Every Race is an Adventure!

THS track - alone. I felt pretty slow this morning running over to the track. My warm up mile getting over there was at about 10:00 pace. I ran 3x1 mile repeats in 7:45, 7:33, and 7:31 with 1/4 mile jogs in between. I had time so I threw in a final 800 at 7:00/mi pace. Considering how sluggish I felt this morning, and where I am in my training, I'm satisfied with these times. 

2000 N hill route - alone. I didn't feel a lot of zip again this morning, but I didn't dawdle. I averaged 9:19/mi. I did manage 7:10 pace for a half mile downhill. I didn't mind the rain too much, but like many other people I'm ready for some consistent sunshine.

Wil's Canyon Stop route...solo. Average pace 8:43/mi. I picked it up a little on 1200 N from 800 E to Main. I like this straight, flat stretch. When I run it it is usually near the end of a run so I can measure how fast I can run a flat mile when I'm tired. Today it was 7:52. Not a PR my any means, but still moving in the right direction.

It was raining heavily in the morning. All this rain has me so depressed that not only didn't I run, I couldn't even bring myself to go to work. I decided to work from home. I came close to just crawling back into bed and sleeping all day.

I ended up getting some good work done. About 5:00pm I realized it wasn't raining and thought about going for a run. Our neighborhood 5K Fun Run and Breakfast is Saturday morning, so I decided to do my long run tonight. Wayne's been running in the evenings so I called him. It turns out he had went at 2:00pm and had just finished a 19-miler.

I started at the mouth of Provo Canyon at about 5:50pm. As I stopped to adjust my IT band strap shortly into the run, I was nearly run over by another runner who was coming from behind. I ended up running just behind him for the first few miles at just under 9:00 pace. I decided to try to average under 9:00/mi all the way up to Vivian Park, which is a good clip for me. I ended up averaging 8:53/mi for those first 6 miles (8:45, 8:56, 8:59, 8:48, 9:08, 8:45). The next 2 miles up South Fork were much steeper and slower (10:19, 9:28), for an overall average of 9:08/mi going up.

I was hoping to go faster coming back down, but when I turned around I felt a strong headwind and it start raining pretty heavily for the next couple of miles. I had taken off my jacket at Vivian Park and tied it around my waist. It didn't take me long to put it back on. My legs felt pretty tired from working on the way up. I decided to just try to keep them turning over for as long as I could. I wasn't really sure I could hold a respectable pace for all 8 miles back. I'm pretty pleased that I did, but I was sure breathing hard those last 3-4 miles. My splits were 8:39, 8:33, 9:01, 8:54, 8:42, 8:45, 8:46, 8:32, for average pace of  8:44/mi.

My overall average pace was 8:57/mi. for 16.14 miles. I'm counting all these miles as marathon pace effort. I may have let my focus slip briefly a couple of times, but for the most part I applied marathon pace effort the entire run. I hope by marathon time this same effort yields faster times, and for 10 miles more, but given where I was 6 months ago, I'm very pleased with where I am.

Today was our neighborhood 5K, a tradition of about 20 years now. Larry has been a key force in this race since its inception. We missed his presence this year as he was in St. George supporting his daughter Stacia in her triathlon.

Last year I ran the course in 21:31 and took 2nd overall. I finished about 18 seconds behind 16-year old Tiffanie Allen. This year I finished in 21:43 (12 seconds slower), and about 30 seconds behind 17-year old Tiffanie, and in 3rd place overall.

The difference this year was 21-year old Christian Stewart. He hung just behind Tiffanie and me for the first 1/2 mile then as we turned down 2000 N he flew by us, broke contact, and cruised on to win, finishing over a minute ahead of me. I was proud of Christian. The last time I remember running against him I think he was a young star football player in high school. He started off very fast and I passed him as he was walking at about mile 2. Now, after maturing, serving a 2 year LDS mission, and working out under Coach Omer at BYU, he was a force to be reckoned with. I'm very happy for him. He is a great young man. I'm probably most happy that he gets to take possession of the traveling trophy...an old running shoe, mounted and painted gold.

One of the highlights for me today was getting to see my daughter Emily run the course again. She has been on the Jr. High track team the last two years, but as a long jumper. I haven't been able to convince her to be a distance runner. After I finished I ran back and ran in the last 1/2 mile or so with her. Someday I hope it's 26.2 miles, but I'll take what I can get. I let her pull away as she kicked for the finish and just watched her. She's got pretty good form, a natural runner. Someday she'll catch the running bug. Until then I'll be patient, and enjoy the days like today.

My splits today were 6:30, 7:31, and 7:43, which reflects the nature of the course...downhill, level, uphill. I maintained a consistent effort and stayed about the same distance behind Tiffanie until the uphills. Gravity seems to affect me more than it does her. Maybe because I probably outweigh her by about 50 lbs.

I'm still representin' for the old guys. The winner was 21, 2nd was 17, I was 3rd at age 51, and 4th was 15. Fifth place was Lyle at 55, so I can't let up. Scheduling helped today, too. Among those in the neighborhood who probably would have beat me, Lecy was at the state track meet, Kevin was at Park City at some business shindig, and Brad was running the Ogden Marathon. Still, you have to show up to race.

This neighborhood 5K fun run is a great tradition. The weather today was perfect. And the neighborhood breakfast afterward was very enjoyable. I felt like running more, but since I had done my long run on Thursday I decided to save my energy for Karen's "honey do" list. It was a good thing. And it was a good day.