Yuck 3.5

Not sure what it was but today was just yuck... not sure what it was (or it was anything in particular). I averaged 8:25s - felt like I was running 6:25s. In hindsight I should have slowed up much more than I did.

Total distance: 3.57 miles
Total time: 30:00
Average pace: 8:24
Average HR: 153
Max HR: 168

Splits
8:13 / 146
8:19 / 155
8:33 / 157
4:55 / 156 (for .57 miles @ 8:41)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35342018

Fun old school Rhode Island run

Since we were in town for Brown's graduation festivities, I took the opportunity to sneak away for a bit to meet up with some RI friends and go for a longish easy run. We ran loops on our old route of north on Blackstone, south on Hope cut over to Blackstone.
I felt great during the entire run and was so happy to run with my RI friends again. ....good times.

Total distance: 9.01 miles
Total time: 1:22:06
Average pace: 9:07

Splits
9:15
9:18
9:05
8:54
9:09
9:01
9:34
9:13
8:31

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35252885

Hilly four - not much fun

Had every intention of doing some long hills today - a bit sore so I decided to cut it short.

Total distance: 4 miles
Total time: 36:34
Average pace: 9:08

Splits
9:16
8:47
9:01
9:28

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35252891

Hot sweaty six

WOW - it was hot today. Easily in the upper 80s/low 90s. I told myself just to go out take it easy - and when you feel miserable turn around and go home and nothing more than six miles. I also took the opportunity today to run a new route and look for Long Wharf (in hopes running along the water would be cooler - fat chance).

First three miles were smooth - nice and easy. Sweat like crazy but felt good. Then around mile 4 the heat started to really take its toll. I was keeping an eye on the heart rate - and since it was slowly creeping up over time - I thought it would be best to slow down a bit to keep it in check. Last 3 miles were definitely slower - yet my HR was the highest during these miles. Darn heat.

Overall felt good - even with the heat. Legs are pretty much fully recovered from Ragnar which is good - as the 100on100 relay last year took some time to fully recover from.

Total distance: 6 miles
Total time: 52:09
Average pace 8:41
Average HR: 162
Max HR: 178

Splits
8:23 / 146
8:25 / 159
8:28 / 162
8:40 / 166
8:57 / 169
9:15 / 170

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34673523

First run since Ragnar

After two days of rest since Ragnar, I had to go out today to see how I was feeling. After a 1/2 mile "test" of how the body was feeling - I decided to try and pick up the pace a bit. I headed downtown and around Yale for a nice warm run.

Total distance: 3.5 miles
Total time: 27:30
Average Pace 7:51
Average HR: 160
Max HR: 177

Splits
8:03 / 150
7:53 / 163
7:36 / 163
3:56 (for 1/2 mile @ 7:51 pace) / 172

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34530944

Ragnar Relay New Haven-> Boston Race Report

(Caveat: Its long - and im sleepy so I apologize now if this makes NO sense)

This weekend was the Ragnar Relay from New Haven to Boston (or in this case Branford to Foxboro). I ran the 100on100 relay last year (100 miles/6 runners), this is 200 (192 or so) miles and 12 runners. My main concern going into the relay was running at night (and sleep deprived).

We dedicated the race to Betsy's (who was initially on our team) father who died earlier in the week. She showed up at the start to wish us off and cheer us on. Three of our team members went to the start at 4am to volunteer (although no one else showed from Ragnar until 5am) - while the rest of us got to sleep in a bit longer before meeting at Jerry's house - from there we piled into one van to head to the start. We (re)packed up the two vans at the start and then went through registration, safety orientation, packed pickup, tshirt pickup and such. All of that ended around 9:15 or so which left about 10 minutes for pictures and stuff before I had to get to the start. After the team introductions the 9:30am teams were off.....

Thinking back on leg 1 it was kind of a blur - not sure if it was the excitment of starting the race for the team, the sleep deprivation that has set in now, or if it just wasnt that memorable of leg. I do remember starting off and running with the pack for a bit. About a half mile in we started to seperate and I was running alone with about four 9:30 start runners in front of me. All the pains and strains from the previous week seemed to be gone which was great. The van went by to check on me and see if I wanted water. I waved em on said I was good - but then realized how warm it actually was and wondered if I had made a mistake in passing up water. Came into the transition (wiped the sweat off the slap bracelet) handed off to Dawn and she was off. Very happy with first run of the relay - ran strong and felt good. Food, hydrate, relax, support time.....

First Leg Stats (per Garmin) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34238030
TOtal distance: 3.73 miles (3.8 based on Ragnar site)
Total time: 26:57
Average pace: 7:13
Splits
7:00/7:03/7:27/5:25 (for .73 miles @7:23 pace)

During my down time, I tried stay hydrated and tried to eat food. Kept the food light as I didnt want to be overly full for future runs. We stopped along the course many times to support the runners from our (and other) team/van. It was very warm so we wanted to make sure everyone had enough water whenever they needed it - although some of us waved off water most of the time. After our van was done with its first set of runs we handed off to van 2 and ate some Subway, then off to the next major transition for some rest/down time. This transition area was awesome - big, along the water, nice cool breeze, plenty of space to spread out and relax.

Around 4:30pm I started to get myself ready for my next run. We weren't really sure where Matt (last runner in Van 2) was as van 2 got stuck in traffic and had no idea where Matt was either. We knew approximately what time he started - so I got to the transition area around 4:45pm in anticipation. Matt came in a little after 5pm, wished me luck on "The Hill" and I was off. First part of run was beautiful - I got to run over the bridge and over the river we were resting near. A little narrow on the bridge but car traffic was relatively light. About 2/3 of a mile in "the hill" that Matt warned me about started. This hill was long and steep. I was able to pass about 5 teams or so just on the hill alone - which seemed to help boost my spirits. After I reached the summit, the course came down fairly steep to and even though I just wanted to let loose and fly - I had to stay in control. A few rolling hills then another steep (but much shorter) incline. Some stomach cramps started to set in around mile 2.5 - not sure if I was under hydrated, under nourished, wrongly nourished, or what - but it was very uncomfortable. This leg ended on a nice downhill where I was able to pick up some speed (stomach pains didnt get any worse or better going faster or slower) and finish strong and relatively smiling. I felt like garbage after cooling down a bit and getting some gatorade. Stomach was cramping big time - pain would come, hold for a minute, then relax (what I imagine contractions feel like for a woman in labor). Changed into some dry running clothes at this point and got ready to eat, hydrate, relax and support the rest of the team some more. I didnt eat though as the cramps continued and the last thing I wanted to do at this point was add to it (this would be a big mistake on my part). Overall still happy with my running as with the hill I knew the time would suffer a bit - but the effort was still there and legs were behaving and listening to me.

Second leg stats (per garmin) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34238023
Total distance: 4.74 miles (4.8 based on Ragnar site)
Total time: 38:31
Average pace: 8:08
Splits
8:49/8:14/7:57/8:03/5:27 (for .74 miles @ 7:25 pace)

During the down time now, I tried to relax a bit more, lie in the van, to see if that would help with the cramping. Sipped on gatorade and water in hopes that hydrating would help. Since it didn't, I decided to start getting out of the van when we stopped and cheer on our team again. No point being miserable in the van when I could hopefully distract myself with support and taking pictures. I kept sipping gatorade over the next few hours (but probably not enough) and yes - I still have not eaten anything since Subway lunch at about 2pm. After we handed off to van 2 at the next major transition, we headed to the next major transition at Putnam High School for some showers and rest/sleep.

When we got to the high school, I decided not to shower in fear that it would keep me awake afterwards and went right to the gym to hopefully get some sleep. We all decided to move outside to sleep in the grass as the gym was bright and very busy. I mostly just lied their waiting for the phone to ring, I did drift off for about 20 minutes until the phone buzzed at about midnight. I lied there after that until 12:45 just staring at the phone - I decided to get up and hit the bathroom and then try to fall back asleep. No sleep. Van 2 called at 1am saying that Matt was about 30 minutes out. So - I got myself ready with all my night gear while the rest of my team started to re-pack the van. Still - no food and now only 20 minutes of "sleep". I was not super thrilled about running at 1:30am, alone and with no food (I did eat three cola flavored shot bloks - but Im not sure if that counts for much), and my longest leg coming up - 7.5 miles.

I chatted a bit with some of the runners waiting at the transition area in hopes that I might be running with one of them for part of it. Matt came in strong (as usual - he is an amazing runner) - I took the slap bracelet from him and was off. There was no one to run with at this point - very quiet in towns at 1:30am. I got passed by someone from one of the faster teams - he wished me luck on the run and took off. I liked having him out in front as I could see where the course was going - but soon he was out of sight. This leg was pretty hilly too - and my hamstring started to make some noise. Since I didnt have much training at night like this, I though I'd be more nervous about wildlife - but I really wasn't. The few cars on the road (that didnt seem to care that we were out there as they did not slow down at all) made me more nervous. A couple time in the narrower spots - I stopped and stepped into the grass to let cars fly by me. I saw what I thought was another runner ahead so I took off after them. I was making up great ground on this other "runner" to find out it was a Ragnar direction sign with a blinky light on it. This, embarassingly, happened 3-4 times on this leg. After I "caught" the 3rd sign - my mood started to sour a little and I started to same somce choice words to myself. It was very dark so even when the road went downhill I couldn't just pick up the pace as I had no idea what the road was going to do more than three feet in front of me. I did some "van headlight sprints" using the headlights of support vans to help me see where I was going. Since I had hydrated myself during downtime - and there were plenty of vans out there - I told my van (who didn't have an extra hamstring for me) they could head up to the transition to make sure Dawn had time go get ready. Finally I caught up to another runner who was making room for me to pass. I let him know I had no intention of passing him and told him I've been trying to catch up to him for a while so I could run with someone. We ran (and chatted) the last two miles or so. The transition area was rediculously dark - I had to call out to Dawn to find out where she was (hard to pick out one person in the dark when there are 30 or so people all wearing head lamps and reflective vests). After this leg I put in my post running/normal clothes and decided that I needed a bit of sleep. Either the cramping had stopped - or I was so out of it that I didn't notice anymore. Pace was really off from what I expected - so I wasn't thrilled with myself.

Third leg stats (per garmin) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34238017
Total distance: 7.75 miles (7.5 based on Ragnar site)
Average pace: 9:09
Splits
8:39/8:26/8:55/9:09/9:13/8:45/9:07/833 (for .73 miles @11:40 pace)

I finally crashed out in the back of the van during Dawn's (2nd in our van) run and totally missed all of Chuck's (3rd in our van) run. I woke up to him getting himself cleaned up after his leg and Alecia (4th in our van) already gone. That hour of sleep though is all I needed - I felt refreshed and could run again (even though I didn't need to). I ate some snacks at this point and was feeling more human - although probably not smelling or looking very human. Sun started to come up during Keith's run and was up completely for Wayne's final run. We handed of to Van 2 for the last time, wished them luck and headed out for breakfast. My first real food since Subway. Bacon, eggs, toast, pancakes, coffee and soda - all good when hungry. After we ate - we headed up to Gillete stadium to the finish to wait for Matt to finish and bring the team in. We wandered around a bit - got myself a donut and soda - then we all relaxed until Van 2 arrived. Matt shortly appeared (although he missed a turn and added some mileage on) and we all ran through the finish line together as a team and received our finisher medals. We were the 3rd team to finish (not sure our overall place cause of the staggered start).

We headed up to one of the restaurants for some food and beers as a team. It was great being able to hang out with the other van a bit as we really didn't get much time at all to hang out as an entire team. We finished a bit under 26 hours which we were super thrilled with.

Overall - great experience, great times with some great people, learned alot about running - what to do and what not to do on long relay races. Look forward to running in another relay in the future.

Highs of weekend: Running with some awesome people, running fast/strong on first leg, tackling "the hill" during my second leg, "sleeping/resting" under the stars. finishing the third leg in one piece, finishing as a team at Gilette Stadium, and Guinness post race
Lows of weekend: not eating enough after my second leg, 20 minutes of sleep, my dapened mood during third leg - and really thats about it

Long run Saturday MRR

Went great - I did have a fall at about mile 4 INTO traffic - but the car had already had slowed/stopped when he saw our group coming. Phew! Minus some scrapes on my hand - and feeling like an idiot - I was able to shake it off and continue on.

Total distance: 10.75 miles
Total time: 1:29:33
Average Pace: 8:19

Splits
8:32
8:15
8:23
7:58
8:34
8:12
7:52
8:42
8:36
8:21
6:05 (for .75 miles @ 8:05 pace)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33335999

Two for Friday!

Doubles day today - here is the damage

AM Run - 9am
In order to beat the rain at lunch time (and in hopes of doing a double today) I went out for an early (for me) run today. Took some music with me - which I rarely do. A little Rage Against the Machine today to help set some pacing for me. Feeling good - and getting excited for Ragnar!

Total distance: 4 miles
Total time: 33:29
Average pace: 8:22
Average HR: 157
Max HR: 172

Splits
8:35 / 148
8:15 / 159
8:32 / 161
8:05 / 162

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33232108


PM Run - 7pm
I was on the fence about going out tonight for the second run of a double - but I talked myself into it. Overdressed so I got warm and sweaty fast. Heart rate was up for the speed I was running at. I tried to keep things nice and easy and stay relaxed.

Total distance: 5 miles
Total time: 45:12
Average pace: 9:02
Average HR: 152
Max HR: 175

Splits
9:11 / 150
8:42 / 152
8:45 / 156
9:40 / 148
8:52 / 155

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33279759

Mid week hilly longish run

After a couple lackluster and blah runs earlier in the week - today felt great! I decided to get some Ragnar prep in (only a week away - better late than never) - and run some hills and go a bit longer than I normally would mid week.

Total distance: 9 miles
Total time: 1:17:13
Average pace: 8:34
Average HR: 156
Max HR: 168

Splits
8:58 / 146
8:53 / 151
8:43 / 164
8:25 / 158
8:35 / 158
8:28 / 151
8:23 / 157
8:25 / 157
8:19 / 161

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33168439

Independence Day '5000' 5k Race & Walk

For those planning on being in Connecticut for the 4th of July, you should come out to the 18th Annual Independence Day '5000' 5k. I've never run this race - but I have heard its a great race and great fun. Very spectator friendly for family and friends to come watch you run.

Schedule of events
7:30am Race registration starts (till 8:45 sharp)
8:50am Announcments & lineup
9:00am Race starts
9:30am Food Fest!
10:00am Half mile Kids Fun Run or children 12 and under
10:30am Awards ceremony begins

Go to http://www.hitekracing.com/indy5000/ for registration info.

Hope to see you there!

Live Well 5K Run/Walk Race Report

Today was the Live Well 5k in Milford. My goals going into the race were a) finish under 21 minutes and b) even pacing. Cooler day today than it has been, which was great - but the wind was pretty brutal. Did a two mile warmup with Matt S. Felt good - legs still felt asleep.

First mile - As we went off, I tried to find the 6:45 pace that I was aiming for. The pack cleared about a 1/4 mile in and I was running in a small pack. At about a half mile in I looked down at my Garmin and saw I was (at that exact moment) at a 6:10 pace and was on track to finish around 6:30. I was slowly starting to seperate from the small pack, and began passing a few people. Mile one in at 6:21 - so a bit too fast. I knew I couldn't keep up that pace so I pulled back just a little.

Second Mile - As the course turned back on itself, I could see the leaders and recognized Matt S. as the leader (who went on to the win the race). Slowly still passing people at this point and trying to hold my pace. During this mile I got into my zone - no thinking zone - just run. Second mile in at 6:31 - still on the fast side but I was holding together.

Third Mile - During this mile, the wind started to gust into our faces. I saw Dan L. about 10-15 feet in front of me - but no matter what I tried I could not catch him. Pace slipped - wind not totally to blame, but it didn't help. Right before the third mile marker I was passed by two people that seemed to be having their own race between them - I let them go race it out.

Last .1 - As I turned into the parking lot, I caught a glimpse of the clock and saw that I was on target for a new PR. That gave me a bit of a lift and was able to finish strong.

Finished under 21 minutes - which was the main goal. Pacing could use a little work....


Splits from Garmin
6:21
6:31
6:51
0:46 (for .1 mile @ 6:21 pace)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32711691

Milford Hospital Live Well 5K Results

Milford Hospital Live Well 5K
Milford, CT
Place: 24/420
Time: 20:32
Pace: 6:37
Bib:109
Age: 34
Place in Division: 5
Division: M 30-39

Official Results --> http://www.hitekracing.com/results10/mil0509.htm

"easy" five

Ran with Matt, Chuck (ragnar crew) and two of Chuck's friends for an easy run starting downtown and headed up through East Rock....tried to keep the pace easy but not so much for all of it.

Total distance: 5 miles
Total time: 40:55
Average pace: 8:11
Average HR: 161
Max HR: 177

Splits
8:44 / 147
7:48 / 163
8:18 / 163
8:02 / 168
8:00 / 167

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32500420

4x800 @5k pace

Ran 4x800 meters today on the road. Weather is getting warmer - the 3:20s for the 800s definitely felt harder than that.

Total distance: 4 miles
Total time: 32:13
Average pace: 8:03
Average hr: 160 bpm
Max hr: 181 bpm

1st 800 - 3:20
2nd 800 - 3:19
3rd 800 - 3:20
4th 800 - 3:20

Splits
9:01 / 143
7:10 / 166
7:27 / 169
8:32 / 166

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32409397

Recovery 5

Nothing fancy about today - just a recovery five miles around East Rock. Made up the route as I went along and took the path of least resistance so I wouldn't have to think that much (which is not a problem for me normally).

Total distance: 5 miles
Total time: 43:41
Average pace: 8:44
Average heart rate: 153
Max heart rate 170

Splits
8:54 / 145
8:46 / 153
8:47 / 154
8:44 / 153
8:27 / 161

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32323371

2 x 1200m at 5k

As I get ready for the Live Well 5k (this Sunday) - I headed out today to find my 5k pace that I hope for - and try to shake off a crappy run from two days ago. In hopes of getting sub 21 this coming Sunday my goal 5k pace is 6:45.

I went out today to do 2x1200 meters at 5k pace with 400 meter recovery. After a mile warm up I took off, legs felt good - and tried to get my breathing in a rhythm. First 1200 done at 4:49 (6:27 pace) - second 1200 done at 4:54 (6:34 pace).

Total distance: 3 miles
Total time: 23:49
Average pace: 7:56
Average heart rate: 158 bpm
Max heart rate: 180 bpm

Splits
9:02 / 142
7:15 / 166
7:31 / 168

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32210481

Blah hot Sunday 3 miles

Total Distance: 3 miles
Total time: 24:53
Average pace: 8:17
Average heart rate: 159
Max heart rate: 170

Splits
8:06 / 156
7:58 / 164
8:46 / 157

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32028575

Saturday group run - Spring/Summer Route

Group run Saturday today - met at Eisenhower Park for the Spring/Summer route. Very hilly and challenging course - should be a great course to prepare for Philly on. Weather was H O T today. There was a set water stop at about 3.5 miles at the end of a driveway for us - nice cold water....mmmmmm.

Total distance: 9 miles
Total time: 1:15:19
Average pace: 8:22

Splits
9:15
8:23
8:33
8:07
8:21
8:13
8:17
8:02
8:04

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31831113