My resolution is to be better at updating this. Much better.
When I last posted back in August I had just returned home from a summer of working at camp and was just about to embark on a Fall of student teaching at Freeman High School while also working as the assistant coach for Mount Marty's cross country team.
Before my student teaching began I had a couple of weeks of training camp with the cross country team where we focused on doing two runs per day before the fall term started. Having just come down from elevation (5,000 ft) and getting plenty of rest each day, this two-week stretch consisted of some of the best workouts that I have ever done.
Student teaching began for me during the last week of August but we gradually add sections of teaching one at a time so it was not a big time commitment at the front end, so still easy to hit some hard workouts with the team.
On Friday, August 31, I joined the team in running the Augustana Twilight Meet at the Yankton Trail's soccer complex in Sioux Falls. This meet is held at night with the soccer lighting and glow sticks used to mark the course. I was a little tentative in the race - a 4-miler as opposed to a normal men's 8k (5 miles - but I did finish rather strong and passed a lot of people in the final 1-2 miles. I ended up finishing 76th out of 147 runners in 21:51.
The following weekend was the SF Half-Marathon Sunday, Sept. 9. I knew I was in fairy good shape but this was by far the best I have ever felt in a race. I ran 5:55/mile-6:05/mile pace for the entire race - struggled a little bit around miles 5-8 but really had a great second wind for the final 5 miles to push to the finish. I ended up finishing 10th (1st South Dakotan!) out of 1079 runners in a 3-minute PR of 1:18:48 - an average of 6:00 minutes per mile for 13 miles.
Running this half really got me excited about my future as my mileage still was not all that high in the months prior to the race, so I feel as if I can ever really nail down some high mileage along with the quality workouts I can really drop my time.
Six days later I competed with the team at the DSU Invite at the Madison golf course. I knew that I wouldn't be recovered from the half yet but after spending a year at DSU and running countless miles on the golf course for practice I wanted to give this race a shot.
I ended up finishing the 8k race in 29:29 - a PR, even though I didn't feel that great about the race or my time - and placed 12th overall, earning my first-ever college racing shirt!
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| The top 15 from the DSU Invite on Sept. 15. I am fourth from left (12th place) |
My training really suffered following the DSU race, as my student teaching load continued to increase and I was putting in quite a few hours at the newspaper. I really had no energy for the type or workouts I was doing before and I took 2 weeks in October completely off from running. It has been a long road back from this layoff and light stretch of running but I am glad that I took the time off so that I can better appreciate the fitness level that I did attain and how much patience it takes to get that back.
I did run the NAIA qualifier half-marathon on December 3rd in Fremont with some female teammates as they attempted to qualify for nationals. We ran the half in 1:35. Not really a struggle, more of a long run for me.
On Saturday, Feb. 2 I ran the Beresford Frostbite 4 for the 3rd consecutive year. I won my age group (and the accompanying penguin statue) for the 3rd time - running 25:04 and placing 3rd out of 264 runners. The leaders were within reach but I just didn't have any speed work under me and couldn't hang on with them during the final half-mile. It ended up being a very cold and windy day but I'm glad that I ran the race because there is no way I would have been able to run that quality of a workout on my own.
That is the summary of what has been going on. I have been logging some long runs during the past 6 weeks in hopes of running a marathon this Spring/Summer. I am also signed up for tomorrow's (Today's) St. Patrick's Day Irishman (5-mile, 5k and mile) for the third year in a row. I am also planning on running the RiverRat Half-Marathon in late April yet again this Spring.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the run! If you don't run but want to, DO IT! If you need some basic advice or training plans feel free to drop me a line at cr7sprinter@yahoo.com
Nothing is as empowering as the feeling one gets after completing a run or workout once thought impossible!
