"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail"

Went to track w/ Darin for a pre-work speed workout. Neither of us felt great before we started and thought we would be hard-pressed to do our planned 1600, 1200, 800, 400 intervals at 6:00/mi pace.

 77F, 3MPH S wind, 70% humidity

Lunchtime easy 5-miler. Very hot and sunny. It's going to be a long summer!

92F, S20

AP: 8:13 (walked for a little while due to phone call)

I've been working on my short game lately. Very few long runs, but added speed work once a week. I've been enjoying running 5Ks this year -- 5Ks are a whole different breed than halfs or full marathons.

My buddy, Darin has been a little faster than me, lately. He beat me in the last 2 races we've run, and I had one goal in mind at this race...to finish ahead of Darin.

I arrived at the schedule 8AM race at about 6:30, as the volunteers were setting up. I paid for my entry, then decided to check out the course. I had plenty of time to walk/jog the course as a warmup, and was pleased to see it was mostly flat. The start is a very gradual uphill for about 1/4 mile, followed by a slight downhill for about 1/8 mile, then completely flat until the last 3/4 mile -- with the 1/8 mile uphill, followed by a 1/4 mile gradual downhill to the finish. I knew if I could somehow be ahead of Darin with 1/4 mile to go, he wouldn't be catching me (I like downhills )

It was about 75 degrees, and sunny at start time. The race started promptly at 8AM. During the 1st mile I was almost surprised at how good I felt -- 6:05, and I knew Darin was behind me somewhere. At about 1.5 miles a guy passed me, so I kept him in my sights. I crossed the 2nd mile in 6:18 (this mile was flat and a little into a 5-10 MPH breeze, which felt good). Darin was still somewhere behind me (but, I was afraid to look back ) At about 2.5 miles I caught and passed the guy who had passed me a mile earlier. I was still feeling good...thinking "If Darin catches me, I'll have a little left in the tank to battle back). I turn the corner and headed up the slight incline with about .3 mile to go, then crested the top and saw the finish line..and kicked it up a notch. There was nobody in range to catch, and I still didn't look back. But, I could tell that nobody was close behind (you can usually tell by the people standing on the sides if someone is making a move). I crossed the line in 19:35..my best 5K this year, and only about 8 seconds shy of my all-time PR! Darin finished 9 seconds behind with 19:44 (1st in our AG)...and I regained the top spot of our little running group (Dave, the other member of our lunchtime running club ran a different 5K on Saturday and finished in 20:20...he's still recovering from a calf issue). I ended up 6th overall, winning the Overall Masters' award.

I ended up winning a plaque (for overall masters 1st place), and a $100 gift certificate to the local community pool (which I gave back, as I live about 40 miles away and really couldn't use).

It was a fun morning, and I know Darin will be gunning extra hard for me next race! (I really need to start ramping up for SGM, soon, but am having lots of fun with the short races!)

Morning quick 3.5 w/ Darin and Dave.

AP: 713

77F, sunny

Solo lunchtime run in the heat! 94F, S15 (wind felt OK running into it, but when it was behind me, I couldn't feel it.)

AP: 7:55

Ran w/ Darin before work. Felt very sluggish (did abs class for the first time in at least a year yesterday. Now I ache all over :(. Both hips have been feeling sore (like ITB...not sure what's up). I've been cutting back on the distance..i should be feeling better, not worse.

80F, S15

AP: 7:52

Missplaced my Garmin...will look for it tonight. I'm a little lost without it.

Ran before work wtih Darin and Dave. I haven't had a chance to run in the past 5 days..it was good to get out and run.

Ran the first 5 miles easy, and walked last .5 miles.

80F, S20

AP: 7:35 (running), with 0.5 cooldown, AP: 8:02

Solo run at lunchtime. It was only about 85 degrees, so it wasn't too bad.

I've been having some hip pain lately, and it's got me a little concerned. I'm about to start ramping up the miles, but I don't feel it's a good idea. I'm pretty sure it's the ITB (outside of hip on both sides). The plan is to take a week off, get some new shoes, and revitalize my plans -- while doing some low-impact cross-training (bike riding, swimming, walking).

85F, cloudy, S6

AP: 805

Pre-work jog w/ Darin in my new Kohl's Asics (some sort of Gel's -- I'm going to see if shoes make that much difference. I paid $45 for them.)

Shoes felt good. Still feeling a little hip/ITB pain on left side (right side has subsided). I know this happened a few years ago, and I can't remember how it went away. I'll RICE it often, but I need to start ramping up for SGM....really, really I do.

82F, sunny, 5S

AP: 7:45

5 miles with Darin before work. The new Kohl's Asics feel fine, so far. The hip pain is still present on the left side, but not too bad. I'm sure it will go away with time...

AP: 7:31

78F, S5, sunny