Seeking a better country...

My niece had a b-day party at Farmington pool, so I had my son drive home and I ran.  I took the Lagoon Trails north, then came home the usual way on main.  It was kinda hot.  I saw Jason Nance headed north, and I figured I'd see him again.  Sure enough, he ran up my tail on Chase Lane.  He graciously slowed down to visit for about a minute, then took off like a deer.  He gapped me out of sight pretty quickly, the turdlett.  

I rolled out of bed around six, noting with disappointment that the temperature outside was 77.  So much for postponing till morning when it's cooler.  BST to Freedom Hills, then home the relatively hard way.  I didn't eat anything, and was very glad I carried a water bottle.  There's nothing better than showing up to work totally wiped out from a trail run, except sleeping in and skipping work entirely.

Okay.  Both pairs of shoes are about equally worn, so I have no idea which is which any more.  (is that two words or one?)  I need some replacements; I think my hip soreness is on the shoes being high-mileage.  Even if it isn't, it's a simple experiment to perform to rule them out.

So today I got up in the 5's, ran over to JP, and did five miles on the grass barefoot.  It was 77 degrees outside.  The weatherman predicts a cold front coming through today, with overnight lows in the 50's for the next few days.  I hope that comes true. 

I'm running in the local 5k tomorrow with both my boys.  I've been nervous for 2 days.  It's so stupid.  It goes without saying I'd like to beat my PR.  I don't know.  I predict my performance will be right around 20 minutes.  Ideally, I'll finish in the high 18's.  The elevation is net-zero, with the hills in the first half, so I'm not going to get any favors there. 

I got up around 5:30 for this 7:00 race.  I woke up a dozen or so times overnight in anticipation.  I don't know why I get so amped up for a local 5k.  I had some toast and milk, and ran a couple miles for warmup.  Then I got my boys up, and we headed over.  

Conditions were unbelievable for the 4th; light breeze and 60 degrees.  I lined up at the front of the crowded start.  Bang.  Mile 1 has most of the hill stuff.  I was in about 40th place rounding the corner to head up.  By the end of it I had settled into 22nd.  Mile 1 split was 6:30.  Over the last 2 miles I passed another couple people, and got passed in the last .4 miles.  I never looked at my watch for times, just pace.  I knew I hadn't slowed down, and I felt okay, but wasn't going to check my time and slow down.  When I rounded the final corner with a few hundred yards to go, I saw 18:50, so I knew I had a big PR in the bag, but not a chance at getting my goal for a finish in the 18's.   I pushed through the finish, feeling very spent and a bit dizzy.  Sure enough, I puked twice in the chute.  

Mile 1:  6:32,  Mile 2:  6:13,  Mile 3:  6:09,  .1:  :24 sec (4 min pace?  can that be right?) 

My boys came in strong, Max under 24:00 and Jens under 26:00.   I guess I need to find a smaller race so I can at least get an age division award.  Or I guess I could put in more hard work and effort.  After the race we had our street-wide breakfast and watched a snoozer of a parade.  The girls got lots of gross taffy.  This is a great way to start the 4th weekend.