458 and counting

Just finished my last run for the month, and I am now up to 458 miles for the year.

Decided to plan my month out a bit differently.  Instead of running either 4 or 5 times each week at lunch, with a long run on the weekend, I decided to run every day.  No days off.  Instead of rest days, I would do a slow 2 mile recovery run.  I almost made it every day for the entire month.  Started my streak on the 2nd, and wound up running for 28 out of 30 days.  Along the way there were a couple of doubles, so I actually did 31 runs for the month.  Not sure how successful this all was, there were times I felt the fatigue, but I plan on continuing in this manner for a while longer.

I did make it out to the Outer Banks for the Flying Pirate weekend.  Last year this was a mixed event for me.  It was my second ever half marathon, and I had the misfortune to pull my hamstring just a few days before the race.  I went ahead and ran, and was able to finish in a little over 2:30.  Not what I wanted, but I felt good about being able to come up with a secondary goal and make it happen.

This year, there was more than just a half marathon.  They added a 5K on Saturday morning, and a 5K beach obstacle event Saturday afternoon.  I signed up for all three events.  Here I am after the mornings 5K with a friend. It was a fun run starting next to the Wright Brothers memorial, and going around the monument.

The Storm the Beach 5K was later in the afternoon.  This was my first event of that type, and I will admit to being a bit nervous.  It also turned out to be a lot of fun. Here I am at one of the obstacles, toting a bag of sand.

The half marathon on Sunday was a bit of an anticlimax.  It rained at the start, the middle, and the end.  I don't think my shoes have fully dried out yet.  My time was slower than expected.  I was planning on somewhere between 2:10 and 2:15, but my finish time was just over 2:17.  I think the beach run had left my legs more tired than I expected.  Still, it was a good weekend, and the first time I ran 3 events in 2 days.

I plan on continuing to run as close to every day as I can, and I need to start being more consistent with my weekend long run.  I have set a goal of doing a comfortable 2 hours each Saturday.  That should start to build my base back up so that a marathon may be possible sometime this fall.

Till then, see you on the road.

320 and counting

March was a busy month for running.  On the books were an 8K and two half marathons.

The 8K and one of the halfs were events that I did last year.  In fact, most of what I plan on doing this year will be repeats of events of last year.  Or at least the main events will be.  Last year my main events were to be 2 half marathons in the spring, the Tobacco Road and Flying Pirate halfs, then another half in the fall as a pacing race for my first full marathon in November.  Due to a fall, I was not able to do the full, so I am planning on repeating my schedule (or close to it) this year.  Hopefully winding up with a successful full marathon this fall.

The 8K was the St. Paddy's Run Green race in Raleigh.  Last year I finished this race in 51:40.  My main goal last year at that distance was to bring my time down to a consistent 10 minute mile pace.  That finally happened towards the middle of the year, so this year I planned on having a fun tempo run at the same pace.  However, I felt good at the start, so I picked up the pace and wound up with a finish time of 43:50, a new PR by 1:20.  Here I am just past the finish line.

Next on the calendar was the Roanoke Canal half.  This was a new race for me, and I scheduled it mainly as a training run, with no plans for time, just planning on enjoying the day and getting in the miles.  The race was supposed to be flat and fast on easy trails.  I really didn't have enough long runs in to expect much for the day, but I thought I would finish somewhere around 2:15.  The big surprise was just how hard the event felt. Most of the race was flat, but there were some very short steep sections near the turn around at the half way point.  I did struggle at the end, and finished at 2:18, a bit slower than expected, and a lot more tired than expected.  This was the first race I did without a watch.  My garmin died at the start line, so I ran entirely by feel. It was a bit strange to not have any idea of my time until the end.

Last event for the month was the Tobacco Road half.  This was my first half ever last year.  When I ran it last year, my training was exactly where I wanted it to be.  I had long runs of 10, 10, 12, 12, 14, and 14 leading up to the race, followed by two weeks of tapering.  All my pacing led me to believe I would finish around 2:15.  While the run went well, I did not plan well for pit stops, etc, and I finished at 2:26.  I felt a bit of a let down, even though I had just finished my first half marathon. This year, I had no time expectations.  I hoped that I would finish around the 2:15 I had planned on for the year before, but I wasn't sure how it would go since this was only one week after the Roanoke Canal half.  And, that was really the whole point, to see how it felt to do halfs on back to back weekends.  Time at the end came to 2:12.  Felt very tired, but legs recovered well.

So, it was a good month over all.  Total miles for the year now stand at 320, still on schedule for 1,200 for the year.  I have now finished 6 half marathons, with times ranging from 2:31 at last year's Flying Pirate half, to  my best time so far of 2:03 at the OBX half last fall.  This month, time permitting, I hope to do the Flying Pirate half again.

Till then, see you on the road.