Blake Bennions running

Downhill mile race was fun despite my legs being pretty flat. Next year they're going to do it in May which will be nice. My right Achilles has been bugging me for like 2 months at this point, I really need to do a better job with massage gun. I've done pretty well with slow calf raises, hold, and other ankle mobility and strength drills- but I have been slacking on the massaging. Could use more core and plyometrics too.

Half marathon is now 3 weeks out, so I need to recover really well and then hit two more workouts next week before the taper. I think I'll keep full mileage the next weeks but take the workouts easier the week before the race. If I can hit 3x2 mile at 10:50 a week from today with a couple mins rest I should be in good shape. Mileage has been low lately but I have a strong base.

Solid run, legs are sore today but run felt decent. Sped up to about marathon pace the last half mile.

Mowed and then ran a bit.

Am- 10.25 with Henry Jake and Kolten. Very bad air quality, my mask worked great though. Was a good investment.

Pm- 8 on treadmill and then braved the outdoors for .75 extra to cool down after Weber states gym closed. Did 3x2 a 11mph with 4 mins rest between, went up to 11.2 for the 2nd mile of the first rep. Was struggling the other two. The treadmill I was using randomly died with a quarter mile left in the 2nd rep so I jumped over to another treadmill and did an extra .3 before the 4 minute break.

Apparently the air quality at places like vasa and other box gyms isn't much better than outdoors, and Weber state and Ogden athletic club are the best bets for decent air quality on a treadmill unless I get my own.

Tried to get out for a run but didn't have time.

With Jake Kolten Kyler and Wyatt out on a gravel road near the salt lake in Farmington. Ended up doing another 3x2 mile workout. Splits were

11:34 (5:48, 5:46)

11:30 (5:42, 5:48)

11:30 (5:50, 5:40)

Felt harder than I would like it to, but muggy conditions on gravel will do that. I could have done another rep at the end if I had to.

Up to the elk farm and back.

Ran over to the park and did some loops. Felt alright, my ankles are starting to feel healthier and stronger. I've been doing calf raises holds ,calf raises, and plyometrics. Often I'll do the calf raises and holds while standing in warm water in the tub which seems to help a lot.

Rough day at the track. I think my legs are just dead from 2 3x2 mile workouts last week. Seemed like 4 days should have been enough recovery but I think I have been asking a little too much of my legs since like mid July. I cut todays mile repeat workout short after a 5:10 mile and then I just fell apart on the 2nd mile rep. My legs were giving me a big no while I was doing strides, and I did a 2:44 800m while Jake was in the bathroom before we started and that felt fine. But I was just did not have it today. Good news is that it's taper time for the half and I think if I can get my legs to 100% by next Saturday,not get sick, and avoid dairy the day before the race- I should run 70-72.

Took a couple days off and feel much better today. Realized I've been in a perma-sore state for like a month now. It's been somewhat deceiving because mileage has been low but the eccentric load has been very high and I've been underestimating that toll of training through 2 downhill races. Definitely caught up with me on Wednesday but I think I'll be feeling just about perfect after a nice easy week.

On canal with Jake. Felt pretty good but legs still aren't feeling as good as I'd like. Forgot to do strides, guess I'll do some tomorrow.

Over to the park and back + 4 strides.

Warmed up 3 miles with Jake, ran 4 strides, and then did 4x800m at goal hm pace. Ran 2:44, 2:44, 2:44, 2:46. Tried to be extra relaxed on the last one. They felt better as they went on which is a good sign.

Easy with 4 strides.

I concede, my form needs to change in order to successfully race downhill road races. I was in 3rd for the first 7 miles and 34 minutes through 10k and then things just fell apart. My quads were totally blasted and generally I just couldn't keep it going. Ended up running 6-7 min pace with some stops to re-tie my shoe and use the bathroom. I picked it back up the last mile to help train my body to run fast when tired. Idk, I think downhill half marathons are just not my thing.

Slower today than when I had runners gut and when I was sick, my quads just couldn't handle it. Which sucks, but I think if I do some cadence work and start jump roping daily I might be able to fix it. I also think racing 3 half marathon, 2 10ks, downhill mile, 5k, and bonking while pacing a marathon was just way too many races in the last 3 months.

But it's good, the importance of fixing my over striding is now very clear to me. It's not something I can ignore anymore and I'm going to start working on it, that will help me protect my joints and tendons as I age too.

Besides the race going poorly I had a really fun morning, met some cool people and got to see a lot of other cool people I've met at other races. Kolten and I carpooled up to the start which was a lot of fun. My sister in law Justine ran and my brother and his fam came to watch her finish. And I had lots of chocolate. On some level I'm just happy I can have a day where I run 19 miles and consider it fun, that's a pretty special place to be in terms of fitness and health.

On canal with Jake, 4 running and 2 walking.

Easy

Warmed up a couple miles with Kolten and Henry and then ran 8x400m at 5k pace with 90 seconds recovery. Felt like I could have done 20-30 or more of them, legs aren't quite recovered from Saturday but this was nice.

Splits were 77, 77, 77, 76, 76, 76, 75, 75. It's usually hard to find a good rhythm on 400s because they're so short but I actually split all of these super evenly at 37/38 per 200m.

Planning to finally get back into gear this weekend with 25 miles between Saturday and Sunday with a medium difficulty mp pace workout on Sunday. Jake was talking about doing a Michigan next Wednesday, that would be a fun final big workout before peach days.

Easy around the neighborhood. Felt pretty tired. I did some cadence running as well.

Afternoon run up to the golf course and back while my Dad biked. I did a mile in 6:10 at about 170 cadence and it felt nice and easy. I had been starving myself all day in hopes of attempting the dali crepes 3 foot crepe challenge but they stopped doing it. Last couple miles I was feeling the lack of fuel a bit.

Easy in the rain, felt pretty good. My heel randomly developed a blood blister on Saturday so I took the weekend off, felt better today. I also decided to invest in a zwift set up so I got a smart trainer and an aluminum bike frame- I think that will help me cross train a lot more often- I'm excited to do some of the mywhoosh races and power output tests.

This is also the last run of my 20s, it has been a good decade and it's a little scary that it's over. I mean personally it seems 25 is a lot more similar to being 40 than it is to being 18 for instance- it's not like anything about my life is going to change drastically compared to how it's been the last several years (hopefully)- but 30 has arrived fast.

My favorite races from my 20s were:

2016 SUU Color Country

2016 Cottonwood Heights 5k

2025 Crossover Half Marathon

2026 Salt Lake City Marathon- 10k

Favorite runs/memories-

-SUU xc camp at Brian Head. Beautiful runs and lots of fun and games at the hotel. Got 2 nicknames on the team that week, Tom and Smiles.

-Mile repeats workout where I averaged 4:52 at 6000 feet

-Week where Jake and I did 5 workouts/hard runs in a row. Also math kart and Pokemon hunting.

-Going with Brian Brady Sage and the freshmen girls and doing 100, 400, 800, mile races all back to back in st George before going to Olive garden. Also when Robby took Jake and I down to the lava tube caves there, and then we took a bunch of friends a couple months later.

-Doing strides sprints and stretches on the field across from the track and just hanging out over there under the trees.

-Getting completely dusted in Mike and Georges spontaneous mid run pickups competition

-Keeping with Aidan and Liam for their full tempo run on some random dirt road.

-Post running caf feasts. All you can eat custom ordered stir fry and sandwiches, pizza, chocolate milk, orange soda, and the obligatory cucumbers to balance it all out of course. The sandwich dude let me order triple decker pastrami roast beef with pastrami and I've never had as good of sandwiches.

-Running in the Dolomites in Italy. Prettiest place I've run and I ran into some horses that were loose in the mountains and I got to pet them.

-Running in rome, Venice, and the countryside in Romania. Just a lot of cool places over there.

-Food mile competitions with the Jake Henry and Talon.

-Bowling Green when I did a 13 mile Saturday morning run on slippery elm trail and bonked out and then went and got wingsover and a chocolate shake and watched game of thrones. I've done a lot of long runs, but this one always felt particularly satisfying. I think I just hadn't done a true long run in way too long and it was the first time I truly felt settled in after moving.

-Running while Becca biked in Santa Barbara. Also running from her condo on the beach along the coast line.

-Running while my Dad bikes up to mouth of the canyon/golf course

-Running the Denver 4th of July 4 miler with Rob and Jake the day after I got married before Becca and I left for Tahiti.

-Running in wheeler canyon a couple times the last couple years in the middle of winter while listening to Skyrim music.

-Random canal road tempo run back in 2024 with Jake where I had my fitness breakthrough finally 2.5 years into my comeback.

-Saturday long runs followed by straw market cinnamon rolls

-Short runs with Whitney, although they've gotten up to about a quarter mile at like 8 minute pace at this point.

-Neighborhood runs meeting Henry and Kolten right outside of my door, it's been really fun living so close to them and Jake lately.

-Stealing peoples strava segment records with Jake

I've really enjoyed the past 10 years and we've built an amazing life here in Utah. I'm very grateful for what I have and the memories I've made.