9.28.2010

Monday, September 27th

7 miles, moderate
75 degrees, cloudy

I ran up the Potomac Heritage Trail along the west bank of the Potomac north of Arlington.  It was fun to explore a new trail, but it was a stop-and-start kind of run because of all the obstacles.

Sunday, September 26th

15 miles, easy
65 degrees, sprinkling

I met with a group at The Line for the Zoo Loop.  The run was a little faster than I was up for, so I held back along Beach Drive with Jarrin.

Saturday, September 25th

10 miles, moderate
70 degrees, partly sunny

I ran with the group from the Georgetown store around the Hains Point loop.  We picked it up and my legs felt pretty sore, so I shut it down the last two miles and ran with Ernst.

Friday, September 24th

0 miles.

Thursday, September 23rd

8 miles, easy
80 degrees, humid, dark

I ran into Jim Daly at an impromptu photography meet-up at the Iwo Jima Memorial, where dozens of amateur and professional photographers awaited the rise of the harvest moon over the National Mall.  None of my photos came out, but I learned a few things about my camera.  Jim came over to my place and we met up with Ben for a night run around NW DC on the Dupont-Gtown-Mall-16th Street loop.

9.23.2010

Wednesday, September 22nd

11 miles, "easy"
93 degrees, MUGGY

Man the weather was a shock to the system tonight.  I went up to BCCHS to meet the guys, but planned on just running instead of doing the workout.  We ran along the CCT, and while Paul and Dave did a workout, Mike C and I ran out-and-back.  It was an incredible struggle just to run 6:50-7:00/mile.  I've still got some recovering to do...

Tuesday, September 21st

4 miles, easy
75 degrees, sunset

I ran around the Mall on my own after work, and my legs felt shredded.  Kept it short.

Monday, September 20th

0 miles, recovery

9.19.2010

Sunday, September 19th - Philadelphia Half Marathon

15.5 miles, hard
65-70 degrees, sunny, muggy

Today was the big tune-up half marathon. I haven't had a lot of luck in Philadelphia, but I was feeling strong this week so I decided to go for a PR. My half marathon PR was only 1:14:20, which makes it one of my softest PRs. My goal was to run ~1:13 low, or ~5:35/mile.

When the race started, I deliberately held back to avoid being swept up in the crowd of elites and the fools who chased them. Still, I went through the first mile in 5:21... too fast, but not detrimentally so. I adjusted my pace, and let a pack run by. When I saw my mile 2 split was 5:38, and I was only a few seconds behind the pack, I made the call to latch on to them as long as I could. We ran consistent 5:27s through downtown Philly, back by the museum, and up Kelly Drive. By mile 6 I was starting to struggle keeping up with them, and I broke just before the 8 mile mark.

I had told myself before the race that if I fell off pace, I would just cruise in at marathon pace. Despite takeing a GU at mile 7, I slowed to slower than 6 minute pace. I was crashing hard, but the GU kicked in and I was able to staunch the hemorrhaging. I still couldn't get back under 6:00/mile pace most of the way down JFK Boulevard even though I tried several times to kick start my race and try to get the PR. Mile 11-12 I was only able to accelerate to 5:54, but I finished relatively strong (compared to the last few miles) with a 5:43 final mile. I rounded the corner to the finish and saw the clock already over 1:14, and I knew I wouldn't hit the PR. Oh well, I was happy I gave it a shot. This endd up being my 3rd fastest, and 4th sub-75 minute half marathon. One of these days I'll break 74.

Splits:

Mile 1: 5:21
Mile 2: 5:38 10:59
Mile 3: 5:30 16:30 5K: 17:04
Mile 4: 5:28 21:58
Mile 5: 5:27 27:26
Mile 6: 5:27 32:54 10K: 34:04
Mile 7: 5:27 38:22
Mile 8: 5:35 43:58
Mile 9: 6:03 50:01
Mile 10: 6:07 56:08
Mile 11: 6:17 62:26
Mile 12: 5:54 68:20 20K: 1:10:50
Mile 13: 5:43 74:04

FINISH: 1:14:47

Saturday, September 18th

4.5 miles, easy
65 degrees, sunny

I woke up early and ran on my own around RCP. Just an easy pre-race run. No strides though. Drove up to Philly right after for the HM.

Friday, September 17th

9.5 miles, easy
60 degrees, sunrise

Met with Dickson for the usual run around Hains Point/The Mall.

Thursday, September 16th

0 miles. I should have run or gone to the gym or something, but I didn't. It's fine once in a while, but I've been doing this too much.

Wednesday, September 15th

9.5 miles, hard
75 degrees, dusk

It's getting darker earlier now, and half of our track workout was in the dark. At least it was warm.

I ran 3xmile somewhat quick (for marathon training), and felt pretty good doing it.

Splits: 5:21; 5:16; 5:14

9.15.2010

Tuesday, September 14th

9 miles, moderate
80 degrees, dusk

Ran on my own after work around RCP/Georgetown.

Monday, Septmber 13th

13 miles, easy
75 degrees, 50% RH, sunset

Ran on an unusually psychrometrically-perfect evening with Dickson for 13 miles.

Sunday, September 12th

9 miles, easy
80 degrees, wet

Ran on my own Sunday afternoon around Rock Creek Park before going to Bain/Shannon's for Jarrin's 40th birthday bash.

Saturday, September 11th

15 miles, easy
60 degrees, sunrise

Met with Mike Smith for an early run around Cabin John Park. Dusen and new guy Jerry (Cortland Alum) for the last ten.

Friday, September 10th

8 miles, easy
60 degrees, sunrise

Met with Dickson on a slightly chilly morning for our usual Friday morning run. I wasn't up for too many miles, so I called it at 8.

Thursday, September 9th

10 miles, easy
75 degrees, dry

Not as dry as last night, but still dry. Met with Dan Z for a run around the Mall from his new place on Capital Hill.

Wednesday, September 8th

9.5 miles, hard
75 degrees, DRY

The return of Track Hack. Finally one of our workout nights isn't jungle-humid, but it's so absurdly lacking in humidity we all got Track Hack. Crazy.

Otherwise, it was a solid workout. Some of us did 5x1000m while others did 3x2 miles. It was nice to run fast, and I finished with some of the fastest track work I've done since graduation.

Splits: 3:09; 3:11; 3:04; 3:02; 2:57