Mar 31, 2017
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It’s been one strange day. I headed to work this morning knowing it would be a full day, but hopeful I could get it all cleared up in time for my evening track workout, which would be my last quality workout before running a four mile race this Saturday, which in turn would be my final tuneup race before Ukrops Monument Avenue 10K on 3/28 in Richmond, VA. Well, I ended up leaving the office at 6pm, but only so I could get home and walk my dog before jumping on a conference call. So nope on the 400s. And then I found out the race on Saturday, the 4-miler was cancelled due to coronavirus concerns.
At this point I will be pleasantly surprised if either of my spring target races, Monument or Cherry Blossom Ten Miler, happens. The Monument website has been silent, Cherry Blossom circumspect, about what they will do. But races all over the country are being shut down. Other big events, like St. Patrick’s Day Parades around the country, are shutting down as well. The NBA just suspended its season and the NCAA, tournament, the Big Dance, will be playing in empty arenas, both the men’s and women’s tournament. For this year at least the best seat in the house may very well be...in your house. Because I suspect large-scale local or regional quarantines are not far off.
So where does leave me? Well, first off, grateful to be healthy so far. This is a strange time we are in, like none I’ve been through in my 56 years on this third rock from the sun. We all need to take preventative measures, not just to protect ourselves, but everyone around us. We are all in this together. I may get to race, I may not. All I can do is live one day at a time, and try to make good decisions in the hope that they will add up to and contribute to a positive result for all.
I’ve heard some call all this an overreaction. But I don’t agree. We are about to hit the exponential increase part of the curve. The government is ill-prepared to flatten the curve, so it comes down to all of us. Wash your hands. Keep your hands away from your face. Avoid unnecessary physical contact. Take care of your body. Exercise. Eat smart. Sleep. And stay positive. If you have to curb some activities in your life, or modify how you work, know that it’s only temporary and just do it. Because it’s not just about you, but us, all of us.
Hopefully this rambling post resonated with someone out there. Meanwhile I plan to get back out for a run tomorrow. And then it’s day by day from there.
With @lynnucla after the #rocknrollarizona10k. I had 2 goals today: 1) break 44 minutes and 2) if possible, win my age group. I came up short on both. I often set lofty goals and sometimes I get ahead of myself. I’ve only been in #10ktraining for 2 weeks and I trained through this one because it was a B rather than A race. I needed to run 7:05 miles or better and did that for one mile but then fell off it. As for AG placement I ended up 4th, yeah the place nobody wants to finish. Still I can take some positives away from this. It was a good hard training run. I recovered quickly after it, even ran 2 miles back out on the course to meet Lynn and then help her finish. It’s all part of the process and I just have to trust it, and keep working. Two months until #monumentave10k. BTW this is a nice event and the weather has been amazing all weekend. I definitely recommend it. #runblr #fitblr #masterstrackathlete #mastersroadrunner #athleticseastmasterstc (at Tempe Beach Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7gtaC5nkoO/?igshid=ycoyhx3wvlj7
I decided to see what my fitness was like after an off-season/illness break, so I jogged over to the local high school track for a mile #timetrial. After the layoff, I had no expectations of being anywhere near the 6:12 I ran back in September at #potomacvalleygames or the sub-6 level I would like to get back to this year. So today was really just a data point. Laps: 95, 3:15, 4:50, 6:42, although my Garmin gave me a 6:33 because it read the mile split about 50 meters early. I can’t complain about the result, and will move into #10ktraining mode next week, building up to #monumentave10k in late March. #springracingseason is *almost* here! . . . And of course I couldn’t resist taking a few scenery shots today. . . #runblr #fitblr #masterstrackathlete #athleticseastmasterstc #mcmillanrunteam #oregoncoast (at Lincoln City, Oregon) https://www.instagram.com/p/B66qz04nEsm/?igshid=1pbbrewthdsra
Note to self, if you are planning to swim at a county rec center pool this time of year, don’t show up a half hour before high school swim practices start and you get kicked out. I got a whopping 18 minute swim in for today, covering about a half mile, which for me isn’t too shabby a pace. I also tested some new nose clips for the snorkeling portions of my workout but this set failed miserably, just slipped off my nose almost every lap. New order from Amazon on the way. Other reps with the pull buoy went better. I was just getting into the heart of my workout when I was whistled out. I can’t get too upset though. As a high school sports coach myself (cross country), I really should have known better. Back to running tomorrow.
Well, if I wanted any extra motivation to run well next week at Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona, looks like I have it now. I wrote Monument back and asked them if I run sub-44 in Arizona, would they put me back in the A corral and they said yes. Challenge accepted.
A solid 9️⃣ for today’s #longrun. I added a little twist to this one too. I started out with a very easy jog to @wtwoodsonhs, then after more on the school grounds, I got on the track and stepped up the pace. I was hoping to go #10k goal pace (7:05) for 2 miles, but my fitness isn’t quite there yet. I did the first mile 7:27, second in 7:20 so I’m happy about the #negativesplit. After that I still had to finish the long run, though, and I still needed more than 30 minutes to get to 75 total. So I took a longer way home. Legs were pretty beat after the time trial and all the #indoorrowing and #strengthtraining workout I did yesterday. I slowed down big time near the end but the heart rate was very controlled. Overall I think this was a really good endurance test. Looking forward to a recovery day tomorrow. #runblr #fitblr #10ktraining #masterstrackathlete #winterrunning #springracingseason #monumentave10k #cherryblossomtenmiler (at Fairfax, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8CfFszH0Tg/?igshid=mcbxgdjmv5dm
I decided to jump into the #forthunt10k this morning to see where I was in my training for #monumentave10k, now just 3 weeks away. The benchmark I have right now is from 2 months ago when I ran #rocknrollarizona10k in 46:31. Today, on my watch, I ran exactly the same time. But the course today was well over 10k (my watch said 6.28 miles), despite it being certified, and despite me being very careful about running the tangents correctly on every lap of the 5-loop course; my totally unofficial adjusted time would be 45:57. So I’m chalking it up as a time improvement. In addition I also ran much more evenly than I did in Arizona. I was headed for a negative split today only to fade after 4 miles, but the fade wasn’t as bad as the one I had after just 3 miles in January. I learned what I need to do for the next 3 weeks today and now I can put the necessary fine tuning workouts into my plan. There is work to do, but I am eager to do it and to be ready on March 28. #runblr #fitblr #springracingseason #cherryblossomtenmiler #monumentave10k #trainingrace (at Fort Hunt Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9e6KLNn-st/?igshid=cua0bergrpwx