my makeup may be flaking

Did the Jordan River 20 miler. It was very windy but not too cold. I was kind of paranoid that a storm was going to start while I was running and then I would have been very angry. I was only wearing short-short running shorts. Of course the good thing was that the wind was at my pack the last 4-5 miles and I ended with two miles of base pace followed by 3 miles at marathon pace followed by a very fast last mile. I still don't have a watch so I don't know the times but it felt fast. I was pleased that I seemed to be able to hold the pace despite being tired. I also felt much, much better than on my 20 miler two weeks ago. I didn't have to stop and stretch this time.

Is it really going to be snowing this week? Alright fine, that's fine. Hmm, I'm in a crabby mood because my housemate shows his appreciation of me making dinner for him by having yelled conversations on speakerphone so I can't get any work done! Grrr. Anyway....I did 7 miles easy today.

Did three loops of Sugarhouse Park on the grass. It's such a lovely park to run around, I love it. I was feeling tired heading up to the park on 2100S. I felt much better once I got on the grass however and the run seemed to go by quite fast. I usually don't have a sense of smell but today I did for some reason and I noticed how good Sizzler (it's next to Sugarhouse park) smells for the first time.

AM Three loops of Liberty Park

PM Ran to the zoo from school and did 3 by mile along the running of the leopards 5k course.

0-1.04 (5:28, 5:15 pace)

1.04-1.95 (4:42, 5:09 pace)

1.95-2.98 (5:07, 4:58 pace)

Total 2.98 in 15:17 (5:07 pace)

Felt pretty good. Took 2 minutes between the first two and then one minute between the second and third. I could have done the whole run continuously I felt. Followed it up with 3 200s on the East High Track.

Did 9.4 miles at a pretty good pace (6:20-30?). It was cold and kind of windy but I felt strong the whole way. I've decided that the bicycle police on the U of U campus are some of the most wonderful people on the planet, mainly because they amuse me. When I got to the math department today one of them was talking urgently into a radio. He was going very slowly so he was wobbling alot and going around in circles. Juxtapositions are funny.

Three loops of Liberty Park plus some strides. The park was really empty this morning! I guess I normally run there in the afternoon and on weekends but still, would have been a good time for a speed workout. Of course being a lazy grad student I started my run at 9am, the real runners (Allie!) were out at 6-7am. I got home and put on my flats and did some strides ranging from race pace to all out. I can definitely still sprint fast despite having to go a couple of weeks without strides. I always seem to maintain that top gear. The one to work on is the "quick, light and loose" pace that you can actually use at the end of a race. I can only hit my top speed comfortably for 70meters or so, which is pretty normal I guess.

First off, let me say that this was a very well run race, especially for the first time and having the start and finish in different spots. Next, I'll add that this was probably the most underrated race on the calendar this year. I jogged over to the high school then took one of the shuttles to the start line and did two more miles of warmup. I was feeling really good by the time the race started. Teren takes it out really fast (shocker!) and I quickly lose contact. However there's a pretty steep downhill about 200meters in and I use it to catch back up to the leaders. I feel pretty comfortable and manage to stay with them as we climb the one hill in the whole course. I should point out that the leaders at this point were Teren, Seth W., Seth Pilkington and Hobie Call. Just before the mile I back off and let them go. Alexander Tomas passes me but I can't go with him either. I turn onto Wakara and Nick McCombs passes me, I manage to hang on to him for about a quarter mile. It gets tough when we turn onto Foothill, because the road is now flat. I'm feeling pretty good but I also feel like I'm running in a flat out sprint. Finally we turn onto Sunnyside and two more guys come up beside me. One is Dennis Simonaitis Nathan Hornok I think (geez this race is stacked), the other I don't know (find out later it is the blog's own Thatcher Olson). I stay with them all the way down Sunnyside but at this point my calves are beginning to hurt alot and when they surge with 600meters left I can't go. I come onto the track and feel that with my big kick and can catch them but my calves tell me this might result in injury so I just gradually pick it up. Vance Twitchell passes me with about 150meters left, then I see the finish clock reading 14:48!. I immediately accelerate to full speed and blow by him, finishing just over 15minutes. I didn't really feel tired when I was done, my calves were just in alot of pain. I should probably invest in some new flats. I'm glad I started out fast, I knew from running the course that a fast start wouldn't really hurt me. By my calculations, taking into account altidude and downhill this is worth about a 15:12 5k on a track at sea level. So a 16 second PR off of only marathon training...pretty good. The IAAF score is 774 which makes it my 3rd best race ever, behind only my marathon and half marathon PRs.

Results

1. Seth Pilkington 13:56
2. Hobie Call 14:05
3. Teren Jameson 14:10
4. Seth Wolde 14:29
5.Aleksandar Tomas 14:39
6 Nick McCombs 14:49
7 Nathan Hornok 14:50
8 Thatcher Olsen 14:53
9 James Moore (Me) 15:03
10 Vance Twitchell 15:05

Point of Reference 2008 Heart of Holladay