Rolled out of bed this morning to freezing cold temperatures to go run the 4-miler in Orem. I'm not in nearly the shape I'd like to be and was shooting for sub-21 but expecting something closer to 21:30. Typically I don't like to race until I'm in better shape, and the soreness in my legs as I'm writing this reminds me why. But I'm trying to kick the habit and get into more races. I was ecstatic with the result today.
I showed up at 6:30 shivering my you-know-what off and sat in my car listening to music. Guess I got there a bit early. I wandered around a bit but didn't see anyone I knew so I just tried to keep warm. 25 degrees according to the high school reader-board.
Warmed up 15 minutes, did some strides, wandered over the start line. I ran into Danny Moody during the warm-up and talked with him. I was surprised to hear him talk about trying to run sub-20 since I've beat him pretty good in the past. He's done something right in the last year, though; 19:39 is pretty solid. Sasha and Ted were there at the start so we caught up a bit and waited for the eternity it took them to start the race. The starter said there would be a whistle then a gun, which is simply brilliant since everyone took off at the whistle.
I got out quick to keep from getting squished against a car and settled in to what I thought was 5:20 pace. I planned to pick it up later if I felt alright. Guys that took off too fast came back much faster than they should have and I settled in behind one that was close to my pace. Half a mile in some guy passed us going pretty quick and I tucked in behind him. After about 30 seconds the pace felt too hot so I let him go. Mile 1 came and went in 5:13 and I felt better than expected.
Second mile was all alone and I thought I might've slowed a bit. But I reached the marker in 5:16 and was still feeling okay. My legs were starting to hurt, but it was my breathing that felt so good. The guy who passed me earlier had caught up to one of the SUU guys and they both had 20 seconds or so on me. I threw in a surge at halfway and the 2 of them started coming back so I kept it up.
My breathing felt so good over the 3rd mile that I started to think I could make my legs do whatever I wanted. I've never felt such a difference between the two. Legs hurt, breathing's great. What does that mean? 3rd mile was another 5:16 and the two guys only had about 5 seconds on me.
I picked up the pace again but the other two also picked it up. So I pushed it a little harder until they were creeping back to me again. They had separated a little and I caught the SUU guy first. He glanced over at me and I surged a little to keep him from hanging on until he was broken. With a half to go I caught the other one and did the same. It felt so good to break them, and I continued to increase the tempo to gain as much separation as I could. I didn't want to have one of them decide he could outsprint me in the end. I hate that.
Turning onto the final stretch I picked it up, then again as the finish line came into view. SUU dude was closing on me but I managed to hold it to the line. 5:01 final mile.
Official placing was 3rd, but there were 2 or 3 phantom BYU guys ahead of me. Either way, I'm very happy with the result and looking forward to getting into better shape.
1 - 5:13
2 - 10:29 (5:16)
3 - 15:45 (5:16)
4 - 20:46 (5:01)
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