March 11th through March 17th
Sunday, March 11th
10 miles
Spring Forward 1 hour trail race.
8 miles in 53:52, 5th place
Series finale of the South County 4th Season Race Series.
Today's race was a really tough one for me. I have no excuses to make, I have a really tough time on technical trails. In usual fashion, I like to go through the positives and "areas of improvement" after every race, so here goes..
Pros
1. 4th Season Race Series. I have to give a shout out to Mike Galoob for organizing and putting the series on. The races were unique, fun, and well organized! After running road races for years, this series provided me with something different.
2. Muddy knows how to work in the mud. Outstanding run by Justin!
3. Team WTAC winning the race and overall series!
4. Despite not being happy with my personal performance, this event was straight up fun.
5. It was a hell of a workout.
Areas of Improvement
1. My general trail fitness. I do think I have trouble running on the trails, especially with the inflexible orthotics. The orthotics make me feel like I'm sliding and flopping all around. I'm not about to give them up, but I know I can do better. Suggestions?
2. Hills....maybe I can fix this one come next weekend.
3. Eat less munchkins...FAT chance.
Monday, March 12th
6+ miles, Weekapaug Roads and down by the beach. I ran the first three with Kelsey and Lulu, second 3+ on my own. I was really sore when I started out today, but felt better as the run progressed. The weather was awesome today. The volume of cars and people down by the beach definitely picked up today.
Tuesday, March 13th
0. DOMS Day...feeling some soreness in the legs and calves from Sunday's trail beat down. Did some stretching.
Wednesday, March 14th
6 miles
With Saturday's race rapidly approaching, I knew today was my only opportunity to sharpen the sword. Ran a 3 mile warm-up with Kel and Lu on Shore Road through Piezzo Drive. Dropped them off and heading down to one of my favorite haunts, HELL FIELD!
Workout-4X800 with 90 seconds recovery, 4X200 with 30 seconds recovery
2:39, 2:35, 2:34, 2:31, 35, 32,33, 32
Overall, I was happy with this workout. With some lingering soreness, I just wanted to get a solid workout in that would give me some confidence for Saturday.
Thursday, March 15th
6 miles in Champlain. Had fun on playing on the trails. I felt sluggish today but that is okay.
I was on the look out, but I did not have any GAZELLE sightings.
Friday, March 16th
2.5 on the treadmill at 5 am. Very uneventful. Took it nice and easy. No time for a run later on..heading up to Western Mass.
Saturday, March 17th
Holyoke St. Patrick's Day 10k 35:24
5:42/mile
35/6000
Wow, I have so much to say about this race.
Coolest race facts:
-Zac Hine, who is from South Hadley, won the race and beat some Africans in the process. I believe he is the first local winner since 1980. From what I know of Zac, he is a really nice guy and is an incredible runner. Awesome and exciting win for him.
-6005 finishers. Really? I thought the race was big when I ran in last (2500 runners). This race has more than doubled in five years.
-100th place finshing time: 39:22. Crazy
-There had to be 10,000 spectators in the past 300m
Pros
-After taking almost 4 years off from competitive running, it was nice to be back at this race.
-Met with a ton of old friends and running buddies. The big question of the day, "Tommy, where have you been?"
-Starting in the elite athlete section. They gave me a special orange bib that gave me a great starting spot.
-Ran mentally tough and didn't give up.
-Can't complain about placing 35th when there are so many good runners.
-Still consider myself to be within "striking distance" of some of old rivals (I did beat a few of them)
-Now that this race is over, I can really assess my running. I plan on mixing up my training a bit by adding some different stuff to my program and taking necessary rest along the way.
Areas for Improvement
-HILLS...The rolling hills of the course kicked my butt. I will be working on this..
-35:24-my slowest time on thsi course..best time was 33:41 and my previous slowest time was 34:47.
-General fatigue (arms felt heavy throughout, turnover could be better). Should I start doing pushups and more strength work? Why I am always tired?
-Shoes. I know, I keep complaining about my orthotics and shoes. This is a hot topic for me because I do believe the orthotics are a big reason I am able to run in the first place. On the down side, they are too bulky to put into racing flats and make for a rigid ride.
Much more to come on this race report..these are my general take aways.
39 miles for the week
That was a challenging race for sure. Your problems with your footing happen to me on technical trails and in the rain as well when I wear certain shoes (free runs). I switch to a tighter shoe that doesn't allow for lateral movement. You might want to try trail shoes.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking trail shoes may be the way to go. At some point, I'd like to find an orthotic that isn't as bulky and offers more flexibility--even if I only wear them for racing. Thanks for the advice and nice work this past Sunday.
DeleteI was in Champlin Park Thursday afternoon also, running with my older son. Must've just missed you.
ReplyDeleteNice splits on Wednesday - hope your 10K went well today (Sat).
Nice job at Holyoke!!
ReplyDeleteNice race!
ReplyDeleteRegarding orthotics: When I tried to start running again about 8 years ago I couldn't run at all without hurting my knees, had to have orthotics made. My stride and bow-leggedness causes lots of pronation. They instantly helped, but are stiff and tall, hard to run fast in and very unstable off road. I've since found that as long as I carefully choose a shoe with decent stability and try not to heel strike too bad, I can run without the orthotics. Even when I did have them, I raced without them. There are a few racing flats with medial posts that give you enough stability for races. What kind of shoes have you tried that didn't work without adding orthotics? Do you need them for pronation or something else? I suppose you could also just start wearing sandals and busting out PR's like Aaron. Good luck.
Mike..I appreciate your ideas. I have orthotics due to a leg length discrepancy and hyperpronation (late stage pronation). I think I really need to explore the idea of finding some solid racing flats with medial posts. In those types of flats, I could probably fit in some over the counter orthotics for a little extra support. Do you have any shoe recommendations? Or should I just say the hell with it and find some good sandals?!?
ReplyDeleteA couple that come to mind are Asics DS Racer or Trainer and New Balance MR1190. I have the DS Trainer and use it as an all around shoe, light enough to race in, cushy and supportive enough to train in. Have run plenty of trails in them, too. I tried all different sorts of inserts and insoles trying to come up with a lighter alternative to full orthotics, but nothing really made any difference. The right pair of shoes may not feel totally "supportive" just standing there, but when your foot strikes the soft parts of the midsole compress while the medial post stays firm and prevents the over pronation. One last thing is weight. Do you weigh the same as you did when you were running faster? My weight plays a huge factor in how much support I need from shoes. When I was a slave to the orthotics was when I was a bit heavier than I am now.
ReplyDelete