Puto mido and pewow - congrats on some nice races!
Lebanon Hills - I've seen people miss a few weeks of marathon training and still pull out good races - the key was that they cross-trained diligently - mainly with pool-running.
PRs 5:25/18:51/38:56/1:03:55/1:24:22/2:57:42
Goal races: Broad Street 10 Miler, Garry Bjorklund Half - plus some fast 5Ks tbd.
Goal times: 18:30 for 5K, 1:02:xx for 10, 1:23:xx for half
This week: 40 miles, 2:20 of pool-running, and 2000 yards of swimming
M: Yoga and 80 minutes of pool-running.
T: 12 miles, including 6x800 in 2:55, 2:55, 2:53, 2:53, 2:51, 2:49 (400m recovery jogged in 2:20-2:30). Also leg strengthwork and 1000 yards recovery swimming.
W: 7 miles very easy (8:56) plus drills/strides and DIY yoga.
Th: Upper body weights/core, DIY yoga, and 60 minutes of pool-running.
F: 7 miles, including a very brief "perk me up for this weekend's 5K" of 4x400m at 10K effort with 100m float; 300m float, 2x200m at 5K effort with 200m float (88, 93, 93, 93, 43, 45). Also DIY yoga.
Sa: 4 miles very easy (8:40) and DIY yoga.
Su: 3.5 warm-up, 5K in 18:53 (again). 3.5 cool-down, 1000 yards recovery swimming.
Since the BAA 5K left me pretty certain that I was ready to PR the 5K, I took another shot this weekend. I went back and forth between a) the Saturday 5K on a very fast course that would have a massive headwind for the second half and absolutely nobody running at 18:xx pace or b) the Sunday 5K on a slightly slower course in much better weather with the possibility of people at my pace. I opted for the second.
The course was point to point with a slight net uphill - it's the last 3 miles of a 10 mile race going at the same time. We started heading south, and then did a U-turn after a quarter mile. Head back up, with a flat first mile. Second mile had a shallow but steady climb for about a third of a mile, and then a shorter descent. At the start of the third mile, we had a short but steep hill (about 100m, and about a 5% incline) with a matching drop, and then a left turn onto a long flat straight-away all the way to the finish.
My plan was to use the first 400m to ease in, and then start working after the U turn, with hopes of just chasing down men all the way to a fast finish. However, this race ended up not being very deep on either gender. I had a few men to chase down, but by the half-mile, they were already coming back to me. About this time a woman I didn't recognize pulled up next to me. At that point, I mentally shifted from time trial mode to racing mode. She and I ran together, exchanging the lead, at a pace that was hard for me but seemed like it was harder for her. I could have pushed a bit harder here and pulled ahead, but I felt like I'd just be rabbiting her if I did.
She pulled ahead up the long-but-shallow hill, and then I caught her on the backside. She threw a second surge in up the second sharp hill, which I allowed, and then I threw in my own surge right at the top, just as she was recovering. From there, I just hammered the last mile home to break the tape.
Weird thing is - I have no idea how much I won by. She congratulated me as I was bent over catching my breath, so she couldn't have been too far behind. But....she doesn't show in the results (they list 2nd woman was 19:5x) and she wasn't announced and didn't show for the awards ceremony. Weird.
Splits by my watch: 6:13/6:09/5:55/0:37 for last .11. (Strava claims 6:04, 6;06, 5:53, which sounds nicer but....) Another slow start, and a tie to my BAA time from 2 weeks ago. My coach really likes us to negative split all races, but...per feedback last week, I'm thinking I need to make an effort to get out harder and start hurting a bit earlier. The good news is that I can take multiple shots at this distance. And the silver lining is that I don't think this effort took too much out of me - that's good, because I have Broad Street 10 Miler next week.