dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

Well, my suitcase got lost at the airport this morning, so there was a huge mess there, and I ended up going back to the airport later in the afternoon to get it.  My running shoes were on the bag, so I ended up running in my racing flats and cutting my run short before driving down from Washington to Oregon for my brother's wedding the next day.

I ran 5 miles in the morning before my brother's wedding in about 35 minutes.  I wish that I would have done my longer run in the morning.

PM:  I ran 10 miles with Andrew in the snow in the evening, as the snow started to come down just before they started to take pictures after the wedding.  Lots of cars and buses got stuck trying to drive up hills or even just small inclines.  We got drenched as the snow was rather slushy and wet.  We finished in 1:17:34

I ran 10 miles in the new shoes that my dad got me for Christmas.  Total time was 1:14:33.  During the run we ran some hill repeats.  Andrew ran 6 of them, and I ran 4 as my calf is still tight, and I didn't want to stress it too much.  I struggled on the first 3 repeats running them in 79, 80, 79 (distance estimate is about 370m on a nasty hill that even has some downhill in it yet it is still this slow).  I think that I was just tight as I took a little break after the third repeat, and when I came back to run the last repeat I felt much better and I ran a 76 off of equal or lesser effort than what I put in previously.

I ran approximately 10 miles today in 1:15:58.  I was originally planning on running 15 miles today, but I think that I have come down with whatever it is that everyone else in my family has gotten sick with.  So, as long as I feel better by tomorrow I will run the extra mileage then.

So, today I ran a little race close to my parent's house.  There was a possibility that one fast guy would show up, but otherwise I knew I would be running alone.  I was actually kind of dissapointed when the fast guy didn't show up (his name is Joe Gray) as it is difficult to motivate oneself when running alone.  It also didn't help matters that I came down with a cold yesterday and I wasn't feeling 100% and the wind was gusting and blowing to high heaven.  Before the race I also met a fellow blogger, Dale who I had never met before.

The race started and I took off and was alone for the entire race.  The course was an out and back with a slight uphill during the first half, and of course a slight downhill on the way back.  The wind was gusting off and on the entire race, but it was the worst during the second mile and the first part of the third mile.  I started out the race running about a 5:00 effort and ran the first mile in 5:08.  I then hit the 5k turn-around in 8:09 and hit the 2 mile mark in 10:38 (5:30 second mile... ouch!).  I made it to the 5 mile turn-around in 13:20 (2:42 for a half mile).  I missed the 3 mile marker, but I made it to 4 miles in 21:03, (7:43 from 2.5 - 4 miles) and then finished with a 5:02 last mile to finish in 26:05 by my watch (official timing was messed up so I never found out an official time).  I timed the last 200 meters of the race, which were on the track in 34 seconds.

So, not as fast as I really would have liked, but considering the wind and being just a little under the weather I think I did fine for a mid winter race with no competition.  Hopefully things will go more smoothly for me as the year progresses.

I felt really gross today.  I barely made it under 9:00 pace for the run.