Tour De Fleurs (20K)

Well somehow I’m signed up to run the Tour De Fleur 20K race this Saturday. I learned about it three days ago and got signed up yesterday. The run starts at the Dallas Arboretum and goes around the lake and from what I have heard it is an amazing race.

I consider this a B-class race for me (meaning it’s not a high priority) this season as I am not yet in “race” form and am really using this as a tuneup and training exercise for the White Rock Marathon in December. Much of the White Rock Marathon covers the same territory as this one so it will be good to familiarize myself with the various elevation and distances.

I went for a short and quick 5K run this morning just to keep the legs moving but I found my energy level was very low. I think it had to do with the fact that I am slightly adjusting my running technique by increasing my cadence or rpm. This supposedly will increase efficiency and allow me to run faster while conserving energy. The problem is that I am still in the middle of tweaking and training my muscles to respond to a shorter and much faster rotation which ends up increasing my heart rate and bringing me to the point of fatigue much faster.

My plan for tomorrow is really just to have fun and enjoy the run. My goal time is under 2 hours but on a perfect day I’d like to run 1 hour 40 minutes or less. I am holding a competition amongst friends (and whoever else would like to join) where if you guess my finishing time within 3 minutes (or are the closest if there is no one within 3 minutes) I will send you a $25 gift card. I’ll accept your latest guess (so if you change your mind after reading this post, that’s fine) but will cut the guesses off at MIDNIGHT (12:00 am) tonight. I’ll announce the winner on Sunday!

Thanks for your support and i’ll be sure and get a post-race report up as soon as possible!

Onward,

Peter