It's all relative

AM: 20 miles.  Definitely felt the calf, but nothing acute until mile 13.  Was too far away to stop my run, however.

PM: 10.3 miles, 7 with Elia.  It was really nice to run with him.  The heat would have been a bit unbearable solo- it's already in the 80s and humid here again.  Thanks winter.

AM: 8.8 miles, some fast with Alan,  Dylan, and Elia.

PM: 8.2 miles with the group.

PM: I woke up this morning disappointed that I did not do a workout yesterday.  I knew I wanted to and it would help my confidence, but I just bailed on it simply so I could run with my friends.  Today I started feeling some anxieties about my race on Saturday as the doubt began creeping in: my speedwork has been specific, but not a long enough cycle.  I missed Friday speed and yesterday, as well as skipped two runs (one being a long run with effort).  Overall, my confidence was diminished because of this.  Anyway, I decided to do workout tonight to make up for it.  It will be interesting to see if it negatively affects me for Saturday and Sunday for both of my races.

Workout-10x100m striders, fully recover jogging, 1x12:00 at 5:00/mile.  I nailed the splits (2.4 miles total for the 12:00 interval).

The workout certainly felt like I was working- but I was working effortlessly.  My breathing was controlled and form held strong.  this really helps my confidence for the weekend.  I was worried about my calf, but it was a non-issue.  I did not feel great entering into the final interval, but that proved to be all in my mind.

PM: 4.15 miles

I am ready.  I am going to shoot for a sub 50 minute 15k on Saturday, and likely aim for 5:19/mile pace on the way out (with the wind), and 5:21 for the trip back (against the wind). 

"C" Goal: The top 10 will be the first goal.  I know of 9 other runners who are in my speed range and doing the 15k, so it appears that seems like a reasonable "C" goal.  

"B" Goal: Top 5.  Top 5 wins you a minimum of $250 for 5th place and increases from there.  I know this race has the top runners in the area- it's nice to know I can compete against guys who are dealing with this crap weather right along with me, so to test my efforts is exciting for me.

"A" Goal: PR with a sub 49:59.  I just want to be under 50 minutes.  That is just one of those magical numbers for us weekend warriors who didn't run in college or high school that we can forever be proud of achieving.  I really want it badly.  I don't remember  ever wanting something this badly.

Yesterday's workout has me really psyched for Saturday.  I just have to relax, keep my form, keep my knee drive, and stay focused once we get into that second half of the race.  Ideally, I can stay with RJ for the first half, unless he decides to do something way too fast.  I'm hoping he plans on shooting for nothing faster than 5:15/mile (and ideally 5:19/mile), which is already out of my range.  If he does, then I might be stuck in no-man's land behind the top 5. 

Anthony is still uncertain if he will even run.  He doesn't usually like to run big races like this out of shape, so if he is feeling anything at all, he is out.  That being said, I  would love him to be there and clicking along right next to me or even ahead of me.  Similarly, I can't count on Jeremy to be in my range.  He doesn't usually dip under 5:35/mile for anything like this.  

The next group of 5 has James (who is a bit out of shape, so I hear), and then 4 other college guys.  The college guys are a bit of a wild card for obvious reasons.  If they have been training hard, then they will be ahead of me.  If they haven't been putting in miles and just doing workouts, then they will be in the 50-52 range.  I am selfishly hoping they are all in the 49:30-50:00-flat range.  

No running

2019 Gasparilla 15k Race Report

The conditions were terrible for the time of year: 70-80 degrees, super humid, sunny, crosswinds were not crazy but were constant, and high dew point.  That being said, the weather didn't seem to affect the lead runners in front of me too much (except for the 4th place guy), so my complaints are pretty empty because of that fact.

Start line: The race started off with me confident to break 50 minutes pretty handily.  I also figured I'd have a shot at top three and win some money!  Read on...

First mile: Welp, there goes that plan.  I was 20th place or so and was distinctly into the third group of runners with the lead group comprising of eight guys going about 5:00/mile pace, so I figured I would just go for the PR and whatever happens happens!  I crossed mile one right on target in 5:20, but was behind seemingly everyone.

Mile 2 and 3 went perfectly, and over the course of those miles I slid up to 9th place overall, with just that group of 8 in front of me.  

Miles 4-6 saw me fall 12 seconds behind my pace, however I guess I wasn't the only one suffering already.  Despite my slowing, I caught 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th, and put 20 seconds on them all.  This was a very weird experience so deep into the race to see that kind of drop off from the "faster" group.  

I was already 90 seconds behind first through fourth, but I knew 5th was guaranteed $$$ and who knows, maybe one of the top four aren't local... more on that later.

The second half I felt heavy and positive split by nearly a minute, but somehow managed to put 10 more seconds on the rest of the field behind me.  I really do not know how.  Either we all paced this race terribly, or the weather was beating everyone up today.  Even my final mile was a clunker at 5:27.  

In the end, I missed my goal by a minute, however this was all mitigated by the fact that apparently I managed the 2nd overall local runner, netting me $1,500!  Realistically, I did not run a time fast enough to win money of that amount, so I truly am fortunate. Who says money doesn't solve problems?  Have a bad day?  Oh... here's 1500 dollars.  Is your day a bit better?  Oh, why yes it is!  Thank you! 

Hopefully that's how it plays out.  I also now have an opportunity to win some more money tomorrow in the half marathon, so who knows?

Splits-  5:20, 5:20, 5:18, 5:28, 5:23, 5:23, 5:25, 7:25 (1.3 miles on lap, 5:37 pace), 5:27 (final mile)   for 1st half- 24:51, 2nd half- 25:38 (+0:47 split)

Places- 1st- 47:12, 2nd 47:44, 3rd 47:58, 4th 48:04, 5th me 50:29, 6th 50:56, 7th 51:06