Ready...Set...Run! 5K plus a couple other runs

Cameron and I ran the Ready...Set...Run! 5K race held at Hunter Park in Tulsa Saturday morning. Before we get to that race though, we need to get caught up on a couple of runs prior to the race. Thursday evening, we made our way to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 750 meter warmup and stretching, Cameron ran a hill workout, sprinting up the hills, and then walking back down. He repeated this several times, for a total of about 1050 meters of running uphill. A 750 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 1.6 miles. This brought his monthly total to 14.7 miles, and his yearly total to 202.1 miles.

Late Friday afternoon, it was back to the ORU Aerobics Center for another PB practice. After a 1000 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran 2 set of 4x200 meters, with about a 60 second rest between each repeat, and an 8 minute rest between sets. His times for the 1st set were 47, 46, 45, and 47 seconds, and for the 2nd set they were 45, 45, 45, and 44 seconds. After a few minutes rest, Cameron did 3 laps around the track where he walked the curves and sprinted the straightaways, which were about 50 meters each in length. Cameron's total distance run was 1.8 miles, bringing his monthly total to 16.5 miles, and his yearly total to 203.9 miles.

As mentioned above, Cameron and I ran the Ready...Set...Run! 5K at Hunter Park Saturday morning. Skies were mainly overcast, with just a peek of the sun every now and then, and temperatures were in the low to mid 60s, with a northerly breeze at around 10 miles an hour. The course had a couple fairly significant hills, but was mostly flat otherwise. Cameron finished with a time of 24:29, just 3 seconds off his 5K PR, and over 5 1/2 minutes ahead of me. He finished 1st out of 2 in the 8/under age group, 28th out of 127 males, and 35th out of 291 overall. We jogged a 0.7 mile warmup prior to the race, so Cameron's total distance run was 3.8 miles, bringing his monthly total to 20.3 miles, and his yearly total to 207.7 miles.

Indy Mini

Saturday morning, Cameron and I ran in the largest half marathon in the United States, the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, more commonly referred to as the Indy Mini. 35,000 runners were registered for the race, and as of this evening, 30,265 finishers are listed in the results. The weather was nearly perfect at the start, with overcast skies, light winds, and temperatures in the mid to upper 40s. The sun broke through the clouds a little past the 8-mile mark, which made it feel a bit warm, but overall we could not have asked for better conditions to run in.

As you can imagine with a race of this size, it took a long time to get everyone past the start line. We finally made it to the start a little more than 12 minutes after the gun, and the last person crossed the start line over 50 minutes after the official start of the race. Once we passed the start line though, we were able to get into our planned running pace nearly immediately. Cameron and I ran together for the first 10 miles, which included a lap on the track around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from about mile 6 to mile 8.5. At the 10-mile mark, I told Cameron to go ahead and run the last 5K at his own pace...he no longer had to stay back with dad. Our 5-mile split was 51:15, and we hit the 10-mile mark in 1:47:44. Once Cameron took off on his own, he was off to the races, and he ran the final 5K in 25:13, to finish with a chip time of 2:12:57, which was over 12 minutes ahead of me. Based on our finishing positions, we estimate that Cameron passed somewhere in the vicinity of 3000 runners over the final 5K of the race.

Cameron's finish time of 2:12:57 placed him 36th out of 113 in the 12/under age group, but only 5 runners in that age group ran a faster final 5K than he did. He was 8557th out of 14,380 males, and 13,333rd out of 30,265 overall. After the race, we were left wondering just how fast Cameron's time could have been had he run the entire race at his own pace, instead of just the last 5K. Basically, he ran the equivalent of a 10 mile warmup, followed by a 5K race. Cameron's total distance run was 13.1 miles, which is also his total for the month. This brings his yearly total to 200.5 miles.

Cameron also became a TV star after the race, as a local Indianapolis TV station that was covering the race interviewed him. This interview can be seen at:

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/500_festival/mini_marathon/2009_Mini_Marathon_20

Cameron appears at about the 3:15 mark of the segment, and then I appear with Cameron at about the 10:50 mark.

Cameron also gets a mention in the following clip at about the 4:30 mark:

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/500_festival/mini_marathon/2009_Mini_Marathon_22

The official race photographs of Cameron can be seen at:

http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=47187&PWD=&BIB=26074

Last couple runs before Indianapolis

Monday evening, we made our way to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 1500 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran a 600 meter time trial in 2:30. After a few minutes rest, he ran 4x200 meters, with about a 90 second rest between each repeat. His times were 40, 42, 43, and 41 seconds. A 750 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 2.3 miles. This brought his monthly total to 48.4 miles, and his yearly total to 182.7 miles.

Tuesday evening found us at the ORU Aerobics Center once again for PB practice. After a 1500 meter warmup and stretching, Cameron did 3 sets of 10 minutes running/5 minutes stretching. His target running pace was 1:15 per 250 meter lap, and he equaled or beat this pace on all 3 sets, averaging 1:15 on the first set, 1:12 on the second set, and 1:11 on the final set. Cameron's total distance run was 4.7 miles, bringing his monthly total to 53.1 miles, and his yearly total to 187.4 miles.

Cameron and I leave for Indianapolis tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. Saturday morning, we will be a part of the largest half marathon in the United States, with 35,000 registered runners. As of now, the weather for the race looks nearly ideal, with temperatures in the upper 40s to lower 50s, relatively light winds, and mainly overcast skies.

Thursday & Friday

Thursday evening, it was back to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 750 meter warmup and stretching, Cameron ran 3x1000 meters, with a 2 minute rest between each repeat. His times were 4:30, 4:26, and 4:25. After a few minutes rest, Cameron did 3 laps around the track where he walked the curves and sprinted the straightaways, which were about 50 meters each in length. Cameron's total distance run was 2.5 miles, bringing his monthly total to 44.6 miles, and his yearly total to 178.9 miles.

Late Friday afternoon, we once again made our way to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 750 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran a 200 meter time trial in 41 seconds. After a few minutes rest, he ran another 200 meter time trial, again in 41 seconds. After another few minutes of rest, he ran a 400 meter time trial in 1:33. After a few more minutes of rest, Cameron ran 4x100 meters, and his time for each of the 100's was 20 seconds. A 500 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 1.5 miles. This brings his monthly total to 46.1 miles, and his yearly total to 180.4 miles.

Monday & Tuesday

After a quick weekend trip to Wisconsin for a wedding in the family, we returned to Tulsa late Sunday night. Then on Monday evening, we made our way to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 750 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran a ladder of 1250 meters/1000 meters/750 meters/500 meters/250 meters. The rest between each decreased along with the distance, starting at 5 minutes after the 1250, and decreasing a minute at a time down to 2 minutes before the 250. Cameron's times were 5:23 for the 1250, 4:18 for the 1000, 3:10 for the 750, 2:00 for the 500, and 59 seconds for the 250. A 500 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 3.1 miles. This brought his monthly total to 37.9 miles, and his yearly total to 172.2. miles.

PB did not have practice Tuesday, but Cameron wanted to go to JATC practice so he could see his friend Ethan. After a 1/2 mile warmup and stretching, Cameron ran 6x400 meters, with a 60 second rest between each repeat. His times were 1:48, 1:46, 1:42, 1:46, 1:44, and 1:45. After about a 10 minute rest, Cameron ran 4x400 meters, with a 60 second rest after the first two repeats, and a 3 minute rest prior to the final repeat. His times were 1:35, 1:37, 1:38, and 1:33. A 1.2 mile cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 4.2 miles. This brings his monthly total to 42.1 miles, and his yearly total to 176.4 miles.

Tuesday

Tuesday evening found us at the ORU Aerobics Center once again for PB practice. After a 1750 meter warmup and stretching, Cameron ran 3x500 meters/1000 meters, with a 2-3 minute rest between each. His times for the 500's were 2:18, 2:14, and 2:16, and for the 1000's, they were 4:42, 4:41, and 4:29. The 4:29 was a 1000 meter PR for Cameron by 1 second. A 1750 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 5 miles. This brings his monthly total to 34.8 miles, and his yearly total to 169.1 miles. As a side note, Colby, one of Cameron's friends from his football team last fall, came to track practice with PB last night. Colby has been wanting to run track, but his parents weren't aware of any youth track clubs until we told them about JATC, and now PB. Colby also plays baseball at this time of the year, so he will only be running track on a limited basis.

Monday

Monday evening, we made our way to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 750 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran 4x200 meters. His times were 44, 47, 46, and 45 seconds. He then ran 4x100 meters, and his times were 20,20,20, and 19 seconds. He finished up by running 250 meters in 50 seconds, which was easily the fastest 250 meter lap he had ever done on that track. Cameron's total distance run was 1.4 miles, bringing his monthly total to 29.8 miles, and his yearly total to 164.1 miles.