Not really a race report, so much as a personal test report...

I've been concentrating on building my running, which, although not DFL, has been solidly BOP. My big idea is to go back to short stuff, improve my speed, and work more slowly back up to longer distances. Not an earth-shatteringly genius plan, I know, but it did allow me to consider speed, instead of volume, this winter for a change of pace. I followed the F.I.R.S.T. 5k program and made some strides. [oh the puns!]

Last summer, I had pretty much taken July and August off after my HIM in early July. I started in the fall and just ran 5 days a week from September into October (low mileage: 3 days 45:00-1hr; 2 days 30:00-40:00), trying to establish some fundamental strength and durability. Then, in November, I did a starting 5k test to kick off my official training program. My baseline time was 26:27 (8:32/mi). This set the training paces for the workouts, which were scheduled around a track workout; a tempo workout; and a long run. The program also asked for two other days of cross training. I have to admit I was less rigorous about this, but I continued to do a little here and there on my bike. Since I commute by bike, I always had some time on the bike if just a short ride.This program was distance-based, instead of time-based as I was used to, so I had to re-assess my runnings routes. But this settled in fine over time. With some weather delays here in Portland, my 12 wk program stretched out to the end of February. I just recently ran my followup 5k time trial and logged 22:06 (7:08/mi)!

Needless to say, i'm happy to report a 1:24/mi improvement. I'm going to repeat the training program this Spring and try to bump up my pace again. While I'm aware there's going to be a diminishing return, I'm hopeful that, since i'm still not blowing anyone's doors off, I can continue to improve my pace. After that, I will begin concentrating on my 10k efforts.