Instead of putting 3 blogs in one week, I decided to just combine the June recap with the Edgewood 5K recap. It’s America, and I have the freedom to do that.
The month of June was a roller coaster of mileage and emotions. I had one of my best friends (Nathan) get married and I delivered an incredible best man speech. I also, watched my brother and best friend (Brian) pack up and move out to Denver. That was the emotional part, the mileage part was very frustrating. I had finished out May with 272 miles, was feeling healthy, and was building momentum for a great summer. Well, unfortunately I got sick before Nathan’s wedding and that took me out for a few days, and then after recovering from sickness, I hurt my knee doing laundry; this also put me out for a few days. Those 5 days I took off were incredibly frustrating because I was hoping that June would be closer to 350 miles, but it is hard to do that with two weeks totaling less than 60 miles. Luckily, I am only in one more wedding and have zero bachelor parties coming up, which means running can finally be the number one priority. I finished up June with two great weeks, while also setting a PR at the Hyde Park Blast.
June 2015
264.11 miles
8.80 miles per day
61.70 miles per week
My goal for 2015 was 4,000 miles and as of June 30th I was currently at 1,780 miles. Given the fact that March was an injury riddled month, and June took a hit, I will take this for what it is. Like I said at the beginning of the year, the number one goal is to stay healthy. Let’s hope we can stay healthy the second half of 2015.
First half of 2015!
In 2015 (so far), I have set personal bests in the 3K, 5K (road), 5K (track), and half marathon. I will never be upset with setting personal bests, but my hope is that in the next 6 months we can even set higher goals and keep improving. And now onto the 5K recap!
For as long as I can remember, it was tradition that I would run the Colerain 4th of July Spectacular 5K. It was always one of my favorite races because it was usually a reunion of Colerain Cross Country alum and other local runners. The competition was always competitive and a fun time. This was the first time since 2004 that I wasn’t racing. Brian had recently found a race in Edgewood, KY that had cash prizes and was very competitive. I felt that given my performance last weekend, top three was a definite possibility and a road race pr (15:43) was in the cards if things went well.
The race got out like a 1500 and I quickly went to the back of the chase pack. Two Kenyans took off and had about 20 meters on me before I could even blink. I came thru the first 1K in 3:06 and figured the pack about 15 meters ahead of me would come back, because at the time it seemed crazy that there would be four or five sub 15 runners in a local 5K. I came thru the mile in 4:58 in fifth place. 3rd and 4th place 20 meters ahead of me, 6th place nowhere in sight. I thought I was gaining on 3rd and 4th but I wasn’t. I came thru 3K in 9:22 and two miles in 10:08, which was really close to PR pace so I knew I had to really push the last mile. 4K in 12:38, I knew I would really have to pull it together and have a mighty kick to get under. Unfortunately, due to my lack of leg speed I was trying my hardest to push through, but the legs wouldn’t go. I hit 5K in 15:46 according to Strava, but official time was 15:58. So the course was a little long and initially I was pretty mad with my performance because I felt that I was in much better shape than a 15:58, and knowing the course was long makes me feel a little better, but I believe I should’ve been in the 15:30s today.
Race bib today.
I didn’t stick around too long after the race because I needed to get my next workout stared. I warmed up to Thomas More College’s track and did 4 miles of 90%-95% @ MP (5:57-5:41). This relatively easy which is encouraging as I hit 5:50, 5:45, 5:45, 5:40. Nothing I can do about the 5K. I know that in 5 weeks I will be able to go back to back sub 16 5Ks at the Redlegs Run. So no unfortunately I didn’t win any money, but I broke 16 for only the second time on the roads today. And I did get another half zip with a local competitors running store logo on it. I have quite the collection now…
Easy 18 to hit 101 for the week.
Less than 100 days out from Chicago!
Jeffrey Denny 