4 mile race colon – Details

4 mile race colon cancer by adventureartist at Garmin Connect – Details.

After reading my previous description of how I thought I was doing so well, when I wasn’t, here are the details of my race. Any one that can help me get back to 28’s gets a free artwork of their choosing. But you can’t break me in the process!

hummm, I thought this link would show my results rather than a link- I need to figure this out

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Mystery 4-miler

photo by TED PASZEK

Today was NYRR 4 mile and 15K Colon Cancer Race. I woke up at 7:00am after an 11 hour sleep. I felt great. I played with the dogs for an hour and headed up to Central Park. I was running the 4 miler. I like this race because it is far less crowded, 1879 runners vs 2661 in the 15k.

My 4 mile Grid Iron time was 30:01 on February 2 so I knew I could easily be a minute below that. Plus I ran tempo on Tuesday, 7:43 pace, 167HR and chatted the whole 4 miles. Piece of cake.

Normally I am under 30:00 with my best time being 28:27. That was in 2009,  and I know that is two years ago, but I broke a bone in my foot right and took 4 months off, and later ran below 30:00, I only  raced once in 2010 because I had a hip injury with  8 months to rest.  I am trying to justify that I think I should easily be running under 30:00, despite my 2 year old PR. I have run consistently since the fall and just want to be in the 29:00’s right now.

I decided not to look at my watch, just push hard and keep the push consistent. There was a blue bib CPTC racer in front of me and I matched my stride to hers. The first mile felt great, I went right up and over cat hill. The second mile was awesome, pushing the pace and overcoming my fellow runners on the downhills. I never saw them again. The third mile, which is normally mentally and physically a killer stayed very consistent and I pushed.  I was excited, I was pushing, I was telling myself, “lift, lift, lift” my feet off the ground. I was repeating ” strong and light” and “strong, strong, strong.” I was excited. I told myself not to be afraid of dry heaving at the finish. I was going to crush my 30:01, I might even go below 29:00 this is going so well,  that would be really awesome. I was leaving the few runners there were around me. There were no women, just some young guys. I thought, “I must be doing well.” I turned the final corner, my teammates were yelling, and I kicked it in to cross the finish line at ……30:35?!?!? WHAT? What happened? What the heck is that? This is not possible! I am even slower! CRAP.

How the heck do I figure this out? I checked my pace and HR against my Feb 6 race. Today: 7:28, 168HR, 7:22, 169HR, 7:52,  170HR, 7:31 169HR, 5:59 171HR, that was the last 200 feet. I did not wear my HR monitor at the Feb 6 race, my times were 7:33, 7:16, 7:42, 7:20, 6:48 again that split is the last 200 feet. Both times I ran 4.03 miles.  But I honestly don’t know why this was so slow or what to do about it. The only thought I have is to do longer track intervals at a 7:00pace to get used to running that pace again. Any ideas?
P.S. I checked race results and our women’s team place 1st in the 4 miler. I was 6th AG out of 89.

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Coogans Race Report

Nothing stellar to report about NYRR Coogans 5k. I was slow but consistent. I have not run this race since 2009. In 2009 I was doing track work at the Armory 2x a week and now I am only running about 20 easy miles a week so I  shouldn’t compare but I will.

2009 splits; 7:16, 7:33, 7:31, 44 (elapse time not pace)
2011 splits: 7:38, 7:32, 7:38, 44 (elapse time not pace)

The reason I used elapse time and not pace is this year my garmin could not get connected so I clicked the lap button at each mile mark. But as we know that is not always a real mile, in fact from 2009, the laps clicked in at .99, 1:04, 1.01, and .12.

So the biggest difference was in the first mile. This year I was packed in and it was pouring. I could barely see through my glasses and was  worried about tripping and falling. Since getting hurt last year I am way more cautious. I still don’t have the drive to dig in and take the pain of running faster. I feel like a slug. But I actually enjoyed it a bit more this year. Clearly I was not pushing too much as my  average HR 168, high of 175,  way below MAX of 195. I felt loose and relaxed for once. The last three races I was tight and had a big pain in my right glute. All four races I did this year,  the others 4 milers in both CP and Prospect Park were the same pace. I guess I should work on adding a few more gears.

This was a club points race so all the big guns come out. This pushed me out of the top 10 AG way down to 20th place in a field of 180 AG. But what do I expect, a miracle? (well yes of course)  I just need to get my ass out there running and get my extra paleo fat off.

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Post Paleo

Thank God it is the end of the Paleo Challenge. To be fair I learned a few things along the way, but suffered from a hideous lack of carbs.

Why I want to do Paleo:
1. It was a challenge at my Crossfit gym
2. I want to train my body to run more efficiently on fat. (See Bob Seebohar or Loren Cordain and Joel Friel)
3. I want to  balance my blood sugar.
4. I like to experiment on on body to ultimate perform better.
5. And heck, I want to look better naked.

My macro nutrient balance was not what Cordain and Friel recommend in their book Paleo for Athletes which is 50% CHO, 30% Fat and 20% Protein. Mine was more like 25% CHO, 40% Fat and 35% protein. I found it difficult to get higher carbs when eating only lean meat, fish, nuts, vegetables and limited fruit. My average daily calories was between 1000 and 1400, too low for my body and exercise output but I really didn’t lose weight so I stayed with it.

What did happen over 4 weeks?
Before: weight 123 (the most I have weighed in years!), 1 rep max deadlift 205 pounds, met-con which is 21/15/9 reps of 15lb medicine ball squats + burpees for time 4:49.

After:  weight 120; 3 pounds lighter – probably water, 1 rep max deadlift, an ugly and barely lifted 205; same,  (I raced a 4 miler that morning) met-con 4:03; 46 seconds faster.

Here are my dorky before and after photos. After picking myself apart for the last hour, I am giving in and posting them. I think my posture might be better (see second row right) but mostly only my shoes changed and I am not wearing glasses.  I should add that besides Paleo I was doing Crossfit 2-3 times a week and of course running.

 

Pre and Post 4 week Paleo Challenge

 

 

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