Run fast

7 min pace.  Felt good today probably because I didn't run yesterday and I ran slowly.  Go figure.

Ran up to Wasatch Blvd and back on Holladay Blvd.  Windy and fairly hot for 7AM.  6:50 pace

Another half marathon and another 2nd place.  The race started at the East Canyon Resort then headed south along the highway for about a mile.  From there it was an out and back along the dirt road that connect East Canyon to Parley's.  The first half has more elevation but throughout the race there are some good sized hills.  I think my second half was about 1 minute faster than my first.  The guy who won obviously ran a better race because he was patient enough to wait until the half way point to pass me.  I managed to stay near him for the next mile after the turn but then he slowly got away.  Considering the hilly course and elevation his time of about 1:15:30 was very impressive.

One annoyance however, was that from mile 5 to the turnaround I was running into a decent headwind and the guy who beat me was drafting the entire way by running about 5 ft. behind me.  I realize the benefit isn't close to as much as biking but it still makes a considerable difference when running in windy conditions.  With a few exceptions in biking it isn't acceptable to stay on a wheel without doing your fair share of work.  Is there similar etiquette in running or should the front runner just slow down or move to the side if it bothers him or her?  When I have been the trailing runner in the past I have always offered (or just jumped ahead) to take turns because it makes sense to me.

Today was the first day EVER that I have worn sunglasses while running.  I figured it's better late than never to protect my eyes and today they were especially helpful because I didn't start until 10:30.  Early on the sweat around the nose piece bothered me but by the end I didn't even notice it. 

I ran from 30th South North to 11th Ave., east through the U and back on 23rd East.  Average pace was 7:03, including the slow mile up L St.  Felt ok considering I raced yesterday.

One of those days where I woke up with no plan.  Started packing my bag for the gym then decided I would jog over instead.  2 miles to the gym, 4 at the gym on the treadmill, and 2 back home.  The treadmill surprisingly felt really good so I ran the last mile in about 5:50.

5.5 miles on treadmill with .5 - 2% incline at 6 min pace.  

Route through Holladay.  Last 3 - 6:01, 5:47, 5:27

Average 6:19.  I need to get on the roller because the hamstring is very tight. 

Ran north around Liberty Park and back through Sugar House.  6:45 pace

I decided not to the Draper Days 5k because I have raced the last two weekends and I have the SF Marathon next Sunday.  I am sure the speed workout would have been helpful but I just wasn't up for it.  Instead I slept in and then jogged around Sugar House and went to gym.  1 mile on the treadmill at 5:30.  Felt fairly sluggish so after tomorrow I will be taking it relatively easy.

Ran through Sugar House, above the zoo, through Research Park and back.  The heat wasn't too bad but I was very thirsty when I got home.  I need to start looking for water fountains because I am too lazy to carry my own bottle.

My team lost in the final four of our company golf tournament yesterday so I decided to let out some frustration on the treadmill.  I purposely chose the treadmill that maxes at 10 mph so I wouldn't overdo it.  Ran 3 easy, 6 at 6:00 min/mill then switched to the fast treadmill for the last 1.25 miles.  Last mile in about 5:10.  This is a typical Tuesday pre-race workout and it felt relatively easy.

Considering this and the extra oxygen in San Francisco I am hopeful for a good race.

Easy run to and from the gym.  2.5 miles on the treadmill at the gym along with stretching and some core.

Treadmill warm-up

Ugh...woke up at 3:15, race at 5:30, dumb friend took me and his brother on a walking tour up, down and around SF (hence the 5 ct miles), flight left at 8:30 PM and just got home at midnight. Not much energy or brain power left so I will have to comment more later. Looking forward to 0 productivity at work tomorrow. Winner was 2:25:32 and 2nd was 6 seconds ahead of me. Doh! 5,036 finishers.

Very small PR but on a considerably harder course. Felt pretty good as splits will show. Not sure about at the 26.59. I definitely wasn't trying to round the corners.

7.6 Mi: 44:47 Pace: 5:54

First Half: 1:17:35 Pace: 5:56

Second Half: 1:16:26 Pace: 5:50 

Finish: 2:34:01 Pace: 5:53

Race Notes:
This race was a lot less painful than the SLC and Ogden Marathons. My stomach didn't have issues and my legs didn't get beaten up as badly. The legs holding up better was probably a combination of the course (up and down) and the fact that I have more races under my belt at this point in the year. I am realizing that despite the terrain I usually end up with about the same time. This either means that I am really good at courses with variable terrain or I am relatively bad at downhill courses like Ogden. Of course it has to be a combo of the two and just shows that to be good at courses around here I need to do something to improve my downhill stamina. The lack of stomach issues must have had something to do with my breakfast (chocoloate milk and Clif Bar two hours before vs. toast, PB, and cereal). Regardless of how early I wake up I plan to remove peanut butter from the pre-race routine because I think it takes a long time to digest. Not having to deal with this was a huge relief and it made it much easier to manage my fuel throughout the race (~2.5 GUs). Something obvious that must have also helped was running at sea level. Every time I trained at sea level and raced at elevation my legs felt terrible. This time the cards were turned and my legs felt fresh from the beginning.

As for race strategy, I decided to do away with the HR band and go entirely by feel. I only looked at my time at the half way point and mile 20. I knew on a course like this that I would have fast and slow miles so I didn't think it would help to watch every split. I distanced myself from a pack at the Golden Gate Bridge and ran by myself until about mile 10. At that point the guy who took second caught up to me and we ran shoulder to shoulder until about mile 25, when he started to pull away. The guy spoke very little English so after mile 11 my Spanish was exhausted and we had to run the rest of the race in silence. What's amazing about this guy is that he is 45 and his previous PR was 2:40. Unless he lied about his PR, I really don't know how he held up so well and how he was able to manage a decent kick with a mile left. He definitely had more in the tank at the end than me.

For awhile on Sunday I was thinking about how nice the Bay Area is and why it is that I decided to leave. All it took was the 2 hour public transportation commute from SF to the OAK airport and the $4 bagel to convince me that I made the right decision to leave.

Tried running for the first time since the race.  Felt like was at about mile 10 of a marathon but that was expected.

Packed the bag for the gym then decided to give the roads a shot.  Felt decent but slow.