Philippians 4:13

Ran the Mountain to Fountain 15K this morning.  What a fantastic race.  4th Master (just out of the money), 1st in age group, 23rd overall man (3 women beat me, very strong runners!).  I feel really good about this race and felt that I raced it well.  More to come.

Rachel drove me over to the community center for the elite check in.  Met up with John, Derek Delancey and others.  Chatted with Ricardo for a little bit.  On the ride up sat and talked with Derek, John, Ricardo and Brett Bernacchi and enjoyed the viewed.  We warmed up with all the elites and I had a chance to meet and talk to Sarah Hall, Katie McGregor, Carlos Trujillo, Susan Loken and a few others. I saw Rachel and Janet as well and we got ready to go. It was a beautiful morning...sunny, light wind and about 53 degrees.

Went out right on target and hit 5:45 for the first mile.  The field was spreading out and I was running by myself in mile 2.  Hit second mile in 5:25 so I was on target.  I was a bit behind a group of 3-4 people at this point and picked it up to latch on and ended up in the lead of this little group.  Mile 3 in 5:24.  Cruising down the hill and crossed 5K at 17:15 then mile 4 at 5:24.  On to the rollers.  Our group was still mostly together and the woman in the group (Ariana) started to pick in up and a guy from Tuscon and I were going back and forth.  Hit the rollers fairly well from mile 4 - 6.  5 - 5:47, 6 - 5:37.  There is a good hill just past the 10k mark (34:54) and then the big half mile climb from 6.75 to 7.25 (mile 7- 5:55).  Ariana was still ahead and I was duking it out with Lucas as we hit the hill.  We passed Nicole Feest and I encouraged her to latch on and she couldn't.  As we crested the hill I poured it on to drop Lucas and chased down Andrew (Tuscon guy as well).  We were right with each other through mile 8 (6:05) then at the turn and downhill I opened it up again for the next mile to go 5:40 for mile 9.  I crest the hill on Saguaro and really just push hard to the finish and nearly catch Ariana and keep Andrew from trying to creep up on me.  I start saying my mantra "God give me strength" on the last 0.3M at about 5:03 pace to finish strong at 53:07.  I set the course record for 45 year old men today!

 I feel reall good about the race and felt that it was a good indication of where I am.  I feel that I ran a smart strategic race and was able to pass 4-5 folks and battle it out with the Tuscon guys by running smart early.  If I had run a bit faster early I may not have had the charge late to get those two great runners.  If I could have been up with Derek and trying to stay with him my fade could have been much worse than it was and likely would have had no kick.  

Afterwards, get a masage and go for a light jog with Nicole and John and have a nice chat (Nicole even made me feel humble by indicating she had no idea I was a Master's runner...thanks Nicole!).  I did this part totally backwards...beer, massage, cooldown jog.  Enjoy the beautiful weather and awards/party, have a bit of chow and talk to some of the folks.  This is a great race and I will definitely come again and bring Justin next time!

Talked a lot with the guys from the Banditos Running Master team that won Boston last year.  They are coming back so it should be fun to see how we compete, hopeful that we will be right there.  Great guys (Ricardo and Brett) so it will be fun.

Based on McMillian, this is a good indicator of 2:39-2:40.  I need to put in some good work the next few weeks to try to solidify the training. Based on RW, Age graded time equals 48:40.

Now for some pool and relaxation time..ok call it a nap! (Tangent 4...these worked and felt great!)

Went out for a solo run on a beautiful morning.  5 times around the fountain and back to my friends house.  8 miles in 1:01 with one pickup mile to slow MP just to shake out the legs.  A transformative run for me spent in prayer and figuring some life issues out.  A Wow run for me.

4 more miles with the running group helping assess the kids form and giving some pointers on running efficiency and technique.  Around the fountain twice and back.

Off to the airport later to head home.  Going to miss the sun and warm weather but I miss my family.  Thanks Clausen's for such a great weekend...coming back next year with the whole family!  (Boost)

4:15am...8 untimed miles with Moxie along Sunnyside.  Some water/ice mix with snow on the grass.   Yesterday morning I was running in shorts and no shirt in the sun, now in the cold dark with gloves, tights, cap and fleece...what a change.  Another great run to figure out a few things.  What a difference a week makes...(Ride 3)

4:15am...7 easy untimed miles with Moxie along Sunnyside on a cool morning.  (Ride 3)

5 miles in 32:20 at lunch on a nice day.  Late run, but needed to get out to work off some work stress. I felt a bit of a tweak in my knee around mile 4 so I pulled the pace back in a bit. (Mirage)

4:30am...6 easy untimed miles with Moxie along Sunnyside on a cold (24 degrees) morning.  Still felt a bit of a tweak in my knee so I will just take the runs easy today. (Ride 3)

6.7 miles in just under 47 minutes on a beautiful day around the river.  I ran about 2 miles with Dan just chatting then he turned back and I went a bit longer and picked up the pace to comfortable pace (6:40ish pace).  No tweak in the knee.  (Mirage)

Boston Bib numbers are out..1218.

I skipped a morning run to get some extra sleep and went out at lunch time in the warm weather.  Shorts and longsleeve shirt to start and ran shirtless for about half the run.  4 miles out and back along Sunnyside with Moxie then solo through SRL and around the greenbelt and back.  14.5 miles in 1:37:30 (6:43 AP) with about 4 miles thrown in at MP or better (5:30-6:15) including mile 14 at 6:08 pace.  Overall a great run, my front side mechanics feel really good and the power and turnover are clicking together better than they have in a long time.  Looking forward to the 15K in a week and then Boston!  (Boost)

I did not get any sleep last night (I saw EVERY hour from 10pm - 3am).  Finally decided that I was not going to get anywhere, so I got up just past 3am and was out running at 3:30am.  11 VERY slow miles around the greenbelt through SRL.  Running on fumes and in sleep walk mode.  (Ride 3)

Off to Lava Hot Springs for my daughter's first IF Cutthroats swim meet today.