Fast Company

Distance: 12 mi.
Time: 1:26:36.
Pace: 7:14.

I had plans to meet Brinkley at 8 a.m. at McMullen for today's long run. I never pay attention to our Facebook pace group, so I was pleasantly surprised to see Adam Mayes and Jason Meulemans show up as well. Adam and Jason each intended to do some pickups on the run, so this turned out to be a good bit faster than I anticipated. We ran into Fillette about halfway through, and he stayed with us for the duration of the run.

My left leg continued to bother me and the legs got rather tight near the end. The lungs and heart are still in fantastic condition, however, so a little TLC on the legs should do me right. I still have some added pounds I need to drop, but it will come.

Conversation was good on the run today - a little more goofy than usual, but we all had a great run. I couldn't remember the last time Dave and I had run together, so it was good to see him again and get in a great long run. 

Race Group Workout

Distance: 11.6 mi.
Time: 1:19:11.

Warmup: 3.45 mi. @ 7:20 ppm.
Workout: 5k @ 8k pace w/ 3:30-jog recovery + 3.5 mi. @ half-marathon pace.
Cooldown: 1.05 mi. @ 8:55 ppm.

I put my second workout of the week on hold this past Thursday when Brinkley asked me to pace him during the race. He had signed up to run Charlotte's 10-Miler. I was excited to see how this event would transpire, as it's a rare distance and a first-time event. Suffice it to say that Start to Finish did a fantastic job.

Now, back to the part where I'm supposed to pace David: this would be a little tricky considering that he's a bit faster than me; how are you supposed to pace someone that's faster than you? I figured I would just pick a spot and see if he had a pack to run with, and if not, just hang on at a pretty hard effort for as long as I felt up to it. He wouldn't need my help but I figured it could be fun.

This course starts at the Earth Fare at Johnston Rd/485, winds down Johnston to 51, then traverses the extent of the McMullen Greenway. A race down the greenway - how awesome! I parked at the Johnston Rd entrance to the greenway, said hi to Kati and Ben, then went ahead and got in gear. It was pretty cold. I wouldn't have the luxury of coming back to the car to change shoes so I went ahead and slapped on the racers.

I did a fast warmup, including one mile at about 6:45 pace, to get the legs ready for the uptempo pace. When I saw flashing lights approaching near the one-mile mark of the greenway, I stepped off to the side and watched the runners come through. I spotted Aaron Linz and Eric Bilbrey, along with a few others, before seeing Dave approach. He had a small pack just ahead of him and no one close behind. I took off and then eased in.

18:54.6 for 3.11 miles. 6:04, 6:03, 6:08, 0:38.

I immediately decided I wouldn't be hanging around with Brinkley for long. The pace was well ahead of what I needed to be doing in a workout, especially after having come down with a mild virus. Besides, after the first mile I was more in the way than anything else. Dave formed a pack with Walt Guyer and a few other dudes as I tucked in behind and eventually slowed down. I came through 5k in about 18:50 after we passed Kati and Ben, and I was done.

0.43 mi. jog @ 8:13 ppm.

I took about three minutes and change to jog and rest and waited to see who else would come through. I decided to get a few miles at 6:20 pace or so. When I saw Michelle and Dalena running together, I called out that I would join them momentarily. They seemed approving of this idea, so I stretched for a bit and took off down the greenway again.

22:33.7 for 3.56 mi. 6:12.9, 6:15.8, 6:34.7, 3:30.2.

We hopped off at Trader Joe's and began the toughest section of the course - the hilly finish. It was windy and at first I was trying to stay out of the way but then I realized I could make myself useful by pulling in front of the girls and blocking the wind. Dalena thanked me as I apologized for not thinking of that sooner! We turned into some neighborhoods and things got pretty rough, as reflected in the splits above. I was amused at the sights of Bert and Ernie, also known as Kahn and Thomas. At one uphill I turned and tried to shout encouragement; the ladies were fighting hard.

Things got easier after that as I pulled off about half a mile from the finish. Dalena and Michelle went on to grab the first and second spots on the women's side.

As for me, I got in an excellent day's work. This was similar to what I had done the previous Tuesday: make the body tired, then try to run half marathon pace (or thereabouts) for a few miles.

Going Long with Friends

Distance: 15.6 mi.
Time: 1:52:38 - 7:13 ppm.
Splits

Caleb Boyd posted on the CRC Facebook page that he wanted some company for his 18-miler, and Dalena Custer and I responded to join in. Mike Kahn also showed up for a cameo appearance. Caleb set a pace that's faster than what I usually run for long, but my breathing was relaxed and my legs didn't tighten up until near the end of it. My average today was faster than what I ran for the first half of Thunder Road and would put me well on the way to a 3:10 marathon. The three of us enjoyed rolling through the woods at McMullen and putting in the miles.

McMullen: Long Time, No See

Distance: 11.0 mi.
Time: 1:29:31 - 8:09 ppm.

I picked up AA early this morning and headed over to McMullen Greenway for a long run. I had basically done nothing all week, other than running my ass off at work, and I figured I might as well keep things easy. Her plan was to run 11 miles with the last three at half-marathon pace (7:20s). I could not remember the last time I had run at McMullen - June? Late May? I know it had been awhile.

We cruised through the forest on one of winter's colder days to this point, and eventually ceased conversation as the "pickup" part started. I was thankful for the lack of snakes as they are clearly hibernating and planning my doom for sometime next summer. We both ran well, although I'd be lying if I said I felt good - stomach problems assailed me (shocking, I know).

McMullen Recovery

Distance: 6.50 mi
Time: ??

I had to meet a client in Fort Mill this morning. I skipped the Dowd run, choosing to get more than four hours of sleep instead, and entertained ideas of trying to run on the other side of the border after my meeting. I knew the Anne Springs Close greenway was down here somewhere, and I had heard good things about it. So, I made a Facebook post asking for ideas. This led to a bunch of catty females arguing on my page over whose suggestion was the best and where I should go. Women are crazy. I just ended up at McMullen.

Running Buddy died on me again, so no data for this run. I was surprised to see so many people on the greenway for a mid-morning run, and just got in 6.5 miles.

Pinched Nerve Running

4.09 mi in 00:30:51 - 7:32 ppm

I really should not have run today; my back is so sore that it hurts to move. I was just bored and I'm also extremely stubborn. I thought some movement would ease the soreness/numbness caused by the pinched nerve, but the whole right side of my body felt numb on today's run, which is kind of a scary feeling. I made it to McMullen and got in about 4 miles but I turned around when I didn't like what my body was telling me. I'm glad I didn't sign up for tomorrow's 4-Miler because I'm in no condition to race. I'm looking forward to cheering, though, as many of my friends will be involved.

Humid Shakeout

Distance: 6.35 mi
Time: 00:46:15 - 7:16 ppm
Running Buddy

I had meant to get in a quick 3-5 miles early this morning before helping my sister get the girls back to Savannah, but the infant woke up early, thereby changing our schedule. I followed her almost all the way to I-95; including stops, I was on the highway for almost 8 hours. When I got back, I had an urge to use the legs and try out my new shoes.

New Balance has unveiled a new numbering system for its shoes, and I got the 480, which as I understand it is the base version of their high-mileage performance series. If I like this shoe I may consider upgrading to the 880 next time; the 880 is basically New Balance's version of popular shoes such as the Nike Pegasus, the Mizuno Wave Rider, and the Brooks Defyance, the shoe I just discarded. Clearly, I'm in the process of trying to find a brand, or just switching around until I get something I like. I have deemed Nikes too uncomfortable for the foreseeable future so I'll keep shopping around.

Anyway, I felt surprisingly fantastic today. It was over 90 and humid and I was coming off a tough long run, but I felt great and just cruised along. The shoes are very light and made me feel fast. One can never have too many psychological edges, so I'm happy to have another for now.

I also think these fast (for me) long runs are starting to increase my fitness. Not only did this pace feel easy today but the distance also seemed very short. I ran out on the greenway for a bit, turned around, and I was done.

Half-Milers at McMullen

Warmup: 2.03 mi in 16:08
Workout: 8 x half-mile at race pace goal with 2 min rest between sets.
Cooldown: 0.92 mi in 12:06.
Running Buddy


Note to self: do not eat Qdoba on workout days, especially when it's hot. For the most part I felt strong out there today, but poor dieting and dehydration had my stomach in knots. I don't care how good you feel, when aliens are threatening to fly out your guts, you can only run so fast. I ran a slower pace on these than I did for the mile repeats a week ago. The good news is that I did at least finish the workout - though not the cooldown, as you can see above - and that my last half was the fastest.

Splits were 3:05, 3:04, 3:04, 3:07, 3:08, 3:03, 3:06, 3:02.

I did these on the mostly flat terrain of the McMullen greenway. I used to hate that place but it's rapidly growing on me. Although it's right in the middle of a dense residential area in south Charlotte, it gives the impression of pure wilderness. It runs alongside a row of houses for a good bit, but even then it's only on one side, with the other being dense woods and at some points eerie marshland. It's actually quite enjoyable. I think I only grew to detest it last fall because Oelz always suggested it over McAlpine.

Great Harvest course preview

Distance: 3.08 mi
Time: 00:23:58/7:47 ppm

It's been brought to my attention that I have a lot of random readers who otherwise don't follow running, and likely read this blog only because I have brainwashed them. So, for those of you who don't know what the Grand Prix Series (GPX) is, let me sum it up briefly: it a series of road races - ten, I believe - ranging from February to late October put on by Run For Your Life, a local store and the unofficial headquarters of Charlotte's running community. The races include a four-miler, an 8k, a 10k, a 15k, and several 5k events. The courses are all over town. These races attract the best runners in Charlotte, though they don't all make it to each one, of course. They are very well-advertised. In other words, they are diverse, large, and competitive. Maybe that wasn't such a brief description after all.

At any rate, the Great Harvest Bread 5k in Piper Glen is the next stop on the GPX tour, and the first such event for yours truly. I was, in fact, a part of the local running community once upon a time, and today I know a good number of the CRC members who will be present tomorrow, so I had a pretty good idea what to expect of the atmosphere. It was the course itself that I needed to investigate. I'm going to make a point to preview the course for each race I do this year.

For those familiar with south Charlotte, this race is hosted by the Great Harvest store in Piper Glen, right next to the Trader Joe's at the corner of Rea Road and Bevington. For those familiar with this blog, Bevington is the road right next to the back end of the McMullen greenway. When I start at 51 and run here on the greenway, I've gone six miles. The course would go down Bevington across Elm Lane and through a bunch of neighborhoods.

The course was, to put it quite succinctly, a roller-coaster. You know that Planet Fitness commercial with the goofy muscle dude who keeps saying, "I PICK THINGS UP AND PUT THEM DOWN!"? Well, today I felt like screaming, "I RUN UP A HILL AND THEN I RUN DOWN!"  I felt angry at Eggers, who ran this thing on Monday, for telling me this would be a fast course. Flat courses are fast. This was very much the opposite of flat, regardless of the downhills.

I tried not to focus too much on that, though. Just race... Also, my feet were hurting today because I was wearing extra-thin socks on account of being behind on laundry. So that was an unwelcome distraction. For the most part I feel stronger in my older age, but there are certainly aches that crop up now and then that did not before.

I stopped at the point on Bevington where I thought the course would end; my Garmin read 3.08 miles, which given its tendencies sounded about right to me (as opposed to 3.1). I ran an extra mile on the greenway, bought some good eats at Trader Joe's, and then went home. I am looking forward to the race, hills be damned!

Early Friday at McMullen

Distance: 5.00 mi
Time: 00:40:05/8:01 pace

My company is strewn out all over town this weekend, including a 6:30 a.m. start at Quail Hollow this morning. I drove by there to set up and then headed around the corner to the McMullen greenway for this one.

I didn't really focus much on running today. I tried to think about tomorrow's race. I wasn't really nervous this time but I was really looking forward to it. I did actually make a point to notice whether or not Running Buddy was in tune with the mileage posts on the greenway. I was a little bit behind after mile one and stayed the same distance behind for the next three miles. Then, it evened out as I came in for the last mile, putting me at exactly 5 miles and dead even with the posts. Your guess is as good as mine, but I didn't really have much else on my mind.

There was a loud whirring noise permeating the woods surrounding the greenway throughout this one. It sounded like an alien spaceship had landed nearby. I did not stick around to find out if the aliens were friendly or not.

Details

Mile Repeats with Brinkley

Warmup: 00:16:29 for 2.0 mi
Workout: 4x1-Mile at 5k goal pace with 2-min rest
Cooldown: 00:18:03 for 2.0 mi
Goal: Three mile repeats equals just less than a 5k, so we wanted to throw in a fourth. The idea was to run at goal pace, but seeing as I haven't raced in forever, I had no idea what "goal pace" should be. Basically, I wanted to keep it as close to 6 minutes per mile as possible.
Conditions: 85 degrees and very humid.
Actual: Mile splits were 5:59, 6:20, 6:31, and 6:30.

David and I had tentative plans to meet early in the morning for this one, but neither one of us made it, so we met at McMullen Greenway in south Charlotte at 5:30 p.m. It was hot and very humid as we set off on the trail for a two-mile warmup. As stated above, I wanted to keep my mile splits as close to 6-flat as possible, but I honestly had no idea what I was capable of on this day. One always must factor in the heat when doing a workout; it no doubt slows you down a good bit.

I asked David to set the pace and I ran just off his left shoulder as we headed down the greenway. We realized we were running 5:25 pace at one point so we slowed down. Oops. I tried to settle in a groove but noticed that my breathing was becoming heavy - although, my legs felt fine. David pulled away a little bit and finished about 7 seconds ahead of me. I was right where I wanted to be - 5:59 for mile one - but knew that fast start was going to hurt me in the next few repeats.

Surely enough, I struggled on the next one. David pulled away pretty early and finished a good bit ahead of me on this one. After I was done, I gave him a head start so we would have equal rest. I would go on to do this for the last one, as well. Looking back, I probably would have been better off just taking shorter rest and trying to stay with him. We both withered in the heat in the last two splits, but I couldn't help but notice I had a strong kick on the last one. I need to remember how to push myself, I guess.

All in all, I wouldn't call this workout a total failure, but I clearly have a long way to go. Also, I may have to get used to waking up at 5:30 a.m. and getting this crap out of the way early. My first three repeats equaled 18:50, which is probably about a 19:30 5k. So, I'm not in bad shape. Take away the late-afternoon humidity and add about 30 race competitors and I think we lower that time significantly. Alas, back to the drawing board.

Stats and Map for the workout portion.

Opening the week at McMullen

I don't really know why but I never enjoy running on the McMullen Greenway.  It's nice for a change of scenery but can be monotonous as it seems to look exactly the same the entire route.  Also, it's paved; a trail in the middle of the woods should be gravel, which would be much easier on everyone's joints.  Nevertheless, I headed out there this morning to do an easy 7 miles.

My left leg has had some soreness in it the last few days but felt fine on the run.  I ran roughly 7:30 pace or better and didn't feel like it took any effort.  As I clipped along I thought about what I wanted to do for the rest of the week.  Tomorrow I'm going to give last week's failed tempo run another shot at McAlpine - the exact same workout, only with better planning.  It also won't be 85 degrees and humid tomorrow; the cooler weather has been good to me so I'm looking forward to that.  I had thought of running the Dowd 5k this Saturday and watching Eggers and Mike Mitchell run the half marathon, but the races are at the same time, so I think I'm just going to watch the half - armed with a camera.  I have a long run of 17-18 on the docket for this weekend, too.  Last but not least I have several items on the social calendar to which I'm looking forward and things at work have been going smoothly, too.

I picked up the pace just a bit the last two miles and averaged a 7:21 mile for the distance.

Back at the parking lot, I saw Jordan Kinley and introduced myself as a reader of his blog.  Jordan is essentially the star of the local running scene in Charlotte these days, and his blog is a very good read - strictly running, although his trade has taken him all over the world.  Like most runners, Jordan is very easy going and friendly.  Like me, he obviously benefits from having a job that allows him to take off to the park at 11:00 a.m. on weekdays.  Unlike me, he is very, very fast.

Til' next time....

Shaking Hands and Smiling at Babies

After last week's 16-miler I decided to go back to smarter preparation for some of these long runs.  With that in mind, I went to the local Teeter Friday night in search of a healthy late-night meal because I had nothing in the fridge.  After walking around for about ten minutes in a confused and agitated state, I left for the local watering hole, where I ate six spicy chicken wings and drank about five beers.  Oops.  The next day I rolled out of bed at 5:45 a.m. to meet Mike Oelz and David Brinkley for what would soon be my longest run ever - 18 miles.

We came up with a good plan to take on Gu gel and water during this run.  I parked my car at Trader Joe's next to the greenway and waited for Oelz to pick me up.  We loaded my ride with water and gel and drove over to the Highway 51 entrance to the McMullen Greenway, where Brinkley was waiting.  It was still pretty dark and cold.  I was rocking a dry-fit long-sleeved shirt and a pair of Patrick Mannelly's Duke football shorts over my short running shorts.  We planned to run past my car and pick up about 12 miles before taking the Gu and water and finishing the final six.  The greenway was crowded as usual and Brinkley took it upon himself to shout, "Good Morning!" at every single runner, walker, and baby jogger we passed.  After awhile we noticed people stopped saying it back and Brinkley joked that we had crossed over into the more snooty section of the greenway.  Yes, the property value creeps up a bit as ya get closer to Rea Road. 

We were logging well under 8-minute pace per mile as we ran past my car and to the end of the greenway, then darted through some of the Piper Glen neighborhoods, down 51, and back up Rea.  In order to hit 12 miles by the time we got back to my car we realized we needed to improvise, so we wound through Piper Glen and eventually found ourselves on the golf course.  The three amigos got in some good, steep, up-and-down hill running and even jogged down a few fairways (Fore!!!!).  We were all feeling good and I was extremely thankful to have David and Mike around after last week's dreadful solo long run.  I made a mental note to not do any more long runs by myself.

We got back to the car and I stripped down to my running shorts as we all took some gel and water, then hopped back on the greenway and proceeded to pick up the pace.  Brinkley, he of the almighty Garmin watch, shouted out that we were running 7:20 pace at one point, which led to some loud grumbling amongst the crowd.  Rabble!  Rabble rabble!  I tried to calm everyone down, saying that it was awesome we didn't realize we were going that fast and everyone agreed it was a good sign.  With a little over three miles to go I got fussed at for picking up the pace, but I was feeling good, and David stayed right with me.  I was waiting for my body to hit a wall but it never happened.  I felt fantastic.  Regardless of what happens from here on out I know I'll look back on today's long run as one of the better moments in my training.  It was a nice confidence booster after having a crappy long run and a blown workout in my recent memory.

I accidentally zeroed my watch at one point but David was kind enough to e-mail me our mile splits, which went as follows:  7 minutes 53 seconds, 748, 747, 750, 743, 743, 742, 738, 800, 817, 755 (these were on the hilly golf course), 741, 744, 739 (I'm getting tired just typing this), 720, 717, 707, and 701.  It's a great feeling to see those negative splits at the end.  A 7:01 mile at the end of an 18-mile run?  I'll take it.  Maybe I should do the beer-and-wings combo the night before the marathon?  In all seriousness I at least made sure to do the right thing after this run by drinking plenty of water, taking exra time to stretch, and devouring a huge breakfast before I took a nap.

Hopefully today's run is a positive sign of things to come.  We shall soon find out!

First Real Workout

On the morning of September 8, Eggers sent me a BBM announcing that he was ready for the first workout of the training season.  I hadn't planned on doing a workout but I felt I was ready.  The plan was to do a 7-mile tempo run at McAlpine in mile splits of 7:30, 7:30, 7:15, 7:15, 7:00, and sub-7.  The part of McAlpine's 5K course that included the hill would be mile #6.  Awesome...

This was tough.  We ran right at 5:45 p.m. on another 90-degree day, and we were already sucking wind by the third mile.  But we were running slightly ahead of our desired pace.  I came through the final three miles in 6:58, 6:53 (the hill mile), and 6:40 and felt pretty happy about the way it worked out.  You can read Dan's recap of this workout here.

The following Saturday I ran a 12-mile long run at McMullen Greenway with David Brinkley and Mike Oelz at slightly better than 8-minutes-per-mile pace.  I turned my ankle at one point during this run.  More on that later.  I finished the week at just under 40 miles, with two days (Thursday and Sunday) off.