Running Log

15 mile long run. I intentionally started slow, running the first five miles averaging 8 minutes per mile. I felt very comfortable, so I decided to slowly increase my pace each mile, eventually running the 15th mile in 6:58. At the end of the run, I still felt well within myself and could have run longer, but my goal was to run 15 miles today and I didn't want to push it too hard. It was about 66 degrees when I started my run with a light breeze, which was nice. 

I experimented with running with water bottles along the Mississippi so I would have water along the way. It was a little cumbersome, but I think the hydration definitely helped me in the late, faster miles. I also took a pouch of Honey Stinger chews with water around mile 9, and that probably helped too. 

I started this run hoping to run 11 miles between 7:00 and 7:30 per mile. After five miles, I was losing steam quickly due to dehydration. It was 75 degrees with high humidity, which made for a tough run. I knew I was dehydrated but didn't have access to water, so I just had to suffer through the last 5-6 miles. Ended up at 8:00/mile. 

I learned the valuable lesson that when it's hot with high humidity to go out at a slower pace (and to drink as much as I can before I start my run)

Planned day off. I feel pretty lethargic from yesterday's tough run, but I should be feeling better tomorrow. I can't believe how much the heat/humidity takes out of me during longer runs. 

5 miles recovery. 8:27/mile. A nice, relaxing run that didn't take much out of me. 

Lactate threshold run. I did a 1.5 mile warmup, then did a 6.2 mile LT run. I averaged 6:33/mile which was a confidence booster. I was running around 90-95% effort, so I could have pushed it a little more, but didn't want to run all out. I am very happy with 6:33/mile. The goal is to push my tempo pace down to the low 6s this summer. This was a very enjoyable run. 

I'm planning on doing a 5 mile recovery tomorrow and a 17 mile long run on Saturday

5 mile easy run. I got the second COVID-19 shot yesterday, and I had chills and was sweating all night, so I got a terrible night's sleep. My arm is sore, I have a headache, and my muscles ache. Hopefully the side effects will subside before my long run tomorrow. I could have easily skipped today's run but didn't want to do that. 

17 mile long run. It was around 60 degrees. I started with the intent to run 7:30/mile the whole run instead of starting slow and speeding up throughout the run like I usually do. It ended up working well, but I was pushing too hard the last few miles for a long run. I drank two 500ml water bottles during the run and ate a pack of Honey Stinger chews during mile 10. I was still pretty dehydrated after the run. 

I didn't feel 100% due to lingering side effects from my second COVID shot, but overall it was a good run. Since high school, the only time I can remember being in better shape than this was when I trained for the Pocatello marathon, which was in August 2013. I'm feeling great and hope to be able to stay consistent. I need to sign up for a race to keep me motivated. 

5 easy miles at 8:10 pace. It was sprinkling when I left, which quickly turned into a downpour. I was running in several inch deep water by the end of the run. It's that sort of adventure that makes running enjoyable to me. 

My legs are feeling pretty heavy from my long run on Saturday. It felt good to get some blood flowing. I don't have much soreness, and I'm planning on doing a 12 mile medium-long run tomorrow. 

12.12 miles at an easy pace. I'm still feeling lingering soreness from my Saturday long run, which tells me I pushed the pace too much. Today I ran 7:58/mile, and it felt relatively easy. It was around 74 and humid this morning, so I lost a lot of water (sweat) during my run. I feel good overall but need the soreness in my quads to go away. 

Scheduled day off

9.53 total miles with 3 1-mile fast intervals. My times were 6:12, 6:09, and 6:00 for the three fast miles. I did half a mile rest (jogging) between each one. 

From the beginning of the run, I didn't feel great and worried that I wouldn't be able to do the fast miles, but whenever I feel that way I tell myself that if I skip my planned workout every time I don't feel 100%, I will almost always skip my planned workout. Anyway, I felt better than expected during the three fast miles and was happy with my run. I want to push my fast miles under 6 minutes consistently, but all things considered, I am happy with today's run.

66 degrees and humid

5 miles easy. 8:18 pace. Long run tomorrow

55 degrees and not humid

18 mile long run. I intentionally did this long run slower than last week. Last week I did 16 miles at 7:30 pace, and had basically nothing left in me at the end. This week, I did 7:59 pace and was still pretty tired at the end, but not completely dead like last week. It was a good run and I am happy with that pace for now. It's starting to get pretty hot, even in the morning, so for the next few months long runs (and all runs in general) are going to be pretty interesting. 

I started this run when it was around 67 degrees, and it was in the lower 70s by the end. Low humidity. 

11.08 medium-long run. I planned to run a 10-mile lactate threshold run today, but a couple miles into the run, it was clear that I wasn't fully recovered from my 18-mile long run on Saturday, so I decided to turn today into a "normal" run and push the LT run off until tomorrow. I ended up running exactly 8:00/mile on this run, which I'm happy with. I have some lingering soreness in my quads from Saturday's long run, but feel good overall. I should be ready to do a strong LT run tomorrow. 

72 degrees and humid

I planned to do a 10-mile lactate threshold run today, but during my warm up miles, I felt pretty tired and sore still. Apparently my body is still adjusting to the higher mileage I've been doing. Every once in a while I have "one of those days" when I really don't feel good for whatever reason. Today was one of those days. I didn't want to totally give up though, so I ended up running three tempo miles and doing the rest at a medium pace. The three tempo miles were 6:52, 6:45, and 6:40. For the first time since I started running consistently in January, I felt like I am overtraining based on the soreness in my quads. I'm hoping those feelings will subside over the next few days. I will be off tomorrow, do a 10-mile medium-long run on Thursday, and 5 easy on Friday, so I'm sure I'll be feeling much better after three consecutive easy days.

67 degrees, humid, and raining lightly

Scheduled day off. Planning on doing a 10 mile medium-long run tomorrow

10.04 miles at 7:45 pace. I felt much better today than I did on Tuesday. My day off yesterday was much needed. During today's run, the 7:45 pace felt easier than it normally does. I was hardly breathing faster than I normally do. I could have easily carried on a conversation with somebody. 

About halfway through the run, I started to feel some minor pain on the outside of my right foot in the middle. It didn't hurt on every step, but every once in a while when I stepped on it a certain way there would be a little bit of pain. I will be monitoring it closely. Hopefully it doesn't turn into anything big. Other than that, physically I feel good overall with a few sore spots every once in a while. 

74 degrees and raining on and off. 

5 miles easy in preparation for a 15 mile long run tomorrow. Basically every time I run in the morning without eating something first, I feel miserable. On easy runs it doesn't matter, but I definitely have to eat something before longer or more intense training runs.

The soreness on the outside of my right foot is still there, but isn't getting worse. I don't think it's a stress fracture. I think it's more likely some sort of inflammation. If it gets worse, I will take some days off, but for now, it feels fine. We'll see how it feels on a longer run tomorrow.

72 degrees and cloudy

15.06 mile long run at 7:41 pace. This run was comfortable, but not jogging. I did this run without using any chews or fuel along the way, but I did stage a water bottle to drink at the start of mile 11. I felt very comfortable and could have had a conversation with someone pretty much the whole run. I intentionally did a shorter long run this week and didn't push the pace because I wanted a short recovery time. I felt so good that I probably could have gone at least three miles longer, even without fuel. I am just a couple weeks away from starting my 18 week training program leading up to an October marathon. 

The soreness on the outside of my right foot was negligible. I think it was just a temporary thing that passed quickly.

67 degrees at the start of the run, low 70s by the end. Not super humid.

4 mile tempo run, 9.16 miles overall. I intended to do a six mile tempo run, but after 4 miles, I was fading quickly and would not have been able to maintain the same pace, so I had to cut it short. Every time I try to ignore the heat and humidity and run fast anyway, I always regret it. Today was no exception. My four tempo miles were 6:42, 6:39, 6:42, and 6:45. A week or two ago I did a six mile tempo run averaging 6:33, but for whatever reason today I just didn't have it in me to hold that kind of a pace. I feel good about the run overall, even though I wasn't able to keep it up for six miles. I am constantly preaching patience and consistency to myself, knowing that I'll improve over time if I just keep trying. 

71 degrees and very humid

11.06 miles at 7:44 average pace. This run was a great exercise for me in mental toughness. I knew going into the run that I'd be running on tired legs. Sure enough, as the run progressed, my legs felt heavy and the miles felt long. Despite that, I knew I had the fitness to keep up the pace, so I pushed through some uncomfortable miles and got the run done. 

I lost about 3 pounds of water weight during the run, so rehydrating today will be essential.

68-70 degrees and fairly humid

Scheduled day off

10.22 mile medium-long run. I felt ok, but I've been sleeping poorly lately, so I haven't felt my best this week. However, I felt fine on this run overall. I did 5 strides throughout the run, and they took a lot out of me. My major weakness right now is speed endurance. Every time I do a speed workout of any kind, it takes so much out of me because I haven't done a lot of speed work. I'm hoping that over time that will become less of a weakness. 

73 degrees and very humid. 

5.63 mile easy run. I'm planning to do 15-16 tomorrow. 

15 mile long run. It felt good for the first ten miles or so, but I got really dehydrated toward the end, so the last few miles were slower. Living in heat and humidity, I have to put more focus on staying hydrated, or I'm not going to reach my full potential. Overall, it was a good run though. 7:47 average mile pace. 

68-73 degrees, humid

10 miles with a 5 mile lactate threshold segment. The 5 tempo miles were 6:55, 6:55, 6:52, 6:48, and 6:53. That's slower than I've done recently, but based on the heat/humidity, I'm happy with anything under 7 minutes right now. This was a good run overall, even though it was a little slower than previous runs.

65 degrees and less humid than normal

11.03 miles at 7:41 average pace. I was sore from yesterday's tempo run and didn't sleep well last night, so I didn't feel great today, but I got it done. I'm getting weary from running in the heat and humidity day after day, but it's June 1 and it's only going to get worse. 

72 degrees and humid

5.05 mile recovery run. Very slow and relaxed.... 8:35/mile. My legs were pretty stiff from the beginning, but they loosened up and felt pretty good by the end of the run. 

9.03 miles at 7:50 pace. Hot and humid

5.01 mile recovery run in Ogden, UT at 9:16 pace. It's crazy how hard it is to get oxygen at elevation when you are used to running at sea level. 

My flight from Utah back to Baton Rouge landed around midnight last night, so I wasn't expecting anything great from this run because I was tired from traveling to two days and staying up late. In the end, I was able to run 15 miles at 7:55 average pace, and I actually felt pretty good during it. It took a few miles to loosen up, but the last five miles were my fastest miles, which was nice. 

8 mile "general aerobic" run with 10 x 100m strides after. I felt quite tired today. I'm not sure why. I ran the 8 miles in 8:04 average, which is a lot slower than a run like this would normally be. I'm planning on doing 12 miles tomorrow, so we'll see how that feels.

74 degrees and extremely humid

A miserable run from start to finish. It was 79 degrees with "real feel" of 86, which means it was super humid. The humidity totally drained me, and I was exhausted by the 5th mile. I intended to run 12 miles today, but by mile 9 I was running 9 minute miles and didn't think it would be worth it to run 3 more, so I cut it short.

I'm moving to Utah in a week or two which will take away the humidity problem. I'll just have to suffer through the next couple weeks of training. 

6.13 miles recovery at 8:21 average mile pace. The heat and humidity are still miserable, but I'm moving to Utah next week, so that will take care of the humidity issue. 

10.02 mile "general aerobic" run at 8:00/mile pace. It is still hot and humid, but for some reason today's run wasn't as miserable as the other runs this week have been. I've been focused a lot on diet and giving my body what it needs to be successful. I've never consistently run 50+ miles in my life, so this is an experiment for me. 

5.04 miles at recovery pace (8:24/mile). I'm planning to do 16 with 8 @ marathon race pace tomorrow

16 miles on the treadmill with 5 marathon pace miles. The other 11 miles were at 8 minute pace. I don't think I can run that far on a treadmill again no matter how hot it is outside. Too boring. I felt great during the run. I'm looking forward to being in Utah next week

11.02 miles at 7:53 average pace. All 11 miles were between 7:48 and 7:55 per mile. My legs are quite sore from my long run on Saturday, which is not something that usually happens to me. I don't know if it's because I ran on the treadmill or because I did some marathon pace miles during the run or a combination of both, but regardless of the cause, the soreness didn't affect today's run. I felt great and the weather was cooler. Perhaps that is why I felt great. 

72 degrees with mild humidity

13 mile medium-long run. Before I started the run, I had a few things going against me: my quads are STILL sore from my Saturday long run (I'm thinking it was because I did it on a treadmill), it was 77 degrees and humid at the beginning of the run, and I was tired from my run yesterday. Because of all that, I knew I had to go out at a slower pace than normal and fight through some tough, slow miles. In the end, I averaged 8:17 miles, which isn't bad at all, although my pace per mile was of little importance to me today. Just the fact that I ran 13 miles at all today is a huge win considering all the excuses I could have come up with to cut it short. Now I have 5 miles easy tomorrow and a tempo run on Thursday to look forward to

5 miles easy extremely slow, 9:37/mile. My legs are still sore from my long run on Saturday. My recovery has been slowed by my Monday and Tuesday runs. I'm hoping to feel back to normal tomorrow for a tempo run

9 mile tempo run done on a hotel treadmill in Wichita Falls, TX. The tempo miles averaged 6:40. I really don't enjoy running on a treadmill, but my family and I are currently moving from Louisiana to Utah

5 mile recovery run in Farmington, NM

15 miles straight up American Fork canyon and back down. The uphill miles averaged 9:15, the downhill 7:15. I haven't done any hills because there aren't any in Louisiana, but this run felt pretty good. I was tired and sore from the drive from Louisiana to Utah, so it will be interesting to see how my times change when my body is fresher

9 miles around 8 minute pace with 10x100 strides after

14.23 MLR in Swan Valley, ID. Lots of hills

Recovery run in Swan Valley, ID

MLR in Swan Valley, ID

Recovery run

18 miles at a steady, consistent pace. Felt pretty easy. 7:43/mile

9 miles with 4 tempo miles around 6:30/mile

10.31 miles. 8:05/mile

SLOW, easy run. 9:26/mile

12 mile MLR

5 miles easy, 8:29/mile

NO RUN. Spent 14 hours in a U-Haul from Boise City, OK to Pleasant View, UT

18.02 mile long run to make up for missing a long run on Saturday. My overall pace was 9:27/mile because I ended up making several long turns since I'm not familiar with Pleasant View yet. I ended up on trails for a good portion of the run, some of which were pretty technical, plus the fact that there were many hills, and my body is not used to running hills. I enjoyed the run and am happy to have made a few wrong turns so I know what not to do next time. 

12.01 mile MLR. 8:30/mile. Still adjusting to running on hills and the elevation in Utah. 

5.02 slow miles (9:30 pace) before my first day of work at Grain Craft

9.01 miles at 8:45/pace. Still adjusting to a new place, new job, new people, new trails, new everything

5.01 easy miles. 8:15 pace

15.01 mile long run at 7:46/mile

10.09 lactate threshold run. 3 miles warm up, then 5 tempo miles at 6:51, 6:42, 6:38, 6:22, 6:35, then 2 miles of cool down

14.3 mile MLR at 7:43/mile

5.02 easy miles at 8:54/mile

11.07 mile MLR at 7:46/mile

7 easy miles with 10x100m strides at the end

21.01 mile long run. Celeste drove me to the top of Powder Mountain, which is a ski resort near Eden, UT. I left with the intention to drive up a canyon and get experience running down a gradual downhill to prepare for the Huntsville marathon. This run turned out to be anything but that. The first 6 or so miles from Powder Mountain to Eden dropped 4,000 feet in elevation. It was so steep that I was "braking" the pretty much the entire way down. By the end of that, my legs were already shredded. Then I had 8-9 mostly flat miles, which was nice. Those went pretty well, but I was wishing I had more water than I did (I dropped two water bottles along the way as we drove up, but it ended up being not nearly enough). Then, for around 2 miles, I went up a huge hill through the canyon back over to the Ogden side. I ended up walking almost the whole time because my legs were shredded and I was dehydrated, so I didn't have much in me to try to run it. From there, it was about 2 miles of downhill out of the canyon, then 4-ish to make it home. I was disappointed to find out that the course ended up being not what I thought it would. By the end, I was just happy to finish alive. 

I am so sore today I can hardly walk, which obviously is not where I want to be at this point in my training. My calves feel like they have golf balls rubbing on them every time I take a step. My quads aren't as bad. It was a big mistake to run the course I did yesterday. 

No run today. Still too sore to run. 

No run today. Still too sore to run. 

Today I ran the Huntsville, UT marathon. I came into this race feeling great about my chances to break my PR of 2:59:00 (Pocatello in 2013). I had trained hard for 4-5 months, running 55-70 miles a week during that time, including 4 long runs of 20+ miles. My times during my training indicated that I was in shape to run a sub 3-hour marathon or slightly faster. I was grateful to not have sustained any injuries serious enough to take time off running during my training. As a side note, because of that training and focusing on a healthy diet, I dropped from 178 pounds to a race weight of 164 pounds. 

I felt pretty good the week of the race. I took Thursday and Friday off work just so I could avoid the stress of work and relax at home for a few days. I slept really well on Wednesday night, not as well on Thursday night but still got around 7 hours of sleep, and Friday night I slept soundly from 9pm-1am, then slept on and off from 1am-4am until I got out of bed to go to the race. 

The morning of the race I felt great. I made and drank a smoothie, which is my normal breakfast (oats, flax seed, a banana, peanut butter, frozen fruit, and kale, blended with soy milk and cold water). Getting to the race went smoothly. It was a 30-minute drive from our apartment in Pleasant View to Huntsville Town Park. I offered to go to the race alone so Celeste wouldn't have to wake up early and chill with Joey and Claire during the whole race, but Celeste insisted on coming to support me, so we all went together. They dropped me off at the bus at 5:30 and the bus driver drove the runners up to the starting line. Throughout the morning, I felt calm, relaxed, and fresh. 

The race started at 7am. There were only about 250 people in the marathon, so I was able to start right at the front. My strategy going into the race was to run 6:50/mile and speed up during the last 6.2 miles if I had the ability to do so. I was glad I decided before the race started to use that strategy, because right from the start about 50 people basically sprinted at a pace way faster than they would be able to maintain. I knew this would happen before the race started, but I really didn't care what anyone else was going to do. I had my strategy and I was going to stick to it. 

The first 13.1 miles were quite easy for me. The course was downhill enough to give a big boost to speed, but not so steep that it shredded my legs. It was the perfect gradual downhill that you want in a marathon. I got to the halfway point feeling almost like I hadn't run at all. I wasn't breathing hard, my legs didn't hurt, and I was very comfortable and relaxed. The only downside to this race was that it was sprinkling/moderately raining from about mile 4 until mile 15 or 16. Around mile 10 the sprinkling turned to pretty heavy rain for a few minutes, which soaked all my clothes, including my shoes and socks. I had no choice but to run the rest of the race in wet shoes. My only regret from this race is that it rained. It leaves me wondering how much faster I could have finished with dry shoes and socks. One major benefit of the rain, combined with a light breeze (and high elevation) was that my body stayed cool throughout the run. During much of the race I was on the border of being cool and starting to actually feel cold to the point that my quads felt numb a couple times. I actually think that helped me though. I crossed the halfway point in 1:27:58. 

I should mention that I ran this race in Saucony Endorphin Pros. These are the best running shoes I've ever worn. They have a carbon-fiber plate that literally propels you forward on every step. It is a lot of fun to run in them, and I would recommend them to anyone. 

Miles 13-20 were uneventful overall. By mile 20, I could feel that I was tiring, but I still felt pretty good at that point. They say that "20 miles is the halfway point in a marathon," so even though I felt decent, I wasn't getting excited yet. By mile 20, the rain had stopped and the temperature was significantly warmer, and my body warmed up a lot. By the way, my fueling strategy was to drink a cup of Gatorade and a cup of water at every aid station throughout the entire course, which happened every two miles starting at mile 3. At a couple aid stations I missed one or the other because other people were blocking my way, but I got at least one cup of fluid at every aid station. I didn't take any GU, fruit, Skittles, or anything else that was offered the whole race. Just Gatorade and water. 

Miles 21-23 were solid. I was able to maintain the same pace I had run for the first 20 miles, even though I could feel myself tiring quickly. The downhill stopped around mile 18-19, so these miles were either flat or even slightly uphill in some parts. When you are used to running downhill for so many miles to start the race, small uphills feel very difficult. By mile 24, I was in survival mode. Just trying to put one foot in front of the other until the mile was over. However, I was able to maintain my pace regardless of the fact that I was quite uncomfortable by this point. Miles 25 and 26 were pure grit and mental toughness to get to the finish line. Every step was super painful and my body was begging me to stop. I don't think I hit "the wall" from a fueling standpoint during this race, but my legs were so sore and tired and heavy that it was miserable just to put one foot in front of the other. Eventually, I made it through the last couple of miles one step at a time and finished with a time of 2:57:36. I felt that my pacing was almost perfect because I don't think I could have run even one more mile at the pace I was going. My last two miles were the only miles of the race that were slower than 7 minutes. 

After putting in so much time, energy, and miles to train for this race, it feels great to break 3 hours for the second time in my life (8 years after the first time I did it) and set a new PR. I feel healthier and fitter than I've been since running cross country in high school, so even if I hadn't run faster than 3 hours, it would have been worth it. Here are my miles splits:

Mile 1 - 6:58

Mile 2 - 6:50

Mile 3 - 6:47

Mile 4 - 6:42

Mile 5 - 6:43

Mile 6 - 6:35

Mile 7 - 6:45

Mile 8 - 6:42

Mile 9 - 6:41

Mile 10 - 6:39

Mile 11 - 6:44

Mile 12 - 6:41

Mile 13 - 6:32

Half marathon - 1:27:58

Mile 14 - 6:37

Mile 15 - 6:32

Mile 16 - 6:39

Mile 17 - 6:48

Mile 18 - 6:48

Mile 19 - 6:42

Mile 20 - 6:39

Mile 21 - 6:33

Mile 22 - 6:44

Mile 23 - 6:55

Mile 24 - 6:56

Mile 25 - 7:17

Mile 26 - 7:29

Full marathon - 2:57:36

As a cool side note, a guy named Jason Lynch set a new state of Utah marathon record by running 2:13:05 in this race.