Doing What I Can

Headed up to ankeny today to test my fitness again. I was told this race was flat and so I was looking for another good time. After warmups, my legs felt tight and actually a little sluggish which is weird given the easy last few days. I met up with a good friend who i talked in to running it and so it was good to see him there.

Race started and I knew I had to lay back and pick people off. First mile flew by--5:26.2. Right where I needed to be. Then I started picking off a few of the younger kids who go out fast. But after about 1/4 of mile 2, i was on an island--no one around me. I kept trying to run down the person ahead of me but just wasnt happening, my legs were not turning over that great. 2nd mile was 5:48.3. I tried to pick it up to bring it home. I ended up passing one more high school kid at the end, we battled all the way to the line and I beat him down the stretch, but my last mile was still sluggish--5:49.9, with the last .1 in 31.7 which was a pretty legit .1 so I am happy because I had to kick it to hold onto 6th place. I had a little much in the tank at the end, but I really didnt have much the whole race--kind of weird.

Overall, I clocked a 17:37, not a bad time, but not super fast. I am pretty happy with that time given how I felt after warming up. I think I was sluggish because I didnt run yesteday, I have noticed the few times I have taken the day off before a race I end up with significantly less "pop" in my legs. Cant be too hard on myself though, as there was not much I could have done to avoid not running yesterday--simply no time. Better luck in two weeks, and after all I did place in my age group.

7 today in 52:42, 7:32 pace, felt like crap.

6 out to avon, road finally opened back up. 44:05, 7:21 pace. Felt pretty decent on tired legs.

Woke up early today and got out at 8 am to try and beat the excessive heat and humidity forecasted for today (heat index of 110!). Did some repeat 800s, but I was already sweating like crazy. Hit my splits in 2:44, 2:44, 2:38, 2:39. So I essentially ran a better "second mile" which is where I want to continue to work on. May jump in a local 5k this weekend for cheap.

easy run today. Lot less hot and humid.

2 easy ones today. 14:37, 7:18 avg.

Pretty awesome night workout today. Was gonna race this morning but was traveling late last night and thought it better to save the money and get some extra sleep. Had to wait out the heat of the day to run tonight around 9:30, probably not too many people out doing speedwork on a saturday night. Oh well, I was and it was awesome. I really wanted to hit my first mile in sub-5, but I just missed, ran 5:10.9, second was 5:31.1, then had to take a doubly long break because the trail I was running on was thick with bugs, so I drove back home to do a mile loop by my house, so instead of 3 minutes I took 6 with drive time for this last set. Ran the last one in 5:29.8. Overall, i was super happy with my speed tonight, felt good to get some fast miles in not to mention in still very sticky, hot weather. I believe the heat index was still near 90 at 9:30.