my makeup may be flaking

1:38:41 for 14.86 miles (adjusted pace=6:20). Pace was right where it should be, but I was having some BP issues the whole way. Shoulders and neck where really hurting the whole time.

7.25 in 45:20(5:57 adjusted pace)

4.5 miles in 27:42 (5:49, adjusted pace)

This was a pretty good workout so it makes sense to write down some splits as benchmarks.

From the start on N Decatur to Mile4 marker was 8:58.

Mile4-Mile3 6:35 (15:33 total)

Mile3-Mile2 5:28 (21:01 total) mile markers on the trail must be off!

Mile2-Mile1 5:55 (26:56 total)

From Mile4 to finish line was 18:44

3 mile split at beltline intersection was 18:47 (this is actually three miles), then 8:55 from beltline intersection home

Freedom trail split was 8:22 (2:39 to BI, then 5:43)

Split from Freedom trail home was 3:12

Deep Dene (8.9 miles) in 57:18 (6:26 unadjusted pace). Felt really, really bad.

9 miles in 57:36 (6:08 adjusted)

Segment splits 20:44,16:48,20:03

More workout PRs!

2.75 in 16:14 (5:52 adj pace) previous best 16:22

2.41 in 15:09 (5:48 adj pace) previous best 15:44

Atl 10 mile course in 67:10 (6:17adjusted pace)

Splits

(6:29,6:52,6:33,6:36,6:45,6:42,6:46,7:03,6:47,6:37)

Adj splits

(6:22,6:20,6:11,6:10,6:13,5:58,6:39,6:20,6:28,6:24)

Clearly faded at the end. Still have a lot of work to do strength wise. Not sure I can get there by Thanksgiving.

Another workout PR! 7.25 miles in 45:15 (5:57 adjusted pace)

6k split=23:22, last 3.5 in 21:53

I doubt that any HSers read my blog, but I noticed a couple of people posting about how they had disappointmenting races at the state meet.

My senior year of XC was very sucky. We were 7th my junior year, we returned 5 of our top 7 and our top two runners were both freshman. As sophomores they should have been much improved. In addition, I had improved from the 12th best runner on the team in XC to the 12th best runner in the league in track, and I was only expected to be our 5th man. We entered the season ranked I think #2 in state, but we just never really put it together with everyone having a good race at the same time. We ended up 13th at state with almost everyone running lousy.

Anyway, my point is that it really sucked. However, it was far from the end competively. I had a decent, not great, track season, but then college XC turned out much better. The important thing is to keep at it and try to learn from what went wrong.

62:20 for 10 miles, 6:14 pace (5:50 adj)

Last year I managed a 63:08 in this race which was good enough for 12th. Last Sunday I ran 67:10 for the full course in a time trial.

Went out way too fast (5:43, 6:29 last week, -46 seconds), which was frustrating. I'm still really bad at pacing myself. This mile isn't as bad as it seems as the first mile is probably the easiest of the race. I was in a small group with Victor Breedveld and Andre Barnes. I stuck with them through mile 2 (6:20,-32 seconds) and 3 (5:56,-37 seconds).

It was here that I lost my nerve. a little. The fourth mile starts with a big uphill and I didn't really attack it. I lost Victor and Andre and another group of 4 people passed me on the hill to form a supergroup of 6 guys ahead of me. For the next two miles I watched all those guys start to pull away. Mile 4 was 6:21, only 15 seconds faster than last weekend and I'm really struggling with the hills. However the nice thing about any Atlanta race is that if you're not feeling good, you can just wait a few minutes and the course will totally change. Mile 5 is a lot more manageable but I slowed down more to 6:24 (-21 seconds).

Standings at half way: (Only including +/- 1minute of me because it's a big race. Men's leader, Andrew Mclain was at 25:18 at halfway and ran 51:17. That adjusts to 4:48 pace which is whack.)

So at halfway I've got a couple of people ahead within striking distance, but I've been steadily losing ground and I'm feeling a little wobbly already. In mile 6 I stop the bleeding with a 6:20 (-22) and catch up to Ken Porterfield. We run together for most of the rest of the way. Mile 7 is 6:14 (-32) which is back on track and I'm starting to feel hopeful that the race won't be a disaster.

The atlanta 10 mile does something interesting where they time the 8th mile separately and list it as 'Conquer Cardiac Hill'. I don't really care about that, but it does mean more mats. I have to figure this out based on the time stamps for each person though.

So at the bottom of cardiac hill (6.8 ish miles), the race around me looks like this.

I've held my ground with everyone around me, unfortunately 'Cardiac Hill' doesn't sound like something I'll do particularly well at. At the top the race now looks like this. Check out Chris Nasser, that sandbagger! Also I had pretty much surrendered my lead on the 2014 ghost runner. I really ran strongly last year until hitting a wall at mile 7.

It's not a disaster. I'm not sure that this is a mile like they advertise, as my actual split for mile 8 is 6:38 (-25 seconds). As soon as we crest the hill, I surge and catch Kenneth. We both pass Lauren Sara and catch up to Andre. Then mile 9 has more uphill and Kenneth drops me again for good (that's three times he passed and dropped me). Mile 9 is 6:14 (-33 seconds) and now I'm feeling pretty positive. It seems clear that I will beat my time from last year, which was very much in doubt at mile 6. I drop Andre for good but now I can hear the cavalry coming in the form of Michael Smith, Chris Nasser and another guy who didn't have any chip splits, but finished 1 second behind me.

My legs are totally trashed in the last mile but I muscle out a 6:04 (-33 seconds), but two guys pass me in the final stretch which is a bummer. It's a strength issue not a speed issue, I think.

 Another long tempo. These runs should be at marathon pace, which I hit pretty comfortably. Last time I did this workout I really struggle the last couple of miles.

Another workout PR! 4.5 miles in 27:39 (5:48 adjusted). Only 3 seconds faster than last time though.