The plan was to ramp up my training and peak for a series of three races over four weeks , ending with yesterday's Brooklyn Half Marathon.
Three races in four weeks is a lot, but the distances were gradually increasing, as was my interest in doing well. There was the Mother's Day 4 miler, which hoped to do well in, but it was more of a warm up to the Healthy Kidney 10K, which I was targeting more. Then a week off before going for it in the Half.
Things started out according to plan, but we went to visit my folks for Memorial Day weekend, and it turned out that there was a race in my home town while we were there. I had never run in my home town before, and there was simply no way to resist.
It turned out to be great fun. The race had a wonderful local feel to it. It was 500 people instead of 5000, and the vibe was
very positive. I had a great time running the course, which was 3.8 miles, with a long tough hill in the middle. When I rounded the corner before the finish, the family was there cheering -- three generations worth. Can't beat that. My pace was a little slower than I hoped (6:44), but I was happy with my 33rd place finish.
Racing on Monday was definitely not in the original plan, so I tried to make up for it by taking Thursday and Friday off before Saturday's Brooklyn Half. That worked pretty well, and I felt fresh at the start. Too fresh in fact, as my first mile was a good bit faster than I intended. I really pulled back on mile 2 to make up for it, and then settled in to a good pace.
The first half of the race was in hilly Prospect Park, and my splits reflected the changes in elevation. The second half of the race was totally flat, and my pace was incredibly even -- no more than 1 second of variation from mile 8 to the end.
I ended up with a 34 second PR. Not much for a 13.1 mile race, but once again, a PR is a PR. The splits are at the end of this post.
The race ended at the Coney Island boardwalk, and PL and I jumped into the ocean to cool off. It was a spectacular feeling. The water was ice cold, but that's just what we needed. The Brooklyn Half is a race not to miss.
The next day, PL talked me into coming out for the Japan Day 4 miler, as a "recovery race". We took it easy, and it felt good to stretch the legs out. I can't help but notice though, that technically, I ran three races this week... Not usually recommended.
Anyway, I'm now headed for some down time. I'll cut back on milage, skip speed work, and generally give my old body a chance to regenerate. I consider myself lucky to have survived this push, which was a bit over the top. Next time, I'll try to control myself a bit better (ha!).
Looking back though, it does seem that I got away with it. I PRed in all three target races (I could even claim the home town race as a PR, since I've never run a 3.8 miler before), and I seem to have escaped injury. I can't wait for the next big push!
Brooklyn Half Marathon Splits:
6:56
7:26
7:15
7:09
7:34
7:31
7:08
7:10
7:18
7:17
7:19
7:17
7:19
0:41 (last 0.1 miles)
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2 comments:
Sounds like you had a productive couple of weeks. I ended up running an unplanned hometown race last weekend too, but mine was 50,000 people not 500! Still very fun though. I think you have to go out there and run those fun races even if they don't match perfectly with your plans. And, sometimes, you still hit the P.R.'s anyway. Good job on the half!
Nice pacing! People complain that I race too much, but looking back at your racing schedule (and how well you've done in each of them) I feel as if I haven't done enough! Congrats. Enjoy your well-deserved break.
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