Ultimate Warrior training week 2: Day 2 and 3

Tuesday mileage- 1ish
Wednesday mileage- 3.67
Week to Date mileage- 6.67

I have gotten lazy in my posts lately and have not been as consistent as I should be.
Day 2 was a rest day and thus all I did was go out to where the race is going to be on Saturday and attempt to scope out the course. I was going to jog the entire thing, but made a bad judgement call. I drove to where the starting line was and assumed where the streets were that the course followed, boy was I wrong. I ended up running a good half mile outside of town. It was 103 out and I wasn't feeling it. It totally ruined me for any kind of running that evening. I was ready to get back to town and drive home.

I ended up jogging and walking some additional streets in the area and to no avail. I finally got in my car and found the right street that the course goes down and drove the course. It is going to be quite a bumpy and interesting course. An awesome long downhill at the beginning and then some long, gradual hills throughout. I don't know how fast this course will be, but I would love to run a very fast time...My time in Tulsa was 25:40....I am going to go out on a limb and push myself for a goal of 23:00...I know I can do it. I last ran that fast in July of 2006, one of my last road races and last times to run in the last 5 years....It's time to get a PR for my new age division 35-39. I have got to find someone to pace with and stay with them no matter how much it hurts. I think if I can push myself like that, then I will be fine...I finally broke a bad habit last race...I didn't get off to my normal jack rabbit start. Usually when the gun sounds, I take off in the leaderpack and get out in front of the slower runners. This time, I was in the middle of the pace and it took a bit before I crossed the starting line which hurt my time by probably 5-10 seconds. I did keep a good pace throughout and finished strong.

This weekend, I want to start off faster and cover more ground more quickly. Instead of starting off slow and running an average pace, I want to hit the first 1k or so hard and then if I hit the wall I have some wiggle room to work with on my time and distance...I found while training for the Summer Assessment Challenge that when I started off fast for my timed 12 minute run, that I was able to cover more distance in a shorter amount of time and then I could wind down at a slower pace and still finish ahead of my goal.

So I will try my best to get a good start and carry it all the way through the course.

Yesterday's workout consisted of running 8 x 300's. It was a speed workout intended to help strengthen me during the middle stages of a race. It is usually the middle where we all slow down and so instead of running a full 400, they shortened it so we are running faster in the latter parts of the distance. I ran a 1 mile warmup and a .67 warmdown before the treadmill shut down and cleared my data. I finished with 3.67 yesterday...definitely a decent workout.

Today's workout is set to be 2 miles. It is supposed to be a hard 2 miles, but I will make it more of a slower pace to stretch out and get the blood flowing and get some mileage in. We will see how it goes.

Tulsa United Way Sand Run - 5k

Friday mileage: 3.6 (includes warmup time)
WTD mileage: 9.1
CT mileage to date: 44.1
5k race: 25:40

Temperatures dipped into the upper 70s with a nice breeze blowing after a bunch of storms swept through the Tulsa area on Friday. It made for a great evening of racing.

I was well loosened up due to a stretching class I participated in at work and did plenty of warm up prior to the race. I was disappointed that they did not have any of the course marked for distance and there were no splits provided...made it really difficult to race and pace myself.

There were several hills which proved to be challenging. I paced myself throughout the course and then kicked it hard the last quarter mile...I finished 4th in my age group by 16 seconds...and 59th overall.
My time was 25:40 and was an average of 5:09 per k.

My goal was 25:00 but I didn't account for the hills or lack of distance being marked.
It was a good test to see where I am physically and look forward to my next race in the next few weeks.

I am definitely pleased that I can say that I competed and didn't quit...should've kicked it even harder at the end and made up some time.

core week #2 - day 3 and 4

Wednesday mileage: 2
WTD mileage: 5.5
CT mileage to date: 40.5

Thursday mileage: 0 - rest day for race
WTD mileage: 5.5
CT mileage to date: 40.5
Yesterday was my assessment test date at work for our Summer Challenge and so I didn't really do a big workout and with my race being on Friday, I decided I need to not push myself so hard. I had to complete 1.84 miles in 12 minutes and get at least 30 push ups and 85 sit curl ups...I finished with 1.85 miles in 12 minutes and with my cool down went to a jog/walk for the last .15 miles and still managed to log a 14:30 - 2mile time...pretty sweet if you ask me. I also was successful in completing my situps and pushups. I did 30 pushups and 103 sit curlups...felt good to complete the challenge successfully and now I must wait and see who the winner will be. We had 7 remaining as of Monday and the winner will be decided by a drawing since we have so many competing and still in it. I would love to win the $150 gift card to BestBuy.

Today is a rest day for me as I am resting for my run tomorrow in Tulsa, but I am still going to go out and do a light 1 mile jog to keep myself loosened up and prevent extra stiffness. I hate taking a day and a half off...but I will pick back up on Saturday to prevent soreness.

My buddy Mike Finch, who ran Cross Country at ACCC with me and was one of my roommates, invited me to come participate with him in the Warrior Dash held in Tulsa on September 24th....after looking at all the information and pictures, I am totally going to do this...it is the kind of challenge I look forward to..something I have always wanted to do in a race...go through obstacles that include: mud, fire, barbed wire, cargo nets, tires, walls...can't get much better.

Beginning this weekend, I will begin my new training program. It will be a mixture of Cardio training and strength training...so stay tuned as I prepare to be the Ultimate Warrior! Tomorrow's race will be a good test of where I stand in the cardio/running aspect of things, now its time to put some strength and muscle into the equation...

My goal for the 5K is to be under 25:00....or as close to it as possible.
If I run what I ran on the treadmill Tuesday at 4:57 per kilometer, it would equal out to be a 7:35 pace per mile...I think I can probably do this. :)

Time to Warrior up! Funny thing I just thought of...my high school mascot was a Warrior...Ah jeah!