Stepping Down in Distance
This evening is the Little Kings Mile here in Cincinnati. It's the second leg of the beer series (a series of three races all sponsored by Christian Moerlein brewing) and the first event of Flying Pig weekend. It's also sweet because it's one of the few races in town with an elite element and prize money to boot.
I haven't raced a mile in two years, when I competed in the inaugural Little Kings Mile. That, though, was three weeks after my Boston Marathon...so I followed up the longest road race with the shortest. Not an ideal situation, but considering that I still ran decent (4:31 for 4th place).
This year I'm not in peak mile shape, but I am in much better than post-marathon shape. I've been getting in some real good base training, with lots of hills and threshold running. While the mile will be a bit of a shock to the system, it'll still be fun to see what I can do.
But, if I'm ultimately training for half and full marathons, why step down in distance? In short: because it's fun to run fast. That feeling of effortless speed is one I remember fondly from the high school and college days, and it's fun to recapture that on occasion. Even though I know I'm not in the kind of shape to challenge my best mile (3:55 for 1500, so about 4:12-ish for the mile), it's still exciting to throw down and see what these marathoner's legs can do. A race like today's is also a good speed workout, to help build basic turnover and efficiency that will hopefully extend into faster long-distance times.
New Kit!
Since this is my first race of 2015 (well, excluding the Houston Half in January), today will be my first race in the new Fleet Feet uniform. So here it is:
Be on the lookout for this tonight at the Little Kings Mile and all weekend at the various Flying Pig events. And then, of course, throughout the rest of the year!
And for anyone who sees this post in time, if you live in Cincinnati come downtown by 8:30 pm to watch the race. There should be some really good milers in the field, and then myself somewhere behind them. And if you need a few extra miles for the day, bring your shoes and cool down with me after the race.
This evening is the Little Kings Mile here in Cincinnati. It's the second leg of the beer series (a series of three races all sponsored by Christian Moerlein brewing) and the first event of Flying Pig weekend. It's also sweet because it's one of the few races in town with an elite element and prize money to boot.
I haven't raced a mile in two years, when I competed in the inaugural Little Kings Mile. That, though, was three weeks after my Boston Marathon...so I followed up the longest road race with the shortest. Not an ideal situation, but considering that I still ran decent (4:31 for 4th place).
This year I'm not in peak mile shape, but I am in much better than post-marathon shape. I've been getting in some real good base training, with lots of hills and threshold running. While the mile will be a bit of a shock to the system, it'll still be fun to see what I can do.
But, if I'm ultimately training for half and full marathons, why step down in distance? In short: because it's fun to run fast. That feeling of effortless speed is one I remember fondly from the high school and college days, and it's fun to recapture that on occasion. Even though I know I'm not in the kind of shape to challenge my best mile (3:55 for 1500, so about 4:12-ish for the mile), it's still exciting to throw down and see what these marathoner's legs can do. A race like today's is also a good speed workout, to help build basic turnover and efficiency that will hopefully extend into faster long-distance times.
New Kit!
Since this is my first race of 2015 (well, excluding the Houston Half in January), today will be my first race in the new Fleet Feet uniform. So here it is:
Be on the lookout for this tonight at the Little Kings Mile and all weekend at the various Flying Pig events. And then, of course, throughout the rest of the year!
And for anyone who sees this post in time, if you live in Cincinnati come downtown by 8:30 pm to watch the race. There should be some really good milers in the field, and then myself somewhere behind them. And if you need a few extra miles for the day, bring your shoes and cool down with me after the race.
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