Back on the treadmill again!
Tuesday 3/24: 8 miles in 60 minutes
I love you treadmill, but I want to be outside again.
Wednesday 3/25: Off
Crazy day at work, decided to bag the run and have a beer with the wife instead.
Thursday 3/26: 12.2 miles in 1 hour and 20 minutes
Very solid progression run. Happy with this one!
Friday 3/27: AM: 4 miles in 32 minutes PM: 8.5 miles in 60 minutes
AM: Easy morning run on the treadmill at home
PM: Bike path running around Lexington, all paths were clear!
Saturday 3/28: 9 miles in 62 minutes
Running around Billerica and then 5 x 20 sec strides and some drills. Don't ever run here in Billerica, the running sucks, the drivers suck, the people suck, there is trash and broken glass everywhere. I can not even explain how much the whole experience just sucked.
Sunday 3/29: 12.6 miles in 83 minutes
Today I went down to Waltham, MA for the JB Blastoff 5k. I wanted to get in a good effort and hopefully a confidence boosting win. Looking over the times from the past I figured I had a good chance for the win and possibly a decent time on the "flat fast" course. I ran the course as a warm up and noted that the course was not flat, with multiple ups and down, though none significant. There were also a couple of dirt road sections that were torn up pretty good with potholes and mud. Despite this I thought the course could still be fast as there was nothing significant enough to really break the pace.
Once on the starting line I looked around and didn't notice or recognize anyone that I though was a threat. The race went off and one guy shot straight out to the lead and led the way. I stayed back bit with a few other guys and let things string out over the first quarter mile or so. The guy in the lead stayed there and looked pretty smooth, so I decided to move up right behind him and use him to block the head wind we would have for the first mile. The pace was strong and we were hitting just about 5 flat for pace. I'm not sure he knew I was there and I think he thought he had a good lead and was off to the win because every time we passed volunteers and police on the course he was saying "Hello" and "Thanks". I was thinking "this ain't no freaking victory parade" so just before the mile I shot passed him as his pace was slowing a bit and I was feeling good. He seemed a bit surprised when I went past him and he immediately responded by tucking in behind me. We hit the mile in 5:08 and I pressed the pace over the next mile which included a short but steep little hill. I hammered the hill pretty good and opened up a gap on him. I kept the hammer down and hit the 2nd mile in 10:13 (5:05 2nd mile). At this point I thought I had the race in hand, I could no longer hear the guy behind me and I was still hitting the pace pretty strong. The last mile has a slight incline and then slight decline to the finish. I tried to keep the pace strong as I knew I had a good shot at getting under 16 minutes. With just over a quarter mile left I made a 90 degree right hand turn and I took a quick peek back just to make sure I had the race wrapped up......I am glad I did! I noticed that my lead was only about 6-7 seconds and that my competitor was making stealthy approach. At that point I had all the motivation I needed to kick up the pace and finish this thing off. I hit mile three in 15:26 and kicked for home! I got to the finish in 15:47 and got the win by 8 seconds. The last 0.1 was downhill and my pace was well under 5 minutes. My watch read 3.09 miles a the finish, so I think the course was just short of 5k, but my time would still have been under 16 for a full 5k.
After an extended 6.5 mile cool down I checked out the results. It listed second place as 48 year old Rob Bond. After a little research I found out that he is not 48, in fact he is 25, and he is an GBTC athlete who just ran 1:11 at new Bedford. So he is legit, just not a legit 48 years old! Overall it was a good run and I am happy with the results. It was just what I needed right now.
Total Miles: 62.4
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