3/24/2007

Race in Review

It has been a week now since the 10k race and only now I am getting my legs back under me. I am not sure if my recovery has been drawn out due to the change in the weather or if it’s just due to my natural recovery rate, but one thing is for sure the upcoming 10 miler is really going to test my bodies ability to adapt to a longer period of exertion. After the 10k race I made the honest mistake of taking the next day off and as a result my body was unable to flush out the previous days lactic build up.

Progression
Looking back over the race I am quite pleased with my progression from the Anthem to the Rodes. This indicates to me that I am heading in the right direction and now the challenge is to keep it up.

Cold to Hot

After running today in Iroquois Park it is hard to believe that it has only been a week since the below freezing to the now heat exhausting temperatures. By the time I had started my second lap today I really could feel my body struggling with the heat. Growing up in Ireland with a heat wave being considered two or more day of 70 degrees, adapting to heat here takes me some time to adjust and today was a definite indication that I have not yet adjusted. Climbing those hills today felt like going up a mountain, but now that I have gone through this heat transition for the past few years I know this discomfort will pass and as long as I drink lots of water I will be able to continue and progress.

3/10/2007

Got to keep movin' forward
Although I only ran 2 seconds slower then last year, I feel that I am further behind in my training than I was 12 months ago. I believe the conditions and competition set up the race to be a lot quicker…so although it was only 2 seconds slower, I believe that masks the true story. One positive is that I now have an idea of where I am at and can gage my workouts off of that in order to progress at an optimal rate. This is the great thing about the first race of the season, you can figure out your strengths and weaknesses and increase or decrease elements in your training regime. One thing I am adding into my routine is extra core work with swiss ball drills and free weights. By doing this I believe can correct some weaknesses in my form which leads to inefficiencies during the race.

What an event!
One thing I must say is that the Anthem 5k was even better this year then last years. A couple of minutes before the start of the race while I was doing some strides I decided to try and see how large the field was so I stood on top of a box. When I finally stabilized myself on the box I was blown away by the ocean of people who had lined up for the start, it really was an awesome sight! All the people standing so close looked like a river of heads bobbling up and down, what a great community. I am sure the organizers already know what a great event this has already become and I am sure they will out do themselves again next year - keep up the good work!