Today's race served a two-fold purpose; a race and training run. The upcoming marathon is much more important than the winter series, but I still limp away feeling like a chump for giving up a lot of time this morning. Spencer graciously consented to hang out in the parking lot for an hour so I could get some miles in pre-race. I started around 7:10, planning to do 5 before and 5 after. I got "misdirected" on my out and back warmup, and ended up with 6 before, and came within 30 seconds of missing the start. Also, there is nowhere flat to run around Weber State. The warmup, "easy" miles were more taxing than necessary, esp. since I was pushing to get back in time for the start. (It was chip timed...why do I care when I cross the mat?) The course mirrors the 10k, which is reasonable until mile 4, which commences a hellacious 1.5 mile climb, then some downhill and rollers till 6.5, then another steady 1.5 mile climb, followed by a nice 1.5 mile coast downhill, then final steep section at mile 9.25. I held on pretty well until the steep at mile 5, (which was mile 11 for me) and walked a bit. Once the dam started to leak, I didn't keep my finger in the hole, and made a pretty good living of walking up portions of a lot of the hills. It was 20 seconds at a time, but WAY too many times. I found myself in the no mans land between the good runners and the pretty good runners, though, so I wasn't losing placing. But it's a series, and I lost around 5 minutes. Needless to say, I didn't turn in a great time; a minute slower than last year. I blame that on a variety of factors; I was running miles 7-16, not 1-10, I needed some immodium, and had extra miles to do afterward, so rationalizations and excuses were plentiful. But the one I can take responsibility for is that I was a wuss and walked too much. So anyway, after the finish, Tara, who beat me by 5 minutes on a bum ankle came with me for the final 4. We were pretty slow, barely eking out 10 minute miles on winding BST and Mt. Ogden Golf Course. Did I mention there is nowhere flat to run? That sure didn't help. The main take-home from today is I HAVE GOT TO WORK OUT A FUELING STRATEGY. Oh yeah, and toughen up the old brain. After a Frosty at Wendy's and a very frosty ice-bath (15 minutes) followed by a 20 minute hot shower, I feel okay. My legs are pretty tired, and I want to puke, but other than that, it's a typical Saturday in March.
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