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Morristown 8k

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Location:

New Palestine,IN,USA

Member Since:

Oct 23, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

5k - 18:59 (3/09)
4M - 25:06 (9/09)
10k - 41:01 (11/07)

Half - 1:25:58 (11/09)

Marathon - 3:06:33 (12/09)

Short-Term Running Goals:

1:25 for the half marathon
Sub 39:00 for the 10k.
3:07 marathon
18:30 5k

Upcoming Races



Long-Term Running Goals:

Break 3:00 for the marathon.

Personal:

Married, two daughters (18 and 15).  Masters runner trying to get competitive in my age group.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Saucony Ride 5 (Red) Lifetime Miles: 372.70
ASICS Excel 33 Lifetime Miles: 152.00
Saucony Ride 7 Lifetime Miles: 249.00
ASICS DS Trainer Lifetime Miles: 212.20
Asics Cumulus 16 Lifetime Miles: 241.30
Race: Morristown 8k (5 Miles) 00:34:41, Place overall: 23, Place in age division: 3
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.000.005.000.0010.00

This morning it was pretty warm and humid plus the last couple of days I have felt kind of sluggish so I didn't have great expectations for this race.  I wanted to treat it as a good strong tempo effort and get a few extra miles in the process.  I did a 2 mile warm up and it was very warm already (mid 70's, sunny and humid).  Going into the race I was hoping for something around 6:45 pace.  I got started easily but early on I felt like I was putting forth a lot of effort and wasn't going that fast.  I came through the first mile in 6:41 so was pretty close to pace.  Second mile was more of the same.  Just felt like I had no speed in my legs and I knew I was slowing down.  Second mile was 6:52.  The third mile was a long sunny stretch and now I was trying to adjust my effort so I could have enough for the finish and slowed even more.  The 4th and 5th miles I didn't feel like I was losing as much but just didn't have any left to pick up the pace.  Here are the splits: as I remember them.  For some reason when I went back to my watch I couldn't pull them up.

1st - 6:41

2nd - 6:52

3rd - 7:17

4th - 7:07

5th - 6:47

This is a real disappointing result for me.  I just really thought that I would be further along now.  These are the kind of times I was running a couple of years ago on 25 to 30 miles a week.  Now I am running 50 to 60 miles a week and I'm not any faster.  I know the weather wasn't the best but I run in this stuff everyday so don't think I can use that for an excuse.  It is very hard to trust the training when the results are not coming.  Maybe I need to do more tempo work/speed work something because this doesn't seem to be working.  Did a three mile cooldown for a total of 10.

 

Comments
From Tom on Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 12:14:39

Jim I wouldn't worry too much about this race. The warm/humid conditions will typically cause problems but also when you ramp up miles it will commonly take a while for the training results to kick in. I remember after running 2-3 months straight of around 60 mile weeks and I ran an absolutely terrible 5K early December last year. But then shortly thereafter I ran huge 10K and 1/2 marathon PRs.

So hang in there, the training WILL have the desired effect eventually. I think if you've been at higher mileage for a few weeks and you aren't still trying to build up then you should be fine doing a tempo run every week and maybe even a 2nd uptempo workout as well.

From MichelleL on Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 15:12:10

I agree --it looks like you have recently increased your mileage to the high 60's and it may take your body time to adjust to the higher mileage and to benefit from it too.

Most races are primarily for training (a killer workout) and to learn about how we race and how to race better. You definitely got in a great workout so perhaps ask yourself what you learned in the race.

From JimF on Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 16:23:16

Tom, Michelle, Thanks! I know you all are right I just need to trust the training and the results will come. After a little more time to reflect. It has only been around 8 weeks ago when I started training above 50 miles and I have been increasing my long run pretty much every week. I did 61 miles this week which I think is my second highest mileage week ever. So I know you all are right and I have to give my body time to adjust but it is tough when my race pace is slower than tempo runs I did a few months ago. One question. My marathon is in a little over two months. How much higher should I take my mileage? Do you think I would be better increasing it a little more than holding that to the marathon so I don't go into the marathon tired/sluggish?

Thanks again!

From Jon on Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 22:39:17

Jim

Michelle and Tom are right- your training will pay off. Don't worry. Harder to see the differnce in short races, too. As for the mileage- as long as you aren't feeling sick/injured, you could keep increasing it a bit. Something like a few more low 60's, then high 60's, maybe a 70. Increasing the mileage now will help you with the marathon, while having a proper taper will take care of the tired/sluggishness. A 2-3 week taper is plenty of time to recover from any tiredness (though always watch out for injury).

From jtshad on Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 10:14:45

I agree with all that has been said. Keep the training strong and with good mileage and it will pay off in your target race. The mileage increase and approach that Jon recommended is right on.

Just treat this as a good training run, one that you can learn from and apply to future training and races.

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