DAY 56: 5-MILE RUN AT KIMBALL PARK

DAY 56: 5-MILE RUN +125 FEET AT KIMBALL PARK

After the run

**MY 56 DAY SUMMARY:  198.25 Miles  +30,075 Feet**

Today officially marks my first run of the New Year!  Not only that, this really is my first run since beginning my thousand days.  Although I've done some running on the trails, today was only about the run!  When I was training for the marathon last year, I ran around the 1.25 mile oval at Kimball at least once a week.  Today will mark the only day that I will run at Kimball, unless I couple a future run with a hike at another location.  Pursuant to my rules set forth, I will visit a new place each day and trek at least a mile in that area.

Directions: From the 126 Freeway in Ventura, exit at Kimball and the huge open field is right there.  When you drive in the main entrance (only entrance), you must drive all the way forward to the circle near the public pool.  Turn right and then another immediate right into the parking lot.  Drive all the way back toward where you came in from and find a parking spot.  Walk the sidewalk back near the traffic light and turn left on the path.  About ten feet down on the right, you will notice the starting point:

I'm not sure why this came out sideways??  I originally took this picture on Day 46.  Alyssa and I duplicated the first eighth of a mile but then we ventured off into the tunnel.  Ayden and I also explored the barranca on Day 14 and parked on the other end of Kimball Park.  Today however, we ran the complete 1.25 mile oval (four times).  These plaques are placed on the outside of the track every quarter mile.  Once we run to the fifth marker, we U-Turn and run all the way back.  Most people just keep going forward and cross the street but by doing that, you may be interrupted with car traffic and you will not get an exact time or distance.  Part of my motivation for running is keeping stats and then tracking the improvement.  And yes, there always will be improvement, even at age 36!  I figure that one entire time around may have a total increase of 30 feet in elevation.  It doesn't seem like much but when you are running and you hit the back stretch, that elevation gain sucks!

I ran pretty well today, considering.  The inside of my arch became blistered and for most of the run, my wife led the way by 10 to 15 seconds.  However with one mile left, I picked it up and crossed the start/finish 1 minute and 8 seconds faster than her.  No big deal... She runs pretty darn well, for a girl :)

Below I am listing my quarter splits versus the Marathon that I ran last year.  Keep in mind, after the first five miles of the marathon, I had to run another 21.2...
       KIMB 1/9/2011                           LA MARATHON 3/21/2010
Lap 1:   2.44.45
Lap 2:   2.20.86
Lap 3:   2.21.81
Lap 4:   2.06.61   9.33.73 Mile                         Mile 1:  9.02.87   
Lap 5:   2.31.43
Lap 6:   2.34.44
Lap 7:   2.38.90
Lap 8:   2.34.64   10.19.41 Mile                       Mile 2:  8.47.01
Lap 9:   2.25.16
Lap 10: 2.30.68
Lap 11: 2.40.81
Lap 12: 2.23.81   10.00.46 Mile                       Mile 3:  9.01.48
Lap 13: 2.13.65
Lap 14: 2.20.23
Lap 15: 2.26.91
Lap 16: 2.38.14    9.38.93 Mile                        Mile 4:  9.49.20
Lap 17: 2.07.82
Lap 18: 2.25.47
Lap 19: 2.12.95
Lap 20: 1.38.37   8.24.21 Mile                         Mile 5: 11.13.25
FINISH: 47.57.14                    5-Mile Split: 47.53.81

Pure coincidence that these times are different by just 4 seconds.  I ran the marathon at a weight of 195 versus the 214 pounds that I weighed today.  Mile 5 on the marathon must have had some gnarly uphills because I ran mile 6 under 10 minutes.  I completed the first 10k of the marathon in 59.54.  Keep in mind, I was pacing for the long haul and could have easily shed 10 minutes from that time.  Let me point out, these are far from record times and I would never win any real race, but the numbers offer a base for me to compete against myself.

For the record, Jess finished 49.05.77, but to her defense she was aiding our annoying son Ayden, who was pedaling beside her and annoying her.  Jess listens to music while she runs so much of his antics are drowned out.  Nevertheless, the mere sight of his presence is quite distracting at times.