New perspective on running

With the Disneyland half marathon approaching I had the opportunity to try something I hadn't done before. No more long runs before the race, no more crazy intervals, hill workouts, just one photo scavenger fun run with the track club. OK, I did 8 miles on Saturday but that was done with an easy pace as it should have been. Yesterday there was another local event put up by Compete Green (competegreen.com), the Half Marathon of the Harbors and the Ventura Harbor 5K. Brandy and I decided to volunteer and help out by handing waters to the runners. We were assigned the first (and last water station) of the races. It was at mile 1 of the half, near the turnaround of the 5K, and it was at about the mile 12 of the half marathon since it was an out and back course.

I think we were positioned at this station since the powers to be knew we could be trusted to be figure things out. All of the supplies were dropped off at the location, all we had to do was put up the table, lay out the water cups, fill them up with water and position the trash receptacles downstream of us. Brandy was able to lay out 8 rows of 20 cups of the table, and this looked quite impressive until we realized that it was less than a third of the number of runners. We knew that it could be challenging for us but Brandy came up with a plan that if things started getting busy, one of us could pass out the water while the other started laying out more cups and filling them with water. No better plan had ever been hatched up, in my opinion and we executed it perfectly ;)

The perspective of seeing runners in a race as I just stood there was amazing. The different styles of people, regardless of how fast they were, was striking. The winner of the half marathon ran so smoothly and so quiet not only in his motion but in the amount of actual noise as his feet landed. It was quite efficient no matter how you look at his movement. The leading woman was somewhat of a contradiction. Her lower bidy moved the way I expected but she swung her upper body from side to side, but you can't really say anything about it as she was the leading female.

As for the 5K it was easy to note the new 5K runners. Since we were near the turnaround spot for the race we were "only" 1.5 miles from the start. The lead runners didn't even think about taking water but the mid pack runners were happy to see us and gladly took water. I had never been thanked so much for such a small thing, never had I seen such grateful faces for a cup of water. Hopefully I am half as grateful and thankful to the volunteers in the races in which I am entered. It was a great experience and one I would love to have again in the future.

I'm baaacckkk!!!

OK, somehow I got lazy and just plain forgot to post new stuff or got too busy with work. Regardless I am back. It is now mid-August and lots have happened on the running front with me. Actually, it's basically I have done more running in races and have actually improved my time. I have been in a 10K race and a handful of 5Ks. The 10K was the Channel Islands 4th of July race at the Channel Islands harbor and I have run in the Salsa Dash 5K, the Ventura Tiki Run 5K, and in two of the Harbor Lights series of 5Ks.

All of these races were done locally and obviously in very flat and almost ideal conditions. The Channel Islands 10K was only my second one ever and I had high hopes of finishing this one under an hour - the Old Agoura 10K was hilly and I did that one in 1:01 - and I completed this in 53:40. I think I could have done it faster but I went out a little too fast in the beginning, getting to mile 1 in under 8:30. I was still just getting used to running fast, after I got "promoted" in the running club to run with the fast runners. Still I was happy with that race.

The next race was my first of two Harbor Lights 5K a couple of weeks later. I had read that for the short races like a 5K I should warm up properly beforehand, to go out and run almost as far as a 5K before the race itself. I went out to the mile 1 marker in a good pace, about 9 minutes and then jogged/walked back to the start. I then did a few strides right before the race to get my legs going. The race starts and I go at what felt like a comfortable pace. Mile 1 comes and I am at 8:05, too fast I think. Slowing down a bit for the second mile and I get there at about 8:30 but still I felt good. I was able to ramp it up a bit at the end as I was kept pace with and eventually passed others and I crossed the finish line in 25:17, a new PR! My previous fast time in an official race was 27:19, and about 26:50 on my own so this was awesome.

The next race was the Salsa Dash in downtown Oxnard, also a flat course. I didn't run the first mile of the course itself before the race but I did run around a few other blocks in the area to warm up, and then I did strides. Guess this worked well as I went out at and reached the mile 1 marker at 7:20, too fast but I noticed that it was about 0.1 miles too short. I slowed a bit but not too much as I felt pretty good. Mile 2 was at 16:05 which made me happy. Mile 3 I followed someone and I knew he was going for it. Saw the finish line and was able to kick it up a bit and crossed the finish line at 24:23, another PR! I'm really liking this warm up before a race, and of course the flat course on a cool overcast day doesn't hurt. Later this same day I ran the Ventura Tiki Run with Becky - two 5Ks on either end of the same day. I had no visions of running this fast, just to run alongside Becky as she put in some miles as part of her worko-up towards Disneyland half.

Was able to run in another of the Harbor lights race the following week and improved my time from the previous week in another sub-25 minute run, 24:52. Guess all of the track workouts are helping. Not sure how much more time I can take off but I know it can't be much on a 5K. I just can't see myself doing a sub-7 minute pace for a 5K. I don't think I want to hurt that much as part of my running.

This past Saturday I ran 10 miles easy. Michelle from Inside Track commented that I should have run with the fast runners who wanted to run with a 9 minute pace. I told her this was too fast for me for an easy run. She told me that I have to start changing the way I run, to lift up my legs a little more. I think this may mean a longer stride, or maybe even a quicker turnover. Told her no changes for me until after Disneyland, so I have a few weeks of this shuffling along for me. Kinda scared about the change as it will probably mean I can't go for longer runs or will tire out faster or whatever else I can think of because I am a wimp and hate change. Stand by to see what these changes in my stride are ...