PA, Running, and other stuff

Been away a little. Back to PA for a visit with my folks. They live in Western PA. Grey, cold and wet. Ick. But lots of O2 and lots of hills. It was a good visit and I got in some good running. Ended up with 35 miles for the week. I'm stuck there. I can get in that much and still have plenty of time for other things in my life. It shouldn't be a big deal to work in another 10 or 15 miles a week, but I'll get to this in a minute.

Had a great dinner with my gf and a good friend.

More running. Ran the Anthem Turkey Trot 5k yesterday. It went really well. First a quick rant....if the course is only 3 miles....then call it 3 miles...don't call it a 5k. We have bicycle's with odometers, and gps, measuring a course should be spot on. Now I recognize that everyone ran the same distance, so for the folks that were racing for the win, all is good. But I'm NO where near that fast, I race against the clock. And 0.1 miles matters if the clock is your target. Okay, back to the race. Mid 30s. overcast, nice running weather. Ran the course for a warm-up, 26 minutes. Was feeling pretty good. The second mile was a gentle uphill grind and the third was down and then up. I figured with almost 500 people, a lot were going to go out way to fast and blow up about 1.5 miles in. I was right. I sat comfy for the first mile, came by the marker at 6:10. I figure this was off, it felt too easy. But hey, go with it right :) I started to press at the mile mark and started passing people. I've really enjoyed racing 5ks more that I've gotten better at staying within myself that first mile. When I run a 5k, I've got a goal that no one passes me after the first mile mark. Someday I may have to give that up and really go after the first mile just to see what happens. I bet I'm holding back a little too much to ensure I have a decent 2nd and third mile. But for now, holding back for 6 or 7 minutes is working well for me. Got to the 2 mile mark in 6:20. Was feeling on the edge at this point and just tried to keep my feet pointed forward (my toes and knees turn out when I get tired), lean into it and keep the turn over high. Mile 3 in 6:14. Finished up with 19:28. Of course, after the fact, I saw that the course was 3 miles. So those mile splits aren't correct. No biggie really. I ended up 26th overall, 10 in the 30-39 AG. I'm quite happy with the run. Ran smart, felt in control, and finished up strong.

More Running...what's next? Goals...what to do with them, how to set them. Here's what I'm thinking. Some of these may be "dreams" rather than "goals" but whatever :

1. Break 19 for 5k (this winter)
2. Lifetime PR for 10k (mine current PR is 39:5?, so this is doable) and how cool would it be to PR at 39 years old
3. Break 1 hour at Longmont (went 1:02 and change this last year)
4. PR at Boulder Peak (2:25 last year)
5. PR for 1/2 Ironman (current PR is only 5:07)
6. PR for IM at Louisville

The tri stuff will come, right now I'm focused on running. The question is how do I get from 6:27/mile to 6:07? Part of this is just more miles per week. Move from ~35 to ~45/week. I can add some faster work each week too. I'm not sure if I should focus on leg turn over and higher speeds (short intervals, 200s, 400s, 30 second hills) or add in more time at just under 5k pace, LT type work (1000s, miles, tempo). It seems a too much a little too fast to add more miles and fast stuff and LT stuff all at once. I figure I can handle 2 of those things. If anyone has any advice or input, feel free to chime in...even if it's just "HTFU and just run!" :)

Happy Holidays everyone and Kia Kaha!