Weekend Runs

Saturday
Annette and I ran with the Cruisers starting at South Side Elementary at 7:00am. The weather was a little cool but not bad, about 45 degrees. There were 24 runners that showed up to run so we had quite the crowd. There were all paces from fast to slow so everyone had someone to run with. Our route was a hilly one going out Bradley to Dietrich, Dietrich to Honeysuckle, Honeysuckle to Stagecoach, Stagecoach to Campground, Campground to Cherry, Cherry to 321, back to Dietrich then Bradley with an out and back on Panther Trail to finish up whatever mileage we wanted. My goal was 8 miles. And today the objective was not to run as fast as possible, but to pace myself for the long run, starting out slower than picking up speed in the second half. Also I was experimenting with a run 2 mile/walk 30 second rather than a 1 mile. Since my marathon goal pace is 11-11:25, I was supposed to start my first mile around 11:40. Ha...that didn't happen. Have you ever ran with a group at the beginning of a run or at a race? It's almost impossible to go slower than what you normally run. But that was my training plan. Learning to pace myself for the marathon. I have to run slower at the beginning to have gas left in the tank later. The first mile ended up being a 10:27 pace, just my normal relaxed pace. I was trying to run slower. I did manage to slow it down which made the 2 miles before breaks a breeze. However, this was not a flat route. This is a very hilly route with several big hills and lots of medium sized ones. When I hit mile 4 I was at a 11:07 average pace. Perfect! If I did this in the marathon I would be a happy camper. The second 4 had the bigger hills and even though I tried picking up the pace, the hills slowed me down. But I still ended with a negative split. 8 miles ended with a 10:57 pace. About where I wanted to be for today's run. If it wasn't for the hills I would have had a much better time on the second half, but then again, I was holding back trying to stay around 11:00.

Here were my splits:
Total miles ran - 8.39 - 01:31:44
Avg. Pace - 10:56
1- 10:27
2- 11:04
3- 11:20
4- 11:34
5- 11:47
6- 10:52
7- 9:19
8- 11:11
9- 10:37

Sunday
Again we started with the Cruisers at SSE at 7:00am. The weather was much warmer than yesterday. The temp was 56 degrees and about 76% humidity even though we had gotten a very light shower before we started. There was not as many people running today as Saturday, maybe 7 or 8. My only plan today was to run 6 miles at just a relaxed pace, not necessarily my marathon pace. Today was more of an easy run just to get some miles. I had a pretty flat route figured out but before we got started Joan called the route which I had never ran before. When she named some of the roads I knew there would be a few hills but what the heck, I love hills! The route went east down 321 to Woody Lane, then to Cherry, to Campground, to Dietrich, then Bradley and adding any additional on Panther Trail. It was partly a reverse route of some of yesterdays run.

First mile took us up a decent hill on 321. It ended up being Annette, Jane, Kim and I running together as we were running a faster pace than the others. We decided to break at 1.5 miles today or see how we felt. During the second mile we were on Woody Lane. Woody Lane had one of those slow, creeping hills that doesn't look like a hill, but you feel it when your running and then realize you have been suckered in. This one seemed like it lasted for 1/2 a mile. Then we hit Cherry. Cherry is like a roller coaster just up and down hills. Luckily we didn't have long before we came to Campground. Making a left on Campground gave us our biggest challenge. It was a huge hill. We ran down this yesterday but today we had to go up it. At this point I was in the lead of our group and I asked the girls if they were ready for a break and they said yes. We had made it almost to the top before we stopped. When we hit the top of that hill, all I could see was country side and downhill running. I thought to myself, "there is no other hills now till we turn on Dietrich!" Before I hit the peak I took off. I wasn't trying to run fast at first, I was just running, getting my form down, making sure I was doing all the downhill stuff right. After the run I looked this hill up on the map and it has about a 78 foot elevation drop that we ran down for about 3/4 a mile.

After a couple minutes I realized that this downhill felt really good. I decided to pick the pace up some. I could tell I was getting further away from the girls but I knew they were talking too so I didn't really think that much about it. I looked at my garmin and thought wow.....that can't be right. It said I had a 7 something pace going. I wasn't even breathing hard. So I thought well, might as well keep pushing. When I hit the bottom of the hill it was flat and I kept pushing the pace. I could see Dietrich but it was still a little ways off. I figured I'd push till I turned and I did. After I turned on Dietrich I got a quick drink and walked waiting on the girls to catch up. About the time they got to me I took off. I always have a bad run on Dietrich and Bradley so today I was going to beat it. Dietrich has several hills also, not real big but still enough to feel them. I ran these hard, powering up and down them. I'm sure the girls were wondering why I was pushing so hard. When I saw my mile 4 split I was amazed. I had run a 7:35 mile! Of course a lot of that was downhill. As I kept running I started thinking how fast I was going and how good I felt. I still had gas in the tank so I was going to keep going. As I hit my mile 5 split I realized that I could break a record for my 6 mile time. I hit mile 5 at 50:37. All I needed was a little less than a 10 minute mile and I was going to get it! I continued on Bradley and across to Panther Trail, watching my tenths click away. Panther Trail even had a hill! I had started slowing down some but when I realized it I'd pick it back up. There was no stopping till I hit the 6 mile mark. I wanted to beat one hour! I went almost to the end of Panther Trail before turning around and heading back. If I calculated my miles right I would end up with 6 at the end of the road. That last half a mile seemed like the longest I had ever run. And here I am having to climb another hill by the Jr High again! Once that was done it was all slightly downhill. I was afraid I was going to have to turn on the sidewalk to get my 6 but the garmin went off right before I hit the corner. 59:16! I had done it! 6 miles in less than an hour and that was on a hilly course. It was a good feeling, even though it only meant something to me. It was still like winning a race or getting a trophy. I also broke a one mile time record with a 7:35 mile even if it was a lot downhill. Whats even better is the fact my legs are not even tired today or hurting. Dang, maybe I am ready for Tulsa. I hope so. This time next week it will all be over. Tulsa is mine!!!!

Here were my splits, believe them or not:
Total run miles/time - 6.12 - 01:00:23
Avg. Pace - 9:52
1- 11:02
2- 10:42
3- 10:32
4- 7:35
5- 10:47
6:- 8:39