Greater Richmond SCAN
Next Saturday morning I’ll be running the Greater Richmond SCAN 5k. Greater Richmond SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now) “is a local nonprofit organization dedicated solely to the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect in the Greater Richmond area.” The race is at Short Pump mall about 20 minutes away, and proceeds will benefit SCAN.
This race will serve as my stubble race for the 2009 Shave Your 5k Challenge at Half-Fast. The last 5k I ran was the Midlothian Blaze 5k last fall that I finished in 25:31, placing 5th in my age group. I think Saturday’s race will have more people than the Blaze race, and with my birthday on Thursday, I’m in a new age bracket!
I think I’ll do pretty well, though I never expect to place. I did really well on my 13 miler this afternoon, finishing in 1 hour 54 minutes and 12 seconds. According to my iPod, that’s my fastest half-marathon yet. What’s really amazing to me is that I should have had a slower half marathon time today, since I ran almost 7 miles yesterday.
One last thing. Sarah climbed a tree today. And got stuck:
Sarah in a Tree
And, as her father, I got the camera and took a picture before saving her. Best. Father. Ever!
This is just a quick post to let you know that, since June 14, 2008, I’ve run:
Halfway through February and I’ve already run over 40 miles. By comparison, I ran just over 60 in January and only 40 in December. It’s been a pretty good month for me so far, and I can’t wait to see if I’ll top my best month ever, which was 95 miles last October. As you may know, I’m training for the Shamrock Half Marathon on March 22, 2009 (followed a week later by the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k). I think I’m in pretty good shape, 5 weeks ahead of the race and I’m currently doing a 13 mile run every weekend. I don’t plan to increase my long run past 13 miles before the races, but I need to start thinking about increasing those runs and my total mileage in April to prepare for the Richmond Marathon in November.
I’m not really following any specific training plan. I do plan to increase my long runs by about 10% a week and increase my total weekly mileage right along at the same rate. My weekly mileage right now isn’t anywhere near a consistent rate, due to weather and laziness. My general training plan is to do a tempo run of at least 4 miles every Tuesday, intervals on Wednesday, then either Friday or Saturday I’ll do a medium-distance run, followed by a long run on Saturday or Sunday, whichever day works out best. I decided on this plan a few weeks ago, and have yet to actually do it.
So far this week I’m on track. My tempo run yesterday was just under 5 miles, though a little slower than I would have liked. This morning’s intervals were awesome, the 4 minute speed runs were all consistently around a 7:30/mile pace. I think if I can keep up that kind of speed in my interval training, I’ll be doing pretty good come race day. I have been consistent the last 3 weeks in a row at running the 13 miles on either Saturday or Sunday.
I did set a new record for myself on January 24 of 1 hour 54 minutes for 13.1 miles, but I won’t count that as my time to beat in March. I’ll use my official race time of 2:04:46 from the McDonald’s Half Marathon last November. That feels more official than my Nike+, and I’ll use the official time from the Shamrock race as my new Personal Record.
Oh, and I’ve got a birthday coming up this month! If you’d like to buy me a present, my wish lists are here and here!
Ukrops Monument Ave 10k
Today is Take it and Run Thursday at the Runner’s Lounge. This is a weekly feature they do that I want to start participating in, so here’s my first contribution!
The Monument Avenue 10k is 1 week after the Shamrock Half Marathon in March. While most people use the 10k as part of their training plan to motivate them towards their half-marathon or marathon, I’m using it as a recovery!
I actually signed up for this race last year, but unfortunately, work kept me from making it to the race. This year, I warned my boss well in advance that the last 2 weekends in March, I will be unable to work.
I’ve been told that this race is really a lot of fun, so I’m not exactly expecting a new PR. Just take a look at the picture of the starting line from last year, doesn’t that look like fun? According to the SportsBackers, the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k was voted the best road race in the southeast. If the colored wigs in the picture above don’t look like fun, just search Flickr for Monument Ave 10k to see what a good time everyone had at past races.
Richmond, Virginia has a great local running community. If you look hard enough, you can probably find a 10k or 5k each month. I love these races, I just wish I had time for them all!
I’m looking forward to this race as much as I am the half marathon. I think, with music along the course, I may even turn off my iPod!
Thanks to stichesbybarb at Flickr for the picture!
The image above was used pursuant to a Creative Commons License
Run on Wed, Jul 28
5.09 mi in 43:48 (08:36 min/mi)
HR 162 bpm - Burned 716 C
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