Iron Jean-Paul: April 2015

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Flower City Challenge... Accepted!

Sporting a look not many can pull off, it was all fun-and-games in the
early going at mile 5. (4/26/15)

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 38°F, 78% Humidity, Wind: From NNW @ 4 mph; feels like 38°F.
Route: Flower City Half Marathon
Time (Pace): 1:50.31 (8:26 min/mile)
Effort: 5 of 5

Pre-Race Observations: Roughly ten weeks ago, the day following Valentine's Day, I out together a plan to get myself in shape to run the Flower City Challenge Half Marathon. I had previously run a race of that distance (albeit many moons ago), but I had yet to have run this particular course (come to think of it, this race wasn't even around when I was running road races more regularly).

In preparation, I have run most sections of the course and just this past Friday evening, drove with my wife the part with which I was least familiar. The weather forecast for this morning's race is ideal and the aching I feel in my legs s nothing unusual and therefore something I can handle. In fact, the only thing that really makes me nervous is the fact that I am typing this for fear I'll jinx any good mojo I do have working this morning; "athletes," even recreational weekend-warriors are after all a superstitious lot.

Repping the indoor track team
I used to coach with a classic tee.

Post-race Reflections: The weather perfect and my effort was solid but I fell into a couple of pitfalls common to beginning runners. In the early going, during the first 5k (25:47/8:19), I was filled with confidence and the pace crept beyond what was wise. This meant that toward the end of the race (the last 5k was at 8:48) it caught up with me and as a result my focus was challenged. Despite this I did not stop, but rather took the pace down slightly, saving a little for an attempt at a kick. In the end, I was happy with my run which was almost 10 minutes faster than I had intended, and following which I felt pretty darn good.

I was extremely happy with the support I received from my wife (who met me at mile 5), the local track and field teams who manned the aid stations (each of which I took advantage of) and the volunteers who cheered for everyone participating and kept church traffic at bay. An unexpected added bonus was seeing a number of colleagues, students and former students out cheering and running. As with any endeavor, the value was in the experience and the lessons gleaned from having followed through. I learned (or rather was reminded of what I had forgotten in the four years since my last race of this distance) that will be of value when I sign up for another road race.

Full results for all participants in the Flower City Challenge Half marathon are available the good folks at Yellowjacket Racing here.

Only two blocks from home but... 8 more miles to go! (4/27/15)

Monday, April 20, 2015

Best-Laid Plans?

Three different logs for one goal...

Sometimes the literary context for the source of one of John Steinbeck's most popular novellas rings in my head. Just as the title (taken from "To A Mouse" by Robert Burns") suggested doom and gloom for Lennie and George, the echo is often not a sign of good things to come, but rather a harbinger of failure: "'the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." I've really worked to have this particular plan come out on the positive side of the ledger...

When I began this most recent training cycle back on February 15 it was with the goal of completing next weekend's Flower City Half Marathon. At the onset, I lacked a true plan due mostly to my own waffling for a few weeks prior to actually stepping foot in the gym. The cold, icy and snowy weather pattern, that only recently broke for consecutive days, couldn't last forever.

This morning's 10 mile loop.

The thought of pacing a friend on his quest for a 2 hour half-marathon had been gestating for a few months before I my having acted upon it the morning following a Valentine's dinner party, and while many in the local running community will be realizing their lifelong dreams of running Monday's Boston Marathon, my aspirations are less lofty. Over the past nine weeks, I have been trying to chip away at four years of rust in hopes of comfortably completing a slightly less heralded (though popular) local race at a shorter (by 50%) distance.

Having survived a few weeks on the dreadmill early on (a situation I no longer dread quite so much, and one I actually seek out weekly for its variety), Sunday morning I completed my final scheduled long run, a ten-miler at what has become my only pace, between 8:20-8:30 minutes per mile. I have made efforts to consciously slow down or pick-up, but whether running 2 or 10 miles, that has where I've settled for the moment. All that remains in preparation for the race, is to taper into two rest days prior to Sunday's 7:30 a.m. start.

Now that my current plan will soon be reaching its conclusion (fingers crossed!), it will soon be time to consider next steps. I like a great deal the current plan's structure of four weekly runs, with cross-training on one day and rest on the remaining two, one of which follows the Sunday long-run that accounts for 30-40% of the overall mileage. I have put together similar plans for myself in the past in preparation for distances ranging from a 13.1 to 33 miles, so it has helped me achieve previous goals, so there remains a strong likelihood that I will stick to that organization. I am, however, leery of counting any chickens before they've hatched, so will wait until I finish one goal before setting too much of a foundation for the next.

Over the last ten days my left hamstring has been "acting up," so in some ways, I'm just trying to make it through next weekend. Taking a conscientious approach of stretching, icing, and targeted resting, I remain confident that it will play out favorably with a finish in the two hour range. After that (and a suitable recovery period), there will be time for basking in the afterglow of having successfully followed through on one set of plans before setting some new ones in the days that follow April 26.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Cortland Classic Invite, Day 1

A picturesque afternoon for racing at SUNY Cortland! (4/17/15)

Friday afternoon/evening was my first opportunity to get out to one of Oneonta's outdoor Track and Field meets. While my son and, the majority of his cross-country comrades, would be running the second-to-last race of the evening, a 10k at 8:20 p.m., the beautiful weather made an afternoon at the track a very attractive possibility. Many of the usual suspects were also in attendance providing competition (U of R, Brockport College, and host Cortland among others) so most athletes were very familiar with their competition from both cross-country and indoor seasons. This familiarity was not a hindrance to many of my son's teammates from putting forth solid performances in an effort to qualify for the upcoming league championship, SUNYACs, at Brockport College in two weeks. It would be fantastic to have weather conditions similar to this evening's for that meet, so fingers crossed!

Women's Steeple. (4/17/15)

Men's 100m Trials. (4/17/15)

Oneonta Track and Field cheering on their own. (4/17/15)

Men's 100m Trials. (4/17/15)

Women's 100m Trials. (4/17/15)

Men's 1500m. (4/17/15)

Start Women's 1500m. (4/17/15)

Changing angles (again). (4/17/15)

Women's 1500m. (4/17/15)

Women's 110m Hurdles. (4/17/15)

Men's 110m Hurdles. (4/17/15)

Getting ready to get ready for the 10k. (4/17/15)

Women's 5000m. (4/17/15)

Warming up for 10k. (4/17/15)

Women's 5000m. (4/17/15)

The sun quickly setting. (4/17/15)

Coach consults with athletes following the Women's 5000m. (4/17/15)

Pre-Men's 10k strides. (4/17/15)

Race strategy discussion prior to 10k. (4/17/15)

... a-a-a-nd they're off! (4/17/15)

Men's 10k. (4/17/15)

Big finish for Oneonta in the Men's 10k. (4/17/15)

Friday, April 17, 2015

Blackbeard's Backyard Bunnies

Blackbeard spots TWO bunnies from the kitchen window. (4/3/15)

With our puppy having recently passed away, and the icy finally melted, our backyard has become something of a haven for our backyard bunnies. While Gracie never bothered the rabbits that would frequent our backyard (and apparently live under the shed), without her presence they have nothing to fear. As much as Blackbeard yearns to get outside in the back to play, that ain't going to happen... at least not intentionally!