This Thursday, I'll be making another attempt at a sub-40 10K at the Michael Bratton II Turkey Trot 5 and 10K in Nevada City. Last year, I ran a 41:51 (9th overall) on this course , which has quite a few ups and downs in it.
Turkey Trot Elevation ProfileI have tried to break the sub-40 mark a few times over the past years, and I think I would have made it on various occasions if I had picked a flatter course. The problem around here is that there are hills everywhere. This time, however, I feel like I am ready for it despite the terrain.
I surprised myself at the Run through the Colors recently by running a 40:01 and I have been running Yasso-800 workouts weekly to improve my leg turnover for my upcoming sub-3 marathon attempt (planning on going for it at the Redding Marathon in January).
The speedwork is going really well. I started with four 800 meter repeats and have now built up to 10 of these speed workouts at about 2:46 average pace on the track and 2:58 on a flat trail close to my place. I have been adding one to two repeats every week and it has amazed me to see that an effort that feels almost seems impossible one week feels quite easy the next week. I tried to talk Michael into joining me at the Homewood track last week while I was in the Bay Area, but he opted to stay in bed instead--well, you snooze, you lose!
As far as the Grand Prix points go, we'll just have to see how it pans out, but I am still hopeful that a good place in the 10K will allow me to edge my way into the top-3 behind Chris and Larry in the 30-39 age group. I don't think I'll have a much better shot at GP points if I run the 5K, so trying to break the elusive 40-minute mark this year will be much more fun.
Interestingly, Turi will be shooting for his sub-45 10K on Thursday, so wish us luck!
Posts
