudged in about seven minutes later, after a 6:42 first mile left the untrained youngster in his own purgatory. He'll be back though!
Sunday KL and I ran from home over to Borderland for a big loop on the main trail. Coming back through the town forest brought the total to 9.3 miles in 1:19, for a pace of 8:32/mile. I was hurting, but this was the longest run I've ever done, and after Saturday's effort I think it went OK.
Wet, messy snow falling out there today, but hopefully that will all melt away quickly. I'll still be pretty light on the bike training the next week or so, but after that I'd like clear trails for some weekend MTB rides and other casual stuff to supplement the trainer and running. So that is that. Thanks for reading.
what placing did you end up getting during the 5K race?
ReplyDelete19th overall, 8/32 in my age group. Not that placings matter much in running races. You're racing against the clock, and the quality of the field varies so much from one race to another that placings aren't relevant.
ReplyDeleteagreed, seriously no one cares where you place in running races....good race F, followed up by a descent run on Sun. You are finding the sure way to drop weight in the winter months, run LSD....
ReplyDeleteoops, I just realized that read wrong, I meant, when runners run races, no one looks where they place relative to other runners, but one only looks at their own time against the clock...you have it spot on.
ReplyDeleteGood run on Sun, though, keep it up...trail running in the winter is a great take....
Your profile:
ReplyDeleteGreatest by the numbers ever. Ever.