my makeup may be flaking

I did 4 in the morning then came back and ran 5.5 7 hours later. I think I'm coming around. All is still not right in footsville though. However the pain is getting better not worse.

No problem doing 7 today. I actually ran on streets today instead of the park, so I actually hit some lights. This might have made it easier on my foot despite the longer distance. I noticed that it seems to put more pressure on my toe running on grass. Which seems a little odd, but I think I will avoid that for now. Running up and down hills wasn't a problem though.

Yeah I guess it's looking pretty good. My foot is not better but it is objecting less to me running, even as I increase the mileage. I may just have to keep it a little less than I want for now, though.

No difficulties on this run either. The question is do I push it now of do I just consolidate my position?

Did two runs today, 4 in the morning then 9.4 in the evening.

Went to Claremont and ran a little with my old teammates. I did some 400s with them averaging around 70s, felt pretty good. I did the last one in around 60s.

Kind of a weird meet. I jumped in the 1000loop (not a real 1000) and got 8th I think in 2:24 which was pretty typical for me in college and is probably indicative of 2:05ish 800m speed (yay!). Then I felt really bad afterwards and I had to go throw up.

I didn't really compete well in the 2 mile, the pace felt well within my ability level, but I just wasn't sharp and my legs told me that they could do it just not today. Went through the mile in 4:50, but then just kind of settled in at a slower pace while the race got away from me. I ended up with a 9:50 and didn't feel tired at all. Basically, taking two weeks off and then building back up my mileage right before a race does not produce good times.

Afterwards I ran a 200 and felt pretty fast. The alumni are allowed to cheat and run 8*200 against 4*400 for people actually on the team. I was able to stay with the top 400meter runners for the second half of the lap so maybe I ran 26seconds for 200. Not bad for right after a two mile. My factor X is pretty good.

Felt rather sore so I just did a short run around Claremont.

Yes I know I'm getting a little repetitive here my poor training log. I'm just trying to get some miles into my legs again.

 In the evening I went to the indoor track and did 4miles tempo after a warmup. My speed is there, my endurance is there, but there is a "hole" there. I think that my 3K-10K speed deteriorates pretty fast when I'm out. The pace feels manageable and natural, my legs just start to complain at me, even though I feel like I'm not going that fast. It's weird.

I was planning on running around 22:30, but I did 22:10

My splits were 5:30,5:34,5:24,5:42. So although I went fast, I tailed off at the end, mostly due to the too fast third mile where I raised up my effort to see what would happen. I'm just going to remember this on Saturday and stay in control. Good sign was that one year ago I would have needed 5 minutes rest thrown in there to finish this workout.
 

I've also started being better about strength exercises. Did alot of core work and hib abductors, as well as calf raises, back hypers.

Actually felt quite good today on my run. It's nice to run in the afternoon as I felt good from the get go and I wasn't so cold. I might be able to get back into before the Winter is over! I should put a watch on all my runs though. If only for data collection purposes. My foot didn't bother me except if I landed on the curb funny so that I was putting extra weight on the toe. Man this is taking a long time to heal! 

Just did a relaxed run because I want to run well tomorrow. I suspect it will be snowing during the race tomorrow as it has snowed every morning this week...that will be interesting.

Yep, snowing. I didn't really care as I didn't think a PR was going down today anyway, so I just wanted to race. I noticed I was slipping alot on my warmup when I tried running fast so I switched into my waffles which I wasn't planning on, but it seemed to help alot.

I didn't bother with a watch but I was running with a pack until the very end so it didn't matter. I tucked in behind Jeff McClellan to begin with and the pace didn't feel very fast to me so I went to the front and pushed a little. After the second mile, I just hung out behind Jeff, Seth and Brian Summers. At the turnaround I was at about 17:10 I bet and I lost of bit of time due to my footing. On the way back, the pace slowed noticeably and Brian and Jeff were taking the Brunt of the wind. After 4 miles, Jeff lifted the pace and Brian went out the back. I was feeling very comfortable at this point. Too comfortable and I think my heart rate dropped to about 150. I didn't think this was a problem as I always consider myself to have the best chance against Seth in a kick (yeah I know he's a 4:08 miler, but I'm probably in 4:20 shape). In any case Seth picked it up and dropped me. After a bit they slowed down again and I was coming back to them. My legs felt like to ice blocks however and I was frustrated that I could get no traction. My lest mile was probably barely under 6 and it really didn't feel that tough.

So I'm really not sure what to make of this race. Jeff said he thought I would have gone sub 32:30 today based on my proximity to him. However I think I may have been slowed less than others due to good shoe selection and alot of drafting. Right now it is what it is, a sub 36 10K in the snow and a third pace finish. I'll take it and see how the rest of the winter plays out.

Later on I ran to the SLC running company and had Seth sell me some shoes. I've decided that I kinda like running and being injured sucks so I wanted to get in the right shoes.

First long run in a while. I was trying out my new Adistar Rides. Honestly they made me feel a little bit more "balanced" although there was a little bit of discomfort as I was actually using stabilizer muscles. These muscles have been permanently sore anyway for about three years. I feel like I'm going to be able to run in these shoes.

Did 13.1 miles running a simple extension to my 9.4 mile loops. Down 300E to 2700S then up to 2000E, coming down Sunnyside to Guardsman then running down 500S to 1300E. North to South Temple and down to 700E. At this point I picked it up running the gentle downhill along 700E to Liberty Park then around the Park and home. I wanted to give my nervous system some stimulation in Sasha speak.

AM 9.4 I really need to mix it up a little on these runs, but my mainstay of Grass loops at Sugarhouse park is still snowed in, as are my favorite trails. So I did this loop AGAIN. I tried to time it, but I've gotten out of the habit of stopping my watch so I only noticed that at some point after my run was over I was at 2:45 or something silly.  I just ran as I felt today, which sometimes was quite fast, but sometimes not. I'm still a little uneasy pushing myself really hard because of my foot, but it continues to cooperate. At least I can still run...for now.

PM 5.5 Three loops of Liberty Park, man these new shoes feel really good, or maybe my body is just back into a running groove today. Felt so good and so smooth.

Didn't feel great today. I woke up very dehydrated, but as it was going to be an easy run anyway I didn't bother to hydrate. I ran into good and bad patches during the run, which seems to be a typical reaction to higher mileage for me. With the late night workout routine, I'm not usually feeling to great in the morning. I got real lucky with the weather however, as the snow really started coming down when I was done.

AM 9.4 Didn't hydrate properly again! I also over dressed a little because I didn't let my body warmup before stepping outside. All this could be solved if I could get my butt out of bed faster. I'm so spoilt with my schedule, but I still need to get my going before 8:30! Again I didn't time it, again!

PM Did basically the same as last week. 10 laps of the field house track for warmup, then 4miles at AT pace. On that track at that altitude that appears to be around 5:35 per mile (which just happens to be my half marathon pace at sea level, clearly I can go faster because that track is a nightmare). First mile was 5:37 then I sped it up too much to 5:28, then I went back to 5:36 before closing in 5:29. So once again my final time was 22:10 (5:32.5 per mile), although this was paced more evenly. Then I cooled down with another 10 laps, then did sum strength work. I finished off the workout with two laps of jogging the straights and sprinting the curves, just thinking about form. I feel like I have alot of speed in my legs right now, and frisbee season doesn't start for a little more than a month!

Just felt good today. I didn't push it too hard, but I definitely miled my good feeling. I gotta say, my new shoes feel really good (Adistar Rides sold to me by Seth). Ended up running 57:14 for 9.4 miles (6:05 mile pace).

Just a nice little premeet run. Didn't feel especially good or bad. I just want to give myself a chance to kick tomorrow. I noticed that I was a little conscious of my foot, but it wasn't bad. It seems that the waveriders provide a little less support than the rides, but I have definitely noticed a big improvement in my foot this week nonetheless.

Ridiculous opening note: Striders WRC 10K is HARDER than SLCTC 10K in 4 inches of snow, just saying...

For the second week in the row I met someone new by hitching a ride to the race. This time Walter Brown agreed to drag my ride mooching behind up to Ogden. We met up with Cody and Jon Allen and did a two mile warmup.

The ringer (Trevor Ball) was back. He said he was going to run 5:40 pace or whatever it took to win. We started out kind of slow in a large pack. I knew Trevor was going to beat me and I decided that I wanted to make it an honest effort for myself. I knew that there were alot of strength guys in the race and I didn't want them to be close to me before the hill. I took off on my own half a mile in running 5:29 then 5:05 (big downhill), but I didn't yet have a solid gap. In fact, during the third mile Braden Perry (Kyle's little bro?) took the lead from me briefly. The third mile was 5:27 and I was feeling fine, but I knew the terrain was about to change dramatically. Trevor Ball passed us both in the fourth mile and Jason Schoenfeld followed him. I was willing to let Trevor go but I didn't know who Jason was at this point (see my entry for the Salt Lake Half in August) so I wanted to keep him in sight. I finally dropped Braden at this point (hey at 16 he has great speed, but this 10K requires alot of strength he was a minute closer to me than Garrett Jones was last week, Garrett was 3rd in 5A this year as a Jr, Braden was 20th in 4a as a So...so nice work Braden) and I focused on catching Jason. I got to 4 miles in 21:48, so only a 5:47 4th mile and the real hill hadn't started yet. Jason was strong up the hill and he started to open up the lead. I was sure that I could get to him on the final downhill if I kept it close. I picked it up cresting the hill but so did he. We rounded a corner and I saw the 6 mile mark, I had greatly misjudged the amount of race left! I got on my toes and kicked like mad over the icy parking and probably closed in by a good 7-8 seconds on the last quarter but he eluded me. I was quite annoyed at myself for not working hard enough on the hill, but that's what happens when you don't know the terrain. Next year I'll be ready. No disrespect to Jason, if I had come up, I'm sure he would have responded, but I could have made it a sprint finish at least..pfff.

Anyway now for the good news! I was only 4 seconds behing Jason Schoenfeld, just 6 months ago he beat me by ....wait for it...6 minutes in a half marathon! I DID lose two minutes to the bathroom in that race, but still, he was way out of my league then and now I'm competitive with him. Also let's look at the race from two years ago (Paul Petersen 34:47 Simonaitis 35:47, Sasha 36:07) So my 35:51 looks pretty good to me right now. So back to back 35 minute 10ks, but two very good results.

Next up, my fourth race in four weeks: SLCTC 15K. My bold prediction? 51 flat

We cooled down doing the entire course again. I felt very good, normally I would definitely bonk on these runs. It's a sign that I kind of wussed out on the hill I think, it didn't seem so bad doing it again at 8min pace. I added on a bit after to make it an even 15. I told Walter I didn't need a ride home. Then I found the locker room for the track team and took a shower, it was very nice and I didn't think I was supposed to be there but I acted like I belonged. Seriously though, nice facility.

Didn't feel great at the start of my long run, I was a little sore from yesterday. I had planned in advance to run the last four miles fast and I was feeling pretty good by the time that point arrived. I ran three miles in 6:10 pace and then finished off with a 5:39. The 6:10s felt pretty good, but I felt like my right leg was working alot harder than my left. The 5:39 could have been faster but it was quite hard. I'm really just trying to do this to improve miles 14-22 of the marathon.

Pretty easy progressive shakeout run. Started slow ended very fast.

Went to Sugarhouse park and ran three loops. I'm so glad to be back running there again. Running there in the snow is just zero fun. For the second run in a row I had to shed a layer. It was also very windy, probably signaling another big temperature change. Three signs that spring is coming at some point. We may go back to Winter again before that though.

On my run today I was thinking about how my form might deteriorate a little as I push my mileage back up again. I'll have to see how I go of course, but I know that I really start to feel a strain when I get into the nineties. Given the number of races that I'm doing, I'll probably be able to test this out. 

Felt pretty good on my run this evening. Did three loops of Liberty Park and was able to speed up quite a bit the last 800m.

I had a weird tightness in my leg this morning that went away as I started to run. Some ligament that extends down the front of my leg was complaining when I brought my left foot back as if it was being hyperextended. It went away once I had started running and gone about 100meters though. I ran to Sugarhouse park and did two loops "fast" which turned out to be 11:32,11:27 or about 5:45 mile pace. It felt ok, but my legs were definitely quite fatigued. I then thought some and I realized that I had run 28.5 miles in a 24hour period. So that explains it.

PM I ran along the Shoreline trail a little. I felt a little pain in my heel for a couple minutes during the run. When I was done I found my arch was a little sore. Definitely still need to be icing and taking advil until it's totally better, but I'm not worried. I felt OK after 37 miles in two days, but my legs were certainly a little tired.

I ran up 1300S to the Hogle Zoo and then ran a 5K that approximated the running of the leopards course. Just went straight into it while running and managed 5:26,5:28,5:06 to give me 16 minutes for three miles and then I basically kept running as if nothing had happened, it was that easy. That last mile is FLYING, my effort was really not that hard and I definitely could have kept going for a while.

Just my normal premeet 7 mile loop. I still call it a premeet in my head when really its a prerace, but whatever. I felt very energetic at the start which surprised me, but then as the run went on I started to feel the fatigue in my legs. With an easy run this morning and no run this evening I should be ready for another hard effort tomorrow.

Had nice weather today, figured out early on that it would be shorts weather. Warmed up with Seth and Bryce. Seth was already warm due to his 9 miles already run that morning so we went a little faster than normal, but I'm not sure how much of a difference that made.

When I finished my warmup my legs felt fatigued. I thought that I'd be able to put out a good effort but that I was not about to do anything special. I was right.

We started out pretty slow. I wasn't interested in doing that so I decided that the front pack was at least going to run my pace so I went to the front and ran 5:36 for the first mile. I stole a glance behind me and saw that I had whittled it down...Seth, Jeff, Steve, Sasha, Fritz, and Bryce were hanging on behind me. Steve went to the front and picked up the pace a little. I felt that the surges were too fast for me but I went with them anyway. Finally Jeff made a move and got a gap with Seth. Steve, Fritz and I worked our way back up to them and we passed the 3 mile point together. Then Jeff and Seth surged again and I didn't even try to match them. I was hoping that Steve and Fritz would drop off and I'd be able to catch them. They did indeed fall off the pace but Fritz was still running much faster than me and continuously pulled away. I remain a few seconds behind Steve and just couldn't pull him back the rest of the way and I think he actually pulled away more towards the end.

Mile	Split	Cumulative	Pace
1	5:36	5:36	5:36
2	5:26	11:02	5:31
3	5:30	16:32	5:31
4	5:40	22:12	5:33
5	5:43	27:55	5:35
6	5:39	33:34	5:36
7	5:40	39:15	5:36
8	5:45	45:00	5:37
9	5:42	50:42	5:38
9.32	1:44	52:26	5:38

So from the splits we can see that I slowed down by about 10-15 seconds a mile when I let the leaders go. I was kind of cramping up during the middle part of the race but it went I away in mile 6, after that fatigue took over instead. The cramping usually happens if I go out too fast, but generally it doesn't last.

I cooled down with Allie afterwards for three miles. She was worried I was going to go too fast but she was close to dropping me! I was tired, which pleased me because it made me feel like I gave it all today, unlike last week. This race was also a good sign in terms of the progress I've made recently. I was 1:25 faster than last year and I beat several people that beat me then. There were some 4-5minute swings in fact, which is a pattern I've been seeing starting in October. I also confirmed what I thought about not being 20 second worse than Jeff over 10K, that race was an aberration.

In the afternoon, I ran 5.5 miles in Liberty Park.