My blog posts are always so much more colorful with Kara :)Awesome article I found concerning racing as prep for future races. Totally agree with the concept, as you never really push your body to the limits you would in a race. I think there is something in your brain that instinctively knows to push you in a different gear on race day as opposed to normal workouts. I have never PRed in a training run nor even close quite honestly despite putting in what I thought was maximum effort. I am just faster on race days, and working on speed by pushing your VO2 Max levels will only increase speed for you. In March, I prepped for the 5 mile race with a 5K which I PRed - the next week, my 5K split was almost 20 seconds faster, so proof that it actually works :)
Speaking of races, I have been preparing for the Macklind Mile road race that my running team sets up - it's a 1 mile road race through the streets of south St. Louis next Saturday on the 4th of July. Very fast race, great competition, and looking forward to only busting my butt for 5-6 minutes :) I haven't raced a mile since high school, so will be interesting to see how it goes. Been doing minor speed work the last couple weeks to prepare for this race, and going ok I think - would have loved to have a few more weeks, but we signed up kind of at the last second. Haven't really assessed time goals, but I'm thinking sub 5:30 should be doable. I hit 5:40's in the first mile in a couple races so as long as I don't completely burn myself out early (which I tend to do in shorter races), hopefully I'll have enough for a huge kick at the end. The 200's on Tuesday (and 400's last week) were pretty helpful in gauging the speed I want to run, and hopefully enough for me to drop a nice PR next weekend.
So a quick recap of my running activities over the last couple days. Wednesday, had a pretty rough day so decided to go burn off some frustration with a nice run immediately after work. Temperature wasn't as blazing hot as it has been (low 90's) and was overcast so thought it wouldn't be too bad. Big Mistake. Half a mile into the run, I was feeling pretty good but it all went into the crapper shortly after. Had thoughts of going out longer, but were quickly dispelled by my overheated body which was rebelling on the spot. Stumbled the last 2 miles in, was going so slow I thought I might actually be moving backwards. A 4 mile easy run should not feel like a 10 mile tempo, so I will blame this lackluster performance on the weather. Total mileage: 4 - didn't bring a watch, was 32-35 minutes I think. Went over to Jared and Nicki's house afterwards to hang out, play with their kids, and play wii.
Yesterday, scheduled tempo run. The weather was blazing hot, high 90's and HUMID, so opted for treadmill running at Pat's. Was in a rush to get the workout over with, so just jumped on the treadmill and away I went. Legs were feeling eh, so wasn't the easiest. Didn't really warmup (big mistake), and struggled through the first mile. Plan was to slowly increased the speed as I went - 2nd mile went by quicker, but was definitely watching the mileage screen on the 3rd and 4th. Put in a hard effort, felt I shouldn't have to work that hard to hit fast splits but maybe just a bad day. I'm happy I fought through it and hit my time goals. Short cooldown and stretching afterwards. Total mileage: ~4.5 - splits were: 6:46, 6:35, 6:35, 6:24.
Helped Jared move a bed into his house, then chilled for a bit playing some more wii. Kind of nice not to bring work home (although I should have) the last couple nights and actually function as a regular human being instead of a work robot! Had a few adult beverages, then got roped by Tim into a satellite game of drinking wii bowling with him and his roommate. 3 games later, I felt no pain and it had somehow turned into midnight! Tim pressed for more games, but my liver said no. My star pupil is trying to take me out - very sad, indeed. This should be a "great" day being hungover and all at work with much to do - luckily it's my running day off, although thinking about getting an easy few later to make up for short mileages this week. Long run is getting pushed back to Sunday now, so will try to get up early to do 6 tomorrow.
We are currently on our 10th consecutive heat advisory, and doesn't look like it's going to cool down much until later next week. Supposed to play in a golf tournament (again) on Saturday with a forecasted heat index of 110 degrees. Wondering how bad it's going to be next month if it's already this hot now?!?! Also this weekend, be sure to tune into the USA Outdoor Championships to see my buddy Stephen Pifer race - he qualified for the finals in the 1500. Not sure when they are televising his event, but I think on Saturday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. or on Sunday on NBC at 3-5 p.m. University of Colorado website is reporting it will be on Sunday at 3:31 p.m. (mountain time?) Good luck, Stephen!!!
One final note - was devasted to hear the news that Michael Jackson passed away yesterday. He was one of my childhood heros growing up, as most kids in my generation, and was truly one of the greatest musicians that will have ever stepped foot on this earth. His Thriller record was the first of any type of music that I owned - I remember begging my dad to buy it for me in a mall when I was young. One of my fondest childhood memories was playing that record in our family room, Anne and I singing all the songs while dancing like maniacs. You will be missed, Michael.
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