Today was attempt number two to break 5:00 for a 1600m run on a track. I was curious if marathon specific training would help out my all-out speed/endurance in a mile. The weather was less than ideal, but certainly wasn't going to be the limiting factor. I met up with Paul at the USU track and started some warmup. I was feeling pretty decent for my warmup hitting 6:47 and 6:44 miles. Part of that was running in front on Paul for 100-120 meters or so with a jog back down the homestrech. Paul flew through his first interval and before I knew it, it was time to go. I told him to hit 73 seconds a quarter. He did it perfect for the first one (73.57). I was completely anaerobic by this point and I knew I was in trouble. Lap two was a 74.82. Still an ok split, but I was already dead. Laps 3 and 4 were plain torture. Paul kept having to slow down to let me catch up. I felt like I was in an all out kick, but was still slowing down. Bummer. 77.61 and 78.70. Total Time: 5:04.70 (according to me hitting the button at the right time). I guess that explains why 35 second 200m is as fast as I can go. Oh well, I tried. All I need to do for St. George is 26 6:00 miles not 5:00 miles so I should be fine.
I was going to do a timed 100m all out afterward, but didn't want to get sore and the lactic acid was too heavy and the time would not have been accurate, so I bagged it. Afterward, ran some with Paul and some more by myself around campus to get in 8 miles total.
Met with Jon at the Planet Walk and we ran a few easy miles together. It was awesome weather and I was feeling pretty good. The taper is kicking in now. I am starting to feel like I have more energy and am more tempted to push the pace. My legs are sore from yesterday, but I really only felt it during the couple of strides I did and not at the easier paces.
My plan for St. George is to run with the pack for as long as I feel I can without pushing myself too hard the first few miles. Hopefully, I will feel well enough to stay with them through the half in about 1:17-1:18. If I feel like I should tone it down a bit, I will go thru the half no slower than 1:20-1:21. After that, it is fair game to let loose and go for a 1:16 second half. I figure that worst case goal is 2:40. Better goal is 2:38. Best case goal is 2:35. Anything faster than that, and I will buy everyone an ice cream or something as I will be quite happy.
Landfill Loop in the morning. It was pretty chilly today. 32 degrees. I am starting to feel more and more rested. Gotta love the taper. I ran the 4th mile at MP (5:57). It felt a bit aggressive for MP but I am sure it will feel better on a downhill mile rather than on a flat mile. We'll see.
Easy run in the morning on the Planet Walk via Horseshoe park. I ran into Paul and he joined me for a while. He seems to be doing better. Two days and counting...
St. George Marathon (26.2 Miles) 02:38:47, Place overall: 34, Place in age division: 14
Slow miles
Fast miles
Total Distance
1.00
26.20
27.20
St. George Marathon:
After spending an enjoyable evening chatting with lots of the bloggers
and stuffing my face (thanks so much to Clyde and Mik'l for organizing
and hosting), I joined Matt Harmer and Dustin Ence for a ride up to
Dustin's family cabin near Central. That was a sweet deal. Nice place
to stay, another chance to see the course, and best of all a 10 min
drive to the start rather than an hour bus ride. Thanks again Dustin. I
was too tired to wait up for Bill and Steve who joined us later at the
cabin and fell asleep.
We made it to the start in enough time to
jog easy, hit the port-a-pot, ditch the clothes and go. I looked around
for the "pace group" and found Chad, Ted and Chris. Missing a few but
good enough for me. I hoped to join up with the rest somewhere down the
road. Someone yelled 2 minutes and no more than 20 seconds later
everyone took off. Ok, whatever here we go. It was pretty surreal
running in the dark en masse but I wasn't going to complain. The longer
the sun took to come up, the better the weather. I was loving the
Northern Utah like crisp morning and was excited to see the flags
flapping in the correct direction. Perfect!
The first few miles
were sure nice with Ted, Chad, and Chris doing all the pace setting. I
just tucked in and answered to Ted's roll call every quarter mile. Ted,
that was hilarious, you made me laugh how worried you were about
everyone. It was awesome! That man is sure unselfish. We picked up a
few people here and there including Scott Browning who joined us for a
bit. The first couple miles were slow and comfortable (luckily) and
right were I wanted to be. We picked it up a bit dropping into Veyo,
but it was the correct pace for the grade. I was feeling sub-par
already and Veyo suddenly looked huge. Everyone took it easy going up
the hill and I just tucked in with Ted and hung on. I struggled to get
the legs moving on the 1/4 mile downhill after Veyo hill but managed to
hang on to the back of the pack. I hit the 10 mile mark in exactly one hour, but things started to get pretty rough climbing out of Dammeron Valley.
The boys realized that they needed to pick it up to hit their time goal
for the half (1:18 or so) and I struggled to hang on. Somewhere in
there, they picked up James. About that point, I had to surge a bit to
hang on then recover (drifting back) and surge a bit again to hang on.
That wasn't working so I resigned myself to run the hill my own pace.
It was relentless. I needed a GU or something but didn't have anything
(lesson learned, don't rely on finding that at aid stations). I did a
great job drinking, but I was having a hard time keeping the stomach
settled. I was running with Steve O off an on during this section. He
would pass, I would pass, he would pass. He won the battle...
I
hit the half at 1:19:40 and I still could see the pace group so I was
still hopeful for a miracle to catch them on the downhills. I was
surprised at how much work it was to get a sub 1:20 first half. I was
hammered. Halfway! The hard half...sort-of.
I tried to get the
legs going again. I enjoyed the hill right after the Diamond Valley
turn. Even with that, it still took until mile 15 to drop below 6:00
pace again. But then, I had the 6:00 pace locked in and tried my best
to stay below it mostly succeeding for the next few miles. I was
starting to feel the wall symptoms but before I knew it, I could see
what I was waiting for. No, not the view of the city (that came later)
but a fresh pacer in the form of a good friend (Jon). I was the lucky
recipient of the Jon pace group (round two with Jon being the lucky recipient at TOU for round one).
I am not exactly
sure what mile he popped into my race, but I tucked in next to him and
we cruised along together. He gave me the updates on the happenings
ahead. Paul was in second and was flying. Lots of other people were
doing good, but apparently everyone anywhere near me was almost dead.
He was full of so much propaganda that I was fully expecting to see an
ambulance around the next corner with another victim. "Everyone is
dying, blah blah blah. He also humored me with every corny joke that
he could think of. My favorite (probably the worst joke) was when we
came up on a construction cone and a large display stating the the road
is closed (of course due to the marathon). He told me, "Don't worry, I
spoke with the construction guys and they will let you through no
problem".
I was not too focused on my pace, I was doing my
best to stay close to 6:00 pace, but ran mostly by feel. I am not sure
what mile has that overpass and the hill (19?) but it was tough.
Finally hit the good downhills and let it go as best I could. My legs
were shot, but I was breathing fine. Jon was very good to be my
personal slave. He fetched me water and gatoraide while I focused on
the tangents and nothing else. He was quick to give me targets to go
after. Like Chris and Steve (sorry guys). I would cruise down the
steep parts and once it leveled off, I would end up slowing way down to
6:30 pace. Go!!!! I can still break 2:40. I hit mile 20 in about
2:01 and knew I could do a sub 39 min 10K....barely.
The crowds were awesome through mile 23 and 24. They would
start cheering and Jon would say "This is Cody, cheer for Cody!" and
the crowds would ROAR "GO CODY!" How do you not speed up and smile
when that happens? I waved to my family cheering me on once I hit the
diagonal and that gave me a burst to catch the next guy. It happened
to be Brett, who I met last night (friend of Jeff S). Jon kept me
going and made sure to tell me how bad I wanted this and how much work
I put in to get this far. He should be a motivational speaker. Only
one more person in sight to catch (Walter) and he was basically
in-sight the entire race (hence a good goal person to go after). He was hurting pretty bad and didn't latch
on as we went by. A couple of turns over the last mile and then the
homestretch. We could see the clock all the way down the street and I
know I was sub 2:40. But how about sub 2:39? Jon told me I had better
get moving to beat his time from TOU (which was a goal of mine, of
course). That lit the fire and it was time to kick. Jon's parting
words were "Don't forget to smile crossing the finish line." I thought
about that the entire .2 as I was dying. Make it look good Cody.
Enjoy it. No one will catch you just enjoy it. I was never happier to
be done than at that moment.
I waited around at the finish for a
bit and Logan was the first to congratulate me. It was me who should
have been congratulating him. I quickly asked around to see how the
other bloggers and friends did. I was so happy for Paul and Logan.
They both have worked so hard. There were so many other awesome times
and results I was so happy. Kory came in right after me and I was glad
he was able to break 2:40 as well. I had planned on running with him,
but wasn't able to hook up at the start. Dan had a breakthru race and finally showed a glimpse of his potential. He chopped off about 20 mins off his PR.
Bottom line, Ted and
crew got me through the first half, Jon got me through the last 10.
What an awesome blog! Thinking back, I probably could have gone slower
the first half and had more gas for the second and ran a bit faster.
But, you never know and I ran it exactly how I wanted to (at least the
first half) so I can't complain.
Mile splits and Ave HR for that split:
Mile 1: 6:04 (174) HR was off for the first 2 miles due to cold weather
Mile 2: 6:07 (177) Just hanging out with the crew
Mile 3: 5:51 (175) Getting going now
Mile 4: 5:52 (173) Replays of Drafting in the 5K from The Office last week flashed in my head as I was tucked in drafting.
Mile 5: 5:55 (175) Enjoying the downhills
Mile 6: 5:28 (175) Wow, that was fast
Mile 7: 5:39 (173) Here comes Veyo hill
Mile 8: 6:36 (177) HR climbed to 182 here, ouch
Mile 9: 6:17 (177)
Mile 10: 6:08 (176) I got dropped
Mile 11: 6:26 (178) Not easy
Mile 12: 6:18 (172) HR is dropping but pace isn't
Mile 13: 6:02 (170)
Half: 1:19:40 by the clock on the side of the road.
Mile 14: 6:10 (169) Is it fuel? Why can't I go?
Mile 15: 5:55 (168) Finally!
Mile 16: 5:44 (166)
Mile 17: 6:07 (167)
Mile 18: 6:00 (168)
Mile 19: 6:23 (170) Hill
Mile 20: 6:05 (170) Mile 20 Watch time: 2:01:07
Mile 21: 5:49 (170)
Mile 22: 6:20 (170)
Mile 23: 5:58 (168)
Mile 24: 5:51 (171) Go Cody cheering section!
Mile 25: 6:12 (172)
Mile 26: 6:02 (174)
Mile 26.2 1:05 (180)
Second Half: 1:18:07 (one minute negative split)
Results: 2:38:47 (PR by over 7 minutes, 33 minute PR in one year of training)
Ave Pace 6:03.4
Ave Hr: 172
Chick Score: 1 (there is always a "super-chick" in front of me now-days)
Age group result 14th. (tough age group)
Ran the Planet Walk this morning - easy pace, no watch. I had hopes of flushing all the remaining crud out of my legs. I got about a mile into it and my calves locked up. They were quite sore throughout the rest of the run. Looks like I still have a ways to go to fully recover.
Fence Run with Dan at lunch. It sure is nice to run when the sun is out. The dirt road is in horrible shape. No speed records for a while there. It has been about 8 months since we ran this run. Brought back some memories...
I am going to continue to take it easy until the body says I am ok. I am still far from 100%.
River Trail with Paul. First easy Saturday run in a long time. First easy week really in a long time. I feel I have recovered nicely from the race. Legs are back to normal and the calves feel fine. Next week back to normal training.
AM: Providence - River Heights Loop. My legs felt great and I am finally clearing out the crud in my lungs. Plus 3x20 sec striders. In all a pretty good run for an easy day. This week I need to get my mileage back to 70.
T-56:53 (7:07) 8-miles 158 ave
Lunch: Gossner 5 with Dan. Perfect weather. We got into an intense talk and the pace picked up and we had to slow down before we got carried away. My calves are sore again. I will have to "Stick" them tonight again.
Medium Workout with Paul and Logan. I figure that by training with them, I can get first dibs on autographed Olympic stuff. Or at least some autographed used socks. We'll see.
We did the Logan Loop plus a half mile cool down at the end. We started out with some warmup miles at around 7:10 ave pace. The hard part consisted of 10x2 min at CV pace (goal for me was 5:50 pace) with 1 min rest at 7:30- 8:00 pace. That was followed by 10 striders of 20 seconds. I didn't feel 100% but tried hard to not slack off. Paul and Logan would put about 100 meters (or more) on me each interval and every other one, they would turn around on their recovery min to let me catch up. That gave me a good reference to see if I was slacking. I started out too hard on the first one, but it did have a bit of downhill too.
I went:
1. 5:30 pace (part downhill) 2. 5:57 pace (slight uphill) 3. 6:14 pace (~1% uphill grade) 4. 6:30 pace (more uphill) 5. 5:53 pace (flat) 6. 5:44 pace (flat) 7. 5:50 pace (flat) 8. 5:52 pace (flat) 9. 5:50 pace (slight down) 10. 5:46 pace (slight down ~20 feet over the two mins)
Overall, the workout was tough then add the striders after and my legs were lead. It feel good to get a good effort in though. This should be the start of a good week.
T- 1:19:11 (11.56 miles) (6:50 ave) -168 ave -183 max
AM: 5 miles early on Planet Walk then traveled to SLC for work.
PM: Ran two miles with Beth while I pushed both kids in the lousy stroller (not a jogging stroller). She ran great setting PR's! I dropped her off at the house and ran 3 more on the planet walk at 7:53 ave pace (using the calc tool). 137 ave
Today I had some time to squeeze a run in between 4 and 5:30 (when Beth was meeting the girls for a run). I didn't have as much time as I wanted (due to pesky work issues) so I picked up the pace to maximize use of time. I ran up 1800 N from work to 1600 E (nice climb) at sub 7 ave pace and then picked it up to a Tinman tempo pace for a while. I followed 1600 N to first dam flying down the hill at 5:30 pace. I continued at 6:30 pace on the canyon road down to center street. From there to the house, I just tried to stay around 6:30-6:45 pace. I felt frozen by the time I got home (short sleeves and no gloves just doesn't cut it) from the cold wind.
AM: 8 miles on Providence-River Heights Loop. My body did not want to go at all today. So I listened and took it easy. It was a struggle to not cut the loop short. I think I just needed an easy day to recover. I have pushed it hard this week. I might get out with Bethany later in the day.
Another typical weather day for a run up Green Canyon. I sure do know how to pick the best days to do that run. I was feeling deja-vu running in 20 mph winds, rain and sleet. Just like the pre-Ogden training run with Paul and James. This time around, Jon joined me and I bet loved every minute of it. He is weird like that.
T- 1:45 (easy, so as to not fall on slippery leaves and into the huge puddles) 153 ave
AM: Landfill loop in the cold (25 degrees). I felt pretty good. I am ready for another week of training. I did decide today while driving to work on my scooter that it is too cold to do that. My rule was to only drive it if it is above freezing and now I remember why. Crazy cold windchill.
T- 45:55 (6) (7:39) 152
PM: Gossner 5 with Dan in the afternoon. I was dragging a bit, but managed to survive.
AM: Providence Canyon Road in the dark. I dressed warmer today and it made me too hot. Oh well, it was easy to shed layers as I ran. I was feeling ok this morning, but didn't want to push the pace so it turned into easy miles.
T-59:31 (7:21) 8.1 miles 156 ave
PM: I wasn't invited with the girls out running so I stayed home and watched the kids. Once Beth got home I took Jax in the stroller out to the end of the planet walk and back. We got a flat tire...bummer. The Garmin worked fine for me. It must of been a "user error" problem for the girls.
AM: No time for a Big or Med workout, so it was a small workout. I ran the Providence-River Heights Loop. I started out at 6:48, 6:42, 7:06 then did the rest at tinman tempo pace. I wasn't feeling too spry so it felt closer to half marathon pace effort today. I went 6:15, 6:22, 6:22, 6:10, 6:17. I was able to out lean the 6:30 guy at the tape without even knowing I had passed him.
T-51:59 (6:30) 8 miles 168 ave
Later, I found out that I needed to catch the next flight to Minneapolis, so I spent the rest of the day traveling. I made it to my hotel by 10pm
Early AM in Mendota Heights (Minneapolis) around the hotel. I pretty much just wandered around the streets by my hotel. I was finding lots of bike lanes and huge sidewalks but no trails. That is until about mile 3 then I hit pay-dirt. A great trail that ended up starting about a 1/2 mile from my hotel. I took it for a while then ran out of time. I spent the rest of the day repairing the issues with the two LED billboards that had problems. Problems solved. I made it back to the Hotel at 11 pm.
AM: Still in Minneapolis, but I am catching a flight home at noon. Woke up today and hit the cool trail and feel in love. I ended up following it for 6.5 miles. It is basically a paved bike trail hidden out in the woods. No traffic, very few people, beautiful sights. It was endless. It seemed like it went all the way into the downtown area, but I didn't get that far. I did pass the joining of the Mississippi and the Minnesota rivers along the way. Lots of the trail was on the shores of the Mississippi. Pretty good pace, not hard, but steady. Lots of rolling hills to break it up. I did love the oxygen content at 800' elevation.
Failed Big Workout. Things started out just fine. We ran up Center Street to Dry canyon and along the Deer Fence Trail to Millville canyon. The hills were sufficiently hard. Paul was being nice though, so I was surviving. Somewhere around mile 8 my right knee started hurting. This was not a whining complaint, this hurt. I was hoping that once we hit the pavement and got away from the uneven ground it would improve, but it didn't. It felt like my leg would collapse at any moment. Weird. I ended up getting to the point where my leg would cramp up and pull so much on my knee that I just couldn't hold any kind of a pace. I told Paul to finish and I would make my way home. For a mile or so, I was able to go at 8:00 pace but it got progressively worse until I was doing more walking then running. I am a runner, not a walker so this made me frustrated and bored. I was still 3 miles from home so I did a combination of walk/jog-limp to finally get there.
My hamstrings have been really tight the last 24 hours due to running hard yesterday and then sitting either on planes, in cars, or at airports too much. Maybe that did it. Paul thinks it is my IT band as that is what is the most sore and could be causing the pain in the knee (outside of right knee). Tomorrow is rest anyway, so we will see monday how it is doing. Time to ice and stretch.
T-1:33:00 12.1 miles (7:40) 157 --This includes the slow 10:00 miles but not the walking.
So my leg was feeling better today after icing like crazy and taking it easy all weekend. I got about 100m into the run and I remembered why I was icing. I was able to run at a slow pace without it locking up. The pain was there though. I am icing it again. We will see how tomorrow goes.
So we got our treadmill today! After putting it together, I took it for a spin. Wow, those things are boring. Luckily I hooked up a dvd player and watched an episode of The Office (Season 3) to pass the time. I have a feeling I will be watching every episode over and over to pass the time. I will probably re-watch 24 as well (as that is my second favorite TV show). I don't know if the extra day helped my leg heal or if it is the softer surface of the treadmill, but I hardly felt my knee at all today! I wasn't tempted to cut it short due to pain. I plan on upping the mileage again tomorrow (on the treadmill of course) and track my healing progress. Time to ice
Treadmill running in the morning. Leg felt 80% Enjoyed 2.5 episodes of The Office. Messed around with different speeds. Started at 7 mph and jumped around with the majority of the run at 8.3 mph. Hit 10mph for .25 to see how the leg felt at high speeds. It wasn't any worse off.
