Sunday, February 3, 2008

Saturday:
Treadmill
10 Miles
1:17:00, Pace: 7:42

Sunday:
Cape Elizabeth 10 Mile Mid Winter Classic
1:04:55 , 6:30 pace
Elevation Gain/loss +547/-600 (MotionBased stated +982/-1022 but that seems a little much)
Avg. HR 179 bpm
Max HR 191


Friday night did not go down as I expected. I ended up working late, the weather turned foul, and I slept in my own bed. I had planned on joining Jamie in Cape Code for the Cape Cod Fat Ass 50K. Things didn't work out for me but Jamie soldiered on without me and did fantastic. Hats off to him. I ended up hitting the treadmill mid-day on a beautiful day. I was responsible for watching Riley so my choice was treadmill or no run. Treadmill won. I ended up getting in 10 miles at a moderate pace of 7:42.

This morning I made the decision to run the Cape Elizabeth 10 Mile Mid Winter Classic. The weather was fantastic with temps in the mid-30s and negligible winds, unlike last year's brutal conditions. My race went well despite the dual untied laces, which did not slow me down. My splits were positive, but very close. My fastest mile was the first mile at 6:26, which shows my inexperience given all my time off from road racing. Mile 6 was my slowest mile at 6:39. The ups and downs on this course are unrelenting, as is evident in the elevation profile to the right. The hills start in miles 2-3 and miles 8-9.5 are all uphill. Luckily we were spared the traditional headwind during the last couple miles which probably helped set PRs and course records. I felt good during the run despite the fact that none of my training has included speed workouts. My average heart rate was 179 bpm, but often hit the low to mid 180s and even 191 on the last hill, just 2 beats shy of my max. Today's time was good enough for my best time in three tries at this course. My first attempt was in 2005 with a time of 1:07:00 and last year was second in 1:08:22. So I ran almost three minutes faster this year than last. And given this course is the only 10 mile course I have ever run, this one was a PR. Hats off to Erik Boucher and the Maine Track Club for great post-race eats. But the pizza there was not enough to keep us from stopping at the new and improved Portland Pie Company (new as of Thanksgiving). Great new location and great pizza.

Oh and I would be remiss if I didn't thank the great water boy at mile 5 for the quality H2O. Thanks Jamie!

4 comments:

Jamie Anderson said...

Your performance was nearly as spectacular as the high quality H20 I was handing off! Nice job out there. That's a blazing pace. You done good.

Anonymous said...

I do not think I could run that fast and that far even with a strong tail wind the whole way. Great going!

Blaine Moore said...

Nice work, Stephen! I didn't realize you were that far up in the field.

That was a pretty blazing pace set by the front runners; Ethan ran a course record in last year's conditions, but his time was blown away this year.

Anonymous said...

Not sure if you saw the picture to verify the un-tied shoes. Good thing you did not trip. You would have taken a lot of other people out with you.