Day # 74: 10K Road Race in 47:29 - 1st Place in 18-29 Age Group

In what I consider to be a milestone achievement in my marathon training thus far, I competed in a 10K Road Race in Milton, MA. today and finished first in my age group with a time of 47:21. The conditions to start the race were perfect---Sunny, mid 70s, light breeze, and a shady course. I went through mile 1 in 7:11, mile 2 in 7:23, mile 3 in 8:07, mile 4 in 7:27, Mile 5 in 7:56, Mile 6 7:45 and the last 2/10ths in 52 seconds. Making my pace 7:47 per mile. I appeared to finish in 14th place overall, but apparently everyone that beat me was in the 30 and over agre brackets, so after the race my name was announced as the winner for my age group. I won a $50 Gift Certificate to "The Rack" restaurant/bar in Boston just oustide Fanueil Hall. All together the race went very well.

Results are here:
http://www.coolrunning.com/results/05/ma/Oct1_1stAnn_set4.shtml

Day # 71: 8 Mile Run in Waltham

I took to the streets of Waltham this evening before my soccer game. I ran a very hilly 8 mile route, but felt great throughout. No feeling of soreness from earlier runs, just the nagging groin soreness that I have had for a couple of weeks now. I ended up finishing the 8 mile run tonight in 59:07, a little bit over 7/mins per mile due to the number of hills on the course. The temps again tonight were great as it was in the 60s with a light breeze.

Day # 70: 4.5 Mile Run Under the Cloak of Darkness

Arriving home at 6:15 tonight, I had no choice but to run part of tonight's workout in darkness. It was the first "night run" of my training program thus far, but the run went well. I only went 4 tonight, but they were comfortable miles at 7 mins/mile pace. I ran all the way down to Fenway, turned around and ran all the way up Boylston past the Public Garden and Boston Common until it intersects Tremont. I then did a loop around the common, ran up Charles, then finally ended with a sprint up Pinckney St. to end the run. Great run tonight under good conditions, albeit in the darkness. 4.5 miles in 33:27.

Day # 69: Climbing up on Beacon Hill

Driving home from work with temps in the low 60s and overcast conditions, I knew it would be a fantastic evening for a run along the Charles. Leaving the house, I jogged down Pinckney, crossed over the Fieldler Bridge, stretched out, and then proceeded to run 2 hard miles (6:30ish pace)to the workout area before the BU Sailing area. I did 100 situps and 50 pushups at the workout area, then turned around and jogged comfortably (7:15ish pace) back to the Fiedler Bridge and out to Beacon St. I ran up Beacon St., turned on Charles, then ran down to the intersection of Pinckney and Charles. I completed 3 hard sprints up Pinckney to our door, each time following the sprint with a slow jog back down the hill. As I finished up the last couple of hills, it started raining hard, just the time to duck inside my apartment satisfied with completing 5 miles in 36:47.

Day # 68: 60 Minutes of Cross Training - Tennis

For the second consecutive day, I started off my morning with 60 minutes of tennis down at the community court in our neighborhood in Otis. Although the weather wasn't quite as nice, it was still decent. The good news is that I felt great playing tennis only 15 or so hours after running more than 7 miles of hills.