relentless forward progress

Had a new guy come to the group work today so we took the long warmup route and did 3 repeats instead of 4. Hit them all hard but they really felt smooth and fluid. 5:15, 5:11, 5:00. Ran with Caleb today, he is an awesome runner. We ran stride for stride today. I thought it was great having him set the pace. Turns out he thought I was setting it lol. Looks like we make a great team pushing each other. 

Moving blood on the elliptical. Push ups, planks, crunches, dips, and resistance bands after. Nice recovery day.

Fun early run with the Wolfpack lol...Scott, Dan, Jody, and Matt. Such a good time today. Ran a little up the canyon and back. So nice this morning. Easy fun run with a faster mile at mile 7 (5:46). Cherished moments filled by talks of dismemberment, gruesome deaths, enduromax, & flatulance. I love these mornings haha.

Easy morning shakeout with 4 x :30 strides at race pace on the last mile. 8+ hours of sleep last night for once :). Feeling good about tomorrow. #readytorace

Finally put together a good race today. This is a big PR for me so I am very happy. 

 The plan was that there wasn't much of a plan lol. I really didn't have a good idea of where my fitness level is race wise so this was the weather gauge. I just decided to go out and push it and then hold even the whole race. I did that for the most part.

 I faltered a little at mile 8 when I could not get my GU out of my shorts pouch in time so I stopped to get a drink. This got me a little flustered and the negative thoughts started to creep in a bit. Marie had the best timing ever. She was on the side cheering and recognized me and just jumped in and ran with me until mile 10. It was perfect. She totally reset everything, made me feel better, and sent me on my way strong for the last 5k.

Splits were a bit all over but so was the elevation drops down the canyon so I think the effort level was even. 5:52, 5:42, 6:15, 6:03, 6:00, 6:04, 6:05, 6:06, 6:21, 6:04, 6:20, 6:03, 5:59. last bit at 5:11 pace.

Huge confidence booster for UVM next month.

So cool to finally meet so many of the FRB crew who rocked the races today! Congrats to everone on all of the awesome performances!

Easy miles on the standard Monday route. Still a little tender from the race on Saturday. Geared up for a big week and the final 3 week push before taper time.

Easy recovery day on the elliptical just to be safe.

Fun shirtless run after work. Hit some road, some trail, and some concrete, with some grass at the end. Very fun easy run. Big weekend coming up. Today was my Friday.

AM - Super easy warmup mile. 4 miles up to the golf course in a nasty headwind. 5 mile fartlek on the way back. 1/2, 1/4 mile pickups, and 100 meter surges. 2 miles easy back home. 

 PM - 8.1 easy at Golds. Solid effort but kept the HR under 122. Level 8 hills on the elliptical.

AM - Early easy morning loop around Spanish Fork and Salem area. Perfect morning with the cloud cover. Solo run, no music, nice and quiet :). 7:02 average.

PM - Elliptical hills for 6 miles to move some blood through the legs. HR 120. 

Early run with Matt and Scott. This just flew by today. Perfect weather, great conversation, and a fun hilly route. We did a 15 mile warmup (<-lol), and then 5 miles at marathon pace. One mile cooldown. Love runs like this. 7:00 average for the run.

Hit the pipeline route today after work. So nice today. Ran a nice even effort up the canyon and the hills and then got a few marathon pace miles in at the end. Iced in the river afterward at Vintage park. My socks rolled off the rock and the current was too fast to risk it so I waved them goodbye. 

Easy 1 mile warmup 7:30. 6 mile progressive 7:00, 6:40, 6:38, 6:18, 6:15, 6:00. 1 mile cool down 7:30. Had a small window to get this one in so I did what I could. 6:42 avg.

low impact recovery. level 8 hills at 6:00 pace for 40 minutes. HR 121

AM- Easy Orem loop with Dan, Matt, Jody, Reed, and Toni. Dan and I stayed and did another 4 to make 12. So nice out. 

PM- 20 minute warmup on the elliptical, 3.25 miles. 40 minute progression run 6:58, 6:44, 6:27, 6:12, 5:56, 5:42, last 2:03 at 5:25 pace. Cooled down for 5 minutes at 7:30 pace. 

AM- 10.5 miles of fun. Worked on form and cadence while dialing it down each mile. Kept it fairly easy. 6:50 avg

PM- Hilly easy shakeout on the elliptical to get loose for tomorrows long one. HR maxed out at 118 lol. 5.2 miles in 32.

Ran the first 23 of the UVM course this morning. Ran the first almost 12 easy then got into the workout. 3 x 5k at MP with .9 mile recoveries. I have been going to shoot for 6:20 to 6:25 pace for the marathon but I just couldn't dial it in today so I ended up running the 5k's faster. First one in 19:39, second in 19:29, and last one in 19:18. Good news is everything felt really good today. Total run was 2:39:50 for a 6:54 average. No wall today, felt like a machine. Smooth, light, and happy. 3 weeks to go.

Hill work on the Freemotion at Golds. Ran the terrain program which was pretty cool. It auto adjusts incline every few minutes and provided a great workout. I ran the 5.0 inclines at 6:40 pace and the -1.5 at 6:05, finished with a half mile at 5:20 pace. I adjusted the pace to try and keep the effort the same throughout. Didn't push into the harder zones today but still had some good stresses. One easy warmup mile and a little over half a mile cooldown.

6:39 average for the total run. 

Standard hilly recovery. Moved to today due to the amount of yardwork that had to be done tonight, the time was not there for the run so I will do it tomorrow. New power yard tools are fun :).

Looong day at work today + not enough sleep + too much yard work last night = tired. Felt a little off today, should be fine after a good nights sleep. I did remember in Daniels book where he says if you feel bad try going faster. So mile 7 was a 5:40. About a 1/4 mile into that mile everything snapped out of it and felt fine. Finished the run with an easy cooldown. Excited to run with the gang in the morning. 6:45 average.

AM - Early run with Scott, Jody and Toni. Perfect weather for a canyon out and back. Nice and even most of the run. Threw a couple of fast pushes in at the end. Fun stuff, much needed.

PM - Elliptical hills for 45 minutes. 7.62 miles.

1 mile warmup on the elliptical. 11 miles on the freemotion. 4 easy then 6 x 1/2 mile pickups at HMP (5:55) on the next 6 miles, 1 mile cooldown. Felt easy today. No PM work tonight due to travel. Hoping for fresh springy legs in the morning.

Last long run of the cycle with Scott and Matt. Ran the first 20 of the UVM course from Wallsburg. Did 10 at a good clip and then 10 at marathon pace (target 6:20). Averaged 6:14 on the last 5. Took the hills easy. Felt a little off in the middle of the MP miles but it passed and I finished strong.

 All the work has been done, now for a good taper. 6:32 average today.

Yesterday at church I had a couple of the boys ask me if I would run with them today. Dave will be a senior and Joe will be a junior. They are starting their conditioning for cross country season in the fall, and both had good track seasons. Of course I told them yes :). We met at 8 and had a fun run around Spanish Fork area. Kept the effort and pace even and threw some strides in on the last mile. So fun. I will do my best to keep encouraging them throughout the summer and fall. I'm sure they will do great.

Very easy with the Tuesday afternoon group. So much for speed work when everyone is tapering for either Squaw Peak 50, Pocatello 50, or Utah Valley. Ran to the rec park and did a few 1/2 mile loops. Did one loop at 5:00 pace and pushed the last 3/4 mile back hard. 7:20 average shows how slow the rest was haha. The taper train rolls on. Tomorrows repeats will be fun. 

1.5 mile warmup. 4x 1 mile repeats on the MTC loop, 5:15, 5:16, 5:18, 5:05. 1.5 mile cool down. It was hot after work today so I took extra time in between sipping from the stashed water and recovering fully. I felt great on these, my legs are feeling really good. I iced in teh river afterward. Great day. 6:40 average for the run.

Easy sunrise run around Spanish Fork. Quite a few runners out this morning. It is so nice out. Slept in until almost 6. Kept the run short. 6:50 avg.