Race Report: Carlsbad 5000

Results: 15:35, 11th Place (29 & Under Race)

Going in to this race I had only one workout (last week) that was timed and able to give me a remote idea what I may run. After that workout I figured I would aim to run under 5min pace. Well, I ran 5:01 pace and placed 11th in my race, which I would say was pretty good. I'm not jumping up and down but I'm also not upset with how the day went. I have done something like one workout every 10 days or so for the last 8 weeks, each with little-to-no planning or direction. Considering that I am happy with the result. Here is how it played out.

It was about 75 degrees, no clouds and very dry. These conditions don't usually bode well for me, so I tried my best to soak myself in water as we waited to start. If you don't know anything about Carlsbad, they call it the "World's Fastest 5k." I'm not sure how that happened, but the course is not very fast. I would argue there is less than half a mile that is actually flat and there is always a wind coming off the water. I have absolutely run on faster courses for 5k, however you are unlikely to find better fields than these most time of the year. It is definitely the people, not the course, that make this race "fast."

After holding us for over 15min at the start area/line they finally shot the gun. The race started insanely fast with a bunch of absolute goons taking off and putting me in somewhere around 30-40 as we took the uphill turn at about half a mile. The race began to sort out a bit more, and I hit the mile around 4:51, which was about where I thought I would be. Mile 2 includes a sharp 180deg turn that really breaks your rhythm, as the turn is right on a moderate downhill, sending you directly back uphill. Mile 2 went by in about 9:56 and I was still moving up through small packs. I caught a group of three at the other 180deg turn with about half a mile to go and picked off a few more before the turn to the finish. Unfortunately my lungs gave out on me about 3/4 of a mile before the finish and I was unable to kick down 10th place.

The good thing was that my legs felt amazing the entire race. If I hadn't gone in to oxygen debt at around 2.5mi I would have had a nice kick to the finish. Considering I don't do any VO2Max work I should expect to lose it around 2-2.5mi, so no complaints there. With a little work I think I could be back around 15:00 on the track by the end of Spring. I am debating a track race before the Spring is over so I may try and pull together some REAL workouts over the next month or two.

The goal now is to focus on running the Union Tribune 8k in May then possibly a track race in late May or June. I am still going to run the La Jolla Half but I am not planning on racing it. I think I will just make it a hard long run, but save myself for the 8k the next weekend. Overall I am feeling positive coming out of today and feel like things are looking up. Today was technically a 5k Road PR, although I am far from satisfied calling that my PR. Time to get back to work and hope for some good races later in the Spring!

Training Summary: March 23 - 29

I need to preface this entry with a short note on me and days off. I usually plan days off, although sometimes life gets in the way or I have an injury. When I finally get in a rhythm with training I try and take very few days off, likely one every 3 -4 weeks, just to stay healthy. The absurd thing is that about 50% of the time I take these days off, the next day I get a nagging pain or injury. Never anything serious, but at times it can be annoying and interfere with training for a while. This week I had planned one day off as I had 2 weeks straight of solid running and wanted to take a day of rest. Low and behold the next day I had to miss my run because of an odd pain in my foot that was bad enough that I couldn't run. I guess there is a possibility that after long periods of activity, the one thing that may throw you off is actually taking some time of inactivity. I need to do some research on this but I just want to say it is annoying, and I don't like it. Sometimes I wonder if I should just never take another day off...

Mon 3/23 - off, planned off day.

Tue 3/24 - off, foot hurt, see comment above...

Wed 3/25 - 9mi, no watch, first 3 solo then 6 with Movin Shoes Wed Night crew, super easy run.

Thu 3/26 - ~14mi, WORKOUT, 5mi in 30:08 directly in to 3 miles of 5:14, 5:09, 5:08. 25min warmup and cooldown. Went out to Mirmar Lake to tag along with George and JLew through a workout. George planned on ~6min pace for 8mi so I decided to cruise for the first 5mi with them and then try to run the last 3mi progressively faster. I had no idea I would be able to pull of a progressive ~15:30 3miler, and it gave me lots of confidence for the Carlsbad 5000 next week.

Fri 3/27 - 10mi, 74:30, easy with George and Di on the bay.

Sat 3/28 - 10mi, 67:45, easy solo on the bay.

Sun 3/29 - 16.06mi, 1:54:03, at San Pasqual with Di, JLew and Darius for the first 12 then 4 solo. Really slow at the start but ended with a really easy feeling effort of 6:10ish pace for my solo 4mi.

Summary: 59mi, 5 days. Considering everything it was actually a decent week, sans the days off. Extremely happy with the workout on Wed and 16mi long runs are a cake walk now. This would have been close to 80mi if I had a full week and I should hit around 80 going from Thu to this coming Thu. The plan is to keep up the volume through Fri and then take a one day taper to hopefully feel fresh for Calrsbad 5000 on Sunday. Anything under 15:30 would make me happy, although I think there's a chance I may surprise myself. No matter what happens I just want to make it a solid effort and race it hard.

Training Summary: March 16 - 22

Mon 3/16 - 9mi, 61:45, easy solo through La Jolla.

Tue 3/17 - 10+mi, 66:30, solo on the bay, 8X100 strides.

Wed 3/18 - 10mi, no watch, first 4 solo then final 6 with Movin Shoes Wed Night runners.

Thu 3/19 - 10mi, 69:40, 8 with Josh (including 4X800 ~5:40/mi) and final 2 solo on the bay.

Fri 3/20 - 10mi, 74:40, run in Tucson with Di and her Uncle through Sabino Canyon.

Sat 3/21 - 9mi, 67:10, easy with Di on the river trail in Tucson.

Sun 3/22 - 16mi, 1:53:56, easy long run at San Pasqual trail with Di, George, JLew and Darius for various parts of the run.

Summary: 74mi, 7 days/runs. A really great week for me and finally a full 7 days of running! Felt really good all week, although I didn't do much hard running so I should have felt good. Di and I had a great trip out to Tucson for a few days and got in some really scenic runs. Definitely a place to check out if you have never been there. I am excited to get in a workout or two this coming week and Carlsbad 5000 is just around the corner.

Training Summary: March 9 - 15

Mon 3/9 - off

Tue 3/10 - 10+mi, 66:15, solo on the bay, 8X100 strides.

Wed 3/11 - 10mi, 1:12:15, 4mi solo and 6mi with the Movin Shoes Wed Night Run crew.

Thu 3/12 - Workout, progression run over Mt. Soledad, really focused on pushing the steep up and then down to mimic the LJ Half Marathon course, felt GREAT!
10mi, 61:25 (full minute faster than I have ever done before)

Fri 3/13 - 10mi, no watch, with Di and JLew at UCSD. JLew and I followed Di as she did a fartlek on the trails at UCSD, and she had a great workout which was a bonus!

Sat 3/14 - 9+mi, 61:20, easy solo through La Jolla.

Sun 3/15 - ~16mi, 1:52:50, at San Pasqual trail. Had company from lots of different people for various amounts of the run, including: Di, George, JLew, Darius and probably a few others I am forgetting.

Summary: 65mi, 6 days. Another good week, with the only thing stopping it from being great was the day off. I am very excited for the weeks to come and the workouts I have planned. I have been getting in some decent hours at Movin Shoes, which has been nice to help put some extra money in my pocket and keep me busy while on the job hunt. Other than that not much is new as I continue looking for a new job and just keep running the only other priority. Di and I are making a trip to Tucson for a few days to visit her Uncle while her Mom and Grandmother are there as well. Hopefully we get some nice trail runs in Arizona and the trip should be fun.

Training Summary: March 2 - 8

Mon 3/2 - 9+mi, 62:45, easy through La Jolla.

Tue 3/3 - off

Wed 3/4 - 14mi, no time. Ran with JLew and helped pace him to a timed mile and then some pickups in the run. Didn't plan on running quite as much but it was a good longer day. Did the timed mile on grass in around 5:10 or so which felt super easy, which was nice.

Thu 3/5 - 10+mi, 66:35, easy solo on the bay.

Fri 3/6 - 10mi, 73:30, on San Pasqual trail with Di for 8mi and 2 solo.

Sat 3/7 - 9mi, 64:30, easy on the bay with James for ~5mi.

Sun 3/8 - 16.1mi, 1:56:18, easy long run with Dianna and George at San Pasqual for most of the run. Finished up the last 3mi under 6min pace to add a little effort in to the end.

Summary: ~68mi, 6 days. Not a bad week with a day off. The goal is to continue adding in a second longer day, but I'm not sure it will always be as close to the full long run. I am feeling really good about where I am at and I think, come the fall, I will really be back in some respectable racing shape. Good things to come as I am now at around a month before the Carlsbad 5000, which should be a good gauge as to my fitness.

Training Summary: February 23 - March 1

Mon 2/23 - 9+mi, 61:50, easy solo through La Jolla.

Tue 2/24 - 10+mi, 68:45, solo on the bay.

Wed 2/25 - ~10mi, 1:12:10, with JLew and his dog Aubie in Rancho Santa Fe.

Thu 2/26 - Workout, 10mi, 63:15, 5 X "short fartlek" (2min hard, 1min easy, 1min hard, 30sec easy, 30sec hard, 2min easy), felt amazing!

Fri 2/27 - 10mi, 1:15:30, easy at San Pasqual trail with George and Di.

Sat 2/28 - 10+mi, 64:30, solo on the bay, 6X100 strides.

Sun 3/1 - 15.29, 1:51:13, easy long run at San Pasqual trail with George, Jason and Nazario (and even Di for a few miles!)

Summary: ~74mi, 7 days. Fantastic week of running. A few slower days but it really made the harder days feel better. I am really excited about the next few weeks as I continue to add in workouts and slowly increase the mileage a bit more. Nothing else new out here but training so it looks like running will keep a front seat for now!

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK

CONGRATS KEITH!

Training Summary: February 16 - 22

Mon 2/16 - 9mi, 65:30, on the bay with some company from Campbell for the middle 4mi.

Tue 2/17 - 9+mi, 59:50, solo through La Jolla.

Wed 2/18 - off, under the weather.

Thu 2/19 - 10+mi, 65:30, Mt. Soledad loop, hard to the top but unable to finish push back down due to residual issues from day before, overall a good first "workout." Plan is to do this every other week as a progression run in prep for La Jolla Half.

Fri 2/20 - 9+mi, 60:25, solo through La Jolla.

Sat 2/21 - 10mi, 71:10, first 8 with Di then final 2 solo out at San Pasqual Trail.

Sun 2/22 - 14.1mi, 1:30:46, solo on the bay, same loop as last week but a minute faster, felt great!

Summary: ~61mi, 6 days. Solid week with an unplanned day off due to some stomach issues on Wed. If I did my normal 9-10mi on Wed it wold have been the 70ish mile week I had planned. With Carlsbad 5000 coming in just about a month I am going to hold the mileage around where it is but add in some new hard days. I have a plan sort of laid out for the next 6+ weeks which will hopefully set me up to run a road PR for the 5k, not that it would take much (15:3?) and then race well at La Jolla.

Big shout out to my boy Kelrock for really taking a huge step back to his old self in running an amazing 5k on the road and following it up with an equally impressive XC race back on the Emerald Isle. Great to see Keith with such a positive attitude for running because it definitely rubs off.

Training Summary: February 9 - 15

Mon 2/9 - 7mi, no time, easy in some crazy wind and rain with JLew and the Mizuno Run With Us guys Brian and Joe up in Del Mar

Tue 2/10 - 10mi, 71:00, easy around Mission and Pacific Beaches with the Mizuno crew.

Wed 2/11 - 8mi, 60:00, easy around Balboa Park with the Mizuno crew.

Thu 2/12 - off, no good reason.

Fri 2/13 - 10mi, 74:30, out at San Pasqual trails with Di for 8 and then 2 solo.

Sat 2/14 - 9mi, 59:00, easy morning run around La Jolla.

Sun 2/15 - 14.1mi, 1:31:49, solid long run solo around the bay. Felt like 7min pace but held 6:30ish pace the entire run, super fantastic day!

Summary: 58mi, 6 days. I had a few really easy days and an off day but the long run was solid and felt insanely easy. As long as I don't take a day off I should hit 70+mi next week which is right where I want to be. I think I may begin throwing in a mid-run workout this coming week which I will use as my other hard day, besides my long run, for the time being. I have decided I am going to run the Carlsbad 5000 and the La Jolla Half Marathon, both in April. I am excited to get in a solid 5000 on the road and hopefully pull off a good time. The LJ Half is more about getting a really hard effort in, as it is a very difficult course, but I am excited to finally do it.

Training Summary: January 26 - February 8

Jan 26 - Feb 1

Mon 1/26 - 8mi, 56:00, easy solo on the bay, a little sore from the race but felt decent.

Tue 1/27 - off

Wed 1/28 - 9mi, no watch, easy solo on the Bay.

Thu 1/29 - 10mi, 71:30 with JLew and George around the Bay.

Fri 1/30 - 8mi, 53:45, easy solo on the Bay

Sat 1/31 - 8mi, with Di around the trails Bonita.

Sun 2/1 - off, Super Bowl Sunday activities take precedent on my down week.

Summary: 43mi, 5 days. Easy week following the half-marathon. No plan to do that much over this and possibly next week, then back to building up for a race TBD.

Feb 2-8

Mon 2/2 - 10mi, easy with JLew in Del Mar.

Tue 2/3 - off

Wed 2/4 - 9mi, 59:30, easy solo on the Bay.

Thu 2/5 - 9+mi, 62:00, easy solo through La Jolla.

Fri 2/6 - 10mi, easy with JLew and George in Scrips Ranch around the Lake.

Sat 2/7 - 9mi, 68:15, 8mi super easy with Di through La Jolla then solo for the last mile.

Sun 2/8 - 10+mi, 63:40, solo on the Bay.

Summary: 57mi, 6 days. Decent week with one day off. Nothing great yet but next week should be good with a Long Run added in. Other than that nothing much going on, a few job prospects which I hope will work out, but more on that later.