I haven't run for more than a week now, deliberately. I wanted to give my body a break before I start to train for the marathon. Training starts today with easy 4 miles: without the speed work and somewhat slower paces, this week (and the first few) look definitely easier than the rigorous 5K training I did for my last race. I have a few easy 4 milers, a hilly 6-miler (I think) and a 7-mile long run in the weekend.

My Achilles problems are pretty much gone, thank god! Though I haven't run, I rode my bike at least an hour every day, sometimes over hard, hilly course. It is easy for me, because I again commute by bike and now we live more than 6 miles from campus.

This week was the longest break (by far) I took from running since last December. It was hard for the first few days, but I got used to it. Maybe I *could* quit running! :) For now I'm very excited that I am turning into the finish line for my marathon goal.

There was a question at sign-up about my goal time. I gave 3:30. According to most running calculators, I should be able to achieve that time, but it's not that clear that I can do it on first attempt. I will start training with that goal pace in mind, and I may modify it later if it feels too hard.

Prosperity's Hoppin' 5K Race Report

This was a morning race out of town, and since we didn't travel, it meant getting up at 5:30 this morning. My training didn't go too well in the last two weeks: busy schedule, and we MOVED two weeks ago (how did I not think of that when I signed up for this race?). I skipped some important training runs, I had low weekly mileage, and I didn't get nearly enough sleep and nutrition. I didn't feel in great form, so I didn't have high hopes for the race, still, I just *had to* aim for 21 minutes.

I got to Prosperity (SC) a bit late: it was 7:40 when I parked my car, and the 5K was supposed to start at 8:00. By the time I picked up my packet and pinned on my bib, it was almost too late to start to warm up. I had a nervous warm up with a bathroom break and I found myself mentally unprepared at the start line. This was a small local race and I knew many of the runners, so I knew how to line up.

Before I knew we were running. Except for a few local young kinds, who went out way too fast, the field got arranged into a stable configuration. I picked a small group for pacing myself of them. Soon they slimmed to two people: a young kid, and a woman about my age (33). I was OK for the first mile, but my legs were just not perfect. I passed a guy who slowed down, and maybe another few runners, still following my "pacing group" at a distance of five to ten meters. It was a challenge to keep up with them, but it was doable: this suggested that their pace was perfect.

Prosperity is lovely little town, and it is little all right: we had to run back and forth to do 5 kilometers within the town. At one point, we ran a stretch backwards, where some folks were still coming in the opposite direction. We passed the 2.5 kilometers sign (apart from this one, there were signs for 4 km, and 4.5 km only), my time was exactly 10:30, which was giving me some hope.

My pacing group of two broke up, but they were still very close to each other, so I didn't have to
chose which one of them to follow until the 4 km mark, when I passed the kid and followed the woman. Unfortunately the kilometer markers were not very useful to me in terms of pacing.

We turned to the finish hill. Indeed, the finish line was on the top of the hill, the same hill that had the start line at its bottom! It wasn't a very long hill, though. A kid passed me up the hill, but then he slowed down (quite annoying), so I almost passed him back, but then he went elbow to elbow with me at the very narrow finish line. I let him go first: I didn't care too much about position, and he was clearly not in my age group. I also saw on the finish clock that I won't even PR here. My time was 21:28, 11 seconds off my PR and a disappointing 28 seconds off my goal.

I'm not sure what went wrong in the second half of the race. I didn't feel I was slowing down; or if I did, so did the other runners. I actually passed people. The hilltop finish certainly accounts for a few seconds, but it shouldn't be 28! Maybe the course was long, but it was USATF certified (a runner with Garmin said it was about 3.2 miles). Anyway, with the expectations I had, it still isn't too bad.

Especially because the field was small (86 runners), so I had a nice surprise: I won my age group. I received a nice medal. I wish I really deserved it with a sub-21 time, but I'll try to make good on it next year.

We moved to a new place and I still haven't quite figured out the best places to run around this neighborhood. Today I'll do some cross training on the bike, and meanwhile I'll try to find good running routes.

I should be thinking about my 5K, which is less than a week from now, but I'm too excited (and too scared) about the marathon in December. I spent a non-refundable $91 on the registration, so it is too late to back off now.

It's a done deal now: I've signed up for the Kiahaw Island Marathon on December 12th. It will be held on the exclusive golf resort on the South Carolina coast. It's flat like a pancake, but it's long like a marathon. :)

I ran 7 miles today (just came back), and it was quite hard. Maybe because it was ninety-some degrees, and the path I ran on is sunny - with the heat index it was easily 100 F.

I run my long runs at goal pace of 9 min/mile. I start out at a slow, comfortable effort, and I don't change my pace and effort unless one of the following is satisfied:

1. My most recent mile split of my average is faster than 8:45. Then I slow down.
2. My most recent mile split is slower than 9:45 or the average is slower than 9:15 m/m. Then I speed up.

I allow myself to stop briefly if needed for bathroom, eating, drinking, people, traffic or extreme tiredness, as long as my average pace doesn't fall below 9:53.

Today pacing was quite good. I only had to modify my pace once: I ran mile 6 in 8:38, so I had to slow down.