AOH Top of the Morning 5K Recap

Mo Farah is maturing as a runner, and the Lake Biwa Marathon recap.

Thursday, March 3rd - 4 miles. Done super late, but glad I got it in.

Friday, March 4th - 6 miles (50:48 minutes). Took a 1/2 day at work impromptu, and successfully pulled Pat and Crystal out for a run. Nice day to hit the trail, out and back. Crystal and I picked it up the last 2 miles inadvertantly, but felt very smooth.

Saturday, March 5th - 0! Impromptu day back home in Peoria to help my sister purchase a vehicle, then birthday dinner for my dad. Nice to get back, but had no time at all to get in a run.

Sunday, March 6th - 10 miles: 1 mile up, AOH Top of the Morning 5K (19:11 - 10th place?), 6 miles pm). I would usually be more descriptive on races, but there isn't much good to talk about here. Woke up early feeling decent, drove over to the course where I got a quick warmup in with Candace then lined up. First mile was controlled, but Candace had already gapped me by about 5 seconds or so, so was working to move up. Struggled going up that slow hill, and tuned it back slightly to save some energy for the end. Coming back down, felt a little better but the wind wasn't helping. Candace was gone, so was working off a couple others going into the last mile. Not really sure what happened in my head, but was holding ground ok and but lost all mental focus and let a couple people outkick me. Really disappointed in myself for letting it happen, even more disappointed in myself for not fighting back, not much more to say. Didn't push myself as hard, and not quite sure why. Vowed to work my butt off moving forward, and also promised myself to get stronger. Splits were: 5:58, 6:24, 6:12?, basically crap. On a brighter note, my Big River teammate John Sell won the overall race in 16:12, and Pat set a nice P.R. with a 24:57! Candace won the women's in 18:31 - a great race by her!

38 miles this week, not too great and even worse when you factor in a terrible 5K. St. Pat's buildup has gone horrible, thus the race will not be run in my typical kamikaze fashion. My focus has shifted to 5 more tough weeks of marathon training, so it's time to officially begin work in 2011!!!