Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Back on the Run!

Last week I wrote that in 2016 I wanted to set some new PR's and listed my current PR's.  My first opportunity to take care of business came on Sunday, 2/7/2016.  The Boss and I headed in town for the Super Sunday 5 Miler in Cambridge.

 
 
I looked at my list and saw that my 5 mile PR was 37:30 and thought to myself, "Crap, that seems kind of fast."  I have been running a lot lately, following my coaches training plans mixing up long runs and speed work and hitting the gym.  I've dropped some weight lately, cleaned up my diet a little in the hopes that helps me pick up a little speed. I figure if I'm dragging 177lbs around instead of 187lbs, I should move a little faster :)
 
We got to the race and it was pretty chilly out.  Not a surprise for an early February race but we have been getting unseasonably warm weather around here.  My coach Chris Vargo (www.vargorunning.com) had set my day up for me.  When I first signed up to run I had asked him if I should run it as a training run or go out and run it hard.  He told me to run it hard so here we are.  I had a 2 mile warm up with a couple strides prior to the race, then the 5 miler, and then a real easy 2 mile cool down after.  I saw the mileage and thought "2  mile warm up?! I never ran warm ups at all until I had a coach."  Coach knows best.  That's why he is a coach.  Off to warm up I went.  Finally race time came up, and we were off.  I knew I would have to really push my pace and thanks to the warm up I was able to start of quick right off the line.  The course was a pretty flat straight course and that helped me keep a consistent. 
 
Around 2 miles I passed a guy who was nice enough to say nice job to me which was followed by "but more importantly, great beard!"  That made me laugh a little as I huffed and puffed and kept moving.  Around mile 3and 1/2 I started to feel the pace wearing me down I felt like I was starting to slow down but I decided to just try to run through it.  Only a little over a mile to go.
 I figured there was no way I was going to make it.  I made it to the finish and didn't see the clock.  I stopped my watch, grabbed 2 bottles of water and took off for my 2 mile cool down.  It was a bit of a walk/run since my legs felt like junk.  It wasn't until I caught up with The Boss that I finally looked at my watch and realized I had PR's the race! 37:23 is my new PR. The old was 37:30. I was pretty surprised considering I felt like I had slowed down considerably near the end. After that, I figured it was time to celebrate.
 
 
 
Nothing like a few shots of beer to warm you up on a chilly day after what turned out to be a pretty good race!

 
Up next is the Old Fashioned Ten Miler.  My current PR for the 10 mile distance is 1:31:37.
Here is the link if you would care to join us at the race. 
Hopefully we will see you there!!!
Old Fashioned 10 Miler 2014
Oh yeah, on a side note, last Tuesday I got to meet this guy.  WWE Hall of Famer Hacksaw Jim Duggan!

And yes, his fist was bigger than my head.  Have a great week!
 
 
 
  


3 comments:

  1. Hacksaws got some mitts! They look like a loaf of bananas! I guess that's why he slung a 2 by 4 into the ring. Hey, great job with the 5 miler PR. I always felt that 1.5 was a perfect warm up distance for any length race for me. If you're ever jonesing for a topic. As with all people who run, I like to hear them answer the question "why I run". You did start to get into it in your previous blog post. Great stuff. Keep it rolling!

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  2. Another great topic is how end of race beers and team-based relay events have changed racing for the better in the last 15 years. Before 2000, racing pretty much sucked and typically, the only fun part was crossing the finish line. Now events are a blast!

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    1. Thanks for the kind words and the topic ideas. I'll definitely hit those topics in upcoming posts!

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