Easy 3 miles including 5 strides. Felt pretty good. I am going to SLC today for the night then on to SG on Friday.
This is a comparison of this year and last for the three months leading up to the marathon. (July, Aug, Sept).
2007
2008
Total miles 3 months pre-marathon
922
951
Total miles 6 months pre-marathon
1634
1639
Total miles ytd (Sept 30) pre-marathon
2300
2508
20+ mile runs 3 months pre-marathon
5
4
15+ mile runs 3 months pre-marathon
12
15
20+ mile runs ytd pre-marathon
9
9
15+ mile runs ytd pre-marathon
23
27
Days missed 3 months pre-marathon
0
5
Days missed ytd pre-marathon
0
27
TOU 1/2 marathon time
1:16:00
1:15:54
Best 5K that year
0:17:08
0:17:08
SGM Time
2:38:47
????
So, even though I was plagued with injuries during the summer, I have been able to train slightly better (more volume and more big workouts) than last year. Combine that with course experience and I should PR this year. So my goals for the race are as follows:
St. George Marathon (26.2 Miles) 02:42:04, Place overall: 21, Place in age division: 8
Slow miles
Fast miles
Total Distance
1.00
26.20
27.20
Nasty Weather = slow times but what can you do?
The goals for the race were to PR (2:38:47) and if all went well run a 2:35.
I did about as well as expected for the weather but was dissapointed that my PR effort was not worth a PR time. There, I am done whining...
Dustin, Jon, Bill and I stayed up in Pine Valley the night before which made for a short drive to the starting line. Thanks again Dustin! We could hear the wind whipping all night with rain hitting the windows so we knew we were in for a treat. I started with a garbage bag over my singlet and it kept me pretty warm.
The race started out ok, I was right on pace for the first few miles. We had a pretty decent group that stuck together to help with the wind. I did my best to mooch off the group and get the wind blocked for me. It kind of helped but I got really wet from the guys in front of me for my troubles.
Mile 1: 6:03
Mile 2: 6:13 (up-hill)
Mile 3: 5:58
I was still feeling great at this point. Not sure what to expect with the weather as it was still raining and windy.
Mile 4: 5:54
Mile 5: 6:03
Mile 6: 5:42
Mile 7: 5:45
We were just cruising along together as a group trying to stay relaxed. I got my first bottle here with a Cliff Shot and it was hit the spot. I was heating up here so I ditched the bag, only to have it rain harder.
Mile 8: 6:53 Veyo (first half)
Mile 9: 6:41 Veyo (second half)
Mile 10: 6:35
We were catching up to Jon's group and we became a big pack around here for about a mile. They were really crawling up the hill at dammeron valley. I sat on that pack for a while, and wasn't willing to push the pace yet. Jon took off, and I knew I needed to go with him to hit my time goals, but didn't have enough gas.
Mile 11: 6:52 (not good)
Mile 12: 6:25 (better, but not looking good)
Mile 13: 6:00
During Mile 13, I left Ben and Steve O and ran with James, Walter, Greg, and some other guy for a while. I ended up hitting the half at 1:22:00. 2:20 slower than last year. Not good. I have major work to do to PR. 2:35 is way out of reach. New goal was to PR. It would take a 4:30 negative split to do it. Do-able but probably not today. Gave it a shot though.
Mile 14: 6:12
Mile 15: 5:51
Mile 16: 5:43
Mile 17: 5:55
I was hoping for 5:30-5:40 through 15-17, grrrrr
Mile 18: 5:59
I was on my own as I was dropped by James, Walter, and Greg. Cold, wet, and cramping in the hamstrings.
Mile 19: 6:38 (winchester hill)
Mile 20: 6:17 not sure what my problem was here. Ummm, maybe I was tired or something.
Mile 21: 5:58
Mile 22: 6:25 (legs are shot, hammies are done)
Mile 23: 6:10
Mile 24: 6:05 (saw Bethany and the kids cheering me on in the rain. They looked cold and wet too.)
Mile 25: 6:14 just surviving
Mile 26: 6:17 Am I done?
Mile 26.2 1:17 (5:41 pace) I am too cold and tired to care.....
Second Half = 1:20:03 (1:57 negative split).
Things that went well:
Fueling. My bottles with Cliff shots very helpful
Even pacing
Good time considering the wind/rain (some say 20-30 mph headwind)
Didn't die
Things that went poorly
No PR
Couldn't find that gear to do a 1:16-1:17 second half
Couldn't stay with guys that I am capable of staying with. Lacked the pain threshold/mental war/marathon pain/flght or flight response
I did actually do some running. Amazing. I ran some with Beth and the kids and some by myself. Very easy pace. Legs are still sore. I can do stairs though today.
3 Easy miles in the morning. I could still feel my left hammie and right calf. My right foot was also sore on top. I will have to watch that.... I get a massage tonight though, so I hopefully get the crud worked out of the legs.
Easy 6 miles with Jon on the River Trail. Windy and snowy. Still, not a bad run though. I felt great. No foot twinges! I made it through the "first Saturday after the Marathon injury" scary time for me. Phew.
T- 50:20 (8:23) 148 ave (tad high to fighting a head cold)
Poor Beth was up most of the night worshiping the porcelain god. Not sure if it is a bug or bad food. We'll have to see. I got out early for a run on the Landfill loop. It was foggy and cold. Not fun at all. Threw in 6 strides (20 sec)
So I decided to prolong my racing season for one more race before I go into hibernation for the winter. No, its not going to be a marathon (thank you), but actually a 5K. Yep, a simple, "easy" 5K. I am going to do the First Dam Run 5K on Nov 1st. Flat, Fast, loop course. The goal is to finally break 17 minutes. My PR is 17:08 and I think I can do it. I have decided to cram for the race working on my VO2 Max and see if I can up my pain threshold. Today was day 1 of that mission.
I ran the Providence Hills loop. I wasn't feeling too great, as I am fighting a bug that attacked our house (Lily was the latest victim up barfing last night). The goal was 10x2 mins at CV pace (not quite ready to do VO2Max work so CV fartlek will have to do) with 1 min slow jog rest. My flat CV pace is 5:40, but this course is anything but flat, so I ran more by feel.
Felt better today. Enough to go out and slug through a run and actually feel decent. I was pretty tired by the end. Yep, tired after only a handful of miles. What a slacker I have become. Yeah, yeah, I have been sick and all but still...
Trail run with Jon and Joe ....the plumber. Simon the unicorn didn't come as he was worried about the hunters. We did see a few of them out and they were not happy with us chasing their deer away. We made it out to Ephraim's grave (a famous huge grizzly bear that was shot and killed in the 20's). It turned out to be a great run especially the last part flying down steel canyon. Good stuff.
T-1:47:30 (8:57) 145 (2800 total feet of elevation gain)
I started today off with a 4 mile warmup to test out the foot/legs. Everything felt ok, so I decided to do the workout that was scheduled. My legs were still a bit tight and sore, but the arch pain was gone. So, like I said, I ran 4 mile warmup (7:25 pace) then changed my shoes (put on my new fastwitch flats) and ran over to Logan High track doing some strides on the way. The workout was a ladder of 200,300,400,600,800,600,400,300,200 at a goal pace of 5:20 (dream goal of 5K pace). It was dark and windy, and I ended up running by feel only checking my splits at the end of each segment.
200-:38
300- :56
400-1:17
600- 1:59
800- 2:39 (I was having a real hard time breathing during and after this one, phlem issues)
That is how I feel about the Beirdneau trail in Green Canyon. 8 miles total out and back. ~ 2400 feet of elevation gain. Felt equivalent to 10-11 miles. Luckily we weren't pushing the pace at all. We got done just in time for darkness to set in as well. Phew.
I didn't feel like doing a workout, but I had told myself I would do it no matter what. So, I made it out the door. Crisis averted. I ran to Merlin Olsen park and ran the First Dam Run 5K course (the one I am doing next sat) twice. During the course of the two circuits, I ran 8x2 mins with min rest at 5:40 pace (CV pace). Of course, that was the goal. Things started out ok then took a nose dive, but I was able to finish strong.
Pace for the two min intervals
1- 5:37
2- 5:38
3- 5:41
4- 5:27 (this must have messed me up for the rest)
5- 5:56
6- 6:02
7- 5:53
8- 5:37
I took a mile to recover, then ran 4x30 sec strides and then headed home.
Sweet new trail run up Leatham Hollow (Blacksmith fork Canyon) and beyond today. I ran with Joe, Jon, and Lisa. Hopefully that is not her first and last run with us. Sweet trail with much of it runnable, but still pretty steep. It took us forever to run the whole thing. I recommend checking out Jon's blog entry for the day to see more details and maps and stuff.
Tune-up workout for the 5K this weekend. I started with an easy 4 miles of warmup to the end of the planet walk and back. I quickly changed my shoes and ran over to Logan High track doing 3x20 sec strides on the way. The plan was 10x300m at Daniels Repetition pace (56 seconds) with 1 min recovery. The first 200m of the 300 were ok, then the pain sets in and before you know it, you are done. Repeat 9 more times....
I went: 57, 55, 56, 56, 56, 56, 56, 56, 55, 54
The last few really took some mental battles to get them done. Phew.
T-1:03:15 (7:55) 149 (counting the min recovery in the time).
Wow, who would have thought we could get 5/6 of the Logan running group to all show up at 6 am under their own power. We had Paul, Joe, Ruth, Lisa and myself (only missing Jon (he wasn't really even invited anyway)). It was an easy/chatty pace starting at the cemetery and looping into North Logan. We dropped off Ruth and Joe as they have better things to do and we did a shorter loop to add on. It was sure nice to have company on a morning run!
