Day 2 of my cutback week. Life is just getting in the way of running so it gets to take a backseat. I did manage to squeeze in a brisk 6 on the planet walk (in the gunky air).
8 slow miles on Young Ward short loop. I was able to get out the door at 9pm and get a run in. The chunky air made it tough to breathe and I ended up slowing down over the course of the run with each consecutive mile slower than the previous. Off to bed...
Striders 5K (3.1 Miles) 00:17:38, Place overall: 2, Place in age division: 2
Slow miles
Fast miles
Total Distance
10.90
3.10
14.00
Today was the first in the Striders Winter Racing Circuit. Today's course was quoted by the race director as being "only 5K but it feels like a 10K". That is so true on this course. Nothing but hills, up or down the entire way. This is my third year running it and my goal going in was to better my time from last year of 18 mins.
I have been so busy working overtime and then coming home and framing my basement that I have not had very much time to run (especially this week), so I in-advertently tapered for a 5K. It seemed to do wonders though as the race turned out very well.
It was about 30 degrees at the start with some icy intersections on the course, but otherwise very runnable. Jon, Walter, Tim Wight, Nathan Pollard were all there for some good competition. We all took off and I decided to go out hard and try and hang on. I was out with Tim and Walter right behind for the first half mile. By this point, we all knew that we were going to be killed by Trevor Ball who had already gapped up good. He probably jogged the whole way to the win. The battle for second was on though....
At the first mile marker (5:43) I was already ahead of my time from last year by 17 seconds and decided I was either going to kill my time or die trying. I was running side by side with Tim up the big hill. As we approached the last 100m of it, I dropped it down a notch and dropped him. I looked back at the turn and saw a lone line of solid runners coming. I did my best to beat my quads into submission on the downhill and not have Jon blast past me like he did last year. I ended up all by myself for the rest of the race focusing on holding off the pack who was battling it out behind me. Mile 2 was (6:00) exactly. Picked up another 3 seconds over my 2008 time. Looking good. Mile 3 was hard since I was all by myself and wasn't able to work off of anyone, but I tried to keep a solid effort on the downhills and not fall on my face. Mile 3 was (5:21). The final uphill kick had an additional obstacle this year of a sheet of ice for 50 meters. That kept the kick down to a slow pace (34 seconds).
Watch time was 17:39 official time was 17:38
Very happy with the results. 22 second course PR and second place to boot. Trevor Ball finished 53 seconds ahead of me with Tim Wight 20 seconds behind. Nathan in 5th, Walter in 6th, and Jon in 7th.
We did a group cooldown then Jon and I drove back to Logan. Once I got home I had to run up to Lees to pick up my brother in law's vehicle to allow me to finish up my basement framing project (yeah). (5.5 more miles)
Young Ward out and back semi-loop (12 miles). Today's run turned out to be an informal tempo run. I was wanting to do some faster stuff but wasn't up for a formal tempo run. I ended up picking it up as I went along today ending with a 6:13 mile. Good enough.
Providence - Millville loop. I attempted to hit the hills hard and ended up limping up the hills. The effort was there, but the times were not. Classic case of dead legs. Glad I was at least able to run the whole way and not cut the loop short. Another day in the bank...
Pretty uneventful easy run today. It was single digits again and when I ran past gossner foods, it was snowing due to the factory creating its own weather system. That made it really cold. On another note, I did run into Joe Wilson last night as we were both making a late night run to Home Depot. Small world.
Presidents Day = No work = More time for running = workout day
2 miles to TOU mile marker 21 then followed the course backward until I hit 7.5 miles (mid Hollow Road). On the way back I did 10x 2 min on 1 min off fartlek. I was all over the place on pace but was under Marathon pace and was close to 10K pace for the faster stuff. Overall, a good run for the 5° temps I was running in.
I think I have come down with the same symptoms the majority of the blog currently has. Laziness (aka body revolting against venturing out in the cold/snowy/winter air day after day while all you want to do is sleep). I am burned out and would take a whole month off if it were not for the desire to set PR's and take advantage of the best fitness I have ever had. I know many people can relate.
Anyway, I did manage to get out just before 9 pm this evening (first chance I got). Slow miserable 8 miles (luckily it was un-timed). Body felt lousy of course. I think I will take tomorrow off and see if I can re-charge the batteries. It seemed to work for others on the blog.
Enjoyed my day off yesterday. Probably too much as I realized how much more time/energy I would have. Although today I was glad to get out and run. I was able to sneak off during my luch break and get in a quick 4 miles on the Planet Walk. I was able to wear shorts and even see the sun. Quite a concept.
Striders WRC 10K (6.2 Miles) 00:36:28, Place overall: 4
Slow miles
Fast miles
Total Distance
8.30
6.20
14.50
Striders Winter Racing Circuit 10K
Jon and I were happy to leave Logan's 1° temperature and drive to Ogden (20°+) for the second of too many race, a 10K. Today's course was a nasty hilly course I love to whine about. After a quick warmup with Walter, Jon and James (Fiddy) who I haven't seen since WBR last year, the race was underway. Trevor Ball was there again as he lives on the course and decided to try and win with a tempo run. The lead group turned into James, Trevor, two guys I didn't know (Braden and Jason), Walter, Tim, and myself. The pace was brisk, but maneagable over the first 2 miles (super fast second mile is all downhill).
Mile 1: 5:38
Mile 2: 5:12
By this point the group has splintered and Tim and I were in the second group with Walter close behind. I managed to not slip and fall on the sections of ice we encountered and actually managed to not freeze too terribly either.
Mile 3: 5:34
Miles 3 & 4 was pretty challenging as it was pretty rolling with the big uphill coming up still.
Mile 4: 5:54
I was in 5-6th place running with Tim during mile 5. Walter was a few seconds back. The big hill approached....Time to go. I was able to move away from Walter and Tim and slowly catch the guy in 4th (grey shirt guy as I called him aka Braden). By the mile 5 marker, I was only a few seconds back.
Mile 5: 6:33
The first 2/3 of the mile was the rest of the uphill with the final 1/3 a nice downhill into the stadium parking lot. I caught Braden on the hill and made sure he wasn't going to tag along. I finished with a happy sigh as I was soooo glad to be done!
Mile 6: 6:27
Finish 1:10
4th place overall, 2nd in age group. 25 seconds faster than last year, yet 1 place worse.
T-36:28 (5:52) 179 ave 184 max
We ran the course again for a long cooldown, but it felt more like a deathmarch. Man I was sure tired.
Now the goal is to find more time to train so I can run a solid half at the Striders 1/2 marathon (next race).
I ventured up above the inversion this morning by running up to canyon road and continuing on Grand View Drive. It was my first time on that road. Sweet view of the valley filled with gunk. The only problem was that it was around 40 degrees up there and I was dressed for 10. Major over heating today. Today was all about just getting the miles in.
10 miles again. Yep, I am on a roll. Today I ran a hilly providence millville short loop. This week is all about increasing the mileage, so no major workouts. I am venturing into injury territory so have to be careful.
Jon and I started running from the west end of Hollow road up the TOU course to meet Paul. By the time we made it the 2.5 miles to Paul's car, we were popcicles and knew we had 3+ more miles of ~10 degree weather with 20mph headwind ahead of us.
Plan B ensued. We drove up the Hyrum city park and ran from there. 1 mile up then back down to my car. The downhill with the wind was much nicer, but still cold. I ditched Paul and Jon at mile 14 of the course to run the big hill and then tempo down hollow road. I didn't get in a good workout this week, so I wanted 3 faster miles today. I went 6:09 (up the hill then back down), 6:00, 5:57. We immediately drove back up to Paul's car. Stiff and tired, Jon and I added on another 2 miles to get to 16 miles for the run.
Good week of consistent training. Now its time to get into the Big Workouts and get into marathon shape. Time's a wasting....
