relentless forward progress

easy shakeout before the race tomorrow. 

If you want the short version: It was a hard course, awesome day, and I won :). If you would like to read the semi long version read on.

I was gone all this week to Wyoming with my Stake. It was work all week. I was worried about the lack of sleep and running miles. I still got a lot of hard miles in hiking so I hoped it was enough. The good part is that my ankle had a chance to heal up and feels much better. 

I stayed with my family at my parents house last night in Mount Pleasant. Today is my daughters 17th birthday and this is what she wanted, to run her first half marathon. She picked a doozy. My mother also ran this race so we had 3 generations running and finishing together, it was an great experience.

The course is awesome. It's up Fairview canyon and the entire course is between 9 and 10,000 feet. The race doesn't start until 9 so I knew the heat would be a factor. I talked to the race director about changing this up next year, I think it will happen. Course was long at 13.27 but I think it's fitting given how hard it was.

As we lined up I saw that there were at least 3 that looked fast. Knowing that the first 4 were a decent downhill (and that I am a fairly good downhill runner) I changed up my strategy and decided to hammer the first four, see what happened and go from there.

I led the whole way. They sent us off and I ran hard (for me). The first 5k I came through in 17:40 and had a good lead. I felt a bit strained at this point which I believe is from the altitude but I ran the last downhill mile fast. At this point you bottom out at Benches pond and the hills begin. It was a real wake up call that I had gone out a bit too fast when the climb started haha. I relaxed, downshifted, increased my cadence and just kept it going the next 3 miles of climb.

A nice headwind started around mile 8 and I was tired from the hills. The headwind was almost welcome because it had started to get hot. I took a GU, and my brother met me with some water and encouragement. He told me I had a lead of 5 delineators. I got a nasty side stitch at mile 9 and had to stop and try and breathe/pinch it out. The combo of that and my breathing in step was able to get rid of the stitch. I hit mile 10 and my brother said that the lead was down to 3 delineators. It was HOT. At this point I was feeling pretty crappy, and the hills had started again but I was not going to get passed.

I dug in, focused on my cadence, breathing, form, and relaxing (which was hard because I have never been in the lead, it's a strange and wonderful place... and scary), and pushed. By mile 12 my brother checked in with me again and said I was easy a half mile ahead and that I had it. The last mile and change were hard, and I was spent, but I managed to run it in and flash a smile at the line.

So grateful for today. My daughter finished her first half and won her age group, awesome. My mom struggled on the tough course. My brother, daughter, and I ran out and ran the last mile in with her. We celebrated at the trailer on the mountain with sandwiches and birthdya cake. Perfect day!

I got my first win. It's extra special because 2 years ago I ran my first 10k up here at this race. I ran it in 56 minutes and I thought I would die. 4000 miles later I win the half. Very thankful. I am just plain stoked. The trophy was a 3 foot tall wooden bear carved with a chainsaw lol, it's pretty cool. 

am - very easy 6.5 to work out some of the kinks from the race on Saturday. I haven't been this sore for a while, strange. 7:30

pm - easy 5 on the ballpark loop. 92 and sunny out. 7:20

99 after work. From Vintage to Nunns and back. So nice to have the water fountains every couple miles on a hot but beautiful afternoon. 7:00 avg

Flat loop with 6x 1/4 mile pickups in the middle and a half mile pickup toward the end. 5:30 pace on the pickups. Thankful for clouds. 6:58 a v g

am - Another great run with the 5am fun group. Scott's out of town this week so it was Matt, Dan, Reed, and I. Reed and I threw some faster stuff in on the way back. I love these runs. 10.11 miles 6:50 avg.

pm- 6  easy. 7:20

am - 11 miles up canyon road to the golf course in the wind and back on river bottoms road with no wind. It was hard to get going this morning but I felt great once I did. 6:50 avg

pm - Easy run around town in the new shoes. Picked up some new balance mr00's. Really liking them so far. Feeling good going into tomorrows harder long run/workout.

Drove to the start of the Hobble Creek Half to run the course and get some bonus miles in. I ran the first 2 as warmup and then ran the next 14 miles 1 on 1 off, then cooled down 2. The on miles were 5:42, 5:43, 5:46, 5:44, 5:43, 5:49, and 5:55. I was tired on the last one. I didn't take GU today and stashed water at miles 7 and 14. I'm happy with the effort today. Goal pace next weekend is 5:50. If I break next weekend I want to break myself, not let anyone else do it ;). Off for a picnic and to pick up the car, it's gorgeous up the canyon.

Loving the new shoes. Total time for the run was 1:56 and change for 18.1 miles. 6:26 avg.

Pm- easy hike to get loose. 2 miles

Easy from Vintage to Bridal Veil and back. Saw some BYU guys near mile 8 and had to try and catch them. Finished with an easy cooldown. 6:55 avg.

Happy hour. 7:30

Ran up the canyon and did the 2nd half of the double bonneville route up past the shooting range and down Indian springs. Did 3 x 3/4 mile pushes, 2 uphill 1 downhill instead of the 1200's I was going to do on a track. Happy the the result and the run today. Nice to get some trail and some climbing in. 800 vert. 7:30 avg

Canyon out and back with Scott and Matt. Took it easy today as we are all racing on Saturday. So nice to get together and run some miles in the dark. No double today, just lots of good food and rest. 7:18 avg

Shakeout

Official time 1:15:07. I'm still not sure what happened today, but I ran a big PR and almost a minute under my stretch goal. I felt strong the entire time and I recovered fast after pushing every hill. The last mile and a half were all spent in the pain locker :). It's just about a perfect race for me at this point. Placed 10th overall. 

Not much to say about the race. I ran solo the whole time. I had Kassi, Matt, Dan, and Curtis in view and was fortunate enough to reel all but Matt in along the way. They all ran awesome races and I am thankful that they pushed me today. I was passed by a guy who finished like a freight train at mile 12, I tried to keep with him but finally wished him well as I couldn't hang any more :). The last mile was tough but I still kept it well under 6:00 so I am happy.

Garmin showed the course short so my adjusted time would have been around 1:16, which is still 3 minutes under my PR that I set in May. I am so grateful and happy to have a solid breakthrough race, and training partners that are so positive, encouraging and helpful. Our group was solid, locking up 5 of the top 12, sweet!

Ran an easy cooldown with Scott after that made me feel much better. I don't feel nearly as shredded as I did after last weekends training run which is a good sign.

This is a huge confidence booster for St. George and in general. So thankful to be healthy.

I ran 1:21:39 on this course last year :)

Vintage to just before bridal veil and back. Legs feel fresh and springy despite the race Saturday. Had a hard time not taking off on the way back. Hot but very nice day. Saw Toni with a mile to go and stopped to chat. During the race Saturday his timing chip feel off his shoe. He had to stop to pick it up and then tie it to his lace and he still ran 1:13. I need to do some core, that guy is cut out of stone. 7:05 avg today

Regeneration run on the flat home loop. 3 x :30 strides on the last mile. Rolled my ankle pretty good, hope it's ok to go tomorrow. 7:30

8 x 1k. Switched the watch over to kilometers today so I could dial this in better. It was tough, mostly because I was up at 2am to cook breakfast for 300 employees at work. Worked until 3:00 and finally got out of there.

3k warmup. 8x 1k with .5k jogs in between. Splits were 3:22, 3:23, 3:22, 3:24, 3:23, 3:22, 3:25, 3:18. 3.2k cooldown. 5:27 average mile pace for the kilo's. Very happy with the workout. Legs are now sufficiently tired. Tomorrow will be a couple of easy ones.

6:25 avg for the run

am- 1/2 mile very easy to loosen up at the soccer park. Joined Scott, Reed, and Jacob for a 10 mile run up the canyon. Nice and cool in the dark, it was a fun one. Ran one pickup stretch of about 3/4 of a mile just to break it up. Saw Julie and a group getting after it early as well. 7:14 avg. 

pm- easy 8 on the flat loop in the sun. 6:55

Fun run around Provo this morning with Curtis. Was going to take it easier but we were both feeling really good so we put some marathon pace miles in. Started at 9:30 and the weather was perfect. No double today. Time to get ready for the 23 miles of dirt tomorrow :D. 6:37 avg.

Hope campground to hobble creek golf course via the mountain dirt road. Such a good run today with a great group of guys (Scott, Dan, Chris, Bill T, Bill H, Nick, David, and Toni). Thanks Chris for driving the 4 wheeler and hauling supplies, and to Scott and Bill for providing transportation back to the canyon after the run. 

I was a little worried about this last night but by the 5 mile mark I knew it was going to be a good one. I felt strong the whole time. Took the climbs steady, floated the first miles of downhill, and then got a good turnover push 10k (36:20) towards the end. Cooled down easy with Scott afterward. This is a really short version of a stellar morning. 7:27 avg. 2900 vert.

My legs feel great despite the long run on Saturday so I ran the pipeline route after work, a 1/2 dirt 1/2 paved route that I haven't hit for a while. Super hot today. and I forgot my hat and glasses. Thankfully, I was blessed with some cloud cover on the way back. 750 vert. 3 mile mid fun pace on the way back 6:17, 6:09, 6:03. It's going to be a good week. 7:01 avg

Easy hour. 7:25

2 mile warmup, progressive 4 x 3k with 3 minute recovery jogs, easy cooldown. This was a fun workout, started off at around planned marathon pace and worked down to under 10k pace on the last one. Splits for the 3000's were:
11:25 (6:10)
11:09 (6:02)
10:42 (5:47)
10:12 (5:31) - pushed the last 1/2 of the last one :)

Felt smooth and controlled today, which = happy. 6:25 avg

am - Early canyon run with the usual suspects (Scott, Dan, Matt, Reed), plus we had Brody, Curtis, Randy, Jacob, and 1 other for a good size group at 5am. Ran the canyon out and back and threw a pickup mile (5:15) in on the way back down. Super fun. 6:55 avg.even with the 8:15 warmup mile, it's funny how the pace picks up when the group is larger :).

Pm- easy 6.5 after work. 7:25

Easy 10 with Matt and Scott around Lehi. We saw 3 really nice bucks right off the trail. It's like they were teasing me because they know I have a bow tag. I though about throwing my running shoe at them since it was the only weapon I had. It was cool. Great way to start the day.