The first one was the High Noon Shoot-out. This was a stupid race. Some might call it novelty but I just call it stupid. 1.3 miles in blazing sun 97F temperature at high noon just for the hell of it. This race was put on by the Fort Worth Runners Club and it was followed by the annual club picnic.

I already ran 7 miles at marathon pace (7:08 min/mile) in the morning so I wasn’t feeling all that good, hip and the calves were cramping a small bit but I decided to run it anyway. Entry fee was free which is always a good price. The race had no timing or bibs, it was a short and narrow out and back course along the Trinity River. Timing was self administered or they called out your time as you crossed the finish line. Then you had to turn in your time with name, age and sex on a placement card that you got at the finish. This was the first race where I ran without a bib or timing chip. Definitely made the race feel very friendly and low key.

I never ran a race this short so I had no idea what to expect in terms of pacing. I figured it shouldn’t be much worse than my 800m repeats it’s just “slightly longer”. When the horn sounded and we were off I was in the lead and stayed there for the entire out section. By then it was a pack of 3 of us who kept together and the other two guys just passed me at the turnaround. I felt like I was done and I have clocked a 3:29 for the first half which was a 5:21 pace, a bit slower than my 800m repeat pace at the track. Based on race calculators I was supposed to be able to run a 5:30 mile so I was right on target. The second half was much much harder and I faded a good bit so my back time was 3:43 for a total of 7:12. My mile split was actually 5:24 which I am pretty happy with. I finished 3rd overall and 2nd in my age group.

The winner ran a 6:57 and the second place guy ran a 7:00 flat. They both ran 8 and 13 miles this morning respectively so they weren’t exactly running on fresh legs either.

But my co-worker who also ran the race already did his 20 mile long run before the race. They say the shorter the race the longer the warm-up should be, well I think he might have gone overboard with that 20 miler .

After the race we had free beer, hot dogs and burgers which made it into a fun an enjoyable event. And now I have a 1.3 mile PR!

The race I ran last weekend was the 4th annual El Scorcho which is another novelty race. It was my longest race so far and the venue was not ideal for a record setting pace considering it was 84F at the start with 65% humidity and it happened to be at midnight. But I did pretty good all considered.

I have learned from my last half marathon in 80F that hot weather and fast paces just don’t match so I purposefully picked a much slower pace than I should be able to run in ideal racing conditions. The slower pace was 7:03/mile. This was my goal which would have given me a target time of just under 1:50.

I got to the race venue around 11:00PM and things were in full action by then. Everyone was lugging coolers from the parking lot to the start in Trinity Park. It looked more like a picnic/free concert at the park than an endurance event. I was only half crazy and ran the 25K but there were full on crazies who went twice the distance at 50K. There were 128 finishers in the 50K and 329 in the 25K.

I met up with a couple of my running buddies, one of them was going to bandit the 25K and we decided that we would stick together as long as it was possible. His goal pace was 7:05 best case and 7:30 worst case. My 7:03 sounded doable for both of us.

We had a staggered start, the 50K started at 12:00AM and the 25K started at 12:10AM. The course was a 5K loop in Trinity Park and we had to do 5 or 10 loops respectively.

At the start I toed the line as usual and I was asking the guys around me about their target pace. Most were talking about 7 minute paces so I figured we should be good to go and hang in there. After the start two guys bolted and ran definitely faster than 7:00 pace. But I didn’t care, I have learned my lesson about running my own race instead of someone else’s. Me and my bandit friend and three other guys formed a pack and we were putting in some solid time at the beginning. First 5K was 21:33. I felt good and things were right on target.

Second lap was pretty uneventful although we have started lapping some 25K runners and we were definitely catching a lot of 50K runners. We were actually catching the back end of the 50K about 6 minutes into the race which meant some of those folks were on a 16+ minutes/mile pace. I’m not sure how many of them actually finished the distance. Second 5K was 21:55, right on the money.

The third 5K was getting a bit tougher our pack was starting to separate and two guys jumped from us and were a couple of seconds ahead of me and my bandit friend. We kept our distance and tried to maintain as much of it as was possible. Third 5K was 22:12. I was slipping and I could feel it. I asked my buddy if it was the 3rd or 4th lap and I was pretty disappointed when he told me that we had two more laps to go.

On the fourth lap the two rabbits from the front of us disappeared they were keeping a pretty good pace while me and my buddy kept on fading. My buddy was fading more and more and he took a water break after the 4th lap and said that he would try to catch up with me and keep coming. When I lost him at the lap marker I actually started to feel like he was holding me back and I was slowing my pace down for him earlier. But looking at my pace I was wrong. I was fading on my own just fine. Lap 4 was 22:46, my pace was falling apart. I started to have flashbacks of my last half marathon how I could barely keep it together by the end and how my pace was slower than 8 minutes/mile at the end. I felt a bit better this time and I kept thinking that I should push the last lap harder and harder. I thought it was all mental at this point and I jut had to push myself through it.

The last lap was feeling fine, I knew I was fading but I kept thinking about my form and pretending it’s a tempo run. I lost my buddy at the water station but he caught up with me a mile into the lap only to fade one more time. He could not keep the pace any longer and once again I was on my own. My half marathon split was 1:33:30 which I’m pretty happy with, it looked a lot more even paced than the last half I ran. I have decided that with 0.5 miles to go I’d really try to kick it hard and see where I end up. Last lap was 23:36 even with the kick and I ended up running a 1:52:02 and finished 4th overall. Considering the weather and the time of day I think it was a great pace for me and I think my BQ goal for October is definitely still attainable. When I checked some of the other finishers around me they all have 1:22-1:25 half finishes from last year under ideal conditions. It gives me hopes that under ideal conditions a 3:10 is certainly doable.

As for the other aspects of the race, it was really good.

Venue: The looped course is a bit twisty and boring and the constant lapping of people make it tough but it also keeps you on your toes and provides you with constant rabbits to chase. The surface conditions alternated between pavement, packed gravel and some areas we had to run even on grass. I thought I was going to twist my ankle on the grass but luckily that didn’t happen and I managed all the terrain changes just fine. The course was very well marked with glow sticks in the darker sections and there was no doubt ever in my mind which was I’m supposed to run.

Crowd Support: This race was the best I’ve ran so far in terms of crowd support. People were out there cheering everyone on. I have heard my name yelled more than I could possibly count and it never stopped to be entertaining. I really enjoyed the crowd and the constant cheering. The two end points had music blasting from two pick up trucks which also made them something to look forward to. All in all the crowd was fantastic.

Hydration: I brought my own 8oz bottles and the Fort Worth Running Company staff kept them ready to go every time I ran a lap. It was awesome to have my own pit crew and they did a phenomenal job. I almost forgot to stop for water after the first lap it wasn’t until they yelled me that I realized I was supposed to get water. I need to get the 8oz bottles with the nipples next time though, the ones with the caps just don’t work too well, not even with a straw especially when the straw is too damn short to reach the bottom. Volunteers were abundant and water and electrolyte was plenty at all parts of the course. The cups were nice and large and the volunteers yelled out what they were holding so you didn’t end up with electrolyte when you were expecting water. Post race support was also great with plenty of water and electrolytes to go around.

Nutrition: pre-race nutrition was a mixed bag for me. It’s kind of hard to prepare for a midnight race. I had pasta for lunch then the family wanted pizza for dinner so I had two slices of that and three hours before the race I ate some yogurt with muesli. I had no GI issues, things were going great. I had a gel pack 15 minutes prior race start along with 8 oz of water. I had 3 gel packs on me and I was going to have one per lap but I didn’t even get to them I was just too busy running. In training I usually eat the gels during water break but with racing I just don’t stop. I really need to start working on fuel consumption during running if I ever want to eat some of these gel packs during a race. Post race nutrition was also awesome, they had plenty of bananas, skittles, M&Ms, trail mixes, cookies, oranges, peanuts and chocolate to replenish some of the lost calories. I felt pretty dizzy when I finished the race but after drinking and eating some food I felt perfectly fine. In an hour after the race I felt really great even though the legs were fatigued. Again, the race food was great and the race staff did a phenomenal job!

Mile splits and HRR% (Heart rate Reserve %):
06:45 – 80.7% – A bit too fast start
07:00 – 87.8% – getting in the groove
07:03 – 88.0% – right on the money
07:02 – 88.9% – perfect pace
07:04 – 89.1% – still going strong
07:02 – 88.4% – another perfect split
07:01 – 88.5% – Why am I speeding up?
07:12 – 87.8% – Uh-oh!
07:13 – 87.1% – Yup, the wheels are coming off again
07:09 – 87.4% – Or maybe not! Hanging on for dear life
07:17 – 86.4% – Tougher and rougher
07:26 – 85.3% – Yeah, I’m done
07:27 – 83.9% – Is this thing over yet?
07:42 – 82.5% – OMG!
07:51 – 83.1% – WTF?
07:05 – 87.3% – Last 0.5 miles and I still managed to kick it! I’m happy and relived

As you can see I was running well into lactate threshold throughout the entire run (82-88% of HRR) and I “bonked” right at the 1 hr mark which is basically the definition of lactate threshold runs, a pace you can keep for one hour. Us, fatties (165lbs) just can’t run fast in the heat.

All in all it was a great event and I’m certainly planning on running it again next year!

Monday morning I drove to Arlington, TX to run the American Heroes 10K race. There just aren’t that many 10K races around to enter so I have to pick the ones I can run and go with them. This made for an interesting weekend with the double races but I think I came out alright.

The race setup was nice, it was fully chip timed from start to finish, the only thing I didn’t care for was the fact that both the 5K and the 10K started and finished at the same place at the same time which meant that at the start I was running with guys who were gunning for a 5K PR and I was finishing with the 40 minute 5K crowds. This means that the starters will drag you along for a fast starting pace and the finishers will slow you down as you try to zip by them. Certainly not a good combination. Another thing that bummed me out was the fact that this race had a great 1 mile fun run/walk unlike the one my family ended up doing Saturday. I really wish they had done this race instead.

Weather was hot and humid. We started out at 80 degrees and 70% humidity. We finished in the same conditions with some wind thrown in for good measure. It was not PR weather to say the least.

The race took place in Arlington, TX right by the Texas Rangers Ballpark, Six Flags over Texas amusement park and the brand spanking new Dallas Cowboy’s stadium. So the venue was nice with a lot of eye candy.

The start corral was done nicely, they had a separate place for the non-chip timed walkers and the chip timed runners. I started from the front as usual and I was talking with a lady about my goal pace which was going to be 6:10 for the entire race. Little did I know…

Once the gun went after a 3-2-1 countdown, 20 seconds of fiddling with the gun and then finally the old lady firing in the air the race was on. I had to hold myself back not to try to stick with the 5K lead pack. I recognized some familiar faces and I even had time and energy to say hi to them while running the first quarter mile. My plan of slowing it down kind of worked, I clocked a 6:00 even pace for the first half mile and 6:09 for the second half.

First mile: 6:04

After the first mile we got into our first slight climb and I started to feel that a 6:10 was going to be awfully difficult. We split off from the 5K pack and I found myself motoring in 5th place overall.

Second mile: 6:13

So far so good. Still within target but then we hit an overpass that went above I-30 and we caught up with the sole wheelchair racer on the course. Once you lose momentum it’s pretty tough to push that wheelchair up the hill. There is no coasting in a wheelchair uphill. My pace dropped as low as 7:30 on the climb but I managed to recover somewhat after the climb and got back in the groove again. A long stretch of straight running was coming and I finally caught up with the 4th place runner. He gave me a “go ahead” as I ran by him, he did not look too good.

Third Mile: 6:26

At this point I knew that any hopes of breaking 39 were dwindling fast and based on how I felt I thought a 40 minute run would be also in strong jeopardy. I kept inching up on the 3rd place guy, slowly but surely. At this point I picked a new goal; instead of trying to break 39, which I knew wasn’t going to happen, I tried to get on the overall podium. Just before the turnaround point I passed the 3rd place guy and I saw the first and second place runners pass us by on the way back. The first place guy looked rock solid and really far out. The second place guy looked like he wasn’t all that hot and he was younger kid, under 18. After the turn I thought this is where I should start pushing it and shoot for that negative split. I stepped on it and if felt like we were cruising downhill a bit and things felt OK. I also received crowd support from the slower runners who were still on the out part of the course as I was coming back. It felt pretty good. I kept looking back to see how far the 4th place guy was, I did not want to give up 3rd place.

Fourth Mile: 6:24

We had to cross the interstate again which meant one more climb over the bridge. As I got to the top I saw the second place guy in front of me grabbing water from the water station and walking a bit. I thought I had a chance of catching him but he started running again. At 4.5 miles we turned away from the outgoing course which still had plenty of people running/walking and went for what I’d call the place that separated men from the boys.

It was a quarter mile 4% incline through a parking lot that almost killed me. I was so ready to throw in the towel by the time I hit the top it’s not even funny. I thought my 3rd place was gone and there was no way I could hold onto it. But then I looked back and I actually saw that the distance between me and the 4th place guy actually increased. I wasn’t the only one who was suffering on the hill, it was everyone else too. My pace slowed to 8:00 by the time I hit the top.

The guy in front of me hit up the water station at the top again, then stopped, then started running again.

Fifth Mile: 6:40

At this point I didn’t know how things were going to shake out. My new goal was just to finish the race. Forget PRs, forget placing, forget about anything else. Just finish the damn race. I kept looking at the Ballpark and that thing was so friggin’ huge yet it was so friggin’ far.

At this point the 5K and 10K races merged together again and I was in a river of 40 minute 5K walkers. I had to stay outside of the cones so I could get past them with their iPods blasting and them not paying any kind of attention to anything else around them. The 2nd place guy slowed down significantly along with me so I still kept him in sight and at this point I felt that I was actually inching up on him even though I felt we came to a screeching halt in terms of pace. I was right about the pace. When you’re passing people that are on the 14 minute/mile pace a 7 minute/mile will feel downright speedy. But in reality our pace was cooked and done.

Sixth Mile: 6:39

Once I had the finish in sight and I felt confident that I could kick it I went for it. My rabbit was done, he was so far gone that when I kicked it he didn’t even lift a finger. After the race he told me he threw up twice during the race and he needs to work more on his pre-race diet. I didn’t see him barf but he still posted an impressive time and gave me a tough time to beat him even with the GI issues he’s been having. I saw the clock above the finish line just turning over 40 minutes which made me feel really sad in terms of time but I kept on kicking it strong until the very end. Once I stopped my watch it read 39:59 but I knew that it had at least 20 seconds extra on it due to the lame start with the old lady who failed to work the starting pistol right.

Last 0.2 mile: 1:09 (5:36/mile)

Official time: 39:35

I finished 2nd overall and since the winner took the overall win I also won my age group once he was out of the picture. If I could have done anything different it probably would have been towards the end. I think I got influenced and caught up in other people’s pace around me which caused me to slow down instead of trying to push it. I’m not saying I had anything left in the tank but I think I could have done a bit better had I had a faster rabbit to chase at the end.

Considering the hot weather and the brutal hill in mile 5 I think I did pretty good. This was certainly not a PR course for me but my race time is still a good indicator of what to expect in my future training for longer distances. It would have been nice to get a sub 39 10K to go with my 18:13 5K this season but that will just have to wait until next fall as I am done with the shorter distances, at least for now.

Last weekend I had a planned 5K and I hoped to beat that 5K time. I had high hopes due to the nature of the course. It was an A to B course with 140 ft of elevation drop in mile 2 on an otherwise pretty much flat course which kind of lends itself to a PR. I also knew that the race was a well established race, this was the 12th year for it with some pretty good times and good turnout so I knew that pace would be set for me by some other runners.

It was another one of those gun time start, chip time finish races so I made sure to start from the front of the pack. Since I also had a 10K race coming up on Monday I knew that I wanted to keep my legs intact as much as possible and I promised myself that I would not go out too fast at the beginning. I certainly tried to stick with that plan but I still clocked my first half mile at 5:40 minutes/mile pace. It was most definitely faster than anticipated even though I let a whole bunch of people go early on. I have decided to run my own race instead of trying to keep up with the front runners early on.

My second 0.5 mile split was ran at a more modest 5:54 pace which was exactly in the ballpark for my target goal. It felt pretty easy actually even though this was the one segment in the race with a small climb. My split for the first mile was 5:47.

My second mile was the one that contained the huge elevation drop of 140 ft and it certainly showed in my pace as I have managed to eke out a 5:41 for the second mile.

By the time I hit the third mile my legs started to feel tired and worn out. But I was proud that no one has passed me since the start and I have picked off a couple of guys every mile. It clearly showed that I have paced myself well when compared to the other runners around me. I kept on motoring and reeling in some people. This segment of the course was pretty much flat with just a tiny bump around the 2.8 miles mark. That was actually the point where I have decided to start my final kick and I averaged 5:38 min/mile for the last quarter mile. My third mile split was a 6:03 which was still not too far off from my otherwise great pace.

I crossed the finish line 13/517 overall and got 2nd out of 18 for my age group. 16:36 won the race and my AG winner got 17:25 and finished 7th. My time was still a great PR at 18:13 which is a new PR by over 50 seconds from last weekend. It really felt awesome to break 19 minutes as well as run a sub 6 minute pace for the run. Granted that the course was super fast with the steep decline but I still think I would have PR had it been a flat course without the drop.

The best part was that unlike after last weekend’s 5K where I got some pretty bad calf cramps after the race, this time I felt great and rested. Instead of taking the shuttle back to the start I just jogged back with the winner and the master’s winner and had a great talk with them. They were some really nice guys and quite inspirational to see them kick my buttocks at age 40 and 48! There is certainly something to look forward to!

I wasn’t the only family member who raced this weekend. I have signed my son up to run the 1 mile fun run again and while I was going to let him do it by himself my wife didn’t let that happen so she and my daughter also came and they all ran the 1 mile event. My son had a blast all the way until the end of the 1 mile. Unfortunately the race was not very well organized and they didn’t really have a 1 mile finish, the 1 mile people were just simply supposed to run up to the 1 mile mark on the 3.1 mile course and stop in the middle of the road. The race director should go and try to explain to a 5 year old why he needs to stop while everyone else is zipping by. I don’t envy my wife for having had to deal with that situation at the 1 mile point. But I’m still very proud of my family that they came out and ran/jogged/walked the race.

After last Saturday’s 10K my 5 year old son, expressed great interest in wanting to run with dad. So last Sunday I took him to the local track after my 8 mile long run where he promptly got side stitches after about 100 meters.

I told him to run slower but he was pretty set on trying to run a 7:25 min/mile pace for 100 meters, get stitches, slow to a walk for 200 meters then try again. He was really killing me with his pace I could not keep up myself; my calves were burning from the 10K and the 8 mile long run. We kept it up for about 2 laps at which point we did some runs across the field and called it a day. I have tried to tell him to slow down but he didn’t want to listen. He was pretty cute to try running with dad and I was really proud of him.

Monday I went and bought him some running shoes, shorts and a wicking t-shirt. I figured if he wants to run at least he should look the part. Monday we went and ran in the neighborhood just up and down the street as we felt like and we probably put in another half a mile. This time we slowed down and he finally listened to me. We took breaks but he had no side stitches.

Wednesday we did a repeat of Monday’s training and Friday we ran probably close to a mile with very little stopping. I felt he was ready to run a one mile fun run this weekend so I took him to a race this Saturday.

I was not going to race this weekend, I had a 30 minute fartlek on tap for Saturday and a 10 mile long run for Sunday. But since I promised my son to take him I figured I’d jog the 1 mile with him and I’d video him as he ran.

My son has a rough time getting up in the mornings; we have to kick him out around 7:30 every morning to go to daycare. Saturday by the time I was ready to wake him at 6:55 he was already up, all excited about the race and ready to go.

So I fed him some yogurt and granola, got dressed and we took off. I wore my racing singlet and 2.5″ inseam split pants which were most definitely overkill for the 1 mile I was going to run but I wore my Brooks Ghost 2 shoes that I use for long runs and recovery runs. I did not sport the T6 Racers which are my shoes of choice for 5K and 10K.

We got there right at 7:30, just in time for registration to open. We got our bib, paid $50 for the two of us and they even gave us chips for the timing even though the 1 mile race was a non-timed event. It made my son feel important with the chip dangling around his laces, just like daddy’s shoes do. I have the foot pod on my shoe for pace cadence and distance information and he’s wanted something to be attached to his shoe too. The chip was just perfect.

$50 for a one mile fun run seems excessive. It was for a good cause, the Fort Worth Can Academy so I didn’t feel that bad about forking over the money. The lady at the registration said “you know you could just run the 1 mile with your son and you can run the 5K afterward if you feel like it”.

At this point I wasn’t sure if I should run the 5K, I mean I had my son with me and I had no idea what I would do with him until I’d be running the 5K. We get up for the 1 mile fun run and there are less than a dozen people lining up at the start. It wasn’t a heavy field to say the least; my son and I were the only ones who really showed up just for that, the other people were using it as a warm-up for the 5K. I was a bit disappointed that my son’s first race was such a weak turnout but he didn’t care.

The air horn for the start really got him pumped and we were off! We settled into a good steady pace of around 11 minute miles and we didn’t stop! My son ran the whole one mile. It was actually 1.12 miles in 12 minutes and 9 seconds! I was very proud of him! He ran a 10:58 average pace. It really felt great to see him run and not stop for the whole way. Even though there was zero crowd support and zero competition support the fact that he was wearing a bib made him run the whole thing. I’m one proud daddy!

After we finished the 1 mile “race” I found two nice ladies at a vendor booth and pawned off my son on them with my RoadID wrapped around his bicep in case he got lost and I decided to go for the 5K race.

The race wasn’t anything big, it had 80 finishers but I wanted to see just how fast I could run it. The air horn sounded and we were off!

As with every race I have ran there are some crazy young guys who go out way too fast at the beginning then they fatigue about a quarter mile into the race when they realize that it’s a but longer than a quarter mile. Or there might be some crazy fast people that you just simply shouldn’t even attempt to keep pace with. But the problem is that these crazies tend to drag you along for the ride if you’re not careful. I have been guilty of trying and hurting myself in the long run.

My problem today also has been that my foot pod was not calibrated right. I only run long runs with these shoes so the calibration was way off. So what I assumed was a 6:14 pace based on my watch for the first mile was actually a 5:44 pace. It felt hard but I didn’t realize that it was that fast. We were running into some pretty strong winds so I just assumed that it was the wind that was holding me back and I should be picking up some good pace on my return.

After the early crazies fell off I found myself in first place at around the half mile point so I had to dictate the pace. There were no rabbits in front of me and, luckily there were no real chasers behind me either. The course was not marked very well and I was running off course at one point heading way off course when the guy behind me yelled at me which helped me to find the right trail.

At the turnaround I felt pretty wasted, I kept checking my watch for pace and I have seen numbers in the 6:25-6:45 range for my pace. I was thinking there is no way I could run any faster but I kept wondering why my pace was so lousy. I mean it wasn’t super slow but it was slower than my pace at last weekends 10K yet I felt a hell of a lot more tired. I chalked it up to running on tired legs as I haven’t tapered one bit for this race and it was unplanned plus I thought that I wasn’t pushing myself because I had no one to catch up to and there was no one really chasing me.

After the turnaround the wind situation didn’t get better and now it felt like it was blowing from the other direction. My pace deteriorated even more, now my monitor dipped down to 7:15 min/mile paces at times. I could not believe it! I was still in the lead the second place runner was about 20 seconds behind me but I just couldn’t keep it together. I could not believe how slow my pace was and how badly I was hurting yet I was still in the lead.

Once we got to the last half mile I was trying to give it a good kick which I thought I did but my pace didn’t really show it. I took one glance back and saw the second place guy still 15 seconds back I figured there was no way I would not win this one. I have given it one final kick once the finish line was in sight and as soon as I saw the clock I could not believe it. It was just rolling over 19:00. Based on my paces I knew that was no possible. But it still didn’t occur to me that it might have been my monitor and my paces that were wrong.

I crossed the finish in 19:05.7 a new PR for me! Second place was 12 seconds back; he clearly gained some time on me on the way back but luckily not enough.

So the lesson I have learned from today’s race is not to trust my monitor for paces blindly, especially when I’m running in shoes with incorrect calibration values. After I have corrected my downloaded data for the calibration my mile paces were:

1.0: 5:44

1.0: 6:17

1.0: 6:20

0.1: 6:19

It is obvious that I had killed myself on the first mile because of some crazy fast starters and my own stupidity of trusting the monitor for paces. Bottom line is that I still won the race and got a PR from it. I was really hoping to get under 19 minutes but that goal will just have to wait a couple more races…

Sunday I went and ran my usual long run, this time it was 11.1 miles on the Trinity Trail. I did it in 1:29. A lady caught up with me after 4.5 miles and we ran 2 miles together. She had 15 on tap and had a 3:30 marathon PR. It was nice to run with someone but she was clocking 7:40 miles so she dragged me along. It’s a good thing she stopped on the way back after 2 miles so I could settle into my own pace again. Then I went home put the bike rack on the car and drove back and repeated the same route with the family on the bike. My son in tow on a trail-a-bike and my 2 year old daughter in front of me sitting in a baby seat. My wife rode her own bike. We rode for 5 miles, stopped for lunch at Panera Bread then rode over to the playground and let the kids play. Then we rode back to the trail head. Total was 12 miles. We did it in 1:29. Kind of funny that our pace on the bike was almost the same as my pace while running.

I have 37 days to get in tip-top shape by then. Since my running has been going pretty good I have decided that it was time to take it to a next level. I’m a goal oriented person and I perform a lot better if I have set goals with set plans in motion instead of just winging it. I thought 5 weeks should be enough to get me in shape to finish the race. I have a target time in my head but I’m not going to commit to it publicly until it gets closer to the race and I get a better feel for my stamina and endurance. I have not ran 10K in a long long time. I did run 5 miles straight with no stopping last weekend and a 10K is only 1.2 miles more and I have certainly felt that I had it in me to continue. I have some more lofty goals in sight for the long term but this 10K will suffice on such a short notice.

A co-worker of mine has signed up for the half marathon. He has ran two marathons before but this time he didn’t really feel like committing to the longer distance. I think he’s not taking it all that seriously he’ll run a good bit between now and then but not with a serious plan in mind. I’m pretty excited about the race I really hope it will go well.