“Good things come slow – especially in distance running.”

[LSUlakes]

Long run along the mighty Mississippi River and around campus today. 14 miles went well and pup took a nap while I baked some lasagna in the brick oven.

 

[LSUlakes]

Running time update:

Sunday after my long run on March 1 I woke up with what felt like a bruise on top of my left foot. decided to take some time off and only did two easy runs last week to make sure it was not anything serious or to prevent it from being something serious. That of course led to me having to much time on my hands over the weekend and stuffed my face with some boiled crawfish. I still feel full from the weekend. Got out the door this morning for a few mile repeats and it was a little difficult. Mostly still feeling full lol. Going to stick with the plan and keep miles reduced this week before my half marathon on Sunday. Weather is looking decent for now. Starting temps in the mid 50's and sunny. I would prefer lower 40's but Ill gladly take mid 50's over 60's or 70's. Foot is feeling fine for now, and regardless should hold up enough to get me through my race this weekend. After a few runs this week I will come back with my official pre race prediction. As it looks for now, securing a time good enough for corral A seems to be achievable for marathon weekend 2026.
Speaking of marathon weekend, registration is tomorrow and I anticipate terrible sleep with worrying about it. Going to watch some WDW marathon race content on YouTube to go to bed tonight lol.

 

[LSUlakes]

Zydeco Half Marathon Prediction.
I have finished my last "hard" workout of this training cycle and just have one recovery run on Friday before the half on Sunday. Todays workout was 5 mile tempo run. 1/2 mile warm up, 4 miles @ HMRP, 1/2 mile cool down. The tempo pace averaged 7:37 per mile. This mornings weather is similar to what race day will be, but instead of 6:00 AM race time is for 7:00 AM. Also worth noting is it should be a little more windy Sunday than it was today. Overall I feel like the training cycle since my last half in January has gone really well. I had a peak week of 40 miles with and had two long runs of 15 miles along the way. My last half goal was more or less finish under 2 hours and more aggressive goal of 1:55:00. Finished in 1:54:38 per Garmin. I'm feeling good and have zero pain from training.
First goal 1:45:00 / 8:00 pace
Second goal - 1:42:00 / 7:47 pace
Reach goal - 1:39:45 / 7:36 pace

The reach goal is getting close to my PR of 1:39:28 from Oct 2015. However, I do feel I am close to being in that kind of running shape again... so who knows. I look forward to finding out Sunday and will report back then with a post race discussion.

Also, I got a spot to run WDW marathon in 2026! That was a crazy day yesterday!!!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Hope you have a great race!

 

[LSUlakes]

Hope you have a great race!

Thank you!

 

[col1]

Zydeco Half Marathon Prediction.
I have finished my last "hard" workout of this training cycle and just have one recovery run on Friday before the half on Sunday. Todays workout was 5 mile tempo run. 1/2 mile warm up, 4 miles @ HMRP, 1/2 mile cool down. The tempo pace averaged 7:37 per mile. This mornings weather is similar to what race day will be, but instead of 6:00 AM race time is for 7:00 AM. Also worth noting is it should be a little more windy Sunday than it was today. Overall I feel like the training cycle since my last half in January has gone really well. I had a peak week of 40 miles with and had two long runs of 15 miles along the way. My last half goal was more or less finish under 2 hours and more aggressive goal of 1:55:00. Finished in 1:54:38 per Garmin. I'm feeling good and have zero pain from training.
First goal 1:45:00 / 8:00 pace
Second goal - 1:42:00 / 7:47 pace
Reach goal - 1:39:45 / 7:36 pace

The reach goal is getting close to my PR of 1:39:28 from Oct 2015. However, I do feel I am close to being in that kind of running shape again... so who knows. I look forward to finding out Sunday and will report back then with a post race discussion.

Also, I got a spot to run WDW marathon in 2026! That was a crazy day yesterday!!!

good luck for the race and congrats on getting a Marathon spot.

 

[GollyGadget]

Best of luck on your victory lap!

 

[LSUlakes]

Zydeco Half Marathon Report:
Sunday March 16, 2025 in Lafayette LA

Race morning weather was very nice. Cool and sunny, but a bit of a strong north wind in the 10-15 mph range. Made sure to get not in the very front, but towards the front of the corral which worked out well. Not a whole bunch of running around people at the start and was able to just focus on the task at hand. The course is mostly flat except around mile 8.5 to about 10.5 they have hills. It was at the hills and after that I was not able to continue to hold onto my goal pace. Coming out of the hill loop, turned into running into the wind till the finish line and I just didnt have enough in me to deal with that lol. I did beat my first goal of 1:45:00 and should have secured a spot in corral A for January. I did not get anywhere near my 1:42:00 time or lower. Kind figured that was the outcome but we gotta have goals right? Official finish time is 1:43:51, finished 66th overall in the half and 6th place in my age group. Race had about 700-800 runners in the half. Post race I cooled down and waiting for my friend to finish his first marathon! Awesome experience to be a part of someone's first marathon! Once he finished I started heading home, but stopped at Billys to get some boudin as a post race treat while on the drive home. A good day and a well put together race! Mile splits below for your entertainment lol. Time for a little recovery this week before a short training block before the fat boy 5k!

Mile 1 - 7:40, Mile 2 - 7:33, Mile 3 - 7:34, Mile 4 - 7:45, Mile 5 - 7:39, Mile 6 - 7:44, Mile 7 - 7:48, Mile 8 - 7:52, Mile 9 7:52, Mile 10 - 8:18, Mile 11 - 8:03, Mile 12 - 8:00, Mile 13 - 8:13, last .24 - 7:40.
I struggle with any type of hills and just didnt recover from them unfortunately. Key takeaway is a accomplished my goal of corral placement and sub 1:45:00. Also worth mentioning, I improved my race time from LA half about 2 months ago to this weekends race by around 11 minutes. Proud of the progress I have made in that time frame.

 

[RuntheMouse]

Congrats on meeting your goal!

 

[accm]

Congrats on meeting your goal! That's a huge jump from your last half.

 

[LSUlakes]

Congrats on meeting your goal!

Congrats on meeting your goal! That's a huge jump from your last half.

Thanks to both of you!

 

[col1]

Zydeco Half Marathon Report:
Sunday March 16, 2025 in Lafayette LA

Race morning weather was very nice. Cool and sunny, but a bit of a strong north wind in the 10-15 mph range. Made sure to get not in the very front, but towards the front of the corral which worked out well. Not a whole bunch of running around people at the start and was able to just focus on the task at hand. The course is mostly flat except around mile 8.5 to about 10.5 they have hills. It was at the hills and after that I was not able to continue to hold onto my goal pace. Coming out of the hill loop, turned into running into the wind till the finish line and I just didnt have enough in me to deal with that lol. I did beat my first goal of 1:45:00 and should have secured a spot in corral A for January. I did not get anywhere near my 1:42:00 time or lower. Kind figured that was the outcome but we gotta have goals right? Official finish time is 1:43:51, finished 66th overall in the half and 6th place in my age group. Race had about 700-800 runners in the half. Post race I cooled down and waiting for my friend to finish his first marathon! Awesome experience to be a part of someone's first marathon! Once he finished I started heading home, but stopped at Billys to get some boudin as a post race treat while on the drive home. A good day and a well put together race! Mile splits below for your entertainment lol. Time for a little recovery this week before a short training block before the fat boy 5k!

Mile 1 - 7:40, Mile 2 - 7:33, Mile 3 - 7:34, Mile 4 - 7:45, Mile 5 - 7:39, Mile 6 - 7:44, Mile 7 - 7:48, Mile 8 - 7:52, Mile 9 7:52, Mile 10 - 8:18, Mile 11 - 8:03, Mile 12 - 8:00, Mile 13 - 8:13, last .24 - 7:40.
I struggle with any type of hills and just didnt recover from them unfortunately. Key takeaway is a accomplished my goal of corral placement and sub 1:45:00. Also worth mentioning, I improved my race time from LA half about 2 months ago to this weekends race by around 11 minutes. Proud of the progress I have made in that time frame.


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Congratulations on Sub 1.45 and Corral a placement. 11 minutes improvement in 8 weeks is some going well done

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Great job! Congratulations!

 

[LSUlakes]

Congratulations on Sub 1.45 and Corral a placement. 11 minutes improvement in 8 weeks is some going well done

Great job! Congratulations!

Thank you! Only something like 300 days to WDW marathon to see what I can do there lol.

 

[garneska]

Congrats. Love hearing you can hit 40 miles a week.

 

[LSUlakes]

Finally got a run in today where my legs felt normal post race! The only run prior to today was on Tuesday and that one sucked. Looking back on Sunday, between warm up, race, walking a few miles of the course and then running them back... it ended up being about a 18+ mile day. My longest runs have not been above 15. So the extra distance and race day effort explains the long recovery time. Today I experimented with a progression run over 5 miles. Mile 4 I slowed down mostly due to the 15-20 MPH winds, but the rest went well. Started with a 9:15ish mile and ended around 7:45 ish. Once the legs are 100% I look forward to doing these. The rest of the week should continue to be easy recovery week. 4 mile tomorrow and 8 on Saturday. After my run Saturday we have my sons baseball game, and when that is done we are going tent camping! Tent camping season is almost over here in the south so we have this weekend and maybe one more chance before it gets to hot.

 

[col1]

Finally got a run in today where my legs felt normal post race! The only run prior to today was on Tuesday and that one sucked. Looking back on Sunday, between warm up, race, walking a few miles of the course and then running them back... it ended up being about a 18+ mile day. My longest runs have not been above 15. So the extra distance and race day effort explains the long recovery time. Today I experimented with a progression run over 5 miles. Mile 4 I slowed down mostly due to the 15-20 MPH winds, but the rest went well. Started with a 9:15ish mile and ended around 7:45 ish. Once the legs are 100% I look forward to doing these. The rest of the week should continue to be easy recovery week. 4 mile tomorrow and 8 on Saturday. After my run Saturday we have my sons baseball game, and when that is done we are going tent camping! Tent camping season is almost over here in the south so we have this weekend and maybe one more chance before it gets to hot.

Enjoy the camping

 

[LSUlakes]

A whole week went by eek!
Last weekends long run was 8ish miles total from the farmers market in Baton Rouge. Miles 1-3 are easy pace, miles 4-5 10k to 10 mi pace, 6 & 7 recovery and 8 10k to 10 mile. Did decent, except for mile 8 with starts off with a huge overpass and my legs were tired lol.

Monday was a 5k workout of 1k repeats and that one did not go the way I wanted. It was also the first warmish morning we had in while and that probably did not help. Total distance 5.5 miles
Tuesday a easy 4.
Wednesday - Rest Day, Normally this is a Thursday but I felt like I needed a day off and work was kicking my butt at this point.
Thursday - 5.2 Miles total. Mile warm up then 7 of 2 min at 5k or better, 1 min recovery plus a mile cool down.
Friday - 4 mile recovery run
Saturday - Depending on the weather (Thunderstorms) I want to get 10-12 miles in. just a nice steady 10-12 miles. We shall see!

 

[LSUlakes]

Big 5k race tomorrow morning! Weather is looking great with 54 at the start of the race! Sadly my training since the half last month has not gone the way I wanted to and I believe my realistic goal is around 7:30 pace or a 23:30 finish time. Maybe I will surprise myself but I dont think I have anything much better in me right now. The overly confident race predictor from Garmin says 21:21 lolololol If I finish this race with a number starting with 21 I would not be able to contain my excitement and pure shock of doing so lol. Guess we will see. I will probably go out with a 7:15 mile as the goal for the first one and adjust pace on how that mile went. After this race I have one week of running then have to take two weeks off for a minor procedure. I hate having to take that much time off, but its overdue. So, I guess base marathon preparations will begin in May through August until marathon specific plan kicks in.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Good luck! Last year I PR'd a 5K that I had written off because the course was full of mud puddles. So you never know!