relentless forward progress

Fun race for the 4th close to my home town. I ran over a minute faster than last year. I reeled everyone in at the end except for the winner but didn't have the kick to pass. Kodi Kleven won easily, she will be running for BYU this year and was out for an even paced tempo run. She ran the long course in 18 flat. 

 Fun race, I won a cooler. It matches the lawn chair I won at this same race last year :). I still have no top end speed and will work on it in the upcoming weeks.

Awesome dirt run in Mt. Pleasant in the rain. Got about 1500 feet of vert on the way up. The canyon was beautiful and the rain was just right. Few things running wise are as fun as barrelling down a dirt road sub 6 through puddles at the end of a good run :). The last 6 I averaged 5:42. I was a wet muddy mess.

Ran a cool down with my son Lincoln when I got back.

Met Scott, Matt, and Reed at 4:45 for some early fun. Run the route in reverse. It was hot enough to run shirtless while it was still dark. I'm thankful for these runs, good friends make the run that much better. 7:00 avg.

Ran/hike/scrambled Mt. Nebo :). Used the north approach which is a little shorter and much steeper, but it does go to the higher North Peak at 11928 ft. 4.5 miles to the top with 3500 vert including a stretch on the false summit that 920 feet in a half mile lol. 4000 total for the run.

It was a great day to be up on the mountain. I saw a cousin and her friends on the trail (small world) and a guy I used to work with. There was a group of older gentlemen that couldn't believe someone was running the ridge. One man was named Greg, he was snapping pictures. On the way down he asked me to give him my email address so he could email some if they were good. So nice!

I made in up in 1:26. The way down isn't much faster because of the loose shale and the steepness but it was fun. The last 2.5 are runnable and through some great sections of trees. The view was incredible as usual. Round trip in 2:33. I didn't push this too hard and think on fresh legs and the proper mindset I could go 10-15 minutes faster up. I like runs like this because even though the mileage may be lower the legs get a screaming workout and the time on feet bonus is huge.

When I got back I felt bad for the ones who were still up on the trail because of the storm that had moved in. I guess it hailed around the summit and pounded rain elsewhere. I was thankful to be down before I got wet.

am- 11 miles on the golf course loop. Slept in and got a full 10 hours. It was hot when I left and I suffered a little in the middle but vanilla bean GU saved me and the rest of the run went great. 6:55 avg.

pm- 6 miles on the freemotion at golds. progressive splits 7:02 - 6:06. 6:45 avg.

Solid Monday off work and I took advantage miles wise. I need tos tart getting the mileage back up, fun included :).

3 mile warmup 7:22, 6:53, 6:34

5 mile tempo 6:04, 6:00, 5:59, 5:54, 5:48

3 mile cooldown 6:42, 6:58, 7:14

The first mile of the tempo felt hard but I quickly relaxed right into a nice groove. I love when the workout goes good and the run leaves you refreshed and happy. 6:29 avg pace, 143 avg HR.

Push ups, crunches, planks, resistance band curls and tris. I spent 2 hours in the pool with the 3 little ones, this totally counts as work :). Fun work, but still work. I was in charge of the church pool party so no time to fit a run in. I should be all set for a big weekend with no work until Monday.

am- Great fun was had this morning on the 5am run with Scott, Matt, Dan, and Reed. Good friends make all the difference. It really was just about perfect this morning ur the canyon for an out and back. Threw in a 2 mile tempo on the way down, 5:40 and 5:18. 6:45 avg.

pm- 7.25 miles on the flat loop around Spanish Fork. 99 degrees so it was shirtless and sun glasses. The route has water every little bit less than 2 miles. It was really nice. 7:05 avg.

am- Ran the gold course loop solo. Was on the road by 5:30. It was a really nice cloudy morning. I stopped at the park to water up and watch the clouds turn pink for what would have been the sunrise before cruising back. Came back about 3 minutes faster than the way up. 6:57 avg.

Perfect day for an out and back up the canyon. Met Scott, Dan, and Fritz and the soccer park in Orem and ran up to South Fork Park and back. We went up at a good clip and had great conversation as usual. At the turn around Scott and Fritz were going to do some MP miles and Dan and I decided to run some tempo miles. It's fun when Scott's and Fritz's MP is over 30 seconds a mile faster than my tempo effort :). Animals..

Clicked off 7 miles on the way back at 5:54 average. It was 64:42 on the 9 miles up and 54:40 on the return. Fun stuff. I really feel like I have had a breakthrough the last couple weeks. I am feeling much stronger all around and am very excited about this fall. So thankful to be healthy and improving right now. I'm going to focus on becoming more comfortable at the faster paces. My fitness is there I just need to sync the mental side with it and good stuff will happen.

It's always a pleasure to run with these guys and it was a pleasure to finally get to run with Fritz. Thanks for a fun morning guys!

1/2 mile easy shake before and another easy 1/2 shaker after.

Up the canyon after work in the rain. When I pulled in the parking lot the wind was blowing, it was raining and the dark clouds were rolling through. I said heck with it, took off my shirt, and ran right into it. I was glad I did as the storm let up after about 20 minutes. Ran 4 miles up at 7 pace. On the way back down I hit the BST at Nunns and got some slippery muddy climbing and trail fun. It was a really fun run. I will have to run this trail section again, it was very enjoyable. 1100 vert, 7:15 avg.

Was out for a cruise in the heat after work. Spaced out for about 6 miles and then threw in a 1/2 mile surge (2:40). About a half mile later I was at the track trying a few 400m repeats. They were 77, 77, 76, 74. I did 400m recoveries with them at 7:50 pace. It was hot at the track, 90 degrees. These were on the tail end of a run so I was pretty happy with them considering I am a novice at the track and that this was not planned at all.

I need to start doing this more so I will start small and build it up. I want to be faster when I grow up :).Also I think this is from watching too many Bekele videos on my lunch break lol. Oh how I wish I could kick like that.....

Easy hot loop around Spanish Fork area after work. 7:00 avg

Solo 5am cruise up the canyon this morning. Cruised an easy 46:28 up, and ran 41:31 back. The return includes a cool down mile. The tempo effort (5:50) felt so easy in the 64 degree air this morning I had to keep checking my watch because the effort felt slower. I pushed 2 half mile pickups at 5:15-5:20 pace to get some turnover in. 

Total time for the 13.13 was 1:27:59 (6:42 avg) 

treadmill work. easy. 15 minutes warmup. 10 minutes at 9.0 , 10 at 9.5, 10 at 10.0, 10 at 10.5. easy cooldown. 6:25 avg for the run.

Out and back up AF canyon with Scott and Dan. This was lots of fun as usual. We were met with a headwind running up the canyon so we took turns leading to wind break for each other. Scott stashed water which was very nice. At the turn around we ran a 3 mile push. Scott took off (beastmode) and Dan and I ran together. 3 in 17:10 without a hard push on the first. Scott was much faster. Cruised the rest of the way back down. We saw Julie E. and a group running and said hi. Lots of people up the canyon today. Great morning! 1500 vert the first 9. 7:00 avg for the run.

easy shakeout, racing tomorrow

Dan came down and met me at my home this morning. We drove up, grabbed my bib, and headed off for an easy warmup. We ran 3 easy on the river trail before heading back. I saw my friend Lynsey at the start and wished her well. Also met Lily and another blogger Carina, very cool ladies.

I wanted to PR today and of course crush my time from last year. My ankle has been bugging me for about a week. Dan worked some sort of magic on it right before the start and the pain went away. Thanks Dan!

The plan for the race was "push and relax", find the red line and run just under it. The first mile is uphill and there was a large group of course that went out like bullets. I passed about 20 on that first little hill where they died. Relaxed up the incline to the mile 1 marker. Mile 1 6:00. Mile 2 has some downhill in it so I tried to surge and deep breathe at the same time which worked well. Came through mile 2 in 5:40. Mile 3 has a little downhill, flat and a slight incline. Still feeling good here, split was 5:40. I hit the 5k in 17:54 which is a PR :).

Mile 4 I started to struggle a bit and I think I crossed that magic line towards the end of the mile. I grabbed a cup at the water station and dumped it over my head. I slowed to a jog for about :30 to reset and focus and then continued. Mile 4 split was 6:17. Mile 5 on river bottoms road was good, I could see Dan and one other guy up ahead about 30 seconds. Split was 6:06. Up the hill and through town towards the finish. This is my neighborhood, the finish line is 3 blocks from my house. I made the mistake of looking behind me just after the mile 5 marker and saw no one. So looking back I think I kind of phoned it in at this point instead of really pushing it. Mile 6 in 6:06. Ran the last bit at 5:30 pace and had a new PR of 36:55.

I won my age group (because Dan and Toni ran bandit :), thanks guys). I won 3rd local so I got $15 cash for that and won another $25 cash at the drawing. Sweet!

My son ran the kids mile and did well. It was so much fun watching all the kids cross the line! 

It's nice to see improvements. I beat my time from last year by 2 minutes on this course. I know I can go faster I just need to stop being intimidated by it. I am running with the best guys, and it's helped a ton. Scott, Dan, Jody, Matt, and Reed are all class and great friends. I am excited for Hobble and St. George :). 

Taking a day off to rest my ankle. I think I have a little tendonitis. Plenty of push ups, crunches, and planks to keep me busy.

am - Easy canyon run with the 5am bunch. 7:15 avg, 10.1 miles

pm - 99 degrees on an easy flat run around spanish fork. 7:07, 5.15 miles

am - golf course loop. I was going to take this a little easier but there were runners out and I couldn't help but catch everyone I saw. Fun run! 6:45 avg, 10.5 miles

pm - 97 and breezy on the recovery loop. did a couple extra loops when I got to the track. 7:12, 6.6 miles

Early solo canyon run, had a family reunion to get to. Started from the soccer park at 4:40am and ran easy up past south fork park 10 miles in 1:12. 

6 mile tempo to start the return in 34:58 (5:49 pace). Tried to cruise easy the last 4 but it's hard to slow down after the turnover going back down the canyon. Finished the return 10 miles in 1:01. Feeling good about the upcoming races. Total time for the 20 miles was 2:13, 6:39 avg.

Congratulations to my friend and running buddy Scott on the win today! So awesome to see! And all class on top of it. I am grateful to have training partners that let me chase them around during the week. I continue to be inspired by all of them.