It's just that simple

A.M. - 20 minutes weights + 10 min bike in gym at hotel in Vancouver, WA. Achilles sore so I'll wait for PM run

P.M. - Lake Quinault Trails - 1:34

Ran from the lodge. Went through the rainforest and then on some loop trails. Hilly, windy and beautiful. Did 62 minutes with Emily then hammered on my own for 32 minutes. Great scenery.

A.M. - Rainforest trail - 21:22

Solo at 9 a.m. Felt pretty good

P.M. - East Fork Quinault River - 1:06

Mostly with Emily, but finished a mile extra solo in 5:42, plus a few pickups along the way. This gravel road was closed for the season but in great shape. We saw no one else and had spectacular views of bald eagles, a blue river, waterfalls and huge trees. It looked like scenery from Alaska. All that was missing was grizzlies fishing for salmon in the river.

A.M. - Beach from Kalaloch Lodge - 21:35

Windy and chilly, but a nice morning run. Kept my feet dry.

P.M. - Lake Crescent Trail - 1:36

Ran on the Spruce Rail Trail along Lake Crescent with Emily. We were going pretty slow and just enjoying the scenery. One of the best runs of my life. Phenomenal trail. Did a mile at the end in 5:36 on a gravel road.

Port Angeles Waterfront - 46:05

Wanted to get in a good effort, but it was 9 a.m. and of course my achilles was stiff and sore. So I did a progression run along a path from the hotel that went around the bay. 7:47, 7:15, 6:46, 6:29, 6:03, 5:51, 5:36. Really didn't feel too fazed by the effort, which is a good sign. Sea level is nice (actually the Garmin measured some of the run below sea level)

A.M. - Sammamish trail - 27:12

From Linda and Dave's house. Didn't feel that great today but a nice run

P.M. - From the hotel in B.C. - 50:58

Ran from the hotel in Richmond, B.C. Had a pretty easy run and did 6 x 20 second pickups at about 5:15 mile pace in preparation for Saturday. Felt pretty good.

Vancouver Park - 1:05

Ran on the race course and on some trails. Most of it pretty easy. Finished the last mile with Emily. Legs feel a bit sore. Usually I would taper a bit before a race but it's a 5k, and I need to keep my miles high while I can.

Vancouver Spring Classic 5k - 16:45 - 13th place

I wrapped up my spring break trip with a 5k race this morning in Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C. When I saw we would be in Vancouver, I checked to see if there were any races this weekend, and found this one. I knew by looking at past results it was deep and fast up front so I thought it might be fun. This park is huge and really a beautiful place to run.

The day was chilly and a bit breezy, but nicer than the day before. I jogged the course as a warmup, did a few strides and lined up. This was the worst part of the race. There were 300+ runners on a bike path a few feet wide. I got off to a slow start, ran through some deep puddles, nearly rammed straight into a minivan parked on the path, and stressed quite a bit as the runners up front were way ahead of me. I weaved through some runners up a couple of hills, and hit the 1k in 3:22. Way too slow. I tried to pick it up and went through the mile marker in 5:21. I believe this is my fastest mile since a 4:09 1500m I ran on the track about 2 years ago.

I did try to battle a little bit and passed a few more runners in the last 2 miles. My last kilo was my fastest, which was good, but I didn't feel like I competed well. For the first time in my life I also had the feeling that I was running pretty hard, but not moving that fast. I really didn't hurt much, but the speed wasn't there. Within 2 minutes of finishing, I was almost fully recovered. I feel strong, but not fast, but that's probably what I should expect given my training.

Positives: Decent time off a big mileage week (for me); almost a minute faster than the last 5k I ran.

Negatives: Unaggressive at start; didn't make it hurt like I should have.