Week of 11/27 - 12/3

27- 17 miles w/Mont (6:54 pc)
28- AM 8 miles w/Mont (7:14 pc) / PM 5 miles (6:50 pc) & core
29- 11 miles w/4 miles @ 5:45 pc
30- 8 miles (7:13 pc)
1- 10.5 miles (6:57 pc)
2- 10.5 miles w/hill workout
3- 11 miles (7:01 pc)

Total- 81 miles

Fisher Cat 5k

Thanksgiving morning I went to Manchester with Justin and Rusty for the first annual Fisher Cat 5k. I worked overtime the night before and I had been awake all night leading up to this. When we got to Manchester we all got registered and then started out on a warm-up. My legs felt pretty good, but as soon as we got into our racing attire I immediately had an upset stomach. At one point about 15 minutes before the start I could have been found behind a fence dry heaving. I was a bit nervous that this was going to cause big problems during the race, but there wasn't much I could do about it now. The race got delayed by about 10 minutes, so we ended up doing a bunch of strides, drills and some more easy running. By the time it finally started I was feeling a tad better...well, at least not like I was going to hurl at any given moment.

When the race went out a pack of 5 guys developed right in front of me. I was about 10 seconds off their pace, and was hoping that some other people would come up from behind me and join in a chase pack, but that never happened. I had one guy (Scott Clark ???) right behind me for about 1.25 miles but then he was gone. I went through the mile in 5:15 and felt very comfortable. The second mile has the biggest hill which comes shortly after the 1-mile mark, but then the road is a gradual downgrade for the remainder of that mile. I hit the second mile split in 5:24 (10:39 overall). The third mile was by far my biggest challenge, and what made it so hard was the upset stomach. That reared its ugly head and I was in agony for the last 1/2 mile. I pushed up the hills as hard as I could. When I got into the stadium and onto the warning track I pushed a little bit more. When I hit the three mile mark in 5:45 (16:24 overall) I knew that it was going to happen. I cruised in to a 16:55 and celebrated the accomplishment.

Could I have run a little faster? Probably. My third mile was not very good, but I don't care! Breaking 17:00 was my big goal for 2011 and I finally nailed it on my 7th try of the year. If my stomach had been feeling better and I was caught up on sleep maybe the third mile would have been closer to 5:30 and I would have had the "perfect race." I am not going to keep chasing the "perfect race." I ran as hard as I could today and this is what I came up with. I am thrilled!

The time carried me to sixth place overall and second in my age division. The best part of the day was that Justin and Rusty both PR'd as well. Justin ran 15:50 for 2nd overall and Rusty dropped an "eye crossing" 18:54 for a big PR and a 2011 goal achievement. It was an awesome morning and a race I will probably never forget. I am on Cloud Nine. I am going to continue with my easy cutback week until Sunday and then I will start thinking about the future. For now, I am going to savor this moment!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Week of 11/20 - 11/26

20- AM 2 mile shake-out / PM 11 miles w/10k race
21- 6 miles (7:11 pc)
22- 9 miles w/Mont (7:01 pc)
23- 0 (long work day)
24- 8 miles w/ 5k race
25- 8 miles w/Mont (6:57 pc)
26- 8 miles w/Mont (6:47 pc)

Total- 52 miles

11/16/2011 Workout

This morning I got in a good solid workout on the treadmill. I was really crunched for time because I was expecting the guys from Abundant Life to come and put in our new woodstove. Either way, I thought I had an hour. I decided to do a 10-mile workout which included some running at I pace. This is how it turned out:

2 mile warm-up (approximately)

4:00 @ 5:39 pace (goal 10k pace) / 3:00 easy (7:30 pace)
4:00 @ 5:36 pace / 3:00 easy
4:00 @ 5:33 pace / 3:00 easy
4:00 @ 5:30 pace / 3:00 easy
4:00 @ 5:27 pace (goal 5k pace) / 3:00 easy

mile @ goal 10k pace- 5:39

1.5 mile cool-down (approximately)

It totaled up to 4.6 miles at goal 10k pace or faster. It was a good workout and I am glad that I squeezed it in. The whole 10 miles took 65:00. Now, time to get in some miles before Sunday's race.

Week of 11/13 - 11/19

13- 15 miles (7:00 pc) & Core Work
14- AM 6 miles w/Mont / PM 5 miles (7:15 pc) & core work
15- 10 miles (7:21 pc)
16- AM 10 miles w/workout / PM 4 miles (7:34 pc)
17- AM 11.5 miles (6:58 pc)
18- 10.5 miles (7:30 pc)
19- 8 miles (7:08 pc)

Total- 80 miles

Week of 11/6 - 11/12

6- 16 miles w/Skip and Mont (7:00 pc)
7- AM 5 miles(7:30 pc) / PM 8 miles (7:09 pc) & core work
8- 11 mile progression run (70:35 total)(6:50, 6:36, 6:25, 6:09, 6:34, 6:26, 6:02, 5:50, 5:47, 6:56, 6:50)
9- 8 miles (7:00 pc) & core work
10- 10 miles (7:04 pc)
11- 14 miles w/workout (90:00 total) & core work
12- 8 miles (7:13 pc)

Total- 80 miles