To finish the week Friday I ran 4 miles in 37:47 @ 9:25 pace. That is just plain crazy for me to run that fast for 4 miles, I was so happy about that run. I think I even posted something on facebook that next thing you know I’ll be running in the 8’s. Saturday is a rest day, so I packed up my running bag with some warmer clothes for Sunday’s race and long run just in case the weather decided to get nasty. Sunday’s race was at 8:30am and was about a half an hour away so I got up around 6:00 and got the rest of my stuff ready. I am also trying out a new sports drink on my long run home its call accelerade, to help out with recovery, something about 4:1 ratio with protein and such. The 5K race is also a 5K walk so the turnout was crazy at least 200 or more runners/walkers plus their families. The course was an out and back, the first 1.5 miles was mainly uphill nothing to crazy but enough were you’ll feel it and of course the way back was downhill. I usually line up at the back of the pack so I don’t get in the way of any of the faster runners. This time I lined up about ½ pack, maybe even a little more towards the front. The start of the race always feels confusing, everyone starts running around each other trying to get in there pace without running over or getting ran over by other runners. Around a ¼ mile everyone is settled in and you have some running room. A very strange thing happened in the first mile, I was passing more than getting passed. The first mile I ran in 8:25! That is just crazy for me. It really didn’t feel like I was pushing it too hard, although I started to feel the uphill a tad. Coming up to the turnaround I started to see runner’s running back towards the finish. At the turn around I noticed that there was lot of people still running behind me, I thought maybe that it was mainly the walkers thou. I ran the second mile in 8:56. I heard my Garmin beep that it was the second mile and knew that I was on the last mile so I wanted to push it just a bit more. One the last turn I could see the finish line in the distance when I got closer I was amazed that the race timer said 26: something, that’s when I started to run like hell trying to get that last few seconds. I ran mile three in 8:34. When I ran through the gates and hit stop on my Garmin and looked down I almost thought I was dreaming, 27:03! Now that’s a new PR. My official time is 27:01 and placed 85 out of 201. I could not be more proud, to think less than a year ago I couldn’t run more than 500 feet without gasping for air. My very first 5K race I think I ran it in 34:00ish, my second 5K was around 31:50 and the third one was 29:30 but that course was short 2.94 miles. 27:01 that is so cool, it makes me feel that I really am improving and just maybe someday I want be a back of the pack runner, but a middle of the pack runner.
After the race awards and a small rest I changed into some warmer gear and loaded up my belt and hit the road for the run home. Mapmyrun said that it would be a 12.67 mile run home, so that would put my around 16 miles for the day. The beginning of the run was a bit hilly up and down, I wanted to take this run really slow so I didn’t get burned out. Around mile 6 I started to get some pain in my left heel. I hate to say it but I have been getting that heel pain a lot lately, mainly the next day thou. So I walked for about 2 minutes to give it a rest and refuel. Mile 8 it started to drizzle, I hate cold rain! Trying not to think about the heel pain I pushed on. The run home ended up being 11.66 miles, I was 1.5 miles short for the 16 mile total, but I didn’t want to push it anymore. When I got home I drank my new R4 recovery drink and soaked from my waist down in the ice bath for about 10 minutes. The run home was in 2:19:23 @ an 11:57 pace. That’s not too bad given all the walking breaks I took and after running my best 5K.
Today, Monday my legs really don’t hurt that much but my heel still is giving me some trouble. Really hurts if I rest it too much. I bought a brace to wear when I go to bed that’s supposed to help with the pain. I know what it is but I don’t want to say it. Maybe that way it will go away. Only time will tell, at least this week is a recovery week. Running 4, 8, 5 and 12 miles.
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