Monday, August 23, 2010

08.16 - 08.22 Recap, BRR 5000m, etc.

I continued to struggle last week with a bit of achilles trouble. It's better than it was, but just not back to where I need it to be to really dig into this final 50 days business. But again, it IS better, and I'm hopeful that this week it will improve even more.

Week Highlights
Thursday 08.19 [DAY 6] Boulder Road Runners All-Comers Track Meet: 5000m (17:15, 5th?) This was both an interesting and humbling experience for me. I went in thinking that, despite the lack of race pace or faster work, I could run sub 16:40. When the gun went off and the mad dash followed, I assumed that when we came through the finish line for the first time, my first 200m would be a little too quick. 41 - ouch. I was already off pace. And other than the final 200m, I never did run faster than the necessary 80-second pace. My kilo splits: 3:23.6, 3:25.5, 3:29.2, 3:30.7, 3:26. The interesting element was the weather. Before the race, the dark clouds threatened, but we saw no lightning, and there was never anything more than a little spitting rain. With about 3.5 laps to go (for me), all of a sudden the winds gusted fiercely, blowing me sideways a bit as I turned into the homestretch with just over 3 to go. I guess the rapid weather change gave me something to focus on, as my final K featured my best running of the race. I finally reeled in the guy I was chasing, and managed to lap a couple more runners down the stretch. Pete Remien helped pace a few other BRC guys, hoping to dip under 16:00. I believe the winning time was around 16:15. So that was a humbling affair. I know I'm not prepared to run a 5000m to be excited about, but I was still counting on my strength carrying me through to a better performance. And it's hard not to think about faster efforts that I've had "in my prime" on that very track. In the same last BRR meet of the year in 2004, I ran 15:09 in what was one of the most enjoyable races of my life. That version of myself would have easily lapped the current version, and then some. I still think I have some good 5K running in me, but it will take some serious work and injury-free training and racing to make it happen.

Saturday 08.21 [DAY 8] 20.5M @ Teller Farm/White Rock/Gunbarrel Farm/Niwot trails (2:37:05) AHR119/MHR145. I started out deliberately easy on this run, running the out portion very much under control, taking it really easy on the uphills, and basically just practicing for how a great portion of the 50M race is going to have to go. I hit the turnaround (~9.72M) at the end of the dirt in Niwot in 1:19:11 (8:10/M), and significantly picked up my pace/effort. It felt good to get after it on the uphills, let it go on the downhills a bit, and run harder over several miles. My return trip took me 1:09:36 (7:08/M), and I tagged on a mile+ of easy running. This was my 15th 20M+ run since May 29th.

Weekly/Monthly Totals
Running: 56.5M / 262.6M (took one day off, and had 4 short days)
Rowing: 26K / 50K 
Elliptical: 7M / 27M


My main goals for this week are:

  • Improve the health/feeling of my achilles - I plan to log much of my running on the treadmill in an effort to do this and still log some good mileage.
  • Back to back 20M+ runs on the weekend (Saturday with BoldRunning group, Sunday on the treadmill).

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