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.