In search of old age PRs

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).