Ethan Cannon

I ran pretty darn slow this morning. I think Mondays tend to run slower these days. It was hot and humid but overcast and felt just fine compared to the past couple days. Strides. 

Before doing this time trial, I read blog posts for two of the more recent miles I have run (the most "recent" mile I ran of course was over 3 years ago). In both Indianola and Provo, I had recorded that the race was over faster than I thought and I may have been too conservative. That ended up being a good thing to think about, because once again, this race went by quickly. It was cool enough, but it was windier than I had hoped. Given the direction of the wind, I realized I could make things a good deal easier on myself by running a 1500 instead of mile. So that's what I did. There were a few people at the track, but I ended up doing this race alone. I wonder how much that affected my performance at this distance. With the way my workouts have gone recently, my splits didn't surprise me. I went out in 60. Then I sort of coasted along and tried to push the last bit. Hit 800 in 2:05. Then I had 3:10 at 1200. Final time was 3:58.73. Lungs felt torched after. My conservative goal was sub 4:20 (modified to sub-4 for 1500), and I had hoped for maybe sub 4:15 on a great day. So this is about what I could've expected. That is on pace for a mile in 4:16.1. I don't know what the official conversion is but I would convert it to about 4:17 low. NCAA converts it to 4:17.8. 

Since I was racing the following day. I ran on the treadmill just short and slow. Then I did some strides with my daughter. 

Time trial part 2: it was what it was. Just over ten years ago, I came to the NMHS track to time trial an 800 and 400 before my mission. In light of my time on Tuesday, I made a secondary goal to run faster than I did then (1:58.53). Main goal was sub-2. Things have changed in the past 10 years. They keep the back door locked and had lots of threats about trespassing. Thankfully, I noticed some people arriving on the field for soccer practice, and when I went through the main entrance, all seemed fine, although due to recent experiences I was on high alert to be kicked out. I was sad to see the track wasn't in great condition. Anyway, I went out in 58. That was faster than I had the last time I did this, but I knew I was pushing it and every second would count. So I gave what I had. I lost no more than a quarter second moving lanes becuase a soccer player wasn't looking where they were going. Hit the line in 2:00.92. This was quite dissapointing. On the other hand, I have only run a handful of 200s, and none of them (or anything else I have done) has been at sub 2 pace this year (or in recent years, tbh). So I'm not sure quite what to blame the performance on- fatigue from a 12-hour travel day yesterday, a little extra weight, lack of speed work, or just getting older (often the shorter the distance, the earlier the athletes peak). But, ultimately I need to recognize that placing high in races or winning prize money isn't really why I run. The main reason why I train for things is because it motivates me to keep running, and by continuing to run, I stay healthy. And you don't need to be a sub-2 guy at 28 years old to enjoy the health benefits of running. 

Back to longer distances!

I must have miscalculated the Aerial heights / Oregon hills route. I got 10.12 miles, which would be 6:50 pace. Still, I know I did run 0.8 more than that route normally is because I did an extra loop around the park in both directions. Oregon has a great smell to it during the summer. Nice outside. Update: 9.82 miles. 

Had a really good time running Coal mine with my brother who I haven't seen in 2 years. Even though he is getting back into shape from his mission, some things never change, as he got off to a faster start than I would have. Still, we were at over 7 minute pace when we hit Juanipero. From there I split off and started moving quicker on the Bear Creek greenway. Averaged 6:19 pace overall, including 6:08s on the way back.