Age is just a number.

Easy 5 miles today on my new course plus the usual miles of walking and climbing stairs outside at work. Strangely enough I believe that this is probably a good thing because I would have lost more fitness if I had an office job.  Definitely not a pre Ogden level of fitness, but not bad either for todays run. Legs felt hungry to run today.  34:13 total time.

Long Run on the Bennion Heights loop course today. This is a fun one! It drags up from my place towards Taylorsville and Bennion at between 0-2% grade with a few hills at 3-4% and then you turn down the back side of the course winding back down into WVC. 13 miles total with warmup and cooldown. Alternating 3min repeats at just below AT pace to MP pace for 6 miles. Concentrated on my form and pace intuition always just nudging the barrier. Felt very strong today considering all things. 1:24:29 total time.

AM-2 mile easy jog to improve circulation and recovery. No time. 

6 miles easy today. Just some slow jogging to get things moving today. Sometimes I enjoy this more than anything. I was a little bummed when I saw that I got bumped all the way from first place in the circuit to third. It's all relative I suppose.

PM-6 more easy miles this evening on the JT trail. Easy base miles. I am feeling pretty good about my diet choices lately. Brown rice , beans with fresh fruit and an Oriental salad for lunch today.

AM-Medium effort pace run. THR at 130-150 bpm. Out and back to the JT trail. 6:20/mi at 150 bpm at the end. Short 5 min cooldown.  Oh I sorely wish I had an office job!  Just before writing this I had done my usual rounds at the complex going up and and down stairs, I could feel my back pop in and out while doing so. I think that this is more than likely a case of tight hams pulling on my lower back. I feel tempted sometimes to count the mileage while at work but even so it still might be a stretch. Speaking of which I better start doing them otherwise I'll be donating to the local chiro clinic. Is a chiro in order anyway? This back of mine popping in and out so much does not seem right at all.

Just five easy miles this morning on the parkway, more later in the evening if time permits. 70% mhr avg for the run today.

pm-5 easy miles again this evening on the Sandy-Bench course. Last mile kicked in at 6:30 with a 1:29 last quarter. 5 min slow jog to cooldown. Tired at first, however it got easier at mile 2. I think I am not taking enough carbs.

AM-Easy 7 mile base run again, no time taken. Estimate by feel about 7 min/mile or so in that range. Some downhill at around 5:30-40/mi.

Went up into the bench area again which gives me a long varying grade of about 2-3% average. It then crashes down 114th south and levels out toward the end. Tough on the legs and feet when your shoes are worn out to the phylon. Ugh! 60-80% mhr average for the run.

PM-Stair routine workout. 3 miles of jogging up and down stairs. Interesting workout for the legs and ankles.

AM-7 miles with 3-5 min fartlek surges to 5:40-5:20/mi. Just played with it and let my body talk to me. Talk to me it did! after an initial slow start, things really got moving and ended up running the last one which is measured at 3:32 for 1200m. Did 4 of these to open up on the legs and to perform some high end aerobic work. I'm finally starting to feel like the runner I used to be, chomping at the bit like an old warhorse locked in the corral.

PM-Easy 3 mile jog with a couple of striders for fun. Planning on doing the Provo River Half tomorrow to get a baseline performance. I hope this might give me a good baseline performance and maybe even reveal some weak spots. Sasha wants me to go out with him and just hang on as long as possible. Still considering that approach perhaps. But it might be better to go out behind someone else and stay fairly comfortable for at least a few miles and then wind out towards the end. That will give me a decent experience. I just don't wanna die go to the side like roadkill!

Tough workout today, Ran the course of the Provo River Half marathon. 1:14:14 total time. Mile markers were off, so no splits. Oh well. Got to run with James aka Mona Flash. We ran hard and tough for a while and talked briefly about things until he had to pull away and race his race. Good job James, way to run dude.

Overall I felt pretty good about the run except for a late start and having to plow through the masses. My fault for going to the top of the mountain so to speak in order to warm up.

It was nice to see everyone again I missed you all too much to just give up. I have had a rough time lately, but I'm back now so let's run.

AM-Went for 5 easy miles at 7-8 min pace. 37:06 total time. Nice meditative run. 3200 west course. Nice choppy sentences.

PM- Progressive 5 mile run starting out at 8 min/mile pace for a mile and stepping down about 1 min per mile for each successive mile. Last 800 meters at 5 min/mile pace. Made friends with a brand new Precor treadmill which was a very smooth and fast machine. Surprisingly I am not feeling beat up like I thought I would from yesterdays run. Resting pulse this morning was between 42-44 bpm.

Easy long run today on the JT trail and back down  Redwood road. 2:25 total time. Became very sick with some nasty stomach pains afterward. Went immediately down for a nap. Felt a little better afterwards but still not 100%

Just 5 easy ones today, had a some stomach issues that kept bothering me for some reason. No time taken, just jogged easily. 3200 w loop. A true solid recovery day will keep this weeks training properly configured with solid recovery after an overload period.

AM-6 miles with a tough 3 mile AT run. Things were a little slow at first but rapidly changed gears after a while. Having a group of college girls whistle and scream at you as you go by makes things interesting to say the least. 3200 w course. Went and measured the AT stretch later. I calculated about 5:32/mi for 3 miles. I have mixed feelings about it though. I have very little time until St George to rebuild my endurance component along with my AT. It will take a miracle I think.

PM-5 miles easy at 6:40-7:40 pace, hitting the faster pace for 2 miles after the turnaround. 1 mile cooldown. Same course as this morning.

AM-4 miles easy this morning. 7-8 min pace. Last 2 miles around 7-7:30. Just enjoying the view and giving the body a little more recovery.  

Just 4 miles today, but I made it and I made em good.  No time to run more tonight. 3 miles at AT effort-half marathon pace. No time just tried to enjoy each mile.

Went out knowing nothing as to what I wanted to do, I just knew I needed to run far and fast. Went out easy for 8 miles at 7-7:30 pace effort, I then turned around and started a rhythm run which started out at marathon pace and alternated with subtle but faster stretches. Felt awesome.

Gotta run, one of my favorite movies is on TNT now.  See you at the finish. 

10 easy miles on the Jordan river trail this morning. Met up with Demetrio at the end of my run, we chatted briefly about the circuit and things. I then headed for home and munched on some bananas and cheese. Not much else to say. 65-70% mhr for the run.

5 easy miles this morning. Cooler than usual today. Nice.

PM-3 easy miles of jogging this evening . No time for more.  On the treadmill.

AM- Very tough to get in mileage lately mainly because of not getting to sleep till late. I still managed to pull in a 6 mile progressive run. Done not so much for any particular energy system, but mainly to practice form and relaxation at different paces. A distance workout at marathon pace will be done tomorrow. Ran 2 miles at 6:00, 5:50, 5:20 and 5:21 respectively. Not bad considering a very short warmup period. 5:20 pace on a 1% down at 165 bpm average. Fitness is definitely coming back but I must get in longer runs for sure. Short two a days don't cut it in the marathon. I think if can get in two fifteens and an 18-20 miler every week from now on I might see some real substantial gains in the next month. I might have to run TOU more for the mental preparation than anything, but I worry as to it's lingering effects leading up to the St George event. Getting the workouts as close to race conditions as possible will be key to maximizing performance.

PM-More easy miles to put in the bank. 6 easy on the road at 7 minute/mi. pace. Felt pretty loose and fluid tonight. Did some stretching tonight on all the major muscle groups.

AM- Jrt-home loop 10 miler with 5 miles at marathon pace effort. THR-80-85% mhr. 5:45-6min/mi average.

PM-5 mile easy run near home at 7-8 min/mi. pace. THR-55-70% mhr. 

AM-7th and 114th 12 miler. Ran 6 miles at marathon pace. 6-5:40/mi. THR-80-85%. 145-150 bpm average roughly. Slightly rolling course with 2 major up and down sections between 1-3% incline. Kind of tired today so it was not easy to get into any sort of groove.

PM-Easy 3 mile jog later in the evening. 

AM-Easy-medium pace aerobic run for 7.5 miles with an acceleration for 1 mile up to 5:18/mi. Did this on the treadmill for an aerobic maximum pace test and to also get a grip on where my LT pace is at now. Ran at max aerobic around 5:50 at 2% incline with a 145-146 THR. Funny thing about this test was that the heart rate was actually going down after 20 minutes instead of going up for a given pace. I think this might be due to a number of things like just plain finally starting to warmup finally but someting tells me there are other factors also. Normally after 20 min you would expect some cardiac drift as this was always the case in the past. Is it possible that the body is making it's aerobic shift later in the run than usual. Anyway it's too much detail to tink about right now.

PM-4.5 miles easy at 8-7min/mi. Neighborhood. Just kinda zoned through this one.

AM-Get to work kind of day in the running department. 18 mile long run with 9 miles at marathon pace on the way back in 53:08 total. Kind of grooved into this one slowly building tempo the farther I went. Finished the last mile in 5:42 with THR at 156-158. Not bad considering it was 70+ degrees on the way back.  7th east course. 

PM- Recovery 6 miler on the Sandy Parkway trail. No time. 60-70% mhr. 

Went for just 10 easy miles on the JRT. Just easy running this afternoon to recover from yesterdays trek. No time.

6 miles easy this evening, had a very busy day with everything going on. JRT route. No time.

AM-Easy 4 miles on the college route. 7-7:30/mi. Mile repeats later tonight, so just an easy short wakeup run this morning. 60-70% mhr.

PM- Cranked out 8x1 mile with the Wasatch Athletics group. As follows,- 5:24, 5:30, 5:23, 5:11, 5:14, 5:15, 5:22, 5:25. 2 lap jog in between at 7:30-8:00 pace. Was dehydrated at the end, but felt ok overall about the set. 16 miles total.

Went for a single 10 mile run this evening instead of running this morning. I figured it would be better to walk in the morning a few miles instead to recover from last nights mile repeats. This proved to be effective as I was surprisingly fresh by late afternoon. Follwed what my body wanted to do and ran at 6/min pace for 3 miles plus one mile at 5:38/mi. It always amazes me what just one quality speed workout does to my body neurologically. Not increased fitness per say, it's just that my body was tuned in it's form or something. 10 miles total with 4 miles at 80-85% mhr. 6 miles at 60-70% mhr.

AM-Short tempo run with hills over the 7th east course. 17:38 total time for 3 miles. 4 miles easy at 7:00-6:45/mi pace. 70% mhr.

PM- Easy 8 miles tonight at 6:30-7:00/mi. JRT.

AM-A quick 5 miles this morning due to time limits.  Total  time-32:40 with warmup. 6-6:30/mi.

PM- 6 miles with the Pachev family today. Interesting run, felt like a running cowboy trying to help Sasha keep the kids together while on the go. It was a nice change of pace though. 7-8:30/mi pace avg.