relentless forward progress

am - 40 minutes of circuit training. shaking like a leaf at the end :).

pm- treatment with Dr K. Then 60 minutes on the alter g. 9.3 miles. Pain free. 6-12 mph progression run. I have been pain free for a week so i threw a little test at it today. Hoping it passes. Tomorrow morning wake up will be the answer. 

25 minute elliptical hills warm up.

60 minutes stairmaster. 492 flights, 10.25 miles

50 minutes vert run on the mill 10-20 incline. 3450 vert. 5.25 miles.

10 minute elliptical cool down.

2871 calories 

I slept in this morning and didn't get out until after the results from Arizona started to come in. There were some extra logs thrown on the fire today from so many awesome performances. Can't wait to hear about them! Congratulations to those who ran today! 

#legendarycrosstraining 

Stairmaster after work. 512 flights. +strength

1 hour elliptical after work. Kilimanjaro routine. + strength.

Treatment at Dr K's. Then a cheeky little 4 miler to loosen up the legs. Feeling good.

:)

Back outside for a test drive with the incredible crew. Met Scott,  Dan, Mike, and Reed for a run up the canyon. Warmed up with a slow grass loop. I felt awkward and a bit gun shy at the start so i finally threw a half mile pickup in around the 2 mile mark. I instantly felt better for the rest of the run. Cooled down with some more easy grass loops. I was so happy to see the guys and run with them today. Very thankful for them. Also tried out the Virrata, a zero drop Saucony trainer. It's light and awesome and could be the Boston shoe.

I'm going to be ok. The body is ready. Fun! 7:20 

Am- 45 minute 10 station circuit training.

Pm- Playing with the spine and various muscles with Dr. K. 11 mile progression run on the alter G. 9:00 down to 5:27 @ 75%.

The trick moving forward is to seamlessly merge the turnover and intensity from "fake" :) running and x training into my legs as they return and remember"real"running on the pavement and trails. If i do it right i believe i can get back to regular fun more quickly. Safe but still intense, if that makes any sense at all. 

60 minutes stairmaster, 530 flights

1 mile easy cool down on the mill.

My wife is gone for a week to Washington DC so I am home with the kids. A week of fun, forts, race tracks, dolls, drawing, cookies, and craziness is in store. Training will be difficult but it's going to be a blast. 

512 flights + strength after work.

507 flights with intervals + strength after work.

Met the crew at Mike's this morning for some easy miles. It was perfect, 40 and no wind. We had a good group with Scott, Mike, Dan, Toni, Reed, and Rob. So good to see everyone and get some miles in. I put a few surges in and felt excellent the whole time. Still pain free :), but I'm going to continue to try and be smart. 7:10

I feel very strong given all the strength training, weight training, and cross training over the last 8 weeks. I have plenty of lungs, just need to get the legs all the way back and I should be able to have some fun in the upcoming weeks. I think this has been a bit of a blessing in disguise. Very thankful.

Pm- 5 very easy miles on the alter G after a good scraping at Dr. K's. 8:00

Am- 45 minutes of circuit training. 10 stations of pain :). 6 miles on the elliptical to loosen everything up. Nice to talk to Lily and Rachelle for a few.

Pm- ran the Pi(e) run with my son Lincoln. It was a great little event put on by Runners Corner. 3.14 miles and a tasty pie contest. Curtis and I ran with Lincoln and he ran 29:09 which is a 7 minute pr, he was excited :). So fun! Ate too much pie afterward :). 

3.5 easy with 2x 1 mile no hands high resistance high turnover. Canyonlands tomorrow. Either an easy fun run or a progression run with a couple test miles at the end depending on how i am feeling. Excited!

Pardon the length of this non-race race report but I had a great time and wanted to get it all down.

I have been feeling good so I decided to give this race a whirl to test out the hip/glute/back and see what I could muster without doing any harm. I drove down with Scott and Fritz. It was a really fun trip for me as both guys are all class.

We stayed in Green River at one of the finest $27 hotels around :). Microwaves, a fridge, and cable TV were the highlights in a pink room with 70's bedspreads. Next to my bed was a little 2 foot high pink door. I wondered if one of us would be missing in the morning but fortunately we were all safe. We were all off to bed early and got a good nights sleep. It really was a good place and it was nice to save some cash.

We were off to the race at 6:00am. Drove down to Moab and picked up our stuff. We had time to rest a little more in the car before the buses loaded at 7:30 to take us up for a nice long wait before the 10am start. We met up with Kevin before loading the buses.

The conditions were very good. I have heard horror stories about the wind and sun at this race in the past. I think it was a treat to get a relatively cool morning with overcast skies and a small headwind. It was very cool to have Justin Park find us as we were waiting for the race to begin. Having a good group of people together made the time pass quickly.

We warmed up with a jog to the bag drop and then Kevin and I ran back to the port o potties to take care of last minute business. At the start line I ran into my old high school friend Elton who was convinced that I am an elite runner. I quickly corrected him and told him that I only chauffeur elite runners :). Saw many familiar faces including Trent Jensen who is a friendly nemesis of mine. We go back and forth at races and it was hard for me to tell my ego to shut up so I could run no pressure.

My race plan was pretty simple: do not race, run a few miles easy, speed up a bit if it feels good, and possibly run it progressive. A couple minutes before the gun I wished the guys well and then moved back into the crowd and got my Ipod ready (that's right, I ran with music to further keep in non serious mode).

The gun went off and I started out easy. I wanted to be right around 7 minutes for the first mile but about a 1/4 mile in Trent ran up beside me haha. We ended up running the first 5 miles together and formally met and talked. It was really cool to get to talk to him, a good guy for sure. 1-5 were 6:28, 6:26, 6:17, 6:09, 6:08. A little faster than I wanted but I felt good so I went with it.

At this point I told Trent that he should cut my dead weight and go :). So he opened up a good gap over the next mile and I figured I would just do my thing. I felt really good going over the rollers on the course which I think is partly from the stairmaster and weights the last 8 weeks. I tried to run the tangents instead of tucking in behind people and should have just stayed with Trent because we were both picking off the same little groups of people as we went along. His gap had actually gotten smaller as the race went on. The hill at mile 10 was a good one and my legs began to get tired. Strange feeling having plenty of lungs but tired legs. Definitely not enough running miles the last while but I was having fun and still passing people. 6-10 were 6:12, 6:13, 6:18, 6:17, 6:27.

The last 3 I wanted to pick it up but instead I just kept with it and kept thinking "do no harm". I slowed up on the last mile and then picked it up a little again during the last little push through the chute. I saw Justin cooling down as I was coming in and wondered how everyone did. The last 3 were 6:16, 6:21, and 6:39, with a 6:11 avg in through the chute.

I am happy with the result given the 8 week "layoff" and even happier that I held up in one piece. I banked some confidence that Boston won't be a death slog and that I should be able to run a relatively respectable marathon there.

I'm super excited that Scott, Fritz, and Kevin ran so well and were that close to each other. We did a little cool down together and then I did the social thing while they got the rest of 20 miles in together.

We spent the next few hours hanging out with Kevin and Aimee at a good little eatery and then at the camp site where Scott and I snuck in a nap in the car. The ride home went by way too fast with some excellent stories by everyone. Super thankful to travel and run with such great friends and people. I'm excited to try and keep this little momentum going over the next four weeks and soak in the Boston experience.

 Hit the alter G at Dr. K's for an easy run. Legs felt really good. 90-100% body weight with surges. Counts as a recovery run right :)? Training wheels are off. 7:03

 Warmed up 2 miles on the stairmaster then switched to the treadmill. Laddered up to a fast mile (5:40) and as soon as I finished the fast one the treadmill made a weird noise and broke :). So i moved to the next one and cooled down. Fun! Probably pushed it a bit today, easy tomorrow. 6:42

Totally worth a piece of cake... too bad Bam doesn't live closer. 

  A big zero for the day. extra long day at work and an awesome first grade program for Mason made for not much time. I got dressed for the gym and drove up but when i walked inside i just turned back around and went home. Ended up eating klondike bars with the fam. Probably needed a rest day.

Easy with Toni and Scott up and down Provo canyon. I threw in a2.5 mile fartlek on the way back. We got blasted by the wind at the end. Fun! 7:30

am - Met the early crew of Spencer, Reed, Dan, Toni, and Scott at Scott's place for some cold miles. We started out slow but it was a good morning and you could feel the energy build so we threw some fartleks and strides in and then cruised a few miles at a good clip. This felt great after Saturdays long run which is a good sign. 6:45

Pm- 512 flights on the stairmaster. Happy with the day.

This is a bit wordy so if you're not in the mood for a long one you can skip it ;), otherwise thanks for reading. I did a ramping hard effort on the stairmaster after work tonight. The adductor/groin thingamajig was a little sore so no run today. It was a really good workout and I was a gross mess afterward. 567 flights.

I read a great article today in the times about Kilian Jornet. It's an excellent read if you have the time. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/magazine/creating-the-all-terrain-human.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

There is a quote in there that I really like. Kilian says, "The important thing is not to catch something. What matters in life is the pursuit and everything we learn along the way. The important thing is to keep moving."

I really needed to hear this. I don't know why it struck me like it did but I felt much better afterward. This whole injury and cross training and stressing and trying to stay in shape has worn on me some, even though I have learned from the experience. But after I read this quote I decided to go back and review some old stuff. I looked at my training from my first marathon at TOU and the lead in into it. At the time I really didn't have the best idea what I was doing but it turned out great, I had fun along the way and it was a special experience. I did the same review with the St. George training. It went better as I had learned some things on the journey, applied some techniques that my body responded well to, met and ran with awesome training partners and people, ran my tail off, and it was also a very fun and special day.

I think I had become a bit caught up in the pending "result" of Boston and stressing on it instead of taking a step back and knowing that everything will be ok. I did that today. The training has been far from perfect, but I have tried to make the best of it. Even though it's been difficult if I look at the whole of the cycle I believe that I am better trained than I was on the first marathon. I may not be in St. George 2012 shape, but it's ok. It's going to be a life experience. After all, it's the Boston marathon :).

I am now very excited about it. No more worries. I'll do what I can the next couple weeks. I agree with Fritz in his belief that late training is not death bed repentance. Especially in regards to a persons mental "edge". If those last couple workouts are what that person needs to get them in the zone, then the workouts are more than beneficial, they are essential. I can't wait to soak up the Boston experience, finish strong, and with a smile. Thanks so very much to those who have been a support, an inspiration, and a safety net.

 Just turning the legs over in prep for tomorrows run. Ramping speed and resistance turned this elliptical session into a nice progression.

am - Met Scott and Toni for some early canyon miles in Provo. It was great. The moon was bright enough you almost didn't need the headlamp, didn't turn it on until up in the canyon. 44 degrees :)! Easy up to the park then threw a fartlek in on the return. 6min on 5 off, 5 on 4 off, 3 on 2 off, then 1 on 1 off x4 and an easy cooldown. "On" paces descending from 5:47 - 5:15. The hill at the end of the 4 minute on was "fun", but other than that it went really good. Scott looked light and smooth on his ladder workout today. Very fun morning! 6:55

Pm- 10 miles medium effort on the elliptical. I found my tired legs and I'm pretty happy about it :). 

 Slept in today and then headed to the gym. Did a 9 station circuit training session and then went to my first spin class. It was fun and a great workout. Lots of good energy. Legs feel really good now and ready to go long tomorrow. Today is my birthday so I'm going to eat cake guilt free. I'm going to have an extra piece for Bam.

I covered 18 but just counted it as an easy hour of running miles. 

 Met a good size group at the soccer park this morning. Melody! Scott, Reed, Dan, Toni, Randy, Dave, & Chris. Double out and back route that we did in December. The first 10 were relaxed. It was awesome to have Melody with us today. She gave us all some great advice for Boston. So fun to run some miles with her.

After the first 10 we made a pit stop at the park and then started up the canyon for the second out and back 10.  Picked up the pace pretty good. There was a nasty headwind on the way up and  it was cold. I stopped at the water fountain for a drink and everyone kept going so it became my mission to try and reel them in before the turn around. This resulted in a great push up the canyon for me, the wind made for some character building sections. The run back down was much easier but still fast. Reed and i ran the last couple together. 

Then we all ran some grass loops easy to cool down. I put some strides at mp in as well and ended up with a great run. Huge confidence boost for me. Very thankful. So fun to run with so many great people. 7:00 avg