In search of old age PRs

Run in Vacaville, CA. on a very hot evening.

Run on old railroad track line in Tulare, CA.  I found the Santa Fe bike and dirt trail about a mile from my hotel and followed it east until it ended at a canal and grape field.  It was a late evening run, but still 96 degrees at the finish.

Diagnosed with the flu today, so no running for the next couple of days.

Decent race today at the Murray 5K.  I was not feeling great when I woke up, so I did not expect to much (flew home from Oakland late Friday night).  The Murray race always has fast people, but I was surprised that 18:10 took 2nd in my age group.

Mile 1: 5:37--Way to fast for the uphill climb.  I would pay for this in the later miles.

Mile 2: 5:53--Closer to pace, but struggling to stay with the pack.  A guy named George passed me here.  He always passes me in 5K races in Salt Lake.  I need to stay ahead of him if I want to run in the 17's.

Mile 3: 6:04--I was done, but could see the first place female closing in on me.  I also passed a couple of peope which was a surprise.

Mile 3.1 0:34 (5:17)--Did not get chicked!  I should have had more kick to place two spots higher, but not bad with all things considered.

Wahsatch Steeplechase route with Craig and Jeremy.

Run from house to Sugar House Park.  Legs were very sore from running the Wasatch Steeplechase route on Sunday.  Also, have not been able to shake my cold that I picked up on Friday.

House to Hogle Zoo and up Kennedy Hill.

House to Memory Groove Park then back home through the downtown area.

Tempo work at East High late in the day.  1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down with 4 x 1200.  A couple of fast runners training on the track tonight (sub 5:00 pace), but I did not recognize them.

First run back from the swine flu.  It was very hard to breath.  I can see why people with respiratory issues have such a hard time with this type of flu.  Ran a slow pace and tried to gauge my "readiness" to run with the group tomorrow.  Ran from house to Sugar House park.  I need a quick recovery, because my weekly mileage needs to go way up to be ready for the Pocatello marathon in early September.  

Tough work-out in Kerns with group.  Still pretty weak from the flu,

but ran one good 1.7 mile tempo.  Around mile 10 it got very hot and

began to cramp.  I was glad to see the finish.

Speed work at East in early morning.  7 x 200 with warm up and cool down.

Early morning run from house to Sugar House park.  Ran slow because I would like to get a long run in on Tuesday.

Early long run from House up Emigration canyon and back down.  Lots of bikers out early in the morning.  Ran easy to the top and a good pace back down to the house.  Luckily, a little cooler and breezy this morning, so one bottle of water was enough for the run.

I received an invitation to run a road race with my company's corporate team.  The race will be in Breda, Netherlands.  They have asked me to run the 5K, 10K or 15K.  The race is on October 4 and I have business meeting later that next week in Holland (perfect planning).  The problem is the long flight with little rest before the race.  I plan to arrive October 3 (Saturday afternoon), but its probably best if I do the "easier" 5K race.

Not very sore from the long run on Wednesday, so did a nice 10K run around Sugar House Park.

Quick run from the house on trails for 1/2 the time.

Another hot and humid Deseret News 10K.  I was amazed at the elite runners that showed up for a chance to win $1500.  The winning man, Alene Reta, is incredible.  I tried to stay with him the first 5K, but then had to slow...lol.  Those guys are amazing.  I have never seen a more stacked field at any race.  It was cool to be at the start with elite local and national runners.

I jogged from my house to the start (about 3 miles) and was sweating pretty hard when I arrived.  Unfortunately, there was no hydration at the start.  I hit the portta-potties really quick and talked to some running and blogging friends then tried to squeeze my way toward the front.  Below are my splits:

Mile 1: 5:33--I was feeling strong, but lots of people were passing me.  I knew not to go out too fast, so stayed back (in hindsight this may not be the best way to run the DN 10K)..

Mile 2: 5:38--Nice mile.  Starting to catch people that passed me earlier.  I could see several women in front of me and I begin to reel them in. 

Mile 3: 5:59--Tough little hill up to South Temple, but I was planning about a 6:00/mile pace here.  Runners are no longer passing me.

5K Split: 17:48--Right on Pace.

Mile 4: 5:57--A lot slower than I wanted down South Temple.  I get passed by a guy pushing a jog stroller!  Crap!

Mile 5: 6:00--Made the turn down 200 East and catching lots of runners, but I know my pace is toast.

Mile 6: 6:22!!--Half marathon pace!  I guess I'm more of a 8K runner.  This last mile blew my 36:00 goal out of the water.  I'm now just trying to pass people (and not get passed).

Mile 0.22--Ran at 6:05 pace.  I caught several runners toward the finish, but one guy flew by me like I was walking. 

All and all, not too bad.  I ran pretty hard this week (mileage wise) trying to come back from the swine flu that put my marathon training mileage behind.  With a little more rest, I should get the sub 36:00 next year.  It was still a PR.  Watched several other running friends come in and everyone had a good race.  Kudos to Craig who smoked the course.  I didn't know he could run that fast--2nd in his age group.  Also, apparently, a water stop was missing, but I rarely take hydration during a 5 or 10K (will just slow you down). 

On vacation on Edisto Island (low country of South Carolina).  It is incredibly humid.  Ran a little over six miles and sweated like a ran a marathon.  Ran along the beach and through the local areas.  Found a nice bike trail I will explore later in the week.  Also, saw two alligators near the running path...crazy. 

Early morning Edisto Island run while on vacation.  Hot and humid. 

Early morning Edisto Island run while on vacation.  One of my nephews ran 1 mile with me.

Ran the entire island this morning.

Early morning Edisto Island run while on vacation.  Hot and humid again.

Last run on Edisto before returning home.  The runs were difficult due to the humidity.  I'm glad to get back to Utah.