I am one with the levee and the levee with me

Easy loop around Padden.

Easy run to bench and back. Added 4x200 at mile pace on the track. 

6 easy. Loop around Connelly Creek to Bench and back.

This race wasn't initially on the schedule, but it made sense to get another middle distance day in before the next 5k. We had another day of beautiful weather. 50s, sunny, light breeze.

The 1500m went as planned, for the most part. I started in lane 2 and had a better reaction than the guys on either side of me, but they were quicker off the line. The result was having them both run into my elbows simultaneously, which shot me forward and into perfect position. I felt kinda bad about the elbows, but it really wasn't intentional. I sat in 4th for only the first 200m, and then the pace slowed. My prerace plan was to get through 800m in 2:07 and decided I would do it from the front if I had to. There were several guys in today's race with faster PRs, so I was expecting a faster opening pace. But I took over going into the homestretch. 

We reached 400 in 63. Perfect. I buckled down the next lap, trying to make sure I didn't ease off the pace at all. 2:07 at 800. I was feeling the pace already, but put my head down to work the next 300. I reached 1 to go in 2:56 and knew the sub 4:00 was in reach, but that I needed a good last lap. I was already tightening up, but I dug in and tried to find some more. 1200 in 3:11/3:12. The guy who had been sitting on me blew past at that point, and his burst was so sudden and explosive I had nothing to respond. Found out later he ran 3:44 a few years ago. I was tightening badly and trudged through the next 100. Dylan came up on my shoulder with 200 to go and tried to pass. I managed to match him through the turn, and we battled down the homestretch. I was in full acid mode. I edged him at the line, but I saw the clock tick to 4:00 just before I crossed. So close! Official results won't get posted for a couple days, but I'm sure the clock wasn't reading fast. Perhpas if I had a pack to follow instead of leading 3 laps, I'd be there. But it is always exciting and satisfying to break old PRs.

I had about 20 minutes of rest and then jumped in the 800. My goal was to improve on last week's 800, so I ran even splits of 61/61 and finished with a 2:02. So another PR there. I think I might race an 800 after Portland just to finally break 2:00. 

Also ran a half-hearted 4x400 with a 60.x split. My hamstrings were unhappy with me after last week, so I didn't want to push this.

EDIT: Official results came out with me at 3:59.9. It was hand timed, unfortunately, so unreliable. I'll take it for what it is and will just have to do it officially next year.

School got in the way of things today. No run.

8 easy on the Urb. I stayed up all night working on a project and I didn't feel too bad, considering.

Easy loop around Padden.

Easy loop up to campus and around Boulevard. 52 min total.

Last track session of the season. 2x1600 + 2x800 (4:00 and 2:00 rests). 4:43, 4:43, 2:20, 2:22. 

This was originally scheduled for Saturday, and to do 3x1600 instead of 2, but at this point there is no benefit from pushing a workout like that, so I cut it down. I felt controlled and ready to race. The funny thing was starting the 2nd rep, cruising through the first 200 thinking "I can run this pace all day" and finding I started at 33s. I think I'm ready for a good 5k.

8 miles easy down the Urb.

6 easy down the Urb.

6 easy down Boulevard. Today was my last day of finals and I graduate Saturday! This has been the roughest finals week of my school career. The great thing about not racing till Sunday is having an extra to recover from this. 

6 easy including 4x200 at mile pace. 

4 easy warming up and cooling down with Sam for his race.

Erica and I drove down to Portland last night and cheered on Sam as he won the master's mile. Lewis & Clark College has a beautiful track and it was good to get a feel for the atmosphere. We went to a sushi bar for dinner (best sushi I've ever had), swung by Voodoo dougnuts downtown, and overall just relaxed and enjoyed not having to stress about school.

My warmup felt great. I felt rested and the swelling that popped up in my knee yesterday had gone away. When I went to check in, somehow my entry had been shuffled into the fastest heat, but they were nice enough to move me back to the right one.

I wasn't sure what to expect for how the race would go. There were 13 guys in my race with seed times between 14:00 and 15:00, and I hoped i'd have a few who'd be running 71s. I didn't think I was quite ready to crack 14:40, so I wanted to run 71s for half the race and push it from there. I started on the inside of lane 1 and allowed the pack to take their place in front of me. My first 200 was only 36/37 and first lap 72. From there it increased to 69 and 70 and I decided it wasn't a good idea to start off that hot. So I dropped to a 71 and came through 1600 in 4:42.

I hoped people would drop off the pack in the 2nd mile, but it didn't happen. So I ran those laps alone and started to let the negative thoughts creep in. I was grumbling to myself about how much easier it would be if I had a pack to run with, and somewhere the pace slipped from 71s to 72s and I came through 3200 in 9:31 (4:49). My coach Sam kept yelling at me to look up, and it took me a couple laps to figure out what he was saying. 2 guys had fallen off the lead pack and hadn't gained any ground for several laps. So I lifted my eyes and tried to focus on reeling them in. With 5 to go, I wasn't feeling terrible. I was just getting down about running solo.

I got negative again around 4 and 3 laps to go. The pace was hurting. 2 to go I decided to stop being a baby and made a push. The pack of 2 had become a pack of 3 and I focused on closing on them. I made ground and coming into the last lap made another push. I passed one and another was coming back. 200 to go I heard 14:21 (4:50) and really opened up. I was gaining on the next guy but didn't quite have enough. Finished with a 32 for 14:53. 67 last lap.

Afterwards, Sam lectured me on how I should have run in that case. He said letting go of the pack was fine, but that I wasn't as alone as I thought I was. Keeping my eyes on the back runners and focusing on closing the gap in the last mile would have gotten me to the 14:40s, rather than looking at the ground and being negative. He's absolutely right. Laps 9, 10 & 11 were 72-mid, 73-low, and 73-high, when I was feeling most negative. That was when I bled away the <14:50. I thought it was good advice.

It was really fun to watch the fast heats of the men's and women's 5k. Mo's last lap was just ridiculous. Really fun to see.

This has been a great season. I'm happy to have seen the gains I've made, and even if I'd have liked to go a little faster in the 5k, I cut 32 seconds off my previous PR (which was at altitude) and got it closer to where it should be. I'm really looking forward to the next phase of training and grinding through some good mileage.

4 easy back in Bham with a friend from out of town. I've learned that completely taking time off tends to get things out of whack and get me injured coming back. So this week will mostly be short easy runs.

Well I ended up taking a full week off after all. I had a job interview Tuesday and then Erica and I headed out to the Olympic Nat'l Park for some camping and backpacking. We spent a few nights backpacking along the Sol Duc river and then out on Shi Shi beach. Aside from one rainy night, it was beautiful weather. The Olympics are my favorite place in the world, and when the weather is like that, there's nothing better.

I broke off the week's rust with an easy loop around Padden this evening. 

5 easy to bench

5 easy

Easy loop around Padden. I'm taking things easy this week. Sometimes my knees or something else will get out of whack after I've taken time off, so this is a good time to be cautious. Also, the tendonitis in my ankles and lower abdomen is still hanging around, so I'm working on getting rid of it.

8 easy down the Urb.

10 easy on the Urb.

10 easy. Loop around Padden.