thirty-fifth (running club race)

I almost just slept in. I wanted to. We were late, but they started late.

Rocky Mountain Road Runners starts their monthly races based on pace/mile. You get a start time based on past races, so that the slowest start first, the faster start later, and hopefully everyone finishes pretty close together.

I think they tally points based on place and other factors, but I haven't run the races consistently.

Today was 5 miles. I stepped to the starting line and totally spaced that I needed to start my stopwatch. It took me a few seconds into the race to get to the stopwatch function, then delete yesterday's time, and then start it. Not good. 

I finished in about 30:55.

The end of the race was in a park, around a soccer field, and quite a few little kids and their parents were crossing the concrete path as we were trying to sprint to the finish. No casualties as far as I could tell. 

Definitely a good thing to get up and get that run in. I say that every time, but it really is a relief to keep going. With the warm up and cool down, I'm calling it a 6 mile day.

nineteenth

4miles. 32min.

6x8sec steep hill sprints. 

I am in decent aerobic shape, but in terrible strength/speed/neuromuscular shape.

The sprints (which I didn't do at all last week like I was planning on)  wore me out, even though they are 8 seconds long and I only did that one small set.

I plan on getting these sprints in after 2 runs per week. Probably no more than 6- 8 sprints each time, and I won't have them extend much longer than 8-12 seconds. 

Tomorrow I'll run 3 miles, half of which will be on a steady uphill. I am recognizing my need for strength training in the form of 1.) the steep hill sprints 2.) longer hilly sections in my easy/moderate runs and 3.) trail runs. I live near the foothills, so I might as well take advantage of the scenery. 

Oh, and hopefully on friday I 'll get my 8 mile "long" run in on a section of the Denver Marathon course, just to check out parts of it. My wife's suggestion. A good one in my opinion. 

The course is flat and city asphalt. Nothing super exciting, but it is still the race I am leaning toward running.

It is $90, though. I know all marathons cost a decent amount of money, but that price is if you sign up by the end of May! It's $100 if you sign up by the end of August. I want to register and be committed to running the marathon, but not by the end of May. A lot can happen between then and the race...like me doing something dumb with my training, hurting myself, and then not training for 4 weeks in August.

I'll have to see.