I've completely slacked on keeping posts on this blog.
For the first time in probably 4 years, I didn't run a spring marathon. Hence, I've had a little less motivation in the blog. But I did have some strong winter training that lead to solid spring races. I then went on a 10 week hiatus/wedding tour/vacation/etc in April through early June that resulted in garbage miles for 2-3 months.
I'm finally getting back to some consistent running as I roll up for a fall marathon.
So let's true things up for the year first half of the year and my spring races:
Without the early marathon, I hit June 30th with slightly lower mileage than in the past few years (1,060 miles). February and March were all about quality miles with lots of speed and progression runs. Of the four races in the spring, my goal race was the Shamrock Shuffle.
3/18 - Cary March Madness 1/2 Marathon: 1:16:53
Believe it or not, this race was a nasty heater. It was easily 70 degrees at the starting line and well into the mid-80's by the finish of the race. IN MARCH!! Being the first race of the year, it was really just a tune up. I used it as a progression to pace some team mates early on, and gradually picked it up towards the end of the race in spite of the heat. I finished 4th overall and won the age group.
3/25 - Shamrock Shuffle 8K: 26:47 (PR)
This was my spring goal race. Essentially, I had expected and wanted to run this at last year's Turkey Trot - so to do it again a few months later on less training was quite pleasing. Ultimately, we had decent weather and I ran a mostly consistent pace with all miles in the very low 5:20's and a slightly faster 5th mile. This really was a great PR for me. I don't get many chances at an 8K. I had the sub-27 monkey on my back for a while, and I was happy to get it off.
4/1 - Oak Park 5K: 16:23
On the heels of the Shamrock, this race was supposed to be a blow out 5K. I felt reasonably strong leading into it. And then like an idiot, I sabotaged it. Two days prior, I ran a 15 mile Friday night progression run, with 6 of it hard. (In other words, a run that exhausts you after an exhausting work week). Then the night before the race, I drank a bottle of wine. Probably not things that you should do if you want to be fresh for a-balls-to-the-wall 5K. I ran mostly steady splits in this race, but was totally flat when it came to keeping up with competition or picking it up. Lame.
4/28 - Lakefront 10Mi: 59:08
The weeks leading into this race had mixed training. I had started more aggressively nursing a nagging injury (my classic hip/ glue/ hamstring strain that never seems to want to go away), then I had random trips and weddings to deal with. Ultimately, I ran this race as a workout. Unfortunately, it was during a wind storm and I actually had to work in the workout. I lead a pack for a series of miles into the wind, only to be dropped by other runners when we got wind at our backs, and then I fought back in the last few miles to only get dropped again in the final kick. Even worse, these were all runners that I'd typically beat. Lame, but ok for what was intended to be an uneventful workout.
After the four spring races, I saw a few of my very good friends get married, Sarah and I went to New Orleans and competed in a personal contest called "Man versus New Orleans"... (I nearly lost against myself)... After a month of bouncing around, I came back feeling like I was 10 lbs over weight.
I started picking my miles back up in early June, only to get sidelined with a quick calf strain that took a week to work out. Since then, I've been able to pull together a series of lower base/fitness building weeks. Next step will be to add back a little speed.
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