Monday, November 24, 2008
Flying Monkey 3
Yesterday was the third running of the Flying Monkey Marathon. The weather was cold at the start (39F), but it warmed up a little during the race (50F). I survived it and avoided injury, but I didn't run as good a time as I wanted to. I finished in 4:31:53, which knocked 1:47:43 off last year's time.
I ran the first 16 miles, and I ran/walked the last 10. In true inexperienced fashion, I started off way too fast yesterday. I took off at an 8:30 pace, and I held that for 14 miles. Then I slowed down in miles 15 and 16 going up the back side of "3 mile hill". I made it to mile 18 (by the stone gates in PWP) still mostly running. Then miles 19-22 were horrible! Mile 19 is all uphill, and I had to walk the whole thing. It took 18:47, which was by far my worst mile of the day. By mile 22 I'd recovered a bit, and I could run a little more, but I still took a lot of walk breaks. I was never out of breath. My problem was that my calves, ankles, and feet felt like somebody had beaten them with hammers! I actually stopped three times during miles 19-22 to sit down and massage my calves. At least I was able to run through the finish line this year.
So I'm glad that's over. My lower legs are very sore today, and the outside edge of my right foot feels bruised, but other than that I'm fine. I took two Cold-Eeze tablets yesterday afternoon and one more this morning to try to prevent the cold I usually come down with after really long runs (18+ miles). So far it seems to have worked.
It's too early to decide whether I'll be running FM4 next year, but I'm glad I could run the race uninjured this year. Racing a marathon is not in my long term plans, but if I bump my weekly mileage a little next year (up to 30+), I might attempt the Monkey again as a long "fun run".
Right now I'm just glad to have the week off and no big races looming on the horizon. I hope to run again by Wednesday (once my lower legs and feet stop hurting), and I may pace my wife in a race on Thanksgiving morning. After that I plan on running one race easy in December, so I'll have run at least one race every month this year. I have 27 races so far this year, so I'm not going to push it in December. It'll be an easy month, and then in January I'll start training hard for some spring races.
I ran the first 16 miles, and I ran/walked the last 10. In true inexperienced fashion, I started off way too fast yesterday. I took off at an 8:30 pace, and I held that for 14 miles. Then I slowed down in miles 15 and 16 going up the back side of "3 mile hill". I made it to mile 18 (by the stone gates in PWP) still mostly running. Then miles 19-22 were horrible! Mile 19 is all uphill, and I had to walk the whole thing. It took 18:47, which was by far my worst mile of the day. By mile 22 I'd recovered a bit, and I could run a little more, but I still took a lot of walk breaks. I was never out of breath. My problem was that my calves, ankles, and feet felt like somebody had beaten them with hammers! I actually stopped three times during miles 19-22 to sit down and massage my calves. At least I was able to run through the finish line this year.
So I'm glad that's over. My lower legs are very sore today, and the outside edge of my right foot feels bruised, but other than that I'm fine. I took two Cold-Eeze tablets yesterday afternoon and one more this morning to try to prevent the cold I usually come down with after really long runs (18+ miles). So far it seems to have worked.
It's too early to decide whether I'll be running FM4 next year, but I'm glad I could run the race uninjured this year. Racing a marathon is not in my long term plans, but if I bump my weekly mileage a little next year (up to 30+), I might attempt the Monkey again as a long "fun run".
Right now I'm just glad to have the week off and no big races looming on the horizon. I hope to run again by Wednesday (once my lower legs and feet stop hurting), and I may pace my wife in a race on Thanksgiving morning. After that I plan on running one race easy in December, so I'll have run at least one race every month this year. I have 27 races so far this year, so I'm not going to push it in December. It'll be an easy month, and then in January I'll start training hard for some spring races.
Labels: Running
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Pre-Monkey Double 5K Weekend
At the Cougar Crawl on October 18, I ran 20:02 for a new 5K PR. That cut 38 seconds off my previous PR, which was nice, but it bothered me that I didn't run sub-20. Running sub-20 has been my main goal all year (a New Year's Resolution that I actually stuck to), so I used the 20:02 as motivation to keep pushing myself in training for the last month.
This weekend it paid off. I finally broke 20 minutes at yesterday's Station Camp High School Stampede 5K. I ran 19:49 in the cold, wind, and rain. I ran smart, didn't burn out at the beginning, and had relatively even mile splits (6:24, 6:29, 6:26). I pushed it in the last quarter mile once I saw that I really could make it under 20. I was the first adult to finish (behind a few high school guys), so I won my age group too. With the age group prize and a door prize, I actually made a profit on the race. But the satisfaction of going sub-20 was worth all the pain that went into this race. I started the year with a 23:31 PR, so I've managed to cut 3:42 off that this year. That's not bad.
The Flying Monkey Marathon is coming up next weekend, so I was doing everything I could to go sub-20 before subjecting my legs to the Monkey. In case I didn't make it at the Stampede 5K, I had also signed up for a rare Sunday 5K being run in the Opry Mills Mall parking lot. The TSBA 5K started at 7am this morning. It was 34 degrees (F), and there were snow flurries before the start of the race. Since my sub-20 goal was met, I thought I might run this one easy, but when I toed the line, no one else stepped up with me. So I took off hard, led the whole way, and came out the overall winner! I only ran 20:37 today because I was a little tired from yesterday, and I started off way too fast. I blame my too fast start on the panic/excitement of leading the whole time. I've never done that before. It turns out that no matter how fast I run, the pace car can easily stay ahead of me.
So this was an excellent running weekend for me. I had pre-registered for both races, but when things turned cold and wet this week, I was really worried. But it all worked out fine. Now I just have to focus on running easy and injury-free next weekend at the Monkey. My plan is to start slow and then taper off.
On a related note, if I run 5.4 miles this week prior to the Monkey, then my 1000th mile for the year will come during the last mile of the Monkey. Good times.
This weekend it paid off. I finally broke 20 minutes at yesterday's Station Camp High School Stampede 5K. I ran 19:49 in the cold, wind, and rain. I ran smart, didn't burn out at the beginning, and had relatively even mile splits (6:24, 6:29, 6:26). I pushed it in the last quarter mile once I saw that I really could make it under 20. I was the first adult to finish (behind a few high school guys), so I won my age group too. With the age group prize and a door prize, I actually made a profit on the race. But the satisfaction of going sub-20 was worth all the pain that went into this race. I started the year with a 23:31 PR, so I've managed to cut 3:42 off that this year. That's not bad.
The Flying Monkey Marathon is coming up next weekend, so I was doing everything I could to go sub-20 before subjecting my legs to the Monkey. In case I didn't make it at the Stampede 5K, I had also signed up for a rare Sunday 5K being run in the Opry Mills Mall parking lot. The TSBA 5K started at 7am this morning. It was 34 degrees (F), and there were snow flurries before the start of the race. Since my sub-20 goal was met, I thought I might run this one easy, but when I toed the line, no one else stepped up with me. So I took off hard, led the whole way, and came out the overall winner! I only ran 20:37 today because I was a little tired from yesterday, and I started off way too fast. I blame my too fast start on the panic/excitement of leading the whole time. I've never done that before. It turns out that no matter how fast I run, the pace car can easily stay ahead of me.
So this was an excellent running weekend for me. I had pre-registered for both races, but when things turned cold and wet this week, I was really worried. But it all worked out fine. Now I just have to focus on running easy and injury-free next weekend at the Monkey. My plan is to start slow and then taper off.
On a related note, if I run 5.4 miles this week prior to the Monkey, then my 1000th mile for the year will come during the last mile of the Monkey. Good times.
Labels: Running
