Slow to fast

My IT band hasn't hurt in quite a while.  I was a little worried about the run at Snowbird on Saturday but I felt great after.  I just need to remember to keep up the clamshell exercises so the pain doesn't come back.  

8x200m with 200m jog 40, 39, 37, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31 I didn't intend this to be a progression workout, I just didn't want to start out fast and get slower by the last rep. As it turned out I'm pretty happy with the times. But maybe it would have been better though to keep it steady around 34s.

I ordered a pair of A5s and had to test them out this evening.  I really like them.  Not as narrow and long as the A6s and they feel just as light.  An 8.5 fits me perfectly.

8 x 15s strides on the Alta track this morning.  Went well and I loved the shoes.  I've been pretty busy with work and haven't been able to do as many miles this week.  However, my legs feel a little more fatigued than usual.  Possibly because of the 3800ft I did on Saturday or the 8 x 200m strides on Tuesday.  Hopefully I can recover a bit for the American Fork 5k on Saturday.

During my lunch break on Friday I drove down to American Fork to pick up my packet. It took a little over an hour. I really wish they would have had the option for me to pick up my packet directly before the race.

I arrived at AF high school at about 6:30 am and found a parking spot fairly close to the starting line. After a little over 2 miles of warm-up I started toward the starting line and did about 4 strides (10s each).

I got up to the starting line with a couple of minutes to go. Then Kate Hansen, the luge Olympian, gave the countdown and fire the pistol. A group of about a dozen went out at an unsustainable pace. I was just behind this group that was led by a few preteens and two high-school age boys. At 0.5 miles we came to a steep hill that throttled the pack nicely. The hill was only a quarter of a mile but by the top, I had passed almost everyone in the group. One of my goals for this race was to keep my speed in check at the beginning and it paid off. Down the other side of the hill I passed a few more and could see three guys in front of me quite a ways off. The gap closed a little with the second and third place guys slowing down slightly. By mile 2 I couldn't see the guy in front and the other two were running side by side.

With about 0.25 miles left there was a small hill that slowed the two guys in front of me. Now they were within 10 seconds. I kept pushing to catch them but wasn't able to. Just before the finish line, the third place guy ducked under the rope on the side of the course. I ended up finishing 7 seconds behind the guy in front of me. And I was surprised to see my uncle volunteering in the finishing area to give me a bottle of water.

I cooled down for about 1.5 miles and hung out for a bit in the nice weather. I was still a little confused about whether I got 3rd or 4th because the results kiosk said 4th but I knew the 3rd place guy bandited the race. I stuck around anyway and was happy to get a certificate for a free pair of shoes.

Splits from my watch. A little different than my official time.

6:04, 5:59, 6:00, 34