Hitting The Road Running (and swimming, and biking)

With a pair of ten milers and a sprint tri in the books, I'm overdue for an update.  First on tap was a 10 mile trek through the cherry blossom trees (sadly the blossoms were a bit early this year) in DC in early April.  It was supposed to be a training/tempo run for the Broad Street Run, but it ended up being a pretty solid race and a stand alone 10 miler PR.  The main focus was to negative split the race and ideally go out in 34:00, and then see what I had left.   I of course was way too quick though the opening miles, constantly telling myself to slow down, but it sure worked.  I did end up negative splitting (33:06 & 32:47), just barely.  1:05:53. 

 

Next up was the Broad Street Run.  An annual tradition around here.  This year marked 7 in a row for me.  I was hoping to break 1:05:00 following the nice Cherry Blossom result.  I had a good race, but wasn’t as strong in the second half as I’d hoped to be.  The negative split strategy was not executed nearly as well (or at all…32:28 & 32:39).  I did end up improving on my PR time and finished in 1:05:07.  If I can keep up the mileage and work for another year, 1:05 should be an easy milestone to achieve.  

  

   
The next weekend I was off for my first tri in nearly two years.  With a new bike (P2), I was excited to take on the challenge.  I proved to be quite rusty, but the Kinetic Sprint Tri was a great race and worth the drive from DC to Spotsylvania, VA.  The swim (750m) was uneventful, though slow, and rankings-wise proved to be my weakest leg (44th).  It was a simple loop in the lake and from there I was off to T1. 

I tried to really push it on the bike because I have a tendency to hold back a little too much with the run portion ahead.  The roads were fantastic as they were just re-done and I held a good pace through the 18 miles of rolling terrain.  In the end, a solid effort (35th – 21.9 mph) that brought me to T2.

T2 was a comedy of errors as the announcer encouraged the crowd to cheer me on, only for me to be unable to find my transition area.  I told you I was rusty.   Soon enough I was on my way and off for a 5K journey

 
I was in the first swim wave, which meant there weren’t a ton of people out on the run course once I got there.  This also meant I didn’t have a ton of people to track down on the run.  I saw a runner in the distance on the long hill out of transition and set my focus on slowly reeling him in.  Near the turnaround on the run I had tracked down a few targets and slowly reeled them in.  One blazing blur did streak past me late in the run , but I had no prayer of holding on.  Into the final stretch I looked to hold my pace and not let anyone get me at the line.  A few spectators cheered for me to hold off a fast closing competitor, so I dropped the hammer (as you can see below) and crossed the line for a 20:48 (31st - 6:42 pace) on the run.  Not blazing, but respectable. 



The blazing blur on the run ended up being the last podium spot in my age group.  Definitely a disappointment, but it’s just more motivation for the next race.  I’m excited for my upcoming olympic tri and hoping that my volume of work will be the difference maker over the longer distance.

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2012 Begins…

As 2012 begins it’s natural to reflect on the lessons learned in 2011.  For me, that lesson surely has to be patience.  In 2011 I was so amped to get back to the form that saw me PR the Richmond Half that I foolishly jumped right into another full-throttle half-marathon training block, only to piss-off anger my IT band.  It was a painful and long lesson, but hopefully it’s been learned. 

 

My focus this year is well thought out training, a good slate of races that I’m excited about, and chasing a handful (not my usual bucket load) of PRs.  I saw progress at the end of 2011 where I broke 1:30 in the Philly Half, prior to the wedding.  It wasn’t perfect training and I had a poor base, so all things considered, a strong effort.  I faded hard in the closing miles, but I attributed that to my lack of mileage.  After the half we threw in a handful of painful 5Ks, but I was able to come within shouting distance of my old times and even snagged an age group 2nd. 

The picture at right is of me at the Jingle all the Way 8K where I ran a smart, and restrained 5 miles.  No PRs, no knee pain, and no regrets.  Below are a pair of shots from the Goblin Gallop 5K where I managed to finish a cold, but happy second for my age group.  I’m looking forward to really enjoying 2012 and all it’s going to bring (8 weddings, 1 year with my beautiful wife, a return to Tri’s, and a whole bunch of exciting unknowns).  Here’s to making each day count!

 

                      

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