Sunday, November 28, 2010

Week Ending November 28

Mon - 4.5 miles (900') easy. Falls loop.

Tues - 6 miles (500') easy. Bumped into Don and his friend Craig at Soderberg and ran easy with them to Arthur's Rock TH and back.

Weds - 6 miles (500') easy. Valley trails.

Thurs - 12 miles. Thanksgiving Day 4 Miler. Warmed up with four, raced four @ 5:27 pace, and cooled down with four more.

Fri - 10.5 miles (3,000') easy. Late afternoon cruise on a glorious fall day. Horsetooth north summit - Westridge - Spring Creek - Wathen - Horsetooth trail - home. A bit sore in the calves from Thursday.

Sat - 21.5 miles (5,500'). 3:55. Ran the junior varsity version of the Chubby Cheeks course with Sam and Nick P. Dragged for the most part, but got around. Still a bit sore from the Turkey Trot it would seem. Southridge - Audra Culver - Horsetooth north summit - Horsetooth trail - Soderberg - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Mill Creek - Valley - Sawmill - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Westridge - Wathen - Spring Creek - Falls - home.




Elevation profile & topo map for Chubby Cheeks Short Course (21.5 miles, 5,500')

Sun - 15.5 miles (3,800'). 2:28. Out with Jason on the early stretches of Chubby. Certainly wasn't feeling much like another mountain run after a couple of bigger vert days Friday and Saturday, but ended up pushing out an up-tempo run after a quick initial ascent of Horsetooth. Felt surprisingly good. Yet another beautiful morning and the rut is on. Some decidedly horny bucks out there right now.

Total: 76 miles (14,200').

Despite the slight cutback in mileage from the first half of the week, I felt pretty lackadaisical and a touch sore after the Turkey 4 mile on Thursday. Having already lined up a couple of runs at Horsetooth with others for the weekend, I decided to just push through. The Saturday run was enjoyable for the company, but pretty much a drag as far as the running was concerned. Got after it a bit on the climbs today with Jason and ended the run feeling way better than Saturday.

Determined to get on some pavement next week. A fast 20 on the bike paths lined up for Sunday, a session at the track on Tuesday and Towers TT on Thursday.

Dropped 370 smackers on one race entry last night. Ouch. Looking at the start list for States, (pre-lottery) it looks like nine of the top 10 from this year are scheduled to toe the line in 2011 (Zach Miller being the exception). Some other speedy types also look to be on board from qualifying races with the lottery still to come. Should be another deep field. Hoping to piggy back my marathon training by running American River in April.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Fort Collins Turkey 4 Mile

I enjoy racing, I really do. I don't care if it's a local 5k, a glitzy big city marathon or a gnarly mountain 100 miler. I just enjoy the energy of being with like-minded people, running against competition, and realizing the harder effort that the added adrenaline allows.

For those very reasons, the Fort Collins Turkey Trot is one of my favorite races on the calendar. There are always a ton of familiar faces, the competition is the stoutest of any race in Northern Colorado, and it's a race that I have done each of the four years that we've been in Fort Collins, with each year being faster than the one previous. If nothing else, this race has been an affirmation that I'm getting just a little bit faster every year. The goal this year, among other things, therefore, was to beat my 22 flat from 2009.

On the competition front, Justin and I had been ribbing each other a bit about the race for a few weeks, and while I think he probably felt like he had me covered, I was also sitting confidently in my corner thinking I might have a shot at taking him down for the first time ever in a road race.

I got to Old Town early enough that I could get out and run the full course as a warm-up. I layered up in full combat gear to ensure that I was genuinely warm on what was a frigid morning for November. The bank displays were reading 15/16 degrees (-7), and the air certainly felt that cold, although the bright sun took the edge off a bit.

At the start I lined up with Justin and jumped around trying to stay warm as we waited for the off. The game plan going in was to ease slowly into the race, but of course as soon as the gun went off I did my normal trick of sprinting from the line like a junior school kid. After a couple hundred meters Justin got on my shoulder and we ran together for a bit. I got a read on his breathing and was surprised to hear him working hard.

Just before the turn on to Mulberry I asked him for a pace check from his Garmin, feeling that it was a little hot, and with the 5:10 confirmation I eased off a touch and let Justin get a few yards on me. Shortly before the first mile, Adriana Nelson (Pirtea) eased by me and I saw Justin do the double take as she went by him. At this point I was feeling nicely in control of the run, so didn't worry too much about the potential chicking.

Splitting the first mile at 5:28, I was a little disappointed, so noticeably upped my effort a notch. Before long I was back on the shoulder of a guy who had just passed me, and was thinking I would ride his wave to catch back up to Justin who was still just a few meters up on me. As I moved ahead of Justin, I figured he would latch on, but rather than shoulder check to see if he had I just kept plugging, knowing that it didn't really matter either way as we were still very much at the blue-collar end of the race. Steve Folkerts edged by us somewhere before we hit the two-mile mark which split at 5:23.

Thinking pre-race that I was going to run 5:20s, I was again a little disappointed with the split, but nonetheless happy with how in control of the aerobic effort I was feeling. With the right turn on to Mountain, I upped the effort a bit more and was soon dissecting a small gap between Steve and another guy. I heard Steve push to latch on, but he didn't hold on for long, obviously still deep in his winter hibernation phase.

All the while, as I was picking up stray runners in the men's field, Adrianna had been holding pretty steady with a good five meter gap on me.

Passing the three-mile marker with a 5:23 split, I could sense that I was starting to reel her in a touch, but very gradually. Having been beaten by Adriana by a couple of seconds last year, I was determined to not let that happen again this time around. We hit the final turn on to College shoulder to shoulder and I upped my pace to a point where a kick would still have been available if necessary, but was just strong enough to build some separation, allowing me to save my fragile male ego without having to look silly by engaging in a sprint for the line. To make sure that Justin or Steve weren't lurking with a late kick, I threw a quick shoulder check, and sensing safety eased into the finish with a 5:32 last mile and 21:49 finish, which was good for 19th overall.

I felt a little disappointed to have taken just 11 second off my time from last year, but given that the conditions were close to perfect then and far from perfect today I'll say that on balance I'm happy with the run. Aerobically, I felt great - totally in control - which means I need to focus on getting my legs to turn over a little quicker. I'm thinking 20x400 for Tuesday.

The comparative calculators still have me running in the low-2:40 range based on that effort, but I know that my fitness works toward the endurance end rather than speed end, so I'm going to call that a 2:37/8 effort. Still plenty of work to be done, but I'm getting there.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Week Ending November 21

Monday - Noon: 6 miles (500') easy. Valley.
PM: 4 miles easy. Pineridge.

Tuesday - Noon: 6.5 miles (1,550') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Falls. Wind was blowing hard, but I was absolutely floating on this one. Been a while since a run has felt as fluid as this, even if it was just a jog in the park. Zero fatigue, soreness or niggles anywhere and just a general sense of fitness, which is a most pleasant sensation.
PM: 10 miles track w/ Dakota, Frank and Nick M. 1.5 mile w-u, then 2x1 mile, 1x2 mile, 2x1 mile w/200 jog between miles and 400 jog before and after the 2 mile, 2 mile c-d. Slotted into 5:30 pace and stayed there the whole workout: 5:32, 5:27, 11:00, 5:29, 5:29. Came into this workout thinking the ease of my lunchtime run would carry through to the track, but ended up having to work hard for the two mile and push a bit on the miles. As always, it was about getting 'em done, and get 'em done we did.

Last track session for Dakota before his trip to the North Face race. Maybe he finds himself in a sprint finish for a podium spot ... but really, I think there is merit in these workouts even for a 50 mile race, and especially a race stacked with guys pushing the pace. He'll need to be running comfortably at up-tempo paces in the early going and hopefully find a way to hang on late when things get ugly. I remember on the re-route section of WS100 this year, we were running low 6:00s for more than a few miles, so I am sure there'll be plenty of similar silliness in Marin considering the race is half the distance.

Wednesday - Noon: 8 miles (1,650') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Sawmill - Loggers - Herrington, Spring Creek, Soderberg - home.
PM: 4.5 miles (900') easy. Falls loop. Nice twilight cruise.

Thursday - Noon: 6 miles (500') easy. Valley trails.
PM: 9 miles (1,900'). Towers TT. 2 mile warm up then 31:17 up the hill. Started with Sam who dropped me as soon as the serious climbing started. Didn't have much tonight - almost two minutes off my PR. The snow and ice may have been worth 30 seconds, and the night running maybe another 30 seconds, but still a fairly lackluster effort. Might have been feeling the track workout from Tuesday.

Friday - Noon: 8 miles (1,650') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Sawmill - Loggers - Herrington, Spring Creek, Soderberg - home.
PM: 4 mile easy. Pineridge.

Saturday - 21 miles (2,750') steady w/Sam. 3:00. Out and back from home on Blue Sky. Pushed the last couple of miles coming back and dropped Sam like he dropped me on Towers two days earlier.

Sunday - 15 miles (3,350') easy w/ Jason. Dragged like nobody's business on this one. Jason was pretty spry heading up Horsetooth, and I was content to watch him run away from me. We re-grouped at the top and then enjoyed a tour of the park, with my legs ever so slightly opening up as the run went on. Horsetooth - Westridge - Mill Creek - Valley - Sawmill - Loggers - Herrington - Stout - Spring Creek - Falls - home.

Total: 102 miles (15,000')

Felt pretty tired on the run today (Sunday), so I'm going to drop the mileage this next week in a bid to feel somewhat rested for the big Turkey Day showdown on Thursday, and also to recharge for the last eight weeks of marathon training.

Got to make a decision on Western States by November 27. The main reason to run this race is for the competition, however, there are a host of other reasons not to run it. Firstly, it is expensive and a pretty big time commitment. It would also preclude any serious bid of a fast run at Hardrock should I get pulled in the lottery for that, which is of course far from guaranteed. So if I don't register for WS and then don't get pulled in the Hardorck lottery, I am left looking for a plan B - maybe a long trail speed attempt or just a summer running local peaks and getting ready for UTMB in late August.

Seems like we have this lottery discussion every year around this time, probably because it is frustrating to have to commit half a year ahead for races that are so expensive. Anyway, there are plenty of other more serious issues to be fretting about, so I guess I'll leave it at that and figure things out for myself over the next week.

Need to start running some faster pavement miles over the next two months, but with the fall weather being so nice, I can't see it happening just yet. Perhaps by January we'll have some snow.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Towers and Other Arbitrary FKT Routes

Undeterred by the dark and somewhat icy conditions, we had a solid turnout 11/18 for the scamper up Towers. Sam and Jenn Malmberg once again proved their short-course hill climbing prowess by registering the fastest times of the evening. However the intermittent ice and snow underfoot ensured that nobody PR'd except a couple of folk who were out losing their virginity on the hill.

Better conditions for the 12/2 run. Not a breath of wind, temps in the low 40s, and just a few scrapes of ice allowed for some PRs and an FKT. Jenn M continues to lower the standard for the women, while Mike T was first up the hill and was crowned King in an impressive PR. Joselyne also PR'd, as did Slush who continues to get better almost every time he runs the hill - and he runs it often.

Recent times as follows:

..........11/4 (12)...11/18 (19)..12/2 (21)..12/16 (20)..12/30 (12)

Alex ......38:58............42:00.........39:43...........38:40..........Beer
Aaron ....36:55 (K)
Brent...........................................42:10 (V)
Kyle.............................................36:03
Brian K.........................................39:00 (V).....37:50
Nick M..........................................36:09
Tina.............................................45:00
Dave .....44:50.............47:00
Mary .....42:03 (Q, PR)..43:24........42:19...........51:38.........Beer
Angie ....49:23 (V)
Olivia ....48:01 (V)
Ben .......35:00 (V)
Cherilyn .40:00.............................41:40
Laura .....41:00.............................40:00...........39:37
Lindsay . 51:00 (V)
Brian ......50:14.............................49:15..........48:12...........Beer
Pete .......36:03 ...........35:35 (K)....35:48..........35:02........Beer
Joselyne.......................53:00........52:40(PR).....54:10
Mike T..........................50:00 (V)...45:40(K, PR).45:06
Ramon.........................50:16........48:25...........47:32
Cat.............................45:40.........44:40...........44:52..........Drive
Celeste........................50:00.........46:50..........46:30.........Beer
Pablo...........................45:20.........44:10
Matt............................37:27
Eric.............................41:00 (V)
John W.........................36:00 (V)
Slush...........................35:05.........34:30(PR)....36:10.........Beer
Jenn.............................36:20........35:11(!)
Sam.............................29:57........32:01
Nick C...........................31:17.........31:02.........31:10............Beer
Kharah.........................55:00
Molly............................75:00
Mike M.............................................................49:30
Frank...............................................................48:05
Chris................................................................45:00
Dan.................................................................38:14
Eddie...............................................................38:33
Jennifer.............................................................53:20.........Beer
John (Sr).............................................................?
Marie.................................................................................Beer
Ean.....................................................................................Beer
Mindy................................................................................Camera

** V=1st time up; K,Q = first to the top; != FKT

For the route and a full listing of times from this year, in addition to other random Towers stuff, follow this link and then the subsequent links from that page. It's a tangled web, but it's all there ... somewhere.

Area Fastest Known Times

I have been accused in the past of making up completely arbitrary FKT routes and putting my name to them. While this may be true, there are actually some reasonably well-established routes in and around town, largely of the hill climbing variety, that have been tested and tracked in recent years. What follows is an attempt to document top times for three of those routes, starting with:

Towers


Dudes

Sam Malmberg: 28:50
Nick Clark: 29:27
Eric Bergman: 29:37
Steve Folkerts: 30:36
Dakota Jones: 31:26

Ladies

Jenn Malmberg: 35:11
Cherilyn Sackel: 37:07
Amy Hartley: 38:14
Karina HS XC: 38:20
Laura B: 39:43

Horsetooth North Summit

Dudes

Nick Clark: 23:50
Sam Malmberg: 26:04
Scott Slusher: 27:25
Pete Stevenson: 28:54
Nick M: 28:58

Ladies

Jenn Malmberg: 29:40
Mary Boyts: 33:44
Maire-Helene: 35:03
Kate: 35:06
Kharah: 36:02

Round Mountain

Dudes

Lucho: 47:58
Nick Clark: 50:24
Eric Bergman: 51:low
Bob Sweeney: 53:30
George Zack: 55:47

Ladies

Cherilyn S 60-61

Yeah, a little incomplete for Round, which means, I believe, that we'll have to organize a TT out there some time soon.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Week Ending November 14

Mon - Noon: 6 miles (500') easy. Valley.
PM: 4.5 miles (700') easy. Falls loop.

Tues - Noon: 4.5 miles (700') easy. Falls loop.
PM: 10 miles track. Temps dropped today and we got our first bit of snow of the season up at 6,000', but it was just rain in town. At the track in the dark, the weather was actually pretty pleasant. Dakota, Frank and David had already started their workouts, but they hopped in with Chris and I as we got started with the first set of 400s. Workout went 6x400, 4x800, 6x400 with 200 between intervals and 600 between sets. 1 mile w-u, 2 mile c-d. Goal was 75 on 400s and 2:40 on 800s: 77, 76, 74, 74, 74, 73; 2:39, 2:39, 2:40, 2:40; 75, 76, 75, 76, 74, 74. Felt sluggish and uncoordinated. Had to work a bit for the last three 400s, but got 'em done. Another trip to the oval successfully in the books, however, I still feel like a lumbering mountain jogger out there.

Weds - 8 miles (1,600') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Sawmill - Loggers - Herrington, Spring Creek, Soderberg - home.

Thurs - AM: 8 miles (2,200'). Towers easy (39:00). Got out for the first real snow run of the fall/winter season. Two to three inches of soft pow-pow overnight so blazed the trail up Towers with five others from the FCTR group. Really quite nice out, but donned the ballet gear anyway.
PM: 8 miles easy with FCTR social gang in the snow around Pineridge.

Fri - 11 miles easy (2,400') with Aaron. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Southridge - Soderberg. Bit of crunch and slop in places from Wednesday snow, but beautiful bluebird day out. Cracked the whip on Aaron up the last couple of grunts on Towers.

Sat - 19 miles (2,000') w/ 2x6 miles @ tempo. 2:15. Jogged the 2 miles down to Redstone Canyon with Dakota from my house, then we went 6:30, 6:25, 6:22, 6:30, 7:00, 6:38, 6:36 up the hill, jogging the last half mile out and back, before going 6:22, 6:21, 6:16, 6:10, 6:01, 5:48 back down to 38e. Warmed down via Milner Mountain and took the long way up and around my neighborhood. Tough workout.

Sun - 12.5 miles (3,100') easy w/Aaron. To south summit of Horsetooth, then Westridge - Mill Creek - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg. Plenty of snow still on the ground. Beautiful out.

Total: 91.5 miles (13,200')

Another good week, although slightly heavier mileage and vertical than planned. Couple of strong workouts in there with another successful trip to the oval on Tuesday and a hard tempo effort at Redstone on Saturday. Rest of the week was mainly jogging.

Will look to put in another higher mileage week before backing off the week of the FoCo Turkey trot, a rendition of which I have yet to miss since moving to Colorado. I have seen an improvement over the 4 mile course each year I have raced, so to keep the streak alive I intend to treat it as a mini-goal race. Pretty confident that I'll go faster than the 22 flat I ran last year. I also feel like I may have my first semi-legitimate shot at taking down Top American in a road race, so want to maximize those chances by starting somewhat fresh.

Exciting stuff setting up for the North Face 50. There appear to be some legitimately fast road guys going up against 4 or 5 of the best endurance trail guys in the country, one or two of the better European ultra guys, and even the best mountain runner of our generation thrown in to the mix. The list is deep on all fronts, and really, it looks like a major toss up, which should make for some seriously good racing. Kind of wish I was heading out there, except it's in December (!) and I was done racing a couple of months ago. Still, it'll be fun to watch from the sidelines. As will the women's race, by the way, which looks to be almost as intriguing.

Predictions? No clue in the men's race, except to say that I think the winner will come from the ranks of the ultra specialists. I'm pulling for recent FoCo arrival, and training partner, Dakota Jones to register the upset. The women's race looks to be between Kami Semick and Ellie Greenwood, with perhaps Devon Crosby Helms, Meghan Arbogast and Tracey Garneau having an outside shot too. Having said that, there are a bunch of other ladies who could be in contention, in what looks to be a refreshingly competitive women's field.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

el Chubbo Grande

Hmmm, this route looks to be about 50 kilometers long with enough climbing to trim up your holiday-inflated Chubby Cheeks (~8000').

Red = out
Green = back
Blue = short cuts

Short cut from Arthurs Rock = Marathon(ish) (~7,000')
Short cut down Mill Creek = 22-23 miles (~5,500')

Ummm, feel free to print and use for future reference:

Chubby Cheeks 50k
Map splicing, dicing and arrowing by the multi-talented Mary Boyts.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Week Ending November 7

Mon - 6.5 miles easy (1,400'). Waterfall - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg. Yet another beautiful fall afternoon. Got out for the last hour of light:


Horsetooth in silhouette.

Longs from Stout/Spring Creek.

Longs, clouds.
Tues - AM: 9 miles (2,700') easy with Fast Ed and Nick P in Boulder. Chautauqua - Gregory - Green - Green/Bear - Mesa. Scott and I were in town for a meeting with the Pearl guys, so snuck in a morning cruise with Nick P on the Boulder trails. Absolutely beautiful out again.
PM: 9 miles track. One mile warm up, then 400-800-1600-3200-1600-800-400. One mile cool down. It was just me and Dakota tonight and we ran every interval in lockstep (although Dakota was on my outside shoulder for every turn, so was technically a bit quicker). Anyway, we were shooting for 5:20 pace on the 400/800 and 5:30 for the mile/2mile, and pretty much hit those splits: 80, 2:38, 5:30, 11:08, 5:29, 2:39, 76. We both dragged on the second mile of the 3,200, but otherwise hit our intervals. Given the morning run up Green, I was definitely working, but it was pretty gratifying to hang in and get 'em done.

Weds - 6 miles (500') easy. Valley.

Thurs - 8 miles (1,600') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Sawmill - Loggers - Herrington, Spring Creek, Soderberg - home.

Fri - Noon: 8 miles (1,600') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Sawmill - Loggers - Herrington, Spring Creek, Soderberg - home. Insanely beautiful out. 45 days into fall with 45 until winter and we're still hitting 70 degrees.
PM: 4 mile cruise at Pineridge.

Sat - 17 miles. Heart Center Half with 4 mile warm up.

Sun - AM: 3 miles easy marking the T&H 5k course. A record 45 runners showed up for the run. Awesome. Pedatella takes the Hare title with an 18:10.


T&H Start.


Everyone goes off at staggered (handicapped) starts. More pics here.


PM: 9.5 miles easy (2,000'). Horsetooth 8 mile route with some add on.

Total: 80 miles (10,000')

Another week in the books, and I've got to say I am enjoying this change of focus to road training way more than I thought I would. A month or two ago, the mere thought of running hard in training made me want to roll over and go to sleep. I now find myself devising wicked hard training days in my head whilst daydreaming on the trail. Weird.

Anyway, the half on Saturday went just about as expected. According to the various different equivalency calculators out there on the interwebs, the 1:16:47 I ran is good for a low 2:40 marathon. Accounting for altitude and total non-taper, I am going to say that I'm more likely in high 2:30 shape. I have a number in mind for New Orleans that right now seems pretty reasonable given my current fitness and the three months of training to come, but you never really know until five or six weeks out where the fitness is going to land. The goalposts will no doubt change as I move through the process.

With all that said, I still consider this little marathon block as no more than base building for the real work to come next season. The obvious goal given the winter speed work is Western States, but I'm still far from committed to that. UTMB became something of a strong possibility earlier in the week, and I would be super stoked if I could make that work, but really there is plenty of time to be thinking about these things. I wonder if teammate Scott Jaime will be cashing in the WS ticket he just won at Mountain Masochist? He's got two weeks to figure it out.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Boyd Lake Half (HCTR)

We really couldn't have asked for better weather this morning for the Heart Center of the Rockies half marathon around Boyd Lake. In fact it was so nice out that it almost seemed criminal to be running roads rather than singletrack up in the mountains, but that was compensated for with the stunningly beautiful mountain vistas we would enjoy while running around the lake.

Having not run a half marathon in almost four years, and with a PR of 1:25:49 (Horsetooth Half), I was pretty sure that barring disaster I would be setting a new standard for myself over the distance, but really had very little to go on in terms of road form. Dakota and I did a bunch of intervals from 400 meters up to two miles at the track on Tuesday in the 5:20 to 5:30 range, which felt fairly comfortable, so I figured 5:50s for 13.1 would be a reasonable goal.

I met up with Chris Aronson at the start, before getting out for a four mile jog to warm up. Chris told me that Kelly Christensen (1:11 at Crossroads) and Ryan Donovan (2:28 at Foco in 2009) were starting, so I figured at best I was running for third. Chris beat me by a couple of minutes a month ago at the Bacon Strip 10 mile, so by no means did I think a podium finish was likely, especially after spotting the ageless Andy Ames on the start line. Figuring there were likely to be other speedy road types in the field, I quickly reassessed and set my sights on a top-5 finish.

From the off, I settled quickly and comfortably into pace and watched seven guys head out in front of me. With Chris still behind, I found myself reassessing again and started thinking about winning my age group. I watched the lead pack of five go through the first mile in 5:30, and thought that two maybe three would hold that pace. I hit the lap button on my watch 20 seconds later at 5:52. After dropping off the paved bike path onto the gravel, the footing slowed a touch and I felt myself working just a little harder to keep on pace, splitting the second mile - still in eighth - in a steady and comfortable 5:51.

Soon after the second mile, I could hear Chris pulling up on my shoulder and figured a repeat of the Bacon Strip was getting set to play out. On the rolling dirt roads of the Bacon Strip course, Chris had breezed by me before the half and despite my best efforts had gone on to beat me convincingly. However, today I was clearly fitter and it was easy for me to keep pace with Chris as we began to work together. We chatted a bit, speculating about the guys up front, and I guessed that we would be rolling a few of them up before it was all said and done.

I missed the three-mile marker, but Chris called it at 5:49, which for me meant about 5:51. With mile four coming in at 5:53, I was feeling really good about the pace from an aerobic perspective, but was beginning to get a little concerned about my legs which just felt a little sore and lethargic, probably because they're not used to the faster turnover just yet. That will come.

We hit some pretty soft footing on the last mile of bike path around the two small lakes that make up the first section of the course, which may have accounted for a slow 6:02 fifth mile, before we headed out on the long, straight stretch of road to the north end of Boyd Lake. Shortly after hitting the road, Chris and I rolled up our first guy and then were soon on a second guy who was having some mechanical issues (Peter Vail, I think), which put us in sixth and seventh. The gap to the next guy was lengthy - probably two minutes - so through these gently rolling middle miles it was time to get the head down, focus and knock out some splits: 5:55, 5:48, 5:57.

At the turn west, I got a split on fourth and fifth, who were 2:00 and 1:35 up on Chris and I respectively. Feeling strong, and sensing that these guys had gone out too hard, it was soon evident that I was eating up the gap on fifth. Mile nine, which probably had a net downhill, was my fastest of the day at 5:41 and I was soon within shouting distance of fifth. By mile 10 (5:53), I had rolled past him and had also put a bit of a gap on Chris.

From here on in, we were back on the bike paths and it was time to squeeze out the remaining juice in search of the finish line. I knew I was going to catch fourth and was starting to see Andy in third come back to me. Mile 11 split at 5:48. Catching up to fourth, I realized it was Ryan Donovan who was obviously having a tough morning. The last two miles were just about getting the head down, blocking out the pain and pushing out whatever was left, which turned out to be a 5:53 and 5:44, with a final .33 into the finish for fourth overall.

Earlier in the week I was thinking a 1:17 would be a decent result, and so I was definitely pleased with the 1:16:47 I ended up with. However, if I'm going to hit my goal for New Orleans then there is clearly much work still to be done. With that said, I definitely think I'm heading in the right direction.

So Chris and I are now 1-1 in our impromptu mini-series with the coin flip to come at the Turkey Day 4 miler where we'll both be lucky to finish in the top 20. Speaking of Turkey Day, Mr. Top American will also be toeing the line where no doubt he'll be looking for some redemption after the half-hour spanking I handed out to him on the Big Hill in August. Should be a good little race within the race.

Results

Splits:

5:52
5:51
5:51
5:53
6:02
5:55
5:48
5:57
5:41
5:53
5:48
5:53
5:44
.33

1st four: 23:28
2nd four: 23:44
3rd four: 23:44

1-6: 35:26
7-13: 34:58