High Speeds

  Got my PR of 1:13:56 (nearly a minute improvement) in the Provo River half today. Ended up taking 2nd overall. This half was less miserable than any of my four previous halfs, with the possible exception of Utah Valley 2014. Unlike on Pioneer Day, I didn't experience any severe cardio problems and ran strong pretty much the entire way. The difference was most likely due to heat. However, I was more sore afterwards than I've been since Pheonix.

 Warmed up a bit before the start. In the first mile a dark horse runner took off and me and my Dad followed him for about a half mile. at which point I realized I was working too hard for 5:30 pace and that we were actually doing 5:00. We slowed down, but still ran the first mile in 5:08.

  I felt pretty good during the next couple miles, but with the horrors of Pioneer Day's Uneventful half fresh in my memory I was expecting a crash at anytime. The crash never came. Instead, I kept running strong untill the uphill mile. My dad dropped back a little before Bridal Veil falls. The uphill mile broke my rythym, and I had some difficulty regaining it.

  To make matters worse, I began to feel a pressing need which I thought I could endure to the finish, but slowed me down somewhat. However, a little past Nun's park I realized a VPB stop was inevitable. After my 30 second VPB, my pace increased significantly, and I was doing 5:30 for some time. I gradually slowed down untill a mile to go when severe soreness set into my calves. I then limped into the finish in 1:13:56 -- much faster than I'd been expecting given the horrors of the Uneventful half, and cooled down another mile home.

Took my Comparative Literature final today. There were as many questions as on the midterm (~10 dates, 3 short answer and 1 essay), but I had three hours instead of two like on the midterm, so I think I did better than I did on the midterm. I also didn't miss any dates this time around. I need to score ~95% on the final to get an A in the entire course and I scored 88% on the midterm so we'll see.

Six easy. Took my Theory of Analysis final today. I feel like I did well. There was an extra credit question which I was able to answer and I was not stumped by any questions (unlike last midterm where nobody, including the kid who scored above 99.5% on the first midterms, got problem 5 right.)

Eight easy. Took my Doctrine and Covenants 2 (REL C 325) final today. My professor provided the class with a very detailed study guide and most questions on the exam were straight from the guide. I ended up missing only one or two MC questions -- the written portion still awaits grading.

 Ran into Matt, a writer for an on-campus dating magazine (Two) who I'd met a couple times before. I first met him during the spring term when I was walking and talking with some friends after my World Religions class. He stopped us and asked some questions about dating, intending to use our responses in an article he was writing. As a 15-year old without permission to even group-date, I found the situation extremely amusing.

  I ran into Matt one more time after that, but didn't seen him for the entire Summer term untill I ran into him today.

  Ran the TOU half today. Ended up with second place in my age division (15-18) and 10 overall with a minute PR.

  Warmed up a little before the start. I actually got decent sleep the night before -- unlike Pheonix.  I started out with my Dad, Steve Anderson (both masters), a guy named Noah. and Jacob Stone, an 18 year-old. After four miles of ~5:30 pace both my Dad and Steve droppped back. I felt good and relaxed. for the first six miles of the race. As the course flattened out I experienced a drop in strength, and then another shortly after 7. At eight miles I was ready to drop back from the group I was with.

  Instead, I gritted my teeth and resolved to hang on untill at least 9 miles. Around 9 Noah dropped back and there was nobody over 20 still with me :). I somehow managed to stay with Jacob untill 10. We kept pushing the pace untill 10.25 when Jacob looked at his GPS and realized we were going 5:20. We slowed down after that. And then came the hill.

 I ended up dropping back from Jacob a little before mile 11, on the hill. I limped my way to mile 12 in ~6:10. at which point I crested the hill, saw the finish, and was able to speed up to 5:30 pace for the remaining 1.1. I ended up with 1:12:55, a PR of a minute (from Provo RIver two weeks ago).

Overall, I'm very pleased with this race. After I finished I was more hungry and tired than I'd been since Phoenix, so I think I really gave it everything this time.