Crescent City Classic (week 5 of marathon training)

Who Dat?!?! Well, for some of you who have been fortunate enough to venture into the Crescent City, you'll know that saying. Last week was something I call, "An Awesome Week!". Training went alright, but the real reward of traveling to New Orleans came at the end of the week, along with a decent 10k road race.

The week started off fine, decent miles being plotted around throughout Albuquerque with an occasional workout along the Rio Grande River Path. This week, I decided to run a moderate tempo workout of 3x2 miles on the path. Let's just say it went well, as I hit them in (5:14, 5:16), (5:09, 5:21), (5:18, 5:10) with 2 minutes rest between sets. A nice effort leading up to the Saturday 10k race in NOLA.

Thursday, the adventure begins. I knew I wasn't in top shape to run a road pr (sub 29:19), but I viewed this weekend as a quasi vacation along with a, below sea level speed-work-session. After an early flight, Loren (my roommate) and I arrive in NOLA and head to Sonya's (Loren's sister) apartment in the Irish Gardens District. A quick run along the famous St. Charles street and our morning run is checked off the day's list of activities. Up next would be: a Po-Boy lunch, a trip to the Swamp Lands, another run, dinner at Dante's Kitchen, Daiquries, and live music along Frenchmen Street. Bedtime was only pushed back until 3:00am.... but who's keeping track?

The next day was a little more historical, as we spent the majority of our awake time running and touring the World War II museum. The day seemed a little more mellow as we had dinner at the Elite hotel suite with the other athletes. At this point, the race director has informed me that I am the only American Elite athlete on the men's side. Loren and I decide to make things easier, we'd stay at the host hotel instead at his sister's place, so that in the morning we'd be right at the start with the other Elite athletes.

Race morning. I get up early for my usual shake-out run. This time I decide to run by Bourbon Street, thinking that at 6am, no one would be there. Well, aside from the cleanup crew and a few gutter punks roaming around, it's still busier than what I'd expect. The morning goes uneventful as we get to the start and begin the race from the French Market to City Park. I decided to take my splits, which were: [4:48, 4:57, 5:01, 4:59, 5:02, ?:??] and a total time of 30:56 for 15th place. It's a bit slower than my fastest half marathon pace, but I'll take it considering the amount of fun I had leading up to the race. I was actually surprised I didn't run worse. I'm not happy with it, but I am definitely not disappointed. New Orleans proved that it is unquestionably a great town, and wasn't going to give me a horrible race for me to discredit the entire weekend! Thank ya'll for a great time in NOLA and for the lovely memories and artwork that I got to take home!!!

So far, any town or place with a "New" in it, has proven to be a great place! I can only imagine how New York will treat me...

Week 5

Mon - am. 12 miles

Tue - am. 8 miles / pm. 12 miles

Wed - am. 3x2 miles total:12.5 miles / pm. 8 miles

Thur - am. 10 miles / pm. 4 miles

Fri - am. 10 miles

Sat - am. Crescent City Classic 10k - 30:56, total: 15 miles

Sun - am. 24 miles

Total: 115.5 miles