A clydesdale no more!

At 10:30 last night I get a knock on the door from a police officer telling me they apprehended a burglar hiding under my boat and they were looking for 2 more.  Needless to say, I got very little sleep last night.  Every noise I heard freaked me out.  

First 6 miles of the run this morning were alright.  The pain was there but it was not overwhelming.  I even considered stretching the run out and taking advantage of feeling decent.  The pain really kicked in during the last 2 miles.  I felt like I could barely run and considered walking home but it would have taken too long.  I need to figure out what to do for the rest of the week.  With Lake to Lake this weekend my training schedule was going to be thrown off anyways.  I just need to decide if I should run at all between now and Saturday.

Total Time: 1:03:05 (7:52/mile)

Taking a break.

One more rest day.  Seems like the Achilles tendon is feeling better.  I will test it tomorrow.

How is it that after only missing 2 days of running it can feel like I've never run before?  Such a strange feeling.  My legs felt very clunky and it seemed like I was breathing way too hard.  My achilles felt much better, though.  I could tell it wasn't 100% but it really did not hurt (1 out of 10).  I had thoughts of putting in a decent amount of miles today but decided it would be better to keep it short.  Turned out to be the right decision.  The achilles started to ache during the last 2 miles (maybe 3 or 4 out of 10).  I ran at 5k pace for the last 1/4 mile and it felt pretty good.  I have a feeling I am going to be a disappointment to the L2L team this weekend.

Total Time: ????? (Ran naked so there wouldn't be pressure to run a particular pace).

Here is a link to an article in the Trib today in which I was quoted: http://www.sltrib.com/davis/ci_14479101

I will call this a muscle memory run.  The intent was to make sure my legs are awake and can remember how to run.  Achilles was pretty sore to start so I only put in 2 miles at a decent pace.  Ran watchless again so I'm not sure of the exact pace.  Probably between 6:45 and 7:00.  Felt good other than the achilles pain (3 out of 10).  Of course it was snowing on one of the few days I was able to run this week.

Lake to Lake Relay

A couple of the guys in our running club (South Davis Road Runners) wanted to put together a team for the Lake to Lake relay.  Since it was one of the Runner’s Series races I thought I may as well join them.  I’ve never been a big fan of relays but I thought it would be fun to go down and enjoy the run.  After realizing that we would have a shot at placing, I knew that it was not going to be fun.  When you are racing for yourself and run poorly it is easy to deal with because you are only accountable to yourself.  When you are part of a relay and do not run as well as you expect then the disappointment is much worse because you feel like you let everybody down.  Of course me being me, I tend to focus on the potential bad instead of the good.   I figured I would just go down and run hard and deal with whatever happened.  Drove down with Jim and Juliann to a house that Jim secured (amazing home in Snow Canyon).  We finally got around to eating at the Pizza Factory at 7:00.  I did not eat lunch because we left a little late and I was unsure of the plans and just did not get around to it.  I also did not pack any food because I made the assumption that we would stop at a grocery store to stock up for the race.  I was worried about not having enough fuel for the run but since it was only 10 miles of racing I figured I could deal with it.  I was able to mooch some food from the team during the race which turned out great. 

On the way to the race, Jim got pulled over for speeding.  Luckily he was let off with a warning but we were really pressed for time to get to the starting line.  Was able to see Smooth, Kathie, Kimmie and Marcie before the start.  Also saw Craig, Dustin, Bill, Steve and Clyde along the way.  The order of runners for the first 5 legs were: Jim, Trevor, Jake, Jeremy, me.  After the first leg we were in 4th place.  Trevor got us close to 3rd when Jake took over.  He was our ringer (averaged 5:45 for both legs) and passed 3rd place and built quite a lead over 4th for us.  After Jeremy took off we went to the exchange for my run.  Did a little warm up and ran into Teena.  Was able to chat for a while which was nice.  Jeremy got us within eye sight of 2nd place.  Since I could see the next runner I ended up going out way too fast.  I was able to keep him in sight until the top of the hill where he hit the gas and was gone.  I think he was just toying with me.  I felt decent going up the hill but it wiped me out.  Going through the neighborhood felt slow but the average pace on my Garmin was right where I wanted it to be.  A couple of times I had to remind myself that I had another leg to run and should save some energy.  This is what I do not like about the relays.  You run the first leg too fast because it is a race and it is so hard to hold back.  You do not leave enough in the tank for the next leg.  My splits were: 5:56, 6:13, 6:37 (hill), 6:12, 6:24, 3:15 (6:08/mile).  I averaged 6:16 for the entire leg.  I was shooting for 6:25 so I was happy with the time and the best part was my Achilles tendon did not hurt at all.  I think that the lower heal of the racing flats puts less strain on it which is why it did not hurt. 

The order of our next set of legs was: Trevor, Jake, Jeremy, Jim, me.  Jim wanted to run the Dirty Climber (leg #9) and we thought it would be good for that runner to have a little extra rest.   Trevor made up a little ground on 2nd place but they were still 3 or 4 minutes ahead of us when he passed off to Jake.  We drove to the exchange and were shocked to see him coming in 2nd place.  The high school boys took back second during the next leg and Jim did really well on the Dirty Climber.  We had no idea how far ahead of 4th place we were but figured we had a good.  As Jim approached the last exchange I was feeling good and ready to get this over. 

The last leg starts off with a decent climb for about ½ mile then flattens out and has a slight elevation gain the rest of the way.  The wind had picked up and was a cross wind for the first 2 miles.  Took off at a good pace up the hill and it took about 0.2 miles to realize that my legs were fried.  I definitely ran the first leg too fast.  First mile was 6:27 which is the pace I was hoping to maintain through the leg.  Next mile came in at 6:33 and I started looking behind me and doing calculations of how fast the 4th place runner would have to run to catch me.  I have a nasty habit of focusing on what is behind me and running in fear of being passed instead of just running hard and focusing on what is ahead.  After turning into Sand Hollow state park we pass the finish line and head out 1.1 miles.  It is pure torture to see the finish line and know that you still have 2.2 miles to go.  What was worse was the headwind that I was now running in to.  Third mile split was 6:53 and I felt completely sapped of all energy.  During the out and back I saw that Clyde was able to move back into first place (no surprise there).   It was all that I could do to keep my legs moving and the 4th mile came in at a blistering 7:05.  Are you kidding me?  I checked my split at the turn around so I could gauge how much of a lead I had on 4th place.  All I could think about was how bad I would feel if I got passed because I did not think I had the energy to respond if I was caught.  After 1:40 I saw the 4th place runner and knew I had at least a 3 minute lead on him.  That helped me relax and I was able to push the pace.  The tail wind didn’t hurt either.  The last 0.8 was at 6:25/mile pace.  Average pace for the 4.8 miles was 6:41.  Our team averaged 6:22/mile for the 50 miles and finished 3rd overall.  Ten minutes behind 1st and 9 minutes behind 2nd. 

We hung out to watch the ladies from our running club come in.  I was glad that they were a little slow because I really wanted to stay and see Kathie, Smooth, Teena, Kimmie and Marcie come in.  Was able to see Teena running leg 10 and she was running incredibly well.  On the blog we all offer words of encouragement with not really having any idea how well people run.  Seeing Teena run in real life I can now attest to what a great runner she is. 

The weekend was a ton of fun.  The banquet that they had after the race is a nice touch.  I definitely think the shorter relay is a lot more fun than the Ragnar relays.  You get the same satisfaction without the sleep deprivation.

**I'm removing my rant of negativity.  I needed to vent and it served it's purpose.  I compared my splits to Clyde's and they were not as bad as I thought.  The wind was a huge factor and I did not give it enough credit.

AM

My quads and hamstrings are super sore.  I did not drink as much water as I should have over the past 2 days during recovery which I'm guessing is why I have gotten progressively more sore.  I'm going to jump back into Pfitz's schedule and consider last week a lost week of training.  Stressing about missed miles and trying to make up for them will do more harm than good at this point.

Maintained a relaxed pace throughout the run.  Achilles felt good for the first 2 miles then started to flare up.  I am thinking of doing something tomorrow that I never do.  There is a 15 miler on the schedule and I am going to take ibuprofen before the run.  Tell me it is not a mistake to do so.

Total time: 47:55 (7:59/mile - just snuck past the 8 minute guy)

PM

Took the kids to the Bountiful High track and ran a couple of miles while they goofed around.  Ran the straights hard and jogged the corners.  Focused on my push off when I was running hard.  I realized how lazy my natural push off is and how much work it takes to make it right.  Definitely need to be better about incorporating striders into my runs.  While doing the Achilles exercises that Trevor showed me I could feel it moving up and down in the sheath.  Kind of a strange feeling.

Have you ever done something that you knew was a bad idea while you were doing it but you continued anyway?  Now that it is over I am fine but the run itself was pretty painful.  My achilles was really driving me nuts.  I had stretches were it felt fine and other stretches were it killed me.  I am getting more accustomed to running with the discomfort so I think that it is something that I can continue to run through.

Total time: 1:59:34 (7:58/mile)

Recovery runs are being replaced with recovery days.  Do I shut it down for 2 weeks and forget about the Ogden marathon or push through hoping I miraculously heal?

YAY!!!  Considered taking another day off but thought I would give it a shot and see how things felt.  Started the run with zero pain.  It feels so good to run pain free.  After a mile I could feel a slight burn in my achilles and that continued until mile 10.  It was nice to just relax and enjoy the run without stressing about every step that I took.  After 10 it started sliding up the pain scale a little ending at a 3.  My stride was not affected but I felt like I should have stopped at 10.  My left leg has always been a little stronger than my right so I am going to take this as an opportunity to strengthen my right leg.  Thinking that I may have to adopt the T/R training plan (Teena/Rhett).  I just don't have the mental toughness to be a cross training superstar like they are.

Scheduled called for a 7 mile recovery run but I knew that would be too much strain on the achilles so I shortened it to 4.  Should have taken the day completely off.  It was pretty sore to start and got progressively worse.  Still runnable but more sore than I would have liked it to be.  It did feel good to have the legs moving.

Went to the KPT and started out with 3 easy miles.  First 2 were 8:30 then I bumped up to 8:00 so the transition to marathon pace would not be so severe.  I have a hard time dialing in marathon pace because I spend so little time running it.  I suppose that is what makes these runs so important.  I do not think that I am in peak shape yet so my target pace was anything between 6:50 and 6:59.  The plan was to run 6 miles at MP then stop at the car for a drink then head out for 6 more.  Splits for the first 6 miles were: 6:56, 6:55, 6:54, 6:54, 6:55, 6:54.  First 3 took a lot of focus but then I started to get in a groove and was able to put it in cruise control.  Stopped at the car, got a drink and stripped off a layer of clothes.  Stopping after getting into a groove was a bad idea.  It took so much work to get going again.  I felt light headed and out of sorts.  There was a guy ahead of me that I used as a target which helped keep the pace honest.  He was moving pretty well and not coming back to me very quickly.  Eventually caught him after the first mile and he stayed on my heels.  He really pushed me and the next mile came in at 6:44.  Oops.  I actually felt better during this mile than any other mile during the run.  Amazing what a little competition will do.  He turned off and I was on my own for the next 4 miles.  The 11th mile was very hard.  There were a few times where I wanted to quit.  My legs even involuntarily stopped once.  I convinced myself that these are the things that I need to push through and use the experience to learn how to push myself.  Pushed the pace on the last mile and finished well.  Splits for the last 6 were: 6:58, 6:44, 6:57, 6:55, 6:55, 6:46.  A good learning experience to discover that when you feel like you are done, you still have a few miles left in the tank.  It was way too much work for an MP run but it felt good to put in a solid effort.  The achilles only burned slightly during the run which probably had more to do with the Motrin than anything else. 

Total Time: 1:47:43 (7:11/mile)

An uneventful run.  Slower than I would have liked but it was all I could muster.  

Total Time: 1:21:17 (8:08/mile)

Another one of those weird mornings where lots of little things indicate that I should not run.  I will have some free time tonight so I am going to hit the track later today.

Drove to the high school and warmed up by running 3 miles on Orchard Drive.  There is something about running in the evening  that I do not like. It just felt a little funny.  After the warm up I changed into my racing flats because they seem to cause less stress on my achilles.  Although, I cannot handle too long of a run in them.  The schedule called for 6X600 at 5K pace with a 90 second jog in between each interval.  I was targeting 2:15 per 600 meters and was only going to jog 200 meters which would be less than 90 seconds.  Splits were: 2:00, 2:09, 2:09, 2:09, 2:09, 2:07.  The first one was way too fast because I was getting used to running on the track and was completely fresh.  The last one was faster than the others because I opened it up on the last 100 m.  Rest intervals were 1:12.  Only cooled down 1 mile because my achilles started to burn and I decided to give it a break.  It was a good run and I'm glad I waited until the evening to do it since I was able to run in shorts and t-shirt.

Nice and easy recovery run.  First mile was not good but started to feel better once I warmed up.  Considered cutting the run short but felt well enough to finish once I got going.

Felt sluggish for the first 3 miles. Started to feel a little better as the run progressed but never really got into a good groove. I was 20 seconds behind the 8 minute guy after 10 miles so I ran the last mile in 7:15 so that I could sneak ahead of him. I am hoping that the heavy legs are a result of training. I was getting worried that I was not working hard enough when they were feeling fresh.

It has been taking 3 miles to warm up lately.  I guess that is a good sign that the training volume is about right.  My brain and legs felt very disconnected this morning.  Kind of a blah run.

Total Time: 1:03:20 (7:55/mile)

Fifteenish miles on the KPT.  Forgot to bring my Garmin but I've run this enough now I have a pretty good idea where the mile markers are.  It was nice to run a long run without a watch and not worry about the pace.  Everything felt good until the last 2 miles when the achilles started to flare up.  Stopped and talked to JD for a second.  Thanks for getting my attention.  I was lost in thought and wasn't really paying attention.

I'm moving this week's runs around on the schedule.  I wanted to take advantage of yesterday's full day of rest and run the 15 miler today.  The first 5 miles of today's run were virtually pain free.  I actually felt like a real runner for the first time in a long time.  The achilles got progressively more achey throughout the run but the discomfort was manageable.  It was encouraging to have a run that started so well and I was able to maintain a decent pace throughout the run.  All in all, a good way to start the week.

Total Time: 1:53:18 (7:33/mile)

Super easy recovery run.  My legs felt heavy and dead.  Very happy about that.

I wasn't in the right state of mind for a long tempo run this morning.  Feeling kind of out of it.  Was hoping a good hard run would help me snap out of it.  The 7 mile tempo run is the one workout in Pfitz's schedule that I struggle with the most.  Today would be no different.  Warmed up with 3 slow miles (slower than I have run in a very long time).  Since it was a longer tempo run, I decided to run it at what my LT pace is, not what I want it to be.  Target pace was 6:35-6:40.  Splits were: 6:36, 6:38, 6:36, 6:34, 6:39.  After 5 miles I was breathing way too hard and my form was starting to break down so I decided to take a short break.  I was extremely disappointed with myself for quitting.  Started back up and finished the last two in 6:36 and 6:42.  I wish I wouldn't have quit.  It was more of a mental breakdown than physical.  I have to learn how to push through these.  Cooled down with 2 easy miles.  On the bright side, my achilles didn't bother me until the cool down miles.

Total Time: 1:31:12 (7:36/mile)

Recovery run.  Achilles was very achey from the start.  I expected it because of the increased load this week.  I should be able to control it and still feel that I have made it through the worst part of the injury.

Today is an exercise in understanding the big picture.  As I put my

shoes on this morning I felt a little tenderness in my achilles.  Not

too serious and it was something I could have run through but I felt

that running today would have negatively impacted the run tomorrow.  I

would rather miss an 8 miler than struggle through one of the key long

runs in the training schedule.  It is hard for me to look at my

training log and see the days with 0 mileage and weekly mileage that is

lower than it should be.  Part of me feels like I am just taking the easy way out and need to be tougher if I want to really improve.  I do understand, though, that my achilles is

getting better and I have to continue to be cautious in order for it to

get 100% better. 

This was one of the better long runs that I have ever had.  Drove to the KPT and started out with 3 comfortable miles to warm up.  Had the whole light headed, seeing spots thing for the first 2 miles but wasn't worried because it usually passes without much of an issue.  Typically I would run 10 miles then the last 12 at MP but wanted to hit the MP miles before the achilles flared up.  Transitioned into marathon pace and was hoping to maintain 6:55 throughout the run.  My plan was to run 7 mlies then return to the car and switch my empty flasks for full ones.  Splits for the first 7 miles were: 6:56, 6:52, 6:49, 6:53, 6:52, 6:54, 6:39.  Felt very, very good during this portion.  The pace was very fluid and felt like it took very little effort.  At the car, swapped my flasks and choked down a GU-cicle and started back up again.  It took awhile to get back into a groove but I was patient knowing that it always takes a bit to get going again.  The last 5 miles did not feel as smooth but they still felt good.  The splits were: 6:49, 6:37 6:54, 6:51, 6:42.  Averaged 6:49 for the 12 miles which I was very happy with.  The pace was a little erratic but I don't mind since they were almost all under my target pace.  On the faster miles, I knew I was going too fast but the effort felt right so I thought I would just go with it.  After the MP miles, I had 7 more to do and my achilles decided to start acting up.  Strange that it felt so good up to that point.  It hurt pretty bad for a couple of miles.  I met up with Lora on the trail and we ran the last 5 together.  I ran a little faster when I was running with her and the achilles did not bother me as much.  I finished the run feeling completely fresh and if it weren't for the achilles I think I would have kept going.

Total Time: 2:45:42 (7:28/mile)

The plan called for 6X600 m @ 5K pace but I extended it to 6 X 1/2 mile because I did not want to go to the track.  I have a pretty good idea where every 1/4 mile marker is on my regular loop which made the half mile repeats with 1/4 mile jog easier to track.  Even though I was using my Garmin, it was good to have a point of reference of where each one started and ended.  It was really windy and my route would give me a tail wind for the first 3, a cross wind for 4 and 5 and a head wind for the last one.  I used the interval program on the Garmin but I do not have it set up correctly to show my lap pace so I was running blind.  I was curious to see how even I could keep the splits without monitoring them.  Warmed up with 3 miles then started the repeats.

Split	Comment
2:56	Slight tail wind but couldn't really feel it.
2:53	Pace and form felt great.  Very smooth.
2:54	Felt good but could feel form starting to suffer from fatigue.
2:49	A little help from gravity.  Happy for the rest interval.
2:56	Starting to force pace.  Surprised it was under 3:00
3:02	Straight into the wind.  Big effort  Shocked it was even close to 3:00.

The variability in the splits was due to the wind or terrain change so I am pleased that I was able to dial in 5k pace.  The effort was where it was supposed to be which is what is important.  Good run with no achilles pain.  I was barely able to walk on Saturday because it hurt so bad.  Feeling a little better knowing that I can manage the pain with rest if I have to.

Total Time: 1:12:20 (8:02/mile)

Sooooooo windy!  When running into the wind it literally stopped me in my tracks a few times.  I was almost blown over a couple of times when it was a cross wind.  Once I had the wind at my back and had a slight down hill my achilles started to really hurt.  It was strange because I had zero pain for the first 7 miles and it all of a sudden started hurting significantly.  Once I hit 9 miles I made the decision to turn towards home and cut the planned 14 miler short.  I'm not surprised it hurt.  I was more surprised that it felt so good during the first half of the run.  I had 2 solid runs in a row so I was due for a tough one. 

Recover run in yucky weather.  Feeling kind of out of it..