Saturday, August 30, 2008

Monte Sano 10k and 5k, 2 PR's in One Day

Today's races were a blast. I love the festive atmosphere of a race that size. And there were TONS of young people in the 5k. They looked like high school cross country runners. That was awesome to see. I wish I had run more when I was younger.

When the results are posted, I'll link them in a post. And you can usually find North Alabama area race results here. I especially like her blog, North Alabama Runner, because she summarizes the results of Limestone County runners. Nice service.

Well, I shouldn't have said anything about a target pace in my last post. I didn't even come close to 7:00. In fact, I didn't even hit ONE, no not ONE, split at 7:00.

For the 10k...
7:11; 7:05; 7:38 (I'll explain this one later); 7:22; 7:28; 7:25; and 1:31 on the last 0.2, for about a 45:44. I'll have to look at the official results to see. I totally forgot the number that was posted after the race. But that's according to my trusty Timex.

For the 5k, I missed my split button, on the first and last mile, but this is about what I had, if memory of the split callers serves correctly.
7:16; 7:09; 7:20; and about 0:39 for the last 0.1. I think I came in at 22:24.

So for the 7:38 3rd mile in the 10k... My knee really started acting up. I stopped and walked at least 3 different times during that mile. I probably walked at least 200 yards during that mile, so I'm happy that the damage to the time wasn't worse than 7:38. I thought I was going to have to quit, and I was getting angry. If you passed me during this time and heard me yelling, I wasn't yelling at you! :) I was saying, "Stop hurting!" (as if that would really make it stop hurting). After that, the pain went completely away.

There is good news on this front! I think my right foot has been landing wrong and that's causing, or at least exacerbating the problem. The right side of my right foot tends to immediately turn outward when my heel strikes. I started focusing on landing with the toes of my right foot pointed straight ahead, and the pain went completely away. I hope the solution is really that simple. It did slow me down a bit, but not because it's harder to run that way, but because I was focusing more on landing the foot better than I was on my pace.

Oh yeah, BIG props to my partner. Today was his first 10k and his first 5k. We carried 4 PR's back to Athens with us! We've run several miles together, and there have been days that I may have skipped a workout if he weren't going to be there waiting for me. I may have nagged him enough that he'll run Rocket City with me.

And another big props to another training buddy who let me beat him in the 10k, but would have none of it in the 5k. He's just a machine. He ran another 5k lap between the races. I should have joined him instead of loading up on bananas and watermelon. Maybe I would have run the 5k better. He was way out in front of me in the 5k, and the only way I'll ever beat him in a race is if he lets me!

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