Troy Hanson ran a 5k race and finished with a time of 0:22:26. This was a personal record by 2 minutes!
Ok. So, I decided to actually race a community 5k run/walk to see where my fitness was at and because I hadn’t run a 5k in several years and was a little curious. Pushed myself and ran a 5K PR by 2 minutes. Also, won 1st in my age group (out of only 4 runners), 9th out of 91 total, and helped our tutu team place first (yes, I ran the race in a tutu)! I had never won anything in an “official” running competition before!
Bill Nitzberg ran the Wings to Wine race and finished with a time of 6:10:31, which was a PR!
Woot! What an amazing day. My first 50k race (so PR!), and, more importantly, I achieved my RunnersConnect profile goal to “Run a 50k… and feel good at the end.” And I felt great…well, great and tired and sore, but still great! As per my time goals — I finished in 6:10:31. I didn’t quite make my A goal (5:30:00), and I just missed my B goal (6:00:00), but with the heat (and the fact that I slipped in a PR 10k only 5 days before this run), I’m pretty happy.
As a special note: after missing several sign-ups for “formal” 50k races, I decided to plan my own — this is how the Wings to Wine 50k was born (check out https://wingstowine.com). I enlisted a groups of friends as crew and they staffed 4 aid stations along the route, including a fantastic surprise at the 40 km aid station that included an ice water bath — wow! As a final note … this may also be the longest 50k being reported on RunnersConnect, as my GPS trace from the run says I ran 53.33 km.
Christophe Cadiou ran the Peachtree Road Race 10k and finished this distance in the time of 42:39.
Another hot and humid day in Atlanta for the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th – I guess this is part of the tradition and experience. I had 3 goals for this race and managed to accomplish my C Goal (finish in the Top 1000 – I was 768th overall). I knew from the start that this was not a day for a performance, so I am ok with the time even though it is a minute slower than last year. More importantly, I lined up for this race excited and ready to give it my best – much better frame of mind than my last goal race last October.
Richard Alberts ran the Forest Hills 10km, finishing this distance in the time of 49:40. This was a personal record by 2:00.
Trained properly….got the results. Basically, from my training runs, I knew I could do it!
Kah Im Goh ran the Gold Coast Airport Half Marathon with a finishing time of 2:03:59. This was a massive personal record by 24 minutes!
Most well prepared race. Done over a 8 month period using RunnersConnect training plan. Everything seems to go according to plan and I was optimistic to run 6 min/km pace with a slim hope of possibly sub 2:00. Caught a cold during one of the training runs but fortunately just minor until the day after the race. Started the race with conservative pace of 6:30/km and adjusted according to feel as I progressed. Negative split of 3 minutes between 1st and 2nd 10km.
Kumar Raghavan ran the Bangalore 10k and finished in a time of 45:31. This was a new personal record by 1:30.
I had begun preparing for this 3 months ago. However, I ran into issues in executing my training schedule between mid-May to mid-June with work and other things in life coming in the way. Felt good to recover what I could of the training plan in the 2 weeks and then go on to achieve a PR!
Sergio Calvo ran the Maraton Correcaminos Half Marathon and finished with a time of 1:52:33. This was a PR by 00:01:10.
What went well…
1. A PR, of course! The first one in a while. I am taking the time to enjoy the little victory I’ve been working hard to get.
2. My brand new Injinji toesocks worked like a charm. It is the first time ever that my middle toes do not end up with sore and black nails.
3. Pre-race warm up. Taking those 45-60 minutes to do it by the book really makes a big difference.
4. I probably took the speed training with more seriousness than never before and it paid off.
5. I was able to run a conservative race in the early miles without overspeeding. Those savings seem to be the key difference between finishing solid and breaking just before getting there.
6. I stepped up to the challenge of being confident in my work and planning the race for a PR.
What did not go so well…
1. I was quite lazy/intermittent in terms of training the last couple of weeks prior to the race. A bit more consistency and I think I could have crushed the time more seriously.
2. I closed solid but not strongly. I did not reel in during the last mile. I was more concerned with keeping my endurance than targeting the next folk in front of me.
What I would do differently next time…
1. Redouble efforts to stay as consistent as possible on my training.
2. Focusing more during the last stages of the race so I can finish even faster and stronger.
Alex Viderman ran the Firecracker 5k and finished the race event in the time of 19:58.
Weather was perfect, 57 degrees and cloudy. They promised a fast flat course but it was 4 rolling hills. Plan was to do first mile at 6:20. Went out very relaxed my first mile, it started downhill and I forced myself to slow down. Tried to find a person to latch on to, but as soon as the uphill hit, everyone dropped paces and I was forced to just run by myself in about 20th place. Finished mile 1 in 6:18 and mile 2 in 6:23, still feeling very good. Mile 3 started downhill and I pushed it hard. At 2.75 miles I started kicking as fast as I could and came in very strong. Finished mile 3 in 6:16 and .18 at 5:25 pace. 15th place overall and 3rd pace Age Group 35-39. My final time was 19:58 (6:25ish pace), but according to my Garmin it was 3.18 miles (6:17 pace). I did get a Garmin PR of 19:32 which is always satisfying! I wanted a slightly better official time, but this was a tune up and my goal was to practice sticking to the game plan and pushing 3rd mile hard which I did so I will take it and try again next time!
Darrell Schroeder ran the EY River Run Classic Half Marathon with a finishing time of 2:26:12, which was a PR by 48 seconds!
This race is out and back, with out mostly uphill and back mostly downhill. Plan was 7:00/km to the turn-around and then 6:45/km coming back down the hill. Hopefully kick it to 6:30/km over the last 2-3 kms. In actuality I managed a little faster than 7:00/km out and made the turn with time in the bank. 6:45/km back down the hill until about 17 kms when I just plain ran out of gas. My pace blew up and I gutted out the last 4k. I had banked enough time that I still managed to nip my PR by about 50 seconds. Splits were 72 minutes out and 74 minutes back.
On the positive side, I did take off more than 12 minutes from my best time on this course, so Yea! for that. Totally wasn’t expecting to PR today with the hilly course and a warmer day. A good day even if things didn’t go totally according to plan. It was good for my mental state to finish with absolutely nothing left in the tank.
Matt Garvey ran the Hudson Valley Triathlon and finished with a time of 15:35.
It was a hard course for a Triathlon, 1800m on the bike. I started working on this almost 10 years ago, but in earnest 6 years ago. Really it was accidental as I started on the triathlon path as a hedge against the issues I was having running for a marathon.
John Bird ran the Stampede Road Race Half Marathon and finished in a time of 1:34:36.08.
Heat, heat, heat… Steady pace for first 11 with a bit of a kick at the end for a respectable placing. Then pancakes!
Heather Sullivan ran the Old Port Half Marathon and finished this race in the time of 2:17:23. This was a new personal record by 11:50.
This was a huge PR. I set my prior Half Marathon PR in the first half I ever ran, back in 2012. This race proved to me that with consistency and the right training I can keep improving!
Patrick Jenkins ran the Bluegrass 10,000 (10k) and finished this distance in the time of 46:25.
This is a building block for fitness and to stay fit as I train for Boston in the Spring of 2018. It was hot and humid. I did as well as I expected. My plan prepared me well.
Nathan Torgerson ran the Firecracker 10K and completed this race event in the time of 40:10.
This was a classic non-target race that are fun because you can try new racing tactics without the pressure! I wasn’t trying to PR, and I shouldn’t be anyway being just 16 days since running a marathon and this being a hilly course where it’s usually hot.
With Michael’s guidance, this turned out to be a fantastic 10K race! Michael’s advice was to run the first half of the race on feel only, making sure I felt that I was holding back, and then race the final 5K. I didn’t even look at my watch for the first 5K, trying to run comfortable on the rolling hills, I hit 5K mark at 20:30 feeling good. Because there is a large hill that peaks at 4K, I waited until the hill was over before really racing. At the 4K mark I was averaging 6:45s per mile. The final 2.2K I averaged 5:57/mile to finish at 40:10. So even though this wasn’t a targeted race, it was one minute faster than I ran this race two years ago when it was a targeted race, where I ran it way to fast at the beginning (6:10s), and completely collapsed at the end. Today I finished first in my age group and 17th overall in a race of 600 people. Just another example of how you should listen to your RC coaches about starting races slower than your target pace! Negative splits are really fun. If worried about it, try it on a non-targeted race like this to get the feel and build the confidence that you really can kick it in at the end! Thanks Runner’s Connect!
Rick Pinto ran the American 4 Miler and finished with a time of 00:47:08.
Not a PR, but I ran within myself and felt good at the finish. Had enough left in the tank to take a minute off the last mile. Overall felt good.
