A little warm for yesterday's run at 5:00pm....

Another great week of running with a couple of races thrown in for good measure.  Saturday I ran the Frontier 10k on a relatively hot day...  Last year was the inaugural running of the event and I went 39:10 and in no where near the shape I am currently.  This years version went pretty good for the most part, the heat started to get to me the last mile and a half but finished at 38:05.  Given the temps, I'll take it.  On Sunday, I ventured out to a race I did last year because my middle son Adam wanted to run it again.  So the whole family drove literately about 5 miles down the road to this race.  I decided last minute to go ahead and give it a go not knowing what I'd have left given the 10k I just ran the day before.  The race was at 10:00 and the temps were already pushing into the lower 80's...  With a short mile warm-up we were off, there was a girl that took off right from the go and had about a 20-25 yard gap on the chase group in the matter of a quarter mile.  I started to pull away from the chase group and caught the girl around a half mile in and never looked back.  Finished 1st overall in a paltry 18:47...  The heat and very hilly course were almost unbearable.  My first mile was 5:43 and just went downhill from there...  I'll take the win and a $40.00 gift certificate to Dicks....

Went an easy 5 today, calves were a little tight to start but loosened up nicely.  Looks like I might be running with a local HS XC team come June 11th....  the same team I might be helping coach in the fall.

 Here are a few obligatory pics from the Mini last weekend..

Crossing the yard of bricks on the speedway.

Crossing the finish line.

Had a blast down in Indy this morning!  This was my 5th Mini in a row and my fastest since 99'! I made the trek to Indy last night and stayed once again with my good bud Tom Kline in Nobelsville (which is just north of Indy).  Went out Friday night and met up with another good bud and former Ultraman Canada champion Scott Beasley at Mudsocks.  Had a great time catching up and filling my gut with pasta and Blue Moon...

Race Report:  I had a good warm up and did more stretching than I usually do.  I made my way over to corral A and weaseled my way up to the gang from 3RRC who were sitting right behind the Kenyans.  After some chit chat and finding out what everybody's goals were we were off.  Very uneventful start for a race of this magnitude (35,000).  I wanted to hold 6:20's or just under and see where it went from there.  Temp at the start was around 67 and they were predicting low eighties for a high.  The humidity was around 90% which I particularly didn't care for.  Went through the mile in 6:09 which felt pretty good, then rattled off 6:12, 6:13, 6:13, 6:20...  I hit the 10k sign in 39:25, pretty much right where I wanted to be.  One of the reason's I like this half so much is that you get to run around the Speedway for the entire 2-1/2 miles.  But on days like this, no clouds, high humidity, the track can get pretty hot.  And today was no exception.  After exiting the track my times started to slow a bit, 6:27, 6:28, 6:27, 6:25.  I started downing water at every stop and started to catch a second wind with 5k to go.  I finished with a 6:20 and a 1:24:08 finish time.  I was hoping for something closer to 1:23 but I can blame it on the weather... Overall felt really good with this and looking forward to my next race in two weeks.

Easy stuff this week with some fartlek and pick-ups thrown in there for good measure.  Going into the Mini with a ton of confidence.  I'm conservatively saying that I'll crack 1:25 but in my mind I have a different number that I'm shooting for.  Weather is looking to be a bit warmer as the day progresses.  The start is at 7:30am so hopefully the warm stuff holds off for a bit.    Feeling very fit right now and my training is cooperating with me. Calves feel great, I have to say that taking Calcium and Magnesium isn't hurting any. Almost 6 weeks down on my P90X trek with 4 weeks to go for completion.  I'm holding steady at 135 which is almost ideal I think.   I think if I'd like to be around 130-132 for Pikes.

Jumped into a local 10k this afternoon.  It's on a familiar course that many races have been run on so I know the distance is legit...  I wanted to get in something faster today so I could count it as a tempo run.  I was very optimistic on a time and thought I could squeak out something in the 38 range.  As I lined up at the start, I saw absolutely no one that I recognized except for maybe one other master who is a bit slower than me.  I couldn't get my Garmin 110 to get a signal before the start so I was running blind from the get go...  I thought I took it out conservatively but after a couple of hundred yards, I found myself leading the pack. I hit the mile mark in 5:43 and about 10-12 seconds in front of 2nd place.  I tucked in behind the lead biker and just motored!  This course is an out and back through one of the local parks and run entirely on a greenway/bikepath.  I never looked back after the 1st mile so when I hit the turnaround, I wasn't really sure who was back there.  When I made the turn I saw no one, in fact when I did finally see someone, I had about a half mile lead.  I almost thought about shutting it down and cruising in, but at this point I wanted to see if I could push it a bit and see what I could do.  I was feeling pretty good and thought I could hold sub 6's to the end.  Inevitably I drifted on the plus side of 6 but still averaged 6:04's, good for a 37:52 and the overall win.  Very happy with the effort and with only a couple of weeks to go until the Mini, feeling very confident about running that sub 1:25!

So much for trying to post something everyday or even a couple of times a week...  sheesh!  Running is going great, P90X is going great.....  I ran a 5k last Sunday to gauge where I'm at.  I wasn't really sure what I could run given my lack of speedwork.   I've been getting out on the track once a week for some quarters, maybe some pick-ups during the week, but nothing tempo pace.  I managed to run an 18:37 on the same course I ran a 19:24 last year.

I have the mini coming up in two and half weeks.  Still unsure whether or not I can crack 1:25 again.  I'll start off around 6:20 pace and try to hold it. Inevitably my pace will drift toward the end, but I will fight it. 

Weight is down around 137 and holding...  Been a lot more diligent about my diet since starting P90X and it's paying off.  I haven't had a Coke in 4 weeks and it's killing me!  

15 miles in rather cool temps this morning.  I was helping out a friend who is getting ready to run a marathon in another 4 weeks.  I ran a route I haven't run in some time now and was surprised on the amount of hills that we encountered.   Good workout to say the least...  Feeling good!

Banged out 12 x 400 yesterday, first real speedwork in a couple weeks.  Happy that all splits were under 82s!  A little more than 4 weeks until the Mini and I'm still in hope's of dipping under 1:25 again. 

Update on the job front:  Earlier this week I got a second call back for a job with Voss Automotive.  It originally started off with a phone interview, then an in house interview with two people.  The selection has been narrowed down to myself and one other person.  Next is an interview with another three people which probably won't happen until the first week of May as the people I need to talk to are currently overseas.

Great week so far, plenty of speed and distance to compliment my 4th week on P90X.  I'm down 10 pounds since starting which I think is a good thing.   I think it has to do more of just watching what I'm eating and not overeating!  I definitely feel stronger and my 10.7 mile run yesterday through some of the hilliest stuff I have around here just proves it.  I wasn't letting up on any hills and even charged up a few of them without blinking an eye.   Feeling real good! 

I have the Mini to look forward to in just over 5 weeks.  I'm hopeful to crack 1:25 again.