The Chances

How a 250+ Pound Couch Potato Got Healthy

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Marysville Peach Festival 5k

A week before the Avenue of the Giants Marathon in May, I ran the Run Drugs Out of Town 5k in Yuba City. It's amazing how some memories can stay while others disappear, because I didn't remember what my time was.

Today was the Marysville Peach Festival 5k in Marysville, and after the race, I looked up my time for my last 5k, the Run Drugs Out of Town.


See the activity on RunSaturday
Type:Run - Race
Duration:0:25:52
Distance:3.08 mi


I wasn't expecting to do very well in today's race. As far as running is concerned, while I've been working on maintaining base mileage, I haven't worked on pace at all. Each run has been at a comfortable pace, not pushing myself much, and with the heat, I've purposely been running slower.

Then again, I've been going to the gym regularly. The schedule I've been following has short workouts of approximately 30 minutes, leaving the rest of my lunch hour to run. That happens 4 days a week, with a 5-mile run in the middle. I've also been going to gym classes 3 mornings a week before I leave for work, and last week I took one of the classes in the evening after I got home. All told, it's been about 8 hours of workouts per week.

This morning I had a horrible time getting up. The race was at 8am, I had the alarm set early, but I didn't get out of bed until almost 7:30! At least the Silver Dollar, where the race started, is nearby.

Unlike the Bok Kai 5k in March, this race started on the road in front, adding another hill. The route went up and over the levee once, around Riverfront Park, up the ramp to the 5th Street Bridge, then onto the bike path for about a quarter mile before turning around and coming back. The levee, bridge ramp, and bridge itself made it more difficult a course than Run Drugs Out of Town.

As the first mile started, out the gate I was running at about an 8:30 pace. Coming off the levee, my pace quickened as I settled into about an 8:15 pace. It felt great, but I did wonder if I could hold it.

Mile 2 went just as well, and I started to think I might have a chance to PR. My 5k PR is 25:09, and I was completely surprised I even had a chance, given the type of running I'd been doing.

I hit 25 minutes with a quarter mile left, and it was obvious to me that I wouldn't get the PR. Even still, I was running better than I've run in the two months since the marathon.


See the activity on RunSaturday
Type:Run - Race
Duration:0:26:02
Distance:3.16 mi




Splits
Mile 1: 8:20
Mile 2: 8:10
Mile 3: 8:12
.1 mi: 1:22 (8:02/mi)

3.17 miles, 26:02 Garmin (26:09 gun), 8:13/mi ave, 359 calories burned

But how about those times? My Garmin distance was a little less for the Run Drugs Out of Town than this one, which was a little bit long. After adjusting for the distance variances, which would amount to seconds anyway, my times were almost identical.

What that also means is that I'm finally back in the same shape I was in just prior to the last marathon. I might not have been running fast, but I've been putting in the mileage, bit by bit. Last week I ran 21 miles in slower distances with more runs.

My goal is to continue the base mileage and gym workouts so that when marathon training starts in August, my fitness level will be high. With that as a beginning, it should be a great training cycle after Mt. Shasta!

From Twitter 07-16-2010





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