My New Racing Flats - New Balance 1400

I Have been wanting to get a new pair of racing flats as my favorite Nike Lunaracers are getting worn down a bit. Been looking around for a shoe that fits my narrow feet and decided to give these a try. They are a narrow shoe and it fits my right foot great, it always seems to be my left foot that has the trouble with the fit. Anyway here's a video of these New Balance 1400. What do you think? Anyone else use these shoes?

A Look Inside A Nike Running Shoe

Have you ever wondered what the inside of a running shoe looks like? Check this out.

2016 Shamrock Run

Here is a quick video of the Shamrock Run on March 12 in Lake Worth, FL. There was a 5k and 10 mile race, this only shows the 5k start.

These are the links to the results for the 5K  and the 10 miler.

You Can Run A Faster 5K

I have set a goal for myself to race a 5K under 19:00 minutes by the end of the year. It could be 18:59 and I would be happy with that. I did a 5K a couple weeks ago, the first since last October I believe, and my first race of this year. Think of this as a practice run to see where my fitness is at this point and to check out this course. I plan to run another race that will follow the same route on March 12 so now I am familiar with it.

During the race two weeks ago I got off course at the half way turn around. I should have made a sharp U-turn from the road onto a bike path but I swung too far out and into a parking lot losing me a few seconds to get back on the path. I finished with a time of 20:34 which is better than anticipated at this point giving me 1^st in age group and 5^th overall. This was a popular but low key race; the faster runners in the area did not show up.

The temperature at the start was 52 degrees, which for me was cold. Even after a warm-up I still felt like I could not relax over the first mile. I just felt stiff and could not get up to speed.

So my goal for the next race is to work on speed endurance. I will do this with a couple 20 minute tempo runs, some one mile repeats and half mile repeats. I keep the recovery time between repeats short to avoid recovering too much. I only do work-outs two days a week; the other days are variations of slower runs, only running 5 days a week.

For some tips on getting faster for 5K’s check out this article from Competitor.com

Follow these workouts and crush your PRs in no time.

Despite being “short” from a distance runner’s standpoint, the 5K and 10K are difficult race distances to master.

The 5K requires you to run at close to maximum effort for 3.1 miles, which usually results in redlining only 1.5 miles in. While the race is over in just 20 to 30 minutes, toe the line unprepared and you’ll be suffering the second half of the race.

The 10K, on the other hand, is a blend of speed and endurance that necessitates running only a few ticks slower than 5K pace, yet for double the distance. Be off your pacing or fitness by only a fraction and the last two miles will be torture.

Read more at Specific Training For 5K

Progressive Tempo Workouts To Run Faster

To run a fast race you need to train once or twice a week specific to the race distance you will be doing. Know your goal pace a train around that. This video is about doing a progressive Tempo workout. This type of Tempo run has you running progressively faster at a prescribed distance.
Try this at anytime but it is good to do when you begin to do your speed workouts so you can ease into them.

While this is a great workout for all, older masters runners can take advantage of the progressive Tempo run if you are worried about the stress of running fast workouts.

Root Beer Flavored Gu Gel

Have you tried the Root Beer flavored Gu energy gel. If you like drinking Root Beer I think you would be surprised at how close the gel tastes to the real thing. I bought a box of them on Amazon because of the good price and found I like them. I have had no issues using them on long runs. Check out this video. So, if you are looking for something different give the Root Beer Gu a try.

Running When It Is Raining

Is running in the rain a good idea? There are times you may be out for a run and you get caught in the rain, not much you can do about it but keep going. If it is a thunder and lightning storm you most likely should get to cover. If it is already raining when it’s time to go for a run, do you go out anyway? I am not one to purposely put myself into that situation. Especially living in South Florida were we can get some pretty dangerous thunderstorms during the warmer months.