Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Did my last interval workout before Indy. This makes a whopping "3". I had planned on doing a couple more interval workouts, but they were canceled either due to health or to weather. So it goes.

The plan today was 8x1000m @ CV pace, with 200m recovery (about 1 minute). My goal pace was to run 75s/lap, or 74s/lap if I was feeling good. This comes out to 3:05-3:08 range. I wore flats, and jogged out from my house to Skyview track (about one mile), and started the interval session immediately (trying to beat the rain).

Interval	Split
1	3:09
2	3:07
3	3:05
4	3:06
5	3:05
6	3:06
7	3:06
8	3:01

It took me a couple intervals to get fully warmed up and into the workout, but once I settled in, 74s/lap felt pretty smooth. Stayed consistent, except for the last lap of the final interval. Had a headwind on the back curve and the front-stretch, and a tailwind on the inverse. The wind got worse as the workout went on, due to weather approaching. Got a few snow pellets on me, but it held off for the most part. I was especially pleased with my recoveries. On the first couple intervals I actually had to force myself to slow down in order to give a full minute on the 200m jog. And usually my recoveries get longer and longer for this kind of workout, but I stuck around 60s for each one to the end. Felt like I could have kept going with a few more. So that's all good.

Managed to salvage decent mileage this week, despite still recovering from illness, plus terrible weather. Next week I just have a short tempo scheduled on Tuesday, and the rest is easy.

AM - met Carson at Mack Park. Ran up Birch Creek. It was muddy. Ran slow. 8.25 miles.

PM - ran out-and-back to the north edge of Smithfield with Seth.

Did a 5-mile tempo run on the Bear River Loop. Averaged about 5:45/mile during tempo. 11.5 miles total. Now it's just easy days until Saturday.

Landfill Loop. 6:40/mile for 8 miles. Feeling good.

Forrester Acres, 6 miles, easy.

Easy 4-mile run from my sisters house in Indiana. It's hot, humid, and windy here, but a cold front is coming in tonight that should take temps down and hopefully wick out the humidity too. It's still supposed to be windy tomorrow, but at least it's a loop course so I won't have to deal with it the whole way, plus I'll just draft a lot.

Indy Mini, short report. Overcast and upper 40s for temps, which is good. 20 mph wind with 30 mph gusts, which is bad. The wind came from the west, meaning that we would have a headwind for the first half of the race, and tailwind for the last few miles. Competition was much better than last year, with about 8 really solid Kenyans. Lead pack dropped me pretty quick (winner went on to run a high 1:02), and then I ran in no-man's land by myself for most of the race. This stunk because I had to battle the wind by myself. Went through 5K in 16:18, went through 10K in just under 33:00, and went through 15K in 49:02. Passed the 10-mile mark in 52:33, and realized then that I had somehow managed to average 5:15, and had a chance at beating my time from last year. And now I had an awesome tailwind to help me finish the race. With two miles left, I realized I had a shot at PRing, and with one mile left that I had a shot at 1:08:00.  Closed the last 4 miles in 20:04, with one sub-5:00 mile at Mile 11. Finished at 1:08:05, in 12th place, and was out of the money by about 60 seconds, so not even close. It was not what I wanted, but still a good race, happy for the PR.

***

Video of start is here. I'm wearing a red singlet and black arm warmers, bib #15.

Long Report. Very long, actually, since I had time to kill in the airport. Don't read unless you're really bored.

I arrived in Indianapolis on Thursday evening. Stayed with my sister and her family, and got to hang out with my niece and nephew, which was nice. On Friday, my parents came over, and my dad and I went to the expo and checked into my hotel room. Then we went out to eat at TGI Fridays, and I ate way too much. After dinner, I went back to the hotel room by myself and just hung out. My assigned roommate was a fellow named Scott Schmick. Turns out that he was a former DIII runner as well, a UW LaCrosse alum. He now goes to MSU for grad school. We shot the breeze for a few hours, until it was time for bed. Seemed like a good guy, fun to talk to, and we had similar PR’s and goals for this race and for the marathon as well. Plus it's always fun to play the name game with other former DIII runners.

Saturday morning I got up at 5:30AM, in preparation for the 7:30AM start. I usually like about 2 hours to eat, digest, and fully wake up before a race. Ate a banana, an apple, and a Lara Bar, and brewed some coffee. At 6:40AM, I headed down to the street and jogged over to the NCAA Headquarters, which served as the elite staging area. We got the comfort of an indoor facility, plus nice bathrooms and a gear drop. I warmed up with Scott and his teammates from Lansing, about 2 miles. Felt pretty sharp.

And the weather…gotta mention that, as it would be a big factor. Temperature was in the upper 40s. Perfect. Skies were overcast. Perfect. No rain or threat of rain. Perfect. Wind was 20 mph out of the west, with 30 mph gusts (based on tv reports). Imperfect. Hey, I guess you can’t get perfect conditions all of the time (or even most of the time), can you? To have a great race, several things need to happen:

·         Great training

·         Great health

·         Great competition (brings out the best of us)

·         Great course (flat, few turns, wide streets)

·         Great temperatures (mid-40s, upper 50s)

·         No wind

·         Little or no precipitation (a little rain or mist never hurt)

·         Race day magic (when speed defies all training and all logic)

If these factors do not all align, you can still have a very good race, but not that perfect race (we only get a few of those over a lifetime). 

Out of these factors, I had decent training (but not great). My health was good, finally. Competition would be there. The course is magnificent. Temps were perfect. Precip was perfect. Wind was very bad. Race day magic yet to be determined. Fortunately, it is a loop course, so I would not have to face a direct headwind for more than half the race (less than that actually). The wind was coming out of the west, and the race primarily goes west to start (headwind), then north a little bit to the track (crosswind), then a loop on the speedway (all directions), and then the route comes back east the last 4 miles to finish (tailwind). If I had a pick a wind direction, I’d much rather start with a headwind, and then finish with a tailwind, than the other way around. At least I would have the wind at my back at the point of the race where I’m the most tired and broken, and could face the wind while fresh. So I was hopeful to still have a very good race.

Anyway, that’s my tangent on race factors and on wind. About 15 minutes before the race start, I headed down to the start line, did few strides, and then waited for the race to begin. 35,000  people run this event, but you can’t see beyond the first few rows behind me, so I just accepted that fact on faith.

They started the wheelers, and then the runners’ start was 5 minutes later. I lined up on the inside curve, knowing the race started by curving left. All the Kenyans (about 8 total) lined up on the right. Sure enough, when the gun went off, I found myself running next to my roommate Scott, sharing the lead. That was fun, for about 30 seconds. Then I started feeling the wind, right in my face. I was quite happy when the pack of Kenyans finally merged over, and I quickly tucked in.

My strategy was this: since it was windy, I anticipated the race would be slow and tactical. I would simply tuck in behind the pack, let everyone else do the work on the first half of the race, and then I would take off and blitz the field the final 5 miles, for the easy win. It sounded good in my head.

The first mile went exactly to plan – 5:16 for the split. Very slow, very good. The wind would tire these Kenyans down soon enough. Then the plan went awry! The pack of Kenyans ran a 4:50 straight into the wind. I did a 5:04, and felt like I was standing still. And that was it, race over as far as Top 10. The pack was just gone. Gone. It was quite a site, and a quite a humbling feeling to get dropped so hard by “real runners”. It’s the difference between real elites and whatever the heck I am. My hotel roommate Scott and another American runner were working together a few seconds behind the lead pack, but they were fast getting dropped too. I was a 5 seconds behind those two, and gapping with every stride. There was no one behind me. And I ran most of the rest of the race like that, until around Mile 9. No man’s land, not a good place to be on a windy day. But I would try to make the best of it.

The rest of this race report should be less detailed, as there is much less to say. Basically it became a battle of me vs. the wind, and just trying to get to the tailwind section of the course in one piece.

Mile 3 was 5:23. This was a bit discouraging, although frankly I was surprised that it was even this fast. 16:18 for 5K. I knew that the route would turn north soon, and I would get a cross-wind rather than a head-wind, so this thought kept me going. Sure enough, we turned north at about 3.5 miles, and the cross-wind felt beautiful. The hard gusts still knocked me back at times, but it was still much better. 5:13 for the Mile 4 split.

The course turned west again, and virtually all of Mile 5 was straight into the wind. Hit 5:27 for this mile, my slowest split of the race. 26:24 for 5 miles. The encouragement I felt at Mile 4 quickly turned into discouragement. I came into this race thinking I could break 1:07, but would I even break 1:10?

But despite the hardships and discouragements, I actually didn't feel too bad. Frankly, I've been beaten up by the wind far worse in previous races (Great Salt Lake Half in 2007 and Striders Half in 2009 were far worse). And holding sub-5:30 didn't seem too bad given the conditions. Again, I've done far worse in the past. I've found that virtually any runner can "fake it" in pristine conditions, but hard conditions (wind, rain, hills, etc) always reveal gaps in fitness and weaknesses. So that fact that I felt strong after 5 miles of dealing with the wind probably meant that my training had some substance. I suppose our hard winter and equally hard spring helped condition me to run in adverse conditions, moreso than others years. Typically I wilt in bad conditions, as I am more of a rhythm runner than a strength runner.

The route turned north on Mile 6, and even had a short east section with tailwind. Very short, but it hinted at what was to come. 5:10 for the Mile 6 split. Then 32:43 for 10K. I was getting sick of this yo-yo pacing, and it was hard to gauge what kind of time I was headed for. I was still assuming here that I wouldn't break 1:10. Still nobody near me, either ahead or behind. I just kept trying to push. Calves and hamstrings were getting tight, but that is normal, and I still felt decent.

I entered the Speedway at the end of Mile 6, and began the 2.5 mile loop on the race track. This portion of the race was tedious last year, but I liked it better this year simply because going in a loop made the wind vary, which was interesting. Mile 7 was primarily going north, and then west on the first curve. 5:23 for the split, not great. Mile 8 was mostly going south on the backstretch, so a crosswind, somewhat better. 5:20 for Mile 8.

At point I'm still thinking sub-1:10 is a stretch, but I also knew the best part of the race was coming (the part with the tailwind). Much of Mile 9 I had tailwind, around the second curve, and then out of the speedway. As I left the track, I could feel a couple runners coming up behind me. Both good and bad; it's not good to get passed, but perhaps I would have people to run with and push me to the finish.

Hit Mile 9 in a 5:10. Let the yo-yo pace continue. The two guys behind me caught me, and one guy passed me. I pushed to stay with him, and ran behind him for about half a mile. The other guy never passed me, but he was still there. Hit 15K in 49:03. Mile 10 was a 5:05. That's more like it! 52:34 for 10 miles (5:15/mile pace). I now realized that I would certainly break 1:09, and might beat last year's time. Having a new goal gave me a lot of encouragement. My hamstrings and calves were yelling at me, but the tailwind helped a lot and my legs still had a little pop in them. Perhaps if I could keep running sub-5:10, I could salvage a somewhat respectable time.

The guy who passed me eventually dropped me, but I was still holding off the second runner. Still running east with the tailwind. Mile 11 was 4:58. Dang. Made me feel better about getting dropped, as the other guy must have been under 4:55. I know realized that I had a slim chance of breaking my PR of 1:08:12. I almost couldn't believe it, with how up and down the race had gone so far. I kept pushing hard, trying to run more 5-minute miles...

And succeeded mostly. The route turned south-southwest, and I had a favorable cross-wind, other than some random gusts. Hit Mile 12 in 5:03. Kept pushing. The runner ahead of me was still pulling away (dang, he's moving!), but the runner behind me was still...behind me. The route turned east again and the last 1.1 was with the tailwind. Tried to put the hammer down. A PR seemed very possible, perhaps even sub-1:08, if I could finish with a 4:5x mile?

Mile 13 split was 5:01, and then I took it on in. 27 seconds for the last 0.1. Finish time was officially 1:08:05, good for 12th place overall and a 7-second PR. I had no idea of my placing the whole race, other than knowing that I was well out of the Top 10. I ended up 62 seconds out of 10th, and the money. (10th place was actually my hotel roommate Scott, 50 second PR for him). So I placed similar to last year, but unlike last year, I wasn't really close to the Top 10. The competition was very good this year, but with higher-caliber Kenyans than last year, and good local runners too. I think last year was actually an outlier, with slower times than usual, and this year was more normal.

If you had told me a week before the race that I would fail to break 1:08, I would have been really disappointed, and probably threatened to quit running. I was that sure of my fitness. But in the circumstance, I have to take what I can get, and I'm pleased to come out with a PR, after running that many miles over 5:20 during the race. I was pleased to be able to push through, not give up, recover from getting slapped in the face with wind, and still have enough spunk and pop to be able to take advantage of the tailwind at the end and finish strong. I think other years (including last year), I would have been broken, and just limped in. So the race was a success in all those regards.

My one regret is not being able to pack it up with a group. I wish I could have run with the two runners ahead of me (although I would have had to push hard early on to keep up). Or I wish I had gone out slower and packed it up with the runners behind me. Being able to trade miles while going into the wind would have been invaluable, and would have conserved more energy for the second half of the race.

At the same time, I'm forced to acknowledge that I'm not "there" yet. Even if I spot myself a full minute for the wind (which I think would be liberal), I still need much improvement before I'm a quality-enough runner to hit that sub-2:19 mark. Am I in sub-2:22 shape? Probably. But sub-2:22 is a long ways from sub-2:19. I really wanted to see 1:06:xx at that finish line to give me the confidence that 2:19 is possible. I do still think it's possible, but I need to improve. I need to get faster, to get stronger, and to get even better at running in adverse conditions (may have to deal with bad conditions during a marathon, after all). The wind today definitely hurt, but it was not a killer to those who were truly fit, judging by the finish times. A truly fit runner will just plow through the wind, heat, rain, hills, or whatever else the day through at them. A less fit runner will feel adverse conditions much more.

Looking forward, I'll take a week of rest, and then get back to it. Will probably go back to the bread-and-butter of long tempos, while trying to increase my mileage up to 90mpw. We'll see where that gets me for Utah Valley Half, my next key race. The downhill will aid times at UVM, but my goal there is more oriented toward competition rather than time. But I need to be fit enough to compete with ferocity.

Mile Marker	Split	Total Time
1	5:16	5:16
2	5:04	10:20
3	5:23	15:43
5K		16:18
4	5:13	20:57
5	5:27	26:24
6	5:10	31:34
10K		32:43
7	5:23	36:57
8	5:20	42:18
9	5:10	47:28
15K		49:03
10	5:05	52:34
11	4:58	57:32
12	5:03	1:02:36
13	5:01	1:07:38
13.1	0:27	1:08:05

Results are HERE.

Taking a recovery day from the race, so no running until tomorrow. I feel like I'm recovering reasonably well, not a ton of soreness beyond what's normal for this time of year.

Now that my spring race is over with, it's time to find a fall marathon. I am targeting early October, simply because I don't want to train longer than that with a new baby (lack of sleep will catch up with me). My #1 choice is Chicago, due to the speed of the course, and also the American incentives ($2500 for sub-2:19, $1000 for sub-2:21). #2 choice would be Twin Cities. Although it is not as fast as Chicago, it is the U.S. marathon championships, and would be guaranteed good competition and probably a lot of people in the same boat as me. Plus, the Top 10 at the U.S. Championship will qualify for trials, which gives some buffer against bad weather. #3 choice would probably be ING Hartford. The course is flat and fast, and prize money is 6 deep. We'll see which one works out best financially.

Easy 6 miles, Smithfield Canyon. Soreness is mostly gone, but I still have a bit of fatigue.

First Dam 10K course, 7.5 miles total, 6:38/mile average pace. Still shaking the sludge out of my legs, but felt pretty good today.

Ran home from work, hit the canal trail near the end. Ran into a headwind most of the way, but kept the pace brisk. 6:37/mile average pace.

Easy run from work to home. 7:20/mile.

Ran the Law Day 5K in Salt Lake City this morning. Chad invited me onto his team, and we decided to make a family day out of it, with brunch and the Salt Lake City Zoo afterward. We got up at 4:45AM, ate breakfast, and scooped Seth out of bed and straight into the car seat, still in his PJ's (hoping he would fall back asleep...he didn't).

Got to the U of U campus at 7AM, parked, found Chad, got my number, and then warmed up. Ran about a mile with Chad, and then I met up with Sasha and Jeff, and we ran the whole course. I'm glad we did the whole course, because there are lots of little turns, curbs, bumps, and other nuances. I would describe the route as "goofy but fun". The first mile is mostly uphill, and then the last two miles are mostly flat or downhill. And lots of turns, did I mention that? But the course was well-marked, and I never had any issues during the race.

This is a team competition between law firms, and Chad had assembled a group of ringers to beat the beat the other law office's group of ringers. It was myself, Jeff McClellan, Josh Stephan, Emily Bates, and Lindsey Dunkley on our team, going against Teren Jameson, Nate Hornok, Albert Wint, Sue Nielson, and Devra Veirkant on the other team (forgive my spelling on all names, or if I missed anyone). We all matched up pretty well, so it would be a toss-up. The winner is based on cumulative time of all 5 team members. Last year's competition was decided by only a few seconds. Obviously, I was most worried about Teren, but was also concerned about Nate Hornok, as he is quite fast at the 5km distance. On my team, I expected to get stiff competition from Jeff.

I finished the warmup, and was surprised to see how many other runners were there. Several hundred, a good turnout. Found an empty bathroom inside, and finished up that whole business. Did a few strides, and they were ready to start the race. (after a lot of talking).

They started the race with a gavel, and Teren immediately tore off at a mad pace on the initial downhill part. Jeff was hot on his heels. I didn't go out with them...because I couldn't. It was pretty much beyond my full sprint. There was some other guy ahead of me as well, but I passed him after about a quarter mile. The race turned left, and started going uphill. I just tried to keep them both in reach.

We wound around campus. All of the turns made it fun, but I had no idea how fast we were going. Seemed too fast though. I managed to make up some ground on Jeff and Teren and got within a second or so of them, but then they extended their lead on a short downhill section. Then we had a fairly long, straight uphill around the one-mile mark (which I missed), and I closed a little bit on them again. At 2km the course turns right and starts going downhill. Teren and Jeff extended their lead again on the downhill and started to gap me pretty good. I was running about as fast as I could, but it wasn't fast enough. Kind of the story of the race. And I'm not sure why I was running the uphills better than the downhills.

And that's pretty much how the rest of the race went. Teren and Jeff were running up front, and I was chasing, chasing. Lots of twists and turns, lots of downhill, but also some flat stretches and uphill segments. It was kind of a whirlwind. I felt pretty good, never felt like I was tanking or losing my form, but I just couldn't catch them. I never really gave up the idea that I could close the gap, until about 1km left, and by then the lead had gotten pretty big. I finished the race strong, and came in about 20 seconds behind Teren and Jeff. It was actually a pretty good race to watch. Jeff was obviously running with some fire and enthusiasm to try to take down Teren (when you're at the top, you're a marked man). Jeff even made a move and passed him during the last mile, and I thought he might get it. But Teren was able to finish off the race, and ended up a couple seconds ahead of Jeff. But it was a gutsy and strong performance on Jeff's part. Good race by Teren too. The guy definitely knows how to race, and when to turn it on.

Jeff and Teren finished a few seconds under 15:00, and I came in at 15:16. Turns out that Nate Hornok was hot my heels, as he finished in 15:20 or so. I think he was probably closing a bit on me, and just ran out of road. Speaking of running out of road, due to these fast times, we all suspected that the course was a bit short. The route is usually certified, but part of the route is in a construction zone this year, so they had to throw something together, and when that happens it's usually not accurate. But better short than long, in my book. Less running.

It was a beautiful morning to run. Perfect weather with clear skies and no wind. I enjoyed this race and felt pretty good. Results are still being sorted out due to a timing issue, but it looks like we won the team competition. The top 2 runners on each team pretty much canceled each other out, but we gained a lot with our first woman finisher, Lindsey. Good race also by Josh, who I think beat Albert for the 3rd male slot.

Oh, and splits? I have none. Both miles and kilometers marked, but they were the tiniest little signs ever. Humorous, actually. I like racing splitless, so I'm good with it. But each marker was a little 4"x4" card on stick. The only one I caught was 2km, and I was at 6:25-ish.

Enjoyed brunch and the zoo after the race.

Back it this week. My plan for the next four weeks is to build my mileage up to 90 mpw, with a fair amount of tempo runs. No intervals planned, but will probably do some strides.

Did 8.25 miles easy this morning with Carson. We ran Birch Creek, up to the FS fence and back. Beautiful morning. 7:34/mile average pace.

PM - 5 miles with Seth, Forrester Acres. 7:29/mile average.

Ran in a warm rain/mist this morning. It was quite nice, reminded me of growing up. I did an out-and-back up Smithfield Canyon at a moderate to brisk pace. Got to the dirt road and went about a mile up before turning around. Averaged 6:24/mile for the mile.

AM - 5 miles on the rather muddy canal trail. But the canal is flowing again, which lends a certain aesthetic quality that I have missed since last fall. Averaged 6:40/mile for the run.

PM - Ran home from work. 6:43/mile average pace for 8.25 miles.

AM - easy jaunt around Smithfield. 6.75 miles. Averaged 7:20/mile.

PM - canal trail. 6 miles. Averaged 6:43/mile.

AM - canal trail, 5 miles easy. 7:04/mile average.

PM - ran home from work. 8.5 miles. 7:05/mile average.

Ran the Logan Canyon River Trail today. I used to this almost every week, but have not ran it yet this year. Parked at First Dam for a little bit of extra distance. I took the upper route (Bridger Lookout), and then came down the rock slide into Spring Hollow, and went on to Guineva Malibu, and then turned around and came back along the river. 12.5 miles total. It was a nice, cool day to run.

AM - Smithfield Canyon with Carson. 8.5 miles, 7:12/mile average. Raining. Again.

PM -  Forrester Acres with Seth. Dodged the rain for once.

Awesome morning today. The rain finally stopped and it cleared up. It was brisk but sunny out, so I decided to make my run brisk as well. I did the Saddleback-Bear River Ranch route, west of town. Out-and-back, 14 miles total. About 12 miles worth of tempo, although I eased into it during the first two miles. Then cooldown for the last two miles. It was a great workout, and I felt wonderful. Splits were 5:55, 5:53, 5:29, 5:32, 5:31, 5:37, 5:25, 5:31, 5:19, 5:20, 5:29, 5:28, 6:22, 6:52. I averaged 5:32/mile for the 12-mile tempo, and averaged 5:28/mile if you take out the first two "ease in" miles. Hit 13.1 miles at 1:13:25. So all-in-all, a pretty good day. I was really happy to hit sub-5:30s coming back on the uphill portion of the out-and-back route. It's definitely a good sign that training is coming along very well.

AM - easy 5 miles on the canal trail.

PM - ran home from work. 9.5 miles, averaged 6:55/mile.

AM - 9 miles very easy with Carson (about 7:35/mile). We ran around rather haphazardly. Checked out part of the middle canal trail that I had never been on, but we hit a locked gate, so then we went up to the upper canal.

PM - 5 miles with Seth. Mack Park. 7:40/mile average.

AM - Birch Creek Canyon. 5 miles, very slow.

PM - ran home from work. 8.75 miles. Averaged 6:56/mile.

Weighed in yesterday at 125 lbs on the Wii Fit. This is how much I weighed as a freshman in high school. Not sure if this means that I'm the fittest I've ever been, or if grain-free eating doesn't go well with high mileage and thus I'm losing weight. I've introduced yams into my daily diet for additional calories and some extra carbohydrate. Perhaps I should dip them in chocolate as well. Since I feel pretty good, and have plenty of energy, I think I'm just fit and trim, but I'm making a conscious effort to up the calories as well. After all, this is the highest mileage I've hit since fall of 2007.

Did my run around 11AM this morning. Weather was perfect: cool temps, light rain off-and-on, and little wind. I wanted 18 miles at a decent pace for most miles, and also with 2x2-mile LT intervals somewhere in the middle. I did an out-and-back up Smithfield Canyon, since that would give me a long stretch of downhill to hammer the intervals on. I've been training on mostly flat and rolling terrain all winter and spring, and I needed some downhill specific training to get ready for my string of heinous downhill summer races (UVM 1/2, Des News 10K, and TOU 1/2). So the goal for today was to bust my quads and have fun doing it.

And it was a good day to run. I tried to keep the pace honest on the uphill part, and hit a really sweet rhythm that I locked into until I hit the dirt road. Averaged about 6:30/mile on the paved part, and then low-7s on the dirt/mud road. Was averaging 6:43/mile at the turnaround at 9 miles, which I was pleased with, given that there was about 1500' of elevation gain. I turned around at the end of the dirt road & start of the single track. The road was pretty muddy and a little slick in places due to all the rain (and I was getting sprinkled/snowed on a little during the run), so I kept the pace under control, right around 7:00/mile until I got off the dirt and back onto the asphalt.

Then I slowly ramped up to about 6-minute pace on the downhill through Mile 12. After my garmin beeped for Mile 12, I started the first 2-mile interval. I wanted a half marathon race pace effort, which I figured would translate to 5:00/mile or a little under, given the downhill (it's steeper than the TOU course or the UVM course, but less steep than St George). I just let the downhill carry me for the first interval. I had forgotten how easy downhill running is. Hit 4:57 and 4:54 for the splits, 9:51 total on the first interval. Breathing felt conversational, although my legs and feet were getting sick of running. Active recovery for 0.25 miles (1:45), and then did the second interval: 4:54 and then 4:53, 9:47 total. I was definitely working harder on this one, but still in a nice groove and it never felt too hard. Cooled down for the final 1.75 miles, which unfortunately included the 200' climb back to my house. That always feels hard. Finished the 18 miles averaging 6:22/mile overall; very good long run for me, and no fueling issues. I'm really looking forward to UVM 1/2. I am definitely a rhythm runner, and I'm hoping the long downhill and straight sections (no turns) will help me to just lock in and go. The good competition will make it really fun too.

AM - Saddleback out-and-back, 8.5 miles. Very slow, 7:40/mile.

noon - Forrester Acres with Seth. 5.75 miles. No watch.