Age is just a number.

AM-5 easy miles at 6:45-7min pace. 34:56 with warmup.  Parkway trail. 65-70% mhr

PM-3 easy miles with a half mile at the end in 2:46.  20:21 total at 70% mhr average. Parkway trail.

Easy 4 miles in 27:03- 6:45/mi avg pace today on the treadmill while watching the morning news. Tried some Acai juice today, sweet stuff I must say. A friend of mine who is a late night programmer suggested I try it instead of coffee as I am horribly hooked on the bean. Did not get the lag that you experience normally with soda or coffee later in the day. Hope everyone is ok by this weekend, I am praying that everyone will be healthy by Saturday. This is one of those races where even though you are in a sense competing against each other, you are also working together as a team to help bring everyone to a shared goal of excellence. Afterall that is what the Fastrunnningblog is all about.

Easy 7 miles up and down 7th and 114th. 3 miles at marathon pace effort. 16:15 with the last mile in 5:16 going down 114 th.  THR-148-150? 0-2% decline rolling down. THR was very low and the turnover was quick, however it still felt pretty good. I keep telling myself this can not be right, but it wasn't hard either..  I am literally having to find something else to do tonight because my legs are jumpin to go again!  This is a workout I did before Ogden which really helps load the glycogen onboard.

Easy run this morning along 7th and the parkway. 3 half mile reps on the parkway in 2:42, 2:39, 2:39 respectively. One more down 114th in 2:36 with HR at 152 bpm. 5 miles total in 31:43. Fast run today but I do not care.  It felt pretty good. I told myself no excuses on Saturday I will run as fast as possible no matter the pain, until I literally drop..

Just a few easy miles before the race.

After reading Ted's entry about his accident I can't help but but think about something similar in my life also. I won't go into detail about it though and I will make my entry short today. I ran the best that I could possibly run on Saturday and after running the course I figured out my weak areas and the mistakes I made also.  Even though I did not make my Olympic trials qualifier I still feel really happy and extremely pleased with my effort. I don't regret all of the work I have put into this great endeavor. Frank Shorter once said  that you are not ready to run another marathon until you have let go of the previous one. I agree, and so I need to go now and start training for PF Changs!  See you all at the races..

No run today, decided another day off for body and soul was in order.

Very easy 4 mile jog on the parkway to enjoy the scenery and just chill away from everything. Nice.

AM-Easy 6 mile run through Draper today, picked it up for a half mile at the end to spice things up if you could call it that at 5 in the morning.  Legs feel ok, however it's like having an engine with too many miles on it. Not a lot of get up and go but a little more time and easy running should rebuild it though. 

PM-The legs were feeling good enough to take another 4 miles this evening up 114th. Started out kind of sluggish but no worry, tomorow is another day and one closer to recovery.

AM-The dogs were definitely howling at the door to get out this morning.  After a short mile warmup I was covering ground at a 6:20/mi clip.  It was a different world this morning for the most part until mile 6 and then you could start to feel the marathon a little still.  Came home in 50:34 for 8 miles total down to the Jordan river trailhead and back.

PM-Easy six out to the Draper city limits and back.  Ever read the book "The Missing Piece" by Shel Silverstein? Well, for some strange reason I got it because it looked funny and interesting to read to my son. However the book ended up giving me perspective on the concept of quest and discovery. And so tonight the watch stayed home and instead my thoughts and meditations went with me.  By the way, I really love the smell of fall in October.

AM-Just an easy 4 miles this morning, I was hoping to jump into the Scarecrow 5k for fun but it appears that it does not exist anymore. Anyway I'll find somewhere interesting to run tomorrow. Maybe I'll go back out towards the airport where my Dad used to run and I carried water for him on the bike. I always wondered what my Dad could have run if he had trained like I did. He ran a 2:39 marathon on 40-50 miles a week with one 60 mile week for a peak! He just didn't have the time with all the responsibilities of work, family, etc. Thats why I think sometimes the achievements of the older runners and especially the masters category go relatively unheralded compared to the top finishers. I suppose it's natural though with our sports obsessed culture that this is the case. It's getting better however and thats why in a strange sort of way I look forward to becoming a master in a few years. On the other hand I hear the clock ticking also and so I try to make the best of every run, every race and every experience. You have to because you never know where the road of life may come to an end. Gotta run.

PM- 4 miles easy jogging tonight.

Had a pretty good workout today and the legs felt ok but not 100%.  I started to feel a slowdown later in the run which was akin to wearing brick shoes.  Some mild soreness came back and even though it went away that tells me that there is still residual muscle damage that has not resolved. As Sasha would say, BUMMER.. It doesn't surprise me though considering how hard I ran St George last week.  I probably will not be able to physically or mentally run another marathon like that for a while.  So Im thinking about going a different direction once things are fully recovered.  Like gearing my training towards more speed and 5k intensity work while running an occasional longer roadrace for fun.  Once mid December hits I can start running more mileage and then use the winter series in place of other workouts. The jury is still out on this one though.   / 5 mile PR TRAIL-28:31. / 1.5 VO2 untimed, est-5:10-5:15/mi. 

AM-8 easy miles 7-7:30/mi. Industrial park area. Reminded me of the way Rocky Balboa trained in Rocky. Accelerations at the end. No time.

PM-8 miles 6:48-7:30/mi.  56:06 total at 65-70%  mhr. Slowly gathering steam now, I can start to feel some energy throughout the day coming back.  Sandy Parkway and 7th east.

AM-8 miles easy up to the cemetary and back. Decided to loosen the legs up and run the last mile at just faster than 5k pace. No time for the run just easy at 65-75 percent mhr for most of the workout.

PM-Upped the mileage a little today, but I am still adjusting the intensity from day to day to keep the schedule from becoming monotonous. So another 9 miles at 60-70% MHR with 12 minute warmup and cooldown. I may try for a VO2 max session on Saturday or long intervals at 10k intensity. I was doing some reading the other night and found some good anecdotal evidence that a lot of the fastest marathon times came after a runner's PR in the 10,000m distance. In fact, Alberto Salazar had been training for the 10,000m when he broke the WR at the New York City marathon. With his low oscillating stride and long speed stamina he was indeed a tough cookie to run against. The great Arthur Lydiard once said; " If you can run more than 100 miles a week, don't run more; run faster!" Don't get me wrong, I am all for high mileage but how much is enough? And when does the line start to blur between training and just putting in garbage miles that look good on paper? Besides, the body responds best when you change things up a bit anyway so I think I'll try something different for a while. Pass the quarter miles please..

Easy 5 miles today. Cold, old man winter is approaching the drop zone.. 70-75% mhr. 6:45/mi avg. 34:23 total time.

PM-Anaerobic threshold run today.  3x mile at 10k pace effort. Up and down at a 1-3% grade. No watch, just went by effort and concentrated on changing form and cadence on different parts. 1 minute rest jog between miles.  6 miles total with a slow cooldown.

Easy 7 mile run into the bench area today. No time 6:40/mi avg estimated pace. Draper and Sandy bench area. Note- Need to up the number of repeats on my AT workout because the legs felt too good this morning. Or do 2 mile repeats? Not sure how to play with the variables without sacrificing pace or building too much lactic acid on the interval.

PM-Another 6 miles into the bench area. Easy 3 miles at 65-70% mhr. Last 3 down in 17:38/ 5:20-6:00/mi. progressive run.  75-85% mhr.

AM- VO2 max workout up and down 13th and 15th east near Sugarhouse park. This is one of my favorite places to run when I can get the opportunity to get up there. 4x5 minutes hard at around 3k-5k pace effort. Absolutely grueling on the up sections. Quit after 4 as I could feel my overall form start to breakdown a little. I think maybe some weights and core exercises will need to be included on a regular basis.

AM-10 easy miles down to the JT trail. No time, just easy running to ensure complete recovery from last Saturday. 

PM-Easy 5 miles on the treadmill at 6:40-7/min pace. Its dark and scary out there tonight..

Im just tired of fighting traffic all the time for right of way and its tooo dark to run on the trail. 

AM-Easy 6 miles down to the trail. 6:40-7/min pace. Did not feel awake until after the run.

PM-9 miles on the Draper bench loop with 2x11 minutes at 10k pace effort with 1 minute rest jog. First was up and the next was down 13th coming into K-mart and Einsteins bagelry. Tired and not much time to write anything else. Got to get to work now.

Just an easy 5 miles today for recovery. No time, just ran in the neighborhood.this morning.

PM-Another easy 5 mile recovery run on the treadmill this time. 7min/mi. 1% incline. 65-70% mhr. THR is finally dropped a bit to pre Ogden level. Form is shifting more on the faster runs now and cadence is up also. Im not sure how I am going to get any sort of long run in this week though. It's a little tough to get 15-18 miles at sub six pace with a 5 yr old in tow! It looks like another treadmill adventure.

AM-Tough LT run again this morning up from the river bottom to home this morning. Started with a brisk warmup and cruised at a pretty good clip to the hill by the monitoring station. I started out by putting on my game face, cranked up U2 War, and started the climb home. I run like my body dictates, just as Weldon Johnson from Letsrun.com does. This worked really well for my training routine before Ogden and it just makes the run more enjoyable period. 4 miles LT, 10 total. Ditched the watch.

PM- Watched the World Series game tonight as I did an easy 5 miles on the treadmill. Much better game than last nights parade of errors. Even though Boston was not on the board much last night they still were able to keep Colorado pinned down with their unbelievable pitching. I gotta feeling that Beckett will win the Cy Young award this year. 

AM-Progressive run up and down through the hills of Draper and McMansionville. Started at 6:30/mi. pace going up and progressed to 5:07-5:09/mi for the last two miles. Felt great today. Really enjoyed the company of a big and bright full moon this morning. 9 miles total.

PM-5 miles easy at 65-70% mhr. Tired from work today.

AM-Tough 15 miler today as their were some problems with things. I made some mistakes this week by not eating regular lately. Took my weight and discovered I was down to 135! Not good as I normally weigh in at 140 or so. Definite weight loss over the last month or very low glycogen stores. Anyway I got in an 8 mile tempo with alternating 2 mile LT and MP runs.No time, ran by effort. Felt dizzy at the end.

PM-6 miles easy. Ate some cereal and a banana and an hour later it almost felt like I had not run at all. Definitely fix this problem now.

Very sick today. Could barely get out of bed and hardly slept. No run today. Time to cycle back the training for a week anyway.

AM-Feeling much better today. I must have been really worn down and depressed. Sometimes you have to just do the best you can with what you have to work with. Getting up to 100 mile weeks with being on my feet all day just won't work well right now. I refuse to give up though.

8 miles total down to the river and back with 6 miles at MP effort. By the way if anyone is interested, PBS has a special on NOVA tonight at 7 or 8 pm about their marathon challenge event. I have to get to the treadmill so I do not  miss it tonight. Gotta run.

PM-7 miles on the treadmill. Recovery from this morning was surprisingly quick. Probably from two days of relatively low mileage which in turn repacked my legs with lots of glycogen. Decided to run with a little intensity, but not so much that it would interfere with tomorows run. Went 3 miles at 6 min/mi. Finished with 2 more at 5:36 and 5:29/mi. at 1-1.5% incline. THR-152-156 bpm for the last 2 miles. 1 mile jog cooldown with stretching at the end.

AM-Easy 5 miles at 60-70% mhr for recovery.

PM-Easy 5 miles on the Draper loop at 70% mhr.