Winning Back What I Lost

945PM: 3M quick and easy on the TM.  My running has been hit and miss lately, mostly miss.  Returned home from my fishing trip on Sunday to a house full of H1N1 infected zombies.  I've remained unscathed thus far.  I got a flu shot during my lunch hour knowing that it would not be effective v. H1N1 but it couldn't hurt, right?  I'll try to get away for some TM running after BSU v. Tulsa on ESPN tomorrow and putting my sick kids and wife to bed.  I absolutely must get some solid training and eat better from now on, if for no other reason then to ward off any disease.  I've been extremely lax since TOU but its time to get it going again.  Running Barber to Boise 10k on Saturday which under normal circumstances should lead to a PR given the fast course.  I'm not nearly as optimistic of that outcome given my poor training over the last month.

945AM: 7.2M easy on the TM after watching BSU escape Tulsa on ESPN.  It felt good to stretch the legs a little.  This was my longest run in about a month.  I'm still H1N1 free, which is nice. 

945PM: 6.3M super slow. Almost didn't make it out the door.  Started feeling nauseous this afternoon and my mind keeps thinking that because all of my family has the flu then I must be about to get it.  Gotta change my mindset and ward off the sickness w/ the power of my mind. :)

9PM: I probably should have taken the evening off given that I'm running a 10k in the morning.  I mulled it over a little but in the end I decided to go ahead and log some miles.  I'm dangerously close to being seriously out of shape and if I don't get back into my old routine I can really see myself sliding the other way and just taking the winter off.  So if it means that I run 30 seconds or a couple of minutes slower than I would otherwise than so be it.  Didn't push it real hard but I got a few faster strides in there.  My form is pretty solid but I can definitely notice the extra 7-8 lbs I've gained during the last month.

I had zero expectations going into this race.  I've been rather inconsistent in my training since TOU on 9/19.  The highlight for me was just getting out of my house after being cooped up inside all week taking care of a sick wife and kids.

The day started at 8am when I picked up fellow FRBer Court and headed to the shuttle parking lot outside Bronco Stadium taking us to the starting line near Barber Park along the Boise River east of town.  Weather was perfect w/ a temp in the 50's and no wind for a 930am start.  The gun went off rather unceremoniously and we were forced to weave our way through a massive throng, approx 900 runners for the 10k.  That was probably my only complaint about this race.  It funnels all of the runners onto the greenbelt along the Boise River from Barber Park all the way to the finish line inside Bronco Stadium.  That would be ok for a smaller and/or longer race.  If you're not up front then its pretty difficult to make your way through.  Overall, it's a fast course though- mostly flat w/ some slight downhill. It was enough for me to set a 10k PR but I'm curious what sort of time I could have put up had I not slacked off the last month.

In summary, I had a great time running w/ Court, setting that PR, goofing around on the "blue turf" and eating a pretty good post-race pancake breakfast.  Good times.