Nutri-Run Recap

I awoke this past Saturday morning prepared to run the second race of my 2011 running season, the Nutri-Run 5 miler. It was a gorgeous day out, sunny, slightly chilly, and a slight breeze. Great running weather in my book! I ate my pre-race meal, grabbed my Brooks gym bag, and headed out the door.

Everything leading up to the race went incredibly smooth. I sat in my car right before the race and took a couple of pics, slid on my new Brooks T7 Racers, slid off the running pants revealing my shorty shorts, and headed to the starting line.

The race began, and as I normally go out too fast, I tried intentionally to slide into my goal pace. I clocked in at  mile 1 about 20 seconds faster then planed (even with the plethora of hills). I thought, dang, but decided to hold onto that pace for as long as I possibly could. Miles 2,3,4...right on in regards to my new faster pace. Hitting mile 5 was where it got tough. The hills had really worn on my legs and I was now running into a strong headwind.

Just as I started to lose focus, a fellow runner passed me. The thought of slowing down passed through my mind, but quickly dissipated. I latched on, and followed her through to the finish. My goal time for this race? 40 minutes. My actual time? 38:44!!!  Compared to my time last year this is very sad, but for where I am in my training right now, it made me very happy!

Not thinking I was anywhere near an award, I ended up 2nd out of 3 in my age group receiving a pineapple (see picture below). I also placed 20th out of 112.

The Nutri-run has always been a great early season race, and I plan on running it again in 2012. Maybe next year I'll be in shape enough to complete the 20K!

Praise the Lord and run on!

Brooks Racer T7 Review

Todays workout:  3 miles @ 8:49

Happy early birthday to me! My incredible wife let me purchase my birthday present a few weeks early! This post is my initial review of the new 2011 Brooks T7 Racer.

I must preface this review by informing my followers that I have not yet run a race in these shoes. I have only worn them during a 4 mile run. The first thing you will notice as you take these racers out of the box, is they are CRAZY lite! The Racer T7 is by far the lightest racing shoe I have worn post high school, weighing in at an incredible 6.4 ounces.

Other than the fact that they are a work of art, the second thing you will notice is they run very small. I normally wear an 11.5, but I could have probably used a 12 in these. I became so attached though, I couldn't stand to ship them back, so I just sucked it up.

The Racer T7 is a very narrow shoe, and at first they hurt my feet somewhat. As I entered my first mile the pain increased. Uh oh! No worries though, after a couple miles on the road they broke in just fine and ended up feeling awesome! When I finished the run, my mile splits were much faster than normal. Was it the shoes? Who knows, but I'm sure they helped.

Finally, the wear factor on these shoes is not so hot. But really, what do you expect? They are insanely lite weight racers made of almost pure foam. After my one 4 mile run in these shoes, the bottoms showed some wear. I wouldn't expect them to last longer than one racing season.

Overall review (so far): I love these shoes! Yes, they have a few flaws, some of which can't be avoided when a shoe weighs so little, but they are amazing! If you have good foot mechanics, and are looking for light weight racers, buy these shoes!

Giving Up Gracefully

This last week has been absolutely crazy! The bank I work for was bought out a year and a half ago, but this week was the first week working for my new employer officially. It's been a nut house! Not only have I been dealing with all that, but also some patella tendinitis, and a strained calf in regards to my running.

I've taken a couple weeks off from serious running, and this week was my first back. It's gone....ok. I recently purchased a treadmill from my co-worker and I made the mistake of starting out on it instead of heading outdoors. Bad idea! Snoozefest! I instantly lost all passion for running! I tried running a tempo run on it yesterday and gave up 2 and a half miles in. Today I attempted the same work out, and even though I walked a tad, I completed it and got some of my lost passion back! The real good news though is there was no pain!

My next big challenge is my 7 mile long run I'm going to do this Sunday. I have a 6.5 mile fun run in Chicago with my running sponsor, Brooks, in a week and a half. If I can't complete this run Sunday, I might have some major issues when I head to Chicago! I think I'll be ok though, I did 5 today.

Last note before I stop babbling, Blogger has all new backgrounds!!!!   Sweet!!!! They even have running backgrounds (obviously!). I'm loving having a running backdrop to my running blog!

Praise the Lord and run on!

New Facebook App!

I added a new Facebook Application today that was created by Brooks Running, It's called Brooks Running Club. I'm still learning the ropes but it seems like a great tool for any runner. It keeps track of your training schedule, milage on your shoes, helps you find local runners that are on par with your skill level, and much much more! Very nice! Thanks Brooks for the quality app!