Hurt so good.

Workout Wednesday- Bues Pond

Met Ken and Riley at the pond, did a quick warmup with a couple bathroom breaks some strides then went on our way.

Workout was 16X500 meter repeats; rest was about 70 seconds but after 6 I went to 1:1

Splits were 89;88;89;89;89;90;88;89;88;88;89;88;88;88;88;87

average was 1:28.50 for workout which is 4:46 pace and 71 per 400 meter

Solid outing. Ken and I took alternating leads which helped alot. Now we just need to get to Riley's pace so he is not lonely.

Cooled for a little over 3 miles

Oh the Agony of recovery days after a workout. Legs are beat and feel like Jello!

Run was good and necessary, just felt way tired.

avg pace 7:38 min/miles

Golfing in the morning with Jason Holt then re-tiled my bathroom. By the time I was done I was only able to sneak in 3 miles. I guess I will consider it a small taper for a 5K😉

Did the annual Cherry Days 5K today up in North Ogden. 

I got there about an hour before to stretch and get in a easy warm up with bathroom breaks.

Switched over the flats and did some strides which I felt really lose and ready to go.

Got to the start line and saw Trevor Ricks standing off the side with a bib on. Trevor runs at Weber State or did not sure. But anyways I wasn't worried I am always focused on personal achievements and running the best I can for the day.

Well the gun went off and I found myself in the lead right from the start. A couple high school kids went with me and I started talking to one of them. Seemed like a really nice kid, gave him some advice and just focused on the race. During the 1st mile I could here someone behind me and they weren't leaving. About a mile and a quarter they were still tucked right behind me and I know it's good racing strategy but I always feel out of rhythm I always think they are going to kick my heals. (Kenneth!!) Anyway I had to take a peak and it was Trevor. I knew he wasn't leaving me. So I stayed focus and was just thinking how I could pull this off. I kept my same pace and around mile 2 trevor came passing me with ease. 

So now it was my turn to draft. I decided to make my move with a half mile left and not look back and hopefully keep the pace to the finish. So I eased up to him and ran next to him for a couple seconds then the last turn of the race I took the lead and ran as hard as I could. I was hurting and wheezing! Haha! But managed a 63 the last quarter and came in with a 31 second course record. 

Great job to Trevor he honestly set the pace for the day. He ran solid as well! But it always feels good walking away with the win! I think that makes 7 out of the last 8, not sure.

Jaerdan ran a little over 26 minutes which was a course PR for him by 2 minutes. 

Splits were progressive which I think this 5K needs to be ran with the hills for 2 miles.

5:24; 5:04; 4:54 and 17 seconds last .10

Ended up staying North this morning and running with Jon from my place. We did our normal canal rd loop. 

At the end of the run we ran 4Xalmost 200 meters splits were 26, 26, 24, 23.

Good morning, planning a high mileage week so this was a good start to a Monday so far.

Trail Tuesday with Riley Freaking Cook, Jon Get High Heslop, and Matty the PT Bugnet.

Great morning weather wise. 63 Degrees, I would take that the rest of the year.

avg pace was slow moving but enjoyable 

8:10 min/miles

Met with the crew at Smiths off of country hills. Had a little interview with Tyson Jex from Weber State. Did a small 3 mile tempo at 5:26 avg. Good start to the day.

splits for tempo was 5:24; 5:34; 5:23

P.M.

7.01 miles with 6X almost 200 at the end of the run. Splits 24, 24, 24, 23, 24, 23

21st pond with Riley and Jon. 

Felt heavy today, legs felt like they were stuck in mud the entire run, glad to get it in.

Plus what a killer morning 58 degrees in July! No complaints here!

avg pace 7:20 min/miles

Hobbler Half Marathon

Honestly I didnt know what to think about this course when I first heard about it. I knew it had a good downhill and could be a fast course. Now that I have ran it, the course is for sure fast, but they didnt mention all the rollers throughout the entire race. Rollers made the course challenging and I actually enjoyed the break from the down hill. Which made for a fast race.

Drove down with Riley Friday night and stayed at his wifes aunts house which was perfect, saved us alot of time in the morning.

Got to the buses nice and early and by the time I got there I needed to go to the bathroom and since they didnt have any I found the secret bathroom which was well needed.

Warmed up at the start, managed a little over a couple miles with another bathroom break and did 2X30 second strides and was ready to go.

As the gun went off I went out with Riley for the first mile, probably a little quick for me but I feel that I quick first mile sets the race for me. After the first mile it was Riley, another guy and myself but by a mile and a half it was just Riley and me, and by mile 2 it was just Riley, he managed to put a good 8-10 second gap on me. Which was expected, my goal was to attach a long rope to Riley and try to see him the entire race. 2nd goal was to hit as much splits under 5:10 and close the race strong.

Well today was just one of those days, everything felt solid all the way thru the finish. I managed to see Riley for the entire race, mostly because there were long straightaways, which mentally helped alot for me. 

It still really hasnt sunk in that I hit a 1:07.24 for the race. My previous PR was a 1:08.28 in Snow Canyon so to come out and really run a A++ time for me is pretty exciting. I am just glad that training is going so well. Body is responding to workouts like it should. Hopefully I can ride this into the fall and get a solid time in the Marathon.

Stoked for Riley! He is running well right now and it couldnt happen to a better dude! Congrats on another win my friend and a new course record. 

Splits for today and Strava link below.

Splits- 458; 505;505;506;503;508;508;518;510;518;512;526(mental lapse! I want this mile back!);516

http://www.strava.com/activities/343950560

Monroe your boat Monday. 

Legs are pretty trashed today. But always great to get out with Ken, Jon and Riley. Not sure on what I am going to run next week in the Des News races. Thinking maybe the 10K just to see if I can beat my old time. Plus last time we ran it, Scott Keate took us down the wrong road and we cut the course by a quarter mile, thanks Scott!;) But for real would be good to see where I am at in a 10K. Not sure though.

avg pace today was 7:09 min/miles

P.M.

5.05 miles around PV. Pretty fun run, had my 8 year old bike next to me, he loved it, this might make it easy for me to get doubles in now. 

Suffer fest on the Trails of Tuesday. Legs were destroyed! 

Good to have this run over with.

P.M.

4.61 miles thru North Ogden and Pleasant View

avg pace 7:38 min/miles

Riverdale Parkway with Riley and Jon Moss.

Legs felt better than last night. Soreness is gone but now into the heaviness part of the recovery process.

Heading to STG tomorrow for the weekend, excited to relax, golf and hopefully get some runs in.

Ran up wheeler canyon this morn. Beautiful run! Saw a couple moose, awesome sunrise. Icebox trail was fantastic.

Great start to the day. Headed down to STG for some golf, hoping to get some runs in while I'm down there. 

p.m.

Did an easy 5 in the neighborhood around our condo. Not sure where I ran, will be interesting to see what Strava will look like

a.m.

18 holes of golf at Coral Canyon followed by 18 holes of golf at Sunriver

P.M.

5.15 miles around the neighborhood in Mesquite. Crazy hot at 9pm at night. 104 degrees! Grateful for the chilled pool afterwards, was the only thing that kept me going on this run.

Good to be back after a quick trip to STG/Mesquite, loved the heat but loving the chilled mornings up North. 

Legs felt great today, felt rejuvinated and ready for some mileage.

Run was Monroe your boat, stomach wasnt to happy with me this morning, but loving the cloud cover and little bit of rain at the end of our run.

Still dont know what I am racing on Friday at Des News, need to decide today.

avg pace 7:17 min/miles

Trail Tuesday with Jon and Riley

Started from Rainbow Gardens to and headed North up to the canal Rd, then hit the Shyline trail system. Did some mileage on the parkway to get over 10 for the day.

8 miles easy with Riley on the Riverdale parkway. Headed North today.

So I decided that I was going to stick to my racing schedule that I planned for the year and run the Des News Marathon on Friday.

Pacing is going to a shot in the dark. All I have to go off of is my 1:07.24 a couple weeks ago in the half. But I will go for it like normal and pray for the best outcome as possible. Should be a good race.

avg pace 7:28 min/miles

Deseret News Marathon

What a great day at the races. At the start of the marathon we couldnt have asked for a better weather, nice chill around 55 degrees, slight wind but nothing crazy.

Going into this race I wasnt really sure of what type of shape I was in for a marathon. Mostly been focusing on half stuff and doing alot of intervals and had been slacking in the long run a bit. Looking at the registration list on Monday and being bullied a bit by Riley ;-) it looked like I could go after the win or at least get a solid long run in and walk a way with at least some money.

Got to the start line about an 70 minutes before the race started. Immediately hit the bathroom then went and found a spot to lay down, was perfect and I actually fell asleep for 20 minutes which was a shock but I will take it. Started my warm up about 20 minutes before hit the bathroom again and called it good.

Race began it quickly seperated to the contendors of the race. Jon Kotter, Jace Nye, myself, Bill Cobbler and could here others behind. About 3 miles in it was down to Jace, Jon and I. First 4-5 miles were very patient and just let them come. Talked to Jon abit and he is a really nice guy. He ran a great smart race and had a solid win.

Mile 5 is where I feel the race began though. Jon quickly put in  surge and gapped Jace and I. So I told Jace we need to be patient and work together and try to reel him back in. So thats what we agreed and went for it. Most of our miles were in the 520s going down and around 7-9 we had a couple of mid 540s and mid 610s due to the climb up to little mountain.

As we hit the out and back section of the course we saw Jon coming out of the little canyon and I timed the gap he had about a 1:45 lead on Jace and I. Hit the half marathon in 1:14:09. I immediately went into competitive mode and started focusing on 520s for as long as I could. I felt that if I could hold that pace to the finish I might have a shot to win. Also thinking that a negative split and 1:11 second half would be a great personal goal. Around mile 17 I started getting the flood of memories coming back to me on why I havent ran this marathon in 8 years. My calves were starting to lock up and fatigue was setting in but I could still see Jon up ahead and I faught every tooth and nail to give into the pain. At mile 18 I hit a mile in the 550s and thought this could go bad real quick. Jace had since dropped back now I was running solo I decided to give it anothe push and hit 19 in mid 530s and could see Jon. A spectator said the gap was 90 seconds, I thought is he coming back? I still might have a shot. So I stayed focus ran the next miles as best as could. I got to mile 22 and looked up and couldnt see Jon anymore. Now realizing that the only way to win this race was for Jon to drop and I knew that wasnt happening. So I took a quick look back and didnt see anyone close. And made the rash decision to shut it down. ran the rest of the race in in the 610s. Think I hit mile 25 in low 540s due to the running on the parade route. 

Ended up finishing in 2nd place with a time of 2:32:01.

For this race I feel a good deposit was made. Sure I might have to take 3-4 days off to recover but I am not completely blown. I now know that I need more tempo runs in my life in the 9-10 mile range. Now I need to focus and recover and shoot for a solid time in STG.

I guess there was a little contraversy at the end of the race. I was told that Jon had ran the original finish route off of North Temple but I was told to go to the parade route by the officers. Also was told by the race directors that the lead guys were going to run the 10K finish route, so thats what I did.

Anyway some were trying to get Jon DQ. I quickly shut that idea down fast. Thinking okay Jon ran the right route and so did I. Also time gap wouldnt have made a difference anyways. If I had lost by maybe 30 seconds, maybe there wouldve been an argument but even still I dont think I wouldve challenged it knowing that both routes are USATF Certified.

Jon ran awesome today. Also he is a very, very cool guy. Havent talked much to him before hand but  seems very humble and grateful about his running.

splits- 

Planned day off for recovery.

11 long and heavy miles on the legs today. Still some residual fatigue from the Marathon on Friday. Just glad to be out today.

Ran with Jon, Riley, Denver and Justin Utah State 

Fun run with Ken, Riley, and Jason from Smiths on Country Hills

Always funny with Riley and Ken together. Made the run go by way fast today, thanks gents!

avg pace 7:21 min/miles