Turkey Trot

Today was the Davis Turkey Trot. I love this run because it's a 5k and 10k with a setup which affords one the chance to run both races if she/he were so inclined. I was so inclined. :-)

I hauled myself out of bed this morning to cold (in Sacramento, cold = mid-40's...yes, I'm a sissy), calm and foggy weather. Abby signed up for the 10k because she's getting ready for a leg of CIM corporate relay. So, she and I headed over to Davis together to get our race packets, run and have breakfast at Bernardo's. 

We got to Davis and parked about four blocks from the start...and felt lucky that we were only four blocks away. Davis is a college town without barely enough on-street parking to accommodate its residents. Never mind sandwiching in additional cars for 3500 or so runners. When we got our packets, we discovered that A Change of Pace has new chips. The old ones looked like a pretzel tied to your shoe and had to be returned after every race. The new ones looked like a thin, pliable strip of orange plastic. Instead of zip ties, the new "chip" had adhesive on one end and slipped through the shoe laces. I like them.

I headed to the start of the 5k with hopes of beating 20:30. The course had a lot of turns and consisted of road and bike trails. I hate lots of 90 degree turns because I feel like they kill my stride and cadence. Oh well. I went through mile one at sub 6 pace and I felt great...but nervous. I can't remember my last sub-6 mile. I decided to throttle back a little and trust the pace which felt comfortable...which turned out to be 6:10. After mile two, the course takes us off the street and onto a bike path. I still felt good, so I decided to press the pace a little. I finished what seemed to be an easy 5k in 18:51 (6:04 mins/mi) at 36th place. I was VERY pleased. 

I hooked up with Abby and we got ready for the 10k start. My goal for the 10K was to run it at an easy pace and hope that it was faster than the 7:37 mins/mi I need to get 3:20 (Boston). This meant that anything better than 47 minutes would make me happy. I went out at 7:00 minutes for the first mile and sped up every mile for the full 10k. My finishing time was 41:30 (6:41 mins/mi) and I still had a whole lot in the tank. I was thrilled! I've had more bad runs than good and I needed some good news heading into the CIM. This was just what I needed.

Abby predicted she'd finish at around 12 mins/mi pace, but came in at 1:05:57 (10:37 mins/mi). She did very, very well and should have a good CIM relay.

Of course, the day was not without folly. Abby had the key to the car...where my sweats were. By the time she finished I had been in a short sleeve shirt and running shorts in 40-50 degree weather for over two hours. I was freezing cold!!!! Next time, I'll drive or take the key. I was shivering for 30 minutes after getting my sweats on. Loser!

Notes:

• The Eggs Benedict at Cafe Bernardo are exceptional after a cold morning running.
• My bro, Mike is in town for the Thanksgiving week. After circling Sac for 40 minutes waiting for the fog to clear...you're not in Arizona anymore. He's going to run 16 in the morning.
• I'm pooped. Good night. :-)

Getting Caught Up...

Bad Hamster! I've neglected my blog. Here's the quick catch up for the week's events:

Saturday: I ran 17.5 with Carlos around Sacramento. I dragged him onto the AR Parkway the last time we ran, so I felt it was fair for me to follow him on one of his runs. We started at his house by Land Park (a familiar theme in my runs), ran around Land Park, down Land Park Dr to E Street in mid-town, to past McKinley part to Elvas, down Elvas and into CSUS (stroll down memory lane), and back. It was great running with Carlos, he's in fantastic shape (I predict 3:13 @ the CIM for him), but contending with stoplights and traffic took its toll on me. The las couple of miles were more than a little difficult...bonk.

Tuesday: I had a dentist appointment at 7:00 am, so I only got in 5 around Land Park. It felt slow, painful, and demoralizing. I've officially had more bad runs that good in the last few weeks. :-(

Thursday: I hooked up with Austin for 9.5 around Land Park. It was a refreshing change to not run solo mid-week. Austin and I averaged around 7:20 mins/mi (snail pace for him) and I felt refreshed. 

Weekly Roundup...

So, here's the week's workouts so far...both of them. :-) 

Tuesday, fast 6 around Land Park. I had every intention of running 10, but I was out late the night before at Hawk's  restaurant for a wine dinner featuring the Frank Family Vineyard . Good wine...a lot of wine...throbbing head on the run. Actually, i was impressed that I could maintain a decent pace with a hangover. Okay, I'm a loser. 

Thursday, I laid of speed work for two weeks after my quad got cranky running yasso 800 repeats. In the mean time I read up on speed work for marathoning and discovered, much to my chagrin, that I should be running 1200 repeats instead. So I ran a paltry 4 x 1200 repeats at the park today. The proof will come in slightly over 3 weeks. 

Other notes from the hamster wheel:

• Austin Weaver strained his hamstring setting a course record at the Apple Hill Harvest run and will not be able to run the CIM. 
• Rob Saint Evens has been working through an achilles problem which was diagnosed last night as tendonitis. His CIM prognosis is questionable.
• The CIM is full! All 6000 marathon entries and 750 team slots have been filled. This means that race day could see as many as 9000 athletes on the course. It's nice to see our little marathon growing up.

Weekend Round Up

I got in 20 on Saturday. I went out a little slower than 8 mins/mi and came back sub 7:30 mins/mi until about mile 18.5. Then the wheels came off and I bonked. I stopped fueling late in the run, I ran 20's on back-to-back weekends, the moon wasn't aligned with Saturn...or, maybe, just maybe, my hare-brained desire to run a good marathon on three days a week training has come back to bite me. I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible to run a good marathon without getting in more miles than I have. The halves have been great, but I just don't seem to have enough in the tank for the 20s. Whereas a couple of weeks ago I thought was staring at 3:15 - 3:18 for the marathon, I'm now calling into question 3:20:59. I've decided to play conservative and give myself the best chance at 3:20. I'm going to head out with the 3:20 group and stay with them until mile 20 or 22 and only then will I speed up if I feel good. It's hard for me to part with 3:15. I want it so badly. 

Other Weekend Performances

• Carlos Jora at the Clarksburg 20 Miler turned in 2:24:17 (7:13 mins/mi). It looks like Carlos wants to go sub 3:10 at the CIM. 
  
• Cameron Yee at the Big Sur Half Marathon completed with a solid 1:47:43 (8:13 mins/mi).
  
• Kris Levy at the Clarksburg Half Marathon finished with a 2:16:59 (10:27 mins/mi). She's in shape to run the CIM, but chose to train elementary school children for the CIM 2.6 mile run instead. We should share her spirit of volunteerism.
  

Back to the wheel for this hamster...

Land Park 6

It was another good run today. I ran a slow first mile to warm up and then averaged 7:20 mins/mi for the last 5+. The only thing disconcerting about the runs this week is that I have no rhyme or reason to when I run well or poorly. In general though, I'm running better and better...and that's a good thing with only four weeks (plus a few days) until the CIM. I'm planning to run 20 this weekend and then slowly taper from there...of course, how much can I taper when I only run three days a week? :-) 

Thoughts from the Hamster Wheel:

• The Theracane: Okay, laugh all you want, but I've had a couple of cranky muscles soothed by the theracane over the last few weeks and I thought I'd share. I first ran across the theracane at a friends house and I thought he'd inadvertently left some perverse sex toy laying around. But, I tried it and bought it online the next day. I really works. 
• RunnersWorld Training Calculator: I got this one from my brother. Nice find Mike. Enter the distance and time that you want to hit, and the calculator pops up another screen that has three tabs across the top; the Distance Finish Times, is how fast you should be able to run each distance; then Training Paces was really interesting as it had what target pace they recommend for easy, tempo, and long runs; finally, Pace is the mph and minute/mile break out for the marathon.   It's a fun page to play with. 

Run well...

Land Park 6 and Running Monks

I told myself last that I would forego track workouts this week after the scare with my left quad last Thursday. So I this morning I headed to Land Park for a quick 6 miles. I finished with a 7:18 mins/mi average and felt good about the run. I was amazed at how many runners were at the park this morning...fast runners. I like to pick out runners ahead of me and see if I can catch them. I caught all but one this morning. After clipping off a 7:02 mile and not making hardly any ground on her...yes, her. She stopped and started walking back toward me. I could clearly see the ING NYC Marathon shirt she sported. Wow! I wasn't sure if it was this years, but I think it was. That means she ran in New York on Sunday and kicked my a$$ on Tuesday. Nice run.

We read about the exploits of Dean Karnazas (ultra runner extraordinaire), his documentary, "50 Marathons in 50 Days " is the stuff of legends. His 50th marathon was a sub 3 hour performance at Boston. But what you read about a people who ran 100 marathons on consecutive days? What if they did this for years on end, in the middle of the night, on mountain trails wearing straw sandals? That's exactly what the Buddhist "Marathon Monks " of Mt. Hiei, Japan do. They use the runs to help them on the path to personal awakening. One of the first things a person learns about Buddhism is the Four Noble Truths (1. All life is suffering, 2. The cause of suffering is craving/clinging, 3. Suffering ceases when we relinquish craving, 4.The path to cessation of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path...but that's another entry). For these monks, I'd say the cessation of suffering comes when they stop running! Seriously, check out the link. It's very interesting.

May all be free of suffering.

NY Times Article Follow-up

For those of you who read the article in the NY Times regarding the toll marathon training exacts on relationships (spouse, co-worker, children, etc.) You read about Jon Cohen training to qualify for Boston. He needed to best 3:20:59 in order to pack his bags for Boston and subject his spouse to another five months of training. Jon purchased a $900 muscle stimulator to improve recovery and an indoor jogging machine. He cross trained with a bike and logged up to 80 miles per week. Sadly, Jon finished 3:28:46, well behind his needed qualifying time. I know he's probably feeling a little disheartened today, but I'm sure he'll be scouring the Internet in no time at all in search of the fastest course in the US. Hey Jon, it's time to tell your wife how beautiful Sacramento is in early December. ;-) Get back on that horse baby!!!

Deluge!!!

I had to get in 20 this Saturday which coincided with Sacramento getting about 10% of its annual rainfall total. Nice. Actually, I took advantage of a break in the weather and only got dumped on for the last 8 of the 20, so, it could have been worse...but not much. I was so cold after the run that, even after a long, hot shower, I was shivering. I felt great on the run up until the last two miles. Everything seized up: knees, ankles, feet (yes, they can seize and it's not pretty), quads. In fact, I didn't feel like myself until about three hours after the run. I need to find a way to stay warm if it rains like this at the CIM. Let me know if anyone has suggestions.

• Kara Goucher made her marathon debut at the NY City Marathon today. Hers was the fastest debut marathon by an American woman. Her 2:25:53 finish meant she averaged 5:33 over the windy course. Check out other results as well.
• Jim Obermaier (friend) finished the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon  in 1:57:10. Nice job Jim. Jim also finished the Indianapolis Marathon last month in a time of 4:39:39. He dedicated the run to the memory of his father.
• Austin Weaver. On a local note, I've been blogging from time to time about a new runner in Sacramento, Austin. Well, he debuted at the Apple Hill Harvest run this weekend. The 8.5 mile course is hilly, but a lot of fun. Just ask Austin, he won it by more than a five minute margin. Did I mention he's fast? At 44:46, he averaged 5:16 per mile. Way to go Austin.