I decided a few days ago to jump in the Dash for Donation "5K" in Sugar House Park - close to home and for a really good cause... I ran on the team that Rachelle's family had put together. My plan for the morning was to put in a solid effort during the race, then add on another tempo run on the track where I'd practice drinking while running at marathon pace. Ran 4 miles up to the park for a warmup and was feeling a bit tired from another big week of miles and 3 tempo runs in the past 5 days. I started thinking that I might be lucky to even run MP during the race! There was a big turnout and the race started about 15 minutes late... no big deal. Once we got going I actually felt surprisingly good. There wasn't any competition after the first 100 meters, so it was a solo effort. The course was 2 laps around SHP, then some extra... it was a bit long... I hate to say that... but I run in SHP enough to know how far 5K is, and they added a bonus 0.2 for us today :-) Everyone knows what this loop looks like except BAM, so here's the course profile: 
I hit the first mile in 4:57. Needless to say that was a surprise and I didn't feel like it was very tough. Miles 2 and 3 were 5:02 and 4:55. During the second mile I started to lap the field (most of whom were walking) so I did a lot of weaving! The final stretch was 1:26, so obviously not 0.1, because that usually takes me less than 30 seconds in a 5K... and I was moving pretty good. So my 3 mile split was 14:54, which I was really happy about. With the rolling hills, I figure that 3 miles in SHP is about approximately equivalent to what you can run for a full 5K on the track. Averaging sub-5 pace in SHP is usually pretty tough to do. After finishing the race I jogged over to the Highland HS track and started the second part of the workout - 5K at marathon pace taking a drink of gatorade every other lap. Andrea came over with me and handed me bottles. I figured that I need to practice drinking while moving at race pace. I could eat a sandwich at 7:00 pace on long runs, but I need to be able to process fluids while running significantly faster than that. I did the 5K tempo in 16:45 (5:23, 5:24, 5:19, 38). When that was finally done we headed back over to the post-race area and had to choose between the 8 different types of ice cream novelties that were offered. I went with a Drumstick and was very satisfied with that choice! We hung out with Rachelle (she finished 2nd place overall) and her family for a bit, then I ran 3.5 miles home. Overall a good confidence booster this morning. I've been feeling very good about the TOU Marathon, but I've been unsure of how the TOU 1/2 is going to feel... whether I can take a reasonable shot at running as fast as I did last year. Now I think sub 1:06 might be in the cards again. Andrea took a bunch of pictures... Start of the race with crazy heel-striker guy on the right. He was ahead of me until 100m and they he came to a complete stop...
 Coming into the finish area...
 And then onto the post-race track workout...
 More photos here: Dash for Donation. Andrea is getting pretty good with her new camera! [AM - 14 miles total] PM - 7 miles after a fun Weber River tubing adventure with Andrea and Allie!
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