A Balance, Redefined

This is me being lazy. I didn't want to go back and type in all the individual runs. This is a relatviely low Jan-May total as I spent most of it recovering from a piriformis injury.

Fitness assessment. I did a solo 5K time trial to see what my baseline was at.

I hit 17:45. Not too happy with that but it was on my own and it was after no real training. So as far as a starting point goes I'm not that disappointed either.

Better than yesterday.

12x400 with Black Sheep. Interesting format. 100m rest between sets of 4 with a longer rest between the 3.

Chad and Josh really opened my eyes to the fact that I'm back in somewhat decent shape. I just wish the nagging pain in my knee would go away.

HL and SH loop

Up dry creek again. Great day.

HL and then 5xSH. I wanted to do loops there in case my knee started complaining from the fuller week. But everything felt great and it was good to run on the grass.

Ran with Kaitlyn, loops of SH.

Rest and recovery day.

20x200 with WA (15 ~32-34; 5 ~35-38) with 200 recovery between.

WU to the park, loop a/f and CD home.

After a week of harassment I've finally broken down and joined. I've been "spying" on Chad long enough that I felt I should come aboard (especially after his comment last week).

Recovering from yesterday’s 200s, right knee continues to bug me but I'm starting to think it is as good as it is going to get.

An early easy 8 mi from home with a Sugarhouse Loop.

Hello All,

Thank you for the welcomes and suggestions. I felt I should give a background report, as I haven't met many of you.

I tend to talk and write a lot so I'll try and keep it short and to the point but just like this sentence it will probably drag on.

I've been running distance since 1995. I initially started life as a soccer player and when I got to high school, wrestling took over a significant portion of my life. My coach had me join the track team to keep my weight down on the off-season. Then my junior year, I met a terrific coach (Willy G) who opened my eyes to distance running and planted the seed to run a marathon, though it would be another 6 yrs before I actually ran one. My high school running career was non-descript and though I was a scoring runner on the team that more reflected a poor conference than my abilities. I was always on the cusp, but never broke 2:00 for the 800, 5:00 for the mile, or 18 for the 5K while in high school. Then in college (Knox College, Galesburg, IL) I had a falling out with both soccer and wrestling and took up running fulltime.  By my senior year, I was captain of the CC team and though I never made all-conference, I was typically running in the top 15-20 at most smaller invites. Granted this was DIII competition and I never broke 27 for an 8K I really enjoyed the sport and have always focused on personal goals versus being the "best". That being said my training really motivates me and I tend to focus on only a few races each year.

As far as specific running history goes. I've usually been injury prone. I typically lasted until after the season ended each year never missing a college race but each year after season I would be out for a month. If you have seen me run, you will know why. My biomechanics are horrible. My right femur is curved and that makes my leg kick out. I've managed it well, but it tends to cause some knee problems from time-to-time. (So to answer both the concerns of Sasha and Bill, I've seen numerous PTs, Orthopedists, etc. etc. and it seems to be a volume/intensity issue. I've tried a bunch of shoes that haven't helped. The best thing is consistent stretching, which falls off every now and then due to my work schedule).

In high school, I more or less only ran with my coach. She inspired me a lot and was training for the Olympic trials while I was running with her. She had a lack luster finish there and ended up stopping running and becoming a personal trainer (last I heard). However, she was a truly motivational force in my life and many of my thoughts about what running is were planted by her.

In college, there was a core of three of us that trained doubles each day and lifted together (John O and Dennis F). There were a few others that cycled through our group, but we were the most like-minded in training philosophy so mostly stuck together. At this time I also met my future wife (Sandra) and she even joined me on the CC team my senior year.

When I went to grad school, I spent a couple years mostly running on my own and finally got to my goal of the marathon breaking 3-hrs my first time out at Chicago '01. This also solidified a high school goal of mine to run one marathon a year until I turn 80. I've made it 6 years so far, only 50 more to go. Then one of the two college buddies (Dennis) moved back to St. Louis and we again started training together daily. At about that same time a large influx of some top runners came together and we formed a group that met twice a week (since I've left St. Louis the group split to two groups but each of the groups have top runners in the nation (Zac Freudenberg and Ben Rosario) and though they compete wearing different jerseys many still train together). My time running with that group was truly inspirational and though I was 11th or 12th slowest in the 15 guys that got together, running with that type of talent really helped me develop. Much of this time was spent with grueling 70-80 hr graduate school work weeks while getting to know Sandra better and eventually getting married in '04.

Then last summer a lot of things changed. I graduated with my PhD from Washington University and my wife and I had a baby, Kaitlyn. On top of that, within 8-wks of each other, we moved to SLC so that I could start my post-doctoral research at The U.

Our transition to Utah and the altitude took a little getting used to but I quickly tried to get into the running scene to feel more at home. During my first month here, I met Chad D and Bill C. Both of which I did some initial training with. Also the two reasons why I'm finally on here and boring you all with this long story. In the end, my schedule worked best around the WA workout schedule and I started training with Demetrio pairing up with Lion G for some of the hardest track workouts in my life. I quickly noticed many changes in my running performances. I started boosting my mileage and won both the Park City Marathon Relay (w/ much help from Lion) and the SLC 1/2 marathon in Sept. Then tragedy stuck at my sister's wedding (a little too much celebration at the wedding, too little stretching that week, too much mileage (101; up from 80) and not enough recovery between the two races) and I was diagnosed with Piriformis syndrome, a true pain in the butt!!! This knocked me out of Top of Utah that I had been training for and basically kept me out of running for 6-wks. I duct taped myself together to complete the Vegas marathon (as my '06 marathon) and then took a good 2-months completely off. Though I was still feeling pains I decided it was time to start running again in late Feb and have nursed myself back up to some good mileage (~50/wk) and some better workouts (I've done 5 this year). As I mentioned yesterday I'm still feeling the workout from Tues and just the mileage again (Sasha, To answer your question they were a little too quick for me. I underestimated them because they were 200s but it was the fist time I had met Dennis S and he motivated me, I managed 15 at 32-34 and then fell off considerably and did the final 5 on my own in 35-38).

So I think that catches you all up on my running life story. My current goal is mostly staying healthy through Top of Utah so I can make up for not running it last year. As far as my training plan goes my schedule has been vary hectic. I changed the name of my blog to reflect this. I'm really trying to find a balance between spending time with my wife and 1-yr daughter, develop a career as an independent researcher (success rate with the current government funding is ~10%), and nurture my passion for running. That being said I've done workouts with either the Black Sheep or WA the last two Tues and will continue to flip-flop as they will have me and as my work schedule dictates. My typical training is 5 days a week I'm up and out of the door around 5:15am, to be in work by 7am, to get home for dinner with the family by 5pm, and typically back to work around 7pm, so is the life of a PhD scientist.

I hope to meet some of you over the upcoming months. I thank Chad for prodding me into coming aboard. My next race will be in Chicago on the 24th and a conference I am attending and then probably nothing until the Deseret 10K.

If you made it this far, Congratulations! and good running to all…

-Adam

Home loop.

I never thought that I would become a morning runner. But now that I have I do enjoy the nice weather and watching the sun rise over the mountains.

Thank you for the comments the other day.

First, to let others in on what Chad was talking about with my record keeping.

When I got to college, I started keeping a running journal, by Jerome. I was bummed that I hadn’t kept track of any of my high school running. One day as a means of not studying I found an Excel spreadsheet that was very thorough. I started playing around with that, I added in a sheet for races, and a sheet for my distance around the world. The circumference of the earth at the equator is 24,902 miles, I’m at about 18,500. I’ve been filling in at least the mileage per day since Nov of ’97. At some points, I’ve been much better about putting in running course, weather, times, pace, etc. It has been useful, especially when looking back over marathon training.

Second, Bill I agree with you that right now family is the important thing. That has also been the hardest because between work and wanting to succeed in running while I’m still “young” there are only so many hours in the day. Work by far has been the biggest time suck though.

Third, Sasha thank you for the training comments. I’m not planning on going over 70/wk for this training cycle. I also do most of my runs very slow. I’ve been keeping most of them even around 8. Mostly this has to do with the early morning, I’m just not awake yet. In the past I’ve usually done just mileage and slow pace with some fast days. However, I only improve when I’m on the track at least one day a week. Doing the 25x400 with Lion last fall pushed me to new PRs in everything. I’m not sure if you noticed but within the half marathon I more or less broke a lot of my other shorter PRs. In fact the last 5K of that race (down Emigration) was my fasted. In the past for workouts I had usually just down Farleks and longer repeats even up to 3x5K repeats from some advice from a former Hansons runner and an old coach. Also, the speed workouts are my main social output right now so we’ll see. The longer runs I’ve been trying to do on my own so that I can listen to my body for pace. I tend to recover better from doing my track workouts a little too fast than doing my long runs too quickly. I also tend to like them long I actually had 17 planned for today but had to cut it a mile short.

As far as my research goes: I did my thesis on two aspects of cardiac and skeletal muscle fuel utilization. The first part was looking at the molecular mechanism involved in muscle’s decision to burn fat or sugar. The second part was looking at the same mechanism but specifically the role of one protein in muscle glycogen recovery following exhaustive exercise. For my current research I’m looking at the heart to try and understand how sugar delivery affects insulin signaling and metabolic function specifically in relation to exercise, hypertension, and diabetes.

To all three of you. I do like this opportunity to sit down and think about training and “hear” other points of view. I particularly like the discussion about Chad’s recent injury. I’ve had problems with running injuries since college. It doesn’t make sense I wrestled and never had this many injuries. But with the biomechanics of my right leg I’ve always had a problem with issues related to that knee whenever I get in decent competitive shape. I once had a PT tell me with my biomechanics, that I should not run and take up rowing or something else instead. However, like Chad said there is something freeing about running and I only get it when I’m out there, being in a pool, a gym or on a bike just doesn’t do it for me. So no matter how much my body complains I’m sure I’ll continue to fly through the miles and get on the track to feel fast every now and then.

Today’s workout was an early one. I wanted to beat the heat and had to be in lab by 8am. I headed out from home south on the Bonneville Shoreline. It was an out and back. 64’ out and 60’ back. So very relaxed pace. I only saw about 2 other runners but a good 3 dozen cyclists.

What an amazing day. Early AM run from home to SH and then three loops. Nice and easy. The weather was perfect. Then a PM hike with the family on top of Little Mountain.

Rest and recovery. Not too much sleep with the conference coming up. Will try and just get in some quality miles here and there this week as my schedule sees fit.

I’m just in survival mode right now. Crazy hours with little sleep, about 5hrs last night. I did manage to get out of bed in time for a run. I was planning on doing some miles at marathon pace since I was going to miss my Tues speed work. I got to SH, I alternated 2mi easy w/ 2mi at pace. I only hit one of the 4 miles where I wanted to be. I think because of the work stress. Another hard night tonight (I’m still at work as I type this). Hopefully next week things will get back to “normal”.

Well the good news is I’m about to leave lab. The bad news, well you can see the time of this post.

I managed to sneak out for dinner with the family and a short run. It was great no watch, no Garmin, just a hat, shorts, and shoes. Exactly what summer running should be. It felt good. I would say I went a brisk pace but the important thing is that it was relaxing.

I have to thank Sasha for that kind and motivational e-mail. I received it right at the low point of my day and it helped turn my attitude around. Part of my problem was that as soon as I could run any mileage again I expected to be back. Then when I hit the track the last few weeks and hit the 400s and 200s in the times I was, I felt that I was fully back. However, with the crazy hours I’ve been working the last two weeks it is no wonder I can’t maintain pace. Unfortunately, this workload is most likely going to continue through July 16^th, when my next grant is do. Wish me luck.

As far as the “work” related questions go from Sasha. RER is a good measure for substrate utilization people in the lab and around use it routinely. I do not know the answer to the second part of your question as I was trained as a molecular biologist and don’t fully understand the physiology behind sports science methodology. However, I do have some friends in that department and I have passed along the rest of your questions. I do measure glycogen routinely and unfortunately you need muscle. I can’t think of a non-invasive measure but if I come across one I will surely pass it along.

Good night (morning)

Easy run in the morning. Very tired. Leave for Chicago tomorrow.

It is nice to be in Chicago again. Ran along the lake front. 2 miles with a person from my lab and the rest on my own. The skyline is powerful and energizing.

Today was my presentation. It was the largest crowd I've given a talk to (~200). Overall it went well but there is still room for improvement. I was not able to get up in time to run before the talk for fear of showing up late and then I was in meetings followed by dinner until 1am.

The meeting I was at had about 9000 people. Maybe 200-300 showed up for the early AM 5K. To my surprise there were a few good runners. My plan going into the race was to hit somewhere between 17:00-:30, so overall I was happy with my performance. Concidering the lack of sleep the night before and the overall stressful week I could have not asked for a better time. My sleeps were not even. I got carried out by the lead pack (5:15), when I saw that split I dropped back and hit 5:42 and 5:52. The course was along the lake front past the aquarium. It was an out and back with a head wind on the way back.

Good run along the lake front at sunrise. It is trully beautiful to see the wonder of God with the sun rising over the lake on your one side and the inginuity of man on the other side looking at such a magnificant city.

Avg. 7:25

Out until 1am and didn't go to sleep until about 2am. After getting up at 6am to get to the meeting for the final talks and waiting a the airport an additional 4hrs I was exhausted when I got home at 11pm.

PM run. Still recovering from the meeting. SH loops with the final two miles with Bill C.

Avg. 7:31

Sleep deprevation can be a real kick in the head. Home loop in the AM, Avg. 9:14.

This week PM seemed to be the time to run. Hopefully I can get back to my regular schedule next week. More SH loops, middle two miles with Bill C and some of the other WA. Avg. 7:23

After a week of work and no sleep I decided to not go into work this morning. After I woke up I decided I needed a break so I went back to sleep until 7am, then headed for the mountains. I started up dry creek as is my usual run from campus. Then when I got to my usual turnaround I decided to head all the way to the top of black mountain. I made it there and back. My Garmin read 7812ft from 4878ft, that is my largest elevation change in a run. The last half mile up (total mile 20 min) I had to walk and my first mile down I also had to walk (24 min). It was amazing looking around at the salt lake and the city from the summit. A well deserved break. Avg. 12:16

Ran with Sandra and Kaitlyn. Nice easy miles pushing the stroller around SH. My legs are noticebly sore from yesterday but it was well worth it for the mental break and the view...

My usual morning loop of SH. It was already pretty warm at 5:30am. I'm paying for my random running of Black Mountain Saturday but it was well worth it. Avg. 8:52

I ran an easy 10 this morning. My home loop plus ~2 loops of Sugarhouse. During the middle mile, I ran into Chad and the BS. Ran a little with them just catching up with Chad, it had been about a month since I had seen him. I could tell I was tired. When I told Chad which grant I was applying for I actually got the name backwards. My legs were feeling better but still only about 5-hrs of sleep and I was not ready to do a workout with them. Now a confession. Chad mentioned something about the “craigs” spelling? at the top of Little Black Mountain. Since I didn’t know what he was talking about I had a look on the internet to see what the summit elevation should be. Two different sites I found have it at 8040ft, putting my 7812 a bit shy. The strange thing is that one site has some photos of the final summit that looks familiar but who knows? The moral of the story is that I will just have to run the Steeplechase next year so that I know for sure that I made it to the “top”. In any case, the ~3000ft climb I did on Saturday was still exhilarating and has given me a taste for more. Who knows maybe I will run the Wasatch 100 before I leave SLC???

Nothing fun to report. Slept in an extra hour. Then did 3 outer, 1 inner loops of SH from home. Had to make it home in time for the neighborhood breakfast with the family. After a loop in the kiddy parade we just crashed and relaxed. Kaitlyn is still a little to young to stay up for the fireworks so early day.

Exact same run as yesterday (but about 4 minutes slower). Still just building base. It is amazing, I ran an hour earlier and it was about 10 degrees warmer. Stay hydrated today!!! The other crazy thing was the wind this morning. I hope none of you blew away.

Working from home today. So I ran with Sandra and Kaitlyn when they woke up. Not as hot as yesterday. Felt good.

AM, BST South, Out and Back. I ran this as an easy run. Started out at 8:51, 8:18, 8:27. Then I settled into a ~7:20 pace after going over I80. I kept this pace until mile 15 when I let loose a little. I didn't go crazy but I didn't hold back either. The last two miles to my house are aided with a 2-4% grade and I hit 6:34 and 6:18. After stretching for ~20 min and icing for 15 min my legs felt great. This is my longest run since Dec and I haven't had injury site pain for over two weeks now. Overall happy with the mileage and pace, overall avg. 7:31.

Overall, I'm happy with the way I feel today. I have a little lower back pain but nothing in the knee or butt. I want for a short walk with Kaitlyn and Sandra and otherwise had to work on the grant.

Still feeling pretty good. Same lower back pain but nothing I'm too concerned with. AM run, it was already pretty warm and this haze is a little depressing. Did my SH loops and then off to lab meeting. Now I'm back at the grant, one week from today and then I can refocus on running… Avg. 8:08

Great news I got a grant! I had been working on a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) grant due on the 16th. I had previously applied to an American Heart Association (AHA) grant back the first week of January. Due to funding cuts in government grants the funding rate of the AHA went from 30% to 27%. My grant was ranked ~27.5%. Therefore, I was the first grant not funded. However, I found out last night that one additional spot opened up. So long story short I don't have to (and can't also) apply to the JDRF.

My run was the usual AM SH loop. My back pain was completely gone (big surprise) think it was work related??? Avg. 8:15

Overall a good run. I did it acceleration style from home 3out/1in SH loops. Started at 8:30 pace and increased it 10-30 second per mile down to 6:13 then about 1.5 cool down back home.

Nothing special to report. Felt a little tired (early start 5:10AM). Took awhile to get the legs moving first mile about 9:15. Then settled into an easy pace and just got lost in the run. Avg. 8:11.

I finally got to run in the light. It was warm though still over 90 at 7:30. I felt good, rested, and awake. I pushed a little Avg. 7:12 with the first 5 at 7:03.

Exact same run as last week. However, my splits were a lot more even. I didn't start out as slow but I also didn't blast the last 3 miles. Felt good over all. A few of the bikers now recognize me and give thumbs up as they pass. Avg 7:28; a few seconds per mile faster than last week but actually felt easier effort wise.

Very easy 10.5 at SH park before church. It felt nice this morning even though it wasn't much cooler. My legs are a little tight but much better than last week at this time. This run also gave me 70 miles for my week. This was my goal for mileage. Now I'm going to maintain and start adding back speed work. Avg. 8:05

Rest day, early meeting.

Overall a good intro back to the track. I thought it had been longer but still a month since my last track workout. Met with the Black Sheep at East High. It was a fun natured workout with a retro theme. I tried my best to find something “retro” but Chad had me trumped with his short-shorts. The workout overall was some warm-up a mile and then six quarters. I felt I had a 5 min in me because of the 5K a few weeks back but I didn’t pace right and not ready for sustained speed. Chad was too nice to me in his blog entry. I had the first quarter and blew it. I was struggling finding pace. I left too much on my plate and overall wasn’t thrilled with my mile of 5:14, and not pacing correctly for Chad and Josh had me frustrated but they were cool about it. The quarters went a little better. I had fun with them and since I still had plenty in the tank after that mile, I really gave the last one a go, with plenty of help from Chad. It was nice ending with a 64, probably my fastest quarter in a few years. My calves are really punishing me now for it, but it was well worth it and it was great doing a workout and running with other people again. Speaking of other people, I saw Bill C with his “kids” at the zoo parking lot on the way in to work after the workout I yelled but I don’t think he saw me

I felt surprisingly good this morning. My calves are much better. I did end up with a blister that gave me some minor problems but other than that, it was still cool when I ran this morning. My usual 3o/1i SH loops. Avg. 7:57

I actually ran in the evening today. 8:15pm start. The weather wasn't too bad. My legs always feel more "peppy" in the evening. Still no major wear-n-tear from the track workout. SH 3o/1i from home. Avg. 7:23

More like sleep walking than running. Felt very tired this morning. Workout was to go as slow as possible. Avg. 9:12

Ran 11 on own and then immediately another 3.5 with the family. I felt ok.

Good run. Feeling tired but in a good way. Did inner loop outer loop alternating of SH. Avg. 7:35

Easy PM miles to SH and back. Avg. 7:38 Felt fine it was nice to have some moisture in the air again.

I did not know what to expect going into this race. I’ve only been back to “normal” mileage for about two months. I’ve only had a handful of speed sessions and no sustained speedwork. I told people that I felt I could be anywhere from a 34:30 to a 36:30. My plan was to go out as conservative as possible for the course and work from there. I hit the mile mark in 5:09, and felt very good about the effort to get there. At this point, there was still a crowd but no one I knew well. I could see Scott ahead so I thought I would gear off him. My next mile was 5:12, and I was very happy with that. At this point I started making up ground on Scott but he dropped off (I later found this was his plan from the beginning). At this point I also started doing a little back-and-forth with Brad Phippen. This really helped me maintain focus. Mile three I slowed as expected with the flatter mile, 5:37. I settled in there and ran the next two in 5:38 and 5:37. However, during the fifth mile I started to feel the wheels coming off. Also, at this point Brad passed me for the third and final time. My last mile was a disappointing 6:04. However, overall I am VERY excited about this performance. I ran 13 sec faster than last year (though I placed 4 spots further back). This was a good confidence builder and helped me realize that I had not lost as much fitness during my “time off” as I had feared. It also points out a big hole in my training and that is some longer interval/pace work. This used to be a staple of mine and I’ve stayed away since my injury but I think it is time to start back with the pace runs and longer repeats/Fartleks.

My legs spend five miles explaining to me why they hate me. Despite this I had a good run. It was my favorite weather, a light warm mist. By the end of the run my quads had let up a little but my right buttucks was sore. Fortunately not the same deep nerve pain I had earlier in the year but definately tender to the touch. Avg. 8:25

My quads have already forgiven me but my butt is holding a grudge. Nice easy PM loops of SH. Avg. 7:20 It amazes me the difference in average pace of my PM vs. AM runs. The effort feels the same in either case. 

I&M Canal run outside Chicago. It was more like swimming. They had just had a couple days of storms and running along the canal it was >90% humidity. I also figured out why training in Chicago is so much better for me. My diet... Running there you eat a few dozen bugs per mile so you never really get depleted ;.) Avg. 7:32

Easy run in the woods. It is nice to be back on familiar ground. I did a loop of my old trails. This is an 8-mile loop with two water crossings. There is only a 400 m stretch but otherwise you are completely immersed in trees. It was a good run. I added on a little so that I could run up the toboggan shoots, just because it's fun. Avg. 8:50.

Interesting to be back in the desert. It is amazing the difference. In Chicago you run three minutes and you're soaked. Here you jump in the sprinkler get soaked run three minutes and are bone dry... It was still a good run and all my aches and pains seem to be gone. Avg. 7:26

Long day at work, PM run to unwind. At least it was cooler at 8:30pm. No watch.

Track workout with Black Sheep. My head was not in it today.  I felt like I was dragging the whole workout. I think I was still tired from the long workday yesterday. Did a loop of SH, 4xhill, 800(2x600), 800(3x600), a mile of striders, and finished off with a loop with Chad. Good news is that my legs feel completely recovered from the 10K. 9.5 mile Avg 7:28. I find it funny that the overall pace of this run with all its different compenents comes out to about the pace I've been doing on my medium days.

Good AM run. First half I was still asleep (~8:30), second half picked it up (~7:30). Avg. 8:08 total. Two stories. When I was on the backend of the park the sprinklers kicked on and I was at the perfect angle and distance from them that it hit me right in the face. Then on the westside of the park a hummingbird flew alongside me for a few feet.

Crazy day. I did not run loops of SH! I just headed south and back. Easy run. Still feeling tired. Mostly external stressors (work). Avg. 7:56

PM run because I had to be in work at 5:30 this morning. Went  to SH like usual and ran into Bill C and his picnic it looked like it was a lot of fun but I couldn't stop for long because Sandra was wainting at home with a movie. Avg. 7:14

Early AM BST run south. Same out and back as usual but I added until the road up to Brighton. Previously I had told people that I had run to Big Cottonwood for this course but that was a mistake. I just haven't been to any of the ski resorts since we moved here and I misread the sign previously. For my 20 (plus)-milers I prefer to take it as slow as possible out and negative split each mile back. I hit the turnaround at 1:20, then negative split down to 6:34, 6:25 for the last two miles. Total 2:32 Avg. 7:38. Felt good the entire run, just tried to keep it easy. After the run packed and now I'm in Snowmass for a conferance. We'll see how the elevation change affects my run tomorrow...

A wonderful run on mountain trails. Started at ~8600 ft ran up to ~9100. Most of the run was along a stream and listening to the water was so relaxing. The climb in the altitude was rough but the decent felt normal. I saw two elk and some grouse. I’m going to try and adventure out a little further tomorrow. Avg. 9:00

Today was another great mountain run. I went out the same as yesterday but continued down the other side of the mountain. Total run I went from 8600 to 9100 to 8200 and back again.

This was one of the greatest runs of my life. It was very exciting. I went to a new trail that was a steep climb. I went from 8600 to the top of the ski lift to 9500. Then when I got to the top there was an eagle flying. On the start of my decent I saw a deer. But the exciting part was about 5 min later. I suddenly stopped in my tracks as just off the trail about 10-15 ft in front of me was a brown bear. It looked over at me and huffed a few times and then continued on. I waited for it to get about 20 ft of the trail and then ran by it. I was definitely intimidated but that was the closest to a wild bear I had ever been.

In the afternoon I went hiking on the same trail with people from the meeting. We didn’t see the bear again but when we got to the top of the ski lift we decided to go along the ridge to the next lift and climb another 1000 feet. We hit 10,660 before we turned back. Total hike was 7.5 miles in 3hrs.

The last two days it has been very cloudy with some rain. Today was very clear. I went for an afternoon run with one of my former classmates who also happened to be on the meeting. We did a run along the rim of one of the ranges. It was fairly warm and very sunny. The run was good.

Needed a day off. The meeting was good but exhausting. Late nights and early mornings wear on you.

Nice easy run in the PM to stretch my legs out after the week of mountain miles. I ran into Carol and Bill during my loops of the park. I backed out of doing a Fartlek run with Carol for the race tomorrow morning.

Early AM start. Up at 3:30am. Luckily Chad was gracious enough to agree to carpool to the start of the Provo River 1/2. He picked me up at 4am. Once we got to the race and up to the start, we went for an easy 2-mile warm-up. We were told the race would start somewhere between 7 and 7:30. We got back to our gear about 3 minutes to 7am to hear the countdown. We didn't believe our ears with the number of people milling around. Also, because we had chips we weren't immediately worried. However, working our way through the crowd to find no mat at the start had me a little concerned. We started our watches and headed out anyway. I wasn't exactly sure what my plan for this race was to begin with. I had initially thought I was only going to do it as a marathon pace run but decided to let my legs decide. The first two miles were the only splits I got as the mile markers were way off. However, with dodging all the people they still were 5:50 and 5:55. I felt fine there but then Chad and I started pacing together. He completely pulled me with him. Soon we were picking off some quicker miles. Especially after leaving the rest of the crowd behind. Within the next mile or so we could see Bill and Carol. After catching up to them we found out that we were exactly two minutes off from the start. The turnaround also gave me some added confidence that though the leaders were untouchable there was still a race to be had. At about mile 5 Chad pulled away and I did not have much to go with him at that point. I watched him catch up to a guy about 20m ahead and they started running side-by-side. After a little longer Chad pulled away from him and I had a second wind. I went to try and catch back up with Chad but he had put too much distance on me. I ended up picking off two other guys in mile 8 and 10 and coming back to finish 8th overall in a 1:15.31 by my watch. I felt great about the race especially considering the situation. The weather was perfect and the course was scenic (except those last two miles). A good experience and a great confidence builder. I finally am convinced that I'm back in shape after the injury. The good news is I never had serious pain even now two days later… I have to give Chad a lot of credit he really pulled me along and gave me someone to work off of in the later miles of the race. We also had a great chance to talk some, which made the day a great experience overall.

Sandra hasn't run much with the heat lately so I went running with her for motivation. Sandra Kaitlyn and I did 3 miles to the park and back. My legs felt surprisingly good.

Legs still feel really good. A little tenderness in my butt, however much less than after the Des 10K. I'm finally starting to look forward to the marathon next month. Avg. 7:14

Early AM with the Black Sheep at Liberty Park. There were a good number of people out today. We did a lap warm-up and then 8x800 with a 100-200m walk/jog between each. My legs still felt a little flat from the race on Saturday but I actually ended up hitting them a little fast. Though they were really all over the place. It was hard to pace in the park vs. on the track. I went by my Garmin and hit them between 2:32 and 2:37, we were supposed to do them like Yasso 800s. After the workout I did another two laps on my own to round off the mileage.

 Great run at sea-level. It was a PM run while Sandra and her sister went to the mall. There is a wonderful mostly crushed gravel trail along the Des Plaines River (total 31 miles; http://www.lcfpd.org/docs/map_22079.pdf) with a trail head very near where we were staying. The trail is mostly flat and mostly shaded. Avg. ~7:30

On the DPR again today. There were so many people out. Mostly Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA) members training for the Chicago Marathon. I easily saw 100 people throughout the run, mostly in their respective pace groups of about 10-15 people each. The excitement of so many other runners had me hit a few miles to fast, but overall I kept it under control and did an out and back. Avg. 6:59

No run, travel and rest day.

PM run with Bill. It was a great run. It was my first time up to the Pipeline Trail, it is so beautiful up there I can’t believe I’ve lived here for a year and never been up there before. It got really dark by the end of the run so the pace was conservative as to not break an ankle so close to our marathons. After we got off the trial we added a few miles on the road up the canyon. A good climb. Between the dark trail running and the climb Avg .8:15.

AM run with Black Sheep. Great run. I was concerned with the late run last night that my legs would be flat. However, I felt on for the whole workout. Typical warm-up but I started from home. The workout was 3 x 5-400 with 200 recovery during the 5 and about a 3 min recovery between the sets. First set Avg. 78, 2^nd set 75, 3^rd set 72 with a negative split on each of the last 5 quarters.

PM loops of SugarHouse. My legs felt tired. Mostly just a long hard day at work. Avg. 7:27

PM loop of SH. Felt sluggish today. Overall, just a little distracted. I think I'm getting eager for the marathon. Avg. 7:50

My wife has been sick with a slight fever the last couple of days and with how much I've been dragging I thought I'd play it safe and take a day of rest.

The rest yesterday paid off. I felt much better today. I did my usual out and back on the BST. I had a slightly later start than usual so it was warming up by the end. My plan was to take it easy with the last couple days of not feeling so hot. I went out in 81 and back in 76. Avg. 7:50.

I feel a lot better than Fri. Went for a 2 hr walk with the family up in Park City. My legs still feel a little heavy but I should have that worked out by the race next weekend. PM loops of SH no watch.

AM run south and back. Legs still feel like lead but the rest of me felt fine.

PM SH loops Avg. 7:24

BST North. Nice morning but it warmed up quickly. It was nice to actually be able to look out ove the valley and see the details of the mountains on the other side. I'm still only about 75%, maybe I did have something this weekend. Avg. slow...

I guess that I didn't escape my wife's cold. I woke up this morning with a stuffed nose and a slight cough. I did a PM loop of SH and felt only about 60%.

Only slightly better than yesterday, ~75%. Nose is still a little drippy but the cough isn't as bad. I did a late am run of BST behind Red Butte and This is the place.

Overall, the race went much better than I had expected. Last year I won this race in a 1:15. However, this week I was struggling with a cold from my wife and a little digestive track problem from my daughter. I woke up with my nose completely stuffed and coughing. I almost decided not to run. I'm glad I mad the effort up the canyon though because coming down was great!

I drove up with a friend from work that I've run with a few times. He's a good guy and runs very consistently. He was shooting for a 1:35 (hit 1:31 today). After we got to the start the first person I saw was Sasha, I also knew that Mike Kirk and a few other guys faster than me were there so thoughts of defending my title were quickly smacked down. As always it was nice to meet some of these guys to put a face to a name on the blog. Also, at this time the decongestant was kicking in and I was breathing normally and thought I would give it my best effort anyway. From the start, there were maybe six guys ahead of me for the first mile. One of them was Brad Phippen, whom I had a good race with at the Des 10K. However, he was up with Sasha and they were cruising. So I just settling in were I was and started the climb. My first two miles were 6:36 and 6:59 during which I passed two of the guys. I didn't like that 6:59 and started a sustained push. I passed Neal Gassman and he quickly passed me back 6:26 for mile three. Then mile 4, the final climb, I passed Neal again but after we passed the crest he passed me back and literally disappeared before my eyes. Man can he fly. Also just before the crest I saw Brad hand off to Darryl so any hope of running with Brad quickly dwindled as well. The rest of the race I was completely on my own. Somewhere within mile 10 or so, I saw Chad and as I passed him, he shouted some words of encouragement that I really needed at that time. My splits also help to motivate me on this race. It is so nice to see such low numbers with relatively little effort. I look at the last nine of this race more like a controlled fall than a run. My splits down were 5:17, 5:10 (fastest), 5:34, 5:27, 5:39 (slowest), 5:21, 5:26, 5:19, and 5:24. As Sasha pointed out in his blog this race is closer to a 13 miler than a half marathon. So I finished in 4th overall in the exact same time that I ran the Provo Half Marathon in, pretty amazing for a number junky like I am. I'm sure that if I was not sick I could have finally broken 1:15 but the important race this year is TOU. I'll worry about a half PR next year.

Rest and recovery. Try and get some extra rest to kick this cold. Felt a little worse than yesterday. My throat was completely dry when I woke. Mostly a relaxing day just some walking around the neighborhood with the family.

Late AM loops of SH with Kaitlyn. The pace was nice and easy pushing the stroller. My legs feel surprisingly good concidering the downhill effort on Sat. It was the first morning in about 4 days that my nose wasn't completely stuffed upon waking. Later in the day went on multiple walks with the family. Really tired but feeling better.

PM run in the storm. It was nice running in the rain, very refreshing. I'm feeling a lot better than the weekend. Actually a little back pain from the downhill running? My cold is almost completely gone. No Garmin.

AM run. Still feeling better. Still a tweak in the back. Nice cool morning for a run. Still no Garmin.

Tapering always drives me a little crazy. I was on daddy duty tonight and ran on the treadmill. I put in a tape that I thought was Running Brave and got a surprise that my college senior cross-country conference meet was on before the movie. I can't believe that it was already 8 years ago. I did 3 easy miles and then two at marathon pace. I kept my heart rate just over 150 during the pace miles and within two minutes of stopping was already back down below 100.

I came home a little early and ran with Kaitlyn. Easy pace pushing the stroller round SH. No Garmin.

First three with Kaitlyn and Sandra, then seven on my own. Back is still a little sore and I'm not 100% over the cold. I would put myself at about 80% right now. One week to go and only rest in the forecast.

Three in the early AM with Kaitlyn and Sandra. Couldn't pass up enjoying such a beautiful morning with the family.

A little sleep running. SH loop. It was CHILLY this morning. No Garmin felt ok.

Today was the best that I felt in about two weeks. My nose is 90% and my legs finally felt like they had a little pep in them. I did a PM loop of SH at medium pace (no Garmin). I ran into the WA doing their workout and briefly spoke with BC about the marathon plan. I'm getting excited. Of course every little ache and pain is magnified 100X and I'm completely distracted this week in work but the excitement overrides all else at this point.

Taper Madness!!!

Rest day. Just finished watching St. Ralph, probably the best running movie ever. I definately felt rested today and feel the bounce in my step. Though my training this year has been less than ideal I am starting to feel confident about a good performance.

Ran on Logan track after the drive up. 1mi wu and 1mi at 6min pace to get it in the legs...

I feel surprisingly good. I went for a 2-mile walk with the family. I will try and get the marathon story up before the end of the week.

For the first time in my life I was/am ready to go out for a run two days after a marathon. I could never believe you guys that do so many marathons a year but now I at least see how it is physically possible.

One week from the race and I feel perfect. Work has kept me too busy to work on my race report and computer problems this weekend further set me back.

I was able to run with the family today and it felt great. One loop of SH from home.

Had wanted to get in a run today but things didn't work out. I'm hoping to have the current manuscript I'm working on back in my old mentors hands by the end of tomorrow and then hopefully things can get back to normal and I can finish the race report. At least I've started it...

Life is still mostly just lab. At least I got my manuscript back in my old mentors hands. It seems like it is together and should go out during Oct. This will allow me to close my final chapter on St. Louis and turn my full focus to SLC.

Today was just a super mentally draining day. A lot going on back in Chicago with the health of my family and friends. I'll be happy to be running again to have that time to relax. I may sneak out tomorrow morning though I was trying to give myself a full two week recovery...

No sneaking out. Had to be in too early.

I guess I'll just wait the full two weeks, what's one more day.

Great day. Family run in the morning before the rain and weather started.

Haile is amazing. I can't even begin to imagine what he must be feeling.

Run with the family and then time up in Park City with the family and my grandparents.

First run, not pushing a stroller since the marathon. It felt good to get out and around the park. I definitely felt some aches and pains from the time off. My left foot has some pain but otherwise just felt good to be running again. I'm set on my next marathon SLC '08 and ready to start ramping my mileage back up.

No running today. Still a little achey from the return...

Great weather this morning. Back to basics. A couple loops of SH.

Nothing big to report. Just miles for now. I'm getting jitters for the two big races this weekend. Good luck to all...

Bad work day...

SH loop before the rain started.

2 with the family and then 6 on own. Best I've felt since the marathon. It was so uplifting to hear all the success stories coming out of St. George. It's a shame what happened in Chicago.

Not too much new. Just enjoying reading the St George reports as they pop-up. Evening loops of SH.

PM loops of SH

I tried a different approach this morning. Instead of waking up really early to run in the cold and dark, I woke up very early to go into work. Then around 10am I went for a run in the mountains. It was slow going but great to see the light and get "out" into nature for awhile.

Took the same approach today. Late AM run in the mountains. This time I took a new route south to This is the Place and then east. Some tough climbs. Slowest mile 13:00 fastest 6:46.

No run today. I came in early to get in a late AM run but things didn't work out. I did however finally get my last thesis manuscript accepted. It was actually already published on-line yesterday. So it was a good day despite missing my run.

AM run on own. I went out the door with Kaitlyn but with the rain decided it wasn't the best idea to push her around getting wet. So I just the the BST south O&B run. Out I did VERY easy, back I ran marathon pace but the effort to maintain it was much harder. I think my legs are s t i l l flat from the marathon. I am amazed at you guys that can to back-to-back-to-back marathons... Avg 7:10

AM Family run.

First day toward my goal. My "real" training will start on Dec 17th, however, everything I do from here on out has one focus. The SLC marathon on April 19th. I know this sparked a little discussion earlier but I believe this is the best marathon for me for three reasons. 1. Spring marathon, 2. No travel to the start (I live 5-10 minutes away), and 3. I can train on the course (My lab is a half mile from the start and I live 2-blocks from teh 2 mile marker.). I was up very late working last night so I didn't run this morning but made it in early enough to duck out around 1pm. I ran the first 4.5 miles of the course. Mile 4 is a screamer. I didn't even realize it but I was going 5:45 pace with relatively no effort. After I noticed that I made an effort to hold back. Avg 7:28 for the whole run. Two problems I see with running from work, 1. I have to finish up will or do trail running; 2. I don't stretch. When I run from home I always make time, from work I'm too eager to get back to it...

First run with a group in awhile. Met up with the Black Sheep at the Kmart parking lot and did a run with some surges over the bridges on the BST. Felt ok, nice to talk to some people in person again about running.

I took a lesson from Tues and ran along Wasatch instead of Foothill, nicer... I don't want this blog to become a rant about work. I like my work. However, it does seem that my running has focused more on trying to make time for it than actually enjoying it. The few discussions going on around the board highlight that at least I am not alone on this front. Instead I have come to look at my run as a nice break during the morning, day or night. Case in point, today I got into work early with plans to run around 10am however, work was busy. I did however finally get out around 3pm. The run was good. The first mile was beautiful then I get sleeting on for two miles and the rest I was drizzled on but I was warm enough by then. Avg 8:05

Same course as yesterday just a little farther out. The weather was great. I got into work a little before 5:30 and was out the door for my run by 10:30. About a mile into it I decided I felt like some speedplay today. I decided to do the following: 2.5 mi wu then 4x1mi with 0.5mi recoveries. My plan was to shoot for 5:50/mile. The first mile mostly downhill was a very relaxed 5:52, the next mile was flat a little more effort 5:52, the third mile the previous in reverse in 5:49, the final mile was mostly uphill and it was a very painful 6:23. Recovery was 2.5mi back to lab. The warmups and recoveries were a very relaxed 8:30 to 9 min pace on the muddy trails. Avg. 7:47

I ran an easy SH loop after my daughter went down for the night. Avg. 7:50

AM family run, before the rain and snow...

It was such a perfect day for a run. Just did a SH loop. Avg. 7:04

Another perfect day for a run. In work by 5:30 out the door for a run by 10:30. I ran the first 6-miles of the marathon course and then through neighborhoods on the way back up. It was nice I was able to stop and say hi to the family for a minute as they were finishing up lunch. Avg. 7:08

5:45am with the Black Sheep @ SH. Chad had a creative workout planned for us. 17 of the 20 or so of us who showed up were each given a section of the workout to choose what type of salsa we like. So it was a run of mild, medium, and spicy sections with a lot of hills and just general good fun.

Fun run with a couple of my co-workers. We went to Virginia, up Virginia, to the big U, up over the U and continued up. Then headed down towards BST, NE towards Black Mounain and back down dry creek. About 200m to 400m of he up by the U and about 200m down the other side we had to walk but otherwise the rest was runnable.