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a couple of races
Last night I ran a local 5K, a benefit for the high school cross-country team that is held every year. This was my first race since my return to running after my injury this spring, and although I had decided a goal of 23:30 was reasonable, I somehow managed to pull a 22:44 out of my hat. This is exactly 30 seconds slower than my February PR which was set at 4 pounds lighter and 40 degrees cooler, and more than a minute faster than my time at this race last year, so I am really very happy about it! It was 82°F but not humid at all, and fortunately the sun was behind a cloud at race time and it was breezy, so it didn't feel too hot. I was the 6th woman, but I was the first female finisher over 40 (and I think the second over 25 - most runners were HS and college track and xc team members) although they only gave overall awards. (The male winner came in a little over 16 minutes!)
I did not intend to run quite that fast, but it's my ancient Garmin's fault. When I bought it (cheaply) 2 years ago it was already obsolete, and it's not particularly reliable even for average pace. I was running the first mile and trying to stay pretty much at the shoulder of a woman I had pegged as being good and fast (she finished 3rd, the only non-HS/college woman in front of me) and checking my lap (mile) pace periodically - 7:20-ish, a little fast but not bad. But as we came to the first mile mark there was a guy there giving splits...and as I passed he counted, "6:54..." Oops! I got to the second mile mark at 14:13, giving me a second mile split of 7:19. And then the stupid course goes UPHILL and this is the point where, every year, I basically lose my will to live. (It isn't really that steep - maybe 80 feet in 3/4 of a mile - but in a 5K it feels like a mountain.) Garmin sez I did this bit at about 8 minute pace, but I dunno what it really was. Also, here my HRM stopped recording, so I don't have a good record. Mostly I was holding pretty solidly at 87%WHR with the highest reliable reading at 93%. This is a little low for a 5K, but it matches up with my PR race in February. I did speed up in the last, downhill, bit. My best guess at pace is 7:54 for mile 3 and 41 sec (6:50 pace) based on Garmin.
Anyway, this is making me feel very good indeed about my fitness retention after the long layoff. It also says something about how all those miles in the winter training cycle are still having a positive effect. And finally, nearly all my miles since beginning running again in June were run relatively slowly. I did exactly one interval workout, with a grand total of 8 minutes of running faster than my race pace here (which works out to 7:19). I ran exactly four tempo miles (lactic threshold - for me right now, around 7:35-7:50). I think this shows that "you have to train fast to race fast" is a myth.
The other races that are interesting me right now are the political ones. I admit I was following the Tennessee gubernatorial primary just to see how much of the vote Basil Marceaux Dot Com would get (if you haven't seen his videos on YouTube, get thee hence; I am still not sure if this guy is for real or just a brilliant parody) but now that this race is over (the "Not Entirely Nuts" candidate beat the two guys who were calling Islam a "cult" and vowing to stand against institution of Sharia law in the state of Tennessee) I hope that the governor's race in my humble state of Colorado will draw some attention.
I really think we can hold our own in the wacko sweepstakes. In the GOP primary, we have the plagiarist versus the guy who thinks that promotion of bicycling is a devious plot in support of one-world government, which has led to the racist wingnut seceding from the GOP to run against them on the American Constitution Party ticket.
Fortunately, the Democrats have an excellent candidate. I mean, how can I resist voting for the ex-geologist beer brewer? Plagiarism guy, black helicopter guy, KKK guy, or beer guy. The choice is clear!
I did not intend to run quite that fast, but it's my ancient Garmin's fault. When I bought it (cheaply) 2 years ago it was already obsolete, and it's not particularly reliable even for average pace. I was running the first mile and trying to stay pretty much at the shoulder of a woman I had pegged as being good and fast (she finished 3rd, the only non-HS/college woman in front of me) and checking my lap (mile) pace periodically - 7:20-ish, a little fast but not bad. But as we came to the first mile mark there was a guy there giving splits...and as I passed he counted, "6:54..." Oops! I got to the second mile mark at 14:13, giving me a second mile split of 7:19. And then the stupid course goes UPHILL and this is the point where, every year, I basically lose my will to live. (It isn't really that steep - maybe 80 feet in 3/4 of a mile - but in a 5K it feels like a mountain.) Garmin sez I did this bit at about 8 minute pace, but I dunno what it really was. Also, here my HRM stopped recording, so I don't have a good record. Mostly I was holding pretty solidly at 87%WHR with the highest reliable reading at 93%. This is a little low for a 5K, but it matches up with my PR race in February. I did speed up in the last, downhill, bit. My best guess at pace is 7:54 for mile 3 and 41 sec (6:50 pace) based on Garmin.
Anyway, this is making me feel very good indeed about my fitness retention after the long layoff. It also says something about how all those miles in the winter training cycle are still having a positive effect. And finally, nearly all my miles since beginning running again in June were run relatively slowly. I did exactly one interval workout, with a grand total of 8 minutes of running faster than my race pace here (which works out to 7:19). I ran exactly four tempo miles (lactic threshold - for me right now, around 7:35-7:50). I think this shows that "you have to train fast to race fast" is a myth.
The other races that are interesting me right now are the political ones. I admit I was following the Tennessee gubernatorial primary just to see how much of the vote Basil Marceaux Dot Com would get (if you haven't seen his videos on YouTube, get thee hence; I am still not sure if this guy is for real or just a brilliant parody) but now that this race is over (the "Not Entirely Nuts" candidate beat the two guys who were calling Islam a "cult" and vowing to stand against institution of Sharia law in the state of Tennessee) I hope that the governor's race in my humble state of Colorado will draw some attention.
I really think we can hold our own in the wacko sweepstakes. In the GOP primary, we have the plagiarist versus the guy who thinks that promotion of bicycling is a devious plot in support of one-world government, which has led to the racist wingnut seceding from the GOP to run against them on the American Constitution Party ticket.
Fortunately, the Democrats have an excellent candidate. I mean, how can I resist voting for the ex-geologist beer brewer? Plagiarism guy, black helicopter guy, KKK guy, or beer guy. The choice is clear!
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That's the most amazing logic I've ever tried to follow. If this guy gets elected, I'm going to seriously worry about Colorado.
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