Continued...

Jen's report of the VERY SAME RACE IN WHICH I AM REFERRED TO AS MCDREAMY. Thank you.

Sunday afternoon added 10 around 7:30 pace as a rare double.

June Fete 5k 6/1

Saturday I had plans to go to a track meet and try out a 5000 on the
track, but dicey weather led me to skip it.

Sunday though, my wife was already planning to run a low-key local 5k
that benfits our local hospital. So we got a babysitter and I came
along.

I ran into Chuck - a great local runner - warming up for the race. He
and I run together sometimes at the local running store, but with my
schedule I haven't made it there in a few months. He's a great runner
and I was sure he would keep the pace honest, although he had just
raced Saturday at the track meet that I bagged on. I didn't warmup
quite as much as I usually would, but did a some stretching and a
short jog and decided to let someone else go out first.

The race had a pretty goofy start - they lined us up in a narrow
driveway, and we would run down that driveway and make a quick hard
left out onto the road. I decided that I was going to be the first one
around that corner and it wasn't a bad idea, since I heard someone
behind get caught up on the curb and go down hard.

When we went around the corner I immediately backed off and let
someone else take the lead. It was funny, there was a pretty big pack
of us that stuck together, probably a dozen guys or so for the first
mile. It's pretty unusual to have that many people up front in a small
race. The first mile "marker" went by at maybe 5:35, but it didn't
really feel that fast. The course was really winding and hilly so it
was hard to judge. I think it was really probably closer to 5:50. It
was also not the best marked course - there were a few places they had
marked a turn and then sent someone back to say not to turn there.

For the first mile, Chuck and I stayed on either side of he pack, and
no one made a move get get away. After the first mile marker Chuck & I
started to pick it up and string the pack out a bit. One guy stuck
with us, between and just a little behind, but he was breathing pretty
hard.

I had seen a few guys at the start who looked slim and fast, and I
just kept expecting one of them to come busting by, but at mile 2 it
was Chuck and I and the other guy. The second mile was maybe high
5:30s? Hard to tell. Plus I had missed the start button on my watch,
so I was looking at 0s.

The course had a big loop, so when we rejoined I got to see my wife
going the other way. I wanted to high-5 her but there were too many
people in the way.

Right about the 2 mile mark we started a long hill, maybe about a half
mile or so and I decided to make a move. I didn't look back and just
punched it up the hill. By the top I couldn't hear anyone, so I
figured the gap was decent.

From there it was just down a hill, around a corner and in.

It was fun - there were a lot of people a the finish line cheering.
Finished 1st overall - time was 17:30 something. I looked at the clock
as I went across but promptly forgot what it said.

Who even knows how long the course was. I'll guess a little long. It
was so winding I couldn't even remember it if I wanted to go and try
to measure!

Chuck was maybe 25 seconds back so I grabbed a water for him and
headed back out to run in with DW. We metup maybe 3/4 a mile out and I
got to finish with her - her first real (i.e. no jog stroller) 5k - in
25:20!

She was ecstatic. Plus she won her AG and got a sweet little shoe bag.

I won a gift card to a local restaurant I've never been to. Plus they
had water ice at the finish. Sweet! Not a PR day or a PR course, but
fun nonetheless.

Up and down weeks

I've realized that unintentionally, the past month or so has become a
cycle of slightly overly hard weeks that then necessitated an easy
week the next week. Last week was one of those easy weeks, and I'm
going to try to break that cycle this week.

52+ miles:

Mon: easy 5
Tue: 8x400 at 5k with 200 at MP
Wed: 6+ easy
Thu: 7 easy
Fri: 6 easy
Sat: 7 @ 7:25ish
Sun - 15+ long run, 7:20-7:30 pace until a storm blew in, then 6:30s
to stay warm for the last 3-4 on the way home

Was that fun or what?

Jen & I at the Broad St finish..

Week of 5/5

Not a bad week running-wise. The weather has gotten nice except for
the odd pollen attack here and there. My hamstring has cleared up
nicely. I'm starting to head into my racing season and I'm excited.
I'm thinking I'll probably run a 5k this weekend, then one the last
weekend of May, then come June there is a fast local Wednesday night
5k series. After a few of those I'll aim to be ready for a big 4th of
July race and that's about it. Whew. I'm tired already. :)

Last week was just about 50 miles. Workouts were:

Tu: 9.6 with 6.5 at tempo - 5:52 avg pace, felt good. The long tempos
have been a really nice addition this year. I never used to take
these runs over 5 miles.
Wed: 7.5 at 7:15 pace
Fri: Lousy weather, so I turned my interval workout into a crazy Dean
Karzanes style TM time trial, 4 miles in 21:24, 5:21 pace. Goofy, but
fun.
Sun: A moderate, but hilly 10 around 7:20 pace.

And that's about it.

Broad Street Fun

This past Sunday was a Philadelphia running institution - The Broad St
Run. This 10 miler is point-to-point and has a nice downhill tilt to
it. I had been hoping for a PR showing this year, but an over-the-top
workout last Tuesday put me temporarily out of the running.

So I asked my wife Jen, who was running her first major race, if she
would mind if I ran it with her.

Her awesome results speak for themselves.

We got dropped off at the
start line by a neighbor and running buddy whose daughter we were also
running with. Jen and Molly set the pace and I was along for the
ride.

Broad St has swelled to 22,000 registered and has become quite the
traffic jam. It would have been difficult for us to have run
significantly faster than we did from where we were lined up if from
nothing else but the thick traffic. The race director suggested at
the start that they may move to a corral start next year and I think
that is an excellent ides.

I was amazed at the strength that Jen ran with, having only been
running since October (8:45 pace) and really enjoyed taking in the
race and the scenery on Broad St. For once I even noticed as we came
in to the Navy Yard the giant decommissioned warships that we race by.
In previous years I've been too busy looking for the finish line.

Jen ran a fantastic race and I was ecstatic to be there with her and
to be able to see her face as we crossed the finish line together.

It was a blast!

So last week was a down week for me. Yesterday I was back on the
horse with no major hamstring issues - 9.5 miles with 6.5 tempo at
just over 5:50 pace. Feeling good and anxious to get back to racing.

I want to be reincarnated as a bird...

I was out for a nice run on Sunday afternoon - a comfortable 15.
There is a nice stretch of this run that I do on a new trail along a
creek that I found in the Pennypack wilderness. I'm heading out of
the creek on Sunday down a small tree lined road, just noodling along,
minding my own business. All of a sudden a robin breaks through out
of the tree cover maybe 40 feet in front of me and all of a sudden
it's 1945 and I'm the USS Sitting Duck.

rat-tat-tat!!

rat-tat-tat!!

He weaves left, he weaves right. I cover my head.

Splat. Missed by inches.

I live to run another day.

Week of 4/21 Workouts:
Tu: 13 with 10 at tempo -
6:31,6:36,6:12,6:17,6:13,6:13,6:00,6:01,5:41,5:35 for 61:19
Fri: 16x400 100 jog every rep, 400 every set -
77,76,77,77,78,77,76,77,77,77,78,76,78,77,76,77. I hate morning track
workouts.
Sun: 15 comfortable

Week of 4/28
Tu: hard workout and I hurt myself. m1: 5:50 200-1: 34 m2: 5:52 200-2:
35 m3: 5:57 200-3: 36 m4: 5:54 1000 jog: 5:49 800-1: 2:50 30 sec rest
800-2: DNF

Tuesday I was trying to do rolling mile reps with 200 hard between and
tweaked my hamstring. All EZ miles since then. It's not too bad, but
it might put a crimp in Broad St. I'll figure that out on Saturday.