Ran early in the morning again with the BYU ROTC Army cadets. Ted took them on a 10x1 minute with 1 minute rest. Again, as usual this early, had to stop to go to the bathroom, and then catch them, so that added some extra tempo running. Afterwards ran some more miles with Ted. Then drove to the Provo River Trail by Geneva road. Did 4x100 with ankle weights (19.2 - 18.8 - 18.3 - 18.0), and 2 without (16.6 - 16.5). Then did a 5 mile tempo run. Felt sleepy somewhat on the first 0.75 (4:16), then got going. 1 mile in 5:39. Next one in 5:34 (11:13). Steady 5:36 pace to the turnaround (14:01). Thought I'd break 28:00 no problem. However, the turnaround knocked me out of rhythm a bit, and I started feeling something out of whack. 2:52 on the next 0.5 (16:53, 5:40 mile), then the next mile in 5:47 (22:50). Cardiovascularly, as well as in the muscles I was feeling great, and it felt like I was going 5:34 - 5:36. However, the form was not as smooth for some reason. On the last mile I regrouped, improved the form, pushed a bit, and managed 5:35 to finish with 28:15.8. My guess is that after 12 miles of being on my feet I experience some structural deterioration which makes the form less efficient. This is why I think I can never run a good marathon with a negative split. I can run a good marathon, and I can run a negative split, but not in the same race. Negative split means in essence I need to run the first half so slow that it would be possible to run faster than that with the structural deterioration that kicks in later and regardless of how fast I run in the first half. My feeling is that the deterioration I am speaking about is connected to compression of the disks in the lower back, but I could very well be wrong. Ran with the kids in the afternoon. A long day, now need to get some rest, and sleep in particular before St. George. | 