Doing What I Can

felt really good today, 5.15 in 7:29 avg pace, each mile was either 7:28, 29, 30, or 31

easy 7:28 avg pace jog this morning  + strides

was planning on racing this morning, but woke up and just didnt feel like it. Too much stress and anxiety over travelling to Poland later today. did get 10.2 in at 7:28 pace or so, felt pretty easy + strides. Will hopefully be able to sleep on my trans-Atlantic flight tonight now!

first run in Krakow. 7:2X pace, felt just okay, but also ran within 2 hours of eating lunch, need to find a better schedule to get some running in. 

warm run this afternoon in Krakow. found a new park that has a nice running trail. 5.7 miles in 7:2X pace

What a night. Started off the day with a terrible run, tried to get one in before class here in Krakow, but had absolutely zero in the tank. I think I went 2.3 and averaged 8:25. Figured at this point that my training cycle was over and it was time to pack it up. Even had a burger for lunch assuming I wasn't going to be running tonight.

On a whim, decided I wanted to run a free local running group's 5k and 10k that they offer every Thursday night. It was one of the things I had planned on doing before coming to Krakow, but with the way my running has been since I've been here, I figured I had better just not. But, I needed a pick-me-up tonight, and running provides that for me. I showed up by taking the bus (figuring out how to use it on the way). got there about half-hour before the race, did some stretching and only about .5 or .6 warmup (pretty good tempo though). Got my race number and met a few people who spoke some english, tried some broken polish but they were way better in english than I was in Polish. Decided on the 5k option and didn't know what I had in me, figured mid-18s would be okay given the burger for lunch and the general lack of "umph" lately. Got out the first mile in 5:38, pleasantly suprised. Was running with just two other guys at this point, 2nd mile (included the turnaround) was 5:33, just 2 of us now, was planning the whole last mile on passing the other guy for the win, but was contemplating whether or not to show up as the only foreigner to a tight-knit running group and winning the first race. Turns out that was a little premature because the other guy had plenty left and just had a better close than me. Last mile was 5:36, and :35 for the .11 for a total of 17:21, 5:35 avg pace. 

The course was amazing - the sun was going down over Krakow and we were running along the Vistula river alongside Wawel castle -- just one of those magical moments that you know you are in while you are in it. COuldn't believe how easy the pace felt, was just floating - maybe the lessened mileage gave some pop back in my legs as I felt in control the whole time and the pace was consistent. The altitude of the last 1.5 years has also apparently paid off (krakow is 600-700 feet). Aside from the amazing scenery, which was truly stunning and a privelege, the only difficuly part of the race was weaving in and out of walkers and bikers (open trail), which actually was kind of fun when it wasn't borderline dangerous. 

The spirit of the runners in the group is truly unmatched. They are all great people and had congratulations and high-fives to go-around (even for me, the new guy!). Met some nice people and they invited me to come back next week and to come to a slighlty bigger running get together saturday morning (which I will probably do but not race). Will definitely be back next Thursday for round 2. Pretty cool way to end the day and really feel like I've arrived in Krakow.

only ran 6, slow paced (7:54), but I am finding that i am walking about an extra 10 miles today (wearing my garmin all day and it was well above 16 miles for the day.

Got invited to the local parkrun today by the same group of people who I met Thursday. Was going to try to run it hard, but kept falling back asleep and barely got up in time to even jog down to the start of the race, so I decided just to jog the race. 7:08, 6:38, 6:31, plus change got me to 20:46, really easy effort, managed GMP as an average for the run 6:45 ish. Started getting a migraine right at the end and so I hightailed it back to the apartment before the headache set in. 7 all told, and it wasn't fun to get the migraine, but the parkrun was fun and maybe I will race it hard next week.

very nice run tonight after touring the Wieliczka salt mines all afternoon (very cool stuff). 10 miles in 7:22 avg pace, held 7:10-7:12 for most of it, but fell off toward the end. Just got tired. + strides

7.7 tonight in 7:37 pace, got in just before the heavens opened up and it started to rain hard, feeling kind of sluggish so rest day tomorrow

easy run today, 5.5 + strides

My second ITMB Wiezcorem run here in Krakow. Another beautiful thursday night. Felt a little tight going into the run, but was still hoping for a good outcome. Got a little more normal warmup in this time, 1.5 with some good stretching. took out hard from the start this time and really settled in quickly to a nice pace. 5:32 first mile, better than last week by a few seconds, hit the turn right around 8:30, so I knew it was going to be close on sub-17, felt the full brunt of the wind after my turn, but it didn't seem to effect me much. What really slowed me down was the constant tight squeezes with all the walkers and bikes on the course, almost had to completely stop at one point with about .3 left that may have cost me sub-17, oh well - what can you do. second mile was 5:25 (10:57 at 2 miles), final mile was 5:29 (3 miles in 16:26), just hanging on + 35 seconds for the .11 to make it 17:01.5, 5:28 pace by my watch and a perfect 3.11 to boot. They had some stopwatch problems I believe and they had me at 17:04 or 17:05, but I know how close I actually was to sub-17 and I couldn't believe I just missed it. Oh well, they told me I have the course record now (which is cool because I've never held one before - kind of neat!). it is a 20 second improvement on last week and my best time since 2012. I should be able to take a few more cracks at the 5k here before I take break on this cycle. overall, happy with my effort, and another wonderful run and experience. 2.4 cool down

nice easy paced run tonight, 7:37 avg pace

easy run this morning. 4.55 in 7:51 pace + strides in a light mist

Navigated the public transport system this morning to run an 8k race in nearby Niepolomice. The race started at noon in town and was on a paved trail except for about 4k that was in the beautiful Niepolomic forest, which was absolutely stunning. My watch did not save my splits of course, but I have a vague idea of where they were. Race started with people bunched in like sardines - it was almost clausterphobic, so I was glad when the gun went off. I was probably the only American in the race, as the field was almost entired Polish (which makes sense). The weather was nice, mostly clouldy and around 65 degrees, cool when the clouds reigned and muggy when the sun came out - nice and cool in the forest. My goal was to hit 5:45's and just maintain to get under 29 for the 8k - I just missed that goal, but probably not by much. The course was long by about .08 or .1, so I can venture to speculate that I probably hit the actual 8k mark in somewhere between 29:05-29:10, perhaps faster. As it was, my official time was 29:28, my watch, which isn't super reliable sometimes, had the race at 5.05, and regardless, the race was definitely a little long. Still, my splits were likely all over the place. Hit the first mile in 5:46, which was right on, then the 2nd was I believe 5:49, then I hit two between 5:55-6:00, then the last split, which flashed well short of the finish line (indicating 5 miles) was something in the ballpark of 5:36 (downhill) and may have lost signal in the forest. FInished in 16th place and 6th in my division. Was happy with the result, but upset my watch didn't get an accurate split for at least 5 miles. Regardless of if the race was long, it was fun, and even the off-road portion was beautiful. I had decent energy, but my turnover was degraded, probably because of the 5k a few days ago. Regardless, fun to run and I enjoyed the experience immensely! 

decent run tonight, just trying to work the kinks out. 6.8 in 7:27 pace, + strides, RD tomorrow

4.5 on a glorious mid-summer evening + strides

Another Thursday run along the Vistula - very warm day, but some late cloud cover helped a little and it made the atmosphere achieve a unique lighting for the whole race, which was fun. Something about running later in the evening and in such neat (flat) settings, really works for me. Goal this time was simple, sub- 17, a place I haven't been since 2012. Started off way, way too fast - my legs were on fire and I was wondering if I just didn't have it today, but then I saw the 400 click by on my watch between 70-75! first 1k was probably 3:14-3:18, went through mile 1 in 5:22, halfway turnaround was 8:23 (looking good for sub 17), 3k was 9:59, 2nd mile was 5:27 (10:49 for 2 miles), the last 1.1 was pretty rough and I paid the price for my fast start - definitely hurt coming home and I lost some time in the 3rd mile (5:35), not a great way to run a 5k, but closed it out in :31 (so maybe the last mile was a little faster and my close wasn't quite that fast, since that is booking it. crossed at 16:54 on my watch, 16:55 officially. Again, broke my own "course record", which made everyone in the running club really excited, I think its pretty cool they celebrate other's accomplishments like that! If that time stands for a week or a year, it doesn't matter to me, I am just happy to have reestablished my speed to where it was before my break of 2013. Just one more Thursday run before my cycle break, perhaps I will do the 10k and have a crack at my 10k PR before taking some time off.

4.6 easy this morning, very slow pace 7:54 plus strides

decent long"ish" run this morning, pretty warm and humid, but a nice day nonetheless, 7:27 avg pace, a little over 80  min, strides after

had to cut this one short...

felt rather tight, 7:21 avg pace

stomach issues yet again :/, 7:27 avg pace + strides, will try one last race tomorrow, hope everything holds up

Took down a PR tonight that had stood for over 5 years! I knew my 10k PR was within my range the last few cycles, but haven't been able to take a good crack at it. With the way I have been running here in Europe, and with the flat course of this weekly race, I figured I'd have a shot at my old PR (35:49) which ironically enough was also set in Europe. In fact, the only 2 times i've broken 36 for 10k have been on the European continent. Good weather again, upper 60s, low 70s, a little warm, and actually quite windy, but it could always be worse weather. Warmup was normal, 1.5 with the stretching and strides, although I've found that warming up closer to the race when available works better for me (starting half-an-hour out instead of 40 min). I thought I got out well, as my watch showed somwhere south of 2:50 for the first .5, which is well under pace, but yet my first mile split was 5:49, so I dk if my watch was off, or if I really slacked off that much of the second half of the first mile. either way, I consciously picked it up after that and got on pace quickly. Here are my splits:

1- 5:49

2- 5:42

3- 5:45 (17:16 3 miles) right around 17:50- 17:52 according to my watch as I made the 180 degree turn to do a second out and back loop

4- 5:44

5- 5:45 (5 mile split was right on at 28:45, 8k would have been close nearby, 28:36 by rough math)

6- 5:55 (technically, according to my watch, second 3 miles was 17:24), although my closing the last .21 in 1:04 is pretty fast (like sub-5:20 pace), so I wonder if perhaps another mile was off here on my watch

.21 - 1:04

Total - 35:46, a brand new, shiny PR by 3 seconds! 

Just squeaked in under my old PR. with 1k to 800 to go, I was doing the math in my head and wasn't sure if i'd be able to break my PR. I knew I'd get under 36, but the math was working out to something like a sub 2:40 final 800, yet, I did it. I closed hard, and I know I was all out because I could feel the effort and it was all I had. I still think my watch may have been off somewhere during the run because I know I closed fast at the end, but 1:04 seems excessively fast (although I know I do have that speed in me right now with a 16:55 last week for 5k). Either way, I will take the final result and am extremely satisfied with that PR regardless of my watch's splits. I will say the one huge positive for me is the sheer consistency of my mile splits. That is one thing I could feel during the race, was that for most of it, certainly the first 4.5, I was running hard but evenly. Since the race is a out and back loop 2.5 km and back, then again, I had to make 3 - 180 degree turns, and i found this not only slowed me down but broke my rythym each time. For example, the 3rd section (5k - 7.5k), I could feel myself getting in an absolute groove, and it started to feel easy to hold the pace, but no sooner had I turned around than i felt the struggle again (and the wind, which may have been a factor holding me back even further). I looked at my watch at the turnaround at 5k and saw between 17:49-17:52, so with a guess of 17:51, that means my 2nd half was 17:55, only a four second positive split - very good news there! 

Cooled down after for only a mile -- again, everyone at the running group was very impressed with my time and told me that I had broken their course record for the 10k. (they have done this race almost 100 times, so I am impressed no one has run faster than I did today). That gives me 2 "course records" here in Krakow for the ITMWB run, 16:55 for 5k, and 35:46 for 10k. Not super fast as far as course record comparisons go, but its neat for me to be able to say I own them for however long they stand and I know as far as my ability level, they represent an extremely fast effort (for the 5k which is still a ways from my PR, but faster than I've gone in a long time) and an all-time personal best (the 10k, which I feel like is still pretty soft in terms of what I'm capable of).

Although I'm in pretty good shape, I have been on this training cycle since mid-December and have run 2 marathons as well as half a dozen other races. Thus, it is time to shut it down for 2.5 weeks and restart fresh in mid-July for a new build-up for the fall. Fall goals are to break 1:17 in the half-marathon in Carlisle on Nov. 4 and to possibly take a shot at my 10k PR a few weeks after in Moab, Utah. It will be strange to have no running for the next several days, but will give me some time to explore europe!