Final Post-Race Notes from the Brian Kraft 5K (and Some Post-Race Rides)

I was surprised Henry kept his shirt on for the race as it was nearly 70 and a bit humid. The sun was HOT. I dumped a cup of water over my head at the aid station around mile 2.

Like many of my long runs lately, I just couldn't find another gear. I kept thinking (well, after the first mile) that I could run faster, but just had no way of getting my body to go faster. Hopefully my calf issue will keep getting better and I can start getting in some more consistent speed work (that's what I need!!).

Speaking of which, my sore calf stayed in check for the race and the rest of the day. So the day after the race, I headed out for a moderate 25 mile ride:

5 mile splits, nothing fancy, 19.0 mph average.

I felt like the BIG TEST was the following day. Two days post-race, I went for an easy run. I had no reason to doubt my calf, but I still didn't head down to the river for my normal loop. Instead, I zig-zagged near home like I do for runs where I'm injured and feel like I might have to stop at a moment's notice.

Half mile splits. Would get about a mile from home and turn to get a little closer again.

My calf held up!

So I got up early the next morning and went for a bit of a longer ride. I did the first 20 miles harder (as a tempo ride), and I was a few tenths of a mph faster around mile 14 than I was when I did a similar workout in March. But I couldn't get my speed much higher, and finished a kinda hilly tempo ride in 20.8 mph when I was 20.9 mph 2 months ago. Still, a nice effort.

Then ON MY COOLDOWN of that tempo ride, I hit the 2 biggest hills in St. Paul, both for the first time this year! I biked down Water Street to the base of Ohio Hill, went up that, biked across the High Bridge, and then biked up Ramsey Hill.

Start through split 4 was the 20 mile tempo, Ohio was 5-6, Ramsey was 7-8.
38 miles total starting with that 20 mile tempo!


Heart rate dropping after the tempo at mile 20.


The first red arrow is Ohio, the 2nd is Ramsey.
That's a brutal 7 minutes of riding with those hills so close!

I take my splits up those hills (obviously by the map), and times were SLIGHTLY on the fast side, especially considering it was after a 20 mile hard effort. Ohio was 2:17 (10.7 mph from a road sign at the bottom to a light pole on Alice at the top), and Ramsey was 1:19 (10.0 mph crosswalk to crosswalk). I think average for both of those hills is a few seconds slower in the low x:20s.

My sort of final "test" for my sore calf was yesterday's run. (On Friday... so raced Monday, easy bike Tues, easy run Wed, tempo/hill ride Thurs, slightly longer run Fri.) My "normal" easy runs are 5.5 - 6 miles, but because the 5K was Monday, I skipped my normal Monday long run (obviously). So I ran a BIT longer than usual on Friday to get in SOME mileage. I ran nearly 8 miles, and I did 2 miles a bit harder in the middle NOT for the workout, but just to break up my stride from being the exact same for an hour. And my calf wasn't perfect, but it help up just fine!

So to get in 13+ miles of running and 64+ miles of biking in the 4 days after a race is pretty good! If I'd have been at 100% with no sign of injury, my Tuesday bike ride could have been longer, and yesterday's run would have had more effort. Still working that calf back to normal.