A clydesdale no more!

Pfitz says to run 12 but I'm replacing my second MLR of the week with a shorter run with significant hills.  I've done this in the past and think the extra hills really help prepare me for St. George.  Ran up to the mouth of Mueller Park canyon and back home (up 950 feet and down 950 feet).  It was much slower than I wanted (2 minutes slower than last week) but it was still a good effort and it felt good.

Recovery run.  Legs a liittle sore.  

Perfect morning for a race.  I wasn't sure if I was going to race until late last night.  Debated between running the Centerville 5K and the NSL 5K.  Opted for NSL because it is a flat course and I wanted to the opportunity to run a fast race.  The race goes through the Foxboro neighborhoods and is pancake flat.  I do not think I have ever run on this flat of a course.  Did I mention it was flat?  The temperature was perfect too.  The opportunity for a fast race was definitely there.  I just hoped my body would cooperate.  Warmed up by running the course.  Lined up and really couldn't see anybody that looked too fast other than a couple of high school kids.  We started and the usual rabbits took off.  I settled into 5th place but knew that 3 of the runners would soon drop off.  Two young guns who were breathing really heavy 1/2 mile into the race and a little kid with a cast on his arm.  Move by the 2 young guys but the little kid kept moving.  I couldn't get by him until after the first mile marker.  Was still holding pace at the half way mark but started to feel the fatigue. Convinced myself to just keep pushing.  Just before the 2 mile marker my shoe came untied.  I did not want to stop so I kept running and was not going to stop unless the shoe came off.  Kept pushing through the end and finished in 17:50.  Crushed my PR by over 30 seconds.  Very, very, very happy!

This is last week's long run.  After the race on Saturday I felt it would be better to have a full day's rest before the long run.  The weather is slightly cooler than average and it felt great.  Everything felt really good during the run.  Did an out and back on the LPT.  Had to extend it to Eagle Bay elementary to get the right m ileage.  Started out around 8:00/mile and finished in the low 7's.  Was very please with how well the body felt.  The last time I ran a race and a 20 miler 2 days later I ended up with an achilles injury.  It won't happen this time.

Nice and easy recovery run.  Legs feel a little beat up after yesterday's long run and walking around all day.  

Decided to preview the Handcart Days half marathon course that starts at the rec center.  There really is no need for me to preview it as most of my runs are on parts of the course.  I didn't run the whole course as I had to make an emergency detour.  I've never been so happy to see a Walmart.  The course itself is going to be a very honest course.  Very slightly down for a few miles, flat for a few miles then slightly up for a few miles.  My legs did not feel good at all.  Very sore all over.  Left achilles and right ITB were especially achey. 

Recovery run.  My ankles are very sore.  I am going to switch tomorrow's planned hill run with a flat one to give them a chance to recover.

A nice general aerobic run.  Kept a steady pace throughout the run (7:35/mile).  At the beginning of the run a dog started to run along side of me.  He ran with me for 2 miles and I was worried that he was too far from home and would not be able to find it's way back.  He stopped following my and I continued my run.  As I started going down my street, he came up along side me again.  Glad he found his way home (wherever that might be).

Went to the rec center to meet the club.  Only a couple people were there so I ran alone.  I forgot my Garmin so decided to run the half marathon course again and add a little at the end so I would know the distance.  The run was terrible.  I was tired and just couldn't get going.  Not sure what is going on.  I think I'm going through one of the phases I go through every once in awhile where I am tired and hungry all of the time.

Warmed up 3 miles then ran a 5 mile temp run then cooled down with 2 miles.  Felt kind of blah during the warm up.  I didn't eat very much this weekend and wasn't sure I would have enough fuel for this workout. Target pace was 6:25/mile.  Splits were: 6:24, 6:21, 6:25, 6:20, 6:20.  They all felt good and well in control except for the last one.  It took a lot of work and I started feeling pukey towards the end.  I really need to do a better job of controlling what I put into my body. I have been on a soda kick and it is making me sick.  I wish I could remember this throughout the day when I get the cravings.  

Just put it in cruise control and headed out to the LPT for the usual 14 miler. Sore for the first 3 miles then loosened up and felt good.

Nice and easy (and much needed) recovery run. 

After taking a break last week it was back to the hills.  Did an out and back to the mouth of Mueller Park canyon.  In the past I have convinced myself to not push as hard going uphill by telling myself that the hills alone make it a good workout.  I made the decision this time to really put in an honest effort going up.  I didn't kill myself but it was a good effort and felt really good.  Towards the top, a cyclist came up along side of me and complimented my effort and said he had been trying to catch me most of the way up.  Really focused on my turnover on the way back down and was able to maintain a strong pace.  The quicker pace feels so much better on my body during the run although I will probably pay for it today and tomorrow. Total time was 4 minutes faster than last time I ran the same route.

Recovery run.  Lower legs feel surprisingly good.  They were pretty sore most of the day yesterday but they feel good now.

I woke up 30 minutes later than I should have to get my long run in.  It is going to be a tight schedule today so there was no way I could squeeze it in.  I will have to do it tomorrow instead.  The run this morning felt great.  Was able to hold a decent pace throughout the run.  It was warm but felt good.

Epic failure!  Quite possibly my worst run ever.  Mentally I was not ready for today's run.  I was 3 pounds lighter this morning than I was yesterday morning so I was starting the run a little dehydrated.  I was overly cautious during the run and drank a lot more than I usually do.  Started out slow and continued to get slower.  Stopped at the grocery store at the halfway point to get some more Gatorade and a bottle of water.  At 16 miles I arrived at a park and just laid in the shade for a while.  I was close to my sister's and considered going to get a ride home but decided to try to tough it out.  Made it 2 more miles and had to take a break again.  After 20 miles I decided to walk the last mile home. The good thing about the run was that my legs do not feel like I have run at all today.  The last few miles were at a 9:00/mile pace.  Even when I hit the wall in a marathon, I can keep the pace in the 7's.  Hopefully I won't be too trashed for the 1/2 marathon next week.  I drank 4 times more than I normally do on a long run and still lost 6 pounds.

I'm going to throw the training plan out the window for this week.  I want to get my body back to normal after whatever happened yesterday.  My intent was to run easy but I saw Jeremy on the road and we ran a couple of miles together.  The pace was a little faster than I would have liked for a recovery run but it felt good to get the legs moving.  

High stress=low energy.  Struggled through another tough run.  I could start to feel some energy towards the end of the run so I know it is in there.  Just need to be patient.

Another toughie.  Saturday is not looking good.  I am actually considering a DNS.

I'm going to take a rest day and see if that helps liven up my legs.  I also just realized that my shoes need to be replaced which may be contributing to some of the extra soreness.

Solid run.  Started out a little slow but picked it up after the first mile.  Decided to run the 3rd mile at half marathon pace just to see how it felt.  Ended up running it in 6:30 which is slightly faster than my goal pace.  It was a little more work than I would like but it felt sustainable.  I need to focus on hydration today because I was a couple of pounds lighter this morning due to water loss.

This last week has been crazy and I really had serious doubts about this race.  It is the first year for this half marathon and I felt that there was a chance I could win (I'm good at cherry picking races).  Not feeling like I could perform my best had me a little extra worried.  I wanted to finish between 1:25 and 1:27 and hoped it would be good enough for a win.  Drove to the rec center and warmed up 1 mile.  Everything felt good and I was ready to roll.  Just over 100 participants in the 1/2 and only a couple of fast looking runners.  Horn went off and I immediately took the lead.  Fell into a groove and just went with it.  A heavy breather was right behind me and I knew he wouldn't be there long.  Cruised through the first mile in 6:01.  Oops!  Not sure how that happened.  It is a slight downhill but there is no way it should have been that fast.  This has become a bad habit.  I used to be so good about starting out in control.  Backed off the pace and another runner came along side of me.  We ran together through mile 2 (having just missed the train) in 6:30.  That is more like it.  This is still an aggressive pace but it felt good.  Something strange happened in the 3rd mile.  I was passed by a female runner and 2 more guys and I found myself in 5th place.  I think I kind of gave up at that point as evident by a 6:44 split.  After seeing that I told myself to snap out of it and that I am better than this.  The female runner and one of the guys had a pretty good gap on me and 2 guys had me by 15 seconds.  I decided to surge until I caught up to them so that my legs and mind would wake up.  Caught up to them and could tell they would be dropping back.  The quicker pace felt better so I stayed with it.  Settled into 3rd place while running mile 4 in 6:30.  First and second maintained a decent lead so I felt 3rd place was all that I could hold onto (yes it was killing me that I was going to be chicked).  The slight elevation loss was now over and we moved into the flat section on the LPT.  Mile 5 was 6:33 and mile 6 was 6:41.  I started to get low again during the 7th mile so I took a GU hoping it would provide some energy.  Mile 7 was 6:45 which included a couple of seconds stop to wash the GU down with some water.  It also included the tunnel which may have impacted the distance on my Garmin.  Suddenly felt some energy so I dropped the pace again to see if 1st and 2nd place would start coming back to me.  It was slow but the gap was closing.  Hit the big overpass and I was closing fast on the female runner.  Caught her at 8.5 and kept pressing so she wouldn't try to stay with me.  Mile 8 was 6:32 and I realized that first place was coming back too.  I was surprised because he looked like he was moving well.  Caught and passed him during the 9th mile (6:33) and he did not respond. Kept pressing because I wanted to have a decent cushion before we hit the uphill during the last 3 miles.  6:32 10th mile which included the aid station manned by the running club.  They really provided a much needed shot of adrenaline.  Focused on maintaining a good effort during the slight uphill.  Was glad to see a 6:38 for the 11th mile.  That is a good effort for that section.  Peeked behind me and couldn't see anybody.  Was not going to allow myself to relax so I tried to keep pushing.  6:45 for mile 12 which was a solid effort.  Made the turn onto Main street and looked down Pages and nobody was in sight.  There wasn't enough distance for anybody to catch me and I started feeling the win.  Mile 13 was 6:40 and I was starting to hurt.  Made the last turn and ran the last 0.1 at a 5:33 pace.  Crossed the line in 1:26:17 and on overall win.  Met both goals and felt great.  I am really happy with the result.  Now I can focus on some serious training for the next couple of weeks.

A little residual fatigue from the race but felt alright.  Didn't really force the pace because I want to give my body a chance to recover.  Mileage should be good this week but the pace will be slow.  

Sasha often speaks of failures of the nervous system and it's impact on running.  Looking back at last week, I feel that is what happened with me. It's good to have a better understanding of why the body is not responding the way you want.

Nice and easy out and back on the LPT.  Just went out and put one foot in front of the other for 2 hours.  It actually felt a little cool this morning.  Ankles are a little sore and had some sharp pains in my achilles (not the injured one) a few times but other than that, everything feels good.  

I'm losing my mind. I completely forgot to log my run this morning.  Super easy recovery run to the cemetery and back.  Legs feeling pretty sore.

Didn't forget to log my run today but I was pressed for time getting the girls to their softball game. Today was hill day so I ran up to the Bountiful temple then back home.  I considered not doing this one this week because I am still running on worn out shoes and I'm not fully recovered from the race.  My ankles and knees were a little achey so I was unable to generate the turnover I wanted on the downhill.  Going up felt a little better than I thought it would.  It was a slow run but effective.

Too much work to do and softball games start too early so no run today.  It was only a recovery run so I will survive (I hope). 

Another goose egg.  This softball schedule is really starting to affect my training.  I can't believe I ended the month with 2 missed runs.  Hoping to get out tomorrow before heading up to Jackson for a few days.