I am one with the levee and the levee with me

Lilac Bloomsday 12k

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Location:

North Salt Lake,UT,

Member Since:

Dec 12, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Olympic Trials Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

1500m - 3:59.9h (2014)

5000m - 14:53.45 (Portland Track Festival 2014)

8k XC - 25:09 (Sundodger 2011)

10k XC - 31:31 (WWU Invite 2011)

HM - 1:10:19 (Houston 2018)

Marathon - 2:28:39 (Houston 2019)

Long-Term Running Goals:

Olympic Trials Qualifier

Personal:

Married, working, training. While my wife has nixed all future attempts to grow glorious mustaches, she has been supportive of my crazy running dreams. Life is good.

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Miles:This week: 1.00 Month: 1.00 Year: 1.00
Mizuno Ekiden Lifetime Miles: 274.65
Flyknit Streaks Lifetime Miles: 419.25
Flyknit VFs Lifetime Miles: 80.50
Ride 14 Lifetime Miles: 652.85
Ride 15 Lifetime Miles: 275.80
Ride 15 X2 Lifetime Miles: 21.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
73.250.000.007.4680.71
Nike Lunar Racer Miles: 10.46Switch 3 Miles: 70.25
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Race: Lilac Bloomsday 12k (7.46 Miles) 00:40:20, Place overall: 40
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.000.000.007.4610.46

It's intimidating to find yourself in a room full of people with names like Korir and Kiptoo. Kinda like you don't belong. 

But's that's where I found myself this morning. I submitted an entry to get included in the elite field at this year's race, they just said you had to have a shot at placing in the top 50, so I made my case and they accepted. But I definitely felt out of place in that little room by the start line. I did make the top 50, so I guess it was justified.

The race did not go as well as I'd hoped. I hoped that I'd be rid of whatever is in my chest by now, but it hasn't gone away. This is my second round of antibiotics, what's going on? 

In any case, I ran my race under the assumption that my body was 100%, so going through the first two miles in 5:08 and 5:06 (long downhill from about 1.5 to 2.0) felt perfect. My legs felt responsive and I felt confident I'd maintain a 5:10 average the rest of the way. It wasn't to be. 

Mile 3 climbs about 100 feet in elevation through a series of rolling hills and I came through in 5:35 (15:49) which seemed acceptable for the hill climb. But from there to the finish I couldn't get myself out of the 5:30 zone. Mile 4 continued the rolling hills but the altitude changed little, and I only managed 5:25 (21:14). At this point couple runners caught up to me and I managed to latch on to one, and we went back and forth for a couple miles, which helped. It's funny, I recognized him from his stride as Jesse Fayant, a guy who used to dominate Washington distance in high school. He was the same grade as Chris Lukezic, and the races between the two were epic. Jesse won state XC over Chris, then lost the state 1600m title to him. When the 3200m rolled around, the two ran stride for stride, closing the last lap in 57 thanks to a 27 second final 200m and Jesse managed to edge him at the line. Obviously his training isn't where it could be, but all this was running through my mind as we were running together.

Mile 5 lost considerable altitude before beginning the ascent up the Doomsday Hill, and should have been at least 5:00, but my watch had me at 26:49, another 5:35. This was incredibly frustrating: my body told me I was running 5:10 pace effort but I just wasn't producing. I can only chalk it up to my breathing issues. My chest was noticeably tight at this point, but regardless I was still positive my effort was equal to 5:10 miles. 

The climb up the hill was not bad. My runs up Jump Off Joe have paid off as I climbed mile 6 (141 foot gain) in 5:38 (32:27). Jesse dropped here and I didn't see him till the finish. A group of runners came way, way back and I nearly caught them. I set myself to catching them as we crested the hill, but again I ran into a block at around 5:30 pace. I swear up and down it was 5:10, but the watch doesn't lie. I finished mile 7 in 5:30 (37:57) and those runners had quietly slipped away. I passed a clock that I assume was set at the 10k, my watch reading 33:36.

The finish was very cool. The crowd thickened from mile 7 on, until we turned onto the final downhill stretch to the finish. Thankfully it was downhill and I managed a decent kick down the last quarter mile or so, stopping my watch at 40:20.

Very cool race to do despite the frustrations. I'm looking forward to doing it again in future years. I was planning to race at the UW this coming Saturday but think I'll skip it to let my body get back into balance.

Nike Lunar Racer Miles: 10.46
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(9)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

Ferocious recovery. Those are the two words that describe my run today, the former referring to the wind and latter my goal for the run. By the end I felt a little closer to thrashed than recovered. We got  steady 20-30mph winds today with gusts up over 50. Every trash can I passed was toppled over, contents spilled and scattered and its lid lying some distance away as if saying "We're really sorry. We tried...."

Legs are very sore. I'm making it a goal to be more diligent about my stretching and core workouts, which I've been very lazy about. Finished up with 30 reps on my stomach workout... I'll be feeling it tomorrow.

Switch 3 Miles: 8.00
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

AM - Easy 8 miles. I took another step towards my goal of eating healthier: I ate oatmeal for breakfast. Willingly. And I put bananas in it. I believe this marks the official end of my childhood.

On a positive note, my chest feels like it's clearing. My breathing felt much better. I'm still coughing up stuff now and then, but easy breathing is a good sign.

PM - Easy 4

Switch 3 Miles: 12.00
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

Woke up bright and early at 5:30 for an easy 8. 57:07

Switch 3 Miles: 8.00
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.500.000.000.0013.50

AM - My work start moved to 7am, so it's gonna be a lot of early mornings. I rolled over and closed my eyes when the alarm went off but remembered how nice my evening run would be if I didn't have to smash in 90 minutes, so rolled out and got it done. Easy 4.

PM - Headed over to the high school meet right after work. It was a thing of beauty. The boys went 4:17, 4:22, 4:22, 4:23 in the 1600m, then followed up with 9:40, 9:44, 9:46 off a 5:00 first half in the 3200m. Big things are happening over there. Anthony is getting scary... the head coach taped his double from a meet last week where he went 4:25/9:26. Splits in the 1600m were 2:20/2:05. Also clocked his last 100m in the 3200m by video at 12.6. That's not a typo. He was down by 10m with 100m and pulled it out of somewhere to win by 2 secs. The guys keep me humble.

9.5 miles with warmups, cool downs, and an easy 50 minutes down a canal.

Switch 3 Miles: 13.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

AM - Easy 4

PM - Easy 8 

Switch 3 Miles: 12.00
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.750.000.000.0016.75

Ran around Richland today from my apartment. Headed down the usual river trail, planning to do a 2hr out an back but just continued around on the bike path up the bypass highway. The whole loop was about 90 minutes, so I tacked on 30 at the end to finish at 2:00:00. Compared to the last 2hr run, my pace was much quicker and I felt quite a bit better. I started feeling a little shaky with about 15 minutes left, compared to 45 minutes on the last one. Good stuff.

The not-so-good stuff is that I've developed a jarring pain in my knee. It didn't prevent me from striding normally, but every so often it would shoot a sharp pain. Stretched and iced when I got back, I'll have to work on it hard this week.

Switch 3 Miles: 16.75
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
73.250.000.007.4680.71
Nike Lunar Racer Miles: 10.46Switch 3 Miles: 70.25
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
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