Just a Short Run

Ever since Shamrock Marathon I've been trying to figure out what went wrong and find my mojo again. I think I've come to the conclusion that it was just a bad day on a course that didn't suit my strengths and there was really nothing I could have done to change it. Thankfully redemption was only two weeks away.

I wasn't planning on doing Just A Short Run but my friend, John, told me he wanted to run with me. Since we had such a blast at Spring Thaw I decided to go ahead. It helped that my coach assigned me 20-25 miles for this weekend and I didn't want to run it alone.

And since I don't have pics from JASR yet, I'll include the halfway decent ones from Shamrock that MarathonFoto FINALLY got uploaded....

Altra Floater

 

Just A Short Run is held every spring and has several distances: 5k, 8 mile, half marathon, and 30k. I chose to do the 30k since it would allow me to get the closest to my prescribed long run for the week. John and several of our other friends were also in it for the long haul so at least I wouldn't be lonely.

 

The race started at 8:30am and I *just* squeezed onto the last shuttle bus from the parking lot to the boathouse in the knick of time. I grabbed my bib, stuffed my swag bag into my drop bag, and headed over to the starting line. I left my drop bag in a planter and lined up with John, his wife, our friend Mike, and 400 or so other runners for the 30k.

 

While Shamrock was still fun

 

We started right on time and John and I ran together from the start. I quickly realized we were going faster than our planned 10 minutes/mile pace but it felt good and I just didn't care to slow down. The race starts with a mostly uphill 5k+ loop which we completed in 35:16 (this doesn't seem right to me but I think it's gun time, not chip time). After that we went out for three 5 mile loops around the lake.

 

John and I chatted and joked as usual. I felt pretty good and John said he felt surprisingly good considering he'd taken a pretty good tumble on his mountain bike last weekend. So we continued with our faster-than-planned pacing. First 5 mile loop in 49:45.

 

Done!

 

Our second 5 mile loop I could feel the residual fatigue from Shamrock and trying to amp my training back up. I decided to finish off this loop with John and then drop back. It worked out just fine with my second loop clocking in at 47:49.

 

The final loop I dropped down my pace and walked for about 5-6 minutes right off the bat. I took an extra GU, drank some extra water, picked up a Gatorade at the aid station, and got my iPod going. I lost a lot of time walking for so long but my legs felt practically normal again when I started running again. I walked most of the uphills on this loop but still made pretty good time. Final loop completed in 55:39 for a total time of 3:07:46.

 

I wore my new Altra tank for JASR

 

I crossed the finish line with plenty of gas left in the tank and felt ready to go out for my solo miles. I grabbed my medal and some Gatorade, caught up with John and our other friends, and then headed out to make it 20+ miles for the day.

 

JASR swag

 

I ran about 1/4 of the way around the lake from the boathouse to the traffic signal and then up the hill to the pool where my car was parked. From there I did two laps around the pool which were about 3/4 of a mile each. I didn't push the pace at all. I stayed comfortable (aside from the fact that I had a giant medal crammed in my sports bra). and ended up with 22 miles in 3:49. I could have continued on to 25 no problem. In the end I was just bored and I wanted to go home and spend time with the kids so I figured 22 was good enough.

 

 

Happy Easter from Team Brunazzi!