No watch again. It was wet and cold this morning plus the park was pretty empty. So it looked like it was going to be a grind. Then Dan Kahn showed up and the time went by pretty fast. Tomorrow I’ll do hills.
Can be found here (Katy YMCA Turkey Trot can be found here as well)
7:31 Pace. Took it easy on the pace. I'm so happy to finally get my 20 miles in. 1 down 3 more to go.
"Which race are you running?" Sean asked as we were discussing racing options for Thanksgiving day. I replied "The Sheltering Arms 10k". "You should do the 5k, get a fast time in.", he replied. Right then and there I debated whether to do the 10k or the 5k. The 5k is my first love, but I knew this would be one of the few times I would be able to get a fast 10k time in. So I went up to the registration area with my decision still up in the air about which race I was going to do. When it was all said and done I chose the 5k.
Fast forward 2 days later. It's Thanksgiving morning and I arrive at Uptown around 6:45 am. Many people have already arrived. I recalled that last year there was a ton of people and I suspected that it would be at least as packed as last year. My suspicions were later confirmed. The weather seems perfect, so far so good. I go through my pre race routine of a 3 mile warm up and run of the course. One thing I did notice was the course was different from the one that was advertised so I was a little confused.
The race was about 15 minutes away. The crowd at this time was huge. I heard from a couple of people that there were as many as 8,000 participants. I weaved my way from the back of the masses to the front of the line and start my strides. I notice a few familiar faces: Sam Rodriguez, Mahta Mesfun, and my best friend Josue. I check out the cast of characters at the starting line and notice that it is filled mostly with high schoolers and maybe a few college guys. I think to myself, "This should be interesting". Right then and there I challenged myself to be the first one out of the gate. No sitting back and picking people off. No matter who sprinted or how fast they got out of the gate, I wanted to be the first one out. What for? Just because I had never taken that tactic and wanted to see what would happen. As we line up, Michael Garfield, The High Tech Texan, tells us at 4 different times to step back. One of these times he tells a runner "Hey...wanna be runner...messing with your watch...STEP BACK!" I think to myself, that's kind of a bold thing to say, as I mess with my watch. Later on, my friend tells me he was referring to me as the wanna be runner. :-) The 10k participants were lined up on the left side and the 5k participants were lined up on the right side, anxiously awaiting the starting gun.
And the gun goes off. The usual cast of characters fly out like bats out of hell. But instantaneously I shoot out very quickly. It isn't very long that I create a clear space between me and the second guy. I keep it going. A half a mile into the race I'm flying by at 4:30 pace and I hear a guy huffing and puffing to catch me. And he is getting closer. I'm not really worried because I'm making good time, so I decide to ease off the accelerator and relax. 3/4 of a mile in I'm at 4:41 pace and very pleased because I'm exerting minimal effort and feeling good. My pursuer finally pulls up next to me. We both hit mile one at about 4:46(a 1st mile PR) as my watch and the guy calling out the times both confirm it.
The guy quickly drops back. For the next half mile I'm still moving at 4:55 pace and silently amazed at how fast I'm moving. But after Mile 1.5 I start to tighten up a bit and now the actual grind begins. I basically grind away the second mile at 5:09 pace for a 2 mile PR of 9:55.
Mile 3 was a little bit tougher but also a little bit stranger as well. I had started to slow and was up to 5:18 pace. I managed to bring it down to 5:15 pace and was about to make the finishing turn up Post Oak. The only thing is that there was a cross traffic of participants and the police car just couldn't go through. So the cop stopped the car, got out and pointed me to go upstream into the crowd. I thought to myself this is insane. But I had to do what I had to do. So I ran into the crowd and had to come to a complete stop because there was nowhere to go. In a perfect world the crowd would have been on the left side of the road and we could have run on the right side. But this was not the case. So I stood bewildered for about 5 seconds until a few people told me to go across to the north bound lane which happened to be empty. So that's what I did. As I was running I looked around. I was sure that my pursuer had gone ahead of me. But I saw no one. I looked behind me and still saw no one. Could I have dropped the guy? As soon as I thought this a few spectators pointed him out to me. "THERE HE IS, THERE HE IS!" He was running in the south bound road. So there we were, side by side but on different roads. As we started nearing the finish people were screaming for me to go on the south bound side and catch him. I could see the finishes marked off as the 5k finished on the south bound side and 10k on the north bound side. So I bolted for the south bound side and finished ahead of my pursuer by 3 seconds. The final time was 14:59. I immediately knew the course was short but was curious by how much. The Garmin said 2.97 but the timing company later called it a 3 mile race.
I'm pretty happy about the final time given all of the confusion. I know I was in PR range and I did something that I never did in the past. I started out in 4:4x range for the first mile. I also finished 2 miles in under 10 minutes for the 2nd race in a row.
There were an abundance of good performances today and I'd like to congratulate everyone on their races. Here are my splits:
3 Mile Race: 14:59
| Mile 1 | 4:46* |
| Mile 2 | 5:09** |
| Mile 3 | 5:15 (Lost 5 seconds due to confusion) |
| Total Average Pace: | 5:03 |
Jump Rope (120 each leg, 6 reps of 20)
15 Second Strides (60 Seconds Rest)
Total Average Pace: 5:54
45 Second Stride 6:13
| Mile 1 | 7:53 |
| Mile 2 | 7:08 |
| Mile 3 | 6:46 |
| Total Average Pace | 7:16 |
I planned on doing 6 miles but for the 3rd time in 4 days I had a guy try to race me during miles 2 and 3. I was bored so I decided to have a little fun. I got down to 6:25 pace during most of mile 3 and then eased up. When I got to the 3 mile marker I debated whether or not to continue. Since I'm racing tomorrow and I had exercised too much effort, I cut it short.
I'm not planning to run very fast tomorrow since my training over the last week and a half hasn't been very good and I've had very little sleep. I just plan on having fun and enjoying the festivities. I love running on Thanksgiving :-)
| Mile 1 | 7:22 |
| Mile 2 | 7:32 |
| Mile 3 | 7:28 |
| Mile 4 | 7:23 |
| Mile 5 | 7:19 |
| Mile 6 | 7:37 |
| Total Average Pace: | 7:27 |
Ran with Sean and Dan Kahn. Sean and I are racing Thursday, so just taking it easy.
~3 Mile Warm Up
Jump Rope (120 each leg, 6 reps of 20)
15 Second Strides (60 Seconds Rest)
Total Average Pace: 5:27
45 Second Stride 5:41
2 Mile 30/30 Fartlek
5:00, 5:35, 5:16, 5:44, 5:07, 5:36, 5:00, 5:41, 5:06, 5:30, 4:55, 5:42, 4:50, 5:31, 5:12, 5:34, 5:15, 5:44, 5:14, 5:39, 4:58, 5:16,
Time 10:38
Pace 5:19
~4 Mile Cool Down
My legs felt totally trashed today. I'll take the results of this run considering the way my legs felt.
| Mile 1 | 6:49 |
| Mile 2 | 6:26 |
| Mile 3 | 6:04 |
| Mile 4 | 7:02 |
| Mile 5 | 6:57 |
| Mile 6 | 6:48 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:41 |
I made an intentional effort to go sub 7 today. I've spent the last few days running pretty slowly so I wanted to get the legs moving today, regardless of the way they felt. During the middle of mile 2 and all of mile 3 I had some fun with some guy that was running behind me. Then I came back to reality on miles 4 and 5. Not too much damage done. I'm going to do a 2 mile 30/30 tomorrow.
14.58 Miles @ 7:46 Pace
I really wanted to do 20 miles and I probably could have, but my legs were trashed. So I called it a night on mile 15.
Didn't wear a watch because it rained. But I know I ran really, really slow. The good news is that I'm no longer as sick as a dog and I might be catching up on some sleep.
8.61 Miles @ 7:11 Pace
Still sick as a dog but I did manage to get 4 and a half hours of sleep last night. Life is good.
8.75 Miles at 7:04 pace
Between my wife and myself we had a combined 0 hours sleep the last 24 hours. Combine that with the fact that I'm as sick as a dog, doesn't help things. I did manage to squeeze this run in there somehow.
I didn't run today because I got sidetracked a bit. We had a freakin baby!
Flash back Saturday evening I knew my wife was having a rough time of it. We both wanted her to hold out at least until the 18th of November. That's when mother in law arrives in town. It was 9 in the evening and we were debating whether or not to go in to the hospital. If you have ever been through a pregnancy you know that you never want to go to the hospital and get sent back home. So we waited and timed the contractions for the next few hours. I asked my wife if she thought it was going to happen tonight and she said no. I was a bit nervous because the contractions were saying otherwise. So while my wife rested I started gathering up all our preg gear and packing them in the car. Mentally I wasn't really ready yet but I was definitely anxious. Then it happened. The contractions were very intense and I told her to call the doctor and ask if we should come in. Eventually we were in contact with a nurse and she said go ahead and come on in. At this time we knew it was undeniably the correct call so we packed our son and off we went. We dropped our son off at a friend's house and I made the dreadful panic drive to the hospital.
It doesn't help that we live about 35 minutes from our hospital of choice. The way my wife was going I thought she was going to break her water in our car and have the baby right there. All sorts of things ran across my mind, like what if a cop tried to pull me over?Would I stop? Or would I call 911 and tell them to tell the cop my wife is having a baby so just hang tight and be a police escort for a sec. Or maybe it would go down like a weird OJ police chase. Or maybe the officer pulls me over and gives me hard time while my wife has a baby. All this crazy stuff was going on in my mind on this crazy drive. Let me tell ya, the adrenaline was pumping. I had to tell myself repeatedly to pull myself together and just drive. It's just so darn hard to do that when your wife is screaming and writhing pain.
Eventually we arrive at the hospital and get settled in. She ends up delivering the baby successfully and all things are good in the world! There was one funny moment though (maybe a bit gory). The doctor has me cut the umbilical cord. No problem, I've done this before. So I cut it and blood squirts EVERYWHERE! It squirts on the doctor, on the nurses, on me (my face, my arm, my shirt, my phone), on the floor, on the medical equipment, on the wall, and on the ceiling? There is no doubt that if I were the queasy type I would have been on the floor passed out. But I'm not. So therefore I was only shocked but amused. So here is a tip for you guys. If what I just said grossed you out then don't take the chance and cut the cord. By the way, we ended up having a healthy baby boy.
| Mile 1 | 7:50 |
| Mile 2 | 7:16 |
| Mile 3 | 7:05 |
| Mile 4 | 6:56 |
| Mile 5 | 6:49 |
| Mile 6 | 6:54 |
| Mile 7 | 6:40 |
| Mile 8 | 6:33 |
| Mile 9 | 6:26 |
| Mile 10 | 6:25 |
| Mile 11 | 6:26 |
| Mile 12 | 6:01 |
| Mile 13 | 5:55 |
| Mile 14 | 5:44 |
| Mile 15 | 7:57 |
| Mile 16 | 8:09 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:45 |
I ran this one with Kenyan Way. We were supposed to negative split the run but I think we took it to the extreme. Towards the end Sam, Geoff, and I were really moving. Our route ended at Mile 14 but I decided to tack on a 1.11 mile cool down at miles 15 and 16. I told Sean about our run and the speed we were running at the end and his first words were “Why?". To be honest with you I don’t really have a good explanation. I just did a workout yesterday and so this probably wasn’t the best thing to do, but it happened. I have a light day tomorrow, 6 miles easy, and I definitely will run it SLOWWW.
Sean and Luis are going to San Antonio to compete in tomorrow’s Rock ‘n Roll half. Good luck to them and all the other HTowners heading over there tomorrow!
3 Mile Warm Up
5 Strides
3x2 Mile (Goal 5:25-5:30 Pace)
1 Mile Cool Down
I had very little sleep last night, hardly any food, and my morning was a very busy one. When I finally was able to come out and run I really didn’t feel up to it. I debated whether to just skip the workout and just do a 9 mile easy run. But to me that seemed even more unappealing than the workout. So I decided to do the workout even though I wasn’t feeling up to it. Before I started my run I made sure I put my Garmin on a certain display setting, since I had issues with the one I used last week(Didn’t trust it). When I started this week, there was no uncertainty about what I was running. Immediately I jumped into 5 minute pace, slowed to 5:15 and eventually finished the repeats at 5:30 pace. I’m convinced that there was no way that I was running faster today than I did last week but yet there was a 6 second difference in pace. It just goes to show you that the Garmin isn’t the end all be all.
| Mile 1 | 7:27 |
| Mile 2 | 7:17 |
| Mile 3 | 7:20 |
| Mile 4 | 7:17 |
| Mile 5 | 7:13 |
| Mile 6 | 7:07 |
| Mile 7 | 7:00 |
| Mile 8 | 7:04 |
| Mile 9 | 6:58 |
| Total Average Pace | 7:12 |
Still tired from the hill workout Tuesday. Also took it a little easier because of the workout tomorrow, 3x2 mile 2 minutes rest.
Each runner listed is actually a hyperlink that takes you to another page that lists all of the races the runner has run during the current year.
The site also lists the results of most of the chip timed races in the area and also a few hand timed as well. If you are looking for upcoming races to race in, "ranktherunner" has that as well. Already the site has over 70,000 race results and growing.
Now who would actually take the time and effort to put this out there? It has to be another runner right? Yes, Indeed. If you guessed Sean Wade then you are correct. He's actually thought about this for quite a while and brought the idea to fruition recently. Take some time to check it out. Go ahead look yourself up :-)
I didn't know Puma had a white mens version. They look pretty cool. I googled around for a black mens version but strangely enough couldn't find any.
| Mile 1 | 8:21 |
| Mile 2 | 7:52 |
| Mile 3 | 7:48 |
| Mile 4 | 7:34 |
| Mile 5 | 7:35 |
| Mile 6 | 7:33 |
| Mile 7 | 7:21 |
| Mile 8 | 7:29 |
| Mile 9 | 7:08 |
| Total Average Pace: | 7:39 |
Totally tired from yesterday’s workout. I relinquished control to what my legs wanted to run today.
Jump Rope (100 each leg, 5 reps of 20)
Warm Up
Hill Workout (4 hills)
Cool Down
Did the workout with Sean and Luis. One highlight of the workout was when I popped a 3:57 pace run up the last hill. It was definitely the fastest recorded pace for such a sustained period(33 seconds) in my training. I’ve recorded faster(15 second strides), but this one was longer and it was going up hill.
Jump Rope (100 each leg, 5 reps of 20)
15 Second Strides (60 seconds rest)
Total Average Pace: 4:55
| Mile 1 | 7:09 |
| Mile 2 | 7:05 |
| Mile 3 | 7:16 |
| Mile 4 | 6:56 |
| Mile 5 | 6:42 |
| Mile 6 | 6:45 |
| Mile 7 | 6:39 |
| Mile 8 | 6:48 |
| Mile 9 | 6:46 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:55 |
I didn’t really feel like being out there this morning and was debating whether to stop at 6 miles since I have a workout tomorrow. Luckily JP Machemehl and his former team mate, Andy from Texas A&M, were there at mile 4 to pick me up.
| Mile 1 | 7:16 |
| Mile 2 | 6:53 |
| Mile 3 | 6:53 |
| Mile 4 | 6:48 |
| Mile 5 | 6:43 |
| Mile 6 | 6:39 |
| Mile 7 | 6:31 |
| Mile 8 | 6:24 |
| Mile 9 | 6:29 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:45 |
Ran with Sean.
| Mile 1 | 7:16 |
| Mile 2 | 6:51 |
| Mile 3 | 6:53 |
| Mile 4 | 6:53 |
| Mile 5 | 6:47 |
| Mile 6 | 6:49 |
| Mile 7 | 6:44 |
| Mile 8 | 6:41 |
| Mile 9 | 6:54 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:52 |
Sean gave me the go ahead to skip my long run. Sounds good to me.
2.89 Mile Warm Up
Jump Rope (100 each leg, 5 reps of 20)
10 Second Strides (30 seconds rest)
45 Second Stride
2x5k Tempo (Goal 5:25-5:30 Pace)
I sit here totally perplexed. On the one hand I can run 5:01 pace for a 5k. On the other hand on these 2x(3 mile/5k) Tempos I can’t even manage to run faster than 5:37 pace on the first rep. Something is a bit odd here and I’m missing it. The only thing I can come up with is that my legs are fatigued. But still, with fatigued legs, I should be able to hit the times. There were times during this run where I felt I was easily going 5:20 pace but the Garmin said 5:40. Oh well, I guess this will be one of those strange enigmas.
If you read my race report then may remember that I had a later start than expected. Well a picture is worth a thousand words so here a couple. Here is the start of the race:
Notice Sean and Adam at the front of the race. Now where the heck am I?
I'm over in the left corner. I make up ground pretty quickly though to pull out in front right behind Adam and Sean.
Forrest is still running...Didn't win though.
Sean, Adam, Me. From Left to Right.
| Mile 1 | 7:38 |
| Mile 2 | 7:20 |
| Mile 3 | 7:12 |
| Mile 4 | 6:53 |
| Mile 5 | 6:55 |
| Mile 6 | 6:52 |
| Mile 7 | 6:31 |
| Mile 8 | 6:14 |
| Mile 9 | 6:12 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:54 |
| Mile 1 | 7:29 |
| Mile 2 | 7:14 |
| Mile 3 | 7:19 |
| Mile 4 | 7:05 |
| Mile 5 | 7:03 |
| Mile 6 | 7:04 |
| Mile 7 | 6:59 |
| Mile 8 | 7:17 |
| Mile 9 | 7:07 |
| Total Average Pace: | 7:11 |
Legs tired.
| Pace |
| 4:57 |
| 4:57 |
| 4:43 |
| 4:50 |
| x |
| 4:44 |
| 4:51 |
| 4:39 |
| 4:32 |
| 4:39 |
| 4:31 |
| 4:28 |
| 4:43 |
| 4:45 |
| 4:44 |
| 4:13 |
| Total Average Pace: 4:42 |
| Mile 1 | 7:27 |
| Mile 2 | 6:54 |
| Mile 3 | 7:04 |
| Mile 4 | 7:01 |
| Mile 5 | 7:03 |
| Mile 6 | 6:48 |
| Total Average Pace: | 7:04 |
| Mile 1 | 7:35 |
| Mile 2 | 6:57 |
| Mile 3 | 6:48 |
| Mile 4 | 6:44 |
| Mile 5 | 6:39 |
| Mile 6 | 6:30 |
| Mile 7 | 6:25 |
| Mile 8 | 6:30 |
| Mile 9 | 6:37 |
| Mile 10 | 6:49 |
| Mile 11 | 6:56 |
| Mile 12 | 6:55 |
| Mile 13 | 6:52 |
| Mile 14 | 6:51 |
| Mile 15 | 6:55 |
| Mile 16 | 6:53 |
| Mile 17 | 6:52 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:49 |
I ran the first 9 miles with Sean. Then I finished it off by doing the last 8 miles with Keith. Keith is 50 years old by the way.
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