I just felt like .... back-to-back races
Welcome back to my BLOG!
Well those were fun...
I have done back-to-back races three times now in preparation for the I-35 Challenge progressively increasing the distances - one was even a back-to-back-to-back weekend! Pretty sure everyone reading this knows what the I-35 Challenge is and for me (this year) it is the 'Garmin' Kansas City Half Marathon and (just up I-35) the 'IMT' Des Moines Half Marathon the next day. It is touted as;
TWO RACES - TWO CITIES - TWO STATES - ONE EPIC WEEKEND
I am sure it will be, but I need to prepare and train for it. With help from Nick at PR Project KC, we are getting ready for not only that EPIC WEEKEND but specifically I am training for a Sub 2-hour Half Marathon in November. THAT is the real goal :)
July 3&4 was my first back-to-back of the year. This weekend also marks the start of official training for my Half Marathon PR on November 6th. Coach said to 'Race' Stars & Stripes 5k on Saturday and do an easier recovery run at Four on the Fourth Sunday. The race felt great and I was able to earn a sPR (sober PR) of 26:36 and I ran a 45:52 for the 4-mile.
The following weekend I did it again - July 10&11 there was Law Dog 10k on Saturday and Rock Island Half on Sunday. For this weekend, the plan was an easy run for the 10k and a target time of 2:15 for the Half. Turned out, Law Dog was rained out so I drove back to Liberty and ran it virtually with a time of 1:02 and for the Half I got 2:14:34 which is still my sPR! I really liked Rock Island, didn't think I would because the trail was crushed gravel(?). I could have gone faster but that was not the plan. I will do that half again
Went 6 weeks without doing a back-to-back weekend. In those 6 weeks training continued, mileage and pace was slowly increasing (along with the temperatures). I ran an 8k race, a Half, took a 2-week vacation and ran a 20k night trail race. Even on vacation, the training runs were almost every day averaging 35-40 miles a week. I do not run on Fridays :)
While I was on Vacation, I drove 4000+ miles, ran 63 miles on trails and 14 road miles doing speed work. Got home just in time for another back-to-back weekend. August 21&22 was Hearts for RMHC 10k on Saturday and (virtual) Rexy Run 5k on Sunday. 10k was not all-out and I ran it in 1:07 - the 5k was during a Bike-Run-Bike day and I ran a 27:43.
This is where I made the mistake! With Rock the Parkway Half coming up, I was not supposed to run the 5k fast :( On Monday I did it again and ran a little too fast - I am guessing I was just happy to be home and out of the car! Tuesday was Speed Work, Wednesday I ran with J&S and Yup - too fast again. Guess what I did on Thursday? I ran too fast with the group from Gambals !
Yeah... you can see where this is going. Legs worn out before I even started the Half marathon on Saturday. RTP was hot and muggy, tight legs and I just went out easy with a 2:20 time in mind. I just could not loosen up the legs but got a nice mental push at mile 6 (thank you Bailey). "Push through it" kept going through my head, so I did - The rush of the finish line is what did me in though. Sped up just a tad too much and with just 0.1 left I felt a 'POP' on the left hamstring.
Tom came out and we hobbled to and across the finish line in 2:20:34
Ummm... Lesson learned! Listen to the coach no matter how I feel.
Now I had to deal with the hammy :(
Ice, Ibuprofen and full range of motion a few times that day. For 2nd day (Mon) - added in leg swings, hamstring extenders and a 1.5-mile hike. Day 3 (Tue - the day the bruising showed up) add in isometrics (knee flexion, hip extension, leg digs), max hip hinge (no weight) and I went to Independence to join KCRC's "Moo Crew" for a 2.2-mile 'easy' walk to loosen up the leg. Day 4 (Wed) continue everything but add weights to max hip hinge and I met KCRC's "Brew Crew" for an easy Run/Walk 5k with friends. Day 5 (Thur) did not do much other than went to RoKC group run and ran 5-miles at a sustained 10:20 pace
VERY happy that I was able to do this.
So, on Wednesday after the 5k test run I went ahead and signed up for a Back-to-Back-to-Back weekend :) What could go wrong, right? Coach gave me the green light but to really listen to the legs. This was Labor Day Weekend - Race #1 was Bar K 5k at Berkley Riverfront. A flat course, the temp was in our favor and the rain was not too bad. Bae joined me for this race and I just listened to the body. Had to slow down for the last 0.25 but other than that, felt pretty good - Bae got a PR = 27:43. Race #2 was labor Day Dash 10k also at Berkley and the weather was better with no rain. Ran the 1st 5k slow to loosen up the leg and then (probably) ran faster than I should of for the 2nd half with an overall time of 1:01:47. Race #3 was Leawood labor Day 5k and the plan was to do a total of 10-miles and just to have fun during the race. Got there early, did 5.5 miles before the race and felt great! Ran with friends during the 5k to get a 28:55 then finished my 10-miles averaging 9:59 pace.
SUPER Happy to be able to do this just 7 days after a hamstring strain!
Coach gave me a light week in preparation for another back-to-Back weekend...
Tuesday was a recovery 4-miles, Wednesday was 7-miles of track work (intervals) and Thursday morning I met with coach Nick and we ran 4 at the trails up my Smithville Lake to discuss strategies for the weekend, possible change of my target race on Nov 6th and the I-35 challenge. By running in the morning, the legs got a full 48 hours of rest before the 1st Race of the weekend - Jesse James 10k in Kearney. Not going to lie, I was a tad nervous going so far as to even lay out "Flat Scott" (something I rarely do) Guess that means it's GO TIME ! It was too - with the help of a fellow runner, I got a PR (not a sPR) and ran the fastest 10k in 3 years at 53:36 ! 2nd Race was the Plaza 10k - Ran this one similar to last weekend, first 5k at a slower pace to loosen up the legs then settled in a little faster to get a time of 1:04:15 and helped get a good friend a PR by over 3 minutes :)
My next Back-to-Back race is in 3 weeks - very curious how it will go but this is one of the things we are training for ... 2:10 sPR target for that Half
For the last weekend before the I-35 Challenge, I will be running a half at an easier pace to save the legs!!! Will follow coaches advise through the week SUPER close so for KC Marathon I can shoot for another sPR target time of 2:05! That would be AWESOME !
For Des Moines I will not have a time but have high hopes of a descent time and know it will be another EPIC WEEKEND
Scott
Sign up to join me on the I-35 Challenge at;
https://www.sportkc.org/marathon/register/i-35-challenge
Please join me
Cliff Hanger 10k
Rails-to-Trails Extravaganza Half
*Monumental Half in Indianapolis, MN
*Possible destination race for my Sub 2-Hour Half Marathon
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