Go, you chicken fat, go away!

Today I wanted to see if I could run my first two miles at a 7 minute pace.  I did, and it seemed kind of easy.  I stopped and stretched after the first two even though I felt like I could have kept going.  I'm sure if I was running a 5k this morning I would have PR'ed.  I started running again nice and easy.  Right at the 3 mile mark I got a big cramp under my right butt cheek.  I don't think it was a twang, but I stopped again and stretched.  I decided to not run the full loop I usually do but cut it short.  I was about to stop and stretch again, but I saw my neighbor and didn't want her to see me stop.  After she was gone I stretched one more time and ran home.

Time - 34:47 (ave. pace 7:44)

Splits - 7:02, 6:53, 7:57, 8:27, 4:29 for 0.5 (8:57 pace)

Whip Thain Filkin!  I made the decision to forego my planned 5.6 mile easy run and ride the mountain bike to work instead.  But guess what.  It's raining!  I'm so mad at mother nature I could kick her in the ovarian cyst!

Not a cloud in the sky this morning.  Mother Nature learned her lesson.  I ran the same loop as I did last time for the same reason.  My leg started to hurt again in the same spot.  Both spots.  The same spot in my leg and the same spot I was running at. 

Time - 36:13 (avg. pace 8:01)

Splits - 8:01, 8:07, 7:05, 8:32, 4:29 for 0.51 (8:42 pace)

Today I would like to spotlight fellow blogger Teena.  I know most of the runners on this blog aren't big UFC fans so you probably don't know this, but Teena is a very well rounded mixed martial artist.  She may be small, but I wouldn't mess with her.

Two easy miles just to stay loose for the race tomorrow.  I hope my hamstring holds out.

Time - 16:39 (avg. pace 8:20)

Splits - 8:17, 8:22

That was harder than I thought it was going to be.  But it was fun.  My friend Doug that I went to high school with was coming into town this week for work related training.  Doug didn't run track or cross country in high school.  I caught up with him about three years ago on MySpace and saw that he had gotten into running.  It's been interesting to watch his progress over the last three years.  He's gotten very fast.  He's also big into P90X.  Anything you might need P90X-wise, he can hook you up.

With him coming to town, we looked to see if there were any races we could do.  I found the Measure of Love 10k Trail Race on Active.com.  $20 for a 10k?  I'm there.  This race is a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale.  With the nice technical T-shirt we got and the small number of participants, I don't know how they make any money.  Sponsors, donations, and volunteers, I guess.  Anyhoo...

We were some of the first people to get there.  The race had a friendly staff.  There was no chip timing, no mile markers after the 2nd mile, no cups at the drink stations, no age division awards, but who cares?  I knew it was a small race going into it.  There were 111 runners that finished.  Since we got there early, they asked what time we wanted to start.  It's a trail race, and the trail's not very wide.  So to avoid congestion, they staggered the start in  three waves.  Naturally, we chose the first wave.

I'm living by a new rule.  That is; not to be bashful about lining up front when everyone else is.  So Doug and I lined up right in front with a couple of other guys.  We just wanted some camera time.  The bad thing was I felt obligated to start off fast.  And I think I started off way too fast.  I hit the first mile in 7:08.  There were some rolling hills, bumps rather, and some sandy washes.  I was in 9th place, but soon started getting passed. 

The second mile was in 7:51 with a small hill.  The next mile was 8:24.  2.6 is where the real hill started.  I underestimated it.  It's a looped course, so I figured there's got to be the same amount of uphill as downhill.

But the uphills are longer, and the downhills are shorter.  I kind of wish it was the other way around.  It was all I could do just to keep running.  But people were really catching me on the uphills.  Not so much on the downhill.

Mile 4 was 8:28.  I was finally getting out of the tougher climbs.  Mile 5 was 7:46.  Looking at the profile, you might think it should have been way faster.  But there was a lot of rocks.  You had to calculate and carefully place each step.  I was thinking, "What would Twinkies be doing right now?  Oh yeah.  He's running a 50-mile race!"  So, that didn't help.

At the bottom of the hill I was passed again for the last time.  I knew beforehand that the last 1.2 miles was uphill.  Unfortunately, I was spent and could not make a move.  I had about three people in my sights and just couldn't make up any ground on them.  At least I gave it everything I had.  Mile 6 was 8:46 and the last 0.2 miles was 1:34.

The Cardinals mascot, Big Red, was there to give us five as we crossed the finish line.  Doug finished in 45:50, 5th male and 6th overall.  I finished in 49:54, 10th male and 15th overall.

My Ragnar teammates Michael and Corena also ran.  They did good and had a fun time.  There was a dog leg on the course, so I got to slap Michael a high five as he and Corena started with the second wave.

Since they only gave awards out to the top three male and female finishers, we took off.  You better believe I celebrated with a root beer float.