Run Derneld, Run!

Happy New Years!

AM - 13.3 Easy miles on the treadmill with some strides. I'm signed up for a local trail race this weekend on a snowmachine path near Island Park. Not sure I'm mentally/physically ready for that cold though!

PM - 6.8 to double it for the day

Treadmill. Nuff said.

Treadmill. The weather is especially crazy right now. Not sure the road to work will be accessible.

Tried running outside after the gym got clogged with New Year's resolutioners. I bet they'd all be gone if there weren't TVs in the gym.

AM - 1 mile WU + 14 miles at goal marathon pace (8:00/mi) + 1 mile CD. I felt really good this morning. I came home and still had so much energy, even though the rest of the house was still asleep. Got some cleaning done and even had the patience to prepare some steel cut oats. I used a sample drink mix that I got from the Everglades Half. It's called Gnarly nutrition. This was the last one. I really liked it, and I'm sad it costs over 1 dollar/mix. Too bad I'm cheap.

PM - 4.99 miles easy on the treadmill.

AM - 10.26 miles on the treadmill

PM - 4.42 miles on the treadmill

Was pleasantly surprised this morning to find out that work was cancelled. The place I work at is rather isolated (50+ miles from any city over 20k in population) and today was a very icy day. So I got to put in some desired mileage, when I thought I wasn't going to be able to run at all today, since we are going to a family party this evening, which would've been right after work.

AM - 8.25 miles on the treadmill. All easy, except I did the last minute at 6:00/mi, and felt pretty strong. I think I'm getting a little better.

PM - 7.2 miles on the treadmill. All easy, with a couple of strides.

Treadmill after work

Treadmill with my new shoes! (Saucony Guide 8, and so far so good)

It was a battle tonight to get on a treadmill at the gym!

AM - Treadmill at work. 5 miles. Had to get a doctor's note before I could use the gym there, hence the long delay (I've been working there for 7 months now).

PM - Treadmill at apartment gym. 4.59 miles. Pizza night with friends!

2.5 hour run on the treadmill. Brought snacks and a big bottle of sports drink. Did about 1/3 of the 17.5 miles at a 3% incline

Treadmill. Felt really good on 6:00/mi strides today.

5 miles on the treadmill at work.

4.5 miles on the treadmill at the apartment complex gym.

5 miles - treadmill at work

4.5 miles - treadill at apartment complex gym

Treadmill after work

10min level 20 min@3%) 4 times on the treadmill w/ 5min cool down

Squeezed in a couple of hours in the early AM. My wife got 5 teeth pulled yesterday and the 10-month old is sick I think. Not much time for running!

AM - Taking a day off to take care of recovering wife and sick baby. And running more than I would otherwise on a typical Monday :) 10.55 miles

PM - 4.5 miles on the treadmill

AM - Did preprogrammed routes on the treadmill today: Monterrey coast and then Cape Cod. The latter was more difficult than I expected.

PM - 7 miles on the treadmill

Complete rest day. I woke up very sore, a lot more sore than I would've expected. I am guessing it is from increased mileage, so I will just relax a bit.

Treadmill after work

Treadmill at work.

2 hours on the treadmill. 5x1mile @ LT then 7x30second repetitions. Felt really good this morning. A lot better than Wednesday.

5 miles - Treadmill at work

3.6 miles - Treadmill at home

5.55 miles - Treadmill at work. Did 4x1km @ 8.5mph (7:03/mi). Felt really good. Feeling pumped for Canyonlands in March.

4.5 miles - Easy treadmill miles at home. Good recovery.

Treadmill after work

5 miles at work on treadmill

4.5 miles at home on treadmill

Just stuck to an hour on the treadmill this morning. Felt a hotspot coming and didn't want to make a blister before tomorrow's workout. Besides that my daughter did not follow her usual sleep schedule and wanted to play a little longer. Fine by me :)

1 mile WU + 16.83 @ Goal Marathon Pace + 1 mile CD

This was a really good workout for me. I really felt like my extra time invested in easy runs is paying off with some improved endurance. My short term goal is to run a marathon at a sub-8:00/mile pace, and ideally that would be this April at the SLC Marathon. I've only got the Canyonlands Half Marathon before then, so I will basically be planning all my training around the SLC Marathon.

5 miles at work on treadmill

4.5 miles at home on treadmill w/ some strides. They didn't feel too great, probably due to residual soreness from Saturday's workout/fall on the ice.

5 miles at work on treadmill

4.5 miles at home on treadmill

5.6 miles at work: 5x0.8 miles @ threshold pace (8.5mph) w/ 1 minute rests

4.5 miles at home

1 mile at work. Couldn't get on a treadmill, so tried out a strange crescent-shaped self-powered treadmill. It felt nothing like running and was definitely more difficult. Hardest 10 minute mile I've ever run!

4.5 miles at home

5.27 miles - first non-treadmill run this year. 20+ mph headwind didn't matter, it felt so good to run outside.

4.5 miles on the treadmill at home

Ran my typical Rexburg hill loop for the first time since November. This is also the first time I've run outside in Rexburg since November. Did the loop 4 times and felt pretty good except for my ankle joints. I think they're hurting more than usual since I've been a baby by running indoors on the treadmill for so long now. (15.59 miles, 1407', 8:34 avg pace)

5.14 miles at work outside. The Snake River Plain is beautiful in the winter, and the few days that its roads are runnable are very enjoyable indeed!

Nothing in the PM, Ellie didn't want me to go :)

6.08 miles at work - 4 x 1 mile @ LT pace w/ 1min rests. Splits: 7:03.50 7:04.58 6:56.69 6:59.04. Felt really good today, I was calm and focused on good form

4.5 miles at home on treadmill 

5.11 miles at work

4.5 miles at home on treadmill

5 miles at work on treadmill. Seems like the snow might roll back in.

4.5 miles at home on treadmill

6.31 miles in the early AM on treadmill

5.1 miles on treadmill

I was originally planning on doing this workout outside today, but last night's rain, and the fact that I live in Southeast Idaho, kept me indoors today. Better not to risk a bad slip on black ice out far away from civilization (lots of farm roads out here). Considering it was in the 50s this afternoon, it probably was safe so darn!

1 mile warm up, then 15 miles 7:48/mi pace (I set the treadmill at a slightly faster pace, although I suspect it was still easier than doing the real thing, I also did about 2/3 of the workout at a 1% incline to get the 500ish feet elevation gain that I usually get on the planned route. Didn't give myself the luxury of the associated descent.), all followed by a 1 mile cooldown. 

For my last 6 or 7 long runs I've actually been taking regular old clif bars with me, and it works great. I also find it more pleasant than gels, but maybe in a race it's still better to go with the soft stuff. Does anybody have insight to share on this? (I'm not actually sure anybody reads my blog, but no harm in putting the question out there)

5 miles at work on treadmill

4.5 miles at home after work on treadmill

5 miles on treadmill at work. Did some strides at 5:56/mi, and a whole minute at that pace close the end. It was hard, but I was pleased with how natural it felt.

4.5 miles on treadmill at home after work

5x1k @ T-pace w/ 1 minute rests. Splits are 4:33 4:30 4:26 4:35 4:37 4:06 (Last one was a little short)

4.5 miles at treadmill after work at home

5 miles on treadmill at work

4.5 miles on treadmill at home after work

5 miles on treadmill at work

4.5 miles on treadmill at home after work

Bad weather again in Rexburg, but I decided I still wanted to get my long run in. So yes, I did run for three hours straight on the treadmill. In case you're wondering, here are my splits:

I figured I'd try to have a sense of humor about it :)

Nursing a weakened ankle, but I think it is getting better now. Saturday was definitely overtraining, but I think it could've been a lot worse. 4 miles at work, 4.5 at home after work, both on treadmill.

5.28 miles outside at work. It was nice to go outside, but still so cold and windy out in the flat flat desert. 6x30 second strides.

4.5 miles on treadmill at home after work.

Hamster wheel at work (called "The Curve")

4.88 miles outside on the hill. I've been missing that almost daily climb.

90 minutes easy on the treadmill early in the AM

This was a weird morning...

Hopped on the treadmill in the apartment clubhouse around 5am to start a 15 mile marathon pace workout. Did a 1 mile warmup at 8:34/mi and then locked in at 7:42/mi. About 50 minutes in, the building fire alarm started buzzing, so I grudgingly paused my workout. I could've transitioned to my warm clothes faster, but I figured I would check the mail by the clubhouse and maybe the alarm would turn off by then. It took about 7-8 minutes from turning off the treadmill to get out on the road in warm clothes to restart my workout. Outside I maintained a pace around 7:49 very consistently, which I think equates fairly well to 7:42 on the tready, considering also some of the obstacles faced outside. I finished with a 0.2 mile kick at the end, which was exciting and felt really good.    I ended up doing more like 15.6 at marathon pace, but I did get that fire alarm break in the middle. 

The fire alarm was so random. I'm about 99% certain that I was the only person in the building. The building is still there and as far as I can tell the office is open today. I swear I didn't pull the fire alarm...

Also 1.8 mile cooldown at the end

5 miles on the treadmill at work. Felt abnormally sluggish for the pace, not sure why.

4.5 miles at home. My normal easy pace still felt a little too hard...

5 miles easy on the treadmill at work. Felt significantly better than yesterday.

5 miles at work on treadmill. 30+ mph winds outside and still below freezing temperatures. March winds are rolling in!

4.5ish miles outside on the hill. The winds were astounding to say the least.

5.22 miles outside at work. Did a 20 minute tempo, 10 minutes head first into the wind, and 10 minutes with a lovely tail wind.

4.5 miles at home on the hill. Also windy, but it's warm!

Just 9 days until my first race of the year! Canyonlands Half Marathon, here I come. Also, in other news, we bought a house in Idaho Falls and should be moving in sometime in April, so that'll be a busy month.

5 miles at work on treadmill

4.5 miles at home after work on treadmill

15 mile progression run. I stopped about 10 paces from the beginning to retie my shoe, and paused the garmin. I didn't remember to start it again until about 0.4 to 0.5 miles in, so I just manually entered my lap where I knew the first mile would end and autolapped each mile after that. This was my first time trying a progression run, and I found it to be as good of a mental exercise as a physical one. I definitely have some room for improvement in the pacing department. Miles were: 

I really enjoyed pushing myself. It was exciting to feel some fuel left in the tank after 13 miles, and I really tried hard to let it all out in the last 2 miles, with a nearly all-out quarter mile at the end.

5.02 miles at work easy. Beautiful day out in the desert, saw a good number of other folks running.

4.5 miles on treadmill at home. Will do a small workout tomorrow, and then I will just stay warm for Moab this Saturday. Also got the inspection done on our house, and there were no (major) problems! 

5.01 miles at work, outside. Close to the end, I did 12 miles @ LT. Averaged 6:47 during that time. I definitely feel I'm getting better. I'm not sure my training would've changed if I hadn't started participating on FRB, and I'm pretty sure I never would've gotten better if my training hadn't changed. Sure am grateful I found this!

3 miles very easy on part of the hill today.

4.23 outside at work easy

2.27 outside at home after work, also easy. Less than 3 days til Moab.

Easy miles on treadmill. Travel day.

Hiking in Arches National Park. Tried to keep it pretty mild, but I am the only person running a half marathon tomorrow.

The prettiest course I have ever run, even better than the Grand Teton Half that ends at Teton Village north of Jackson, Wyoming. It was also a PR for me, which is something I've been unable to get to since my Huntsville disaster in 2015. 

The day before the race I took my family to Arches National Park to enjoy the scenery. I probably hiked a little too much and stood out in the heat too much as well. We also went to a local diner that only seems to sell deep fried food. I had a veggie burger there and mostly had bagels for the rest of the day. 

I woke up with an uncomfortable stomach and lots of nerves, and the race wasn't going to start until 10am. The starting line was so cold. I opted to bring a hoodie, but no sweatpants (which is half-nice since I forgot to grab my gear bag afterwards), and I was still freezing. I did a half mile warmup about 40 minutes before the start and drank my last sample of UCAN. I stood close to the front with the 1:30 pacer, and the clan formed around him. He told me that in the first mile (the biggest downhill in the race) he would try to run in 6:40. Five minutes after the race started, the pacer and his clan already had 20 to 30 seconds on me. I felt like they were going too fast, and confirmed that when I finished the first mile in exactly 6:40. About halfway through the first mile we ran into the first sunlight from over the cliffs, and the temperature difference was immediately noticeable. I knew that hydration would be very important in this race. With the exception of the first aid station, I grabbed a water at each station, drank half, and poured half on my head. I figured this would work very well in the super dry weather of Moab, and it turned out to be the case. For the first 3 miles I got passed by a few people and passed nobody. I stayed calm and stuck to my personal goal of keeping under 7:10/mi. From miles 6.5-8.5 I took a raspberry clif gel.  During the second half of the race I passed 20-30 people; most of those were in the last 4 miles. With 2 miles to go, I felt really good and I was fairly confident I would be able to PR and also catch a few more people I could see. My last two miles were both under 7. I really tried hard to muster a kick at the end, but I didn't really feel much faster during the last bit.

I think the big change that made this race better was increasing my easy miles. Around Christmas time-ish last year, I tried to really up my weekly mileage and took a few weeks off of workouts, except long runs. After maintaining around 60 miles/week, I slowly started adding some small workouts. It seems to have worked well so far. Looking forward to the Salt Lake City full next month!

I recorded the race as 13.17, which seems consistent with some other race reports on FRB from previous years. Anyways, here are the splits:
 

5.06 miles outside at work. 

4.5 miles at home on the hill.

5 miles easy on treadmill at work. Feeling tired today, and will probably forego my evening run.

5.52 out in the desert

4.99 on the hill. Still enjoying recovery time this week!

Ran at work in the windy windy weather. I felt meh this afternoon (possibly sickness coming on), and just decided to play with Ellie.

Easy running split between a lunch run at work and one at home in the PM

Treadmill workout:

-Warm up at 8:34/mi for 30 minutes.

-Goal marathon pace at 7:42/mi (adjusted for treadmill) for 90 minutes.The last mile was done at 7:30/mi.

-Slowly transitioned into cooldown, going from 7:30/mi down to 8:34/mi over 10 minutes. In total the cooldown was 30 minutes.

Total distance: 18.81 miles, Time: 150 minutes

3.5 miles - on The Curve (dubbed "the hamster wheel")

4.96 miles on the hill this evening after a really nice nap on the bus

5.95 miles easy out in the desert.

4.33 miles on the hill. Pushed Ellie in the stroller, and averaged a 9:30 pace.

5.78 mile workout in the desert. Lactate threshold steps with 1-minute rests in between: 1 km, 1 mile, 10 min, 1 mile. Paces on each, respectively, were 7:01/mi, 7:02/mi, 6:59/mi, 6:53/mi.

4.5 miles easy on the treadmill in the evening

5.39 easy miles during lunch

4.5 easy treadmill miles at home after work

5 easy miles on treadmill during lunch

4.5 easy miles on treadmills just before dinner. Gnocchis!

Did a 3 hour long run this morning. My clif bar froze before I opened it, but it was luckily still pretty easy to gnaw apart. Averaged an 8:19 pace, and felt pretty good! Did a quarter mile cooldown wog.

5.02 miles in the desert during lunch

4.69 miles at home before dinner. Still enjoying the General Conference high! 

Easy lunch miles with some strides.

Had a really good workout during lunch today. 
16 minutes @ LT, 3 minute jog
10 minutes @ LT, 2 minute jog
6 minutes @ LT
Basically maintained a 6:56-57 pace in each of them, except for a fast finish at the end of the last bout. Felt really good, and I feel like training for my target race has been successful thus far. I won't be able to get as many miles in this week with moving shenanigans and travel for a wedding, but it is probably good since last week was my highest mileage week ever (70 miles).

Moderate paced lunch miles. Squeezed between meetings.

Zilch. Traveling to Houston for a wedding.

1 mile warm up. 15 miles at M-pace (7:41/mi). 1 mile cool down. Did this workout on a hotel treadmill in Houston. Even drinking lots of water, I weighed 3 pounds less after the run. I will have to consider how much more I sweat in a warm humid environment should I ever race down here.

Got on the treadmill early in the morning before all the moving that we'll be doing today. Tonight I'll be officially out of Rexburg and in IF!

Easy miles during lunch.

Moderate pace (at lunch time outside)

2nd to last workout before the SLC marathon.
0.5 mile warmup, then 1 mile @ LT, 1 mile @ marathon pace, 1 mile @ LT, 2 miles @ marathon pace, then 0.2 mile kick. Then 0.3 mile cooldown.

The short warmup was a bad idea, as I felt some sketchy discomforts in my hip at various points in the run. The workout went well however, I averaged 7:02 on the LT splits, and 7:40-ish on the marathon splits. There was a lot of variation in those numbers because of a strong head wind. The 0.2 mile kick also felt very good, and I clocked it with a 6:09 pace, better than what I was able to muster in the Canyonlands Half almost four weeks ago, and I felt pretty decent at the end of that race. I'm thinking I'll aim to stick to a 750-7:55 pace during the marathon next weekend. Hopefully that's not too hopeful.

No afternoon workout yet again. Although we are happily moved into our new home, we are unfortunately not yet officially moved out of our apartment.

5.1 miles on the treadmill during lunch

5.41 miles around the new place in IF. First run there, and first double in over a week. 

Went down to the green belt for the easter egg hunt put on by Bill's Bike and Run. Sadly, I did not find any eggs.

Last workout before the big day. Did 3x1mile at 6:55/mi on the treadmill with 2 minute rests. This was also a good final fitness test to see if I'm prepared for my goal. Now let's see if everything holds together!

4.26 easy lunch miles

5.31 easy lunch miles

2.05 miles after work, pushing Ellie in the stroller. Took it very very easy.

Less than 20 minutes jogging today at work. Heading down to SLC tonight.

Shakeout around temple square. Good luck to anybody on here running the SLC marathon tomorrow!

Well I typed out a great entry for this race, and the computer ate it... so I will type until I don't want to anymore.

This race turned out exactly as I hoped it would. We drove down to Salt Lake City and stayed at my grandma's apartment across the street from the LDS Conference Center. Friday activities consisted of: a morning shakeout run, two easy walks around Temple Square and the Church History Museum and then the expo of course. These things were all within two blocks of the apartment, and the rest of the day was spent relaxing. Throughout Friday, I ate about 4 bagels with plum jam, a clif bar, lemon rice, butternut squash soup, pickled beets, and two servings of Quaker oatmeal packets. There might have been more, but I can't remember. On race day morning, I had half a toasted bagel with plum jam and a banana before setting out on a mile walk-jog to the TRAX station. The walk-jog really helped me to wake up without being too much effort. I rode to the start line with a nice guy named Tom who is finishing a marathon in each state (this was #23 or 24). Arrived about an hour before race start. Relaxed for a bit, then did a half-mile warmup and lined up. My goal was to finish this race under 3:30, and so I focused on staying under 8:00/mi with some wiggle room for all the ascents and descents. Got passed a lot in the beginning but stayed calm. I started getting pretty nervous by the halfway point, where I finished in 1:45:11. My legs were gradually feeling heavier, and I was worried if I sped up then I'd end up walking close to the end. Around mile 19, I felt like speeding up was worth the risk, and floated around 7:50 for the rest of the race. I don't think anybody passed me in the race until about 25.5 when I got passed by someone who apparently was trying to quickly use up some energy they had left over. This was a great target to follow for the last 0.7 when my legs were starting to burn. I focused on this speedy one with a maintained gap, and then let out the best marathon kick I have done and passed in the last 0.2. This race was a slight negative split, and a PR by almost 9 minutes! My best time previously was at STG in October, and this race is at least slightly harder than the St George course. Increased weekly mileage has definitely helped. Now for a good recovery phase and transition into training for St George again in October!

Free weights and 16 minutes on the elliptical. Definitely not ready to start running again!

Easy run to recover

Bad stomach day

Just easing back into normal running

Writing this the next day (Saturday) and thinking maybe I ran too hard. Not injured, just uncomfortably sore after a seemingly easy run. Will wait til Monday to hit the road again!

Also did a good strength training circuit when I woke up.

Easy run at lunch and then some strength training before dinner.

Easy miles at lunch today. A lot less sore today from yesterday's strength training than from that on last Friday, so progress.

Mile warmup and thne 7x1minute at mile pace. Averaged around 6:00/mi. It is about 6 hours later and I don't feel quite as good as I usually do that long after a workout. I don't feel bad just a little more tired, such that I really don't want to do a double today. Either it's too early after my marathon, or my workouts are usually too easy (or short because I usually don't have more than 50 minutes for a mid-week workout). 

Easy miles after work

Easy lunch miles

Birthday run. A lot better than last year's birthday run. 

In other news, Kipchoge just ran an unofficial marathon in 2:00:25 on a race track in Italy. Absolutely amazing!

Easy lunch miles with 6x20sec strides w/ 1 minute rests in between

Some strength training after work

6.03 miles - Easy miles at lunch time. Felt very comfortable today around an 8:10 pace, so I think I can say confidently that marathon recovery is complete.

4.08 miles - Easy miles again after work

Easy miles after work. Out to the airport and back.

Easy lunch miles with 2x (6x20 sec strides). Easy, but also fun

Exploring the neighborhoods directly north of downtown SLC. Holy smokes, those are good hills, and those houses are insane.

More fun on the slopes north of SLC. Ran up to Ensign Peak and some other peak next to it. Running in this area is really fun.

6.01 miles - easy running at lunch time

4.12 miles - easy running at home after work

6 miles - easy running at lunch w/ 7x20second strides

Some strength training after work

5.23 miles at marathon pace after work. Was trying to rush it...

6.02 miles at lunch time. The weather has improved significantly from yseterday

4.96 miles after work. Still lots of nearby routes to explore around the new place.

7.04 easy miles at lunch time. Signed up for a 5k tomorrow morning. If it is the correct length, which I'm still not sure if it is, then it'll be my first legitimate 5k race!

4.55 stroller miles. Ellie got bored just in time for dinner to be ready. 

Warm up by running from home to the race start line.

Decided to sign up for one of the several 5ks going on this weekend in the area. There were two almost at the same time at the Snake River Landing, and I lucked out and picked the one with chip timing. It was cool/not cool getting first in this race. There really wasn't anybody to pace myself with, and I probably could've done better with a little more adrenaline. I also don't think this is a legitimate sub-20 5k for me, which is what I was going for. The race distance was probably slightly less than 3 miles. Regardless, I am very impressed with how well organized the event was. I had a good time!

Cooled down in the parking lot after the race. Will try to get some more miles in this afternoon before stake conference.

Did another hour in the afternoon. 7.38 miles. Still a little disappointed in myself for this morning's race. I definitely had it in me to break 20. I need to get down that mental grit to finish strong even if there's nobody right up there with me!

6 easy miles at lunch time

5 easy miles pushing Ellie

6.04 miles at lunch time. Did 2x(2x200,1x400) at repetition pace. Felt good, but I couldn't quite keep 6:00/mi. I wasn't losing form though, so I think I just need to adapt to R-pace workouts.

Strength training after work

6.02 "easy" miles at lunch time. These were 3 miles into a 35-40 mph headwind. I really would have preferred a 5% grade over this. The last 3 were pretty nice, but I still I felt worn out at the end from fighting the wind.

6.01 easy miles at lunch time. Did a strong 0.2 mile practice kick 0.5 miles before the end.

5.06 miles pushing Ellie in the stroller. She has developed some endurance and doesn't start whining at mile 4 anymore :D

10.51 easy miles this morning. Most of it was a peaceful morning, but the last 2.5 miles were an unexpected heavy rainstorm. I was planning on a double in the afternoon, but it wasn't able to fit in the family schedule. Oh well, it's been a good 4-day weekend so far :)

15 miles out in Osgood. Picked it up to threshold pace where I knew two 0.85 mile-ish Strava segments were located. Being out far in the farm lansds where they were there wasn't much competition, so I took advantage! Picked it up to marathon pace for the last mile.

5.4 easy miles in the afternoon. Got to 65 for the week. Back to average mileage from before SLC.

10.7 miles - an out and back loop on Broadway/Hwy 20. Went straight west and turned back. Might do some strength training or a double later. Got some other laborious work to do in the yard today.

2.87 miles - easy miles in the late afternoon. Cut a little short (trying to avoid turning a current hot spot into a blister)

6.43 miles at lunch time - 5x0.85 miles @ threshold pace. Got a little tired on the last one, finished in about 6:06 there (7:10/mi pace)

Strength training before dinner.

6.02 easy miles at lunch time. Perfect weather.

5.01 easy miles pushing Ellie around the neighborhood. Again, absolutely splendid weather.

6.03 miles at lunch time - 9x200meters. Did a 3 mile warm up, but apparently that wasn't enough. My splits improved slightly as time went on. I think the last 200 was probably a little short. I definitely FELT better progressively on each split. I was actually tracking each of them as 0.13 miles on my garmin on a straight road. 50.99, 50.40, 49.47, 48.36, 49.42, 49.82, 48.37, 48.48, 43.6 0

5 easy miles pushing Ellie in the stroller.

6 easy miles at lunch time.

5 easy miles with Ellie in the stroller. She has come to really love my runs, it is fun to see how excited she is for it when I get home.

Did a warm up, then 10 minutes @ LT, 1 minute jog, 10 minutes @ LT. Then went for 60 minutes at a good easy pace. Repeated the workout: 10 min @ LT, 1 min jog, 10 min @ LT. Finished with a cool down. The 4 splits had average paces of: 7:06, 7:05, 7:12, 7:12. I was weaker on the second set, but I've come a long way on this type of workout. I used to really botch the later set. This has been a really good week (for me). About 70 minutes of LT-pace and about 1.2 miles of repetition-pace work. With a recovery this afternoon, I will be getting over 70 miles, which is where I want to keep my weekly mileage around in preparation for STG.

6 easy miles at lunch time. 5 easy miles pushing Ellie this evening.

6.05 miles at lunch time - 6x20 second strides

Strength training after work
 

6.32 miles at lunch time - 3x5minutes at LT with 1 minute jogs. 3x3minutes at VO2max with 2 minute jogs. 2x400meters at mile pace with 3 minute very easy jogs. I was hoping to do three 400s, but apparently 6 miles/50 minutes is not enough time for all of that. This was the hardest I've pushed myself in awhile. It was grueling but also fun to work really hard like that. One month and one day until Bryce Canyon. 

5.01 easy miles with Ellie in the stroller. It was hot today, I was ready to go back inside.

4.91 miles at lunch time. Nothing in the afternoon except a fun date and a big ice cream cone.

90 minutes easy in the early AM. Felt pretty good, except for a weird twinge in my lower back in the last 0.5ish. Hopefully nothing. 10.29 miles

Ran across the neighborhood as a warmup for a test run on a treadmill that someone is selling. I decided to buy it. It's about a year old and looks unused. They are moving on Monday and trying to sell it quick (i.e. for a bargain). Score! 1.82 miles

3.51 easy miles with a few quick bouts to stay fresh for tomorrow's test. 

Treadmill workout/fitness test: 15 miles at marathon pace (7:42/mi) speeding up to LT pace for the last mile. Loving the new treadmill, but I think I'll run outside while the good weather lasts.

Bad weather prevented my lunch run, but I think it was good to take a break because of the mileage I put in this weekend.

Weather was still bad with hail warnings in the evening, so 5 miles on the treadmill.

4.3 easy miles on the treadmill during lunch

5 easy miles on the treadmill before dinner

6 easy miles out in the desert at lunch time. Great weather!

6.04 miles at lunch time: a 20 minute tempo run with 5 strides afterwards. 5.08 easy miles in the evening pushing Ellie in the stroller. I really should invest in a jogging stroller...

Easy windy miles in the desert. Then way too much sugar at a friend's birthday!

Had a really great progression run this morning. Held it pretty steady and kept speeding up, when at first I thought I was going out too fast. 15 mile progression run. Didn't use any fuel during the run. Stayed under 7:40 after about mile 7 and then finished the last mile in 6:58. Did 7.22 miles easy for a weekly mileage topper in the PM.

6.03 easy miles out in the desert. It was pretty warm, but not bad for a light jog.

5 easy miles on the treadmill to try and avoid the sun. Still plenty hot inside.

6.05 easy miles with six 20 second strides a minute apart.

6.03 miles - easy in the desert. Picked up to marathon effort for a mile towards the end and finished the last 0.4ish easy again.

6 miles at lunch time - LT workout: 2.5 miles w/ 3minute rest, 1.5 miles w/ 2 minute rest, 5 minutes

6.35 easy miles at lunch time

3.65 easy miles pushing Ellie in the stroller before dinner. I wanted to make it a little shorter than usual to make sure I could be fully recovered. I also wanted to make it a nice round 10 miles for the day, for no logical reason whatsoever. 

Also, totally crashed with the stroller today on a lifted sidewalk square. Normally I lift up the front wheels slightly to get over it. I set them down right in front of the lip and FLIP! My heart stopped for a second as I saw the stroller upside down, but when I turned it over, Ellie only seemed slightly surprised. Not even a scratch, but I think that's enough motivation for me to get a real jogging stroller.

1 mile warm up, then 15 miles at goal marathon pace, then 1 mile cool down. I was shooting to hold a 7:40 pace and got an average pace of 7:38. Some variance from mile to mile with elevation change and wind direction, but overall the effort was pretty consistent. Feeling really good for Bryce Canyon Half in 2 weeks!

From the time I woke up, I had an uncomfortable twinge in my lower back. I thought it might be from the workout on Saturday, so I decided to take it easy. 3.04 miles at lunch time, 4.90 stroller miles before dinner. Was nice to tune it back a little. 12 days til my next race.
 

Good easy miles at lunch time with some strides. Taking the evening off to have a birthday party for my wife.

2x10 minutes @ LT w/ 2 minute rests, followed by 2x5 minutes @ LT w/ 1 minute rest. Lunch time.
 

6.71 easy miles at lunch time and 5.64 easy miles before dinner with Ellie

Easy miles at lunch time. Got a hot spot on my heel :(

16 miles in the morning. 1 hour easy and then a 1 hour aerobic builder. Keeping it simple and tapering down this week. Trying to balance catering to family that is visiting and also being disciplined in my race preparation.

4 miles hiking around Cress Creek. My little brother gave me a good workout chasing him up the hill side.

Easy miles at lunch time. Taking the rest of the week off from work.

Easy for the most part with 12 minutes at half marathon effort towards the end. Definitely wasn't my day...I'm going to try and take the rest of the week even easier than originally planned.

Ran an easy-ish pace with a focus on 2/2 breathing. I usually run with a 3/2 rhythm on easy and marathon-paced runs and I wanted to feel ready for the half this weekend. Not sure if that makes sense or is actually productive.

9 minute mile peace. Heading down to Utah.

Easy 20 minute roll

Had a really great time running this race. My parents and siblings had been visiting this week. While the rest of them stayed with cousins in Salt Lake, my mom and I drove down and enjoyed the race. This make three mother-son races in the books. The next one will be St George in October, whi ch will also be my mom's first marathon. The race went almost as expected. When the downhill started around mile 3, I tried to hold back on the reins. I didn't train downhill at all in preparation for this, so I wasn't too surprised when my quads were feeling drained as the course leveled out. My plan to take the downhill conservatively was apparently not enough and I really should've driven out to eastern IF for the hills. I didn't completely die though, and I actually caught quite a few people in the last 2 miles. Downed a Clif gel between miles 7 and 9Many of them slowed down to a slow jog in the last stretch. So yeah, this is a tricky race to pace yourself on. I was going to break 90 minutes, and my mom was shooting for under 2 hours. We both got about 2 minutes over our goal. I would definitely do this race again, given I could plan a family vacation around it. Otherwise, it's just a little too far away.

Miles: (1) 7:02, (2) 7:08, (3) 6:29, (4) 6:42, (5) 6:50, (6) 6:58, (7) 6:59, (8) 7:02, (9) 7:20, (10) 7:16, (11) 7:11, (12) 7:29, (13) 7:10. Looking at the splits, I really started to die as the downhill slowly ended around mile 8

Back in SLC for the day. Hiked up to Lake Blanche with my wife and my father. My legs were really sore from Saturday's race, and the hike really helped to loosen up!

Easy miles at work. We got to meet up with an old friend this evening. We all became friends the same time I met my wife. It was great!

Easy miles at work

Easy miles pushing Ellie in the stroller. Quite warm today, but at least it's not San Antonio. I'll be going there for work next week...

Easy miles at lunch and then with Ellie after work. Well...as easy as running in the heat can be.

6.75 easy miles for lunch. 4.37 for dinner. Very nutritious.

Drove out to Ammon and ran up the road towards Bone. I think this is part of the Bone and Back Relay. I came back on a dirt road that comes back on 49th South. I chose to do this to get some downhill training. I hope to be better prepared for STG in October than I was for Bryce Canyon last week.

Got to San Antonio last night. 8.3 easy miles on the treadmill before training started. 4 more before dinner.

1.5 hours easy on the treadmill in the early morning. 6 miles in the PM. This trip is a good bounce back from the last race.

1 mile easy, then 2x(1 mile @ T-pace, 2 miles @ M-pace, 1 mile easy) then 1 mile @ T-pace, 1 mile M-pace. Finished with a 0.9 mile cooldown. This was tough for me. I think holding a good marathon pace after a mile at threshold pace was harder than threshold pace. Feeling accomplished.

90 minutes easy on the treadmill in the early AM. Going running with my mom's running club tonight here in San Antonio...going to be hot and humid.

Easy with a 7:24 mile right in the middle.

Last treadmill run for a while hopefully, phew! 4 mile warm up, 6 miles at 7:24 pace, then 5 minutes at 6:53 pace, then a gradual cool down. Work trips are a great time to get in mileage!

Narrow roads with no shoulder in Beaverton. Got to run by Intel's Aloha campus! That would be a neat place to see inside.

Ran up 185th and did the longer outer loop in the Cooper Mountain Nature Park. There weren't many hills close to my house so I'm really taking advantage of this vacation!

Up 185th, past Cooper Mountain Nature Park, down to Scholls Ferry road, then west and back up 209/Grabhorn. This loop ended up being the perfect length. The only downside is Beaverton's surprising lack of road shoulders. In my mind, it just doesn't make sense with the popularity of biking/running here.

More hills in Beaverton/Aloha!

Easy miles on Beaverton/Aloha hills.

11 moderate miles in Nampa. A nice break from the Beaverton hills, but I am going to miss them soon enough.

Easy pace. 4.45 of that was with Ellie.

6.25 easy with 8 strides at lunch. 3.87 at 7:47/mi before dinner. Ellie was mad for not taking her.

2x1 mile @ threshold w/ 1 minute jogs in between. Then 1x4 minutes @ V02max. Then 1.5 miles holding a 7:40/mi pace, at lunch. 5.04 miles with Ellie before dinner

90 minutes easy on the treadmill in the early AM. Took the day off to watch Ellie so Cheyenne could drive to Rexburg to study and take a test at the testing center. I also had a doctor's appointment for blood testing. Yay for insurance incentives!

Easy miles. 5.02 of that was with Ellie

150 minutes of moderate-paced running. 9 weeks out from the St George Marathon!

6.12 at lunch time, and then 4.92 with Ellie before dinner.

6.2 miles with 6x20 second strides divided by 1 minute easy jogs. No time in the evening. Lots of meetings.

0.5 mile warm up, then 5 miles at marathon pace, immediately followed by 1 mile at T pace ending with a kick. Felt pretty good. 4.37 in the evening with Ellie.

No run at lunch, a potluck instead to say goodbye to the great intern we had this summer. 5.1 in the evening with Ellie.

6.24 at lunch. 4.94 in the evening with Ellie.

60 minutes of easy running, followed by 60 minutes at prospective STG marathon pace (7:35/mile). 1 mile cooldown.

Easy running at lunch and then 5.01 miles with Ellie after work.

6.16 at lunch with 7x20 second strides, divided by 1 minute jogs. 3.4 in the evening with Ellie.

Good workout LT workout today: 16 minutes, 3 minute jog, 10 minutes, 2 minute jog, 1 mile. Didn't look at my watch very much during this workout and just went by what felt like LT to me. I was surprised to see I consistently kept a 6:50 pace, even without a kick at the end of the last split. That is 2-4 seconds faster than I usually do it with more watch-glancing. I may have improved slightly. My goal going into the Pocatello Half is to maintain the same pace that I did in the Bryce Canyon Half (almost exactly 7:00/mi). Heres to hoping! The Pocatello Half is a lot flatter, so I think this is a good goal.

5 with Ellie in the evening.

Easy running at lunch and then in the evening in the Ellie. Evening run went short as we had the elders visiting!

Easy miles at lunch time and then with Ellie in the evening. Long run tomorrow. Still debating whether to attempt doing the run outside or on the treadmill. I'd like to do it outside, but I'm not sure how bad it will be with all the people in town for the eclipse.

18.7 miles in 2.5 hours on the treadmill. This was a steady comfortably paced run. 0.3 mile cooldown afterward.

Went out twice today...the hype about the streets of Idaho Falls being so crowded was DEFINITELY an overstatement.

Easy miles very early in the morning, avoiding the eclipsoids...

Easy miles at lunch and then again with Ellie before dinner.

Did a little more today, at lunch and then in the evening with Ellie, to make up for yesterday. Not sure it was necessary to do extra today, but the break from running yesterday was definitely needed!

My stomach felt kinda weird this morning, but I still did my typical lunch run. After lunch though, I got a terrible stomach ache. My wife had the same thing yesterday (not really sure what caused it). I basically decided to take the weekend off at that point. About ten minutes before work was over, the stomach ache went away completely and I felt fine. After the hour commute home I still felt fine and so took Ellie out for our evening run. I guess I will go running this weekend. It just seems so weird considering how bad I felt for a few hours there.

There was a fire somewhere near the house (I could only smell it, not see it), so I decided to run indoors this morning. 3 mile warmup, then 12 miles at 7:30/mi, then a 2 mile cooldown. This was supposed to be a marathon-paced workout, and it went very well. It feels good to look back at how accomplished I felt when I successfully ran 8 miles in an hour for the first time. It's easy to feel like I'm not progressing when I look at my times from week to week, and even month to month. Year to year seems to be a good time scale for me. On the other hand, running is great whether or not you get better!

Lunch run and then with Ellie before dinner.

Race week workout: 3x1mile at threshold effort w/ 2 minute jogs in between. Splits were 7:00 6:47 6:43. The variance was primarily due to the wind. Knee is feeling uncomfortable afterwards. I hope an easy week does it well before Saturday's race. Either way, my training is still focused on the STG marathon in 5.5 weeks. This weekend's race is a step towards that one in my mind. Easy run with Ellie before dinner.
 

Easy run at lunch time, and then in the evening again with Ellie.

5.24 miles at lunch, and then 4 with Ellie in the evening.

A little over 30 minutes with Ellie in the stroller around 10am. She is a good coach, getting me psyched up for tomorrow's race. 

Left at 5:45am to get to the busses around 6:30am. Relaxed and started reading Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water. I look forward to reading the rest. Sat next to a older couple that is completing a half marathon in every state. This was number 45 for them!

The race successfully started at the time that was planned, and I also want to compliment everything else about this race. It is a very well organized and well sponsored race. 

The race started off with a little downhill and I figured I was probably over doing it when I clocked a 6:43 first mile. I tried to go by feel, which ranged from 7:08 to 7:25 on some miles until mile 9. I figured at that point I might as well try my best to make this race count. There were still two guys ahead of me that I had set my sights on early on in the race. The leader in the 10k race also got right up with me and was a great pacer, running about as fast as I wanted to. I actually suspect that he thought I was another 10k runner, because he DID NOT let me get ahead for awhile. Miles 12 and 13 were 6:28 and 6:24, and the kick at the end was very good. I left the 10k'er with about 1.4 miles to go and didn't look back. It was around that time that I successfully passed the two guys that I had targeted early on. I also got to meet Saige, the only person on FRB that I have met in person. She beat me, and was also first female overall by a long shot.

Mile Splits:
6:43 7:09 7:14 7:26 7:09 6:53 7:14 7:09 7:34 7:05 6:43 6:29 6:24 

10.92 in the early morning around the Snake River Landing area/Greenbelt/Freeman Park. Then took Ellie out in the early afternoon right after lunch for another 5.2 (should not have eaten lunch right before running, it felt gross). 

6.05 easy at lunch. 5.02 easy with Ellie before dinner.

7.03 easy with some short spurts, making sure not to take anything too hard considering it's been 4 days since racing a half marathon. 5.10 with Ellie before dinner.

6.07 at lunch, and 4.36 with Ellie before dinner. Had another sad accident with the stroller on some roadside in need of repair. I am finally going to give in and get a jogging stroller. This cheap Graco stroller has endured almost 200 miles of running already...

6.33 at lunch with 8 strides. Felt really good. Then did another pre-dinner run (5.08) with Ellie.

Exactly three hours of steady running this morning. I really like using this as my peak distance run during marathon training. As long as it still takes me to finish a marathon, I don't think maxing at 2.5 hours gives me quite the endurance conditioning I need. As a benchmark, last time I did this exact workout was for the SLC marathon. I ran 21.6 miles in the same amount of time.

Lunch and then before dinner with Ellie

VO2max workout: 5x1km w/ 3 minutes easy in between sets. WOW! I have always been uncomfortable with VO2max pace. I mean nobody is comfortable with it, but I get nervous that I'm going to go arrythmic with my heart (which is what used to happen to me in gymnastics and in the weight room doing repetitive anaerobic exercise). This went well though. My body is going to be sore, since I never do these kinds of workouts. I guess I'm trying to branch out, and add another dimension to my training to try and improve. Next time I might do 1 or 2 sets less and include some repetitions or LT paced sets. Overall, very happy I did it!

Did 5.1 with Ellie before dinner.

6.52 at lunch at a pretty slow recovery pace and then 3.5 with Ellie before dinner.

6.16 at lunch with 8 strides. Ran on the treadmill instead of with Ellie this evening due to the impressive rain. 8 more strides. Strides were 20 seconds each with 1 minute recoveries.

Easy miles before dinner on the treadmill. Can't wait for better weather.

Good workout on the treadmill this morning.

2 easy miles.

6 marathon pace miles (7:30/mi). At the end I did 0.8 miles @ 2% grade and 0.8 at -2%.

1 easy mile.

6 marathon miles (7:30/mi). 1st mile @ 2%, 2nd @ 2.5%, 3rd @3%, 4th @ -2% and at 8.2mph, 5th @ -2% and 8.4 mph, 6th @ -2% and 8.5mph. For the last 0.2 miles, took away the decline and finished at 6:40/mi for a faster finish. It turns out that the speed limits on the treadmill go down with declines. Oh well.

2 easy miles to cool down.

Easy slow miles at lunch and then with Ellie. Ellie isn't feeling too well, so she got really bundled up. Idaho Falls has also been colder/windier today than in the past few weeks...

Just ran at lunch. Helped a neighbor move in the evening and had lots of other things that needed my attention. Did 8x20sec strides with 1 minute easy jogs in between.

Lunch workout: Warmup outside where it was quite windy, and then to the gym to use the treadmill. Short re-warmup on the treadmill, then 2 sets of 2 miles at lactic threshold with a 2 minute jog in between. The first set was set to 8.9mph (6:44/mi) and felt pretty good, so I did the second one at 9mph (6:40/mi), kicking the last 0.2. I am feeling pretty excited about the upcoming St George marathon! 
3.28 with Ellie in the evening, until she got bored and fussed until I took her home. Did a little more on the treadmill before dinner.

Treadmill at work. Easy pace. Did 0.75 of it at 3% grade.

30 minutes in a new pair of shoes after Ellie went to bed and before Cheyenne got back from pack meeting.

90 minutes in the early morning. Idaho Falls is cold windy and wet right now. 

30 minutes during Ellie's nap on the treadmill.

2 mile warmup.Lactic threshold pace on treadmill: 3x(2 miles @ 6:40/mile with 2 minute jog). An easy mile. Then 8 strides. Then easy running to finish off 2 hours. 16.12 miles total.

No running at work. Too busy.

3.68 with Ellie, then she wanted to go home because of the cold. 2 more miles just before dinner.

6.51 easy miles at work, with 8x20 sec strides, separated by 1 minute jogs, towards the end of the run.

5.06 miles with Ellie in the evening.

7.2 miles at lunch time: One of my last workouts before race day. I did the following back-to-back, 1 mile @ threshold (6:53), 2 miles @ marathon goal (7:26 7:27), 1 mile @ threshold (6:38), 2 miles @ marathon goal (7:23 7:10). The last mile was a little fast because I kicked at the end. I am really excited to see how my performance has improved since last year when I raced in St George. I also know that if I let my excitement get the best of me, I will probably burn out early in the race, so I'll try and stay calm for the next 10 days...

5.15 with Ellie before dinner. Running was really fun today, it just felt so good to be moving.

4.34 towards the end of lunch time (crazy day at work).

5.1 with Ellie before dinner.

Sluggish-feeling day. Tomorrow is another day... 6.09 at lunch, 3.53 with Ellie before dinner

90 minute at moderate pace this morning with 2 sets of 6x20 second strides.

If anybody is reading this who has done the St George Marathon, I am looking for counsel from experienced persons. I've done the race once before, but faded in the last quarter. Any race-specific tips you may have for the race. This is my sixth marathon, but only my second St George Marathon. 

3x(1 mile at 6:48/mi-ish pace w/ 2 minute jog). Did some strides afterward (6.25). Didn't seem like too crazy of a workout, but now I'm more sore than usual. Going to take it pretty easy. Recovery run with Ellie in the evening (3.28)

5.24 miles easy at lunch time.

2.01 miles easy with Ellie before dinner.

4.37 miles on the treadmill at work (nasty weather outside, not worth risking getting sick, which everyone is doing here). Did 1 minute on/1 off/2 on/2 off/3 on/ 3 off/2 on/2 off/1 on/ 1 off at goal marathon pace (7:30/mi). Then a few 20 sec burts @ 6:55/mi, 6:40/mi, 6:18/mi, 6:00/mi. 

2 miles easy with Ellie before dinner. The weather was quite threatening. 

No running today. Busy half day of work before I hurry home and drive down to SLC. Awesome dinner with cousins of chicken and dumplings. Not ideal for 2 nights before a marathon, but my aunt makes undeniable delicious meals. I'm not worried. I still like a good amout of protein two nights before, and this had quite a bit.

Just an easy run while staying at my grandmother's place. Went around temple square, the conference center, and some of the mall too. Feeling ready for tomorrow!

This race went better than expected. I have been feeling pretty awesome about this. The day before the race went pretty well, even with all the shenanigans involved with visiting in-laws that tend to conflict with good race preparation. They involved things like an undisclosed amount homemade caramel popcorn. For dinner we had a big simple salad with the normal iceberg lettuce, but also some spinach mixed in. As I've learned from past marathons, I've found that I haven't yet eaten too much fiber the day before a race. Also had pretty cliche things like several rolls that Cheyenne made for me, and some traditional cut oats (not sure exactly what they are, since they didn't taste like steel-cut oats or rolled oats). The morning started at 3:45am. Prepared myself some more oatmeal, and this time mixed in some grape jelly (I was kind of winging it at this point, just eating something that seemed suitable). Getting to the start line, CLIF had a a booth with gels and mini CLIF bars. I ate one of the bars, a half-banana, and drank a cup of hot chocolate. Then I sat for two hours and shivered. It was definitely colder than last year, which was a good trade-off as the race was also cooler at the end.

My goal was to go under 3:20 in this race. Since there was a 3:15 pacer, I decided that as long as I could keep him in sight, I would be keeping the needed pace. Another easy way to keep track of this was making sure my miles were close to 7:30 each, which is easy math (7:30, 15:00, 22:30, etc.). I found that except for the uphill at Veyo, keeping a 7:30 pace wasn't too bad. I was nervous that I would fade out later at that pace, but that never happened! I finished the first half in a little over 1:39, about as fast as I did the Ogden Half just last year, which was pretty exciting. Back in the SLC marathon in April, I decided to push harder at mile 19. I made the same mental decision at mile 17-18ish in this race, based on how I was feeling. I thought I had a lot left in the tank and I would regret it if I didn't try and empty the tank by the end of the race. The rest of the race was filled with so much energy. I have always held myself to 3/2 breathing in marathons, and around 23.5 I switched to 2/2 and started really hauling. It felt so good to catch a lot of people, but sadly this means I probably could've finished earlier if I kept a steadier faster pace through the beginning of the race as well. I guess I'm still learning to listen to how my body is feeling/learning what my capacity is. The last few miles I was really trying hard to get all my energy out into the race, evidenced by the splits: 7:11 7:04 6:50 6:46 6:39. It felt so good to run into a PR with my wife, daughter, father-in-law, and few other in-laws there to cheer me on. 

Things I think I did well going into this race:
1. Time - I probably averaged 9+ hours of solid running/week (70ish miles)
2. Nutrition - I have been eating a lot of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, and grains. My family has been doing better in general at rarely eating out and trying to get a full spectrum of nutrients. Nutrition during the race also went well. It was gross having a GU stroopwafel and 3 or 4 gels within a 3 hour time frame, but it definitely was good for my endurance.
3. Good rest during race week.

Things I think I can improve for the next race:
1. Workouts - Although I've been adapting them often, I pull a lot of my workouts straight from Jack Daniels' Running Formula. I'm trying to learn about different coaching styles and figure out how to create workouts tailored to my current conditions. Any suggestions on how to get more of this knowledge would be greatly appreciated (that's right, I'm talking to all you hundreds of people who will read this).
2. Better rest throughout training cycle. I typically get about 6 hours of sleep at night, but I ride the bus for an hour to work, and another hour back, so I can usually get close to 8. I also like to read though, and the bus is a good place for that. I just need to balance between sleep and books...
3. Pacing - This problem also exists in my half marathons, but it is becoming more apparent in my full marathons. My last marathon was a 1.5 minute negative split, and this one was a 6.5 minute negative split. I'd like to balance out my pace during the race a little better. 

 

Lunch time (1.98 miles): 20 minutes of walk-running-walking alternation. Felt pretty comfortable. Some easy weights and stretching.

Before dinner with Ellie (1.2 miles): One loop around the neighborhood of the same walk-running-walking alternation.

3.1 very easy miles right after lunch.

2.32 very easy miles with Ellie before dinner.

5.47 easy miles at lunch time. Feeling pretty good. The soreness from this weekend's race is definitely fading.

2.79 with Ellie before dinner. A little further each day... :)

6.3 outside at lunch today. Chilly, but not too bad once I got moving. Feeling 95% recovered from last weekend's race.

4 miles with Ellie before dinner.

2.55 easy at lunch time. Then went inside for the treadmill because the crazy wind/windchill whimped me out. 4.5 more miles at 8min/mi. Felt like a moderate effort, but not bad.

5.1 with Ellie before dinner. Probably too cold for her now.

90 minutes of easy/moderate running on the treadmill. 6x20 sec strides towards the end. Watched the Break2 documentary by National Geographic. Eliud Kipchoge seems like a humble guy. Very inspiring. The documentary was free in the Google Play store, so you may want to check if it still is. The first real snow landed this morning. I had no idea it was going to snow, and it was quite surprising to see it when I got up this morning. 

Rest day. Did a little too much and now I have some minor inflammation in my right achilles. It happened once before, and I ignored the sensation while running and had a bad limp for a few days and a week with no running. I'm hoping that since I caught it early this time I can get back sooner. I won a free entry into the HOWLoween Half Marathon this Saturday which is at the Great Saltair. Hopefully my tendons are all in order so I can get a free race!