Recovering From Microfracture Surgery

No run today but I was truly inspired by Ryan Hall's 1/2 marathon performance today. The 7th fastest man ever at the 1/2 marathon is now an American. What is most impressive is that he ran by himself from start to finish. He beat Meb by over 2 minutes and beat the American Record by over a minute. This breakthrough race for him should show all that American's can run with the African runner's. And to think he has never raced a 10K. He has always been a mile and 5K runner until recently when he set the American record in the 20K at his debut for a race longer than 5K. And then today he goes out and shatters the 1/2 marathon record. Along the way he also ran splits for 15K, 10 miles and 20K that were all faster than the current American Records.

Todd Williams - 15K=42:22 in 1995 / Ryan Hall split = 42:21

Greg Meyer - 10M=46:13 in 1983 / Ryan Hall split = 45:33

Ryan Hall - 20K=57:54 in 2006 / Ryan Hall split = 56:36

Mark Curp - 1/2M=1:00:55 in 1985 / Ryan Hall New American Record = 59:43

Only runners to ever have run faster in a 1/2 Marathon are: (None Aided Course)

Paul Kosgei (KEN) 59:07

Zer. Tadesse (ERI) 59:15

Sam. Wanjiru (KEN) 59:15

Paul Tergat (KEN) 59:17

Robert Kipchumba (KEN) 59:27

Evans Cheryuiot (KEN) 59:29

Ryan Hall (USA) 59:43!!!!

Even if you add in aided course times he is still the 13th fastest man ever over a half marathon! Overall there have only been 17 men in the world that have ever run under an hour on a certified course. Before today every one of them had been an African born athlete. What an awesome run by an American runner who is only 24 and has never raced at this distance before.

Ran an easy 10.04 on the Provo River Trail with Sasha at 7:15am. It is noce to have a day off and be avle to sleep in until 6:30am. It was very cold and therfore I wore three layers. When I left my house my temperature probes read -6.5'F and -5.8'F. The Provo airport officially recorded -5.8'F at 7:15am and then at 8:15am it recorded a drop to -7.6'F. At 8:45am, just after we finished, the airport reported it had climbed back up to a whopping -4.0'F. The coldest morning of the year so far but at least the wind was not blowing. I was actually on the warm side in my three layers but that is ok. The only down side is that the three layers of clothes is sort of cumbersome to run in and adds a lot of weight. We took it easy and did not chase the 7 minute guy but still averaged about 7:10 pace overall.

I keep telling myself that running through the bitter cold days and not so good snow and ice conditions is excellent training. I think it toughens one up both mentally and physically. In fact it was after a very cold couple of winter months in Kansas that I ran my marathon PR.

I was shooting for 70 miles last week but came up short a little at the end of the week but I needed a small break anyway. Maybe this week I can get to 70. We will see how the legs feel. I turn 38 this week so one year closer to being able to race as a master. It is kind of strange but unlike most people I am looking forward to turning forty and the chance to race as a master.

Ok, another cold day today at 4:45am this time. Official temperature from airport for our run recorded -2.2'F. So actually much warmer than yesterday. Today we did somewhat of a tempo run for 2.5 miles on the noraml spot on the Provo River Trail during our 10 mile out-nback course. Sasha once again pushed out at about 6:00 pace and my body did not immediately respond so well. However, I was able to gradually speed up and get things going. My first mile was 6:16 then second mile was 6:09 and finally the last half was 2:56. 15:21 for the 2.5 mile section, not bad conisdering the trail is still covered in snow and ice and -2.2'F is not the best running conditions, I had three layers of clothes on so I had to be caring quite a bit of extra weight as well. The last half actually felt a lot easier and smoother than the first mile. I am starting to think that my body has a hard time at 4:45am jumping from 7:30 pace straight to 6:00 pace. It seems that I do better with a more gradual acceleration. Once I get going then 6:00 pace seems much more reasonable. Overall legs felt a little better today than they have for awhile. I think if I can keep the easy days truly easy then my legs will feel better for the harder days. Not sure if I will make my goal of 70 miles this week as I am off to a slow start the first couple days.

Ran from BYU at 4:45am and met Sasha on the trail. Flet ok today and therfore caught ended up just under 7:00 pace overall for the run. After running 10 with Sasha then ran 1.1 miles on the BYU indoor track with cadets. I really do not like the indoor track so much as the air is very dry and bothers my throat. I actually prefer running outdoors even when it is -2.2'F as it was for our run today. So 11.1 miles on my 38th birthday and took my first fall of the winter as well. The funny part was that I did not slip on ice but actually tripped on it. It was too dark to see very well and I hit a chunk of ice that had fallen off of a car in a parking lot but was frozen to the ground so it was like hitting a block of cement. The fall was not bad as I caught myself with hands and just slid on all fours for a few feet and popped right back up. Also did 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups. Actually feels like I may be coming down with a slight cold. Hopefully that is all it is. Today makes five days in a row of negative temperatures and we actually tied or beat a record low for Provo for five days as well. You know its bad when our high was 17'F today and I actually thought it felt warm. It sure will be nice when the lows are back in the double digits again. No bike ride today as it was still below freezing when I had to leave for work. I have a no ride rule for myself when it is single digits. I can run in any weather but the bike is another story. My hands and feet do not do so well riding a bike when it gets that cold. Something to do with the wind chill factor on the bike. 

Our late morning day, started at 5:30am. Did normal Provo River run with Sasha. Trail is getting better but legs were tired today and I definetley have a cold as I am congested. Sasha did tempo run for 2.5 miles but I just was not up to going fast. With Sasha's advice we went slow so I could let the body rest and recover. Ended up just over 75 minutes. It was yet again another day in the negatives. The Provo airport reports show that the low for the day was at 5:35am at -2.2'F. Most of the run shows it was actually only -0.4'F. Either way it was almost out of the negatives today!. Maybe we will get lucky tomorrow and have a run not in the negative temperatures. Planning on an easy day tomorrow and hopefully I will feel good enough to do a 10 mile tempo on saturday. We will see. Looks like I will end up with about 65 miles this week instead of 70. I wanted to be higher by now but am still willing to just take it day by day right now. Weighed myself recently and I have lost 10 of the 20 pounds I gained while in Iraq. I expect most of the rest should come off over the next six months and as it does the times will hopefully come down as well.

Easy 10 miles at 4:45am with Sasha. Sasha did a mile pick-up but I kept it easy. I am trying to get over a cold and probably need to make sure I do not overdue it. Official airport temp readings had us at -0.4'F at 5:35am but the majority of the run it was actually 1.4'F. That makes every run this week with at least part of the run in negative temperatures. I sure hope this is not typical for Utah! Hopefully I feel good enough to do a 10 mile tempo tomorrow. Plan is to get 13 with a 10 mile tempo in the middle with Sasha tomorrow. Oh yeah, did 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups as well.

Ok, made it through a nice long run with a 10 mile tempo this morning at 7:15am with Sasha. Well I was only with Sasha for a little while on the tempo. It was 1.4'F when we started the run so finally not im the negatives for once. It was up to 6'F at the end of the run and I actually felt like I overdressed as the three layers was a bit much during the tempo. I felt ok for the first 3 miles but things were not as good after that. Between being a little sick and the cold weather I did not runa s fast as I think I can right now. Splits for 2.5 mile sections were 15:31, 16:04, 16:31, and 16:14 for 10 miles in 64:20. Overall I am glad that I managed to average under 6:30 pace but I really think I should be running no slower than 6:15 pace on long tempo runs right now. Not feeling so good right now, stomach hurts a bit. That may have had something to do with it. I just hope it does not last as I wanted to go ride my mountain bike for a few hours later today.