"There are no compromises." -Once a runner

4 second PR.  Bad time considering the quality of workouts I have been doing, but good time considering no taper and 74 degree weather.  First mile got stuck in the crowd and still went 5:24, second mile went through at 11:03 so that mile was 5:39 and went through mile 3 at 16:58 so that mile was 5:55 lol.  Those splits are horrible.  I felt bad right off the gun.  I thought about dropping out of the race in the first 200m (I usually think about it at some point, but not in the first 200 usually).  I only thought I could do fairly well when I saw my first mile split.  On a cold course had I been tapered I could have held that pace, but I had do play the cards that were dealt and that I dealt myself (through not tapering).  The first mile is slightly downhill and the second and third miles have some slight uphills but nothing on that scope.  I think seeing my splits I allowed myself to slack off a bit in miles 2 and 3 because I knew I was gonna PR.  The heat affected me a lot as well.  I know I am just making excuses but I think they are legit.  I trained through this race and payed for it, but I PR'ed despite that because thats where my fitness is.  I would give myself 15 seconds for the heat and another 15 for no taper.  So I plan to go 16:55 by the end of the season.  There were 3000 people in this race along with 55 elites so I was pretty happy to finish top 100.  It was the 5k road national championship and I stretched right next to shalane flanagan and some of the other elites.  I even accidentally got in her way when she was leaving for her warmup.  Maybe I will post a 'missed connection'... I think we had a moment.  j/k

5 on blackstone and then 2 with some med school friends.  The 5 were at a good pace with some striders thrown in but the 2 were like 10 min miles and then we walked another mile because one guy got a stomach ache.  Some people are just not very hard core.  And this guy is like 5'7" 135lb.  If I had his BMI I would run 15:30 for the 5k.  But I guess you can't control stomach problems all the time either.  Might go out for another run later.  Haven't decided yet.  I don't think I need the miles, but after my exam this morning I don't have anything to do (because all I do is study and run).

 PM: 7.3 including 3.2 at 6:40 pace (was running with some girls who were doing a tempo run).  Didn't mean to go quite so far or so fast but I felt good the whole time.

5x1k 3:18, 3:20, 3:20, 3:19, 3:19

effort was less than previous workouts and times were better so I was happy about that.  I was planning on doing a long run today but all of my undergrad friends were in town for 1 day yesterday AND I was done with my cardio exam so I had to party.  Of course I overdid it and was hungover most of the day.  By the time I felt good enough to run it was too late to run and be back in time to coach the workout (I am the president of the running club so I needed to be there) so I decided to just run the workout instead.  It was a solid workout.  I think previous workouts I was pushing too hard.  This one felt just right.  I didn't have to go anaerobic to hit my times.  Usually I really have to push the last 200m but this time I just cruised it.

5 easy at lunch

8.6 easy on the haynes classic (I do this route differently every time now, if I don't bring my gps I only know it is somewhere between 7.8 and 9 miles, this time I brought the gps)

Probably shouldn't have doubled, but didn't have much to do today and felt good.  Tomorrow I will do an easy 5 and a lot of stretching.  Everything feels good except the past two days I have had a sore throat.  It seems to be gone this afternoon but sore throats often are worst in the morning.  Hopefully I am dodging a bullet but who knows.  On the other hand if I got sick and lost 5lb I might lose the half marathon but win the marathon (winning and losing is only vs. bedoukian... I need to get a new rival but Ive never met anyone with so similar fitness to me).

coached a workout and did the warmup/cooldown and striders

Not the best start to the day.  Got ridiculously lost on the way to the race and despite planning on getting there 1 hr ahead of time we got there 7 min before the race started.  I did not get a chance to use the restroom or do much warmup.  Once the race started I felt great.  The first 2 miles were downhill and we did something like 6:06 and 6:15.  There were about 5 of us in a pack behind the 2 leaders who went out in probably something like 5:20.  We were trying to hold back and did to a great extent, there was some major altitude loss in those miles.  In fact the whole first half was slightly downhill and the entire second half was slightly uphill (until the last mile which was significantly uphill).  Nothing of note happened until mile 6.  Those miles went like 6:21, 6:18, 6:24.  Then at mile 6 there was an aid station that had gu's.  I wanted one but bedoukian grabbed the one I was going for so I grabbed another one but didnt quite get a hold of it so after a few seconds of juggling it without quite getting it I dropped it and decided to stop and get it.  It took me only 20 seconds to catch the pack but it winded me a bit.  I concentrated on relaxing and once I felt good I took the gel.  That mile still went 6:24.  Then we hit the turnaround.  Without talking about it we picked up the effort a bit because it was now slightly uphill and we all wanted to average around 6:20.  We did 6:16, 6:21, 6:18, 6:24.  The pack stayed together until mile 8 when we lost 2 guys.  At mile 10 I decided to show my cards because I knew that the last mile was significantly uphill and I am a bad climber.  I moved ahead of bedoukian and the other guy with a 6:15 mile 10.  I knew that it was uphill because I was feeling good and pushing but the times weren't that good.  It felt like a training run until mile 10.  I felt like I could kick the last 5k in at 19 flat on a flat course.  Then mile 12 was more uphill and I was starting to feel my legs a bit-6:20.  Then mile 13 despite pushing as hard as I could with the other guy only 10 seconds behind me I only managed a 6:53.  Luckily he was hurting as much as I was.  When I saw the top I almost hoped that he would catch me just as we crested the hill because he was 50 something and I am 23 and I knew I had tons more speed than him.  But he didn't.  It leveled out for the last 300m and I kicked it in.  I am pretty happy with the time.  It was 65 with 97% humidity which was not even a little bit cold.  And the course was not "fast" as advertised though not very slow either.  In 50 degree dry weather on a flat course I know I could have kicked it in under 1:23.  And I am happy with 3rd place for sure.  Number 1 went 1:19 and 2nd went 1:21 so I had no chance of catching them although both blew up pretty bad.  They just had that much time to spare.  And I beat bedoukian which is always a plus.  Of course he always beats me in trail races (by more than I beat him in road races) but at least I am successfully defending my nitch.
Oh yeah, and I have a cold with a stuffy nose.  Not that bad but when making an all out effort it can't help... Man I am the king of excuses.