my makeup may be flaking

Got back from Moab and the wind was blowing like crazy. Seemed like the perfect time for a long run so I ran down to 4500S on the Jordan River Trail. I felt ok but not great. Total time was 2:10 which is about 7:40 pace. The wind definitely died on the way back which was annoying because I didn't get the tail wind that I deserved.

AM Two laps liberty park.

PM Another really bad allergy day had me scaling back my PM workout plans. I did two loops of liberty park with 90 seconds rest (8:22,8:18) with a bunch of running in the park tacked on. Loops of the park on the woodchip trail are tough!

AM 5.5

PM 11.2 Des News Finish loop (6:49 pace)

AM 6.2

PM 9.5

After running 15+ miles three days in a row I wasn't sure how I would handle a 20miler this morning. I had no specific plan on how I was going to run, the plan was to see the DesNews couse and see how my body responded. Allie sweetly volunteered (or maybe I bribed her with yogurt and grapefruit juice) to drive me to the top of Big Mountain so I could run the first 20 or so miles. There was a slight snag when we saw that the road was closed. I wondered aloud what the road is even for other than Des News (not a lot according to the map).

So here was my alternate "20" miler. I started at Little Dell Golf Course under the bridge and ran straight up Little Mountain then I turned around and ran back down the hill...then I turned around again and ran back up. On my second time up I managed to notice the "6M" painted on the road, so I knew I had about 15 miles or running left.

Anyway I climbed up Little Mountain at 6:48 pace which is actually pretty good. The hill is definitely in my "wheelhouse" both in terms of length and grade. I was feeling pretty good coming down the other side and very easily ran 5:40 pace between the summit and the turnaround. I decided to add on the little section in the neighbourhood and noted that it took my a little under 4 mins. That means that I should be able to see all the leaders come race day. It's a really good addition to the course I think.

I rolled down Emigration Canyon still clicking 5:40s (apparently...I didn't calculate my speed until later) I felt untroubled by the pace and felt that it would be a very sensible marathon pace. At about mile 14, a little past Ruth's, my achilles started to fatigue a little, which was not surprising but definitely something to watch out for on this course. I also saw a mile marker for the first time since Mile 6 and it told me that I had average about 6 min pace since that point. I was very pleased about this as I knew that included a fair amount of climbing.

Turning off Emigration Canyon by the zoo I was pleased with how my legs responded to the hill and when I passed the 16 mile mark I noted that I had gone about 11:40 for the last two miles. (Perhaps faster as I was not cutting tangents). In Mile 17 I started to feel a little bit more fatigue in my glute and I actually stopped and gave it a quick massage. I was very pleased that on that two mile stretch I was still sub 6 minute pace.

When I got to foothill I realized that it was probably sensible to try to hold 6 minute pace the rest of the way as I was almost done. I was a bit surprised to see that Mile 19 was so slow (6:01) but I attributed that partly to the lack of tangent and also to the 180 degree turn you have to make during that mile. Indeed, with a similar effort I ran sub 6 again for mile 20 which is theoretically a slower mile. I felt really good as I climbed the big hill in mile 21 and going down 500S didn't feel as bad as I expected. My calves were pretty tired hear and I was now heel striking and slapping my feet quite a bit (fortunately my quad didn't feel bad at all!). I found that I could still get some good tempo going if I shortened my stride. I turned off 500S and into the parking lot of Rice Eccles and my legs immediately complained about the lack of downhill. I found myself shuffling a little before semi recovering. I finished with a steep uphill to bring myself in front of the fieldhouse.

All in all it was an excellent, excellent run. Judging from my course analysis I ran 15 miles of the course at a pace which would predict a finish time of 2:33-2:34. That makes me feel like my goal of sub 2:30 is actually realistic, but will also be hard. In general my taper can give me an extra 5-10 seconds a mile in the race as compared to my long tempos. That means if all goes well and there are no disasters (beyond the inevitable slowdown past mile 20) that a 2:30 is a very practical goal. However, a lot can happen between now and pioneer day and I have to just be careful and make use of everything I've learnt in the past couple of years.

Here is a summary of my splits.

 

Miles	Split	Pace	Total	Total Pace	Notes
2.1	15:50	7:32	15:50	7:32	Long hill running from Little Dell to base of little mountain
3.6	10:35	7:03	26:25	7:20	Up Little Mountain
5.1	8:50	5:53	35:15	6:55	Back down...
6.6	10:12	6:48	45:27	6:53	And up again!
8.33	9:47	5:39	55:13	6:38	From summit to turn off into neighbourhood
8.63	2:06	7:00	57:19	6:38	Up to turnaround point
8.93	1:48	6:00	59:07	6:37	And down again
14.93	34:15	5:43	1:33:22	6:15	Down Emigration
17.4	14:59	6:04	1:48:21	6:14	From Zoo to foothill
21.2	22:24	5:54	2:10:44	6:10	Down foothill/500S to Fieldhouse.

AM Allie and I went up to Ogden to volunteer at the Ogden Marathon. I had a bit of time to run before the runners came by so I checked out the trailhead that was across the street. It was pretty nice and the cool morning air helped get some MUCUS! out of my nose.

PM Pretty relaxed run around liberty park. It was one of those "nice" days to run. ie, there were a lot of people out running because it was sunny outside. I would have preferred it if it was raining but most people would have said it was ideal weather.