faster with age

     I ran 10 miles today at 8:18 pace. My hip didn't bother me at all today like it did last Monday after last weeks  race and after every other run the past couple of weeks that has followed any faster running. Might be because I took ibuprofen before I went. I guess I'll never know.

     Just checked the results from Saturdays race. I was 10th overall and thought it was kind of funny that the top 15 other than me were all high school cross country runners. One geezer in the middle of all the kids. Probably older than most of their dads.

     Ran 10 miles this morning up around the reservoir. I ran the first 6 miles at 8:21 pace then picked it up and averaged 7:09 for the last 4 miles. Overall pace for 10 miles was 7:53.

     Ran for an easy 7 miles this morning at 8:29 AP.

     Went to the track this morning to do some intervals. After a 3 mile warm up, my hip was a little sore and since faster running seems to make it worse I bailed on the workout and went home, took some ibuprofen and went for 7 more miles to make it an even 10. 7:48 pace on the first 3 and 8:07 for the 7 miles. My hip felt good on the second run.

     4 miles at 8:23 pace.

     The Tremonton Turkey Trot is a small town race I decided to give a try on the recommendation of  Scott E. It only costs a dollar and that includes a T-shirt and a flat accurate course and age group winners all get turkeys. I Knew I wasn't in PR shape but thought I could run a good time. The weather forecast looked bad and it was raining and windy when we left home. When we arrived at the race, the rain had about stopped. The wind was still there but not as bad. I went for a 2.5 mile warm up and the conditions seemed ok. I had brought tights to wear if the weather was too bad but decided to just go with shorts after the warm up. Just as they were calling people over to start the race, the wind picked up and the rain started really pouring. .8 of the first mile was directly into the wind. The temperature was barely above freezing and after running directly into the driving rain for the first mile, I looked down and my legs were bright red. I finished the first mile in 6:09. Now the rest of the race should have been 1/2 crosswind and half tailwind. The crosswind was better but didn't feel all that great either. I was feeling beat and just couldn't make my legs go any faster. and slowed clear to 6:21 for this mile. The 3rd mile should have been about 1/2 tailwind but the wind was starting to switch from a South to a North wind so there was actually some headwind on this stretch. I finished the 3rd mile in 6:12 and the last .1 in 31 sec. [5:18 pace]. The rain changed to snow and the wind got even worse.

     This was a faster course than last weeks and I thought my fitness would be a bit better with another week of training under my belt since the short break I took after SGM. I thought I might be able to take another 20 seconds off my time from last week but was surprised to end up slower even with the bad weather. I felt sluggish during my warm up and really didn't feel strong during the race. I guess it just wasn't my day to run a good time. I did get a turkey for winning my age group so that made it more worthwhile. 

     I ran another 5 after I got home.