5K fartlek - new PR! Under 28 min!

This was to be tomorrow's workout, but seeing as how this is the weather forecast, "This Afternoon: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 46. Breezy, with a northwest wind 7 to 10 mph increasing to between 19 and 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Tonight: A 50 percent chance of snow before 11pm. Cloudy, with a low around 28. Blustery, with a northeast wind 15 to 18 mph increasing to between 25 and 28 mph. Winds could gust as high as 41 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible." I decided to do the workout today rather than tomorrow in the snow and 41 mph (65 kph) wind gusts. It was actually fairly nice this morning, at 32F (0C) with no wind and partly cloudy.

I warmed up well, doing 1600m in 9:45 or so, and I felt good. My IT band (which niggled me the tiniest bit yesterday) felt completely fine today (and still does! Yay!), and my legs weren't really sore at all. I felt ready to go. I stretched a bit and then started the 5K fartlek. I decided to push pretty hard, because after all I was only to do 5K. I confess I wanted to see what would happen! The first km came in 5:24.4, nice and fast (for me!). My medium 500s were all fast today, and I pushed it hard to the end on the fast 500s. I saw on the last one that if I was fast enough I'd make it under 28 minutes. I had to go all-out for the last few hundred meters to make it happen, but I got it! Here are my times: 2:53.6, 2:42.9, 2:55.0, 2:44.5, 2:55.9, 2:46.1, 2:54.9, 2:41.1 (!). Total time: 27:58.6, ave HR 163, max 175 (!). It was hard to get that 2:41! Average pace 5:36/km or 9:00/mile.

This is only the 3rd time I've gone under 28 minutes for 5K, ever (that I can recall). Once was this summer at the Art Attack 5K race (27:45), and once was last summer (2010) on a downhill course for a 5K club race (27:57). Another comparison - my time at WMA this summer (in the heat, admittedly) for the 5K track race was 28:04, so this was even faster than that. I figure this puts me possibly in the 26-minute range for a 5K race under perfect conditions. Not too shabby. I'm super happy with this! Now I just have to stay healthy and train hard for a little bit longer until the 50K.

In other exciting news, my friend Dave Talcott was named USATF athlete of the week for qualifying for the men's 50K Olympic Trials at age 51. Check it out!

sick, and 12K

I have a cold. So far it's not TOO awful, but it's not great either. I'm really tired, coughing a fair amount, and have a runny nose. Like I said, not too bad. I worried that the cough would hurt my racewalking, but I did the 12K anyway, and it was all right. Yeah, I coughed more than usual, but I did get through the workout. My legs felt good, technique felt smooth and fast, but I wasn't fast. I wasn't terribly slow, either. I'll take it, given how I'm feeling.

Totals: 1:15:15 for 6:16/km (10:06/mile) with ave HR 142.

Garmin connect data here.

resting up; a few records to break

Yesterday was a rest day, and today I did the elliptical for 45 minutes. It's my easy recovery week...ahhhhh.

***

I have some records to break! The world single-age best for my age (41) for the 50K is 5:56. I can do that! How cool would that be?

Also, the American record for 50K road racewalk for age 40-44 is 5:30. That should also be quite do-able, assuming I have a decent day. I'm excited!

Edited to add: The American record for 25K for age 40-44 is 2:37:15, which I might be able to break on my way to 50K if I'm having a good day (I've gone faster than that for 25K numerous times this season in training, but of course that doesn't count for breaking the record!).

30K

Brrrrrr! 25F (-4C) but at least it was calm and clear. To combat the chill, I decided on mid-thigh shorts with tights over the top, a long-sleeved shirt, fleece jacket, fleece hat, and gloves. That was just about right; I did have to push up the sleeves on the fleece jacket (by the end of my walk it had warmed up to 37F), but I was glad I was wearing it. I brought along some water bottles with zipfizz and water, and they FROZE. I had to stop for a while to drink because the top of the bottles (the part that pulls out to drink) got frozen first and so I had to unscrew the lids to actually drink. My gels were very thick and goopy, too. The joys of winter. Yay. Can you tell it's my favorite season?

The walk itself went quite well this morning. I started off a bit slow and sluggish (a couple 3:10s for 500m) because my adductors (especially the left one) were very sore initially. I think it might be from ice skating! But they loosened up quickly and didn't give me any more trouble. This was another one of those really consistent walks where I found a good pace and rhythm and was able to hold it. My 5K splits were: 31:02, 31:09 (1:02:11), 30:48 (1:32:59), 31:02 (2:04:00), 31:02 (2:35:03), 31:13 (3:06:19).

The bad part? Well, about 28K, my right knee started to hurt. Not too bad, but bad enough that I thought it might be a problem. At first I could not identify the pain precisely, but after I finished and visited the restroom (so glad Liberty Park has restrooms!) I was walking down a couple stairs and OUCH it HURT! I knew EXACTLY what was wrong...yeah, the ol' IT band was acting up. I could not figure out why for a little bit, but then I remembered that after the Cold Turkey race on Thursday that I had run about 5 minutes DOWNHILL with my work colleague after the race. She came with me walking uphill to my car to get my jacket while we waited for the awards (she won her age group!), and then when we started back toward the finish line she suggested we jog a little. I didn't think twice about it (dumb, I know, but I really didn't think!) and ran with her. I had no pain after that but today it's two days later, and the 30K of racewalking was enough to bring it out. I'm pretty sure that's what did it, and if that's the case, then a couple days off (which I have now because this week is an "easy" week), ibuprofen, ice, and foam roller should do the trick. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I have promised Jim that I will not run even ONE more step before the 50K!

I also got quite tired today by the end - the last 5K was a bit tough, and I will confess that today's walk was more like an 80% effort than an easy walk. I figured that would be OK since I have an easy week coming up, and overall I felt quite good today, so I wanted to see how I'd do pushing it a little. However, I am pretty sure that today I could NOT have held that pace for another 20km. That makes me a little worried, except that 1) I'm only one week out from the marathon, and 2) I still have a good 4 weeks of training to give me a little more staying power.

All in all, it was a good day. I'm icing my knee now and I'm going to relax this afternoon!

Edited to add totals: 3:06:19, 6:13/km (10:00/mile), ave HR 147.

Garmin connect data here.

elliptical & figure skating

Today I did the elliptical for 45 min at the gym, and enjoyed reading Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi (very fun sci-fi) on my Kindle (new). I loved not having to hold my book open...it was pretty nice to read on the Kindle.

Afterward I headed home and fed the kids some homemade French toast. They ate it up...slowly...as kids do, and then we headed back to the gym for some skating. It was Calvin's first time on skates, and he did very well. He's quite cautious compared to daredevil Michelle. She's getting a lot better after skating for a month now. I am getting better too - I worked on my turns (front to back, back to front), front pivots, crossover skating, and gliding backwards on left leg and then on right leg. I figure it's good cross-training for racewalking, as it strengthens a lot of leg muscles and uses different muscles than walking. Plus it's fun!

Here are some videos of the kids:

Cold Turkey 6K

The race didn't live up to it's name this year - it was not cold! Unlike last year, when it was verrrry cold, this year was warm and windy in advance of a storm that will arrive tomorrow. It was 51F (10C) at the start; I should have worn shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, but it was all right wearing capris and a long-sleeved shirt - I just pushed the sleeves up. The wind was a non-factor as it was breezy but not gusty or blowing really hard; it just blew my hair in my face but nothing else of note.

I warmed up for about 1.5K with strides, and felt ready to go. However, I started off a bit sluggish with a 3:00 500m. I left my watch on auto lap for 500m because this race has no mile markers. It's supposed to be 6K, but it was long - my Garmin said 6.22km and my friend's said 3.89 miles (6.26km). Anyway, I pushed a little harder and then the hill came...it's UP for 90m (about 300 feet) in just 2.5k or so, and then a nice 140m downhill. However, the uphill is hard and steep and not easy at all. I still managed low 3:00s for most of the 500s but did have one 3:13. Then the downhill :)! I did all 2:35-2:39 on the downhill and finished in a fast 35:05 (5:38/km according to my Garmin). I was working really hard, and my HR was 170 at the finish.

I was way faster than last year's 39:09 (I was sick last year), and smashed my course PR of 36:26 (set in 2008). I am a little disappointed I wasn't faster, but the course was longer than advertised and it was hilly. It was a good workout, anyway! Sure beat doing a 10K fartlek on the track alone, and I have a pretty ceramic medal to show for it as well.

Garmin connect data here.

15K

Darn it! I left my Garmin at home and can't upload my workout. I think it was 1:33:28 (+/- a few seconds) for the 15K, for 6:14/km or thereabouts. I will update this later when I upload it. The weather was good: 34F (about 1C) and calm and clear (was going to say sunny, but the sun wasn't up yet).

Jim said I was supposed to do this at an easy pace. Well...I did and I didn't. I got into a rhythm, and it was a little on the hard side, and then I kept it. It was probably the 80% effort that this workout was originally supposed to be. This wasn't that fast for 80% effort...however, it's only been a few days since the marathon. I'm still sore in my abductors and adductors, though it's getting better. My other excuse? My right deltoid is sore from the flu shot I got yesterday. Verrrrrry sore! It is tender to the touch, and hurts when I lift my arm. But seriously, I don't think that mattered.

My right ankle in the front was a bit sore this morning - I think it's related to the old anterior tibialis/tendonitis thing from this spring. I'm hoping that it just feels OK tomorrow and that it will be nothing to worry about.

More later...

***

Edited: Yes, it was 1:33:28 for 6:14/km or 10:02/mile with ave HR 149. My glutes are sore now and I'm generally quite tired. I have a 6K race in the morning (local turkey trot) but if I'm lousy I don't really care so much. A good hard workout is what I'm after, whether fast or slow. This race is pretty slow because of the serious uphill for the first couple miles; yes, then there is a downhill, but overall it's not a fast course.

Garmin connect data here.

10K

First walk after the marathon. I was hoping it would be OK, because I want to keep training at a high intensity for the 50K on January 7th, as that is my goal race.

The national weather service said it was 36F - not too bad. However, when I stepped outside there was frost everywhere, and there was quite a bit of black ice on the roads since it had rained yesterday morning. Plus it FELT colder than 36. Turns out it was about 32F (0C). My footing was pretty good for most of the 10K; however, there were a significant number of spots where it wasn't so good. I don't think it slowed me too much; perhaps 30 seconds over the 10K but not more.

I felt good this morning, which was a huge relief. I started off slowish but caught a good rhythm around 5.5K and felt strong after that. My legs did get slightly tired at the end but nothing remarkable.

I did 1:02:46 for the 10K with an ave HR of 146; 6:17/km (10:06/mile).

Garmin connect data here.

aftermath; cross-training

I'm still sore, though not as sore as I was the day after the race. My glutes and abductors are sore, with adductors slightly sore. I actually feel pretty darn good, surprisingly. I only had a little chafing during the race, which is already all better. I rested on Sunday, and this morning I got up early to cross-train. I thought I'd attend the spinning class. I got there right on time, but all the bikes were already taken. Bummer! So I did the elliptical for 45 min and the stationary bike for 15 min, and then did core and stretching with Lisa. I'm glad today was a x-training day - originally I was to do 10K today, but Jim wisely changed it. I am sure I'll be much more ready to do 10K tomorrow than I was today.

Here are the official race results from the marathon. I was 94th of 187 in the race (men AND women), and 4th of 9 in my age group. Not too bad, considering they were all runners! Even my friends that walked most of it did do some running.

Mesquite TriStates Marathon

Today was a celebration of 5 years of keeping off the 100lb (45 kilos) that I lost. In November, 2006, I attained lifetime status in Weight Watchers. Today I weigh pretty much exactly the same as I did 5 years ago. I racewalked the Mesquite TriStates Marathon in celebration.

BEFORE (Feb 4, 2005)

AFTER (Nov 11, 2006)
(

And today, I set a huge PR in the marathon - almost 10 minutes off of my time from September 17, 2011, and I was under strict orders to take it easy. I did obey them! My heart rate was pretty much in the upper 130s to upper 140s the whole time, though I did work the last 1km because I knew I was on track for a sub-4:20 marathon. Yup, sub-4:20. Wow. I can't believe I'm even typing that. I never, ever dreamed I'd be this fast.

This race has an amazing downhill for the first 13 miles, from 1222m to 560m above sea level. It wasn't leg-pounding though! I was just able to go FAST. I actually broke my PR for the half marathon (today's was 2:04:05!!!) taking it easy. The downhill really helped. However, the last 13 miles has a lot of hills - it's up and down and up and down, etc. I continued to take it easy and did the second half in 2:15:22 for a total of 4:19:27 for the race. I walked up those hills at a good clip, but didn't push too hard, and hopefully I'll be OK for the planned tough week of workouts ahead of me.

Oh, another fun thing about this race was the food. They had gummy bears, bananas, MnMs, gels, and pretzels at the aid stations. I enjoyed sampling all of them :)!

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. The views coming down the hill were incredible, and the mountains, Joshua trees, canyons, etc. were amazing. I felt so privileged to be out there, and there was nothing I'd rather have been doing than racing today. The weather was picture-perfect too - if I'd have ordered it, it could not have been nicer. It was about 50F (10C) at the start and just under 60F (15C) at the finish, partly sunny, and calm until about 30K, when the wind picked up. That was the only negative - pretty strong headwind for the last few miles combined with the hills could have been better.

What else is there to say? I had some fun conversations with runners; I was with a group of runners for a couple miles near the 10K mark, and we chatted about racewalking, the rules, how fun it is, etc. I got another comment about Zumba, "I was watching your hips and I think you'd be really good at that Zumba thing". Hahaha. Clever, but I've heard that one before. And lots of the usual, "Wow, you walk faster than I can run". One woman about mile 20 as I passed her said, "Darn it! I KNEW you'd pass me!". It does have to be disheartening as a runner to get passed by a racewalker, but it sure is fun for me. I passed quite a few runners in the last 10K, and only one passed me that I noticed. That was nice! I even passed a group of very fit-looking women right at mile 26.0 and outsprinted them to the finish. FUN!

I felt SO good and SO strong for this race. I am feeling very optimistic about my chances in the 50K in January. Nothing really hurt today; my foot was slightly achy, and I got a blister on my 2nd right toe (in the usual spot), and a little chafing, but all minor stuff. I am very happy to be fit, training well, and uninjured. Let's hope it stays that way. Only 7 weeks until the 50K!!!!!

More pictures here.

Garmin connect data here.

sloooooowwwwww 10K

I felt OK this morning; legs were a bit stiff/sore, but not too bad. I thought I'd have a good walk. NOT! I was so slow, my legs felt heavy and tired, and I did not push at all because of the marathon tomorrow. Hopefully that will still go OK.

Weather was nice - 50F (10C) and windy. The "warm before the storm" is here, as it's supposed to snow tonight. Hahaha! I get to miss it! I'm headed south now to Mesquite, NV for the race. Race weather looks like low 40s to start and possibly windy, but no precipitation predicted.

Total time: 1:05:04 (slowest in a very long time...) for 6:30/km and ave HR 139. Ugh.

Garmin connect data here.

***

I may not have internet access until tomorrow, or maybe not until Sunday (the hotel charges $10 for it...ugh!), so if you need to get a hold of me, please call me on my cell or text me.

8K fartlek - 11 second PR!

Today's workout: another 8K fartlek. Last night I was dreading it a bit. It's not that long, but it's hard, and I'm feeling a bit tired. Life is busy, and I've been feeling slightly sluggish about everything this week (work, stuff at home, etc) so it's not just the workouts. Anyway, I felt better this morning when I woke up.

Weather: It was supposed to be 34F for the low, but it was actually 31F (-0.6C). Chilly, but it's going to get colder as winter arrives, and it honestly wasn't bad once I was warmed up. I wore 2 long-sleeved shirts, tights, headband, and gloves, and that was good. It helped that there was no wind.

I warmed up in about 9:44 for 1600m including some strides in the last 400m, and then did some dynamic stretching. It was still dark when I started the fartlek, but by about 3-4K it was light enough to see my watch without my headlamp. I felt good and fast just like I did last Thursday, and started off with a 5:26 for the first km. I surprised myself with a 2:54 for the first medium speed 500m, and followed that up with a 2:44 fast one. Then I thought maybe this would be a really good day. It was! All my fast 500s were 2:44-2:47 (the last one I worked really hard and got 2:45!) and my medium 500s were mostly 2:56 and 2:57 with one 2:59.

Intermediate splits: 16:48 for 3K, 28:16 for 5K (a PR for this distance for a fartlek!).

Total time: 45:29, ave HR 162, 5:41/km or 9:09/mile. Smokin'!

Garmin connect data here.

***

Tomorrow is an easy 10K, and then Saturday I'm doing the Tri-States Marathon starting near St. George, UT, and going through Arizona to finish in Mesquite, NV. It's a nice downhill course, and I'm under STRICT orders from the coach to be sure to keep the effort easy and do the race at a training pace. I could still be pretty fast if I have a good day (but Jim - I promise not to push it!!!).

***

Some fun quotes about the 50K from my friend Karen Karavanic's website:

"Fifty-kilometer racewalkers consider themselves the toughest of the tough" -- Elliott Denman

"Veinte kilometros es para ninos y cincuenta kilometros es una distancia para las mujeres." -- Mexican saying, in translation "20k is for children and 50K is a distance for WOMEN" :)

lazy

Got up a bit late. Only did 25 min on the elliptical, and then core work with Lisa. I was lazy today...

20K @80% effort

My coach changed the workout from 25K to 20K yesterday, which I wasn't going to complain about! I'm doing a marathon on Saturday at training pace and he didn't want me to be overtaxed going into it.

Weather: 38F (3.3C) and overcast and calm. Pretty nice weather for November. I'll take it! I wore tights, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves (which I took on and off a few times), and a fleece headband, and that all kept me comfortable. Minor chafing under my right arm was eased by a little body glide at 15K.

I had to really concentrate to stay at 80% effort this morning. It required a lot of mental focus not to lapse into an "easy" pace. Fortunately, most of the time I was able to keep my focus, and the walk went well. My legs felt quite fresh to start, and though they got a bit tired at the end, I was able to hold my pace well.

5K splits: 30:18, 30:37, 30:59, 30:33.

Total time: 2:02:31, ave HR 147, ave pace 6:08/km (9:52/mile).

Garmin connect data here.

shoe wear

As of today, this pair has 334 miles on them. They're ready to be retired. But you can see that I'm getting a good toe-off by the wear pattern :).

12K with 2x6' at 20K pace

I overslept a bit this morning. I needed to be up earlier so I could hit the gym with Lisa after my 12K, but I was too tired to get up that early. I seem to need more sleep the more miles I do, which makes sense. I'm just not good at fitting that in in addition to the higher training volume needed for the 50K.

It was relatively warm this morning, compared to how it's been. It was 36F (2.2C) and calm, and it was a nice morning to be out. I still wasn't really in the mood to racewalk this morning. I think the hard slog of the 30K was still uppermost in my mind, and I was sleepy, so even though 12K isn't all that far I wasn't really looking forward to it.

Because I got up late, it was getting light by the time I'd done about 3K, which was nice. About that time a friend from church (Kristin) ran by me going the other way and we waved hi to each other - sometime she and I are going to go together, I think!

I decided to do my first 6' at 20K pace from 3.5-4.5 km on my route, since that part of the route is flat/slight uphill and it's hard for me to stay motivated there. I did the 500s in 2:56 and 2:55, slightly faster than 20K pace (20K pace in the race I just did was about 5:56/km). I continued, feeling pretty good. My legs felt fresh, which surprised me a bit, as I think I expected them to feel lousy after Saturday's 30K. I did my next fast segment from 8.5-9.5km, and pushed a little harder, doing the 500s in 2:54 and 2:50. I still felt good and was able to push a bit up the hill to the end.

Total time: 1:14:06 for 6:11/km (9:56/mile) with ave HR of 143.

Of note: my left foot is bothering me just the slightest bit now. It feels a bit warmish. I have to be careful with my technique so that I do not re-injure it doing so many km. My right shin is also just a bit tired. Hopefully both will be OK despite the fact that I have to do 25K tomorrow.

Garmin connect data here.

a little figure skating

Michelle and I are taking figure skating lessons!





Though maybe I should stick with racewalking! Seriously, it was really good this afternoon - I skated for 50 min and it loosened up my stiff muscles a lot. Excellent...feeling much better now.

slow 30K

The weather wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. It wasn't good, either. It was pretty warm, considering, at 48F (~9C), but it was extremely windy. Gusts almost took my baseball cap off, and the wind blew rain into my face when I walked south. It was at my back walking north, but still icky. I did four 7.5km loops, and on the first loop it merely drizzled. The second and third loops it was raining lightly but with the wind it was cold and I put on my rain jacket for the 3rd loop. By the 4th loop it stopped raining but was still quite windy.

It was not a good walk. I had GI trouble (stops at 15K and 23K), and my legs were totally done by 15K. Seriously, they were kind of numb-feeling, if that makes sense. I just kept plodding - every 500m, my watch reminded me that I was very slow, and I tried to keep a positive outlook. But with the wind and the rain and the cold and the tired legs, I got a bit discouraged. My coach called me around 25K and asked how I was, and I said, "I feel like CRAP!". He and I attribute it to a lot of km this week (about 89...just shy of 56 miles), with the hard half marathon to start the week. In any case, I finished the walk, and it wasn't pretty but I did it.

Total time: 3:14:49 for 6:30/km (10:27/mile) with ave HR of 142.

Garmin connect data here.

Photos and video: Two Cities Half Marathon

Here are the race photos.

Here's the video. I'm at 4:00-4:20 into the video, more or less, and I'm wearing a blue top and black shorts and have very white legs :).

12K

It was really cold this morning. Though it was 27F (-3C), same as yesterday, it felt colder today. I'm not sure why, as it wasn't windy. Maybe it was more humid?

I started early so I could go to the gym afterward and lift with Lisa. However, once at the gym I ended up talking to someone I hadn't seen in a while, and then I talked to Lisa, and so I ended up just stretching and doing core work. I really ought to lift more...and do Pilates...but I'm not a full-time athlete and it's hard just fitting in the 50K training, never mind all that stuff too.

Anyway, I felt OK this morning. Not great, not bad, just OK. My legs got fairly tired around 6-7k, but I perked up a bit about 8.5k on the very slight downhill back to Liberty Park. Now, at lunch time, I feel very sleepy (a very boring/incomprehensible Research In Progress talk did not help matters much) and a bit stiff. I hope my legs recover, because I have 30K tomorrow. It's supposed to be very icky out, too - cold and rainy, turning to snow by afternoon, with lots of wind. It's possible that I'll do the 30K indoors if it's really bad. There's a 442m track around the Utah Olympic Oval (speed skating venue from the 2002 Olympics) that is a possibility if necessary.

Totals: 12K in 1:14:44 for 6:14/km (10:01/mile) with ave HR 141.

Garmin connect data here.

8K fartlek - 27-second PR!

Happy me! I keep getting faster! I'm not sure where it's coming from, but I don't mind at all. Today I was only about a minute slower than Erin was when she came here last summer and did this workout. Of course, she is MUCH faster now, but still...it made me happy to be even somewhat close to her slow times.

It's been pretty cold all week in the mornings. Yesterday it was 26F (-3C) and it was the same today. Once I'm warmed up, though, it's not so bad, because it's been calm and dry. I wore 2 long-sleeved shirts today, long tights, a headband, and gloves, and that was fine. Add a bit of wind and rain or snow, and it gets ugly. It's supposed to rain Saturday morning for my 30K. Ugh.

I didn't feel like getting out of bed this morning, and was slightly sore in my legs. I'm glad I did, though! Once I got to the track I had an unremarkable warm-up (about 10 min for 1600) and felt decent. I started off quite fast, with 5:27 for my first 1K, and stayed fast. All of my fast 500s were 2:44-2:47, with one 2:48. My medium 500s were all under 3 min, at 2:56-2:59! I was working it pretty hard, but I was able to focus on my technique and I felt quite smooth and strong.

Total time: 45:40, for 5:42/km (9:11/mile), with ave HR of 160. Yup, that is 27 seconds faster than last week's 46:07!

Garmin connect data here.

15K

I've been feeling pretty well-recovered after the race. My legs were sore and stiff on Sunday, but felt OK on Monday (rest day) despite the 10-hr car ride. Yesterday I did the elliptical for 45 minutes, and it felt great.

I was only a little sore this morning when I woke up, and I figured I'd have a good walk. It did feel good until about 10K (5K split around 31, 10K around 1:02:20), and then my legs were fairly tired and heavy to the finish. I still kept a decent pace, finishing the 15K in 1:33:57 for 6:16/km with ave HR of 145. I'm not so sure how I'll feel tomorrow for my 8K fartlek, but no matter. If I'm tired, I'll just do the best I can and get a good workout in.

Garmin connect data here.

Two Cities Half Marathon

Weather: about 50F (10C), or maybe upper 40s, calm, and clear. The promised showers never materialized, thankfully. Really perfect race weather. I wore my new arm-warmers for the first 3 miles or so then stuffed them in my shorts waistband because I didn't need them after that.

Warm-up: about 1500m with Diana, pretty fast, about 5:45/km. It was fun! We also hung out with Becky & Art Klein, Doreen, and Alex before the race (all racewalkers).

The race: It felt easy at the start to do a 5:45/k pace, so we started off at that speed, getting to the first mile in 9:21. Then the 2nd mile was a bit uphill, and my shoelace came untied because I forgot to double-knot the right one (and hadn't yet put lace locks on these shoes - bit mistake!). Diana went ahead, but after I tied my shoe I accelerated and caught her. Unfortunately, I pushed "stop" on my watch when I tied my shoe (habit from workouts...grrrrr) and then thought I hit start but actually didn't. I didn't notice for about 1km, until I got to 2 miles and looked at my splits in confusion. Uh-oh. How annoying! I felt very good through about 4-5 miles (Diana says our 5K was about 29:30ish; she was right behind me), and then I had to push a bit more to keep the pace. I was slowing, still, but after 10K (in about 59:30) I picked it up going down the nice hill and did a 9:14 mile. That helped my cadence increase a bit, and I felt able to push through the next mile (9:25) and then up the hill at a 9:50 pace, much faster than last year's pace up the hill. The hill seemed smaller this year, too, though the gradual incline after the big hill makes it hard to keep pushing to the finish. Still, I pulled off a 9:32, then a 9:36, and finally 2 miles in 19:07 (forgot to press lap at mile 12) and then 1:02 for the last 0.1 (slight uphill there).

Total time from the chip: 2:05:33 for 5:57/km (9:35/mile) and a new PR by almost 2 minutes! Jim figures that my 20K was just under 1:59 (seems right). I'm pleased that I walked a very consistent pace from start to finish (except for the hill) and that I felt so good pushing to the finish this year. Last year it was really tough those last 2-3 miles, but this year, while I was working hard, it was much better - I felt stronger and able to push, and kept my pace all the way to the finish.
Family photo post-race:

Awards: LOVE this race...post-race they give out sundaes, a hot breakfast, a finisher sweatshirt (in addition to the tech-T in the goody bag at the expo), AND great awards. For winning the 1/2 I got a gift certificate from a local running store for a FREE pair of New Balance shoes! I picked out these NB1400s (awesome shoes BTW). I also got a gorgeous charm necklace from www.endureshop.com, worth $68+. It has 2 charms, one that says XIII.I (13.1) and one that has the race logo on it.

Garmin connect data here.

elliptical

Today I did 30 min on the very lousy elliptical at the hotel. I wanted to do longer, but let's just say that the machine frustrated me, and the room was too hot. Enough said.

My legs are still quite sore from the driving on Thursday. I hope that I can still RW fast tomorrow for the 1/2 marathon.

I enjoyed a wonderful pre-race taco bar dinner with the walkers from the SF Bay Area. Very enjoyable to hang out, eat delicious tacos, and talk racewalking. It will be super to see everyone in the morning and walk with them!

10K with 2x6' at 20K pace

I felt stiff and very sore this morning. It really hurts to do a hard 8K fartlek and then sit in the car all day :(. I wasn't optimistic for this morning's 10K, but it turned out pretty well. I'm not so sure about the GPS readings this morning - sometimes when I went pretty easy my times were fast for 500s, and sometimes when going hard (on the 2nd fast 6' segment, for example) the times seemed slow. Who knows. Doesn't matter.

The weather was good - 50F (10C) and humid, with slight drizzles here and there.

The workout - started fast, with a few 2:59s for 500s, and then when I sped it up for the first fast 6' segment it wasn't much faster, at 2:55 and 2:52 from 2K-3K. Then I eased up a bit until 6K and my 2nd fast segment was 2:52 and 2:59 (? really? working harder than that...weird).

Total time 1:00:53 for 6:05/km (9:49/mile) with ave HR 147.

Now to rest up (x-training tomorrow) a bit before Sunday's race (Two Cities Half Marathon).

Garmin connect data here.

cross-training; 8K fartlek PR

Yesterday I cross-trained; 1 hr on elliptical and core exercises with Lisa, including a 2 minute plank :).

***

Today: 8K fartlek.
Weather: 35F (about 1.5C?), clear, and calm. Chilly.
Other: ate a banana before the workout and it sat like a rock in my stomach. I often have a banana so not sure what was up this morning; later in the workout I got a bit of a side stitch. Didn't seem to affect me too much.

I felt good and fast. 5:28 for the first km, then fasts were all 2:45-2:48 and medium 500s were 2:58-3:03. Total time - new PR of 46:07. Ave HR was 165 - working it good and hard. I'm tired now.

Garmin connect data here.

an off day

Yesterday I took a day off. Today I had an off day.

I was to do 12K. First, I overslept by about 15 minutes. Then, it was raining. And, I felt nauseated for most of the workout (Michelle had some stomach flu thing and threw up twice on Friday, and my stomach has been off since Sunday night).

As for the rain, at first there was not much - just drizzles, but during the last 4-5k of my walk it was raining pretty hard. I wore my baseball cap and my new waterproof jacket (works pretty well!); it was 40F (4C) and I was as comfortable as one can be in the rain I suppose. My legs got a bit chilled (wearing tights, but they did get wet) and though I started off reasonably well, with my first 5K in 30:40, but by about 7.5K I really lost it (think splits of 3:22, 3:23, etc), and my 2nd 5K was 32:20. I just could not keep my legs moving very fast. It felt weird. Between the rain and the nausea and the chilly legs I was fairly miserable and just wanted to be done. Plus I was late and had to get the kids to school. I gave up, and packed it in before I could finish the last 1.8K.

Total: 1:04:24 for 10.18K, 6:18/km, ave HR 145.

I forgot to bring my Garmin cable so no connect data right now.

I still feel icky. Wish I could get a nap this afternoon, but there's no way that's going to happen...sigh...