I ran the 2009 Hospital Hill Run on June 6 in Kansas City, MO. I really didn't know how I would perform in this race given a very poor train up. But sometimes the running gods smile on you and you get what you don't deserve--a good race with minimal training.
On an overcast, grey, and windy morning I ran a half-marathon in Lawrence Kansas. My goal was to run around 8:30 pace but according to my Garmin I averaged 8:39 and finished in 1:50:27 (but only for a distance of 12.77, more on this later). This was a tough course, with very windy conditions, so overall I'm satisfied with my time. You can view my run at Garmin connect.
On April 4, 2009 I ran in the Olathe, Kansas half-marathon (see: http://www.olathemarathon.com). My goal was to run at around an 8:30 per mile pace. I accomplished that by running an average of 8:26 per mile. You can view and replay my run at Garmin Connect (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/2941384)
Sometimes everything—training, preparation, weather, race course, and mental state—all come together in almost perfect harmony to create a special race experience. On November 3, 2007 I ran the Mahaffie half marathon and enjoyed one of my best races.
The Mahaffie half marathon is a small race in Olathe, Kansas (near Kansas City). The course is challenging, mostly rolling small hills, but with a couple of larger ones thrown in. The half-marathon does two loops of the course. To find out more about this race visit the website at: http://www.eventmidwest.com/mahaffie/.
My goal was to run a personal best of under 1:50:00 (average pace 8:23). I destroyed that goal by running 1:48:52 (average 8:18 per mile). It was almost a perfect race on a tough course and I’m very happy with achieving a new personal record.
One of the many great things about running is that you don’t have to win the race to be a winner. Today I won by achieving a new personal record even though for many runners my record is their slow training pace.
Completed the first 20 mile run for this marathon training cycle. The weather conditions were tough: overcast, 32 degrees, winds at 25 MPH, and a wind chill of 21 degrees. We ran a 7 mile loop course, but cut a mile off the third loop.
Today I completed my first 18-mile run for this marathon training cycle. It's been almost a year since my last 18-mile run during my training for the St. Louis marathon.
I did the 18 miles in very tough conditions: 10 degrees wind chill and slushy/icy pavement. But I got the run in at an average pace of 9:51 per mile.
Given the conditions, I'm happy with the time. Two of my fastest miles were the last two miles. I was tired afterwards, but I feel I've recovered well.
Summary:
1:52:04 chip time (8:33) - positvie splitt by over 1 minute. Felt very tired last 2 miles.
Course information and results: http://www.gobblergrindmarathon.com/
Details:
Gobbler Grind was the first 1/2 marathon I completed in 2004. This year the course was changed from Leawood-east Overland Park to start in Corporate Woods and then go south. This year's course had 4-5 hills that made it much tougher.
You ever have a day where you just don't want to run? Today is was gray, dreary, misting, windy and I felt tired. I kept putting off my scheduled 8 mile run. Finally, I decided just go out, start running, and get it done. Well shortly after starting out, I found myself feeling better than expected. My legs felt good so I decided to do the 8 miles close to my half-marathon pace. I ended up having one of my better runs, achieving my distance and time goals.
Went on a great run today. Beautiful crisp air, sun shining, trees looking great.
I took a detour from one of my normal routes just to see something different. I ended up in this neighborhood that wraps itself around a huge golf course.
I suck at running in hot humid weather. Which if you live in Kansas, is the weather from May to September. I've run with a heart rate monitor on muggy days. I can go 10-12 miles and then my heart rate starts to stay up above 155 when it was down in 130s. From that point on its a struggle to maintain pace and my run turns into crap.
So I love to run in the cool fall weather. I just feel better on my long runs, short tempo runs, fun runs, and any other run.
