Hot Chocolate 15K - 12/1/07

I checked the weather last night before I went to bed and saw that it was going to be in the low 30's for the Hot Chocolate 15K run this morning. No problem. I like running in the cold weather as long as it is not too bad and the wind is calm. I bundled up and walked on over to the start of the race. Although it was chilly at the start, it was quite comfortable once I got running

At this point of the year, I'm not looking to run a race with the intention of setting a PR, so if I see that a race is crowded and I need to pull back a bit, I don't have a problem with that. If there is some open road in front of me and I feel comfortable picking up the pace, then I am fine with that too. Right now I'm just looking to get in some good runs to finish out the year and give me some positive momentum into 2008. The race was packed (I started the race on the grass and had to merge onto the road before the start sign) and the first mile was very slow (9:42 pace). However, I was able to open up my stride a bit after the first mile and settle into a good pace for the rest of the race. I'm starting to get a better handle on pacing and what certain paces "feel" like. It seems as though about an 8:00-8:05 min/mile is a fast but comfortable pace for me that I can keep up for races up to a half marathon. I'm trying to discipline myself to avoid drastic highs and lows during a race - either a really fast or really slow mile. I'd rather keep an even pace as long as I can. If I happen to have a mile that is a lot faster or slower, I'm trying to try to make sure that I hit the goal pace on the next mile and even things out. My breathing was calm and stable throughout the race, but I merely felt stiffness in my muscles, especially hamstrings and glutes, towards the latter part of the race. The wind really picked up during the last mile and I thought I was going to be knocked over!

Mile Splits: 9:42, 8:02, 8:02, 8:01, 7:48, 8:00, 7:44, 8:01, 7:33 (mile 8-9.3) - Overall time: 1:15:12 and Overall pace: 8:05 min/mile

This race allowed me to continue with my goal of running a long run every week. So far, two weeks in a row - yeah! I want to make a conscious effort to keep this up throughout the winter.

Totals for the week: Abs/weights on Monday, spinning on Tuesday, 5 miles with the Wednesday group run, 6 miles with the Thursday group run, and 9.3 miles (Hot Chocolate 15K) on Saturday