A Balance, Redefined

Single: 3:15pm med/hard run. I was swamped today. I did manage my 8 hrs of sleep for a Sat night. Then to church, family errands, then I had to work 3 hrs. Finally made it to Popperton a little after 3pm and was short on time so I pushed a little harder than I was planning. However, once I was rolling I just went with it. My three miles down City Creek were about MP. It was a beautiful day and I got to spend another couple hours with the family before I had to work another 4 hrs... Miles-10 T2 Avg. 6:47 HR 161

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 70 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 45 / / Saucony Rides #1: 56 / / Saucony Rides #2: 47 / / NB825: 500

AM: 11:30am easy run. I had the usual Monday morning meetings but I was presenting today (part of the reason for the late night). With the time change and being revved up from the talk prep I barely got 6 hrs sleep last night. I ended up running with the guys from upstairs. I went out with them to the City Creek gate then added on a 0.25 mile past and played catch-up for the next two miles (6:14 and 6:28) after that I just went in easy with them. Miles-8 R2 Avg. 8:05 HR 152

PM: 7:15pm easy SH loop. First outer loop of the year. Ran into Bill Cobler and ran a little with him. It has been a long time since I've seen him, it is good to know he is running again. Miles-6 R1 Avg. 7:53

AM: 9:30am very easy run. I only managed about 6:30 hrs of sleep again. I was really dragging this morning and my legs felt like lead. Into work a little before 5:30am and out the door for my run about 4 hrs later. The run did not have its usual energizing effect and I just plodded along for the mileage, I can tell by my heart rate that I never was trying. My quads are pretty dead but I think it is just the time change and sleep disruption… To Memory Grove and back. Miles-8 T1 Avg. 8:18 HR 128

PM: 7:30pm med/hard run. I'm the absent minded professor today. I just never got into the groove after the slow start this morning. I realized I had forgotten something in lab, so after dinner I had to head back. Since I was already most of the way there I drove over to the City Creek gate and ran three miles up and three miles down. The up miles were about 8:00 the down miles were about 6:00 for a 42:02. Felt nice and finally got my head on straight, too bad the day is over now... Miles-6 T2 Avg. 7:00 HR 147

AM: 6:15am very easy run. I finally got 7hrs of sleep again. I’m feeling much better than yesterday. I did however redefine easy run this morning. I did Memory Grove out and back and think I probably could have walked it faster but that is fine, recovery runs are just that... In an interesting note I dressed before I got into work so that I wouldn’t waste time changing. So while I was setting up in lab I had my heart rate monitor on it read between 38-42 bpm! Miles-8 T2 Avg. 9:10 HR 125

Single: 7:15pm easy run. I was planning 12 in 2 runs but opted for the extra hour sleep. The extra work this week did pay a toll on me mentally. I did get another 7hrs of sleep and the day, though full, went relatively smoothly. My quads are still aching and haven’t been 100% since Del Sol, but the marathon is still a good five weeks away so I want them to feel tired the next three weeks. Miles-10 R1 Avg. 7:32 HR 132

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 78 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 65 / / Saucony Rides #1: 66 / / Saucony Rides #2: 61

Single: 3:15pm easy run. I hope you are sitting down. I got EIGHT hours of sleep last night! I slept in a little. Overall, it was a good day. I got three experiments done before 1pm, and then another three set-up with the help of my excellent student John. Went for my run while John finished two things and finished the final one when I got back… During the run I saw what I thought was a piece of toilet paper on the path just north of Dry Creek. When I got closer it started to run and then disappeared. I saw there was a hole there and while I was looking at it this little thing popped out saw me and went back in, it looked like a really small ferret. Out to Memory Grove and back from lab. Miles-8 R2 Avg. 7:40 HR 140

I had high expectations today. So far this year I’ve been very happy with my training and my races. Looking over the Striders WRS I showed up today with delusions of grandeur. I knew at least Chad, Jon, Cody, Ben, etc. where going to be there and anyone of them could give me a run for the money but I was feeling confident and wanted to give the win a try. In total I had three goals, 1) break 60 min on this tough course, 2) beat the aforementioned, and/or 3) win overall. So I came to the race with the mindset of winning. My initial plan was to stay with the leader until mile 7 and then give it my all to the finish. Problem was plans never work out 100%...

I started the day at 5am after only 6-hrs of sleep. I headed over to Chad’s and he offered to drive from there. We showed up with plenty of time to pick up our numbers, get ready, and get in a good 4+ mi warm-up, part of it was mile 5 of the course. After saying hi to everyone at the start we lined up. Some of the guys I hadn’t seen since TOU and it was good to see them again. In addition to the guys I knew there was one guy whom looked like he was ready to rock’n roll at the start. At the gun he went out and as one of my goals was to win I didn’t want to lose touch so I stayed a few steps behind him but went out ahead of the main pack. I was supposed to hit 6:00 for the first mile and ended up with a 5:48 so not too bad but still out on my own more or less. The next mile I hit exactly on, 5:21. At this point I could tell that the leader was not going to be slowing down anytime soon but I wanted to try and hold onto whatever minimal lead I had gained to save myself grief in the later miles (little did I know). The third mile was supposed to be 5:52 and I hit it in 5:50 so at this point I was sitting pretty and not feeling too bad. The 4^th mile had a bit of a climb meant to hit in 6:05 and came through in 5:57. I started thinking that sub-59 was in the works. However, now came the pain and suffering for the naive and uninitiated. Mile 5 started a 2.5 mile climb of nearly 775ft of total uphill with various minor downs. But I stuck to my guns and hit a 6:41 when all I needed was a 6:53. However, from here on out I could tell my mind was not pushing my body as hard as it needed. In fact I caught myself “not racing” and knew there was too much more in this race to be losing it at this point. I knew there would be some guys behind me hungry for blood (yes that is you Jon and Chad) and if they saw my weakness they were coming for the kill. However, the person to get me first would be Walter. I looked back and saw him at this point. I knew someone had been very close but not wanting to give away my weakness I hadn’t looked back until now. Mile 6 was supposed to be a little less painful and I was shooting for a 6:17 but only managed a 6:39 (Keep in mind I didn’t have all my projected splits memorized but I had a little idea of what I was supposed to be shooting for). This was not what I needed and now came the hardest hill, also at this time came Walter. The later was actually a great help. Him catching me really motivated me to kick it back into gear. I wanted a 7:04 up the hill and only managed a 7:16 buy I knew the next mile was supposed to be the easiest and I figured I was in the clear for a solid second place. However, then came the kicker. What I thought was Walter making a return appearance turned out to be Jon and man was he looking strong. He kicked my trash to the curb, I took one final attempt at him but he was gone. I managed a 5:11 (was only shooting for a 5:17) but he hammered me with a 5:02. At this point I was only hoping that I wasn’t completely out of it because I knew there were at least two more hungry wolves behind me. I really wanted to get back to Jon to at least give him a run for his money but the juice never came to my legs. Mile 9 was in a 5:46 and I needed a 5:34. The last miles “minor” uphill completely demoralized me at this point and I did my best to hold on to Jon but to no avail an abysmal 6:05, shooting for 5:32. In the end it was a good race, but I wish I could have given Jon more of a challenge the final two miles. (Next time buddy…) It was great getting to see a solid group of bloggers at similar abilities really pushing each other. In all honesty I truly believe anyone of us could have come out on top today, Jon just brought it home (Sorry James…). I didn’t make any of my three goals but it was a good learning experience. A real eye-opener for how much more work I have to do if I’m going to make my marathon goals but a good experience none-the-less. After the race I did about 4 mi with the crew and then tacked on a little less than 2 more to give me 20-total for the day and 90-total for the week. So all and all I’m happy with a tough effort on a tough course after a tough work and mileage week. Good luck to the rest of the bloggers at the half it seems like it is going to be a great race. Also, thanks to Chad for the ride and the helpful advice on the way back. I truly value your comments and am thankful for them. And I’m sure you’ll smash Jon in the half (just trying to add some spice to the series) I wish I was in the long haul with you guys… Mi-20 R2 10 Avg. for race 6:03 1:00:19 3^rd overall HR 183.

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 78 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 75 / / Saucony Rides #1: 66 / / Saucony Rides #2: 69