Pamela Hill ran the Woodlands 10k, finishing this distance in the time of 49:54.
Wow, the weather came through today! It was 45 degrees at start. I wasn’t sure going into the race because I had been pretty tired the last few weeks. BUT, I was able to execute better than I could’ve hoped! I began slowly and after settling in was able to run some negative split miles and kick it hard in the end. I felt great. I’m so pleased! I’m glad that I was able to kick at the end too, because I won my age group so narrowly! My chip time was 49:54.8 and 2nd place was 49.56.3!! Thanks again coaches! My workouts and needed adjustments were spot on.
Randy King ran the Miles for Migraine 5k and finished this race in the time of 23:25.
Didn’t go as planned. Based on past workouts, I thought I was going to be under 22 minutes without a problem. Legs felt fatigued from the start. There was a lot of up and down and I usually train flat, so maybe the 2 mile warmup on the hills was part of that. It does still help me know where my fitness level is and will help me come to terms with needing to slow down on my easy days.
Eric Paradis ran the 6b Mile Warm Up (10k) and finished with a time of 57:25. This was a personal record by 7 minutes!
Cold, cold and windy day. Raining and snowing on my way to the race. Wind was pretty cutting and I had a few layers on. Started off in the back of the pack with my people. Started off faster than planned and toned it down a bit as I was really just trying to feel a pace. But then saw a group from my running club ahead of me, so I had to pass them and beat them, right? Feeling good!
Manuel Garcia castaño ran the 15 km Metlife Madrid Activa with a finishing time of 1:06:10. This was a new personal record by 2:05.
15 K tune up race, intention to take it as a “Long Tempo” around 4:30 min/km. Very favorable race, mostly downhill, easy to catch up speed. Pace easily achieved, maybe a bit overdone… Scratching Zone 5 only in uphills and final sprint; not crazy high in any case, and recovering well afterwards. Ended feeling well, quite far from being exhausted; I felt like I could have been significantly faster. Sunny day, beautiful route and good friends! Can’t be much better than that! 😁
Christina Kach ran the Napa Valley Marathon and finished in a time of 4:29:20. This was a PR by 8 minutes and 57 seconds!
Wow. This race could have gone very differently. I am proud that my resilience, both mentally and physically, got me to the start and finish of this without crashing & burning. Let’s discuss.
For the race itself. As I had expected (but hoped wouldn’t happen) my Garmin wouldn’t connect to the GPS. Try as I might. I was annoyed, but adjusted by making sure I was behind the 4:35 pace group – guides aiming for even splits. Great, I’ll just hang a little back for the first hour so I don’t go too fast then move up. Problem solved.
The problem was NOT solved. I’m fairly certain these pacers forgot they were 4:35 and not 4:30 – they set out pretty quick, and stayed that way. I can’t really use my Garmin for pacing/mileage at all without the GPS. Basically, I spent most of this race guessing.
Back to the pace group. When I went to take my first gel around 40 minutes, I noticed I was way closer to 4 miles than I’d planned to be at 40 minutes. This was my first inkling the pacing group was going too fast, since I was behind them and going too fast. I slowed a little. Then I hit the first timing mat at 6.2 – 10:15 pace! NOT good, too fast. So I dropped back further from the pace group, just keeping them in sight. And, I hit the 13.1 mile mat with a time of 2:13:42 and 10:10 pace!? How?! Miles 13.1 – 20 were a blur. I hit the timing mat for 20 miles at 3:23:50 and a pace of 10:11. This was going to be a rough final 6.2.
As I approached mile 21, I could feel the wall coming soon. A boink would occur. I took a gel and slowed down. It worked, I never needed to stop and walk at this point – nor did I the whole race (other than water stops). I did still have a suffer-fest from miles 22-25. 3 very difficult miles where I didn’t “”hit”” The Wall, but I was certainly leaning against it. I knew I could PR even with slowing down and I was proud of the efforts I had shown so far. It would be a positive split which I didn’t love but oh well. A PR could still occur! When I hit the 25th mile marker, at 4:17:30…I realized I could break 4:30 if I stayed strong (and upright). I hit 26 at 4:27:30…I could really do it! And I did! I beat 4:30! Kinda on accident. Coming in at 4 hours, 29 minutes and 20 seconds. A PR from January by 8 minutes and 57 seconds.
Sometimes it takes something not going to plan to show us what we are capable of. I’m fairly confident that had my GPS been working correctly, I would have still PR’d but not by going sub 4:30. Maybe somewhere 4:322-4:33. I was well fueled, hydrated, rested and prepared. The scenes during this course were truly gorgeous, Napa is just beautiful. I was pretty exhausted and a felt a little “”off”” at the finish, no doubt from pushing myself. But I refueled and napped and bounced back to enjoy the rest of the trip.
My marathon times are now:
October 2019 4:50:08
January 2020 4:45:17
January 2023 4:38:17
March 2023 4:29:20″
Mike Corker ran the 1k Time Trial (8k) and finished with a time of 52:47, which was a PR!
1k time trial: Brooke Lane (400m), 90 degree turn, Station Rd (600m). 30 mph wind. In view of failure last time I divided 1km into 4x 250m for comparison. No traffic issues. Nett 6m descent in the 1km. Brooke lane sheltered from wind by houses. Station Road running directly into wind. I targeted 4:15 but set out a bit fast after doing strides warm up.
Results ( pace/HR in 250m lots) 3:58/130, 4:21/149, 4:22/155, 4:24/158. Garmin gave 1km PB of 4:17. Stryd calculator showed the wind on the Station Rd 600m probably cost me 5 secs over the full km which suggests a time of 4:12. The effort level went up hugely as soon as I turned into Station Rd and it felt like it cost me more than that but difficult to tell in view of tiring during the run.
Form: Training has helped, much more focused on hips and staying in form. No tiring of core/hips/legs. Much more glute dominant running with lactate in quads only being felt in last 50m or so- big improvement on last time when lactate in quads stopped me after 800m.
