Age is just a number.

WOW!  WE DID IT,  FIRST PLACE OVERALL!  

AM-5 miles easy this morning on the parkway. 65-70% mhr.

PM-10 miles easy at 70% mhr on 7th east out and back. Feeling better now after this morning. 

AM-Easy 6 miles this morning on the mill at 70-75% mhr.

PM- 10 miles with 4 at MP intensity in the middle. Out to the Jordan river and back. 70-85% mhr. Tough hill climb this evening. 

AM-Ten easy miles this morning at 70-75% mhr. Time to start bringing the miles up and then once I get used to that I may start putting in some 1000s, hopefully by May. I don't know why, but the relay has triggered something in me to muster up even more determination and focus now.

PM-5 miles easy around the neighborhood. 70-75% mhr. Some stretching after.

AM-Whoa... A great and solid workout at 70-80% mhr. Average heart rate for 6-7/minute pace has possibly fallen a little. Makes sense as it seems to happen this time of year and six minute pace also feels a bit easier this time out. 7 miles total with 5 miles of aerobic resistance at 6/minute pace. Not bad for maybe 5 hrs of sleep.. Maybe it's the melatonin, as it seems to send me into a quick and deep slumber and enables me to have at least some quality rest. Hmmm not to mention dreams that are better than television!!!

PM-Fartlek run with surges up to 5 minutes in length at 5k-10k pace effort through rolling hills. Dimple Dell loop..  8 miles total.  70-90% mhr. 1 mile cooldown.

AM-6 easy recovery miles at 65-70% mhr. Just easy, jog jog..

PM-6 easy recovery miles on the mill tonight. 70-75% mhr. 7th east Draper loop.

I have my first coaching client appointment tonight and I am a bit nervous. I know that it will be the start of something really positive for the both of us. Wish me luck.

AM-It was kind of difficult today to get a good workout in, but thats ok, I had a good time with my boys these last two days. Ian gets on the treadmill next to me and runs for a bit, and then gets off and entertains Aaron for a time.  I then rotate with him and it becomes my turn!

12 miles total with 3x2 miles at marathon pace. 85-90% mhr. One recovery mile and then 2 miles progressive to maximum effort with a quarter mile at 5/minute mile pace. .5%-2% varying incline. Worked on form and economy in the mirror while running with knee ups and back kick drills .

PM-Recovery with 8 miles easy jogging and a half mile surge at the end. 60-70% mhr.

Medium long run today with 10 miles at marathon pace. 7th east out and back at 80-90% mhr. Well, only one run today and I had a tough choice this evening with the awesome weather and all. I washed and waxed my motorcycle and afterwards realized it was getting late with running in the dark and in traffic not an appealing option. Hmmm.. I love riding my bike but I am committed to my running and family, err and not necessarily in that order. Anyway, it was a good run and everything felt great still even with increasing my base mileage. I'm hoping to maybe peak when Deseret News comes around this summer.

AM-9 miles easy. In a hurry to get going so not much to say. 

PM-6 miles easy this evening at 65-75% mhr. Went for a nice ride at lunch time to get away from work for a while and measured out a new course, I'm calling it Colossus after the roller coaster at Lagoon.  Get the picture?

AM-Easy 10 miles out to the trail and back.  Just easy in anticipation of working out on "Colossus" tomorrow. 65-75% mhr.

PM-Easy 5 miles on the 7th east out and back. 65-70% mhr.  I'm thinking of doing an article on the law of diminuishing returns when it is applied to training and mileage levels.  Problem is, there is not a lot of hard evidence on the subject when it comes to elite and sub-elite runners.  But for an average control group, studies show that anything beyond 70-80 mpw really does not add much to one's aerobic capacity.  However, genetics do play a pretty good role in determining who is a high or a low responder to mega mileage training.  Fast vs Slow twitch fiber composition being one of those genetic variables for example. Anyway, a topic for a later place and time.  Gotta run.

AM-12 miles today on rolling hills.  2x2 miles at Lactate threshold pace. 90-95% mhr.  Very interesting run this morning as heart rate was different on the warmup and got lower actually by a few beats after a few miles,  This is a very good sign that my aerobic fitness is progressing already.  7/min mi at 116-120 bpm. 65-70%  Parkway trail section to the canyon and back.

PM-Very easy 3 mile jog this evening for recovery. 55-60% mhr.

AM-Easy recovery run this morning at 65-70% mhr.  5 miles total on the mill.

PM-Easy 5 miles on the parkway trail. No time or heart rate taken, just enjoyed the scenery.

On a non running note, It's been a hobby of mine to study the financial markets over time. Even to the point of driving family and friends nuts!  But I have to say what I heard today makes me a little more worried.  The major banks called the fed and held an emergency meeting overnight calling for an immediate bailout AGAIN ! of the big banks such as JP Morgan, Bear Stearns etc.  Note that this kind of overnight emergency meeting has not happened since the Great Depression.   People hang on to your wallets...

AM-Sasha woke me up at 5 this morning after oversleeping for a whole 4 hrs. Threw my running shirt on backwards and proceeded to the door. I had a bad feeling that this was not going to be one of my better workouts. Oh wwelll I thought to myself and went anyway. I felt tired from the start of the run and slugged through the best I could. We had fun anyway and told jokes along the way including my revisionist account of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The one where Marilyn Monroe talks Krushchev out of the unthinkable with her feminine charms. So to speak..    2:08/6:20 avg pace for a total of 20 miles.

Anyway.. I got home and slept like the dead for a while which made all the difference later on.

PM-5 miles very easy for recovery. 60-70% mhr. No time.

Just ten easy miles today. No time. 65-70% mhr.

AM-easy 4 miles at 65-70% mhr in the neighborhood area.

PM-6 miles easy on the 7th east out and back course. 60-70% mhr. 

AM-Easy 4 miles again. 65-70% mhr.

PM-6 miles with 10x30 second pickups at 5k effort. All with complete 2 minute rest. Stretching and leg kicks afterwards.  7th east out and back. 

AM-Easy 4 miles this morning at 60-70% mhr.  

PM-6 miles with 4 miles of  LT pace running.  85-90% mhr.  Up and down my hill loop course in Draper. Feeling better now with a recovery week.  I'm starting to feel strong and confident again on hills.  Dark Horse out.... 

AM-Easy six miles on the 7th east loop. Felt really good this morning in spite of yesterdays tempo run. This is a good sign. Dark Horse out.

PM-Easy 4 miler at 60-70% mhr with pickups at the end. Feeling good tonight. Heart rates are really good for the pace and temp.

Made a trip to Sasha's to pace Josse and run with Cody. We had a good time running with everybody including two of Sasha's new friends. Anyway, today was another long run with 8 miles of MP work and 2 miles of AT.  Did some pickup surges in the middle up to 5:20 ish pace with Sasha right on my heels every step of the way.  I like varying the pace to make things interesting and to also see where we are at fitness wise. It seems as things are really starting to look better all around as racing season approaches.  I then said goodbye to Sasha and Cody and went another 5 miles to extend my run for a total of 25 miles.  Oh man it feels good to run 25 miles. It just gives you a good feeling of achievement, and especially now as I approach marathon season. Kinda like at the end of a hard days work you know.

Dark Horse out.... 

AM-Easy 4 miles on 7th loop. 65-70% mhr.

PM-6 miles steady aerobic through Draper township and back. Rolling hills. 75-85% mhr at 5:40-6/min/mi. Felt awesome tonight. Body and mind are more upbeat now that Spring is here finally!  VO2 max tomorrow, my favorite workout. Yippee!!

AM-Woke up this morning and decided to re-arrange my training this week. I went for an MP run and decided that the VO2 session should be done on Saturday. That way I can at least get a nap and focus on good recovery the rest of the day. 10 miles total today with 8 MP miles not timed. Felt good but really sleepy later on during the day. Aaron is teething and unfortunately it keeps us burning the midnight oil so to speak. JRT out and back with some hills.

PM-Easy 7 mile run this evening at 65-70% mhr for most of the run. 7th east out. Gotta get back to Frontline's "Bush's War" interesting documentary to say the least..

AM-11 miles easy. Dimple Dell canyon loop. No time, just ran easy.

PM-Easy 6 miles tonight. No time or HR. Just ran easy and enjoyed the breeze this evening.

AM-Easy 6 miles on the parkway and  through Sandy. Rolling hills. 70-75% mhr. 

PM- Progressive tempo run with 4 miles at 85-90%  mhr.  Treadmill at 1% incline at 5:36-5:33 for 2 miles and then 2 miles at 5:15-5:21 to finish strong.  Cooldown and some stretching afterwards.  Here comes the peak..

AM-Easy six miler with some strides at the end for leg turnover. 70-75% mhr. Felt a little chilly this morning but otherwise really good. Draper out and back course.

PM-4 miles with 3 at MP pace. I was busy with a client tonight plus taking the family out to dinner left feeling a little frazzled and short on time so I did a quick run at a good clip and called it good. 

Long run with Adam this morning on the SL marathon course. I really hope he can hit 2:35 this year. We mainly talked the whole way about training and how it affects the body biologically etc amongst many other things. I have to say that was the shortest long run I ever went for. By the time we got done I could not believe we had even run 22 miles! Today was just kind of a let loose and run however we wanted kind of a workout. Picked it up the last mile to the finish and according to Adam's Garmin we closed at 5:07/mi. pace! Thanks Adam. 6:46/mi avg pace for 22 miles total. Dark Horse out....

Some people say that 100, 120 miles is a round number, I think 88 is an even rounder number.. -Don Kardong.

AM-Easy 6 miles this morning on the parkway. No time or hr. Just enjoying the view.

PM-"Minutes" today with 10x one minute on, one minute off then jogging at 7:30-8/min pace. Then 5 min hard at 5k effort.  8 miles total with 3 VO2 max miles.  7th and parkway trail.