And 20

Training to prepare for marathon training is complete.  I hope I'll be able to jump into the scheduled 35 miles next week, 'cause it only ramps up from there.

I still have to settle down on paces; despite being advised by pretty much everyone that as a first time marathoner, I should be happy just to finish, I am going to go against everyone's better judgement and set a goal of maintaining a 10:00 pace.

I'm going to just shoot myself in the foot right off the bat with that.  And awaaaaaaaaay we go!

The heat is gonna be the death of me

I waited until 7:30 PM, but it never really cooled off.  I went out anyways with plenty of water and a somewhat slow pace.  As you can see, I made it back to my house and had to finish on the treadmill.

And here you thought I bought that thing for winter...huh uh.  I'll run outside in 16 degree weather, but this 88 degree stuff is for the birds.  I might do a couple miles outside in it, but I have no qualms about finishing off the run indoors.

First >1 hour run since May 4th

I guess I chucked the longer distances for the last two months.  Well, nothing says welcome to pre-marathon training like a slow 7 miler.  I was going to save this for Saturday, but we have a wedding in Illinois that day, and I think I'll only have time for 5.

I set out at an easy pace and dropped off from there...lol.  It was raining just a little bit when I started, then it turned into a gentle rain that lasted most of my run.  The last two miles I was wishing that the rain would continue, but it didn't and the day turned muggy.  ick.

So, now I just have two five mile runs left in my ramp-up-to-marathon training.

Back into training...almost

Usually, I give myself a couple of days off after a race, but unfortunately, I start my marathon training next week with 35 miles.  That means that I need to get in at least 20 this week so that I'm not jumping up too much in mileage.  It will still be too big a leap, but at least it will be 15 miles and not 25.

I did run per my usual 3 mile recovery run after a race - no pace alarms.  I also did not look at my watch so that I didn't try to keep a certain pace.  I just ran.  In the heat.  83 degrees F.  ick.

Carefree Crocodile 5K

This is a PR.

I also seemed to run a short course.

My last PR was 26:42 on a 3.03 mile course. (I just got back from doing the research.)

I feel great!  I was feeling iffy since the course was a tad short, but it looks like my PR was on a shorter course!  This course was much hillier than the course two years ago, so yay on me!

This was an old school race: no chips.  At each mile, someone called out our times, and at the end, along with someone calling out the times, we got a finisher's stick with our place on it. Also, I highly doubt that there are official results on a website, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Age group (45-49): 5/7
Overall: 70/105

The total number of runners is a bit of a guess.  My neighbor, Charles, walked it, and I think he was the third from the last person at 103.  There was no breakdown of gender placement.

This next week, I need to get in twenty miles as my marathon training starts the following week with 35 miles!  So, I'll rest up Sunday, but on Monday, I need to get out and do at least three.  That's doable, don'tcha think?

Better Late

'Cause it's cooler!  It was still 83 degrees F, but at least I didn't have to contend with that big burning ball of gas in the sky.  I set out at 8:10 PM and tried to maintain a 9:20ish pace.  As you can see, the wheels fell off the last two miles as the heat build up in my body, and I began to tire.

Still, I'm pretty happy with the run; I just wish those last two miles would have been my first two so that I finished with a shout instead of a whimper.  You know, if I look at it as all of my miles were within 12 seconds of each other, then it looks great!  It's all about how you parse the data...

This Saturday, bet there or be...somewhere else...the Carefree Running of the Crocodiles 5K!  They have promised live crocodiles (I'm sure they will be using the cheaper alligators) will chase us for the entire race.  You will PR or get eaten!

2 X 3 miles

I was planning on running The Meltdown this year, but my lovely wife decided that I had another race that I had to be at.  Yes, my beautiful wife bought us tickets to the night race at Bristol!  She loves me, she really does!

uh, anyways, where was I?  Oh, so, I won't be running the three 5K's in one day, so I decided to do 2 X 3 miles in the same format. I ran the first one at 10:16 and the second one at 11:14 (close enough).

I was pleasantly surprised by my time on the second one.  I had my pace alarms set for a 9:15 pace, but decided to run at a slightly uncomfortable, but maintainable pace.  And, yes, knowing that I didn't have to run another three, I did push it harder on the sixth mile than I did on the third mile...

Next Saturday is my first 5K race in quite a while (let me look that up...dang, it's been two years!), so with my recent speed gains, I'm really hoping for a new PR.  I beat my 5 mile time from two years ago by 4 minutes, so, perhaps shaving 30 seconds to a minute off my 5K time wouldn't be too ambitious...hopefully.

Get Out! and run

I took an extra day off after the race cause...it was too hot yesterday to run...and I was tired.

But today, it was cooler (~80 F), so I donned my olde running clothes and set out on a pace alarm free run.  I was open to a 3 or 4 miler, but after 2, I knew it would be 3.  For not being hot, it sure was warm.

Out Run the Sun results:
13/22 [45-49] age group
 91/148 men
138/291 overall (top half!)
2/9 Greenwood residents! Podium finish!

See, it's all about how you sort the results...

Outrun The Sun 5 Mile Race

My official time was 45:56; I didn't realize that the race was timed only on gun time.  By the time I figured out that I wasn't going to cross a timing mat to start, 14 seconds had passed and I started my watch.

I...am...very...happy with this race!  I was hoping to beat 47:00 due to running that 47:05 the other day.  My secret hope was to beat 46:00.  My unrealistic dream was to beat 45:00 and win the race.  That last one didn't happen, BTW.

Tuxedo Brothers don't have the official results on the web yet, but I think I placed around 137th overall and around 13th in my age group.  Not sure on the totals for either of those categories.  I'll post them later.  If you are extremely interested, go to Tuxbro.com\results.html and scroll down until you see Rusty Mills.  I'm sure they will not mind you refreshing the page a thousand times a minute until they finally post the results.  Good luck with that.

More to come!

No-Peek 5 Miles

I ran this run without looking at my watch (except at 4.98 miles in order to stop at 5) and without pace alarms.  I've changed my training this week because I signed up for a 5 mile race this Saturday evening!

So, I'll do an easy 3 on Wed, then rest until the race.  I did this same race two years ago, and it remains the sole 5 miler on my resume.  I should be able to PR as my last time was just under 50 minutes (49:53), and I do believe that I bettered that...why on this very run!

5-6-4

Started out the door with 5 miles in mind.

After stretching and starting, determined to do 6.

Ended up doing 4.

Compromise!

I didn't flame out or anything, but I was certainly feeling yesterday's run and also the lack of running that I've had over the last month.  This was really my first full week of running since April!  So, I'm going to cut myself some slack.

I'm looking at a 5K this coming Saturday; we'll see if it happens.