dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

I ran to work this afternoon.  Temps were near 100 degrees.  I ran 8.6 miles in 1:04:28.

PM:  I ran to the mall from school to meet Kimia, and then drove back home from there.  I will call it 8.8 miles, as it is just slightly farther than running home.  I was really cruising during the run, and I felt good so I made no effort to slow down.  Total time of 1:01:34.

I ran 10 miles easy this morning in 1:13:27.  I ran a 200m pickup in 33s during the second half of the run to simulate goal pace for the 1600m race that I am running tonight.

PM:  I ran a free 1600m race put on by the Las Vegas Track Club.  I was hoping that Andrew (the guy who beat me at the last free race I came to) would show up so that I would have someone to drag me to a 1600m pr.  This is the first 1600m race that I have run since high school (over 9 years ago).

Luck was not on my side, and Andrew did not come to the race.  There was also a fair amount of wind on the backstretch (not horrible, but enough to slow your overall time down).  I decided that I would just start the race at a hard pace and then see how things went from there.

The gun went off, and I started off at a solid pace.  I was surprised to make it to 200m in 33 seconds, and even more surprised that another runner was right on my shoulder.  I felt good, so I was hoping this translated into a solid time for me.  I backed off a little at 200 because I did not trust in my ability to run 4:24 pace for the entire race.  Just before the 400m mark the kid went past me.  I hit 400m in 1:07 (34 sec. for the second 200m) with the kid one second ahead in 1:06.  However, as soon as we crossed the 400m mark the kid slowed down just a little, and I started to run up on him.  This really messed up the rhythm I was in as I couldn't really pass him without a major surge, due to the turn, and he was running just fast enough that I hoped I could stay behind him until we got through the backstretch where the wind was the worst.  This ended up being a bad decision for me, as we slowed down to 35 sec for the 200m from 400-600m, and I had trouble getting back in a faster rhythm for the remainder of the race.  It was like my body just locked into that pace, and it didn't feel incredibly hard, but I couldn't speed up either.  I did end up surging to pass the kid at the beginning of the next turn, so the next 200m was run in 34 sec (2:16 for 800m).  By the time I hit 800m I had a 20-30m lead on the kid, and the lead just got bigger from there to the finish.  I ran the next three 200m sections in 35 seconds each (3:26 at 1200m, and 4:01 at 1400m), and then closed in 33 seconds over the final 200m to finish in 4:34 (1:08 for the final 400m).

Overall, I was not displeased with how things turned out.  I have not really done any 1600m specific workouts, and I ran 10 miles this morning in addition to the 17.4 miles I ran Monday, and the hard tempo run last Saturday.  The time equaled my 1600m pr that I set in practice when I was running for BYU, and beat my high school pr by 4 seconds.  On top of everything it was a little windy, and while the sun was not bad the temperature was still around 100 degrees.  If you throw out the rhythm killer after the first lap I think I would have run about 2 seconds faster as well.  Considering everything I'll take the time I got, however I still do feel like there is some sort of inhibitor that is preventing me from going faster, and it is not physical.  Hopefully I can work that issue out soon, whatever the issue may be.

I ran 12 miles easy this morning in 1:27:46.  It was a good run for me.  My legs didn't seem to really feel the race last night (I guess I should expect that since the race was only 1600m).  It felt hotter than normal, even though I was out running earlier than I have been lately.  It may be that I was just expecting it to feel much cooler than it was.

PM: 5 miles in 39:02.  I went out to the store with Kimia and the kids after I got home from work, and it took more out of my legs than I would have expected, so I felt fairly tired during the run. 

I ran to UNLV this afternoon, and after getting on campus I headed over to the track and ran 2 x 1600m repeats in 5:19, and 5:17 with 1600m recovery between repeats.  

I was originally planning on running a 1600m followed by a 3200m, but despite the water I carried with me today (usually I run without water) I was still struggling a bit with the heat.  To top it off, there was a strong wind that I had to deal with almost the entire way to UNLV, and during the repeats.  So, I ended up just running 2 x 1600m instead.  The purpose of today's workout was not really to push myself hard or to test my limits, but to get a little more practice running a little faster than normal, while maintaining control (staying relaxed).

I ended up with a total of 13 miles for the workout, finishing in 1:36:36.

PM: 4 miles easy in 30:15.  Kimia picked me up partway home. 

I ran 10 miles easy this morning in 1:15:34.  On the way home I ran 3 short sprints just to get my legs moving a bit.  My left calf felt just a bit tight, probably due to the 1600m race I ran on Tuesday.  This is all the running I am doing today, as I am running a 5k race tomorrow against some tough competition, and I want to see how I stack up.

Today I ran the only real competitive annual 5k that exists in Vegas.  The winner from the previous 4 years was back again (currently runs for the University of Oklahoma), plus a kid who is a 4:10 miler was going to be there, and hopefully a couple other fast guys, so I knew that there would be a decent amount of competition.  I warmed up by running the course, and I knew that it would be super slow, as there was a fair amount of rolling terrain, and the race was mostly on sand and uneven gravel (with a bit of pavement and grass mixed in).  To give an example of how slow the course is, this is the state championship course for cross country (when the championship is held in Southern Nevada) and the course record is only 16:04 (set last year by Nick Hartle, the 4:10 miler).  To top it off, it was fairly hot outside (forecast called for 84 degrees at the start of the race, and it was probably correct), and since the race didn't start until 7:30am, the sun was already out... the sun is the real killer; I'll take 95-100 degrees in the dark over 84 in the sun any day.  On the plus side, it wasn't windy out, as I have come to find that the nasty wind that plagues Vegas during the fall, winter and spring is really fairly mild during the summer.

We all lined up on the giant start line just before 7:30 (it is a cross country race, so you have to have a giant extended line followed by a bottleneck about a 100m after the start), and after some introductions the gun went off and... I got smoked.  Jeremy Sudbury (the returning champion) put 20 seconds on me in the first mile, and was followed closely by his former high school nemesis, Solomon Bennett who was ahead of me by 17 seconds at the mile.  I came through in 5:02, and it felt like I had run a 4:45.  My legs never felt in this race, as even prior to the start I felt tired.  Less than 800m into the race I felt the way I normally do after 2 miles.  I think that the mileage from this week, and the brutal tempo run I did last Saturday just sucked the power out of my legs and I had nothing.

I ran the second mile in 5:22 (Sudbury is now gone, but the gap between me and Bennett has held fairly even).  This was the slowest mile of the race as it contained the most sand.  Nick Hartle, the 4:10 miler, had stayed in front of me for the majority of the first mile, but just prior to the mile mark I passed him and it felt like he just fell off the face of the planet as I ended up beating him by 52 seconds.  This meant that for the majority of the race I was running alone, too far behind second place to really have a chance at beating him, and far enough in front of fourth place that there was no one to push me.

I closed the final 1.1 miles in 5:12 pace to finish in 16:10.  Sudbury won the race in 15:17, with Bennett finishing in 15:40 or 15:50 (official time was 15:40, but Mike Schramm thought he saw him finish in about 15:50 which I think is more accurate, as at 15:54 on my watch he appeared to have just finished).  Hartle was fourth in 17:02.  So, all in all I don't think it was my best performance, but I decided early on in the week that putting in a solid week of mileage was more important than running well today.  As it is, I have heard that Sudbury has a sub 14:00 track 5k pr, so losing to him by 53 seconds isn't as bad as it would seem.  I think that tapered I could have finished with Bennett, or maybe beaten him, but who knows.  Bennett lives here in town, so I may start training with him soon if my schedule allows for it.

After the race I ran the course one more time as a cool-down, and a couple hours after I got home I ended up making it out to finish off my mileage for the day by running 10.5 miles more in 1:06:25.  I ran a 4 mile tempo in 100+ degree heat on the way home in 21:31 (5:26, 5:20, 5:27, 5:18).