Running

7.40 in 1:01:19 (8:17).  Ran 2.5 on my own and then finished off with Ryan by going west on 700 South and then back home.

2.70 warm up. 

2 tempo miles at 6:34 and 6:20. 

1 mile slow.

1 mile at 6:19. 

Cool down for 2.45.  This was done on the same route as two Thursdays ago and 3 Thursdays ago (Out towards Saratoga to the JRP and home via 700 South).

5.0 in 39:43 (7:57). Easy miles out towards Saratoga and back.

14.10 in 1:45:39 (7:30).  Started at 6 am with Mark and ran 7 up and 7 down Provo Canyon.  Mark kept going up.  Hit the 7 mark in 56:53.  Splits for the 7 miles down were: 6:58, 7:10, 6:56, 6:52, 6:46, 6:38, 6:41, and then 0:42 for .10.  Time to complete the 7.10 down was 48:46 (6:52:11).

Really stiff head wind coming out of the canyon.  My hands were freezing until about mile 11.  Hopefully the wind is as strong next week for the race as it was this week.

Good week of training for me.  I backed off a bit, but still got 3 really good runs in (Mon, Thurs, Sat).  I will really take it easy next week and hopefully the legs will recover and bounce back strong for next Saturday.

Going to go lift for a bit.

7.0 in 58:15 (8:19).  First 3 solo and then the rest with Ryan up Center St. and back.

6.10 in 49:50 (8:10).  Ran about 2 on my own and then picked Ryan up and went towards Saratoga and back.  Through in some strides.

6.35 in 52:46 (8:19).  Ran on 700 S. west and back with Ryan.  Great weather this morning.

PM 3.25 on the TM.  1 mile pretty slow and then I wanted to feel some "race" pace for the remaining bit.  Did the elliptical for 20 min after.

Taking the day off of running.

5.0 in 38:09 (7:38).  Easy run out towards Saratoga and back.  Threw in some strides.  Feel good.

This is what I expect tomorrow:

A. The race of my life: 1:22:00 or below

B. Realistic: 1:23:30 to 1:25:00

C. Things go bad: 1:25:00 or above

13.10 in 1:25:46 (6:32).  Good run today.  Not as fast as I was hoping or expecting (is it ever), but the course was a bit tougher than expected.  The 3 climbs were tougher than I thought they would be.  Despite that, I had a good run, gave a good effort, and now I just need to develop some more speed.  I think I can do it, so I will keep working at it.  Splits:

1-2:   13:18                I wanted to start off slow, but I started slower than I should have.  Wish I would have went out harder at the beginning.

3:         6:49     20:08  First big hill.  I feel good and smooth though.  At this point in time I'm running with another guy and girl. 

4:         6:25     26:33  Still with same people and now things are really spread out.  Between here and mile 7 were the most enjoyable of the race.  Got a good rythem and seemed to just glide.

5:         6:15     32:49  Our group of 3 has picked off 2 runners by now and we have a girl coming back to us.  There is another little climb in here somewhere.

6-7:    12:52    45:41  Right around here we come upon Mary Ann (??).  The 2 people I was with before had dropped back a bit.  The next closest person in front of us is about a good 2-3 min ahead of us.  I couldn't believe how big the gap was.  There is probably nobody coming back to us now.  M.A. says she is not having a good race, but we stick together for the next 3-4 miles. This helped.

8:          6:27    52:09 

9:          5:45    57:54  Right around here a guy passes us and he looks smooth.  Looks like he is not even trying and I think he must weigh 100 lbs (I hate people like that :))  He gaps us a bit.  Based off of this split and the next one, I'm pretty sure I hit my lap button a bit early here.

10-11: 13:58   1:11:53  I break away from M.A. here and slowly reel back in the lightweight and pass him.  Right around here another guy has passed me as well.  Last hill is in this section and now I'm starting to feel the fatigue.       

12:        6:51   1:18:44  Right around here the lightweight passes me back as well as M.A. and the other guy I was running with in the middle miles.  I gave in a bit here.  Walked through the aid station.

13-.1:    7:03   1:25:47  Pull it together a little bit and end up finishing about 2 sec ahead of M.A.  A little disappointed in the last 2 miles or so, but I feel pretty good about things.

Good, fun race.  I got an excellent workout.  I wish I would have started out faster cause I just can't make up the time at the middle or end of the race.  But the good thing about racing is that I learn a lot and it builds the desire to get faster and stronger.  I probably need to race more cause it definitely puts me out of my comfort zone.  I stuck around and watched up until around the 3:20 marathoners came in.  I'm amazed at these guys that finish in 2:50 and below.

I'm going to go lift.

60 min on the elliptical in Bozeman, MT.  Woke up and my quads were sore, so I just played it safe and didn't run.

60 min on the elliptical at the L.C. in the evening.

8.20 in 1:08:04 (8:18).  Ran about 3 on my own and then picked Ryan up and did a big loop over to Saratoga Rd. and back via 700 S.  Legs were sore by the end.

7.20 in 55:23 (7:42).  Ran up to 300 W and back home.  Fought the wind the whole way up, but got its help on the way down.  Warm out.  Legs felt a lot better than yesterday.

PM 10 min stair climber, 10 min on TM (1.25 miles), 10 min on bike, 10 min on stair climber.

7.0 in 54:27 (7:47).  Ran out towards Saratoga and back.  Feeling pretty good.  A little cold this morning.

AM 14.93 in 1:56:10 (7:47).  Started at 6:00 up Provo Canyon with Mark.  Stomach problems before the run and then at 7.50.  Did not feel good.  Think it was some dehydration problems.  Same feeling as TOU last year.  Actually felt pretty good coming back down after a bit.  Crappy run overall.

PM Lift and ran another easy 3 miles on the TM. 

9.05 in 1:11:54 (7:57).  Short cemetary loop.  2 nasty climbs. 

Signed up for the A.F. half this Saturday. Figured it would be a good way to get some faster miles in for me this week. 

PM 4.0 from the jr. high out towards the JRP and back. 

8.10 in 1:03:42 (7:52).  Went up 300 W. and back home.

PM 5.0 in 39:44 out near Saratoga on the JRP.

8.30 in 1:05:08 (7:51). Went out towards Saratoga and connected to the JRP and came home via 700 S.  My body was done after 6 miles and had nothing more to give.  My only run for today, so hopefully I recover well.

7.20 in 57:11 (7:57).  Standard route with a few random streets added on throughout.  

PM 2.90 in 22:35 around 9 PM after mowing the lawn.

6.15 in 48:15 (7:51).  Ran out towards Saratoga and back.  Legs feel pretty good, which hopefully means they will feel great tomorrow.

Extremely impressed with this race. I've never run down A.F. canyon, but this race has got to be close to Hobble Creek as far as how fast it is.

5:58, 6:13, 6:17, 6:10, 5:56, 5:59, 6:22, 6:20, 7:14 (bathroom stop), 6:41, 7:37 (I walked), 6:57, 7:11 (walked some more), 0:33.

Serious downhill coming out of the canyon.  Good news is that I ran an awesome 8 miles (49:17 split).  I was basically with Melanie B. and some of her crew right up until we got through part of Cedar Hills golf course.  Legs were shot and once I gave in and hit the bathroom stop during mile 9 my race was pretty much over.  

I feel like I should be faster and that I'm doing something wrong with my training.  It almost feels like I've plateaued a bit and now I'm almost regressing from where I was last year and the year before.  I'm very mentally weak and feel like I just give in too easy.  A little bit frustrating.   However, I put in huge miles this week (for me anyways), and I could never simulate this kind of pace in a training run.  I'm hoping my quads recover from this and for some reason I'm having thoughts of doing DesNews marathon (I swore I would never do that race again last year)....but only if I can continue to put in 65-70 mile weeks for the next three weeks.  So, I guess this race could be a good simulator for that marathon.  I'll keep at it. 

7.50 in 1:06:20 (8:51).  Ridiculously slow, but I wanted to get something in. The race on Saturday destroyed my quads.  Did this run at about 3:00 starting from jr. high and going out towards the JRP and then back. Hot out.

Went and swam at the L.C. around 9 PM.  Swam 32 laps in 28 min which is just short of a mile (need just over 35 to get a mile). 

7.40 in 1:03:57 (8:39).  Up and down Provo Canyon after dentist appt (around 11:00).  It was hot, and my legs are still having trouble.