Adarq.org

yeah that's the idea! well really, to translate it into more technical mountaineering and other outdoor exploring. we started going because my wife realized lack of upper body strength was hindering her on a couple of our recent climbs. if there were a full-scale climbing gym closer to us we'd have joined one but the big ones, with lead climbing, are out in the burbs. so bouldering it is, plus at some point we'll go take a couple classes on belaying and general rope use at the big gyms.

friday

- run 38;15, 6.40 km
last little leg stretch before sunday's race

saturday

- bouldering x ~90 mins
fun, my hands are gonna hurt for a while until they adapt to this new activity. looking forward to that, though. i've always found working on grip strength very boring but i know how important it is.

today

- 10 mile race
-- warm up
-- 10 miles in 1:10:39 (watch), 1:11:02 (chip), 1:11:16 (gun)
very pleased. hit goal on watch although just missed it on the official time. more importantly, i ran a negative split (36:03, 34:59 official) and never red-lined. even had enough juice at the end to speed up for the last 100m or so and pass a guy i'd been trailing for the previous two miles. that means i'm learning and getting better at managing a race.

finished 172nd out of 3431 total finishers, which is also a slight improvement from my half marathons in terms of percentile placement. now if i could only get my training more consistent, i could really improve!

- run 37:39, 6.75 km
legs felt a little heavy.

 

monday

- run 5k, very easy
- bouldering x 90 mins

- 10k race
-- warm up
-- chip time 42:40, watch time N/A because watch measured the course at 9.73 km but pace averaged 4:23, which is about a full minute slower than the pace if the course was accurately measured and my watch is off (4:23 vs. 4:16).

pleased with this. plan was to run around target pace for the 10 miler and, most importantly, to run without blowing up. bad track record so far with going out too fast. my first km was too fast (4:14) but i settled down after that. didn't quite run a negative split (something like 21:13, 21:27 for the two halves, according to the chip) but i did have enough in the tank to kick at sub-20 5k pace for the last km or maybe a little less. also the course had two big climbs, which obviously slowed things down. also this was my first ever 10k so didn't really know how i'd do. gives me hope that 1:10:xx is possible for 10 miles, especially if the course is a little flatter.

finished second overall but only because it was a tiny race. won a foot locker gift card, lol. the guy who won finished in 37:40 or so. he told me afterward that he'd been shooting for low 36es but after the first big decline he knew he wasn't gonna make it.

yesterday

- run ~5.5 km
watch died partway through. this was just to stretch legs after the flight back from san diego.

Man my heart goes out to you. Props on making it through family time in one piece. And props to your dad for maintaining sobriety.