dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

I felt pretty good today.  obviously I didn't run, but I felt better than I normally do on Sundays.  Probably because I went a little shorter and didn't run as hard as normal yesterday, due to the issues I have been dealing with.

I ran 10.1 miles this morning in 1:19:37.  I did a post vpb pick up to marathon pace for about a mile in order to catch up to Sasha and Mary Ann that brought me under 1:20:00 for the day.  My stomach is getting better, which is a plus.

PM:  4 miles in 29:52.  I went out in 14:07 going downhill with the wind at my back, then came back much slower, mainly because I had a stiff wind in my face the entire time.

I ran with Sasha and Mary Ann for most of the run, and with Daniel for a little over 2.5 miles. 

After a warm-up we ran 1.25 miles in 6:40, hitting almost all of the splits dead even.  After 1.25 the goal was to keep going, speeding up to 4:48 pace (72 second quarters) for up to 1.25 miles more.  I hit the first quarter in 73, but I started out slow the first 100 so I figured that I was fine.  However, I learned something interesting after that.  I thought that I could just maintain the same intensity and stay at the same pace, however I continuously increased the intensity from about 600 on in an attempt to speed up, yet I was not speeding up.  I think now that once I get going at faster speeds I need to keep increasing the intensity if I want to maintain pace.  I need to learn to make myself more uncomfortable during races in the 5k range, because I think that I actually have more in me then I have previously shown. 

I ended up making it to 2.25 miles total before I stopped because I was not hitting my goal pace, although I was still not running all out.  Anyhow, my splits for the entire workout were 1:20, 1:20, 1:20, 1:20, 1:20, 1:13, 1:14, 1:14, 1:14.  Total time of 11:35 for 2.25 miles.  I then finished the workout with a long cool-down.  After Sasha and Mary Ann caught back up we ended up doing another 1.75 miles in two segments at just under 6:00 pace.  I ended up running about 11.9 miles total in 1:26:19.

PM:  I don't want to get in too many miles this week, and I ran farther than normal this morning, so I decided to cut my afternoon run a little shorter than normal.  The fact that I was a little short on time also aided in my decision.  Anyhow, I only ran 2.5 miles, and I did it fast, finishing in 16:54.

I slept a little later than normal this morning, and I ran alone.  The extra sleep was nice.  I ended up running 10 miles in 1:18:50.

Total time of 1:39:01 for 12.75 miles.  We ran 1.75 miles hard in the middle of the run, starting with 1.25 at 5:20 pace (6:40 total).  We were right on pace for the entire 1.25.  At the end of 1.25 we went straight into an all out 800.  I ran it in 2:10 hitting the 200 splits in 31, 33, 33, 33.

Total time of 1:18:08 for 10 miles.  Sasha's old friend Ben came and ran with us for a while.

I came into this race today not completely sure what to expect because I am running the Salt Lake Marathon in 2 weeks. I didn't want to run so hard that I would not be able to recover for the marathon, but I also wanted to be competitive.

I have to say that I really like the race directors for run13.com. I also ran the 10k that they put on for Pioneer day last year and I think that organizationally they did a good job for that race and for this race as well. I am also glad that this race was certified and the mile markers were more accurate then the race last July.

The race started off next to the Provo Tabernacle and headed through South Provo before going near the lake and then back along the Provo River trail before finishing back at the Provo Tabernacle. The weather was cold, with temperatures in the low to mid 30's (I think). There was also a light snow coming down for most of the race, and it was pretty windy. My mile splits were:

5:01, 5:21 (10:22), 5:29 (15:51), 5:34 (21:25), 5:34 (26:59), 5:32 (32:31), 5:28 (37:59), 5:29 (43:28), 5:27 (48:55), 5:20 (54:15), 5:25 (59:40), 5:27 (1:05:07), 5:03 (1:10:10), 0:29 (1:10:39)

At the beginning of the race there was a group of 5 of us including myself, Sasha, Shin Nozuki, Nick McCombs, and Ian Hunter. At about 2.5 miles Ian dropped back as he was not actually in the race and was just pacing Nick for the first few miles. Sasha dropped back here as well. Shin, Nick and myself then ran together until about 6 or 6.5 miles, at which point Shin started to fade and he dropped back. I had been drafting off of Shin or the other guys up to this point, but from here on I pretty much just sat on Nick. There were a few places where I started moving up next to Nick, but each time I did he sped up, so I would drop back again so as not to push the pace too fast. Just past the 12 mile mark I moved up and passed Nick. I ended up running a 5:03 mile from 12 to 13 and finished the last tenth in 29 seconds to win in 1:10:39.

I was pleased with this race because I have never felt this good after a race, or tempo run, that has been this long and this fast. I did not get very sore at all, and I still felt strong after the race.