Denouement

I'm going to lose my toenail over this one.  Plan was 5-6 steady state pace (6:20-6:32) in a 80 min run.  I did this on the tm, since tempoing outside in unfamiliar Hong Kong wouldn't work too well.  Warmed up 6k, then did 6 miles, started at 6:24 for the first 5K, then increased to 6:20 to the end.  

Core workout am in the weight room.  Increased to Phase 3, stage 3, the hardest of McMillan's series, except only did 21 instead of 25 of the pendelums.  Better luck next time.

50 min easy run in the Kowloon Tong MTR station area, looking for access to the Lion's park area, never found it.  5.75 miles. 

Tons of walking!  Not so impressive Valentines dinner at a chinese restaurant.  Some dishes were good, some were yucky, my bottle of water was $7USD, ouch! 

Did tempo on treadmill. 6k warm up, then 3 mile tempo. Ramped up pace each K.  9.5-9.9 pace (6:18-6:03).  Then 6.16K cool down, for 17k total.

I was supposed to do 40-50 min, so I went outside for one more crazy Hong Kong run, from the Mong Kok area to Yau Ma Tei area.  Saw the Tin Hau Temple and King's Park, where lots of old people were stretching their bones thru exercises, walking and jogging on a tall hill right in Kowloon.  Lots of stairs up the hill to get there.  Some little girl asked her dad in a british-laced english:  Why is that girl not wearing red pants (I was wearing a red shirt and turquoise shorts).  He was trying to answer her and I turned around and told her that I should definitely try to match my clothes next time. They were coming down the hill from a posh apartment complex right next to King's Park.  Time to catch a plane back home.  

I was supposed to do 60-80 min, with 6-8 miles steady state (6:20-6:32). Hopped on the tm and warmed up 2.5, then 6.5 @ 6:31, then more cool down. 10.75 total.

Evening: core workout, Stage 3, level 3 

Met Mack for a run in the am. 6.32 in 50 min.

PT appt: left outer knee, right adductor (knot right in the middle), left ankle area, right ham.  Pt exercises and new tape. I need to check out my blood.  It's been thin (clotting is slower) and I have been having a bit of vertigo - feeling like I am not quite touching ground or like I might lose balance.  I thought it was from excess mass transit and walking in Hong Kong, but its still with me a bit.  But feeling like I am not touching the ground should mean that I should run faster, right?  My PT said that thinner blood might mean I have less oxygen flowing around.   I'm going to request my blood results from my doctor (I had it tested several weeks ago).

My mom entered into holy matrimony for the fifth time at night.  We went to chef's table and had dessert.  I had the molten lava cake with ice cream.  Luckily, nice restaurant means small portions.  Unluckily, the kitchen brought out extra desserts since we were a wedding party.  I had about 1/4 of a german chocolate cake, which was really like a wedge-shaped ganache/mousse concoction with coconut and caramel.  Super fueling for 10k? 

Well, I guess i have to write this up sometime.  

This is my first race on my racing schedule.  I was thinking I'd like to break 38, since that's about where I was in my last marathon training cycle.  Sure, the 10k was hilly, I could see that from the elevation chart, but holy cow, it was hard.

I had my alarm set for 5:05 but woke up at 4:40 with no more ability to sleep.  So got to Ogden 70 min before the race.  Got my number then sat in the car and read a book.  I am reading Firefly Summer, it's about a small Irish town in the early 60's.  The weather was still fair, and pretty warm, about 44F with some wind.  I decided to change into shorts and my singlet, I did this after a 3 mile warm up.  I ran the course for 1.5 then turned around.  I realized the hills were big, but I was still sticking to my time plan. What is it with me and my inflexibility?  I thought that Sariah Long (who won the series 5k) and Stephanie Talley would be there.  I actually thought it was someone else who won the 5k, and their times were not impressive, so I thought I had a good shot at taking the race.  I found out after the race that the 5k is a beast and NET uphill, which explains their times.  

Mile 1 - 6:08, Hard uphill then gradual downhill

Mile 2 - 5:37, steep downhill first half then slight downhill or flat second half 

Mile 3 - 6:07, rolling, but more flat

Mile 4 - 6:37, rolling, just slight net uphill, in retrospect this is the beginning of the end, I should have been able to hold 6:15 on this one, was in first place, but Sariah challenged during an uphill here, I responded and she fell back

Mile 5 - 7:17, uphill, then steeper uphill, my legs are dead so I am pumping my arms, telling myself if I can hold off Sariah through the 5 mile mark, I could make it to the end, she didn't catch me in this mile

Mile 6 - 7:34 (that is just embarrassing) - steep hill at the beginning, then gradual uphill, Sariah catches me at about 5.3, I don't hang on like I should.  I had a hard time keeping strong and shifting gears at the top, net gain of about 100ft

.24 5:39 pace - some downhill to the finish, I didn't want to get passed at the bitter end.  I see the clock at 40:40something, not happy with that!

I introduce myself to Sariah, change my clothes, then find her again and ask her to show me the end of the 10 mile race.  She was nice enough to do that, even though it reduces her home town advantage a bit.   She beat me fair and square today, was stronger and smarter.  I felt a lot better when I learned she is (at least) a two time all american in the steeple chase and even got 12th place in OTQ race for steeple chase.  I feel a bit better.  But that doesn't change the clock.  She said you just can't go by time on these races, and I am inclined to agree.

The 10 mile race is apparently the 10k course with a 4 mile loop added to the end.  So I will be facing these same hills on March 12th.  I will be stronger and smarter!

I need to get serious about my diet, I know I will race better with just 2-5 pounds lighter.