6/17-6/23: 98 Miles/Week

I ran 98 miles this week.  My mileage has crept back up there.  On Monday afternoon, I met the Red Fox aka Jake out on the trails of Lake Frank.  I had an eerie feeling Fox had something up his sleeve, as you can tell by reading his blog post here: http://jakeklim.blogspot.com/2013/06/fox-and-friends.html.  Nevertheless, he stood down.  We got in 10 for the day.  The next morning I headed out on the towpath towards the Chain Bridge and took that over to VA to explore a few trails along the river, which were quite serene.  I got in 11.5.  Wednesday was a double: 8 miles in the morning, followed by another 11 miler in the evening along the Millennium Trail.  Thursday morning I met up again with Jake, Jerry Greenlaw, and Joe Wiegner at Riley's Lock and got in 13 miles on the towpath and some back roads.  Interestingly enough, as Jake pointed out, we had all finished Pikes Peek 10K this year in under 31 minutes:

Wiegner: 30:31
Sloane: 30:43
Greenlaw: 30:48
Klim: 30:52

Friday was another double: 6 miles in the morning, 5 miles in the evening.  The heat of the summer is here, so I have been trying to get up earlier.  On Saturday, I started my long run around 6:45 AM on the towpath and  ventured into DC/VA on Mount Vernon/Rock Creek trails for a while before heading back.  I got in about 19.5 in 2 hours 8 minutes.  Sunday was a double again: 9 miles in the morning(finished JUST before the rain came down), and 4 in the evening.

This week I plan to get back into doing workouts again, while keeping the mileage high.  I haven't done any type of speed work in a month, since that road mile I ran on May 27.

6/10-6/16: 94 Miles/Week

Monday: 12 miles

Tuesday: 12 miles

Wednesday: 13 miles

Thursday: 11 miles

Friday: AM: 4 miles, PM: 10 miles

Saturday: 20 miles(2 x Edward's Ferry/White's Ferry Loop), 71:00/59:00

Sunday: 12 miles


Total: 94 miles

Fall 2013

Philly 9.15.13

DC 10.20.13

Richmond 11.16.13

Aside from a few regular summer races I do, I thought long and hard about my fall season.  It was difficult to decide NOT to do a marathon this year, since it is a distance I love to train for over the summer and into the fall.  I ran a PR last fall, although it certainly isn't quite up to par with my other performances.  I believe it will catch up to the others as I age, since it actually caters to that, but right now I have a greater interest in the half marathon distance.  It also just feels right.

I've run 1:08 for the half marathon twice in the past year and a half.  I'd like to surpass that barrier now.  It's going to take a lot of work, and I am going to have to train very, very hard this summer.  My ultimate sight is on the 1:05 qualifying time for the 2016 Olympic Trials.  The qualification window for doing so opens this August 2013, and ends sometime before the 2016 Trials.  This is a long term process that I've been thinking about even before the 2012 Trials.  I knew I wouldn't qualify for 2012, however, and wasn't expecting to, because I was not ready to do so.  My goals at the time were to run perhaps under 1:10, which I happily did in 2011.  The following spring, I qualified for and competed in the USA Half Marathon Championships, a race which I was not happy about performance wise, but proud to be a part of.  But I've learned to look at the bigger picture.

I believe I am now beginning to enter my prime as a runner.  I turn 30 this month, and while I am not a kid anymore, I am lighter, stronger, faster, and smarter than I have ever been.  I have learned how to train for different races, and to coach others.  I have learned how to deal with bad races and move on.  I have learned what I am capable of.  I am ready.  I will go all out, with nothing held back.  The time to do it is now.

This fall I decided I would do 3 major races stretched out over a 2 month window.

9.15.13: Philly Rock and Roll Half Marathon

10.20.13: Army Ten Miler

11.16.13: Richmond Half Marathon

Originally, I was thinking of doing Philly(11/17) instead of Richmond, but I like the way Richmond's course is layed out and looks quite fast.  Plus, it's nice to do races in 3 different cities.

Over the summer, I will do a few short races to keep from getting stale.  I'd also like to see if I can go sub 4:20 in the mile.  The Rockville Twilight 8k I placed 6th last year, and I'd really like to crack top 5 or even win the damn thing...

7.12.13: MCRRC MidSummer Night's Mile

7.20.13: Rockville Twilight 8K 
  
I may add additional races, but for now, the important ones are noted.

Mileage was 81 this week.  The base continues to build..

The Finish of Spring: The Loudoun Street Mile

I drove to Winchester, VA, for an assault on my first road mile race.  It sure was fun, and over so quickly!  I am certainly not a miler, but I was curious to see how fast I could go for a road mile off of the training I have done.

The race started off crazy with people sprinting ahead of me before slowing down and me having to make sure not to run into them.  I stayed patient and remained somewhere around 10-15th place.  The first quarter mile is downhill so we hit a fast 63 split, but then immediately uphill again for the second quarter mile(68), hitting 2:11 for the halfway point.  Over the hill, we slammed down towards the third quarter mile(jesus this race is already almost over...I thought...and I felt like I was just warming up).  Over the third quarter I pulled ahead of several runners, and worked my way up, passing through in 3:19(68) with a quarter left.  I probably was around 11th going into the last quarter mile, but I punched it hard.  I sprinted and gritted it out, passing a GRC guy, some other dude, and friend Brian Flynn who had gone out hard trying to hit top 5(which earned cash prizes).  I ended up finishing in 8th place.  As I crossed the line, I was certain I had run around 4:23-4:24.

Well, unfortunately, the race timing got screwed up big time.  Go figure.  In a 4 minute race, where every special second counts, it gets screwed up.  My watch seemed to be on schedule with the clock, so I don't know how they lost 2-3 seconds for most people's times.  Flynn thought he had gone 4:25, and is at 4:29, while I'm at 4:26.  To be conservative, I'm calling it a 4:24, if not faster.  But 4:24 is a PR, so I'll go with that.  Seriously, most races I have a pretty good idea of what time I ran before results are posted.  But these results seemed very wrong.  At least they got my place right(or so I think).

The spring season is over.  And I feel pretty good about it.  I would have liked to PR in the half marathon this spring but I was very very close.  I think I needed to run a couple of 1:08 halfs before I can make that next jump.  Adapting the body is necessary before the next push.  I ran 80 miles this week.   I feel good running more again.  I need to.  I am working my way back into the high mileage zone again.