Doing What I Can

easy 4.9 this morning in 7:27 avg pace

3.35 easy today, prerace run through, felt ok, 7:26 avg pace + strides, shooting for a new PR tomorrow

Hillbilly Hike today. Same half I've done here in Carlisle three years in a row now. Goal was a PR, I've had pretty good workouts lately and my fitness has been solid since coming back from my injury. Was really hoping to skip the 1:16's all together and possible hit somewhere in the 1:15's, but that was a super stretch goal. My backup goal was a PR of any type, with the hope of sub-1:17. Flew in last night, normal prerace routine for everything. weather was pretty good - 41 degrees, light winds, spitting rain occasionally. Goal was to start out aggressive and stay on it as long as I could. Here is how it went down:

1- 5:55

2- 5:49 (11:44)

3- 5:46 (17:30) first 5k was 18:05ish, exactly on 5:50 pace

4- 5:44 (23:14), mile is downhill, always the fastest of the race, I decided to let it ride and bank time - turned out to be a good, though painful decision

5- 5:47 (29:01), was somewhere near 28:49 for 8k

6- 5:53 (34:54) 10k was around 36:07, 18:02 2nd 5k

7- 5:52.3 (40:48)

8- 5:52.3 - same split! really steadying out the pace (46:43)

9- 5:55 (52:38)

10- 5:57 (58:35, starting to get a little difficult here) we turned eastward into the SE wind and it was noticeable, also was feeling somewhat tired and stomach was starting to not feel great) really good 10 mile split though)

11- 5:55 (1:04:30)

12- 6:02 (1:10:32, slowed down considerably here, just lost focus) had a walker on the course run into me right after this mile, kind of snapped me out the funk i was in and i started just going for it the last mile

13- 5:50 (1:16:22)

.11 - 31.2 (5:07 pace)

TOTAL -- 1:16:48, 5:51.4 avg mile pace, a PR by 34 seconds!! 

Recap - it was painful, I was definitely feeling it the last 5k and I almost puked at the end, but this was a great effort and a well-earned PR. I fought the whole race and even when my pace started going south around mile 11 and 12, I persevered and knocked out a strong last 1.1 to finish under 1:17. I think this is as much as I have in me right now. the sub 1:16 was not a possibility today. I think I can get there next year or two maybe, but in the meantime, I need to reflect on how strong of PR 1:16:48 really is. I've trained really hard for this and despite added adversity this fall with not only coming back from injury but the stress of international travel upcoming, I was very pleased to run such a great race! 

run in the cold rain, slog 7:33 avg pace, just a shakeout

decent run this morning back in colorado on a stellar fall day. 8.7 in 7:28 avg pace + strides

6.2 this morning in 7:24 avg pace

really slow run today, just had no turnover in my legs, 7:55 avg pace

easy 4 today

Speedwork tonight on the track in the dark and windy cold. Ran in my clodhoppers instead of my speed shoes. did 6x800 and 2x400, 9.6 total

2:45

2:38

2:40

2:43

2:39

2:39

78, 79 for the 400s, good workout over all 

cold run tonight, although it was mostly done snowing, a little flurrying still. 10.3 in 7:12 avg pace, really even splits for the most part. + strides

7.2 tonight in 51:57, 7:13 avg pace, felt easy but my legs were tired

felt decent this morning, 6.3 in 7:20 avg pace + strides

ok run this morning

easy pre-race 3.6, + strides

Local Pumpkin Pie race today. Did this one last year and ran 37:05, and got 6th overall, this year moved that up to 3rd overall and 36:33. The weather was lots better last year tho, extremely cold and spitting sleet today with an easterly wind, not super comfortable, but made it work. Decided to go with shorts and a long sleeve undershirt under my jersey, probably the right call. The only problem was my cheapo gloves didn't really work and my hands absolutely froze. Here are my splits:

1- 5:56.8

2- 5:56.2 (11:53)

3- 5:47.6 (17:41)

4- 5:56.6 (23:37)

5- 5:43.0 (29:20)

6- 5:48.4 (35:09)

final change - 1:24, my watch had it at .25, probably about right given the amount of weaving I had to do to get around walkers and joggers, this course is notorious for lapped traffic. Therefore, I probably did run extra to get around them and i couldnt get a lot of perfect tangents, regardless, my actual 10k time would have been even quicker, my watch had me at 5:51 avg pace, so like 10-12 seconds

Total - 36:33, 5:53-5:54 pace

Overall, I am very pleased with this time. On a tough day weatherwise, not ideal at all, I feel like I got tough and ran a smart race. Started a little sluggish but dialed it in and really accelerated through the 2nd half of the race. The course is 2 loops so I saw my first 5k split at 18:23ish. GIven my finish time, this means I negative split the course by 13 seconds, running about 18:10 the 2nd 5k. Biggest takeaway today is this negative split - especially since I ran most of the 2nd half alone as I was in no-man's land. Good to have self-motivation!

cold morning run in iowa + strides

afternoon run after a long drive, not normal routine before a race

Local turkey trot this morning in Louisville. It was free so definitely a good choice. Brought some cans of food for the food drive, so that was cool too. Usually pretty big race, something like 10-15k runners. The course ended up being a tiny bit short, but its all good, just was out trying to have fun today. Yesterday was no sleep and driving all morning and headache, just not a great prep. But I felt decent for the run, so that's solid. Splits were 5:38, 5:58, 5:22 + change. first course was flat to up, second was a lot of up at the end, big hill, last mile was pretty good downhill, 17:15 overall for 3.06ish on the watch, wife told me I was 18th overall. 8 total with the c/d

okay run tonight, feeling sluggish, its that time of year where a break is imminent