Next Race(s)

I have found my next race(s)! It is a series of 5K's, one at 8 am, the second at 9 am, and the third at 10 am. The race series is called The Melt Down.

So, 9.3 miles overall. I'm hoping to finish each race under 30 minutes; if I can, then I'll have 1/2 hour between each race for rest and recovery. So, anybody have any quick recovery tips for me? Should I bring a cooler with ice/cold packs to cool down? Anybody want to suggest relaxation techniques? Any of you guys do something like this before and have some sage wisdom for me?

I'm kinda pumped about the challenge and plan on going all out for each of the races. Yeah, I could sandbag the first two races and try to rip off a fast third, but I'd rather just give all three races my best effort. I'm sure I'll be regretting it in the morning!

My training schedule will change next week to prepare for the Saturday race; I'll do 8-10 on Monday, then 5 easy on Wed, skip Friday, and race Saturday. I'll also limit my legs strength training to Tuesday and stick to upper body on Thursday. Or maybe, I'll do legs this Thursday and do chest/tri's and back/bi's next week.

Three 5K's...in one day!!! T-shirt included!!!

Day 1: 8-10 miles easy

If I took it any easier, I'd be walkin'!

This run was a slog! It was hotter than I would have liked it (mid 80's, I think), the sun was blazing even though it was evening, and guess who went out too fast!

I took breaks at 5 miles (outside, stretch and catch breath) and 6 miles (inside, water, rest, catch breath, cool down.) I was almost giddy when I realized that I didn't have to do 10 miles and could do just 9. I had thought that my coach had upped the mileage for Day 1, but I was happily mistaken.

Oh, and yes, we are back from Texas; I think I found a place that's flatter than Indiana. That place is Houston, TX. When we would get on top of a freeway interchange, I could see almost all the way to Louisiana! Pan-cake-flat! If it wasn't for the heat, it might be a nice place to run. 8~P

Texas Run

The last time I ran in Texas was 26 years ago in Air Force basic training! This run was in slightly better circumstances...I think. I didn't have anyone screaming at me, I didn't have to worry about staying in formation, I didn't have to run in fatigue pants, cotton t-shirt, and who knows what kind of tennis shoes.

On the other hand, I don't remember the weather being this HOT! and HUMID! Holy wet t-shirt contest, Batman! I actually wrung out my shirt afterwords, and I swear a half cup of liquid hit the ground. No kidding! I was soaked.

Another plus for this run was the trail. I drove about two miles to a trail that goes for a couple of miles here in western Houston. I only had to cross two streets (and then cross them again on the way back), and the area seemed pretty nice with most of the trail covered in shade.

I'm planning on hitting it again on Wed and Fri; I probably started this run about 6:30 am, which may have been a tad too late. I think I'll try to get up at 5:30 so I can run between 6 and 7.

Can you believe that? I'm getting up at 5:30 AM on my vacation just to run! I may need an intervention...

Hair of the dog, man, hair of the dog!

Less than 12 hours after I finished 8 miles, I did this! I had my doubts as to whether or not I would be able to complete this week's schedule due to travel and time constraints, so I am really happy to get this run in AND...

...see that last mile?

Huh?? Huh?? Yeah!!!! Smoked it! Mr. Kent's three week training schedule is done and done! Now for a week of light running before the brutal part II.

Treadmill, IN SUMMER???

Yeah, I didn't want to get lost...I'm in Evansville, IN and figured the easiest way to get in 8 miles without getting lost was to never leave the hotel!

Anyways, I switched today and tomorrow's workouts due to a couple of things, the foremost being time. I only have time for 5 miles tomorrow, and I had time for 8 today. Also, I did kettlebells last night and just couldn't drag my sorry butt out of bed in time to run this morning before we had to hit the road.

In other news, I just wanted to pass on some congrats to my father-in-law and coach, Michael Kent. Last week, he won the Senior Grand Masters championship 5K for the state of Montana. Results are here. That's right, I'm being trained by a championship runner! /preen.

Faster Fartleks!

One of my goals for fartleks is to make each 30 seconds cover more than .0758 miles or 400 ft. Yes, it is a bit arbitrary, but it is also a pretty speedy pace. 400 ft (1 mile/5280 ft)/(30 sec(1 min/60 sec)(1 hr/60 min) ~~ 9 mph average. That's for the whole 30 seconds!

For this run, my top speed was 11.5 mph! Now, I did have to grab some water at the 3 mile mark, a minute after the 5th fartlek, so I got a bit of a rest before the last 5 intervals. And, this whole run was about 2.5 minutes faster than last Wed's run; I'm going to credit the cooler weather and a bit of conditioning. 8~P

Good effort

No running with Nick today, so I decided to put some good effort into my run. I haven't been slacking or anything, but I have been taking my 8 mile runs at an easy pace. Today, I would say that the pace was moderate to hard. I pushed it.

This is the last week of my first three week training block; next week, I'm on vacation and will cut back the miles for a rest week. Then, the week of the 4th, I ramp it back up again to the second three week block, which is:

Day 1: 8-10 miles easy to moderate pace

Day 2: 5 miles with 10X1 minute hard. I'll warm up for 2 miles and do the fartleks during the rest of the run and jog out the rest.

Day 3: 5 miles moderate to fast (last mile sub 9:00)

Day 4: 9-11 miles easy to moderate.

This will give me an excellent base of running to build a marathon on, and just so you know, I'm eying one in Oct or Nov...