Chasing my Dreams

Shaking out the legs on a Monday morning before finals week. 7:06 average

Ran with Tom up to Green Canyon, and some up Green Canyon, getting a good aerobic effort in while not pounding the legs a ton. 6:37 average

Tired legs this morning. 6:43 average

Warmed up, then did 4x3 miles at 10 seconds faster than marathon pace with 3 minutes jogging between sets. 18:02, 17:53, 18:02, 17:49

Really easy day, 7:25 average

Today was not an enjoyable run. I was running on very little sleep from staying up and watching Nike's Sub2 attempt. It was also abnormally warm for 5:40 in the morning. My fueling plan wasn't the best either, as I just drank some watered down Gatorade half way through the run. I didn't have it mentally the last few miles and had to stop a couple of times. I even walked a little bit. I ran all of the big uphills twice as well, which I am sure didn't help anything.

Ran with Tom out and back on 12th. We saw all sorts of deer, including a big buck. I was pleasantly surprised with how my legs did considering it was a Monday. 6:34 average

Did not run today, but somehow felt up to biking for 45 minutes or so in the evening.

Did some really easy miles trying to just test the body out post stomach bug. I couldn't have ran much faster than I did, which was like 7:20s. I had to poop, which I had expected. Unforunately the park bathrooms are still locked, so I had to run up the hill to a honey bucket.

6:31 average, which was pretty surprising because my energy levels still don't feel normal from the darn stomach bug. I also don't really feel like my aerobic engine is working properly either.

6:48 average, which was still way harder than what that pace should feel like. 

Ran with Tom for the whole thing, and helped pull him through the last three or four miles. We ran out to Smithfield, around Smithfield, then West of Main/Highway two miles and gradually worked our way back through Hyde Park and then back to Logan. I really could feel the micro-tears happening in my legs around 13 or so miles. They didn't really get worse, but I could feel them the whole time after that for the rest of the run. Having more water stops made a big difference. 6:48 average.

A good old run on the Small Road in West Point and Syracuse. I started out fairly easy and kind of approached it as a progressive run. I was around 6 minute pace I would imagine by the end of the run. The legs were a little tired from Saturdays run, but for the most part it was a great day to run. 6:26 average

An easy run trying to do some exploring which utterly failed. We couldn't decided if the shoreline trail continued past Green Canyon or not, so I figured I'd check it out. I ran up to Green canyon and then started on the trail that went North. It ended up going straight up the mountain, so I quickly turned around. There was what looked like a small path of sorts that I tried to take, but it ended up just going through a field. I then had to try and find my way through the North Logan bench, where he roads do not connect. I had to run through someone's yard actually. 6:58 average

Today was a run that put me in a really good mental state. It snowed last night, so there was a couple inches of snow on the ground and it was cool. 6:39 average

First time running on a track in three years! We went over to Skyview (or Smithfield) High and warmed up, then started Yasso 800s. It was rainy, and got pretty bad by the end of things. I ran the first four or so with Tom before he had to poop and then his calf was hurting. I was able to hit the times like clockwork. 2:40 2:39 2:40 2:39 2:40 2:39 2:39 2:39 2:34 2:22   I spiked up for the last two, which gave me a ton of adrenaline. Tom also hopped in on my last 400 and helped pull me along. I ended up running a 65 on that last 400, which I was pretty excited to know I still have that kind of speed at the end of a workout. The recoveries were equal time jogs. I did a mile cooldown on the track afterwards.

I approached today as a pretty easy day, but the longer I was out the better my legs felt and I must have been moving pretty good by the end of it. Ran some along the canal above the golf course. It was also pretty chilly. 6:38 average

Today was marathon simulation day. We started at Hardware Ranch, ran down Blacksmith Fork Canyon, through Nibley, Millville, Providence, and River Heights. The downhill was good practice for what the marathon will feel like. While in the canyon we did 6 miles at marathon pace, which felt good. The longest part was probably the middle of the run towards the end of the canyon. Once I got into Millville and Providence I felt pretty good and was able to keep grinding. Unfortunately Tom did not feel nearly as good as I did. I ended up averaging 6:27s, which is equivalent to a 2:49 marathon, which gives me a lot of confidence. My right foot had some inflammation or tendinitis going on though, because it did hurt.

Ran over to the Canyon Road trail and ran that for some easy miles. It felt good to be out running. 6:39 average. At the beginning of my run I watched a Logan Police officer follow this girl that was texting and driving for a good half mile before she finally realized and pulled over. 

Ran an easy mile to warmup, then did 4x4k @ Marathon Pace with a 1k jog recovery between each. I ended up running just a tad faster than marathon pace. I was mostly between like 5:54 and 6 minute pace on my fast parts. The wind coming out of Logan Canyon was killer as always. My legs didn't feel too terribly bad considering where they are at training wise. It was a good tempo type aerobic effort. It almost felt like my hear hurt for a little while, which was weird. An easy 1.3 miles to cooldown.

Going up the stadium hill was pretty rough, but after that I started to feel pretty good. I also passed Becca 1.25 in, which gave me an additional boost. A mile or so later I got a major sidestitch, and I couldn't run any faster. I stopped at the top of the hill to try and get rid of it. Unfortunately it lingered some for the rest of the run. My breathing did feel off today, but I couldn't get it right. Otherwise, my body felt quite good considering. If anything, the sidestitch helped me take an easy day. 6:50 average

Got up and did an easy mile to warmup and then some light drills and stretching to help wake up the body and the legs. I then started my 12xmiles at what was planned as 15 seconds faster than marathon pace, with 90 seconds recovery. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel, but I told myself if I feel decent and can hit the times, I will do the whole thing. Things worth noting: on the second one I thought my foot was going to flare up again and luckily it didn't, on the 5th and 6th ones my legs started to feel tired, mostly in my quads, on the 7th one I almost was hit by a motorcycle (never had that experience before), and the last one wasn't all out it was still controlled. Splits went as follows: 5:48, 5:44, 5:42, 5:42, 5:42, 5:41, 5:41, 5:38, 5:38, 5:38, 5:36, 5:26. A real nice and easy mile as a cooldown. Mile repeats is probably my favourite workout to do.

Ran some easy miles with Tom this morning. My legs obviously felt a little tired, but they have been pretty resilient lately. My tendonitis or whatever in my right foot I can feel ever so slightly though. I'm hoping to get rid of that today. 6:49 average

I intended to start at like 5:45, but I slept through my alarm and didn't get going until 6:30. The first few miles I wasn't sure how I would feel because my feet ached just a little bit and my right quad/IT band was pretty tight. Once I got a few miles into the run, I felt pretty good. There was a lot of stinking uphills on this course, but it was still a great run. Unfortunately I still had to stop twice to pee, which I need to figure out because I can't do that in the marathon. I tried to not tkae a long time on my water stops either, just get a drink and then keep going. I was still feeling good at the end and put forth a good effort the last mile or so and split a 5:50. 6:36 average. Now time to start coming down and rest up for the marathon in two weeks.

Back in West Point for the holiday and because I had a couple of days off of work. Ran a good old classic route trying to shake some of last week out of my legs. I felt pretty good for the most part. My quads still felt pretty tight in the beginning, and I did have some side stitch pains here and there throughout the second half of the run, but nothing like last week. It was also warmer than it normally is in Logan this time of morning. 6:29 average

Woke up sick to my stomach, and threw up an hour or so later, then more fun like that followed throughout the morning. It was pretty frustrating to have the stomach flu for the second time in the last month. I was also bummed because I missed out on the planned workout of some miles at marathon pace. Just rolling with the punches at this point.

Nice and easy run syncing the body back. Aerobically it was a little harder than I would have liked it to be, but that's what I expect after being sick. Ran on soft surfaces as well, because I figured if I'm going to have an easy run, I might as well make the most of it. 7:11 average