Fantastic run today! My goal was a 1:40 finish by working the pace down from 7:55 down to 7:30. (I'd need a 7:37 avg to make 1:40).

Got started at just the right pace, though some early downhill sections made the second mile faster than intended. Kept HR pretty steady in upper zone 2 for first 5 miles, then started inching it up. I continue to be surprised by how many people lose speed on the downhills; every time I'd get passed or folks would pull away, I'd catch up or pass them on the downhills.

At mile 9, I bumped it up another notch, finally passing and pulling away from the woman I'd been shadowing since about mile 2. So miles 10 and 11 were pushing a harder pace, into zone 4. Miles 12 and 13 were even harder, and I finished strong, realing in people the entire way.

I found myself concentrating well. Examples would be taking advantage of the downhills, chosing the shortest line on the curves, etc. Focusing on targets to overtake, and keeping pace up.

I'd say my pacing/HR control was pretty good. I could probably bump the effort just a little higher at mile five, rather than drift up slowly. Also, need to trust myself and maybe bump again a little earlier than mile 9

Legs were tight and right hip flexor was sore, so rather than stop moving, I went ahead and jogged back along the course for a bit. Maybe a total of a mile and a half -- very easy effort. That helped a lot.

Found Rodney and Brittney a chatted a bit. She had a good run. Found Aaron and, while we munched on some breakfast burritos, he congratulated me on my 3rd place AG finish. I was excited, as I hadn't even see the results yet. I guess John (jcagg90) is going to make me stop claiming that "I'm really not a runner" from now on.

Took advantage of the massage table, which helped my tight calves.


Need to get my weight back down. Though I didn't really notice it while running today, I'd say anywhere from 6 to 10 pounds lower should make a noticable improvement.


What can I say? I was targeting 1:40:00, but beat that with a 1:34:32 PR! It even earned me 3rd in my age group. It was a fantastic race for me!

I like the White Rock course, and find it nicely challenging with a mix of flat and mild-to-moderate hills. This was a smaller event, but well organized. Plenty of the food and water, incl. breakfast burritos. Even the weather turned out beautiful.