Trails!

Big Nasty Workout 

Up at 5, drove to the top of Hollow Road at the mouth of Blacksmithfork Canyon.  Got out of the car and 15mph winds were blasting out of the canyon.  Mixed feelings about that.  Headwind at first, but then tailwind when I would need it.  Sweet!  

Here was the plan.  4 miles warmup (I went about 7:30 pace uphill into the wind).  Then the workout part.  4 miles at MP then 3 min easy, 3 miles at MP then 3 min easy, 2 miles at MP then 3 min easy, then 1 more mile at MP then cooldown.  Goal MP is ~6 min/mile

Set 1	Pace	Terrain
Mile 1	6:21	Up the canyon
Mile 2	6:24	Up the canyon
Mile 3	5:54	Down (opposite of 2)
Mile 4	5:57	Down (opposite of 1)
Set 2
Mile 5	5:59	Down - no wind
Mile 6	5:53	Down - no wind
Mile 7	5:48	Tail wind kicked in
Set 3
Mile 8	5:46	Good wind
Mile 9	5:51	Out of the canyon
Set 4
Mile 10	5:49	Hollow road

For my 3 min rest in-between sets, I turned around and ran back up the canyon to maximize the time in the canyon.  My last set put me just over a mile from the car so it was nice and easy for my cool-down.  I think overall, it went pretty well and was able to simulate SGM pretty well.  The effort was there and once I got into a groove, I was able to keep the pace going pretty well.  The breaks were sure nice though.  Another big workout in the books.

T-1:48:15 (6:46) 158 ave 171 max

AM: Nice and Easy 8 on the Providence - River Heights loop.  Body wanted to go slow, so we went slow.  Not timed

PM: ~5 with Paul and Jon pushing the kids in the stroller.  I didn't wear a watch, but it was pretty slow.  Still trying to get life back in the legs.  Probably won't happen this week.

AM: Providence canyon road route (8) this morning.  It was dark for 90% of the run.  Bummer.  Fall is here.

PM: Planet walk 5 pushing Lily in the stroller followed up with pizza.

Big Workout

4.75 mile warmup @ 7 min pace to USU track.

1-400m in 80 seconds

4x1600m at LT pace (~5:45) with 200m recovery

• 5:43
• 5:42
• 5:41
• 5:38 (with big kick)

2 miles at Tinman Tempo pace on the road

• 5:55 (downhill)
• 6:19 (flat)

Rest of the way home was at  about 7 min pace.   I felt pretty good today until about mile 13 then I felt a big bonk coming on.  I could tell that I had ran out of fuel.  I got all light headed and dizzy, but survived the rest of the run.

T-1:42:25 (6:43) 157 ave 181 max

Providence River Heights loop with Paul in the morning.  Nice and easy pace.  Great to have company on my morning runs.  That hasn't happened in quite some time (not counting Saturdays).

T- 1:03:23 (7:56) 141

Long run with Jon, Paul, and Ruth with Jon's work running group.  They had water and Gatorade/Powerade every 3 miles.  We stopped at most of them.  The route was sweet (Blacksmith Fork Canyon), but the cars were especially frequent today.  Before we started, Jon and I ran ~2 easy miles in the dark.  Jon and I were dropped off at Mile 3 of TOU course and we ran up to the start.  Paul and Ruth started at the top and gave us some "roadkill" to go after.  They held us off pretty good until they waited for us at the first "aid station".  From that point on we ran together down the canyon.  Jon and I ditched them at mile 12 of the course and hit some faster stuff.  I wanted to work on running MP while super tired.  This fit the profile perfectly.  We went 5:49, 5:48, 6:04 (we went up the big hill (1/3 mile long) instead of turning onto hollow road, so this mile included going up it then recovering on the way down).  Then we backed off to Tinman Tempo pace 6:22, 6:16, then practically sprinted to catch Ruth and Paul at the finish.  Overall, it was an excellent run and one that should help the body be ready for the big dance.

T-2:21:10 (20.6 miles) (6:51) 152 ave 183 max (big hill)

T-16:22 (2.15 miles) (7:40) 142 ave - Early run with Jon

** Longest run this year (not counting Ogden Marathon) at the end of my highest mileage week ever including 2 big workouts and a quality long run.  Great week of running!