I know it’s 2023 but thought I’d circle back to share how the rest of my running went for 2022.
Following Chicago I took about two weeks off before resuming a lighter run schedule to run a HM in early December. I had about two and half weeks of decent mileage (40 mph vs 70 in prep for Chicago) before catching a sever cold and forced to take 5-6 days off.
I got back to things as soon as I could and jumped into the local Turkey Trot. It was cold and rainy but not terrible so I still gave it a proper effort. I finished the 5k at 17:21… This was a 5 second pb which I ran in the same race three years ago. I recognize it isn’t the fastest times but I never do any 5k specific work. Still, I was happy with a PB finish and the fact I was tied for 10th as a 40 yr old while everyone else was 17-21 yrs old.
Following the Turkey Trot I had roughly two weeks before the Half Marathon. Against my better judgement I thought to run as much as I could the week prior before tapering the last 6 days going leading up to the race. I ran 70 miles and then tapered in hopes there would be a super-comenstation effect.
Race day came and I felt good. Weather conditions were ideal. I really didnt have a specific finish time goal other than sub 120. The gun went off and I of course took off a bit too hard mostly due to the first mile being a downhill and getting caught up in the moment. I looked down at my watch and noticed my HR was in the mid 160’s… Which for me is on the limit. For reference, my Marathon HR is 155’ish. So my goal is to keep it closer to 160 for a half… I pulled back and tried to settle in while trying not to let off too much.
I ended up running a 1:19:45… I was happy with the PB but felt like I have a ‘faster’ finish time in me. It’s well known the course is long (13.3x) and according to Strava my HM finish time is 1:18:29. This is something more along the lines of what I think I can do. At least on that particular day.
The biggest takeaway however was that I may have been holding back in previous HM races by capping my HR at 160. My average HR for this run was 164 where towards the end of the race I was 167. Lesson learned.
The HM marathon was my last planned race for the year so I took it super easy the subsequent week barely running 15 miles. About 10 days following the HM a number of friends were signed up for a weeknight 5k which is more a party than race. My evening was free so I signed up the day before.
The day of the race I had a work zoom happy hour so I definitely didnt expect to ‘race’ or run well that evening. I went to the race lined up and took off with the mindset of just run as hard as I can based on how I feel. Not once did I look at my watch. I was toward the front so I assumed I wasn’t running great. It was dark and the second half of the course was on a running trail in a creek (read dark)…
At some point I felt the inevitable blow up about to happen so I tell the guy behind me to go ahead overtake me. The second he did we started up the little climb out of the creek and right into the last 100 meters to the finish. This was upsetting, I gave up 2nd place at the very end of the race. And to make things worse, as I’m nearing the finish line I see the clock and see 16:51. I tried kicking the last 100 meters and crossed right at 17:00 while yelling out ‘f#ck’… My watch registered 16:59 but official chip time was flat 17.
I was blown away. This was huge for me… Totally not expected and still trying to figure out how I managed to run so much better than just two/three weeks before. Either I was finally able to shed the fatigue from the high mileage and/or the introduction of the SkiErg.
I picked up a SkiErg in early November and immediately loved the machine. I was using it almost daily 10-25 minutes. Mostly all steady state efforts. It’s a great conditioning machine and feel like it’s a perfect crossing training tool for runners (cyclist too) as it’s predominately upper body.
Anyway, quite happy with my running in 2022; Marathon, Half Marathon and 5k PBs. Feet are tired so I plan to take some time to focus on the bike before cranking running mileage back up.