A Balance, Redefined

Well today marks my longest run since St. George. Hard to imagine it has been that long of a time. Looking over my training I've stuck to my recovery mode year and plan to stick with it through the end of the year. I still have enough aches and pains to remind me that I'm not 100%. Looking over this year I've done one 14 mile run and a few days that have totaled around that in two-a-days. This is a huge departure from how I typically train and though my 10K worked out fine the other work I'm a little concerned how this approach will work for a marathon. 

Last night had a few too many wake-ups but what can you do. I'm assuming it is teething or a growth spurt. I slept in an extra hour to try and compensate and then headed into lab. I ran from lab to City Creek and then up another 4 mile (8 miles total "warm-up"). It was actually pretty chilly this morning and though I went shirtless there was a poriton going up that I wished I had had gloves. By the end of the run though I was dripping sweat, so be careful what you wish for. On the way up I saw a squirrel. I was also going through my "magic realm" and thinking I missed the hummingbirds due to the extra hour of sleep when two of them come busting out of a bush chasing each other and nearly fly into me. Then there were three more just ahead. Once I hit my 8 mi mark I stopped stretched a little and then turned on the gas and tried to run hard down. My plan was to get some fatigue running down to compensate for the lower mileage long runs. I wanted my legs tired and then see what I could do with them. My plan was to hit miles 9-12 hard with the last hard mile under 5 if possible and the whole run under 2hr.

The first was 5:38 HR 174
The second was 5:34 HR 185 (saw Eric headed up this mile)
The third was 5:45 HR 178 (backed off a little to be able to hammer the final mile)
The final was 5:02 HR 194 (How's that for pushing!!! The Garmin had my max HR during this split at 210!!!).

I then cooled down the four miles back to lab. On the way I saw Albert and stopped to talk to him for a bit.

Overall, happy with the workout. I'm also happy how I was able to get my body to respond the 9-12th miles of a 16-miler. I didn't make the sub-5 but I did just squeak in under 2 (1:59.51). The rest of the day was family stuff and my work had its annual pot luck.

Avg. 7:29 HR 154

SH park and area run with Kaitlyn. Stopped to play in the park and feed the birds. Relaxing run. A little late in the day as we slept in after another horrible night of sleep so though I got 8 total it had about 4 wake-ups in it. The rest of the day was family fun and now I'm in work setting up for tomorrow. Avg. 9:55

Another sleepless night. Home around 10:30 and asleep about 11:30pm but back up on and off from 12:30 to 3am... Early start to the day as we have lab meeting. I slept in as much as I could to make up for the intermittent night and only did my commute 2.5 mi in. Avg. 9:12

PM: After dinner went back out for more. Still over 90F but just took it easy. Was planning on the home loop as I saw two runners leaving the East Track. I caught up with them and started chatting. We ran the next three miles together before they turned west and I headed back home. It was very funny. The one guy was training for his first Ironman later this month but the other guy had just graduated from Grinnell. One of the other colleges in my very small conference. He graduated a number of years since I did but he know some of his alumni that I used to run against. Very small world. Avg. 7:53

AM: MG overlook slow. Planning on two today.  Actually had a full nights sleep last night, at least no interruptions. Avg. 9:35

PM: Goose egg. Just not my day to get out a second time. I felt "off" today.

AM: Slept in an extra hour. Did not have a good night. This morning wasn't that much better. But the day is young and it can only improve from here. Avg. 10:14

PM: Today went much better than yesterday. I still didn't get as much done as I would have liked but it was a step in the right direction. The fatigue still weighs on my a bit but I decided to throw in three faster miles tonight. Just the home 5K miles and they were not all out between 6:07 and 6:15 pace. The effort felt harder than it should have but that is ok. Avg. 7:10

AM: The good news is no baby wake ups. The bad news is that my body decided to wake up anyway. The good news is that when it is done that way I can go right back to sleep. The bad news is even with the pretty solid night of sleep I felt very sluggish this morning. The good news is that I'm all set to have another productive day. Ok enough of that... Campus-commute run in. More of a brisk walk than a run but I got in some extra mileage. Avg. 11:14!!!

PM: An ok day. Not as good as yesterday but still taking steps in the right direction. I'm taking the night off which should help. Did a treadmill run while watching a movie. Started at 8 for the first 4 then picked it up 2 tenths of a mile per hour the rest of the way. Broke a good sweat.

Single: Nice start to the day. There was one baby wake-up but Sandra got to her so quick I didn't even notice so this is the first night I slept through from head hitting the pillow to alarm going off in a long time. Run felt good. My knee/hip has been bugging me since the race but today felt pretty "normal" again. Just ran from work in the early AM to the MG overlook and back. Nice even pace. Avg. 9:00...

Overall a great weekend. I was a little concerned about today. I'd gone from planning a 3X5K to a progression run  to nothing for today. This marks both my longest run and longest week in almost a full year. My knee is still bugging me some but not as bad as it had been. The race tweeked something but overall I'm still happy with my progress, enough so that I'm going to register for both the TOU 1/2 and Full this week...

As far as today's run ended up going. About 1.5 mi into it I heard someone coming up behind me. Turned about to see Josh at about mile 8 of his 20-miler. I ended up picking it up a little and he ended up slowing it down a little so we could run together. I bagged my initial run plan and just went with him. We had a great conversation and I was happy to have the company, it really made the run fly by. Partly because I ended up going a little faster than I would have otherwise and partly because the conversation distracted me from the miles. The only caveat was that I hit mile 14 (his 20) down on 9th E so I had to run all  my last 4 miles weaving up to 22nd... However, the ending uphill was well worth the company. Avg. 7:40

In the PM I took advantage of the new found trail knowledge Cody had given me a couple weeks ago and took my family on a hike to Donut Falls.

Yes, 8hr of sleep! However, it was NOT straight through. My youngest got up 4 times between 8 and 4am. That 4th time I got her and tried to entertain her for about an hour. Then Sandra came and got her and finally she went down. We were both so exhausted we just turned off our alarms and let the girls be our alarm. To our surprise they both slept until 9am!!! Lucky us.

After a day of fun family time, errands, and household chores. My oldest and I went to City Creek. I had lost track of time and thought it was only 3pm. So I decided to take her all the way to the top of the road. However, when I got to the top I realize it must have been after 4pm when I started. The bad news was I didn't have reception so we "rushed" back down to call my wife that we were still alive as we were over an hour late... In the end everything was ok. However, it is a lot harder than I thought to push a stroller up 1412ft in 5.5mi. In the end we both had a great time and she kept me entertained telling stories about her toy she brought with and singing me some songs.

My alarm went off at the normal 5am and I promptly turned over and turned it ahead for an additional hour. Rest is good for you... Just did my SH commute run into work. Monday meeting ran way over and by the time my day "started" it was already lunch time. That being said I'm back in lab now finishing up a few things. At least I got home for family dinner and some play time with my daughters. Avg. 9:16

AM: Same run as yesterday. SH commute run into work. Last night was another rough one. Slept in an extra two hours to get to the magic 6hr survival number. The good news about my job are that my hours can afford to be moved around. However, I will say the interrupted sleep makes critical thought difficult. Sandra really takes the majority of the interruptions so I don't have room to complain... Avg. 8:42

I forgot to mention the strangest part of this morning. Less than a block from my house was a deer standing in the middle of the street. It didn't run away when I approached it. I couldn't tell if it had been hit by a car but it was obviously stressed about being in a neighborhood. Even as I ran by it, it more or less just watched me. Then a truck turned the corner and it just walked into a yard and then behind the house, strange...

PM: Slow day. I have the longest case of writers block ever. I've been able to write the grant and some abstracts this year but when it comes to writing manuscripts I sit there and find everything else to do but write. Kind of like now. After family time and dinner I came back into lab (still there now) but first I went for a run. Memory Grove overlook plus. I hit the Firehouse Mile hard 4:54 HR 182. I still get very excited whenever I see sub-5 minute miles. I haven't done many of them in my life. Even downhill they are exciting. Another 1/2 hr of work and then hopefully some sleep. I have a long day tomorrow... Avg. 7:57 HR 146

Single: As predicted long day. But productive. Commute run in via MG. Avg. 10:12

Good day over all. My wife and I were both done with the no sleep. We went to sleep early, didn't really have any troubles at all during the night, and got to sleep in late. So all and all a good catch-up day. On top of things I finally got the draft of my manuscript sent to my boss and found out that the abstracts that I'd submitted earlier this year were both accepted so I'll be headed to FL in Nov. After family time I went for a home loop run. My legs felt like lead but I wanted a workout so I forced the home 5K loop.
Mile 1: 5:20.1 HR 176
Mile 2: 5:32.8 HR 182
Mile 3: 5:38.4 HR 188
0.11 Mi: 0:38.9 HR 190
TOTAL: 17:10.2
With the lead legs it felt much harder than it should have. I guess one night of sleep doesn't make-up for the previous nights. Avg. 7:20 HR 162

Legs still sluggish but otherwise feeling ok. After yesterday it will be hard to top. But I'll try I still have the revisions on my review and a meeting on a new project today. Otherwise I'm ready for the weekend. Have a good time everyone. Memory Grove-Work Loop Avg. 8:51 HR 137

Nothing too special. Sticking with focusing on sleep. I slept in with the plans of taking my daughter for a run this morning. But big surprise it was raining and ~50F so we bagged that idea and walked the mall. By lunch time it had cleared up nicely but I ended up just doing a Wasatch Dr run on my own. Nice and easy just to get my 70 for the week. Legs still pretty much lead. Avg. 7:49

Did anyone watch the women's 10K final tonight? What a finish!!!

Very full morning. Met up with Steve A. at the zoo. We went up Emigration and down the other side almost to the golf course and back. The run went very well. We were both looking for some LSD and found it more or less. Most of the run we were just content to focus on a very good discussion. But we both opted to sprinkle in a little pepper the last couple miles. They are just the perfect grade. Our mile 20 was a 5:32, and that was only after I had looked down at a 4:58 pace and we decided to back off... I'm obviously tired after the effort but otherwise happy with it. I had wanted a 2:30 hour run and we finished in 2:30.34 so pretty spot on. After the run I had just enough to time shower before hopping in the car with the family to zip off to church. This afternoon I actually have to deal with some work (meeting tomorrow) but overall glad for a nice end to a good week. Avg. 7:31 HR 149

For those non-locals. This run goes up for 8 mi then we went down for 2 mi then back the same way. The total ascent over the course of the run is 2406 ft... Granted the last 8 mi are down but those two down/up in the middle sure make it interesting.

AM?: Not sure if I'll do a second run today. My legs feel surprisingly good.  Don't get me wrong they are sore and my knee is tight but considering last week was only my second week this year at 70 miles and yesterday was my longest run since St. George I'm happy with how they feel. I'm continuing to focus on sleep and have been averaging 1-2 additional hours per night. However, the loss of awake time sure crunches what you can get accomplished in a week. My talk went well this morning and now on to finishing up my revisions on the review... Commute run in plus some looping around campus for the even 3mi. I know, I know I should watch the crazy morning mileage. Sometimes I can't control myself :)... Avg. 9:30

PM: Just a blah day. Never really got moving mentally. So far today is a little better. I just did the home loop after the girls went down for the night and then relaxed.

Planned day off. At least that is what I decided last night. Today is Sandra's birthday so I slept in to see everyone in the morning. Then tonight we have plans. Good cumulative sleep hours. Legs sore from last week and knee is a little tight but nothing not to be expected...

AM: Starting the day off right. First time in a while that I was up at "normal" time. Dinner and relaxation last night helped some. After setting some things up in lab I was off towards City Creek. Then up and back via the trails to Dry Creek. Some how I've become a super clutz. I've fallen more times this year than all other years running combined. Today was pretty funny. I was on a downhill section and my toe caught a rock. I went over, rolled, and continued running. I didn't even stop. I was embarrassed more than hurt but only wish someone had seen it because it had to have looked funny. After getting back to lab all I had was a small cut on my palm and a bruise on my shoulder. Trail running is hazardous to your health... At least when your head is in the clouds and not on the rocks in front of you. Avg. 9:12

PM: Much better today overall. I had been in a funk for about two weeks (on and off this year actually) but the last two weeks even more so. Today was much better. Still running behind but I felt like I made some progress today. I've been trying to read Born to Run when I get a few spare momments and there was this section about Vigil and how children love to run and we have to get back to that to fix all of societies woes (big paraphrase there). But that was the message I took from it and really that can be applied to so many things. I'll keep working at it. However it was so true after dinner my daugter just wanted to run circles in our back yard holding my hand. It was  a lot of fun. After they went down I came back into lab to set something up for tomorrow and go for a second run. I did the MG overlook with a FireHouse mile 4:57.79. I am a lot stiffer than I thought I would be from my tumble this morning but obviously not too bad. Let's see what the morning brings. Avg. 8:00 (I love the even numbered pace race)...

AM: TOF recovery run. Very tired this morning but still out the door at a good time. Commute run in with a lot of zig-zag on campus. Avg. 11:21

PM: Harder run. Another good day but tiring. Altered home loop 1 easy, 4 hard, 1 easy, 2 medium. It was very warm and my hip was a little sore from the fall. Otherwise good deal. Avg. 6:48

Single: Slept in a little extra and then stayed around to keep my daughter occupied so my wife could get a little sleep. Then after setting up something in lab did the work loop to Memory Grove. On my way out, I think it was the State Capital Building, was chiming My Country, 'Tis of Thee. Overall a good run. My right calf was tight. Probably because of the hip yesterday. But since the hip is better I think "it" is making its way out of my body... Glad I got my run in this morning. Supposed to hit 100F today (sorry to you down in St. George, I saw 108F for the high). Have a great weekend. Avg. 8:36

Early AM: Up early to go on a hike with a friend from work. We headed over to Mt. Olympus and headed up. To my surprise there were already a good number of cars in the parking lot. We passed a good number of people on the way up. Just to find a group of about a dozen kids aged 12-19 that had started up at 3:45am! Total climb was only to 9050 ft by Garmin, official 9026 ft. We made the ~3mi ascent in under two hours for a total of  ~4500 ft. It was a great hike. Not as scenic as Grandeur Peak a few weeks ago but good in other ways. Even more people heading up on our way down. I was surprised it was 70F when we started and is supposed to hit record highs today.

Single: After I got home I grabbed a quick snack and then packed up my older daughter to take her on a run around the park. It was pretty warm by the time we headed back. In fact the slides were too hot for sliding :(... Avg. 9:18

Nothing too special this morning. Had initially planned on getting up early and running JRP. However, when my alarm went off I blinked my eyes and it was an hour and a half later. So instead I dashed out the door and ran the Des 10K-SugarHouse loop before church. Avg. 7:57

Still struggling to get up early but feeling ok otherwise. Not too much noteworthy just a commute run in via Memory Grove. Avg. 9:25

Quick look! I'm top of the mileage board for the next few minutes... (8:40am Mountain)

AM: After two days of sleeping through my alarm I woke up before it today. Tried to go back to sleep and couldn't so just got up. I was already down the block by the time I would have just been rolling out of bed. Good start to the day. Commute run in via SugarHouse. 6-Avg. 9:39

PM: Very long day at work. Then after dinner had parent back to school night. So I didn't get out for my run until almost 9pm. Was feeling sluggish and ran considerably slower on the home loop than I had planned on but got it done. 6-Avg. 6:37

Single: Today was the run that I had wanted yesterday. I was so sluggish then but tonight was just fun. Sleeping the night before was rough. I was so restless. I don't know what my problem was. I had a productive day thought and finally got the revisions back to my boss. I'm down to only owing him one thing completed (in addition to the 9 other ongoing projects that is...). In any case after family time headed back to lab to set-up for tomorrow and then over to City Creek. Parked at the gate and headed up. The first mile I saw a good number of people and then no one. Mostly because it was just after 8pm and getting dark. I continued up. The road is wide enough and there was some good moonlight. I enjoy running at dusk and listening to the wildlife. I went up four turned around and then began to pick it up down the canyon. 5:46, 6:11, 5:38 and 5:07. I really needed that last one after how I'd been feeling physically this week. Now just rest until Saturday. Avg. 6:59 HR 154

Single: One of the best solid nights of sleep I've had in awhile. Sound asleep from pillow to alarm. The run in was sluggish but no surprise after last night's hard run. I just did the SH-commute run in. Today must have been National Get Out and Run Day! Typically on my commute run I see 1 maybe 2 at best other runners. Today I saw 26! Granted 12 of those were the Westminster CC team. The interesting part is of the other 14 only 2 were guys. Also of the other 14 most were solo runners so it wasn't like it was just a club run. The only thing I can think is that with school starting again this week all the students are back in the area. Have a great day. Avg. 9:53

Single: Not a good night's rest but ok. I just was silly... Then woke up before my alarm (again!). The run in was the FH-commute run. Just excited to see what tomorrow brings. Avg. 9:35

I was pretty nervous about this race. It was Aug 20^th, 2008 when I was going to break in my flats for St. George and just broke myself. Since then I’ve obviously been hesitant in my training. The slower mileage build and much easier pace has been good for me. Des 10K was a huge surprise for me but I came into this race very unsure of myself and my ability. The few longer hard runs I’ve done were pretty tough. I figured I could surprise myself like at Des 10K and run a 1:12 or run a 1:18. I however wanted anything under 1:15…

I drove up to Logan after helping put the girls down for the night. Jon was nice enough to pick up my race packet and Cody let me stay at his place. Thanks to both of them. Friday night Cody showed me his race report from the previous year and we went over Paul’s map, both came in very helpful. I ended up reading Born to Run for about an hour and then got to sleep. I woke up a couple times, probably nervous about the race. Cody drove to the start after picking up Paul. At the start we saw a number of people I hadn’t seen in a while or ever met before. This race was going to be very stacked and I would just have to wait to see how it played out.

After a little extra wait due to the huge increase in participation we were headed down the canyon. I stayed back a little the first few miles to get a good feel for things. I watched Cody, Jon, Albert and a number of other people slowly gain on me. In addition to the Terran, Alex, Paul, and Seth who were screaming up ahead.

The first mile was 5:27.55 (183). The pace was good and I wasn’t feeling too bad so I decided I would stick with it.

The second mile was 5:28.94 (176). Still feeling good and starting to gain a little on Cody. Also, three guys pulled up alongside me and started discussing pace. The mentioned they were a 5:45 group obviously going too fast.

The third mile was 5:30.10 (184). Very happy with how the effort felt. I think I caught Cody this mile. Now on to “yellow shirt”.

The fourth mile was 5:32.07 (184). The “5:45 group” was still with me and one guy was following TOO close and clipped me a few times. I decided to very gradually pick it up and see what happened. Fortunately, he(they) opted to go with me.

The fifth mile was 5:24.68 (183). Not too fast but it did the trick they backed off. I did take a Gu during this mile as well.

The sixth mile was nearing the end of the canyon 5:21.31 (184). I was starting to gain on Walter and “yellow shirt”.

The seventh mile was 5:24.42 (184). It was nice to get in to the pretty decent group of fans as we exited the canyon. I passed Walter and was almost immediately passed by Justin (guy from Sandy). However, yellow shirt was pretty close in reach. I was hovering in 10^th place and really wanted to make top ten.

The eighth mile was 5:34.73 (185). I was in 9^th place and feeling pretty good. I really wanted to get a 55 min 10 mile split at this time.

Mile nine was 5:40.90 (183). Oops… I took a second Gu during this mile. I guess the lack of canyon descent and tailwind was playing its toll. Also at this point I heard two guys coming on fast. Turns out it was Joe Wilson and a training buddy. They passed me like I was standing still and continued on to Justin. Justin fended them off for awhile. So much for 10^th place…

Mile ten was 5:50.25 (182). Still falling off pace a little more than I would have liked and missed my 55. I think I saw 55:30 (I could add up the splits I guess)…

I knew the second half of mile 11 and all of mile 12 were going to be painful thanks to the conversation with Cody the night before so I just clamped down into survival mode. From the cheers of the crowd I knew someone was not too far behind and I did not want to get passed by anyone else.

Mile eleven was 5:54.12 (182). At least I was still under 6 but I knew the hardest mile was yet to come. The only thing that kept me moving was the fear of the cheers for the person behind me. I never looked back.

Mile twelve was 6:09.98 (183). So much for staying under 6 but not as bad as it could have been. Now to use the downhill.

Mile thirteen is all down to the finish. That you can see clearly the whole way. I could still see Justin, Joe and friend. Well beyond my reach but that helped pull me along. Time 5:39.11 (185). Not too shabby and a 0:50.65 (187) for the finish. Garmin had 0.16 (That’s what we get for not being allowed to run tangents.).

Final Garmin time 1:13:48.81 (Avg. 5:36-HR 183) final chip time 1:13:47.9. Second fastest half of all time so overall very happy with it. Since I didn’t know what to expect I had to be happy with whatever I got and I was. I did end up 11^th overall. Surprisingly, 6 of the 10 in front of me were in my age group. Including 1 (Tarren), 2 (Alex), and 3 (Paul). So 11^th overall those three get removed and still fourth in age group so out of the medals L… But happy with the day, being able to run  my second fastest time, chat with a number of bloggers and local running studs, congratulations to Carol on her marriage, visits to Narnia (see Paul’s or Cody’s reports), etc. etc.

Minor warm-up and a double cool-down (about 7 total).  

Very happy with the way my body feels today. My knee was pretty tight but my muscles were not that sore at all. Considering the downhill nature of the race yesterday I am very pleasantly surprised. I guess I can finally switch from injury recovery. Now I had wanted to have one top 10 overall finish back under my belt before I went to local elite but I hope you can give me some leeway considering the field on Saturday... Tonight was a naked recovery run of the home loop to shake out the legs and assess if there was any damage.

AM: Legs still pretty good. Up early but slept well. Did the MG overlook run from work before sunrise. Still keeping it naked.

PM: Here they go. I knew I'd feel a little stiff today. Still good. Just a home loop to get them warmed up for a good stretch. Still keeping it naked. This is just a recovery week and then taper time!