relentless forward progress

Super easy regeneration run. Couldn't get my brain to shut off last night so this was good to be out on such a peaceful morning. Legs feel great. 7:49

Had the opportunity to go up and run Jeremy Ranch road with Scott, Matt, Jake, and Fritz. It was a beautiful morning up there. It was great until about mile 11 where my energy level dropped. I had to let them go. I had my water bottle stashed with about 3.5 to go so i stopped and took a gu and downed the water. I felt better but could tell i was a little dehydrated. Thankful to be able to just run with and listen to some super strong runners. Thanks guys! 6:55 avg.

Post work caterville loop in the heat. I felt pretty groovy towards the end so I tossed in a couple tempo miles. 6:55

5k warmup. 8x800 with the last 4 progressive. Then 2 miles @ stretch MP followed by an easy cooldown. The splits were 2:43, 2:44, 2:43, 2:42, 2:40, 2:39,

2:36, 2:31, the rests between were just over a 1/4 mile @8:00 pace. After the last

rest went into the MP pace miles at 6:12 and 6:10 then an easy cooldown.

Happy with the workout today, the MP miles felt like I was crawling after the

intervals. 6:30 avg

am- Fun canyon run at 5 with the usual suspects, Scott, Matt, Dan, Reed, Toni, and Jacob. The cooler temps are sure nice and make the miles seem much easier. Kept it easy today with the exception of a half mile surge on the way up. I will get an easy one in this afternoon. 7:01

Pm- got soaked on an easy one in the rain. It was great! 7:26

Decided to run the Spanish Fork half tomorrow so I ran part of the hilly course. No pressure or goals tomorrow. Something between a race and a marathon pace workout will be fine. It will be interesting to see how my body responds with 90 miles in the last 7 days. Taper starts now lol. 6:55

I was fortunate enough to pick up the win today on a tougher course in 1:18:55.

The start/finish line is 3 blocks from my house so I got to sleep in and warm up in my neighborhood. The course is hilly compared to most offerings around here with a net gain of 250 feet and includes one of my normal run routes. I decided to do it last minute so I didn't have lofty goals. The mission was to get into a groove, run some marathon pace miles, and have fun. I wasn't sure how my body was going to respond given the mileage the last couple weeks and no taper.

When they sent us off the plan changed a little. I started out in the lead and was running 6:00 pace so I was wondering what was going on. I ran with a local guy for the first 4 miles, it was cool to meet him and chat back and forth as we climbed the slight incline. I felt like garbage and actually considered just letting him go. The first 5 miles were 6:04, 6:08, 6:15, 6:13, 6:02.

It flattens out for about a half mile at the end of mile 5 before the first good hill. As soon as we started going up the hill I started to feel good so I put a surge in and had the lead. At this point I altered the plan and decided that I would go for the win without trying to hammer it to death. St. George marathon is the goal so I want to play it safe from now until then.

The course has a loop with the bigger climbs on miles 6 and 7. I surged hard on the climb and then again on the downside and opened up a lead of about a minute. I knew I had it as long as I didn't do anything stupid so I backed it off just after mile 8 and decided to maintain a little under GMP and roll it in. Miles 6-11 were 6:15, 6:14, 5:46, 6:03, 6:00, 6:06.

This was going just fine until I hit the 5k people at their turn around. I had ran solo long enough that I got excited to see people and turned it up again for the last 2 and change. 12 and 13 were 5:50 and 5:40, with :23 on the .1.

It was awesome to break the tape and my wife was waiting for me close to the line. I am very thankful and excited about the race today and am really looking forward to the marathon in 4 weeks. I got to see Melody at the finish area and run a cool down with her and Rachelle. Melody won the 5k! She's awesome. PR for Rachelle today too.

I got a cool trophy, a free Road I.D. and $50 for the W :). It was a perfect way to cap off a big week.