Blog Master G

Instead of Dodging Deer on a muddy trail, as was the case on this weekend last year, I joined a number of my fellow Saratoga Stryders in Spa State Park for the 31st Annual St. Peter’s Keys Run. It’s actually two races: a 10k at 9am and a 5k at 11am. Some of my fellow Stryders — Richard, Peggy, Sean — were hardcore enough to run both races… and even get in some miles before both races.

I had a great time today (racing only the 5k), and as I was telling Jen after the race, running with a club makes all the difference. Not only has it helped me to get faster, but it’s been a fun way to make new friends, encourage each other, and make running more social. Besides the occasional Stryder workout over the past two years, I spent most of my first two years running solo. Not sure why. Maybe I was just acclimating myself to the sport. Regardless, it’s nice to have a fun group of running friends now.

As for the race, it was pretty much perfect conditions (~44 degrees F, overcast, and slight rain), and I felt confident going into the race that I could beat my 19:31 PR from last summer’s Fasig-Tipton 5k, thanks to all the recent speed work and training with the Stryders. The familiar turf and relatively flat roads of the State Park helped, too.

After some chit-chat at the starting line and wishing my fellow Stryders and others luck, the whistle blew and the race began. I was off to the side, and ran the first 100 meters or so in the grass along the road before falling into place. It was a fast and furious first mile, which I clocked in at a solid 6:07.

As we entered Mile 2, some runners began slowing and I started passing a few people. Though it doesn’t feel like a particularly hilly course, as I look at the elevation now, I see that there are a number of rolling hills, including a 100-foot gain in a 0.2-mile span near the end of the second mile, which explains my slowest-of-the-race mile (6:22).

With just about a mile to go, I tried to keep the pace strong and not fade too much. I passed a couple of runners in the final mile and was motivated to push even harder when I heard someone coming up behind me with just over a quarter-mile to the finish.

I heard his breathing right on my heels, so I kept on pushing as we rounded the final corner into the parking lot as the finish line came into sight. I didn’t see this other runner until after we’d crossed the line and he shook my hand, but he definitely motivated me to turn it on for my final sprint to the line (6:10 for Mile 3 and 34 seconds for the final 0.1 mile / 0.12 by Garmin, which is a 4:46 pace in that final 161-meter dash).

After I finished and caught my breath, it was fun to stick around the finish line and cheer for my fellow Stryders as they came blazing across the line one after another. I’m glad Jen also got the chance to meet so many of my running friends today (and, as always, that she’s awesome enough to stand and cheer in the cold, wet weather to capture the pictures and videos).

Official time: 19:15, a new 5k PR by a solid 16 seconds. I won my division and placed 11th overall. Rounding out the 30-34 male division were other Stryders, Chris and Sean, so it was great to have a Stryder sweep!

Lots of Stryders got division medals today, including Richard in the 10k, and Sean D., Peggy, Judy, and Stan in the 5k as well.

Congrats to everyone who ran a great race today! Good times!

Mile splits (view Garmin data):

Today is an overcast day with 19 MPH winds. I ran the Shamrock Shuffle 5-mile race in Glens Falls and almost exactly nailed my goal time (off by 3 seconds). It was a new PR at the 5-mile distance (32:33) and I’m really happy about it.

Update (3.29.2010): Jen and I left before the results were announced yesterday, but I won 3rd in my division! 🙂 I placed 42 out of 480 overall.

I’ve been participating in a running study at Skidmore College the past couple weeks and, as a result, ran two 5k time trials last week (and have two more in the next couple days). That, combined with other speed work I’ve been doing, no doubt contributes to my new PR.

In the same race last year it was a torrential downpour and I set what was then a PR at 5 miles (33:39). So taking nearly a full minute off that time is pretty sweet since the faster one gets, the more exponential each incremental improvement becomes. (The first year I ran the race — in 2008 — I clocked in a 41:51.)

I lined up at the front of the pack with one foot on the shamrock portion of the starting line. When the gun fired, I took off in a burst with everyone else and rounded the first corner. Glancing at my Garmin, I saw a too-fast pace of 5:54, so I quickly turned it down and settled into my target pace of around 6:30 to 6:35. The first mile has one of the few slight inclines of the course, leading up an overpass over the highway. I felt strong from the start and ran a 6:39 Mile 1.

Going into the second mile, those runners who’d come out too fast started to fade and I heard lots of huffing and puffing (already) around me. I fell into a pack that was running right around my 6:30 target. I was feeling good, so I went with it. I rounded out Mile 2 in 6:32.

On the back side of the course there are some gentle rolling hills and trees along the road. It was around this time that I reminded myself of one of the things I’m always really conscious of in races: Not to let myself get into a too-comfortable pace behind a runner who’s starting to fade. Such was the case as I passed a girl around the 2.5-mile mark and heard her yell, “Shit!” as she realized she wasn’t maintaining pace. On the slight decline, the pace quickened to 6:17 or so. Mile 3 was one of my fastest of the day: 6:23.

In the fourth mile I was still going mostly strong, but as we turned into the wind, started to feel the race taking its toll. I made some more passes and kept a pack of three or so runners in my sight. Mile 4 pace: 6:32.

With just over a mile to go (about 3.69 elapsed), it was time to push for the finish — not all out but felt that I had enough left to make a few more passes. So as we rounded the last few corners and toward the finish line, I passed the remaining runners who’d been in my immediate sight. There was just one runner off in the distance (at least 400 meters or so ahead) between me and the finish line.

So I turned it on and gave it everything I had. I wasn’t really trying to catch the last guy in front of me (at least at first), but actually came so close in the final few meters that I was right on his heels by the time I flew across the line into the finish corral. I had to slam on my personal brakes to avoid crashing into him. Mile 5 was right up there with Mile 3 as the fastest of the day: 6:23. My max pace in that final sprint dipped as low as 3:58 (!), which could be another new record.

View finish line video

I saw a few fellow Saratoga Stryders at the race, along with some other familiar faces, which is always fun. Congrats to all the runners today!

And a big thanks, as always, to my lovely Jen for braving the wind and cold to cheer me on and take pictures and video!

Mile splits (view Garmin data):

As I wrote about back in January, this year to date I’ve been taking it somewhat easy, not logging too many big miles and focusing more on speed work and faster 6- to 8-mile runs, making more of an effort to run once or twice a week with my running club, the Saratoga Stryders. Running with faster people makes you faster.

In 2010 to date, I’ve gone for 47 runs, which includes 3 races and 2 snowshoe runs. I’ve run 59% of the 80 days in 2010, averaging 5.89 miles per run and 22.92 miles per week.

I’ve also gone swimming 15 times this year (once or twice a week), averaging 0.52 miles each time (about 20 laps or 1,000 yards each time I go), to help improve my cardio. It’s made a big difference in bettering my ability to sustain faster paces with a lower heart rate.

I’m not sure what got into me this week — maybe it’s the awesome spring weather — but I just completed an entire 7 days of working out, which could be a record. I ran 5 days and swam 2 days, and I feel pretty great.

This morning’s run (with Charles) was also the longest I’ve done since my last marathon in October — 13.15 miles at the Saratoga Battlefield, a beautiful place to run — rolling hills, grazing deer (one of which I hypnotized with my bright fluorescent green running jacket), and miles of peaceful trails with nary a car in sight.

The elevation / heart rate chart for this morning’s run:

The run also brought my weekly running total to a year’s best 45.04 miles, adding nearly 20 miles to last week’s 26 and c0mpletely disregarding the rule of thumb to only increase weekly mileage by 10% at a time.

I’ve always been impressed by A Marathoner’s weekly run recaps (along with his daily running analyses), so here’s my version of the same for the past week:

* The 5.82-miler on Saturday included my fourth and final week of spring Fartlek training, as suggested by Greg McMillan in this article: Performance Page: The Lost Art of Fartlek. I did a 5-minute surge at 80% effort, followed by a 2-minute recovery jog. Then a 4-minute surge at 85% effort, and so on (3, 2, and 1). The 1-minute surge was at close to 100% effort, which was fun and really tough. Oh, and Monday’s run also included Week 3 of the Fartleks (yeah, I compressed two speed workouts into one week, which also isn’t ideal).

One thing’s for certain: There’s nothing like five months of a dreary and cold Northeast winter to make one really appreciate the sun (even if we didn’t get much snow this year). So when the temperature climbed to the low 60s yesterday, all I wanted to do was be outside.

Yesterday also happened to be my six-year work anniversary, so I’ve always appreciated this time of year. My birthday is also right around the corner (not that I really look forward to getting any older these days). As I wrote back in 2006, April is the Best Month.

This March feels more like April, and I’ll take it.

It was hard to resist the urge to go for a run yesterday since it was so beautiful out, but I ran a tough 10-miler Monday evening with some intense Fartleks, so I knew I shouldn’t push it. Plus, I went swimming on my lunch break yesterday.

So instead I celebrated spring by busting out our porch rockers (porch sitting season has arrived!), taking Stella and Happy for a couple of long walks, then spending about an hour and a half after work raking up all the winter debris — probably an early season record for me since there are still some patches of snow on the ground (my neighbors on both sides commented). But I couldn’t resist. It was just too damn nice out to be inside.

I filled all three of our yard waste garbage cans plus three additional biodegradable yard waste bags.

Bring it, spring! Enough of this cold nonsense.

The best weekends are those when you’ve had everything to do, and you’ve done it all. Those are also the weekends that seem to last longer than two-and-a-half days.

This past weekend was one of those. Though we didn’t go out Friday night after work, Jen and I did stay in for our own fun little happy hour.

Saturday I woke up and ran 12.04 miles with my Saratoga Stryder buddies in the Spa State Park. It was a great run, and my longest run since the fall. I felt strong throughout and like I could’ve kept going.

Then we painted our bedroom. Jen even hired some guy via craigslist:

That evening we cruised down to Albany for some delicious dinner and hilarious Cranium with Justin and Katie (Jen and I won this time around).

Sunday we woke up and headed right back to Albany, where we enjoyed some pizza with Jack and kids, before a quick stop at Graney’s for a drink and some fries on the way home:

Ice cold beer, HOTT women, 30 T.V.’s ** No, you have not died and gone to heaven, you are at Graney’s!!

Be sure to learn more about the Graney’s loyal staff.

We spent the rest of the evening finishing up the bedroom painting job, applying a second coat and finishing up the detail work.

Good times!

Photo courtesy of HMRRC; that’s me on far right

Despite dealing with some craptastic back pain the past week and a half, I set a new 4-mile race PR this morning (25:52) at the Runnin’ of the Green in Green Island, NY, near Troy, and I was pretty psyched about that.

Like last year’s race (when I also set a then-PR of 26:24), this morning was another picture-perfect day with the sun shining, a gentle breeze, and a field of 500 fast runners.

Coming off last month’s Polar Cap 4-miler, where I had set a then-PR of 26:18 on a tough, hilly course with 20 MPH winds and a “feels like” temperature of -2, I felt good about this morning’s race, where the conditions were… not that. 🙂

The Runnin’ of the Green is a USATF event, so lots of fast runners show up. And it’s mostly flat, so it’s a good PR course.

I came out strong off the line — a little too fast, in fact, since I caught myself pushing a 5:45 pace in the initial rush off the line. I eased off and passed the Mile 1 marker in 6:16. My average heart rate in the first mile was 161, so I wasn’t pushing too hard yet and things were looking good. This heart rate / elevation chart is interesting to see my steadily climbing HR:

Slowing a bit in Mile 2, I tried to keep it as close to my goal pace of 6:30. Already, a number of runners who went out too fast started to fade. Mile 2 pace: 6:28.

The third mile is usually the toughest for me in a 4-mile race. It’s the time when I fall into a groove and have to fight the urge to slow down, but don’t want to push too hard since I know there’s still another mile to go. I was running with a fairly good-sized pack of runners by this time, and tried to avoid falling into place behind those who were slowing. Mile 3 pace: 6:34.

As we passed the Mile 3 marker and entered the final mile, I was still feeling strong and picked up the pace, along with a number of other runners in my pack. Half a mile to go… still feeling good… saving that final finishing kick… quarter-mile to go… picking it up… last intersection as the finish line comes into sight about 50 to 100 meters away… turning it on for the final kick and a few final passes. Mile 4 pace: 6:22.

I didn’t have much left by the end, and was really happy with my performance today. It was also my first race in my new Newton Sir Issac Guidance Trainers, and they felt great.

Congrats to the other Green Island runners, too! You are a tough group!

Mile splits (view Garmin data):

After (hopefully) motivating others to run via my photo in today’s Saratogian, it was time to run my third race of 2010. So this morning I headed to Albany to join my two teammates, Olivier and Rick, to run the 24th annual Hudson Mohawk Road Runners Club 3-person Winter Marathon Relay.

Before this morning, I hadn’t run more than 8 miles since my last marathon in October, but I was feeling strong going into the race and was excited to run a longer distance than the 4-milers I’ve been running as of late. I’d also  previously run just one race of similar distance (Stockadeathon 15k in 2008), and recall really liking the distance — not an all-out sprint like a 5k but a solid clip, faster than a half-marathon… in theory, anyway.

Though I’ve been staying in pretty good shape this winter (running ~20 miles per week and swimming once or twice a week), I’m apparently not in quite as good shape as I was in September when running my last half-marathon (7:01/mile average pace).

Then again, the Saratoga Palio didn’t whip me with 20 MPH winds like the marathon relay did today. Going into the race, I was shooting for what I thought was a fairly conservative 1:04. The course was a bit hillier than I expected, and the winds really took their toll, so I came in just shy of my goal, crossing the 9.2-mile mark in 1:05:09 (7:02 average pace).

Despite the wind, it was a solid race and I was happy with my performance, given my current conditioning and the wind. The course itself wasn’t the most interesting: Just a couple of laps around the SUNY Albany campus and the State Office Park — a mind-numbing route were I ever to run the Winter Marathon solo (I can’t see why I ever would).

There’s not much else to report about the race itself except that I maintained a fairly steady pace (Mile 1 and Mile 8 being the fastest — 6:51 and 6:49; Mile 4 being the slowest — 7:18), drafted off other runners as much as possible (darn wind!), and ate one GU around Mile 5. It was a fun day out and nice to mix up the racing as part of a team.

Coming off an injury, Rick logged a solid 5.7-mile middle leg (7:15 average pace) before Olivier ran us home with a kick-ass performance to round out the 26.2 miles with his 11.3-mile leg (6:59 average pace).

As a team in the combined under 120 (years old) division, we would have easily qualified for the Boston Marathon (too bad they don’t accept relay times!), clocking in a respectable 3:05:39 (7:05 average pace for the team). I left before results were posted, so not sure yet how we fared, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t win. Update: We placed 12th overall of 59 teams (and 5th in our 3M 120- division, which means teams of all men whose total age is 120 or less).

Congrats to all runners! And thanks for cheering us on and taking pictures, Estelle!

Gabe’s mile splits (view Garmin data):

In a new study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, Saratoga County is ranked as the second healthiest in New York state. The study looks at factors like smoking, drinking, education, income, food access, and exercise.

In the Saratogian’s coverage of the report in today’s paper (Experts: Host of factors at play in Saratoga County’s high health rank), guess who’s the poster boy for a healthy Saratoga Springs?

That’s right: Yours truly. While running an easy 5-miler a couple days ago in preparation for my marathon relay today (9.2 miles), I saw a woman crouched in the road up ahead with a camera. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was in her way or if she was actually taking pictures of me. Turns out she was photographing me as an example of how healthy Saratogians are.

It was fun to see myself doing what I love in today’s paper — and on the front page of Saratogian.com:

Good job being healthy, Saratoga County! Keep up the good work and we’ll all live long, healthy lives with minimal impact on the health care system (whatever form it may take in coming years — hopefully one that will benefit all of us, including the currently uninsured millions).

Last weekend I ran the Polar Cap 4-miler in Lake George for the third time. Back in 2008 it was only the second race I’d ever run (time: 34:10). Last year I was ecstatic when I won my division — the first time doing so (27:12).

Before last Saturday my PR at the 4-mile distance was 26:24, which I ran last March on a fast, flat course on a warm, sunny day. Last Saturday was completely opposite conditions — a hilly, snowy course with 14 MPH winds and a “feels like” temperature of -2 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the crazy cold and wind, I couldn’t have asked for a much better race.

I came out strong, but not too fast, knowing most of the first mile was uphill (6:39 pace). In the second mile, which is mostly downhill with another climb at the end, other runners were starting to fade, feeling the effects of that starting hill (6:31). For most of the first couple miles I was running with a pack of a few other guys, and we  took turns drafting off of one another.

Somewhere in the third mile one of the guys from the pack and I surged ahead, and continued to run neck and neck for the remainder of the race (I couldn’t believe he was running in that cold without a hat). Mile 3 pace: 6:45, the slowest of the day.

From about Mile 2.8 to Mile 3.3 is a steady uphill climb. My competitor pulled ahead on the uphill, but I kept him in sight, knowing that the final half-mile or so was mostly flat. In the last downhill with about 800 meters to go, I made my move, recalling my fast finish from the previous year. I passed my competitor and thought I had sealed the deal.

Little did I know, he had an even stronger finishing kick than I did (and I love that final sprint to the finish). As we turned the final corner and the finish line came into sight with about 400 meters to go, my competitor pulled ahead yet again. I noticed his racing flats and dug deep, still thinking I could catch him.

But I was out of steam. My competitor beat me by 4 seconds, taking 2nd in our division, and leaving me with a 3rd in division finish. I couldn’t complain: I had just set a PR of 26:18 with a fast Mile 4 — the fastest of the day (6:23) — and would soon by taking home a sweet snowflake pin as my award. 🙂

Mile splits (view Garmin data):

Since my last marathon in the fall, I’ve been taking it quite a bit easier with my running, logging no more than 20-30 miles per week — and an entire week off while Jen and I were in California for Christmas (the most I’ve taken off running since I started in January 2008).

I decided to take it easy this winter and, in general, to relax and have more fun on the running front, not stressing myself out too much about logging big miles and constantly pressuring myself to get faster. I also decided last month to begin making more of an effort to run with my local running club, the Saratoga Stryders.

Last month when Jen and I joined the YMCA, I also took up freestyle swimming, and have been hitting the pool once or twice a week. Swimming is tough and I can really feel the impact on my  lungs. After a swim, I feel exhausted  in a different way than after running. I also think it’s helping me to run faster.

The swimming, combined with regularly running with the Stryders — a fast and experienced group of runners — has made me feel faster and stronger (on fewer miles) in a relatively short period of time. I”ve also really enjoyed the Wednesday night Brewery runs with the Stryders, where we run about 7 miles then enjoy some beers.

During an awesome 6.75-mile run with the Stryders through the Spa State Park yesterday morning (view Garmin splits), it occurred to me that it would be fun to do my own little triathlon workout at the Y today: swim, bike, and run for roughly 20 minutes each.

I wasn’t sure what to expect and how tough it might be, but today I did my first Y tri workout — and it was great.

I started in the pool and swam for roughly 20 minutes, which yielded 14 laps. I quickly dried off, changed, threw on my running shoes, then headed into the cardio room and hit an Expresso bike machine, where a video display showed me racing through snow-covered mountains (5.4 miles in 25:14). Still feeling strong, I hopped on a treadmill next to Jen and clocked 3.05 final miles in 24:30.

It felt pretty awesome and this Y tri workout will likely become a regular routine for me. It’s fun to mix it up. I’ve also had it in the back of my mind for a while that after I hit my next major running goal (qualify for and run the Boston marathon), I’d consider doing a triathlon.

Who knows? Maybe I’ll look into some small local triathlons to give a shot this year before I get deep into training for a fall marathon.

Y Tri Workout at a glance: