Clyde's Comeback!

16 mile Big Workout this morning. 3 mile warm-up and then 2 mile, 1 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile, 2 mile at LT pace with a 2 min rest/ jog for recovery in between repeats and finished with a 5 mile cool-down. 

I ran a lone today. I actually spaced calling the guys last night and figured it would all work out anyways. So I went to the DS at 6 a.m and ran the 3 mile warm-up north bound. Then started the tempo miles on our regular Tinman course. The splits went like this:

2 miles- 5:39, 5:40- really hard to get things going today.

1 mile- 5:30 

2 miles- 5:31, 5:34- feeling o.k but not great on the last three miles

1 mile- 5:59- through the turns of the parking lot and then uphill most of this mile

2 mile- 5:48, 5:49- Really not in the zone but running o.k for just being weird.

I developed a massive blister on my left foot's little toe somewhere in the middle of the tempo miles. It's been years since I had a blister of any significants. I know I run a lot but I've really never got any blisters and this one really hurts. It's like as big as the toe it's self. So anyways that started hurting during the tempo miles and really hurting during the cool-down. Also during the cool-down the diaphragm got really tight. Hopefully this is just a day in and day out type of tight. 

Glad to have did the workout. I was trying to talk myself out of it all day yesterday and even this morning. I'm going to stay on schedule this week with my training as if I was going to run TOU half on Saturday. The if we do end up going up it will work out and if we don't I'll run some kind of 13.1 mile tempo thing on Saturday where ever we end up going or not going...

(Black Stratus- 83.1) 

12.2 mile morning run up around new overpass and through Washington. Tried to stay loose and let the hamstring recover from yesterday's big workout. However by the time I got home it was pretty tight. Spent some additional time stretching it out when I got home. Saw James H. out taking care of business this morning. Seeing him got me thinking that there are a lot of people out running lately. The other morning when Dave, Logan and I did the 20 we saw people everywhere out running. I guess they are all finally getting ready for the marathon. Not to say that James hasn't been training because I know he's been working hard all year- but some of these people around town can train for a month and a half and then still go out and have a "with in reason" good experience on marathon day. 

(New Landreth 43.2) 

5 miles this afternoon around the old school GS loop. It was hot out but the wind helped cool me off after I started to perspire. Plus the run was pretty short. I had a really monumental thought during this little run. My form is pretty jacked up. I think my fitness/ endurance are pretty good. Speed is hit and miss, but efficient/ smooth running is really my biggest weakness right now. On my Monday's workout during the last 2 mile tempo segment I was laboring to hit 5:48 pace and while I was running and trying to increase the pace I could feel my body all over the place running like I had size 14 feet. It does me no good to run 100+ miles a week and to do these killer workouts if I'm running like a clown. I remember somewhere around this time last year I found this really smooth, and efficient stride that seemed effortless and it was the key to why I ran as good as I did at the STGM. Then I was so jacked up after the marathon I lost it and really haven't ran the same since. Today I started to feel what I was looking for- don't ask me why it's taken all summer to get here but it has. I need to spend the next 6 weeks really "feeling the flow" so that I can hold a quality pace during the marathon.

(Blue Stratus 445.4) 

Well yesterday we spilled the beans to a lot of you in one way or another but I guess I better put it up on here too. WE ARE HAVING A BABY! I'm guessing it's a boy and he'll run a 4:10 HS mile and have a marathon PR of 2:13. He'll also have stunning good looks (and brains too) along with a good guy personality. All joking aside we are sill early and Mik'L isn't due until around the first week of March. After years of waiting we can finally become parents and we both are very excited. 

8 mile morning run up around GS and home the long way through Middleton with Mik'L along side on her  bike. It was nice having her along to give me water and sing hymns along the way... j/k we don't live in Provo.

The hamstring is going to be a bigger test than I originally thought. I had April work it out for almost an hour on Saturday and it's back to being just as sore again. I'm not sure what it's story is but I'd like it to go away soon.

(Landreth 376.7) 

5 miles around the GS loop. Other than the left hamstring that is really tight everything else is feeling really good and welcoming the lessor miles this week.

(White Cumulus 475.1) 

10 miles this morning up into GS and back. It felt cooler this morning during the run, like really, really nice. So when I got home at 6:10 a.m I checked and it said 66 degrees. Wow that's the first time I've seen it in the 60's since like April or at least May. I was loving it. The run felt pretty good. I was kind of slow getting going and hit 5 miles in 39:50- and 10 miles at 1:13:32. So I was able to pick it up a little. Now off to work!

(New Landreth- 53.2) 

I'm trying to keep this week a recovery/ taper week even though I'm not officially racing. It seems my hamstring is feeling just a little better every day with the low intensity and miles. So this afternoon after work I wasn't going to do anything but got board around the house and opted for a mountain bike ride for some cross training.

Ugh... 13.25 miles later I finished it up. I went up to the city creek trail that runs around the rim above Dixie Red Hills golf course and weaves around up there everywhere... then I made it over to the running store. When I got there I was a just over 7 miles and it had been 1:01:45 since I left the house. Grueling! It was 104 degrees when I left the house and I was out of water before I even got to the dirt. Anyways I grabbed some water at the store and just took the road back home up over skyline dr. Good workout = 3.3 miles of running.  

8 mile run this morning. GS out and back in 1:00:50. So that is about 1 min faster than I did the first 7 miles of my bike ride yesterday. I'm still dazed at some of the place I went on those trails- crazy stuff. 

Just a good roll this morning. No real highlights or drama. I'd say the left hamstring is around 70% of normal. Thats an improvement from around 60% last Saturday and also Monday after the big workout. I'll really test it tomorrow when I try t let it go down the course as part of a 20 miler in the morning. I should have a really good idea of what I'm dealing with after that.

(blue Stratus 453.4) 

21 miles this morning. Very, very good workout. Finally!

Met up with some of the STG running club and we did the 20 miles from above the store down. I did the first 10 at a brisk but not hard pace and then tried to hammer the second 10 miles down to the store. After I did one mile to cool down. Total avg for the 20 miles was 5:47 and the cool down mile was on it's own thing. 1:55:47 total for the 20 miles (last year on this workout I was 1:59:40 or something). 

First 10 miles in 1:02:20 or so I didn't keep these on separate times so I don't have the split breakdown for each ten miles. I wanted to just run nice and smooth here and kind of warm up and prepare for the second half of the workout. First mile was in 6:13 (way fast) and it just stayed fast all day. Even the Veyo hill was still in warm up mode and it was in 7:13 way faster than last year when I did this workout. 

Second 10 miles in 53:27 or something like that. I just was feeling very good. Even the hamstring that was hurting still hurt but I was able to focus on the run and just deal with the pain.

1. 5:38- this mile was 10- 15 seconds slow because of a water break and length was weird. So I ran around a 5:25 pace effort on this mile.

2. 5:05

3. 5:16

4. 5:16

5. 5:30- found my half empty water bottle here

6. 5:33- up the Winchester Hill

7. 5:12

8. 5:04

9. 5:32- lost focus and slide off pace a little

10. 5:18- could have pushed this mile under 5:10 but I was already way ahead of my goal so I was happy to just bring it in. 

Like I said I didn't have the garmin set for two different times (each 10 mile split) so I didn't have my second 10 mile avg. But from what Mik'L and I figured in the car I hit the last 10 miles at an avg of 5:19 pace or so... the math could be off. Not bad... even with the first mile that should have been at least a 5:25 if not faster but my water and gu were a little farther down the course like .15 of it was done as my first (10 mile). Then got going on the fast portion after the stop. 

Anyways I'm pumped about this workout. I did it last year and it gave me a lot of confidence going into STGM. I've been wanting to hit it again but have been worried about "how I'd do" since I've raced so poor all summer. This gives me a big boost to know I'm on schedule or close to it. I also had 98 road kills today of other people who were out running the course. That made if fun to be running down so many people the whole time.

(Speedstar's 185.5)