Up the Lazy River 10k Race Report

First off, I wanted to thank Joan and Gaston Porterie for their donations to the American Cancer Society, it is much appreciated!

It was a very rainy morning, but the course was only 30 minutes away so I set off in pretty high spirits.  With all the tempo training I've been doing, I was hoping to break 45 minutes, which I have only been able to do once thus far.  

Upon arriving at Mary S. Young Park in West Linn, I found that there weren't very many areas to stay dry, and most people just huddled under trees, so I tried to warm up the best I could.  I used my new "The Stick" therapy stick, it's sort of like a hand held foam roller, to work on my calves and my IT bands.  Then I took a short jog around the park.  It seemed like a nice park, might have to go back some time to check out the trails a bit better.

The starting line assembled at some seemingly randomly chosen spot and after one of the organizers counted down, we were off.  Initially I was bunched up with a group of slower folks, so I had to work hard to get around them and get up to the people who were closer to my target pace of around 7:15 minute/miles.

My first 5k felt great and I average 7 minute/miles.  Just after the half way point though the course hit a major hill that was about 1/4 mile long, which slowed me down quite a bit.  After reaching the top of the hill we get onto the side of a pretty major highway, which was a bummer.  There a few more hills before the end of the race and by the time I got to the finish line I saw that the clock was just passed 45 minutes and I ended up with a time of 45:15 on my watch, and 45:38 officially.  Not bad given the hills, but not quite what I was hoping for.  Still it was my best 10k time this year and I won my age group again, so that is good.  Also the new shoes felt great, really glad they are working out thus far.

Jones, Alex

28

Portland, OR

M25-29

Overall

Place	31
Time	00:45:38
Gun	00:45:38
Pace	07:20
Group	1
Gender	26

Here is hoping this week's training goes well and do better at my 10.4 mile race in June.

April mileage: 125 miles
2013 mileage: 456 miles

New Shoes

Got some awesome new shoes this week and took them out for a nice fast tempo run on Friday.  Ran a little over 7 miles, 4 miles of which was at 7:20 minutes/mile pace.  That felt fantastic.  I have a race tomorrow that I am hoping I can keep that pace at for a full 10k.  Looking to finally get a sub 45 minute 10k.  That will help me feel confident for my goal sub 1:40 1/2 marathon on July 4th.

Also, sent out my first big fundraising email.  Hope that helps my fundraising efforts a bit.

Here is a map of the last couple runs including one up Terwilliger and that huge hill up to OHSU the other day:

A Rainy Day with Silver Linings

It wouldn't be Portland if it was sunny everyday.  I'm definitely used to running in the rain and actually appreciated today after the hot weather we've been having over the past couple weeks.  Felt good to be cool on the run.

My Kinvaras are really working well for me.  I feel less fatigued and feel like I can maintain a quicker pace for longer periods of time with them compared to when I'm wearing my Nikes.  Though I still have to stretch every 2 miles or so, I feel like I am starting to adapt to them and am having no problem running long distances.  Today was another 8 miler, so running 8 miles back to back and not experiencing any foot pain or anything was definitely a good sign that the Kinvaras are working well for me.

Also had some good news! I got my first ACS donation, so that makes me feel good.  Things are starting to look up now that I am getting the word out.

If you would like to help me reach my fundraising goal of $1500 for the American Cancer Society, you can donate here.

April mileage: 79 miles
2013 mileage: 413 miles

Running Out Stress

It has been a stressful week and today wasn't much better.  I had some disappointing news and the general news of the world has been getting me down a bit.  So what better medicine than a nice long run.  Ran about 8 miles in my Kinvaras and brand new bright yellow socks.  I love those socks and need to buy more.

My achilles tendons were feeling tight so I had to stretch a couple times within the first 4 miles.  That's fine, I'm still getting myself acquainted with the lower drop of the Kinvaras so some lower leg issues/needing to stretch the achilles is expected.

After running and eating dinner, I am definitely feeling much better.  Also after much searching I was able to find a website that helped me to solve the final question on my Oracle homework, so that felt great.  Feeling good and now time to eat some dessert and watch Heroes with my boo.

April mileage: 71 miles
2013 mileage: 405 miles

Short and Fast

Didn't have much time to run today, couldn't leave work until 5:30 so had to keep it to a quick 5.4 miles.  It was a nice day, cooler than last week but still fairly clear.  Legs felt great today considering the 10.5 miles I ran yesterday.  My left shin is a bit sore, need to work on it with the foam roller, but I think I'll survive.

My Nike Pegasus 29s are still holding up well after 230 miles.  Not sure what I'm going to buy next, but that decision will have to wait another week or so until I get more miles on the Nikes.

April mileage: 63.1
2013 mileage: 396.9