HB Distance Derby

I ran the 5 miler this morning at the Distance Derby and it was hot, sunny & humid. I finished in 33:29 equivalent to a 42 min 10k. I also won 2nd place in my age group and received a nice looking medal. Many thanks to all the fast guys for deciding to run the 10 miler. The second place runner in my age group for the 10 miler beat my time by 2 minutes for his halfway split. I had calculated that I'm in shape to run b/n a 41 and 42 minute 10k, I just didn't think I'd need to go all out to average 6:42 pace. I hope to improve a bit on that by November when I plan to peak. This was my first race at full effort since Feb. Running fast hurts. Of course, the pain is only fleeting and a few minutes after the finish I felt fine. I maxed my heart rate at 183 and averaged 180 for the last mile that I covered in 6:24. We had a big group of South Coast Roadrunners at the race and we won many age group awards.

Since I don't have any pictures of my race, I thought I'd add one of Jessica. This is her standard evening pose. As soon as I sit down on the couch she hops up and plops her head in my lap expectant of a long stomach rub.

Base Training

I've been base training for the past 3 months averaging 50mpw. This morning I ran my 3 mile fitness test at the Woodbridge track and I had my fastest time ever of 24:26 at a steady 140 heart rate. All those miles are going to pay off. Only 2 weeks ago I ran 24:56. I just added some workouts in over the past two weeks and my first test race is the 5 miler at the HB Distance Derby next Saturday. I haven't posting in a long time. Oops. Injury wise I'm feeling 100% and I'm still targeting to peak in December at the City of Angels Half Marathon.