step by step, mile by mile

AM - warmed up a couple miles, then tried pacing t-bird for a 3-mile tempo at 6-flat pace. after 800m he was falling off and told me to just go, so i ran another 4 laps for a 8:10, so about a 5:10 mile. that felt really good, and i wanted to hold it for longer, but t-bird was basically jogging and my ankle has been a bit annoyed since yesterday. funny how it originally got upset after running on pavement, then got better, then as soon as i tried running on pavement again it once again flares up. and by funny, i mean it put some merit behind me demonizing pavement and sidewalk running the past couple years. i get that it's doable, and most people on the blog run nearly all on roads(i did too back in my 2015-2017 days on the blog), but i've stuck to soft surfaces since i picked training back up a couple years ago and my legs respond way better to it

anyway like i said t-bird had fallen off, so i stopped after the ~5:10 mile and told him i'm switching up the workout and we'd just finish with 2 x 800 trying to run the second lap faster. i ran 2:20(73, 66) and 2:18(70, 68). the homie killed it and ran 2:50 both times with solid negative splits. wish it had been a more substantive workout, but i definitely got something out of it, and had fun. going into the 800's i was hoping i could do 2:30 going 80, 70 so i was very surprised(my watch charger broke so i had trevor taking my splits, so it was mostly ran on feel) not exactly sure on the mileage but i'm confident i got at least 8

AM - 7 on mormon mural

AM - 13 on mormon mural. no calf sleeve or KT tape the past 24 hours and the ankle felt 100% the entire time, thank heavens. i'm going back down to the south after my best friend's wedding but that still gives me 3 weeks at elevation, and barring something else flaring up i'm gonna try my hardest to get triple-digit mileage for each of those. the 13 felt good, i was out of breath for a while after though. didn't have trouble doing it but i could tell i lost a bit of fitness since the ankle originally got aggravated. gonna really get on top of plyos and weights when i get back to bama so this kind of thing doesn't happen again.

AM - 5. warmed up on the track for a workout, but on the last lap i felt a tweak in my left calf and stretching didn't do much do alleviate it. did a couple hard strides that felt pretty good but i knew the workout was doomed so i drove back to the apartment. after stretching, rolling and icing the calf feels fine again so silver lining, i guess.

AM - 2. jogged to mormon mural and my ankle felt better than yesterday, but still a little irritated. then i saw sage ducote fly by and realized today is the utah valley half, and i told spencer i'd cheer him on so i stretched on the sidewalk for about an hour looking for him. unfortuanetly i haven't seen him in over 5 years, so i'm pretty sure he ran past me without me recognizing him. once the pacer holding up a sign with a certain pace on it(that i won't say in case i'm wrong and he was behind it) passed, i figured he'd have had to pass by at that point, so ran about 2 miles on mural, but my ankle still felt off so i jogged back to the apartment. i did see former blogger and running partner a couple weeks back in chad though, and i cheered for him. nice job, spencer and chad!

also a couple hours later driving down university i saw former(i think) blogger tom slick as well(i could tell because it said the pseudonym on his shirt). shoutout tom too

AM - 5 on mormon mural

PM - 5 on mormon mural after an exhausting shift. felt my calf flare up those last couple minutes

AM - as i set out to run i thought it might be better to play it safe since my calf felt off at the end of yesterday's second run, so i went back and did some squats and lunges to supplement. then after about 45 minutes i said "screw it" and went out anyway to run 7 on missionary. actually felt really good; since my watch charger is broken i've just been setting a timer on my phone for however many miles i want to do at 6:30 pace and run that out, but i'm pretty sure this was closer to 6-flat pace. calf felt good, i think it may be mormon mural as a course that keeps screwing with the wellbeing of my ankles. it's a tragedy because if i drive somewhere for my late evening run there's no way i'll find a parking spot within a mile of the apartment, so i'm kind of forced to run there for my PM runs, at least until my friend's wedding. then i'm fleeing the state like i got a warrant lol

PM - about 4 on mormon mural, probably more. really wish i had a working watch on this one because i was flying. wouldn't have been surprised if it was around 5:45 pace. felt good.

AM - 7 on missionary. wanted to go for 10 but i was pressed for time

PM - 4 on mormon mural. uneventful, aside from it being hot.

AM - 11 on missionary. hips and ankles were very sore waking up, can't explain how but i think the air mattress had something to do with it. i'm homesick for my bed(bedsick)

AM - 11 on missionary. probably gonna be a lot of boring fundemental running the next 6 weeks or so, save some light work next week with trevor. 

AM - 11 on missionary. had to deal with stomach cramps the last 7 miles or so, but i persevered. 

AM - 10 on missionary, 6:16 pace. finally got a working watch charger! i was curious to know the pace i'm running, but more curious to know the elevation gain on missionary considering it's a grass field running on a decent slope. gained(and lost) 700 feet, according to the watch. i normally don't put that much faith in elevation conversions but with that plus all those hills i thought it'd be worth knowing what the equivalent would be for 6-flat pace on one of my bama courses, turns out about 6:24 pace(for a 13-miler, which is what i'm planning on bumping up to starting tomorrow). so if i can keep my missionary runs in the 6:1x pace range, i'd consider it quality aerobic mileage

AM - 4. blew out a tire last night and had to spend most of my free time before a long shift getting it replaced. got a few miles in while they changed it

AM - 10 on missionary, 6:10 pace. wanted to go a few miles longer but really needed a restroom towards the end and there's none available on missionary. i really really really miss sokol(and it's bathrooms)

PM - 4 on mormon mural, 5:49 pace. got impatient and went out while it was still in triple-digit temperatures. last couple steps on mural i felt my left ankle flare up to the smallest possible degree that i could notice, but didn't feel it in the last quarter mile from the field back to the apartment so i'm confident it'll be alright; just confirms my theory that mormon mural is cidium for the ankles, at least for me. i'm sure keeping my foot on the gas and running in heat didn't help but i'm confident the course itself was the main factor. i'll say for the two billionth time i'm homesick(or coursesick) for sokol, hilton and mural back home

AM - 10 on missionary, 6:02 pace. great run, felt like i finally figured out how to pace the course. would have gone for 12 but i wanted to play it safe with the ankle, which felt fine. might run tonight, if i do it'll have to be on pavement though, so we'll see

PM - 4 on the riverwalk, 5:56 pace. i'll skip the diatribe about how much i hate hard-surface running, but i'll just say if i ever say i'm considering focusing on road racing just know the real gene is probably lying dead in an unmarked grave

AM - workout with trevor. i did 8 x 400 alternating between pacing trevor for 80 and running it by myself in 70. 200m recovery in about 50 seconds. ran 74, 69, 75, 68, 80, 70, 80, 67. then 4 x 200m pacing trevor for the first 3. ran 32.2, 30.0, 29.2, and 28.6. t-bird pulled even with me on his last one so he probably ran 29-flat, so big shoutout to him because for a 210 lbs basketball player in trainers with no prior sprint training, that's sick. nothing too hard, those last couple fast 400's were a little tough with the short rest though. some of the pachev clan showed up halfway through so shoutout to the blog sensei too. 10 total

AM - 10 on missionary, 6:04 pace. felt tired from yesterday, but my cadence didn't get the memo. last mile in 5:47, which i think is the first sub-5:50 i've dropped on this course. might get a PM run in if i can get t-bird to save me a spot on the street so i can drive up to missionary again and not have to park 3 miles away when i get back. reason 2081 i miss bama: i had a lot i could park in without getting a ticket!

AM - 7 miles easy on missionary, then met with trevor at the track and ran his warmup with him for another mile. 8 x 100m strides in trainers after that, first 4 trying to accelerate the first 30m, hit full speed the next 40m, then deaccelerating the last 30m. last 4 i mostly just ran hard throughout. timed those in 13.2, 13.7, 13.2, 13.0. jogged on the turf for 10

AM - 10 on missionary, 6:14 pace. one of those mornings where i just felt lifeless and had no motivation to get out there, luckily i was able to get myself out the door before i actually talked myself out of a run. didn't feel great mentally, but about 100m into the last mile i decided to try and beat my fastest split on missionary from thursday, which i did with a 5:36. felt much better after that.

AM - 10 miles on missionary, 6:05 pace. last mile in 5:26; probably leaving provo next week with that as my fastest split on the course. i'd wager that same effort would have given me a high 5:0x mile at sea level on a better route. it's funny; i'm feeling the same sense of eagerness about leaving utah that i was 5 weeks ago as i was heading here. maybe moreso

AM - 10 on missionary, 6:15 pace, yadda yadda yadda

AM - 10 on missionary. was actually gonna go a few miles longer, but some security guard came out talking about how it was private property and i couldn't run here. dude was like 7 inches shorter and a couple years younger than me, so i started to bust his chops about how i've been running here a month and ran by security guards no less than 100 times, but the southern hospitality in me came out so i wished him well and left. luckily i only have 3 more AM runs left in provo and wednesday and friday are gonna be with trevor at the track, so i'll just have to find another course to run on thursday and then i'm gone.

PM - 3 w/ strides

AM - 6 w/ strides, 6:30 pace

PM - 2 mile w/u, 5 x 300m w/ 100m jog rec, 3 min rec, 5 x 200m w/ 200m jog rec. ran 50, 48, 47, 48, 47, then 29, 30, 29, 29, 28. had trev run repeats 1, 3, and 5 with me each set, he balled out. c/d for 7

not really a workout i'd write out for early on in a training cycle, but when i hurt my ankle the first couple weeks up here + never found any running courses i liked, i sort of just resigned to this trip up to utah as nothing more than getting a bit of general fitness before some better training the next 3 weeks in texas, then it's full throttle(hopefully) when i'm back to bama. with all that being said, i just wanted to do a fun fast workout with trevor and that's what it was. yeah, fun, in the same way passing a kidney stone is. 

PM - 4

AM - long warmup, then 2 x 800m w/ 200m jog rec in 2:31 and 2:27, then 8 x 100 with trevor. was going to do a few more 800's, but my left calf felt a little tight from the PM workout on wednesday and i didn't want to risk anything considering i have to work, pack up my stuff, and attend a wedding today before waking up very early tomorrow for a 13-hour drive. 800's felt really easy, splits were even on each and i definitely could have held the pace for mile repeats had i been willing to do something harder today. last run at elevation! hopefully i can get a run in tomorrow at the hotel, i'll get in what i can doing the rest of the drive on sunday, and then it's on to some bigger mileage.

AM - 30 minutes on the elliptical. was too tired last night to work out from a 15-hour drive and was still too tired to actually get my feet off the ground, hence elliptical

PM - 4 miles on hilly backroads, 6:26 pace. legs were lifeless from driving 21 hours this weekend. also ran in the afternoon while the sun was blazing and it was extra humid because it had rained about 30 minutes prior, so any aerobic gains from elevation were negating by nearly dying of heatstroke out there. hopefully it's more forgiving in the morning.

AM - 6 aerobic at 5:56 pace then 1 more easy. humidity hit hard after about 15 minutes and i had to just survive the next 20. could have definitely held that pace for a while if my body wasn't on fire. the southern runner's mantra: survive in the summer to thrive in the fall

PM - 4. was dealing with some nausea this morning

AM - 6 miles, 6:43 pace. felt terrible from yesterday, but i'm sure my next run will feel better than it would've if i skipped this. go habs!