Age is just a number.

AM-9 miles easy-medium pace on the JT trail.

PM-7 miles easy. Draper bench area.

AM-10 miles easy Sandy Parkway trail then down to Draper and then home. Legs felt good on the last mile in 5:42.

PM-6 miles easy. Draper loop. 6:40/avg.

PM2-4 miles easy. 7-8min/mi. Easy jogging later this evening.

AM-10 mile progressive. 7th east course. 2 easy mi progressing into 3 mp miles, then 3 mile AT. Finally 10x1 min hard with 1min slower but not jog pace to keep HR up. 57:26 total time. Not bad considering a head wind half of the time. Yuck!

PM-10 miles easy finishing 3 sub 6 min miles at the end. Felt ok. Really starting to bounce back from the 30k now. Stretching afterwards for 10 min.

AM-6 easy miles. Sandy Parkway trail. 65-70% mhr. Felt good this morning even though it was a bit nippy. Was shocked by resting pulse this morning considering yesterdays workouts. For future reference it was 36 bpm. Strange phenomenon because usually after a workout like yesterday it hovers around the mid 40 range. Thought that it might be a tired state but was able to run 6:45 pace pretty comfortably for a recovery pace. Is this the start of a peak with the higher mileage and speedwork? Will be interesting to see as I do more vo2 work now for the shorter distances coming soon. I feel like my nervous system has been reset in a strange way overnight.

AM-6 easy miles on the treadmill. 7/min mi avg. 1-1.5% incline.

AM-Not enough time to do a long run today so I decided to run Sashas little experiment. I ran a 5 mile tempo progressively increasing the pace from 5:45 to eventually 5:15/mi. I then ran the last mile in 4:57. Well it was a good workout but I am not so sure that it will really predict an accurate race pace for Ogden. THR- 146 bpm for 5:50/mi, 150 bpm for 5:40/mi, 160 bpm for 5:15/mi and then 170-172 bpm for 5/min mi. Told ya I could do it Sasha... 7 mi total with warmup and cooldown. Treadmill flat.

PM-Went out with my wife tonight instead of my usual training run. I was very glad I did so. Training twice a day is not only tough for me but difficult for the family, especially after being at work for 9 hrs. They have been so patient and Ian always begs to go with me. One day I suppose he will and then outrun me to get home for dinner! I love them so much and sometimes I have to remember where my priorities are really at.

AM-Fartlek run on the Draper Parkway trail. Challenging to run fast on but with its rolling nature it is a good workout mentally as well as physically. 7 miles total. RP-36 bpm.

PM- Again 7 miles with some light fartlek at 5k pace effort. Car dealership loop. Was kinda fun.

AM-5 easy miles this morning. 6:45-7min pace. Sandy Parkway loop.

PM.-5 easy miles. 6:45-7 min pace. Easy run again. Want to make sure that my recovery is good but with a decent aerobic component. Legs were a little tired but heart rate for given pace was still in the low to mid 120s. The last 3 speed workouts were a little more rough on my body than I had anticipated.

AM-MP run on the 7th east course out and back. 12 miles at marathon pace in 1:08:48. Went pretty smooth after mile 4. I gues I may not be running The Ogden Marathon afterall. The race director has refused me entry period. I don't know what to do! If anyone can help please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated...

PM-4 miles easy with several fartlek surges for leg turnover. 6:40-7:00/min pace.

AM-4 miles easy recovery at 8-7min/mi pace. 30:33 total time. 112-124 bpm thr. Gotta get new shoes already I can feel the road pretty good through the forefoot. On a happy note St George Marathon confirmed my entry and after looking I actually managed to find a room. This will be my first St George ever so needless to say I am excited!

PM-4 miles easy no time.

Ran 5 easy miles today on the Sandy Parkway trail. Some 400m and 800m pickups at 5k pace. Did not care to run much more today.

AM-Raced the Cure today, very enjoyable event. Chatted with some really nice people before the race and shared some stories. Some were sad and some were happy. Still a little tired from high mileage right after a marathon and a good 30k race. First two miles were with Albert Wint and Nate Hornok not a bad pace considering the headwind at the turnaround and the grade. At mile 2 I decided I could not afford to have Nate riding on the back at the end so I kicked it in and managed to put a 14 sec gap on him. Wow! 17,000 screaming people still making their way out of the starting chute at the end and cheering at the top if their lungs!! Felt kinda blown away by it. What a day...

PM-Felt better, so went for a 13 mile run with a decent long stretch at marathon pace effort. Sugar House park area. Left my watch, oops.

AM-5 easy miles today on the Sandy Parkway trail. 32:16 total time.

PM-4 miles easy Sandy Parkway trail. No time.

Jogged 4 easy miles today.  30:16 total. Not much interest in running at all lately. Just too much stress in other areas in my life right now.

Not feeling up to running still. Still managed to do 5 miles with a few at MP. 31:20 total time.

Easy 4 miles today. Felt tired and a little warm this morning. Hope you guys have a good race cause I aint up to it lately. Not enough sleep and way too much stress with some things I think.

Easy 5 miles on the Sandy Parkway trail. 1 MP mile. Need sleep... Too many issues this week. Physically I am feeling better in the legs though.

Finally, a breakthrough... Thanks to Sasha teaming with me and sharing pacesetting chores, we had a fantastic experience. He has taught me to have the confidence to run a well disciplined marathon. No wall really thanks to a good drastic week taper, good fluid intake and a large winter-spring quality base. Well they say three is a charm... Given my past history with Ogden this may have been it.

First 10 in 56:14, half in 1:14:36. Felt smooth and in control most of the way, no real bad patches except for mi 24 maybe. I think that was because I dropped a 5:17 mi at mi 23 in order to put some distance between me and Neal Gassmann and also Joe Wilson who I did not even know was there until it was almost too late! He scared the bejeebies out of me coming from behind with that last minute sprint 40 meters or so to the tape. Sprinted my guts out and literally upchucked my gatorade at the end. Made it!!! Whew.. that was too close. Marathons should not finish like that!

My hats off to all those who participated especially to Cody who had a huge PR and Paul the comeback kid with his excellent performance. Thanks again Sasha.

One more thing before I go, it was a cool experience to see horses at mi 9 gallop along side with us while we were running. It came to me right then that just like them we also were born to run.

30 days and counting, Devine Racing has not paid me.

No run today, I have decided to rest and regroup for a while until my body and mind let me know when it is time to go. At this point I am not even sure if I want to compete for a while. It feels good to achieve ones goals and even to win but really its not what it is all cracked up to be. When you consider the things that are more satisfying and that have more significance in the eternal perspective such as family and friends everything else is just icing on the cake.

Victory is fleeting but the soul is eternal the slave whispers to the Roman emperor.

Easy 5 miles with one 800m rep at 5k effort. Sorry about my post earlier I did not mean to drag anyone down. Just experiencing some post marathon blues. My family has been needing me around more lately as my wife is now expecting our second child. So add all that up and I think you know what I mean.  It was a really great race afterall and I am pleased with my effort.  Just gaining perspective thats all.

AM-4 easy miles with 2 miles MP in 11:03, 24:08 total time. Feel much better today.

AM-6 miles easy with a 1200m 5k pace effort in 3:33. 39:26 total time. Sandy park loop.  Starting to bounce back again with lower mileage. Build to 60 mpw next week.

AM-Easy running again for the most part. 2 marathons and a 30k, makes me wonder how tomorrow will go. 2x800m at 5k effort for leg speed. 2:27, 2:24 respectively. 4 miles total 27:23.

Magna race today, Very fast boys including one 10,000m Olympian. Thought I might slip under 15 minutes but I felt somewhat flat. Tried to push the pace but Nick McCombs just would not let me pass. He took off in the last 400m with me hanging on for dear life but being unable to match his long kick. Dennis ran a fierce race also, opening a gap and maintained most of it through out the race. Sasha hung right in there too right up to the end but fell back after the last turnoff. He is definitely making gains again. Biggest surprise of all was Albert Wint who was only 8sec behind me! Wow! Excellent breakthrough performance for him. Talked to Chad later, he also had a nice shiny PR. Very pleased to be able to get to know so many new people.

Ran the American Fork 5k course with Sasha and Ted after they ran the race. Nice mild tempo. 17:51 total for 3 miles at MP effort. Rolling terain with hills. Had an awesome dinner the night before cooked by Sara who is Sasha's wonderful wife. We had scripture study afterward dealing with the subject of faith and after contemplating it, brought me to remember a quote from 17th century French scientist, Blaise Pascal. "Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all, if you lose you lose nothing. Wager, then without hesitation, that he exists." I think that I'll take that bet that he does exists and then run with it literally as well as figurtively. See you at the finish.

Just 5 easy miles today. Still resting and winding down in order to rebuild for another peak possibly this fall. No time.  Sandy loop course.

AM-5 miles in 31:18. Sandy Parkway out and back.

PM-4 miles easy to 7th east out and back. No time.

AM-6 miles easy, down to the JT trail. 40:18 total time.

PM-4 miles easy with pickups at the end.