5k a Day!

I am part of the 2015 in 2015 Run the Edge Challenge, while I was running through April my miles were accumulating quickly but since stepping out of my running shoes and into my cycling pair my running mileage tailed off and so I included daily steps. However I needed to bolster this with some running and to be honest I was becoming a one trick pony with just cycling miles and most likely setting myself up for an injury more than just a tweaky knee.

So with that in mind I have decided to add a 5k a Day run into my training, to be honest I have little expectation of doing it every day but if I can get 3-4 runs in a week it will help with everything.
Tomorrow is July 1st so that seems like a good time to start!

Citrus Classic Zest for Life 5k

I think quite possibly this will go down as the oddest race I have ever run…but I will get to that in a minute. I hadn’t planned on running a race before my target Half Marathon at the end of August but I have been on or under my target training paces and I also needed the confidence booster so I signed up on late Thursday, strangely this was the only race across three counties, LA, Orange and Ventura, an almost perfect storm!

Despite less than stellar reviews on active.com I was out of choices, that being said I was really there on my own agenda and set my expectations of the event low. I should add that the race was being run in conjunction with a balloon festival.

I’ll spare you all the pre race stuff. I arrived parked and signed in, despite registering online, my entry was missing, the website had crashed I was told! No problem it’s not like I was going to bandit it! I was asked if wanted to buy a race shirt; buy? No thanks, white cotton shirts I do not need.

I started talking to another guy in a singlet and we ran off to find the course, we found some signs and followed the arrows but we were a mile or so short! When we got back more people had signed in, there was a lot of confusion about where the start was which was only added to when they announced over tannoy that there would be a 10 minutes delay. Eventually we were given a briefing and then a little farm truck drove up…we were told to follow it; WTF? At this point I really just wanted to get going as I had been there nearly an hour! Eventually we were told to line up and so we did behind the truck, with a 3..2..1 we were off.

I had set my Garmin with a 6:15-6:30 alert spread, within the first 1/4 mile it was chiming, yeah a 5:47 pace would do that I guess! I eased off and found a comfortable groove a little under 6:30, the course wound its way through orange orchards, there were some sharp right angle turns and mostly the path was dirt or sand, not the best but it was what it was. I consciously did not wear my iPod I wanted to make sure I was focused on the running, here are the details:

As you can see it was a bit short, I was really running the tangents so I suppose that accounted for it! I had passed one other runner and then in the last 1/4 mile I was passed by two, I kicked too early for the finish and faded with them beating me by 5 seconds or so. And then the fun began…there was no real time keeping other than someone calling out the times and someone trying to write them down and catch everyone’s numbers’ easy when it’s one or two but when ten runners come through it was impossible.

Ultimately the whole timing thing was a complete cluster and I ended up helping trying to identify the Age Group winners, with the guest runner Gary Tuttle and his wife, the organizers were nowhere to be seen.

How not to organize the results…too much ganga!

The website noted that there would be awards three deep per age group and it appeared that I had come third! We had to wait till the last runner had finished of course and she crossed the line a fraction under the hour. After that we were directed to the stage where the awards would be presented…but first we treated to 20 minutes of the band:

Sorry but they were not good…can you tell by the fan base!

A marriage proposal…she said yes, well actually she said “'yes I'll take him”! Romantic!

And the vintage tractor parade!

Finally 75 minutes after I finished, they started handing out the awards…to the Age Group Winners only…i.e. One Deep oh and then I found out was bumped into 4th! Well the sun had come out and I was enjoying that!

So in the end I was 12th overall and came fourth in my Age Group! The good news I finished in an official…well as official as some calling it out, 19:11 a new PR by 31 seconds. I am really pleased given the twisty nature and surface and now I can revisit the training plan with a current 5k time to recalibrate my training paces for the next four weeks till race day.

In case you’re wondering I won’t be going back next year!

Conejo Valley YMCA Turkey Day Dash 5k

We turned up late as is our usual modus operandi, getting kids dressed, fed, car seated just seems to take forever!

I had forgotten to register on line so we then had to stand in line to register during which we heard the start of the kids fun run….grrrr! To hell with this I thought so we cut out of the line and dashed over to the start. My wife took our eldest and I had our youngest, there were already some kids nearly three quarters round the 1000m parking lot track when we crossed the start line; as bandits.

We finished the lap and the got they participant ribbon, smiles and laughter and that was what it was all about!

I went back to the registration and completed the sign up for the 5k, I quickly pinned on my number stripped of my puffa jacket; oh did I mention it was 55f with a cold north wind, and track bottoms and ran to the start. There are a two big High Schools in the area as well as local running store that focus on the shorter distances and they were out in force. I nestled myself into the front quarter about 15 yards behind the start. There was a shout, apparently the gun was broken, and were off!

Since we had rushed out the door I was without my iPod; virtually a first so I focused in on my breath and picking off people slowly some I did some I didn't. The course was a loop and a half mostly around the local mall, it was a bit rolling so what I lost on the ups I gained on the downs, steady was my key, finding a pace that was sustainable but pretty quick, especially as I had not done any speed work since February. My splits are really representative of the ups and downs of the course; 6:54, 7:25, 6:59 and 1:29 for the last (0.25mile?)

My chip time; 22:58:01 good enough for 126/1319 OA and 9/73 in my Age Group. Considering my lack of speed work and training in general I was pleased, I was expecting something north of 25 minutes. As mentioned my wife was there and with a camera so I asked to grab some photos of me, she said she would wait at the finish, as I came down the home straight I picked up my speed for the sprint finish, I saw her on the sideline camera in hand, unfortunately this was the fruits of her labor:

;-/ well actually seeing me finish is an improvement, in previous races she has missed that altogether! I looked at my Garmin stats for this point in the race, I was doing a 5:59 mile and my HR was 185, yeah the guy in black is feeling but check out the kid in white, looks like he is out just kicking a ball along; genetics are a beyotch!

So closes out my racing season; well…maybe.

DHP Thanksgiving Day 5k

Today’s race was run to mark the end of my six weeks of speedwork. Of the six weeks I missed two sessions and gaffed up one with Garmin malfunction. Each week comprised a tempo run and Intervals. The question was going to be had it worked? My legs were a little sore still from last weekend and I wondered how much that would affect the outcome.

I arrived with my wife who was running the 10k and parked the car, we wandered over to the start line, we already had our numbers and so I took the time to have solid warm up. I gently ran the first half a mile of the course and turned around, on the way back I did some butt kicks and high knees and opened up my pace and when I got back to the Start/Finish I stretched out everything. We were called together and given the usual brief, the 5k was an out and back and the 10k would be a repeat of that. The RD made a point of asking people to line up according to how they were going to race; fast 5k, fast 10k so one and to my surprise there was some shuffling about, I kissed my wife and wished her good luck and made my way to the front.

The idea really was to really race this as hard as I could and with a ready, set, go we were off! Two runners shot off and I followed they soon opened a lead and another runner was pacing off me and then overtook me I glanced down at my Garmin and saw that I was running at a 5:40 pace, well that’s not going to last I thought and eased back, I was overtaken by several more runners and I settled into my pace and thought about my cadence and keeping it high. I was about 8th or 9th place at this point. I reached the turnaround skipped past the water stand and set off on the return.

The route was on a footpath along the side of a creek and while mostly flat there were a couple of “rolls” and one section that dropped us under a road and of course this had an up the other side, more interestingly were the run off culverts that were a V shape and about four feet wide you had to judge your footing as you approached them so as to mot reduce your speed too much most of them I managed one or two I didn’t and end up juddering through. Another two runners overtook me in the last mile and I drafted them but they pulled away with half a mile to go. With the last 400 yard left I noticed that people using the 10k lane and turning round to go back out on their second lap, first one then two and then another two I sprinted through the finish and hit stop on my Garmin. I was detagged and made my way through the chute I looked at my 305 and saw; 19:43:74. Woot! A 1:04 improvement on my PR from last year, I am awaiting the official times etc but I think I came fifth overall and have to be in the top 3 for my age; this I am guessing from looking at the others who finished ahead of me.

A quick shout to the sponsors; DHP, it was a welcoming and well run race. DHP (Diaz Human Performance) provides specialized training for runners and triathletes, they are also a major Polar dealer in the area hence the free shoe bag in the photo. I have no financial interest but I did use them last year for my V02 max and RMR tests, you can read about that here.

Well the proof of the pudding is in the eating; well running - if you want to race fast train fast. I had the pudding later in the day! I am on my bike today and have my last long, well medium run; 15 miles on Sunday and then that’s it full taper mode for two weeks. The hay, as they say, is in the barn!

Quick edit: Now the results have posted I did come 5th overall and was first in my age group with a 19:42!

Fly me to Cuba!

Someone has hijacked my legs and flown them to Cuba leaving me two hollow husks! Quite clearly a “recovery” run is a complete misnomer it’s more like a stumble or lurch, which is pretty much what I did for 7 miles tonight. I am now halfway through the program and I have six weeks training proper then a 12 day taper. Hopefully I’ll get my legs back by Wednesday as I start repeats: 20 min warm up, 3 x 1600m (1 min rest), 10 min cool down. It’s been a long time since I did any serious speed work so as an incentive I went out an got some racing flats and signed up for a 5k which will be in 5 weeks time. I am not looking for a PR but somewhere in the vicinity would be nice, as they say if you want to race fast, run fast. I am having to tweak my training mileage around the speed work and now having had my last long bike ride at the weekend I have four runs a week; long, recovery, repeats and tempo, although this weekend I am racing Saturday so Friday night will need to be revisited and then two cross training sessions. There is actually only six weeks of training to go and another 300+ miles to cover, it’s all coming up quite fast now and by the time Thanksgiving is over I’ll have one long run left and then I will be tapering!

I had an epiphany on my runs about finish times, I wasn't thinking about them at all but two sets of numbers just popped into my head; one for my 50k and one for the 50m race. I have to say I'd be pleased if they pan out, but so as not to jinx anything I'll keep them to myself...for now!

Santa Monica Classic 5k

2000 or so competitors toed the line for the second running of the Santa Monica Classic in aid of Heal the Bay.

The sun rose in a cloudless sky, a slight onshore breeze cooled the temperature which at 7am was around 65F. The course started next to Santa Monica Beach after a short distance south the route reversed and headed uphill for the next 2.5 miles. The crowd soon thinned out with the early sprinters fading and the club runners taking up the pace. The first mile was along Main Street which had been closed to traffic, a unique feeling in Los Angeles!

A quick jink left and right and we were onto the palm lined Ocean Boulevard and were at mile 2 before you know it. The first water stop was here and I grabbed a cup on the fly fortunately I checked the contents before splashing my face with it, just as well as it was Gatorade!

At the 2.5 mile point we turned around and we treated to a gentle downhill slope back the way we came, I had been drafting a woman for most of the way and at this point she took off, and left me looking at her heels – don’t you just hate it when that happens!

The last quarter mile goes by in a blur as they always do; before you know it you’ve gone through the finish arch, down the chute and it’s all over: all in 20:47.