Training Aug. 2 - 9

This is a down week. No workouts, though I plan to race the Leesburg 20k on Sunday -- the goal there is to get in some pace work.

Monday - PM 10

Tuesday - 14 (6,8)

Wednesday - 16 ... The heat returned. Met Jake Marren near Georgetown and he took me for an epic loop through Rock Creek Park. He stopped at his place and I continued down Connecticut Ave., passing the zoo ... back through the park, took Independence Ave. rather than cut through the Mall. The heat literally smothered me, and my nutrition that day was pretty bad. This one was kind of epic. Man, I was really glad when this one was done.

Thursday - 9

Friday - AM 10

Saturday - 9

Sunday - 3 WU, 20K race (3rd, 67:38, 5:27 avg), 2.6 CD - 18 ... My goal for the Leesburg 20K was to start at marathon effort, run as comfortably as possible and finish within the top 3, for which the race offered cash prizes. I knew the race was "challenging," though I did not know to what degree. What I found out was that it was definitely rolling and that there were tough hills but that none of them were so tough as to rip you open. (The course, from what I heard, was not the same as last year's). As it turned out, we were aided by relatively cool weather -- and lots of downhills.
A 10K and 20K are run simultaneously, both out and back. I wanted to hang back early on, until 5K, and not get caught up in the wrong race. At 5K, everyone ahead of me turned back except for Michael Wardian, who had about 100 meters on me and would win this race for the third year in a row, and we kept on through a tough stretch of Dry Mill Road, the rolling, country (you might even say scenic) road that hosts the bulk of the race. Was there anyone behind me?
Around 4 miles, as we entered the W&OD Trail, an asphalt bike path, I could see there were not one but two runners within striking distance. My previous miles had been pretty slow, mostly because of the terrain, and as we hit a downhill grade, I really went with it. At the turnaround, I could see they were still close. Wardian had about 50 seconds on me. I then faux convinced myself I could catch Wardian, hoping that that effort could prevent me from getting caught. Five miles later, I thought perhaps I had broken free. Nope. At 11, I heard footsteps: Evan Jurkovich. I dug in a bit. I figured he probably has a better kick than me -- just about everyone does -- so I need try to take it away now. I wasn't tired, really, but I could also not run much faster. We turned left onto the final uphill stretch toward Market Station, and I had plenty left. But Evan had more. And he passed me. And I was kind of pissed -- at first. I would have been more pissed if I had been passed because I ran out of gas, but I got run down while running a big negative split. Also, as I found out after the race, he lives in D.C., so he should probably just join our team; that way the next time I lose to him it won't even bother me.
I ran the equivalent of a 1:11.15 half marathon effort, so, in all in all, this turned out fine.
Here are some of the splits I have: 1 (5:46), 2 (5:33), 3 (5:40), 4 (5:51), 5 (5:57) -- 28:48 -- 6 (5:21), ... something on my watch got messed up here ... 9 (5:20) 10 (5:25) ... My second 10K was 32:58 ... Run Washington article: http://www.runwashington.com/news/2814/

Total - 86