Every Race is an Adventure!

I got stuck in a noon meeting today so I didn't get to run with Tom and Nathan. However, after reading Tom's blog maybe it's a good thing. They ran Eagle's View, and that's not what I wanted to do today.

With the Spectrum 10K this weekend I plan to mini-taper near the end of the week, but I still want this to be a pretty good training week so I plan to get in some good miles early in the week.

I started off with the thought of running the 8 mile loop we've done a couple of times recently, only in the reverse direction. It ended up being quite different. Rather than loop through East Bay I started directly up University Avenue, worked my way east to 500 East, then kept going north to 700 North (just south of BYU campus). I then headed east and went up to Seven Peaks Blvd, down to Seven Peaks, and back to 900 East.

There was a bit of a climb up to Seven Peaks Blvd, but it was nothing compared to the climb that started at 300 South and 900 East and gradually got steeper over the next mile or so as I headed east and then south into the neighborhoods east of State Street. Tom had mentioned his distaste for this particular climb, and I now understand why. It just seemed to keep going and going, getting steeper and steeper, and then I met Mr. Headwind as I turned south and went up the steepest part of the hill just before the top. The headwind continued as I headed south and west back to work, but at least there was a lot of downhill, with only a little uphill on the two overpasses.

My average pace was 8:48/mi for the 9 miles, the fastest being 8:13/mi on the first mile, and the slowest being 9:40/mi on that lovely long uphill. All in all it was a very good run, especially the sunshine and mild temperatures.

It was great to finally run with Larry and Wayne again this morning. I put in a couple of miles (about 8:40 pace) before I met up with them and then we ran the six mile Lindon loop. There aren't many street lights in Lindon and it was pretty dark. I tried to stay away from edges of the road as a safety precaution.

We only averaged around 9:40/mi but it sure felt harder than that. I think my legs are feeling the effects of the increased mileage of the past few weeks, and the long hilly run yesterday. I don't mind the tired legs...no pain no gain...I'm just grateful the pain is not of the injury variety. I still feel a little PF pain at times, and minor soreness in my Achilles now and then, but I've run 45, 45, and 50 miles in the past three weeks and the injuries are still feeling better, not getting worse, so I'm
optimistic.

I plan to put in some longer miles again tomorrow but then run some short easy runs on Thursday and Friday to rest my legs for Spectrum on Saturday.

Larry and I (Wayne never showed) worked our way over to THS for a couple of miles as warm up then did a couple of tempo miles on the track. My half mile splits were 3:31, 3:33, 3:33, and 3:27, so 7:04 and 7:00 for the two miles. We then ran back home at an easy pace.

I actually feel pretty good about the run. I was pushing pretty hard for the two miles, but it was more of a fast marathon effort than an all out speed run. I didn't want to go all out and risk an injury. I just wanted to try a bit of a faster pace.

At noon I ran Lake View with Tom, Nathan, and Steve (King). Tom, Nathan, and I had agreed it would be at an "easy" pace. I didn't struggle too badly, but averaging 7:51/mi for the 5.2 miles is a little faster than "easy" for me. I was okay with it, though. I wanted to train hard Mon-Wed this week before backing off a little before the Spectrum 10K on Saturday.

This is my first double (two runs in one day) in quite a while. I actually feel pretty good. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do on Saturday after resting my legs a little after three weeks of increased mileage.

I may have chosen poorly today. I was only going to go 3-4 miles and I couldn't figure where I wanted to run, and it was a little overcast and chilly as I walked to the fitness center, and an okay movie was on, so I ended up just staying in the fitness center and running on the treadmill. Of course, as soon as I started the sun broke through the clouds. I almost stopped and went outside, but I didn't.

Darin was on a treadmill farther down, so at least I was in good company. A little less than a mile in Nathan started up on the treadmill next to me, which wasn't working well, then moved down to a better one when it opened up.

Nathan said he was going an easy 5 miles. I ended up doing the same, averaging 8:53/mi.

I only put a few miles in this morning in preparation for the 10K race tomorrow. It's a half mile around the block in front of my house so I did 6 laps. I wanted to warm up and then do one short stretch to "feel the speed". I warmed up for a little over 2 miles then halfway into lap 5 I let go for the last 1/4 mile of the lap. I then ran the last 1/2 mile lap very easy.

Shortly into the run I stepped on a rock and rolled my right ankle. It gave me a scare, but fortunately wasn't serious and I was able to "run it off". I'm icing it now as a precaution, but it feels pretty good.

The big surprise for me this morning was after the run when I checked the pace for the fast 1/4 mile stretch. At first I was disappointed. It appeared that my Garmin had glitched. However, I verified that it measured 0.26 miles, and the time was 1:23, so the 5:24/mi pace it showed was accurate. It was only 1/4 mile, but I didn't think I had that kind of speed in me right now. I was just "letting go", not really straining for all out kick or anything. I couldn't have held that speed for too much longer, but it felt pretty good.

I don't hold any illusions about running sub-6:00 miles for the 10K tomorrow, but it boosts my confidence that I may be able to match or better my PR of 6:44/mi from last year. Once again, I look forward to the journey of discovery that each race offers.

I'm taking the day off work to go watch my daughter dance at BYU. Her BYU Pre-Teen ballroom dance team is in the Pre-Teen Latin Formation competition today. They are also in the Standard Formation competition tomorrow. Also tomorrow, her elementary school's ballroom dance team has a competition. This is all part of the US National Amateur Dancesport Championships that are being held at BYU this weekend..

Kerry is coming to pick me up at 5:30pm to head to St. George. I can hardly wait.

What a great road trip to the Spectrum 10K! When we found out Karen couldn't go I almost decided to not go, but she encouraged me to. I was still worried about going alone. I was thrilled when Kerry decided to go down with me. He even said he'd like to drive. I just went along for the ride, and probably talked too much. At least it made the drives down and back seem shorter...at least to me. :)

The race was great, too. The weather was ideal. The course is awesome. The race was well organized. A lot of my good running buddies were there. I really enjoyed everything about it.

Nathan and I started the race together. We finished the first mile in about 5:30. (I'll have to go by memory on my splits as my Garmin, I discovered after the race, now displays garbage when I go into history mode. Bummer. They gave away a Garmin in the raffle, but I didn't win it. Maybe I'll have more luck with my birthday in 9 days.) Anyway, 5:30 was just a little bit faster than the 6:20-6:30 we had planned. At the first mile marker another runner near us said something like, "5:30?! What am I doing running 5:30?!" I think Nathan and I were both thinking the same thing, but we were feeling pretty good so we just kept speeding along.

Mile 2 was more rolling hills than downhill, and I think we ran it in just over 6:00 minutes. Nathan pulled about 30 yards ahead of me during this mile. I've noticed he always seems to run uphills better than I do. He was reluctant to run ahead of me and kept looking back. I kept telling him to stop looking back and just run. As mile 3 was back to mostly downhill, I managed to stay behind him. Around the mile 3 marker I had gained slightly on him. He noticed and slowed to let me catch up. I think we averaged about 6:16/mi for the first three miles, well ahead of our 6:20-6:30 goal.

Now the downhill was over, and it wasn't long before Nathan pulled ahead again, this time for good. He went on to beat me by over a minute and finish in 38:49, 19th overall. He is running so well! He's going to have a great first Boston marathon.

As Nathan pulled away I just tried to keep moving forward. At the mile 4 marker I was still averaging around 6:16/mi. By the mile 5 marker the average was down to 6:27. I knew I needed to average around 6:30 (actually 6:27) to break 40 minutes. Fortunately, the gradual uphill we had been running turned to gradual downhill for a while and the overall average pace displayed on my watch started dropping again. I just locked in and tried to push as hard as I could the rest of the way. When I could see the clock at the finish line it was just under 39:00. I didn't seem to be able to get to the finish line fast enough. As I got closer to the finish line the clock got closer to 40:00. I pumped my fist exultantly as I crossed the finish line in 39:55! It is still hard to believe that I averaged 6:25/mi. I'm shocked, and extremely happy.

I haven't run a sub-40:00 10K since the early 80's, more than 25 years ago. Sure, this was a net downhill course, but I'll take it anyway. I finished in 41:42 last year.

Nathan and I both finished 2nd in our age divisions. However, the guy that beat me in my division was the overall masters winner, so I was awarded 1st place in my division.

I thought everyone I knew ran well. At the awards ceremony the FRB members were very well represented. I'll let someone else report on that as there were so many of them and I don't know everyone.

What a great time!