Looking back at last week I would classify my training level as about a 7 on a scale of 1-10. I went hard on Tuesday for about 5 miles, rested my legs on Wednesday, then put in another 4.5 miles on Thursday.
I could tell as the week progressed that my lower calorie diet was impacting my training performance. It leads me to question the amount of calories I should be taking in to maintain a higher training level. At the same time I still want to shed about 4.5 pounds in the next 5 weeks. As my mileage increases in the next 3 weeks the number of calories will increase too but I will still try to burn about 3500 extra calories a week.
Sam Costa Race Report
On Saturday, March 29 I lined up for the Sam Costa half-marathon which winds through Carmel, IN. This is my second straight year of running a Sam Costa event (quarter marathon finisher in 2007). The weather was sunny but the temps wer about 35* with a wind chill in the mid-20's. The race went off a few minutes late which made the cold a bit worse. About 325 people started the race and would come across the finish line.
I had made my race plan weeks in advance. Start out with the first two miles at 9 min/mile then speed up to about 8:30 for mile three and begin to shave 10 seconds off each mile until I peaked at 7:30 over the last 3-4 miles. That was the plan.
Plans are only useful if they can be executed properly. I started out mid pack as I normally would. Within the first quarter mile of the race I kept hearing a loud talker running not too far behind me. I sped up to pull away until she was out of range. As I approached the first mile marker I heard another runner mention that he was right on pace at 8:10. I looked at my watch and sure enough we crossed the first mile in 8:10. I knew that my original plan had to be revised. I passed the second mile marker at 16:10 for an 8 min/mile. At that point I decided to just have it out and see what was going to happen.
The results were a mixed bag. I passed the 5 mile marker at 40:34 which is 4 seconds faster than my fastest 5 mile race. Then I passed 15K (9.3 miles) in about 1:17 which is 3 minutes faster than my fastest 15K race. After that things sort of came unglued. I pushed my way through the final part of the race with some walking and some spurts of hard running. Around 12 miles in my calves tightened and my hamstrings were stiff. I walked a bit more to loosen them up as best I could. I turned the bend for the final 3/4 of a mile, straight up hill, and bore down with all I had left to finish strong. My final time was a 5 miute PR of 1:56:17.
The mini course is much flatter and faster. On a scale of 1-10 I would give Sam Costa a 7.5 because of the hills while I'd rate the mini at about a 3. I think I can put together a solid effort to knock my time down to 1:40-1:44 range. I have 5 weeks left. Three weeks to work hard with a 14 and 16 mile long run planned and two weeks of taper to let my legs rest and recover before the mini.
1 comment:
Post a Comment