Blake Bennions running

Started the year off strong with a run with Jake. Felt pretty good, we had about 700 feet elevation gain and I did one big hill sprint. Had some burly burger afterwards before heading back home to fly back to Ohio.

Cold night, I think when it's under 30 out I should at least warm up on my treadmill before heading out on my run- the cold seems to irritate my throat and lungs. Good to get a run in though, did a few 200ms and a 400m at mile pace. The splits were all good but I didn't feel great. I think most of it is bad sleep recently, Whitney didn't sleep well on the packnplays and now she's sick... so we've only had one undisturbed night since like the 21st.

Cold easy run

Ran to the track and did a hard mile. Winds were over 20 mph and it was in the 20s. My Garmin finished the mile early and messed up my timing so idk the exact time, somewhere between 5:00 and 5:06. Given the conditions I'm okay with it. M

Ran home from dropping car off for oil change and the ran back later. Hm/marathon pace for most of it.

Warmed up 2 miles and then ran 2x2 miles at half marathon pace with a mile in between. The first was about 6:25 pace and the 2nd was probably about 6:10-6:15, my Garmin said 5:53 but I think it was a little fast.

Windy and rainy, next week will be a cold one.

Cold day and kinda windy, mostly easy run. Ran over to the track and threw in a few 400s at mile pace just to get the legs moving and warm up a bit, they were surprisingly slow and didn't feel easy. I wasn't working that hard on them but they didn't feel nearly as smooth as I'd like. I ran 77, 74, 76. Also did a stride building up to a sprint. Probably just cold, need to switch to my new trainers as well. These ones are probably finished.

Cold night with a little wind, 13 degrees but feels like 3 according to Google weather. I warmed up .5 miles on the treadmill which helped a bit.

Another cold run, it certainly pushes me to run faster when it's this cold.

Another cold run, glad it's getting warmer soon.

Warmed up a mile and then decided to do a 10k at half marathon pace, even though I'll be missing my half marathon race. I started out at 6:30 and got faster over the 10k, finishing with a mile in 6:01. Felt pretty good today, although I was getting really cold towards the end.

Ran some steep trails with Jake, very icy- I was slipping and sliding all over. Had a couple of welcome miles on the road to end.

Easy night run, time to get back into a good rhythm after a lousy start to the year in terms of my running.

Couple of stroller running miles and then a short run afterwards.

Easy run

2.2 stroller miles with Whitney

6 miles with 4 strides. Felt pretty good but air quality kind of sucked.

2 stroller miles jogging over to get the bandage taken off my eye from where Whitney gouged me over the weekend.

2 mile jog with 4 strides.

Felt pretty drained the first half of the run and then better towards the end.

Easy run

Marathon pace, felt pretty good. Going to be warmish the next couple weeks so that's nice.

2.5 stroller miles running, 2 walking

6.5 easy miles with 7-8 strides.

One of my friends runs a comedy club in Boston, I've really been wanting to go visit him and see him perform. 10 hours is a lot further to drive when you have a baby though, so I'm not sure when we'll mow it happen. If I qualify for the Boston Marathon then I'll have a safety date to make sure I get out there to see him, so as strange of a reason to try to run a sub 3:00 marathon as that might be... That's my current reason.

I know I could run 15 miles at 6:45 pace right now if I had to. I don't think I can get in good enough shape to run any of the qualifiers located here in Ohio... There's one in Pennsylvania thats far enough out and still before the 9/15 deadline, but it's a 3.5 hour drive.

Current plan is to start doing long runs every weekend and run until my body says it's time to stop. We'll see how it goes. If I'm feeling really good in April maybe I'll jump into the Cincy or Cleveland marathon. If I can run 22 miles without bonking out in April I think I'll be good, but I think it will take longer for me to get there than 2 months.

Really nice night for a run, it was somewhat cloudy with a full moon- bright enough that you could see all the clouds clearly. Perfect temperature and no wind as well.

Half marathon at goal marathon pace around my big neighborhood loop. Felt amazing the first 8 miles with a few moments where my legs felt it. Miles 8-10 I started feeling a little more drained, then mile 11 I hit a bit of a wall. I'd built up plenty of a cushion to go sub 1:30 but my goal for the workout was to stay at or under 3 hour pace the whole time after mile 1, so I pushed pretty hard to stay at 6:53 or faster the last couple miles. I was at 6:50-6:52 for miles 11-13 and then I did a stride to finish up the last .1. Finished the run in 1:27:30.

Lot of endurance to build in order to be able to do todays run twice in a row- especially if I want to enjoy the race and not suffer for the last hour of it. I had pretty consistent 6:30 miles for a while in the middle of the run, I think that's a good pace to use as marathon pace going forward. I'll sign up for a marathon when I can do 20-22 miles at marathon pace with a few at marathon pace miles at the end of the run.

Easy run with 6 strides.

Stroller miles. Reflecting about how good a February this has been. Typically it's my least favorite month, but in Grove city we've had a bunch of days in the high 50s and 60s. Yesterday and today were high 60s and we'll hit the 70s this weekend. I'm just going to say it, the weather in Columbus Ohio is better than Santa Barbara. There's no ocean and a little more bugs, but the actual temperature and such is better here on throughout the year. That may be somewhat biased by sb only having like 15 total days in the year where it's warm enough to swim, which I found disappointing.

Beyond the weather life is generally just good outside of being far from family. Whitney makes our life pretty joyful, although I definitely miss sleeping in and could do with a little more free time.

Late night and rainy. Been a busy week.

A couple miles around the neighborhood, then a couple miles on the grass around the park. Then I went over to the track and sped up to marathon pace for a while, about 4/5 miles. I threw in s 70 second 400m towards the end of the marathon pace miles. I did a few strides after that and went home. Also went on a couple or walks with the fam, it was perfect weather today.

Plan is the run 6-8 miles on Monday Wednesday and Friday and then do a 4-5 mile run Saturday before another long run next Sunday. Hopefully will also add 5ish stroller miles. I think if I can run 25ish miles plus a long run and some stroller runs then I'll get into good shape pretty quick. I also think I'll start doing some 800/mile pace workouts after another week or two of strides.

7 easy miles with 2 on grass. Also ran 4 strides building up to 400m pace.

Stroller run. Started raining a bit towards the end.

Easy run in the rain. Weekdays have been really busy lately, this next week should be easier to get run in tuesday-thursday though.

Long run Sunday is my new thing. I felt great today, I definitely could have kept going to 18 or even 20 miles. The kind of run that makes me want to take another look at trying to qualify for Boston at Cincy in May... But I still think it's a bad idea to rush it like that.

I decided to try the workout that Conner Mantz does sometimes where he does 2x4 miles at his marathon pace- which is faster than my current mile pace. I loved it. I got a huge 2nd wind to start my 2nd rep and couldn't stop smiling, and this was at mile 11/12. My pace for both was high 6:20s, probably a little quick but the headwind was really strong and it was psychologically easier to go a fight harder through it than try to stay at an even pace.

To make it even better today was really windy and cold and a little wet, and I started out with 3 miles on wet grass and my legs were feeling tired when I still had like 12 miles left in the run. Also ran a couple strides at the end.

I haven't run 15 miles in... A long time. Probably since 2017. I forgot just how alive a good long run can make you feel. Now I need to follow through with a good week of training, I want to get 4 runs in before next sunday's long run.

A little faster than I meant to go today. I felt great though. I need to order a new muscle gun, I might rest tomorrow and then do 6-8 miles on Wednesday.

Ran to Pinnacle, we found out they don't open their patio until April so I ran back home. Kind of uncomfortable run, super gassy on the way home. Really hard to get runs in Tuesdays through Thursdays so I'm glad I fit this in.

Also Whitney has been incredibly clingy recently so that's been tiring but cute. She's a lot of fun, it's amazing to watch her get smarter and figure out more stuff each day.

Ran to the track and did 8x800m at 2:45-2:50 pace with 2 min jog recovery. I was a little fast on a couple and a little slow on a couple. Averaged 2:47 but I feel way smoother at 2:50 than at 2:45. Also did a few strides before and after.

Didn't have much time today. It was cold and really windy. I ran 2 miles at goal half marathon pace, was a little slow at 12:20. I ran the 2 miles at the track and the half of the laps that weren't against the wind felt great, the half that were against the wind felt awful- and since it kept switching back and forth I never got in a good rhythm.

Easy run with 8 strides. The strides felt amazing today.

Warmed up a little over a mile and then did 2x2 mile at goal half marathon pace with a 2 minute jog between reps. It was another cold and windy night, but I felt pretty good. I ran 12:00 for the first rep and 12:09 for the 2nd. So just a little bit fast for these. Although for the race I'll probably start out with a slower first mile and build up to the pace I want to run, so it's probably better to practice a few seconds faster than goal pace.

I think I'll take Friday pretty easy and just run some 200ms and 400ms at 800-mile pace with plenty of rest just to get the legs moving. Might do an easy run Saturday, and then Sunday I'll do a long run- I'm thinking 3x3 miles at half marathon pace.

Walked to the track with Becca and Whitney, armed up a mile, and then did 3 miles at half marathon pace. It was another windy day and I was not feeling it today. I ended up being a little slow at like 18:28 for the 3 miles, I was trying not to push it too hard and stay in a good rhythm that I'd actually be able to sustain. It's really hard to do that when it's so windy and you're circling the track though.

After that I kept up a pretty good pace catching up to Becca and Whitney on their way home and walked the rest of the way with them. Then I tried to do another 2-3 mile rep around the neighborhood but my Garmin wasn't working super well- it told me I was going 6:20-6:30 pace no matter how much I sped up. So I gave up after about a mile of that and went back to the track/park. I did a few miles on the grass and then I ran 2 miles in 12:10, jogged a lap recovery, and then ran a mile in 5:49.

Not the workout I planned but I feel okay about it. 4 weeks until the race so I've got 2 weeks of good workouts to give me a boost. I think next week I'll do a 9xmile at HM pace with 90 seconds rest between reps.

Easy run with 8 strides and a mile on grass. It's nice to be back to feeling like 5 miles is a short run.

Easy run with a couple grass miles and 8-9 strides. Felt great, perfect weather today!

Easy run with a few strides. Felt a little drained, probably need more sleep.

3x2 miles at 10k pace. I timed it at about 11:57, 11:55, 11:55. Strava timed it at 11:58, 11:52, 11:48... who knows which is correct. It felt surprisingly hot for 62 degrees today, but besides that I felt pretty good.

I did 1.5 grass miles after the workout and it was grueling. Also did 2 strides on the way home. Then walked over to the swings with Becca and Whitney and did some yardwork after that.

Based off of this workout I think I should adjust my goal for the half marathon in 3 weeks, I should probably be targeting around 1:22. When I ran for SUU we would do 10 mile runs at 5:40s pace every now and then and I'm pretty sure that especially at sea level I could have held on to that page for half a marathon, so that would have been sub 1:15. But I'm not currently in that kind of shape... yet.

6 strides and 2 miles at half marathon pace. Ended up being about 12:25.

Easy run with a mile at hm pace and 8 strides after getting home from watching the eclipse with my Becca Whitney and my parents. I found a pretty great spot at the center of the totality, way cooler than in 2017 when I just saw the partial. Had a great time.

Warmed up a couple miles and did 4 miles at hm pace. Probably a pointless workout this far out, I mostly wanted to keep getting a better feel of the pace but it was super windy and rainy today so it didn't feel smooth at all. In fact I averaged high 6:10s and it felt worse than the sub 6 pace from last Sunday. I did a couple strides before and after. I've missed a few runs the last couple weeks but I'll just call it a taper.

Hot day, just did a short easy run- mostly on the grass. Amazing how much more draining grass running seems when it's hot.

Easy run. I like how open it is in Ohio, there was a storm that just missed us and while I was at the track I could see the lighting flashing in the clouds a city or so over. Great night for a run and I felt good.

I did a half mile at hm pace and a couple strides. Hm pace felt good, it was a little slow at 3:11 but I was trying to simulate the start and trying not to get out too fast.

Shakeout before the race. Did 2 200ms at race pace, track team was out so I just used my Garmin for a little over .12 on the bike path. Not sure how accurate it was but it felt good, I also did 2 short strides about race pace.

Pretty confident I can average 6:20 pace or better. I'll try to take it easy the first mile and then run 6:15-6:20 for each mile for the first half, then I'll either try to hold on to the pace or speed up if I'm feeling good the last 5 miles.

Race did not go according to plan at all but I had fun. I started out just following a guy who'd mentioned he was probably going to run 1:21 before the race. I figured I'd just try to keep near him for the first couple miles. We went out a little faster than I'd planned in 6:11 but I just went with it, but then we sped up to miles 2 and 3 in 6:05 and 6:06.

We ended up with a group of 4 for the first couple of miles and then 2 of the runners gapped us before 5k and I ran with the girl in 4th place for the next couple miles. She was somewhat chatty and I felt good enough to reply but it also made it harder to stay in a good rhythm. We caught one guy around mile 4 and then she started to gap me around mile 6.

The race was an out and back and I never recovered from getting off pace with after the turnaround. I'd been under 6:15 for every mile before the turnaround and I couldn't get back under 6:20 after. In fact the wheels came totally off. It went 6:20 mile 7 6:30 for mile 8, 6:45 mile 9... And then I hovered around 7:00 pace the last few miles. Finished 1:25:54. The last mile I barely finished, I really went out too hard. The half marathon is tough because the pace can feel really nice and easy and it might be too fast. More than that I just don't have a good base right now, I think if I boost to 40 miles I could go sub 1:20 for sure. I think even 2 months at 30-35 miles and I'd be able to break 1:20. I was on pace for like 1:20:30 the first half of the race.

So not the perfect race, not an amazing time- but honestly the first 10k felt great and it was a pretty confidence building race. Time to get back into a better training schedule and maybe try run a 10k in 36 next.

Easy run with 4 strides. My legs are really sore. I need to start running 35-40 miles per week. I'll do that all summer and then start increasing my long runs up to 20-22 miles a couple times as month heading into the fall.

Too soon after the race, I was still sore. I wanted to do something fast though. So I did 400, 600, 400, 200 x 2 with 2 mins between reps and a lap between the sets.

Times were 74, 1:51, 72, 36.4, 72, 1:53, 74, 36.9. I also, being a genius, did the 600s starting on the turn facing the wind, so I got it twice instead of once. I also did the 200ms into the wind. But especially doing this pretty close to a race where I bonked out I'm not too disappointed in the times.

Easy run, a little over 2 miles on grass. Quads felt very sore.

Easy run with a couple miles on the grass. I did 2 200ms at 5k pace and 5 strides. The 200ms were a little fast at 39, I was trying to run 41-42.

Ran out of time, was planning on 10-15. 2 miles on grass, a mile at 5k pace (5:30) and a couple 400ms also at 5k pace in 80 and 79, so a bit quick. It was hot and my legs were still a bit sore.

4 stroller miles jogging and 2 walking. Whitney also walked about 50 meters at the track but then got obsessed with the debris on the track. We've been doing a couple trips per day to the playground between my house and the track.

Easy run with 2 miles on the grass. I also did 8 strides and 2 200ms at mile pace.

6x1000 at 5k pace with 2 minute walk jog between each. Splits were 3:30, 3:25, 3:25, 3:27, 3:32, 3:28. Took a little extra rest before the last one because I was falling off and would have dropped like a 4:00 if I didn't take an extra minute. Didn't feel very smooth today. Goal for the end of the summer is to be able to do this workout averaging under 3:20.

2 miles and mowed the lawn, not much time.

Tried to go for a stroller run but it started pouring pretty suddenly so I headed home, got about 1.25 miles.

Late I ran 4 miles while Becca and Whitney walked. I think if I can get over 20 miles this and next week that will be a success. Should be able to start averaging over 30 after that.

Two stroller miles in the with Whitney.

Later did 3xmile at 5k pace at the track, was high 70s and humid. I feel amazing after the first mile but the heat got to me as as the workout went on. I ran 5:33, 5:42, 5:43. I started out too slow on all of them. I ran a 7:10 mile between the first two reps but ran out of time so I only did half a mile between the the second and third.

Seems like in good conditions I should be able to run in the mid 17 minute range rn.

4 laps around a trail in Colorado while visiting in laws.

Got in some good hills today.

Lots of bugs

2.5-3 miles hiking carrying Whitney in back carrier in mountains with my dad and his friends.

Later played 2 games of intense racquetball with Ryan, definitely got a runs worth of exercise out of it.

Tired and sore from racquetball, some more good hills

Felt good today, did 4 strides and 2 grass miles. It was pretty hot out.

Morning: Ran 4 miles with Whitney in the stroller and walked 1.5.

Evening: Warmed up 2 miles and then did 2x2 miles at goal 10k pace. First two were 5:39, 5:43. First felt pretty good but I was in the high 70s and I was a little hot and tired. 2nd one I ran 5:46, 5:50. I fell off pace the 2nd mile and closed with a quick 400m to try to get back to where I needed to be. I still averaged 5:48 for the 2nd but wasn't ideal. I'd like to run sub 36 this summer or close to it. Also sub 17 for a 5k this fall.

1.5 on the grass, 4 strides and 4 200ms at mile pace- although they were highly inconsistent and I don't think any of them were on pace, it was like either 34/35 or 38 and I was trying to run 36.

Mile repeats with a mile recovery jog rest. Reps were 5:29, 5:23, 5:19. Felt awful to start the workout, I had shortness of breath for the entire first 2 reps, it cleared up a bit for the last one. Was a bit windy but nice and cool in the high 60s.

Even without feeling great it was a lot more fun than the mile repeats I did before going to Utah where I averaged like 5:40, although I was giving a bigger effort today. Sub 17 doesn't seem out of reach if I can do 30-40 mpw this summer and keep doing workouts like this. I'd like to break 16 in a track meet next spring.

Nice easy run after watching Conner Mantz defend his title at the bolderboulder, that was really fun to watch. Definitely inspires me to run more. Also kinda want to go run it next year and be part of that huge crowd. My old SUU teammate Aiden Reed won the open race as well in the 3rd fastest time ever!

2 stroller miles at the track during the morning walk, a little extra running on the way home.

Didn't have much time today so I cut it short. I warmed up a mile and did a few reps at mile pace trying to get more used to running faster, I did an 800, 400, and 600m. I was 1 second slow on everything compared to where I wanted to be, 2:25, 73, 1:49.

The pace did not feel good, but to be fair I haven't been training for faster stuff outside of strides. I think I've been lazy and only getting up to like low 5:00 pace and I need them to be where i want my mile pace to be. Doing timed 100ms for strides will probably help with that.

I should also do some mile specific workouts but I've noticed anaerobic workouts like that mess with my breathing an congestion long term, so I prefer limiting that. I'll have to figure something out. I can do 10k and even 5k pace workouts and I feel okay, but sub 5 minute pace workouts mess up my whole system. From my understanding it's pretty much just the mucus my asthma creates comes up and wrecks my nasal passageways and what not. On the other hand I finished with a 77 getting to a 5:19 mile for my last of the mile repeats last week so I think faster paced are getting more comfortable to an extent, I'll start with just giving better efforts on the strides and throwing in a few mile pace efforts here and there. I do yearn for the 400m repeats, and I know that's what would truly help.

I definitely have some work to do before I can run sub 4:50.

Easy run with 6 timed 100m strides, they were all 15-16 seconds with 1 14.

Felt awful today, not sure why. I've been getting good sleep the past couple days and haven't had a tough workout recently. Unfortunate day to coincidence with my long run.

Felt much better today, ran in the heat of the day too.

Didn't have much time today, got a short run in after mowing lawn and weeding.

Wasn't able to start running until 9 tonight and felt drained, too late for me to run these days. Pushed through the minimum.

Warmed up and ran 4x1000m at about current 2 mile pace, goal 5k pace. 3:20, 3:20, 3:22, 3:22. Felt increasingly difficult, first was really easy and the last 2 hurt.

Easy first 6 miles, opened up Pokemon go for the first time in a couple years and caught some Pokemons along the way, was nostalgic. Then I ran 3 miles at 10k pace, in about 17:55. Felt great but got a little hot towards the end, was also kinda windy. Was going to do 12 but was feeling drained and running out of time.

Easy run, although I sped up for a few miles because the weather was perfect and I felt great. It was like 60 degrees at 7:30 pm, strange day for June.

Warmed up 3 miles and then did 2 miles at 5k pace, a few easy laps recovery, and then another mile at 5k pace. It was 80 degrees and I felt a little tired/sore during the warm up but I felt great during the workout.

The first mile was 5:24 and felt really smooth, no discomfort at all. The 2nd mile got harder and I was pretty overheated by the last lap. 2nd mile was 5:30.

The last mile I felt pretty drained even after the break, I ended up running 5:31 which was a couple seconds slower than I wanted.

I'll do the Grove city 4th of July 5k, which is a pretty slow course. This is probably the last year I'll be here so I want to win it or at least take top 3. I'm in a lot better shape than last year.

Hot today, might do my long run this weekend tomorrow instead of Sunday.

Kind of hot today. I twisted/rolled my ankle just before mile 8 and felt a pop, I got up after a couple minutes of stretching it out and it seemed alright- there was some pain but felt plenty stable so I finished the run. Felt really strong today. Probably my highest mileage week since undergrad.

Ran at Pinnacle, did some hill repeats, pretty hot. I ran 3 third of a mile repeats and then I ran the last 1.15 mile of the 5k course at goal pace. I ran 5:43 for the first mile of that, which is pretty good for mostly being uphill at 90° to close out the run. Legs are feeling it.

Terrible air quality this week, just did the bare minimum. 3 short pick ups to 5k pace towards the end.

Drove over to Battelle Darby in hopes the air quality would be slightly better over there. Hopefully the heat bubble dissipates soon. I guess I'll just call it a taper if the crappy air quality keeps up, still going to try to get 30 miles in per week.

Aqi has been around 90 all week. My limit for running is 80 and my limit for hard workouts is 60. Been real annoying. At least in Utah you can usually escape bad air.

Looks like it might let up finally tomorrow, but kinda wrecked my week this week for walking and running. I've taken Whitney out for 5-10 minutes at a time but haven't been going on our typical morning and evening strolls. So not only did I only get 23 miles this week of running, I also got like no walks in as opposed to my typical 20-25 miles of walking per week.

Looked all over town for a gym to go run at, finally found one but apparently no one has introduced that facility to ac. Did 3-4 half half mile reps at 11mph but the treadmill would randomly decelerate and then re-accelerate, and it was like 85-90° in the gym.

Air quality finally cleared up this afternoon, went for a very hot run. It was high 80, mid 90s with the humidity. Good heat training I suppose.

2.6 later on at Battelle Darby and then went to one of the parks there with Whitney an Becca.

Easy run with some strides. It wasn't quite as hot today, low 80s. I felt better than I have the past few runs. Also walked about 4 miles over a few walks with Whitney and Becca. Whitney is getting quicker, I have to accelerate beyond my typical walking pace to keep up with her when she really gets going.

8x400m at 5k pace with a minute jog between in preparation for the 5k next week. Felt easy, like I could have done 20 or more reps- but also didn't feel quite as smooth as I'd like, I had a bit of shortness of breath. Averaged 83-84. Also ran a couple 200ms and a couple strides.

Hot easy run with 4 strides. Felt a little sluggish but better as the run went on.

Easy run, a couple 200ms at 5k pace and a couple strides. Very muggy.

Easy run, walked with Becca and Whitney well. Also ran a 400m and 200m at 5k pace.

Easy run with 2 200m in 41 seconds. Felt good, legs seemed a little heavy though.

3rd in my local 5k, not much faster than last year though. I was stuck in no man's land pretty much the whole race, pace didn't feel easy but maybe could have run faster-, especially if I didn't have all those short steep hills in my legs from the first 1.5 miles.

Cooled down with some cool guys who finished 2nd and 4th, learned about some other races to run this summer- which is good because I need to get into a fast race and run a better time. Even like a 17:30 would be refreshing at this point haha. On the other hand I ran 19:05 today and the guy who took 4th in like 19:40 just graduated high school and has run 16:40 for 5k on the track and 4:42 for 1600m this spring. The guys who took 1st and 2nd in like 17:30 are a 1:10 half marathoner and a college runner... so I'm not doing terribly.

Easy run, then walked with Whitney and Becca at the track. While Whitney was exploring she somehow removed her diaper and pulled it out the leg of her outfit - so I ran home and back (about 1.5 miles total) to grab a diaper at 5:40ish pace.

4 miles while Becca went to Starbucks and then another 5 at Battelle Darby.

Woke up very sore today, so I did a recovery day with a short run and 4 strides. I felt pretty good on the run and maybe went a little fast on the strides.

Gonna be tough to get in 40 miles this week but I'll at least get 30.

Crappy air quality

Warmed up and did 6x800m at 5k pace with a 400m at mile pace at the end, 2 mins between each rep. Splits were 2:44, 2:41, 2:43, 2:39, 2:44, 2:39, 70. Felt pretty good today.

I'll try this workout again with 8 800m reps in a couple weeks. I think I could have made it to 8 reps today but I didn't want to push too hard- and I wanted to get some faster turnover. I also did a couple strides on the way home.

Hot and humid run on a dirt road next to the Illinois river. Always surprises me how hilly Illinois is. I'll try and get out earlier tomorrow.

Hot run along the Illinois river.

Easy run with a couple strides. Becca got a new job in Utah so we're moving back next month, pretty exciting! Lots to do to get ready to sell the house and move our stuff over there in the next 5/6 weeks, hopefully I can keep running regularly.

Next two weeks are going to be busy, going to try and list our house by next weekend.

Easy run with 8x200m at mile pace, sped up to close to a sprint on the last one.

Easy run, I focused on trying to have faster turnover- that's a big area for me to improve.

Felt great tonight, been busy getting the house ready for pictures Monday. I think this next week I'll be able to run more.

Exhausted

Better than Tuesdays run but still feeling pretty beat. Been a busy 2nd half of July. I think I'll have an easier week or two now that the house is all ready and we're just waiting on someone to buy it.

Started running and felt a little better than the other days this week but not a lot better, decided to do a hard effort 5k to break out of the funk. It went pretty well, ran about 17:50- my Garmin was off on distance and at one point I paused it for a second while trying to view my total run time instead of lap time since my laps weren't synced with my distance- but it was sub 18 which has eluded me for a long time.

I think this is the first sub 18 5k I've run since 2020... so 4 years... I'm getting back there. I also have realized maybe I shouldn't race with a watch. I started out in 5:30 and felt great- part of me thought great let's go sub 17, but part of me also thought cool I can chill out and cruise to sub 18. If I hadn't seen the time it would be easier to just keep cruising. Also just a tough thing about solo efforts.

Definitely broke me out of my funk, just been physically exhausted trying to get everything ready for the move and to show the house. I also ran a hard 800m after a couple recovery laps, the first 200m must have been pretty slow because I picked it up a lot the 2nd half and still only ran a 68.

Excited to start regularly working out with Jake starting next month, gonna get a lot faster.

Easy run, but went a little faster than planned. M

Another easy run, felt good and pace was pretty quick by the end.

Wrecked my leg on a hurdle back on Wednesday at the very start of my run. I hit my shin on the top of it and it seems like I might have a bone bruise, still swollen and sensitive but it felt fine on the run today.

6x200m and a 400m at 800m pace. 32-33 on the 200ms and 65 for the 400m.

Ran to the track and ran a few 400s, just trying to get the legs more used to faster paces. Ran 72, 69, 72, 66.

Easy run

4 miles at 10k pace, moving to Utah this coming week. Will be kinda stressed until our house here sells.

Easy run with a couple strides

800m at mile pace, 4 400ms and some strides. 800m was a little slow at 2:27, 400m were all over the place at 69, 72, 75, 70. Good to get out and run fast.

Last week in Ohio, so time to strengthen my segment records in the neighborhood. Nice and peaceful run tonight after a long day of packing and selling stuff.

Ran to drop off and pick up my car from oil change.

The 2nd Ohio chapter of my life is finished, I didn't realize my most recent run was last Friday... oof.

I also wouldn't have run today but my cars instrument cluster did it's annoying thing where it shuts off so I took it in to the shop to get fixed and ran home after picking up a uhaul to go dump some of our junk at the landfill. It was 100° and the truck did not have ac so the landfill experience was rough lol. Then I dropped off the uhaul and ran over to pick up my car.

Becca is driving the car back because she has family along the way she wanted to see, which left me to take Whitney on the plane. We survived, although somebody jacked my phone in security and TSA had to hunt him down and bring him and his bags back for a search... was awkward but I got my phone back just in time to make my flight. Grateful to the mighty TSA.

Between that and the water heater going out Sunday it's been an eventful week.

Ran over and did the thanksgiving 5k course and then ran around that area for a while and came home. The difference between what's supposed to be an easy long run in Ohio vs Utah is kinda wild, partially because I'm a little out of shape and have not acclimated to 4500 ft yet- but mostly due to the hills.

Lungs are feeling it pretty rough.

Missed logging some runs here

Peach days 10k, took 8th with a time of like 39:30... At least it should be easy to put on the course next year. Fun race and great course!

Treadmill

Treadmill

Treadmill progression run

Ran up some trail near Ogden botanical garden.

Ran in Ogden River trail or whatever its called

Went to the trailhead closest to the apartment we're staying at here in Ogden, figured out it was also the same Ogden river trail I ran on Thursday.

Ran the canal road with Jake and Whitney. I pushed Whitney the first 4.5ish miles and then Jake offered to take her the last bit, not having the push the stroller was a huge 2nd wind. Averaged high 7 minute pace, pretty good with a stroller on a dirt path.

Walk/run with Whitney

Easy run with Jake in pleasent view, felt great.

Ran while Becca walked Whitney at Ogden botanical garden.

4-5 miles with Whitney, about 3 running.

Ran with Jake up by the botanical garden

Easy run with strides up at the botanical garden

Ogden river trai run

5ish stroller miles

Running around during the meet. Was going to get some extra running in at the track but there was a football game going on.

Long run with Jake in pleasent view. Got over 1200 feet of elevation gain. Mileage should get back up to 30-40 per week once I get into my new house next week. Still hoping to be over 1200 miles for 2024, I want to run over 2000 in 2025.

Ran to grab uhaul

Ran home from returning uhaul

Easy run around my new home

Ran with Jake while pushing Whitney. Felt great!

Long run with Jake from Weber high to a big rock of some sort. Almost 2000 feet elevation gain. Felt glorious.

4 easy stroller miles

Later- 5.2 miles with a couple at half marathon pace

Easy run during walk with Becca and Whitney, saw some fireworks at the park.

Warmed up 2 miles and then ran the Utah Open 8k. It was a lot of fun but I am not in shape for a race like this. My goal was not to take bottom 5 and succeeded there. Had a sprint finish with some kid from the college of southern Idaho... Averaged like 6:15 for 5.1 miles on a pretty tough sugarhouse course. They had us go up the big opening hill from state 3 times. Hopefully next year I can average 5:45 or better at this race.

Whitney hung out with Kiley and Jake's kids and my dad, it was fun to see them all playing together- sugarhouse has a great playground. Played some pickleball with my dad later.

Nice to be back in Utah, finally starting to get settled now that I have a house.

Stroller miles

High school kids left me in the dust on some of those fartleks. Haven't done anything fast in too long. A few extra miles with Jake.

4.1 windy stroller miles, glad I got the chariot.

4.5 on my own later. Ran around my neighborhood, the track, and the field next to it. 2 easy miles and then 2 miles at marathon pace. A couple strides as well.

Easy stroller miles. First half of October was only about 35 miles and 2nd half will be about 75 after tomorrow. If I can keep on this pace and do 150+ miles per month over the winter that would be great.

Running around during the state xc meet. Fun to watch state.

Whitney has been really fun lately. She probably brought me 5 tangerines to peel for her and when she was finished with each one she ran the peels across the room to the trash as fast as she could, good cleaner baby. She also did a little trick or treat at Beccas work today in her duck costume and was pretty adorable saying "quack" to everyone.

Stroller miles with Jake

Easy stroller miles with a break at the park.

Long mountain run with Jake, got over 2000 ft of elevation gain throughout the run and averaged 8:50. Over 40 for the week and already 20 miles for November. Gotta start doing my yoga/core/injury prevention workouts regularly again and keep the mileage rolling. I have the perfect spot in my loft but I need to set up a baby gate so Whitney just plays with her toys instead of on the stairs whilst I do my 10-15 minute routine - she'd started joining in on some exercises back in Ohio which was super funny- hopefully she does more of that.

Afternoon- 5 easy stroller miles with Whitney

Evening- 2 mile warm up and then 2 faster miles, didn't really have a goal pace. Ran 6:31 and then 5:49. Cooled down a mile, 4 strides.

Stroller miles with Jake and Whitney.

Estimating here. I ran 2.4 with Whitney over to the store and back, have 2 flat tires on the chariot I need to patch. Then right as Becca got home like 20 mins later Jake and a couple of the weber xc guys showed up and recruited me to run for a bit with them. Was really fun! I think it was a little over 2 miles.

Ran up to the rec center and did the first mile of the 5k course. I always forget how much uphill that course has, I ran it in 6:18 and it felt pretty good. I also gave a hard effort for the final stretch of the race, maybe a half mile down to the finish. Felt pretty good, but we'll see if I pay for it tomorrow.

Ouch

Warmed up uphill 1.5ish miles and then ran an 800m with Jake and Shelby in 2:36. 200ms we're 32, 38, and then backed off to 86 for the 2nd 400m. I also ran in lane 2 for both laps.

Then we ran up 500 to the canal road and did a 3 mile tempo averaging just 6:10. Then we had a short recovery and the next 4 miles we climbed up past big rock and went through to Coldwater and then back down. By the time we stopped going up the mountain and started coming back done we were passed 10.5 so I was pretty drained. My legs were on fire on that climb.

Had a stabbing pain in my chest where my heart is a little before we finished the run, so that's kind of weird- haven't had that before.

Ended with a mile of walking.

Not really any part of this run was nice and easy but it was a lot of fun.

Easy run, legs feel a little beat up today.

Am-Ran home after dropping my car off, might run back to pick it up.

Afternoon- 5 stroller miles with Whitney

Evening- warmed up about 1.5 and then did 6x800m at 5k pace with about 2-2:30 jog between reps. There's a .4 mile paved loop next to my house and my Garmin gets the distance long/short depending on which direction I run it. My splits were 2:50, 2:45, 2:50, 2:39, 2:50, 2:38.

I switched directions between the 3rd and 4th and the 2:39 on the 4th rep felt pretty much equal effort to the 2:50 on the 3rd. I relaxed on the 5th to see what 2:50 that direction felt like, and because I felt like I'd probably pushed it a little hard the first half. Clockwise direction is at least 10 seconds faster for a half mile than counter clockwise.

Cooled down a little over a mile with a couple strides.

Easy stroller miles

Stroller miles with Whitney

Long run with Jake before straw barn and usu football game. Fun day.

Warmed up 2.1 miles and then ran 4 miles in 6:12, 6:13, 6:19, 5:55. I had some downhill assistance on the 4th mile. Cooled down 1.5 with 4 strides.

I've been missing a racing gear for a long time. I think I just need to shock my system and go out with the leaders at the thanksgiving 5k and then try to hang on and keep pushing when I start bonking out. My strategy of easy first mile and then speed up has not been working the last few years.

On the other hand this course might be a terrible one to try that on, maybe I should just try to stay under 6 pace on the uphill first half and try to stay under 5:30 on the downhill 2nd half and then try to get under 5:00 pace for the last half mile that's a perfect slope for kicking.

Stroller miles, was going to take today off but felt like going out.

Warmed up 1.5 miles to the the rec center and did the 5k course. I ran the first mile in 6:00, I was targeting just under 6:00. It felt pretty good, I can probably start out a little faster than that at the race but I don't want to get pulled in to the first quarter mile sprint.

I ran a half mile section where the course turns around, first half uphill and second half downhill. The lap button lagged but the pace for the lap was 5:53. I also went a little too slow on the uphill portion, when I got to the top I noticed I was at 6:13 pace and I'd wanted to be sub 6.

I also ran the last half mile of the course in 2:35, it's downhill and felt amazing. I should try to run that in sub 2:30 on race day. If I get to the start of that and I'm under 15:30 I should break 18 for the first time since 2017 on this course.

Gully long run plus an extra mile.

Afternoon- Easy stroller miles

Evening- 3 mile repeats with a half mile jog recovery (ended up being about 8:40 pace so 4:20 between reps). I did the first one the slow direction and the 2nd two the fast way. Splits were 5:44, 5:26, 5:26. I figure it was actually about 5:35 for each one. I feel pretty good about this workout, not a bad place to be.

Canal road, 6 strides

Easy stroller miles

Shake out before the race, practiced starting at the right pace. Going to be a cold one.

18:10 at the cottonwood heights 5k. I had 4 levels of goals today

1. Beat my 2018 time of 18:22

2. Break 18

3. Break 17:45 (my personal estimate of a sub 17 equivalent on a fast course)

4. Beat my 2017 time of 17:35

So getting the fastest time I've run for the last 6 years is a big deal. I'm trending in the right direction!

Getting into the actual race I made some mistakes. I again failed to do a proper warm up, only getting half a mile. I pulled myself back too much and went out too conservatively and I wasn't able to push myself to change gears after the 1st mile like I'd planned. But I did finish with a 2:34 last half mile, including a 73 second last quarter. I love that last stretch of this race. I don't think I trusted the fitness I've been building enough and I'm just out of practice with racing, but it was a very fun race as always.

Also got to see Rob and meet one of his former students from his first year of coaching, that was really cool!

Ended this last week with a couple rest days and overall a low mileage week. Looking back at my training from high school and college I think a big reason I got injured in college is I never took weeks off or really even eased up on mileage.

Today I ran up to the canal road and then did 3 miles at somewhere between threshold and marathon pace (6:30s), those 3 miles were also sandwiched between 2 miles where I averaged 8:20 pace and gained 600 feet of elevation. After all of that I bombed downhill for the next 2 miles in 11:08. It was too steep to maximize the downhill but it was fun, I should avoid going down 500- there are definitely less steep ways to get down through pleasent view that are less likely to wreck my knees over time.

Easy stroller miles with Whitney. I did 2 strides, kind of, can only do so much with a stroller.

Easy stroller miles

Air quality has been crap this week. Had a fun run with Jake this morning.

Inversion is finally gone so I got some stroller miles in, planning on a mile pace workout on Wednesday.

Easy stroller miles

Afternoon- Easy stroller miles

Evening- 6x90 seconds at mile pace. I think this averaged out to just under 5:00 pace but it's impossible to tell, there was like a 30 second pace difference depending on which which direction I was running. Also ran a couple strides afterwards. I was pretty generous with the rest I gave myself since this is my first workout at this pace in a long time, and because it was freezing out and I didn't want to run into asthma issues- I'd estimate I averages about 2 minutes of rest.

Played some tennis earlier on and then did a 4x 1200, 400 workout with Jake with 1 minute rest after the 1200s and 4 mins rest after the 400s.

My times were

3:59, 73

4:06, 73

4:05, 77

2:42, 72

I did an 800 instead of a 1200 on the 4th set because I was blowing up on that 3rd 400m and I probably would have run like 4:20 for a 1200m.

2 hard workouts in a row, felt pretty good. Not an awful performance on this.

Long run with Jake, trails were snowy today

5 stroller miles and then 2 faster miles. I just went however fast felt good, ended up being 6:12 and then 5:49. I felt really good, legs just a bit heavy.

Easy stroller miles with a few strides

2 stroller miles and then a little over 4 on my own. Picked it up for 2 miles in 12:06, felt really good.

Warmed up and then ran 5x 2 mins at mile pace with 2-2:30 recovery. I averaged a little under 5 minute pace. Trying to run under 4:50 in january.