Thatcher's Running Blog

I ran with Neal this morning. I went eight miles. It was a little cold today, but not too bad. My right shin was hurting on the way back. We also ran into Jon Kotter and ran with him for a couple miles. 

 I went out later and did four miles. My shin was still hurting, I should ice it. It was really windy and pretty cold. I was glad to get done quick.

I did a workout with Neal today. It was cold and pretty windy, but we didn't feel like doing it on the indoor track. This made the times a bit slower. The workout was a mile breakdown.

The mile was at 4:52, Neal was at 4:46. I felt decent, but it was hard with the wind.

I was right with Neal at the 1200, at 3:27. It was hard staying with him on the second lap, but I knew that if I did, I could stay with him for the rest of the way. 

The next two were supposed to be eight hundreds, but I just did the first four hundred of each. My shin was hurting. I did 68 and 69. They felt a little harder than they should have, the wind really picked up on these two.

 The last interval we both did a four hundred together. I started out behind Neal and was going to pass him on the backstretch, but he pushed the pace. I stayed behind him until 200 meters left, and passed him. I picked it up and finished in 59. I was really surprised, and I figure it would have been worth a 57-58 without the wind. That's my fastest four hundred in a workout ever, and it felt easy.

I cooled down 3.5 miles. My shin hurts, but it's not too bad.

I did my normal ten mile loop today. I started out feeling pretty tight, but I loosened up. 

I went running with Neal today. I warmed up a mile, and we did five miles. We then went to the indoor track to do some four hundreds. We kept them really easy, just getting ready for the race Saturday. The first was 75, the second 71, and the third 71. They felt pretty easy. We then just did a couple strides to loosen up. I cooled down a half mile to my dorm. I felt good and am ready for a huge pr on Saturday. 

I ran with Neal in the morning. It was pretty cold, but I felt good.

Today I ran in the first annual Running with the Leopards 5k. I thought a good goal would be 15:15, but Bill Cobbler thought I could break 15:00. I decided 15:00 was a good goal. I warmed up two miles and drove up to the start where I did a little more warming up. I felt pretty good even though it was cold.

The race started, and four hundred in I was in sixth place. There was a pack of five in front of me, and I was by myself. I stayed close to them, and a pack of four guys came from behind and caught up to me. I stuck with them. I came through the mile at 4:45. 

Nick McCombs started pulling away at this point, and I tried to stay close to him. It payed off because I was able to use him to catch the guy in front of me. (I think it was James, or fiddy from the blog) I stayed with him for a while, and there were two guys with us. It was pretty hard and he stayed right with me for a while. I came through two miles at 9:40.

Just after two miles another guy came up alongside me. (I don't remember his name) We picked it up a lot and dropped the guys behind us. I stayed right with him until the track and we started kicking. I put in a really strong effort, but he pulled away from me the last 150. I think my kick would have been good enough to beat most people, but he had a really good kick as well. I finished in 14:52. I think my last mile was 4:40-4:42.

I finished in eighth place, first in my division. I think I was the youngest in the top ten by six or eight years, I can't remember for sure. I was happy about the race and got a 58 second pr, which I set two weeks ago. It was downhill, but I don't think it was a minute fast, so it was an improvement.

When I got home, I put in some more miles. I ran with my friends and took it easy. We went to Parley's Crossing and went on a trail up there. I was tired, but it wasn't too bad. We did seven and a half miles.