Fiver

I woke up too early to have an excuse for not running; so I ran. I slipped on the new Asics Gel Evolutions and went outside. Very nice. I started out thinking four miles then thought I should really test these new babies. Unlike the Kuyanos, the Evolution is not as cushioned yet it is slightly more supportive. Not too much , just fine. The wide width is something to get more accustomed to but if my foot stops hurting then it's good for me. At Quail Hollow I turned in and went on my five mile route which includes a lot more brick streets and "Florida hills," as in sink hole embankments.
I spun it around in 45:30 which was pretty good for not trying. I guess I'm still capable of improving some more and setting some 2006 PRs, despite my advancing age.

ALERT: Day Light Savings Weekend Ahead. Darker morning runs for you early birds.

Nothing here. Nope.

I raced and shopped Saturday and have done nothing since. I am one big ol' lazy dog. I've been waiting for it to warm up. It has now so I guess I'll go out tomorrow morning.

Renewal

Mrs. T was in a less than pleasant mood yesterday when I came home from my race so I did the best possible thing after writing up my race recap. I went shopping. It was the last day of the 20+% off sale at Track Shack and I had a buzz from the race and wanted some new stuff. I'd been to the shop twice last week but hadn't bought a thing.

I spent 2-1/2 hours at the store and had such a good time. The place was packed too. I found a sleeveless top in navy and white. Then I tried on about eight pairs of shoes and went for a run in six of them. I tried the old Saucony Hurricanes, the new ones, the Asics Kuyano 11s and 12s, a New Balance shoe and, on the advice of Momma Hughes, I tried a stability shoe: the Asics Evolution II, in a wide. It was fine. I had it on one foot and the Kayano 12 (and its $40 higher price) on the other and settled on the new Evolution. Given my recent bout with the left ankle soreness (now relatively gone) I'll give these a 400 mile test drive.

Then I went back to the clothes racks and picked out a whole lot of stuff to try on. I monopolized the changing room for about 25 minutes before picking a khaki/black/white top and khaki bottom that went together and another sleeveless Asics top in dusty red that will go with the set bottom. Some Gu and I was ready to check out.

Retail therapy. Maybe that's what Mrs. T needed. It suited me just fine. When quizzed on the subject she declared it came down to a lack of sleep and getting unfinished frustrating work done. I know from personal experience the two are related. Today she accomplished a little bit of both.

Now We're Talking

Winter Park Road Race Report (10K)
The conditions were perfect this morning for a jog, a run or a race. I chose race. The sun was out and it was 49F with a slight breeze. 2,300 runners came for the 10K and 2M races in downtown Winter Park. I arrived early and found a nice parking place, pulled on my Army warm-ups and jogged proudly to the check-in to pick up my race packet. I visited with a handful of familiar people. I could feel the electricity that permeates a pre-race crowd. I was glad to be back. I crossed paths with a principal from one of our schools. He had his two daughters with him and "a friend" from the gym. He had a heart attack last summer and decided to get his body in better health so took on a fitness program that only an addict could love. He did a triathlon in California earlier this year and preaches exercise to everybody he meets.

I sauntered back to my car to pin on my number and shed the warm-ups. Back near the start I stood in a sunny spot to stay warm and visited with a county commissioner and then two young school age daughters of an old acquaintance who were about to run their first 10K. They asked me a few questions about running and I shared some advice on how to approach the race. While talking I looked down and saw two pennies on the road right in front of our feet. I pointed to them and said to the younger girl that they'd bring good luck. She picked them up and gave me one instead of sharing with her sister.

The start was a little crowded thanks to somebody's Lexus being on the street despite the temporary no parking signs. It wasn't a runner's car, I expect. A short block after the race start the course took a left turn that slowed everybody down. After that, getting around runners was relatively easy, thank goodness. I concentrated on short strides with moderately rapid turnover.
We made it out of the downtown area and into the ritzy residential streets within the first mile. At the marker, I was clocked at 8:24. I could live with that, I thought. I hadn't even bothered to review what my PR was, calculate a target pace or anything else. I just sorta showed up with low expectations. Not low in the sense of slow but more with a mindset that this was a recovery race.
I just stayed in my adopted pace zone through mile 2. I passed a number of rabbits who went out too fast and felt a thorough comfort with course. It happens to include a sizeable portion of my Sunday morning route. At mile 2 my watch said 8:07. Ooh. I had advised the young girls to divide the race into three two mile runs and sprint the last two-tenths; and not to go out too fast. Well, with 8:07 I realized I was about :30 off my 5K PR pace. I knew that number from memory. Was I ready for this kind of pace? I listened to my breathing. I flipped a mental switch to keep it even and below maximum.

The Mile 3 timer came up abruptly as we rounded a blind curve. I was cruising along with good leg turnover, finding that I did better to concentrate on using my left leg more forcefully as compared to dragging it along (as in Miami, miles 20-26). That worked. At Mile 3 the split was 8:04. Well. That was not too difficult. Could I do that again? I am halfway through, I thought. Caution, I remembered: Calm breathing. Rapid leg turnover. Use the left. Short stride.
We had a few short hills along the route. The ups were easier than the downs - after each one. After an up the next flat was a breeze. After a down the stride had to be readjusted and breathing re-regulated. We ran on a lot of brick streets too which I never mind but, in the race, I relished the streets that were asphalt. At Mile 4 the timekeeper yelled out the time and my split said 8:05. Woo hoo. Sweet.

Two miles to go and I fell in with a news anchor and her friend who were bopping along chatting a lot, talking about the hills of the Boston Marathon. I kept up with them through Mile 5 because it's a vulnerable mile in racing a 10K for me. I knew they'd keep me up. At the split I had covered the mile in 7:59.5. Now we're talking!

The news anchor's friend then spotted a turquoise shirt about 40 yards ahead of us and said to Wendy, "There's our target. We need to catch and pass her in the next mile." They gradually pulled away from me but I managed to draft along long enough to hold a decent pace, checking on my breathing, leg turnover and left leg contribution again. With less than a mile to go I let the rates go up a little. At Mile 6 my split read 8:05.

The last .2 down the main drag with music blaring, fans cheering and a few challengers nipping at my heels pushed me to close at an 8:00 pace.

Final time was 50:20 (8:06 pace)

I was very pleased with the effort. I though it might be a PR but couldn't remember. I grabbed a bottle of water, went to my car for a windbreaker and came back for the afterparty. I had a blast in Central Park snacking on bananas and bagels plus seeing my city commissioner neighbor, his associate (who tells me J. is a stalking reader of this blog. Hey J. how ya doing?); various runner pals I've known over the years; and two more principals* in the district who I did not know were runners. It is very heartening to now know four principals (out of 167) who are runners. Judging by the body types that work in my district building I was feeling like a freak of nature in that I am a runner. Finding more and more of them running out there around the county is exciting.
I came home after the race and looked up my PR. Dang. Last November when I was in peak peak condition I ran a 10K and 5K on the same day and the 10K time was a 49:47 PR. Oh well; this was the second best yet. I'm glad for that and for having felt the thrill of racing again. Now I need to get on the internet and find my next race.


* One of the two principals happens to be named Susan and she is very pretty like two RBF Susans I know. She even had her pet pekingese dog with her named Martini. Martini had on a pink sweater and green painted toe nails left over from St. Patrick's Day. Rowdy would have been hitting on her I think.

Where was I?

It has been the kind of week at work that can drive you nuts. Everybody else came back from Spring Break all fired up and rarin' to do things. I didn't take off as many days as I wanted/should have so it's been a tough week. I'm introducing training on some new spanking school-to-home telecommunications system all week, three times a day. At least I don't have to do all the training. Rollout is next week.
What did I do this week?
I ran on Tuesday morning doing some short track distances. When I added them all up, for the distance, it was at a 6:33 mile pace. With that I am amazed! In light of that success I signed up for the Winter Park Road Race (10K) on Saturday morning. It'll be my first race since the 1.29 marathon. I think I'm ready now.
I went to my second NBA game in a week, taking my telcom trainer with me. We had a good time watching the Knicks play some of the worst basketball against the hometown Magic.
I agreed to let Mark the Painter do his Michaelangelo work on my house exterior which has been sorely overdo for a few years. Now maybe the neighbors walking their dogs won't let them poop in my yard anymore. Hey, I can only hope. My dogs do it in theirs.
It's cooling off here in the Sunshine State. Highs in the upper 80s have slipped to mid 70s. Cry me a river. We may have lows in the 40s again this weekend. Brrr. Get out the woolies.