Rough Weekend (5/5 - 5/6)

I felt terrible on run Friday evening and woke up Saturday sore but still decided to run a low-key 5K trying to steal some prize money while working out.  Well a recent college grad who had run 14:16 a couple weeks earlier showed up and took the win after he dropped me shortly after the mile mark.  I struggled to maintain tempo pace and chalked it up to being tired and sore from running a lot and not sleeping much the past couple of days.  I also wanted to take it pretty easy so I could run my real workout of the weekend, a steady 20-mile run the next day.

Well that 20 mile run was awful.  I felt even worse, and instead of running a hard 20, I only ran 14 and was crushed by it.  My weekly mileage was around 85.  Later that night, I realized I was getting sick.  I developed a fever of 101 and had chills and body soreness.  I was in rough shape.  Em got sick too which made things really rough at home - and scary too cause fevers in pregnancy can be dangerous.  I thought we had avoided getting what Lily got, but once again, I caught a virus that Lily brought home and this time it got Em too.

I knew I was going to need to take 1-2 days off, get healthy, and then try to come back strong.  I'd like to run easy Tuesday and do a light workout Wednesday, but I'll play it safe.  In a way I'm actually glad there was a legitimate reason for running so poorly this weekend.

Friday the 4th

Ran 14 in two runs - first double in a long time. Lily has been sick so I only got about 30 minutes sleep the night before. She was feeling better in the evening so I took her out for my second run. Our running stroller has a wheel issue which causes it to shake at higher speeds. The second run was slow and painful. I felt tired and sore today.

Thursday 5/3

Had a good 13 mile run at Cabin John with Jake, Mike Smith, and Jimmy.  Lily has been sick so it’s been rough balancing everything lately, especially because my sleep has suffered.  Despite all that, I am healthy and consistently gaining fitness.

Wednesday Workout - 5/2

Easy 6x1200m workout at AU. 2@75, 2@73, 2@71. We ran on pace or faster for every one. It felt awkwardly slow for the most part but I had some lingering tightness and stomach pain from the race. 11 miles on the day. Another good day overall.

Tuesday May 1st

Ran another 12 in the AM with Jake (it was his birthday) and Jimmy. I had to wake up at 5:30, heading out the door and into the rain by 6, so I could get in a decent run and still be on-time for an offsite work meeting. My stomach has bothering me since the race, but my legs are feeling alright. I'm sore but I'm recovering well.

Mon. 4-30

12 easy post-race with NBDP. Feeling sore and tight in hamstring / hip area but it's manageable. Overall I feel better than I thought I would.

Sunday 4/29 – Pike’s Peek 10K

I woke Sunday morning immediately excited and nervous for the race. Jake picked me up at 6:20 and we drove up the Pike to the start. It was strange to be able to drive so quickly along Rockville Pike – a road I usually avoid because of congestion. I was glad to have Jake around to talk strategy with and ease my mind. After speaking with him, I knew I wanted to be aggressive and take some risks. I was feeling good the last couple of weeks and I would rather try to go for something fast (with a chance I would blow up) than to run 31 minutes conservatively. The outstanding performance by Sam (29:37 10K at Penn) had me feeling energized. The weather was cool and the rain from the night before had washed away much of the allergens from the air. This was a no-excuses course with no-excuses weather.

My risk to go out fast paid off (mostly) – I had a good race but I didn’t have the pack to help pull me along. I got out hard but reasonably in 4:45 and was already solo at that point. I was hoping I would have some others at my pace to run with or at least some guys getting out over their heads that I could follow early –on. The East Africans had already gapped me (and were pulling further away) and I was already engaged in the battle to race against myself and the clock by that point. I got into a good rhythm and was content to focus on the task of pushing the pace of best I could solo. 1 member of the lead pack dropped out early, and another fell back early. I passed him before the 2-mi mark and he didn’t respond. The others in the lead group were so far ahead they couldn’t even be used as carrots for me to chase. I would be on my own the whole time. This worked out OK for me at first. I put my blinders on and move forward as best I could. I came through 5K in 15:03, feeling pretty good. The only real hill on the course came after 5K. Having drove the course the day before I knew it was coming and prepared for it mentally. I got up and down the hill well coming through 4 mile in 19:20. But it was here I started to lose some focus. I prayed for someone to pass me and wake me up as I slowed to 4:55 pace for miles 5 and 6 (splits of 24:15 and 29:10). It was only after the downhill finish came into view where I was able to kick it in strong to a 30:05 finish (good for 13th place, 1st American). The effort was solid as evidenced by my stomach contents inside the finish chute trashcan. I was happy to run a strong race but upset my lack of focus let a sub-30 result slip away. Overall the progression of the last several weeks has been encouraging and I’m ready for more. I cooled down with Jake and we spoke of Duluth and what we wanted to do in the next few weeks in order to be successful there. I had run 11 miles on the day and ~75 miles in the down week leading up to the race.

Worth noting: It was a strong day for the GRC – solid races from the women’s team (LTO especially), nice comeback races from Jake and Scott, and solid PR’s from 2 soon-to-be fathers (Dave and Bain).