Run Buffs Run!

I ran the Frozen Foot 5k this morning, and probably ran the best I ever have in my life. I started out pretty fast (about 4:50 pace) and managed to hold it through the whole race. The race was a bit short, though, wheeled at 3.005 miles. This means that my initial time (14:30)was not accurate (bummer!). Using my total time, my full pace comes to be  4:49.5/mile. If this pace is used to add the additional .1195 miles, my full time comes out to be 15:04.6 seconds. I am extremely pleased with this for a few reasons. For one, the course was not downhill; It was completely flat. Second, the course had a lot of turns that depleted momentum. I am a bit annoyed that this was not .1195 miles further so I could have set a new PR, but this race did  give me a very good understanding of my current ability. In a few weeks I will probably run another 5k, and I am going to make sure that it is official length so I don't have to deal calculations anymore. The pain level of this race was tremendous. At the first mile, the lead pack was a group of five, but after about 800 more meters, the pack dropped to four. At mile two, the race winner began to push the pace, and only I followed. I tried to keep as close to him as I could, but it was as if he had rockets for shoes. I finished strong, and manged to not break form! (something that I typically lose when trying hard). In all, a very good race. I am looking forward to this race season!

An easy ten miles today after yesterdays race. I felt pretty good, in all. My muscles feel a bit tight, but I am sure that a bit of running will loosen them up.

It snowed again last night, so I resorted back to the runnig tights and longs sleeve shirt. It was very icy today, so I had to be careful not to take a spill. I ran past a spot where the snow was all messed up, making it apparent that someone had taken a dive. I am going to begin strides again tommorrow and resume with a threshold workout on Thursday. The pressure in school right now is way too high. I have recently been questioning myself on whether I really want to be an engineer. This career does not really fit my personality and skills, nor do I really enjoy it. I want to be able to utilize my talents, not struggle to be something that I am not.  

An easy ten miles today with 8x150 meter strides at the end. If it wasn't for the snow, I would have had a much better time. I will be very happy when this whole "snow" thing is over. It's not that I don't like snow, it is just way to hard to run in it. Besides that, though, a good run.

I ran 5x1 mile repeats at threshold pace today. I had one minute ret between intervals. My splits were as follows:

Mile	Time
1	5:20
2	5:22
3	5:18
4	5:23
5	5:17

I was supposed to run between 5:30 and 5:40 for all the miles, but I felt really good and figured a little more pace wouldn't hurt. These miles hurt, but I never felt like I had to over-exert myself to achieve these times. More importantly, I never felt the need to break form. I then did 8x200 meter strides at mile pace. Luckily, most of the snow from last night melted today, but there was still some bad ice. I had to be careful to avoid taking a spill.

I ran nine just over nine miles today. I had to run in Ft. Collins (a town just north of Boulder) because I was visiting some friends from high school that go to CSU. It was not too bad of a run, nor was it anything special. I finished with 8x150 meter strides.