an extra man

To close out the fall racing season, I decided to just go race everything in site and see what results followed. I had done little preparation at all for this as I have just tried to get my miles in and the workouts have been scattered. In a 10 day period, I raced 5 times. 3 of these races were 5k's and despite running over everything from a flat to a very rolling course in cold, windy conditions to warm and still, I ran within like 3 seconds each time. The other race was a warm and windy Route 66 1/2 where I sustained 5:30 pace feeling pretty comfortable in effort but with legs that felt leaden. I proceeded to hop in to the marathon after my race and pace store associate Pyle through his sub3 hour quest which unfortunately was a bust and then I paced a long string of folks into a nasty headwind before booking it roudabout to the finish for an impromptu marathon. Three days later, I ran our OKC turkey trot on a frigid blustery day trying to run away from a college kid, only to get left in the last quarter mile. I probably didn't gain a whole lot from these efforts as they're not particularly of merit to me but it is a good lesson in teaching the psyche to run hard even when in full lethargy and dead-leggedness. I will intend to give some more races a try starting around February, with the intention of a good 1/2 marathon performance, but as of late have hit a speed bump with a bit of a stomach bug that has ended a good string of high mileage days. I have been enjoying my last couple days lessened on the roads with some films: How to train your dragon, The Lebowski (Jenny's 1st time), Onimasa, The Extra man and looking to refresh the mind and body.