my makeup may be flaking

First long run in a while. I was trying out my new Adistar Rides. Honestly they made me feel a little bit more "balanced" although there was a little bit of discomfort as I was actually using stabilizer muscles. These muscles have been permanently sore anyway for about three years. I feel like I'm going to be able to run in these shoes.

Did 13.1 miles running a simple extension to my 9.4 mile loops. Down 300E to 2700S then up to 2000E, coming down Sunnyside to Guardsman then running down 500S to 1300E. North to South Temple and down to 700E. At this point I picked it up running the gentle downhill along 700E to Liberty Park then around the Park and home. I wanted to give my nervous system some stimulation in Sasha speak.

AM 9.4 I really need to mix it up a little on these runs, but my mainstay of Grass loops at Sugarhouse park is still snowed in, as are my favorite trails. So I did this loop AGAIN. I tried to time it, but I've gotten out of the habit of stopping my watch so I only noticed that at some point after my run was over I was at 2:45 or something silly.  I just ran as I felt today, which sometimes was quite fast, but sometimes not. I'm still a little uneasy pushing myself really hard because of my foot, but it continues to cooperate. At least I can still run...for now.

PM 5.5 Three loops of Liberty Park, man these new shoes feel really good, or maybe my body is just back into a running groove today. Felt so good and so smooth.

Didn't feel great today. I woke up very dehydrated, but as it was going to be an easy run anyway I didn't bother to hydrate. I ran into good and bad patches during the run, which seems to be a typical reaction to higher mileage for me. With the late night workout routine, I'm not usually feeling to great in the morning. I got real lucky with the weather however, as the snow really started coming down when I was done.

AM 9.4 Didn't hydrate properly again! I also over dressed a little because I didn't let my body warmup before stepping outside. All this could be solved if I could get my butt out of bed faster. I'm so spoilt with my schedule, but I still need to get my going before 8:30! Again I didn't time it, again!

PM Did basically the same as last week. 10 laps of the field house track for warmup, then 4miles at AT pace. On that track at that altitude that appears to be around 5:35 per mile (which just happens to be my half marathon pace at sea level, clearly I can go faster because that track is a nightmare). First mile was 5:37 then I sped it up too much to 5:28, then I went back to 5:36 before closing in 5:29. So once again my final time was 22:10 (5:32.5 per mile), although this was paced more evenly. Then I cooled down with another 10 laps, then did sum strength work. I finished off the workout with two laps of jogging the straights and sprinting the curves, just thinking about form. I feel like I have alot of speed in my legs right now, and frisbee season doesn't start for a little more than a month!

Just felt good today. I didn't push it too hard, but I definitely miled my good feeling. I gotta say, my new shoes feel really good (Adistar Rides sold to me by Seth). Ended up running 57:14 for 9.4 miles (6:05 mile pace).

Just a nice little premeet run. Didn't feel especially good or bad. I just want to give myself a chance to kick tomorrow. I noticed that I was a little conscious of my foot, but it wasn't bad. It seems that the waveriders provide a little less support than the rides, but I have definitely noticed a big improvement in my foot this week nonetheless.

Ridiculous opening note: Striders WRC 10K is HARDER than SLCTC 10K in 4 inches of snow, just saying...

For the second week in the row I met someone new by hitching a ride to the race. This time Walter Brown agreed to drag my ride mooching behind up to Ogden. We met up with Cody and Jon Allen and did a two mile warmup.

The ringer (Trevor Ball) was back. He said he was going to run 5:40 pace or whatever it took to win. We started out kind of slow in a large pack. I knew Trevor was going to beat me and I decided that I wanted to make it an honest effort for myself. I knew that there were alot of strength guys in the race and I didn't want them to be close to me before the hill. I took off on my own half a mile in running 5:29 then 5:05 (big downhill), but I didn't yet have a solid gap. In fact, during the third mile Braden Perry (Kyle's little bro?) took the lead from me briefly. The third mile was 5:27 and I was feeling fine, but I knew the terrain was about to change dramatically. Trevor Ball passed us both in the fourth mile and Jason Schoenfeld followed him. I was willing to let Trevor go but I didn't know who Jason was at this point (see my entry for the Salt Lake Half in August) so I wanted to keep him in sight. I finally dropped Braden at this point (hey at 16 he has great speed, but this 10K requires alot of strength he was a minute closer to me than Garrett Jones was last week, Garrett was 3rd in 5A this year as a Jr, Braden was 20th in 4a as a So...so nice work Braden) and I focused on catching Jason. I got to 4 miles in 21:48, so only a 5:47 4th mile and the real hill hadn't started yet. Jason was strong up the hill and he started to open up the lead. I was sure that I could get to him on the final downhill if I kept it close. I picked it up cresting the hill but so did he. We rounded a corner and I saw the 6 mile mark, I had greatly misjudged the amount of race left! I got on my toes and kicked like mad over the icy parking and probably closed in by a good 7-8 seconds on the last quarter but he eluded me. I was quite annoyed at myself for not working hard enough on the hill, but that's what happens when you don't know the terrain. Next year I'll be ready. No disrespect to Jason, if I had come up, I'm sure he would have responded, but I could have made it a sprint finish at least..pfff.

Anyway now for the good news! I was only 4 seconds behing Jason Schoenfeld, just 6 months ago he beat me by ....wait for it...6 minutes in a half marathon! I DID lose two minutes to the bathroom in that race, but still, he was way out of my league then and now I'm competitive with him. Also let's look at the race from two years ago (Paul Petersen 34:47 Simonaitis 35:47, Sasha 36:07) So my 35:51 looks pretty good to me right now. So back to back 35 minute 10ks, but two very good results.

Next up, my fourth race in four weeks: SLCTC 15K. My bold prediction? 51 flat

We cooled down doing the entire course again. I felt very good, normally I would definitely bonk on these runs. It's a sign that I kind of wussed out on the hill I think, it didn't seem so bad doing it again at 8min pace. I added on a bit after to make it an even 15. I told Walter I didn't need a ride home. Then I found the locker room for the track team and took a shower, it was very nice and I didn't think I was supposed to be there but I acted like I belonged. Seriously though, nice facility.