26:52-PR at the Rockville Twilight 8K

The Rockville Twilight run was a blast. I met up with the GRC crew for a warm up of the first loop of the course. My legs felt good, and the weather was great for this time of year. The race started out fast as usual, I went out strong, with Jake and Wardian right ahead of me(!), then settled into a rhythm. I wanted to go out no faster than 5:10 for my first mile, and I did just that, splitting 5:10 for mile 1. By this point I was working with Murphy, and Billy behind me. After the first loop, the intersection back at the starting line was a pure adrenaline rush. The crowds were roaring, and I heard Beth and Ashwin cheering for me, and a little furthur down I heard a very obvious pelkey yell "GO PUFF, GET TWO GET TWO!" 2Mile split was 10:37. Slowed a bit, but thats ok, I wanted to average around 5:20 pace, so I had to make sure to push it in the upcoming miles. I did push it, and Murphy helped me get there, we worked together through mile 3- 16:03. As we made our way up the hill around Montgomery College, I could see Patrick Reaves not too far ahead. Murphy started to surge ahead, I tried to stay within contact of him. Mile 4 split was 21:28, Murphy had gained some ground on me at this point, I just gotta dig deep in the straighaway to hopefully get a PR, I thought. Neal Hannan came up next to me and we worked together for a few minutes before he started kicking it in, passing me in the last 1/2 mile. I didn't have any kick(lol), I just kept running strong the whole way, hoping to break 27. I had a feeling I would, but I just ran as hard as I could in the final half mile, and right at the end, Billy kicked right by me to edge me by a second, but I was happy to see the clock read 26:52. A 24 second PR. I was happy to take it. I felt strong afterwards too, congratulating other familiar faces who ran as well. I give a big thanks to my awesome girlfriend who has continued to support me in all of my races, no matter how well I do. Thanks so much sweetie!

Sunday I slept in and ran late in the afternoon/evening for a 12.5 mile moderate distance run. I started from Violettes Lock, and ran up past mile 27 to the dirt road...forget the name of it..that lead out to seneca road. I then ran on seneca back to rileys lock and finished the last mile back to violettes. Good run, and 56 Miles total for the week. I am now really pumped for the Crystal City 5K next Saturday.

Thursday: 10.5 miles relaxed

I took a nice afternoon drive after work to Edward's Ferry and ran a loop of the duel ferries. It was hot, I kept the pace relaxed and ran for a total of 1 hour and 10 minutes. Saw a pretty decent sized snake on the towpath about 20 minutes before I finished.

Monday and Tuesday

Monday and Tuesday of this week were distance runs. Monday- 9 miles from Swain's Lock, Tuesday- 7 miles at Old Angler's. I was a little sore on Monday, and the run helped loosen up some of that soreness by starting out real slow and picking it up towards the end. Tuesday I was tired, just getting through another run to flush out some waste in my legs. I felt good afterward, and my soreness is almost gone, just tired.

Solid Week of Distance Running

This week was a good week of distance running for me, putting the miles in my marathon legs. I hit 60 miles this week, the highest I've gone since training for the Frederick Marathon. On Tuesday I did a nice 10 Mile run at Old Angler's Inn, and Friday I did a Mini Track Workout to get my legs going faster again. 2x800meter with jog/run recovery: 2:25, 2:20. Felt nice running a little faster again. Saturday I went to the Capital Crescent with Beth and ran a solid 8 Miles there. Sunday was a long run with the GRC Team. We met up at The Line and ran through Rock Creek Park and other parts of DC/MD that I am unfamiliar with. Ran through the Zoo again which was fun. Drank a lot of water, I wanted to stay on top of my hydration today, it was humid. It was a solid, semi-hilly run of less than 18 miles. I finished up in 1:56:00 total. The first hour flew by. Lots of guys showed up, made the run merrier.

Decent 5K Workout

Saturday I ran in the Autism Speaks Potomac 5K. Warmed up with Dirk and Max. I went out hard(5:00 first mile), then settled in and finished in 16:48. Splits: 5:00, 5:24, 5:46. The course was tough, but not nearly as tough as the Baltimore 10 Miler I ran 2 weeks ago. I am certainly not a 5k runner, but I'd like to run sub-16:00 in the Crystal City 5K in 3 Weeks. I ran an easy 4 Sunday, less mileage least week. This morning I ran an easy 3.5 miles, another easy 4 in the afternoon with Mickey.

Friday DC Run

Since I had work off today, as well as a bunch of others, the GRC team met at the store for a 10 mile run. Ran throughout the nicer parts of DC and the Mall. Added on a little extra afterwards on the towpath, 12 miles total for the day. 5K race tomorrow.

Summer Running

This past Sunday I did a nice run starting from Edward's Ferry down on river road to White's Ferry, on the canal back to Edward's Ferry, this is otherwise known as "the dual ferries run". I added on once I got back and got in about 13 miles for the day, and 55 miles total for the week. This week I have been doing moderate distance runs, with a 5k race coming up on July 4th.