A clydesdale no more!

I am terrible about hydrating properly on the weekends.  When I am working, I always have a cup of water that I drink throughout the day.  On the weekends, I rarely drink and usually drink more soda than I should.  I definitely paid the price for it today.  Blacked out a few times while at Firehouse today.  The workout wasn't overly difficult but being dehydrated took it's toll on me.  I have cut back on running more than I should have so I need to find a way to ramp the miles back up again.  I may have to get creative to find a way to squeeze a couple of extra runs in each week. 

Ran 5 miles with Becky then 5 miles on my own.  Temperature is 78 but it felt a lot warmer for some reason.  The effort felt a lot harder than it should have.  Calvers are driving me crazy.  It's not really a hurty pain but they pull every time I take a step.  They really started to wear down towards the end of the run. 

No real running today.  Just a 7 minute run that was part of the workout at Firehouse.  Debating whether or not I should try something resembling a tempo run tomorrow.  Not sure if the calves are up to it and if there is really any benefit at this point.

Felt pretty lousy at the start of the run.  Had absolutely no energy.  Didn't bother wearing a watch because I knew there was no way I could muster the energy for any speedwork.  Felt better as the run progressed.  Felt teh best during the last mile.  On the bright side, my calves only ached a little.  They are definitely towards the end of the healing process.

Just a couple of short runs at Firehouse.  Nothing exciting.

Headed out the door for a long run of unknown length.  I haven't put in a real long run in quite awhile so I wanted to get a decent amount of distance.  Figured 18ish would be a good distance to target.  No Garmin so the Legacy trail was my only option if I wanted to know for sure how far I ran.  Also, couldn't find my fuel belt so I only had 16 oz of Gatorade.  This was going to be a good test for me.  Locked in a comfortable pace and just puttered along the trail.  At each potential turnaround point (17, 18, 19) I felt good enough to continue to the next.  Got to 10 miles, turned around and headed home.  Got to 15 miles before I started to feel the affects of glycogen depletion.  Was a little light headed but the rest of the body actually felt good.  Despite being incredibly thirsty, I felt very good.  Actually felt very strong during the last mile.  One thing that I noticed is that with the improved core strength, my running economy has improved and I do not get as fatigued on the long runs.  No idea what my average pace was.  Probably somewhere between 8:15 and 8:30.

Maybe I am not supposed to work out on Mondays.  Lots of new exercises at Firehouse which is hard for me.  I spend half my time trying to figure out what I am supposed to do and usually do them wrong anyway.  After my struggles at the gym, I thought about putting in a few easy miles.  Got a few steps into it and started to black out and decided it was better to just throw in the towel. 

Started with 5 miles with Becky.  It was supposed to be a recovery run for her but she still isn't convinced of how slow recovery runs are supposed to be (I think we averaged 8:30/mile)..  I think it takes a couple of marathon cycles to really appreciate slow recovery runs.   

After she was done, I went out to the golf course and back for another 5 miles.  Wanted to dial in the pace for my pacing duties at Bryce this weekend.  Averaged 7:30/mile (target was 7:38) and it felt very comfortable.  Didn't have my Garmin but I've run that route so many times I know where every quarter mile marker is so it was easy to stay on pace. 

Cross training at Firehouse included 2 runs (0.8 miles and 0.5 miles).  Actually felt decent at the gym today.  First time ever. 

Eight miserable miles on the LPT.  Had no energy today.  Not sure if it is lack of sleep or if I have a little bug. 

Went out 23 minutes meandering through Logan and River Heights then turned around and headed back towards the hotel.  I took one wrong turn and ended up extending the run a little.  Ended up averaging 7:28/mile.  I really like the way that pace feels.

Quick trip to Bryce Canyon to pace the 1:40 group at the half marathon.  We stayed at Ruby's Inn which is just up the street from the starting line.  The thought was that staying by the start line in a hotel would give us a better night's sleep then staying at the campgrounds in Tropic.  Didn't quite turn out that way because of a sick child in the room.  After a mostly sleepless night, we made our way down to the starting line 30 minutes prior to the start of the race.  I slept incredibly well the night before so was not concerned about the lack of sleep. 

Had a pacing partner today (Ben Ford) which makes things a little easier.  Seems to take some of the pressure off.  We worked well together in that he was very talkative and knew a lot of the people that were running with us and I was able to keep our pace honest.  We settled into a comfortable effort and just plugged away until the end.  I'm too tired to dig out my Garmin but we hit every mile within a couple of seconds of the target time.  The pace felt very natural and I never felt overly fatigued the entire race.  Made the last turn about 15 seconds too early so slowed up and crossed the finish line at 1:39:55.

After the race, Becky and Shantell thought it would be fun to add 6 more miles.  I tagged along as the third wheel as we worked our way backwards on the course for 3 miles then returned to the finish line.  The first 3 were uphill and were a little slower and more difficult than I would have liked.  I was starving so choked down a GU hoping it would satisfy my hunger (it didn't).  The last 3 felt great.  Never got the glycogen depletion feeling which was a nice surprise. 

Started the morning with a 2.5 mile warm up to the LPT to meet Shantell, Tara and Kam for a tempo run.  We decided to started at a more comfortable pace and make it a progression run.  First 2 miles were into the wind and were 7:09 and 7:00.  Took more effort than it should have.  I could especially feel it towards the end of the second mile when the wind picked up.  With the wind at our backs, we picked the pace up a bit.  Ran mile 3 in 6:39 and Shantell and Tara started to pull away.  Sped up a bit to catch up and finished the 4th mile in 6:30.  Tara was showing off and finished 10 seconds ahead.  Good, solid effort.  It definitely helps to have company on these runs.  Finished with a comfortable 2.5 mile run home.

Terrible day at Firehouse.  Just the basic exercises but for some reason I really struggled.  It was a very humbling experience.

Five recovery miles with Becky in Garden City.  After I finished the run with her, I went out for a few quicker paced miles.  Ran 3 more at 7:00/mile.  The faster miles felt very good.

Wasn't really in the mood to run but knew I would feel better if I did.  Ran 1.5 miles to Logan canyon then 1.5 up the canyon.  The only significant hill was less than a mile.  Kept the effort relatively easy.

Focused on arms at Firehouse.  There were 3 half mile runs interspersed throughout the workout.  Amazing how hard it was to run with rubber arms. 

I knew that Tempo Tuesday was going to be put on hold this week because Shantell ran 20 yesterday and Tara is racing Des News tomorrow.  Still wanted to attempt some slightly quicker miles this morning so I stuck to the planned routine.  Drove to the LPT and warmed up 2 miles.  Wasn't positive if Kam was going to be there so I waited for a couple of minutes then started my tempo miles.  Decided that I wanted to run 4 miles at lactate threshold.  My plan was to hold 6:50/mile the entire run.  Not a punishing pace but definitely a good, solid effort.  Probably my true lactate threshold pace right now.  Hit every mile at 6:50.  Had to make some corrections during the second half of miles 3 and 4 as I started both of those a little too fast.  Cooled down with 2 easy miles.

Becky wanted to run the Handcart Days 1/2 marathon as a supported long run.  She wanted to run 8:20/mile so I went along for the ride.  I didn't sign up so I guess I technically bandited the race.  I didn't take any of the fluids along the course so I consider it just coincidentally running the same course at the same time as the race.  At least that is what I am telling myself so that I can maintain some integrity.  We maintained a steady effort the entire run and finished in 1:48:56 (8:19/mile).  The last few miles took a little more effort but it was a good run.  Since it is a small race and it seems everybody ran the Des News half, the winning men's time was 1:31.  I could have won this race again had I actually raced it.  Running with Becky was much more satisfying. 

A few less miles than I had hoped because I was too busy with work this morning.  Just ran at a nice and easy pace.

Level 1 testing at Firehouse.  Testing at this level is kind of a waste of time.  Included a one minute squat, one minute plank, demonstrated knowledge of the 3 arm combo on TRX, 20 medicine ball hop and reach, and a 0.6 mile run around the block.  Pushed it on the run and was very disappointed with my time (3:47 = 6:18/mile pace).  No way I was going that slow.  Mapped out the course on gmap-pedometer and it is actually 0.68 miles which would be a 5:34/mile pace.  Still not blazing speeds but at least it is reasonable for the effort I was putting in.  Not that it matters but at least I can feel a little better about myself. 

Paced the 1:40 group at Timpanogos along with Colin.  They made a last minute course change which made the course about 45 seconds slower.  The course is still 3 minutes faster than a flat course so 7:38/mile was a comfortable pace.  It was very warm at the bus loading area but nice and cool at the starting line.  I knew that the last few miles would be more work because of the heat.  It’s times like this that make me glad to be pacing and not racing.  The race started and it was incredibly congested.  Fought through the crowd for the first mile then settled in with a good group.  The pace felt good but I had a hard time locking into the right effort.  My body wanted to run slower so it took more concentration to hit the right pace.  We kept no more than a 20 second lead on our target pace for the first 9 miles.  From here to the end, we were right on target.  We had one runner from Houston that stayed with us the entire race.  She is preparing for the Pocatello marathon and wanted a good practice run on a course with similar elevation change and altitude.  Just before mile 10 we passed a guy who told us we were way ahead of 1:40 pace.  I told him that we were right on target and he disagreed again.  I tried to explain that we were 60 seconds ahead of even pace but that was intentional and were going to give that back on the flat section of the course.  Shouldn’t have bothered me because I understand his state of mind but I make it a point to stay very close to target pace from start to finish and knew we were pacing perfect.  It was warm and 8:00/mile pace started to be a lot of work.  We missed the tunnel at Country Road at mile 12 and ended up crossing a very busy street with no traffic control.    Looked at my watch and we were 2 seconds behind schedule.  Ended up having to push a little more during the last mile than I would have liked.  Ran stride for stride with the lady from Houston for the last 3 miles (I even asked her to carry the pacing sign since she was doing all the work) and crossed the finish line 2 seconds late (crap).   After the race, there were a lot of complaints about the course change.  While it was slower, I think the bigger issue was the heat and humidity we experienced once outside of the canyon. 

After the race, Becky wanted to get in a few more miles so she would be over 50 for the week.  We ran a nice and easy 3 miles.

Mile	Split	Target
1	7:31	7:42
2	7:35	7:40
3	7:36	7:40
4	7:17	7:33
5	7:06	7:15
6	7:38	7:10
7	7:12	7:29
8	7:32	7:19
9	7:46	7:47
10	7:44	7:42
11	7:57	7:56
12	8:04	7:56
13	8:00	8:01
13.1	1:02	0:50

Got a pair of Skechers over the weekend and I was anxious to try them out so I went for a quick run before heading to the gym.  While walking around in them, they are incredibly comfortable.  During the run, I could tell that I will need to make some adjustments to my running form.  It is interesting how the shoes encourages the mid-foot strike.  They definitely have potential.  It's the first pair of minimalist shoes that have felt good. 

For the first time, Becky and I went to Firehouse together.  I have avoided this as I think it is a bad idea for her to see me in such a poor light.  I don't mind it when strangers see me make a fool of myself but it is a little embarassing when somebody who I would like to be impressed with me watches as I stumble through the exercises. 

Ended up running a few more miles than expected.  Started with 2.5 miles to the LPT to meet the tempo crew (Shantell, Tara, Jasmine and Kam).  We started with a little less than a mile at an easier pace for everybody to get warmed up then transitioned into tempo pace.  First mile inclued the tunnel which wreaks havoc with my Garmin.  My distance, pace and time were all askew so I didn't trust any of the readings for the rest of the run.  Pretty sure we ran 6:50ish pace.  I was content with the effort.  If I were really training for something, I would need to push a little more but this pace accomplishes what I want for right now.  Ran another mile to the trail head with the group then 2.5 more home.