Emerald Miles 5k

Today was my first race of the year. A 5k called Emerald Miles which benefits the Epilepsy Foundation of Cincinnati. Now in its eighth year, it attracts a fairly large crowd for a mid-March 5k -- especially considering that we had a foot of snow on the ground last Saturday. I woke up to heavy fog, but no rain. The temperature was about 38 degrees and really perfect for a race. My performance? Well, not a PR, but not terrible either. I guess every race can't be a PR! One fun part of the race was running across the Purple People Bridge which is a pedestrian only bridge that spans the Ohio River. I've never been on it before today, and it is too narrow to accomodate any of the big Cincy races. This race started in Newport, Ky right at the bridge entrance, crossed the river and ran through a riverfront park before heading back into Newport.

I finished in a respectable 26:10. Splits were 8:05, 8:25, 8:36, 7:25 for the last .14. My heartrate at the finish was 175 which is lower than it was last summer at the end of a 5k (189). I've done nothing but eat since finishing the race. Now I think I'll go run 3 more miles.

Blog, I am neglecting you

I have a 5k on Saturday, so I was kinda excited to do today's VO2 Max run of 8 miles w/ 5x600 at 5k pace. I mapped out an old course on mapmyrun that would end up at the track. Fleet Feet is about 1/4 mile from the track and I needed some more gels, hence my motivation to get away from home and my usual route. Because I couldn't decide whether to park my car at Fleet Feet and start the run from there or park at the school and run a little more, I ended up running a full 7 miles before I even made it to the track. I parked at the school thinking I wouldn't feel like running anymore after the track workout, but Fleet Feet ended up being farther from the school than I thought. (I mapped the run starting from Fleet Feet). I ran the 7 at marathon pace which didn't give me the freshest of legs for the 600s, but hey, if I can run 7 at mp then 5x600 at about 9:30 avg., I must be making some inroads, right?

The track was pretty clear of snow. Not so the sidewalks. Sometimes I imagined I was Mardi climbing over piles of dirty, slushy, plowed snow. Only I was the slow version. ;)

I'm trying to think of a route where I can warmup with 3 miles ending at the track, then I could do the 3 miles again to finish up. That way, at least I stand a fighting chance of hitting a 5k pace of 8:30 or under on the 600s. My last 5k was June 16 with a finish of 25:59. That's faster than McMillan predicts based on my best 10k, 1/2 and marathon times. Of course, I'll try to beat it!