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April 27, 2008
slowest 10k in four and a half years
first, the tally to which I am so addicted:
M: 3mi (8:50), 30min bike (6.44mi)
T: 4mi (7:51) a little brisker plus 5x strides last mile
W: 5mi (8:51), 1:01:20 bike (12.63mi)
R: 6mi (8:29)
F: 5mi (8:35). Worked at tri expo doing massage after my "regular" workday.
Sa: 4mi (8:13) incl 5x strides last mile. Worked at tri expo doing massage.
Su: 10.23mi incl 10k tri relay (43:58), 30min bike (6.77mi)
total: 37.2 miles running, 25.8 miles bike
Very paltry.
This week's highlight was the tri relay, and believe me I thought about it every single run this week. I had absolutely no idea what to shoot for, since the past six weeks have been a jumble of bike/walk/nothing/bikebikebike plus the gradual return to running that started two weeks ago. No speedwork except for a few pickups, very reduced mileage and god-knows-how-much of a loss of aerobic fitness = yikes, I dunno. I decided I'd be happy if one mile - didn't matter which one - could be under 6:45.
This tri relay is a lot of fun but a logistical nightmare. The event has something like 5000 participants, and keeping everything rolling smoothly takes the discipline of a war machine. And I think tri people tend to be a tad anal, too. Friday and Saturday I worked at the massage tent, which meant a lot of hours on my feet in the sun, but on the other hand I did get to park in the staff area and only had to drag my table about 200m to where I needed to be. Raceday morning was a different story, and I was lucky to find a parking spot a mile from the festivities, to which I hauled all my shit and...waited. And waited. And waited. This year, the event had over 30 waves, and we relay people started dead fuckin' last, behind the novices, behind Team N Training, behind everybody. So I waited and drank water and waited and watched our swimmer come in and drank some more water and waited and warmed up about 20min and drank and applied sunscreen and changed shoes and headed for the transition area where I waited for the bike guy to come in and hand off the chip. All the while wondering what the hell I would see on the Garmin, and how it would feel, and how long I'd be able to last.
By the time I got going, it was 11AM and 77F, without a cloud in the sky. The start is always tricky because there are so many people in the way - volunteers and dazed relay bike people blocking the exit from transition, purple people (Go Team!) entering the run course and immediately slowing down to high-five their buddies, spectators that get onto the course somehow and wreak havoc. I looked at my watch and saw 5:50 lap (mile) pace, and spent the next 1400m putting on the brakes, ending up with 6:32, yikes. I decided on 6:45 for the second mile but only managed 6:53 and felt it; I was getting hot and just couldn't push like I could 6 weeks ago. So I decided 7min pace would be ok, heh. From then on it was just weave and pass, weave and pass, uh-oh I'm slowing down, weave and pass some more. I passed a lot of people, mostly tired age-groupers and TnT people, but also many of the relay people who started before me (this pleased me mightily). I really started to tank halfway through the 5th mile, but by 6 got close to a woman running my pace or maybe a bit faster and we kicked it the last .2. I didn't catch her, but I was glad for the push. Official time was 43:58, which is slower than any 10k I've run since late 2003.
6 weeks ago I ran 12k as a hard training run at 6:39 pace. 3 weeks ago I couldn't run at all. Last Saturday I was not even running 10k at a time. Today I ran 10k at 7:05 pace and that was really all I could manage. But my hip didn't really bother me all day; I felt a twinge late this afternoon, but advil shut it right down. So I guess the next thing to do is get that base back. And make a decision about Akron.
Posted by joe positive at April 27, 2008 5:25 PM
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Comments
Karen, for coming off the month you're coming off, I'd say that is damn fine time. Seriously.
Posted by: tuscaloosarunner at April 27, 2008 8:00 PM
77 felt balls hot in Sarasota, be it because of the lack of cloud cover, the fact that we haven't had a chance to acclimate to the heat yet, or both. Another thing to keep in mind is that it's difficult to run fast in a relay event because you have to pace off the whole thing on your own and are constantly dealing with passing or being passed by people moving at wildly different speeds from your own.
I think you have to suck it up and just be happy you didn't hurt, which seems to be where your head is at. 7:05 pace after a longish spell of not being able to put in any hard training (and barely being able to run, period) is OK, even if it's ugly to look at. That's more like 6:40 pace in another three uninterrupted weeks, even without factoring out the heat.
I'm being forced to run a 10K triathlon leg two weeks from now. I'm going to embarrass myself far more flamboyantly than you ever could, and I'm going to like it. I'm going to BRAG about it. (Luckily only one or two people even broke 40:00 last year, so despite my ongoing torpor and decay I probably won't look as bad as I actually am.)
Posted by: kemibe at April 28, 2008 9:10 AM
JoeP,
You're healing! You and I have had concurrent hip/butt stuff happening, different issues, same area of the body. I've been mush more fortunate than you in that I can run through it, though.
When you mentioned this race a few weeks back, I was wondering how you'd even be able to run it. But, look, you ran it!
I'm with the others in that I think this shows not only that you're healing, but you haven't lost a ridiculous amount of fitness. It doesn't seem fair to compare these results to others in your line-up of PRs. You're setting yourself up to feel bad!
Hope you're injury is still on the up and up,
Meghan
Posted by: Meghan at April 28, 2008 7:13 PM
Hey Joe+ve,
not-your-running-related, but i just got a rush from reading KB's entry, clicking on his website and seeing the adjective minimalist in the title page... it's just that all you guys live so far away...
Get even better...
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at April 30, 2008 6:57 AM
Are you a runner? Are you looking for the ultimate challenge and a way to support America's troops? The USO has the answer. Join TEAM USO and run the race of all races, the Marine Corps Marathon. For more information please visit the USO website at www.uso.org .
Posted by: USO at May 1, 2008 9:57 AM
I was nervous about you racing at all on that injury, so it's great to hear it went so well. Great job.
It's all a process and you're doing a good job coming back cautiously. I know it sucks, but it sucks worse to be too aggressive and be right back where you started.
Posted by: chelle at May 1, 2008 4:34 PM
"Are you a runner? Are you looking for the ultimate challenge and a way to support America's troops? The USO has the answer. Join TEAM USO and run the race of all races, the Marine Corps Marathon. For more information please visit the USO website at www.uso.org"
This might be one of the most misplaced comments I've ever seen...
Posted by: joseph wood at May 1, 2008 4:37 PM
Akron is five months away! You've got lots of time.
Posted by: Adeel at May 2, 2008 7:48 PM
Sorry to hear your race was tough. Here is a distraction: :)
You have been tagged by Mindi.
Rules:
1) Write your own six word memoir
2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want
3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post, and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4) Tag at least five more blogs with links
5) Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play
Posted by: mindi at May 3, 2008 7:58 PM