Hurt so good.

First run of the New Year. Had a great weekend off of no running. Had sometime to relax and hang out with the family and let the body and mind heal a little bit before the grind of training for a Spring Marathon comes around.

Met with Riley and Ken early, did a couple of miles then came back for Jon and Denver, Did a couple miles then looped back for Bret. From there we did the old post loop then headed over into South Ogden. We ended up running into Manny on the way back and he did a couple of miles with us also. Great start to a Monday.

Easy miles with Ken, Matt, Denver and Riley. 31 degrees felt fantastic this morning. 

Met at Smiths and did the Ghetto Run.

WORKOUT 

3X2 mile @ 75/90 w/400 active jog between sets.

2.5 mile warm with 2X30 second strides

Set one- 73;88;72;89,72;91;76;90 total run time 10:56

400 jog

Set two- 74;91;73;91;75;95;77;91 total run time- 11:09

400 jog

Set three- 76;90;78;93;78;92;79;86 total run time- 11:13

2.55 mile cooldown

total miles- 11.55

Pretty frustrated with this workout. Was way more consistent last time I did it. Looking at the last set I thought I was on pace but I was way off and slower than expected. 

Taking 3 days off last week to rest could've played a factor for sure. Also I look at the positive that I finished the workout and its another one in the bank. Hoping the legs will be back by next weeks race.

Recovery run

Felt like blah today! Legs were noodles, and just felt like I was going thru the motions. Glad to get this run over with. Now off to the foam roller, then the hot tub and winter crest on the legs for recovery.

Felt alot better today than yesterday. Though there is some fatigue still in the legs, but I should be ready to roll to do some type of workout tomorrow.

Right at the 7 min guy today.

Met Jon and Riley at Lees market in North Ogden. Did a little over 8 miles with Jon the. Riley and I did some more miles finishing off the last 2 at 5:04; 5:04. 

PM

4.21 miles on the TM. Making room for some popcorn at the movies tonight. 

Good group from The Pond for a Monday Funday run. Jon, Ken, Matt, Denver, Riley, Bret and I did the Monday route through Ogden, Harrisville, Business Depot, then added an extra mile around the pond. Excited to race this weekend, hopefully I can race well. If not then at least I know what I need to work on.

PM

3.40 miles on the TM after dinner. Burping up dinner never hurt so good, so good.

Bitter cold this morning. Met with Riley and headed out into the terrace. My face was numb for the entire run. 

avg pace 7:26 min/mile

Easy run through the ghetto of O-town with Riley, Matt, and Denver in 16 degree weather. So excited to get a small break from the cold and enjoy some Southern comfort.

Excited to run the STG Half this weekend. Though I have been really consistant since November with mileage and workouts I dont have a lot of confidence going into the race for some reason. Maybe its been the long lay off of no racing? I dont know but I am hoping that racing Saturday will be a big boost in the right direction.

Wow what a big difference 24 hours can make. 15 degree weather in Ogden to 50 degrees in Mesquite. Ran a new loop around mesquite. Ended up being a great run and my legs felt so good. Best I have felt in at least 2 weeks. Also felt good to actually sweat and allow the muscles to warm up.

Easy shakeout run today in Mesquite. Legs had some pop in them today, feeling ready to roll and finally have some good confidence going into tomorrow. Hoping to have a good race.

Avg pace 6:43 min/miles

Great way to start out with the win for my first race of 2016. I will write more later. Though one thing I did find out about myself is that I am in great marathon shape and horrible half marathon shape! Love racing in St. George, the city knows how to put on a race.

Race started out with a group of 4 guys today. I quickly took the lead around the first corner and I was content to start out pretty conservative through the first couple of miles and just see how I felt. After the first mile I already had a pretty good gap on the chase field and after mile 2 the lead bike said that I had almost a quarter mile lead on the second place guy. So honestly this run quickly turned into a great Marathon paced run. Most of the race just focused on stride. Pushed hard on the down and up and stayed pretty conservative on the flat as splits below will show. Also I have to be honest with myself. I did keep a great steady pace but I also didn't feel like I could turn it on and go quicker at anytime during the race. Last couple of weeks I felt like I have been dragging and energy has been super low. I've had funks like this in the past and I have came out if it and nailed some pretty good workouts and races and I hope this is the case. Also if I am going to focus on some early spring halfs I need to start focusing on interval sessions more often and getting in some shorter faster tempo runs.

But as I said earlier I feel like I am in great marathon shape as I should be because the workouts that Riley had set up for me was for the Phoenix Marathon that I was planning on running but not anymore. So positive on that end is that the workouts were working for what I needed them to do.

Overall it was a great day. Glad I was able to come down to STG and race.

5:22; 5:23; 5:23; 5:20; 5:19; 5:39; 5:37; 5:20; 5:23; 5:31; 5:45; 5:34; 5:36 and :53 for last .16

PM

Shakeout run. 4.31 miles easy out and around the condo.

Nice warm run around Mesquite before heading back home to the snow. 

Avg pace 6:49 min/miles

Everyone was a no show today. Did the Combe road out to South Ogden loop from Smith's. Really good morning for a run. Temps were perfect, 38 degrees with a little rain.

avg pace 7:11 min/miles

Crazy icy today around Ogden. Literally felt like you could ice skate instead of run. There were a couple close calls with Ken, Riley, and I. But luckily no one fell this morning.

Great running today. Over dressed a little bit today, didnt expect it to be so warm.

Awesome story telling by Riley today, made the run glorious beyond measure.

Route was a nice big loop out west.

avg pace 6:40 min/miles

PM

3.11 miles on the TM before some basketball. 

PM

Treadmill run. Had to cut it short, forgot I had a dentist appointment will tac on some tonight. 

PMM

Finishing the day off with 4.2 miles on the TM in 30 minutes.  Been having some lateral knee pain for the last couple of weeks doesn't hurt when I run but after it gets pretty sore. Going to keep foam rolling and ice massaging and hopefully I can resolve the issue. If not I might be calling for some down weeks to get it better. Let's hope that's the last resort. 

75 minute treadmill run. Slight pain in the knee today. Hopefully the treatments are working. 

Fun run out on the Antelope Island with Bret, Riley, and Ken. Haven't been to the island in years and it sure didn't disappoint. Got lost a couple of times but the Island Chick saved us multiple times. Saw heaps of buffalo and deer. Great way to spend a Saturday morning. 

Solid group for a Monday with Matt, Denver, Jon, Ken and Riley. We headed out to the tempo loop in South Ogden then headed into the terrace for the rest. Roads again were such a icy mess. Black ice every where. Running up hill was one step forward and two steps back. 

Just glad to be getting miles in because the winter is starting wear on me. Plus lately it has been making it almost impossible to do a morning workout. Hopefully we can get an early spring!

Easy miles with Ken and Riley through the city of Ogden. Great pace for the day especially with the cold weather. I am starting to believe that we will always be in a dark cold world and that Summer is just a figment of our imaginations. 

avg pace 6:50 min/miles

Also on a positive note I just signed with Skechers Performance again. Grateful for the support they are giving me. This will be my 3rd year on the team and hopefully more to come. 

Running through the East bench of Ogden checking out a new route for Aerobic Builders.Committed to running the Ogden Full Marathon. I said I never would run the full again in Ogden so hopefully I can stay committed to my word and not let my fears take over.

avg pace 7:19 min/miles

PM

3.10 miles on the Treadmill. 

Avg pace 7:15 min/miles

Ran 7 miles easy with Jon then added on 3 more to make 10 this morning. Stomach wasnt to happy with me today for some reason. Had to go to the bathroom every other mile it seemed like. Dehydration and a late night could've played factors. Also what a brisk morning. Had a icicles hanging off the eye lashes by the end of the run. But thinking positive we are one day closer to Spring right? 

Starting watching making a murderer today. Made a 90 minute treadmill run go by super fast. Riley hyped this documentary up so I thought I needed to develop my own opinion on it.

Run went well. Hit the let 10 minutes @5:27 avg which is goal Marathon pace. Feeling ready to start up with some new workouts next week and to start ramping up on some mileage for a Spring Marathon. 

2 mile warm

7X1 mile with 1 mile recovery 

Splits- 5:27; 5:24; 5:21; 5:18; 5:15; 5:12; 5:08

.60 cool down

Watched episode 2 and partial episode 3 of Making a Murderer. Pretty interesting stuff going on in this investigation so far. 

AM

Solid group for Monday. I ran with Denver, Jon, and Matt today and went easy. Ken and Riley were pushing the pace and were way ahead. Happy February!

PM

5.11 on the treadmill. 

Freezing butt cold this morning! Denver, Matt, Riley, Ken and I did a big loop in Ogden thru South Ogden and did some good climbing today too. Only thing keeping me motivated right now is that dang ground hog saw his shadow so Spring better come way early this year. Happy Ground Hogs Day!

No run. Fever with hot/cold chills. Body feels pretty messed up right now. 

No run again. Fever broke last night but feeling incredibly weak. 

Feeling alot better today. Flu hit me hard, energy levels are still low today. Most likely take the rest of the week off to make sure I am 100% healthy.

Finally feeling back to normal. Had some good sleep and finally was able to get liquids and food in yesterday which helped a ton. Sickness destroyed me this week. Glad it did it now instead of a couple weeks before the marathon. 

Avg pace 7:02 min/miles

Moderate Monday

Met early with Riley did about a mile and half then looped back for Matt and Denver.

Ended doing which seems to be our typical loop for Monday. Run the upper east bench then drop down to Grant off of 21st then head into Riverdale and loop our way back.

Riley and I got going and was hitting mostly between 6-6:15 for the majority of the last half. Solid run for a Monday. 

Legs felt pretty good today for the most part. Riley was living in the past today. Singing 80s and 90s commercials and puting his own twist on to what Folgers coffee commercial should sound like. Stomach was hurting I was laughing so hard. Great way to start out the day.

avg pace 6:58 min/mile

Workout/Wednesday

Met up with Ken, Riley, Denver and Matt at Smith's we warmed up for almost 3.5 miles with 4X30 second strides.

Workout was 15X1000. I opted to do 10X1K do to some fatigue from being sick last week. Goal was 3:20(5:20 pace) for the interval with 1 minute rest. Overall it went very well. Spot on for the splits. (320;319;319;315;319;319;320;319;322;319).

Workout was a good confidence booster. Really havent focused on intervals at all this winter so this is a good start.

Did a couple miles while Riley and Ken finished up then cooled back to the cars.

Overall distance- 15.05

PM

Easy 5K on the treadmill 

Recovery on the treadmill. Legs are heavy and destroyed!

Another recovery run on the treadmill. Air is so crap right now. Probably the only time I am wishing for snow to push the smog out.

My 12th Wedding Anniversary today and my wife was kind enough to let me get a run in. I opted for the treadmill of course to watch the Olympic Marathon trials. Rupp is a beast and glad he will be representing the USA. Along with Meb and Ward. I will be honest. I never had Ward in the top 3 with any of my predictions. I had Ritz all the way and feel terrible for him that he won't be on the Olympic Team. Also Peskedra I thought he would sneak into the top 3 also. 

Run today was

3 mile warm

10 mile moderate tempo @ 5:53 avg

2 mile cool

Moderate Monday

Met up with Jon and Ken at Smiths. Weather was awesome thsi morning, light rain to start but stopped shortly in and a whopping 41 degrees! Felt so good! Started pretty conservative for the first mile with a Secret Bathroom stop. Then started rolling from there.

Splits were 801;609;628;611;609;605;610;609;607;608;621;548;556. Cool down for 2 miles at 746 and 804. Great run again. I think it was a little quicker than last week. Hills felt harder this week and Ken gapped me by 10 seconds or so caught him on the flat and then finished a little back off the last mile.

overall avg pace was 6:31 min/miles

Solo run from Smith's. Ran to the top of Skyline then made my way South. Dropped down to Combe, made a small loop in South Ogden, then headed back to Smith's. Took it pretty chill today, nice and relaxing recovery run.

7:32 min/mile

Workout/Wednesday

Met Moss, Jason, and Ken at the Pond. Did a long warmup of 6.5 miles with 2X30 second strides.

Workout was 20X400 @75 pace with 60 second rest. Workout went fantastic and for the most part felt pretty easy. Last 4 were getting tough because pace dropped but thats expected.

Last 8 Ken and I started dropping the pace. 64s were Kens fault. But workout went better than planned. Great motivation moving forward.

Jason was about 3 seconds ahead for the first 14 repeats then was with us for the last 6.

Moss did 16X400 and 4X200. Great workout for him. He hit same pace as us for the 16.

Splits- 72;74;72;75;72;75;73;75;72;74;72;73;71;71;68;69;64;70;64;70

Overall avg of 71.3 (4:46 min/mile)

2.40 mile cooldown with Jason and Ken

PM

Double: 3.11 on the TM

Met Denver at Smiths. Did the same route that I  did on Tuesday. Legs were hammered! With 2 runs yesterday and 2 hours of Basketball it was rough going this morning. Glad pace didnt matter, love/hate relationship with recovery days.

8:13 min/mile

Little stroll through North Ogden. 

7:04 min/miles

Long Run/Workout

Met Riley at the pond. Started our warm up and the plan was to do 3X5 mile at Marathon pace. But I felt that was a pretty big workout right now so Riley suggested our 3-2-1 breakdown. I was more on board with that one so that was the workout for the day.

5 mile warm. 3-2-1-800-400 w/1:1 rest, 1.5 mile cool

Splits for the workout was:

3 mile (16:32)

2 mile (10:25)

1 mile (4:58)

800 (2:27)

400 (64)

Really, really happy with thos workout today. Have been feeling great the last 2 weeks and been nailing workouts and getting some good confidence. Riley was solid today like always. Good to have him up front so I can gaige on where I am at. I have work to do still, but slowly getting fit again.

Moderate Monday Fail

Met at 5 with Ken, Riley and Matt. Did one loop around the Hospital then came back for Denver.

Started the progression which is our normal Monday Route. I felt pretty tired to begin the day but still had a pretty solid run going though 10 miles. Climbing from Riverdale Rd. into the terrace my legs just came off. Was heavy, tired, and just blah. So I threw in the towel for the progression. Jogged the last 4 miles back.

Not really disappointed with how the run went. My mileage is going up, and I had a solid 20 on Saturday which I'm sure had to do with the residual fatigue today. Anyways this is all mumble, still a solid 15 to start the day.

Progression splits- 7:55; 6:31;6:23; 6:11; 6:08; 5:56; 6:01; 5:53; 6:09; 713(hill mile).

Met Jon, Bret, Riley and Matt at the Ogden Parkway/Rainbow Gardens. Jon, Bret and Riley went on to do trails where Matt and I stayed on the Parkway and did an out and back. Stomach wasnt to happy this morning. Multiple secret bathroom stops. Also it was cold this morning, weather said it was 24. Really, Really excited for Spring and Summer.

PM

5.31 miles to Woodruff Auto to pick up my car. 

Workout|Wednesday 21St. Pond

Good group for a workout today. Ken, Riley, Moss, Denver and Matt and I.

4 miles up the parkway w/1 by 30 second stride

4 mile tempo- Splits 5:14; 5:14; 5:14; 5:19 (21:01) 5:15 avg/pace

1 mile jog

4X400|2X200

Splits- 71; 72;68;71;31;31

1mile cool down

Total mileage 12.20

PM

Double: 5K on the TM

Got to sleep in an extra 30 minutes today which felt great, but 5:30 is still stinking early. Drove to Smith's on Country Hills and did a solo loop around Ogden and South Ogden.

Legs felt surpisingly good today for a recovery run.

avg pace 7:15 min/miles

Out and Back on the canal road. Bit muddy on some spots, and  some snow but for the most part was quite enjoyable. 

 2.60 mile warm

First time running this race and it was quite enjoyable. Not much to it, just a simple out and back, flat, easy to gage the pace. 

During the race the pack separated almost immediately by the first mile. After mile one I started working with Benjamin for about the first 5K. Then he started fading back a bit so I set my sight on Nate up ahead and was only 10 seconds back from him at the turn around. I stayed patient and eventually caught him a little after the 10K. Held that spot for maybe 2-3 minutes then he caught back up. We talked for a second and ran together til mile 8. He then gapped me a little bit. He ended up getting me by about 10 seconds. My overall goal was to come in around 50:00 minutes so I was a little off. But training is going well and fitness is going in the right direction so no excuses. 

Congrats to Riley for taking down Krongs course record, also on getting the Win for this race. 

4.20 mile cool down. 

15 miles with Jon, Riley, Moss and Denver. At the end of the run we did 4 sets of uphill/downhill sprints. Beautiful morning, mid 40s felt fantastic.

 Broke out some Skechers GORun 4-2016. Great update to the shoe and felt great right out of the box.

Started at Rainbow with Bret, Riley, Jason and Denver. Headed up to the canal rd. Jason, Denver and I turned around at 3.60 before the canal turned into the BST. Riley and Bret kept going. Jason and I dropped down to the Ogden Parkway and ran 3 miles on that to make it a little over 10 for the day.

PM

3 miles easy then 1 hour of basketball. 

WORKOUT|WEDNESDAY

Met up with Riley and Matthew at Smiths for a workout. I had nothing really planned for this week and was just focusing on mileage. Riley was doing 20X1 minute, 10X30 seconds. So I decided I could do my 200 workout that I havent done for awhile, so thats what I did.

I ended up doing 30X200 with 200 meter active jog. Avg pace for the 30 reps was 33.3 second/avg.

2 mile cooldown around the hospital.

Riley ran well. Matthew did a great job with his workout. Also weather was on the spot. Felt great this morning.

PM

3.10 on treadmill 

7:06 min/miles

Snails pace run from Smiths solo. Slept in for an extra hour which felt great. Also was nice to run without a headlamp for the entire run. Plus the weather was fantastic, it really feels like Spring is here.

Legs were pretty tired today. Left hammy was giving some fits today but I think once I can roll it out I should be good to go.

Crazy fun run sort of with Riley and Bret started with us and ran 3.5 or so. We started from 12th street by the canyon ran the canal rd system past Weber High in Pleasant View, then climbed up into Pole Patch then hooked on to the BST. BST was clear for the first mile then the snow started coming. It just got deeper, and deeper. Riley and I trudged through knee deep snow for 2.5 miles and it just lit us up! Took us closed to 42 minutes to do that section. Also the closest I've came to saying the F word! Memorable for sure, fun not so much. Once we got off the mountain we were spent. Finished the last 4 miles strong. Definitly great marathon training with time on the feet.

Good to get another long run in! I will remember this one for quite some time.

Legs actually felt really good today. Not as much residual fatigue as I thought I would've had. Met Jon and his to brothers at Lee's market. Headed east to the canal where we ran into Roger Snow then Cody Watson. We made them join us, so we had a solid 6 guys today on our run. Weather was phenomenal, it was 50 degrees to start the run. Been spoiled the last week, hoping the weather sticks around. 

Recovery pace today 7:53 min/miles

Progression run with Ken and Riley. Felt great for the most part. Had some good splits going up the hills but still need to get quicker. 

Avg pace 6:34 min/miles

Met at Smith's off of Country Hills did the South Ogden recovery loop. Denver branched off around 4 miles and headed back. Riley and I kept going. 

At the end of the run we did 6X7 second hill sprints with full recovery. First one felt horrible, but the last 5 felt great.

Workout|Wednesday

Warmed up with Ken and Riley from Smith's to the Ogden track. 

Did 4X100 meter strides

Workout

5X2K and 4X400 with 400 active recovery

Plan was to go out around 5:18 pace since that was what I did 1K repeats a month ago.

Splits- 6:36;6:35;6:30;6:36;6:29 overall avg pace was roughly 5:11 min/miles

Did 4X400 pacing Ken on his last 2 reps of 2Ks

Went 79, 78, 76, 75.

Cooled a little over 2 miles back to Smith's.

So within a month I have successfully transitioned from 1K to 2K at the same pace and if not a little quicker. Great positive motivation! Love seeing slow fitness gains. Body is taking in the miles and workouts are feeling great. Have nothing to complain about.

AM

10 recovery miles with Matt and Jason around South Ogden. 

PM

3.10 easy on the TM

AM

10 rugged miles with Riley. Ran the first couple with Matt and Denver then they headed back. Riley and I proceeded up to the trails and then ended the run with 6X7 second hill sprints. 

WRC 10 mile

Showed up around 7am and warmed up for a little over 4 miles with Matt and Denver. Switched the shoes to flats and did some strides.

Beginning of the race I talked to Anthony a bit who ended up winning the race. As the gun went off we took it pretty chill and talked for the first mile. 2nd mile we started dropping the pace which we roughly hit around 5:04. The next mile Anthony got a little gap on me going up the hill by Mt. Ogden he maintained that gap for the next 2 miles. Now between miles 5-7 the gain is about 500 ft. My legs felt way heavy. Thinking due to the workout on Monday and 2K repeats on Wednesday. Anyway Anthony now had a little over a minute lead and maintained that to the finish. He ran a high 56 and did it pretty easily. I was a little over 58 minutes.

My time was slower than years past and I am okay with that. My mileage has been the highest and most consistent than ever before. Light at the end of the tunnel is Ogden Marathon. So I hope the training will transition to a great race. 

Course was a little longer than years past. Usually we started in the east parking and this time we were in the southeast corner comparing distance from years past it was .10 longer this year, but not a big deal.

Cooled down with Anthony and Matthew for a little over 4 miles.

Well that sucked! #daylighttheft sucked the life out me this morning. Met Riley, Matt, Denver and Ken and did our normal Monday route easy today. We had wind, we had rain, we had clear skies, It was just crazy weather this morning. 

Legs are feeling heavy from Saturday's race so I am glad that we took it super easy today.

Easy miles with Denver and Riley around South Ogden.

Riley and I ended our run with 8X7 second hill sprints.

Met Ken early at the pond. Riley was a no show which typically is not Riley. So I texted him, nothing. I called him, nothing. So now the drama queen in me was telling Ken dude maybe he is hurt? Accident? He has to drive highway 84 which has tons of deer, so I was like maybe he hit a deer? Ken being the calm one said, Ben, put yourself back together man! Non of that stuff you just said makes any sense! He then slapped me across the face and said come on you blockhead I bet he just slept in and will meet us at the end of the parkway. Well so we started warming up and wouldnt you know it, Kenneth was right, here comes Riley all fresh and rejuvenated because he got to sleep in, and he was just like whats up guys! Thanks for letting me sleep in today, now I am going to drop both ya'll on the tempo run.

And thats what he did! 

Workout

5.60 mile warm with 4X30 second accelerations

5 mile tempo @ 5:28 avg

1.50 mile cooldown

Workout didnt feel the best. Came out with 5:14 the first mile and felt fine, effort was right. Well effort stayed the same and just got somewhat slower the rest of the workout.

Glad to finish and gut this one out. Good days and bad days I guess.

PM

3.10 on the TM 

Recovery miles around South Ogden and Uintah.

AM

6.55 around the South Webes' before heading to Geezy. Going to do a shake out tonight when we get there. 

PM

Marathon simulator down South at the SandHollow Marathon with Riley and Ken. Plan was to slowly work are way naturally to 6:00 min/pace and hold it for the race. We took the first two miles easy then by mile 3 we were at 6:04. From there we just got in a zone and was rolling between 5:50-6:00 min/pace. Had a couple of slower miles between 18 and 19 due to a little over 300 ft climb. Since Riley and Ken have both won marathons they allowed me to finish 1st and welcomed me into the Marathon winners club. Honestly it was a great solid push today and great motivator for up and coming training. 

Simulator went as good as we all could've expected. Had no stomach issues the entire race. Was able to take in water, gels, and Gatorade. SandHollow was a great small town race. Race started on time, clearly marked course, beautiful scenery, challenging course and excellent food at the end of the race. I would definitely go do this race again as preparation for a solid Spring marathon. 

PM

3.01 mile shakeout in STG with Ken and Riley. 

Easy 12 today with a solid 7 guys today. Did a nice loop down into South Weber from Smith's

avg pace 7:39 min/miles

Ran the trails with Riley. Ken and Denver came and did a little. Tried out some new trail shoes and they worked perfectly. 

We did our normal Mt. Ogden Trail Tuesday route. Was raining hard when we started then it seemed to ease up and stayed mostly calm the rest of the way. Didnt see any other trail runners on the entire mountain, can't believe the rain scared them off. Pretty crazy to have a guy like myself that doesn't enjoy trail running so much to be on the mountain in a rain storm where the supossed dedicated trail runner was not even out there. They all should be ashamed of themselves ;)

Easy 10 miles with Matt and Denver then they split so I ran to Bues Park and did 10X7 second hill sprints on the South side of the park. 32 degrees this morning, hands were numb for almost the entire run. 

Workout|Thursday

Met Ken at 4:50 at Kneaders in Ogden. We dropped my car off and drove to 36th street where Riley was waiting. We ran south to Skyline which was 2.50 mile warm up.

Then we started into our workout. Plan was to hit tempo loop then start heading North to the Ogden Parkway and finish up the workout of the last 4 miles of the Ogden Marathon Course.

Workout was 6X3K with 1K active recovery. Going into the workout my plan was roughly 5:22 pace for the 3K and 6:38 pace for the active recovery.

Workout went well but the body settled in around 5:30-5:35 pace and active recovery was from 5:52 pace to where I finally figured it out towards the end and had around 6:50 pace for last set.

Here are my splits:

Workout distance 14.3 miles with 5:46 avg/mile.

Overall the workout went well. I faded a bit on the 5th set, felt pretty rough, headwind from the canyon and slight fatigue. Next time the workout is done I need to have more patience on the recovery portion. Went way to fast at the start which probably caused the fatigue towards the end.

Total mileage - 17.81 

PM

4.21 mile shakeout 

Slept in today. Only option today was the Treadmill. Overall it was recovery run. 

Avg pace 7:20 min/miles 

Fun trail run with Jason, Riley and Ken. Run started up in Mantua where Ken and I looped the lake the Riley and Jason joined in down Sardine Canyon. Took the south trail which eventually led to Perry Canyon. From there we ran to the snow line and which was roughly 1500 ft in climbing. We then dropped back down and made it a day. On the way back I caught a rock which sent me flying right into a tree! Hurt so good at first but eventually the pain went away and Jason and I laughed about it. Oh my Love for Trails!

Winter Wonderland with Ken and Denver. Winter came back today. For the most part temp wise wasnt bad but the pelletts of snow in the eyes were pretty terrible.

Using this week as a down week, before ramping up for the last 5 weeks of training for Ogden.

Easy 10er with Riley and Matt. Not a bad morning for a run. Finished up just as the fog started rolling in. I think we have reverted back to the end of January weather.

Pond Run. 

Met with Ken, Dave, Riley, Denver and Matt. Did the usual 4 mile warm up to the canyon and then tempo back down to the pond.

Workout was set as a progressive and to hit the last 2 miles at goal half pace. Unfortunetely didn't end that way for me. I hit the first 2 miles fine then justed started feeling uncomfortable, breathing was off, stomach was nauseous. Anyway it was definitly a frustrating workout.

Splits- 5:31; 5:26; 5:37; 5:41

2.40 mile cool

PM

Extra miles on the Treadmill. 3.11 in 22 flat. 7:06 avg 

Easy out and back on the Riverdale Parkway with Denver, Riley, Jason and Ken.

OGDEN WRC HALF MARATHON

Well going to make this nice and sweet! Well to start the day didnt start out as planned. As I was driving to the start of the race I had realized that I had forgotten my running watch! So I started scrambling and looking in the car for anything that I could time myself with, a stop watch, a lap watch, nothing! Only option was my phone and definitely wasnt going to do that. So the splits that I am going to post are about 90% accurate due to running with Ken for 10 miles then the last 3 miles are just a shot in the dark.

So got the start and it was a nightmare. Buses all left at once and then wasnt letting everyone off at the start one bus at a time so by the time we got off we had about 20 minutes to get loose and go to the bathroom. When all this was said and done I barely got one mile in for a warm, whereas I normally get close to 3-4 miles.

Started the race out with Ken. Riley and Anthony were already up a bit. Goal for the race was to hit around 5:15-20 pace for the race.  As Ken and I hit mile one we hit 5:14. Boom! Already on pace and felt good. We stayed relaxed and was content for the most part to just let the race come to us. Mile 2 was 5:20. Now around mile 3 I had gotten a sided stitch for some reason so I had to back the pace off just a tad to get comfortable. Still came through in the next 3 miles at 5:16; 5:15; 5:14. By now I had to play a little bit of catch up with Ken so mile 6 was 5:11 and mile 7 was around 5:08. Caught Ken again and he was nice enough to let me draft for a second to get back into stride. I took the lead around 8 to return the favor and we came through 8 and 9 at 5:13 and 5:21. 

Now we are coming through the tough rollers on a uneven parkway path around the lake. Now I just started feeling like blah! Ken put about 5 seconds on me this mile where I was 5:27. From there it just got worse, Ken ended up getting me by about 50 seconds so I lost another 45 seconds on him the last 3 miles so splits were anywhere between 5:35 to 5:40 pace.

So anyway came in 4th place and was pretty frustrated with my effort. Really felt that I had prepared myself enough to be able to hit at least somewhere in the 1:09 range. Don't know what else to say, just have to figure out this bump in the road and gather my thoughts and remember that the ultimate goal is the marathon in May. Hoping for better workouts to come....

Congrats to Riley for a new course record! Great time Brotein Shake!

Easy 15 with Ken, Matt, Denver, Riley, Jason and some miles with Dave. Beautiful morning in Ogden. Hopefully Spring is here to stay.

Ran an out and back on old post with Dave and Riley. Dave cut off and Riley and I headed North to 21st and back. Nice 13 miler to start the morning.

Headed West from the pond today. Run flew by, had some crazy, creepy, stories that everyone was telling. I enjoy the morning crew, great group of guys. 

PM

Night off from working on the house so I was able to sneak in an an easy 3.

Nice easy day with Bret, Denver and Matt. Ran up through Uintah and South Ogden.

PM

6.21 miles with Ken and Riley after work. Threw in 8x8 second hill sprints. 

Easy run around North Ogden and Harrisville. Big boy workout in the morning.....

Met Ken and Riley up in the valley at 6am. Parked a car at the mile 14 market of the marathon course then drove up to the marathon start. We warmed 2 miles up to Causey Dam and back. Took a secret bathroom break then started our marathon simulation. 

Mine and Kens goal was to hit about 15 seconds slower then marathon pace for 16 miles. Riley was the same but obviously quicker pace then us. Workout went well hit an average of 5:49 min/mile for the workout which is right where I need to be at this point in my training. Overall run time for 16 miles was 1:32.58. 

Cooled for 3.70 miles 

On my way to meet the guys this morning a hit a pot hole with my car and snapped the rim. Pulled over to change the tire out and didn't have the jack in my car. So instead of stressing I just ran the long way back home. Ended up with a solid half marathon this morning. 

PM

Out and back on the canal rd. Canal is torn up right now. Will be better in a couple of weeks. 

Easy 13 with Riley, and Jason. Started with Denver and Matt too. Ran down into Uintah and South Weber. Big Boy workout #2 coming tomorrow......

avg pace 7:05 min/miles

Workout|Wednesday

Met up with Ken and Riley to do Big Boy Workout #2.

We warmed for 2.50 miles then started into the workout.

Workout was 5X4K with 1K recovery. I had a goal in mind to avg 3:25 to 3:30 per KM.

Workout went as followed:

I was right where I wanted to be. Overall workout portion I avg 3:25 KM or 5:29 min/mile. I was a little slower on the recovery portion where with the 3K repeats I avg 6:21 and today I was 6:45. But overall run I did avg 1 second per mile faster today then the 3K. 

Total Mileage for the day- 18.65

Riverdale Parkway out and back with Jason, Ken and Matty.

Weather was perfect again this morning, also the parkway is greening up very nicely.

Treadmill run today. Left hamstring is giving me fits. Feels really tight in the origin but hopefully some rolling and stretching will help loosen it a bit. 

Nice solid steady state run with Riley and Ken. Avg 6:11 pace for 23 miles. Neg split the 2nd half of the run with a lot of miles @ sub 6 pace. 

Been a crazy busy day already. Moving this week and we are getting carpet in the new house. So I was lucky enough to sneak away for 90 minutes and get a run in. Hopefully I can get a lot done during the day to sneak in at least 2-3 more miles.

Avg pace 6:56 min/miles

TM run between moving and children taking naps. 

Avg pace 6:54 min/miles

Attempted the workout today and physically had no energy. Almost blacked out after 3K of the first set. After that it was a long jog back to the car. Been moving all week and haves had a lot of late nights, so I am not stressed much, should bounce back fine. 

Avg pace 7:31 min/miles

Easy miles on the canal road. I feel so tired from moving and lifting all day. One more day and my family can enjoy the new place. 

Another easy run around North Ogden. Moved into the new place and finally got settled. Using this week as a recovery week. Hopefully I can get back on track the next 2 weeks

Avg pace 6:36 min/miles

Easy 15+ plus with Riley and Ken. Felt spry this morning. I guess that's what I'm supposed to feel like only running 60 miles last week. Right Riley??

Avg pace 7:11 min/miles

Good times on the road with Dave, Riley, and Jason. Matty and D showed too, but ran a slower pace. 

Nice route through South Ogden and Ogden.

~Workout|Wednesday

Big Boy Workout #4- 4X5K with 1K active rest.

I was really looking forward to this workout for the last 7 days. Last week with moving I totally bombed the breakdown session. Today I was nail the workout or bust.

Today session went really well and was my best workout by far for this marathon buildup.

Splits were 

3:22;3:25;3:20;3:04;3:22 for 16:33

3:18;3:26;3:15;3:23;3:19 for 16:41

3:21;3:19;3:27;3:19;3:20 for 16:46

3:25;3:22;3:26;3:28;3:25 for 17:06

Overall avg was 3:21 per 1K; 5:23 for workout and 16:46 per 5K

Little slower on the last rep due to a couple stops. Once crossing Washington Blvd. and another at 21st. So the stop and go was a little taxing but managed.

4K warm and 2.4K cooldown.

PM

3.10 miles on the treadmill

Easy miles on the east bench of Ogden/South Ogden

AM

Slept in a little to late today and had to cut the run short. Will add on this afternoon. Super, crazy windy this morning. 

PM

4.61 around the track during my sons soccer practice. Also thru in 4X100 meter strides. Big boy workout tomorrow. Pretty stoked!

Avg pace 6:39 min/miles

Met Ken, Riley, Matt, Jason and Denver at Windsurfer. From there we car pooled to the start of the Ogden Marathon course. 

Today's workout consisted of 3 mile warm, 18 mile tempo @ 90% of marathon pace, 2 mile cool. 

Nailed the workout. Not sure of overall pace but was in the low 540s whereas two weeks ago I was 5:49 pace at 16 miles for tempo. Good to see some major improvement. But all of this is mumbo jumbo if I can't put it together on Marathon day. 

Ogden Loop with Ken, Dave, Riley, Matt and Denver.

Can't believe how much destruction that the wind caused over the weekend. Trees were down everywhere. I'm grateful not to have that much damage done to my place. I will take a shattered patio table anyday then what most people went thru.

Nice morning for once. Ran some chilled miles with Denver, Matty, Dave, Riley and Jason.

Even ran some trails this morning. Which was sort of enjoyable, but at the same time it was plenty and got my trail fix in for the month.

Another day and another workout in the books.

Met Riley and Jason at Kneaders on 21st. Left a car there and headed to 36th. We ran a 3 mile warm up, I did a couple of strides to get loose.

Workout plan was somewhat progressive. I wanted to hit around 5:50-6:00 min/pace for 14 miles.

Splits at first were nice and progressive. Starting a little over 6 min pace then worked down into the 5:30s. I was feeling pretty fatigued the last 3 miles and coasted in around 5:45-5:50 pace.

Overall workout pace was right at 5:50 so exactly what I wanted today. Though I didnt feel that easy, glad I gutted it out.

1 mile cool

total miles- 18.05

PM

3 miles easy on the TM

Easy recovery run with Matt and Denver around Uintah and South Ogden

Nice run in Mesquite. Threw in a mile pickup @ 5:15 around 4.5 miles into the run. Feeling good. Doing the run portion of the STG ironman tomorrow. Should be a great time. Excited to see some pros dominate tomorrow. 

Ran the ironman portion of the STG 70.3. Kept the pace as close to marathon pace as possible. I ended up having the 2nd fastest time of the day. 1st was the overall winner of the pro division. Our relay team took 2nd overall. STG is always a great place to visit. 

Time on course was 1:13:58 

Easy 12 with Riley, Dave did almost 8. Matty and D did between 5 and 8. Marathon is upon me, just a wait game now. 

Good group run with the Crew. Dave did a little over 7. Matty and D did 8 miles. Jason, Riley and I did a little over 10 for the day. Started from the hospital and headed west for a bit and did most of the run in the terrace and South Ogden. Stomach was killing me this morning. Haven't had one of these days for quite sometime. Need to hydrate better during the day most likely. Weighed in @ 149.9 after my run today. Lowest weight I have been since 2009. Hopefully it will play out to a great race next weekend.

Workout|Wednesday

Last semi-big work before the marathon next weekend.

Met Jason and Ken at Kneaders to leave a car then drove up to Bues and Skyline to meet Riley. From there we did our typical warm of 4K. Then jumped into the workout.

Workout was 10K @ goal Marathon pace, 1K rest, 8K at goal marathon pace, 2K cool.

Splits for the first 10k were- 3:34; 3:32, 3:34; 3:30; 3:29; 3:27; 3:23; 3:14; 3:21; 3:23.

Overall time was 34:27, avg KM was 3:27 or 5:33 min/mile.

Splits for the 8K were- 3:20; 3:13; 3:35; 3:22; 3:17; 3:17; 3:20; 3:19

Overall time was 26:43, avg KM was 3:20 or 5:22 min/mile.

2K jog back to the car.

Workout felt really good today. Really felt like I was holding back for the first 6K of the workout then decided to go with the flow for the rest of the way. I am feeling really good going into next weeks race. Legs are feeling good, workouts have been great, weight is the lowest its been in years. Its been a fun build up, hopefully the marathon will be just as fun.

8 easy miles with Matt and Denver. Out and back on Old Post and Combe.

Out and Back on the Ogden Parkway with Taylor, Riley and Dave. 

Solid group this morning. Met at Lee's in North Ogden headed to the canal then did 2X2 mile. Goal was marathon pace but I ended up a little quicker which was fine. Felt way comfortable. 

Splits- 5:37, 5:24, 5:19, 5:13. 

Loop around Uintah with the Crew. It is race week and I couldnt be more excited for this race. Weather is shaping up nicely. The work has been put in, its just time to rest and let it all out on Saturday.

7:06 avg 

Pond run with Matthew, Dave, Jason and Riley. 

Headed east to the Canyon, 4 miles, then did a 2 mile pickup, 2 mile cool.

Pickup splits were 5:30 and 5:20. Felt really calm and relaxed today. Good sign hopefully.

Easy 6er with Brendon, Riley and Ken.

Nice temps this morning, marathon is looking beautiful.

4 miles easy with Jason and Riley. 2 days!

5K shakeout this morning. Did an out and back to Coldwater Canyon from the house. Around 2 miles in I threw in 4X100 meter strides at marathon pace to get the legs ready for tomorrow. 

RACE REPORT

I've had a couple days to recover and try to gather my thoughts on what the heck happened on Saturday. Going into this race I had alot of confidence, mileage has been at an all time high, workouts have been spot on thanks to Riley and Mr. Starrett. But I never thought that we would get dealt with the weather that we did on Saturday.....

Met the Crew at the buses early. Weather was perfect! No wind, no rain, temp was in the mid 50s. Great way to start the day to see that. Ended up gettting to the start of the race with 90 minutes til go time. Riley brought up a tarp and space blanket which was perfect. We were able to stay warm and relax. Then we started to get a light drizzle which was fine because that was expected in the forecast. 45 minutes to race I took a double dose of UCAN which setttled in the stomach perfectly. Ken< Riley and I ended up doing maybe a half mile warm with a Secret Bathroom stop and now I was ready to roll.

The race started a tad early which caused for a little confusion. Bryant almost didnt make it to the start on time but he did so it was good to see that. The group immediately seperated about a half mile in. Lead group was Anthony, Riley, Bryant and Collin. Ken and I were the chase and that was it. Early miles flew by, we were hitting between 530-540 splits. Felt really easy even though we were fighting a 10-15 mile an hour headwind and pooring rain. I had high hopes still that this was going to be a great day. Around 7 miles Ken had to pull off the road for a quick pit stop. So now I was on my own for the remaining part of the race. Hit the rollers in the Valley in the 540s which was fine, I felt relaxed and still felt really good. Came thru the half way point around 1:13:30, perfect! Could see the lead group just slightly still but had some work to do. Well as I came around to the quick 90 degree turn just after the half point all Hell just broke lose. It became an immediate monsoon! The roads were rivers and on top of that we had 50-60 mile an hour microburst winds come thru with the rain that dropped the temp down to low 40s and it just became a battle against the elements. 

At this point I thought to myself I just need to get to the canyon and I will be okay. At 14 I took another serving of UCAN and was ready to power thru. Mile 15 I almost got put on my back a couple of times, the wind was so strong! I literally started to praying out loud to myself, praying that the weather would ease up and that I would be able to feel strong to the finish. As soon as I was done praying, a huge gust of wind shifted me like 2-3 feet, and I was like HOLY SH*%!!!! COME ON! REALLY! From there it just got worse for me. The rain started hitting my skin and it felt like daggers. My pace started slowly decreasing going from 5:50s to 6 min/pace, now my vision was getting blurry, my arms and fingers locked and I couldnt move them, I started shivering and couldnt stop then around mile 18 I blacked out for a couple seconds which put me into a walk. As soon I started walking my legs started seizing on me and I was done for and called it quits for the day! I flagged down a police officer which at first wasnt very nice. I asked him if he had a phone and he told me to walk to the next aid station and took off. I ended walking to this cabin that was off the side of the road to find out that Bryant had dropped out as well. We were both shaking and couldnt stop. Paramedics were called and the police took Bryant and I about a mile down the road where we met them. I had a temp of 93 and I had to strip my clothes whiched helped alot. They gave me warm blankets and dried me off. Temp rose up to 96 and the shaking was limited. From there they stuck us both on the bus and we had to wait for another hour or so to get out of the canyon where I got some food, and dry clothes and met my wife and kids. What an awful morning!

I ran into Riley and found out that he had won the race by over 10 minutes and ran an awesome time in crazy conditions. Any other day the course record would have been destroyed. Was really happy to see him win he had worked crazy hard and deserved that win more than anybody in the field. 

Plan from here is to gather myself and press forward with the Utah Valley Marathon in 3 weeks. I feel that I am in really good shape still and I need to test my fitness again and nail a fast spring race. 

Congrats again to all the finishers that gutted it out. This was by far the worse race conditions that I have ever seen.

Easy 7 miles with Denver and Dave then added on an extra 8 more solo. I felt exhausted yesterday and could hardly stay awake during the day, just felt destroyed. But I think the extra sleep helped alot because I didnt feel to bad this morning. A little tired but managed.

avg pace 7:17 min/miles

Easy 7 with Dave thru the tempo loop. Added on an extra 6 on the east bench of Ogden.

~Workout|Wednesday

Workout -Continuous 10x(800m @ HM pace - 800m @ MP), 16KM for workout.

Met Jason at 4:45am, left his car at Kneaders on 20th and washington. Headed 42nd at the top of Skyline and started our warm from the Bues trail head.

Warmup was 6K and then started into the workout alternating between half marathon pace and marathon pace every 800m. Workout went as followed:

Split 1    2:40    2:52
Split 2    2:38    2:50
Split 3    2:38    2:48
Split 4    2:33    2:44
Split 5    2:30    2:48
Split 6    2:30    2:54
Split 7    2:32    2:45
Split 8    2:49    2:47
Split 9    2:35    2:46
Split 10  2:34    2:48
Overall   2:35    2:48

Workout went fairly well, which I was shocked! Goal was to hit 5:20 for the on section and to hit 5:40 for the off. Overall avg was 5:10 pace for the on and 5:36 for the off. This is a great booster for the next two weeks before the redemption marathon.

Ken and Riley were down on the parkway doing there run so they cooled down 1.2 miles with me. Riley was nice enough to take me back to my car.

Fun group run this morning with Ken, Riley and Jason. The crew was live and funny this morning. Some of the things we talk about are beyond me, but it's funny stuff!

Besides the goofing off, legs were pretty tired today but the pace was relaxed so it wasnt to taxing on the body. 

Met at Dave's and ran the birdsong trail to the north canal and back. Beautiful mid morning run with the guys.

10X(1K @ HM - 1K @ MP)

Workout went as good as it could get. Felt really controlled for the 1Ks at HM. Pace was around 5:10-515 per K, MP was around 5:35 per K. 

Another workout Wednesday then another mini taper for UVM. 

Ran a 9 mile loop from my house with Jared. Hit the New BST section which is in great shape. Plus with the rain last night the pines smelt so good. 

Easy going with Matty and Riley. Nice route today with a mixture of trails and some roads. Legs were pretty beat today.

Met Riley and Jason bright and early at Kneaders parked my car then drove up to Bues trailhead on 46th where we met Matty and Denver. I was doing my last semi-big workout today before UVM. Riley has been nice enough to alter his runs for me to be able to get my workout done on something similar as UVM.

Warmed 4K with the group. Jason and I was doing the workout and everyone was going easy.

Once the workout started Jason lasted about 4K with me then bailed. He did the Lewis Peak run on Monday and was pretty hammered.

Workout was 10K @ MP, 1K cool, 8K @ MP.

Avg pace for 10K was 3:27 per K or 5:33. 8K was 3:27 avg per K or 5:33 so perfect pacing today.

Workout went fairly well, though I wasnt feeling the best today. Legs felt heavy and tired but the mentality going in was that if this is what I am going to feel like the last 10K of UVM then doing this workout will give me the confidence that I can still push thru tired legs.This micro-cycle has been a great motivator and feel that I can run with anyone at UVM.

1K cool down

Ran solo in North Ogden. Felt really good today and the weather was spot on. 

Easy 10 out on the Canal Rd. Saw a couple of blow snakes on the path today. Got the heart rate going that's for sure. 

Ran with Jon this morning. Had a busy morning with a yard sale, so there wasn't much time to run today. Plus rest I think is more important with a marathon 1 week out. 

Slept in an extra half hour today so I ended up running solo. Started my run from Smith's off of 42nd. Ran 3 miles up to Skyline and Woodland, proceeded into a 4 mile marathon paced tempo down woodland and oldpost. Cooled down 2 miles around the hospital.

Well I think I have successfully nailed a solid microcycle and maybe even increased some fitness for the marathon on Saturday. I am hoping and praying that the work that I have put in will show in the race on Saturday. The weather is looking to be nice. Starting in the upper 40s and finishing in the low 60s. Should have no excuses.

Splits-5:22; 5:28; 5:29; 5:21

pace 6:23 min/miles

Nice and casual this morning with Denver and Matty. Weather was spot on this morning with a little chill and cloud cover, maybe I will luck out and the weather will be the same Saturday. 

avg pace 7:49 min/miles

Solid showing at the pond this morning. Jared, Jason, Ken, Riley and I. 

Headed 4 miles up to the canyon

2 mile pickup @ MP(5:29;5:26)

2 mile cooldown

Crazy weird this morning. Before we started our run we were waiting for Ken to show up. This guy comes off of 21st street and starts shining a flashlight at us from a distance and slowly starts making his way towards us and doesn't say anything. Ken finally showed and the guy starts walking towards Ken's truck and starts staring at Ken. I ask the guy if he needed help with anything then out of nowhere he pulls a knife out and starts pointing it at Ken and is saying stuff then puts the knife to his own neck. Ken called the cops and the guy is slowing walking away from us still pointing the knife. Well 10 minutes later about quarter mile up the road we see 4 cops and the dude pinned to the asphault in handcuffs. Guy was tripped out on some good stuff thats for sure. Man I love Ogden! 

Easy out and back on the canal rd in the heat of the day. 

Easy out and about north Ogden. 3X100 meter strides

Solid outing today. First race that I have gone under 2:30 in the Marathon other than St. George Marathon.  Will write more when I get home. 

Okay so brief race report. Going into this race was probably my best build up going into any marathon so I had high hopes that I would do well. 

Race started out and the 5 Kenyans and Anthony, Bryant went out blazing fast! Nate Krah, Mike Nelson and I hit 5:24 and we couldn't even see the lead group. Had to gone out sub 5 or close to it. Nate, Mike and I worked together thru 6-7 miles which is when I had to use the unfortunate pit stop. For some reason  the system took awhile to wake up probably do to the 3:00 am wake up time. At this point I still had a solid time going and wasn't to upset. Looking at it I had lost maybe 40 seconds for the entire race and maybe one position placement which I still would've been out of the money. Came out of the bathroom and could see Nate ahead and just focused on him. Around mile 8 I passed a Kenyan that dropped out of the race already I wanted to encourage him but I really didn't feel bad for him at all and was hoping that more would drop but none did. I came in around the half point around 1:13:20 or so. Legs were feeling good still, had some pop. Still was averaging around 5:30 pace. Well came up to mile 15-17 and a steady headwind came. Seems like every time I have ran this race I get that headwind. Slowed the pace just a tad  and maybe lost 10-20 second per mile for those 3 miles. We had a slight headwind for the rest of the race but it wasn't to terrible. Just had to run and deal with it. Around mile 20 I finally caught Nate and we worked together for about 2 miles. I got a slight gap on him and managed to hold him off by 10-20 seconds. Overall I felt pretty good the entire race. I can tell that the workouts that we had done benefited tremendously and if I can stay healthy during the summer I think a fall marathon is going to be a good one. 

Couple days off from the marathon and the legs are feeling back to normal. Amazing how I felt after this marathon compared to others. Not as sore and heavy as usual.

Today was just an easy 5 just to flush some garbage out the legs. Should be back to normal daily mileage by the end of the week. 

Easy run around North Ogden. Legs felt great but it was quite hard to breath for some reason. 

Easy out and back theough the farmland of Napa Idaho. Weather was a balmy 45 which actually felt really good. Been having some toe pain on my 2nd distal phalanx. It's been hurting for over a month and today it hurt pretty bad for the majority of the run. Feels like nerve pain but not sure what's going on. Think a doctor visit might be coming in the future if it doesn't settle down soon. 

Still up in Napa. Did the same route as yesterday but threw in a couple 800s at Marathon pace. Overall feeling really good and recovery is going well. 

Avg pace 6:20 min/miles

Good group run with the fellas this morning. Had a nice friendly conversation about Riley's man crush Monday LeBron James. Haha! A week off from the morning group was way to long, love the conversations. Congrats to the Cavs on the Championship. Now the Olympics need to start so I have some type of sport to watch.

Went back to the usual Monday morning route. Might've gone a tad to far today, legs were pretty heavy. But also glad I got the mileage in.

avg pace 7:22 min/miles

Nice morning run with Matty, Riley, Jason and Brandon. Pace was relaxed  and casual today. Ran through the terrace for 8 miles then Matty, Riley and I added a couple more to finish off the morning. 

Really excited to get my body recovered and start hammering out some high Summer miles. 

PM

Doubled up with my 2 boys. 2 miles with them; 2+ solo. 

Met Ken and Jason at Kneaders to drop a car off, then headed to Ken's office to start our run.

Ken, Jason, and Riley were doing a workout today. I just went easy and will start workouts up again next week. 

Legs are recovering well, can tell not 100% yet but should be good to go by next week.

PM

Easy 3+ from the baseball diamond. It was hot and the body couldn't get going

Nice group this morn. Brandon, Moss, Matty, D and I headed to the top of 46th and headed South down into Uintah and South Ogden. Another nice morning for a run.

avg pace 7:32 min/miles

Easy run through North Ogden with Jonny Boy. Have the pleasant view 5K tomorrow with Riley, should be fun. I have done zero 5K training this year so should be interesting. Most likely will be 5K @ marathon pace. 

Met Riley at 5:15 to get some distance in before the 5K. We ended up getting a little over 10 miles before the race started but due to registration and bathroom breaks we couldn't get in more. 

Race started and I tucked behind Riley knowing what pace he was running. I figured if I could hang with him for a mile then it would set the race for me. Came in through the 1st mile @5:06. 2nd mile is bombing down and by now Riley had made his gap so I was racing for 2nd. Mile 2 was @4:46. Last mile starts out with a solid climb and rollers to mile 3 then a steep downhill finish. Came through @5:06. Then finished up the race with a time of 15:17.4

I knocked about 30 seconds off from last year so that was awesome to see. Finished up the day with a 1 mile cool and 3X8 second hill sprints. 

7 guys this morning for an early Monday run. Nice 15 mile loop that started on the east bench, headed down to the parkway and came up threw Riverdale. 

Matty ran great today. Solid 15 for him that was 10-20 seconds slower than MP for him. 

Avg pace 7:10 min/miles

Met Dave, Matty and Riley at Smiths. Headed into Uintah and South Ogden today.

Did about 11 with Matt and Dave. Riley and I added on a couple miles and also did 4X8 seconds hill sprints with 2 min full recovery.

~First day back for workouts. Just started a 4 week intro block of paces that are a little faster than MP. The goal for this block is that it will help my body adapt to longer rep workouts when I begin the MP phase.

Met Ken at our usual meeting spot Kneaders then headed up to his office to meet Riley. We did a 2.50 mile warm with a couple strides. I need to mention that it was very warm out this morning. 78 degrees when we started.

Todays workout was 10x90 secs on/off + 10 x 1 min on/off + 10 x30 secs on/off, no goal in mind on pace or recovery. The idea of the first workout is to get me running at a good clip and to let my body know that I'm back in the game(words of Mr. Starrett).

Workout Averages(min/mile)

90/90- 4:53/6:17

60/60-5:01/7:04

30/30- 5:02/7:31

Overall introduction to this phase went well. I could feel it in my legs that I haven't hit these types of paces for quite awhile and naturally I wanted to slow to MP but couldnt give to the fatigue. Paces slightly dropped on the on portion but still had a 4:59 average for the workout. Now recovery is a different story. Mentally I was thinking I could average 6:20 pace for the off portion but was getting pretty tired towards the end. 6:57 average for the off, so still glad to see sub 7 pace. Have some work to do thats for sure. But overall it was something new and different, and I liked it.

1 mile cooldown with Ken and Riley

Nice recovery paced run with Riley and Jared from Rileys place. Ran through the neighborhood of South Weber. Weather was nice and pleasant this morning. Clouds were awesome!

avg pace 7:30 min/mile

PM

Just time on the feet. Warm but not to hot.

Avg pace 7:50 min/mile

Slept in today which made for a solo run around North Ogden. Got out about 9:30 and it was warm.

Met up with Logan today in Huntsville. We drove to the Dirt parking lot Up monte and ran back to Huntsville park. 

Workout went as followed. 10 miles @sub 6:20; 3 miles alternating 1 min on/off @5K, 1 mile recovery @6:20; 2 miles @sub 5:30; 4 miles @sub 6:20. 

Workout went really good. No stomach issues today which is always a blessing. Logan switched his workout and did what I was doing and nailed it. Fun to see a good friend. 

Overall pace was 6:04 min/miles

Splits for today race. 5:25; 5:01; 5:03 and 22 seconds for last .11.

Race went somewhat well for the most part.

Legs were pretty tired from Saturday's run. So today I was just going for the win and not worrying much about the finishing time. 

Gun went off and Jake Lee jumped out to the quick lead. I came up from behind and sat for a second but realized that I wanted a quicker pace for the first half mile so I took over the lead. Came to 2600 and started heading up the hill. I kept the same effort and made a slight gap. By the time I hit mile 2 the gap was even bigger so I rolled the same effort into the finish line. No need to pick the pace up and no need to have a quick finish. Good solid effort today and even on tired legs glad to see sub 16 on a tough course.

Happy Independence Day everyone!

Just Riley and I this morning for the run. I guess everyone else partied to hard for Indenpendance Day, or just forgot to set their alarms. Let's just say they forgot to set their alarms.

We headed up to the east bench and did some trails down to rainbow gardens. Saw a snake on the trails, it almost bit and killed me I swear! Riley might say other wise but that's my story.

From rainbow headed down the parkway and and then back to Smiths on 42nd.

Workout|Wednesday

Man what a brutal way to start the day. Met Ken at his office around 510. Proceeded up to the top of 46th to start our workout.

30X400 @ 5:00-5:10 pace off 400M recovery @ 6:20 pace.

Splits

Overall Avg was 78.4/95.4

Again what a tough workout. When I was deep into the workout I thought hey this is going to be okay, I'm tired but should be able to manage. I hit repeat 22 and the canyon headwind and the slight uphill took me for a loop hit 92/106. From there it was hard to get back down into the 70s for the on portion. From there I was fighting between 80-85 and the off portions started feeling like a workout on there own. 

Overall good gut check. Mr. Starrett said I would bonk but I didnt want to believe him.

So for now Starrett- 1; Ben-0

Recovery run from Smith's with Jared. Legs were way heavy this morning from yesterday.

PM

Easy running from the 31st parkway with Jared, Riley, and Taylor.

Easy out and back on the canal.