Monthly Archives: March 2006

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.

One more run around the development.

0, 04mi, rightfoot, travel

Start time: 03/06/06, 9:30am
Location: Yulee, FL
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:20min/mile

Unlike Saturday’s run, I stuck with just a single loop around the neighborhood, and likewise instead of just running it went back to the old 6:1 run:walk. When I completed the loop it was a bit faster than my “just plain running it” loops from Saturday, and afterwards I used the car’s odometer to measure it out. The end result was pleasing—a 9:20min/mile pace that was extremely consistent.

My right foot felt like it was on the verge of falling asleep the last mile or so. Hmph. Did my right foot get jealous of the problems I’d had with the left one? I’m hoping that this can be fixed with a new pair of shoes; it could be that washing them made them shrink a bit. It’s either that or seeing if instead of a 2E wideness I have to shift to a 4E. Yikes! We’ll see what the foot measuring device at Metro Run & Walk has to say, first.

I’m ready to go home.

Running away from home

0, 05mi, travel

Start time: 03/04/06, 9:00am
Location: Yulee, FL
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 9:45min/mile

I managed to leave one or two things at home before coming down to Yulee, Florida–and naturally, one of them was the GPS unit so I could track my running, and my parents’s home is new enough that it’s not on Google Maps. Oh well. I’m putting in my best estimate until I can determine otherwise; it may’ve been a little faster but I think that a 5-mile, 9:45min/mile pace is a safe bet. It was nice to just get outside and run by myself or a while.

(Three people waved hello, one confederate-flag sticker on a car, two people who gawked, one other runner.)

Welcome to March

0, 02mi, 04mi

Start time: 03/01/06, 6:00pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles & 2 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1 & running
Average pace: 10:24min/mile & 8:43min/mile

It’d been a while since I’d done a “4 & 2” but this was the first time in a while that I really felt up for it as well. Julie had really good energy for the first two miles; a 10:00 opener and then a 10:14 for the second mile when we passed some other runners. I think she was definitely feeling it on mile three (10:49), though, although the end in sight made her rally a bit (10:31).

The 2-miler by myself went well; the half-mile splits were 4:16, 4:21, 4:26, 4:22. So, pretty consistant once that initial burst of energy went in the opening half-mile.

Best of all, there was definitely still daylight when we began. Now that was a pleasant change of pace.