my makeup may be flaking

Attempt at a workout. Did 15 miles in 1:45:07 (7:00) pace. I was actually at 53:49 through 8 (6:43) and 1:14:18 though 11 (6:45), before falling apart in the last couple of miles. My blood pressure dropped dramatically over the last couple of miles, making it very unpleasant to keep running but not impossible. However making it back through downtown Atlanta to my apartment was an adventure. I almost fainted crossing a major street and then had to sit with my head between my legs for a few minutes. I would make it a couple of steps before starting to feel dizzy again.

I had taken no electrolyte drinks before the run (because I was out) but I figured it would be ok as it was a cool day. Man I was very wrong.

9 miles in 56:49 (6:03 adjusted pace)

Splits: 20:38,16:41,19:30

previous best time 57:36 with splits 20:44,16:48,20:04

It's workout day! That means workout PR, at least in this training cycle.

27:19 for 4.5 miles (5:44 adjusted pace). That's 20 seconds faster than last week.

8:54,15:18,15:54,18:30,20:42,24:12,26:33

Allie said I had to include this story: I was crossing the street (with a green man!) and a car almost hit me because they decided to not brake and just pull into the cross walk at full speed. This has almost happened to everyone, and it's super funny because it could easily kill us. Anyway I bang on the back of this guy's truck to let him know how annoyed I am that I am being forced to now go outside the crosswalk to pass him. He opens the door and we have the following exchange (but with more swearing)

"Hey, you nearly hit me. You need to stop at the line."

"Well, I didn't see you, why you gotta hit my truck?"

"It doesn't matter whether or not you saw me. That's why you stop at this line on a red light". I point to the line on the ground.

"Well, why did you hit my truck"

"Your truck is fine, I'm just getting your attention. In the future, stop at the line."

"Well what if I just 'beat you up', what then?"

"Just stop at the line, dude"

"Ok, I'm going to beat you up".

Now don't get me wrong, this guy could have taken me, most likely. But we were in an intersection with about 50 witnesses and it was raining. The odds of him getting out of the car and beating me up were roughly 0%.

"Fine, be a little *****. I'm going to finish my run, but you are welcome to chase me."

At this point, I had to go anyway because the time was running down on the intersection. Point is, threatening someone with violence after almost killing them makes you a little *****.

AM workout, which means terrible underperformance. Did 2by "2mile" on the beltline, which is really like 1.9. 11:19 down, 12:47 on the way up. The 12:47 was quite painful for being very, very slow. I was also a little dizzy after the rep so I bailed on the rest of the workout (I had planned on doing 4 by two mile). Seems like there was little to gain from finishing the workout and I almost literally passed out last week so I quit while I was at least still conscious.

Felt much better today. Ended my run with a faster 3miles on the beltline/freedom trail (19:46). It was cold and wet, but I still ran faster than during my aborted workout yesterday morning, which was in ideal conditions.

7.25 in 45:09 (5:56 adjusted pace)

15:54,14:52

9 miles in 56:12 (5:59 adjusted)

Also 9/1: 59:57 and 9/22:58:12

4.5 miles in 27:44

Atlanta Half Marathon 1:19:54 for 23rd place. Last year I ran 1:22:01 for 27th. This continues the pattern of me getting faster but the races getting more competitive compared to last year.

Last year I went out too hard, running 37:30 for the first 10K and then fading badly the last couple of miles. So this year my plan was to go out pretty conservatively. At the start I saw Ty Ragen and Kenny Porterfield (gradually starting to learn Atl area runners). I ran ahead of those two for 3 miles at the Atl 10 miler but then both beat me. Therefore I decided that I should stay behind them until mile 8.

At the start Ty starts out ahead of Kenny so I decide to play it safe and stick with Kenny. We hit the mile in 6:07, right on my goal of 1:20 pace. A friend of Kenny's jumps in the race to pace him, anothe guy (I think Chadwick Hales) runs with us too so we have a pretty good pack.

We roll through the next couple of miles in 6:01 and 5:59 (slightly downhill) and I get a little bit concerned that we've gone out too fast. The fourth mile is downhill (6:00) and my legs are starting to burn. This is much faster than I'm used to running! Fortunately my breathing is under control. We catch up to a guy wearing Orange and now our group is 5 strong.

In the 5th mile we hit a pretty strong headwind and we lose a little bit of momentum as everyone fights to stay out of the wind. We pass two more guys and one of them latches on so we are now six strong. This is super helpful as we fight the wind. Unsurprisingly, mile 5 is the slowest of the race so far: 6:11. However, for now I'm still committed to staying with the group.

Mile 6 starts with a moderate climb and the rest of the group starts the flag a little. We lose two people and are back to the original 4. At the peak of the hill Kenny's friend dropped out and we were three. Descending into Piedmont, Kenny and I picked up the pace a little, passing one more guy. Mile 6 was 6:16!, I decide that enough is enough and it's time to drop the hammer. I surge and drop Kenny, passing 10K in 37:45, 15 seconds slower than last year.

At 10K here is the split

After surging I initially regret it, as I start to feel pretty bad. Legs were feeling pretty tense, so I decide to drop the historical present and that seemed to help. I hit mile 7 in 5:50, which made me feel better. The main issue was that Chris Nasser and Sven Henningson both pulled away, giving the impression that I had slowed down.

I caught Annie and John (a wheel chair athlete) with a 6:27 8th mile. This was actually a huge confidence booster as it is easily the most difficult mile of the course. I was at 48:55 though 8 miles, I was almost exactly on 1:20 pace so I knew I had to finish strong.

Mile 9 has a nice long straightaway so I got a solid glimpse of all the people up ahead of me. Unfortunately, the guys closest to me were pulling away. 6;04 for mile 9

I passed two guys in Mile 10. I'm not really sure what happened with these two guys. 6:14 for mile 10, including a pretty tough hill. 61:14 for 10 miles. I passed two more guys somewhere in here.

I started to think negative thoughts "I'm running pretty well, 1:20:xx is totally fine. My legs really hurt, I can't expect myself to run this fast." Ok, don't start to make excuses before you even fall off pace. 6:07 for mile 11, but I didn't pass anyone.

Mile 12 in 6:04 and now I could smell the sub 1:20. I finally caught up to Matthew Wilpers with about 800m to go and I had another 3-4 guys in the cross hairs but just ran out of room. 6:28 for last 1.1 (5:53 pace) 6:01 pace from mile 10 to the finish.

I probably was a little bit too conservative, but I'm quite happy with this race.

2014 1st half 37:30 (6:03 pace), 2nd half 44:31 (6:27 pace) passed 1, passed by 5

2015 1st half 37:47 (6:05 pace), 2nd half 42:07 (6:06 pace) passed 7, passed by zero