Doing What I Can

9 easy on a new trail tonight, 1:04:38, 7:11 avg pace. 32:01 first half, 32:37 2nd half, 36 second positive split, but i was just running easy.

beautiful day, unfortunately i was relegated to the treadmill for 4.5 because my knee has been hurting...right under the kneecap when i bend it sometimes...i figured it was best to take it easy and not to take any chances. nothing special, went very slow and cautious..treadmill was soft impacts all the way around..hopefully this will help. Lots of ice and im sure ill be just fine.

Race plan update: next weekend, i had planned on running a local 10k, however i want a little farther race paced effort, so im entering the same race's half marathon. While certaintly not my goal race that ive been training for, im going to use this race as a 15k tempo, at 15k im going to see where im at, if im on pace to break 1:20 (55:55-56:55, ill prolly even accept 57:30 as the absolutely top end), im gonna go for it, if not and im slower than that, ill cool down the last 6k and have at least got my race effort workout in. Should be interesting! 

longest solo training run today ever. I have obviously run a marathon which is longer, but i was severely undertrained. Today, sore knee and all, i got out and hit 18 miles (actually a touch longer i found out). I ran the entire thing several seconds per mile UNDER BQ pace. My final time was 2:07:15, which averages out to 7:03 per mile...a very decent clip and one that i am pleasantly surprised about especially given my conservative early pace. By all accounts, i cant tell where nearly any of my splits were til 13.5 miles in, and so i do know i negative split the run, but im not sure by how much...perhaps by more than 2 minutes is my best educated guess. The last 4.5 miles I dropped 2.5 miles in the GMP range, a 6:47, a 6:49 and a 3:20ish half mile right after i turned around at 13.5. my last 4.5 miles was covered in right near 31:00 pace, which is 6:53 pace...a very good way to bring it home. did 7x50 meter strides after. Gonna take tomorrow off to ice my knee nonstop, then taper for a 15k race pace run in the half next weekend (hoping to be on pace though so i can bring it home in under 1:20! 

took a rest day off yesterday to ice my knee, it felt quite a bit better today. A little colder, but all is well. Splits:

1- 6:50.9

2- 7:01.2

3- 7:03.9

4- 7:14.0

.5- 3:35

5.5- 6:55.8

TOTAL-- 38:41, 7:02 avg pace

only 6 tonight 42:33, 7:05 avg pace, felt just kinda there.

3 miles then dropped 3 at ghmp tempo, felt really really easy to be at 6:00 pace. My splits during the tempo part were:

1- 5:54.8

2- 6:00.4

3- 5:59.3

total-- 17:54, 5:58 avg pace, mile cooldown after

like i said, felt very easy and is a good indicator going into this weekend

taper madness is in full effect. Im analyzing everything and uber careful...i hate tapering....5 miles easy in 35:47, 7:09 avg pace, knee wasnt feeling the greatest, iced all night.

vier heute, 28:44, 7:11 geschwindikeit. Ich habe knie schmerzen, aber ich denke alles ist OK fur der halbmaraton am Sonntag.

Hooray for German posts!

2.5 very easy miles in 18:17, 7:18 avg pace. 6x50 meter strides easy. I am feeling primed and ready for tomorrow, it felt so easy today, just glided along with no issues...shooting for a fast 15k then hoping to hold together to go sub 1:20 for the HM.

I DID IT!! Finally, after 3 years of trying, and trying very hard (as this blog has made witness) I finally broke 1:20!!! And not only did i break it, i crushed it...up until the final 3-4k, i was on pace to break 1:19 as well! 1:19:20, a new PR by almost 2 minutes (old PR was 1:21:13. Here is the report:

Pre Race

Very interesting way to get to a race. Since I know live in Germany, the best way to travel is by train. So at 5:55 am, my wife and I got on the Deutsche Bahn to travel to the race in a nearby city. However, the train was FULL of drunk people..turns out the revellers of the night can party hard here. Once the sun comes up, I think that kind of kills the fun..but not for these people! Anyways, the first train ride was fine, then we made a seamless switch at our major stopover point...got the city of Rastatt at around 7:30...just like the DB said the train would (Ive grown quite accustomed to good ole fashioned German efficiency). Once in Rastatt, we took a quick taxi ride (although not cheap at 10 Euro) to the Mercedes Benz manufacturing plant that was hosting the race. Turns out this center is a major producer of 2 types of Mercedes and the Kundencenter (Visitors Center) was very interesting and provided a nice way to pass the time (since the race didnt start til 9:45). Got all registered and i think my name is backwards officially so it is listed as Flaws Jacob, but all is good...at least its spelled right..also I love racing here because the entry fee was only 8 euro for a first class halfmarathon...thats like 11 bux in the US...very cool.

The Race

Warmup went okay, felt decent and the weather was superb...mid 40s, almost no wind, overcast and just got done raining, so i went with arm warmers, racing top, shorts and a beanie. race started right on time (German efficiency) at 9:45 and i fell immediately into a rhythm...i felt really good even from the early stages. One interesting thing about international races is that there are no mile markers...everything is in KM's which i actually found i loved. Its very helpful to get updates on your pace every 3:40 instead of every 6:00. Very much easier to pace correctly...as a result, i paced this race near perfect. Here are my splits (in kilometers) my goal by the way was to hold 3:45 per km pace as this is very near 6:00 mile pace so that was my benchmark:

1- 4:06.2 (we did some weird loop at the start of the race, and so this marker was long and everyone pretty much knew it, i wasnt worried though)

2- 3:30.6 (7:36, this marker was predictably short, all is well as 2x3:45 pace is 7:30)

3- 3:38.9 (leveling off a little, 11:15, exactly 3:45 pace)

4- 3:42.6 (14:58, aim was 15:00)

5- 3:39.0 (18:37 first 5k, 6:00 perfect pace)

6- 3:45.0 nailed it

7- 3:42.0

8- 3:48.3 (29:52 for 8k, just under 6:00 pace, at this point i was battling a gentleman who would for the life of him not let me pass, everytime i tried to get around him, he surged massively and so i just tucked in..i have no problem drafting...each time i felt like he was slow, like the 8th km for example, i just tried to pass him and he picked it up..this worked til about 11k when i finally dropped him for good)

9- 3:42.7

10- 3:45.0 (another perfectly split km, 37:20 at the 10k...that is just under 6:00 pace, the 5k split from 6-10k was 18:43, i was shooting for 37:30-37:50 at the 10k and so i was well within range, at this point i felt good and knew that sub 1:20 was not only possible but probable...however this is when the real race began for me.

11- 3:40.9

12- 3:46.2

13- 3:44.3

14- 3:47.0 (between 13 and 14k i caught another gentleman who would later pass me, but here it gave me quite a boost as i was tiring and i was all alone for much of the 2nd half of the race)

15- 3:42.0 (56:00 for 15k split, right near 6:00-6:01 pace, 18:40 for the 11-15k 5k split), when i signed up for this race, i was going to use it as a 15k tempo and my goal through 15k was 55:55-57:00, needless to say 56:00 was right where i wanted to be, very very happy with this split..however, i was alone again and the last 6k was challenging because it was basically a solo venture)

16- 3:42.4 (59:43 for 16k, the 10 mile split was somewhere right after this so i was probably right around 1:00:00 even for the 10 mile, excellent pacing! )

17- 3:52.1 (entering the hardest stretch of race mentally...the last 20 minutes...)

18- 3:50.2

19- 3:53.2

20- 3:43.2 (1:15:01 split for 20k, the last 5k from 16-20 was covered in 19:01, 6:08 pace, my slowest of the race, but the hardest too as i was all alone and have never held this pace this long...REGARDLESS, my game plan of 3:45's meant i would come through the 20k in 1:15:00...i was within 1 second of that...im very proud to say that i executed perfectly for the most part of my plan)

21.1- last 1.1 was 4:18.4 as i came in an was elated to see 1:19:xx on my wrist

FINAL-- 1:19:20, 6:03 avg pace

Post race Thoughts

As I sit here and reflect, I am struck by one thing in particular..my pacing strategy. I have tried to execute this in so many halves since my first one in 2008, and today i finally got it right. I think this is because I was ready to PR, my training is at a whole other level now. I am running far longer, faster and smarter. The good thing is I still have room to improve in my training and thus my races. I feel like with this race I have finally learned how to run a half and I expect my time to drop further and further. Some interesting stats, for most of the race and even through around 16k i was on pace to break 1:19, if not for the brief lapse in the last 5k i think i would have been there (the older gentleman who i passed at 14k passed me at 20k and went on to hit 1:18:53 for example, i tried to go with but couldnt). I am going to celebrate this one and then get back to training this week and see what i can do april 1st at the Freiburg HM. Best stat for the day, first 10k- 37:20, 2nd 10k- 37:41, through 20k, from the first half to the second half of the race i lost only 21 seconds, a good accomplishment and one of the many positives I am taking from this race! A quick comment on the race, very well organized, very friendly people, only had 3-4 water stations...all was good though, very very flat, and actually a lot was on trails so in the states might have been classified as a trail hm, it was about half on bike trails that were paved and half on bike trails that were groomed but not paved...actually saved my knee with the soft ground and i didnt lose any speed on the trails.

easy paced 7.5 tonight, beautiful weather here in Germany. I ran along the river trail, lots of people out runnin tonight. splits were easy:

1- 7:03.7

2- 7:13.8

3- 7:18.4

4- 7:13.8

5- 7:04.3

6- 6:55.27

7- 6:55.24 (i put it to the hundredths cuz i like the nuance of an even split)

.5-- 3:31

total-- 53:15, 7:06 avg pace, 10x 50m strides after

no comment....

no idea how far i ran tonight, i had a lot on my mind so i picked a mountain in the distance and ran until i reached the top of it, then turned around and came home. absolutely beautiful scenery up there, my legs will be sore tomorrow though, not use to such intense climb (and the subsequent downhill). i pegged tonight at 8.3 rough estimate, i ran for 1:06:16

woke up, decided on 10 miles, felt tough the last part, not used to morning running since ive been here, 1:13:32, 7:21 avg pace

so sore today, probably from the mountain run 2 days back, its always the 2nd day that the legs feel it. 5.2 in 38:xx, not real concerned with pace, just shaking the legs out. a good mileage week given the half PR earlier in the week, my fitness is still improving! 

rainy and cold here in Germany today. didnt stop me from throwing down some speed. started with 3 easy then dropped into speed. 4th mile was 5:15.7, ran an easy mile then ran another fast one for mile 6, that split was even better...5:08.3. I really thought i was going to break 5 minutes on this one, but i think wearing tights and being weighed down with rainwater kept me just above it. Either way these were two solid miles for today's workout..im definitely getting into good shape. cooled down with 3 for a total of 9 miles.

11 miles today, feeling like puttin up some miles this week! 1:17:55 total with the last 2 at GMP, 7:05 avg pace overall. Tale of 2 halves again, i negative split this thing pretty good. 1st half (5.5 M)- 39:46, 7:14 avg pace,

2nd half was 38:09 (5.5 M), 6:56 avg pace on the way home! 1:37 negative split!

split of the day was the last 4 miles -- 27:34, 6:53.5 avg pace

i love negative splitting, although the course i run is a little uphill on the way out and then downhill on the way back so its a little easier to negative split, but the mental aspect is very good for my training! Plus, i really do pick it up quite a bit. Overall, a good run today on very tired, sore legs. Pretty muddy and its been raining and colder lately, but those are my favorite running conditions.

7 easy tonight, felt pretty good given the higher mileage thus far this week. really nice weather today. splits:

1- 6:55.6

2- 6:57.3

3- 7:12.1

4- 7:05.5

5- 7:14.2

6- 7:13.5

7- 6:55.6

total-- 49:33, 7:05 avg pace

15 today, scrapped plans for 20 and decided instead to get consistent high mileage instead. I missed a turn and so i actually ran 14.85 in 1:44:36, which translates to like 7:02 pace. However, I did 6x50-60M strides after so I rounded my total up to 15. I never count strides but this is an exception! Felt pretty decent throughout the run...on the way back I again ran a massive negative split. right near 50 minutes on the way out (7:08 pace). 47:33 (6:48 pace) on the way back for the first 14, then i ran another mile slower to make it 15. Thats a solid 2:30 negative split (although again downhillish on the way back). My last few splits that I was able to get were 6:50.4, 6:45.6, 6:44.4, 6:50.3, 7:02.4...overall, pretty good rythym throughout and especially the end. 

6 miles easy in 44:25, 7:24 avg pace. felt really sore and tired

Wow...what to say about todays workout. My goal was just to run a fast 5k. I knew I had measured an accurate course on my computer, however I also knew this course was probably downhill and thus a little bit aided, however it was indeed accurate. Even still, i never thought i'd run a 16:29, basically a PR for 5k on a training run during the highest mileage week of my life in a non-race atmosphere. Warmed up for 3 miles, did some stretching then got after it. Here were my splits:

1- 5:09.7

2- 5:17.9

3- 5:28.1

closed with a 34 second final .1-

TOTAL time was 16:29, basically an aided PR (my 16:23 in december was likely short, this one was definitely 3.1, but pretty downhill), i cooled down for 4-5 miles and actually ran out of gas and had to walk/jog the final mile. I think the mileage this week is catching up with me. Nonetheless...extremely proud of what I just did, i cant believe that time given all the factors involved.

5 slow miles today, not quite the death march i anticipated, but still a good shakeout run nonetheless..now time to cut back for next weekend's freiburg half! 

a glorious morning 5 in the French Alps before the sun came up...absolutely beautiful.

a repeat of yesterday. Could really get used to running in these surroundings!

Back in Germany today finally, long evening of train rides yesterday as we traversed from Geneva back to Freiburg. Got some good rest last night and decided to get out and get some race pace work for this weekend as is typical for me 4 days out from a big race. 3 miles at GHMP. I was absolutely amazed at how good it felt, i tried to hold 6:00 pace but ended up way faster, just felt too easy to run quickly. My splits were as follows for the tempo portion:

1- 5:49.2

2- 5:56.8

3- 5:52.0

TOTAL-- 17:38, 5:53 avg pace

warmup was 3, cooldown was 1.5, total was 7.5. I really am shocked at how easy I perceived the pace to be, i was sure I was 6:00-6:10 and I was just takin it easy...definitely a good sign and hopefully this weekend's half will be a good one. My new goal for the race is sub 6:00 avg pace, so right near 1:18:30. We'll see how it goes, that is 3:43 per K pace. I'll try to get some pictures up from the weekend as per Jake K's request!

Above is me in Annecy, France with the lake and mountains in the background. Below is the house we stayed at with some friends and the road i took on my runs every day

More scenery pics!

A pic from the town of Annecy...notice the white capped mountains in the distance!

 and of course my wife and I:

5 easy tonight, felt pretty easy and the weather was awesome, splits were very even:

1- 7:08.1

2- 7:00.0

3- 6:58.2

4- 7:09.1

5- 6:53.6

TOTAL-- 35:09, 7:02 avg pace

taper continues tomorrow and saturday with the race on sunday.

4 miles very easy today, felt pretty smooth and even. 28:16 or something like that, 7:04 pace, wasnt took worried about that though, just got the overall time. carb loading tonight then continuing the taper tomorrow! 

pre race today, feeling primed for a good one tomorrow. Packet pick up and resting tonight, 2.5 today in 18:08, 7:15 avg pace