Patience; the new endurance sport.

Great job!! I love your attitude. Thanks for being on of those behind;)

I is great when you can feel FANTASTIC after a race. That means you did very well.

I complimented Michelle on her win, but I see how hard you guys train. I could NEVER do that-- I'm not even mentally capable of imagining I can do that. I love that you both have put your drive to compete and your self-assertion into training. It's inpirational. So, for the scores of us 'regular' (boltushka-type) runners--keep it up. You guys are just amazing.

Wow, I can't believe that you feel so great after racing 10 miles. You must be in great shape!

Great job today! 8 minute miles for 10 miles in your 40s is NOT 'boltushka-type'! You got 1:23 with two stops. You're not giving yourself enough credit - you're very fit regardless of whether you push yourself to the point of puking or not.

You are my new best blogging friend. Thank you. It was a good day for me.

Your official time is listed as 1:24:41. Is it incorrect? The official time is supposed to be the time from the moment they fire the gun until the time you cross the finish line. When posting your race time, make sure to post the official time unless the timers really messed up to the point of making it unreliable. Also make sure to post the seconds and use the format of HH:MM:SS. Otherwise when people look at the race reports list they see that you averaged 8 seconds per mile.

Then you can post an explanatory note saying that it took you X seconds to get to the starting line after the gun (if the race did not distinguish between chip time and gun time, which this one did not), you spent Y seconds stretching, and Z seconds on a VPB. Those details are important for a number of reasons - it helps access your fitness more accurately, and it also teaches you to deal with what you are up against if you want to qualify for Boston. You cannot adjust your time for stops for a BQ, so if you learn not to do it in little races you will learn to keep your stops to the absolute necessary minimum. When you have that mindset, more often than not you will decide to not stop at all and deal with the problem after you finish.

Going off the worst assumption that your official time is correct, it is still good news. You averaged 8:28 pace in spite of stops, while your BQ pace is only 8:48. And this 10 miler is a bit slower than the St. George course on average. So all you need to do is to learn how to hold a significantly slower pace for longer. I think you'll have no problem getting a BQ in St. George this year if you just keep your current level of training between now and then. Maybe run 20 miles a couple of times for a confidence builder.

Also, when we see you on the trail more often than not we are not going that fast - about 8:00 pace. You should be able to keep up with us without much difficulty. Make sure to join us next time for a couple of miles to overcome the mental block.

BTW - I've never thrown up after a run. I have a few times during a run, but it was not from the effort - my stomach was just not doing that well and I happened to be running when the time was right. Many runners are willing to push themselves to the point of vomiting to get a faster time, but they are usually not able to. The body usually shuts down before you can do any significant damage to it. So you should not be afraid to push.

Thank you for all that wonderful feedback! But wouldn't 1:23 be 8:30 a mile? Regardless, based on my overall general performances I am inclined to believe it was an 8:40 mile. However, we had no race chips. The time I went off was from my watch. I began the chrono setting when I crossed the starting line up by Big Springs a few seconds after the gun (I thought it was a few seconds)and when I finished the guy read my time out loud behind me as I was taking a picture with a friend who crossed before me (way before me, I might add). I'm pretty sure he said 1:23 something but didn't catch the seconds. One or two other runners handed the bottom of their numbers to the guard before me as they were my friends were taking their picture (bad etiquitte, sorry again). I don't know if that makes a difference where they placed me. I would not have posted my watch time, had I known. So I'll be more careful next time. Also, I didn't stick around to see the race results, and could not find where the posted them online. I emailed the Trailrun people Monday to ask if the results were online (2007 was up but not 2008). But they have not emailed me back. I guess that means they're up now! So thanks for giving me my official time. I'll update my log to be accurate.

Thank you for the invite to run a few 8:00 minute miles with the big boys and girls. I'd love to try to overcome my 'mental' problem. I've been wanting to get that checked. JK!! I'd love to try and push along for once. We'll see. Thanks again for the official time and the tips-- P.S. I love this blog you made and managage. Thank you for the great community it provides!

Oh, I just got it. 8 seconds a mile (not 8 minutes). But I think I posted it correctly now. However, I have to say, if you do read my blog sometimes you'll note that I ran 4 miles in 10 minutes and then did 700 one armed push ups the Thursday prior to the race...to psche up my friend Marisa. Sorry, I probably should entertain myself elsewere...It's that mental problem, see?

The results are at

http://raceutah.com/provo-riverwoods-10-miler-2008.html