Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

Today was day 2, and it was an easy one. Five miles easy, that is. Because it was such a bitter cold morning, I ran on the treadmill again. From here till sometime in the spring, You can assume that indoors running is the default. to avoid too much monotony for my legs, I threw in some gentle inclines and declines, never more than 2 percent.

I was going to go skiing with Catherine today, but Elliott threw up again last night. Our pediatrician told us to bring her in today if she wasn't any better, so I stayed home with Elliott and Catherine went skiing with her brother. I woke up with a sore throat today, so it may be for the best that I stayed home. 

According to the doctor, Elliott has just come down with two sicknesses in a row. He said she should be better in a day or two, and it looks like he may be right. Elliott is much happier as I write this than she has been in a while. If she can make it through the night without puking, I think we'll have turned the corner.

As for running, today I was supposed to do five 800s with 200m recoveries. Or as close as I can come to that on a treadmill at the gym. But because I'm sick I ran a little slower than I was supposed and a lot shorter. Not good to cut a workout short on day three, but sometimes life happens.

By the way, I went back and deleted yesterday's miles. I had forgotten until today, but this year I won't be tracking miles. I think distance is a good metric, but it's not the most important one. And when you're always counting miles, it's hard not to let the count get in the way of more important considerations. Or maybe that's just my way I've hiding my low mileage :)

The days not over yet, but I'm sure enough that I won't be running to go ahead and post. I've been coming down with what Elliott had for a couple of days, and today it hit in full force. Mercifully, the sore throat and deep lung cough are gone. But my head hurts and I'm always cold and I feel weak and wobbly every time I stand up and walk around. I can't imagine running tonight, so I won't. Who cares about consistency for consistency's sake?

It's discouraging to be missing days so early into my plan. But sometimes it's just a bad idea to run. And if this ends up being all I miss, I'll be glad that the down days happened at the beginning of the training cycle rather than disrupting it in the middle. 

And looking on the bright side, I'll probably lose a few pounds by the time all of this is over. And I don't even have to pick up an eating disorder to do it.

Last night, when I felt like garbage, my temperature was around 100 degrees. I had a fitful night, tossing and turning and sweating while always feeling too cold, but I woke up feeling a bit better. And although I still do feel a bit better, it turns out my temperature is up to 101 degrees. I still feel perpetually cold, and I get weak and shaky every time I stand up or walk for a prolonged period. I say all of this to justify the fact that I missed another day of running tomorrow. 

I will run tomorrow, even if all I can manage is a one-mile shuffle. 

As promised, I ran today. I even thought I would do the whole 7 miles I had planned. But about a minute into my run I could tell I was still sick, so I called it after a mile. A fitting end to my first week of training. 

I'm more or less back on track today. I was supposed to run my mile repeats this morning at about 6:00/mile, but I quickly realized that that wasn't going to happen, so I slowed them down to about 6:30. I'm still feeling a bit congested and I have the occasional phlegmy cough, but otherwise I feel okay and my run reflected that. I hope to be back up to full speed by next week, if not sooner, but for now I'll be happy to keep completing my workouts a little more slowly.

I was sort of still on track today. But I overslept, and since we were going to be out tonight and there would be no time to run later, I had to make do with what I could. I was supposed to run six easy miles, but instead I ran five and I ran them faster than normal. I can still feel that I'm sick, but I'm getting better. I hope to have this kicked by the start of next week. 

I've heard that it's supposed to warm up sometime this week. I hope that means I get a chance to do my long run outside this weekend. 

My lower legs have been pretty sore for the last few days, which is troubling. I probably shouldn't be out hammering hard until that gets better. But with as bad a start as I've had over the past week and a half, I couldn't bear to miss another workout, so I ignored the pain and ran my 800s as planned. I ended up with a bit of heal striking to reduce the discomfort, and I got through the workout in one piece. For the rest of the week I have nothing but easy miles planned, so I'll take them very easy, then rest on Sunday, and hope things are better on Monday. If they're not, I may have to miss a few more days next week. 

Today was a lot like Tuesday. I was supposed to run six miles easy, but instead I ran five. But unlike on Tuesday, it wasn't because I didn't have time. It was because I didn't have motivation. And also my leg still hurts. 

Another four miles, and I felt a little better than I did the last few nights. That's because my leg didn't hurt as much. That sounds like it could be a good thing, but the reason that my leg didn't hurt was that my leg has gone numb. I noticed a few hours ago that it felt like it had gone to sleep, and it still feels that way. That can't be a good thing, but I don't know what to make of it. 

My leg was still numb today, and I had a headache. I sinus infection, from the feel of it. Plus, we're giving talks at Church tomorrow, which means we had to prepare for those. By the time it came down to it, I just didn't want to run tonight, so I didn't. 

My training is looking pretty dismal so far. 

Today I was back up to full speed and full distance. I ran five one-mile repeats at 6:00 with 400m recoveries. I felt fine, except for my lower leg. Although it hasn't felt sore at all for a couple of days, the pain was back almost immediately when I started running. I think I'll make my easy runs "runs" this week and do them on an elliptical, just to let my leg recover. At least the numbness seems to be gone. Or maybe I've just gotten used to it. 

I decided that if I'm going to make this consistent training thing work, I'm going to have to be okay with sometimes counting cross training. 

My lower legs still hurt, so instead of running six miles today I ran three and then finished the balance on the elliptical. I hate that machine. It's not the activity (which is super boring) as much as it is the machine itself. The stride is too short, which I understand that they can't fix because then it would be too long for almost everyone else. But there's no reason that the machine has to have a bar perfectly placed for me to smack my knees into. That's just poor design. 

That was harder than expected. Today's workout called for eight 800m repeats (5:46) followed immediately by six 400m repeats (5:34) with 200m recoveries. I finished the set completely, and I probably could have done a couple more, but I was ready for it to be over by the end. I think that's a good way to finish a workout. 

My lower leg felt better today. There's still some pain, but I was mostly able to forget it while I ran. I'll start on the treadmill tomorrow, and if anything bothers me I'll finish on the elliptical again. But I'm starting to feel pretty good about my chances of being fully recovered by the weekend. 

Six slow miles on the treadmill, which was about as exciting as it sounds. 

Four easy miles at the end of what's been a pretty solid week, by my current standards. My legs have been feeling pretty sore after the  hard workouts earlier this week, so it was nice to shake them out a bit this morning. Tomorrow I'm supposed to run nine. If I do that it will be my highes mileage week in longer than I care to admit. 

Nine miles at the gym this morning.

I got a late start, so I felt worse than I would have liked to, but the longer I stuck with it the better I felt. It was supposed to be an easy run, but with no TV and no Cardio Cinema and no iPod, the idea of nine steady miles was more than I could bear. Basically I ended up surviving four and a half steady miles. Then I cranked up the speed and finished with a reverse progression run. By the end I was doing nine-minute miles. I figured the only way I could win the mental game today was if I knew things were getting easier.

Anyway, I hit all my workouts this week. Awesome. 

By the time I got to the gym, this workout seemed easier than it did the first time I saw it on my schedule. But by the time I was done it seemed harder. One mile warmup, five miles at "marathon pace" (I won't embarrass myself by stating the pace), then a half mile at 5K pace tacked on immediately after. It was pretty good. And the basic principal that when you run faster the miles go by faster is a real bonus on the treadmill.

I am a little worried that my right knee is starting to hurt, though. I expected it to happen at some point, but if it really is happening now it's a little ridiculous. At the very least it's an indication that I'm not made to be a runner. McDougall my say otherwise, but I'd say most of us aren't born to run. It's been so long that we as a species have had any real need to run that I'm pretty sure many of our running adaptations have found their way out of the gene pool. We may be fatter, but I'll bet we're a lot smarter than prehistoric humans, too.

My patience with the treadmill is starting to wear thin, so Catherine suggested I head to campus and run on the indoor track this evening. I did, and it was a good evening. It smells funny and it's crowded, but it was nice to be able to run and actually go somewhere, even if it was just in circles. I think for the next while I may do all my steady miles on the track and save the treadmill for intervals and tempo. 

Today's workout was relatively short in both time and distance (though more so in distance), but it was still pretty tough. The workout schedule called for .10 mile hill repeats with .10 mile "recoveries" back downhill at marathon pace. But I had no idea how to make that work on a treadmill (even though the gym treadmills go downhill, it takes forever for the machine to move up and down). So instead, I set the treadmill to 12 percent and ran my intervals at 7:00 and walked my recoveries at about 17:00. It was much harder than I thought it would be, and by the end I was having trouble breathing after each interval. So I guess that means it was a good workout. 

Six easy miles at the indoor track. Almost the exact same as Tuesday's run, only in the morning. 

I have a pretty fierce sore throat today. Believe it or not, that means that at least one person in our house has been sick since Christmas day. I figure we're due for a break soon.

Anyway, I still ran. I just plodded along at a 9:00 pace on the treadmill, late at night. Sigh. 

Oh, for shame. The schedule called for nine miles, but I only ran 9. I was on the short indoor track at BYU, and I'm still feeling a bit sick, so I had had it pretty early. I chugged along fora  while, but after 64 laps I was done. The remorse for quitting early hit early and hard. So much so that I may sneak out for another mile or two tonight, just to make things right. Or as right as I can make them after the fact. 

When I woke up, the runny nose, cough, and sore throat--all the good stuff--were still there. I almost decided to skip my run, and I was certain that I wouldn't be able to complete my intervals, at least not at full speed. But as long as I was running I pretty much felt fine, and I was able to complete my entire workout without a hitch. I actually felt better at speed than I did all last week.

Six miles at 6:00 with quarter-mile recoveries in between. All on a treadmill, of course. 

I was supposed to run six easy miles today, so I went to the indoor track to avoid dying of boredom (yes, it is better to run in small circles than it is to run in place). Anyway, we had Elliott's Well Child appointment at 8:00, so I ran a bit faster than I normally would for an "easy" run. Average pace was just under 7:00.

Elliott is now in back down to the 5th percentile for weight, but she's climbed up past the 75th percentile for length. Tall and skinny--we're shocked.

Not as bad a workout as I thought it would be. Five 2-minute repeats at 5:30, with 2-minute recovery intervals, which I ran at 10:00. The whole thing, including s quick warm up and cool down, was over in less than 30 minutes. 

A haiku: 

Six miles today.

Run steady on a treadmill.

So very boring.  

Elliott had a rough night, and after putting her back to bed for the second time at about 3:00am, I couldn't get back to sleep. After trying for a while, I decided to give up and go for an early, early run at the gym. I expect I'll be pretty tired today, but at least tomorrow is the weekend. 

The thing about long, steady runs, even short long runs, is that they're really hard to do on a track or a treadmill. I start to lose my place when I have to run in place for too long, and last week I learned that running in little circles isn't much better. So, today I decided to take advantage of the clear weather and the (finally) clean air and run outside. 

The strange thing is that I think this is the first time I've run outside since we were in LA, which makes this my first outdoors run of 2013.

Anyway, I parked at the BYU OIT on University and ran up the River Trail into the canyon until I hot 5.5 miles, than I turned around and ran back. There were some ice patches on the way up, but not enough to cause a problem, and they were all melted by the time I came back. I don't know how often I can run outside during the week, but I'll have to at least do it more often on the weekends.

Today is my 31st birthday, so of course I celebrated by running 31 13/62s of a mile. 

I started with three 3/4-miles repeats at 5:45 with 1/4-mile recoveries. Then I ran a 3-mile block at 6:40. The first part of the workout felt harder than it should have, but it made the second part feel easier. 

Elliott had another one of those nights last night. It's starting to become a pretty regular occurrence around here. Usually I feel okay afterward, but this morning I was super tired. I kept wanting to close my eyes and go to sleep as I was running.

And the running--more steady miles on the indoor track. The ROTC was doing some kind of rn test today, so the track was even more crowded than usual. 

Average pace was just under 7:00.

I ran the hill-repeat workout (on the treadmill) that I did a couple of weeks ago. It still sucks.

I had a late night last night and an early morning today, so I couldn't run in the morning. And then we took Elliott to the aquarium in the afternoon, so I didn't get out to run until tonight. I knew that I was never going to finish seven miles on a treadmill by that point, so I ran outside. It was alright.

Easy miles to finish off the work week. The run was harder than I thought it would be, but only because it was less than 8 hours after yesterday's run. Now all that's between me and another good week is tomorrow's tempo run. Should be a piece of cake if I can run outside. But if a storm hits . . .

I wanted to run outside today, but even though the storm seems to have passed us over I decided that today was day for the gym. Everything outside just looked glazed, and since I was doing a tempo run today I didn't want to have to worry about my footing on the river trail.

Because I was running inside, I cut my warmup and my cool down to the minimum--no reason to be on a treadmill longer than necessary. The core of the workout was eight miles at 6:40. It kind of sucked at first, but I settled into it quickly and by the end I would have been fine for many more miles if that's what the workout had called for. 

*Edit: I just realized that my schedule called for a six-mile tempo run, not eight miles. Bonus for me, I guess.

Decent run today: seven 1-mile repeats at 6:00, with quarter-mile recoveries. That probably would have been out of the question a month ago, so I guess that means that I'm making progress. The problem I'm running into now is that my daily runs keep getting longer but I don't have any extra time for them. At some point I'm going to have to say that there's no time to do the full workouts, or that I need to start doing doubles, or that I just need to wake up earlier than I have been. And that will mean that I have to go to bed earlier or sleep less or both. Probably both. 

More steady miles this morning, so I headed to the indoor track at BYU to avoid the monotony of the treadmill. I got there before the doors open at 5:30, so I was able to get a great parking spot and rn my first couple of miles before the crowds started to build. My legs were really stiff this morning, probably from yesterday's mile repeats, and it took me a few miles to settle into a groove. But once I did the run went well enough. 

I think this one was destined to hurt a little regardless, but my sore legs made things a bit worse. I had to double check the instructions a few times before I started, but the basic intervals today went like this: half a mile at 5:40, right into a quarter mile at 5:30, then slowing it down to 6:00 for another mile. I did three sets of these with four minutes of recovery between them. 

Yesterday I was at Costco with Elliott and I let her play in the little cedar playhouse they have on display. Naturally, she had no interest in leaving when it was time to go, so I had to squat down to reach in and get her. When I did my right knee blew up. It's been sore since then, and needless to say I've been worried about it. But because it happened when I wasn't running, I thought it might now cause running problems, so I went ahead and went to the track. 

All was well. So for now I'm just going to take yesterday's incident as a sign that 1) I'm getting old, and 2) that my knees are rotten in general, not just rotten for running. And I'm going to hope that this doesn't turn into something that wrecks my marathon.

Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day, so that should give my knee an extra chance to heal.

Rest day.

Out and back from Provo into Provo Canyon. My legs felt better after a rest day, but it didn't last. By the time I got back the car they were sore and heavy. But other than the fact that it was freezing in the canyon, it was a good run. 

Like I've been saying, I'm afraid that I'm about to start running out of time for the scheduled workouts, even if it is nice to be logging more miles. In a week or two I'll reassess my situation and see if I need to modify the second half of my training plan to fit my time constraints. 

Today's workout was longer than I'm used to on Mondays. After a quick warmup, I ran two miles at 6:00, then slowed down to 6:40 for another six miles, then finished with a half mile at 5:40.

Other than the 15 minutes when there was a smelly guy on the treadmill next to me, it was a good workout.  

I decided to take advantage of the weather and run outside this morning. It was cold, but I was dressed for it better than I was on Saturday. Unfortunately, my legs were super tired and heavy. I was fine, but it wasn't the best run ever.  

Short workout today, but I needed that. I feel like my legs have been falling behind every day, so I hope today's run serves as a shake out so I can have a little spring in my step tomorrow. 

The workout was pretty simple--1.5 miles at 6:00, 0.5 miles at 5:40, 0.25 miles at 5:00. There weren't supposed to be any interruptions, but the treadmill I was on shut down about a mile into it. It's a shame that Gold's Gym doesn't maintain its equipment. When the treadmills were new, they were the best I'd ever used. But already they're starting to lurch and break.  

Eight steady miles on the treadmill. So, so boring. 

This was just a short, easy run at the end of the week before a longer weekend finale. My legs felt fine this morning. No soreness, no stiffness, nothing to complain about. That's fine with me. 

Tomorrow is supposed to be a short(ish) tempo run of only 7 miles. I'm going to have to try to fit that in in the morning because my brother and I are taking an avalanche class at Brighton in the afternoon. We're going to be out all day hiking around and digging snow pits and whatever else avalanche people do. The best part is that there's going to be a blizzard going on, and I'm super excited about that. Seriously. Because there's nothing I love more than being outside for six hours in a row in heavy wind and snow.

I was supposed to run 7 miles of temp today. But I cut it a bit short because I was short on time because I was going to Brighton for an avalanche training course with my brother. I figure the climb up to Twin Lakes Pass makes up for the missing miles. 

I was actually able to catch up a bit on my sleep on Saturday night, so I felt okay this morning even though Elliott had a rough night and woke us up at about 2:30.

The workout was simple. Three 1.5-mile repeats at 6:00, with 0.25 mile recoveries, and a final mile at 5:40 to finish things off. It felt like work, but not too much so. I'm sure I could have kept going for several repeats more if I had had to. 

Steady miles on the indoor track at BYU. For the most part it was as boring as you'd expect. There was some additional excitement when I realized I had forgotten my watch and had to count every lap and every mile. It's harder than it sounds to keep track of eight five-lap miles when you're running in circles with a crowd. 

Twenty minutes of 30 seconds at 5:30, 30 seconds at 8:30. On a treadmill, that means a lot of time with a hand on the controls changing the pace. The workout itself was easier than I expected. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be or not. 

More steady miles, which means I was back at the indoor track. It was less crowded than I'm used to, but that's probably because I'm usually there earlier. 

Rest day!

Today's schedule called for 15 steady miles, and I was lucky enough to score some beautiful weather. I ran on the River Trail, but instead of heading up the canyon, as I have the last few times, I headed down toward the lake. It's just over five miles from our house to the lake, so I had to double back on Center Street all the way to Geneva just to hit my miles. I think the lesson is that from now on my long runs on the trail have to be up the canyon.

My legs felt pretty good, and I can tell I've made some progress this year. Consistency will do that, I guess. I slowed down a bit in the last three miles, but even so I wound up with an average pace just under 7:00.  

One mile at 6:00, followed by seven miles at 6:40. 

I had some treadmill issues today, and my legs felt a little less snappy than usual, but otherwise this was a decent run.

The treadmill issues were particularly annoying. I had to try three before I found one that would 1) start and 2) not lurch and stutter while I ran. And the one I thought would work shut down when I tried to drop the speed from 6:00 to 6:40, so I had to grab my stuff and move to a new machine in the middle of my workout.

Also, I think that the air conditioner was broken, or at least not turned up high enough. Things were getting pretty stuffy in the gym. 

 I had to run late tonight instead of early this morning because I had to stay up late last night to finish some homework for a class that was due at 7:30 this morning. And because I was up so late I decided not to run this morning But I have no energy when I run at night, and after two miles I could tell I was off, so I cut it short and ran 5 miles instead of 8. Oh well.

When I started training for this marathon, one of my goals was to not become a slave to the training schedule. Some days it's better to know when to quit, and today was one of those days. I'll be back at it tomorrow. 

This one was hard.

I ran two sets today: 1.5 miles at 6:00, then 0.5 miles at 5:40, then a final quarter-mile kick at 5:00 before recovering for another quarter mile. 

During the first set I could tell I was still a little off from last night, but I made it through just fine. The recovery was distressingly short, though, and by the time I increased the speed for the first time on my second set I was having trouble breathing. When I kicked it up to 5:00 it felt like there wasn't enough room in my lungs. Fortunately, a quarter mile is pretty quick at that pace, and I didn't have to hang on too long before I could drop the speed down. Way, way down.

Long(ish). Slow. Boring. That's about it. 

Still not feeling as well as I'd like to. I don't feel bad in the sense that I fell sick or injured, only in the sense that my legs feel heavy and slow. I ran a little more slowly than I normally do this morning, but i picked up a bit at the end. My spirits were bolstered by the fact that the ROTC color guard guys were practicing their gun routines while wearing short shorts, cotton t-shirts, dress hats, patent-leather loafers, and white socks. Say what you will about the ROTC, but those guys certainly have style. 

Tempo run today. I decided to step the pace up a bit from what I've been doing, so I ran my 8-mile block at 6:22. It didn't feel easy, but it wasn't hard, either. I hope that means I'm getting into shape.

Anyway, this is the halfway point. I started training ten weeks ago, and Ogden is in ten weeks from now. So far so good.  

Elliott had a rough night (daylight savings it tough on toddlers) and I was up with her, so I skipped the run this morning. I was a little worried because the scheduled run was pretty tough, and I don't usually do well in the evenings. But I planned my day so I would be ready to run at night (which means I ate the right things at the right times) and the workout went without a hitch. 

Seven 1-mile repeats at 5:52 with eighth-mile recoveries at 10:00. Faster than my previous my repeats, with less recovery, too. I think that the fact that it went well means I'm getting stronger.  

Six miles. Late at night. 

I wanted to get off the night schedule, but because I ran so late last night there was no way I would have been ready for an early morning run today. So I went out around 11:00 with Elliott in the jog stroller. It was a little tricky, since I was running intervals, but she loved it so it was worth the hassle. Besides, I've missed my runs with her.

Thirty minutes of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. It wasn't perfect because of the realities of navigating the River Trail with a stroller, but it was close enough that I'll count it as a complete workout,  

This week up until now has left me pretty sore, so I wasn't looking forward to a longer run this morning. That's why I slept in a little bit. Once I got out, things weren't that bad, even though it was a bit colder than I had anticipated. 

Tomorrow is a rest day. I'm looking forward to it.  

Rest day!

This one didn't go as planned. 

 I headed out around 7:30, which seems to be the perfect time to run right now, and headed up the River Trail to Provo Canyon. The plan called for 17 miles, with four miles at goal pace. I decided to throw those in early in the second half of the run, so I wouldn't have to worry about them at the end and so I could practice running hard on a slight decline (I hear there's a bit of that at Ogden). The first three fast miles went fine (6:14, 6:16, 6:04), but a little more than a quarter of the way into the final miles I felt a rumble just below my tummy. I was able to find a relatively discreet spot in the office parks north of Riverwoods, but I was a little rattled because it's been a while since I've had an, ahem, "intestinal malfunction" while running, and because my rhythm had been wrecked. I got back on the trail and jogged the rest of the mile and then ran one more fast mile (5:55) before settling in for a steady cruise back home. 

Unfortunately, the last fast mile gave me a terrible side stitch, which, on top of the earlier incident, killed what was left of my running mojo for the day. So I took a shorter route back home and finished with 16 miles instead of 17. But when I got home Catherine and Elliott were out on their own run with some friends, so I turned right around, and slogged through the last mile in our neighborhood.

So, in the end I did all the running I needed to, just not quite the way I had planned to. On the plus side, the whole run took just a couple minutes over 2 hours, even with all the stops, so I think I'm in reasonable shape, especially compared to where I have been for the last few years. 

Since Saturday, my left foot has been hurting. The pain is on the left side of my arch under the foot. I've been afraid that it's an injury, but I decided to test it out today, anyway. There was some pain as I started, but it went away as I ran. Now that I'm done, it hurts again. Weird. I'll have to keep an eye on it this week, and I may just replace my steady runs with cross training, just to play it safe.

Four 1.5 mile repeats at 5:52 with quarter-mile recoveries at 10:00. Short warm up and even shorter cool down.  

My foot was more sore when I woke up this morning than it was before I ran last night, but it felt much better by the end of the day. Even so, I thought it was best not to run tonight, so I spend the time I would have spent running six miles on the stair stepper. 

The weather isn't nearly as nice today as it was yesterday, but it was still good enough for me to bundle Elliott up and take her for a run with me. We went out onto the River Trail, heading west, where we did 20 minutes at 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. It's harder with a stroller, but it's fun to have Elliott with me. 

Today I had a hard time deciding whether I should actually run or just take another day on the stair machine to make sure my foot has healed. I decided to cross train, mostly because the weather wasn't appealing at either of the times I could go run. That's right--things warm up for a week and already I call a day like today too cold. 

Four miles easy. No pain in my foot. 

I went to the gym later than usual this morning and was surprised to see how crowded it was. Maybe it was because of the snow, but here were so many people that none of the new treadmills were open. Luckily, the old treadmill I ended up on worked fine. It had a little TV, too, so I was able to watch Michigan dismantle VCU as I ran.

Today's workout was 9 miles at my goal marathon pace, which is 6:18 right now. It felt reasonably mellow at first, but for the last couple of miles I just wanted to stop. It definitely raised some doubts as to whether I can do that for 26 miles. Of course, I still have 8 weeks to train. And I'll be better rested for the race. And I'll be running outside rather than in a hot, sweaty gym. So I guess today's run doesn't say much about what I will (or won't) do in May.

In a word, meh.

I just felt off this evening. I was supposed to warm up for a mile before running six miles at goal pace and another two at 10k pace. But after the first fast mile I could tell that wasn't going to happen. I ended up running three miles at goal pace and one at 10k pace. then I dinked around for a bit less than 20 minutes: five minutes hiking on the 30 percent grade, 10 minutes running easy on the flat, and then a half mile at 10k pace.

In the end, it wasn't a great workout, but it wasn't a total waste of time, either. I guess that happens on occasion.

Easy miles.

Today's workout was supposed to be three miles up a gradual hill at goal pace, then back down at goal pace. I figured I would go up at three percent on the treadmill and back down at three percent, because the newer treadmills at the gym go down that far. But the first one I was on shut off suddenly after half a mile, and the next four I tried were broken (sticky and lurching). Way to go with the maintenance, Gold's.

I ended up doing three miles at three percent on an old treadmill, but instead of running down I ran a little bit slower on the flat.

We had In 'n Out for dinner tonight, so I didn't feel great while I was running, if you know what I mean. But my legs did okay.

I didn't have time to run at night today, so I decided to sneak out between classes for nine miles on the Rive Trail. It was a beautiful day, and it was great to be outside running while the sun was out. 

Rest day. 

Well, this was my longest run in who knows how long. I know I ran farther on my birthday last year. I don' think I've gone long since, though, so I guess it's been more than a year. 

Anyways, I didn't get out until past 11:00, because I stayed home while Catherine went running in teh morning, and then my parents (who are in town for the weekend) came by with my sister and our nephew, so I hung around to visit with them and watch the babies play.

Anyway, my schedule called for 19 miles, with 6 at goal pace. I ran 4 at goal pace. It was mostly a good run, except I started to feel off at mile 16 and at mile 17 I imploded. I guess it makes sense, since I ran the whole thing without any water or calories, and I skipped breakfast this morning. You can only go so far without a bonk.

Also, for all you locals, was today a beautiful day or what?  

I think my Monday workouts are starting to feel like the hardest of the week. Today the schedule called for two miles at about 5:50 followed by another seven at about 6:20 with no rest in between. And about a quarter mile into my (short) warmup I could fell that my legs were still sore from Saturday and I thought there was no way I was going to finish the workout. But I took it five minutes at a time, and as my legs loosened up I kept feeling better and I managed to finish. 

On Saturday my foot started to hurt at about 16 miles in exactly the same spot I hurt it on my last long run. (And I hurt it at about 16 miles in my last long run, too.) I wasn't as worried about it because I knew it cleared up last time, and it's already feeling much better. But it is interesting that this keeps happening on long runs, and I'll need to figure out what's going on pretty soon.  

Easy miles on the treadmill. (I'm not tough enough to run in the rain if I don't have to.)

Like I said, my workouts are getting harder. Sometimes I wonder if I can finish them. But I guess it's a good sign if I worry about failing but pull it off anyway. 

The sets today were 0.25 mile at 5:00, 0.5 at 5:36, and 1.5 at 6:00 (no rests in between). I did two sets, walking for 4:00 in between. It sucked, even though it was short.   

Bad news. I was supposed to run 10 miles this morning and I didn't. 

My right foot started to hurt a little last evening for no apparent reason. It sill hurt in the morning, but I didn't think much of it. But a few miles into my run it was apparent that things were getting worse rather than better. So I turned around and limped back home. I'll cross train tomorrow, and I hope to be back up to speed on Saturday. If not, I'll rest a couple more days and see what happens.

I hate missing workouts. But an old coach used to always remind me that there's no single workout that will make or break your training. It's the day in, day out consistency that matters. In that context, this is nothing but a hiccup.

Like I said yesterday, my foot hurt when I tried to run, so I had to cut things short. Tonight I skipped the run altogether and cross trained on the stair stepper instead. It was only supposed to be a short run anyway, so it wasn't too bad--25 minutes watching an old episode of Miami Vice on the treadmill. My foot feels better because of the rest, but it still hurts, so I don't know what to do about tomorrow. I think I'll roll the dice and try to run. If it hurts I'll develop a new plan of attack.

I haven't mentioned this here, but when my foot hurts I usually stop wearing my flip flops and Sanuks to school and wear an old set of New Balance shoes instead, because they're the only shoes I have with anything close to meaningful arch support. That does seem to help. I wonder if I should get a set of running shoes with a little more support for my injury days. I think I may look into that at Runner's Corner. 

I was supposed to run 11 miles at goal pace this morning, but I didn't want to. So I decided to deviate from the plan and go run a trail. Believe it or not, I think that was my first trail run of the year. Weird. 

It went about as well as you would expect, which is to say, not good. I guess I shouldn't be surprised to feel like I have no climbing legs when I haven't climbed anything in months. But I was surprised at how lousy I felt in general. Still, it was nice to be outside and in the mountains. 

My legs were sore yesterday from Saturday's run, and they were even more sore when I woke up today. That's never encouraging before a speed workout. Surprisingly, I made it through all of today's workout without cutting any corners, although I was about ready to tap out on the last set. That means the intensity was about right. 

Forty-nine minutes alternating between five minutes at 6:33 and two minutes at 5:33. Not as bad as it sounds at the beginning, worse at the end. I guess that makes it a good workout.  

Easy miles at the gym. I made a barley vegetable soup for dinner last night. It was pretty high in fiber, so I wasn't a very good treadmill citizen this morning. 

I was worried about tonight's workout. Thirty minutes alternating between 30 seconds at 5:21 and 30 seconds at 6:22. I figured I would be done by 10 minutes, but it turned out to be easier than I thought. Which is not to say it was easy. After 20 minutes I put the treadmill on a 1.5 percent decline. That was to make it easier for me to finish, but I justified it by saying that I need to train on downhills to get ready for Ogden. 

I was supposed to go 10 this morning, but I had to cut it to 9 in the interest of time. I blame the rain. I hate running cold and wet even more than I hate steady miles indoors, so I had to go the gym. Unfortunately, the travel time ate up what would have been available for that last mile. If the sun is out, maybe I'll go add a mile or two with Catherine and Elliott this evening. 

Rest day.

As far as running is concerned, things haven't been going as smoothly over the last week or so. The obvious reason would be that my workouts are getting harder. But more than that I think it's the inherent impracticality of trying to prepare for Ogden while in school. It doesn't really work to deal with the highest volume and intensity of training at the same time you're trying to prepare for finals. The first thing to go is sleep, and when you stop sleeping enough it spills over into the rest of your life pretty quickly. But hey, it's only a couple of weeks, right? 

Anyways, despite having a rest day yesterday, my legs felt tired from the start on today's run. Usually they don't start getting heavy and stiff until well into the last half of the run, but today they were there before mile 7. Maybe way before. I can't really remember. Regardless, I could tell it was not one of my best runs ever.

I had already decided to blow off the marathon-pace finish that my schedule called for, and the sore legs only reinforced that. But as I ran through Nunn's Park, two runners blew by me in the low-6:00s and invited me to jump in. It turned out to be Sasha and Chad Robinson, and as I started running with them I was surprised at how comfortable the faster pace felt, even though I was having a bad day.

(Believe it or not, even though I've been on the blog for more than three years and run on the River Trail many, many times, this was the first time I've met Sasha.)

Anyway, I stuck with Sasha and Chad for about 3.5 miles (I think) before they turned off and headed into Orem. When they left, my motivation to run fast went with them and I settled back into my low 7:00s for the last few miles home.

All in all, it was a decent workout. And it brings me to 50 miles for the week for the first time of the year. (That used to be no big deal at all, but times change.) I'm glad I ran into Sasha and Chad, and the faster miles were good for me. But it also made it painfully clear that at those paces, my legs are the limiter, not my cardiovascular system. I could chat and carry on with no problem. But my legs were stiff and sore and altogether unpleasant to be around. I'm not sure quite how to fix that, other than to run lots and lots of miles for lots and lots of years, which may or may not be practical at this stage in the game.

Fortunately for me, I don't care nearly as much as I used to. I'm just happy to be reasonably fit and on track to run Ogden injury free. Give me the chance to taper for a week or so before the race, and I'm sure my legs will hold up for 26.2 miles.

PS: we've recently gone public with this, so I may as well say it here. Catherine and I are having another baby in October. 

I had a pretty hard workout scheduled for today, but I ended up pulling a pair of almost all-nighters to finish a project for a class. No running today. 

Six easy miles. Not much to say about it. 

I cut is short again. I could blame it on sleep deprivation, school stress, or whatever else, but really when it came down to it I was bored and unmotivated and decided to stop rather than running two more miles on a treadmill. I think that's fair. I also think it's starting to look like a patter, so I need to get my game together. 

Really just not a great week for me. I was supposed to run 9, but I felt like garbage so I stopped early. I was going to finish my miles in the evening, there was just no time, what with finals prep and all. This week can't end soon enough. 

You know it's a bad week when even three miles feel like a chore. 

I had to take two finals today so we could get out of town, and I ended up skipping my run altogether to do it. So really, I just gave up on this week. 

So, last week turned out to be far worse than I expected it to be. Even my easy three mile run on Friday felt forced, and I ended up not having time to run on Saturday, as I had to take two finals and then skip out of town. 

But now we're in LA for a week, so I'll be able to get back on track now. This morning I was supposed to run a 10K or a time trial. but I don't know where you find a 10K on a Monday, and a time trial didn't sound fun at all, so I decided to run a trail instead.

I went over to Deukmejian Park near my parents' home and started up the Mt. Leukins route. It's about a 12 mile round trip, but I just ran uphill for 40 minutes (about 3.5 miles, I think) before turning around and running back down.

I didn't feel great. It turns out that mid-80s temperatures feel VERY hot when you're not used to them, and I felt like I was melting the whole time I was out. Fortunately, it should be a bit cooler at Ogden.  

Nothing more than easy miles this morning. I went to the Rose Bowl with Catherine and ran two laps while she and Elliott went on their own run. I'll be honest--I felt like garbage. But I'll blame that almost entirely on timing. It was later in the day than I usually run, which means I was underfueled and that it was hotter than I'm used to. Also, my legs were a bit sore from the hills yesterday. 

In the afternoon we took Elliott to the beach in Santa Monica. Among other things, we spent about an hour riding cruiser bikes on the boardwalk. Good times.  

I decided again to blow off the scheduled workout and run a trail instead. Actually, it was a more of a fire road, but whatever. I drove across the small valley and ran up the Whiting Woods Motorway to the antennas up on top. It was a nice run, and I felt pretty good, except for the stupid unleashed dog that nipped at my ankles for a quarter mile or so. Also, it was super foggy, so visibility at the top was limited to a couple of hundred feet, which was cool in its own way but not as cool as the view on a clear day. 

Six easy miles this morning. There are very few flat places to run around here, but rather than going all the way back to the Rose Bowl I drove down to CV Park and ran laps on the mellow trails through the oaks. The trail around the park is the course my high school uses when the cross country team hosts meets or races or whatever they call them. Running there makes me wish I had run in high school. But maybe I would have burnt out long ago if I had. In any event, I had a good run today. 

So I departed pretty far from the training schedule today. Instead of running 23 miles on teh road with a fast finish, I ran for three hours on the trails above Draper with a friend who is running the Timp Trail Marathon in a few weeks. The beginning and the end were pretty good, and the views were incredible the whole time. But we spent the biggest chunk of time in the middle bushwhacking and searching for the trail and wading across snow fields, which explains why the average speed was a touch under 3 miles per hour. 

As far as marathon training goes, today's run was probably a 3 out of 10. But it ranked much higher on the adventure scale.

I think I'd be interested in running another 50k this year if I can find a good late-summer option.  

Since I went off schedule again last week, and since I think the plan I'm on starts tapering too soon, I've decided to do last week's scheduled workouts this week. That meant either a 10K race or TT today. To be honest, I didn't exactly do either, because, I can't think of any local Monday morning 10Ks, and with my legs as sore as they are I didn't see my self putting in an honest TT effort. Instead, I chose a target pace and held it. The result was a 10K in just over or just under 36 minutes (I'm not exactly sure because I was on a treadmill and I didn't pay attention to how long my half-mile warmup took). That makes today's workout my unaided 10K PR. Of course, I've only run one other unaided 10K, and that was about a month after I started running. According to the FRB Race Time Predictor, that puts me on pace for about a 2:50 at Ogden. 

Easy miles on the River Trail. My legs felt a bit heavy. 

Today's workout was tough, but not unmanageable. I think it should have felt easier than it did, though. Two sets of 800m at 5K pace, 1600m at 10K pace, and 3200m at marathon pace. Or at least at what I think those paces should be. 

A stiff and sore six miles this morning. I think the soreness was from taking Elliott to the trampoline park last night. 

Also, it was a lot colder than I expected. I wish I had worn gloves.  

Today was going to be a rest day, but a friend talked me into a lunch run down Big Cottonwood. We got a ride up about 7 miles from the office and then ran back down at about a 6:30 average pace. It was a beautiful day, and I think the high-turnover, low-intensity workout was good for me. 

I was planning to go a lot longer today, but I also wasn't planning to run at all yesterday, so I guess it all balances out. 

I ran from our house up to Nunn's Park and then back the way I came. Catherine and Elliott drove up to the River Trail and went for a walk, so it was fun to see them in the middle of my run.

There were a lot of long boarders on the trail this evening. They really annoyed me, for some reason.  

Six reps of half a mile each at 5:50, with four-minute recoveries at 9:30. It was much harder than I expected. I can partly blame it on sore legs from Saturday. But the real culprit is Elliott. She had a rough night last night, which meant I got to have a rough night with her. We ended up watching the Fox and the Hound until a little past 1:00 in the morning. I enjoy the daddy-daughter time, but I would have enjoyed sleep even more :-)

Six easy miles. My legs were stil sore, but  I felt better today than I have in a while. I guess I'm tapering now. Weird.

Somehow I overslept this morning, so I ended up running in the evening. And because rain looked possible, I decided to go to the gym. Given the workout (30 seconds on, 30 off), that complicated things, because it seemed like my hand was always on the speed control. But I made do. 

Easy night miles on the River Trail. Not bad at all. But not anything special, either. 

Rest day.

My schedule called for 8 miles at goal pace today. I decided to run on the River Trail. After a one-mile warmup, I started the goal pace. My first mile was in 5:53—way too fast. My next one was 6:10, which was still too fast, and my third was even worse at 6:05 (I was shooting for the 6:20-6:30 range). I managed to get back on track for my fourth mile in 6:20, but by then I was starting to feel done, so I slowed down. I ended up running the last few miles at around 6:50, which isn't terrible.

And now I'm worried about my ability to pace myself next week. A few miles too hot are harder to recover from than I would have thought. 

Catherine went running with a friend after I got home. She was ready for more when she got back, so we put Elliott in the stroller and ran three more together before calling it a day. 

I ran an 18:00 5K this morning, with a little bit of easy running on each end. 

An easy three miles with Catherine and Elliott on the bike path. It was hotter than we thought it would be. And after the run Elliott had a fever of 103. We took her to the instacare and they diagnosed her with strep. She's got some antibiotics, and she should be as good as new in a few days. The question now is whether I'm going to get it from her before the race. Because I won'r run with strep. Or on antibiotics. 

More miles at the treadmill. I ran a very short warmup and cool-down, with three miles at goal pace in the middle. Right now I'm calling that 6:20, but I think that's optimistic. 

This was my first (and maybe my last) marathon. I'm glad that it's over, and I'm mostly satisfied with my performance. I think I could have done a little better, but I think my time matched my training pretty well. 

What you've probably already heard in every other race report was that the conditions were tough. It was wet and windy the entire day. That means I was constantly cold and everything I was wearing was waterlogged, heavy and chafing. But at least the rain stopped while we were waiting in the staging area.

Even though my friends and I waited for one of the last busses, I still had to wait well over an hour to actually start running. I spent that time standing in a grassy field inhaling campfire smoke and letting me feet gradually soak. So at least my pre-race routine wasn't too far from ordinary.

I started the race with my friend Jared, and I saw Chad at the beginning, but for the most part I ran by myself all day. (Speaking of Chad, I'd like to know how his race went, but unfortunately his blog hasn't been updated for a while. Hint, hint.) 

Once we started, I got off to a quick start. The first mile was about 5:40. I knew that was too fast, so I slowed down, but even so I cruised through the first 7 downhill miles with an average pace in the ball park of 6:05, and I hit the half at about 1:22.

During this time, my position in the field was pretty constant. Some runners passed me, but it seemed like for every one who did, there was another runner ahead of my who blew up and fell behind.

Things started to come apart in the second half of the race. I'll say right now that my legs just aren't used to such a beating. My quads were really starting to burn, and I was having a harder time keeping up my pace and cushioning each step. Even so, I held a pace in the 6:20s around the reservoir.

At mile 16 I passed two riders puking on the side of the road. It made me glad that my stomach felt okay. One of them recovered and passed me a mile or two later. I never saw the other runner again. I wonder if he finished.

Ogden Canyon proved to be my downfall. My legs just couldn't handle the descent at that point, and I started to fade fast. By the time I left the canyon, I was in survival mode and my pace had dropped into the very high sixes.

Just before I left the canyon, I got double-chicked by the first- and second-placed female runners. They were cruising. I, unfortunately, was not.

Catherine and Elliott were cheering for me as I left the canyon, which gave me a psychological boost, but it was short lived. By the time I hit the bike path, I was done. Done like on the final descent at Speedgoat, or on the climb to Snowbird at the Tour of Utah. In other words, it was ugly. 

I settled into a death shuffle. I was actually running just over and just under 8:00 per mile, but it felt much, much slower. And to make matters worse, my GPS is fast by about .01 miles. Which means that every time it ticked off a mile, I knew that I really hadn't gone as far as my watch said. 

But I survived. Two more runners passed me on the bike path, and another guy got me a few hundred yards from the finish (fellow FRBer crhudman, apparently). I was just grateful that there weren't more people chasing.

I finished the race in a bit of a daze. I tried to drink some Sprite an thought I was going to to throw up, so I just sort of stood there trying not to fall over until the people with the finishers' medals saw me and guided in their direction.

I was soaked through, but I didn't know where my drop bag was so I had no clean and dry clothes. Fortunately, Catherine and Elliott were there to take me back to the hotel. After a shower and a change I felt much, much better, although walking still hurts.

And that's pretty much it. I've now run a marathon, and I don't know if I'll do it again. Right now I don't feel the need.  

I finally decided to go out for a short run today. My legs have felt pretty good since yesterday, so I figured I was ready to go. But once I started running I could tell right away that certain joints and muscles are far from recovered. Even so, it was nice to get out and run. 

Just another easy run this morning. I took Elliott with me in the stroller. It's been a while, but I think she still enjoys it. Catherine started with us and we ran together for about a mile and a half until she hit her turnaround. 

Elliott and I continued west along the river trail until we hit a rest area that we often use as a turnaround point. I wish I could be more descriptive about where it is, but I'm honestly not sure where it is, other than that it's somewhere east of the lake and west of Geneva.

I felt pretty good for most of the run, but with about two miles to go I hit a wall. I was surprised because the run had been so short and so easy. But I felt terrible, and I couldn't do anything more than suffer through the last couple of miles. I guess I'm still recovering from Ogden last week.  

For mother's day I got Catherine a city bike to ride around town. This week we got a matching one for me as an early father's day gift. So today, we hitched up the trailer and went for a couple of family rides. In the morning, Catherine and I took Elliott up to Orem and around the mall. In the evening, my brother came with us and we went west on the River Trail, riding the same route that Elliott and I ran on Saturday.

I figure it's time for me to get back to daily runs, so I went out for a few miles this morning. I felt more sore than I expected to, but it turned out that my miles were all in the 6:45 run, so I was also running faster than I thought I was. 

After I ran, we hitched the trailer to my bike and Catherine and I rode with Elliott up to Vivian Park. It was super crowded on the River Trail, but it was still a nice family outing.  

Well, it looks like I've fallen out of the blogging routine now that my race is done. I'll try to make sure that's only a one-week occurrence. 

This week I've mostly limited myself to a series of short, easy road runs. The only exception was today, when I ran out the door and up to Rock Canyon, and then a few miles up the trail. My turnaround was some arbitrary point a bit past the Squaw Peak trailhead.

This evening, I went for a bike ride down to the lake with Catherine and Elliott (who I pulled in the trailer). I guess that counts for something.  

For the most part, I'm starting to feel better. My legs were pretty sore at the start of the week, but they got progressively better as the days went by. And even when I felt bad, I was running fairly quickly--almost all of my miles were sub-7:00 this week. 

Today's run was a different story. I'm not sure if it was the heat or just a bad day, but I felt terrible on my (relatively mellow) climb up the canyon. I think the most obvious explanation is that I've lost my climbing legs while training for a road marathon. Now it's time to reverse that, since I think I'll run Sapper Joe in August.  

One of our cars has been in the shop for a while (I won't mention why), so this morning I decided to ride the Frontunner to work. I got up early and rode my bike to the station, but I didn't count on a real train getting in between me and the loading deck, so I missed my train and ended up having to ride right back home. I guess that counts as exercise, at least. 

In the evening I went out for a three mile run just so I could say I had done something.  

Today was like yesterday, but  at least made it to the bus in the morning. So when I went out for my evening run, I ran back down to the Frontrunner station so I could pick up my bike and ride it back home. 

That's right, another symbolic run. But I think I had a good excuse today. Catherine and I were at the hospital all day so she could have an operation on her heart (everything went wonderfully), and in the evening we were busy with Elliott's birthday (believe it or not, she's already two). Not much time for running left in there. 

I was going to run more tonight. But as I was lacing up my shoes, Elliott woke up screaming for me. So I got her out of the crib and comforted her for a while, which turned into some daddy-daughter Sesame Street time. By the time I got her back to bed it was so late that I decided to just go for another short, short run. I'll try to be better next week. 

I've been on a late night schedule all week, and I decided that the only way to stop that was to go to bed early enough to wake up early the next day. So no run tonight. 

I was going to run up the Canyon like I did last week, but by the time I got into Rock Canyon I could tell that I was feeling terrible. So instead of continuing up, I turned south and ran along the BST to Slate Canyon, then back home by way of the neighborhoods. I'm not sure why I've been feeling so terrible every time I try to run lately. 

Today started off with a huge screwup. I was supposed to pace the Big Cottonwood half marathon this morning, but I didn't set my alarm properly and I overslept. That means that not only did I leave the other pacer hanging, I also took a spot that someone else would have been very happy to take. I feel terrible, and that pretty much set the tone for my morning. 

The worst part is that I was afraid of something like this happening, so I tried to take extra precautions. Since I left my phone on the Frontrunner last week, I had to activate a new phone on Thursday. But the alarm didn't go off on Friday, and I would have overslept if my old flip phone, which I had left downstairs, hadn't gone off instead and managed to reach me all the way up in our room.

With that in mind, last night I decided that I would just use my old phone, which I knew would wake me up, as it had for years and years before I replaced it. What I forgot is that it was set to go off only on Monday through Friday. And the rest is history. 

So I think that pretty much ends my pacing career before it started. If any of the pacing crew is reading this, I am very, very sorry.  

Wow. I really let this go for a while. Although I haven't really posted anything since the Ogden Marathon, that doesn't mean I haven't been running. Although I haven't been running much. I keep feeling more and more like a former athlete than an athlete.

Anyway, I've been wanting to get out and run some trails, but that's been tough. First, I don't have a lot of time these days. Second, I'm really in bad shape for running up hills. I guess spending six months training for a road marathon will do that to your legs.

I've started going out on weekends for runs up Rock Canyon in an attempt to regain some climbing legs. Since I have today off, I thought I'd go out for a run up the canyon this morning, too. It was nice to get out before the sun did, and I felt better than I have in a while. It's still humbling to think about how slow I am now compared to a couple of years ago.

After I got home, I put Elliott in the stroller and went out for a short extra-credit loop around the neighborhood.  

Easy miles on the road before work. Thanks to the commute, I have to be up so early to do this that it kind of kills my motivation. Still, I felt pretty good this morning, and I would have gone farther if I hadn't had to make a stop for "issues," if you know what I mean. 

Four easy miles on the River Trail after work with Elliott. I recently discovered that it's actually a lot better to run at 6:00 pm than at 9:00 am, because even though it's hotter outside, the entire run is in the shade. I don't normally run at 9:00 in the morning, so I guess that comparison is irrelevant. But it is nice to know that evening runs are valid option. I think I'll make that my default. That way, I don't have to wake up as early, and Elliott can come with me, which I think she likes.