5K PR / December Update
Charity Update
I finished off a busy November with a 137 miles logged and $137 donated to Direct Relief International supporting the Hurricane Sandy rebuilding efforts. Getting in the spirit this month I have selected Toys for Tots as my charity and will be again matching the number of miles run in the form of 2 donations (1 on the 15th and 1 on the 31st). Any support is always welcome.
New 5K PR
After nearly 2 years, I set a new 5K personal record this past Sunday and it was a big one. After a solid year of training with a number of fast races, I knew it was time to put in an full effort at a short race.
I began focusing on the shorter distance about a week after my 50K in October and knocked out 3 solid track workouts in the past few weeks with SRR at Tufts. I selected the Winter Classic, a flat 5K to / from the Asgard in Central Square, Cambridge (This also happened to be an SRR team event).
As I approached the event I selected a goal of 5:50 / mile (knowing even if I was a few seconds slower per mile that I would still PR). The morning of the event I felt decent and it was 42 degrees out, which is near perfect racing weather from my perspective.
Once the race started I took off hard, but had to focus on backing off quickly as the group that I had been training with at track set out at a 5:20 pace. With some focus I hit the 1 mile mark at 5:52 and then started to feel a head wind hit me as I continued on a slight incline towards Harvard Square (~ 30' over a 1/2 mile). Once I crested I started to feel some new life and with a quick turn and a slight downhill I finished the 2nd mile in 5:54.
At this point I was 6 seconds off my goal time, but hell if I held anything under 6 for the last mile I would still have a significant PR. So I started to push a little harder still feeling reasonable (I hesitate to say good as my HR was probably around 190 or so) and began catching and passing my friends from track (in which I give special thanks for the added support as they said "Go get 'em Scot").
With half a mile to go I was starting to really hurt, but not enough to slow me down. I was now about 5 yards or so behind my friend Keith and as I made a move to pull even with him he picked it up and passed a group of 4 people in front of us. It took me another 1/4 mile to respond and as I passed him, I said "Let's go" and he came with me as we rounded the corner towards the finish and completing the 3rd mile in 5:43. With about 20 yards to go Keith decided he was going to go for it and I kicked it into gear to edgh him out at the line finishing the race in 18:02 (5:48 / mile -- a mere 32 second PR).
I was completely fried, but happy with the result and glad to see all the running and speed work had payed off.
Next
I currently don't have another race scheduled until the end of February, but we'll see what comes up. In the meantime I am going to focus on increasing my mileage and spending more time with Neil.
I finished off a busy November with a 137 miles logged and $137 donated to Direct Relief International supporting the Hurricane Sandy rebuilding efforts. Getting in the spirit this month I have selected Toys for Tots as my charity and will be again matching the number of miles run in the form of 2 donations (1 on the 15th and 1 on the 31st). Any support is always welcome.
New 5K PR
After nearly 2 years, I set a new 5K personal record this past Sunday and it was a big one. After a solid year of training with a number of fast races, I knew it was time to put in an full effort at a short race.
I began focusing on the shorter distance about a week after my 50K in October and knocked out 3 solid track workouts in the past few weeks with SRR at Tufts. I selected the Winter Classic, a flat 5K to / from the Asgard in Central Square, Cambridge (This also happened to be an SRR team event).
As I approached the event I selected a goal of 5:50 / mile (knowing even if I was a few seconds slower per mile that I would still PR). The morning of the event I felt decent and it was 42 degrees out, which is near perfect racing weather from my perspective.
Once the race started I took off hard, but had to focus on backing off quickly as the group that I had been training with at track set out at a 5:20 pace. With some focus I hit the 1 mile mark at 5:52 and then started to feel a head wind hit me as I continued on a slight incline towards Harvard Square (~ 30' over a 1/2 mile). Once I crested I started to feel some new life and with a quick turn and a slight downhill I finished the 2nd mile in 5:54.
At this point I was 6 seconds off my goal time, but hell if I held anything under 6 for the last mile I would still have a significant PR. So I started to push a little harder still feeling reasonable (I hesitate to say good as my HR was probably around 190 or so) and began catching and passing my friends from track (in which I give special thanks for the added support as they said "Go get 'em Scot").
With half a mile to go I was starting to really hurt, but not enough to slow me down. I was now about 5 yards or so behind my friend Keith and as I made a move to pull even with him he picked it up and passed a group of 4 people in front of us. It took me another 1/4 mile to respond and as I passed him, I said "Let's go" and he came with me as we rounded the corner towards the finish and completing the 3rd mile in 5:43. With about 20 yards to go Keith decided he was going to go for it and I kicked it into gear to edgh him out at the line finishing the race in 18:02 (5:48 / mile -- a mere 32 second PR).
I was completely fried, but happy with the result and glad to see all the running and speed work had payed off.
Next
I currently don't have another race scheduled until the end of February, but we'll see what comes up. In the meantime I am going to focus on increasing my mileage and spending more time with Neil.
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