Spring Racing Season

SumoRunner · Mar 7, 2010

The spring racing season began yesterday in these parts. I ran a few winter series races but not very hard. It's more a matter of surviving them than racing. Saturday was the 4 mile Runnin Of The Green in a town called Green Island, NY. Weather can be iffy in March but this time it was nice, above freezing at least and not windy which is always a plus in March.

I didn't know how well I'd be running since I've been trudging only 2-3 miles a few days a week on the dreadmill in the basement and very few miles outdoors. Apparently, the upper body workouts I've been doing haven't hurt the leg speed.

I ran 39:14 (gun time). It took about 20 seconds just to reach the starting line, so actual 4 mile time would be just under 39. That's a full minute faster than I ran this race last year. What's more they adjusted the starting line back about 50 meters. Maybe it was a bit shy of 4 miles last year. Since 09 was the best year I've had in two decades it bodes well for the year ahead.

kodi · Mar 7, 2010

Good going. Not bad for the first one of the year. Keep up all your hard work and you'll do better than last year. My first will be next Saturday, a local 10K on a flat course. The last 10K I did was a year ago on a downhill course; anxious to see what I can do, shooting for 1:02-1:05.

SumoRunner · Mar 12, 2010

Please kids, don't try this at home. I'm 18 years out from AVR so don't try to duplicate what I'm doing for a long long time.

I went for a new push-ups record this morning. Started with one set of 30 just to warm up then tried to do 8 sets of 50 with 5 minutes rest between sets. I almost made it too but had to bag the last set at 40 and I took 10 minutes between the last couple. But still, it was a one day record for me, 420 total in a little over an hour (1090 total for the week so far).

Then I went out for a 4 mile run and surprisingly I am not the least bit sore since I've been working up to this for a whole year and I've been doing push-ups for many years, although not to this extreme.

SumoRunner · Apr 3, 2010

Ran a 4 mile race this morning in 38:19 (9:35 per mile). I thought all the upper body work I've been doing lately would be detrimental to running times, but not so. That was almost a full minute faster than another 4 miler just a month ago. Today's course was hillier too.

I had done over 4500 push-ups for the month of March, about 300 per session, consequently I've been feeling tired, cranky and washed out the past couple days. I had my doubts about how I'd do even as the race started but now that it's over I'm energized. Of course, it will still require an afternoon nap, but my attitude has improved markedly.

Doug · Apr 6, 2010

I don't know how much studying you have done on it, but resistance training was a critical part of the training routine when I ran distance in high school and college. We spent 2 - 3 hours in the weight room each week. The idea of was to do more reps and less weight. This helped avoid bulking up. On a daily basis, there were push ups, pull ups, sit ups, etc.. all designed to expand lung capacity and not bulk up.

SumoRunner · Apr 7, 2010

I was never allowed to compete in high school. The valve defect prohibited me from trying out for any competitive sports. I'm still learning even though I've been running for 35 years now. I have found that long distance running is detrimental to events like the shot put which need power rather than endurance. I just assumed it would work the other way around as well. I'll continue to work on strength and speed through track season. The distance pacing will go as it may.

SumoRunner · Apr 17, 2010

Ran a 5K at Schodack Island State Park today. It was entirely on trails, not a road race. I thought I was running my butt off and when I reached the first mile it said 9:52. WTH? Well that's what happens off road, everyone is slower. The weather was not so great, cold and rainy, but that is easier to take sheltered out in the woods. My overall avg was 9:55 per mile so at least I remained consistent. It ended up a couple minutes slower than a typical 5K but got 3rd place in my age group, so a good day for sure.