I sacrificed my morning run with the guys to go to a golf tournament this morning. My golf game has sure suffered this year with all the time running and not playing. I was able to figure it out again and by the back nine was contributing to the team much more. It was a lot of fun and I am glad I went.
I put off my run until the evening to let it cool off a bit. I decided to duplicate a run I did in April that was about 21 miles. I left my house and headed up to the river trail via the canal trail. I decided to make this run more of a aerobic run and not do tempo. I was feeling decent all the way up and decided to turn around at 10.25 miles (right before G. M. Campground). I was averaging 7:35 to that point which I was proud of. Right about the turnaround, I suddenly felt really weak/hungry and was worried about it. I figured that since it was downhill most of the way home I would be ok. The rest of the run quickly turned into a survival. I was seriously considering calling for a ride, but talked myself out of it. It was just one of those runs that turn into a nightmare. I felt awful and considered myself lucky I made it home safe. I was struggling to maintain 8 min miles for most of the return trip. I guess the only upside is I still somehow managed to beat the 8:00 mile guy and I beat my pace from April by 5 seconds a mile too. It must of been from going up the canyon too fast. Glad that is over. I feel better now that I have eaten a big meal.
I didn't feel up to racing today so I just went on a training run. I haven't been on the Deer Fence Trail in a while so I headed up to Mountain road. I ran from Dry Canyon over to Providence canyon and down the Providence Canyon road back to the house. I was still struggling on the run today. Even more than the difficult trail causes anyone to feel. I am feeling the same "overtraining" symptoms that I felt a month or so ago. I needed a week of easier runs with less intensity to feel back to normal. I might be headed down that road again.
AM: Another day of no desire to run. Dragged my butt out of bed and forced myself to run. Started out slow, well over 8 min pace then finally got going by mile 4. The rest of the miles were around 7:15 pace. Felt better by the time I got home. I will do some easy miles this evening.
T-61:06 (7:38) 148
PM: Almost got killed riding the scooter home from work. 50 mph winds with major rain and lightning everywhere. I pulled over to the corner of 10th north and 6th west (I actually only made it about a mile or so) and huddled under a building covering until my wife came and got me. I waited all evening for it clear up enough for me to go back to get it. I finally had enough at 8:20 and went for it. I got completely soaked running the 2.75 miles to get it but that was only half the battle. I had to somehow not crash driving it home in the rain. I did live to tell the tale though.
AM: Landfill loop against my will. Mind over matter.
T-46:25 (7:44) 147
PM: Mini-Workout (as opposed to a big workout). I joined Jon for a VO2 Max workout at Blackhawk park. I am not sure how this correlates to marathon training, but Jon assured me that it did. I ran 2.5 miles warmup to the park with 1 mile near Tinman tempo pace (6:17). We did 3 x 1.02 miles (according to the garmin) with 2 min rest in between. I went: 5:35, 5:37, 5:36. Followed by easy miles home. It feels good to get some kind of a workout in this week as I have felt like a bum. Now I can do easy miles till Sat and not feel guilty.
AM: This morning I ran with Logan High's #3 runner (Colton Wiser). He is in my ward and wanted to train with me when he could. He took it easy on me and kept it around 8's. I dropped him off at mile 4.5 and added some to make it 7.1. I plan on a few more miles this evening.
T-55:53 (7:52) 146
PM: Ran laps on the Planet Walk with Paul and Jon and the little ones. Easy pace, so my boy took up the whining instead of me. Poor Jon and Paul had to listen to him whine the whole way. 5.1 Miles
Providence Hills Loop this morning. I am feeling much better today. I was pretty sluggish on the uphills but got going pretty good on the downhills. Threw in 5x100m strides on the downhill to prepare for tomorrow's pounding.
Alta Peruvian 8K (5 Miles) 00:24:47, Place overall: 8, Place in age division: 3
Slow miles
Fast miles
Total Distance
11.00
5.00
16.00
AM: Easy run to shakeout the legs. Got to sleep
in for once. Ahhhh heaven. Nice morning in SLC. 70 degrees at 9:30
promises for a warm day, but luckily the race is in the mountians.
T-26:30 (7:35) 150
PM:
Alta Peruvian Downhill Dash. Downhill is quite an understatement. Very
steep painful course. Cool race though with a laid back feel. Nice
prizes and a nice BBQ afterward. I highly recommend this race. I ran
some warmup (2.5 miles) with Sasha, Paul, Bob, Nathan etc. It was
harder than it should have been but we were at 8500 feet.
I
was shooting for between 4:50 and 5:00 mile average for this race,
which seemed weird as my 1600m PR is 5:00. Pretty cool to beat that
time for ~5 miles. The race began and the usuals went out hard and I
found a tall guy to hide behind for the first two miles. That was nice
as the headwind was pretty noticable. Here is how it went:
Miles
Time
Ave HR
Notes
Mile 1
5:02
171
Just trying to stay in control and draft.
Mile 2
4:58
183
Sweet, Mile PR!
Mile 3
5:04
184
Passed my drafting buddy and got out by myself. Had to work harder in the wind.
Mile 4
5:06
184
My feet are on fire and my legs hurt bad. Will this be over soon?
Mile 5 (.99)
4:37
187
No one to catch, no one has passed me since mile 1. Try and finish strong and not trip
Finish
Time Official: 24:47 (5:00 ave) Sweet, I set a new 8K PR for my year of
PR's and also a few others (dowhill aided of course) along the way. The
Garmin (and other peoples there) had the course at 4.99 miles so it was
a tad long, but no big deal. My ave time according to the garmin showed
4:58.
I was pretty much spent at the finish and wasn't able
to run back up to the start like some of the others. I made it 1.25
miles up the 9% grade in 12 min/mile pace with my HR hovering around
180. I bummed a ride and finished my cooldown up around the lodge (5
miles).
Paul, Sasha and Bob all ran great and I wont spill
the beans for them, but they ran awesome. I won a cool hardbound
National Geographic book of portraits as a prize and also a gift
certificate for a free breakfast at the lodge for my 3rd in the age
group. Not a bad day. Everyone got something.
AM: Landfill loop easy. I was terribly sore yesterday and so far today as well. It wasn't too bad out running once I got warmed up thanks to a flat route. It actually felt pretty cool being able to feel every muscle in my legs as I ran. It made me feel buff, like my muscles were bulging.
T-46:26 (7:45) 6 Miles 146
PM: Easy run with Jaxon in the stroller on the usual planet walk. Ran into Jon and joined him for his run. It worked out better than sending out 6 e-mails to figure out when and where to meet (like we normally do). I am still sore. My hamstings are the worst off. I mowed my lawn after getting home and that helped loosen them up some more. I am still optimistic about getting in a good week of training though.
AM: 10.1 on Young Ward loop. Legs are getting better and better. I did cheat today though and ran on a flat route. I will try some hills tomorrow. Comfortable pace toady between 7:00 and 7:30 the whole way. Got to love the 39 degree weather.
T- 1:13:42 (7:18) 153 ave
PM: 4 miles on Planet Walk again. This time no random run-ins with fellow bloggers. Just Jaxon to keep me company. My left hammy is super tender. The rest of my legs feel 90% recovered. Not time, but I am sure it was slow.
Medium workout this morning (as in not quite a BIG workout). 12 miles on Millville loop. Goal for the workout was to test out my recovery from Alta Peruvian and get some Tinman tempo miles in. I started out with some brisk warmup miles up to the top of Providence then started the tempo stuff.
Mile 1: 6:30 163-ave HR (First 1/4 down rest rolling)
Mile 2: 6:10 164 (Downhill)
Mile 3: 6:29 164 (Rolling)
Mile 4: 6:24 170 (Rolling down)
Mile 5: 6:28 166 (Down then flat)
I finished out the workout with 3 miles at 6:45 ave. The faster miles seemed a bit forced, as my body did not want to work that hard this morning. The last 3 miles felt really easy as 6:45 is a lot easier to hit than 6:30's. I wasn't trying to hit any particular time for the final 3 just what felt comfortable.
I think that with Thur/Fri easy miles I will be ok to run TOU. No major taper is planned, only an easy day friday to do a mini-taper. My plan for TOU is now to run 6:30's down the canyon and keep the same effort to the finish. That should put me in at around 2:55 - 3:00. Should be a killer workout for SGM but far less than an all out race effort.
One day taper for Top of Utah Marathon. Easy pace no watch. I got to sleep in an extra 20 minutes even. Sweet. I will see you all (a lot anyway) at Paul's later tonight.
This race was designed as a workout to get ready for St. George. No taper (ok, I had a one day taper yesterday) and I hit my mileage peak today as well. The plan was that if I was feeling good, I would try to break 2:50. If not then run between 2:50 and 2:55. I must have been feeling good I guess.
I ran most of the race with Kory. It was sure nice to have company and to keep our pace honest and consistent. I was not in the Jon pace group but they had a great time and I am kind of jealous. Expect for the pain I guess. I would have died if I had run with them. Quite a story that I will leave to Jon to tell.
Here is my race/workout breakdown.
Mile 1
6:17
160 HR
I jumped out and settled into a easy/comfortable pace
Mile 2
6:23
164
I feel really good and am holding back
Mile 3
6:18
163
I was originally thinking 6:30's but decided to keep 6:20's.
Mile 4
6:14
165
I am happy my HR is still low
Mile 5
6:23
165
I am bored, but talking to the people around is nice
Mile 6
6:19
166
Same old
Mile 7
6:20
167
Still cruising along with Kory
Mile 8
6:10
164
Good downhill this mile
Mile 9
6:18
162
Sun is out now so my hands are warming up
Mile 10
6:22
162
I am running out of topics to discuss with Kory
Mile 11
6:22
162
Same old
Mile 12
6:09
163
The tailwind is showing up now - sweet
Mile 13
6:13
163
Dan and James ran by going up the canyon
1/2
1:22:26
34 seconds faster than the first half in Ogden Marathon.
Mile 14
5:54
164
Letting the wind push me along
Mile 15
6:07
166
Out of the canyon and the crowds are awesome
Mile 16
6:13
166
Starting to work now to hold this pace
Mile 17
6:17
167
Kory pulled away and it took a mile to catch back up
Mile 18
6:22
167
The "fun" is about to begin
Mile 19
6:29
170
Uphill into millville - Had to work hard
Mile 20
6:32
170
More hill, and trying to recover
Mile 21
6:16
169
Good downhill into Providence
Mile 22
6:36
169
My Family was cheering me on this mile!
Mile 23
6:37
171
Kory pulled away again, but I don't care because I will break 2:50
Mile 24
6:38
169
Same effort as in the canyon, just slower splits
Mile 25
6:30
171
Hey, I am almost done
Mile 26
6:25
174
Caught and passed Kory - Working hard now to finish strong
Mile 26.2
1:12
177
Got down to 5:10 pace for the finish
First half was in 1:22:26 and the second in 1:23:45. I am happy with that as the course is not condusive to an even split. Overall, it felt easy until the halfway point. At that point it turned into a big workout (effort-wise). The last 10K was hard, but I didn't push it until the last mile. NO WALL! That is sure nice to not hit the wall in a marathon. I drank gatoraide at almost all the aid stations. I even stopped to walk until I drank the full cup. I also took two gu's and they helped too. I didn't lose any time by stopping to drink. A couple of times people with me didn't stop and I caught them back easily within a 1/4 mile. Overall, I am pleased with the race as it shows that I can break 2:40 at St. George.
T-2:46:11 (6:20) 166 ave 179 max
Oh, did I mention this was a
6:34 minute PR
25:09 faster than last year on this course
58:04 faster than the previous marathon (my first).
AM: Best I have ever felt monday after a marathon. That is not saying much though. My legs are tired and sore. My quads are fine, but my hammies and calves are very tight. I ran the landfill loop nice and easy. I started out at 9:00 pace and after a mile or so, was under 8. I think recovery should go well this week.
T- 47:47 (7:58) 6 mi 147
PM: 4 miles with Jaxon in the stroller. Planet Walk. Even Jaxon is getting sick of this run. But it is so convenient. Mowed the lawn afterward. Legs feel better than after Alta Peruvian.
AM: Providence - River Heights loop. I actually felt really good. I even slipped a sub 7:00 mile in without meaning to. Good morning run.
T-58:30 (7:19) 8 miles 155
PM: Another run with Jaxon in the stroller. He was getting tired of the planet walk so he pointed which direction to go and I went that way. After a while I had to coach him to point towards home.
Small workout this morning. I ran the Providence hills loop adding a bit at the top to maximize the hills. The goal today was to hit the steep hills hard. Both the ups and downs. The flat sections were supposed to be at 7 min pace. I went 7:11 (warmup-flat), 6:41 flat, 7:14 slight up, 7:50 (killer uphill - easily a PR for this mile), .5 at 8:08 pace. That put me at the start of Providence canyon. Once there, I immediately turned around and focused on flying down the hill with the legs feeling like rubber. I went 5:41, 5:38, 6:34 (slight down), 6:37 (flat), 6:41 (flat), .5 at 6:45 pace. That is a lot of numbers, but I don't care what you think. I felt really good about my leg turnover on the downhills and also being able to push myself on the ups. This is my attempt to get faster leg turnover (by running downhill).
AM: Young Ward Loop easy. I am getting tired of running in the dark every morning. The biggest peeve is that everyone turns on their brights when they see you running. I know they see me with my reflective vest on, so why bright me? I swear, blinding a runner as they are only a few feet from you is not a good idea. It makes me want to carry a rock and when they bright me, toss it at the windshield. Grrrr.
I decided to run a route that I haven't done for a while. It was a good change. I ran up to the University track via 100W and 1000N. Once there I felt like I needed to do some good striders as I haven't done them in a while. So I jumped on the track and did 4x200m all out. It was pretty pathetic that my times were so slow for sprinting, but what can you do? I went 37, 35, 35, 34. They felt smooth and fast, only it wasn't. Must have been closer to a herd of elephants tumbling down a hill. Then I went home.
Something new today. I met Paul and Leland Barker and we ran sections of the Bear 100 course marking it with flagging. We started near Fish Haven and did an out and back on a section of trail. It started at 8300 feet and climbed to 9000 feet before descending back to 8500 feet on the other side. At 4 miles, we turned around and went back with the section of the course now marked. Back over the hill. Then while Leland drove, Paul and I ran another 8.5 miles down the Old Logan road past beaver creek and out to the highway. We picked up the pace for the last 4 miles and the legs were feeling good. I am looking forward to one more hard week then a nice taper. I am planning on about 60 miles next week with two good workouts (one tempo and one CV fartlek) with a med run sat.
Today I edited the footage my wife got of the Top of Utah Marathon. It is footage of the top 11 runners when they got to mile 21.5. It is found on You Tube by clicking here
Easy run in the light drizzle. Ran the young ward loop. I started out kind of sore (I don't know why) but quickly loosened up and was hitting 7 min pace for the rest of the run. I carried my battery powered glow stick to fend off the cars (in addition to my reflective vest), but I still almost got hit by a paper boy driving a car for his route. I yelled at him.
Small Workout this morning. Providence - Millville loop. Mild first 4 miles not as hard as two weeks ago on the uphills, then hit the downhills hard. I turned 4 miles of the downhill into a tempo effort. I went 5:53, 5:11, 5:56, 6:17 (Sept 12th I went 6:30, 6:10, 6:29, 6:24 on the same miles). After that, it was my goal to finish off with sub 7 effort, which felt pretty easy at that point (6:23, 6:39, 6:42). Nice morning for a run. 34 degrees T-1:13:50 (6:39) 161 ave
My wife had car problems in the afternoon so I helped her out but it involved some scooter rides, Dan and his car, and 1.5 miles of running. All better now.
I think I did something to my foot on monday. I woke up yesterday and it hurt, but didn't think too much about it until yesterday after my run. It really hurt then and for that matter the rest of the day. I woke up today and it still hurt. I thought I would try to run on it and see if it got any better - nope. So I cut my run short to help it heal. Here is what is wrong. On my right foot, at the point where my middle toes enter the ball of the foot area, it hurts. It feels like it is bruised, but I don't know. It was probably bruised and hammering the downhills yesterday probably put it over the edge. I iced it last night and this morning and I hope it heals soon. I can run on it as is, but I feel every step and figured it would be better to not run much on it rather than try and run thru it. Not good...
Went on a hike to the wind caves (3.5 miles total with 1100 feet elevation gain) with the Scouts and Webelos. The pace was painfully slow, but my foot felt better. I ended up carrying one boy's backpack both ways and he still barely made it. Although I am proud they did as well as they did. Some of these boys don't leave the couch unless they are changing video game consoles. So it was easy being careful and slow around the rocks. I am icing the foot right now. It actually feels better with shoes on than without as I suspect the padding spreads the weight around better.
Today, to be nice to the hurt foot, I ran over to Logan High and did laps around the grass field. 9 of them. How boring. The foot really hurts walking around the house barefoot, but gets better if I wear shoes and even better if I run on grass. It felt really good today while on the grass. Good sign I think. I think it may be a tiny bit better than yesterday, but it is hard to tell. I'm trying to balance fitness loss and letting the foot heal. I plan on riding my bike this afternoon to keep up the aerobic activity.
Foot is getting better, slowly. It was still sore this morning so I stuck to soft surfaces. I ran over to Logan River Golf Course and ran the course a few times. I found the bathroom on the back nine open and calling my name. The foot was getting sore by 6 miles so I finished my loop and headed home. I took it pretty easy as it was dark and I didn't want to fall in any holes or trip on any ropes (a few near misses).
T- 62:03 (8:17) 139
Took Jaxon over to the park on my bike yesterday (he has a seat on the back). It felt good. My bike has tire issues though and needs some work. I rode the whole way home on 10-15psi. Over 2 miles but I will count .5 of cross training as I got a long break half way though it.
I am a huge fan of The Office
Here is a link to the Episodes (only 1 so far this season) you can watch online
Met up with Paul and Dan at Dan's house. We ran up to the Deer Fence trail from millville canyon over to dry canyon and back. Not a very easy trail with too many hills. We took it easy which was nice for my foot. It still hurts and doesn't seem to be getting better lately. Hopefully tomorrow's day off will help it.
Today's run was completed just in time for the rain to start. Perfect timing. Dan loaded us up with fresh raspberries from the garden. Made for a great breakfast!
Today's run concludes Septembers training. I finished it off with 303.5 miles. One of my best months of training ever. Taper time now! No more runs of over 10 miles until the big day! T-minus 7 days
