Weekend Recap

Congratulations to Tammy and Victor for winning the Amazing Race!!!! Impressive performance from them, and clearly dominating since CBS wasn't able to show a close, dramatic finish for the finale like they would have liked to. Sort of fun to watch for me, since Tammy and Victor are pretty close to how my sister and I would be on that show (only I would probably be a lot more impatient and mean!). They give a good name to Asians everywhere :)

This weekend was a busy Mother's Day weekend, but a very productive running weekend as well :) Saturday morning, woke up bright and early and headed out for a long run with Pat, Crystal, and Shane. We picked a 12 mile loop on the trails, pretty much the same as last week's long run but went out a mile further (first 4 downhill, next 3 uphill, 2 flat, last 3 rolling hills). Weather was cool and slightly overcast at the start (got sunnier as the run progressed), pretty much great running conditions. First few miles felt a little groggy, probably from the few adult beverages I had the night before on my day off, and kind of struggled to get out of my funk. Pat was only running 6, so he split off after the third mile and headed back home. We found out later he hit negative splits on his run, very impressive considering the second half is all uphill - way to go, Pat! We picked it up the pace a little, and started to get into a better rhythm as we cruised up the big hill and made the turn around. Legs felt ok, and all of us were definitely starting to push the pace a bit more, so we found ourselves having to slow down several times. At about the 9 mile marker, there is a three way intersection at the trail, and we noticed another runner jump behind us. The pace started to noticably pick up, and when I asked Shane about it his response was priceless: "There's no way we're letting that f***er pass us." All of us being ultra competitive, we all stepped it up another gear as we suddenly found ourselves cruising through the last few miles. Last mile, things started to get out of control, as all of us took turns pushing the pace harder and harder. With half a mile to go, I got a bit carried away and jacked us up to 5:15 pace, so needless to say we finished strong. Shane and Crystal were not too pleased with my Usain Bolt impression at the end, but it was an awesome workout and everyone did a fantastic job! Not counting warmup/cooldown walk, hit 12 miles at 1:37. Splits were: 8:57, 9:02, 8:59, 8:23, 8:06, 8:36, 8:01, 7:55, 7:59, 7:47, 7:29, 6:30.

My beautiful Mother and I :)

Afterwards, headed back to Peoria to see the family. It was a quick one day visit, but pretty busy and great to get back. Played a lot of golf, relaxed, BBQed, and just spent some good old fashioned family time. My mother was very pleased to see my sister and I, and it was all in all a great Mother's Day. Headed back home after a nap and watching Tiger at the Players Championship, and tried to coordinate a group run for the scheduled 6 mile pace run which was supposed to be at 7:15/mile. Shane was hanging out with the family and Crystal had just got her run in but she offered to pace me on her bike for my run. I inquired about her workout and her splits, and found out she hit 6:51 average (even splits) which I was not pleased to hear her hitting ridiculous times (great job Crystal!!!) since that meant I needed to equal the effort, because I am WAY too competitive. Legs were a bit worn out from the long run on Sat. and golf, so was thinking of hitting the more "conservative" 7:15's as scheduled but after some goading from Pat, I quickly changed my mind and was on my way. Route was on the same as Sat's long run - out and back, 3 miles downhill then uphill. Weather was overcast and cool (perfect), and instructed Crystal not to let me get too out of control on pace even though I had low expectations. Since I am a "feel runner" and ideally like how I feel to set my pace rather than try to hit set splits, I decided not to look at my watch the first mile and try to settle in on a good pace instead. Worked out pretty well, and the first three miles felt pretty smooth while running pretty aggressively, albeit downhill. I had doubts of maintaining on the way back since it would be harder going uphill. Turned around, and cruised into the fourth mile and my legs still felt ok. Started to feel it on the fifth mile, and started to struggle as the pace was starting to get pretty difficult. The last mile was getting pretty rough, and definitely was working hard the entire time. We had previously done speedwork on this last mile going uphill (quarter and half mile repeats), so it was a huge advantage to know exactly the landmark splits for the last mile (bridges, funny looking trees, etc.). Kicked hard at the end to finish the workout, and was pretty wiped out. Probably should have slowed it down the last half, but was feeling ok at the time to finish it out. Crystal was awesome pacing me on the bike - kept a very consistent pace for me, and she talked me through the second half of my run when I was struggling so I owe her big time!!! 6 miles at 39:40 - splits were: 6:39, 6:37, 6:41, 6:41, 6:34, 6:21.

Last week was a great running week, possibly one of my best ever. Hit close to 40 miles, the majority of the runs were strong, and I hit great splits which leads me to think I am fully recovered and in better shape that I thought. Tonight, EASY group run with Pat, Crystal, and Shane.