Category Archives: 06mi

A brisk 6-miler

0, 06mi, aidsmarathon

Start time: 08/20/06, 7:00am
Location: Downtown Washington DC
Distance: 6 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:18min/mile

It was another recovery run this weekend, which was fine by me; I’d had a long day yesterday between our MCM participants’s 20-miler and the margaritas-and-Snakes on a Plane expedition. No Stephanie again (I think she may have dropped out at this point, but am hoping not!) but Chris S. had mentioned on Thursday that he wanted a 6-miler this weekend so I talked him into showing up. It was a good run; a little warm and humid, but we kept to a good pace and knocked the miles out pretty quickly (9:30, 9:20, 9:15, 9:43, 9:05, 8:59). Then it was time for a banana, an orange slice… and going back home where I took a shower and climbed back into bed. Ahhhhhh.

Return to Capitol Hill

0, 06mi, 10k, pr, race, statistics

Race: The Capitol Hill Classic 10K
Start time: 05/21/06, 8:30am
Location: Downtown Washington DC
Distance: 10K (6.2 miles)
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Finishing time: 57:30
Average pace: 9:16min/mile

With my last race I was mentally composing a journal entry five seconds into the race about how I knew I wasn’t going to get a PR. Around mile 3 today, I was wondering why I hadn’t already done the same thing.

But let’s rewind a bit. Readers of my other journal will know that I’d been feeling like I was dragging and just generally not up to par all weekend, and this morning was unfortunately no exception. Cal told me that ten seconds into the race today he was thinking, “Why am I here?” and that’s actually what was going through my head before I’d even left my home. Ugh. I got to the start of the race, though, and found a pack of AIDS Marathoners to start with. We were all going to be runnign different speeds, though, so it was with a bit of regret that I realized I’d be running this one on my own again. I was hoping to have someone to pace off of; this year I’ve felt like several times I’ve headed out of the gate too fast (races or otherwise) and was afraid that we’d get a repeat performance of this bad running behavior. Sure enough the first two miles were just that (8:13, 8:30) and I just knew that I wasn’t going to be able to maintain this pace. (It was also around this time I was wishing that it was a 5K because I like to think I could’ve kicked it out on the final 1.1 miles.)

Sweltering in the sun (it was 52 degrees when I left, but the heat and sun seem to have shown up five minutes later), I hit the third mile marker at 9:50 and I could just feel my heart sink. My previous PR was a 9:22min/mile pace and I spent a lot of the rest of the race diong math in my head, trying to figure out how many extra seconds I had “banked” from the first two miles to see if I could beat that. Mile 4’s time looked the same (9:48) but it was also a two-walk-break mile so I felt like I was starting to rally a bit. Sure enough, mile 5 was at a 9:29 and I began to think that yeah, I could do this so long as I didn’t bomb out. “All right, Greg,” I told myself. “You just finished mile 5 and your time is a 45:53. To beat last year’s 58:06 you just need to finish the last 1.2 miles in 12 minutes. That’s a 10-minute pace. No problem.”

What I really need to be thinking at this point of a race is really “don’t forget that you still have to climb Capitol Hill before you hit mile marker 6.” Ugh, ugh, ugh. I hate that stupid hill with a passion, to put it mildly. Struggling back up the hill, even though I’d taken my walk break just two minutes earlier I just couldn’t do it. I was out of gas. I finally told myself I could walk for an additional minute and that I’d make up the time once it leveled out a bit. Walking up even part of the hill felt like… well, defeat. At the same time, I kept scanning the side of the course for the mile marker. Where was it? Where was it?

And there it was. 9:53 for the mile. I could still do this, I’d get a PR, and it wouldn’t be the one I wanted as of yesterday but it would still be an improvement and a real victory. I pushed through the last .2 miles as best as I could, and while my old adrenaline burst never did hit (ah well) it was all over in just 1:44, for a new PR of 57:30.

Phew. Not my most glamorous race, and I didn’t feel strong the way I did after the race last year… but I did it, and it’s done. Now I just need to really start getting out there regularly again (and drop off these extra five pounds that have once more come back to haunt me) and all will be well. I hope!

2005: 315/386 (81st percentile) (30-39 group)
2006: 166/233 (71st percentile) (30-34 group)

Pre-Race

0, 06mi, rightfoot

Start time: 03/08/06, 6:00pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:15min/mile

Back home once more, I was on my lonesome for my run on Wednesday. This was going to be an interesting run, since the next one I have will be the St. Patrick’s Day 8K and my last race was back at Thanksgiving. Trying to figure out a strategy for Sunday, I figured a good starting point would be this run.

Since I did better down in Yulee running with my splits, I kept them around and hit the first two miles with really pleasing results: 9:04 and 9:07. This is also where I knew it would get interesting, since starting with mile 3 I’d have the strange game of having some miles with two walk breaks and others with just one. (Something that was never really much of an issue when at a slower pace, but with longer run cycles and shorter mile times, it’s something that’s going to yo-yo back and forth.) It’s not a bad thing, per se, just something that I’m going to have to learn how to anticipate. Adding to the bizarre nature of it all, miles 3 & 4 ended up each having 1 1/2 walk breaks thanks to hitting the third marker around halfway through a walkbreak. Ha! 9:20 and 9:35 were the times for those miles, which I was ok with, although less than thrilled about a 9:35. Mile 5 pushed it back up to a 9:16, and a 9:09 closed it out.

That’s a 9:15 average pace for just a maintenance run, which gives me high hopes. My PR for a 10K was a 9:22, while my PR for a 5K was an 8:31. With some good pushing of myself I think this 8K will work pretty well; under a 9min/mile pace would be ideal, but really so long as it’s a faster pace than the 10K PR that’s good.

Oh, and same right foot vaguely asleep problems. I really need to get new shoes and see if that will fix it all.

And how have I already scratched one of the buttons on my new running watch? Good lord, I’m a clumsy oaf.

Getting up HOW early? In the off season???

0, 06mi

Start time: 01/14/06, 7:00am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:33min/mile

It was a small group of people this morning; just me, Tod, and Dave for a 6-miler. I’d woken up around 2am for a massive thunderstorm rolling through the area and it took me a solid hour to fall back asleep, so I was a little worried on how I’d be doing. I was pretty happy with the end result, though; we did a run:walk this week and I felt really strong the whole way through, even picking up speed at the end. Since I’d set my eyes on the 9:30min/mile group as a potential training option for 2006 marathon season, it was nice to knock six out at “their” pace and ratio and feel like yeah, I can do this. Great run, great weather, great company. I can’t ask for much better than that.

(And as the music playing right now says, “You’re the greatest gift that I could ever wish for.” Well, yeah.)

Phew.

0, 06mi, leftfoot

Start time: 01/08/06, 9:00am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Average pace: 9:33min/mile

I met up with Dave, Dennis, Cal, Rachel, and Betty to run this morning. I’d done speed training with all of them but Betty, so I knew that this was a group of speed demons and that I’d be probably pushed a little bit beyond my comfort level. Ho ho ho. Understatement of the century. Yep, they’re fast all right. We took off pretty quickly and Rachel & Cal were quickly in the lead. Looking at my watch I kept watching the mile splits go by… 9:45… 9:32… 9:18… I finally slowed down a little bit and pulled off my workout pants (I had shorts underneath, don’t get too excited/horrified) because it was definitely a warm day. I spent the rest of the time trying to make up what I’d lost, though, to catch everyone else. Mile 5 was a 9:07 so I certainly put in the old college try to do so! Dave slowed down for the last half mile because he said he had a stitch in his side. I don’t know if it was true or not but I’m not complaining regardless.

I was both happy and frustrated with my finishing time (57:19). On the plus side, my old speed training pace was a 9:30 so it felt nice to have my average be pretty close to that without getting a quarter mile walk between each full mile. On the minus side… I can’t help but look at some of my previous times and feel a little discouraged. My Capitol Hill Classic 10K finishing time was a 58:06 and that was with an additional .2 miles, and doing it all at a 4:1 run:walk, no less. (And my last 5K, which was admittedly just half the distance, was at an 8:31min/mile.)

If there was ever a huge flashing neon sign that I have picked up some extra pounds the past three months, that was it. Hi, my name is FAT. Time to start really watching what I’m eating and try and shed the layer of blubber that reappeared when I wasn’t paying attention. (I exaggerate a bit, but not much.)

EDIT: Oh yeah. Left foot fell asleep again; it did so back on November 16th, which was the first time I’d had that since 2002. *sigh* I’m going to have to start tagging those entries so I can see if this is going to be a regular thing that I need to look into again, or what.

Three, three, three updates in one!

0, 04mi, 05mi, 06mi

Start time: 12/22/05, 6:00pm
Location: Custis Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 5:1
Average pace: 11:13min/mile

Start time: 12/24/05, 8:00am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 5:1
Average pace: 10:55min/mile

Start time: 12/27/05, 6:00pm
Location: Custis Trail
Distance: 5 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 5:1
Average pace: 11:25min/mile

Oops! I’ve been a little remiss in updating here. The only big news is that the Custis Trail is hilly. Very very hilly. Julie and I have continued to run on it for our weekday runs and we pushed through an additional mile on Monday… yep, more hills. It never looked that hilly from my glimpses of it as I drove by along I-66, but perhaps that’s because my attention was better focused on, oh, the road.

Perhaps the biggest sign of its hills is the difference in our pace between running on the Custis Trail versus the W&OD Trail. Julie has moved that Custis is now called “The Billy Goat Trail” and I’m all for that. Hopefully I’ll get to go running on Saturday because I think I’m going to unavoidably miss running between now and then due to other commitments. One final run before the end of the year sounds good, though.

Need for Speed, part 6

0, 06mi, aidsmarathon, speedwork

Start time: 10/09/05, 8:00am
Location: American University
Distance: 6 miles
Average pace: 9:30min/mile

Today was the first of our two final speedwork sessions, where we’re doing less and less milage. For me and Mark (and anyone else who’d done twelve, like grok) that meant 6 miles. (Julie banged up her foot on an ottoman and wisely is resting it; fortunately the bruising is already gone.) For the first four miles, Mark and I (along with speedwork running pal Jeff) were hitting our pace almost exactly. Jeff finished up at that point, and Mark and I finished our fifth mile a little fast.

“Are you going to try and bust out a full eight-minute mile for the final mile this time,” Mark asked. “I’m game if you’re game,” I replied.

Well, we took the first eighth and the last eighth a little off-pace, so we didn’t hit 8:00… instead it was… um… 7:27.

Bad Greg. Bad Mark. And no, we weren’t gasping for breath afterwards. This speed training stuff really works!

(“The 9:30min/mile pace group is my bitch next year,” I was heard to remark when we were done. Three miles at under an 8:30min/mile (without breathing hard) is not the daunting prospect it once was.)

(Mile times: 9:33, 9:33, 9:28, 9:31, 9:08, 7:27)

Need for Speed, part 2

0, 06mi, aidsmarathon, speedwork

Start time: 07/31/05, 8:00am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Average pace: 9:30min/mile

Well, it was time for another round of speed work… I’d missed the four mile session two weeks ago but I had hustled when running up and down the hills of San Diego to get to my group run that Saturday, so I figured that was good enough.

After hearing how great the track at Wakefield High School was for the four-miler, I was all excited to be there for today’s speed work. The guy showed up to unlock the gates at 8am… and told us that there was an event starting at 9am and they would be setting up at 8:30am, even though we’d already booked the track and was told there was nothing else going on.

*sigh*

So, it was back over to the W&OD Trail. Yeesh. Oh well, it was nice to at least run a warm-up on the springy surface of the track; I can see why people were a fan of running along it! Speed work itself went really well, though. We only had half-mile markers so it was a little harder to judge how well one was moving, but by the end I felt like I was hitting it, despite the way we were running meaning that odd-numbered miles were slightly uphill and even-numbered were slightly downhill. I was aiming for 9:30min/miles (or 4:45 for each half) and I ended up with:

mile # first half second half total
1 4:53 4:36 9:30
2 4:25 4:34 9:00
3 4:42 4:41 9:24
4 4:29 4:40 9:09
5 4:43 4:48 9:31
6 4:30 4:51 9:22

So, not bad! I think I’m starting to get the hang of this thing.

Oh yeah, grand total of miles for July was 65.5, which was lower than the last two months… of course, I also went on vacation for a week, followed by missing one or two maintenance runs due to the heat. So, very understandable.

Oops, almost forgot…

06mi, aidsmarathon

Start time: 05/21/05, 8:00am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 5:1
Average pace: 11:10min/mile

Another run with the new group. Still finding the proper pace, and still trying to learn everyone’s names… always very difficult at first, especially in such a huge group as we’ve got this year. All things in time, though.

What a beautiful day

06mi

Start time: 04/09/05, 9:00am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 4:1
Average pace: 12:45min/mile

What gorgeous weather this morning… in retrospect, I wish I’d run a couple of additional miles after I finished up with Katie and Manda. It was a nice run, though; I let the ladies pick the pace and relished the time spent with them. When AIDS Marathon starts up again this year we’ll almost certainly be in different pace groups and I’ll miss being with them every Saturday so I want to take advantage of the conversation and companionship while I still can.