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Week 286
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Greetings, 50+ers! Thanksgiving weekend is coming to an end, and I think that my feeble year of racing has come to an end, too. I backed off this week, running every other day for only 22 miles---still no long runs, but did one race. Log reads as such:
Sun: 6.0 w/2.2 @~6:40 pace
Mon: off
Tues: 5.0 fairly easy (7:37 pace)
Wed: off
Thur: 6.1 including 5k race (20:06 chip time)
Fri: off
Sat: 5.0 mild progression(8 -> 7, 7:28 avg pace)
Sunday's brief tempo was unintended; I'd joined the group run while in progress, and I didn't realize they were going to run hard. So from 1.6 (when I joined them) to about 3.8 miles, I tried to keep pace, but eventually gave up the ghost and ran the rest at a more relaxed 7:30-ish pace. Nothing else much to speak of other than the race.
Racetime wasn't until 9am, but I got there at 6am to help get the course markers laid out before the 2400 or so runners/walkers arrived at the rolling hills of the Keeneland horse racing grounds. Cool (50-ish), overcast and a light drizzle would be the order of the day. Didn't get to do much warm-up, as we helped to take care of all the final little race details (so glad I'm no longer the one in charge of this thing!) This year's course is close to the one I mapped out a couple years ago, but the timing company really wanted the start and finish in the same spot, so it was adjusted accordingly. It was also now USATF certified (which also means everyone is going to measure it long on their Garmin...mine measured 3.15 miles.) I had no high expectations for the race, so I didn't line up right up front; probably took me 4-5 seconds to reach the start line once the horn sounded. It also meant that there were the usual number of young runners to try not to trample out the gate. I was still negotiating the slow runners up front by the time we turned on to the main Boulevard which features a long steady rise. We got strung out during this part and held fairly steady order for the next while. There's a sharp U-turn at the end of the Boulevard as we return on the other side; with slick roads, I took it wide and gingerly. Midway up return on the Boulevard, we take a sharp right up a decent hill to the Keene Barn. At the peak of the hill, we hit the mile (6:22 for me) with few places changing. From the top of the hill, we circle around and head down a long hill to the start before heading back out the Boulevard for the final loop. We hit the second mile (6:19) at the start of the Boulevard heading back up that initial long steady climb. Like the race I did a month ago, the third mile was a struggle (6:37). The two hills really showed my lack of hill work as I saw my pace rise to over 7:00/mi on both rises. I did, however, manage to catch and pass a guy that beat me last month. Meanwhile, a gray hair that had been about 30m ahead of me for quite some time now started to flag a bit, as well. The sharp climb to the gate house allowed me to halve his advantage over me. As we crested the hill, there is a sharp downhill followed by a slow steady decent to the final 0.1 mile. I didn't think I was going to catch him, as he put a little distance during the steep decent, but somehow with about .1 miles to go, I put on a final surge and overtook him with about 50m to go. I thought that I had pulled away, but he put a final surge and pipped me at the finish. Turns out, he was in my age group, but that age-group awards are done by chip-time and I was about 2-seconds ahead of him on that account for 41st overall @20:06. Thankfully, there was no difference in the 1-3 age-group awards, otherwise I would have insisted that he be given the 1st place prize. Rtype or Dhagga, I don't know if you know him (Vincent Ortiz of Chesapeake, VA), as he's sorta from your neck of the woods. He also ran a half-marathon yesterday while here in town.
OK, there's my protracted report on a so-so race effort. Rtype, I didn't quite get that sub-20, but this course always runs a little slow as evidenced by the slower times for all us guys that ran in a common race a month ago, so I'm OK with the time. I think I'm done for a while, and need to take a step back and assess what to do next to improve my resilience and endurance. Miles are down, weight is up, strength training is down, nutrition is sub-par, hill-training has been down, IT/hip still bugging me, as is the arthritis in the toes; clearly there are a lot of areas from where I can garner some improvement, it's a matter of priorities against all those other distractions of life.
Sorry to not offer other feedback this week. This report is long enough! Though I will say to lpo, I wouldn't sweat it, you ran a good effort, enjoy it.
OK, Hope you all are well, and I would love to read any and all race reports!
All the Best!