faster with age

Blacksmiths Fork Freedom Run 15k

Recent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesDave S's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewMonth ViewYear View
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2008200920102011201220132014
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Preston,Id,USA

Member Since:

Mar 09, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:


2009 TOU Half Marathon 1:25:06

2010 St George Painter's Half Marathon 1:25:24

2011 Jan. St George [Painter's] Half Marathon different course 1:25:28

2011 Apr. Boston Marathon 3:03:24

2011 May Ogden 5K 18:18

2011 July 4th 15K Freedom Run 58:53

2011 July Deseret News 10K 37:12

2011 Oct St George Marathon 2:58:18

Short-Term Running Goals:

Sub 18 min. 5k

1:24  Half

 Sub 3 at St George in Oct.

Get injury free and stay that way

Set new PRs at all distances now that I'm 50

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

17:30 5K

2:50 marathon

Personal:

I was born in 1960

I started running in 2006

I am married with a 16 year old son [that lives with my wife and I] and a 30 year old step son and 25 year old step daughter

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Race: Blacksmiths Fork Freedom Run 15k (9.31 Miles) 00:58:53, Place overall: 15, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
1.750.009.300.000.0011.05

     I got up about 4:30 this morning to drive down and run the Freedom Run 15K. My wife and son got up early too and came along with me after we all got to bed around midnight the night before.  My main goal was to come in under 59 minutes. That was the same goal I had last year and I came in at 59 flat. I felt like I have been in better shape this year up until the past 2 weeks. I have felt sluggish and had to cut my miles way back. This morning before we left I took a look at my last years mile splits for the race and figured I would shoot for those. It was a little warmer than usual at the start in the lower 60s with some cloud cover that made it a bit muggy. I can't complain about that for this time of year but it's normally about 15 deg cooler. It's the 35th year for this race and they capped it at 600 runners this year so I'm thinking there were a lot of people that didn't get in. The race started and I really didn't feel that great.

1- 6:12. The first mile has a bit more downhill and is normally a fast one. Last year I ran it in 6:06. I lost 6 sec. here but no big deal. I probably went out too fast last year.

2- 6:28. Last year I hit this one in 6:17 so I started too worry that this was going too be a long day.

3- 6:25 Last years time was 6:16 and I just don't feel like I can run any faster. Just no pop in the legs. I figured the sub 59 was not going to happen and as flat as I feel and as slow as my splits are I'll be lucky to be close to 1 hour.

4- 6:25 At least this is a little closer to last years 6:20 but I'm still bleeding seconds. I'm down 31 seconds from last year already how bad is it going to get. I'm having negative thoughts creep in like "why go through all this discomfort for what I know will be a lousy time anyway". Why not just slow down and take it easy.

5- 6:13 I had quit paying attention to my Garmin and didn't realize I had picked up the pace that much. I had dropped a kid that had run with me since mile one and passed a couple of people that I have always beat that were still running ahead of me. I didn't realize it but I had gained back 9 seconds.

6- 6:20 I gained back 1 more second here over last year.

7- 6:34 During the 7th mile you leave the TOU course [aprrox mile 14] and head up a big hill that's not quite 1/2 mile long and pretty steep. Just before the hill I noticed that my overall pace was at 6:21. Last year it was at 6:17 in the same place and with the hill between me and the finish line my overall pace had dropped 3 seconds by the end. In previous years I had lost about the same so now I'm figuring that would give me about 6:24 overall pace by the end which would be under 1 hour. With a 6:34 on this mile I gained back another 4 seconds.

8- 6:27 The first part of mile 8 is still climbing the last 3rd of the hill then it flattens out. Last year was 6:32 so chipping away a little more. This uphill mile was actually faster than mile 2 which is a downhill mile.

9- 6:05 For the rest of the race I didn't look at my pace much I just tried to run hard. The last quarter of this mile has a nice little downhill. I ran this mile the best I ever had last year at 6:14 so I was surprised to check my Garmin after the race and see that I gained that much time on this mile.

9.31- 1:41 [5:34 pace] Most of the races I run end in .1 or .2. The .3 at the end of this always seems so long. You can see the finish from about this point and it always looks a lot farther than it seems like it should be. I continued to push hard without looking at my time knowing it was possible but unlikely that I could be close to 59 min.

Final chip time was 58:53  6:19/mile overall pace. I actually got back 2 seconds on my overall pace during the last 3 miles rather than loosing a few. I was very happy with the 2nd half of the race and my finish but wonder what was going on the first 4 miles. So that's a new PR for that race and I ended up 1st in age group and 15th overall.


Comments
From I Just Run on Wed, Jul 06, 2011 at 11:47:04 from 166.137.137.78

Way to hang in there...! It's got to feel really good to actually set a new PR even when your not feeling very good. It's a testimony to the fact that you are in much better shape. I think this will pay off mentally in races to come! Good race report...how do you remember all the details? All the miles seem to run together when I race and I can't remember that much detail when its over :-)

From Dave S on Wed, Jul 06, 2011 at 16:15:37 from 4.253.97.37

The exact mile splits I looked up and compared after the race. During the race though I knew all my mile splits from last year from looking through them just before the race so each mile I just had an idea that I was losing a lot of time. On my Garmin, I mainly watch my overall pace and pace for the mile that I'm in. I remember being at 6:22 overall pace after 6 miles net downhill. I never would have thought I'd end up running the last 3.3 net uphill miles 5 seconds faster ave pace so I really wasn't Paying as much attention to my splits after that and was pleasantly surprised at the end. I've run this race 5 times so I am very familiar with the course and that helps too with remembering where and when things happen.

Add Your Comment.
  • Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
  • Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
  • If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.
Only registered users with public blogs are allowed to post comments. Log in with your username and password or create an account and set up a blog.
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):