Distance / Treadmill

Run: 6 miles at 6.0 miles per hour, with 0.5 miles at 6.5 miles per hour

Distance: 6.0 miles

Time: 59:37

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★

Energy  ★ ★ ★ ★

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Soundtrack: Crystal Method Radio, Pandora

     Well after all of my love for the treadmill on my last post, 6 miles does get a little dull. I was able to lock in and just cruise, but 6 miles is probably my upper limit of distance. I may try for a little more next weekend, but I am hoping that we get some clearing of the roads, and maybe I can get outside. They are predicting another good sized storm, so we'll see about that.

     I came across an interesting dilemma the other day, which kept me thinking and motivated throughout the run today. The Hartford Marathon Foundation is putting up a challenge to run three half marathons in 2015. There is a new half marathon in Mystic, CT in May, and this is part of the promotion. The first will be in Middletown in early April. I ran the 4 mile run that was part of this inaugural event last year - it was nice. The third marathon is the Hartford Half Marathon in October - which is my baby.

     So, I'm not sure if I'm up for three half marathons this year, but I'm coming at this with a thought. Perhaps I train up during the Spring, but smart and slow. Then I can use the April and May half marathons as a nice slow weekend pace. This should get me into some good shape early on. I can then either keep up this distance and see if I can start working on my half marathon pace throughout the summer, or use this as a base for some fast paced 5K's this summer - which was my original plan.

     All in all, I like this idea. I thinks it's a nice little challenge, and I think that if I come at this with my smarter almost-forty-year-old brain, I should avoid injury. I'm still a little hesitant, but I'll let you all know what I decide. Ether way, I'm glad for the six miles under my belt, but I'm still pretty excited to get off the belt and back onto the roads for my next distance run!

Hartford Half Marathon

Race: Hartford Half Marathon

Date: October 11, 2014

Location: Hartford, CT

Official Time: 1:50:37

Official Lap: 8:21

Place: 1170 / 5749

Race Stats

Speed: ★ ★ ★ .5 (little slow outta the gate, then wide open)

Hills: ★ ★ .5 (two smaller hills)

Crowd: ★ ★ ★ (good sized)

Party: ★ ★ .5 (weather put a damper on this)

T-Shirt: ★ ★ ★ .5 (nice stuff)

A rainy and chilly morning greeted those who were brave enough to come out for this year's Hartford Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K. With almost 15,000 in attendance, I don't think that many stayed at home! I myself found some new rain gear for the run, and was ready for the worst. All in all, the weather was perfect for a 13.1 mile run, and I was only a little chilly before and after the race.

I have a new web page up with all of the photos and details from the race. This really is an ideal half marathon with a very fun and flat course. It is the perfect time of year (when it's not raining!), with the leaves changing. A lot of the locals come out to support the runners, and there were about 5 bands playing in the rain along the way.

My time was awesome, and I couldn't be more excited. I was hoping to run between 1:50 and 2:00 and pulled off a 1:50:37. Looking at my very steady 8:22 minute miles, this compares pretty well to some of my more recent 5K's, and really is credit to some good training effort these past 16 weeks.

The party in Bushnell park is usually worth sticking around for. This year its was just a little too wet and chilly. I couldn't be happier with the race, the feel of my legs and my time. I'll hang on to my beer ticket, and see if it's any good next year!  : ) 

Tempo Run

Tempo: Five minutes easy warm up, then 12 minutes at half-marathon race pace. Four minutes easy, then repeat 12 minutes of faster pace. Finish with five minutes easy run cool down.

Distance: 3.6 miles

Time: 38:07

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★ ★ .5

Energy:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

Soundtrack: Limp Bizkit, Results May Vary

A very cool thing happened on this morning's run. I am starting to figure out my half-marathon race pace! This sounds simple enough, but really it hasn't been. See, all of this training has been through the recommendations of the Runner's World Complete Guide to Running magazine-book. Up until this point, the long runs have been at an "easy" pace. What had me nervous was that when I was running the faster paces during the tempo runs, they seemed faster, made me out of breathe, and was something that I didn't think that I could continue for 13 miles. Sure, I can do the distance runs on the weekends, but this is like at a 10:00 minute mile pace, and I am hoping to do better than that for the half-marathon in October.

Now, this may have something to do with the 5K faster pace that I ran in last week's Catsup & Mustard 5K, but I could feel this morning that the faster half-marathon pace is the pace that I like. I actually enjoy running at this pace more so than the warm up easy pace (the easy pace is the pace that I normally run on my long runs). Today for the first time, I can feel that with continuing this training schedule, I am going to get myself to a place where I should be able to run the 13 miles at my goal pace. So 1 hour 50 minute half marathon, you better watch out. I might just have this figured out... if I don't get injured. And really, I guess that's the point. Mixing up tempo runs, hills and distance runs keep you moving forward without having to run race pace all the time, thus avoiding injury. Man, I hope so!