10K (6.2 Miles) Race Report

My wife is away in New Mexico visiting family so I was all by my lonesome this morning. The race was the Monster Mask 5k/10k at the Sam Houston Race Park. It is about 25 minutes from the house. For breakfast I had a whole wheat bagel with Peanut Butter and a 100 calorie muscle milk I left around 6 am and stopped for some coffee at a gas station and then was on my way.

The temperature when I left the house was 47 degrees. That is downright cold to us Texans so I layered a couple of shirts and a jacket but still wore shorts. I figured I could drop the clothes off at my car before the race started. I got there and the packet pickup was nice and smooth.

The 5k was first at 7:30 and then the 10k at 8:15. I tried to get into the 5k but it was too late and they wouldn't let me do it. So, I just did an easy warm up run while the 5k was going on.

At about 5 minutes after 8am we started lining up for the 10k. I wasn't sure where to line up so I started in the middle of the pack. This was probably a mistake because it took me over a minute to even get to the start line. I was not sure if the time started at the gun or when I crossed the start line. Luckily I had on my Garmin so I started the time when I hit the start line. Now I realized I was actually a lot faster than I thought because I was bobbing and weaving around all the people who started in front of me. After a mile I looked down at my Garmin and saw I did the first mile in 7:50. Not bad considering all the lateral running I was doing passing people!

The 2nd and 3rd mile had us swing back around to the start line and then run under a road and through an underground tunnel and then loop around a lake. We did this twice. Around mile 5 I was feeling a little uncomfortable and my heart rate was at 185 bpm! If this was a training run I would have backed off some but since this was a race I decided to push it! My last mile split was 7:25!

Overall I finished the 6.2 miles in 46:31. This is a pace of around 7:30/mile. Both of these are personal records for me and I was very pleased with my results. The official times or results have not been posted on the website yet but I think I did pretty well overall and in my age group. I passed a ton of people and I was only passed one time the entire race! According to the website there were 920 people registered. I think that included 5k only runners too so I am not sure how many were in the 10k. I will let you know when the results are posted!

Tomorrow morning I am planning on running 15 miles. I feel pretty good now and with the extra hour of sleep (turn back your clocks!) I should be okay. If I wake up tomorrow and feel beat I might postpone the 15 miler!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

*** Update ***

Results are in and I finished 37/320 overall and 9th in my AG. My chip time was 46:20! Not sure how many were in my AG, hopefully that will be updated soon!

10K + 5K Tomorrow

I'm running in a race tomorrow. I signed up for it a few months ago and never really even looked at the website after that. Well, it turns out they are doing a 5k and then a 10k and you can do both events! I am only signed up for the 10k but am going to see if I can register for the 5k in at the race. I am not planning on setting any personal records, just running at a nice smooth pace.

I am going to do 15 miles on Sunday morning so I need to save my legs a little!

Well, off to get some sleep so I can get up bright and early for the race!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Hal Higdon Training: 7 Mile Run

It is absolutely pouring out right now! Some of the hardest rain I have ever seen. My neighborhood streets are underwater and we have tornado and flood warnings all over the place! This maybe the end of DirecTV for me. Everytime it rains the signal strength goes away and we can't watch TV. Sucks! If only we had the option for Uverse or Fios.

Anywho, Annie and I woke up at 4:30am today to get our 7 mile run in. I opened the door to the backyard to let the dogs out and the heat hit me! It was 76 degrees and the humidity was 85%!!! How does that happen on October 29th? Dri Fit tank top time!

We started our run and it began to rain. It was a welcomed rain because of the heat. It rained for about a 1/2 mile and then stopped and became even more humid ... good times! We ended up sweating our way through and ripping off the 7 miles! Our time was 1 hour and 11 minutes which is a 10 minute/mile pace. The training program called for us to run at a slower pace so this was okay. Annie was really struggling with the heat this morning so we didn't push.

Tomorrow I am going to run 4 miles, probably at the gym because it is supposed to still be raining.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

BeginnerTriathlete.com Logs Added

I use BeginnerTriathlete.com to keep track of my workouts. It lets me log swim, bike, run, strength and whatever else I can possibly think of. Then it gives me fancy little graphs that track my total distances and times of each sport by day, week, month and even year.

Personally I find this to be an invaluable tool in tracking my training and knowing when to add or decrease workloads. The reason it is important is because in order to prevent injury us endurance athletes need to know how much volume to increase by. Without this knowledge it is kind of like pissing in the wind! Another reason it is important is so you are able to track if your current training is effective. If you go months and you are not seeing improvements then maybe you need to take a look at your training plans. It gives you all of the cumulative informaton in one simple to read layout that allows for quick but accurate analysis.

And the best part about the BT logs: It is FREE!

Now if you want even more detailed information and even online coaching then you can upgrade your membership for a relatively low price. I am probably going to do this in about a month when I start training for an Olympic level race.

The reason I am bringing this all up today is because I added my volume log as a widget to the right ---->>>

Supposedly it will update as I log workouts. It breaks the workouts down by week and each color represents a different sport as the key indicates. You will notice a considerable drop off in my logs last week while I was sick and resting.

If you are exercising and not logging your workouts anywhere I highly recommend this site. It also has a ton of great articles, training plans, and a very active forum. Check it out!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Hal Higdon Training: Back in the Saddle ... 3 Mile Run

Sitting here watching "The Biggest Loser" on DVR. I love this show, however, I don't really care for any of the participants this season. Very weird. The last few years I was cheering for some and rooting against some others. This year I am still enjoying it but they all seem to be a very emotional group and I could care less who wins!

Anyways, we got up early in the cool Texas morning - 58 degrees - and had a decent run. It took me about a mile to find a groove. Which is much better than the usual two or three miles it takes me to find said groove! I finished the run in 26 minutes. My legs felt absolutely wonderful and I could have easily ran 10 more miles, but I jumped back into the Higdon training plan. Today is 3 miles, tomorrow is 7 miles, Thursday is 3 again! On Saturday I am doing a 10K at the Sam Houston Race Way which is 6.2 miles and then on Sunday I am going to do 15 miles! The 10K is at a race track and costumes are encouraged and I own a Ricky Bobbie race suit from a previous Halloween. I keep picturing the end of Talladega Nights when Will Ferrell sprinted to the finish against the Frenchy. I cannot think of a more appropriate time to wear my Ricky Bobby costume!

Whoa ... getting a little misty in the room ... I am now rooting for Abby on The Biggest Loser. No spoilers but this woman lost her husband and two small children in a car accident. Wow!

Tomorrow is a 7 mile run. I have to leave the house by 7am so I will opt to do the run in the evening. Weather is supposed to be great again so it should be fun!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff