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