WEEKLY SUMMARY (Dec. 30 - Jan. 5): 49 miles (95% E and 5% I paces)
Sunday: 6.5 miles at 7:22/mi. on a treadmill in Atlanta
Monday: 7 miles at 7:27/mi. in Raleigh
Tuesday: 2.5 E, 3 x (1200m I averaging 4:17 + 800 E), 1.75 E back in DC
Wednesday: 5.5 miles at 7:21/mi.
Thursday: 7 miles at 7:16/mi.
Friday: 15 miles at 7:20/mi.
Saturday: off
This week I did the two main runs that I wanted to do: the interval workout on Tuesday and the longish run on Friday. Plus, I was all set to increase my weekly mileage slightly until I was unable to fit in a run on Saturday, which was no big deal in any case since I was surprisingly worn out by my 15-miler the day before and had a race the next day. Tuesday's interval workout was encouraging and gave me the confidence I needed to set a 5k PR the following Sunday (see below). 1200m in 4:17 is around 5:44/mi. pace, which is just under 18 minute 5k pace. It was my first successful interval workout in a long time, my third attempt since the MCM, and my second one in a week. But this time the weather was right, I was back home running on a (familiar) track, and things just clicked. I need to keep doing this workout every 2-3 weeks, increasing next time to 4 intervals, and gradually increasing the pace when I'm ready. My other main run of the week, the 15-miler on Friday, was less encouraging. I should be able to run my easy pace for that distance with little difficulty, but I haven't been doing it so it did in fact become somewhat difficult after 10 miles or so. It didn't help that all the drinking fountains I normally use had just been turned off for the winter and I wasn't carrying any water. This run put me in a mood to give up on the marathon in March and to focus instead on running a good half-marathon and a good 10-miler three weeks later. But I don't give up that easily. At the end of next week I want to try another run about the same distance but this time speeding up to marathon pace for the last 6 miles or so. My recent 13-miler ending with 4 miles at marathon pace felt really good, so that seems to be the next step. In fact, my entire marathon-specific training plan for the RnR USA marathon consists in doing that run and a couple more, slightly longer ones with the additional miles all at marathon pace, culminating (I hope) in a 20-miler with the last 10 miles at marathon pace. As I've been writing lately, I don't want to get all caught up in marathon training but want that to be only one element in a more balanced training routine. Anyway, next week, in addition to the marathon pace run, I plan to do a track workout - probably 400m repetitions.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
2012 STATS:
Total miles: 2720
Average miles per month: 226.7
Average miles per week: 52.3
Average miles per day: 7.45
Number of days off: 55
Most days off in a row: 3 (after the MCM)
Average miles per day run: 8.8
Average pace: 7:34/mi.
Number of races: 19 (8 5k's, 2 8k's, 3 10k's, and 1 of every other distance below)
I set new all-time PR's this year at every distance I've run:
5k: 18:25 (1/8/12)
4 miles: 24:08 (6/17/12)
8k: 30:30 (12/9/12)
10k: 37:48 (4/29/12)
10 miles: 1:04:42 (4/1/12)
20k: 1:23:06 (8/19/12)
half-marathon: 1:26:34 (9/16/12)
metric marathon: 1:49:15 (10/7/12)
marathon: 3:12:17 (10/28/12)
Total miles: 2720
Average miles per month: 226.7
Average miles per week: 52.3
Average miles per day: 7.45
Number of days off: 55
Most days off in a row: 3 (after the MCM)
Average miles per day run: 8.8
Average pace: 7:34/mi.
Number of races: 19 (8 5k's, 2 8k's, 3 10k's, and 1 of every other distance below)
I set new all-time PR's this year at every distance I've run:
5k: 18:25 (1/8/12)
4 miles: 24:08 (6/17/12)
8k: 30:30 (12/9/12)
10k: 37:48 (4/29/12)
10 miles: 1:04:42 (4/1/12)
20k: 1:23:06 (8/19/12)
half-marathon: 1:26:34 (9/16/12)
metric marathon: 1:49:15 (10/7/12)
marathon: 3:12:17 (10/28/12)
BRATS FROZEN 5K (race report):
In January 2012, I set a 30-second breakthrough PR (18:25) on this fast 5k course in Manassas, VA. That's a hour drive from where I live in DC, and I did the race last year simply because the weather was weirdly Spring-like and I couldn't find any other races nearby. This year I did it again in hopes of reconnecting with last year's PR-vibe, and I was not disappointed: I set another PR (17:58) by almost the same margin (I never managed to run faster than 18:25 in the previous year). This year the conditions weren't quite as perfect: again it was sunny and the wind was calm, but at 27 degrees it was colder than ideal. That may have contributed to my getting off to a slow start. But I ran almost even splits, which really means that I sped up in mile 2 since there is a turn-around a little past halfway through it. I started fading in mile 3, but I think it was more mental than physical. Luckily, the first woman finisher passed me around halfway through mile 3 and said "come on, guy." That jolted me to speed up and follow behind her, which I managed to do only for a little while until I could see the finish line, which had its usual effect. Besides her, nobody else passed me during the entire race, and I must have passed 40-50 people after the first half mile. I started a little back from the front and got off relatively slowly, so at first I just tried to find a rhythm. It wasn't until maybe two-thirds of a mile into the race that I realized there were basically two chase packs at that point following one lead runner who was way ahead of everyone else. I realized this as I came up to the second pack from behind and passed it around the first mile marker. In the second mile, the other chase group disintegrated into a bunch of individual runners chugging along at different rates. Most were slowing down, and I passed those people one by one. Of those who didn't slow down, one dressed in bright colors some 30 feet ahead at the turn-around was my target for the rest of the race. I never caught him, and neither did the woman who passed me, who had started out in that second pack and must have stayed just behind me for most of the race. I ended up finishing 13th (and 3rd in the 35-39 age group). I'm sure that I could have run faster today by staying mentally stronger in the last mile, and by warming up better to run a faster first mile. But I still ran well. As usual when I set a PR, my first and second thoughts upon finishing were "Yay, I did it!" and "I can run faster than that." I discovered last Spring that duplicating a good time set on this course requires running slightly better on a course that isn't as fast. So that's my next 5k challenge. I'd rather not wait an entire year again for another 5k PR.
In January 2012, I set a 30-second breakthrough PR (18:25) on this fast 5k course in Manassas, VA. That's a hour drive from where I live in DC, and I did the race last year simply because the weather was weirdly Spring-like and I couldn't find any other races nearby. This year I did it again in hopes of reconnecting with last year's PR-vibe, and I was not disappointed: I set another PR (17:58) by almost the same margin (I never managed to run faster than 18:25 in the previous year). This year the conditions weren't quite as perfect: again it was sunny and the wind was calm, but at 27 degrees it was colder than ideal. That may have contributed to my getting off to a slow start. But I ran almost even splits, which really means that I sped up in mile 2 since there is a turn-around a little past halfway through it. I started fading in mile 3, but I think it was more mental than physical. Luckily, the first woman finisher passed me around halfway through mile 3 and said "come on, guy." That jolted me to speed up and follow behind her, which I managed to do only for a little while until I could see the finish line, which had its usual effect. Besides her, nobody else passed me during the entire race, and I must have passed 40-50 people after the first half mile. I started a little back from the front and got off relatively slowly, so at first I just tried to find a rhythm. It wasn't until maybe two-thirds of a mile into the race that I realized there were basically two chase packs at that point following one lead runner who was way ahead of everyone else. I realized this as I came up to the second pack from behind and passed it around the first mile marker. In the second mile, the other chase group disintegrated into a bunch of individual runners chugging along at different rates. Most were slowing down, and I passed those people one by one. Of those who didn't slow down, one dressed in bright colors some 30 feet ahead at the turn-around was my target for the rest of the race. I never caught him, and neither did the woman who passed me, who had started out in that second pack and must have stayed just behind me for most of the race. I ended up finishing 13th (and 3rd in the 35-39 age group). I'm sure that I could have run faster today by staying mentally stronger in the last mile, and by warming up better to run a faster first mile. But I still ran well. As usual when I set a PR, my first and second thoughts upon finishing were "Yay, I did it!" and "I can run faster than that." I discovered last Spring that duplicating a good time set on this course requires running slightly better on a course that isn't as fast. So that's my next 5k challenge. I'd rather not wait an entire year again for another 5k PR.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
WEEKLY SUMMARY (December 23-29): 50 miles (87.5% E, 8% M, and 4.5% I paces)
Sunday: 13 miles at 7:07/mi. (last four miles in 6:52, 6:46, 6:46, 6:45)
Monday: 5 miles at 7:36/mi.
Tuesday: 8 miles at 7:14/mi.
Wednesday: off
Thursday: 8 miles at 7:19/mi.
Friday: 8 miles at 7:24/mi. in Raleigh
Saturday: 2.75 E, 3 x (1200m I at 6:11/mi. avg. + 800m E), 1.5 E in Atlanta (8 miles total)
This week I managed to cover 50 miles, in spite of taking a day off, and to get in the two non-easy runs that I hoped to do. Sunday's run was an encouraging sign that running a tolerable marathon in 12 (now 11) weeks might not be too ambitious. After 9 miles I was averaging 7:15/mi. before I kicked it down to 3:00 marathon pace or below for the final 4 miles. It wasn't easy but felt smooth running at that faster pace. By halfway through my run on Tuesday afternoon (Christmas day), I felt like I wanted to speed up to marathon pace again but resisted. The next day's weather was gross: cold and raining hard all day. I needed to finish some work before heading off to a conference anyway, so I took the day off. On Thursday I was just able to run easy again before driving to Raleigh, NC, whose extensive trail system I was able to explore a small portion of the following morning. Then I hopped back in the car and drove to Atlanta, where my conference is. Looking at the map of downtown Atlanta, I discovered a park with a half-mile oval path about two miles from my hotel. So I planned to do an interval workout there. The path turned out to be crushed gravel, and it had rained the night before, which left the footing on the path somewhat uneven. When I showed up on Saturday morning it was still raining lightly, windy, and colder than I expected Atlanta to be (high 30's). The result was that again I had an underwhelming interval workout in the south, but at least this time it wasn't a complete failure. It was just slow. I couldn't even get going faster than my current tempo pace for the second interval, but then for some reason on the third one I managed to run 6:00/mi. pace. The conditions can be to blame only for part of this. I'm also just not used to running faster than tempo pace for more than a quarter mile and need to keep working on this. So I'm considering doing another 1200m interval workout next week (maybe with 4 instead of 3 intervals) instead of a 400m repetition workout, since that's the only type of workout that I haven't been able to get at least a handle on since the MCM. Some people talk about speed endurance as something different from endurance, and maybe this is what they mean. Right now I'm very strong running at my easy pace and pretty strong at my marathon pace, but as the pace descends from there my endurance drops off more rapidly than it should. Anyway, I'd also like to do a longer run next week, maybe 16 miles or so, possibly not incorporating any marathon pace this time. I registered for a 5k race on Sunday 1/6, but after that I'll get back to marathon pace, 400m repetitions, and tempos. Once my travels and the holidays wrap up in the next few days, it'll be time for the long, cold, and dark winter to really set in (if it's going to this year, unlike last). But since December wasn't wintry at all (I ran in shorts more often than not in December), that leaves only two potentially wintry months before March. I have some trail shoes that I wear only for running in snow, and I look forward to getting to use them soon.
Sunday: 13 miles at 7:07/mi. (last four miles in 6:52, 6:46, 6:46, 6:45)
Monday: 5 miles at 7:36/mi.
Tuesday: 8 miles at 7:14/mi.
Wednesday: off
Thursday: 8 miles at 7:19/mi.
Friday: 8 miles at 7:24/mi. in Raleigh
Saturday: 2.75 E, 3 x (1200m I at 6:11/mi. avg. + 800m E), 1.5 E in Atlanta (8 miles total)
This week I managed to cover 50 miles, in spite of taking a day off, and to get in the two non-easy runs that I hoped to do. Sunday's run was an encouraging sign that running a tolerable marathon in 12 (now 11) weeks might not be too ambitious. After 9 miles I was averaging 7:15/mi. before I kicked it down to 3:00 marathon pace or below for the final 4 miles. It wasn't easy but felt smooth running at that faster pace. By halfway through my run on Tuesday afternoon (Christmas day), I felt like I wanted to speed up to marathon pace again but resisted. The next day's weather was gross: cold and raining hard all day. I needed to finish some work before heading off to a conference anyway, so I took the day off. On Thursday I was just able to run easy again before driving to Raleigh, NC, whose extensive trail system I was able to explore a small portion of the following morning. Then I hopped back in the car and drove to Atlanta, where my conference is. Looking at the map of downtown Atlanta, I discovered a park with a half-mile oval path about two miles from my hotel. So I planned to do an interval workout there. The path turned out to be crushed gravel, and it had rained the night before, which left the footing on the path somewhat uneven. When I showed up on Saturday morning it was still raining lightly, windy, and colder than I expected Atlanta to be (high 30's). The result was that again I had an underwhelming interval workout in the south, but at least this time it wasn't a complete failure. It was just slow. I couldn't even get going faster than my current tempo pace for the second interval, but then for some reason on the third one I managed to run 6:00/mi. pace. The conditions can be to blame only for part of this. I'm also just not used to running faster than tempo pace for more than a quarter mile and need to keep working on this. So I'm considering doing another 1200m interval workout next week (maybe with 4 instead of 3 intervals) instead of a 400m repetition workout, since that's the only type of workout that I haven't been able to get at least a handle on since the MCM. Some people talk about speed endurance as something different from endurance, and maybe this is what they mean. Right now I'm very strong running at my easy pace and pretty strong at my marathon pace, but as the pace descends from there my endurance drops off more rapidly than it should. Anyway, I'd also like to do a longer run next week, maybe 16 miles or so, possibly not incorporating any marathon pace this time. I registered for a 5k race on Sunday 1/6, but after that I'll get back to marathon pace, 400m repetitions, and tempos. Once my travels and the holidays wrap up in the next few days, it'll be time for the long, cold, and dark winter to really set in (if it's going to this year, unlike last). But since December wasn't wintry at all (I ran in shorts more often than not in December), that leaves only two potentially wintry months before March. I have some trail shoes that I wear only for running in snow, and I look forward to getting to use them soon.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
WEEKLY SUMMARY (December 16-22): 50 miles (90% E, 8% T, and 2% I paces)
Sunday: 3 E, 1 x (1200m I + 800m E + 500m I), 1.5 E in Florida (6.1 miles total)
Monday: 8.2 miles at 7:25/mi. in Florida
Tuesday: 6.7 miles at 7:22/mi. in Florida
Wednesday: 2 E, 4 x 1 mile T at 6:18/mi. (1 min.), 2 E in Florida (8 miles total)
Thursday: 6 miles at 7:24/mi. back in DC
Friday: 7 miles at 7:23/mi.
Saturday: 8 miles at 7:26/mi.
Finally, a week with no days off and cracking 50 miles. Not everything went to plan this week, though. On Sunday, my first full day in Longboat Key, Florida, I tried and failed to do my first VO2 max interval workout in some time. I attempted to do 3 x 1200m I (800 E) in 4:15-18 for the 1200m, which is low 5:40's pace. But the 96% humidity on Longboat Key left me huffing and puffing after only 400m and I only managed to cover 1200m in 4:27.5, which is 5:56/mi. pace. I started a second interval but aborted after just over 400m. My easy runs over the next couple of days confirmed that the humidity and sun were largely to blame this, especially since I had just come from cool and dry DC. But on Wednesday the weather was mercifully a bit cooler, and perhaps I had acclimated a bit by then. I managed with little difficulty the basic tempo interval workout that I had been doing before the MCM, then hopped on a plane back to DC. The plan had been to run a 5k club race on Saturday, but several converging factors led me to skip it: I didn't really feel like racing, there was a high wind warning and the race course was very exposed, and my son came down with a cold the night before. So I ended up doing three easy runs in a row at the end of the week. Next week I hope at least to do a medium-long run and to attempt an interval workout a second time. Since I've now done a couple of repetition workouts and one tempo, that will put me back on track towards establishing a regular pattern that incorporates all four of those elements. Soon I hope to be doing something like a (medium-)long run, a tempo (or marathon pace) run, and a track (i.e., interval or repetition) workout each week, with shorter races replacing the track workout and longer (up to half-marathon) races replacing the tempo run about every third week. I'll have to be flexible for the next couple of weeks, because of the holidays and another trip (this time a road trip to Atlanta via Raleigh). But the goal is to get in each type of workout so that they begin to build on one another and so that, after New Year's, I can establish a more regular pattern. Right now I'm still hoping to do the full instead of the half marathon in mid-March, which is only 12 weeks away. And I was accepted in the lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler three weeks after that. So if I start getting serious now, then I'll have some fun races ahead of me beginning in early Spring. But my attitude right now is the same as it was right after the MCM: I want to train for the long term, not for any specific races. I want to establish a more balanced routine that will enable me to improve at every distance from 5k through the marathon. I'm thinking of running some short race or other the week of January 6-12, depending on weather - possibly the BRATS Frozen 5k on 1/6 where last year I set my current 5k PR, such as it is. Then, between the half-marathon on January 27 and the marathon on March 16, I'll probably run one or two shorter races TBD - possibly including the GW Classic 10k on 2/17. Anyone local who reads this is welcome to sway me towards one race or another, and of course to join me at any of them.
Sunday: 3 E, 1 x (1200m I + 800m E + 500m I), 1.5 E in Florida (6.1 miles total)
Monday: 8.2 miles at 7:25/mi. in Florida
Tuesday: 6.7 miles at 7:22/mi. in Florida
Wednesday: 2 E, 4 x 1 mile T at 6:18/mi. (1 min.), 2 E in Florida (8 miles total)
Thursday: 6 miles at 7:24/mi. back in DC
Friday: 7 miles at 7:23/mi.
Saturday: 8 miles at 7:26/mi.
Finally, a week with no days off and cracking 50 miles. Not everything went to plan this week, though. On Sunday, my first full day in Longboat Key, Florida, I tried and failed to do my first VO2 max interval workout in some time. I attempted to do 3 x 1200m I (800 E) in 4:15-18 for the 1200m, which is low 5:40's pace. But the 96% humidity on Longboat Key left me huffing and puffing after only 400m and I only managed to cover 1200m in 4:27.5, which is 5:56/mi. pace. I started a second interval but aborted after just over 400m. My easy runs over the next couple of days confirmed that the humidity and sun were largely to blame this, especially since I had just come from cool and dry DC. But on Wednesday the weather was mercifully a bit cooler, and perhaps I had acclimated a bit by then. I managed with little difficulty the basic tempo interval workout that I had been doing before the MCM, then hopped on a plane back to DC. The plan had been to run a 5k club race on Saturday, but several converging factors led me to skip it: I didn't really feel like racing, there was a high wind warning and the race course was very exposed, and my son came down with a cold the night before. So I ended up doing three easy runs in a row at the end of the week. Next week I hope at least to do a medium-long run and to attempt an interval workout a second time. Since I've now done a couple of repetition workouts and one tempo, that will put me back on track towards establishing a regular pattern that incorporates all four of those elements. Soon I hope to be doing something like a (medium-)long run, a tempo (or marathon pace) run, and a track (i.e., interval or repetition) workout each week, with shorter races replacing the track workout and longer (up to half-marathon) races replacing the tempo run about every third week. I'll have to be flexible for the next couple of weeks, because of the holidays and another trip (this time a road trip to Atlanta via Raleigh). But the goal is to get in each type of workout so that they begin to build on one another and so that, after New Year's, I can establish a more regular pattern. Right now I'm still hoping to do the full instead of the half marathon in mid-March, which is only 12 weeks away. And I was accepted in the lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler three weeks after that. So if I start getting serious now, then I'll have some fun races ahead of me beginning in early Spring. But my attitude right now is the same as it was right after the MCM: I want to train for the long term, not for any specific races. I want to establish a more balanced routine that will enable me to improve at every distance from 5k through the marathon. I'm thinking of running some short race or other the week of January 6-12, depending on weather - possibly the BRATS Frozen 5k on 1/6 where last year I set my current 5k PR, such as it is. Then, between the half-marathon on January 27 and the marathon on March 16, I'll probably run one or two shorter races TBD - possibly including the GW Classic 10k on 2/17. Anyone local who reads this is welcome to sway me towards one race or another, and of course to join me at any of them.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
WEEKLY SUMMARY (December 9-15): 43 miles (85% E, 11.5% 8k, and 3.5% R paces)
Sunday: 2 easy, 8k race in 30:30 (see below), 2 easy (9 miles total)
Monday: 6 miles at 7:28/mi.
Tuesday: 7 miles at 7:20/mi.
Wednesday: 2.5 E, 6 x (400m R in 79 + 400m E), 2.5 E (8 miles total)
Thursday: 7 miles at 7:19/mi.
Friday: 6 miles at 7:29/mi.
Saturday: off (traveling)
Another low mileage week, this time because I didn't manage to fit in a run around traveling to Florida on Saturday. But end-of-semester weariness set in at the end of this week anyway, so I didn't mind the day off. I recovered fine from the 8k race last weekend and had another good repetition workout on Wednesday, which again left me feeling better the next day. Running the quarters in 79 seconds, the same time as two weeks ago when I did 4 intervals, was much less difficult than last time and my form was significantly less bad. Whether this workout will pay other dividends besides improving my form a little remains to be seen. I need and intend to start rotating in VO2 max interval and tempo workouts as well, but all this takes time and I need two easy days between such workouts. Now that my semester is over, I hope to get more serious about establishing the balanced training routine that I wrote about after the MCM. I will be traveling for part of this coming week and then again the next week, though. I'll do what I can around that and keep trying, at least, to avoid taking days off and to get a few more miles in each week.
Sunday: 2 easy, 8k race in 30:30 (see below), 2 easy (9 miles total)
Monday: 6 miles at 7:28/mi.
Tuesday: 7 miles at 7:20/mi.
Wednesday: 2.5 E, 6 x (400m R in 79 + 400m E), 2.5 E (8 miles total)
Thursday: 7 miles at 7:19/mi.
Friday: 6 miles at 7:29/mi.
Saturday: off (traveling)
Another low mileage week, this time because I didn't manage to fit in a run around traveling to Florida on Saturday. But end-of-semester weariness set in at the end of this week anyway, so I didn't mind the day off. I recovered fine from the 8k race last weekend and had another good repetition workout on Wednesday, which again left me feeling better the next day. Running the quarters in 79 seconds, the same time as two weeks ago when I did 4 intervals, was much less difficult than last time and my form was significantly less bad. Whether this workout will pay other dividends besides improving my form a little remains to be seen. I need and intend to start rotating in VO2 max interval and tempo workouts as well, but all this takes time and I need two easy days between such workouts. Now that my semester is over, I hope to get more serious about establishing the balanced training routine that I wrote about after the MCM. I will be traveling for part of this coming week and then again the next week, though. I'll do what I can around that and keep trying, at least, to avoid taking days off and to get a few more miles in each week.
Monday, December 10, 2012
JINGLE ALL THE WAY 8K (race report):
This race is on the same course in downtown DC as the St. Patrick's Day 8k in March, and I've done both several times. Every time I've run it, my Garmin has measured the course at or just over 5 miles, perhaps because of the wide avenues downtown. The course is mostly flat except for a small hill from the end of the first mile through roughly the first third of the second mile, which you then run back down. The main feature of the course that slows one down are the turn-arounds, of which there are four, including two in close succession at the top of the hill just mentioned. Going into this race, my "8k" PR was 30:51 from the last time I ran the course in March 2012. Since tons of superfast runners show up for this race, I wasn't foolish enough to imagine that I could come anywhere close to winning or even to running with the leaders briefly. My goal was to break 30 minutes, or at least to beat my previous PR. I tried to run the race as if I were doing a 5k and trying to hold a 5:58 average pace, and then I just hoped that after 5k competitiveness and guts would kick in to help me maintain or lower that pace for another two miles. Basically, I stuck to my plan through 5k but slowed down after that. Here are my paces for each mile, next to those for the last time I ran the course (but the times don't add up perfectly because the distances are not exactly the same, depending on how well or poorly I ran the tangents):
12/9/12 3/11/12
mile 1 - 5:58 5:58
mile 2 - 6:05.5 6:11
mile 3 - 5:55 6:09
mile 4 - 6:18 6:17
mile 5 - 6:11 6:16
finish - 30:30 30:51
My pace through 5k was 5:59, just a hair slower than my goal. I can blame the weather both for being slightly under my goal pace at 5k and partly for slowing down after that, because a little before 5k we hit a moderate headwind that we ran into for much of mile 4, which (like mile 5) also included a turn-around. Before hitting that headwind my pace for mile 3 was in the high 5:40's, but even the 5:55 split I ended up with for mile 3 accounts for most of the difference between my finishing time in this race and in the race last March. The wind may have been at my back for part of mile 3, but I think the main difference is that I was able to conserve more energy (and run slightly faster) on the hill and the turn-arounds in mile two, and then discharge that energy in mile 3, simply because I'm in slightly better shape than I was in March. Maybe I could have broken 30 or gotten closer to it with better weather - besides the wind, it had stopped raining shortly before the race and was oddly muggy for December. But such speculation aside, my actual performance shows that I'm slightly stronger in miles 2 and 3 than I was last Spring, but after 3 miles I remain as weak as I was before at this sort of pace. It's a small PR, which means that complaints are not allowed. But it's still disappointing that I haven't made more significant gains in 9 months, even if I was focusing on the marathon for most of that time. With some more balanced training, I should be able to run faster at this and similar distances soon. I'm starting to think that 6:00/mi. pace is just a kind of psychological barrier for me. If winter weather continues to hold off for a while longer, I may test that hypothesis in a 5k or two by starting out with and trying to hold onto a pace that's much faster.
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