2009 Pumpkin Run - 15:34 PR 3rd Overall - ~9 Miles Total

The morning started out rather uneventful. I woke up with the goal of beating the 15:55 I ran last week at the Energy Capital Run. I figured that this was a pretty lofty goal considering that this course would be much tougher. Based off of my last 2 races I wasn't really sure of what I could do anymore. Add in the fact that before the last 2 races, I hadn't raced in 3 months and during that time I had gotten injured and so I really didn't know what to expect. Well, lets just say the theme of this post is "You just never know".

As Sean and I were warming up he asked me what I would be shooting for. I said anything below 15:55 and I'll consider myself moving in the right direction. Sean then gave me the technical layout of the course. Where the hills were, when to accelerate, etc. This was invaluable information and I suspect this info may have saved me 15-20 seconds. During our warm up Sean spotted Adam Davis. Adam was the guy that beat me by 20 seconds at the Susan G. Komen race for the cure. Adam has been stock piling airline tickets and trips for months now and today airline tickets were on the line. And so here he was. I figured he would only be good for 15:20 tops based off of his successive 15:4x times this month. So I considered Sean to be the clear overall favorite in the race. We finished our warm up and headed toward the starting line do some strides and stretching. I did about 5 strides and then one continuous 45 second stride that Sean recommended. This was supposed to jumpstart my engine. After this I started my stretching.

As I finished up my stretching I heard the announcer say "On Your Mark..." Holy !?&#. I ran to the starting line as fast as I could but it was too late, the race started. So I had to run around the timing mat and in front of over 1300 people that already had started and sprint out like a bat out of hell! I didn't even know if I hit the timing mat correctly. I did a full sprint to eventually position myself just right behind Adam and Sean. Already I'm hyperventilating a little. About a quarter mile in I'm doing 4:30 pace as we run down a decline. I not only hit the decline hard, I accelerate to a full sprint down the hill. By the halfway point of mile 1 I was still at sub 4:50 pace and feeling okay despite some heavy breathing. Sean and Adam were increasing their lead over me. I finally hit mile 1 at 4:55. WooHoo, my first sub 5 minute mile in a 5k! Awesome! Even though I ran a relatively quick first mile Adam and Sean were still about 12-13 seconds ahead of me.

During mile 2 I still felt strong. I held sub 5 minute pace for a good portion of the mile. The thing that did it in for me was a hill and then the turn around that took 2-3 seconds from me. Basically you had to turn on a dime when you came back. This part of the race was pretty uneventful for me other than the fact that I had front row seats to the battle that was going on in front of me. As we were nearing the completion of mile 2 I expected Adam to start drifting back to me. I mean, after running a 4:43 first mile and a 4:50 second mile he had to be toast right? Well not only was he still up there with Sean, but it was very, very tight. It looked like it could be a coin flip. I slowly started to realize what was going on. Adam was in a whole lot better shape than we thought. I finished with a 5:03 mile for a 2 mile PR of 9:58.

During mile 3 I knew that this would be the gut check. I knew that during my recent previous races I had collapsed during this part of the race. I had been working so hard during the race that the end didn't seem so near to me. But I continued to push, because I knew I had a shot of breaking 16 minutes and probably breaking 15:55. I looked up ahead and watched the race in front of me. As I said before, it looked like coin flip. But I knew if Adam is close with 800 to go then he wins. He's an All American 800 guy. Finally they vanished out of view. As I ran to complete mile 3, many other participants gave me some positive words of encouragement. I ran up the winding incline and relaxed, not trying to force anything. I finished mile 3 at 5:09 pace. I was pleased since there was a substantial incline at the end.

The last .10 I started out pretty fast and then I noticed Sean yelling at me and I happened to notice the clock. It was 15:2x and counting. I picked it up to a gear that I didn't know I still had available to me. I finished the last .1 in 25 seconds. The official finish was 15:34. When I asked Sean what he ran, he said 14:54. When I asked what Adam ran, he said 14:47. What!? That's awesome. I totally didn't see that coming. Just like I didn't see my 15:34 coming. Hence the theme, "You just never know!"

Here are the stats for the race followed by some great shots by Brommice Green's (fellow Kenyan Wayer) husband.

3 Mile Warm Up

5k Race 15:34

Mile 1	4:55*
Mile 2	5:03**
Mile 3	5:09
Last .1	4:10
Total Average Pace:	5:01

• * First time under 5 minute pace/mile in a race longer than 1 mile
• ** 2 Mile PR 9:58

3 Mile Cool Down

Sean on his way to a 14:54

Looking to finish strong.

5.8 Mile Easy Run

It rained once again so I didn’t wear my Garmin. Legs felt a little sluggish again.

8.71 Miles Easy

Mile 1	8:35
Mile 2	7:33
Mile 3	7:44
Mile 4	7:37
Mile 5	7:36
Mile 6	7:35
Mile 7	7:46
Mile 8	7:40
Mile 9	7:36
Total Average Pace:	7:45

Legs felt trashed from yesterday’s workout. This is sort of abnormal because my legs usual feel pretty good the day after a fartlek session. Sean theorizes that basically the long runs are kicking my butt.

3 Mile 30/30 Fartlek – 8.79 Miles Total

2.94 Warm up

4 Strides

3 Mile 30/30 Fartlek (2.99 Garmin)

5:06, 6:08, 4:53, 5:34, 5:12, 5:38, 5:06, 5:50, 5:09, 5:33, 5:06, 5:53, 4:53, 5:23, 4:52, 5:33, 4:59, 5:27, 5:01, 5:40, 4:47, 5:36, 4:57, 5:42, 4:56, 5:32, 4:59, 5:35, 4:56, 5:30, 4:57,4:45

Time 15:45

Pace 5:16

Sean paced me during this run. At first I wasn’t as impressed with this fartlek as I was when I did a 15:39. But then I went back and looked at my 15:39 and then I looked at this run a little more closely. I did 5 sub 5 minute pace 30 sec splits when I did the 15:39. I actually did 11 on this run. The pace according to the Garmin was exactly the same at 5:16. After looking at the data a little more closely I believe that this was my best fartlek ever.

Sean convinced me to run the Pumpkin Run this Saturday. Hopefully this run portends of good things to come.

This Has Nothing To Do With Running

But I guarantee it will evoke a reaction...

8.72 Miles Easy

Mile 1	8:39
Mile 2	7:39
Mile 3	7:27
Mile 4	6:38
Mile 5	7:19
Mile 6	7:25
Mile 7	7:14
Mile 8	7:20
Mile 9	7:08
Total Average Pace:	7:26

I’m supposed to do a 30/30 fartlek tomorrow with Sean so I took it easy except for mile 4. I also ran last night, had 4.5 hours sleep, then woke up for this run. So I had short rest. Physically I was struggling a little until an older guy came along moving at around 6:5x pace. I thought to myself maybe I could tag behind this guy and get this run over quicker. The funny thing is he decided to increase his pace all the way down to 6:15 pace. I said what the heck, better than grinding along at 7:30 pace. So that’s what I did until he wore himself out and then it was back to 7:30 pace. I’m thinking he probably didn’t appreciate me tagging along behind him. Oh well, he got my legs warmed up and the run became less of a struggle after the boost.

5.8 Miles Easy

Rain rain go away come again another day...

I had today off from work so I made an attempt to knock out my short easy run. It looked promising but then a torrential down pour started immediately after I arrived at the park. Had to abort. Waited till the afternoon and then knocked it out. I had several thoughts of dropping the run altogether because of the unrelenting rain.

16 Miles Long Run

Mile 1	6:57
Mile 2	6:41
Mile 3	6:48
Mile 4	6:41
Mile 5	6:44
Mile 6	6:33
Mile 7	6:32
Mile 8	6:32
Mile 9	6:33
Mile 10	6:41
Mile 11	6:44
Mile 12	6:37
Mile 13	6:37
Mile 14	6:52
Mile 15	6:54
Mile 16	6:46
Total Average Pace:	6:43

I ran all 16 miles at sub 7 pace. This is shocking considering that I did a 5k race the day before then ran around with my kid. Then today I ran around with my kid again and then started my 16 miles. This must bode pretty well.

On another note, 2 of my Kenyan Way racing buddies received the official Kenyan Way Racing singlet and then ended up representing the team very well in the Houston Half. Sam Rodriguez placed a very respectable 4th place overall at 1:15 and Geoff Streit placed 5th overall with a 1:16. Considering we all started with Kenyan Way and have improved considerably since joining, this is a crowning achievement.

Energy Capital Run - 15:55 1st Overall- Over 9 Miles Total

Memo to self - Alter pre-race ritual of 2 bananas before race. Need to go with something a little more conservative if you know what I mean :)

I wanted to do this race because it's a relatively flat out and back course that usually has nice cool temperatures around this time of year. This would give me the opportunity to get a fast time in. It's a pretty small race and I didn't expect any more than 1 to 2 other challengers. I was the "official winner" last year even though technically Jose Lara ran about 17 seconds faster. It was also a break through race since I had PR'ed by about 30 seconds. So I was feeling pretty good about the possibilities.

I arrived at the race and did my pre-race warm up and then scoped out the competition. There didn't seem to be anybody to challenge me except for a tall slim guy (found out his name was Dave) who I recognized from Memorial park. I really didn't know anything about his running abilities but he looked legit so I was fully prepared for him to provide a challenge.

The announcer announces the "Go" signal to start the race. And we are off. A high school kid shoots out to the front unwittingly acting as a pacer for 3 quarters of a mile. Another 30 something year old guy is also at a full sprint right beside, and then right behind me. The tall fit looking guy is nowhere in my sights. It's him who I'm watching for. After 3 quarters of a mile, it's pretty much all everyone's got and I start to build a lead with a 5:05 first mile. The first mile was more difficult than expected so I knew I wasn't on my A game.

The second mile was the hardest part of the race because I had a slight mental lapse. As we were heading down the course there was a part of the course that I hadn't remembered from the previous year. At first I suspected that the course would end up being short. But then as we passed a certain intersection I was uncertain if there would be anything that would indicate when to turn back. So I was nervous I was going to over shoot the turn around. These negative thoughts caused me to slow slightly and have to work harder than necessary. I finally hit the turn around and now everything was back on track but I had mentally and physically expended too much energy. On the turn around I noticed that I had a huge lead and this was my race to win. So this would end up being a time trial and a race against the clock. A race to break 16. I ended up hitting mile 2 at 5:09.

The third mile was all about hanging on. I was running at about 5:12-5:13 pace which could have easily become slower. But on the second half of the mile I bogged down and picked up the pace to finish at 5:10 pace.

With .1 to go the legs were obviously very fatigued and I was also working pretty hard cardio-wise as well. I put it on auto pilot for the last .1 to close in 30 seconds at 4:59 pace.

I was surprised to see a 15:55 on my Garmin. I wouldn't have been surprised to have something over 16 minutes considering how slow I ran for much of the race. I'll take the time for now considering how I shut it down for a while as far as speed is concerned. This also builds upon the 16:03 that I ran at the Komen race a few weeks ago. So it seems like I'm coming around a little bit. Throw in some speed work and I should be fine. I also didn't have a huge 10 second crater in this race. Once my splits become more even or negative then I'll know I'm back where I need to be.

3 Mile Warm Up

Jump Rope (160 each leg, 8 reps of 20)

5k Race 15:55

Mile 1	5:05
Mile 2	5:09
Mile 3	5:10
Last .1	4:59
Total Average Pace:	5:08

3 Mile Cool Down

5.82 Miles Easy - Dad Used To Be Able To Run A Bit

Jump Rope (160 each leg, 8 reps of 20)

 

Mile 1	8:00
Mile 2	7:17
Mile 3	7:12
Mile 4	7:04
Mile 5	7:02
Mile 6	7:02
Total Average Pace:	7:17

Found this the other day.

Dad still is top 5 in the Oklahoma marathon record books. He actually broke the state record when he ran it. It was then broken 3 years later. His personal best ended up being 2:23 in the marathon. If I could only best 1 of his PRs I would be a very happy man. Dad never talks about any of his running accomplishments. The Olympic trials, college competitions, races, etc. You'll only hear stories from other family members. Currently I'm trying to piece his running history together. It's sort of like pulling teeth but maybe one of these days I'll have a clearer picture of what type of runner he was. But for now all I know is that he could run a bit.

8.70 Miles Easy

I rolled up to Memorial Park and debated whether or not to do my run. I decided not to. It was raining pretty hard and the park had torrential rain, so it was soaked. So here I was all nice and cozy in my truck. I really didn't feel like getting wet. You know the feeling. When you are nice and comfy it is really hard to convince the body to get soaked and muddy. At least for me it is. It's not like I don't have to go to work afterwards. So there I was. I decided to eat my post run snack for breakfast before I changed clothes and left. As I was eating here comes 70 something year old Ruben knocking on my window. He was soaked. Not just a little soaked but drenched. He asked me if I was going to run. I said no. He said he was in the middle of doing a 14 mile run. Wow. We exchanged pleasantries and then he left. Then I thought to myself. If a 70 something year old man had the guts enough to get drenched, then I should be more than up to the challenge. Ok, not really. The rain had let up and I figured I could get in 9 miles without getting too wet. But alas it was just a tease. For not too long after I started running it started raining a little more. Then a little more. Then a lot. But by then I was already physically and mentally committed. I was wet. Totally drenched. I was running straight through the puddles and the hard rain started feeling like nothing. Because when you are in the middle of it, you feel nothing, and nothing bothers you. The weather tricked me into becoming committed to the run.

Maybe there are parallels in life. You are against taking that first step because you are all nice, cozy, and comfy. Taking that first step is uncomfortable so you don't do it. But then it starts looking more appealing or less difficult. So you take that first step, but then the rug is pulled out from underneath. But you don't mind so much because you are fully committed now and there is no turning back. It isn't as difficult as you thought. The most difficult part is taking that first step.

8.71 Miles Easy

Jump Rope (80 each leg, 4 reps of 20)

Mile 1	7:16
Mile 2	7:06
Mile 3	7:14
Mile 4	7:05
Mile 5	7:07
Mile 6	7:10
Mile 7	7:11
Mile 8	7:14
Mile 9	7:24
Total Average Pace:	7:12

Puma and Adidas' century old rivalry

Apparently these 2 companies may have split after one brother slept with the other's wife.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/oct/19/rivalry-between-adidas-and-puma

Progressive Run – 10.56 Miles Total

Jump Rope (140 each leg, 7 reps of 20)

Mile 1	6:55
Mile 2	6:40
Mile 3	6:29
Mile 4	6:13
Mile 5	6:07
Mile 6	5:44
Mile 7	5:28
Mile 8	5:14
Mile 9	5:08
Total Average Pace:	6:00

Cool Down 1.56 Miles

This was a well run progressive run. The best one I’ve done so far. At the halfway point of mile 9 I was still hanging with Sean and Luis at 4:50 pace until I started rigging up and faded away. Sean eventually pulled away from Luis and Luis pulled away from me. Sam Rodriguez was in the mix as well. He ran well and hung on till the midway point of mile 8.

HARRA has a nice blog with news and stories about Houston Running. Let’s hope this stays up. There have been a lot blogs that start up about Houston Running but then go MIA for a year or two or completely disappear. If you look back the Harra News Blog has an interesting story on Rudy Rocha. I always thought it would be interesting if someone did pieces on the prominent runners in the Houston area.

Sports Bra

I double dare one of you ladies to wear this at a race!!!

5.80 Miles Easy

Mile 1	8:02
Mile 2	7:41
Mile 3	8:00
Mile 4	7:50
Mile 5	7:40
Mile 6	7:28
Total Average Pace:	7:48

Really a tough day to run for me. I spent yesterday afternoon chasing and running around with my son who I believe is talented by the way. The problem is that he is so talented that there is no way I can catch him without straining. He is four years old :( He wore me out to the point where I was still feeling it today.

Hopefully I'll be rested by tomorrow since we are doing a progressive run.

8.68 Miles Easy

Jump Rope (120 each leg, 6 reps of 20)

Mile 1	7:41
Mile 2	7:04
Mile 3	6:55
Mile 4	6:55
Mile 5	6:57
Mile 6	6:59
Mile 7	6:59
Mile 8	7:04
Mile 9	7:09
Total Average Pace:	7:05

I ran with my clock. My clock's name is Sean Wade. Sean has the uncanny ability to hit pace like it's a reflex. Over the last several days I have run really well so today was a relaxed day. I was supposed to 6 but Sean convinced me to do 9. I'll do 6 tomorrow.

Epic Kenyan Way Long Run 16.39 Miles

Mile 1	9:24
Mile 2	7:44
Mile 3	7:21
Mile 4	7:01
Mile 5	7:13
Mile 6	7:19
Mile 7	7:12
Mile 8	7:16
Mile 9	6:57
Mile 10	6:49
Mile 11	6:52
Mile 12	6:42
Mile 13	6:29
Mile 14	6:18
Mile 15	6:06
Mile 16	6:02
Mile 17	6:11
Total Average Pace:	7:02

The first mile I ran by myself before the start of the Kenyan Way Long Run. Pretty slow I know. Initially we started at a modest 7:44 pace. Sam Rodriguez was in the group and we chatted up a bit, joked around before the epic finish at the end. After a few water stops we gradually started increasing the pace. When we reached sub 7 pace that is when all hell broke loose and the pace started rising rapidly. Sam increased the intensity as usual but these days I felt more than up to the challenge as I ran right along side of him. This sort of fueled the fire because we both felt really good and neither felt like backing down. It helped that it was nice and cool, pretty much perfect outside. We finally reached a crescendo where we were doing 5:50 pace on the 17th mile which must have been his 19th mile? Anyway I was very pleased and Sam looked really relaxed during the run as we were both conversing up until the last .39 miles. Sam is in great shape.

8.72 Miles Easy

Jump Rope (100 each leg, 5 reps of 20)

Mile 1	7:17
Mile 2	6:40
Mile 3	6:38
Mile 4	6:31
Mile 5	6:37
Mile 6	6:31
Mile 7	6:22
Mile 8	6:31
Mile 9	6:31
Total Average Pace:	6:38

Welcome, cool weather!

8.69 Miles Easy

Mile 1	7:46
Mile 2	7:20
Mile 3	7:25
Mile 4	7:28
Mile 5	7:10
Mile 6	7:13
Mile 7	7:11
Mile 8	7:24
Mile 9	7:27
Total Average Pace:	7:23

Sean told me to run slow the next 2 days. So that's what I did today.

2x3 Mile Tempo Run - 10 Miles Total

3 Mile Warm Up

Jump Rope (60 each leg, 3 reps of 20)

15 Second Strides (60 seconds rest)

1. 5:08
2. 5:03
3. 4:48
4. 4:46

2x3 Mile Tempo (Goal 5:40 Pace)

• 1st 3 Miles 5:44
• 2nd 3 Miles 5:55

1 Mile Cool Down

Another sub par performance. I decided to do this workout at this last minute. Sean texted the workout the night before. I told myself that I may give this a go on Thursday. But lo and behold I woke up this morning and decided why don't I go ahead and get this out of the way today. When I got to the park it was so unbearably humid that Sean advised me not to do it today. I told him that my mind was set on it. So he suggested that I do it at 5:40 pace instead of 5:30 pace. I agreed. I really didn't think that this run would be too much of a problem even in the heat and humidity. I guess I was wrong.

I'm going through a period where I'm running significantly slower than I have earlier in the year. It's been a while since I've had a good workout or a good race. Mentally, I'm in maintenance mode, just making sure I keep my fitness. Like I said before, mentally I've got a lot of stuff going on, but it sure would be nice to pop a good one. At least this run was better than this one, which I was probably in better shape than I am now.

Day Off

8.69 Miles Easy - This Is My Playground

Mile 1	7:16
Mile 2	6:44
Mile 3	6:47
Mile 4	6:50
Mile 5	6:50
Mile 6	6:48
Mile 7	6:47
Mile 8	6:37
Mile 9	6:51
Total Average Pace:	6:51

Disturbing To Say The Least...

Ladies please, please, please, don't think this is beautiful or envious.

16 Mile Long Run and Racing News

Mile 1	7:21
Mile 2	7:03
Mile 3	6:52
Mile 4	6:46
Mile 5	6:48
Mile 6	6:54
Mile 7	6:51
Mile 8	6:54
Mile 9	6:50
Mile 10	9:19*
Mile 11	7:10
Mile 12	7:08
Mile 13	7:05
Mile 14	7:18
Mile 15	7:27
Mile 16	7:29
Total Average Pace:	7:13

*Ran with a friend

After running with a fellow Kenyan Wayer I unintentionally was a little cooled off. I Started to tighten up at mile 14. Need to do a few more of these long runs.

There was a big race today, the USA 10 miler down at UofH Clear Lake. I was scheduled to be at this race but backed out. But that didn't mean that there weren't some good performances. Last year's winner from Kenya decided not to come this year, but another Kenyan the former Texas A&M Corpus Christi national champion Shadrack Songok decided to come up for the race. He won with a stellar time of 50:13. I got a chance to get some tips from Shadrack at the Beach To Bay marathon relay this year, and even got a few pictures with him. On the women's side, a friend of mine, and 2009 participant of the World Championships, Mary Davies won the 10 miler with a time of 58:07 which was a 6 minute improvement from the year before.

The big story of the race was the showdown between the 2 local heavy weights Sean Wade and Sesar Figueroa. Sesar has been dominating every race below the 10 mile distance in the local area for a few years now. Sean has come back from injury this year to run better than he has run in many years. Although Sesar is always a favorite at the shorter distances, Sean is still very strong as the distances start to get longer. So it was interesting to see how these 2 would match up at the 10 mile distance. Well Sean squeezed out a victory over Sesar. Both ran good times at 50:39(2 minute improvement from the year before) and 50:56 respectively. Results can be found here. Congratulations to all of the runners this weekend as I know there were quite a few races this weekend!

8.69 Miles Easy

Mile 1	6:41
Mile 2	6:24
Mile 3	6:17
Mile 4	6:24
Mile 5	6:28
Mile 6	6:23
Mile 7	6:19
Mile 8	6:28
Mile 9	6:30
Total Average Pace:	6:26

8.67 Miles Easy

Mile 1	8:04
Mile 2	7:07
Mile 3	7:02
Mile 4	7:02
Mile 5	7:05
Mile 6	6:58
Mile 7	7:08
Mile 8	7:01
Mile 9	6:55
Total Average Pace:	7:10

8.72 Miles Easy

Mile 1	7:22
Mile 2	6:37
Mile 3	6:44
Mile 4	6:45
Mile 5	6:46
Mile 6	6:42
Mile 7	6:52
Mile 8	6:51
Mile 9	6:47
Total Average Pace:	6:50

8.69 Miles Easy

Mile 1	6:59
Mile 2	6:28
Mile 3	6:33
Mile 4	6:34
Mile 5	6:39
Mile 6	6:39
Mile 7	6:44
Mile 8	6:52
Mile 9	6:51
Total Average Pace:	6:42

Another humid mess out there. Even worse than yesterday. I look at the Garmin during the run and I wonder to myself "Is this thing off?". I mean it doesn't feel like I'm running 6:28 pace. It feels like maybe 6:50 something maybe 7 minute pace. Just wondering...

8.70 Miles Easy With A Soapy Ending

Mile 1	7:28
Mile 2	6:46
Mile 3	6:39
Mile 4	6:40
Mile 5	6:43
Mile 6	6:29
Mile 7	6:35
Mile 8	6:40
Mile 9	6:43
Total Average Pace	6:45

Hot humid, yuck. This was probably the worst day of the year as far as humidity is concerned. Anyway I digress, something funny happened to me today. My primary running clothes didn't dry in the dryer so I had to resort to my backup shorts that were in my running bag. The things is...in my running bag I carry all of my toiletries such as soap, etc. When I take a shower at the tennis center in the morning I try to dry my sponge but it doesn't completely dry. I put it in a plastic bag but sometimes a little bit of soapy water gets into the bottom of my bag. It usually dries up, no big deal right? Wrong. I take my backup shorts which seem to be dry at the time and start running in this hellish-like humid weather. After 3 miles something curious starts to happen. My shorts start to foam up and leak soap. So I ended up having quite a bit of soapy foam running down the side of my leg. The longer and sweatier I got, the foamier the shorts got. How embarrassing! While I was running I tried to wipe it away with my hand but it only made it worse. I saw quite a few people I knew around the trail, so they would see me and say hi, but then immediately look down the side of my legs and give me this look (Like what you got going on in there, never mind I don't want to know). Well because of this accident I believe I have invented the world's first self cleaning running shorts. You don't even need to shower afterwards. Soap is included. The sweatier you get, the fresher you smell!

8.72 Miles Easy

Jump Rope

(160 each leg, 8 reps of 20)

Mile 1	7:06
Mile 2	6:36
Mile 3	6:41
Mile 4	6:42
Mile 5	6:45
Mile 6	6:43
Mile 7	6:35
Mile 8	6:39
Mile 9	6:37
Total Average Pace:	6:43

Some of the top local area masters competed in a big 5k competition in New York Sunday morning. Among the notables on the team were Sean Wade, Gerardo Mora, and Tom King. Sean was the top National Masters champion at 14:52. Gerardo got a master's PR at 16:17. Tom King did well with a 16:34 which I believe should be a top time for him. Congratulations to these guys for representing the Houston area well.

Day Off

We had a baby shower last night and we got in late. It's raining and I don't feel like doing a long run. I'm sore and tired. Just skipping it and I don't even feel guilty :)

2009 Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure 16:03 - 10 Miles Total

Jump Rope

(140 each leg, 7 reps of 20)

3 Mile Warm Up

5k Race 16:03 (Official Time)

Mile 1	5:01
Mile 2	5:00
Mile 3	5:19
Last .14 Mile	5:03
Total Average Pace:	5:07 (16:05 Garmin)

4 Mile Cool Down

I woke up pretty late for the race and had to rush out the door. On my way there I checked the packet for safety pins and there weren't any. So I would have to race without the bib (There goes my pictures). At least I had the D-Tag so I would get an official time.

When I reached the race start I ran into Ryan Smith. Ryan Smith was the guy that ended up out kicking me at the end of last years race so it was good running into him and chatting up a bit.

We ended up warming up together but realized the race was going to start in 4 minutes so we had to run back to the starting line right before the horn went off. Certainly not the most optimal pre-race preparation. There were a ton of high school kids at the race. One of the kids at the starting line asked me what I expected to run. I said "15 something". He said "15 what?" I replied, "I don't know, 15 something." He whispered something to another kid's ear and and the other kid looked at me. I didn't know what to make of it, maybe I would be getting some competition from them? Well anyway, Adam Davis was there and I knew he would be my main competition, actually the favorite to win. He won last year and his credentials precedes himself.

The horn went off and I relaxed myself getting ready to ease myself into 5 minute pace. But I had no time for that because about 30 kids exploded like bats out of hell at sub 5 minute pace. I had to make a decision early on to sprint out to the front so they wouldn't be in my way. I had to zig zag and weave my way to the front more than I would have liked but I finally made it to a comfortable spot. There were about 3 or 4 guys in front of me and at the very front was Adam. At about a half a mile it was just Adam, a chunky high school kid and then me. The high school kid evidently thought running the course was optional because he was running on the median, on the other side of the road, etc. After mile 1 I passed the kid and was about 10 seconds behind Adam. I hit the first mile at 5:01.

The second mile was pretty nondescript as all that happened was me trailing Adam the whole time. I managed to whittle his lead to under 10 seconds. I was basically playing a waiting game because I knew the real race would start with less than a mile to go. I hit mile 2 at 5:00 minute pace and hit 10:01 for my first 2 miles, a PR. I was feeling pretty good by then and was planning my strategy for the last mile.

The last mile started pretty well. I was still feeling strong and I managed to whittle Adam's lead down to 5 seconds with .7 to go. Then a guy on the side tells me there's a big head wind coming and to take it easy. Not too long after this I feel the big head wind. Then I hit the gradual up hill. I'm still going about 5:06 pace but then all of a sudden the energy in the legs just give way. I had nothing. This happened almost instantaneously. Adam was steady. Once I realized I had nothing left, I mailed it in, trying to minimize the pain that I was sure to feel after the race. I ended up finishing mile 3 at 5:19!!!

The Garmin said the last .10 was actually .14, and it said I did that at 5:03 pace. Somehow some way I probably ran a little longer than I should have, but that probably didn't matter. Adam finished about 20 seconds ahead of me at 15:44. This was my slowest time of the year.

It's pretty amazing that I dropped 20 seconds on the last mile. It used to be that collapsing would mean dropping 5 seconds. Now I'm beginning to drop 10-20 seconds per mile. Not good. I'm definitely needing to get some more miles under my belt. The race really took a lot out of me. I've been comatose all day and I'm sore in a lot of areas. It's actually funny since it was only a 5k. I'm definitely not feeling the 10 miler next week :( I'm also thinking about shutting it down (racing) for the fall racing season. Not just because of this race but also because we our bringing our second child in to the world and that will bring along it's own responsibilities. Not too mention there is no way mentally I'll be focused enough to train hard for these long races.

Day Off

First one in about a month and a half (since I got injured) so I'm due for 1 or 2 of these.

8.73 Miles Easy

Jump Rope

(120 each leg, 6 reps of 20)

Mile 1	7:32
Mile 2	7:03
Mile 3	7:09
Mile 4	7:09
Mile 5	7:06
Mile 6	7:04
Mile 7	7:05
Mile 8	6:47
Mile 9	6:47
Total Average Pace:	7:06

The goal was to run no faster than 7 minute miles which was a pretty uncomfortable task. I've run at 6:30 pace for a while now, and now it is becoming hard coded into my natural easy pace. 7 minute pace seemed pretty unnatural. I was about to finish off my last 2 miles when Sean jumped in and so the pace quickened a bit.