I am one with the levee and the levee with me

AM - I set my alarm for 6 pm by mistake and woke up way late, so I missed the early morning run. I got a few miles in before work, so I'll have to squeeze in more tonight. I think average pace was around 7:00 - 7:05.

PM - Added 4 miles late tonight... I'm feeling some scratchiness in my throat, no other symptoms than that but it's kinda irritating.

AM - Allright, for some reason my post didn't get saved, so here it goes again.

I headed to the track at 11am for some speed work. The plan was 3k at slower than race pace, 2k at race pace, and 1k at faster than race pace. It went well, but I had to give myself a pep talk to get in the right state of mind. I get lazy sometimes, then miss all the goal times, and I really didn't want that to happen.

So the 3k was a little rocky, starting at a faster clip, 75 seconds for the quarter, then slipping into some slower laps in the middle. I reached 1600m in 5:10, then pretty much held pace for the remainder. Finished the rep in 9:39, barely in the acceptable window, but still inside. With 3:45 rest I was ready for the next one.

The 2k started with a 72 quarter, then I more or less held 5:00 pace to the end. I reached 1600m in 4:58, then 2k in 6:14, so I eased up a bit in the last 800m, but it was very close to what I wanted. 3:00 rest and onto the next one.

I also hit 72 seconds the first quarter of the 1k, then reached 600m in 1:50, slowed a bit. Suddenly I realized I just had one lap left, so I took off. I hit 800m in 2:25 (35 sec 200m) then sprinted 33 seconds over the final 200m for 2:58, a few seconds faster than the goal time. Last 800m 2:22, last quarter 68. Not bad.

So overall, it was a good workout. The 3k should have been 9:30, and the 2k 6:12, and I could have cut down by 30 seconds, but overall I'm pleased.

My thoughts on the upcoming race: I should run 15:30 or slightly under, but if I run like an intimidated, unattached runner, like I did in the 3k this winter, I'll run 15:45 or slower. Still a PR, but that would mean a weak race. I just want to throw that out there so I don't have any excuses when it's game time.

3k - 9:39 (16:05 pace -- 3:45 rest)

2k - 6:14 (15:35 pace -- 3:00 rest)

1k - 2:58 (14:50 pace)

PM - It's a midterm day, that means hours of cramming from early in the morning till the last possible second in the evening. So I squeezed in 5 miles after the exam, and I'll have to run again late tonight.

Added 7 late tonight. Total time 50:15.

AM - 7 recovery miles down the Provo River trail, total time 50:41. I included a 200m pickup in 36.5 just to wake up the legs a little. My legs are a little tired, but I should be fine for tomorrow. My sore throat went away as well, which is fantastic. I've been pretty lucky this winter about not getting sick, knock on wood, and I'm glad this last thing passed quickly.

 PM - Added 3 easy miles in Springville.
 

AM - It's race day!!!! I got to sleep in this morning, too, things are already going well. I ran 3 easy miles this morning to wake the legs up, and I'm feeling pretty good. The legs are feeling much less sore and stiff than the last few days, and I'm excited to race. Report coming tonight.....

Today's goals: 1) Run faster than 15:35, and 2) beat as many BYU guys as possible 

Race report

Alright, the race went really well. Goal 1 was almost there today, but Goal 2 wasn't possible since there weren't any BYU guys in the race. That doesn't make any sense to me, but that's the way it was.

So anyway, Sasha came to read off lap splits for me, which was a huge help since I didn't have to do the mental math myself. He gave me some good pre-race advice to just focus on hitting 74-75 second laps and not worry about place or overall time. So that's what I did. Well, almost. It was more like 74-76 second laps, but it worked well.

The gun went off and I started dead last. Most of the time that freaks me out, but I felt very relaxed. First lap in 74... perfect. I slowed a lot in the second lap for some reason, and came through with a 79. Whoops. After that I buckled down and focused on hitting those splits. A 76 and 75 made for a 5:04 1600m, which would have been 5:00 if I hadn't slipped up with that 79.

The pack was at 4:54, I let them get a little too much on me and I was feeling nervous. I knew they would come back to me, but I wondered if I had given up too much ground to get my goal time. The second 1600 went in 5:02... pretty consistent. A few of the runners had come back to me, but the main pack still had a substantial lead.

The final third of the race was where most of the action happened. I tried to open the throttle, but I was too conservative and I kept hitting the same splits. But this was where a lot of people who had gone out too hard started dying off. Places 1 - 5 still had about 10 seconds on me, but the gap was slowly closing. With 800m to go I saw 13:13 on the clock and thought, "The best guys are finished by now. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Again, I tried to pick it up, but I came through the bell lap in low 14:29, so another 76 second lap. I felt that I still had a lot left and managed to pick it up quite a bit here. The next 200m was a 34, I think.... I didn't catch a solid time at 4800m, but I think that's right. Suddenly, that lead pack was within range. I blew past a UVU guy, but he matched me and I finally opened the throttle all the way. I haven't had a lot of races where I felt like I floored it in my final kick, but this was pretty close. He had more speed than me, and managed to pass me again. I just didn't have the speed to beat him. We both passed another guy, and we held positions till the finish. Last 200m in 33, so a final lap of 67 and final 800m of 2:23. Also, Sasha and I were trying to figure out the last 1600m, we think it was 4:53. A progression of 5:04, 5:02, (200m), 4:53... I'm pretty happy with that. I needed that first 1600 to be a little faster, but I'm pleased with the end result. I was expecting to see 15:4x, so I was ecstatic to see that I'd broken into the 15:30s.

Went on a long run up Hobble Creek Canyon. I meant it to be 16 miles, but I was slower than I thought with all the uphill. Total time of 1:55:52.