Over Memorial Day Weekend I ran the Blossom Time Run 5.25 mile road race. I did this race last year and was happy with my 29:17. I remember feeling fresh and strong. Not this year. I felt tired and sluggish the whole week leading up to the race. I did a 7 miler on Thursday with friend Ofer Barniv and it felt like a death march. Every step was labored and heavy. I lined up on Sunday feeling confident in my fitness but not fresh. Ofer Barniv and James Sjostrom were in the race along with perennial winner and local legend Fred Kieser. The first mile is uphill and I went through with Ofer and James in about 5:35. We were 5-10 seconds of the lead group but it felt pretty relaxed. I started feeling the hurt in mile 2 and knew it'd be a long race. Mile 2 is mostly uphill and we hit 5:40. Ofer, James and I were throwing surges at each other for the next mile and they decided to drop the pace down a bit. I went through mile 3 in about 5:30. Mile 4 I was along and really feeling it. Just trying to hold on at this point I still managed at sub-5:40. With about about a half mile to go I got passed and had absolutely no response. At this point I only cared about finishing. Mile 5 was another 5:35 and I finished in 28:50. I was about 30 seconds better than last year, which I'll take. I was hoping to be at least a minute faster than last year but I know it wasn't my best effort so I'm not too worried about it.
Since the race, I've gotten in some good training sessions including a 14 mile run on Saturday (followed by an afternoon swim); 60 miles of hilly riding on Sunday (after watching Quassy online in the morning, I was motivated to do some hills); a long swim Monday; and a long brick on Tuesday (1:30 ride followed by intervals(2 mile, 1 mile, 1 mile, 2 mile)). Feeling pretty good after this block.
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