2008 RUNNING SUMMARY

Accomplishments
· Overall winner in 5 races (four 5k's and one 10.5k)
· Male Open Runner of the Year in "Run and See Georgia" Grand Prix Series
· 1st in Age Group in "Run and See Georgia" Grand Prix Series
· PRs in every distance I ran

Races
· 75 races total
· 61 5k races
· 5 10k races
· 3 half marathons
· 6 races in other distances
· Raced in 3 states
· Most races in a month 11
· Most races in a day 3
· Number of times I started a race late 3
· Number of 5k races where I ran sub-20, where the course was a true 5k distance 21
· Fastest 5k 18:40 (Mile 1 5:40, Mile 2 11:51) Thomaston Christmas Lane 12/13
· Slowest 5k 35:18 (Brasstown Bald) due to that one hill

Miles
· 1861 total miles
· Miles per week before June - 20 something
· Miles per week since June - 40+ (except for about 3 weeks in the 30's)
· Most miles in a week 50 (3 times)
· Most miles in a month 193 (December)
· Least miles in a month 100 (April)
· Most miles in a day 15
· Most consecutive days off 3 (once)
· Longest single training run 11.1 miles
· Two training runs in the same day - many

Monthly Mileage
Jan – 121 Feb - 114 Mar – 119 Apr – 100 May – 135 Jun – 185
Jul – 175 Aug – 181 Sep – 165 Oct – 177 Nov – 192 Dec - 193

Distribution of Miles per Day
· Did not run 73 days (20%)
· More than 0 but less than 4 47 days (12.8%)
· At least 4 but less than 6 97 days (26.6%)
· At least 6 but less than 8 55 days (15.1%)
· At least 8 but less than 10 45 days (12.3%)
· At least 10 but less than 11 36 days (9.8%)
· 11 or more 12 days (3.3%)

Duck Dash 5k - May 19, 2007 - New PR - 20:14

Finished 4th overall. Temperature was 50 degrees, perfect for running a PR.

Young Life Jasper Jog - May 12, 2007 - 9th overall

Big Brothers Big Sisters 5K MASH Race - 3rd overall

Ran a race last weekend that was close to home. Finished 3rd overall with an official time of 20:42. First mile was 6:16. I didn't get to start on the front line. Instead I had two people in front of me. About 30 seconds into the race I was 3rd, and that's where I stayed.

The race was well run. Results were up on Monday. Pictures were up on Wednesday.

5k for Cancer Research, Canton, GA - New PR

A new 5k PR, by 45 seconds! 20:15. I am sixteen seconds from a sub-20 minute 5k, which has been a far off goal since I started running races.

Today's race was run by the same people as the Thanksgiving race. The website didn't work, the results are not published, and there wasn't a lot of competition. I think the winner was at 19:18, and I came in second at 20:15. When the race started I quickly went to second place, and I knew it was a matter of time until people started passing me, as they usually do. However, I kept up strong, without any issues. I was pushing it, not to the max, but comfortably fast.

I finished second in the race, which is a PR. My first mile was under 6 minutes, which is also a PR. Some of the people that 3-6 months ago used to pass me around mile 1 didn't catch up to me today.

Very good race day for me! Average pace was 6:32/mile.

Making Strides for the Extension 5k

On April 7th I did a 5k in Marietta. I planned to skip racing this Saturday, since the temps were to be in the 20's with windchills in the high teens. But on Friday afternoon I realized I had to race. I took the previous weekend off since there wasn't a race within 50 miles, and couldn't stand to take 2 weeks off in a row, even if it meant running another cold race. I've run my share of cold races in 2007 - the Jan 20, Feb 10, and Feb 17 races were in the 20-29 degree range.

I was dressed appropriately and breathing during the race was fine. I decided not to "thug it out" too much in this race, but I was very happy with my mile 1 time: 6:21. Mile 2 was around 13:45 so I had a 7+ second mile. In mile 3 I sped up and finished in 21:21. This time breakdown is typical for me.

I didn't run too hard, and still had my second fastest time. I placed 15th overall and 2nd in my age group. Received a plaque.

So far in awards I have 3 first place, 5 second place, and 1 third place.

Spring Chicken Run 5k - March 24 - New PR 21:00

I did a 5k in Powder Springs on Saturday March 24th. It was much warmer this week, but not too hot for fast running. I started at the front, and took off very quickly at the start. It was a hilly out-and-back. My first mile was in 6:13, and the second took 7:02 (went down and then back up a big hill for this mile), so my last 1.1 was somewhere in the mid to high 6's.

My overall time was 21:00. This is 49 seconds faster than the PR I set last month. Average pace was 6:46/mile, where my previous best was 7:02/mile. Finished 12th place overall, and was second in my age group.

-Dennis