Progress

I logged 15k of races today and am feeling pretty good considering the times. The Newport Beach Spirit Run holds a special place in my heart. It's the first road race I ever ran (age 6), and it's one of four hometown road races. I used to only run the 5k, but given my long term goals and small incentive, I opted to run both races for the 2nd consecutive year. The top 5 in each race gets a free 1-hour massage at Spa Gregories, and the top 3 combined finishers get a free one hour massage. Simply put, goal for the day was 3 free massages.

The 10k went off at 7:00. Christian Cushing-Murray, my Cal-Coast training partner (and 3:55 miler, 14:29 5k last weekend) decided to pop into the 10k, so thoughts of winning the combined 15k went out the window. It's hard for me to run early in the morning because I'm so tight. I usually make sure to be up and moving at least 2 hours before races, but "slept in" until 5:30. I took a 20 minute hot shower to loosen up my legs, which worked perfectly, had a banana for breakfast, and jogged to Fashion Island at 6:30. I normally start the warm-up 50 minutes before a race, but wanted to minimize the warm-up since I knew it would be a high-mileage day.

It was 55 and overcast at the start (perfect), and the sun hadn't come up yet. The pace car driver must have not had her morning latte because the field passed her 10 seconds into the race, then she accelerated and nearly took out the early leader. Went out like I wanted to: 5:30, 5:18, 5:15, 5:39, 5:35, 5:14, 70 (ave 5:25). Ended up getting second behind Cush, who conveniently stopped at the one mile mark to pee in a bush, caught me at 3 miles, then blew by up the hill during mile 4. Regardless, it was a good effort, slightly slower than last year, but much more controlled. I jogged about 10-12 minutes while I tried to keep my legs warm during the 30 minute rest.

Slightly warmer for the 5k start, Cush took it out at a respectable pace, and my legs were too heavy to keep pace past 1 mile. I ended up running the last 1.5 with another Cal Coast runner, who predictably out-kicked me during the last 100m. Splits were 5:11, 5:15, 4:57, 37 for 16:00. Overall, my combined time is only 1 second faster than last year, but I felt much stronger, and am feeling pretty recovered as I write this. Logged 13 miles for the day. Total for the week is 46 miles (6 days of running + 3 pool sessions), easily my highest week in 2010.

Next race is Carlsbad 5000 on April 11.