4/27/09
Sun 4/26 - AM/PM - 70 minutes incl. 5k in 16:14
Less than stellar effort at Groton this year, compromised equally by the unusually warm weather and of course, continued problems with the hip. Like last year, I put my effort into the 5k and hoped to cruise the 10k at 5:45-50 pace or so and see if I could get any age group swag for it. Very windy conditions all day in addition to the warmth, made the 5k somewhat tactical but still faster than I would like. Had to press until 400 to go in order to secure the final money slot. Mile splits of 5:04 (flat), 5:06 (downhill), and 5:25 (uphill). Frustrating in that the lack of workouts of late left me unable to stay with the leaders the last mile. Right hip held together relatively well through the warmup and 5k, but the 10k was another matter. I spent most of the 50 minute break between races laid out under a shady tree sipping fluids, felt fairly sanguine about the whole thing. Then the gun went off and I realized to my dismay that the hip had tightened up so much I couldn't run any faster than a steady pace. Thought about stopping right there, decided to wait it out and while it got a little better I still was only able to manage 6:00 pace for the first two miles, at which point the heat took over and I melted down. Slowed it down to 7 minute pace from 2 to the long-awaited water stop at 4.5. Walked it in from there taking the direct route. Hip felt inflamed as well as tight and sore after what I did to it, surprising in how bad it was. The 5k left more of a mark than I thought it would. Did the usual stretching and self-massage which feels more and more like a holding action.
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3 comments:
Hi,
I am also a Maynard runner, though a much, much slower one (5ks from just under 20 to between 20 and 21), and I was also wondering how much of a factor the heat was in missing my slower goals--I ran 20:44 instead of close to 20:00. The woman who just beat me to finish as first woman finisher also said she was aiming to break 20. It was a very well organized even.
I've occassionaly checked out your blog for ideas about training runs in the area.
the 5k there is a nice course but isn't terribly fast even under ideal conditions, and the gusty wind yesterday slowed things down further. There was a lot of drafting going on up front the first half of the race. I'm guessing I would have been in the 15:50s at least on a better day.
My route descriptions are quite vague, but if you go to usatf.org/routes and search in Maynard there are some loops I've put up there. The refuge is a no-brainer during spring and fall, but impassable due to deer flies in high summer. In the winter the neighborhood off Summer Street ("Levittown") and the neighborhood just over the line in Sudbury (Longfellow loop) are about the only places I run locally. Jarrod Shoemaker is also a big fan of the Longfellow/Ford/Bowker area of Sudbury.
Thanks for the tip on getting route descriptions.
My favorite is definitely the dirt road that runs down along the river into Stow toward Lake Boone.
After I moved to Maynard in 1997 I started calling the streets off of Summer Street the Warren--I do some loops there when there's no alternative.
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