16 Miles

Just saw Ben at 16 miles and at 2:10 and he looks great!

Marathon tomorrow!

No real-time tracking tomorrow in Middleton, but Jenelle may post an update here about halfway through the race. I'll post here after I'm done.

It'll be chilly at the start, but I'm ready to run a solid race.

Sent from my iPhone

Hustle Countdown: Six Days

My training has gone well for this Sunday's Haunted Hustle Marathon in Middleton, WI. I managed an 18-miler five weeks before race day, and a 20-miler three weeks before race day, and the taper has been treating me well.

I plan to go out between 8:00 and 8:15 pace to start, and we'll see if I can hold it together to the end. I'd love a sub-3:30, but that may be a challenge. The course isn't flat, but it's not super-hilly either. Hmmmm. Wish me luck.

2013 Kenosha Firecracker 10K Recap

After averaging 7:12 / mile at the Lighthouse Run (10 miles) on June 15, a 7:00 pace seemed reasonable for the Firecracker 10K in Kenosha on June 30.

My previous 10K effort was a personal best 45:21 on Thanksgiving Day 2011, so I was optimistic about setting a new personal record.

For the most part, I was able to go at my planned pace. The first four miles were done in 7:03, 7:02, 6:59, and 7:00, respectively. I got just a little bit tired down the stretch, as mile 5 was a hair slower at 7:08. Motivated to keep my position, I clocked 6:57 for mile 6, and 1:37 for the final .22 miles to the finish, resulting in a finishing time of 43:46.

A couple of notes:

• The 5K and 10K finishers crossed the same finish line, so it got a little crazy at the end weaving around slower 5K runners
• The results page has me finishing in 21st place, 3rd in my age group. I'm pretty sure about my age group position, but I'm not sure there were 20 people ahead of me. Based on discussions with the folks who finished ahead of me, my guess is that some people entered in the 5K somehow slipped into the 10K results. Oh, well. Crazier things have happened at this race. 

2013 Lighthouse Run Recap

As I have in many years past, I joined the SCJ OFF! and Running team at the Lighthouse Run on June 15, 2013. It was a rainy morning, which can sometimes lead to fast times. I was fully in team spirit mode because one of my teammates (Jorge) and I were planning to run together. Our e-mail conversation went like this:

Me: See you at the Lighthouse Run on Saturday!

Jorge: We are running together right? 7:15 pace?

Me: Sure! 7:15 pace sounds perfect. See you then.

If I could manage 7:15 pace, I would finish in 1:12:30, which would be a personal best by about a minute. So how'd it go?

I wore my orange shirt and black shorts, which I wore when I slashed my marathon PR in Kenosha in May. Instead of my orange shoes, I wore my Saucony Grid Fastwitch 3s, also known as my fast shoes. I wore a light jacket to stay dry until the race began.

Mile 1 (6:57): Right from the start, Jorge surprised me by going faster than 7:15 pace. He was 20-30 feet ahead of me before I knew it. Rather than spend extra effort to catch up to him, I decided simply to keep him in my sights in the hopes that he'd settle in to a slower pace. I waved to my family, including Grandma Iz, as I zoomed by on Lake Avenue and headed north.

Miles 2-4 (7:10, 7:11, 7:11): The course changed this year. Instead of going north on Main all the way to Four Mile Road, we turned right onto Three Mile Road, bending north onto Lighthouse Drive, then heading west on Four Mile Road. Basically, we did the same loop as in past years, but in the opposite direction. Fine by me. Jorge slowed down a bit, but he was still going faster than 7:15 pace. I kept him in my sights, though, still planning to catch him later on.

Mile 5 (7:05): I grabbed a bottle of water from Aunt Sue. I didn't need much of it because the steady rain was keeping me cool. I was hoping that the rain would taper off to a drizzle, but I was still pretty happy with the conditions. I'll take this over 80+ degree heat anytime.

Miles 6-7 (7:13, 7:15): Jorge was not slowing down. From my perspective, I couldn't tell if he was speeding up or not, but he was getting further away from me. I noticed him look back a few times, and I waved to let him know I was okay.

Miles 8-9 (7:25, 7:31): Continuing south on Main Street toward the finish, I had to ease up. I had not expected to go this fast. Jorge was out of range, but I was glad that he was doing so well.

Mile 10 (6:59): I saved a bit for the finish. The reality is that I was ahead of personal record pace, and a solid final mile could get me a sub-72 minute result. I zoomed past the fun run / walk folks and cruised to a finish in a satisfying 1:11:57.

Let's check out the team results. I finished fourth on the team, good enough to get me a medal, as the team finished in second place. The InSinkErator guys had too much speed for us to win the corporate division. Maybe we'll get 'em next year.

An added bonus -- I finished fourth in my age group, so I actually got two medals. Woohoo!

Running Log - August 14 to September 17, 2013

Someday I'll be caught up. Maybe.

August 14: DOUBLE! Six miles, then five miles later.
August 15: 4 miles.
August 16: 10 miles.
August 17: Rest.
August 18: 7.5 miles.
August 19: Rest.
August 20: 5 miles.
August 21: 5 miles.
August 22: 3.5 miles.
August 23: 8 miles.
August 24: Rest.
August 25: 3 miles.
August 26: Rest.
August 27: Rest.
August 28: 3 miles.
August 29: 4 miles.
August 30: Rest.
August 31: 4 miles.
September 1: Rest.
September 2: 13 miles (nice day in Oregon).
September 3: Rest.
September 4: I think I ran today, but I can't recall how far or when, so I'm just going to say 'Unknown' and not count any miles for the day.

September 5: 4 fast miles.
September 6: 10 miles.

September 7: Rest.
September 8: 10 miles.

September 9: 4 miles.
September 10: 7 x half mile intervals on the treadmill. Zoom.
September 11: 4 miles.
September 12: 45-minute tempo run (about 5.5 miles).
September 13: 6 miles at marathon pace on a cool Friday night.
September 14: 5 miles.

September 15: Rest.
September 16: 9 miles.

September 17: 7 hill repeats -- about 4.5 miles including warm-up, cool-down, and recovery jogs.

Running Log - July 4 to August 13, 2013

Yup, I'm still here.

July 4: 5 quick miles pushing J in the stroller.
July 5, 6, 7: Rest.
July 8: 2.5 miles with J in the stroller.
July 9: 4.5 miles at lunch.
July 10: 3 miles.
July 11: 4 miles.
July 12: Rest.
July 13: 6 fast miles.
July 14: 10 miles.
July 15: 5 miles.
July 16: 4 miles.
July 17: 5 miles.
July 18: 4 miles.
July 19: Rest.
July 20: 6 miles.
July 21: 10 miles.
July 22: 4 miles.
July 23: 5 miles.
July 24: 4 miles.
July 25: 5 miles.
July 26: Rest.
July 27: 8 miles.
July 28: Rest
July 29: 5 miles.
July 30: 4 miles.
July 31: 3 miles.
August 1: 4 miles.
August 2: 10 miles.
August 3: Rest.
August 4: 7 miles.
August 5: 4 miles.
August 6: 5 miles.
August 7: 3 miles.
August 8: 4 miles.
August 9: Rest.
August 10: 10 miles with J.
August 11: 5 fast miles pushing J in the stroller.
August 12: 4 miles.
August 13: 4 miles.

Cree Cruise 5K Recap

I wasn't expecting much when I ran 5K in Sturtevant on June 1. It was six days after my return from a two-week vacation out west, and I hadn't been running much. Still, I put together a pretty solid performance.

Before the race, I took Eliana in the stroller for a warm-up to the Washington Highlands condominium complex where I used to live. I said hi to my old neighbor and the person who bought my place. It's been seven years since I moved out, so I think my neighbor was a bit surprised to see me.

I started out fast -- maybe too fast -- and turned in a first mile of 6:28. Had I been training extensively, that would be perfect to set a sub-20 minute PR, but it became pretty obvious that I couldn't keep that up. After a 6:59 second mile and fatigue setting in, I did my best to hold it together. Mile #3 was 7:09. Another 38 seconds to the finish, and I was done in 21:14, about 40 seconds off my PR. This was 30th overall and 6th in the highly-competitive M30-34 age group.

An hour or so later, Eliana entered the Kids Cruise, which was a very short run in the Cree parking lot. Despite my best effort to prepare her, she was a bit spooked by the person who yelled "Go!" and ran directly into my arms. I guided her around the course, and then she freaked out again when a volunteer tried to give her a ribbon. I'm sure she'll be a bit more excited about her next race. :)

Running Log - June 10 to July 3, 2013

Here's about a month more of running activity. Look for recaps on the races soon.

June 10: 4 miles.

June 11: 4 miles (30-minute tempo run).

June 12: 4 miles.

June 13: 3 x 800 at 5K race pace (about two miles including recovery jogs).

June 14: Rest.

June 15: Lighthouse Run - New 10-mile personal best (1:11:57).

June 16: Rest.

June 17: 5 miles.

June 18: 5 miles.

June 19: Rest.

June 20: 5 miles.

June 21: 4 miles.

June 22: Rest

June 23: 6 miles.

June 24: 5 miles.

June 25: 5 miles.

June 26: 3 miles. Happy birthday to me.

June 27: 4 miles pushing J in the stroller.

June 28: 3 miles.

June 29: Rest.

June 30: Kenosha Firecracker 10K - New personal best (43:46).

July 1: 5 miles.

July 2: 3 miles.

July 3: 5 miles pushing J in the stroller.

Running Log - May 14 to June 9, 2013

I try to post my running activity on Twitter a few times a week. It gives me another way to track my progress besides the Excel spreadsheet on my computer. I haven't tweeted since May 13, so here's a recap of what I've been up to since then:

May 14: Rest (travel day).
May 15: Four miles along the eastern coast of Kauai.
May 16: No running, but I did hike for three miles going up and down the Sleeping Giant.
May 17: Rest
May 18: No running, but I did some kayaking followed by a short hike to and from Secret Falls.
May 19: Rest
May 20: Rest
May 21: 6.5 miles, again along the Kauai coast, before heading back to Oregon later that day.
May 22: 4.5 miles in Oregon.
May 23: 7 miles in Oregon.
May 24: 3 miles at 7:30 pace.
May 25: 9 miles in Oregon.
May 26: Rest (traveling home).
May 27: 5 miles.
May 28: 5 miles at about 8:15 pace.
May 29: Rest
May 30: 4 miles.
May 31: Rest
June 1: Cree Cruise 5K (21:15).
June 2: 10 miles.
June 3: 3.5 miles.
June 4: Interval training: 10 quarter-mile splits at about 6:00 pace, with two minutes slow jogging / walking in between.
June 5: 5 miles at about 8:15 pace.
June 6: 5 miles.
June 7: Rest
June 8: 4 miles at 7:08 pace.
June 9: A late-night two-hour half marathon on the treadmill.

After some limited running while on vacation, I have picked things back up in the past couple of weeks, and I am optimistic about another great performance at the Lighthouse Run, which is coming up this Saturday.