I am one with the levee and the levee with me

AM - 9 miles down the river. It was snowing pretty hard by the time I was done, but temps were alright and shorts were comfortable. My legs are tired from yesterday, which is a good sign, hopefully that was the right workout to do. I made the mistake of pushing the pace this morning -- my legs are telling me they need rest. Avg. pace 6:50.

This was a nice easy run that took me all over Springville and Mapleton. The temperature was reasonable and it was snowing lightly most of the way. It brought to close a decent week of training. I was hoping for a few more miles and a tempo run, but it felt good to let the legs have a bit of rest.

The coming week is going to be a little hectic, but I just try to get it in when I can.

AM - 21 minutes out, 21 back in about 7:10 pace. The snow was already plowed, so it was easy running. I love the guys that do the plowing.... I'm sure they're not getting paid enough.

PM - Ran home form work... I measured the course today on gmap, 7.3 miles. Average pace of 7:13, and pretty uneventful.

AM - 4 easy miles at 7:16 pace. I headed upstream on the trail this time for a little variety. I've been feeling some of that old PF in my feet again, only this time in random twinges. Very strange, but I'm trying to take care of it. The slower paces should help.

Hopefully, I'll be able to squeeze my tempo run in tonight.  

PM - I got held up at a meeting, and the tempo didn't work out. Instead I got an easy 5.8 miles towards the canyon in Springville. The roads were fairly dry, which was a nice change. Average pace was about 7:20/mile.

AM - I did my tempo on the indoor track. I may be getting a cold... at least it feels like it in my legs, they're pretty sore. I don't think I've increased my mileage enough to account for the soreness. I've wondered if my body responds well to higher mileage--when I was in high school, my mile PR came on 45 mpw, but the next season in XC I had difficulty improving off 60 mpw. I went most of the season running no better than 16:49 5k until the last week when I cut back.

Anyway, the run was successful overall, although it was more difficult to maintain pace today. Total time was 22:17, same as the last tempo. Here's the mile breakdown:

1 - 5:34.5

2 - 5-34.5 (11:09)

3 - 5:36 (16:45)

4 - 5:32 (22:17)

PM - Ran home from work again today. The muscles are still sore, so I worked on them with a rolling pin. I didn't have my watch with me, so I'm estimating 7:20 pace. It's liberating to run without the watch sometimes.

AM - 6 easy miles after class today. It was snowing pretty good by the time I got out, that may keep me from running home from work today. State Street between Provo and Springville is dangerous at best, I don't like the idea of running it during slick conditions. Total time 43:34

Anyway, if I can't get in a second run today it won't kill me, but I can probably squeeze in a few more tonight. Using the rolling pin on my legs was awesome, they felt a lot better today. Tomorrow I'm planning on a mile time trial, we'll see if I can't run a PR in the morning.

I ran my mile time trial today, which didn't go as well as hoped. I wanted to run as close to 4:30 as possible, preferrably under, but had to settle for 4:38.

I went out too conservatively with a 55 first lap (68.75 quarter pace), sped up a little on the second (54, 1:49), slowed down a lot on the third (57, 2:41), I can't remember the split on the fourth, but it must have been slow because I ended up at 4:38 (58.5 avg on the last two laps). Bleh.

Wow, I must have slowed a lot there at the end. I hadn't realized it before now. Anyway, I think the biggest problem is that my legs aren't used to the faster pace. My miles aren't going to be increasing much from here, so I think it's time to up the intensity.

Afterwards, I pouted for about 6 minutes of rest time, then added a few more reps:

4x321.8m (1 lap) w/ 1:30 rest: 52.2, 52.5, 50.3, 51.2 (51.6 avg)

1:30 rest

4x200m w/ :50 rest: 31's across

During my cool down I ran into Sasha, who reassured me that the TT wasn't as bad as I thought. We talked about the upcoming Del Sol relay and about his kids' running, who are all stinkin' fast, by the way. They'll all be world class marathoners soon.

15 miles around Springville and Mapleton, total time 1:43:53. The run felt really good today, my body seems to be adapting to the long run a little better. So far, this is my highest mileage week of all time, I celebrated with a long nap this afternoon.

7 am - I was lucky enough to squeeze in 3 miles before class today. Mid-terms end tomorrow, so things should be a little more easy going soon.

11 am -  Ran a moderate 7 miler down the usual path, average pace 6:47. It turns out my 8:00 class was canceled for the exam, so I could have run more today if I had planned better.

AM - I got to the track with plenty of time this morning for an interval workout, and things went pretty well.

I ran a 9 minute warmup, a couple of strides, and dove right into the workout. The idea was to do 6 x 1000m with 2:00 rest at 5k pace. I wanted to start at 3:08 and work down to 3:00 or just under, but I had a really hard time dropping the pace. The first three weren't too bad (3:08, 3:07, 3:06) and I was feeling strong still, but from the fourth one on I was really struggling.

The fourth was 3:05, and I thought I had it in me to drop down to the 3:00 range, but the fifth rep was getting painful (3:06) and I started the sixth with just the hope to maintain pace. I came through the first lap okay (:59) but dropped to 1:02 on the next lap. I was wavering towards dopping out, but I thought about my goals and knew I had it in me to finish, and I was able to open the throttle for a :57 last lap, plus the 20 or so meters to the finish for 3:05.

So average time ended up at 3:06.17, certainly one of my best workouts ever. Just before my 5k pr, my HS coach had us do 5x1000m with about 3:00 rest on a slightly hilly course, and I believe I averaged 3:10. It's hard to compare the two, but at worst I should be well within pr range.

Later AM - I am loving the weather! I got 5 more miles in up Canyon Rd in Provo, it was nice and warm, sunny.... I never knew 40 degrees could feel so good. I headed out in 7:00 pace and came back in about 6:42 pace. I didn't mean to speed up, it just happened.

AM - Ran 5 easy miles down the usual route, about 7:10 average. I'm feeling a little sore from yesterday, but that isn't unusual.

PM - Added 7.3 on the run home. I got caught in the snow storm which was fun at first, until the wind picked up and the temperatures dropped. It was a little tense coming over the highway into Springville, I don't like running this way in bad weather. I felt pretty good considering conditions, average pace was about 7:10.

AM - 7 easy miles down the usual route. I didn't have my watch with me, but I'm guessing about 7:15 pace. It was a little tough to get going today, not that I was feeling unmotivated or anything. Okay, yes I was, but I still did it. I just think it would have felt better to lie in the steam room for an hour. 

 Anyway, I'm trying to get registered for the Weber State meet next week, but there isn't any online registration as far as I can tell, and it's like pulling teeth to get ahold of one of the coaches. They were pretty relaxed about their outdoor meet last year (worst race of my life, don't ask), so if worse comes to worse, I'll just show up and expect to run.
 

So good news and bad news today. The good news is that the workout went well today. I did 12 x 200m on the indoor track, 50 sec rests and 31.0 average. I met a guy named Braden who is also trying to walk on to the track team for 400m hurdles, and he ran several of them with me. He's got a lot of speed, it helped to have him there. I told him about the blog, maybe we'll see him soon.

So.... the bad news. A few weeks ago I rolled my ankle a little, not really bad, but it's been a minor pain that has been persisting. But today, after the 200s, I headed out on a 10 miler and the twinge that I've been feeling there was wrapping itself around the back of my ankle. If I had been smart, I would have cut the run short, but my prideful self was like, "Nah, this is nothing." By mile 9 it suddenly turned into a solid pain in the back of my ankle, so I stopped, cried about it a little, and rubbed some snow on it for awhile. The snow helped a lot, but I walked the rest of the way home. I'm thinking it would be good to take tomorrow off, maybe do some swimming, but just let it rest.

Anyway, it's a little frustrating, but I think it's a short-term thing -- with any luck it won't affect my training too much.

200s:

Reps 1-7 (31.1 - 31.8), Reps 8-11 (30.2 - 30.7), Rep 12 (29.8)

 I just noticed I've got just over 400 miles for the year! Yea!
 

I met with Josse today to look over the ankle. She worked it over with her scraping tools and said it looks like I've got a little tendonitis in the ankle. It's not in the achilles' tendon, but a little more to the outside. In any case, I'm planning on doing some cross training in the next few days.

Today I went to the indoor Springville pool to do some laps. The thing is, I'm a terrible swimmer so I was a little nervous about trying to do a pool workout. When I was in Scouts I only passed the 100 yard swim test once, and it was more tiring than a mile race, if that gives you any idea how bad at swimming I am.

So I jumped in the pool and wore myself out in about one minute of regular swimming, but I discovered that I could lay on my back and kick like crazy and get a decent workout. I was even swinging my arms like I was running.... if only I'd had a video camera, this workout would be #1 on youtube for at least a month. My goal was to keep my heartrate close to my running HR (about 145), but I only managed about 135 bpm. Total time was 60:13, more than I have ever swam in my entire life. It was awesome. I think I'll count it somewhere around 6.5 to 7 miles of running.

I ran 4 pain-free miles in Springville today!

I didn't want to overdo it, so I finished with 52 minutes in the pool. I was able to keep the HR at 150 this time by swimming 2/3 laps on my back and 1/3 crawling. I made it just over a mile, but I'm calling it 5.5 miles for log purposes. Somebody let me know if that's too much.

I ran 5 painless miles at 7:15 pace up Canyon Rd, which wasn't so great because hills seem to bother the ankle a little. I was fine during the run, but afterwards I had a little pain going down some stairs, so I'm not out of the woods yet. But the progress is encouraging.

The last two days have been kinda crazy, so I gave my ankle a little rest. I have 8 hours of sleep for the last two nights... it's catching up to me.

Anyway, I got in an  easy 3 this morning at 6:52 pace. I wasn't trying to push the pace, but the legs are feeling fresh from the extra rest. The ankle didn't hurt and hasn't been hurting since, but I can tell it's not 100% yet. Tight is the best way I can describe it--not painful, just tight. I'm thinking that supplementing some short runs with lots of swimming will get me 100% in a week, maybe a little more. I'll hit the pool tonight.

PM - I got about 39 minutes in the pool. Since I didn't have as much time tonight, I tried to work a little harder. HR averaged between 150 and 160.

Swam for 80 minutes today. Kept HR above 145 bpm, so it was a pretty good workout. I didn't have a chance to run afterwards, but it won't hurt to let the ankle rest a little.

AM - Ran 3 easy miles on the Provo river trail (7:01 pace). The ankle is feeling better, but it's not quite there yet. It was nice to be out in the warm temps this morning, it felt fantastic. Looks like I'll be hitting the pool again tonight.

PM - Added in about 47 minutes of swimming, keeping HR around 145.

AM - Ran three easy miles. Still taking things easy.

AM - Got in 5 easy miles this morning, the ankle seems to be improving. It's still tender, but I'm feeling like I'm on the upward swing here.

Decided to give the leg a good test with 8 easy miles. It seemed to hold up fine, so I'm feeling happy. The heat wave was almost too much, though, even in shorts and a T-shirt. 

 It was a great feeling to be on the trail again, although I feel that I've lost quite a bit over the last week or two. I'm thinking that 55 miles next week followed by 65 miles the week after is a good plan to get back to where I was. Maybe the middle of the 65 mile week I can try a tempo run and see how things feel.
 

After yesterday's success, I pushed a little further today for a moderate 10 miler. Aerobically the run felt fine, but the legs are definitely a little shaky. Very comfortable weather.... this was a great run. Total time - 69:15