Hot to Trot 5K

The Hot to Trot 5K was a week and a half ago, and was the last race of the series. That Saturday was miserable, similar to the Round-Up 10K: humid. I expected as much and the only goal I set was just not to walk. I was able to do so, but i had my doubts during the race. Since I'd been sick, I hadn't ran much the week before the race, though I did run pretty hard at the full moon hash the night before. I ran the Hot to Trot a few years ago when it started at the Hula Hut, but this one was held at the Chuy's near William Cannon (one I didn't even know existed). I liked the course which is partly why I was able to run the whole way. It didn't have much change in elevation, but I could handle the gradual uphill the first mile and needed the gradual downhill the second mile. I maintained an astonishingly steady pace at 7:49/M +/- 4 sec, with a little kick the last 0.1 mile, finishing in 24:29.

I'm happy with how I did. Like I said, I just didn't want to stop, and I can't handle that kind of weather. It was good to finish at a faster than training run pace and I wasn't shocked or disappointed that I couldn't match my previous 5Ks. Unfortunately I haven't been running or back to the gym since, though it will happen soon.

The finisher party is in another week or two and it should be fun talking to others about the various races in this series. I'll be getting a finisher t-shirt, but no word yet if beer will be available!

Texas Round-Up 10K

I've been doing a lot of blog composing in my head but nothing ever makes it online. It appears one person is curious with how I did at the Texas Round-Up 10K. Well, it sucked. It really sucked. It was the weather. It wasn't too hot, but it was plenty humid which just kills my running ability. I kept things at a good pace the first two miles, somewhere in the 7-8 min/mile pace I imagine, but then I had to stop and walked a bit. After that, it was walk/run/water stop the rest of the race. My 5K time was at 26:20, so about what I'd been doing for my training runs. The second 5K was a lot slower and I ended up finishing in 58:05. To add insult to injury, the Governor beat me by just 22 seconds! I liked the course. Some of it was very familiar (the drag, Dean Keaton, Capitol/DT area), but it was nice change of pace to run through the east side.

My Garmin was dead, which seems to happen sometimes when I leave it on the charger too long. This might be a blessing in disguise because at least now I can't go back and review how much walking I did. The two guys right behind me in the ARC sprint series rankings moved ahead of me. Now I am over two minutes behind the next guy, and the guy after me is 20+ minutes behind me. So, while I don't have to worry about falling down in the rankings again, with only one 5K left to go I don't think I'll be improving my ranking either.

Overall the sprint series has been good for me. I mean, I wouldn't have run any of these races except the Capitol 10K otherwise. I'm glad the first three races went so well, and I'm not going to beat myself up too bad over this last 10K or the next race. Running in the humidity is just something I can't do very fast. I doubt I'll do well at the next 5K this Saturday, not just because the weather, but I was sick for most of last week and haven't recovered any exercise routine yet. Hopefully I will run a little bit today and tomorrow in preparation. After that comes the sprint series party, where I'll get a free gift and hopefully some free beer too (wishful thinking)!

Texas Round-Up 10K Goal

The ARC Sprint Series continues tomorrow morning with the Texas Round-Up 10K. I'm really not looking forward to it since my days of easily beating my previous time are over. Now that I have a decent 10K time, it's not automatic. My runs lately haven't been great. I've only been running 5K every other day or so, and while it feels like I'm running at a decent pace I've only been doing it in 25 or 26 minutes. So, my only chance of beating my previous 10K of 48:45 is if that race-factor that somehow makes me run a few minutes faster is in effect.

The course is at least more interesting for a downtown course. This one starts and ends just north of the Capitol and actually dares to travel east of I-35 for a bit.

I guess I'll be happy with (and therefore my goal is) 50 minutes tomorrow. Eh... I'll be happy with 51.

Capitol 10K

I flew back after Cali week 1 to continue the sprint series with the Capitol 10K. I was more worried about this race than the previous two. My workout schedule had been disrupted by my week in Santa Clara, and I was still struggling to even run 6 miles continuously after getting used to the 5K distance and pace for races and training runs. Thankfully it was the perfect temperature the Thursday before the race and I was able to do 6.25 miles continuously from Santa Clara to downtown San Jose and back in something like 56 minutes. So, I knew I should be able to complete a 10K without stopping, at least.

I didn't post my goal this time, but if I remember correctly I originally thought 50 minutes was a good goal, then revised it to 55 minutes. I've done the Capitol 10K twice before, finishing a minute or two over an hour the first time and a minute or two less than an hour the last time. Those races I stopped at multiple water stops the second half of the race, and had to walk part of the way up the 15th St hill between miles 2 and 3. I figured I could shave some time off this year if I didn't stop for water and didn't walk, and figured if my pace was about the same, somewhere between 50-55 minutes was doable.

I went to Mark's party early Saturday night (happy birthday), and didn't stay out late hoping to rest up for the race. I fell asleep early (before 10), and as is becoming routine woke up around 1 am unable to get back asleep due to race anxiety and fear of oversleeping. So, when the race started at 8:45 am, I had already been awake for over seven hours.

The weather during the race was almost perfect. Perfect temperature (50F?) and dry, a 180 from the previous years which were either warmer or muggier. The only issue was that it was too sunny which made it hard to see running the second eastern facing half of the race. This 10K is really large, so if you're not right up front the first mile is going to be slow since there are so many slow idiots that line up too close to the start line. It was probably a good thing that I was held back because while the first mile felt like forever, I finished it in 8:30 which is faster than I thought it was and probably the right speed for me for the first mile. The second mile I was able to pick up and finished at a total time of around 16 minutes. The third mile is the one I usually end up walking on, and while I didn't do the hill very fast, I did manage to do it without stopping, so things were looking good at this point. I wasn't certain I would be able to finish without stopping, though.

My 5K split time was 24:46, a typical time for a training run and way slower than the two 5K races. That made sense. I knew I had to run slower to be able to do it twice. I started wondering if 50 minutes was possible but didn't think too much of it since I figured I'd slow down on the second half.

Well, I kept running, and I kept running faster. The last three miles were around 7:30-7:40 miles. I got a boost when I hit 5 miles and saw I was at 39:10, which meant my Turkey Trot goal of 40 minutes for 5 miles from last fall wasn't as ridiculous as I thought after my dismal finish at that race. I ended the 10K with a time of 48:45, less than an 8 minute mile average. That's my 10K PR, besting my previous Capitol 10K by 10 minutes plus.

Also, I was the only runner in my age bracket to climb a place (from 7th to 6th of 11) in sprint series cumulative time. With #5 at four minutes ahead of me and #7 at two minutes behind me, I'm guessing I won't be changing places after the next two races. One more 10K and one more 5K to go.

On Vacaction

It seems that I wasn't the only one on Sunday that could've set a legit PR, even the winners might have done so. Article here.

I'm on vacation for the rest of the week to take full advantage of South by Southwest. I bought a wristband for the night shows like this year, but this will be the first time I'm down there during the day to take advantage of the free shows and free beer.

I didn't think to download the mp3 torrents of a song by each band until last night. I listened to some today and have picked out a few bands I'm interested in. Of course all the band names begin with an "A" or "B," so I haven't got very far. So much for that idea. At least I will be happy with having the mp3 library on me tomorrow, so if a particular write-up or band name/location catches my eye, I can listen to their song to help me decide if I want to check them out.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has the right idea about SXSW. It seems that a lot of people are all about trying to see the big name bands, which is difficult to do at SXSW. If that's what you want, you're better off going to ACL or just buying a ticket to a regular show. The people on the radio podcasts I've listened to (Sound Opinions, Texas Music Matters, All Songs Considered) all have the right idea, which is trying to discover the next big thing while they're still unknown. For me, it's not even about that--I don't care if a band gets famous so I can brag about seeing them when they were unknown. I just want to listen to some new music I enjoy, and no matter what my tastes are, I should be able to find plenty of it this week.

Get Your Rear in Gear 5K

Hmmm, my overall reaction to this morning's 5K? Frustration, disappointment, I guess--but not in myself! I ran great! I didn't think the great weather conditions of the Daisy 5K would repeat, but it was very close--it was just as chilly (50F?), and no wind. It rained right before start time, so the course was wet, but that wasn't too big a deal. The course was easier than the Daisy, only one minor hill. Still, I had a hard time thinking I would do as well as I did at the Daisy 5K.

I knew I ran the first mile too fast and would get progressively slower, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself to hold back at all. I just can't see myself holding back and trying to run faster later in the race and actually finishing faster. So, I had 6:42 the first mile--still way faster than I expected. I started slowing down, 7:10 the second mile, no big deal. The third mile featured the short uphill, which brought my breathing to one every three steps for the rest of the race. I was starting to struggle.

Now was when I suspected something is wrong. My Garmin has me below 20 minutes and the finish line is in sight! I cross the finish at 20:34, blowing away any previous 5K time in my life. I should be ecstatic at this point, but then I look at the Garmin again and see that the course was only 2.94 miles long! That's about 95% of a 5K. How can I count this? I don't expect race logistics to be perfect, but if there's one thing I insist they get right is that a 5K race should be 5K long! In the age of GPS, there's really no excuse for this. It's really frustrating in that if I extrapolate my 7:18 pace over the last .94 miles, I would've finished in 21:56, which would have been a all-time PR (better than my 22:08 in HS). But because the course was short, I can't count it.

The next two races in the series are 10Ks, and the last race is a 5K in May. I'm sure it'll be a bit warmer then, so it'll be that much harder to improve my 5K time. For now, I have to switch gears and figure out how fast I can run a 10K.

Culvers 5K

I decided to end my 5K tonight at Culver's. They noticed my US Navy sweatshirt and gave me a military discount on my burger basket! I think they're beginning to recognize me. I can't imagine too many people run there.

I'm not sure what to plan for on Sunday. My training 5Ks have been 24-25 minutes long. Tuesday I did two miles in 15 minutes but was wiped out the last mile. Tonight I had 24:30. Seeing as how I did it in 25 minutes just prior to the Daisy 5K, I guess my goal should be to beat the Daisy 5K time. So many factors though, and the Daisy 5K had just about the ideal circumstances.

Daisy 5K

I met my goal, easily! I am faster than I thought. My mind must still be calculating at 10K or half marathon pace.

The start was at Rogue Equipment, which was also where the Skirt Chaser 5K started last October. That race had me finishing at 22:15, which led me to believe that either the course was short or the timing was screwed up, because I knew I couldn't be that fast. They didn't have chip timing and I didn't wear my Forerunner at that race, so I don't really didn't count it as an official time. At least I can't be sure. This mornings race, however, I can be sure of.

My chip time was 23:02, and that matched the forerunner output. Mile splits of 7:02, 7:22, 7:38. I'm really happy, but now I'm starting to wonder if I need to be puking across the finish line to know that I gave it my complete effort! The weather this morning was my preferred 50ish degrees, but it was really windy. Also, unlike the Skirt Chase which primarily went west-east, this one went down to the river, so there were some minor hills involved. Maybe the Skirt Chaser was correct? Anyway, I will count this one as my new PR (since high school). This was the first of the five SPRINT series races. I've set the bar pretty high now, but I think there's still room for improvement!

Daisy 5K Goal

I ran a 5K through my neighborhood last night in 25 minutes (just over an 8 minute mile pace), so that will be my goal for the 5K tomorrow morning.

ARC SPRINT Series

Since I've been wanting to run shorter races, I am going to try to complete the ARC SPRINT Series. I've only done two of these races before, Chuy's 5K and the Cap 10K. The first 5K is this Saturday. I'll have to go all the way to New Braunfels for the second 5K, and I'll probably have to fly back from California for the Cap 10K.

I've been settling into a pretty good routine of lifting weights MWF and running 5K TR and usually Saturday.