A Balance, Redefined

Running of the Leopards 5K

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Location:

Vestavia,AL,USA

Member Since:

May 31, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

Marathon Top 10 Finishes: 7 Bridges ('15), Utah Valley ('13), Salt Lake City ('08), Top of Utah ('07), and St. Louis ('04). Ran around the equator (24901.55) in 4,388 days.

Personal Records
Marathon 2:39 (SLC '08)
1/2 Marathon 1:12.30 (Provo River, aided '08)
10K 34:16 (Track, sea level '00)
10K 33:15 (Des 10K, aided '08)
8K 25:32 (Crack of Dawn, aided '13)
5K 16:44 (Track, sea level '00)
5K 16:07 (Running of the Leopards, aided '12)
 

Short-Term Running Goals:

NYC Marathon November 3, 2019 done 

London Marathon October 3, 2021 done

Tokyo Marathon March 3, 2024!!!

And my largest challenge to date, raise $20,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my cancer survivorship and in memory of those lost to blood cancer...
DONE! $26,403.70

https://pages.lls.org/tnt/al/london2021/awende

Long-Term Running Goals:

Enjoy being a Masters Runner.

Get under 3 hours one more time...

Personal:

Grew up outside Chicago and joined the blog while I lived in Salt Lake City. Now living outside Birmingham. I am married with two daughters. Wife thinks I'm crazy for doing marathons. And yes I am crazy I'm a scientist for a living...

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 331.25
RM 090416 Lifetime Miles: 136.06
Saucony Type A Lifetime Miles: 200.18
Nike Vaporfly Pink Lifetime Miles: 122.22
Saucony Ride #37 - Black Lifetime Miles: 56.50
Saucony Ride #38 - Neon Lifetime Miles: 53.50
Saucony Ride #39 - Grey Lifetime Miles: 59.50
Brooks Launch #38 - Grey Lifetime Miles: 65.25
Brooks Launch #39 - White Lifetime Miles: 57.50
Brooks Launch #40 - Blue Lifetime Miles: 54.00
Race: Running of the Leopards 5K (3.11 Miles) 00:16:07, Place overall: 6, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
6.000.003.000.000.000.000.009.00

Well I did a race. I ran it hard but looking back at last year's race report for this one was almost in the exact same mind set. The fact that I smashed that time and felt MUCH better after doing that is a great sign. As is the consistent theme in my life work and sleep have taken a toll on the training but the stress levels have significantly lessened the last week. I think that has helped. The more positive the outlook the overall better things get. 

I ran to the race start and then met up with another Adam (ACorn) we did a little extra up the canyon. There was a nice tailwind coming down. The start was very crowded this year with a number of people up there that should have been a bit farther back. I was fine lining up in the second row because I honestly had no idea what I had in my legs today. 

They started a few minutes late after a bunch of teacher/principal photos but it was an ok start 50 m in. I was content to stay in the third pack for the first 1/2 mi. Since I had just reread my race report I knew my splits from last year and wanted to stick with them as close as possible or whatever my body would allow me. Coming around the corner by the Post Office I was happy to see my three girls standing there cheering me on. My wife got a new camera as a late Christmas present and was happy to get some really good pics.

Mi 1: 5:16.73 HR 178 about 3-4 seconds faster than last year and felt good.

I just went with it from there. There were two groups of three people ahead of me going onto foothill and I really wanted to catch the chase pack. By the turn onto Sunnyside I was catching them just as ACorn was passing me. I attempted to go.

Mi 2: 5:14.73 HR 185 about 18 seconds faster than last year and still felt easy.

Now this last mile is where I crashed mentally last year. I was feeling much better and believe it or not my breathing was not that labored. I was catching up with another of the high school guys and wanted to get him before the track. I pulled alongside and he had pretty good support along the course and people started cheering for him to get me back. That helped me and I pulled away going onto the track.

Mi 3: 5:10.38 HR 188 about 16 seconds faster than last year, my HR tells me I was pushing but it felt good.

However with about 300m to go I just didn't have the racing feeling. Same as last year??? Three guys went to pass me in the final 150m. After the third one I had enough and finally mustered a "high school finish" to pass him back before the line. I wish I would have hammered the track but just didn't as much as the people passing me. My family had jetted down Sunnyside to beat me to the track and were there to cheer me on. My wife got an awesome picture of me "flying" down the final stretch.

 

0.1 M: 0:28.17 HR 191

Final time 16:07 (Chip)/16:09 (Garmin) ~40 seconds faster than last year!

NEW PR! Both wind and grade aided but hey I'm in my mid-30s, I'll take it...

My girls were adamant about running a race so afterwards we did a loop on the outside of the track. They really enjoy the excitement of these events... 

In the end I am super happy with the time. I was glad to get to chat with ACorn, Steve and a former BYU track star whom I'm embarrassed to say that even though we did a cool down together I'm blanking on his name right now. I'm still not sure how to get my competitive edge back but I think having run one of my fastest times ever with negative splits the entire way better get some confidence back!!!

After the race took the girls hiking for a little behind campus. Now unfortunately off to work. Have a great weekend.

Adidas Adistar (flats) #2 Miles: 9.00RM 090416 Miles: 0.10
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Tom on Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 12:38:58 from 67.199.179.59

Congrats on the race and 6th overall and 1st AD. This was the first time running that course for me, man that was quite the fun 5K with both downhill and tailwind nearly the entire way.

From ACorn on Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 12:42:20 from 24.2.76.146

Thanks for the warmup before the race. Hopefully we can get a bunch of runs in this year, I have much to learn from you.

Great job with the race, you went out hard and didn't fade.

From Jake K on Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 13:08:50 from 67.177.21.60

Adam - awesome running today!! You completely smashed your time from last year, and it looks like you tied your best time ever (Magna '08). That is great. Really smart running - I bet a lot of people go out too hard and crash and burn on this course... you had a great negative split. Mustering up that final kick on the track takes more racing - its so hard to do... at least you got one of those guys back - nothing wrong with a high school finish as long as you weren't jogging the first 3 miles! :-)

You should be happy about this one - a great season opener. I think you need to figure out some more races to run b/c clearly you are in shape!

From Rob Murphy on Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 15:18:58 from 76.27.122.13

Excellent race. Fine time.

From Steve on Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 16:19:05 from 66.87.67.143

Great race today! I'm sure you'll be kicking my butt in the next one..

From jtshad on Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 16:23:59 from 71.208.169.35

That is an excellent time, congrats on a strong race.

From Dan Varga on Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 16:31:38 from 174.27.226.24

Nice race. Was it Matt Poulsen you were cooling down with by chance?

From Fritz on Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 17:01:39 from 97.126.220.197

Nice job Adam. Glad to see you are back racing again. Work on a race day/saturday? No fun. I hope you and your family stick around here.

From JD on Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 17:22:05 from 97.117.112.193

nice job Adam!

From MichelleL on Sun, Mar 25, 2012 at 05:14:51 from 42.98.231.26

Awesome time Adam. Congrats!

From Jake K on Sun, Mar 25, 2012 at 14:26:36 from 67.177.21.60

Adam - looks like the official results have you at 16:07 - so you beat your Magna time!

From Adam RW on Sun, Mar 25, 2012 at 23:09:40 from 155.101.152.123

Thank you all for the support. The comment sure help. It is such a good feeling to be back at the same speed I was in 2008. I think I am FINALLY ready to focus on the mileage and dear I say a marathon this year??? Suggestions for the next race?

Tom, It was a great race. Sorry we didn't get to chat.

Adam, I don't know what I have to teach you, you were the one who beat me today and on the track in October...

Jake, Your support and presence on the blog has really helped bring back some of that "team feel" we had back in 2008.

Rob, Everyone was asking for you this morning.

Steve, It was great to talk with you this time around. We'll see what happens next race but I think you still have me.

Jeff, We really need to get together again sometime. Good luck at Boston!!!

Dan, Thanks for the support and nice 25K yesterday!

Fritz, Looks like you had fun yesterday. Can't believe you raced 10X the distance I did... And we found out we will be around at least another year. That grant I was telling you about came through in the 12th hour.

JD, Long time no see. It is great to be back. Hopefully I can maintain it again for a season.

Michelle, You are missed here in the states. Glad to see you are still running strong and congratulations on your win yesterday. Nice racing!!!

Jake (round two), I will take it. It is the official time and it is the boost I need to finally help me overcome the fear of this last injury.

From Andrea on Mon, Mar 26, 2012 at 09:35:59 from 201.54.233.42

Great race Adam! Yours and the other Adam's race reports make me want to run it next year just to see how fast I could do it! New PR is awesome!!

I'm looking forward to (hopefully) running more with you this spring/summer! We can push me to run faster :)

From bgrun on Mon, Mar 26, 2012 at 09:57:38 from 68.251.39.6

FANTASTIC! WHOO HOO!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I'm SO glad the KSW Times2 had the great pictures and link for this race. Sorry I missed your phone call yesterday, we were out doing yard work, we barely made a dent in it. Spring sure has sprung!

KEEP ON KEEPING ON!

YOU ARE DOING IT RIGHT!

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