Return to East Bay

After two 5ks in the wrong direction in terms of finishing time, I took a two day break to re-examine training and have determined a 1:45 for this half is more in the cards for me than a sub 1:40.  What has helped was Knapp dragging me out to East Bay for half of his long run.  Seemingly killing it last year on the path reinvigorated me, along with the picturesque day.

Proof?

CVS 5k race report

CVS 5k
Running celebrities in the house: Molly Huddle and hipster runner from Oregon place 1st and 3rd

Nights before:
2nd shift, engagement dinner, Boston.  Last meal? Hazelnut cannoli from Mike's Pastry before a concert.  Smart Aaron, smart.

Sunday:
From around midnight to the start of the race, we were treated with rain in Providence.  From 11:15 am til the end of the race, we were treated with humidity.  Somewhere in here, one of the twenty emcees asked the crowd what they thought of the race shirts.  Purple?  The lack of reaction was appropriate.
This time, the gang would consist of more than myself as Knapp, Kevin, Sri, Nikki, and Nikki gathered in the mall.

I quickly bibbed myself with pins in the rain as I tossed my CVS bag in Nikki's car.

Nikki and I lined up around the 20 minute logo in a tiny pocket free of people.  People around us were more than likely going to walk but that wouldn't matter today.

The race was pretty flat and all up in my backyard.

As the race started, I hit my watch 2 seconds before the line and headed out around 6:45 pace, feeling pretty good and actually cracked a smile.  This feeling of happiness would quickly stop.

It was another repeat of NK as I fell down to progressive positive splits.  I had around a 7 for mile 2.  I upgraded over the last race in that I only took the 2nd water station.

My gag reflex came at mile 1.75.  Wanted to go for 6:30 after mile 2 but had nothing in the tank, shaking my fists mentally at going out late.

There was one hill, the finishing hill to the state house.  This time I actually found myself racing the end with a couple others.

22:03.

In a funk? Declining? Too much training? Too little training? Late nights?

But enough about me, Knapp goes sub-21, 20:57 and a new PR, congratulations!
KOB, Sri and Nikki with nice outings on less mileage (maybe that's the key?)

Immediate results e-mailed, not bad CVS, not bad.

Swag: CVS athletic bag, trail mix, generic 'Crunch' granola bar, athletic tape, not bad?

I just took off the option on my log to view my 9 month obsession with posting a 30 mile/wk average.  I am definitely considering a two week hiatus post half marathon.

"Long" Run

Sunday night's "long" run of 11 miles post 5k abomination was going to be ho hum save for:
1) a runner on the Blackstone path running, then walking in to a bush.  I kid you not.
2) running by a tall blonde practicing volleyball thinking there's no way Rhode Island is that small but it is; it's Ms. 44.

North Kingstown 5k

Carousel of shifts the past 2 weeks (1st to 2nd to 3rd to 1st to 2nd... to 1st) and G.I. issues hampering me but let us get down to brass tax.

Today was a travesty.  Mentally wasn't there, just the hobby jogger's equivalent of picking up a paycheck.

Woke up after a dream of missing the race and not caring.

Never felt comfortable, going solo to a race which is unheard of since my first 5k in Virginia Beach.


At 0.3 mile in, my mouth dried up and hydration came up as an issue.  Had to take the water stations at mile 1 and 2 (What?!?) I tried to hold on to 6:40 pace, ended up with 6:45 and a bit under 7.

Let go of the pedal at mile 2 (in)voluntarily.

Checked out mentally, and 7:22'ed it in on the last mile.

No dramatic finish at the end as I held on with no one in sight (looked back multiple times) and squinted to see 21:xx approaching the left turn...

21:52.8...

So pissed, ran and lifted when I got back from NK.

CVS 5k in two weeks, see ya there.

Of note, they upgraded to chipped timing, throwing out my notion of starting at the front of the pack.