Despite the chilly 14°F temperature I managed a solid 20 mile long run on Saturday morning. Luckily there was hardly any wind and with the sun shining it wasn’t as uncomfortable as it could have been. Nice first 20 miler of the Shamrock Marathon campaign…
Today was the Virginia Beach Winter Endurance Challenge 5k XC
– a local cross country race held at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. I wasn’t too hopeful of a fast time after running 20 miles on Saturday morning, but figured I’d try to average six minute mile pace for the 3.1 miles.
Despite the small number of entrants, I managed to find a good rhythm and was pleased to reach the one mile mark in 5:58. From here to the finish it was just a question of maintaining my form and keeping the cadence going. I didn’t feel as tired as I expected and finished pretty strongly in 18:36 – exactly six minute mile pace.
With the few miles added for a warm up/cool down, my weekly total climbed to 64 which is the most since the Richmond Marathon in November. The last five weeks have been 41, 49, 50, 55 and 64, so I’m definitely headed in the right direction.
I may back off a little this week as I have a 25k race on Saturday, but we’ll see. I may surprise myself…
Impressive as always!
You are running more than I have been. I barely managed 20 miles last week, although I did have many hours of shoveling snow.
Wow, you turned in some fantastic performances, Steve! (And especially impressive given the chilly temperatures.)
Good luck on this weekend’s race!
-C
P.S. Are you still planning on doing Frederick this May?
Thanks Andrew!
Blaine, after your impressive 50 miler, you have every right to take it easy for a while…
Corey, Frederick is a definite maybe! I’ll probably decide some time after the Shamrock Marathon in March. It is one of my favorite marathons though, so I’m definitely keen…
Hi Steve,
I’m still deciding too (on the Half ;-)). I notice that they require people to pick up their packet in Frederick the day before. So is there some reason they aren’t mailing it to people instead? (Not everyone stays the weekend in Frederick. 😉 ) Well, if you decide to do the race, let me know. Erik & I are tentatively planning on going. Should be fun! Would be great to see you & Ally!
-C