Well, they say that for every up there is a down, for every positive there is a negative, and that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction ... I believe them.

After a very positive and uplifting win in Boston, I flew back to Austin for two days in which I did a solid repeat 300 workout and an up tempo 90min medium long-run.  After that, I took a very early flight out on Thursday and 10 hours later found myself walking into the lobby of the Doubletree Hotel in Berkeley Marina. 

As soon as I got to the hotel, I ran into Brian Olinger (congrats on the expected little one brother), a good friend of mine who mentioned that he was going to take the train into San Fransisco that evening in order to see Alcatraz and grab dinner since there was nothing locally around us.  A 45min run later, Brian and I were headed to San Fransisco.

Alcatraz was pretty sweet.  What was even better though was the view we then had of it from the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant in fishermans warf, pier 39.  It was a chilly evening and after getting lost on a trolley that broke down, we got back to the hotel around 945pm ... just in time to check some emails and get to bed.

Friday was very relaxing.  It was a chilly and very windy day, but I headed over to the track to get a look at it before the following days event.  On the ride home I decided that because of the cold, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go back that night for the longer invitational events and opted instead for a night of a movie (Yes man) and room service.

The next morning would provide a lot of the same weather, but the forcast promised improvement.  Around lunchtime I decided to head to the hotel's cafe to get a muffin and a couple bananas as I had the day before.  Unfortunately, they were out of both!  With no other restaurants being nearby, I had to settle for a glazed crueler, a chocolate crueler, and an apple ... not the healthiest pre-race in the world.

At race-time, the weather had improved (still a little windy), but I was still not feeling all that "hyped" for the race.  I told myself this was a good thing, since it meant I wasn't wasting nervous energy and then found that with a little warm-up, my focus came right around.  We had pacemakers for the race, so the remaining wind did not cause much nervousness as the race was set to start.  The only interruption to my concentration came as I was beginning to do some last minute strides and the official brought me a new number to put on my chest.  This caused me to miss doing any last minute strides and get on the line cold ... something I don't think was a big deal.

The gun went off and we ran a quick first lap in 58 seconds.  The pace felt quick, but not out of control and I was easily able to tuck into 4th and tell myself to relax and run the pace with comfort.  At 800 meters (1:57), I was confident and telling myself to start thinking about positioning to go for the win because I was gonna run FAST.  At 1100, I made a move onto the leaders shoulder, but by 1200 (2:57), a challenge from Michael Coe caused me to relax back again and settle in behind the two before planning to mount a final attack in the last 200/300 meters.  Somewhere between 1200 and 1300, something happened.  I didn't lose concentration, I didn't wuss out, but I found myself being gapped by Torrence and Coe.  at 1300, Tommy Schmidt made a move around me and it seemed that every time I tried to react and push, I ran myself more into the ground.  A 31 second 200 and a final 36 second 200 later, I crossed the line in a disappointing 4:04.

Originally, I was baffled at this result.  How did go from being confident that I was about to run 3:55 to running 4:04.  They seem so far apart!  After thinking about it though, I am positive about the results.  I look at the combination of travel, training, weather, food, etc. that led up to the race and I am no longer surprised by the last lap 67.  With how easy the first 1200m felt, I am positive that a few weeks from now, when I have not traveled across the country, am not still running 95 miles/week, am not battling wind, and do not eat donuts for lunch, I will run a time that is going to blow peoples minds.

I am confident in my coach, I am confident in my training, I am confident in my abilities, and I am confident in myself. 

Up next: USA 1 Mile Road Championships in Minneapolis.