relentless forward progress

We had a large group from two counties get together today for a long run. A bunch of guys and Devra, who is a beast :). There were five marathon winners there which was just plain awesome. I was pretty geeked out (I still am) and happy when we pulled in and very pleased to just be there. What a treat. The route was a double out and back on the JRT. This was cool because it allowed everyone to go as far as they wanted to but still get some time with the elites in. There was a pretty good headwind on the return of the first and the out of the second that made it interesting. There was some cranking going on during the second stretch. It was very humbling to be running what I thought was a good pace and still get dropped hard :). It was great to see such good camaraderie even though some of these guys compete so hard against each other so often. Very thankful for today. Runs like this will do so much good in getting me to where I want to be next season. It was also very nice to meet and run with new people that normally I only read about. 6:29

Core while watching the games

Was going to be easy but i got bored and did some quarters during miles 8 and 9. 1/4 on at 5:20 pace, 1/4 off at 6:50 x4. Easy warmup and cool down. 6:46

Got this workout from coach Kary, and it was harder than I thought it would be. 2 mile warmup, 4x1 mile with 1/2 mile recoveries, 2 mile cooldown. The miles were ran at MP for the first 1000 meters then dropped down to 5:15 pace for the last 600. I figured I better get a workout in since my buddies are crazy people and were at the track at 4:30am this morning while I was at my desk. Thanks for the inspiration guys!

Long day at work (14 hours) and evening plans cut into run time so i

pulled a Clark Kent after work, changed in the car, and headed south on

the river trail toward the lake. It was dark but i had the headlamp. No

more gym for a while, I wasn't going to be cooped up in there another day.

Very easy running this morning with Scott, Matt, Mike, and Toni in prep for tomorrows long run. So glad the work week is over. It was great to see and run with the guys again after a long week. Tomorrows group run is going to be a lot of fun, it may as well be race day :). Looking forward to some big miles and some laughs. 

I can agree with Jake whole-heartedly that it just doesn't get much better than this morning. A huge group of talented, great people got together today for what turned out to be an excellent run. Double out and back on the Murdock and Provo river trails. The whole thing went by so fast which is one of the many benefits of running with such a big group. The first 10 went by fast with the last 5 right around 6 minute pace. After a quick refuel we started the second 10 up the canyon. I wanted to try and get a few fast miles in on the way down so I was a little concerned about running up the canyon too fast. I told Matt about 2 miles up that I was going to back it off so I could focus on the down and started to let them go. Then I realized how silly that thought was and Matt had said something earlier (pain is only temporary) that made me laugh so instead I thought "not today" and surged back up and stayed with the pack (Thanks Matt). I've never ran up the canyon that fast, there were a couple miles at 6:10, but it felt good and was a huge confidence booster for me. Toni was the coolest today leaving drinks at Bridal Veil for us at the turn around so after a quick stop we turned to head back. At the little hill coming out of Nunns I decided it was time to go and took off for my tempo. I ran the next 3 in 5:44, 5:53(wind), and 5:35 before watch died just after the beep. I took the last 2 fairly easy but still at a good pace. I felt great today and am so thankful. It really is such a benefit and a pleasure to be able to have this group together and share some miles. All first class people and friends. Met some new faces today too. Days like today just can't be beat. Thanks to Matt, Scott, Justin, Jake, Fritz, Mike, and Bryce for pulling me up the canyon today :).6:24 average for the run.

Core madness while watching the games. In between naps :)

I was only going to do 10 after work but.. there was 3 inches of snow on the Provo river trail and it was FREAKING AWESOME so i added some more. I love running in snow. This was perfect after Saturdays long one. 7:20

Easy-ish run on the trails after work. Ran the pipeline route to the single track up into the bowl. Stellar views under timp just before the sun went down. Got some fresh tracks on the ridge coming back. The run was harder than the pace suggests with the snow and not the best footibg from the Altra Superiors but it was still fun. 8:03, 1000 vert.

Lunch - ran trail 51 in the snow with Dan, Toni, and Wes. So fun! 8, 8:50

Pm- easy TM run to loosen back up. 5.2, 7:00 

am - Easy 11 mile fun run with Matt, Tris, Toni, Mike, and Bryce up the canyon and back. I did an easy mile before to loosen the legs up. The miles flew by today because of the good conversation. Love these runs, after some long days at work it's nice to get together with the gang again.7:15

Pm - easy 1 mile shakeout on the elliptical and then a 45 minute stepdown on the tm. 10 minutes at 8.5 mph, 9 minutes at 9, 8 minutes at 9.5, 7 minutes at 10, 6 minutes at 10.5, 5 minutes at 11. Very happy with this. Felt strong. 6:12

An easy 10 mile loop from Matts with the crew. Legs were feeling it the first couple but loosened up nicely. Good prep run for tomorrows SLC fun. 7:38

Fun fact. As of today I broke 3000 miles for the year which is a huge PR and 10x my mileage from 2010, the year i started running.

What a great morning in the snowstorm! Our crew was only 7 today, but it was still a bunch of fun. Fritz, Jake, Matt, Mike, Kevin, Kaulin, and I ran in the snow and slush around SLC. Like the last couple weeks, and despite the conditions, the miles managed to go by very fast. No speed records were broken today, just some good old fashioned character building miles. Jake and Andrea had all of us over for a delicious breakfast afterward. It was nice to see Allie and James there too and nice to meet Aimee. Thanks for preparing it, it was so tasty! Matt thanks for driving and the motivation ;). 6:52

Easy run with 8x :60 @ 5:00 pace. Started each of the last 8 miles with one of the surges. 6:44

sick with flu

sick-ER with flu..... kill me now

Easy 8 with Dan on the Murdock trail. Pretty cold but it was fun after work. I was so sick the last 2 days. This felt fine. Not the best way to lose 5 pounds but i should be good to go now. 7:06

I slept in today on purpose and decided on a progressive run this afternoon. My legs feel very rested from the sick days. I only had an hour so i made the most of it. Started at 7:10 and finished with a 5:10. Felt strong the whole time. 6:09 avg. 

Got up early and drove to Kneaders for the group run Rachelle organized today. I went an hour early and ran a warmup mile plus the Carteville loop (@ a faster pace) before gathering at 7:30 for some more miles with the gang. It was a fun run. I ran with Scott and got to meet the legendary JulieC as well as quite a few other new faces. Went up to bridal veil and back and added a couple on at the end on the trail down past Wills before going back for breakfast. I put 2 marathon pace miles close to the end of the run and Scott took us in at a good pace after. It was a great run and it's good to see Scott feeling better. Finished these miles right around where I want my time for Boston to be. 7:03 avg

Because i am a silly person i showed up at Scotts at 5 instead of 7 and wondered where everyone was. This after talking with Scott on Saturday about meeting at 7 and a reminder text lol. So i drive down to Matts and ran an out and back on the Murdock trail because i thought i had missed them. I left my phone home so i couldn't check it. The run was great. The weather was nasty at my house but nice in AF. I was stretching in front of Matts after the run when his light turned on. I realized what i had done right about the time he poked his head outside and asked me what i was doing. Haha :). I considered running another 10 but headed home instead. Sorry i missed you guys today! Merry Christmas! 6:52

Perfect day today. Waited until about 11:30 to head out in the sun. Got into a nice groove on the golf course loop and just enjoyed it. Picked it up a little throughout and put a couple marathon pace miles at the end. Merry Christmas! 6:30

Off the ice and to the gym for an easy run to check in with the HR. Wore the monitor today and set the pace and forgot about it for the duration. Avg HR for the run was 131 @ 6:53 avg pace. Pretty happy with this but I know I can improve. Much better than where I was last year. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/254663536

Also got about an hour of weights in. This trailer was posted on letsrun and looks amazing. http://youtu.be/_g3uX6Z5-kc

10 miles of work from the soccer park in Orem. I thought i was solo this morning but Jacob showed up about 5:05 so we set out up the canyon in 6-7 inches of fresh snow. It was tough but fun. We went to the water fountain before we decided it was a little too deep and turned back. We did a few loops around the park and then Jacob called it a day at 6.5 miles. I ran an out and back in the deep snow on the Murdock trail to make it 10. The 8:15 pace suggests it was an easy run but the effort felt closer to 6:30 pace. Glad i got out in it today. It was a great strength training session. Rocky IV style haha.

Pm - 6.2 easy on the mill. 7:00 

Too much snow and ice out today so I slept in and went to Golds for a progressive tempo. 5 mile warmup 7:30 - 6:30. Then the work miles were 6:16, 6:00, 5:53, 5:46, 5:39, 5:22. I felt really strong throughout today and in control and thought about pushing one more mile but decided to leave with some more in the tank. Cooled down 1.5 miles at 6:35 (funny how easy that feels after some fast miles). Saw Lily there throwing down some miles as usual. Happy Friday!

I would like to run some shorter distance races (5k and 10k) just to see how it would come out. I would love to get my PR's down and think that I am in shape to do so. So inexperienced at them, I need some practice :).

15 easy then 6:11, 6:00, 5:56, 5:52, 5:49 on the last 5. Strong and smooth. Very happy with this week. Easy 1/2 mile walk after. 6:40

Well, i managed to zero the last day of the year :). Work got crazy, and i still could have got out later but I'll save it for tomorrow. I have been hitting some weights tonight though. Lifting jalapeno poppers, deviled eggs, and some chips, a few sets of each. I figure it's earned. I may even add in some ice cream repeats before calling it a night.

I had a great year. Pr'd every distance and learned a ton. I'm really looking forward to 2013. Not just for myself, but for all of the great people I've got to meet and train with as well. Happy new year all!