Today was the beginning of my "6 races in 22 days" stretch. I ran this one last year (31:55), and today I was aiming to hit around 31-flat (5:00 pace), as I really needed a solid longer LT workout to prep for the upcoming 1/2 marathon in Duluth... and those are tough to do in a non-race setting. I warmed up ~3 miles and decided I was OK to wear my lighter flats (I've had some minor achilles tightness over the past week, so I've been playing it safe and wearing shoes with more heel). The race started about 10 minutes late which wasn't ideal, but it wasn't a big deal either. I didn't see anyone I recognized (ie. Teren or John) so I thought I might be running solo. After the gun went off a tall, skinny guy got right up in the front with me. I didn't know who he was, but I could tell he was legit because I'm pretty sure he wasn't even breathing. Turns out it was Kyle Perry, former NCAA champion who now runs for New Balance. The thing about racing in the Provo area is that you never know when a former NCAA champ from BYU is going to randomly jump into a low key road race! First two miles was 5:02 and 5:10. Kyle and I were running together. That second mile is always a bit slower as it climbs uphill ever so gradually. You get that little bit of downhill back on the third mile, which was 4:49. I probably fell back about 4-5 seconds during that mile. The next two miles were 4:55 and 4:57. Kyle really opened up the gap here and I kind of lost sight of him (as we were now running with the 5K people). So I ran 14:40 for these 3 miles and fell back about 100 meters. Unbelievable. When I hit the 5 mile mark I did that math in my head and was sort of peeved off and threw in the towel. The sixth mile was 5:03, then 1:09 for the final stretch. Chip time had me at 31:06. Kyle finished in ~30:51, a new course record. The Orem HS track is conveniently located a 1/2 mile from the finish line of this race, so I immediately jogged over there to finish my workout (cheering on Melody along the way - she looked so strong and fast!). Did 12 x 200m on the track in just under 33 seconds average. Then jogged back over for awards and chatted with Melody and Kyle for a while. I basically did exactly what I wanted to do today (except win the race). But that's OK - I ran 50 seconds faster than last year. And my next 10K is going to be on the track at sea-level in two weeks, so I should be able to run significantly faster. Overall this capped off a solid week of training (4 quality days) and my highest volume week since March. Next week I'll start tapering back for the rest of the upcoming races. Some other highlights... -Melody ran awesome, a huge 10K PR and course record. And her shoes are really cool... but I won't mention what they are b/c they aren't Saucony :-) -Kyle's family drove alongside in their car cheering the whole way and playing music. At ~2 miles his sister-in-law yelled out "We're just cheering for Kyle more because we're related to him... but you're both awesome!" Only in Utah County are people 100X nicer than anywhere else, and STILL they felt the need to justify why they weren't being even nicer. I love it! When she said that, I just started laughing... in the middle of the race... just what I needed to be doing. -It wasn't really warm enough for cold treats this morning, but those creamies popsicles still always hit the spot! -This is a 10K PR for me. I've run faster 10K splits in longer races, but for a just a 10K race, I've never gone quicker. The fact that it was an non-aided time at altitude is good. PM - 12 miles. 20 minutes turned into 80 thanks to Mr. Springsteen and his friends from the E-Street band. If you listen to this and it doesn't make you want to run through the jungle, check your pulse and make sure you are alive :-)
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