dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

I stayed up really late last night working on a research paper, but we took it really easy this morning and I took a nap yesterday, so I don't feel too tired now.  I ran with Sasha, Daniel, and Matt this morning, meeting Matt partway into the run like normal.  We ran out and back for a total of 8 miles.  Sasha and I then ran around the block 6 times for 2.1 miles extra to end with 10.1 on the day in 1:21:56.

 After our run today Sasha and I measured the circumference of our legs.  I have been reading some articles for a research paper I am writing and it was claiming that small bone structure of the lower leg and small calf size was correlational to better running economy.  Based on the description in the article, running economy sounds a lot like what has been discussed in the forum regarding quality x.  Anyhow, Sasha wanted to measure us both to see the relative difference.  My measurements at the ankle, calf, and thigh were 7.5, 14.25, and 20 inches.  Sasha had measurements of 8.375, 14.25, and 21 inches.  It is interesting to see that although Sasha had about an inch on me around the ankle and thigh, that our calves were pretty much the same size.

So, I was really tired this morning (probably from the lack of sleep the night before last) and I overslept a bit.  Because of this I met Sasha and Josse on the trail about a half mile from my house.  We then ran out to the end of the trail and back to Sasha's house for a total of 10.6 for me.  We then ran 6 laps around the block for a total of 2.1 after which I ran 1.5 more to my house to finish up 14.2 miles in 1:49:48.  I felt good on the run, but at the end I was speeding up a bit (probably around 7:00 pace) and I felt tired.  I should be careful to try and get the sleep I need every day otherwise I am going to risk injury.  It shouldn't be too much of a problem as the semester ends here soon, so I shouldn't have too many late nights from here on out.

We took it really easy today, with the exception of a short stretch when we did some 100s and a 200. I ran with Sasha and most of the run with Matt. We did one hard 100 about 3.5 miles into the run. I came through in 14sec. We then ran to the end of the trail and on the way back I did another 100 in 13sec followed by a 200 in 28sec. Sasha then wanted to do another 100 with me timing him, so I ran next to him and timed him in two 100s in 14.6 and 15.3 seconds. We then finished running to his house. 10.1 miles in 1:24:08.

PM - 4 miles with Kimia in 29:51.  I wanted to get a few more miles in this week and I didn't think I would be able to, but I realized this morning that I would have the time in the afternoon as long as I got my final draft of my research paper done on time.

I met Sasha and Tyler at 5:30 this morning and we ran out on the trail like normal. Just before 4 miles the other two turned to do a tempo run and I went to the end of the trail. I passed by Matt on the way back, and I ran into Brad Skidmore a couple miles later. I ran with Brad until the end of the 5 miles tempo, after which I went back to find Sasha and Tyler. We ran back to Sasha's house to finish with about 12.2 for me. I then ran 2.1 more with Sasha while running around the block. Total time for 14.3 miles 1:46:01.

I took an early morning flight to Washington this morning.  Kimia and I are going to my sister's high school graduation so we got up at 4:40 this morning to head off to the airport.  We ended up getting into Washington a little after 8am.  I ran 5 miles with my brother Andrew and his cross country teammates and then another 4 miles with my brother's coach Ben Mangrum before running the last mile back to my family's house.  We were going a little faster than I normally go and I think that it was because of being here at sea level and getting a little excited talking about past races and the race tomorrow.  It was also a little warmer this afternoon than I am used to so it felt harder then it was.  Overall it was a good run and finished in 1:12:13.  Possibly a little longer than 10 miles, but I will count 10.

Well, I can't say I am happy with how the race went today, but at the same time I can't say that I didn't expect something like this to happen. Money went three deep. I was a few seconds out of third ($50) and no more than 14 seconds out of second ($150). I just didn't feel like I had it there today. If I would have run like I can I think I would have placed second, but I think that a combination of travel, bad sleep a couple of nights ago, and running more miles this week than I have ever run just took away that little bit extra that I needed. Well, here is how the race went.

1 mile: 5:01 - Downhill, we took it easy and ran as a pack.

2 miles: 5:06 (10:07) - Downhill at first, then hit the first hill of the course to start the rollers. I was with the second place finisher at this point. The winner had already taken off and left us.

3 miles: 5:40 (15:47) - A good portion of this mile was uphill, and fairly steep so I backed off. The second place runner moved up, and I went back with a group of three runners and started running with them.

4 miles: 5:22 (21:09) - A little more downhill on this mile but still rolling. It was during this mile that I realized that every time we started heading uphill, I was losing ground to the other guys, but that once it evened out or headed down I would hold even with them or pass them with less effort then on the uphill sections. I just didn't feel very strong on the uphill sections for some reason.

5 miles: 5:40 (26:49) - Another uphill mile. At this point I was in 5th and maybe 10 seconds behind 2nd place and 5 seconds behind 3rd and 4th.

6 miles: ~5:11 (32:00) - Another downhill mile. I couldn't see the mile marker but from where it should have been I think I guessed my mile time pretty good. The 3rd and 4th place runners have now caught up to the 2nd place guy and are running with him. I am about the same distance behind as before, maybe a little closer.

7.46 miles: 40:27 - We went up one hill just past 6 miles and the 4th place runner started to fade. The road flattened out and I caught him just a little bit later. We then turned the corner and started back up the hill to the start and the same thing happened just like earlier; the guys in front all started pulling away. They got a decent sized gap on me and then it started flattening out a bit and they started coming back. I made up almost the entire gap that the third place runner had on me, but I ran out of room and finished in fourth.

So, I am kind of disappointed with the finish, and I was hoping to finish about 30 seconds faster, which would have placed me in 2nd. There was a light wind as well which might have slowed me down by 10-15 seconds over the course of the race, but there is no saying for sure. But, I guess I can take consolation in knowing that I did well considering the situation with traveling and not feeling 100 percent for the race.