St. Patty's Day 10K & 5K

My hamstrings were as tight as a rubberband, my quads pounded into ground beef, and my calves ripped like shredded paper. My toughest week of running was almost complete -- I just had to survive the St. Patty's 10K. My tough 40-mile week started with a speed session on Monday, a tempo on Tuesday, and a track meet the next day. I had a breakthrough day at the track meet, running 5:39 in the mile (placing second) and running an 800 in 2:38 about 15 minutes later. Thursday was an easy day, then I had the Bob Hayes Invitational Track Meet in Jacksonville the following day where I ran one second slower in both events due to a stiff wind that slowed most distance runners' times by 3-5 seconds. Yesterday I ran an easy 4 miles with Dad, which then brings us to 6:15 AM today, getting myself ready for the 10K. My goal was to PR of course but I knew my performance would be affected by the killer week I had just endured. Dad, like me, was also aiming for a 2009 PR to creep closer to his 2008 PR set at Run for the Pies last June. Dad, my grandpa, and I were out the door at 6:45 AM, my grandpa being the designated photographer for the day. We left the house with no GPS in hand, or directions for that matter, only relying on my memory from last year when we got lost in a "less inviting" area of the city. Everything was smooth sailing until Dad took the wrong turn, making us drive a sequence of turns to get back onto Main Street. After Dad's short tirade, we made it to Evergreen Cemetery, site of today's race and October's Pumpkin Run as well. We quickly proceeded to do a brisk warm up, shivering in the unseasonably brisk weather. Once back at the car, I took off my warm ups and put on my signature white gloves, preventing my hands from turning into two blocks of ice. Dad and I headed over to the start, trying not to get stuck behind a pack of weekend warriors like last year. We secured a good starting position, only about 5 feet from the timing mats. The gun soon went off and I followed Dad's burly body as we went through the first mile in 6:42. My goal was to hang with Dad until he went onto to finish the 5K and I continued on another loop through the cemetery. Mile 2 was a little slower, as I expected, our split being 6:57. In an attempt to keep up my pace, I pulled ahead of Dad as the third mile progressed. The 5Kers eventually took a right turn while the rest of the 10Kers took a left and ran over than same course again. The second half of the race was much more gruelling, the feeling of the races from the past week noticable on my sore hamstrings. The slight hills were much more prominent on the second loop, a sign that my hill running remains a weakness in my training regimen. My pace slowed into the mid-7:00s for mile 4 and 5, and I made my best attempt to hold that pace for the last mile, trying to pick off a few people. I began my kick at mile 6 and raced towards the finish in a PR of 43:30. I saw a couple kids around my age finish in after me, but I was almost sure they were not in my age group. It was only 15 minutes until the 5K awards were presented, where Dad gladly accepted his 1st place plaque for his 45-49 age group. He ran a 21:25, 20 seconds faster than his time at the Nocatee 5K just two weeks ago where he had earned a third place award in his age group. Dad has claimed hardware in four of his six races this year, whereas I am 6-for-6 (just wanted to clarify who is the new chairman of the running department in the Abate family). I, too, placed first my age group today , tacking on another 100 points to my Grand Prix standing. It was a good way to top off an exciting albeit exhausting week of running. I go into this week with high aspirations to get a good week of training in, and possibly lower my PR in the mile in a track meet on Tuesday. Currently, Dad and I are possibly looking at doing the Fleming Island 5K on April 11th, a race where I am almost certain to set a PR. So long and keep running hard!