Eric Paradis ran the Run For Freedom 5k and finished this distance in the time of 30:16.
So many hills! Tried to keep an even pace for mile 1, hills started quickly, but was able to maintain a good pace I thought. Had some gas at the end, but a little shy of my goal of breaking 30 minutes. So hot and muggy!
Bob Ferguson ran the Firecracker 5K and finished with a time of 26:29.
I had set a race goal of less than 27:00 and was able to beat that goal by 31 seconds! It has been some time (more than 5 years) since I was able to run a 5K under 27:00 and hold a pace in the mid-8 minute range. For this one, I was able to set a target pace, hold it steady within a few seconds per mile for most of the race and then still have enough to accelerate in the last half-mile. Best 5K I have run in years!
Thanks Coaches! The training worked great and I am already looking forward to the next race and the next goal!
Pete Obermueller ran the Firecracker 10k and finished this race in the time of 45:53.
First race back since 2019. Won my age group!
Debbie Perry ran the Dolphin coast 21.1 Half Marathon and finished in a time of 1:28:08.
First sub 90 in 3 years! Training is working well. Thank you.
Kim Kossick ran the 4 on the 4th (4 mile) and finished with a time of 45:20, which was a PR!
Max Power: 336; Avg. Power: 178
This was my local 4th of July race. I was mostly running for fun and to get some more racing experience. Weather was beautiful and it was a great atmosphere.I did walk a little up a hill. But, my last mile was second fastest to my first, so that made me happy. I felt great afterward and had a lot left in the tank–enough to finish mowing my grass–so I know I can go faster when I want to. Looking forward to my other summer races coming up in the next few weeks!
Michael Istre ran the 4 for the Fourth (4 mile) with a finishing time of 29:15, which was a PR by 45 seconds!
This is a PR for this specific annual race on July 4th. I usually stop running consistently during the summers since it is so hot in south Louisiana, but I’ve pushed along so far this summer and came up with a PR for this race.
I took Coaches advice and started this race off around 7:25 pace and then ran it like a cutdown workout. I gave mile 4 everything I could in this heat. 4 out of 12 in AG.
Patrick Sweeney ran the Achill Island Half Marathon and finished in 1:44:28. This was a personal record by 3:15.
First up and most importantly a huge thank you to all my RC coaches for the training plans and the advise, guidance and encouragement. I would never have got a new PR without you. My race plan with pace guidance from Coach Andie advised running this hilly circuit with a consistent effort and that is what I did. I followed the nutrition and hydration plan and it worked perfectly. I felt good at the end and I feel I still had a bit in the tank.
This race is very special for me as it is my home Achill Island HM (442 finishers in the HM and 352 in the 10k) and I was delighted to hit a new PR after eleven years! It’s a very big annual event here as the population of the island is just 3,000. The course is a hilly circuit with an elevation gain of 728 ft. There wasn’t any M70 category but I won the M65 category. My Garmin tells me that I hit 4 other PR’s in this race. 1k 4:29, 1 mile 7:17, 5k 22:24, 10k 49:09. That will do for now!😃
Kurt Porter ran a 5k race, finishing this distance in the time of 24:43.
On April 24, of this year, I ran a 5K race at 28:06. Today’s time is 3:17 faster. Can’t complain about that much progress in less than 9 weeks. However, lessons learned: Start out at desired pace. Slow it down a bit. Mile 3 – dig deep! last 0.10, I need to really, really sprint. Next 5K race is in 17 days. Would really like to run a 24:30, which means 7:55 all the way. As I’ve only done 2-3 aerobic runs the past 6 months, I think I’ll run that pace sooner, rather than later. I’m fairly confident I won’t be improving 3 minutes every 9 weeks, but breaking 22:00 minutes by the end of the November would be cool. I’m especially happy with the improvement for my time spent in Heart Rate Zones.
Jason Lakes ran the Houston Run Wild 5K and finished this race event in the time of 19:30. This was a new personal record by 0:53.
As with all of my race reports, while I will start out with the negatives, I will not bury the lead as I finally did achieve one of my targets for these shorter races (sub 90 half; sub 40 10K; sub 20 5K) – today I got the sub 20 5K, which I was very happy in achieving. As with every run, there are things I would like to have done or raced better, but I cannot complain since I met my A goal with temps at 81, feels like 89 at the start of the race. A few people mentioned the course may have been 100-200 meters short, so that is in the back of my mind as another reason, but I am going to trust the race organizers and take this as a sub 20 and celebrate it.
For the negatives, there were probably two big negatives and a few small negatives before I get into the positives. The first negative seems to be a recurring theme at these smaller events where they have less organization in lining up (versus the corral system most big races use). I usually over hydrate, particularly in the summer Texas temperatures, and based on that, I like to make a stop about 15 minutes before gun time. This makes for a more comfortable race, but it usually results in my ending up in the middle to back of the pack. And, with many of these races, you get walkers and much slower paced runners in front of you. I celebrate them running, but there are usually small running areas to start these races (today was an upscale shopping area so we were in the parking lot). So, I always end up getting caught behind people that want to walk or run 8+ minute pace and it is a challenge to navigate through and around the crowd. Today, it was nearly 800 – 1000 meters in before I could run and start running at the pace I was targeting. And, at that point, I had wasted a fair amount of energy weaving in/out of people and also felt like I had to absolutely hammer once I got into a space where I could open it up. However, I knew I had wasted energy and let myself get a little frustrated trying to break out of the crowd. I was more patient on the longer races, but was not on the shorter race today.
The second negative was, after clicking down runners for the first 3.500 to 4,000 meters, I got into an open area where there were few runners for me to track down. At that point, I was hurting and hammering/racing, and went a little negative for a few minutes. My self talk was negative and I really questioned if sub 20 was a goal worth targeting. I worked through all these feelings and thoughts over 200-300 meters and once I got under 800 meters to go, I told myself I can do anything for the 3 plus minutes I had left.
The biggest positive, as I noted in the beginning, is I did hit my target of sub 20 at 19:30, despite hot and humid conditions. I have had this target for a while – and missed it by 23 seconds at this same race last year. So, I can look at and say, same day of the year, same race, I am 53 seconds more fit on a 5K today than I was 12 months ago. I was generally happy with the time, the run, and the performance today – now though, like any runner, now I have a new target – I need to run sub 19 (and sub 90 HM; 40 -10K is still out there).
I am also proud of my splits as I ran the first mile at 6:39 (got caught in the traffic); the second mile at 6:21; and hammered the last 1.106 hard enough to get to a 6:18 pace overall. I still feel like I could have pressed harder at 4K and something to work on for the next 5K I run.
I was also happy I talked myself out of dark moment in the race from 4K to around 4,200/4,300 meters when I was really hurting (and almost sick) – and in no mans land with no other runners near me -either chasing or to be caught. I am disappointed I let myself go negative, but also happy I got myself out of it quickly. I feel like that’s something that will continue to come in handy on the big race in October and my sub 3 target.
I also placed 29/775 and 3/34 in AG – so I feel good about my performance in big field. Given where I started (as detailed above), the temperatures, and my little unforced error of a pity party for 200-300 meters, I am pleased to have finished where I did place wise. I also saw several runners from the 10K I won last month, both on the course and after the race, so that was fun.
Today I am grateful for the coaches and community that developed training plans, coached and commented on good and bad runs, and were all a part of me hitting my goal as well as may parents being in town to see my best pace in a pace. Now, its time to dig in and get sub 3 in October.
Jurate Grigorjeviene ran the Zalieji ezerai, LBT stage XIII 12k and finished with a time of 56:59.
The race was really challenging as it was raining heavily all the time, all the route was covered with puddles of water and water streams, and the last 3k was on slippery forest trail in muddy puddles of water. I did not try to run my best and saved some energy for my second 6k race in the evening. However, it was much better result than last year 🤗
