my makeup may be flaking

This is my third straight year doing this race, making it practically a tradition. I got 3rd (or 4th if you counted a bandit) in 2009 (16:32) and 2nd last year (16:58). The fall of 2009 culminated in my best race ever (a 1:11:15 at Seattle Half) and so I felt that if I could beat that time two weeks after a marathon then I would be really happy.

I knew that there would be some decent competition for this race as the defending champ (Kevin Smith) was running, as well as Andrew Egbert (a new grad student who ran 15:20 in college 4 years ago). Andrew is still adapting to running in Utah and Kevin and I were both coming off recent marathons so it seemed like it should be a fun race.

At the start I took off hard, making sure that my breathing was pretty uncomfortable. The last person to challenge me for the lead was actually Shayla Houlihan (a very fast woman). Throughout the first 400 to 800 meters I could hear maybe 7 or 8 people right behind me but I didn't look back until close to the mile when it looked like the only person close was Andrew. I didn't catch my mile split but I would guess that it was in the 5:15-5:20 range as we had climbed quite a bit. I figured that as long as I kept running hard, that eventually my strength would prevail, however I didn't know where Kevin was and I knew he was likely to come back strong at the end.

The second mile contains a lot of downhill and I remember pushing the downhill sections as much as I could. Each time I did this I was able to open up the lead a little bit (I could hear the footsteps behind me grow softer), but I knew that Andrew was still within striking distance. At two miles I glanced at my watch to see 10:15 meaning that I was setup to run a nice time. In the 3rd mile, however, I started to feel the affects of my lack of preparation and slowed down just a little. It also looked like I was going to win so mentally I probably relaxed a little.

The last 1.1 is tough and I finished in 16:26. The course tool says that I only slowed down a little at the end as I was on pace for about a 16:19 at 2 miles. It also says that this run is the equivalent of a 15:51. This is pretty exciting as it is certainly my best post-marathon-5k and also my best 5k-in-a-win. Combining those two with the fact that I was faster than 2009 gives me a ton of confidence moving forward.

Also, 8th win of the year!

9 mile cooldown run (66:24=7:27 pace)

I have some splits from this run to record but they mainly just show me gradually speeding up from 8:30 pace to 7:30 pace, very typical for me. I ran down the Jordan river trail to 4500S. I got pretty dehydrated on this run as I slept in until about 9:30.

4.8 Miles around campus. I actually felt good today but didn't push it. Time was 35:05 (7:18 per mile).

3 loops of Sugarhouse on the road:7:53,7:51,8:03. I took 2 minutes break in between each rep. The distance on the road is 1.35 miles and the adjusted distance is 1.4. I know that these repeats should be in the 7:30s but I just felt very sluggish today. The warmup and cool down combined was 7.5 miles in 60:45 (8:06 pace).

PM, I felt much better in the evening doing 4.8 in 34:09 (7:06 pace).

Three loops of liberty park in 43:11. Very slow the first half (22:43=8:17 per mile), picked it up a little for the second half (20:28=7:27 per mile). I was definitely running in the predawn light today, uh oh. I also saw Allie leaving for work, SUCKA!!

 Math 10 miler: 17:06,11:42,18:50,11:55=59:33 total. This is OK considering that I had done another workout the day before and this was in flats. It will be interesting to see what I can hit for this slightly fresher next week. Now that I am timing all my runs I feel better about this 9.7 in 59:33=6:08 (5:57 adjusted).

Hello Seattle in December, I've missed you. Oh wait a second. It's snowing now. This run was not so bad once I got warmed up. Ran with Allie and Jake and Andrea. That's actually good grammar because I am lumping Jake and Andrea together into a single entity. Perhaps this is unfair but they were dressed identically. It was definitely better than running by myself.

6.7 in 51 mins=7:36 per mile.

7.9 miles in 57:06=7:13 per mile. Included in this was

5*(1min on-1min off)-5 min break-5*(1min on-1min off).

AM 4 miles in 31:52 (7:58 per mile)

PM 4.8 miles in 32:32 (7:48 per mile)

Frankenrun 5k.

This was a tiny race in American Fork. I raced in a bright green suit and a silly hat (and sun glasses). Before the start Andrew told me that he thought his biggest competition would be stomach issues and then Dave Taylor said he was worried about getting lost because he's "always so far out in front". Come on! Dave shot out to a big lead but I caught him at the mile. Andrew and I ran side by side until the mile 3 mark and then I unleashed my kick (which I suppose I'll have to nickname "stomach issues") and won by 8 seconds. Bwahaha.

Anyway, it was not a great time, but I attribute it to the terrain.

PM 9.5 in 67:49 (7:08 per mile).

Felt pretty bad on this whole run. 18.6 miles up to foothill then down to 4500 S. Up 4500 S to Wasatch Dr and then back to foothill. 2:34:30 (8:18 per mile)

4.8 in 37:04 (7:43 per mile)

AM 4 miles in 29:58 (7:30 pace). I was expecting a phone call this morning but needed a run so I took my cell phone. I took two phone calls during this run and I don't think the people I was talking to could tell I was running. It was also good for intimidating the other people in Liberty Park.

 PM 9.7 miles. Kevin Smith's facebook status sums it up.

Almost a year to the day after getting my ass kicked in a 10 mile tempo by James Moore we celebrated by him kicking my ass again.

I wanted to make this my hard effort for the week but my intent this fall is to save the superhuman efforts for races. When I saw that Kevin was starting to slip off the pace I backed off a tad. If I'm running fast enough to drop Kevin, then I'm running fast enough. Here are the splits:

1. 16:55 for the first 3 miles. Although this is 5:38 mile pace this is only 5:51 adjusted pace. I was a bit concerned at this point.

2. 10:58 for 1.85 5:32 adjusted (5:55 actual pace). This section has a lot of climbing in it so this was a great effort. There was very little talking from here on out.

3. 17:36 for the Death Segment. Anything under 18 is solid for the death. 6:04 avg but a beastly 5:33 adjusted. In this segment I felt like I could have dug deeper but I decided to save it for another day.

4. 10:41 for the last 1.95 5:28 pace (5:30 adjusted) I really crushed the last mile of this run, still feeling good.

Total time was 56:12 (5:38 adjusted pace/5:48 overall). This was still almost 2 mins off of my best from last year, but I feel like that standard is becoming achievable.

AM 9.8 in 1:09:38 (7:06)

PM 7.9 in 58:39 (7:25) This included scoping out the Beat the Heat course, which took about 21:30. I then ran from Popperton park to the Shoreline trail and then down through campus to finish.

1:28:00 for 11.4 miles.(7:43 pace) Ran with Allie, Jake and Andrea. Andrea apparently forgot her blue hat. Nice and breezy this morning but I was feeling good the whole way. My normally reliable mileage calculation utility malfunctioned and we went 2.5 miles too far.

PM 5.5 in Liberty park including 5 1min pickups (all out) with 1 minute rest in between. A light workout, but I'm signed up for 3 5ks on Saturday. 37:11 for 5.5 miles (6:46 pace)

Very slow prerace run. 6.2 miles in 51:41 (8:20 pace). First half of the run was 8:40 pace, 2nd half 8 flat pace. Ankle felt a little bit sore.

The Triple Header:

#1 Beat the Heat

This is the first time I've ever lined up at a circuit race and felt like I had a chance to win. In the first mile there was a pretty large pack but I stayed close to the front. After we crested the first hill I tried to sprint away from the field but my legs hinted to me that I just didn't really have it today. I hit the first mile in 5:07 and held the lead for another quarter mile or so before Riley Cook and Ken Richardson passed me. I lost about 10 seconds in the 2nd mile and couldn't get any closer in the last mile. I was pretty happy with the result as I beat some good runners and finished close to Riley.

This was my 1st circuit race this year:

    1   1 Brad Osguthorpe          27 M          14:17  4:36    2 

    2   1 Teren Jameson            33 M          14:38  4:43    1 
    3   1 Jamal Tongo              18 M          14:44  4:45    4 
    4   2 Riley Cook               29 M          14:56  4:49  930 
    5   3 Jace Nye                 26 M          15:05  4:52  316 
    6   4 Kevin Smith              25 M          15:06  4:52    6 
    7   1 Dennis Simonaitis        48 M          15:08  4:53    7 
    8   1 Stephen Anderson         42 M          15:22  4:57    9 
    9   2 Oliver Lange             18 M          15:38  5:02   37 
   10   5 Chase Englestead         26 M          15:46  5:05   16 
   11   6 Derick Moody             25 M          15:51  5:07   15 
   12   7 James Moore              25 M          15:55  5:08   13 

 Today I beat Kevin, Dennis and Steve and I finished about 10 seconds behind Riley. That's not a bad turnaround for the year. I also beat Fernando Ramirez today, who is a member of the Utah Elite. That always makes me feel good about myself.

#2 Radiating Hope

I was originally planning on just running this at threshold pace and I went pretty conservatively to begin with. At the start a younger kid sprinted out and so I caught him and ran next to him for a bit but then he dropped back. I found I was feeling good so I started to run at maybe 10k pace. After the first loop (5:36 pace), I saw that Allie was in 2nd and about 45 seconds behind me so I decided that I needed to pick it up if I was going to beat her by two minutes. On the second loop I saw the kid from the start cutting the course. Whatever. I started to push pretty hard as I wanted to break 17 but then it turned out the course was long. Then there was no one to direct me so to make sure I didn't cut the course I decided to run further than I thought was necessary (no one was going to pass me). I reached the finish line in a time of 22:08 for 3.9 miles (5:40 pace). The kid was at the finish line with a smug look and then he claimed that he beat me. After I questioned him as to where he got ahead of me he revealed that he'd just run around in circles before crossing the finish line. He also revealed that he was a pathological liar. I gave him a stern lecture on cheating. These are the types of kids that used to drive me nuts.

Race #3 Undead Race:

Ugh. I think I ran 18:12 for 3.4 miles (a 16:30 5k pace). I don't want to discuss this race beyond these points.

1. If you are going to do a race like this, the course should be very simple and should definitely not be a loop course.

2. Jessica Scott Larsen is a really nice person. It's crazy to think that Allie is her sister.

3. You know you've messed up when you make Ken Richardson mad.

2.5 hour long run. I ran up through Sugarhouse to Tanner Park. Then I ran along the bike path to Thunderbird, then to Wasatch, then the Shoreline Trial. I then weaved through campus and back home. Started this run very slowly, but I felt pretty good at the end.

Ran to Sugarhouse and did three loops on the road. Run included 6*(5mins hard-5mins easy). Total time 1:24:55 (7:12 pace)

PM 4.8 miles in 33:26. (6:58 per mile)

AM 4 miles 31:08 (7:47 pace). On the wood chips at Liberty park. I kept slipping on them for some weird reason.

PM Steady run: Math 10 miler. My legs felt pretty tight today. I actually stopped for 30 seconds at one point to pound on my IT bands. This made the first part of the run (which is downhill) pretty bad but it gradually got better.

1st section was 17:35 for 3 miles (5:51 pace but only 6:05 adjusted). I was not surprised by this as I was being held back by my achy legs more than anything.

2nd section was 11:42 for 1.85 miles (6:19 pace but 5:54 adjusted). Definitely felt my effort increase here on the uphill.

Death was 18:12 for 2.9 (6:16 pace pace, 5:44 adj). I'm starting to feel better on the uphill as it is using my legs more than my lungs.

Final was 11:07 for 1.95 (5:42 pace, 5:44 adj). Felt great to end the run and managed to run 58:38 total 6:03 but 5:53 adjusted.

AM I guess I'll call this the JAJA run. Really great morning. The weather is holding, for now, but it is getting darker. I find it really hard to judge pace when I run with other people and frustratingly I didn't stop my watch. 6.6 miles in we were at 53 mins which is 8 flat pace I "think" I saw 1:21 when we stopped, which is a little faster than 8 flat. That makes sense because the last few miles were downhill.

PM 5.5 miles Included 5*(1 min on-1min off). Felt like I was flying during the "on" minutes. 40:01 total (7:17 min per month).

AM 61:42 7.8 miles 7:54 pace. Another breathtakingly slow Friday morning run. I started this run at something like 8:30 pace for the first 3 miles before speeding up.

JRP with Jake, Andrea, Emily, Devra, Chad and Mae. We ran together for about 10 miles before the girls turned around. Jake and I ran a half mile loop before I took off after them and then Jake went another mile before starting to chase me. I didn't feel great at any point on the run. My legs felt tight and tired, but I didn't have much problem running sub 6 minute pace. In fact I ran 57:50 for the last 10 miles of the run. I just held off Jake.

I added on a mile as I ran back and ran back in with Emily Bates.

AM 9.5 miles in 77:15 (8:08 pace). Started out this run extremely slowly.

PM 5 miles with Allie. Capped off a lovely, but simple weekend. No races!!!

4.8 in 40:20 (8:24 pace). Ate at odd times today and so I was a bit sluggish.

AM 9.5 75:28 (7:56 pace). Ran pretty fast this morning but could not find the groove to do a workout. I'm sure my "hormonal profile" was off.

PM decided to do a tempo run in the evening. Did my campus loop: (7:53,8:30,11:01=27:24 for 4.8 miles.) This is workout PR but there is so much construction that it is hard to say by how much. Ran home and also lifted.

AM 4 in 32:53 pfftt then to school

PM  Took the long way home. Ran by the recycling center.

AM 5 with Allie. We made some breakfast and then I asked her to marry me. She said yes. I was wearing a black shorts.

PM I ran I ran home from school then did a 7.7 mile tempo. Total time was 46:30 which is not all that fast, even with adjustment that is about 5:49 pace. It was cold and dark though.

Paced the 1:30 group at the Halloween half. It was a lot of fun to help others/watch them suffer. I also had a group of people who were forced to listen to my ramble for 90 minutes straight. It was a cool experience and I'd love to do it again. However...I'm not sure I would do this race again in any capacity. The biggest issue with the race for me was the severe drop in the first 4.5 miles. It really beat up my legs even running "slowly" (ok not that slow).

This was also my first race wearing a garmin. I got it as exactly 13.1 so there.

I added on quite a bit of mileage to make it a long run.

Extremely sore today so I made it just a single. I'm going to give myself a bit of extra recovery this week after 3 straight weeks in the high 90s. Chasing Tail 5k! Look out! Sub 16:34!