Uh, I'm not sure what just happened. A while back I signed up for the Freedom Run, expecting to be healthy by this date. Sadly, as the day approached, I was not. Yesterday I picked up my packet with the shirt and socks and stuff and I figured I'd just jog the race and get some of the free food afterward, which is always really good. I should have known myself better. My goal was to start out slow and then finish a little faster, like I would during some of the long runs I did earlier this year without hurting myself. I figured if I felt good, I could run 36, but I might need to run slower, like a 38 or 40 if it started hurting. When I got to the starting line, I didn't see anyone who looked like they were about to drop a 31 flat like the winner did last year. I thought "maybe even if I Run 36, I could still get top 10". The race started and within a couple minutes, I was in the top group. Perhaps it was adrenaline, but I was feeling just fine and dandy when we hit our first mile, which had been uphill a bit, in 5:20. Mile 2 was at 10:30. At this point it had slowed and I thought I could maybe even win it, though I certainly wasn't going to make a move. Mile 3 we hit on University running on the flat in 15:35. Then came the uphill. By mile 4 I was feeling it. People started dropping, but I was able to hang with the top 2 until the end. I got third in 32:23. The winner ran 32:21. Afterwards I looked up who those guys were, and one ran at Footlocker nationals last year while the other ran at NCAA nationals last year for USU. So I felt pretty good about myself after having run just two workouts in 2018! In 2014 when I first walked on at BYU I ran this race in 35:51. So that was kind of surprising. Tomorrow I'll just bike and hope I don't hurt myself!
| 