Going With The Flow

AM - Sunday JAKJAF run 10.5 miles. A little chilly, but a beautiful morning for a nice run. Average 7:22 pace. 

PM - Skinning and skiing at Alta. The snow is melting FAST! I was feeling pretty worn out and didn't want to overdo it (workout tomorrow), so we only skied one run. It was a 2000ft run, though, so that's not too wimpy for afternoon exercise.

AM - 2 mile shakeout, just to make sure I'm ready for a workout this afternoon.

PM - 2.2 mile warm-up with Jake. Then, 6 mile tempo in 37:20 (6:13 min/mile). The goal was to run at 6:20-6:25 pace, but I ran the first mile too fast and never slowed down. The effort level was harder than it needed to be today, especially since I was running on tired legs. I blame the annoying wind, New Kids on the Block, and Allie. A great workout though! 1 mile cooldown home for a total of 9.2 miles.

AM - A couple miles with Jake on his run commute to work and back home for 4.5 miles. 

PM - 5 miles around Sugarhouse and the track, easy 8 min pace. Drills afterwards.

A super entertaining  race report from Jesse Thomas that won the Wildflower Triathlon and Lauren Fleshman's (his wife) blog about the win. They are both so witty and honest in their writing - I love it!

AM - 12 miles with the JAKJAF crew. Back hurts today.

Here is an article with Julia Lucas, who ran 15:08.52 for 5000 meters at the recent Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford. A couple points she made which I thought were really good -

I found that spark. It's hard to articulate exactly what it is. But running all the miles and doing all the weights, and icing, and eating right and sleeping right, it's just gathering dry material and at the end you have a pile of sticks. And just remembering what it's like to catch fire; I caught fire again.

How much has it meant to see Sally Kipyego at practice every day, and see the example she sets for the rest of you?
JL :  It's really easy to forget how good Sally is. She's just there every day doing exactly what we do. In December, when practices started back and I was looking better than I had, she grabbed me by the shoulders and said "Julia, don't try to be great, just do every day pretty good like you're supposed to, and then you'll be great." That's really out of character of her to grab me and give me this advice, but it's true and I know that she meant it.

And I think about that all the time. I don't need to blow any workouts of the water. I take great pride. I hit my splits right. I'm not trying to show off in any interval. I trust my coach. I do everything he tells me. I don't do anything more, I don't do anything less. And following orders, with a coach I really trust, really works. It's great pressure off to have that kind of trust.

AM - 3.2 miles with Jake this morning.

PM -  Track workout. Warmed up 2 miles with Kevin and Jake, then ran 6x1000m + 4x400m with 200m recovery jog between all intervals. 1000s at average 3:38.3 (5:51 pace) and 400s at 1:28.3 (5:55 pace). The initial plan was to do 8 reps of 1000, but I couldn't maintain the pace after 6 so I dropped down to 400s. Obviously I was tired because my 400s are slower than my 1000s. Not upset about the workout at all, I'm actually pleased - I got almost 5 miles at goal half marathon pace. I was working pretty hard too, mentally and physically. I think the 15 mph wind played a pretty big factor in the workout today. Cooldown 2 miles with J and K again around the park perimeter.

Also, not sure if everyone saw this on Jake's blog a couple days ago -

FYI - If anyone is interested, we're doing a longish run (15-18 miles) on Saturday at Jeremy Ranch, and then planning on breakfast at Ruth's Diner afterwards (brunch around 11:30 if you want to skip the run and just eat!). Thinking we'll meet around 8:30am and then drive up there in as few cars as possible. If anyone wants to join, let me know. Ritz, Rupp, and Farah are likely to be up there as well, although no one is required to try and hang w/ them :-) 

AM - 4.4 miles, a couple of those with Jake.

Yesterday during the repeats, I realized that I wasn't driving my knee forward and instead was extending my legs back too far. This is something I need to focus on for the next few weeks - working on form and strengthening the hip flexers with high knees, leg lifts, etc. 

PM - 3 miles followed by drills.

AM - 17 miles out at Jeremy Ranch Road with Redd, Fiddy, JakeK, Chad Robinson, and MarkP. Fun goofy crew, although I would like to see another girl or two thrown in there! We kept the run at a decent pace, average 7:24 pace. It's a tough, strength-building run with the altitude, so many hills, and the uphill coming back.

Afterwards, we met up with Rob Murphy and kids, Tina and Nate, and LuluWalls at Ruth's Diner. My first time there and it was awesome! Especially the monstrous biscuits :) Crazy how I am already hungry again - this is why I love long runs.

And yes, all those spikes are actually hills, not just the Garmin!!