running for the irish

(running) word of the day:
cursorial - adapted for running

i ran an easy 5k race for st. patrick's day this weekend, and beat my goal by a full minute*. however, the majority of the ~5,000 runners seemed to be more focused on 1-their festive apparel, and 2-the beer after the race. always makes a race more fun when competitiveness isn't palpable.

*i should throw in a disclaimer here that i am, by no stretch of the imagination, a fast runner. i do, however, greatly enjoy running, and like to set time & distance goals for myself as i train--even though i am not particularly cursorial.

i'm running a half marathon race in 10 weeks, so my training for that is underway. i ran a 10k race a few weeks ago, and had a slow pace of 9:30-minute miles (finish time: 59:00). however, with the 5k race this weekend, i upped my pace to 8:40-minute miles and finished just under 27:00. my current goal for the half marathon is 9:30-minute miles, which equates to a 2:04:30 finish time. i hope to be able to adjust the goal as my training progresses, but we'll see...

i just purchased a nike+ sensor that has made tracking my training and running results much easier. the sensor tracks my time, distance, pace, and calories burned, and plots the information on my ipod while i'm running, as well as on the nikeplus website. there's a lot of great features there (shown above). the sensor needs to be calibrated, and unfortunately as it is just a pedometer, is not completely accurate for distances or speed, since step size can vary with speed and incline for hill running. however, i'm pleased with the general time and distance calculations, and thrilled with the online data analysis capabilities. the sensors are only about $30, and can be purchased with a $10 shoelace attachment, if your shoes aren't nike brand.

i've been a believer in nike shoes my entire running life (20+ years), but just made my first non-nike running shoe purchase. so far it seems to have been a good decision. my change of loyalty was solely based upon comfort, which i couldn't possibly deny as i ran down the street outside of marathon sports with a nike on my right foot and a mizuno on my left. i winced when i found out my only in-store option for the shoes was pink, but assured myself that appearence is of minimal concern when it comes to a good running shoe. my new shoes are mizuno wave rider 12s, and they have what appears to be flames on the sides, which i'm convinced makes them faster.