I run for... Boston

First race of the year, and just 7 days after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, New York City's Race for the Park's was a race in remembrance for the victims.

Practically everyone wore this

I had a personally disappointing race, actually falling one second short of my four mile personal best (37:50) which I set on a practice run in my neighbourhood. My issue is that I run within my comfort zone for too long before getting up to a decent race speed.

With a starting number of 10345 putting me right at the back, I spent a lot of the time negotiating runners who's dropped to walking pace, pretty much between about half a mile and 3 miles. After that, it thinned out a little, but was still crowded. I can't blame the pack for my slouchy pace (maybe I'll start higher up the field next time), but it was pretty difficult to navigate.

Apart from the last quarter mile, I ran a pretty leisurely pace with no discomfort - something I need to break out of. It's time to run in the discomfort zone.

The Beagle didn't run...

South Carolina

This coming Sunday, I have my first 4 mile run, and for sure I am woefully under-prepared. After 6 days without running, I arrived in Charleston, SC for some sun, Kayaking and warm-weather running. Today I made a fist at running across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, which connects Mount Pleasant with Charleston. It's two and a half miles long, and rises to 186 feet (the tallest section of the bridge is 575 feet... but you can't run up there).

I don't know if any world class runners come from Charleston, SC, but they probably should. I saw plenty of college-age kids scooting up the incline to the top of the bridge, and running this 3 or 4 times a week would be enough to carve out a hardy athlete.

Aaanyway, I'll be leaving sunny Charleston tomorrow, after getting myself burned kayaking in the morning sun (yes, you can burn in 2 hours, in April, in South Carolina. Who'd have thunk it).

In the meantime, I can say I ran to the top of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (they need to work on that name), and back again, and survived.

FInally, a huge shout out to Boston, the runner's of the 2013 Boston marathon and the survivors and victims of yesterday's atrocity. Keep running, don't let the bastards get you down.

Hart beat!

Dedicated to Tony Hart, 1925 - 2009

So a few things to cover. A PR for 4 miles, and PR for 5 miles, and I got a heart rate monitor.

4 Miles

4 miles isn't so tough

Going from 3 miles to 4 miles shouldn't be a big deal, and at the time it wasn't, but I did feel that run for 3 days afterwards, something that's never happened before. I ran in 9:27, which will stand until I race of April 21st - I have a 4 mile 'Run for the Parks' race in Central Park.

5 Miles

Going from 4 to 5 miles int he space of a week seemed like a good idea, so I did. Some slow splits (nearing 10 min/mile at times) but managed it in 48 mins, which is also a PR by default, as I think that is the first time I have ever run 5 miles continuously.

Still hadn't recovered from the 4 miles

I got a heart rate monitor with mapmyrun.com joining their pro program, which has been fun to use. My target heart rate for a steady run is 150bpm, and I am usually over that at the moment.