Thursday, September 07, 2006
Central Standard Time
Like Petey, we were forced to race in Flagstaff this past weekend to conform with the unusual and often petty rules of the NCAA. Because we began offical practice just 3 weeks prior, we had to compete at an NCAA sanctioned events. The meet we choose was the George Kyte Invitational at Buffalo Park.
After spending over 6 hours on the drive up to Flag on Friday afternoon/evening, we still had to get in our second run of the day which meant circling the parking lot of the Residence Inn for 30 minutes. To make matters worse, there was a Purina dog food factory situated right next door to the hotel so we were inhaling dog food fumes for the duration. I guess we really shouldn't have complained as Coach Ryan indicated that in Fayetteville (where he attended college), the Purina factory relentlessly produced dog food causing the city to be of such an odor all of the time. In addition, during the cold, Arkansas winters, they had to do 10 miles run on the 200 meter indoor track so we had no room for complaining.
On Saturday, we headed to the Park for an easy 5 mile run while the guys not competing did a very difficult hill work. After the run, we returned to the hotel for a nap, some college football, and anticipation of our "tempo run with a bunch of people".
At 5:00, the race finally began and we rolled out quite conservatively but faster than we were told to. After a 5:20 first mile, I was still comfortable and still holding back in a tempo run type of fashion. Three miles later, I think I passed the point where I was in control but I was not at the point of racing. This feeling lasted until the last 300 meters where I passed an ASU guy and finished in 8th place overall at 26:31. Our team won the meet and I won a long sleeve t shirt so I was pretty stoked.
The next morning, we did a 13 mile run on a forest road which was a refreshing change from the desert of Tucson. When all was said and done, I ran 81 miles for the week with 3 workouts and two moderate paced 10 mile efforts. So, needless to say, I was happy to take a rest day on Monday.
You all know I don't run on National Holidays.
After spending over 6 hours on the drive up to Flag on Friday afternoon/evening, we still had to get in our second run of the day which meant circling the parking lot of the Residence Inn for 30 minutes. To make matters worse, there was a Purina dog food factory situated right next door to the hotel so we were inhaling dog food fumes for the duration. I guess we really shouldn't have complained as Coach Ryan indicated that in Fayetteville (where he attended college), the Purina factory relentlessly produced dog food causing the city to be of such an odor all of the time. In addition, during the cold, Arkansas winters, they had to do 10 miles run on the 200 meter indoor track so we had no room for complaining.
On Saturday, we headed to the Park for an easy 5 mile run while the guys not competing did a very difficult hill work. After the run, we returned to the hotel for a nap, some college football, and anticipation of our "tempo run with a bunch of people".
At 5:00, the race finally began and we rolled out quite conservatively but faster than we were told to. After a 5:20 first mile, I was still comfortable and still holding back in a tempo run type of fashion. Three miles later, I think I passed the point where I was in control but I was not at the point of racing. This feeling lasted until the last 300 meters where I passed an ASU guy and finished in 8th place overall at 26:31. Our team won the meet and I won a long sleeve t shirt so I was pretty stoked.
The next morning, we did a 13 mile run on a forest road which was a refreshing change from the desert of Tucson. When all was said and done, I ran 81 miles for the week with 3 workouts and two moderate paced 10 mile efforts. So, needless to say, I was happy to take a rest day on Monday.
You all know I don't run on National Holidays.
