A really fun run!

I have only one way to describe my run today:

FUN!

That's seriously for a lack of better terms too. All I could think when I finished was... "Wow, that was really fun!"

I'm alone in the office today. I decided to duck out for an 8 mile run on the lakefront. The weather was probably the best it's been in weeks... 60 degrees, minimal wind. I ran in my newly acquired New Balance Minimus MT10's. I've run a handful of times in them, though I haven't really pushed them until today.

Obviously the name suggests that they're a minimalist shoe. Technically they're dubbed as a trail shoe, though they're far different than any trail shoe I've ever seen or felt... very light weight, very flexible, very thin sole, a slightly heel-to-toe drop (hardly noticeable), and extremely comfortable. Truly a minimalist shoe. I had no trouble wanting to run on pavement with these. A close second to the Vibram Five Fingers.

Anyway... my "8 miles easy" turned into a 10 mile progression run, where I started to push about a 6:00 pace towards the end. I didn't mean to run that fast, it just happened. It sounds kinda stupid too, but I'm pretty sure I had a smile on my face the entire way.

I felt great. My feet loved every moment of it. No pain in my shins or calves, or anywhere else. Just like effortlessly floating along for an hour.

That's the joy of running in a minimalist shoe... the stride becomes so much more natural that it no longer feels like work. Total entertainment and enjoyment.

A runners high taken to a whole new level!

Good Riddance Green Bay!

I became a big fat pussy and cry baby during the Green Bay 13.3 Half Marathon. Prior knowledge of an incorrectly mapped course plus some serious winds eventually got the better of me...

The day before the race, we drove the course. It was very clearly marked on the ground with spay paint, and very easy to follow. They put a lot of thought into this! That's great and all, but the course was also very clearly MARKED INCORRECTLY!! Mile 4 was blatantly long, and mile 12 might be debatable. The published and certified course maps were inconsistent with the spray paint.

Bottom line: We went into the race knowing that it was going to be long by at least 0.15 mile. After driving it, we mapped it out 5 different ways on Google, and it just didn't add up. We consistently showed it being over 13.3 miles. As it turns out, after the race, officials later confirmed the course as being 13.25 due to mile 4. I still think that it might be off at mile 12 as well, but that's splitting hairs at this point.

To top it off, we ran the race while dealing with gale-force winds... SOLID 20-30 mph, with gusts in excess of 40mph. Granted, there were times that the wind helped... but trying to hammer a mile into that shit ain't easy.

So there you have it. It got the better of me late in the race.

I put in a solid effort for a while. I ran through mile 8 right at a 5:40 average pace (I'm adjusting that average for the long mile 4... and assuming my pace in that mile was a 5:45 instead of a 7:02). I did screw up in mile 5, which included some wind and a messed up pace by running with a few other people... I ran a 5:55. Not sure what exactly happened there. I eventually dropped some guys that were clearly slowing up, and then faced a nasty 1/2 mile stretch into the wind. This was a screw up, but not a deal breaker. Again, avg pace through 8 was about 5:40... 5:39 if I skip mile 4 altogether.

Mile 9 hurt. It included some uphill, but more importantly it was directly into some horrendous wind... seriously, it was near unbearable. I had caught a couple other guys and tried to work with them, but ultimately I became their work horse for most of that mile. One did jump in front of me late, but the damage was already done... 5:55. We split up and I ran alone from there. I slipped... Mile 10: 5:50, Mile 11: 5:45. Both 10 and 11 had wind hitting me from the sides. You'd think that shouldn't be a big deal, but it mentally effected me.

Mile 12 was the bitch that end my race for all practical purposes. I was all alone, and turned directly into what seemed to be a tornado's path. Seriously, I felt like I was dealing with 50 mph steady winds. I remember seeing shit fly at me and along the sides of the road... like a seen from Twister or something! After dealing with that for all too long, I thew in the towel and just tried to run comfortably though it.... I recall thinking of how pissed I was to be there... how I bothered to drive up nearly 4 hours, only to run a long course during a fucking tornado. Why did I subject myself to that?? I somehow managed to slug out a 6:15 mile. A far cry from my early 5:40 pace.

And to boot, after I passed the 12th marker and turned out of the wind, one of the guys that I dropped 4 miles earlier had caught back up to me and drafted off me through the worst of the worst. I had no idea. He then passed me. I didn't care. In my mind, my race was over. I cruised 13 at a 5:48 pace...

I was angry by the time I hit mile 12, and that wind broke me. Mentally I had checked out of the race. I'm ok with it. I'll just have to roll the SF10.


Splits:
1- 5:35 (aggressive, but felt it was necessary to fight the wind by drafting)
2- 5:29
3- 5:33
4.2- 7:02 (probably a 5:50 equivalent?)
5- 5:55 (Wind, plus ??... I think I fell asleep?)
6- 5:48
7- 5:37
8- 5:37
9- 5:55 (up hill + monster wind)
10- 5:50
11- 5:45
12.05- 6:15 (HORRIBLE wind, seems long, I totally threw in the towel here)
13- 5:48 (basically just rolled my pussy to the finish)
.1- 0:35
13.1- 1:16:45, 17th Place.

Afterwords, the race officials adjusted our times by a multiple of 0.9886 to compensate for their error. Simply applying that multiple gives me a 1:15:51 result. I don't think that's correct in my case, as I ran faster earlier and quit late. - If I smooth out my 3rd and 5th miles (which would still be slower than a simple average of my 1-8 miles), I come up with something like a 5:45-50 pace for mile 4.
That translates to about a 1:15:30 race, in spite of the wind. My second fastest 1/2 marathon.

Needless to say, I'm done with Green Bay. I won't be back.

I can tempo, but can I race?

It's been almost a month since my marathon, and I'm gradually getting my stride back.

Last week I hit 72 miles. It all felt pretty decent too. I even threw in a few core workouts, which I'm trying to do more regularly now.

Last night I rolled a tempo run (2 weeks in a row now).
My goal was to hit some sort of half marathon'esq pace. I did that and then some... 6 miles at 5:47, 5:45, 5:44, 5:40, 5:38, 5:30... a 5:40.7 average. I gradually just pulled the trigger, getting faster and faster. It might've even been a tempo-paced PR for me...? I don't typically go that fast. A slight headwind in the second half made that final mile hurt. It definitely wasn't as easy as I wanted.

This all leads me to the question:

What the hell am I going to run in Green Bay???

I'm just starting to get the mileage back up after a handful of lame weeks. Plus I still haven't been to the track yet! I do feel alright, but I don't think I'm ready to hammer this thing.

My PR set last year was 1:14:50 = 5:42.5 pace. ...The thought of running what I did last night, and then tacking on another 7 miles makes me sick!