AM - 20 Gunlock to Ivins. Got 1 1/2 hours of sleep last night after our XC run-a-thon fundraiser to the wake up call this morning. So I was a bit worried about how that might affect me as we were trying to get a solid marathon race-pace effort down the old Trails 1/2 course. I knew going in I would hit a course PR, because the last time (only time) I ran this I was really sick the week of and hit only a 1:18. So Clyde helped me decide to use his 1:14 from last time as the benchmark. At first I felt fluid and good and Clyde and I were rolling along well, but it didn't last long. Around 4 I started to struggle, really for no reason and Clyde quickly put 10-15 seconds on me. During the next two miles my mind really gave me a hard time. I started freaking out about falling back and how am I going to run this in a marathon and my quads (especcially left) hurt a lot and my breathing was crazy and I got two side aches and so on... At the 10K I looked at my watch and did some splits that showed me I had no chance of hitting a 1:14 if I kept up the current pace and that worried me even more. Then I just told myself to relax and not worry about Clyde, or my mind, or legs, or breathing, or anything else and just run. Within a quarter mile I soon found myself hitting solid times again. Clyde had gotten about 45 seconds up on me and I found myself starting to close that gap a little. During mile 9 up the Shivwits I closed the gap to about 20 seconds, then Clyde started rolling really well. Again I started to worry, but I told myself to relax again and go for my goal which was the 1:14. I worked hard the last 5K to get back on, but it was worth it because it gave me a little wiggle room for the last tough mile climb up to Ivins. Ended up with a 1:13:30 and felt pretty good with it. The best thing about this was reminding myself how to race, relax and allow the running to come to me - not be forced. Ran in my last pair of Ohana Racers; they were great. I wish someone would make a great racing shoe like this again. (Last Ohana 20) Week was decent. I felt a little worn down, so the easiness at the end of the week was good. "Race" was okay and helped me with my confidence a little. Goals for next week: Have some good legs for a solid mid-week workout, enjoy a nice long run down the course Saturday without pushing it (my last time down the course until SGM) and get the team (boys and girls) ready for good races at Murray on Friday.
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