Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Day 2,403: The streak in review

I was a little curious today of where I am in the streak. So I pulled out all of my old running logs. Here's what I've tallied:

2007: 1,037.775 miles
2008: 657.26 miles
2009: 1,452.975 miles
2010: 1,776.55 miles
2011: 1,469.13 miles
2012: 1,303.88 miles

That's 7,698.33 miles over a 2,192 day period, for an average of 3.51 miles a day.

So far this year through today there have been 211 days and I've run 620.88 miles. In total, that's 8,319.21 miles over 2,403 days, for an average of 3.46 miles a day.

That means by sometime near the end of next year I will cross 10,000 miles!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Day 2,385: The Southwest Beltline 5K

When I first signed up for this race, I did so knowing that the shirts I've seen from past Beltline races were pretty cool.

When I ran the 5K today, I was hoping that I would have a shot at breaking 23:01 to qualify for Group A of the Peachtree 10K.

But what was in between was a bunch of question marks, as I really haven't run any race in recent memory in the speed needed to qualify for Group A.

The race course starts along an unimproved dirt and grassy section of the Beltline trail. Just as in the Eastside 10K last December, I was expecting the start to be congested -- and it was. I eased into the start of the race along uneven and sometimes rocky terrain. When the first mile ended and I saw I ran it in 8:20, I knew that I would have to shelve hopes of a Group A finish.

So I shifted into Plan B, which was to have miles at a pace under 7:43/mile, which is what is needed to qualify for Group A in a 10K (you have to run an average of 7:24/mile to qualify for Group A in a 5K race).

First I settled in behind a runner who seemed to have a good pace. But I soon passed him along the rolling hills of the race.

Although I had never run the race before, I knew from looking at the course map that the race would continue along neighborhood streets and then return to a paved portion of the Beltline for the finish.

I settled in behind another runner who seemed to be doing pretty well. Two other runners joined us near the Mile 3 mark, but this dude started to kick and although I was able to keep up behind him (my Garmin says at a 6:06 pace!) he easily finished two seconds ahead of me. But we dropped the other two runners at the finish.

Although I missed Group B by 16 seconds, I feel pretty good about the race. I had good strength on the rolling hills and had a little bit of speed at the end. One of my miles was 7:40 so I feel like I'm in a decent spot when it comes time to run a flat 5K. It was a nice way to get my feet back into a racing season and I still have my Group B parachute from running the Eastside 10K in 50:07 last December.

And I got another cool technical T-shirt for my collection!

Time: 7:30 a.m.
Temp: 72 degrees (83 percent humidity)
Gear: Technical T-shirt, short (Big Peach 5-miler), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+/29A.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Day 2,377: Peachtree Day After: Blisters

The soggy day led to soggy shoes for me on the Peachtree 10K course yesterday, and ultimately something I haven't really had in a long time -- blisters all over a bunch of the contact points of my feet. So today's run in Piedmont Park was kind of slow going.

I guess it's from my lower weekly mileage but I was surprised how I felt the day after the race -- a little stiff going down the stairs and a slower run through the park. It was more like what I would expect after a half marathon but not a 10K.

To further complicate things, my Garmin Forerunner 405 never acquired during the entire run, I guess because of the overcast skies. Luckily I have the endomondo app on my phone and I use it when I don't have my running watch.

In other news, I finally hit the button and signed up for the July 13th Atlanta Beltline Southwest 5K. I've actually been out to this area twice before for Geocaching but haven't run on the beltline. The main reason I'm running in the race is that I was a little envious of the cool shirts the Beltline racing series had last year, when I saw people wearing them at the Eastside 10K.

I also need to start running more races again to try to requalify for Group A next year!

Time: 7:13 a.m.
Temp: ?? overcast, light rain
Gear: Technical T-shirt, short (Cherry Blossom 10-Miler), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 29/A.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Day 2,376: Peachtree 10K

As I often say in this blog, all races are different.

This was the case with today's Peachtree Road Race. With a 100 percent chance of rain, it looked like we were destined to get wet. I hadn't run in a rainy race in quite some time and certainly never in the previous eight times I've participated in the Peachtree 10K.

In the early morning when it was time to make our way to the MARTA station, there were a few drops of rain here and there. The radar looked like rain certainly was possible any minute. So I brought along a rain jacket and a hat. We left at 6:20 a.m.

After being dropped off at the MARTA station, we waited for a train to come our way. There were two southbound trains -- one after another -- with hardly any riders. Ours finally came and it was packed. (I mean, packed for the United States. Plenty of room for Japan).

We arrived at the Buckhead station and made our way through the station and up the steps (this took a long time) before exiting on one side of the mall. This year you had to enter your corrals from Lenox Road so that took some time. By the time we got to Group B (I ran in my wife's corral), we had a minute before the race start!

The start of the race was fairly slow, although everyone was running and, unlike other corrals behind, there wasn't a single walker. Eventually the lanes started to open up. At this point, the rain jacket was around my waist. It wasn't that big of a deal, since I've run many races in the Pacific Northwest where you either had to have it on or carry it.

Our pace was pretty pleasant, although coming over a cold I felt dehydrated at Mile 3. At Mile 4, when the hard hills came, I made a point to get some water. It perked me up a little and once we were at the top of Heartbreak Hill I knew that the race would get better.

There's a second set of hills, a long slope up to 14th Street, that defines the next mile and while that wasn't pleasant, we were trucking along. After we passed Mile 5, I knew we were going to finish!

Although it didn't rain during the race, Piedmont Park after the race was a sloppy mess. So many people walking through the areas meant a lot of muddy puddles. We made our way around from water (so thankful for this), the traditional finisher's T-shirt, a finisher's picture and then a long line for Mellow Mushroom pizza. I'll take it!

This year they continued the great tradition of peaches. PNC Bank was giving out flip-flops (probably should have changed into those on the muddy field) and King of Pops popsicles, which i had never had before.

I was pretty thankful once we reached the Powerade area and the traditional cat's reward for finishing a race ... a Diet Coke. Although I didn't drink it this time because of my sore throat. Toddler K. loved Blue Bell's ice cream sandwiches!

It was a pretty good race considering my cold and running few miles (about 20 miles per week now). My legs are a little sore, so maybe a lot more training is in order if I want to requalify for Time Group A again.

Time: 7:35 a.m.
Temp: 70 degrees, overcast
Gear: Technical T-shirt, short (Charles Harris 2011), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 29/A.