Everything Counts

No run today.  My legs feel surprisingly good, but I promised myself after Saturday's race that I would take Monday and Tuesday off no matter what.  I'm tempted to break that promise, but I'm going to try not to.

I kept my promise to myself and didn't run today.  But I did get in some great cross training: 18 holes of golf!  It was windy and a bit cold and sometimes rainy, but a bad weather day on the course beats a sunny day in the office.  Plus, it was free; how could I turn that down?

7.2 miles.  I started out very easy and then got moving toward the end.  It felt good to run after three days of rest.  I didn't feel any lingering aches or pains from two marathons in 8 days, so that's a huge plus.

6.86 miles easy.  I met Ken at his place to head out for a run on the trails.  Nice run; it's very pretty up on the trails this time of year.

I saw the updated circuit standings today and it looks like I may need to race Saturday, which I didn't really want to do.  But I'm barely in first place and Ken could pass me by simply showing up on Saturday regardless of where he places. 

So I'll likely just show up and try to run hard even though I know I won't place high after two marathons.  Not to mention I know Brett Hales, Teren Jameson, Jake, and Ken are racing, so I'm likely just going to get two extra bonus points but that could be the difference in whether I finish first or second.  These circuit races are eating up my Saturdays!

I really didn't want to race again today, but I needed to at least show up to hold onto first place in the USATF LDR circuit.  I didn't do much running this week and wasn't really excited for this race.  But I showed up and went through the motions.

I knew taking top three and placing in the money for this race was not going to happen against the likes of Brett, Teren, Ken, Nate, and Ben after having run two marathons.  So when the gun went off I just tried to start easy and ease into something close to 5k pace.  Immediately I was dropped by the aforementioned runners and was 10 seconds back at the mile.  The gap stayed the same in the second mile from me to Nate Ken and Ben.  The third mile I worked hard to make an attempt at passing Ken and Ben (Nate had pulled a bit further ahead).  I got up to Ken and Ben at 2.5 or so and was running right behind them.  Ben was highly motivated and made a surge (I later found out he needed to beat Ken and me to place in the circuit hence the motivation).  I wasn't in the mood to try and cover it; my legs were just tired and I used most of what I had left to catch up to them (the slow start cost me).  So Ben beat me by two seconds and Ken by one. 

Basically, poor race, but I expected that.  The overall mission of holding onto first place in the circuit was accomplished...so good day.  Ken was a bit under the weather and didn't run as well as he is capable of, which helped me too as I believe he may have passed me  for 1st in the circuit with a 2nd or maybe even 3rd place finish today.

Afterward cooled down up a mountain with Ken, Brett, Albert, Ben, and Teren.  Then after that all of us (except for Teren) went to breakfast at some hole in the wall called Big Ed's (the food was good though).