Friday, September 19, 2014

2014 JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge

The second part of a three race week.  It was an accident.  Really, it was.  I signed up for each of these races without really thinking about the others.  Fortunately, they’re very different races, so the hope is they don’t interfere with each other too much.  And it’s a training peak after a couple race-free months, so they’ve been fun so far.

Anyway, this is the short and fast road run of the week, slightly longer than a 5k, and the only race I’ve run three times now.  I started out at a comfortable pace, averaging slightly over 7 mins/mile.  Which I could not have even contemplated two months ago, so this training block and taper has paid off.  I spent most of the first mile weaving between people, since I started further back than I should have.  I kept this pace up for a mile, running my fastest mile ever.

Shortly after a mile, a breathing-related muscle cramp set it, and the rest of the race hurt.  I backed down the pace to a point where it was sustainable pain, about 8:20 mins/mile, and I stayed there until close to the end when I sped up a bit, finishing 3.35 miles in 27:14.  

The run is fun, covering the end of the SF marathon course and a loop around AT&T park, and a number of us run this as a team, since it’s registration by company team only.  Notes for next time:
* Add faster paced repeats in training, up to a mile.  Or watch heart rate closer; it snuck way up without my noticing, since I had trained/tapered well.
* The new pair of paradigms is great for running at speed, unlike other high-padded shoes I have.  I picked these up to avoid impact on a sore spot that I’m letting recover from the speed training for a while.
* 5kish runs are fun.  

Next up: a trail 50k on Saturday.

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