Age is just a number.

Progressive 6 mile tempo over a new course I plotted today on g-maps. I will upload it later tonight in case anyone cares to see it. Its a fun one... Ran the last 5 miles at a brisk pace in 28:41 with the last mile in 5:39. 10 miles total this morning in 1:01:41.  Wore two layers because it felt so cold for me this morning. I kind of got used to that semi- warm stretch of weather we had.

Felt surprisingly fresh today so since I have to work tomorrow I decided to run a 10 mile progressive tempo getting the heartrate up to 90% towards the end. Rolling hills. 12 miles total 1:13:02.  Easy warmup and  cooldown.

Running feels easy lately, its life that feels hard. Pre work de-stressing run. Sounds funny I know but lately running serves its purpose this way. Run felt smooth today, injury seems to be gone thanks to cutting back on mileage lately. I might go for a little jog later if everything works out. 35:11 for 6 miles total. 4 miles at half marathon pace. Did not time splits today. PM-5 miles in the evening-31:15.

No training.

AM-Ran 6 miles for 35:14 total on the Sandy Parkway trail. PM-9 miles straight out of the gate. First four in 25:24,  return trip in 22:30. Total run in-  55: 57 with 1 mile cooldown added. Legs tired this evening afterwards of course. Take an easy day tomorrow for sure. Being on my feet all day does not really help recovery either. But my name is not Ryan Hall or  Ritzenhein so I gotta work for a living. Oh well, as they say its all goood...

Ran 7 miles fairly easy today 45:19 total. 4 miles sub 6 min pace. Jog some more this evening.

PM- Went out for a short 4 mile run. Jogged a mile then threw in some running at 6/min/mi. pace. Cooled down a mile. No timing, just played and ran as I felt. 

Went up through the Sandy bench area for a grinding little 12 mile marathon pace run. 10 miles in 59:05. Total time-1:12: 37 with cooldown. I can't keep tapering every other week this is getting ridiculous... PM-2 miles easy jogging. Played a little soccer with Ian also. He is playing in a leaguefor the first time. I noticed how rapid his leg turnover is and it must be at least 190 per minute! Plotted the 10 mile course on the tool feature for future reference. Sasha always seems to get such amazing accuracy with these applications. Since I don't have a garmin 305 this little program has been very useful.

AM-7 miles easy this morning . Untimed. Was slow anyways with a pulled right hamstring. The tempo run in the cold without warming up enough was probably the culprit. Combined with some bad skeletal alignment it was a recipe for disaster. But I have faith that this will resolve itself  before the race.

Ran 7 easy miles today with 3 miles at  6:30/mi. 2 miles at a very slow walk-jog pace.  51:32 total time. Hamstring is tight still especially when cold but markedly better than yesterday. 

Went to the Striders 10 mile race. 58:24. Not great but not fast either. But I'll take it. 4th place overall. Not much else to say because I'm rather tired today after work and lingering fatigue from the race.

No run took Sunday off.

AM-Easy 7 miler in 45:03. Last mile in 6:01, felt pretty good considering a race on Saturday.

PM-6 miles into Draper and back. 4 miles at sub 6 min pace. Overall easy to medium effort.

I'm thinking some 1.5 mile repeats on Wedenesday followed by an easy paced long run on Thursday should work. I have these days off so according to Pfitzinger it would ideal to have these two quality sessions back to back as long as both are paced properly. I agree as it is difficult to recover on a work day given the nature of the job.

AM- Ran 10 miles with 8 miles steady marathon pace. 1:04:51 total with warmup and cooldown. Ogden is starting to look more appealing but I think I will need to make some changes for the next 8 weeks.

PM- Car dealership loop.- 4 miles easy. 28:48. 7min/mi pace for 3 miles.

AM-18 mile Long run with 15 miles at MP or just under with long fartlek repeats of 3-4 miles. Total time 1:47:47. Very pleased with the outcome of this workout. Did not feel the typical lightheaded feeling I usually get at 17 or so on these runs, felt like I had more gas in the tank for once. Ft Union east out and back.

AM-Progressive 10 miler with 6 miles at AT pace. 57:53 total time. Felt really good today even after the long run yesterday. My body just seems to lunge at the start of a run. Resting pulse has dropped markedly in the last week. Today it was 42-44 and yesterday it was 38 bpm  on a one minute count. The problem lies in overall power output, I dont seem to be able to tap into my top end. But never before have I had such low pulse rates in training runs. I am starting to feel stronger overall in the endurance area. Running a 10 miler seems almost like nothing to me! Is this a mini peak or just improvement after consistent training with reduced mileage? I do not know but I like it... It may be time to throw in some really good vo2 work now while maintaining mileage around 80 per week. This may be the real sweet spot for me instead of 100mi wks quite yet. Anyone have an opinion or similar experience? Maybe its true as we get older we lose some of our speed while maintaining or improving the endurance quotient. 

Easy to medium 10 miler today. Time-1:03:20. Ran up into the Draper trophy home estates section. So much excess even in the land of Zion. Yeah, I know I sound jealous but I can't help feel a little bit of contempt. However it was a beautiful run and an awesome spring morning.

PM-5 miles easy. No timing, Just ran and watched the sunset. 

AM-VO2 max workout-1x800-2:25, then 2x2 mile up and down 114th in 10:41, 10:36, and 1x 800m in 2:23 to practice long kick. Nasty hard workout, especially going back on the ascent. Easy miles untimed.

Jordan river trail for 16 miles today in 1:36:18 with 13 miles in 1:15:37. Nice day today, legs were a little heavy but I seem to be running well in spite of it. PM- 12 miles easy. Untimed, Fueled up and took a big nap. Went out very slow and came back feeling not too bad. Had too sandbag this week because of upcoming events for a couple of days. I know it was not the wise thing to do but I did it and in some way I know that I will benefit however.

No run today, Had family committments out of town. 

AM-15 miles easy with pickup in the 11-14 mile section. 1:42:18 total with warmup and cooldown. The wind was a little nutty today changing directions it seemed at times.

PM-5 miles easy on the trail. No time just enjoyed the run. Feeling a bit stiff and beatup still from Monday. Accumulated fatigue from last week has played a factor also. Overreaching is a tricky but effective method of training for me sometimes. However it is extremely risky and I believe it can only be employed in specific event oriented training for a short period. This is where the "art" of training comes into place. When the mind and body sync together to gather strength for a push towards the summit. Begin recovery period and taper next week with a gradual regression of 5-10 mpw.

Went to Provo to do a secondary long run with Sasha this morning. We ran 9 miles at marathon-30k race pace effort with 1 mile around AT pace at the end. Duration was 57:43 total for the 10 mile tempo run. Good workout although the legs felt a little heavy at the start. Ran 4X 2.5mi out and back. I hate that sudden stop and turnaround though. I was very glad to have Sasha help me run it this morning.

PM-8 miles easy to medium pace with 4 miles at  just above 6 min/mi with 1mile in 5:17 at the end to practice form.  

AM-10 easy miles today. 1:10:45. Beautiful morning, noticed a new bird species I have not seen before in this area. Spring is now here at last!

PM-10 miles evening with 4 miles at sub-6min/mi. 1:06:18.

AM-6 easy miles this morning. No time. I have a long run planned for later after I drop Ian off at his birthday party. I've decided to run long today instead of a VO2 workout because at this stage I think it would be of more use to improve endurance and the body's glycogen storage ability. I also need the mental reinforcement so that I can run well at long distances. The marathon has always been kind of a crap shoot for me so I am determined to take this bull by the horns once and for all.

PM-16 miles. Ran it tough and felt strong today. 12 mile progressive tempo at the end with 6 miles at marathon pace and 6 miles at half-marathon pace effort. 3 miles on, 3 miles off then turnaround and repeat. cooldown. According to my watch I set a PR for the course but I must be wrong somewhere. I can't run that fast. I just don't know, maybe I am finally getting better at this.

Well, my little vacation is over and I will be starting a new job tomorrow. It was fun to be able to train hard without having added stress of being on my feet all day at work. I wish I could train like this every week, but to sustain this would be too much. All things considered I don't feel all that bad today. I think I will just keep listening to my body and see how things go. 80-90 mpw planned next week.

AM-5 miles easy in the neighborhood.

PM-8 miles easy with a pickup in pace at the end. 

AM-Draper loop for 6 miles up past Salt Lake Runnning company multisport store. 40:17.

PM- MAP test on the treadmill-Legs still don't feel quite recovered yet. However heart rate data seems to have improved since the last time. Ran easy with 1 percent incline at the following paces, 7min pace-118-120 bpm. 6:30/mi- 129-130bpm, and 6min/mi-138-142 bpm. Estimated MAP pace-5:52/mi. down 8 secs/mi from the last test. May conduct a few more tests to get a mean. 6 miles total with warmup and cooldown. temp-70 degrees F.

It will be interesting to note any changes in a few weeks after the taper and when the training has been absorbed. According to "experts" 6 weeks of training at a given level with a 3 week window period after a given training bout is needed before any changes become measurable. They may be right, however I think mental and neurological changes can occur as soon as one 24hr period. Changes in running economy are probably the largest to occur. I guess we will see with a couple more tests.

AM-10 medium-hard miles today with a 6 mile progressive AT run. First three miles at sub 6/min mile pace. last 3 miles in 16:12. total time.- 59:17.

PM-6 mile easy run with the last half mile in 2:42 on the flat to test how the legs felt. May be ready for a VO2 workout on Friday or perhaps repeat miles incorporated into Saturdays workout. total time-38:46

AM- 7 miles with 3 miles at AT pace. Draper loop.

PM-5 miles with 3 at MP pace. Neighborhood loop. Felt better than this morning. Still getting adjusted to everything including an earlier start on the morning run.

AM-6 miles easy through the Draper bench area. No time just  ran easy 7-7:30/mile pace.

PM-4 miles easy with fast finish at the end.  Legs are tired but heart rate is the lowest it has ever been for a given pace. Don't know what this means exactly but the body is tired so in order to do a good long run I took it easy today.

AM- Long run today on the Salt Lake Marathon course. Total-22 miles with 18 miles at MP pace. Hooray! no bonking at all! Felt very strong coming down Van Winkle onto 5th east. Thank the Lord, I may have a decent marathon this time. I had problems at this point last year, but not this time. May jog some miles later to massage the legs a bit.

PM- 3 miles easy jogging.