Cool Runnings!

So I had my 5K today - not the result I was hoping for, but I think there were a couple of factors:  1) it was pretty warm out and 2) I am still about 10 pounds heavier than I want to be.  Add to those to that I am probably still recovering from the marathon, and you have a recipe for a slower race.  We got there about 7:00, the sun was up and it was starting to heat up.  I ran the course once nice and easy for a warmup, then got ready.  As I lined up at the starting line, I overheard two guys talking about their 1500m times - around 3:50.  I kinda figured this was going to be a faster race than last year.  At the start, I was in about 3rd or 4th place, with the two speedsters already building a lead on everyone.  I had forgotten my Garmin, so I don't have any splits, although I have a feeling I may have gone out too fast and died at the end.  At about the 1/2 mile mark, a guy without a shirt put in a surge and caught the third place guy.  Another guy was running right next to me up until the turnaround point where he got ahead of me.  Right about 9:00 at the halfway mark.  I hung with him, and at about 2 miles, I started to pull away slightly.  At this point, I was really laboring with my breathing, and my legs were feeling kind of heavy.  I kept pushing, knowing I wasn't going to catch the 4th place guy, but hoping for a top-5 finish.  However, the guy behind me caught up to me and surged ahead with about 1/4 mile to go.  I couldn't keep up with him today.  Hit the finish line in 18:40, almost 30 seconds slower than my post-HS PR from earlier this year.  I was disappointed at first, but due to the reasons I listed earlier, I was pretty happy with my effort.  I need to start packing in the miles and shedding that extra weight.  I'm not sure that I can get down to 155 - we will have to see - but I am certain I should be able to get down to at leat 160.  I am going to be joining our local fitness center so that I can use their facilities and run during my lunch hour - this will let me get in an extra 5-6 miles per day and not have to run at night.  I will be running some more miles later on today.

PM - ran 1.5 miles with Sam at 10:00 pace, then 1 mile with Joey at 12:00 pace.  After running only 2.5 miles, my right piriformis was killing me and I was having some shooting pains through my glute region.  I stretched and scraped and massaged it, but it is still very painful.  I have decided I am going to take a little break so that I can get healed up before resuming running.  No more running this week, and I will see how it feels next week.

Well, after an extended break of almost 2 weeks, I decided to do a litle bit of running today.  Plus Lybi needed me to run with the boys . . . so, 1.5 miles with Sam, another role reversal from Lybi's last run with him, but he maintained sub-11:00 pace.  Another 0.6 miles with Joey, since he hasn't been running very much lately.  He did great and beat the 12:00 guy.  Then an untimed/unmeasured distance with Adam, but it was probably about 0.2 miles.  I felt so good after running with the boys and Sparky (he accompanied me with Sam and Joey) that I decided to do a couple more miles.  2 more miles at 7:25 pace.  I swear, I was not watching the Garmin or trying to run fast, it just felt good and relaxed, and every time I glanced down I surprised myself with how fast I was running and how easy it felt.  At least I seem to not have lost any fitness, although I may have lost a bit of endurance, and I need to really work on losing weight.

PM - ran 1 mile outside with Sparky while I was waiting for Sam to change into his running clothes, then another 1.5 miles with Sam and Sparky.  Another 0.6 miles with Joseph to finish off the day.  I am going to take it easy this week - 3-4 miles/day, with maybe 5 miles on Saturday.  No pain in the piriformis, but a little bit of a niggle by the back outside of my right knee.

PM - 1.5 miles with Samuel, a little easier today, average 10:30 pace.  Then another 0.8 miles with Joseph at 11:18 pace, and another 0.2 miles with Adam at around 14:30 pace.  Sparky ran with both Samuel and Adam.  Didn't get a chance to run more because Lybi hurt her back yesterday and needed me to help out more with the kids.

Ran 4.25 miles durng lunch today.  I had finally registered at our local fitness center in our building so that I can take advantage of their facilities and shower after I run, so today was the first day of using it.  I ran up Priest Drive/Galvin Parkway to McDowell, then left on McDowell until I hit 17:00.  Averaged 8:00/mile up to the turnaround.  Turned around and ran the second half in 15:10, but it was all downhill.  7:08 average coming back, but I am not counting this as MP effort because it did not feel hard due to the downhill.  It was kind of warm out - I am really hoping that the temperature will finally cool down to where it is supposed to be soon.  Course was Lunch Run.  Other than the warm weather, it was quite nice to get out and run during my lunch hour, and I think this is really going to help me finally shed those unwanted pounds while not having to wake up at an insanely early hour to go out and run (not to mention having to run in the dark, which I don't like doing).  Another 2.5 miles planned this afternoon with the boys.

PM - 1.5 miles with Samuel - he got his smoothie today, and did a marvelous job.  I worked real hard to keep him from taking off at the beginning so that he could run even splits, and he did very good with that.  Total time 14:41, average pace of 9:53/mile.  Another 0.86 miles with Joseph, averaged about 11:30 pace. 

Ran again during lunch - I am really loving this, although I need to start taking the Garmin with me so that I can get a better idea of my pace.  I thought I was running slower when in all actuality I ended up running dang close to MP miles.  Course was a new one, I will cal it Lunch Run 2.  It ended up being longer than I thought it was.  I thought it was about 4.5 miles, it was really just a tick short of 5 miles.  Total time was 35:22, average of 7:08/mile.  Oops!  That was not planned for.  Guess I better count these as MP miles.  At least one good thing about the run was that it felt fairly easy.  The weather was a little cooler than yesterday, and there was a wind blowing to help keep me cool.  Did not have a chance to run with the boys in the afternoon, as Lybi headed out quickly after I got home to go see Twilight with her sister, Laura.

Ran at lunch today, did Lunch Run 2 again, but added on just a little bit to make it an even 5 miles.  Took it slower today, averaged about 7:35/mile or so.  Felt good, not quite as windy as the other day.  Just nice and breezy, nice temps.  After dinner, ran another 1.5 miles with Samuel at about 10:15 pace, then another 0.85 miles with Joey at about 11:30 pace.  It is so much easier getting in more miles when I am able to run during lunch.  I will be running tomorrow as well, and will be running with the boys tomorrow afternoon before we start for Texas.  We are stopping for the night at Lybi's parents' house - even though it is a bit out of the way, it breaks the trip into two more manageable segments.

Ran during my lunch hour again.  Today was a cool and cloudy day, perfect running weather.  I ran a different route today - it is so nice to be able to run so many different ways and be able to get in some hills during my run.  I really don't have that option where I live - it is pretty pancake flat.  Course was Lunch Run 3.  I miscalculated the distance of this run - I thought it was going to be 5 miles, and it ended up being 5.3.  Hit the turnaround at 19:30, which would have been a nice easy pace for 2.5 miles.  For 2.65 miles, it was a bit too fast - 7:20 pace.  However, there was more uphill than down the first half of the run, so I fully expected to run the second half faster.  Second half was in 18:30, average pace of 6:58/mile.  This did include a 1/4 mile stretch where I kind of pushed the pace, but still much faster than I thought.  The strange thing is that it felt pretty darn good.  I guess maybe the almost two weeks of rest I took ended up doing me some good.  I just have to be more careful, though and keep my pace slower.  I also need to start taking the Garmin with me to work so that I can use it for my runs.