First Post in a While

I got away from posting the last few weeks. This is my first post in August. I have a race report and a number of reviews to go over.

My running has been all right, but I am struggling with long runs with the weather being so hot. The following is my running so far in August.

Sat 8/1 9.5 miles
Sun 8/2 14.5 Miles (very hilly run ran thru a fairly big storm)
Tue 8/4 5 miles
Wed 8/5 5 miles
Fri 8/7 5 miles
Sat 8/8 9 miles
Sun 8/9 12.4 miles (race)
Tue 8/11 5 miles
Wed 8/12 6.5 miles
Thu 8/13 5 miles
Sat 8/15 9 miles
Sun 8/16 17.5miles
Tue 8/18 5 miles

My marathon is 6 weeks from Saturday. I was hoping to run 20 miles this past Sunday but could only go 17.5 on a hot day. I am planning to do 15 for my long run this weekend and then shoot for 20 again the following week. I want to get in two runs of at least 20 before the marathon.

I did not run today because I had a hard time falling asleep last night. I am planning to run 7 miles tomorrow, 5 on Friday and 10 on Saturday.

20K Race Report

This is the only race I have done three years in row. Two years ago I did the 10k and last year and this year I ran the 20k. Most of the race is on the W & OD trail with a turnaround. Last year I was very focused on not starting too fast. However, after a couple of miles I was boxed because so many runner doing the 10k had turned around and were running back. I ended up running great after the first three miles. It was the only race where I have had negative splits. I don't think anyone passed me after three miles and I passed quite a few runners. Unfortunately, this year was quite the opposite.

The day of the race was the hottest day so far of the year. I ran the first mile in less that 8 minutes, much faster than I wanted. I should have slowed down more after that, but I did not. I know after about eight miles that I did not have a lot left. The last few miles I walked more than any other race. My time of 1:53:06 was about five minutes more than the same race last year. I was passed by countless runners the last few miles. It was a very humbling race.

My strategy was poor. I did not respect the heat as much as I should. I can take comfort that a veteran runner, Anita Freresin was quoted as saying, "As a veteran of nearly 2,000 races, including a 50 Mile win where I lost 27 pounds due to heat, I state, for the record, "This was the toughest race I have ever raced." Of course she also won her division in the 10k.

The last few miles of this race was not fun at all, but I guess it was a good learning experience.