Sub 6 Minute Pace

The last time I ran a race that averaged below 6 minutes per mile pace was on June 15, 2009, at The President's Cup Night Run 5K.  I was 49 years old.

That's kind of depressing.

I have been through injuries, and I have been building up longer trail racing, finishing my first two 50K's last year.  And I love that.  But I think I need to get a race into the sub-6 minute zone again this year.

My fastest race last year averaged 6:13/mile, at the Lager Run 5K on June 24.  I had just turned 53.  This year, the Lager Run is on my birthday, so I think I need to give myself the present of running sub-6.  To get there I need to do track workouts.  I have a pretty full schedule, so I think this is all I can fit in.  I am going to keep it simple:

April 4 = 8X400@90
April 11 = 10X400@90
April 18 = 12X400@85
April 23 = 14X400@85
May 14 = 10X400@80
May 21 = 12X400@80
May 28 = 14X400@80

4/18/13 UPDATE: So far I have done NONE of these planned workouts!  But my distance is long and getting faster.  That won't get me under 6/mile for a 5K, but at least North Face won't hurt as much, and maybe I could go faster than last year.

Merrell Trail Glove 2.0

I will just lay it out right now: I love the Merrell Trail Gloves.  They are my preferred shoe both on trails and on the road.


I am happy to report that my advance media sample pair of Merrell Trail Glove 2.0 shoes  have not let me down.  On the contrary they are amazingly better than the original Merrell Trail Glove.

My first run with them was with my RVRR peeps at Round Valley on February 17, 2013. It was cold and windy and there was a little snow covering parts of the trail. Here is what I wrote after that run, "First run with Merrell Trail Glove 2.0's: WOW - they are actually BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL Merrell Trail Glove!"

My second run was February 22nd at Watchung Reservation.  I wrote, "Second run in the Merrell Trail Glove 2.0 and they are great. Traction is good on old snow and the rock plate is much more protective than the original Trail Glove - which I don't even think had one - yet the flexibility is maybe even better."

Therein lies the most major advance in the 2.0 version.  I wrote to Merrell about the original Trail Glove, that I felt it didn't have enough protection for long runs on eastern rocky trails.  I suggested that they make a Trail Glove West and a Trail Glove East - the East version with a zero lift, but a little more sole.  They have answered the problem, as far as I can tell, by improving their rock-plate protection, yet keeping the overall shoe as flexible as ever.

After the Watchung Reservation Run

There is a slight change in the lacing system, reducing the OmniFit closures from 4 to 2.  That adds a little less feeling of shoe on top of the foot.

I continue to use my older Trail Glove and Sonic Gloves on trails and on the road.  I have New Balance minimal road shoes and trail shoes, but their last is a little too curved for the shape of my foot.  The Trail Glove's last sticks to my foot as if it was a part of it, and protects my arch area better than the New Balance MT-110.

I will be running the HAT 50K in this shoe on March 23.  I will give a report on its performance over that distance sometime shortly after that.

In the interest of full disclosure, they do send them to me for free.  I am not happy that they retail for $100, which is much more than I think running shoes should ever cost - but that is because I am not only cheap, but now I am spoiled by the hand that has fed me.

My Rather Ambitious 2012 Event Schedule

2012 Date | Event Title | [Time, Place Age Group or Over All, Age Grading]

4/22 Stomp The Monster 5K [20:09, 11/49AG50-54, 74.2%]

4/28 Clinton Country Run 15K [63:47, 17/49AG50-54, 74.57%]

5/5 North Face Endurance Challenge 50K [5:54:49, 2/33AG46-54, 34/252OA]

5/12 Newport 10K [42:02, 8/41AG50-54, 74.2%]

6/2 Towpath "Train"ing Run 34 mi. [5:36]

6/12 RVRR Summer Series XC 5K [22:24, 5/14AG50-54, 66.9%]
6/18 President's Cup 5K [19:36, 12/102AG50-54, 76.45%]

6/24 Lager Run 5K [19:19, 15/94AG50-54, 78.16%]

6/26 RVRR Summer Series XC 5K [20:21, 2/12AG50-54, 73.61%]

7/21 Running With the Devil 3 Hour [14.4 mi., 7/69OA]

7/24 RVRR Summer Series XC 5K [20:23, 2/12AG50-54, 73.53%]

7/29 Escarpment Trail 30K [4:32:35, 67/208OA]

9/8 USATF-NJ XC 5K [19:53, 11/27AG50-54, 75.98%]

9/23 Waterfront Half-Marathon [1:32:04, 11/121AG50-54, 74.58%]

9/29 Mountain Madness 50K [6:13:02, 22/71OA]

10/28 USATF-NJ XC 8K [33:14, 12/28AG50-54, 74.73%]

11/11 Giralda Farms 10K [40:53, 8/64AG50-54, 76.91%]

11/18 Phildelphia Marathon [3:20:10, 46/524AG50-54, 71.6%]

11/25 Westfield 5 Miler [32:28, 1/49AG50-54, 77%]
12/8 Big Chill 5K [20:58, 3/95AG50-59, 72.03%]

12/9 USATF-NJ 10 Miler [1:07:34, 6/30AG50-54, 76.5%]

The Philadelphia Marathon

Last weekend I ran the Philadelphia Marathon.  The past two years I ran the half marathon instead of the full marathon.  The last time I had run the full marathon was 2009.  In 2009 I ran 3:21:31.  I was 50 years old.  Last weekend I ran 3:20:10.  I am 53 years old.  I can't complain.

Me, at about mile 25 (Photo by Sally Hur)

I probably ran a little too fast for the first 15 miles of the Philly Marathon. Averaged sub 7:30 for those 15. I knew at the half -marathon, by the way my quads were aching, that I was going to have difficulty maintaining 7:30ish miles. At 18 things went downhill for me. I got through the final 7 miles with PowerBar Gel, Gatorade, and two unauthorized beer stations out in Manayunk.

The run was, of course, followed by RVRR hijinks.

The  history of my times on this course are 2008=3:18:22, 2009=3:21:31.  That does not include the times I ran when I was young and the course was different.  This is a scan of my hand written running diary from November 27, 1986:

I ran my marathon PR at Philly @ 2:41:06. I was 27 years old. Negative splits and defizzed Coke; that was the ticket. 26 years later, I ran about 40 minutes slower. My math says that is a loss of about one and a half minutes per year.

On race day 2012, it was a 4 AM wake up for the drive down to Philly. Rode my single speed Dawes SST bike from parking on 3rd & Cherry to race, and to the pub.

Do Runners Still Wear These?

On Facebook, a local running store posted this:

This is what I call the New Balance Super Sole.  I really wanted to post comments, such as, "Do people still wear shoes with 3 inches of cushioning under the heel?  How in hell could they have "a lighter feel"?

But I like the guys - they do try to help local runners and support my running club - so I didn't post there to avoid the mess.

So who wears these monstrous things?  They are purplish - perhaps Barney wears them.  We shall never know, since obviously he is usually barefoot.

The Highlands Trail

I had a really great run today on The Columbia Trail and the Highlands Trail.  The run was an indicator of recovery from Mountain Madness 50K last week.  It was also the exploration of a trail that I didn't know existed until a few days ago.

The Highlands Trail is a work in progress, and it seems to have many reroutes, and temporary problems that they are working through.  If ever completed, the trail will be a great suburban resource as well as a great rural wilderness route.

The section I ran was off of the Columbia Trail.  I parked in High Bridge intent on running with my running club friends, but I had the start time wrong.  A half hour late left me alone for my run.  The Columbia Trail is a rail trail, and is relatively flat and easy.  For my tastes, it is more conducive to a fast single speed bike ride than running.  As a ploy to get some of my trail running friends to come to the run, I looked for some more challenging trails off the Columbia Trail.  I found the Highland Trail.  Since none of my trail running friends came to the run, I detoured onto the Highland Trail for solo exploration.

The Highlands Trail section I ran - from the Columbia Trail, through Voorhees State Park, and into Spruce Run Recreation Area - was an unexpected pleasure.  The terrain turned steeply up hill, and the single-track was similar to Round Valley.  There was some road running to link the wilderness sections.  When in the woods, I passed only two people just after my turning-back point.  They were hunters scouting for a good deer-stand location.  That last part was marked with warning signs only in the return direction that deer hunting was allowed there, and that non-hunters should wear blaze orange or restrict their visits to Sundays.  Even though I was wearing a day-glow yellow Boston Marathon shirt, I am glad it was Sunday.

The Highlands Trail runs from the Hudson River to the Delaware River.  I am definitely going to explore some more of this trail.  I think I can start right where I left off today, or go a little northeast to Schooley's Mountain Park and end (or turn back) where I started today.

My last 2.5 miles were my fastest today, when I was back on the Columbia Trail headed for the parking lot in High Bridge.  My quads were starting to feel tight at that point, but it was aerobically easy.  It is evident that I have a great base, tons of endurance, but I need to get my road racing pace back for my upcoming final races of the year, as well as for a good Philly Marathon.  I guess I must do my due diligence and get my ass onto a track, as well as doing more shorter uptempo road runs.

Fastest miles at the end of today.

Holy altitude corrections, BATMAN!