A clydesdale no more!

My left hamstring and right ankle were exceptionally sore this morning.  Probably good that they were on opposite legs so the limps offset and my stride ended up being normal.  I ran at a steady effort today and I was surprised at each mile that the pace was 20 seconds/mile faster than I usually run.  It was strange because it didn't feel faster than normal. 

Warmed up with 3 miles then ran 3X1 mile repeats at 5k pace with 1/4 mile jog in between.  Target pace was 6:00/mile.  First mile felt good and came in at 5:58 with my HR at 163.  Second mile was slightly aided but was still a little more work (5:55 with HR at 172).  The last mile was REALLY, REALLY, REALLY bad.  I had a real hard time holding the pace and it was killing me.  At one point my heart rate was 182 which is close to my max.  It was odd that this mile was so hard considering the first 2 didn't feel that bad.  Finished it in 6:06 with an average HR of 175.  Pretty surprised that the pace was that fast.  It felt very slow.  Cooled down with 2.5 more of super slow miles.

Easy recovery run.  Other than a little soreness in my legs, I felt really good.

Felt good this morning.  First 3 miles were at 8:00/mile then I picked up the pace to 7:25/mile for the rest of the run.  The pace felt really good and in control.  Just like a GA run should feel.

I took it easy today because I am running a 5K tomorrow and don't want to be too sore.  The pace was slow until the last few miles where I picked it up a little.  Aside for some mild soreness in my legs, I felt good.  I may have to run a few easy miles tonight depending on how the day goes.

I ended up being the captain for the Salt Lake County corporate games 5K for my company again.  We had a better team this year but two of the guys bailed on me at the last minute.  I was pretty sure we wouldn't do well as a team so I just wanted to improve on last year's performance.  The race is at the Cottonwood complex and is 3 laps around the park.  There are 7 short hills and the race is run completely on grass.  I haven't done a very good job of mixing up my running surfaces and struggle whenever I run on something other than pavement.  The field looked smaller this year but there were 2 guys that I was pretty sure were going to kill the course.  The gun went off and I felt like I was stuck in the mud.  It was really hard to get going.  I quickly remembered that I felt the same thing last year when the race started.  I typically attack the uphills too hard so I made the conscious effort of taking the hills a little easier during this race.  At the top of the first hill, I was in 5th place and was passed by 3 more people shortly there after.  The 2 fast dudes were pretty much gone and the rest of us were stretched out over about 15 yards.  I realized that we were running really slow so at the top of the second hill I pushed the pace a little and moved by all of them and settled into 3rd place.  There was a lady that was hanging about 15 yards behind me for most of the race.  During the second lap, I really wasn't pushing the pace at all and it felt more like tempo pace than 5k pace.  I didn't have the desire to push it to the next level.  There was no way of me catching 2nd place and I was maintaining my lead on 4th.  I decided to just hold this pace and hoped that the fear of being chicked would be enough for me to push the pace if I needed to.  During the last lap, I started to hear the breathing of the girl behind me (I would make a joke about the heavy breathing of the hot chick but that would be inappropriate).  I now had to make the decision if I wanted to push the pace or let her pass me.  At the top of the last hill, I decided to stretch out my legs and push the pace.  Really stretched it out going down the last hill and kept pushing during the last 0.2 miles.  Finished in 19:34 which is 6 seconds faster than last year and a much better finish.  I was hoping for something closer to 19:00 but at least it is a course PR.  Certainly not a blazing time but it is good for me for this course.  First place was 16:49 and second was 17:42.  My lack of racing seems to be my biggest problem.  The fitness isn't too far off but finding the desire to run at the next level of pain is not there.