A clydesdale no more!

It certainly wasn't ideal race conditions.  Woke up to a torrential downpour.  I ran up to the starting line (1 mile) and was surprised to see how many people were still there to run the race.  Ran another mile to warm up then waited under a tent until it was time to start the race.  I didn't have high expectations because I wasn't sure how well my body would respond 1 week after the marathon.  I figured that I would just try to hold 6:00/mile pace throughout the run.  I knew that a PR would not be in the cards today.  The gun went off and we were off.  A group of about 8 high school XC runners were in the front but another runner and I moved past all of them in the first 1/4 mile.  Held onto second place until the mile marker when 4 of the young bucks moved past me.  First mile split was 6:04.  Stayed in 6th place until the second mile marker (6:02) when I passed another runner.  I could really start to feel the marathon halfway through the race and my legs were starting to burn.  I hung behind 4th place until there was 3/4 mile to go and I passed him.  I thought that he would drop off but he stayed with me.  He passed me then I passed him again.  We went back and forth a couple of times until I realized that his young legs were going to outlast mine.  The last 1.1 was at 5:56 pace and I finished in 18:48 and 5th place overall.  Last year I ran this race in 18:54 so it was a course PR.  I was a little surprised that my legs held up as well as they did.  It definitely was not 100% effort but it was a good solid effort.  Finished up  by running 3 easy miles to cool down.

Time to start building the mileage back up again.  A little residual soreness from yesterday but nothing too major.  The weather was absolutely perfect for a run.

One of the things lacking from my training is hill running.  I've been hesitant to really hit the hills because of my nagging pains.  Now that most things are feeling better I've decided to add the weekly hill run back into the mix.  I ran up to the entrance to Mueller Park canyon and back home.  Going up wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but coming down was a lot worse.  It took awhile to get used to running downhill and it felt really sloppy.  I had to stop a few times to rub my foot out because the tailor's bunion was really bothering me today.  On the bright side, I am loving the Zensah socks.  I highly recommend these to anybody who has lower leg issues.

My legs felt dead this morning so I kept the pace really easy.  It was a bit of a struggle but I was able to get the miles in.

My legs are a little sore but other than that I felt good this morning.  The weather has been perfect for running this week.  I had to stop and rub my foot a few times to lessen the discomfort from the bunion.  It's not really the bone that hurts but the skin and soft tissue around it so I am going to try taping it to see if it will help. 

AM 

Met the South Davis Road Runners at the BST and ran 7.5 miles with them. It was the same run as last week but I missed a turn at the end so it was a little shorter. I was able to run with a couple of runners most of the time so that was nice. I felt good and my downhill running was better than it has been. Drove back home, changed my shirt and shoes and grabbed a drink and went out for another 7.5. I should have left the other shoes on. My foot was killing me the entire run. I have to figure out how to minimize the discomfort.

PM

Kids were with their mom and I was very bored so instead of sitting around thinking how stupid it was that this was the first time I have had to myself in a long time and I couldn't think of anything to do, I decided to go for a run at 10:00.  I ran out to the Legacy Highway construction site and ran on the unfinished highway for a couple of miles.  I felt very good during the run and was able to get into a good rhythm.  I went about 8 miles, give or take.