Thatcher's Running Blog

Today I did a short run. I went up past Skyline and turned around. I kept it pretty easy until I got to skyline, then I did a few laps on the track. I'm not sure how fast I was going, but my third mile was 6:00. I felt pretty good, and I was sore, but not too sore.

 My average pace for the run was 7:05. 

Today I was in Provo, so I ran around BYU. I did a short run, only 3.5 miles, and it wasn't too hard. I averaged about 7:00 for my run. I was sore again, but not bad.

I went on a run out on Wasatch Blvd. I decided I would go a little longer today, and it still felt pretty good. I was getting pretty tired near the end, but it wasn't too bad. I averaged 7:00 pace for the run.

I did an easy run today. I did almost four miles at about a 7:30 pace. It felt good, and I kept it easy. 

I did a really short and easy run today. We're on a family vacation in California and we ran together. I'm doing a 5k tomorrow to see what my fitness level is at. I pushed the last 2/3 of a mile in at 6:00 pace just to loosen up a little bit. It felt good. 

So this was my first race in two years. I didn't get a lot of sleep due to circumstances, but I felt pretty good. I was a little nervous because I hadn't done anything fast at all since I got back from my mission, I'd done a few miles around six minutes, but nothing as fast as my 5k pace. I could tell so far that I'm out of shape, but not horribly out of shape. That being said, my goal for the race was to be 17:00 something, as long as I wasn't over 18:00 I would be happy. 

 I felt pretty good at the start, and it wasn't too fast. I started out easily and got right with the front group. I decided to move right up behind the leader, which may have been a mistake looking back, but I felt good at the time. I stayed behind the leader and a few guys caught up to us, making it a group of five. Around the mile I started to fall back from the group of five, falling back into fifth or sixth place. I came through the first mile at about 5:18.

 Shortly after the mile two high school kids caught up with me. They were moving quite a bit faster than me but I was able to push when they caught me and stay with them. It was hard to stay with them, but we started gaining ground on those in front of us. I was hurting the second mile, but I still managed about a 5:17 or so. 

The third mile is where I started to hurt. One of the high school kids passed me while the other fell back. I pushed it up a monster hill and tried to stay close to the kid in front of me. He pulled away, but I was able to catch another guy in front of me and put a good gap between us. I wasn't feeling great, but I pushed it the last half mile and was able to maintain my sixth place and finish with a decent kick. My third mile was the slowest, almost six minutes. My final time was 17:04, sixth place.  

 I was happy and surprised at how I did. It wasn't incredible, but after not running for two years and only starting running a week earlier, it was a good time to start with. I really could feel the lack of training in the last mile, but I know with time I'll get back in shape.