Quick Summary of Last Week

Just checking in with some highlights of last week:

Had a great final track workout in my buildup for NF 50, it went: 10x800 in {2:37, 2:40, 2:37, 2:36, 2:35} w/ 1min standing rest between each, 1/4mi jog after the first set of 5, then {2:35 2:35, 2:35, 2:34, 2:30} again w/ 1min standing rest between each.

Was limited on time Thursday so I opted for a treadmill workout. Locked into 10% incline for one hour, beginning with 5.1mph (11:45/mi), then upped the pace every 7 or so min. Finished at 6.1mph (9:50/mi) and artificially climbed 5.52mi's in 1hr (2,914'). Felt pretty comfortable.

Tested the racing legs a bit with a local 10k (The MandaRun) in Loomis on Sunday which benefited many of the surrounding schools in this area. The night before the race, had to make a tough decision whether to run, or spend a chill evening having a beer and eating a Philly cheesesteak with my father-in-law. Definitely skipped running to hang out with Mike and ironically, the combo of beer plus tri tip was the same pre-race fuel I had before I ran my fastest 10k the previous year, go figure. By the way, I found a new go-to-brew from none other than my favorite brewing company: Lagunitas. Tried their "Fusion VII" and it is definitely a winner. In fact, beeradvocate.com describes it this way: "The beer pours an orange-red amber color with an off-white head. The aroma has quite a bit of toffee malt, with some grass and a little bit of pine mixed in. The flavor is more hoppy than the aroma. I get a lot of toffee, plus some orange and pine notes from the hops. There is quite a bit of hop flavor, but the bitterness is pretty low. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation."

Back to the run, I had about 70 quality miles on the legs heading in, but from the gun found that 5:30's felt really comfortable. Locked in and chatted with the bike pacer as the first mile (5:30) went by quick. At the 1.55mi mark, I approached a fork in the road and the one and only person ahead of me (a 5k runner) turned around to head back while I stopped and stood there confused as to which way to go (there was no marking). The bike pacer was at a loss too, but my instincts said, "Go right!" Thankfully it was the right choice, yet cost me about 20sec which was confirmed by a rather slow 2nd mi (6:00). 2nd place was able to make up a fair amount of ground on me because of my halt, but the 3rd mile proved to be just what I needed to make a break. It was almost all uphill at around a 3-5% grade. As I was plugging away, I received a rather nice compliment from the bike pacer, who through labored breathing shouted, "Good lord kid, you run up this hill faster than most people can bike it!" That gave me a good chuckle and after cresting the hill, we veered left off of Taylor Rd and onto Buchanan Colony Rd. The 3rd mile mark was there to greet me and read 17:45 (6:15 3rd mi). After a short stint on this road, I hung a left onto Rippey Rd and figured on the way back I would hopefully make up a good amount of time. Sure enough, this section was mostly rolling downhill with some flats thrown in there. I made it a little goal of mine to roll on the downs, but blast the ups and try to ditch the bike pacer (who was a really great guy to chat with throughout the entire race) in order to move a little quicker. This plan helped as I rolled through the 4th and 5th miles in times of 23:06 (5:21) and 28:25 (5:19). The last mile was pretty much identical to the first mile, flat. I just kept the effort steady, under threshold, but quicker than tempo. There were hoards of folks out cheering which made for a pleasant finish, which I did in a time of 33:54 (5:29 last mile - lost about 3 seconds into the finish as I didn't want to barrel over an 8yr old little boy finishing the 5k). Pretty pleased with how this race workout unfolded overall. 17:45 for the first 3mi, followed by 16:09 for the last 3mi is a negative split I'll take for sure. Not surprisingly, Sara won overall for women in the 10k and her two sisters went 1-2 in their age divisions (19-24) in both their first ever 5k's! And, Sara's mom decided to come out of a 10+yr racing retirement to run an impressive 53min 10k (she runs maybe once a week). Great outing with the family.

Full 10k results here

Loomis News Article

Well, the work's been done. Enjoying a lax taper and honestly, feeling really confident heading into next weeks showdown in the Marin Headlands. I'm in the best shape of my life strength and speed-wise, so we'll see where that lands me in the general classification. Speaking of which, I like the position I'm in, I suspect nobody will pick me for a top-10 finish or have me on their radar, which I like. No pressure, no expectations, just an opportunity to test my limits and push harder than I will ever have up to this point.