run, run, run

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Pace: 7:57

I must have knocked the covers off last night because I woke up cold, was still cold when I started running and never really got warm. Felt pretty good running though. Good progression run, speeding up a bit every mile.

Boise, ID 10:45 am

Pace: 7:48

I almost didn't run today. It was pouring down rain this morning and I was going to go out and run at the same time as my wife. But she is one of those smart people who doesn't run when it's pouring down rain outside. So I just got up and had some oatmeal for breakfast and thought about running.

When I started out I felt pretty good and held a pretty good pace in the first mile (7:35) but slowed way down by mile 3. I finished pretty strong, but was kind of draggin most of the way. Maybe it was the oatmeal.

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Pace: 8:28

Cold and rainy. The last mile was the worst.

Boise, ID 7:30 am

Pace: 8:12

Ccccccold.

I started out pretty slow just because I was cold and listening to talk on my ipod. For the last mile I decided to see if I could hold a pace under 7. I did. That gives me a little more confidence for Saturday's race.

It's supposed to be even colder tomorrow.

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Pace: 8:06

Just barely above single digits this morning. Didn't seem like the wind was blowing, but it was noticably colder when we ran toward the west, so it had to be blowing some.

Cut it short this morning. Just too cold and I didn't want to overdo it before the race tomorrow.

During the last mile I noticed the strangest thing -- my butt was cold. My butt, my face and the backs of my hads were the coldest parts of my body.

2011 has been a good year so far. I ran a pretty good race here three years ago, but have been slower each year since. So this year I really wanted to pick it up.

I was hoping to hold a pace anywhere under 7 minutes per mile. After about a tenth of a mile, I looked down at my watch and saw that I was going close to 6. Too fast, but I felt pretty good, so I didn't back off too much. After about a half mile I settled in to a pace between 6:45 and 7.

Most of the race I was running alone. I had music on my iPod, which I usually don't do during a 5k.

After the race I stuck around to see if I wold get a ribbon. When they go to my age group and called out the third-place name and then the second, I thought oh well, it was fun. Then they said the winner of my age group had a time of 21:33 I thought "Hey, that's my time." Then they called my name. I've never won my age group before. That was kind of cool.