Thatcher's Running Blog

I did the same loop as Saturday without extra added on. I took it pretty easy, and I felt good. I enjoyed it and didn't feel any injuries. 

I did a workout today. We were doing a mile breakdown. I did the mile in 4:52, I didn't feel great. I was about ten seconds behind Neal and Pete. My 1200 was a lot better though, I did a 3:25. I was right behind Neal, I gained a lot on him over the last lap. I did my 800 in 2:19, four seconds behind Neal and Pete. While running the 1200 and 800, I developed a really bad blister, probably from the socks I was wearing. It was really bad, and I couldn't finish the other two intervals. I was able to cool down 3.5 miles though, and hopefully it is better tomorrow.  

I went out on the trail. I wasn't too sore, but my foot hurt a lot with the blister. 

I ran 7.5 with some strides. I felt a little tired today.

I just did an easy four miles today. I'm running a race tomorrow. 

I ran the Rex Lee 5k today. I didn't know if I was in good shape or not, but I decided to just go for a sub 16. I thought that was a pretty good goal. I warmed up about three miles and stretched. I didn't feel great, but I felt pretty good. I was a little sore. 

I started out in fourth place. One guy went out fast, and I was with Pete and another guy. About a half mile in, they pulled away a little bit. I wasn't too worried, because Pete starts out pretty fast. This was also where the 5k met up with the 10k, and we were dodging slower 10k runners for about 3/4 of a mile. (That's the only bad thing about an otherwise well put together race. They really need to fix that.) I tried to stay close, and the three guys in front were in a pack. I was about seven seconds back. I went through the miles in 5:13, and I felt pretty good.

At this point, Pete had pulled away from the other two guys. I decided I needed to catch them if I wanted to win. I pushed and caught them within a half mile. I stayed with them until the long downhill path and passed them on that. I came through two miles in 10:20, so a 5:07 second mile. I was about seven seconds behind Pete at that point.

Over the next half mile I was able to catch Pete. I could tell I was pushing it, but it was easier to catch him than I thought. He didn't really fight back, and I gapped him pretty quickly. This was at about 13:00, and I wasn't feeling great, but I managed to put enough space on him so that I didn't have to worry. I came through three miles at 15:15 (about), which means my third mile was a 4:55. My last 200 was 34-35. I was struggling a bit, but I had a big enough lead. The three other guys were all at about 16:04, with Pete in fourth.

This was one of my better races. I didn't think I was in very good shape, but I got a 15 second pr. I think that if we didn't have to dodge the 10k runners, I could have been 10 second faster. I was also very happy that I went 5:13, 5:07, and 4:55. Those are the best splits I've run in a 5k.

About an hour and a half later I did ten miles at a 6:45 pace. I felt pretty good.