Jirafe Log, Stardate: 4262014

Today's mission: conquer the Get in Gear 10k in under 40:30.

Course: Flat, scenic, Mississippi, more hills than advertised, remember this.

Weather: 50 ish. Overcast. Perfect.

Jirafe: Congested. Coughing. Phlegm. Tuberculosis?

I was supposed to meet up with the weekly running group, but I didn't feel like talking to anyone today. Did a warm up routine (first time I ever did that before a race). First time I had run in about a week. Felt a little winded. Changed goal to finishing in under 42 minutes.

Moseyed over to start corral. Only to realize that about 10,000 people had already lined up and I was going to be in the waaay back. Mistake #2. (Mistake #1 was going to Easter and interacting with those Petri Dishes that call themselves my little cousins...fool)

Evidently the race started. We slowly approach starting line. I get to the line, start my watch and take off...only to realize that everyone around me was already running their race pace...almost bowled into the guy in front of me and a little woman next to me let out a startled yelp.

The first half mile was pure brilliance. Weaving, bobbing, hurdling small children, the Jirafe had come off the savanna and found his gait. I made the two mile mark in 13:30. Which is impressive, I'm telling you—I did some serious work to get free.

Once I got free I had more time to think and realized that I really didn't want to be running. I could just stop here because my car was really close. Then we had to run up a hill and over a bridge. Got stuck a bit here...this time I decided to save some energy and just hang behind the blockage of people and wait for the road to open up again.

I knew the bridge was halfway and that a big hill came after it. That knowledge didn't help. Climbed the hill slowly. Burned on the way down though.

Hit four miles at about 27 minutes, which wasn't bad... but I knew I had to run faster on the last two miles faster than the previous two. Locked in to a stride. Coughed up some phlegm, spit it out. Realized that I should have looked first, but there wasn't anyone close anyway.

Mile 5 sucked. I realized I didn't have the will to hit 40:30 today and kind of took it easy. Probably ran about 7:15 for this mile.

Finished with a strong last mile and what felt like a strong kick, but I didn't catch up to anyone in front of me.

Finishing time of 41:40. Which is a PR by about 5 minutes (previous 10k was this exact race two years ago).

After the race I started coughing a lot and felt really gross. I was actually really happy with my performance considering how I felt. Look forward to running a healthy 10k. I think I can hit my goal of sub-40 this summer!

not even going to discuss the marathon. super rough.

as the Mr. said... there's always more

What a weird marathon. I came out of the start too fast, BUT actually corrected by the second mile and held a constant pace (until the last 5 miles) for the first time in my life probably. I started in the back with samir jennee and ron, then spent too much energy having fun passing everyone to get up to the 4:00 pace group. My plan was to just hang with them as long as possible to hopefully hit a 4:05. But they were running too slow at the start, so I caught the 3:55...the the 3:50....then the 3:45. Hung with those fast kids for the first 16 miles or so. Then I started fading, but not much. Stayed faster than 10 min/mile until mile 21 then I started cramping. Turns out running downhill when you're tired is a lot harder than I was expecting. Quads and calves were not used to that amount of usage and had consistent cramps every half mile or so til the end. Nothing bad, just enough to make me powerwalk backwards to stretch the legs out while not losing too much time. So many parents called me a Ninja Turtle, so many kids corrected them and called me the hulk. So many little kid high fives for the hulk.

Also, I was about 2 minutes behind gun time, and the last .1 miles is a narrow stretch with the crowd giving you high fives as you finish. Except for me. They were too busy counting down to 4 hours to see if I could finish in time. Calves started cramping so I had to do the Deion Sanders high step across the finish line with seconds to spare. I stopped to catch my breath and I swear every muscle in my legs cramped. it was fun.

cut 34 minutes off my PR. Pretty sure if I run 3 or 4 more marathons I'll be running them in under 2  hours.

Pertinent stats:

0 poops

Majority of my miles for the first portion was between 8:15 and 8:40. Surprising consistency,

3:58:02 is my new PR

I'm listing this as a 26.5 mile race because everyone's gps read that and that means my ave pace was 8:58 instead of 9:05

0 POOPS!

This one was so fun I probably won't retire from marathons (fifth one is coming up in January in DISNEY WORLD)

P.S. Will be shocked if orlof doesn't best my time and shatter his PR in 2 Days. Because he's a robot that specializes in running fast for long distances and doing math and dating jewish women.

Figured I would just write floski's race report quick:

 

Well, it was about 45 all day. I started running at about 8:05/mile, then I just did that until I got to the finish line.

I started off a little slower, following the 3:45 pace group. After about 2 miles I started pulling ahead of them, figuring I would stay just a touch ahead, and not let them pass. The first 5K was my slowest at just 8:17 per mile. I settled into a grove trying not to go too fast, but there were a lot a fast people around me so I just kept up the pace. I hit the half way mark feeling pretty tired actually. I looked at my watch and saw about 1:46 and figured "Damn, my second half will be much slower than the first, but at least I know I can still do a 2 hour half so 3:45 should be attainable." I tried to stay steady, ate a couple shot blocks, but each subsequent water stop I lingered for an extra couple seconds. I got real scared I would come down with a case of the Dan's (happened in the 20 miler 3 weeks ago) but my bowels settled down and I was fine. By mile 20 things were getting silly. It seemed like every 10 yards there was another person off to the side stretching out a cramp. Then at mile 24ish there was a guy on his back, in the middle of the course, grabbing his leg in a lot of pain. Not a single runner said anything to him, or even remotely came close to slowing down. Then at about mile 24.5 there was a lady with small cups of Old Style (like an official Old Style girl, not some rando). I remembered that ultra runner article about alcohol and running, so I took a cup and had a tiny sip. Not sure if it was the beer, but at mile 25 when I tried to push my pace to the finish I was instantly on the verge of cramps in both my calves. Luckily I kept my pace in good enough check to avoid full on cramps and made it to the finish line. If it weren't for those cramps I think I could have shaved another 30 sec of my time. Regardless, I was pretty amazed when I looked at my watch and saw it was in the low 3:30s. And, after 2 marathons and a 50k I have yet to ever hit "the wall". I'm starting to think it doesn't exist...

PR: 3:31:37

Place: 5,063 overall (4115 men)

On Thursday I was looking up to see if there were any half marathons in Chicago this spring since I will be out of town for the one I normally run. I noticed there was one on Saturday, so I signed up.

I haven't run very much since December so I figured no way I'll PR, but lets just see how I do. If nothing else it will be the longest run I have done this year.  I figured a 1:45ish would be a good confidence boost since I ran a 1:42 last year, but two months later in the year.

I started off a little ahead of the 1:40 pacer and after about a mile realized that pace was a little too hot. I slowed down and it seemed like a sprinted past me. I let him go and just stuck with my pace, and convinced myself "it's OK to just run like a 1:50, I only ran like 30 miles all of February." Well I just sort of kept going not really having any idea what my pace was other than the fact I never saw the 1:45 pacer. With about 3.5 miles left I picked up my pace a little figuring it was time to give everything I had. Then with about two miles left I saw the 1:40 pacer. I slowly reeled him in and passed him with about a quarter mile to go.

Official time: 1:39:14. Was pretty surprised to beat my PR by about 3 min and glad I broke the 1:40 mark. I also want to point out I drank a five hour energy before the race. I have never drank a five hour energy and not pr'd.

Pretty much every one of floski's race reports is a new PR

I continued that trend with the North Shore Classic Half Marathon on Sunday May 31.

I went in without much confidence. My runs for the last several weeks felt very slow. Also, it was cold over the weekend. That was probably better for my time, but the thought of getting up at 5:45am to run in mid 40 degree weather in almost June was not exciting. So I went in thinking it would a success if I broke 1:40. Given I ran 1:39 back in March I hoped I at least was at the same level as 2 months prior.

I went out really just focusing on not going too fast. The number 1 thing I have learned based on other races: ALMOST EVERYONE ELSE STARTS OUT TOO FAST. My first mile was 7:19 and there were plenty of people passing me in that mile. I guarantee very few of them beat me, or even ran an average 7:19 pace for the race. If you can't run a half marathon at that pace, why are you running the first mile that fast? To make sure you are extra tired for the next 12? Anyways, my point is just that I tried not to let the other runners cause me to go faster than I should. I settled into a groove that turned out to be 7:15-7:20 pace. At the half wayish point is when I then turn it up a slight gear. Mile 6 was a 7:06, mile 7 was 6:48 (there was some downhill), and mile 8 was 7:24 (there was a steep uphill, so I was happy that mile turned out that fast). After the hill on mile 8 I was feeling tired so I told myself just try to maintain until like mile 12, and then give everything I have for the finish line. I maintained pretty well and then put in a 6:40 for mile 13. Was pretty surprised to see the time on my watch was in the 1:34s. I never looked at my watch during the race. Based on the race clocks at each mile marker I new by mile 8 that 1:40 was possible and just tried to make sure that stayed true after each mile.

Official PR: 1:34:20

 

Wise words from a wise man.

 

I ran a 10k trail race last week. I was invited by a lady friend and it essentially served as a...hard... glute...swallowing...ass.

 

XX...x

Nice race report. Hills are a beast that make even paced racing much more difficult.