Another 4 miler yesterday. The last one, two weeks ago exactly, had gone great and I did 28:12. This one, the Run as One, was the exact same course but I decided to switch up my shoes. I decided to pick up my racing Saucony type A5 which is one my lightest pairs… They’re just 5 ounces and about 4mm offset. I wasn’t sure I was ready for it, but it turns out, it made a huge difference. You have to think of everything when you’re just trying to save a few seconds!
As usual, Juan and I walked/jogged the 1.5 miles to the start. I only had like 4 ounces of coffee and a gel. It’s better if I don’t eat before these races… I usually end up dry-heaving at the finish line, sooo: less is more. The walk was gorgeous!!! Last week when we did the More Half and this week… it’s been great, all the trees are blooming and it smells DELICIOUS!
Gorgeous, right??? Amazing. April and October are just the best in the park!
So, we got to the start, undressed, and headed for the corrals. I found so many friends in my corral! I asked everyone who was going for about 7:02 pace and got not takers. Soon, it was go time. This time, I had my watch and music again. After three races with neither, I decided to add those up to the equation again. Still tinkering with this a bit! Still, I didn’t look at my splits the whole race, I guess I’ve gotten used to running naked… The race happened fast, nothing to report, other than in the last mile I picked up a LOT of people (that probably went out too fast) and ended dry-heaving again for 20 seconds at the finish.
28:06!!! that’s… 6 seconds faster than 2 weeks ago!! Wohooooo!!! And 6 seconds away from my TWO YEAR OLD PR!!!!! it’s gonna happen people!!! SOOON!!!!!!!!!! OR else.
Now, notice how I run ALL the tangents…
Why are you friends not doing tangents??? yes, it’s very crowded, but sometimes, usually after mile 2, there’s space to do this! SO many people out there running on the wrong side of the road… !!!!
Now check out my laps (disregard the one I lapped over, as I hadn’t heard the click). I love looking at my splits after…
I obsess over this stuff. I care so much more about pacing properly than the finish time. I think this one went great. If the average pace was 7:02, a 7:18 start (up Cat Hill no less) is quite conservative and great. Mile 2 is always the fastest and the only one with no hills, so it’s bound to be fast. Mile 3 is usually when I start to slow down a LOT, but somehow I was able to hold it here, I don’t remember hurting that much either. And Mile 4 HAS to be the fastest, which yes!!! Very happy with how this went. Though I didn’t have a clue what pace I was doing where. Running by effort is SO MUCH EASIER!!!
I saw Juan soon and my team mates. We hung out for a bit! I was HUNGRY.
Stats Time:
Finish time: 28:06 Average Pace: 7:02
Previous PR: 28:00 From: April, 2013
Age Grading: 70.74%
Overall Place: 664 of 8,098
Gender Place: 63 of 3,910
Age Place: 6 of 445
This is very good-looking. I like the over 70% percent there, given that is usually my goal and 6th in my Age Group is not so bad either in one of these races. I was quite pleased with myself for having cut off another 6 seconds in two weeks… If I can get rid of an extra 7 seconds for the next 4 miler in two weeks, that’d be a PR!!!! I am SOOO CLOSE I can smell it!!!
runningandthecity 