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
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
43.000.003.000.000.000.000.0046.00
Saucony Rides #8 Miles: 4.50Brooks Launch Orange #2 Miles: 18.50Brooks Launch Blue #3 Miles: 6.00Saucony Rides #9 Miles: 8.00Adidas Adistar (flats) #2 Miles: 9.00RM 090416 Miles: 0.10
Night Sleep Time: 47.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 47.00Weight: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
2.000.000.000.000.000.000.002.00

Planned on running this AM but opted for the sleep. I did not want a repeat of my last trip resulting in a cold for two weeks. So in the PM I did 2 mi on the treadmill to get warmed up for PT.

Saucony Rides #8 Miles: 2.00
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
12.500.000.000.000.000.000.0012.50

Well back to the grind. Last week's change of scenery was nice but I did miss the family. Coming back to the pile of work that was waiting (and growing) while I was gone is daunting but I'm getting used to it and also got a surprising amount of work done while gone. I know see why traveling can be good because the time on the airplane with no distractions is great. 

AM: Commute run in.
2.5 mi Avg. 9:04

PM: Southerly loop with John.
10 mi Avg. 8:40 HR 129

Brooks Launch Orange #2 Miles: 12.50
Night Sleep Time: 6.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.50Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
2.500.000.000.000.000.000.002.50

Only time for the commute run in. A real bummer as I had it on my calendar since last week that I was going to do the Black Sheep workout this morning :( Maybe next Tuesday.

Avg. 9:36 HR 132

Saucony Rides #8 Miles: 2.50
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.000.000.000.006.00

A&W commute run. Legs felt tired today. Maybe I was too spoiled being at sea level all last week.

Avg. 9:01 HR 132

Brooks Launch Blue #3 Miles: 6.00
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.000.000.000.008.00

Up late so I slept in and hitched a ride to work. After the girls were done went back to work and did the Memory Grove loop. It was perfect timing for a sunset over the Salt Lake and hitting the Grove just in time to see the Capital Building all lit up.

Avg. 7:46 HR 162

Saucony Rides #9 Miles: 8.00
Night Sleep Time: 6.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.50Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.000.000.000.006.00

Timed another run for a sun show. This time just perfect for a very colorful sunrise. The weather was perfect. Short sleeve and shorts. A&W commute run.

Avg. 8:19

Brooks Launch Orange #2 Miles: 6.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(4)
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(14)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
43.000.003.000.000.000.000.0046.00
Saucony Rides #8 Miles: 4.50Brooks Launch Orange #2 Miles: 18.50Brooks Launch Blue #3 Miles: 6.00Saucony Rides #9 Miles: 8.00Adidas Adistar (flats) #2 Miles: 9.00RM 090416 Miles: 0.10
Night Sleep Time: 47.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 47.00Weight: 0.00
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