Andrew Unker

Haha this was a pretty funnny run. I ran what felt to me fairly quick but a controlled pace. When I finished and checked my Garmin, it told me I averaged 6:31 pace for 5.05 miles. No way did I run that fast, so I started looking back at my mile splits and apparently I dropped my second mile in 3:53....yep my first sub 4 mile haha. I think it's obviously time to get a new watch. I've had multiple problems with my Garmin and it doesn't keep a smooth pace, it jumps around everywhere. I'm eyeing the Soleus 1.0 gps watch.

5.65 miles 45:06, 7:59/mi

I was a little tired tonight. Tuesday nights I run with whoever shows up at our group runs. I work at RunGr8 Running Center. Tonight I ran with Blake and the other Andrew. We ran from the store to the Riverton Fishing Pond, did a loop around that, and came back to the store. Also decided on a whim to sign up for the Porters 10k this saturday.

This entry will be epic. So somehow I let Brandon Clark, who runs for Bingham, talk me into going up with the team to Alta ski resort to do a hard run. I remembered how much I disliked this workout. We drive all the way up to the resort park the cars at the top of the road where it turns to a dirt road. From there, we run up to the camp ground make a loop around that and come back down. Not only are you starting out at 8000ft in elevation, you gain 1000 ft in elevation over the 3 miles uphill. That should give you an idea of how steep this beast is. It was fun to do the workout again. I went up with Brandons brother Logan who ran with me in High school. He is a stud! I had to go to the bathroom twice but finished the run. (No pun intended)

5.73 miles  45:33, 7:57/mi

So Logan called me last night and asked if I wanted to do an easy 6 or 7 miles. I was a little hesitant after having run alta and my legs were feeling pretty tired but I agreed to it. In my mind I was thinking a pace of 8:30 to 9:00/mi. Of course Logans fitness level is far superior to mine ha. We ended up doing 6.4 miles in 50:46, 7:56/mi. I won't lie I was pretty tired toward the last 2 miles. We ran on the SoJo Half marathon course that comes in front of the Oquirrh Mtn. Temple. I feel fine now. The goal is to not run with Logan tomorrow haha. I plan on doing like 3 or 4 miles at a "real" easy pace. Excited for the race on saturday.

Again my lousy Garmin fails me. Today was a little crazy. So originally I had planned to go check out the end of the 10k course early this morning and run about 4 miles. Well I ended up having to go to work the morning shift instead of the afternoon shift which was no big deal. I left the store and got to the course at about 440 and set out for the run. I charge my Garmin yesterday and it was already dead today...you're probably thinking what an idiot, he probably left it on. Well this isn't the first time. My Garmin has done this multiple times so either Im realllllyyy stupid haha or the garmin is trash. Anyways I had no way of knowing how fard I was running or pace. According to mapmyrun I ran a little under 5miles so I guess I judged well. I got back to the car grabbed some stuff to give the race director and picked up my bag for the race. Im excited for the race tomorrow. It will be fun. I guess I should throw a goal out there...uhhhh hmmm....welll going sub 40 would be grand. Ill just be happy with a pr so anything sub 43!

I met blake at the store this morning at 530 to get together all our stuff to put up at the race. We got there and I jumped onto a bus from Draper Park at like 620. The 10k had a start time of 715. When the bus dropped us off at the start line, I waited around a little bit and planned my warming up/stretching accordingly so I could be ready for a 715 start. Well apparently there was a late bus, so they pushed the start time back to 730 which wasn't a big issue, I just sat and waited haha. For some reason, I've noticed in every race I have participated in, post mission, I focus really hard on not going out super fast just right at the beginning. It was kinda hard this time. The start was litterally on the top of this hill going down. I decided to try to start out just at a comfortable jog. That put me in like 3rd place. I don't think anyone knew the course and thus nobody wanted to lead. I saw the guy in first and he kept looking back at us like, you seriously want me to lead?? So I just decided to pass him about 50 meters into the race. From there, I didn't see anyone again until about 4 mins after I finished. It was a fun race, obviously Ill say that because I won but I really thought they did a good job of marking the course. My only complaint is that most of the course was on a paved trail. I just hate running on the paved trail. I ran a lot of miles in high school on the Jordan Parkway trail and I just think it is boring. I finished in 37:37 which was rad. I am happy with that time. I also won a bunch of sweet swag at the finish and nice trophy. I have the course record too ha. That's weird to say. I have had diarrhea all day since the race but other than that haha I feel alright. My upper legs are a little tired but its not terrible. I'll probably look to take it pretty easy over the first few days of this upcoming week.

I was planning on running with Greg (Coach Shaw/Herriman High School) after their time trials, but it ended fairly late and he was pretty busy. The team looks awesome this year. It will be interesting to see how the season unfolds. It made me miss high school xc/track really bad ha. My hip flexor was pretty sore sunday but today it's feeling alright.

8miles in 1:00:22 (7:33/mi)

Today we had our group run from the store. I ran with Andrew (friend of Eric Griffins) and he wanted to do 8 miles. Its my farthest run post mission. It felt good. Not exactly what I had been planning for this week after the race on saturday, but whatever you role with the punches right? I wanted to run easy yesterday and today but I ended up not running at all yesterday and running 8 miles today at 7:30 pace hahaha. It was definitely quick. My hamstring felt a little tight and after we got back to the store and stretched my hip flexor starting hurting again. I iced it when I got home and have on my compression sleeves as I type so I guess we'll see how I feel tomorrow. I start back at school tomorrow again (SLCC) so now I guess Ill be running in the mornings now instead of my night runs Ive been doing. I have to say, Im stoked for this fall weather coming. Summer was just too dang hot!

3.25miles in 27:27 (8:28)

Wow my hamstring was really tight this morning. So I woke up at 630, grabbed the heating pad, and put on my hip flexor and went back to sleep. I woke back up at 7 and was planning on doing 4 miles easy. The good news is my hip flexor wasn't hurting really at all. My right hamstring is so tight though! I thought it would loosen up a lot in the run but by the time I came back it was still super tight. I iced the hip flexor for precautionary reasons and stretched really well. I thought maybe a hot bath might help my hamstring...eh it feels a little better but hopefully this isn't anything that is going to stick around for a while. I'm kinda dreading Saturday, I have to lead everyone who shows up for the SoJo Marathon training. It should be fun though.

9.5 miles in 1:23:18 (8:46/mi)

Ive been super sluggish this week, not sure why. I think I was pretty tired after tuesdays run with Andrew and with school having started wednesday, I've just been occupied with other stuff.....haha excuses. I haven't run in two days. Last night I checked out the Highland Invitational. The races were awesome! Utah has got some good teams. Good job to Riverton, Herriman, and Bingham! It was nice to run today. I was a little tight, especially because I haven't run in a couple of days. I got up nice and early and had to go out to day break to lead a training run for the sojo marathon. I got there at 6am and starting setting up stuff and waited for people to show up and I started running after the last person showed up just after 7. 9.5 miles is my farthest run Ive done post mission. It felt great honestly. I was a little tired in my legs but it felt like we were just on cruise control. I ran with Andrew and Erik this morning. We'll see how everything feels tomorrow.

4.77 miles in 33:35 (7:03/mi)

Ran after I got home from work. Blake help put together a training plan for me for the next couple of months. So far so good, I'm really thankful that I haven't had any major issues since my hip flexor strain in May that laid me out for about 6 weeks. I don't recommend it, it's terrible. Anyways...talked to coach shaw today at the store, planning on running 7 with him tomorrow afternoon. I'm also looking for a race to do in Sept!

7.61 miles in 54:47 (7:12/mile)

Tonight I met up at the store for a group run. We had a lot fewer people than normal, but it was still fun. It was me, Coach Shaw (Herriman), Blake, and Andrew. We met on the Jordan Parkway trailhead just off of 12600 South. We ran south to the Springview Farms community and back. It felt really smooth. I was thinking that it would be a lot slower but everything felt good. Greg and I pulled away a bit from Blake and Andrew...but they did also go a little farther ha. I think Andrew ended up doing 8 and Blake did 10. I'm so glad the heat is finally starting to cool down a little bit. Tomorrow Ill probably go for 4 or 5 at a slower pace. Oh I also got a Herriman XC shirt now so you guys dont have to hassel me anymore haha.

3.96 miles in 31:37 (8:00/mi)

My legs were feeling super tight from the last two days. I realized too that last night I didn't even stretch my hamstrings haha, how do you forget that right? I ran around by Daybreak lake tonight. I forgot how nice it is out there...and how freaking windy it is! It really is pretty out there though. I kept looking down at my watch trying to keep it at 8 min pace and keep it just by feel. I am terrible at pacing. I'm pumped for the Half marathon. I'm just excited to run that distance. I'm already planning out my strategy..well not really. I'm just going to try to negative split it. So I have been trying all the gu's and stuff and I think it works really well, but it's pretty hard on my stomach! Anyone have any other suggestions? The shotbloks aren't too bad.