My new 10K PR

I ran my first 10K in about two years on June 7th. It was probably the most difficult course i have ever run for a 10K. It was all on trails and up and down hills. The race started and you went right up a very long hill. No time to leg your pace set in or anything like that, just straight into the hill. I looked at my watch at the top and we were already 7:30 into the race, meaning the first hill was more than a mile long! The rest of the race were rocky rollers through the forest and the last bit was back down the hill we first came up, which was a nice reprieve. My goal was to break 40 min. I had never done it before and i just barely made it in 39:58. I got 9th overall and first in my age group, which was a nice bonus to a hard day of running. I have super bad allergies right now and i am kind of drained because of it.
The Summit Center Classic is in a couple weeks. It is a two-day, two-stage road bike race and i am looking forward to it, but i might have to work and that would kill my plans to race it. We will wait and see. Until then i have to get over the pollen attack and hopfully feel good enough to get back out and keep training. Only 5 more weeks til the Mountain Man Triathlon!

my representation...

My brother asked me tonight about what tattoo would represent me. He, i assume wants to get something to represent his family tattooed on somewhere. It took me a little bit to think about what represents me and this is what i came up with:

this sounds kind of gay but here it is...a sunrise, because you don't know what the potential of the day has to offer, just like me, no one knows the potential of me yet, it brings light and warmth, and everyone can enjoy it, it is understated and people don't necessarily embrace it but they know that every time they see it, god has blessed them with a new day. I think that would be the best description of me

As i think more i have to add this too. A sunrise can be hard to deal with as well, for those going through cancer or another illness, another sunrise means another day of pain but also another day to fight back the demons. The sun could be clouded and a cold wind could blow. No one said every sunrise was going to be gorgeous and i think that explains every human as well.

Not every person has good days, they are not always going to be exactly like you want, but there is always the reassurance that the sun is going to rise and things will get better. God has made a promise to us that the sun will always rise and every day will be filled with new challenges. I think that is a pretty good representation of my life.

Back to swimming

I got back in the pool after a 3 week hiatus. It was nice to get a break to heal and recover, let the muscles become stronger and take a break. I have started running again consistently as well. In fact, i did 4x1mile repeats the other day. I didn't do them on a track because it has always been harder to keep pace on a track, so i did them on the streets around my house. Keeps the pace more realistic too. I ran 6:21, 6:08, 5:51, and 6:12. I figured the last one was slower and it was time to stop. But, i thought about it and it was only 4 seconds slower than my second mile and it was the same direction on the streets. So, anyway it was a good workout and felt good to run (relatively) fast again.
Back to swimming. I got back in the pool. Swam 1300m yesterday and the last 700m was in 13min 30sec. Which is very motivating. I have a triathlon planned for July 20th. And it has a 700m swim and i want to get my swim down to around or under 13 minutes at the very slowest. Ideally a low 12min swim would be great. My bike and run splits are going to be my strong points and if i could drop my swim down, i am looking at, maybe, a podium finish. At least maybe an age group podium finish. That would be the highlight of my triathlon career thus far.

Runners Suck!

Don't get your knickers in a tiffy, i really do not hate runners. I am one myself and i could not imagine a world without running. I have spoken on this very blog about the wonderful environment i live in. The one with all the professional runners meandering through flagstaff. This is a true blessing to have these talented men and women using my home as training for their many worldly exploits. Many of them find great success due to their training at high altitude. I take for granted the absolutely wonderful conditions i get to live in and amongst throughout the year.
I am writing this blog because of those very runners i speak so highly about. Let me preface this story a little: Last year, i was ending my senior campaign on the track. It was two weeks after my last race and there was a 5K, the "Run for the Mountain" to be exact. I decided to run it and ran well, and won the race. I ran last week in Denver and won my age group, and got 8th overall in a 5K. Today was the same 5k that i won 365 days ago. I think i could win it again. I sign up, the gun goes off and as we are running the first mile of the race, i am in the top 10 individuals. The 10K and 5K races start together. The differentiation between the racers is the color of their race number, 5K is red, 10K is black. I am glancing over at all the fit gentlemen around me and find that there are some familiar faces. A lot of the local pro runners are running right next to me and they have red numbers! These professionals are running the 5K! There goes my hope for a repeat title. But i end up running my best, i am 28 seconds slower than last year and am the first non-professional runner to finish. Makes me feel good, seeing as though, including the race, i have only run maybe 9 times since mid march.
Overall, i am bitter that the pros were there but it makes me more excited to train to try and beat them next time. It also makes me excited that they are even there even though my repeat title was stripped from me and went to someone who run professionally. It is also a great show and tell of my fitness right now, and i am excited for the rest of the summer to see just how fast i can go.

SNOW IN MAY

I hate the cold! I can't say it enough, I hate the cold. I like the snow, hate the cold that comes with it. It is May here in arizona and the rest of the world. May is when the weather starts getting nice, the bikes come out and the sun is always shining. Phoenix starts inching toward 100 degrees and here in flagstaff the temps become perfect in the mid to high 70s. The spring winds that flagstaffians are so used to finally stop and the weather becomes down right awesome.
Not today. No. Not today. The wind came back yesterday with avengence. 45 mph gusts and a horrible start to Bike to Work Week. I rode. Don't count me out, i toughed out the wind with fury. 24 miles, half of which were right into the darn stuff. But, not in recent memory can i remember a day during bike to work week when we had snow. thats right, snow! i wake up to maybe a consistent 3 inches on the groud and huge, ominous flakes floating to the ground, heavily. We had a forest fire just yesterday! And now it is snowing! Unbelieveable. I am going to try and tough out the snow and hop on my bike for at least a couple miles today. Its bike to work week and i can't leave snow as an excuse for saving the planet and my wallet from the ravages of gas.

Denver

I have never been to denver realistically. I had driven through it on a family trip through the states once, but never stopped and looked around. As far as cities go, it is pretty clean and their downtown is really nice and busy. But, i get claustrophobic in cities and would never like to do more than visit them.
I took a trip to denver last week and it was a blast. I visited a friend of mine who goes to the University or Denver or DU. That campus is absolutely gorgeous! The whole campus was thought out and built with a lot of open space and grass and the architecture is fabulous. It is a really great compus.
Anyway, i went to denver, saw the sites, went to a rockies game, got my ears pierced. It was a blast. I went to denver and the first day i was there, there was a flyer for a 5K race happening on Saturday the 10th, the day i fly out. Well, being a competitive person my self, i decided to run it. I looked up results and figured in my horrible shape right now, i could get top 20 or 25. Which is good enough for me. I went running the next day, ran about 5 miles and averaged just over 7min miles. this is maybe only the 5th or 6th time i have run since the middle of march because i have been trying to heal a stress fracture in my foot. It has only since started feeling good enough to run on. I thought about the race a little more and i didn't know if spending $30 on registration for the race was worth it if i wasn't going to get a medal. Remember, i am a really competitive person. Just running a 5K isn't enough for me. So, i decide against the race. The day before, a couple friends of the friend i am visiting are running and they end up talking me into it after much persuasion. I hope for under a 20 min 5K maybe top 20. Which i decided i would be happy with.
The gun goes off and i am feeling pretty good, the weather is perfect for running, high 40s to low 50s and a slight breeze that ends up turning to a brisk wind by the awards ceremony. I start ou tin about 20th place and slowly work my way up. The pack is starting to spread out and by the 2 mile mark i am in 8th place. i move into the 7th, my highest overall place throughout the race and end up getting passed once more. I finish in 8th place overall, 1st in my age group with a time of 19:17. Totally blew my expectations out of the water. God was looking down on me. I am so blessed to have the fitness i do. I don't take it for granted any day of my life.
I have not ran a low 19 min 5k since i was in high school. I need to run a little more and try to drop it under 19min now.
This was a great end to a great trip to dnever, i couldn't have expected or imagined any better of a trip.

The pain felt in your hands as you try and speed down rocky trails on a fully rigid single speed is horrible. It goes away and you feel so much better when you finish your ride and look back on everything you accomplished that most people do with gears. It feels pretty great. Only through hardships do you grow stronger. And i think that holds true even on a bicycle. I am stronger because of it, i learned and i think i need to buy suspension for my bike.