Some Training

Mileage was alright this week hitting around 85 I think. Had a great workout on Saturday may 22nd. It was a team half marathon time trial on the track. For the workout I was pacing Mark Burke for a 1:14 half marathon. We ended up crossing the line in 1:14:50 and instead of stopping I decided to keep going. I was feeling good so figured I would take advantage of the feeling. I started to drop my mile pace down to around 5:30 for another 4 miles. In total I ran 17 miles in 1:36

USATF 15k Trail Champs

On Sunday May 14 was the USA 15k Trail championship race in Spokane WA. This was my very first trail race and it was a crazy experience. I competed in the race along side two of my teammates Oliver Bear Don't Walk and Emily Uhlig. We left Bellingham at 11am on Friday and arrived in Spokane roughly 6 hours later. The drive seemed to go by pretty fast, probably because I spent most of my time being a good student and studied (boring).  While going through the mountain we had to make a stop to play in what little snow is left up there. When we arrived in Spokane our first stop was the packet pick-up then shortly afterwards we headed to the course for a preview. The weather was dry and around 75 degrees I think, which is much hotter than what we've been getting here in the pacific northwest. The distinctive feature of this course was the one massive hill! It was a monster! 

Middle section of the hill. 

Overall the race didnt go too well for me. The legs were feeling kind of sluggish and combined with the temperature my body wasnt cooperating with me all that well. The course was pretty flat for the most part aside from one big hill. Whenever I think of trail races all I picture are hills so I was expecting a really mountainous looking course. The course consisted of two loops to complete the 15k. The first loop felt a little tough but I figured I would be able to make up any lost ground on the second loop. The big hill was at the start of each loop which made it somewhat easier to get up on the first loop, but the second time was brutal! I managed to keep running all the way up the hill despite seeing other runners around me walking up it. From that point on my body was screaming at me! I was doing everything to keep a positive mindset and not slow my pace. When I saw that the time on my watch was at 55 minutes I started my final drive to the finish. I knew I was in 9th place and 10th place person was fairly close behind me. I was able to hold off 10th for the last portion of the race. The course ended up being long by .3 miles this year.

Overall I had a good experience with my first trail race! Ive learned from the race and expect to redeem myself the next trail race I do.

Place: 9th

Time: 59:54