Chasing my Dreams

Went out in the dark in the evening once I was done with all of my classes. I did a little bit of a warm-up to the loop I was using, and then I did 4 laps of a structured fartlek, which included half of a mile which I would do at 5:30ish pace, and then an uphill. It was good practice for helping me focus on powering up the hill, it also wasn't boring, which a normal run would have been. Throughout the workout I was kind of amazed by how much running uphill influences your heartrate. I then ran easy back home afterwards. Things felt pretty good overall.

Just went out in the late morning for a run, the lower legs were a little tired, and aerobically the run felt a bit hard, but that might have just been because of the effort I was putting forward. I was happy with how the run felt. I think I am starting to make some jumps in my fitness.

I was hoping this run would end up just being a relaxing stress relief run, but the body was not feeling good today. I couldn't poop very much beforehand, so that influenced how my stomach felt, plus I was hungry during the run as well. My legs didn't feel too tired, but I felt like I was breathing a lot harder than I should have been. That felt better the last two miles or so though.

I ran up and met Tom at his place. We then did a 12.5 mile loop that took us out to Smithfield and back. It was actually a perfect longer run route. I felt really good, but Tom lacks the endurance past 5 miles, so I had to really hold back after that. He slowed things down quite a bit, and then 9 to 9.5 miles in he told me not to wait anymore. Averaged around 6:32s for the loop, and then ran back home after that as well. Being able to pick it up the last few miles helped me feel good about the effort.

Ran on the small road. It was pretty windy, but I wasn't really ever running completely into the wind. My first mile was a 6:25 and it felt good, so I figured I'd just keep things rolling and see how it felt. I ended up averaging 6:01s for the next 7 miles, making the overall average 6:04s. Aerobically it was a little harder than I would have expected given the pace, but I think the fact that it was a Monday and the wind probably had something to do with that.

I went out with the intention to just run a good but comfortable effort based on by breathing. It was beautiful running weather and I just enjoyed my tour through West Point and Syracuse. The last mile is where I started to feel a little tired, but I ended up averaging 6:06s. Effort wise it felt a lot easier than yesterday.

Went out to Antelope Island to do some hill repeats, because there aren't any hills in the West Point/Syracuse area. I did a half mile ish to warmup, then did 3x3min, 3x2:15, 3x1:30, 3x45seconds, to basically be equal to 3x800, 3x600, 3x400, 3x200. My recoveries were active recoveries joggin back down the hill. The 800s and 600s were the hardest part, even though they were at the beginning, just because of how long they were. I felt good about my efforts, and I was able to keep the pace for the entire workout. I did about a mile of running on a dirt road to cooldown. 

Being on the island with the bison and running a little on the dirt road helped satisfy my itch for trail running as well.

I worked out with the high school kids today. Rob wanted me to really push his top guys at the end of the run. We went out 22.5 minutes at 6:20 pace, and then were supposed to come back slightly negative. Josh Mecham set the pace going back and everyone else in the group fell off pretty quickly. We averaged 6:02s going back until the last mile, which we split in 5:38. I still had a couple more gears, but he was just holding on. Overall the average for the run was 6:08s. 

My legs felt pretty tired, especially going out, but it was an easy enough pace that it felt good to just work the legs. 

Ended up having to do my long run today, and I did it in the afternoon. My lunch wasn't quite settled, so the first miles I didn't feel very good at all, after about six miles, I was able to settle in really well and feel relaxed. My guess is that I was averaging between 6:10s and 6:15s for the first 13.3 miles or so. I ended up running the last 1.7 miles with Tracy, and it was significantly slower than what I had been running. I did the full 15 miles in 95 minutes, which worked out to 6:20 pace.

I did about half of this run with Jeff. I was reminded why I hate running in Provo, there are way too many stop lights. I took things pretty easy today, and spent the second half of my run trying to find a porta potty so that I could pee. I ended up going a little farther than I had planned because I didn't really know where I was going. IT was a nice little shakeout kind of run that will help me feel a lot better come Monday. My guess is that the average pace was probably around 6:40s somewhere.

Ran with Tom in the afternoon. He wanted to run his training run pace, which I was fine with. It felt fairly easy, but my legs were extremely heavy for the first five miles or so. Not taking care of my legs after the long run last week really made a difference. I picked the pace up a little the last mile and a half or so. 6:27 average pace, which I'm pretty content with considering it being a Monday with my legs not feeling very good. 

I had a hard time getting going with my run this morning. I looked down at my watch a mile in and was startled to see 7 flat as my mile time. I picked it up and ran a 6:15 next mile. I then tried to relax into a pace, but it took a few more miles before I felt like I was able to lock something in. My lower legs were noticeable sore today, but they always seem to be as well. The last four to five miles were actually kind of therapeutic miles for me once I had the pace locked in. Running in Logan is a lot harder than running in West Point though. I averaged 6:21s for the whole run, which I am happy with. If you neglect the first mile, the rest of the run I averaged 6:16s.

Went out for a beautiful run with the sun setting after a day at school. My legs were tired, but I like feeling that way, and was able to put forth a solid effort. I ended up averaging 6:10s. 46:14 total time. My shoes might be going out as well.

My legs were pretty tired this morning, and it was hard to get them going. About half way through the run I decided to relax a little and just let the run happen. Ended up averaging 6:23s. I also think part of why my legs have been hurting this week may be because my shoes are shot. I checked and they have close to 550 miles, so I probably need to switch.

Went out in the early morning for some easy miles. I was surprised because I actually saw two runners out and about in the dark as well. I averaged 6:45s and it felt good. I broke out my new shoes, and they bothered my feet a little, but my legs felt better. I did a few strides afterwards to get my legs moving.

I did a light mile warm up with Tom and Rob. I had absolutely no idea on how to approach this race because of all of the hills, so I just went with what made sense. I felt nice and relaxed the first couple of miles, and then on the uphills I mostly just tried not to die. I took the hills a little easier than in the 10k. That additional hill really put things over the edge though. Obviously the uphill segments put my heart rate through the roof and really slowed me down, but the rest of the time I honestly felt pretty comfortable with the effort I was putting forth. I mostly just wanted a good effort anyways. 

I was able to get in 4 miles of really easy running after the race. My right foot tightened up pretty badly after the 10 miler itself, which I'm pretty sure is because of the shoes. 

I went exploring for my run today trying to find some good dirt to run on in Cache Valley. I ran over to the Canyon Road trail and up to first dam, then across the shoreline trail and then back eventually to Old Farm. My legs felt surprisingly good, but my mental clock was off and I had no idea if I was running fast or slow. The first three miles I think were fairly quick, and then once I hit the hills on the shoreline trail I'm pretty sure I slowed down quite a bit. My legs overall felt pretty good considering this was my first run since Saturday. I think the few miles I did after the race on Saturday, in addition to going on a walk yesterday made a big difference. I averaged 6:31s for the run.

I had a pretty slow first mile again this morning, for some reason I have a hard time getting my legs going. After that I was able to set into a pretty good pace. I tried to stay fairly relaxed on the long uphill, and I was glad I did because my butt and hips were feeling Saturday. I tried to lock in a solid pace for the last 4 miles though, and it felt pretty good until the last half mile or so. I averaged 6:26s.

I went out in the dark after a long day of classes. I didn't pay any attention to my watch, and just ran what felt good. Once my legs got warmed up it was a really nice run. For the most part my legs felt really good. I am hoping I didn't end up running too hard, but I don't think it will influence my workout I have planned for tomorrow. 6:15 average

I tried to wait until the rain stopped. but I decided that wasn't going to happen. I did a mile or so of easy running and then a little bit of dynamic stretching, but because of the rain mostly jumped right into the workout. I did a total of 16x1000 @ half marathon pace with 60 sec reco for the first 12 and 45 sec reco for the last 4. My splits were 3:31.5, 3:32.3, 3:34.2, 3:30.0, 3:32.9, 3:31,9, 3:32.0, 3:31.4, 3:32.3, 3:29.4, 3:31.2, 3:31.3, 3:31.1, 3:30.0, 3:31.7, 3:31.x. I felt right in my element. My right inside lower leg and calf bothered me a little. Easy running back home afterwards. 

Easy afternoon miles. Ended up averaging 6:29s, but felt pretty relaxed and easy on the run. My legs got pretty tired really quickly on the uphill parts though. Did some stretching and core afterwards.

It was very wet and kind of cold for the long run today. I did a couple of miles before meeting up with Tom, and then we did the 8 mile loop. We grapped a little bit of fuel and water and then kept going. I ended up leaving him probably about a mile after that because he was dying and I was honestly ready to start running a little faster. I wasn't exactly sure how far I had gone, so I ended up doing a little more than I had originally planned. Things honestly felt really good today, and I am excited to run a marathon.

I must have done something to please the rain gods, because it was sprinkling when I left and then stopped about a mile or so into my run. I tried to not push things too much today, but I still ran a little harder than I should have. My lower legs were a bit sore, and my left toe felt like it was just on the edge of hurting. The uphills hurt, but mostly just from tired legs. 6:20 average

Did about a mile and a quarter warmup, a few drills and one stride.  Then I started my workout of 3x3miles with 2 minutes jog recovery between each. I was shooting  for between 17:12 and 17:15, but ended up going 17:07, 16:49, 17:07. My first mile was normally the hardest one to get going, and then really it was the very last mile where things started to hurt. The 16:49 was the moreso downhill direction. An easy 2.25 miles cooldwon back home.

Beautiful evening for a run, there were also lots of deer out and about, which is always entertaining. My legs were pretty trashed/tired from yesterday, so I tried not to push it too much, the uphill kept my heart rate at a good place place though. Ended up averaging 6:25s. It turned into quite the reflection run, I was able to think a lot about why I went to the certain areas I served in on my mission at the times that I did.

Went out this morning and the stadium hill about did me in. I took things fairly easy for the first half of the run, and I must have picked it up some coming back on 8th because I ended up averaging 6:29s. My legs didn't really have it still, but they felt better towards the end of the run. Aerobically I feel pretty tired as well though, so I tried to listen to my breathing for a good chunk of the run.

I had a hard time falling asleep last night and kept waking up in the night. I don't know why. At any rate, I felt fine when I woke up this morning. My english class got cancelled, so I had enough time to put a run in. My legs still feel a little beat up, but that didn't have too much of an influence on my run. Aerobically things felt a lot better. The last half mile on 8th my legs started to feel the uphill though. I'm excited for a long one tomorrow.