I am one with the levee and the levee with me

Ran an easy 9 miles this morning, avg. pace 6:58. I was tempted to do a long steady-type run, but decided it's still too early to push things too hard. I think the ankle will be fine from here out, but I want to be sure I'm healthy before doing too much.

All in all, it was amazing weather and a great run. I'm crossing my fingers that the snow will stay away from now on.... but I know that's wishful thinking.

AM - 5 easy miles along the river trail. I headed up north towards the canyon this time for a change of scenery. 6:58 avg. pace, the legs are feeling peppy, and I'm looking forward to Saturday's race. Hopefully some BYU guys show up, I want a fast pace from the gun, and there are a couple guys that I might be close to. Hopefully the good weather stick around that long.

PM - I ran through Springville, total time at 47:30, so I'm calling it 6.9 miles. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day.

I ran a new PR for 4 miles today (21:58).... I love tempo runs. I went out on the river trail and wanted to run 5:30 pace to see how it felt. The weather is perfect today, about 43 degrees and overcast, so after 2.5 mile warmup and a couple strides I got right into it.

The first mile was pretty uneventful, I started on top of the final bridge before Utah Lake, I think it's about 4 miles out from the lake. Anyway, I went through the mile in 5:30 on the nose, feeling good. 4 miles still seems like a long ways to me for a tempo run. I get nervous that I'm going too fast or that I'll burn out before the end, so today I was just trying to relax and enjoy my first full tempo outdoors.

The second mile seemed to come quickly, 5:28 (10:58) and still feeling good, I did my 180 and headed back the way I came. The first two miles must be slightly downhill, because it was harder to hit the times on the way back. The third mile came and went in 5:34 (16:32), and I was still feeling alright. Getting tired, but still good.

I think I need to be getting more sleep, because the fourth mile was a challenge, and it shouldn't have been. The first half was okay, 2:45 kept me on pace, but the last half made me tired. I'm still tired. I really, really wanted to get under 22:00, so I tried to pick it up a little without going crazy. Another 82sec. quarter kept me at 5:30 pace and just over 22:00 pace, so I pushed in the final quarter at 76 to barely break the 22:00 mark in 21:58. I had the weirdest sensation in my arms that last half, like I was waving around giant balloons instead of arms. Kind of a cool feeling. I felt lightheaded the last 200m... I'm pretty sure sleep is the issue here.

Anyway, the overall pace was probably a little under threshold pace, but it give me a lot of confidence all the same.

AM - 3 easy miles, 7:21 pace. Legs are a little tired, but it feels good.

PM - 7.3 miles from Provo to home - 7:15 pace. I picked up my race packet and the adrenaline is starting to flow. It's impossible for me to stay calm.

I ran a little bit of the Rex Lee 5k course and then headed to Springville. The legs were a little tired, but should be okay.

It’s about time. I could barely consider the 9:12 3k as a pr, but finally I’ve broken one of my long-standing marks. My old 16:06 was run at the qualifier for the state meet, it was my senior season and a last-ditch effort to make it to state. 16:06 was a pr by 43 seconds, and it’s always been somewhat of a revered mark for me.

So it’s especially sweet to finally break it. The race started fast, but this time I made sure to hang back at my own pace. With most of the first mile heading up a long, gradual hill, it would have been easy to burn out my legs before half the race was done. By about a half-mile in, I settled into 6^th place, keeping those in front of me in sight. Aaron Robison was especially easy to pick out, he’s so tall, and I thought I could catch him if I raced right.

Mile one passes quickly – no mile mark, so no way to know the exact time. Mile two is mostly downhill, trying to dodge the 10k runners and keep the front guys in sight. It heads up a steep hill and finishes there; the marker was there and I had 10:16 on my watch. A little slower than I wanted, but the last mile had a good amount of downhill, and I figured I could make up some time on it.

During mile 3, the front runners begin to come back to me (well, except the winner, he maintains a large gap from start to finish). I pass a guy in a big T-shirt on the downhill stretch, and he passes me back at the bottom. I should be pressing the pace more, but I'll hang on to him for a stretch. We pass another guy, now I’m in 5^th. I’m still with Big T-shirt, and another guy comes back to us. 4^th place, Robison is coming closer. We head into the track I pass Big T, now Robison 10m ahead. Now 5m. It’s 320m to go, and I think if I can sneak up on him, I can kick past with 200m to go. At 300m to go, Big T charges passed, spooks Robison and they take off. I don’t respond, and they get too far ahead to catch. It's weak of me to let them go, but I can't find that next gear...

Sometime around 170m to go, I look at my watch and it reads 15:32, my brain isn’t working so well and I think I should be under 16:00 easy. I try to kick, but no one is coming up on me, and I still can't find that next gear. I cruise into the finish, see 16:00 on my watch, and feel happy about the PR, but frustrated I didn't break 16:00. Obviously, I get a surge of joy when I see they had me at 15:59.08. Luckily, my kick was enough.

The race went well, if anything I feel that I was too conservative. Plus, that last mile was kinda weak. By my watch, I ran 5:12 pace from Mile 2 to the finish, and there was a steep downhill right at the start. That last mile should have been at slowest 5:00, I had enough left to push that pace. Anyway. this is a good stepping stone for the rest of the season.