Week ending April 7, 2007

Sunday: 4 miles Trails / 3 Miles Twin Creek Trail Course and 1 mile cool down / After the bad race yesterday with no energy, I came back today and ran a PR for this 3 mile trail course.  I felt really good compared to yesterday and probably could have cut another minute off my PR. / Pace 8:56, knocked 49 seconds off previous best.
Monday: 7 Miles Germantown Reserve Course / Ran 3 minutes faster on the same course as the race on Saturday.  I ran more comfortably and had alot more energy.  I ran all of the hills and felt really good at the end of the run.  I think I could run the course in 68 minutes with a few days rest. / 10:54 pace / Weight today was 215 1/2 lbs
Tuesday: 4 Miles Twin Creek Course / Finally had a good night sleep and loaded up with carbs to help me with a PR for course even with the 80 + temp.  Felt really strong on this 4 mile course.  Ran all the hills strong.  Ran the same sections of the 3 mile course at a faster pace than Sunday.  Either this is a long 4 miles or the 3 mile course is short. / 9.47 pace
Wednesday: 8.25 treadmill 1.0 incline / temperature really dropped, with the wind it was about 20° f / felt really good again today / 7:59 pace / weight 214 1/2 lbs body fat at 26%
Thursday:  4.25 miles treadmill 1.0 incline / very cold and windy again today / 8:34 pace
Friday: 3.5 miles treadmill 1.0 incline / Easy run today with race tomorrow.  Very cold outside again today, with snow. / 8:34 pace
Saturday: 5k Race / Make a Difference, Save a Life 5K, Wegerzyn Gardens , Dayton Ohio

Date: April 7th, 2007
Event: Make a Difference, Save a Life 5K
Location: Wegerzyn Gardens , Dayton Ohio
Time: 23.12 PR
Overall Place: 13th
Age Group (40-49) Place:3rd
Pace: 7:28
Splits: ??
Cut 12 seconds off previous best. The course was very fast.  The first 1/2 had a tail & cross wind.  The last half was into the wind but fairly flat.  I ran the first half in 10.57, 78 seconds faster than the 2nd half.  I felt really great until the last 1/2 mile when I completely fell apart.  At the half way point I felt I could run the same pace for the second half, which would have put me close to a 7 minute pace.  The overall male winner finished in 17.37 and the overall female finished in 18.33.  The winner of my age group finished 2nd overall in 17.46.  The temperature was about 25f with a fairly strong wind.

Total miles for the week: 35 1/2 miles

Weight: 214 1/2  lbs 26% fat / loss of 1 1/2 lbs & .5% fat

Felt really good this week.  The weather forced me to run on the treadmill for 3 days.  Current streak is 12 days for 64 miles.

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Week ending April 14, 2007

Sunday: 8 1/2 miles treadmill / My diet has been terrible over the last few days, so I was very pleased with this longer run today.  I had plenty of energy and could have gone a few more miles if time permitted. / 8:34 pace
Monday: 6 miles trails Twin Creek Reserve / Temperature was perfect at 40° f with a light wind / Great run and all time PR for this course.  I can't believe how good I felt.  I pushed the pace fairly hard including the hills.  This is a very tough and hilly course and I could have probably run it a few minutes faster.  I was holding back until the last mile thinking that I would eventually die.  The last 600 meter hill wasn't a problem.  I even PR'd 3 shared segments from my 3 and 4 mile runs.  I should be able to run the Germantown Dam 7 Mile Course in 67 minutes. / Time58:02 Pace 9:40 / 13 minutes faster than the last attempt / Weight today was 215 lbs, but my body fat dropped another 1/2 % to 25.5 %
Tuesday: 7 mile Germantown Reserve Trail Course / Another great day and PR.  Cut 8 minutes off of the last run on this course last week.  This is the same course that I ran a race on 2 weeks ago in 79.07.  I cut 11 minutes off of the race time.  The weather was perfect; however, the trail was still quite muddy.  I should be able to run this much faster on good rest. / 67.56 pace 9.43
Wednesday: 4 Miles / 5k Helke Park race in Vandalia, Ohio / 1 mile warm up
Thursday:  3.5 Treadmill 1.0 incline / 8:00 pace / Legs tired today, needed the easy run.
Friday: 6 miles Trails / Twin Creek Metropark Course / Ran the same course as tomorrows race.  Ran the course easy and felt really good.  I should be able to run at least 58 minutes tomorrow.  That was my PR time from Monday.  Today I ran the course in 64:29.  The course was a little muddy in spots but overall quite surprisingly dry.
Saturday: Twin Creek Reserve Metro Park 10k trail race.  Germantown, Ohio / This course is actually a 10k.  I have been calculating my pace based on 6 miles.  That Makes a big difference on my pace. / Time 56:45 Pace 9:09

Date: April 11th, 2007
Event: ORRRC Helke Park 5K
Location: Vandalia Rec Center tonequarry Road Vandalia, OH
Time: 23.21
Overall Place: 48
Age Group (40-44) Place:6th
Pace: 7:30
Splits: 7:02, 7:34, 8:06, .38
9 seconds slower than previous best. The course was very flat and fast; however, it was slightly flooded. My size 12 shoes were soaked and heavy.  I thought I did fairly well considering I have had 5 consecutive hard runs.  The last mile as usual was into the wind. The temperature was around 50° f.  It rained most of the day but cleared up right before the race.  There was a nice rainbow to welcome us across the finish line.  I sprinted the last tenth to pass a couple of runners who passed me in the last 1/4 (One looked like he was in my age group and I don't like getting passed that late in the race).  Judging by the speed and energy I had in the last tenth, I probably didn't push the last mile hard enough.

Date: April 14th, 2007
Event: 2007 Twin Creek 10K Trail Run
Location: Germantown, Ohio 45327
Time: 56:45
Overall Place: 32
Age Group (40-44) Place:6th
Pace: 9.09
Splits: ??
This Course was much faster than the sister trail course at the Germantown Dam.  I felt a whole lot better than a few weeks ago.  I actually beat many runners who easily beat me a few weeks ago.  The weather was rainy and cold at the start but felt good when running.  I felt really good an cut over a minute off my previous best.  I felt really good except for the last 600 meter hill.  I actually set a PR for all sections of the course except for the last hill, where I ran 30 seconds slower.  I ran the race with a new pair of trail shoes (Puma Trailfox) and was very happy with the results.  They are a light weight shoe with great traction, water resistant, support and very comfortable.  I would recommend the shoe to any Trail Racer.  The shoe is 1.5 oz lighter than my normal trail shoe.  The winner of the race ran a 6:10 pace (unbelievable).

Total miles for the week: 41 miles

Weight: 214 1/2  lbs 25.5% fat / loss of  .5% fat

Great week!!  Felt really good with the increased mileage.

Week ending April 21, 2007

Sunday: 3.25 miles treadmill 1.0 incline / Had no energy today and could only go 3 miles.  I ran the first 2 miles at 8:00 before running out of energy.  Last weeks mileage caught up to me today.  Hopefully I will be ready for a good run tomorrow.
Monday: 4 miles Twin Creek Trail / Course is actually longer.  I ran the same pace as the race on Saturday.  My legs felt heavy, but it was a course PR. / 37:50 / Weight 114 1/2 lbs
Tuesday: 7 miles Germantown Reserve Trails / Felt real sluggish and legs were very heavy.  I wanted to stop after a few miles, but kept going.  I even ran all of the hills.  My time was still only 3 minutes off my best. The temperature was back over 70° f and I felt a little dehydrated. / Pace was 10:10 / Weight today was 211 lbs and Body fat was 25%.
Wednesday: 3 Miles Twin Creek Trail / Set a PR for the course cutting off 2 minutes.  My legs felt heavy and were a little sore around the ankles.  I barely held on for the last 1/2 mile, especially the last 600 meter hill.  I couldn't believe my time at the end.  I will have to take it easy over the next few days, so that my legs are ready for Saturday's race. / Time 24:41 Pace 8:13
Thursday:  10k Road Course / Was planning on running easy today, but it didn't work out that way.  I started the 10K course feeling really good.  I ran the first mile into a strong wind at 8:01 and decided to pick the pace up.  Most of the run seemed to be into the wind which slowed me down a little.  I ended up setting a PR this year for the course in 48:27, which is a 7:48 Pace.  I cut over 2 minutes over my previous best.  The last mile was mostly heavy crosswinds and into the wind and I managed to run it in 7:30.  My plan is to take tomorrow off which will end a 24 day streak of 128 miles.
Friday: Off Today.  No time to run due to work.  This weekend will be tough with running my concessions at the festival.
Saturday: ORRRC Sugar Maple 5K Bellbrook, Ohio.  The Sugar Maple festival is one of the events on my Concession Business Schedule (One of the reasons why I gained so much weight over the years.  We sell Funnel cakes and other favorites;)

Date: April 21, 2007
Event: ORRRC Sugar Maple 5K
Location: Bellbrook, Ohio
Time: 23:24
Overall Place: 61 out of 299
Age Group (40-44) Place:10th out of 22
Pace: 7:32
Splits: 7:12 7:50 7:28 :53
The only bright side of this race was that my last mile was the fastest 3rd mile this year.  The course was fairly easy and flat.  There were no noticeable hills.  I new from waking up after 1 hour of sleep it was going to be a slow run.  I worked late the night before running my concession business at the festival and by the time I finished up my computer work at home I only had an hour to sleep.  I was going to skip the race; however I knew it would be my only chance to run during the day.  Not only was I tired with no energy, but my body was very sore.  Working concessions is not an easy job.  I am surprised at the time and thought I would be much slower.  I think that I am capable of running a sub 22 minute 5k, but I don't want to slow my training down to prove it.  The Male winner ran a time of 16:38 and the Female winner ran 18:47 Finishing 5th overall.  The Male Master winner had a time of 18:58.

Total miles for the week: 27 3/4 miles

Weight: 211  lbs 25% fat / loss of 3.5 lbs and  .5% fat

Mileage was lower due to the mileage increase last week.  I also lost one day to work.  Because of the condition of my body (very sore) I will not be able to run Tomorrow either.  I am very happy with my weight loss this week.  It was probably due to the mileage last week.  I need to try to get another good streak going.  I ended one of my best streaks ever at 24 days for 128 Miles.

Week ending April 28, 2007

Sunday: Off today.  I am very sore and tired from working this weekend.
Monday: 10K Twin Creek Trail Course / Did not feel like running today, but am very glad I forced myself to.  I ran the course at and easy Pace and felt good after the first few miles.  I actually ran the last 1/2 mile faster than my PR. /  1 mile into my run today I started to smell wood burning and came across the smoldering remnants of a small forest fire.  It looked like it was fairly recent and there was no lighting in the previous few days.  Luckily I ran into Park Ranger on a 4 wheeler and let him know of smoldering ash.  I noticed that the fire was pretty much extinguished except for one large smoldering tree that had fallen months ago.
Tuesday: 10K Twin Creek Trail Course / Felt really good today.  My legs were not as sore today.  My knees were very sore before yesterdays run, but were fine today. I ran the first half easy and the second half was a PR.  I ended up running the course 3 minutes slower than my best; however,  I ran fairly comfortable and never really struggled even in the 80° f sun. / Pace 9:31 / weight today was 211 lbs
Wednesday: 10K Twin Creek Trail Course / Felt good the first half, but died the second half.  Overheated, lost energy and heavy legs.  Still ran faster than Monday. / 10:21 pace
Thursday:  7 Miles Treadmill 1.0 incline / Felt really strong today.  Thunderstorms forced me to run on the treadmill today. / Pace for 6 miles was 7:30 with a mile cool down. / Weight today was a surprisingly 208 lbs and 25% body fat.  I have lost another 3 lbs this week.
Friday: 10K Twin Creek Trail Course / Course was muddy from the rain yesterday and today. After the first mile I felt really good and thought I might be able to set a PR for the course.  The first mile was actually 52 seconds slower than my PR and I finished 38 seconds off my PR.  I would have set a PR easily if it wasn't so muddy.  I slipped and crawled up a few of the steep hills.  The temperature was perfect; however, it was windy.  I did Set a PR for the 2nd half of the course.  I felt really strong today and lighter. / Pace 9:15
Saturday: 7 Miles trails and treadmill / Ran 2 runs today.  The first run was my 3 mile twin creek course (PR 8:10 Pace).  The 2nd run was in the evening on the treadmill (3 miles 1.0 incline 7:26 Pace).  Felt low on energy today and did not think I could go past 3 miles.  I decided to break up my 6 mile run into two fast runs.

Total miles for the week: 39 1/4 miles

Weight: 208  lbs 25% fat / loss of 3 lbs

Mileage back up this week.  The week started bad with a day off but I was able to run 6 straight days of 6 miles plus.  Very happy with back to back weeks of losing 3 lbs.

Week ending May 5th, 2007

Sunday: 4 Miles Twin Creek Course / Ran very easy today.  Had no energy.
Monday: 10K Twin Creek Trail Course / Ran ok considering the heat.  I was close to 90° f with a very hot sun.  I really struggled over the last mile.  I will probably need to start running early morning. / 63:27 / weight today was 208 lbs.

154 miles for the month / 540 miles for the year / loss of 8 lbs & 1.5% BF for the month

If you have advice or questions feel free to email me at garysmith@runwalkjog.com

Complete List Of My 2007 Race Results

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