Adjusting

I adjusted my VDOT training intensities this week based on my race this weekend. I only moved up a level to 51 but it is still a bit of a jump. My easy runs are supposed to be done at 8:24 pace, with tempo runs at 6:44 (which I was pretty much doing anyway), and so on.

I ran an easy five miler on Monday after taking Sunday off to recover. It was 67 with 93% humidity that morning and to make matters worse, I slept wrong. I still ran my five in 41:51 which is actually more like 8:22 pace and due to sleeping wrong my upper back was sore all day until I did some yoga poses in my office and was able to get it to pop. I think I almost screamed when it went. That would have scared some people for sure.

I hit my splits in 8:35, 8:23, 8:20, 8:23 and 8:10. Even though I remeasured my five mile loop a few weeks ago on my bike I still think that the fifth mile is short. Maybe I'm forgetting where the hell the four mile mark is because the dead tree that was the marker has been removed and the hole where it used to be is overgrown with brush. I think I'm going to have to remeasure again when I'm on vacation just to make sure I'm not actually running 4.97 miles or something, god forbid. I get pretty obsessive when it comes to having accurately measured courses.

I was going to get up Tuesday morning to run 3x1200 on the track but didn't feel like it so I did it Tuesday night after work. I warmed up with a mile in 8:17 and a mile of strides that I didn't bother to time. It was 81 with 72% humidity and winds SSE 12 mph. It wasn't a fun practice.

I usually like practices with longer repeats of 800 to 1600 but last nights 1200 about killed me. I think part of the reason was that I ran them slightly faster than my 5k pace from three days earlier. I was supposed to run my 1200s in 4:36. I did a pretty good job of staying on that pace for all of them.

I hit my first one almost perfectly in 4:35.77. I was spot-on at 400, 600, 800 and 1000 but I kicked it in just a little to aggressively the last 200. I ran 600 meters for recovery in 3:37.96 and hit my second 1200 in 4:36.74. I hit my splits slightly behind until the 1000 where I was on pace. Staying on pace for that one hurt and I could feel my shoulders starting to tighten up. I jogged another 600 and gave myself a few seconds to catch my breath before I ran rep three. I covered my 600 plus breather in 4:01.12.

My last 1200 was an exercise in running through extreme discomfort. At this point in the practice my shoulders were wound tighter than a magnet's coil (thank you Lou Barlow for that simile), the humidity was preventing me from cooling down I and I was ready to be done. I started off my rep and was immediately two seconds slow at the 200 and stayed that way all the way to 1000 where I made myself push just to make sure I ran slightly faster than I needed to. There is still that part of me that hates to have my last rep be slower than the ones that preceded it even if it is only slower by a few tenths of a second. I hit my last rep, the fastest of the three, in 4:35.48. Upon finishing I promptly sat down on the track and didn't move again for a good five minutes before I got up and ran a cool-down mile in 8:16.

I intended to get up this morning at 0430 to do a five mile recovery run but Nathan had a bad case of angry insomnia last night and no one slept well. After picking my lovely son up from daycare I ran my five in 41:44 with splits of 8:21, 8:23, 16:49 (forgot to hit my split at three miles), and 8:11. I'm pretty sure that mile four is long and mile five is short because of mile 4 being long. I didn't check the Weather Channel before I left but I'm pretty sure it was in the high 70s with upwards of 70% humidity and a bit of a WSW wind blowing around 5-7 mph. Just guessing though.

Upon further reflection of my race Saturday I have determined that I crashed hard on mile three because I hadn't run my own race the previous two miles. I was more worried about staying in contact with Tim and Joy and abandoned my race plan. I think that if I had been five seconds slower at the mile mark and had hit the two mile in a tick or two over 12:20 I would have been in good position to stay closer to my aforementioned competitors. A ten second improvement isn't anything to shake a stick at, but I still think I was capable of running much faster.

Tomorrow is a rest day, Friday will be an easy five again and Saturday will be a ten miler.

Scholastic Challenge

I sometimes hate it when I'm right.

I predicted that I would run 19:25 for my race this morning if I had an off day.

I ran 19:25 this morning.

The race started off well enough. I settled into a nice little group of runners including my friend Tim and that darn Joy G.

We hit the mile mark in 6:05.34 and I made a little surge at that point so that I didn't settle in too much and run a lot slower for the second mile. The first mile felt pretty good, I wasn't breathing hard and I felt pretty smooth and relaxed. Tim, Joy and I all hit the two mile mark in the neighborhood of 12:17.39 with a mile split of 6:12.05. At that point I chuckled because I had just set a two mile PR by four seconds and then I immediately tightened up and lost contact with my two companions. I got passed by four or five people and couldn't make myself go again until about the seventeen minute mark of the race. Unfortunately I had let Tim and Joy get too far ahead. I caught two or three of the people who passed me but finished eighteen seconds behind Tim (19:07) and about the same behind Joy who was only a few seconds back.

Tim ended up winning our age group and second place was 19:18, probably one of the five guys who passed me, and I was third in 19:25. I ran my third mile in 6:33.45 with a three mile time of 18:50.84 (a nine second PR) and closed out the last 189 yards in :35.14.

I'm happy with PRs for two, three and 5k but I was hoping they would be bigger. Humidity was a factor for everyone and I think that being under the weather most of the week took its toll on me that third mile. I am heartened by the fact that I managed to drop ten seconds off my previous best despite racing hard a week ago and being sick.

I'm not sure if my lousy third mile was a result of physical weakness or mental but I seem to have a thing with slowing down until about the last 800 of a 5k every time I run one. I need to figure out a way to push my mind past that and just run strong for three or four minutes until I get my second wind. I have probably given my competitors some ammunition for future races. Hang with Aaron until two and surge hard, his mind is weak at that point!

I don't know if Tim set a post drinking age personal best today but I know that Martha did in finishing her race in 20:14? I can't remember her time now but I will subtract a few seconds from what I think it was because last time I put her time down in here I added a few seconds and she sent me an e-mail politely pointing out that she had actually run seven seconds faster.

Good job Tim, Martha and Joy. I'll see you at the Premier Bank 5k on the 4th or at the Sizzling Mile a few weeks later.

Sick and Tired

I spent my 29th birthday unconscious in the bed in our spare bedroom for most of the day. I went to work Monday morning after checking on my sick wife and dropping my little boy off at daycare. I got to work and clocked in at 0730 and after sitting at my desk for an hour I decided that I was in no shape to work and was just going to go home. I found my way home and at exactly 0916 I stripped off my scrubs and collapsed into bed and slept like a dead man until 1154. After waking up, I emptied my bladder, checked on Kim, ate a PBJ sandwhich and went back to bed at 1300. I ended up sleeping until about 1500 or so and after waking up and making myself presentable I picked up my child from daycare. I spent the evening playing with Nathan and taking care of him and at 2000 hours I left him with his Mom and I crashed out again until I woke up at 0354 when I heard it raining outside my window. I fell back asleep and woke up at 0530 when my alarm went off feeling incredibly refreshed.

Tuesday, after returning home from work, I picked up Kim and we picked up Nathan and drove to Lincoln to retrieve my wife's car that had been sitting in the hospital parking lot since Friday. I had picked Kim up on my way to Peoria for Steamboat and the plan was to drop her off at her car on Sunday and we would caravan home. Kim came up sick Sunday afternoon and we just drove straight home because she was in no shape to drive.

When we returned from our little jaunt I went for a recreational 4 mile run to see how the legs felt after having skipped the last two days. I felt quite well, much to my surprise, and covered my course in 33:39.

Upon completion of my run we ate dinner, put Nathan to bed and finished folding laundry and putting new linen on the bed. I am a champion-class hospital corner folder so I actually put the new linen on while Kim got ready for bed.

I arose at 0415 and went to the track to run an interval workout. I ran a one mile warm-up with one mile worth of strides in 16:44 with splits of 8:50 point and 7:53 point.

My practice was to consist of 2x (200 w/ 200 jog, 200 w/400 jog and 800 w/ 400 jog). As always the 200s were to be at :43 and the 800s at 2:55 or so.

As it turns out I ran 43.80 (1:21.83), 44.71 (2:30.54), 2:56.42 (3:26.33), I actually had to stop after the 400 recovery jog to keep myself from throwing up. Most intelligent people probably would have just gone into a cool-down after that but I figured that since I hadn't puked I was okay and could do my last set, so I did.

After my near miss, I ran my set in: 40.93 (what the hell? 1:30.34), 42.75 (2:40.49), and 2:57.08 (2:31.81). I cooled down with a mile in 8:42 and went home to get my son and myself ready for our day.

Nathan and I ate breakfast together and I had some generic healthy type cereal with cranberries in it along with Silk and a cup or two of the hazelnut coffee they got me for Father's Day. Nathan had "Go Diego" Peach flavored yogurt. Nathan likes yogurt and it cracks me up.

At work I walked around with some first year radiography students while they observed, organized my desk and went to a meeting for a comittee I am a member of. After work I mowed the yard.

I am a wild and crazy guy.

I think that this morning's workout should have just been canceled and that I should have run easy with a few surges in the middle miles. I am lining up for the Scholastic 5k this weekend and I would like to run fast and I don't think the track workout helped. I don't think I'll be breaking 19:00 this weekend but I think I will be within 10-15 seconds if I catch a break and feel amazing Saturday morning.

I ran the last 3 miles of Steamboat in 19:15 which is only 4 seconds slower than my three mile split at the Jingle Bell Run where I ran 19:45 for 5k. At the worst, I think I can beat my time of 19:35 from the PPR .

The race plan is this: see how I feel after a mile or two of jogging, hit my mile split in a relaxed 6:10-6:20 and then run a strong second mile looking to hit 12:15-12:30 and then holding on for dear life the last 1.1 and seeing where the chips fall. I'm pretty sure that if I can hit two miles in 12:25 and gut out a 6:25 third mile for a three mile time of 18:50 I can cover the last 0.1 in at least 35 seconds to put me at 19:25. I'm hoping for a much faster time than that though.

Steamboat

I ran the Steamboat 4 mile this weekend in Peoria and I must say that I performed at about the level I thought I was going to.

I got up the morning of the race, ate a banana and jogged a mile at my Dad's house before the two of us headed downtown. When we got there I jogged another mile or so and hit the porta-potties. I lined up about midway between the 6:00 and 7:00 pace signs and waited for the gun to go off in the 69 degree heat and 79% humidity.

When the gun went off I moved with the crowd and didn't try to weave and bob through traffic until about 2:00 into the race. I figured waiting that long saved me some energy and kept me from tripping all over people. At the two minute mark I started surging trying to get on pace because I had a bad feeling that I wasn't going to hit the mile mark in 6:40, let alone 6:30 like I wanted. When I crossed the first mile mark I hit my split and saw that I had run a 6:29.89. I felt pretty good and in control and since the crowd was thinning out I focused on slowly moving up and passing people. At about the mile and a half point I thought I saw Joy G. a few seconds ahead of me but figured I must be on crack because Joy always smokes me. When I saw Carl B. right beside her a little later I figured I would surge up there and take look. It turns out I was right and when I came up on Joy at the two mile mark I passed through in 12:53.32 with a mile split of 6:23.43.

Joy must not have wanted to run with me because she surged very hard after we passed through the water stop and I never saw her again. I knew heading into the race that mile three was going to be a make or break mile and I focused on not losing ground on the people ahead of me and passing the people who looked like they were hurting more than I was. I'm not exactly sure what my three mile time was because I hit my split at the banner instead of the marker and I think I was about 5 seconds slower than my actual split. I passed three in 19:21.30 with a 6:27.98 mile. If you add the five seconds that puts me at 19:26 and 6:32. The reason I think I hit my three mile split early is because I took my split at 5k and saw that I had run the intervening .1 in 52.71 seconds for a 5k time of 20:14.01. Maybe it did take me 52 seconds to get there but I don't think it did. Passing through the three mile mark gave me a bit of a second wind because I knew that if I could make it to the 3.5 mark the last 800 was downhill. I passed my friend Rick a little after 5k and started to increase my turnover so I had a good head of steam, no pun intended, built up for the downhill.

When I finally hit the downhill I actually only passed four or five more people I think. I was starting to hurt at that point and was just hoping that the race would finish soon. I crossed the line in 25:45.27, by my watch, with a mile split of 6:23.97. Official results give me a time of 25:44 with a placing of 179th overall out of 2,267.

I was able to run my race in negative splits, barely, by covering the last two in 12:51.95. I finished 12 seconds behind Joy and it makes me wonder what could have happened if I had gone with her. I come to the conclusion that I would have crashed and burned and I'm glad I ran my own race.

I felt strong and steady through the race except for mile three when I hit a bit of a rut. I had to keep reminding myself to relax my arms and shoulders the whole race because I could feel them wanting to migrate to my ears. I could have run a little faster, especially if I had really let myself go on the final downhill. A sprint of that magnitude would have resulted in emesis covering my racing flats and only a drop in time of a few seconds. Maybe next week at Scholastic.

I ended up covering 31 miles this week which makes me all the more happy with my race. I ran some good, strong workouts this past week and was still able to run a pretty good time.

Today is my 29th birthday but we're not doing anything because my wife is sick and I'm not feeling too well either. I think my problem is sleep deprivation. I left work early today and took two naps of about 3 hours each today. I think I'm ready for bed though. Kim and Nathan got me some hazelnut coffee, gift certificates to Best Buy and Barnes and Noble and Wilco's newest CD for my birthday so I am pretty stoked about all that. For Father's Day they got me a new man-purse for work and a "force-field" button that plays the Star Wars theme.

Just Cruising

I got up at 0430 this morning for my cruise interval practice. I warmed up with two miles in 17:46. I split those miles in 9:08 and 8:38. I did some pick-ups during my second mile and thought I shook the cobwebs out until I started my first cruise workbout. I started off a little on the slow side and when I checked my time at the 400 meter mark I was at 1:46. I stepped it up, or so I thought, and when I hit 800 my split was only 3:31. So much for ratcheting up the intensity. I eventually ended up hitting my mile split in 6:53.27 and finishing the last half in 3:25.87 for a total time of 10:19.14. I gave myself one minute to recover and started my second 1.5 mile interval. I hit my 800 split in 3:20.52 and made myself slow down a bit so I didn't run too fast. I must have fallen asleep because I glanced at my watch and saw that I was getting very close to running too slow and had to sprint to get back on pace. I ran the last mile of my seconds workbout in 6:52.02 and cruised to a time of 10:12.54. I walked for a minute or two, stopped and picked up .19 cents on the side of the road (that went into Nathan's piggy bank) and ran my cool-down in 9:47.

I feel okay about my practice today. I stayed on my pace for the most part but I had to rush to get on pace or back off to stay on pace and I don't feel I ran an even effort even though I ran decent times. I haven't really given myself an easy week of training and I expected to feel a little sluggish today but I feel that I shouldn't have had to scramble on this practice. I'm going to continue to take my generic claritin, get some good sleep the next few nights and run my 6 miles very easy on Friday morning.

Steamboat isn't a race I circled on my calendar so I'm not going to cry if I don't run as well as I'm hoping. I would like to run well next week at Scholastic Challenge and at Abe's Amble, if I can get that day off. The Sizzling Mile, the Parade Run and the PPR are also races that I have circled. According to the entry form for the Sizzling Mile, my age group record is 5:35.something. I have run 5:36 in practice so I think that I am going to break that record. The trick is going to be finishing ahead of anyone else in my age group that day so that I actually own it.

Easy

I got up this morning at 0430 and hit the road at 0445 for an easy 6 mile run. It was 61 with negligible wind and moderate humidity. I popped in the ear buds to my shuffle and ran along to Wilco, Sebadoh, the Clash and Tom Waits. It was a good morning. I hit my splits in 8:54, 8:18, 8:23, 8:33, 8:27 and 8:20 for a total time of 50:55. Highlights of my run were when "God's Away on Business" by Tom Waits and "Handshake Drugs" by Wilco came on. They're both great running songs.

Tomorrow is a tempo day. I think I'm going to run 2x1.5mile cruise intervals. I'm going to attempt to run about the same times I ran last time I did that practice. I ran 10:07 and 10:01 that day. I'll be happy if I run a little steadier and without the drastic difference in time.

Thursday will be a goose egg and Friday will be a slow, relaxed 5 or 6 mile run to lead into Steamboat on Saturday. I'm going to train through this week and do a mini-taper for the Scholastic Challenge 5k on June 23rd. I would like to run as close to 19:00 as I can at that race because my last chance for a fast course on a decent day won't come until September during the Polka Pace Race in Havana and I might have to work that weekend. I ran 19:35 at the PPR last year and I think that I can run faster than that but I'm not sure by how much.

I need to go check my potatoes and pork chops.

8x400

I got up this morning at 0445 to run 400s. I ran on the high school track and I must say that I really enjoy running there. The middle school track was in serious disrepair, it had potholes, and it really didn't feel any different from running on the road. It looks like they are resurfacing the middle school track but the fact of the matter is that the middle school track is 2.3 miles away and the high school track is right across the street. If they continue to keep the high school track unlocked I will move my track workouts there permanently.

This morning was a humid 61 with winds 2 mph out of the SE. The humidity read out at 78%. I ran a 1.5 mile warm-up as I was was running a little late this morning, no pun intended, and I really wanted to get in all eight intervals.

I started my 400s off a little sluggishly with a pair in 1:28.79 (2:22) and 1:28.24 (2:21). I ran the next two better clocking 1:27.87 (2:22) and 1:26.69. The latter repeat was faster than my range but forgivable after my slow start. After a recovery 400 and a change of shoes (3:32) I ran my last four in times of 1:27.49 (2:20), 1:25.90 (2:22), 1:26.75 (2:28) and 1:26.97 (2:15). I averaged, as near as I can figure, 1:27.34 for my practice.

I ran a mile cool-down and covered 6.5 miles for the day. After my run I went home, cleaned up and went to work. Once I got to work I crashed out and was a sluggish wreck all day. I spent my day shuffling paper and putting the finishing touches on my quarterly newsletter. I also went over some competencies with a few of my students and ate lunch with my wife.

After work I went to the chiropractor for my monthly adjustment and therapy and I also got a fifteen minute rub-down by the massage therapist. I think she hit every trigger-point in my shoulders and I left the office feeling like a new man. I am going to hit the hay and hope I sleep well tonight so I can run my 5 or 6 mile recovery run tomorrow morning and be functional at work.

My son has been army crawling for months now but in the last two days he has decided that crawling on his hands and knees is a more efficient means of locomotion. He is also raising himself up on his knees to get stuff on the couch and I think it is only a matter of days before he starts pulling himself into a standing position. It is amazing how babies go from being little people who lay around and poop all day to little people who can walk and talk in about a year. It's pretty cool.

Prediction

I went through some results on my local running club's website and extrapolated a prediction of my finishing time for Steamboat based on what I discovered. I found six members of my club, there were probably more but I didn't feel like digging that deep, who ran the Passavant-Powerade 10k and the Steamboat 4 mile last year. Their times were: 36:32/22:47, 38:53/23:33, 39:27/23:33, 41:18/25:34, 43:30/26:11, and 43:37/28:17. I took the difference of their 10k pace and their 4 mile pace and averaged them together. When I took the average of all six runners I found that they had improved their pace at Steamboat by an average of 16 seconds. When I excluded the guy who ran Steamboat 4 seconds slower per mile than he ran the Passavant 10k I found that the other five improved their pace per mile by 20 seconds.

Based on those results I believe that I am capable of running Steamboat in 25:52-26:08. That is in line with my thoughts earlier in the week that I was capable or running 26:00 or better.

My plan is to go out the first mile 6:30 -6:40 pace. I would like to be at the two mile mark in 13:00 or under but no slower than 13:05. That would put me into position to be at the three mile mark in 19:30 or faster and then I'm just hoping to use the downhill the last mile to my advantage and sneak in under 26:00.

Daniels says to put yourself in position to finish in negative splits by the time your race is 75% over because you usually don't slow down too much the last 25% of a race unless you've run incredibly stupid in the preceding 75%. He says that aside from a few position changes in the final sprints not much changes. I tend to agree with him.

Nate, what do you think? Will I be faster or slower than my range?

Rested

I haven't posted in a few days but I haven't really done anything to post about. Thursday I did a 45 minute Core Secrets workout and Friday and Saturday I did 5 mile runs to close out my week.

Friday's run was done in the heat and humidity of the morning. It was75 with 97% humidity as it had rained overnight. I would have been more comfortable during this run if I possessed gills. Nonetheless, I hit my splits in 9:03, 8:51, 8:24, 8:16, and 8:11. I closed out the day by going to bed with stomach cramps due to not keeping myself hydrated well enough over the course of my day. I felt better Saturday morning and ran another fiver.

It was 72 with only 34% humidity yesterday so my run was much more comfortable. I hit my splits in 8:20, 8:18, 8:02, 8:06 and 7:58. I tried to slow down but after a week of easy running I was ready to go.

I spent most of my run reflecting on my life. During high school and in my early twenties running was a way for me to get my problems out where I could examine them and leave them behind. I would write poetry in my head; some of it good, most of it bad, and when I started dating Kim I would compose love letters to her that I would put down on paper one I returned home.

Now, when I run, I just run. I don't examine anything, and I don't write love letters and poetry. Maybe I've just gotten comfortable and content with my life. I used to say that if I had to be sad to write poetry then I would rather not write poetry at all. I love my wife and son and maybe I should try to write more love letters but as long as I don't get complacent and fail to give of my time and attention I think they will forgive me for not having a few pieces of paper.

My son takes up most of my thoughts when I run. My wife and I have decided that falling in love with your child is a lot like the way you fall in love with anyone. You meet them the first time and you try to be around them as much as you can. When you aren't with them you constantly think of them and count the minutes until you can see them again. In most relationships that feeling fades a little after a few months but I'm beginning to suspect that it stays pretty intense for a long time when it is your child.

I think about him and how he looks like his mother and I anticipate the moment when I walk through the door, covered in sweat and dripping, and how I know his face will light up in a grin that is all for me and he will point at me and say, "Dah." My best friend in the whole world is an eleven month old whose vocabulary consists of the words: dada, mama, duck, go go go, uh-oh, and dizzy. I'm pretty sure he said the f-word the other day. I'm hoping he said duck though.

Getting better

My knee is still stiff but it is popping a little bit and feeling less stiff. It felt fine on my run this morning but I'm still taking it easy and not doing anything up-tempo. I got up at 0500 this morning and ran an easy 5 miles. It was only about 50 and I wasn't used to the chill but I warmed up and ran well. I hit my splits in 8:44, 8:31, 8:17, 8:27, and 8:22 for a total time of 42:21. I am going to do a quick little calisthenics routine and then put some ice on my knee and go to bed.

I think one other reason I was able to stay injury free last year is because I took ice baths after my hard workouts and I haven't been as good about it this year. I think Saturday morning after my run I'll hop in a tub and chill for a bit. I don't use a lot of ice and if it is so cold it hurts it is too cold.

I'm off to lift!

Rushed

I can't type much because it is late and my wife wants to use the computer. I got up Monday morning and ran five miles. It was cool and slightly breezy and I should have worn a t-shirt instead of a sleeveless shirt. I ran an easy 5 miles in 42:17 with splits of 8:50, 8:16, 8:25, 8:25 and 8:21. I had a hard time making myself slow down as I kept reliving my race.

Tonight I did the 45 minute Core Secrets workout and a 9 mile bike ride. My left knee has been feeling gimpy the last week or so and I exacerbated the situation by banging the hell out of it on my desk this afternoon. I don't think I yelled a profanity but I sure as heck thought one real loud.

I'm going to get up tomorrow and run another easy 5 and do the 25 minute core secrets workout when I get home.

Race Report and Week in Review

I ran the Passavant Powerade 10k in Jacksonville yesterday. It was a fairly nice day with a race time temp in the mid 60s, and a nice breeze out of the S-SW around 5mph. The only negative was the high humidity but even that wasn't too bad. I ran a mile around my subdivision before driving to the race and after registering I did another mile's worth of jogging and strides. I lined up next to my old pal Matt and my new pals Martha and Tim and we were off. Matt and Tim took off ahead and I concentrated on keeping Martha in sight as I attempted to ease into my race.

I felt pretty stiff the first mile and a little out of sorts but I hit the mile in 6:59.74, right about where I wanted to be. I had planned on getting out my first two miles in 6:55 to 7:05 pace and picking it up after that. I kept my sights on Martha and Jim, the club president, and made myself focus on keeping my arms and shoulders relaxed. I hoped that if I could get my upper body to loosen up my legs would follow. As the course split to the right for the 10k race I came upon David and passed him. I hit the two mile mark a second behind Martha in 14:06.73 having run my second mile in 7:06.99. I think the slower second mile was due to not charging a hill leading to the 2 mile mark. Martha and I passed Nyle, who had slowed to a walk, and we headed out to the countryside and our turnaround point. I took a little water at the water stop, just enough to swallow a sip and rinse my mouth, and surged on the downhill as I was starting to loosen up at that point. I passed Martha and started focusing on the group ahead of us and as I approached the turnaround I heard the pitter-patter of little feet as Martha caught back up to me. At the turnaround I was in 21st place overall and was the 20th male. I hit the three mile mark in 20:59.39 with a 6:52.66 mile split and surged after Martha said "Darn that Joy!" I hit 5k in 21:40 and started gaining on a guy ahead of me.

I hit mile 4 in 27:42.89 after having run a 6:43.50 mile. Right as I hit the 4 mile mark I heard the pitter-patter of feet again but instead of Martha coming back up on me it was Nyle. He paused for a step or two as he passed me and then must have thought better of it because he dropped me like a bad habit. I was within a second or two of the guy I'd been chasing and he went with Nyle and extended his lead back to about five seconds. As we passed the 4 mile mark the timer yelled to us that it was all downhill from there and he was mostly correct. I am a pretty decent downhill runner and I used the momentum to power my way to a 6:40.76 mile split and passed five in 34:23.69. I continued to narrow the gap between the loosely strung out group ahead of me and as I approached the 6 mile mark I was within two seconds of the guy I'd been chasing, five of the guy ahead of him and close to 15 behind Jim. Nyle was long gone at that point.

As I turned the corner to head into the last 400 meter straightaway to the finish chute I passed my target for the previous three miles and passed through 6 in 40:59.74 with a 6:36.09 split. I had started my sprint with the intention of making up that 10-15 seconds on Jim and I almost pulled it off until I ran out of gas the last 50 meters or so and finished about five seconds back. I ran the last .2 miles in 1:16.06 and crossed the line in 42:15.80, a post-drinking age personal best by 1:50.

Alas, due to a major gaffe on the part of the race organizers, everyone who registered for the 10k the day of the race was put in the 5k results instead of the 10k. This wasn't discovered until they announced the overall winner of the women's race as Martha, who finished in about 43:20, even though that darn Joy had won with a time of 40:06. It was discovered that the overall male winner wasn't scored correctly and they had to go back to the drawing board to figure the men's results out. I left the awards ceremony in disgust and upon checking the race results at http://www.passavanthospital.com/files/presspdfs/10K%20MENS%20RESULTS.pdf, I discovered that I am not listed among the finishers of the 10k or the 5k. My bib number was 256 and I finished in 18th place behind Jim but I inexplicably morphed into Bob T, age 50. I hope this can be corrected as I am among the leaders in my age group points series race.

On a more positive note, I ran negative splits for the race. I hit my first 5k in 21:40 and ran my last 5k in 20:35. I ran my last five miles in 34:00.00, my last four in 26:53.01, my last three in 20:00.35 and my last two in 13:16.85. I think I am capable of breaking 41 minutes if I train well and run smart at Abe's Amble in August. I know that turns into about a 15 second per mile drop on a tougher course but I know that I underachieved at last year's Abe's by at least 35 seconds, if not a full minute.

I covered 26.5 miles this week to bring my total for the year to 580.75. This coming week I am going to skip one of my quality workouts to focus more on injury prevention. I have a rough month ahead with two more races and with my knees feeling slightly gimpy I want to focus on strengthening them to head off any injury.

42:15.80!!!