Same Time, Same Channel

In Utah on the Provo River Trail with Sasha and others. This is not the workout I would have done if I had been on my own today. I guess I would call this a tempo run. Average pace: 8:14.

I neglected to turn my Garmin on until we actually started running and it took a quarter of a mile to find satellites, so my mile splits were offset from where they should have been. I don't have the pace for the first 1/4 of a mile accounted for in my average, but it was close to the average, so no big deal.

Sasha wanted to see what I could do, so we started out around 8:15. He and the others were kind enough to stay with me for the whole 8 miles (so I wouldn't get lost) and push me to a faster pace than I'm used to, but I was able to be conversational until the very end when Sasha had me run faster for a half mile. Some of them went out for more miles after I was done.

Splits were 8:20, 7:54, 8:03, 8:24, 8:19, 8:25, 8:51, 8:39 (this wasn't a whole mile), a half mile at 6:40, with the last 100 yards all out. (My splits are slightly different from what anyone else who was running would have gotten because of the .25 offset on my laps.)

I got some good advice from Sasha about training pace. I think maybe my biggest weakness right now is the confidence to run faster than I have been. A lesson I learned at the race on Saturday is that I need to have the confidence to line up closer to the front. It took me 2 1/2 minutes to get to the start line on Saturday. And now today I heard from Sasha that he thinks I can run a marathon faster than I thought that I could.

6 miles with Josse on the Provo River Trail, average pace 8:45, followed by the same 6 miles again by myself, average pace 9:01.

Weather: 34°F, 80% humidity, no significant wind.

I had a good time running with Josse this morning. It was fun to talk with her and get to know her a little bit. I'm having a challenge this week running with people who are faster than me. It's a good thing for me to do since I normally run by myself and don't have any one to push me.

On the Provo River Trail with Josse and her dog. Average pace: 8:38.

Weather: 35° F, 93% humidity, light mist.

This wasn't really an easy run, but not a really hard run either. I guess I would call it moderate. It's a little hard for me to start out at that speed, but I felt better after the first couple of miles. I am a little tired from the increased intensity of my runs so far this week.

Splits were 8:53, 8:17, 8:47, 8:32, 8:43.

I'm having a good time this week meeting fellow bloggers.

Easy/moderate run. Average pace: 8:50.

Weather: 32°F, 78% humidity, wind 20 NNW, light snow.

I ran around Holladay with jun (Craig). We had a nice visit about a variety of topics. He was kind enough to slow down a bit for me.

This makes four days in a row of running 9:00 pace or faster. I think I'm going to need to slow down for at least part of my long run tomorrow. And I wonder what I'm going to do when I'm home next week. Maybe it's easier for me here because it's lower elevation and not as hilly.

It looks like we've got big snow in Denver today and I'm missing it. There's a little snow here in Salt Lake, but not too much.

Long tempo run. Average pace 8:07.

Weather: 19°F (I think maybe it was warmer than that by the end), 73% humidity, no significant wind.

I'm dead. Sasha killed me and then he killed me again. We did a mile and a half warm-up at about 9:00 pace, then he wanted me to do an 8-mile tempo at 8:00 pace. I managed to hit just under 8:00 pace, but I was pretty beat by the end. He let me cool down, again around 9:00 pace for a mile and a half, and then I had to run fast the rest of the way, because the virtual 8:00 pace girl was chasing us with a knife. Sasha encouraged me to relax and be like a car that was low on gas and was trying to make it to the gas station. Later, he told me that the stop sign was a magnet and was pulling me, and then it was a corner, or a car, or different things until we finally got back to his house. At various times during the run he would be ahead of me a little ways and put his hand down and I was supposed to run up to him and give him 5. Some of the times it took me a while to get to him, but I eventually did it. Other times he would ask me to pick up the cadence, particularly when going up small hills. From my performance in these exercises he concluded that my leg strength is good and it's my aerobic conditioning that is limiting me. He says I just need to keep running and my aerobic conditioning will improve.

Mary Ann, Jeff, and Matt were with us, though they each peeled off at different points. Thanks to everyone for carrying my hoody and fuel belt that I was foolish enough to bring with me.

After the run I got to go hang out at Sasha's house a little bit, meet his kids, and have a banana and some really yummy raw coconut pie that Sarah made last night. I got to hold their baby. He's a really cute, smiley guy.

I didn't hit my lap button when we started the tempo, and we started it after 1.5 miles, so the mile splits recorded by my Garmin are offset by a half mile from what they should be. In any case, here they are: 8:56, 8:32, 7:54, 7:53, 7:47, 7:51, 7:42, 7:41, 7:47, 8:42, 8:58, 8:02, 8:01, 8:09, (for the last 0.64) 7:54.

I mentioned the running camp idea to Sasha.

Thus ends my fastrunning week. I am beat. I plan to do a really easy, short recovery run tomorrow morning before getting in the car to drive back to Colorado.

One more funny thing. When I got back to my inlaws' house after the run, my mother-in-law asked if I walked with those people again. I just told her that it wasn't walking. She really doesn't understand what I'm doing. Nobody in my family does. That's why I need the blog.

**Update**

Sasha and his brain kept better track of what I did than my Garmin did. The following is copied and modified slightly from Sasha's blog: I ran a mile in 7:57 and then picked it up to around 7:40-7:45 range. I finished 8 miles in 1:02:13, average of 7:46.6. Then I jogged a mile in 9:12 and a little more at about 9:00 pace. As soon as the 8:00 girl caught us, Sasha had me go after her and PR in the half. I ended up running 1:45:20 for the half, a 4 minute PR on a slower course beating my Moab time 6 days ago.

Recovery run. Average pace: 9:41.

Weather: 26°F, 74% humidity, no wind.

I ran by myself for the first time this week. It was nice to relax for a change. I didn't really monitor my pace with my watch. I just ran by feel. Now it's time to drive back home. I hope the recent storm is gone and that the roads are clear.

**Update**

I'm home. Roads were dry but there was really heavy stop-and-go traffic for about 40 miles on I-70 just east of the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnels. I'm glad to be off the road.