Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Final Run of the Year

During last year's snowboarding season, my running mileage dropped dramatically. In fact, from January through March, I barely managed to run more than five miles per week...a slip which likely led to my meltdown during the Palos Verdes Half Marathon. So, to keep on track, I needed to run today, my first day home after a five days on Mammoth Mountain.

That said, my real reason for running today was more about achieving 800 miles in 2008 than anything else. Yes, I was curious to see if all that time at higher elevations would help my breathing (which I think it did). Yes, I wanted to see if my legs could endure pounding even though they were still sore from snowboarding (no issues to report). Yes, I needed to know if a five day break from running would kill my pace (a 48:38 10km split suggests it did not). But those were all secondary goals to achieving this milestone.


Of course, I did not begin the year with any mileage goal in mind. Should I target more miles in 2009?

Friday, December 26, 2008

It's Snowboarding Season

And I'm on my way to Mammoth Mountain with no plans to run over the next five days...

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

More Lunchtime Personal Records

My crazy ultra running coworker continues to treat our lunchtime training runs as races...or at least it seems that way to me. Right from the get go, he pushes me to run at a sub-7 minute pace, refusing to slow down despite my constant bitching and moaning. Though we have agreed to make Tuesdays our "short" and fast run, there is no way I can keep this up for 6.4 miles.

He gets away from me as I drop off the pace through miles two and three, which is not unusual given the slight incline during this segment of our run. That said, my 5km split of 23:15 is something I have not achieved since running cross country in high school.

I catch up with my coworker stretching at our turnaround spot a tenth of a mile further. He says the rest of our run will be "a fast recovery".

Riiiiiiiight.

We start back way too fast (my watch pace indicates that I'd run a 6 minute mile if I could maintain it), so I ease off the accelerator and let him take the lead. I am surprised to cross mile four in under 30 minutes...definitely a PR. 37:10 at mile five is another personal best...as is 44:38 at mile six. I estimate my 10km split at 45:32...nearly a minute off my previous best.

I have never seen myself as someone who could run a 10km in less than 45 minutes. If I let my coworker continue to push my pace like this, I might get there before the end of this year. Fortunately, he will be on vacation starting next week and our lunch runs will not resume until January. A New Year's Resolution perhaps?

An interesting footnote: Pre-marathon, my average pace over 69 miles of lunchtime running was 8:22/mile. Since then, we have run as many miles together, but my pace has dropped to 7:52/mile.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Sub 2hrs Without Pushing

There's something nice about achieving an unintended goal.