Easy evening run

Today I ran with my brother at 7 p.m. in the Blasco park. We did 8 laps today since We are doing our tempo workout tomorrow morning. I just wanted to keep things easy today and felt much better than expected. When I was at home, I felt sore, but once I got moving felt pretty good.

First lap was in 6:03, I was a bit scared because yesterday and today when I was walking, I am feeling like a cramp in my left, just like what I suffered last year in Boston, when I was crossing a street, so I started my run very slowly trying to prevent that.

After the first lap, did not look at the watch again, but pressed the split button at halfway in 23:11, and I finished the 8 laps (7.2k) in 45:42, so negative split by 40 seconds. Anyway, the effort was very easy getting ready for tomorrow`s 5k tempo. Weather was hot, but good.

Easy recovery run

Generally, I rest on Thursdays, but as I will be out of town on Sunday, I decided to move the rest day to Sunday. Next week, my rest day will be Thursday as usual.

Today I ran at 6:35 p.m. with my brother in the Blasco park. Today I was sore and tired, those intervals really got the best of me. These are the first intervals that really leave me sore for the next day. Anyway, today was very easy just to recover.

We did 9 laps.Looked the watch in the first lap in 5:50 feeling tired and sluggish, then loosened up as the run progressed, pressed the split button in the 8th lap which was 46:02 and finished the 9 laps in 51:42. Only looked the watch at the end after the first lap. Goal today was to run easy and recover. Weather was hot!

Have a great day!

Afternoon Intervals: 5 x 1000m with 400m jog rest in between

Today I did the intervals that I had planned, which was 5 x 1000m with 400m jog rest in between, I do them with half distance recovery (500m), but my brother do them with only 400m, so whatever. I ran at 5:40 p.m. today with my brother. He is on Vacation, so We ran earlier, that meant that the heat was going to be higher too, but no problem. Its been almost 1 month without doing interval work and that was noticed today. I was just too tired.

We warmed up 15 mins and I incorporated my usual 5 x 50m or so strides to loosen up the legs and We were ready to go. Today I only looked at the watch at the end of each repeat, not during.

The only repeat that I feel good was on the first one, during the second onward I felt really tired and the legs felt tired. I battled through though and finished. I felt labored the whole way and by the end was very tired, did not push it a lot, so that I don't bury myself for "Saturday`s race" (more on that later). Wanted to at least one repeat to run it sub 4 mins for the first time in years, but that did not happen today, I could have done that, but as I said I would have buried myself.

Splits for me were: 4:14, 4:18, 4:14 (out and back 500m), 4:11, 4:04. As you can see by the numbers I ran good, but given how I felt, I don't consider this to be a great workout, just a decent workout. Not really bad, to be the first one after the break.

My brother ran pretty good, He said He felt pretty good for the whole workout and I could only build a gap in the last repeat, in the others He was a step behind and He even beat me in the second one.

I felt like trash, but in the cool down felt pretty good, cooled down for 12:16, so around 1.7k, for I would say was 10.6k total for the day.

Today when I was going to register for Saturday`s race, the system says its sold out, They only admit 2000 people apparently,but they say that registration would be till tomorrow 8 p.m., so I was paying attention to that, so it seems that my brother and I are out from this race, I am pissed off about that, I was attracted to that route. Anyway, it seems that We will have to do a 5k tempo on Saturday to make things up.

Weather was very hot today, but We managed it pretty well!

Fueled evening easy run

Today I was supposed to do the interval workout, but We went to the All you can eat buffet at lunch time, so the workout was not happening. I know that by the time its time to run, We are still full, so We move the workout to tomorrow. We probably are racing a 5850m race on Saturday evening, so no problem if We moved the workout to tomorrow.

I ate a lot today, but not over the top, since I still put good importance on my run, I thought that I was going to run at 8 p.m. or so, but at 6:45 p.m. I was ready to go, a bit full, but ready to go.

The plan for today was to run 8-9 laps in the Blasco park, so 7.2-8.1k total, depending on how I felt. I thought that today`s run it was going to be a struggle, but it was quiet the opposite to be honest. I was full, but was feeling pretty good and fresh, having said that, its pretty different to run 4:15 per km pace and 6:15 mins per km pace, so I might not be feeling that good if I would have done the workout.

First lap was in 5:40, which surprised me since I thought that I was going at 6 mins per lap (6:40 per km pace), then did looked at the watch in the 4 laps, the watch said 22:10, which also surprised, then I turned directions, its very rare for me to change directions, but to mix things up a bit, did just that, did not look at the watch till the end of the run, but pressed the button in the 8th lap, it was 44:06 and finished the 9 laps (8.1k) in 49:32 , 5:26 for the last lap. It was very hot today, but for some reason I felt really good today and the effort felt really easy. A lot of people running in the park made things easier too.

My brother just called me to say that another friend called Luis and himself were registering in Saturday`s race which finish inside the Valencia Football Stadium, so its going to be cool, so I am 90% in. The registration is pretty cheap, so it makes things easier. I am feeling good on my runs, I ll see how I feel in tomorrow`s intervals.

Easy evening run + 6 strides

Today I ran at 7 p.m. in the Blasco park. I did 9 laps, which is 8.1k and incorporated 6 x 100m or so strides from lap 6 to 8, then did another easy lap to complete the 9 laps. I ran with my brother from lap 2 to 6. First lap was 5:46, then did not look at the watch till the end, but pressed the split button in the 8th lap, which I crossed in 43:20, and did the last lap in 5:23 to complete the 8.1k in 48:43. It was basically the same run as Saturday, but today it was much hotter I think.

I felt not so good in the first couple of laps, but felt better as the run went by and in the strides felt pretty fast and smooth. Tomorrow I resume the interval work. We have planned to do some 1000m repeats, We will see how it goes!!

Have a great start to the week!

Birthday morning run

Today is my birthday and I ran with my brother at 9:30 a.m. in the Blasco Park. Its better to burn off the calories off front, because today will be a big day of eating, lol.

Today We did 11 laps in the Blasco park, which is 9.9k, but kept running till 10.2k, because thats when my brother`s GPS told that We had 10k, crazy!

First lap was 5:49, 8 laps in 45:48, 11 laps in 62:38, then finished the run at 64:38 for I would guess was 10.2k. It was a good run, great weather, good conversation and easy effort. My left calf was bothering at some points, yeah, the same calf that put me aside for several weeks one year ago. I will make sure to hydrate well and stretch that calf.

49k for the week, 6 runs.

Easy run + 6 x 100m strides

Today I ran at 7:15 p.m. with my brother in the Blasco park. The plan was to do 8-9 laps incorporating 6 x m or so strides. First lap was in 5:37, then never looked at the watch till the end of the 8th lap, but pressed the split button in the first 4 laps. In the first couple of laps I was feeling good but was having some side stitch.

First 4 laps in 22:23, 8 laps in 43:12, incorporating the strides from laps 6-8. Last lap was in 5:24 to complete the 9 laps (8.1k) in 48:36.

Weather was good and felt good overall!

Easy rainy day

Yesterday was my day off.

Today I ran at 6:45 p.m. with my brother in the Blasco park. The plan for today was to do 8 laps easy incorporating some strides, but again the strides had to be postponed due to rain and wet and muddy terrain. I just did 8 laps at an easy effort. First lap was 5:29,, which I was surprised with how easy I was going and how fast that lap was for being an easy run.

I decided to not look at the watch anymore till the end of the run, but pressed the split button at halfway point to see post run at what time I crossed the halfway point. I seemed to slow down after the first lap, and finished the 8 laps (7.2k) in 44:41, halfway was 22:28, so I did negative split.

I felt really good and easy, the only problem was the wet terrain and had to be careful at times to not fall down. My brother did his first lap fast in 3:43 for 900m, given the terrain conditions today I told him that it was a good time, He then ran easy, but slower than me, so We did not run together today so to speak.

Weather was rainy, but I felt pretty good.

Steady State run with my brother

Today my brother suggested to do 9 laps in the Blasco park in 4:50 per lap (5:22-5:23 per km), so I accepted. We met to run at 6:55 p.m. and He started the run like a bat, clocking the first lap in 3:57, I , of course, let him go, and kept a fast pace, clicking 4:16, but the rest of the way was much slower of course. We were head to head in the second lap in 8:56 (4:40), then He just built a gap again and kept it till the end of the run. Today I just wanted to run at a good pace without pushing like past week, I have to self talk in order to avoid pushing.

3rd lap came in 4:57 (13:53), was feeling pretty good and controlled, decided just to keep that effort till the end without pushing more than that. Splits for the rest of the way were: 4:51 (18:44), 4:48 (23:32 halfway), 4:45 (28:17), 4:43 (33:00), 4:40 (37:40), 4:40 (42:20), 4:31 to finish up the 9k (10 laps) in 46:51. 2 seconds slower than last week, but feeling much more controlled, last week I had to push a lot in the last couple of laps to run that time. My brother finished just in sub 46 mins, so basically He ran at almost 10k race pace today. I told him that He is in much better condition than his recent race performance are telling.

I finished feeling pretty good, strong and comfortable, heck, sometimes, I am more comfortable at this pace than my normal easy pace, laps just go faster at this effort, but I think that if it were not for the easy days, I would not feel this comfortable running at this effort.

Also, today is my diet soda free day, so I have a bit of a headache, but not as bad as last week. I still had a great run though, the withdrawals symptoms only affect me when I am not running.

Nice effort, good weather!

Evening rainy run

Today I headed out running at 7:25 p.m. or so because it started to rain when I was getting dressed to run. Waited for a bit, to see if the rain stopped, but it did not, so I decided to go out regardless. The idea was to go to the Blasco park and do 8-9 laps incorporating 6 strides at the end, but I pretty much forget about the strides with the wet dirt of the Blasco park.

When I tried to do one lap in the Blasco park (I almost did), I realized that it was too slippery and wet to run there, so almost at the end of the first lap I decided to head to the Universidad de Valencia, which is a big Campus with a big space to run, so I headed there and found a self made loop and run several times that loop, till my watch had 47:08. Each lap of the loop took me 7:15-7:16, so the pace was very even.

Kept the effort easy and just rolled at a good pace. Weather was fine once the rain stopped. I skipped the strides though! Around 7.5k total

Watchless evening run

Today I ran by myself at 6:00 p.m. in the Blasco park. My brother decided to take the day off today. Today I left the watch at home and just ran easy for 8 laps in the park (7.2k).

I felt just tired and decided to not worry about time. Felt better than expected though, but at the end felt somewhat tired. Tomorrow I ll run easy, but will incorporate 6 x 100m strides to loosen up the legs.

Today I will go to an " all you can eat" buffet called "The Colonial". I have not been there, but all type of foods there, so I ll just fuel with some extra calories to recover from yesterday`s double and to be ready for the rest of the week. At least that is the excuse in my head to indulge, ha.

Have a great start to the week!

Second run of the day

This was my second run of the day. I had not run twice per day in 10 years probably. No need for me though, since my mileage is not high enough to try to divide my mileage into 2 runs per day. I did that because I did not have much to do today, and what better to take advantage of time than to run, so I made the most of it.

I ran with my brother in the evening in the Turia park. He was doing his 90 mins run, and I would join him in his halfway into the run, so when He had 45 mins or so. I waited for him at 6:45 p.m. in the meeting point and He was running at 6 mins per km pace, so I had to start faster than intended, but the pace soon felt very confortable. The first km was 6:21, with the 50m extra, so around 6:00-6:05, or so, then all the remaining kms were sub 6 mins per km, We got through halfway (my run) in 24:01, as soon as I turned around I started to feel tired and tired, with 2k to go I was running out of gas. I suspect, that it was due that this being my second run of the day. I really admire those people that run doubles several times per week! We finished the 8.1k in 47:55. Around 16.2k total for the day for me! Solid day of training!

Around 55k total for the week! not bad!

Morning easy run

This morning I was bored, so I decided to go for a run in the Blasco park by myself at 10:50 a.m. or so. The plan initially was 8 laps, and that was the plan up until the very last lap. When I crossed the 8th lap, I said, just one more lap to get 8.1k in, so I did 9 laps total at an easy pace in the Blasco park.

The sun was shining hard, but the weather was pleasant, I ran fasted and I felt pretty good. Only looked at the watch in the first lap in 5:37, and then never looked again until the end of the run. Finished the 9 laps (8.1k) in 49:45, faster than expected. Nice easy run.

My brother is doing his long run this afternoon/evening and I probably will run again in the evening. We will see!

Evening easy run with the bother

Today I ran with my brother at 6:20 p.m. with my brother in the Blasco Park. We did 8 laps easy with good conversation. I only checked the first lap in 5:50, and never looked at the watch again. Finish time for the 8 laps (7.2k) was 46:01. I thought that We were going faster, but no problem, the effort was easy.

This morning  I did push ups, 1 set of 15 repeats and 2 x 10. Did better than expected, given that I had not done push ups in around 6-7 months.

Weather was pretty good. A good evening for running!

Easy run + 6 x 100m strides

Today I ran with my brother at 6:45 p.m. in the Turia Park.  He was doing a workout, but I was just running 8k easy.  I kept the effort easy, running the first half in 25:28, and finished the 8.05km in 48:23, After the 5 kms, incorporated 6 x 100m fast. The first stride felt heavy and slow, but the last one felt pretty good and I felt pretty loose after those.  Nice 8k at an easy effort.
My brother did pretty good in his workout, I told him that He is in 47:xx - 48:00s shape in the 10k.

Evening Moderate to hard run

This morning, my brother told me that He wanted to run sub 5 mins per lap in the Blasco park , meaning around 5:30/km pace. I decided to go with him and was looking forward to it. Today I did not drink my daily soda, and had a strong headache for the whole afternoon, even right before running. Luckily, that did not interfere with my running and even my running helped the ache to decrease.

The plan was to do the whole run at the pace that my brother suggested, He told me to do 45 mins ( so close to 9 laps in the Blasco park at that pace). We started the run at 7:00 p.m. with the sun shining hard and very good weather not too hot indeed.

First lap for me was 5:14, I had to stop for 9-10 seconds to tie my shoe, my brother crossed in 5:04, then I caught up to him. Crossed the second lap together in 10:07 (4:53 for me), I was feeling pretty good and the breathing was easy, 3rd lap in 4:51 (14:58), 4th lap in 4:52 (19:50), 5th lap in 4:48 (24:38), I was feeling pretty good at that time, felt that I could sustain that forever. 6th lap in 4:48 (29:26), 7th lap in 4:43 (34:09), then I started to increase the pace a bit and started to drop my brother, 8th lap came in 4:25 (38:34), We were supposed to do 9th lap, but then I remembered that my brother wanted to do 45 mins, so I had to continue to 45 mins, but then decided to complete the 10th lap. Anyway, I had dropped my brother and I really pushed the second half of the 9th lap doing that lap in 3:59 (42:33), I felt somewhat tired but I recovered quickly and tried to stay at a good effort and complete the 10th lap in 4:16 to finish up 10 laps or 9 kms in 46:49. My brother stopped at 45 mins, and crossed the 9 laps in 43:13 and He felt really good.

I was pissed off with myself after the run, because I am in my break and I was supposed to run at the planned pace just sub 5 mins per lap or 5:30 per km, but I got impatient in the last 2-3 laps and started pushing. I am in good shape, but I will have time to do legitimate workouts, this time without workouts is to regroup and start another hard cycle stronger, not to test your ego in moderate runs. Anyway, it was what it was! Felt good overall and when you are running at that effort kms (and laps) pass by very quickly! 5:12 per km pace for the whole run, not too bad considering that the plan was 5:30/km. Oh well!!

Easy evening run

 Today I ran with my brother at 7 p.m. again in the Blasco Park. We started at 7:20 p.m. or so, and as I am fresher than my brother, since He ran the race on Sunday, I just went a head from the get go. I basically ran solo, but saw each other on each lap in opposite directions.

I ran the first lap in 5:58, and then never looked at the watch again until the end. Just kept the effort easy and apparently once I warmed up the pace increased as well. I finished 8 laps (7.2k) in 44:53. I thought that I was going way slower given that first lap, but as I said I am fresh. Weather was pretty good and I felt really good. Finger started bothering me after the 6th lap, not too much though!

Evening unplanned Marathon effort run

Today I ran at 7 p.m. in the Blasco park with my brother, although We did not run together since I ran just a bit slower than tempo pace and He ran at recovery pace to recover from the race. I was going to run easy, but as soon as I saw the gal that passed me yesterday, I wanted to have some fun today and give her a lesson today. I am in my break, meaning that no structured workouts till end of next week maybe or two weeks from now.

She had a gap of 100+ meters when I started, I started the run fast from the get go and it felt kind of easy, I felt very recovered from the very light week of training last week.

I crossed the 1st lap in 4:36, She was around 20-30m ahead, in the half of the second lap I finally caught her and We ran pretty much together for 3 laps or so, I was feeling very good and easy, We were rolling at 4:40-4:44 per lap, which is much faster than my normal easy pace, but I felt just as easy, surprisingly. Then She suddenly stopped and I was running alone for my last 3 laps, as soon as She stopped, I increased pace and did the last 3 laps in 4:32,4:34 and 4:16 to finish the 8 laps in 36:57, my fastest time ever for 8 laps. I averaged per 5:07 per km, I felt pretty good and controlled. However, in the last lap my finger in the foot was bothering a lot and I limping at times, that does not interfere with the last lap being the fastest, and cardiopulmonary, that lap felt the easiest. Its nice to run faster sometimes, but that is not my easy pace by any means, I just did that because I am not running structured workouts right now, I am more about of running hard on hard days and easy on easy days.

Weather was good, 7 p.m. looks like 4 p.m. these days. Hope that the finger does not bother. Tomorrow will be real easy.

Easy evening running

Today I ran at 7 p.m. once more with the sun shining hard, We have light till almost 9 p.m., that is my favorite thing about the summer months here. I did 6 laps again in the Blasco park alone in 33:18, around 5.4k total.

I never looked at the watch today, just ran easy by feel. Before the run I was feeling a bit tired, but once I did a couple of laps felt pretty good. Almost start competing with a gal that passed me, but I hold myself back and kept running at my effort.

It was a good week of low training. Its time to start ramping up the mileage a bit, but will keep the easy runs for 2 more weeks, to let the past cycle of running be absorbed properly.

This morning I was in my brother`s race , He did 49:47 or so for 10k, so His best time in years, but I told him that He could run more than 90 seconds faster. I did 46:36 last week, and We train together at pretty much the same pace, He is doing the intervals a bit slower and the tempos too, but basically our fitness are pretty much the same. At least He improved from the 51:08 that He ran last week. It was a fun race to watch.

Weather today was hot, but good, around 23 Celsius.

Maintainance evening run

Today I ran at 7 p.m. by myself again in the Blasco park and I did the same as yesterday and as this week. 6 laps in the Blasco park for a total of 5.4k or so. Today I thought that the finger was going to bother a lot during the run, because it was bothering me at home, but its not bothering a lot when running fortunately.

Today I felt somewhat fresh and when with it, kept the effort easy, but the pace was way faster than the previous two days. total time for today was 32:39

Splits were: 5:49, next 2 laps in 11:14 (17:03), 5:21 (22:24), 5:08 (27:32), 5:07 (32:39). Second half was in 15:36, so I really increased pace in the second half. But as I said it was still in the easy range, breathing was very controlled and felt fresh.

Felt good today even though that it was very hot. This morning for the first time was spectating at a Triathlon, cheering for Pablo, my brother`s coworker, the one that raced the 10k with us last week. It was an entertaining experience and a lot of people of all levels doing the Sprint, Super sprint and Olympic Triathlon. That make me think of doing one some day. I have never swam in open waters and I have years without biking, but like the running, those things can be trained.

Some photos of 10k Albal " por una sonrisa"

 Some photos of last Saturday`s 10k race. In the first 2 photos its myself with the  blue "hillrunner" singlet and red shoes. In the last 2 photos its my brother also in blue.

Hot evening easy run

 Today Ran at 7 p.m. with my brother in the Blasco Park. We did the same route as yesterday, the heat is high, was 31 celsius today, I had forgotten the heat. During the run I dont pay much attention to it though, but during the day, its hot in the house and in the street.

We did 6 laps easy and today I did the first one pretty slow in 6:15 and the last one was 5:33 feeling pretty good. The finger felt much better today than yesterday, but still bothering me. Will do 35 mins until its fine so that I can ramp up.

Back to running

I am back after 5 days off to let my finger in the foot to heal. It has been better the past few days, but I still feel it bothering me when I have shoes on, however, I decided to test it today.

I ran in the Blasco park at 7 p.m. with my brother, We did 6 laps today, but for me it was not a very pleasant run. I felt good cardiovascular wise, but I had to accommodate the foot the whole run, to minimize the "pain". Its still bothering me, got better at the end though. I can run, and I ll continue to run through it if possible. I started the 1st lap in 5:58, and the remaining laps were in 5:50-5:57, finishing the 6 laps in 35:27. I was ahead of my brother for pretty much the whole run, except when He caught me at around 27 mins or so.

I was happy to be back running, I was driving myself crazy with 5 days of no running, but I am in my break, so that also has to be respected, will run easy for 2 more weeks or so before starting workouts again. Weather was pretty hot today, its heating up here in Valencia. 28 Celsius today! We will see if I can run tomorrow!

Running break

As I said in my previous post, the finger is still bothering me so I decided to take some days off running, so that I can heal. I Will be back running on Wednesday or Thursday if the finger recovers. After that, I ll just run easy for 2-3 weeks so that I can recover from all these weeks of hard  and consistent running. I Will start stress workouts stronger and more fresh. Hopefully I can tackle some PR`S at the end of the year if I continue running the way that I am running.

I am still surprised with my performance on Saturday, the course was not pancake flat like most races here in Valencia, it had some ups and downs, and despite that I almost duplicated my time from the "Never Stop running 5k" where I ran 23:00 on February 24th in a much more favorable course. Anyway, I Will take that, and still a lot of work to do, the level is just high here, so any old guy could run a time like that at the drop of a hat here, but on a personal level that is a huge improvement!

Have a great start to the week!

Saturday`s 10k race: 10k Albal " Por esa sonrisa"

Yesterday I raced 10k Albal "por esa sonrisa", I have said several times this week, my mind is on other things, but I have been getting my runs in nonetheless. So my mind was not focuses much on running, but my body was ready, and sometimes that is good because you basically take all the pressure off and I think that worked, because I raced much better than I thought. The race began at 7 p.m. and I ate lunch at 1 p.m., white rice with some potatoe, 2 pieces of pork meat, spinachs with olive oil, I pretty much eat the same things everyday and those kind of foods is what I eat for workouts, so I the exact same thing that I do for workouts, including 2 glasses of diet soda as everyday before my evening intervals and tempos, so why I changed it on race day, this is the first time that I drink soda for a race longer than 5k, but as I said, that is what I do before all my workouts, years before though I only drank sodas with sugar and calories and you feel that in your stomach, when you drink diet soda is like water, anyway! that work for me and I have not had any problems in the workouts. I decided to eat more than necessary, because when I raced 10ks or more (more than 7 years ago), 3 or 4 hours after the race I got pretty naseous and got a terrible headache and probably that was lack of calories, so this time around I eat breakfast normal and eat a larger lunch, after all the race started at 7 p.m. and I had 6 hours to digest, however, I no longer eat until full, I eat lunch and I do not feel full whatsoever, I could go running after eating lunch, yeat that light I feel and I think that that has been key to my weight lost in the past year. I left my house at 4 pm. because We have to take the bus to the train station, and then take the train for the 15 mins commute to the race town, and then from the train station, walked 1.7 kms to where the race started to take the bib and change my clothes and then start our warm up before the race. We got there with plenty of time, so We did everything according to plan. We started the warm up around 6:20 p.m.,or a bit before, We just basically ran around town. We did not know the distance that We warmed up, but it was around 2k if I have to take a guess, I threw a few light strides to loosen up. Then jogged some more in the starting area. One of the things I liked about this race is that as it was in a town, there were around 1,000 people or a bit more, as opposed to the 5,000 people that run the races in the city. There was only 1 start here and We lined up very close to the front, so after the gun went off, We crossed the starting line around 2 seconds after the gun went off, which was cool and the start was not very congested. As you know, I race without a watch, just by effort. I went out at the effort that I thought that I could sustain, but controlled, after all I had not raced a 10k in 7 years, but I pretty much know how long these are if you blow up in the beginning kms. I was feeling controlled in the first 200-300, Pablo (my brother`s coworker who commute with us to the race) caught me and I tried to run with him for several seconds, but his pace was too hot, He runs around 43-44 mins int he 10k and I am not in that kind of shape just yet, I let her go and kept myself as relaxed as possible. 1k go by and I hear another runner telling 4:39 or so, as I dont know how much time He lasted to cross the starting line, that 4:39 does not apply to me, so I estimated for myself 4:40-4:45, which is what I wanted to average for the whole race. Ad in the tempo runs as I start "slow" and in the second half I really hammer and feel better than in the first half, I treated this race as such. After the 1st km, my brother passed me like a bat, but I was not enough warmed up yet to go with him as I find his pace very fast for me at the moment ( just like tempos), several people passed me, after that I did not see any markers till the 5k mark, however, We did one loop that crossed for the finish line and I estimated around 3k there, after my brother passed me after the 1st km, He built a gap of around 5-8 seconds, but stayed there, just like in the 5.2k We raced in the beach. When We crossed the finish line for the 1st ime, We had around 3k in, I looked at the "finish line" watch and it read 14:32 or so, I thought that it was the 3k mark, so I said I am in 48:20-48:30 pace, and I would be happy with that because that it a tad faster than my tempo runs, however, it was only the 3k (my brother after the race told me that He looked at all the km markers and told me that the 3k mark was way back the "finish line", so We crossed the 3k in 14:00 or less, and I felt much slower at the time, which was a good sign, I did not know then though), We were running head to head in the first 15 mins, but after that I just went ahead and never see him until I waited for him in the finish line, after the 3k (which was a loop around town that crossed where We started and where We were going to finish), I started to feel pretty good and I thought to myself, now you are warming up,now you can start running how you feel, I started to pass people left and right, did not see 4 mark, but kept passing people, then We turned left (in the first loop We turned right to cross to the start/finish area), and got off the town to run outside of town viewing the fields, I just wanted to cross the halfway mark, so that my mind could shift and start pushing home, knowing that its only half remaining (just as the tempos), We went downhill and then uphill to get off a tunnel, and I tried to keep the effort the same even though I was running slower in the uphill, finally I see the 5k mark and I am given some water and I put it over my head and drink a bit, however, I did not need to drink much, threw away the bottle. I tried to push knowing that I just crossed halfway, keep running and passing people, although some people passed me quickly, but I knew that I was not slowing down, since the people around me did not go ahead, in fact I got ahead of them. From 5-7k I felt somewhat unconfortable, from 7-8k, I just said 1 more km to get to your 8k tempo runs, and then it just a bit more of a mile to finish this thing. I was running alone by then because I just left the pack that I was running in, and I was on my way to catch the pack in front of me. When I crossed the 8k mark, I felt surprisingly good, much better than in the previous 2 kms, so I Took advantage of it, ran a bit more and then said ok! 1 mile to go and it slower than interval pace, so you got this, I tried to move the legs as fast as I could, just after I crossed the 8k mark, the left foot finger ( yes, the one that I hit at the beginning of the week, which felt much better, because on Friday`s run and today before the race I thought that it was already fine), but I was so warmed up that It did not affect my running at all. With 1.2k to go a 40+ year old passed me and encouraged me that it was only 1k to go, I tried to go with him, and He was running 2-3 steps ahead of me, We crossed the 1k to go and there were some people encouraging, I said a 1k interval to go! You have done plenty of those! My breathing was a bit labored, the legs were locked into a good pace, but I just felt strong, I would say stronger than in my 5-8k tempos. Another guy passed us with around 600-700m to go, but He was going very fast, I , however, tried to went to the other side of the row to run by myself and focus better as I do in my workouts, I did not want to sit behind anybody`s in the last meters of the race, so I put myself to a side, tried to focus in my training workouts and bring mental strength and energy from that, that works!!, then We get into the final stretch which has around 400m, I did not start my sprint earlier because I exactly did not know where the finish was , but I increased pace as much as I could. Passed the guy who passed me with 1.2k to go and then I saw the finish line and started sprinting and finished pretty hard ( not as hard as in my previous races), I was amazingly surprised when I saw 46:xx in the finshing clock, as I finished the clock said 46:38, as I started 2 seconds ahead of the gun time, I guess my time was 46:36, and exactly at that time I appear on the results. I was very happy with this time. My best time in 8 years. Then I waited for my brother to finish, but He finished 4:32 behind me finishing in 51:08, He ran bad as He was in shape to run 47-48 mins, He really hit the wall after the 5k, because as I said earlier We were running together in the 3.5k or so.

After the race, I drank water, beer, ate a banana, a bit of cake, just to avoid the dizzy feeling that I get hours after the race, I tried to do a 5-10 mins cool down just like my Intervals/tempos, but left foot finger was hurting a lot and my quads muscle were screaming, I literally could not run a step and I tried it several times. I limped the 1.7k to the train station and limped the 1k from my brother`s home to my home. I hope that the finger is not broken.

I got home around 10:45 p.m. from the race, was starting to feel a bit bad, but as soon as I took the shower and ate that big Kebab, I felt just fine, but was limping throughout my house. So the plan was to run 10k very easy on Sunday (today), but I am writing this on Sunday, and the finger is hurting a lot, still limping and when I put the shoes on, it hurts even more, its a bit swollen, so i probably wont be able to run today, I could try, but maybe I will start my break just today. 2-3 weeks of just easy running without stress workouts! I think I ll be back stronger, but if that finger improves I might keep doing workouts and start the break in a month or so, since I want to race a 6.2k race that finished in the soccer`s stadium here in Valencia. I probably incline more for the former, since this finger is hurting a lot. The past 12-14 weeks of running has been great for me, I have not missed any workouts, have been running 6 times per week without fail, this is the most consistent block of running that I have done ever and it showed today. Very satisfied with my performance today and with the races that I have run this year!

 Enough for today!

Shake out run with brother

Yesterday was my day off.

Today I ran at 7 p.m. with my brother in the Blasco Park, as We were doing a short shake out run because tomorrow We are racing a 10k at 7 p.m. We decided to do it in the Blasco park. We did 6  laps there incorporating  6 "easy" strides. First lap in 6:12 and finished 6 laps in 35:08. Felt really good today eventhough I walked a lot today, I would say that I walked around 10k and I have been very stressed the last few days due to things outside of running. Finished the run feeling pretty good and ready to go for tomorrow`s race.

Easy recovery run

Today I ran at 7 p.m. in the Blasco Park. My brother was in a birthday so I had to run again alone. I did 8 laps in the Blasco park at an easy pace. The first lap was 6:00, which was rare for me in an evening run by myself, but I was pretty tired from yesterday`s intervals and the foot finger was bothering me.

Halfway was in 23:28, and kept the effort easy, but in the last two laps I increased a bit the pace, but kept the effort very easy though. Total time for the 8 laps was 46:01. It rained a bit, but very lightly. I felt tired at first, but by the end felt pretty good. Tomorrow I rest!

Tuesday`s intervals workout: 6 x 800m + 1 x 200m

Today I had to do my intervals earlier because I was watching The Avengers "Endgame" at 9 p.m., so I started my workout just before 5 p.m. in the Turia park. I did this alone and the sun was shining hard.

I warmed up 15 mins easy incorporating 5 x 50m strides as usual. Then plan for today was 6 x 800m with 400m jog recovery in between.After the 800s, do 1 x 400m or 2 x 200m, but in the end I opted for 1 x 200m almost all out, but still maintaining form.

Splits for the 800s were: 3:28,3:23,3:19,3:20,3:18,3:10.
1 x 200m@ 37.68... That 200s was way faster than I expected, the last time I did a time like that was in 2009 or so.

Felt good overall, another workout in the books. Walked 100m after the workout and started my easy jog cool down of 13 mins, I did around 11.6k total for the day.

I am possibly racing a 10k on Saturday with my brother and his coworker Pablo, I have not raced a 10k in almost 7 years, so it should be fun to compete with my brother for a 10k.