long run in HK

This was my 4th run in hk, the first 3 were
2 miles, 3 miles, and 1.5 miles.
This one was 6 miles.
we went to a park near Sister's house so YY could play on the playground, Sally could Yup, Yup, Yup with her Mom and I could get a long run in. The park was not that big, so I did one loop on the inside trails, then one loop around the outside which ended up around 18 minutes. The next time out I found a bike trail that led to a river nearby so I followed for a mile, then turned around since I promised to check in after 20 minutes. The path was great and I found a shorter route, so on my third time out I took the shorter route there so I could run along the river for a while. This area is newer so it's cleaner and prettier. I finally was able to get into the groove and relax. Then I had to turn around and go back as the 7 days of standing, walking, carrying and holding have gotten to me and I didn't want to get stuck too far away.
Can't wait to load the gps data onto my computer to see my HK runs on the map :-)

hong kong blog

for those interested...

http://thereidsgotohkin07.blogspot.com/

2008 race schedule

Met with the coach last week to go over the race schedule for next year.
so here it is...

02/23 Coach Bubba 20k
03/15 Run for the oaks 5k - goal race < 25 minutes
04/13 Finish strong tri
05/3 white lake half ironman - maybe doing the swim relay leg
05/4 white lake sprint tri
05/17 Surf and turf tri
06/08 4.4 mile chesapeake bay swim
06/29 Kure beach sprint tri
07/13 Muddy Buddy
08/09 Bandits Challenge - maybe
08/23 Sportsplex sprint tri
09/20 Wilmington YMCA sprint tri
10/04 Pinehurst olympic tri
will have to decide what to do after that based on if I decide to do an ironman in 09

Negative splits rock

Met up with some people this morning at umstead park for a run. Didn't know how far, or how fast, but didn't really care. The plan was to just run how I felt. It was cold. 43 degrees and I had shorts and a long sleeve shirt and a fleece sweat shirt. Started off with the faster group. I told them I was going to run with them until I warmed up, then slow down to go with the slower group where I belonged. It was cold and windy, but they were doing 8:30 pace so I warmed up quick in about 5 minutes. I was feeling good, but 8:30 is not for me in the park. So the other group was doing about 11 min pace, a little too slow, but they turned around after 30 minutes and I kept going to the 3 mile mark.
first 3 miles 31:54 / 10:35 pace.
then I turned around and decided to negative split back in hopes to catch back up to the other group before they got back. They had a 1/2 mile head start but I figured I would catch them with a tempo run down the hill to the spillway.
tempo run
1.84 miles 16:38 - 9:03 pace.
Then I hit half mile hill, they had just started up, so I passed them early on. But I didn't want to slow down since the speed was feeling good.
1/2 mile hill
.54 miles 5:40 - 10:26 pace.
At the top I didn't stop and just kept going. It is still up hill to the parking lot where we started, but I wanted to get there by 1 hour to make a 10 min pace for the run so I kept pushing.
finish stretch
.62 miles 6:01 - 9:48 pace.
stats for the whole run
6 miles 1:00:14 - 10:01 pace

Reindeer romp 5k

first the numbers...
total time 26:48 8:37 pace
mile 1 - 8:18
mile 2 - 8:58
mile 3 - 8:50
.12 - :42

So I started off too fast as usual, but I started in the front and at the horn, all the little kids took off sprinting, they made it a quarter mile or so, then they either stopped and walked, or slowed to a crawl, so even though I started in front, I still found myself passing people left and right for the first mile.
The second mile was a lot less crowded as we encountered many hills there were a bunch of parents running with their kids trying to keep them going on this part. My faith in the human race was slightly restored...
Mile 3 started great as we ran by the start and the 1/2 mile downhill stretch, but then the second half was all uphill and very challenging to keep the pace up. Went by 3 volunteers and although they were no where near each other, they were all "almost there". :-)
I like the course, even though it is a little tough on the ankles, but if it grows in numbers it will be harder to navigate.
This is my last race for the year so look for a year wrap up coming soon. I felt really good about my speed for this one and think my "break 25 minutes" goal for the run for the oaks is possible.