Tely 10 in 82:10

The training continues to go GREAT! We've been in Newfoundland for the last ten days. I've missed the Tuesday night track work-outs back in Los Gatos, but have enjoyed several 6-8mi runs around the town where I grew up. For those familiar, I've learned that one lap around Quidi Vidi Lake is 2.4mi; one lap around Kent's Pond is 0.9mi.

The highlight was the Tely 10 this morning. The "Tely 10" is a 10mi road race that has been run in St. John's, NL, on virtually the same course every year for the last 82 years (with the exception of a break during WWII). Even though I grew up in St. John's, I wasn't a runner back then; had never run the Tely 10 before. There were more than 2,600 spirited participants. My target was to break 90min. I SMASHED 90min! Finished in 82:10. That's now the fastest 10mi of my life, and it's under my 1/2 marathon target pace. I finished strong, sprinting for the last minute or so across the finish line. Felt really good.

But do you know what? Even though I felt I ran a great race, I nevertheless finished in the lower 50th percentile in my gender and age group; more than half finished faster than me! I kind of think its an indication of how seriously the Tely 10 is taken in Newfoundland - participants really prepare for it. But mainly it tells me that I can get better. And I will.

I'm looking forward to the San Jose Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon in October. The FULL in San Francisco two weeks later is still daunting.

Yasso 800's

A tough speed work-out tonight at Track. Yasso 800's. Bart Yasso is a legendary marathoner, and he insists that if one can run 800m (two laps of the track) 10-12x with a short break in between each 800m, in a consistent time (e.g. 3m:50s) then its a good indicator of one's ability to finish a marathon in the same time only in hours and minutes (i.e. 3h:50m). Most people after thinking about this decide Yasso is crazy. Why should the minutes to hours and seconds to minutes translation just happen to work-out between 800m and 26mi? On the other hand, so people say, it does seem to correlate well.

We completed 8 reps of 800m tonight. It was tough but I concentrated on completing each 800 in the same consistent time. Mission accomplished. Its remarkable how each first lap was very consistently 1:50-1:55, and each 800m (two laps) was 3:45-3:55.

I don't believe for a minute that I could complete a marathon today in 3h:55m, but it was a satisfying work-out!

Nike San Francisco FULL Marathon

I'm so pleased with how well Team In Training is going that I decided to replace the Kaua'i 1/2 marathon with a FULL marathon in San Francisco on October 18. So, in addition to running the San Jose Rock & Roll 1/2 marathon on October 4 in 1h49min or less, I'm now also going to run a FULL marathon in San Francisco two weeks later.

Most people tell me your goal in your first marathon should be to complete it. But I'd really like to complete it in sub-4 hours. So that's the goal I'm setting.

I'm really looking forward to it and the speed work and long runs we'll do between now and then to prepare for it!

PR 10mi

Excellent progress! This morning we ran 10mi along the Guadalupe trail through downtown San Jose. I took the run seriously, planning my pace, thinking about nutrition and hydration just as I would for the events I'm going to run. And I'm delighted to report that I ran close to 9min miles on average, completing 10mi in 1hr30min44sec. This is a personal record (PR) run for me - I've never run 10mi that fast before. Its also a sub-2 hour 1/2 marathon pace / sub-4 hour marathon pace. I finished strong, so I'm confident that I could have completed 13.1mi in less than 2 hours. I'm closing-in on my 1/2 marathon target still with a couple of months to go. I'm very pleased with how Team In Training is going. Two months ago I could barely run 3mi at a 10min pace let alone 10mi at 9min pace.

31mi week

What a great week of running! Started off Independence Day / ended the week meeting five of my training partners for a pleasant 6.5mi morning run in Los Gatos. I was feeling so good this week that I ran TWO TIMES on Thursday - a fast 4mi run at 7am in Campbell, then an easy-paced 5mi run at Rancho San Antonio at 6pm on the same day. Speed training on Tuesday night at the track, in the heat, was grueling but I'm sure will pay off.

My training now includes a mix of hills, speed and distance, to enable me to slowly increase my pace and sustain it longer. On Thursday morning we ran 4mi at close to my half marathon pace. It was hard and I could not have sustained that for 13mi. But give me a few more weeks and I will be able!

Total distance for the week: almost 31 miles! I'll try to maintain this weekly distance, to slowly strip-off the extra pounds.

A few times this week I experienced that runner's high - when you feel strong; you feel you could run indefinitely. It's a great feeling.