Sunday, 3/6/11 to Saturday, 3/12/11

I ran 3 times, 20.5 miles this week.

Sun, 3/6/11: Rest day.

A well deserved rest day. When I went to bed it was 47F and sprinkling. When I woke up it was 24F  and snowing. Unbelievable! I had to put my boots on to get the Sunday paper. I trudged through about 3 to 4 inches of wet snow. CJ and I lazed around. Just a relaxing, romantic day.

Mon, 3/7/11: Rest day.

A Monday all day. It didn't start out so well, 20F outside ... the passenger wiper on CJ's car froze to the windshield forcing a trip to Pep Boys for a replacement. A long day at work ensued. I had a choice of resting or going out for a run. I chose to rest.

Tue, 3/8/11: 6.2 miles, 48:46, 7:52 pace, 36F, clear, calm, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for FF Cobbs Hill run, 3 Y's

Another long day at work. I definitely needed to get a run in after three days off. CJ and I headed down to Fleet Feet on a beautiful night with a new moon in the sky for the usual Cobbs Hill run. I met up with Bill B who runs the same pace that I do. We ran a bit easy up Monroe Ave, then powered up and down 3 Y's. He pulled ahead a bit on the ups and I caught him on the downs. Then we ran fast down Monroe Ave back to the store. CJ walked up to the gate and back, about 2.5 miles. She was soaked when we met back up at the store. We enjoyed listening to Dean Martin on Legends 102.7 FM on the way home.

Wed, 3/9/11: Rest day.

Just a dreary, rainy, misty day. I decided to stay in for the night after work.

Thu, 3/10/11: 9.3 miles, 1:21:02, 8:43 pace, 46F, dusk to night, cloudy, a bit windy, no stops, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Zoo trail out to Thomas Ave, road back

It actually stopped raining so I decided that I needed to get a nice and easy run in before Johnny's on Saturday. So I put on my trail shoes and headed out to the Zoo trail. It was muddy and a bit icy in spots. I ran out to Thomas Ave thankful I had not fallen. I took the road back ... just nice and easy. I ran out of energy on the way back, I could have used a Gu or Gel.

After a sub supper from Wegmans, CJ and I settled down to watch the Lakers play the Heat in Miami. The Heat won by 6, link here. I went to bed early, before 11AM. I had a restless night, my lower abs hurt a bit.

Fri, 3/11/11: Rest day before Johnny's on Saturday.

CJ and I headed out to Johnny's on the Green for packet pickup. It was too noisy so we tried the Distillery ... too busy. We ended up at McGinnity's. A nice and cozy Irish bar. We had the Friday night fish fry with some Guiness while watching SU play UConn in the Big East semifinal. SU lost in just 1 OT, not 6 like in 2009 when these two last played in the Big East tournament, link here.

Sat, 3/12/11: 5 miles, 34:35, 6:55 pace, 40F, cloudy, calm, no stops, no pain.

CJ and I headed down to the Blue Cross Arena for Johnny's Runnin of the Green 5 Mile, aka Johnny's. We were there in plenty of time. I stretched a bit, ran around the block, stretched a bit more and settled in about 10 yards from the start line. We were packed in a bit like sardines ... the start was welcomed. I headed out fast, 6:46 first mile. I stayed on Bob H's shoulder until I passed him a bit after mile 2, 7:00 pace. I was running pretty much flat out. I concentrated on stretching out with each stride, pumping my arms and good breathing. I thought I was going to flame out but I just kept going around the turnaround, didn't take water, then past mile 3, 6:57 pace. Mile 4, 6:56 pace, then over the Ford St bridge.

The start ... I was about somewhere 10 yards back

I did pretty well ... I was 133rd out of 1655, results here. I was 9th out of 116 in my 50-54 age group, results here.

  
 I always seem to be grimacing when I run ...

The Fleet Feet Racing Team cheering team about a quarter mile from the finish

The sprint to the finish line!

I kept the pedal down past Ellen and the Fleet Feet Racing crew who cheered me on ... then just floored it to pass another runner. I put it into a full sprint and tried to pass another runner at the line but he heard me coming and held me off. Last mile was 6:43 pace. I examined my Garmin data. Unbelievably, it says I was at 6:08 pace at 34:25 and 4:31 pace(!) at 34:32 ... when I was sprinting for the line! All in all, it was a great race ... very, very sweet!

Oh, I set an unofficial lifetime 5K PR of 21:24 on the way ... now I just have to find a nice, flat 5K so I can make it official!

Thanks to Chris W who suggested that I take off my jacket before the race. He said that I would get too hot and that I needed to keep my core cool so I would run faster. He was right. I probably could have taken another tech shirt off. Many thanks to my girlfriend, CJ, my beautiful, blonde girlfriend, who held my bag with all my spare stuff ... post race sweatshirt, gloves and water.

 

After a nice lunch and nap, CJ continued the Irish theme and made a nice supper of corned beef with cabbage, potatoes and carrots, washed down with some McCormick's Irish Cream. Mmmm! All in all, a very sweet day!