Running

6.0 on the treadmill in the morning.

8.79 in 1:04:30 outside.  This is the first run outside in about 3 weeks and it was great.  Felt good.  Kept a good pace.  Overall pace was about 7:20/mile.  Several mile were under 7:00.

5.0 on the treadmill.  Rough one this morning.  The extra miles yesterday took their toll on me this morning.

13.0 total on the treadmill.

Did 10 and then lifted for 40 minutes.  Then did an additional 3.  This was a big week for me as far as miles go, but the treadmill just doesn't feel the same as when I'm out on the road. 

5.0 on the treadmill

5.0 on the treadmill.  Played basketball last night and I always have a hard time the day after I play.

5.0 in the evening on the treadmill

5.3 on the treadmill.

2.0 after lifting weights in the evening.

8 on the treadmill

7.41 outside.

Kept an 8 minute/mile pace on the treadmill and then a 7:40 pace outside.  Just happy to get some miles. 

5.25 on the treadmill.

6.0 on the treadmill

5.0 on the treadmill.

5.0 on the treadmill

10.0 on the treadmill.

5.14 on the road.  Averaged 7:49 pace and that was with a 9:32 3rd mile.

5.25 on the treadmill

5.0 on the treadmill.  My body has been feeling better lately while running.  Went through a stretch there where I just couldn't get going.  Just trying to bide my time until the weather gets warm enough to run outside in the early mornings.  Hopefully in February it will be warm enough.

5.25 on the treadmill.

5.0 on the treadmill

5.25 on the treadmill.

I'm having thoughts of maybe doing my run outside tomorrow morning.  It was certainly warm enough this morning, and I beleive it is suppose to be similar tomorrow.  Hopefully the wind and rain will hold off.

16.17 miles in 2:16:16

Ran the whole thing outside with Mark.  First time I've run this far outside in several months.  It was a bit rough, probably because I lifter weights last night, and am not use to the road.  In the fall time I was doing 16 miles in around 2:08; so I have some work to do.

5.0 on the treadmill.  A little sore from the run on Saturday, but felt pretty good overall.

5.31 on the treadmill.  One of the best runs I've had on the TM.  Was able to keep the pace up and just felt good.

5.0 on the TM

5.0 on the TM.  Took it easy today.

5.0 on the TM

15.04 miles in 2:04

It was all outside with this run and Mark and I started at 5:45.  I was good for about the first 10 miles, and then I froze.  It was miserable at the end.  I can't run this far again when it is this cold. 

5.10 on the tm

6.67 in 50:16

7:32 pace

Ran outside this morning.  It wasn't too cold.  Decided not to look at my watch and just run how I felt.  Most of my miles were right around 7:25. 

6.65

Same route as yesterday, but without the Garmin.  It's nice to be outside, but I think it is suppose to snow in the next couple of days, so I'm trying not to get use to it.

5.0 on the TM

3.0 on the TM in the evening. 

16.48 in 2:20:32    Average pace of 8:32

Ran with Mark.  It was like ice skating for the first part.  We had to take it pretty slow for a while.  We ran towards Alpine.  We made it pretty far, up by the Alpine Country Club on the Alpine Highway.  The wheels came off a bit during the last 2.5 miles.  We ended up walking and jogging quite a bit.   

6.0 on the TM

Felt pretty good today.  Was pretty sore yesterday, but I don't think it was from the long run on Saturday.  The basketball and weight lifting are what kill me.

6.0 on the TM

5.0

I'm not entirely sure this is the mileage for today because I was stuck on the track at the gym.  None of the treadmills were opening up. 

6.0 on the TM

5.0 on the TM

12.0 on the TM in the am.

3.0 on the TM in the pm after lifting. 

7.0 on the TM this morning.

3.5 on the TM in the evening after lifting weights.

I'll call it 4.5 miles today.  I couldn't get a treadmill at first, so I had to run around the track for a bit.  Then I did about 4.10 on the treadmill.

5.0 on the TM

5.50 on the TM

5.10 on the TM.

One of my best runs on the treadmill.  I ended up talking to the person next to me for almost the entire run.  It made things go by so fast, and it helped me forget about the faster pace I was going.

20.03 at 8:19 mile/minute pace.

First 17 miles were pretty good.  I was clipping along at a 8:00 pace for the first 17, and then the wheels fell off a bit.  I probably should have stuck with 18 or so, but it feels good to have pushed myself pretty good.

Will play b-ball and lift later today.

6.50 on the TM

7.16 miles outside in 55:14.  7:43 pace.

6.25 miles outside in 47:05. 7:32 pace.

Signed up for the Olathe, KS marathon which is on March 28.  It is right outside Kansas City and I'll be running with two brothers.  The plan is to take it easy and for this marathon and stick with my brother Steve, since this is his first one.

6.01 in 48:37. 8:05 pace.

Tried to slow things down today, and will do the same tomorrow and maybe even Saturday.  My body has not responded well to the 20 mile run last Saturday.  Lots of soreness and pain.

5.50 on the TM.

8.5 on the TM in the morning.

4.5 in the evening on the TM

45 minutes on the elliptical.  I will call it 4 miles equivalent running.  I have a lot of pain in my lower right abdomen over the past week.  I've had some pain there for quite a few months, but it has gotten worse over the last week since I did the 20 mile run a week ago last Saturday.  I am going to take it a bit easy this week to see if I can't get it feeling better.

8.00 in 58:59 outside.  7:22 pace

Nice morning.  Taking the last 2 days really helped me feel good for a while.  The first 5 miles felt good, the last 3 felt ok. 

5.05 on the treadmill

10.0 in 1:16:17 outside. 7:37 pace.

Ran a bit further this morning with Mark.  A bit cold, but not too bad.  Felt better than I anticipated.

8 miles in the morning on the treadmill.

10.23 miles outside in the afternoon.

Overall this is the best I've felt in quite a while. 

8.0 on the TM.

7.25 on the TM

5.25 on the TM

10.23 outside in around 1:18.  Would have been around 2 minutes faster, but had to stop at the restroom real quick.  

2.0 on the TM after lifting a bit.  

Went to the doctor today.  No hernia.  He said to ice, heat, stretch, and take IB Profrin (spelling??).  Hopefully doing this will take away the pain in the lower abdomen.

5.50 on the TM

Took it easy and felt pretty good.

11.11 in 1:28:38 outside.  7:59 pace.

Will try and get some more miles in later on today.

7.0 miles on the TM in the afternoon after lifting for a bit

8.21 in 1:01:50 outstide.  7:32 pace.

6.05 in 53:00 outside.  About 8:45 pace.

Rough run.  I played dodge ball last night and it has aggravated all my problems in my lower stomach.  Lots of pain during the run.  Took it easy.  Hopefully I'll be doing better tomorrow.

6.21 on the treadmill.  Slow.

11.30 at 7:50 pace in the morning.  Picked the pace up quite a bit for the about the last 2+ miles.

8.25 at 7:40 pace in the afternoon.  Felt really good.  Ran with Mark in the morning at the afternoon.  Split from him after about 4 miles in the afternoon cause I was feeling a lot better and he was strugglin a bit.

11.05 in the morning at 8:08 pace.  I'm sick of running in Lehi, so I drove up to run the Provo Canyon.  It was great.  Great weather.  Didn't feel that great going up, but felt pretty good coming down the canyon.

4.0 in the afternoon on the treadmill after lifting. 

5.0 on the TM

The plan this week is to run 5 miles a day Monday through Thursday.  I'll take it pretty easy.  Friday we fly to Kansas City.  Saturday we run the marathon. 

5.12 in 38:07 outside.  About 7:38 pace.

Felt tired and not a lot of energy.

4.0 in around 30 minutes.

Light and easy.

3.25 on the TM.

This is the last run for me until Saturday's marathon.  Expectations for the marathon are to go pretty slow.  I plan on sticking with my brother (this will be his first and he's not planning on going fast).  Weather looks like it could be rain/snow showers and a high in the low 40s. 

6.0 on the TM.

Flew into Kansas City on Friday.  Found out the marathon was cancelled on Friday night.  The weather was terrible on Saturday morning.  I was so glad we weren't running.  It snowed about 7-9 inches and was freezing cold.  Basically  just hung out the next few days.  I did not run much this week.

7.0 on the TM.  I really wish the weather would get better.

8.04 in 59:43.  7:26 pace.

I really want to start getting some miles in at marathon pace (around 7:15 to qualify for Boston).  So, today I decided I would do a two mile warm up, 2 miles at MP pace, 1 mile at around 8:00 pace, 2 miles at MP pace, and a 1 mile cool down.  Here were the splits:

1-7:54

2-7:54

3-7:11

4-7:01

5-7:47

6-7:02

7-6:58

8-7:34

Overall, this was a great run for me.  I think I will try to do more runs like this during the week.  Maybe next time I will try a 2 mile warm up, 5 mile tempo at MP pace, and a 1 mile cool down.

6.25 on the TM. 

Added another 2.25 on the TM in the evening after lifting for about 30 minutes.

6.36 in 47:42. 7:30 average pace.

I didn't really look at the watch much today, but I was very happy with the overall pace I had.

1-8:02

2-7:36

3-7:23

4-7:13

5-7:39 Bathroom break, otherwise would have been low 7s.

6-7:08

0.36-2:38

Added 2.25 on the TM in the evening after lifting for about 25 min.

6.18 on the TM.  Hope the weather is better for the race tomorrow.

Race went good.  Not sure what place or how things went in comparison to others.  I'll check later.

I am pretty happy with how things went with this race.  Expectations were to try and finish between 1:30 and 1:35.  The wind was awful for the first 7 miles.  The snow didn't help.  I was with the same 4-5 people pretty much up until mile 8, then I was solo.  I got passed by 2 girls right before mile 12, and it turns out that they were the 3rd and 4th place finishers for the females.  About mile 9-10 I was struggling a bit, and I know I lost some speed after that.  Overall, I am pleased with how it went. 

8.36 in 1:03:21.  About 7:34 pace

Legs were still pretty sore and tired from the race on Saturday, but overall I was glad to get this many miles in this morning.

9.0 in 1:08:05. 7:34 pace.

I'm sore and tired.  This was probably too much.

7.26 on the TM in the evening.  A better run than I had anticipated.

5.07 in 37:09 outside.  About 7:19 pace in a slight rain.

First mile around 8:15.  Second around 7:15.  Third around 6:58.  Fourth around 7:15.  Fifth around 6:58.  Will try and add some more miles tonight.

6.23 at about 7:42 pace in the evening.  Dodged cars the whole time.

7.08 at 8:05 pace.  My body is tired.  Took things really easy.

20.36 in 2:48:59.  8:18 pace.

Started off good.  The wheels came off at about mile 16.  I ended up having to walk/run the rest of the way.  My legs were just done.  Lots of miles this week though.

7.11 at 7:30 pace.  I think I will back off a bit this week with the mileage.  My legs are pretty sore and I am leaning towards running the SLC marathon this week (but strictly to get the mileage, not necessarily to race).

5.48 at 7:45 pace.

5.25 on the TM.

2.50 on the TM in the evening after lifting.

4.44 in 7:35 pace.

I am going to run the marathon tomorrow with Mark.  Our plan is to go 8:30-9:00 minute miles for the first 20, and then see if we can't drop it down to 7:30 for the last 6 miles.  No need to kill ourselves in this one as we are wanting to focus more on the Ogden marathon next month. 

Goal was to go about 8:30-9:00 minute miles for the first 20 or so, and then drop the time down to 7:30s.  I was trying to make this a training run for the Ogden marathon and my brother is getting ready for the 50 miler that’s coming up, so we didn’t want to kill ourselves too much. 

Basically, things went as planned.  We were going quite a bit faster than planned for most the race, just because it was hard to slow ourselves down.  Things felt really easy for the first 8-9 miles.  Miles 9 through about 14 were the prettiest of the race.  Legs started to get stiff around mile 16.  We probably began to take a bit longer at the aid stations as well. 

I usually have problems with marathons around mile 20.  That is where the mental battle usually begins for me and that is why I wanted to try and bring my times down for miles 20-26.  I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it at the end.  About mile 21 we took off and it was great to start passing so many people.  Felt like we were really trucking along, and I think we both felt really good.  About mile 24.5 my brother broke away from me.  I couldn’t keep up with him.  I could definitely tell that he has done a lot more long runs than I have.  There was a killer hill at the end of State Street.  It was rough and I walked it for about 10 seconds.

I have some serious doubts about being able to qualify for Boston at the Ogden Marathon, but I think I’m going to go for it.  I might crash and burn in the last part of that race, but oh well.  Great race today though. 

5.0 really slow.  Around the 9:15 minute/mile pace.  Shouldn't have run today.

2.54 at about 8:05 pace.  Right achilles is giving me trouble. 

8.10 at 7:38 pace.  Felt pretty good.  Drove to Willow Park off Main St. in Lehi and ran north for about 4 miles.

1.50 miles.  Easy cooldown.

6.08 at 7:20 pace.

Mile 1 around 8:20

Mile 2 around 6:38

Mile 3 around 6:43

Mile 4 around 7:29

Mile 5 around 6:53

Mile 6 was slow

Morning: 16.09 in 2:09:37. Ave pace of 8:03

Started at about 7:00 at the base of the Provo Canyon and ran up 8 miles and back down.  Weather was ok, but it needs to get warmer.  I didn’t care how long it took me to get up the canyon as I was only focused on trying to hit MP on the way down (I was looking for the downhill to help me keep the pace up).  Hit the 8 mile mark at 1:11:17, and then turned around.  Splits for the next 8 were:

Felt good about things.  Obviously the downhill helped with the pace.  About mile 12 my legs got heavy.  I still think the marathon is affecting them.  More than anything, the faster miles helped me feel better about being able to sustain a 7:15 marathon pace.

Early afternoon: 4.13 on the TM after lifting for an hour.

Lifted weights this morning for about 50 minutes.  My right achilles has given me problems since my run on Saturday.  I've decided to not try and run again until Wednesday evening or Thursday.  Hopefully things will be back to normal by then and I can push it pretty hard for a week and a half and then do a short taper before the Odgen marathon.

6.0 in 45 min on the TM.

Decided to give the achilles a try today on the TM.  This is the first run since Saturday.  Felt pretty normal, but still a little something going on with the achilles.  The big test will be to see how it feels tomorrow.  The couple days off did help my body feel really good though.  Had lots of energy and felt like I could have kept up the pace for a while.

Mile 1 - 8:00

Mile 2 - 7:13

Mile 3 - 7:07

Mile 4 - 7:03

Mile 5 - 7:13

Mile 6 - Cooldown

7.02 in 50:30. 7:02 pace

Great run.  Started at Willow Park and ran north on the JRP into a very heavy wind for 3.5 miles with Mark.  Turned around and flew back to the car.

  1-7:47

2-7:33

3-7:36

4-7:41

5-6:55

6-6:42

7-6:06

I would have known I so close to sub 6 on the last mile maybe I would have been able to somehow push it to under 6.  Oh well.  Great run and my achilles is feeling pretty good.

16.01 in 2:10:59. 8:11 ave pace.

Miserable, miserable run.  Started at the base of Provo Canyon at 7:45 in a light, steady run.  Ran up 8 miles, and then back down.  I was good for about 5 miles and then it just got miserable.  I was soaked.  My legs got cold and stiff.  There was hardly anybody on the trail, so that makes things kind of boring.  I like to have people to catch up to.  It felt like I was carrying about 20 extra pounds of weight because my clothes were water logged.  After the run I was squeezing a ton of water out of my gloves, hat, short, and shirt.  Miserable.  I gave in to the weather on the way down.  Just couldn’t keep a good pace.  I did hit the 8 mile mark about 2 minutes earlier than last week.

Lifted and ran 4.30 on the TM.  These were good quality MP miles.  Will try to put in a lot of miles next week.

Ran 1 mile away from the house and walked back to the house.  Right achilles is very sore and extremely painful.  Probably won't run again until Wednesday or Thursday.

Lifted weights for about 35 minutes and then rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes.

Lifted 35 minutes and then 37 minutes on the stationary bike.

Lifted for about 35 minutes and then rode the stationary bike for 35 minutes.  I will try to run tomorrow.

10.31 in 1:31:19. 8:52 Pace.

First day running since Monday when I had a ton of pain in the right achilles.  Felt so good to run.  I went slow and was scared to death that I would have the pain come back.  Felt pretty good, but not all the way normal.  I think I will try and run again in the morning and see how things feel.

I decided to play it safe and not run this morning.  The achilles feels pretty good right now, but not completely normal.  On a better note, I graduate with my MBA from the UofU tonight.  So glad to be done with school, and this should open up some more time to get more miles in.

11.69 in 1:30:19. 7:44 pace.

I'm pretty frustrated.  I could tell after about 1.5 miles that the achilles was going to give me trouble; and it did.  Started at the base of Provo Canyon and ran up to Vivian Park.  Got to Vivivan at about 48:51; that included some water stops and bathroom breaks.  I was pissed about the achilles and so I took out my frustration on the run down.  Splits:

Mile 7 - 7:01

8- 6:34

9 - 7:48 Pit Stop

10 - 6:12

11 - 7:12

.69 - 4:27

I will ice the achilles today and tomorrow, and my guess is that I will trouble running on Monday.  I still plan on running Ogden next week, but I feel like I've certainly lost some fitness over the last 3 weeks.  Frustrating.

Swimming.  Down and back 66 times in about 36:30.  Will swim some more tonight and lift.

I'm done blogging for this week because I won't be running again until the marathon on Saturday.  It just gets me frustrated to record no running miles.  I will swim and lift the rest of this week and hopefully my achilles will be fine for the marathon.

Not sure what the marathon has in store for me.  I'm pretty sure I would have come close to my BQ mark had I not started having the problems with my leg.  Obviously the miles have dropped a lot over the last few weeks.  We'll see how it goes.

5.06 at 8:11 pace.

From everything I've read, I should keep running even though the achilles has given me problems. I felt pretty good on this run. Went south from Willow Park. It was pancake flat. I'm making a more concerted effort to ice and stretch.

4.0 easy on the treadmill.  Achilles didn't feel as good as the prior day, but felt ok. 

First off, a great race and a little over a 22 minute PR.  After the SLC marathon last month I thought I had it in me to hit my BQ mark of 3:10:59, but over the last 3 weeks I’ve struggled with my training due to a sore right achilles.  Only put in about 20 miles last week and about 30 the week before, so I was not very hopeful for a good result today.

I felt great for pretty much the whole race.  I used the course tool on the blog and was going to try and hit the following splits based on the tool:

Mile 8    57:42

Mile 13 1:35:00

Mile 17 2:05:03

Mile 24 2:55:05

Mile 25 3:02:27

I was right on target (and a little ahead) for each of the above splits and seeing this just helped me feel more confident as the race went on.  I felt especially good from about miles 15 to 20, and then I started to struggle, but I was still able to hold a descent pace.  The downhill in the canyon helped, but I think I overestimated how much it would really help me. I realized I was going to have a hard time hitting the BQ mark at about mile 24.  I was struggling both physically and mentally.  Here are the splits:

Overall, I couldn’t be happier considering how little I have trained over the last 3 weeks.  I was able to push through some pain and this race really gives me a lot of confidence that I’ll be able to drop my time even more as I go throughout the year.

Lifted my chest for about 30 minutes and then did the elliptical for 45 minutes. Legs are still pretty sore from the race and I've been extrememly tired. Achilles has been a little swollen since the race and it is tight.

Lifted shoulders and arms for 35 minutes and then did the elliptical for 45 minutes.  Quads and right achilles are still sore.

5.48 in around 51 minutes.  It was 9:28 pace.

Ran with my bro. Ryan who lives down the street from me.  We will try and make this a habit.  I've gotten out of the routine of running in the morning over the last month, and I miss it.  My legs are fine from the marathon.  The right achilles is very sore.  Will continue to take Ibuprofen and apply ice when at home. 

4.60 very painful miles at about 8:50 pace with Ryan.  The achilles is very sore.  Tried to run on the treadmill last night and couldn't do it.  Probably shouldn't have run this morning, but couldn't help it.  Every step I took hurt while running.  Thinking about giving up running for a while (2-3 weeks) and sticking to swimming and weight lifting. 

Swam 82 laps in around 44 minutes.  I beleive that is about 1.16 miles.  I'm not very fast, but it feels like it gives me a workout.  Wish I knew how to flip when I turnaround.

Hit the breaking point and was able to get in and see a doctor about the achilles.  Basically, it is what I thought......it's got some inflammation.  He suggested not running for 2-3 weeks and got me a perscription for an anti-inflammatory as well as some heel inserts.  Really, I'm willing to try anything as I can feel pain just walking the last few days.  I'll stick with swimming, weight lifting, and will try the stationary bike and elliptical if it doesn't cause pain.  Hopefully this goes away.

Swam at the Legacy Center.  160 laps in about 1:12:00.  That's right around 2.27 miles of swimming.  I was the only one in the pool from 6:00-7:00, that's because everyone else was out running.  I feel legit at the pool now because of my new swim suit.  I can't believe how much of a difference it makes.  I was able to swim so much faster.

Rode my brother's rode bike for about 20 miles.  Not a fan of biking......or the clip in pedals.

Will lift weights today as well.

Swam 176 laps at the L.C.  This is about 2.5 miles.  It pretty much takes me about 31 minutes to swim a mile.  I have no idea if that is really slow or what.  If I could flip turn I figure this would take some significant time off and I would be a lot faster.

Swim 116 laps at the L.C. Will try to lift and do stationary bike later today.
PM Lifted and rode the stationary bike for 37 minutes.

Swam 184 laps or about 2.62 miles.  Mile 2 took about 33:30, and that is the only one I timed.

Lift weights for 50 minutes.  Stationary bike for 45 minutes.  15 minutes on the elliptical.  No swimming today.  If I swim and lift on the same day it just kills me.

Saw the PT yesterday for the achilles.  I was amazed at some of the exercises my right foot had trouble with as compared with the left.  Just simply doing calf raises on my right leg was a battle.  It was a bit frustrating, the PT said that is just the body responding to the hurting area.  He said to go ahead and try running 2-5 miles on Saturday, but that if it hurts to stop.  I've had no pain now for about the last 4-5 days.

Swim 162 laps or about 2.30 miles.  Mile 2 was done in 32:15.

Lifted for 50 minutes and rode the stationary bike for 1:05:00.

Swam 166 laps, or about 2.36 miles.  Swam first mile in 31:15 and second in 32:15. Lifted for about 50 minutes and rode the stationary bike for 45 minutes.

The PT said to try running 2-5 miles today.  I went to Willow Park in Lehi and headed north on the JRP.  Went 2 miles and started feeling a little pain, turned around to go back to the car and then started feeling more and more pain.  He said to just stop if I felt any pain.  So, I stopped and walked the last mile back to the car.  Did 2.91 miles at 7:53 pace.  I know this is stupid to say, but I honestly start to wonder if I'll ever run normal like I did just over a month ago.  I know it will come, but it gets a bit frustrating.  Back to swimming and lifting for the next couple days.

Swim 140 laps or about 2 miles.  Mile 1 in 31:06 and mile 2 in 31:20. 

I am signed up to run the Utah Valley Marathon a week from this Saturday.  The plan was to run it as a training run with my brother, who will be running his first marathon.  I'm not going to run it now.  Sucks, but oh well.  Hoping that I'll be good to go for the Wasatch Back.

Swam 138 laps, or about 1.96 miles.  Nobody at the pool when I got there, but by 6:30 there were people waiting for the lanes.

Lifted in the evening and then did 15 minutes on the bike.

Swam 140 laps.  Mile 1 in 31:00 and mile 2 in 32:20. 

Went to the PT in the late morning for the achilles. Did a couple of exercises that worked the area pretty good and then he massaged it for about 5 minutes to help with the scar tissue.  No pain while he was doing it, but the PT mentioned that it could be very sore tonight or tomorrow. Ice massage next, and then he taped it in a way to try and take some pressure off the heel.  He said to go ahead and try doing some running if it isn't too sore.  He said if I feel pain while running to stop and walk as well.

Tried running in the evening.  Made it 1 mile and then started feeling pain, so I walked/ran a mile back to my car.

Swim 140 laps or about 2 miles.  Mile 1 in 30:11 (fastest yet) and mile 2 in about 32:20.

Swim 166 laps or about 2.47 miles. The last 26 laps were just easy, as I was trying the flip turn. Got it a couple of times, and a couple of times ended up going sideways. Ran 4 miles. First two were pain free and in the 8 minute range. Last two were a walk/run, as I started having pain in the achilles. Lifted for about an hour and did the stationary bike for 15 minutes.

140 laps of swimming, or about 2 miles.  Mile 1 in about 32:30 and mile 2 in just under 31:00.  One day I'm going to break the 30:00 mark for a mile.

Swam about 2 miles.  First mile was in 29:37, which is a new record for me.  It's sad now that I care so much about how fast I can swim a mile, as opposed to how fast I can run a mile.  Will try running tomorrow morning.  That way when I have pain I will be able to tell the PT exactly where the pain is at when I see him around lunch time.

Ran 1.5 miles around 8:15 pace, and then started feeling some pain in the achilles.  Walked / ran until I hit home, which was 2.50.  I'll call it 1.75.  Wish I was running the marathon this weekend.  I was signed up, but was able to have my registration moved to next year.

PM - Went to the PT during lunch time.  Did some exercises (they made my calves burn real good), and then he massaged the achilles.  After the massage he applied a cortizone medacine (not a shot).  It was more of a topical patch like thing. 

For some reason I had it in my mind that after about 2-3 weeks of little/no running that my achilles would be fine.  That is certainly not the case.  The PT mentioned that this could take a couple months to get over.  At least my expectations are in line now.

Had plans to wake up and swim, but I'm battling a cold now and don't feel that great.  May get something in tonight.

Swimming.  Not sure how far, but it wasn't too far.  It's tough to swim when you are congested and can't breathe too well. 

Go the PT around lunch time and he is going to tape the leg, and then I will try running tonight.

Got the leg taped and went for a run after work.  By far the best run I've had since the Ogden Marathon.  Relatively no pain in the achilles and felt like I could have gone further.  I am sooooo hopeful that maybe I've turned the corner and I will be back to normal within a couple weeks.  The tape job definitely helped, and I'm thinking the cortizone treatment that I had on Wednesday must have really helped as well.

Hey, hey.  1 more mile tonight on the treadmill pain free.  Didn't want to push my luck, so I quit after only after 1.  Lifted weights and did the stationary bike for 45 minutes.

Watched a good portion of the marathon this morning.  Sat at about the 8.5 mark for a while, and then headed to the finish.  Very cool to see the top guys come through, along with everybody else.

Spin class this morning.  My first one ever.  Sweated like crazy, but it felt good..........but not as good as running.  I'm going to try running tonight after work.  2-3 miles, or until pain comes. 

PM - Lifted for about 30 minutes and then ran 3 miles on the treadmill.  Little to no pain for most of the time.  A little pain towards the end, but not much.

Swam 2 miles. Last mile was in about 30:30.

5.50 RUNNING miles on the TM.  This is the longest and best run since the Ogden Marathon.  Very mild pain in the achilles that would come and go every so often.

On a side note, I'm running the WBR this weekend.  This could be a very stupid move on my part, but it is a tough one to back out of in the last few weeks because I didn't want to leave the team stranded.  I'll be running with one of the Xango teams and I have leg #9.  If I can make it through this with little to no pain in the achilles, I will be thrilled.  Nervous for the run, but should be a fun time. 

PM - Went to the PT and we did the same thing as last week (exercises, massage, and then the cortizone treatment) since that seemed to make things feel better.

Swam 88 laps, which is probably right around 1.25 miles. 

Lifted weights in the morning.

Ran with a bunch of accountants that work at Xango.  Got taped by the PT on Friday morning.  I was runner #9.  Things started really bad for us when we stopped to get gas in our huge 18 seat passenger van in Ogden on our way up to the first exchange point.  When we tried to start the van back up, it didn’t start.  We spent the next 4 hours sitting at the Maverick station in Farr West.  Decided it would be best for our first van to run legs 1-12 and then we would take legs 13-24.  Our rental place drove us up a mini-van (this sucked-there was just not enough room).

Our van ran legs 13-24.  Started at about 9:00 at night and we finished leg 24 at about 8:00.  No sleep.  Stomach was all jacked up.  No room to maneuver in the van.  What a crappy race.

I ran leg 16.  4.20 miles at overall pace of 6:45.  Passed tons of people.  Not passed by anyone.  Achilles felt fine.  Never felt like I could catch my breath.  First mile was 6:12.  Very happy with this leg.

Leg 21. 9.60 miles at 7:40 pace.  Passed tons of people, got passed by 3 others (one of them was the 26.2 team).  My body was not ready for this.  Could tell I have not been running much, but was very glad to be able to push myself.  Felt like I was going to throw-up for a good portion of this leg.  No trouble with the Achilles.

Leg 33.  3.6 miles at 11.07 pace.  Pre-Ragnar leg.  All I have to say is this was ridiculous.  I was spent and didn’t care about anything other than finishing.  Employed the walk/run strategy.  Minor Achilles pain, but nothing too bad.

Overall, this was kind of fun, but the car trouble really ruined things.  More than anything, I was ecstatic about the fact that I had little to no pain in the Achilles.  This is by far the most miles I’ve put in since the Ogden Marathon.  It was a good test.  This week I think I will begin to start running regularly and amping up the miles and start focusing on the sub 3 St. George Marathon.  No reason I can’t do this.    

Swam 140 laps, or about 2 miles.  Both right around the 31:00 minute mark.

I can't beleive how sore I am from the WBR.  My calves and my quads are hammered.  Even my back is a bit sore.  My body was obviously not ready for it.  I can't wait to try and get back into a regular running routine this week.  Hopefully the achilles responds well, and I can get back to normal.

AM 6.04 in 48:03. 7:57 pace.

Ran out towards my old church mtg. house.  3 out and 3 back.  Quads are still very sore, but no achilles pain.  I'm just going to start putting in the miles for a few weeks, and then I will try and start doing some variations of some of the "big workouts."  Splits:

1-8:11 2-7:51 3-7:55 4-8:28 (pit stop) 5-7:36 6-7:39

 PM 3.01 in 24:11. 8:03 pace

Willow park south.  Legs felt like lead and quads still sore.  Probably too much too soon for me, but I'm anxious to get going.  Was going to run 4, but cut it short.  Lifted chest at the gym.  Splits:

1-8:11 2-7:58 3-7:57

6.53 in 58:32. 8:58 pace.

Ran with Ryan around the neighborhood.  He is still really sore.  I am still pretty sore in the quads and calfs.  Achilles was good, felt very minor pain at the end. 

PM - Lifted and rode the stationary bike for 20 minutes.

5.79 in 45:50. 7:55 pace.

Best the legs have felt all week, which isn't saying much.  It still feels like somebody dead-legged me in the quads and the calfs.  Minor pain in the achilles.  I noticed it more today than the prior two days.  Notice even more when I stand on my tip-toes (not that I do that much).  I go to the PT later today.  The last two weeks that I've gone, I've seemed to have made good progress.  Splits:

1-8:18 2-7:51 3-7:53 4-7:55 5-7:55 .79-5:56

Was going to get up and swim, but didn't.

Went to the PT yesterday afternoon.  Did some exercises, he massaged it, and then he did the cortizone treatment.  This seems to be the most effective thing lately.  Will try and run around 11 miles tomorrow morning by starting at the base of the Provo Canyon and running up to Vivan Park and back.

11.67 in 1:38:40 with Mark.  8:28 pace.

Started at the base of Provo Canyon and ran up to Vivian Park and back.  I’ve waited a long time to run this course.  It’s my favorite place to run, especially early Saturday mornings, but with the Achilles problem I haven’t been able to do it for a while.  Occasional pain on the outside of the Achilles going up the canyon.  Nothing too bad though.  More pain coming down the canyon, especially after our fastest mile which was just under 7.  Backed off and things felt better.  The Achilles feels pretty good in the few hours since the run.  Splits:

1-9:01 2-8:08 3-8:50 4-9:50 (pit stop) 5-7:40 6-9:44 (turn-around and some walking) 7-7:33 8-6:52 9-9:47 (water break and some walking) 10-8:02 11-8:20 .67 4:48

Longest run since Ogden Marathon.  Lifted in the early afternoon.

7.40 in 57:37. 7:47 pace.

Out towards Saratoga road and on to the JRP and then back.  May have overdone it.  The achilles just doesn't feel normal.  More stiffness than usual afterwards.  Minor pain that would come and go during the run.  We'll see how it feels during the day.  Even the left achilles has some minor pain that comes and goes.  Threw in a couple of strides.

Swam 35-40 minutes and then went home and ran 2.54 miles in 17:34.  6:56 pace.

1-7:20

2-6:33

.54-3:40 (6.51 pace)

Once again, not much pain in the achilles while running.  Some minor pain afterwords and it's a little bit stiff.  Even feel it up into my calf a bit as well.

6.02 in 47:30. 7:54 pace.

After around 3 miles, mild pain in right achilles. Almost a fatigued feeling. I'm sure I will feel mild pain throughout the day as usual (up/down stairs, if I stand on my tip-toes, etc).

Swam 100 laps.  First mile was around 31:30.  Plan was too take it easy today so that tomorrow I can run around 13-14 and see how the achilles feels.  At the pool I had to jump to turn on the stop clock that is hanging on the wall and when I jumped I had a very sharp pain to the achilles.  The worst I had felt in a while, but feels good right now.

13.11 in 1:44:41.  7:59 pace.

Started at 5:15.  Headed out towards Loch Lomand and then west until I hit Saratoga Road.  Headed north on Saratoga, crossed Main St. by the junior high and eventually made my way out to Willow Park.  Went north for about 1.25 miles and then turned around and came back.  A couple of variations on the way back, and had to play cat and mouse with a dog right at the very end, otherwise the average pace would have been around 7:50.  Longest run since the Ogden Marathon.

Felt pretty good throughout.  Minor pain would come and go to the achilles after about 5 miles.  After the run there is definitely some stiffness and soreness which makes me hesitant to ramp things up.  will probably run a 5k out in Tooele tomorrow morning while visiting my family.

I'm out visiting my parents in Tooele (where I'm originally from) for the holiday.  I don't like 5ks.  They are just one big long sprint.  1st in my age group and probably about 11th or 12th overall.  Favorable course with some descent downhill at the beginning.  I stopped and walked a couple of times in the third mile where there is an uphill portion to finish the course.  I could see the winner cross the finish line.  He was probably right around 17:30.  The long run yesterday and the relatively low miles due to the achilles probably didn't help me much today, but it was good to push things a bit.

Splits:

1-5:28

2-5:46

3-7:01 (yeah, I know, kind of pathetic)

.10-0:34

Ran back to the car at a slow pace.

PM 3.5 miles at an easy pace to try and help me feel better about all the garbage I ate today. 

7.23 at 7:57 pace.  Can't remember the total time, but it was right around 57:00.

My legs were pretty dead today, so I actually cut things short.  One more week of trying to just get a descent amount of miles in and then I will try and hit things hard for the next couple of months.......assuming no injuries come along.

Lifted weights for an hour.

5.37 in around 42:30.  It was 7:55 pace.  Nice and easy on the old church out and back route. 

9.10 in 1:09:48.  7:40 pace.  The old church route.  Eventually hit the frontage road and run on it for a bit before turning around.  More pain in the achilles than the last few weeks, and a pretty sharp pain on the top of my left foot.  I may back off for the next two days.  Good effort for me today though.

6.0 on the old church route.  No watch, but I know the approximate distance.  Constant tightness/little pain in the right achilles.  No pain on the top of the left foot while running, but it was there all day yesterday and is there now.

PM 3.44 at overall pace of 7:39.  I'm amazed at how much easier it was to keep a faster pace in the evenings as opposed to the mornings. 

No running today.  Was planning to do the stationary bike, but didn't want to wake up.  Planning on running around 14-14.5 tomorrow morning up and down Provo Canyon.

14.38 in 1:47:18.  7:28 pace.  

By far the best I've felt since the Ogden Marathon.  Longest run since the marathon as well.  Ran up to Vivian Park and back down.  Hit the 1/2 marathon mark at about 1:36, which is scorching for me on a training run.  Perfect day.......almost.  Never saw the sun and was probably in the 70s the whole way.  Not many runners on the way up the canyon, but a lot on the way down.  Saw the RHPC runners and pretty sure I saw Josh McAdams running as well.  Also saw and talked with the Crack O' Dawn group that was running.  Great run all around though.  

1-8:22 2-7:33 3-7:51 4-8:39 5-7:22 6-7:00 7-7:50 8-6:39 9-6:53 10-6:27 11-6:26 12-7:33 13-7:13 14-8:19 0.38-3:05

8.03 with 10 x 100 meter strides in 1:02:59.

I've been reading Advanced Marathoning and decided I would try and stick to the 55-70 mile/week 12 week training plan.  I think it will do me good to have specific workouts lined up every day.  I know I will probably have to eventually modify and change things, but we'll see how it goes.

Lots of pain towards the tail end of the run and ever since the run ended on the top of my left foot.  Hopefully this doesn't derail my new training plan.  Right achilles feels great.

11.02 in 1:26:45.  Medium-long run.

Made my way out into Saratoga Springs and then came back.  Perfect example of why this training plan will be good for me.  I would typically never run this far during the week. 

Lots of pain for the first 4 miles on the top of the left foot, and then it died down a bit.  I'm assuming the Ibuprofen kicked in at that point.  The foot doesn't seem swollen or any different than my right, but it worries me a bit.

The schedule called for a 5 mile easy recovery run today, but I decided to not run at all.  I figured this may be more beneficial for my left foot.

11.11 in 1:24:45.  Medium long run.

Out on the old church route and onto the frontage road.  Headed out towards the A.F. boat harbor and then turned around and went back.  Ibuprofin seems to be very effective in controlling the left foot pain. 

5.15 recovery run.  Happened to see my brother who lives down the street running at the same time, so I just stuck with him.  Left work at midnight last night, and it could be crappy today.  I'm a bit tired.

15.0 miles in 1:54:02.  Marathon pace run.

Provo Canyon route this morning.  Started at around 6:15.  Lots of wind coming out of the canyon.  Did a 4 mile warm-up and then 8 miles at MP pace (6:50-7:00) and then a 3 mile cool down.  I was a bit worried about the MP miles, but overall I felt really good.  Splits for the MP miles:

7:05

7:10

7:37 Half mile up South Fork, and half mile down

6:49

6:40

6:39

6:23

7:01 I don’t know why I slowed down here

Overall a great effort for me today.  I’m really liking the training plan after the first week.  It gives me a definite direction for each of my runs and I really like that.

I saw Sasha and Jeff a couple of time today.  They are fast.

12.0 in 1:35:14.  Medium-long run.

Felt fine during the run, but feel like I'm sleepwalking ever since I finished.  Went out into Saratoga Springs and back.  I'm tired.  Between today and tomorrow, my body will be tested pretty good.  Tomorrow is suppose to be an 11 mile run.

11.03 in 1:27 something.  It was about 7:44 pace overall.  Medium long run.  Went out into Saratoga Springs again.  Felt better than yesterday and I'm looking forward to only running about 5 miles tomorrow.  My body needs it.

5.20 in around 42:00.  It was 8:14 pace.  Recovery run.  Took things very easy.  Signed up for the Provo River 1/2 yesterday.

9.07 in around 1:05.  Lactate threshhold run..........kind of.  Plan called for 3 mile warmup, 4 miles at 1/2 marathon pace (around 6:30ish) and a 2 mile cool down.  I ended up doing only 3 miles at tempo.  Splits were:

6:43     6:31     6:17

Luckily a train stopped me right after the first mile.  That allowed me to catch my breath.  Overall, the 2nd and 3rd ones weren't too bad, but I just didn't have it in me today.  Excuses: Got home from work at about 10:45 last night.  Didn't eat very good yesterday.  My legs still were pretty tired from the runs earlier in the week.  Oh well, better than nothing I guess.

5.23 miles.  Recovery run with my brother Ryan.  Nice and easy.

Part of me wishes I was running the marathon this morning.  The first 17  miles or so of  DesNews are some of my favorite.  It would kill my body right now though.

17.0 miles in around 2:16.  Long run.  Up 8.5 in Provo Canyon and back down.  Lots of runners/bikers.  A little wind and a little rain.  Longest run since Ogden Marathon.  I was able to keep a descent pace and overall felt pretty good.

I stuck to the training plan exactly this week.  I ended up right under 60 miles for the week; which is a lot for me.  I hope I didn't do more damage than good though.  My feet just don't seem/feel normal.  Both achilles and the top of my left foot worry me.  We will see how I feel Monday.  I guess if they survived this past week, then they should be able to hold up for a while.  If I can keep up the training plan I should be in great shape for St. George.

9.07 in 1:12:40.  General aerobic run with 10 x 100 meter strides (they were pretty slow strides).  Feel like I could be on the verge of having more trouble with the achilles. 

13.50 in 1:49:11.  Medium long run.  Plan called for 14 miles, but I was running out of time and energy.  Legs were dead for the last few miles, but I was still able to keep going at around 7:30 pace.  Lost about 3 minutes due to a bathroom stop (kept watch running).  I need to force myself to do the elliptical tomorrow, and maybe the next day. 

46 mind numbing minutes on the elliptical.  I was suppose to do an easy 5 mile recovery run today, but decided to error on the side of caution as far as my feet/achilles are concerned.  The elliptical wasn't too bad, but it wasn't as good as running.

12.24 in 1:36:55.  Medium long run with Mark.  Felt pretty good overall.  Nice to run with somebody, even though we don't really talk too much.

I did register for the Mid-mountain marathon which is on Sept 12.  It could kill my chances to go sub 3 at St. George, but it is the funnest race.

5.26 in around 43 minutes.  Recovery run.  Slow and easy.

16.91 in 2:10:48.  Marathon pace run.

4 mile warm-up, 10 miles at MP pace (6:50-7:00), 3 mile cooldown.  All done in Provo Canyon.  Most of it with Mark.  The 10 mile tempo was tough, especially around miles 6-7.  Splits for the tempo:

7:16  6:59  7:19  7:01  6:29  7:18  7:04  6:56  6:52  6:27 

AM 8.16 in 1:02:30.

I'm modifying the training schedule this week because of the Provo River 1/2 on Saturday.  I will break the runs up between the am and pm.  I think this will help my legs.  Legs were dead this morning for the first 5 miles, and then I started feeling better.

PM 5.82 in 48:16.  It was hot.

AM 8.12 in 1:03:23.  Out towards Saratoga and back.

 PM 6.14 in around 48:00

AM No running yet.  I hope to get in an easy, slow 5 miles tonight.

PM 5 miles on the TM.  Boooooring.

6.71 slow and easy.  Not much in the legs right now.

4.0 in about 32 minutes.  Easy and slow.

Goals for the race: 

1:25 and run my own race (in control).  Hope and pray the achilles and feet come out of the race feeling ok.

It wouldn’t be the Provo River ½ if there wasn’t mass chaos and confusion at the start.  That being said, I always have really liked this race. 

Secretly, I was hoping I would be able to come in ahead of the first lady.  I believe I did so, but I had to hold her off at the end.  I had planned on trying to push it down South Fork pretty hard, and then try and hold 6:30 pace the rest of the way.  I wasn’t sure if the uphill section near Bridal Veil was going to be in play this year, but it was and I was fine with that. 

Met Tom Lee and talked with him for a second in the first few miles (if you’re reading this – nice job and I wish you were still blogging).  I ended up running a good portion of the race with Andy (from the blog).  I caught up to him around mile 5 and hung with him until about the 10 mile marker.  It really helps to run with people in a race.  There were certain sections where he carried me quite simply because I didn’t want to fall back.  Overall I felt pretty good.  Recently I’ve discovered that during these races I go in and out feeling bad.  It is just a matter of working through the bad times and then eventually I start to feel better.  Around mile 10, sunglasses guy caught up to Andy and I and started passing.  I started fading a bit and ended up running alone the rest of the way.  At the mile 11 water break I stopped for a bit, and really had to will myself to the finish for the last 2 miles.  I was surprised my splits were as good as they were for the last two. 

Overall, I was really happy with how consistent my splits were and this is certainly a good building block for the upcoming marathons.  I’m hoping I recover well from this and no pain/injuries linger.  Congrats to the other bloggers who ran so well.  I can’t believe how fast some of these people are.

Here are the splits:

1-6:13

2-6:11

3-6:18

4-6:05

5-6:23

6-6:22

7-6:39    Uphill

8-6:42    Uphill

9-6:16

10-6:24

11-6:23

12-6:48 holding on

13-6:45 holding on

.1-0:39

5.28 in 44:25.  Nice and slow out near Willow Park.  Felt better than expected.

8.21 in 1:03:26.  Felt pretty good, but still a little sore in the legs from the race.

6.31 in 47:13.  Legs feel dead right now.

9.16 in 1:12:50.

Went out towards Saratoga Springs.  It was a bit cold as I got closer to the lake.  Lots of nats on the way back.  Legs still feel tired.

5.12 in around 41:00. 

18.02 in 2:22:48.  Went up Provo Canyon.  I was pretty slow going up, but was able to get down to below 8:00 average for the entire run coming back down.  Great day to run and lots of people up the canyon.

AM 7.27 in about 57:23.  Felt like fall.  Went out towards the old church.  Could see my breath at times and my hands were freezing.  I will hit things hard Monday - Wednesday and then I will back off the rest of the week because of Hobble Creek 1/2.  Will get out and do some more tonight.

PM 6.06 out around the neighborhood in 46:16

AM 5.03 in 39:31.  Planned on going around 8 this morning, but the power went out while I was getting ready, so I had to wait for the sun to come up a little bit to give me just a little light.

PM 7.01 in the evening

AM 6.50 This was a bad run. Didn't feel great. Legs were a bit sore. I think the doubles the last two days are getting the best of me right now.

PM 4.50 on the TM after lifting very lightly.

5.43 in the evening around the neighborhood in around 41:30.  It was hot.

4.06 slow and easy.  Threw some strides in.

Goals for Hobble Creek tomorrow: 1:22ish and don't get hurt.

Goal was to finish in 1:22:00.  This race takes the cake for worst bus ride experience.  Started late as well.  Annoying, but I’m glad I’m not the person directing the race.  I was going to try and kill it coming out of the canyon, and then just hold on to the finish.  Lots of fast women in this race as well, especially compared to the Provo ½ a couple weeks ago.

1-5:51  I ran with two ladies for about the first 5-6 miles.  Mel (one of the crack o’ dawn girls and another lady who I see at the gym in Lehi).  I dropped them around the six mile mark.

2-6:15

3-6:29

4-5:34

5-6:27

6-6:14

7-6:11  Coming out of the canyon and feeling really good.  Concentrating on slowly reeling in the groups ahead of me.  Found a good rhythm in these middle miles.

8-6:07

9-6:22

10-6:06  I passed Mary Ann right around the end of this mile.  I had her in my sights for the last couple miles and slowly reeled her in.

11-6:52  This mile has the hill.  It’s not that long, but it worked me over pretty good.  After the hill, I was able to reel in about 3 other guys who were fading.

12-6:19

13-6:33  Right after the 12.5 mark I caught and passed the skinny guy in the black tights.  I told him to run with me, and he stuck with me for a bit, but then faded and finished a few seconds behind me.

.1-0:37

Overall, this was one of the best races that I’ve raced.  I didn’t get passed after about mile 6, and I was able to pass a descent number of people the rest of the way.  I finished pretty strong, and I think I’m learning how to race better in the fact that I’m able to work through the hard times in the race and recover and relax. 

In all honesty, I don’t know how I’m going to get faster than this.  Will the speed just come gradual as I put the miles in?  And how will these half marathon results translate to the St. George Marathon? 

AM 5.64 slow with some walking.  Felt better than I thought I was going to.

PM 4.36 on the TM.

9.50 with overall pace right under 8:00.

AM 5.06 at an ave. pace of about 7:50. Last 2 miles were below 7:10.

PM 2.50 on the TM after a little lifting.

8.69 at 7:40 overall pace.  One of the better training runs I've had in a while.  First mile was around 8:30, and then everything after that was pretty much in the 7:30s.

5.11 in a little over 41 minutes.  Slow and easy.

18.03 in around 2:25:40 up and down Provo Canyon.  Lots of runners in the canyon and pretty good weather.  Ended up with more miles than I anticipated this week, and I think I will try and hit the 70 mark next week.

10.04 in the morning

5.0 on the TM

8.42 at overall pace of about 8:09.  Nothing left in the legs after yesterday. 

4.32 in 33:41 in the evening. Didn't feel great, but was able to keep a descent pace.

5.58 in 41:57.  Really tried to push the pace the last few miles on this one.  Last two miles were in the upper 6's.

3.0 easy on the TM

10.02 in 1:19:21. Didn't feel like I had much in the legs today. Probably won't run again today.

5.80 in 46:45. Pretty slow and easy. Should be able to hit the 70 mile mark this week with a long run tomorrow.

18.20 in 2:21:46.  Up Provo Canyon and it to Southfork and then back down.  Very happy with this run and was able to throw down some faster miles.  Jeff and Sasha passed me coming out of the canyon on their tempo run and I hooked on to their pace for a mile, but then I had to let them go.  They are incredibly fast to keep that kind of pace for so many miles.

This is the most miles I've run in a week ever.  I could definitely feel it today.  I will scale back a bit now.  

Plan for next week is to go about 12-13 on Monday and then take it pretty easy the rest of the week in preparation for the Mid-Mountain Marathon next Saturday.  This could be a stupid move to run this race so close to St. George, but it is a lot of fun.

12.42 in 1:33:42. Ave pace of 7:33.  Ran up just a little past Vivian Park and back to the mouth of the canyon.  Wasn't planning on running hard, but I felt good and this ended up being a pretty fast run for me.  Splits:

1-8:47 2-7:51 3-7:43 4-8:59 5-7:08 6-7:12 7-7:53 8-7:05 9-6:30 10-7:59 11-6:41 12-7:06 0.42-2:41

5.12 in 41:08.  Nice and easy this morning.

AM 5.14 in 38:02. 7:25 overall pace. A nice little faster paced run for me.

PM 5.65 at around 9:30 pace. Very slow, but I was fine with that as I was running with some friends.

5.43 at around 8:00 pace.

2.54 nice and easy around the neighborhood.  Mid-Mountain Marathon tomorrow.  I'm very excited.  This is the hardest and funnest of all the marathons I've done.  Goals for the race:

-Don't get hurt (lots of opportunities to trip in this race)

-Ultimate goal is to finish in 3:30 (winner finished in just over 3 last year), but would like to at least beat my time from last year of 3:48.

-Finish strong, both mentally and physically.

I've had doubts whether or not to run this race hard because I don't want to screw anything up for STG, but I've decided I'm running tomorrow's race hard and we'll see what happens in the next few weeks.

Ugh.  I forget how hard this race is.  It does a number on my body.  Feet are sore today (I’m writing this on Sunday), along with my legs and back.  Now for the excuse……this is the only time all year that I run on a trail and my body can certainly notice a difference between the trails and the road.  Most of the trail on this race is extremely rocky as well.  Overall, this is a very fun race and is very well organized.  I would recommend it to anybody looking for a good trail run.  Here are my times at each of the mile markers they had posted:

Mile 5 – 39:55  Started a bit fast so that I wouldn’t get stuck behind somebody slow on the single track trail.  After about 2.5 miles I was running by myself, which I actually liked better than running in a group of people.  Seems like we climb for the first part of the race.  I couldn’t catch my breath and my legs already don’t feel that great.  But I was happy to see I was on 8 minute/mile pace.

Mile 10 – 1:20:03  Occasional runners pass me, but I’m certainly not passing anybody.  Feel great on the downhill portions, but any uphill section is just kicking my butt.  Still about 5 minutes ahead of where I was last year though. 

Mile 14.8 – 2:01:28  I notice that my lower stomach muscles are giving me a lot of pain and any time I have to climb my groins are giving me trouble. 

Mile 20 – 2:48:01  Miles 15-20 are the worst part.  It is a pretty good climb and my legs are done.  Still not many people around, but I do start to come up on blue-shirt guy.  He doesn’t stop at the aid station, but I do stop.  I didn’t see him again until about mile 25.

Mile 26.2 – 3:36:45  Blue shirt finally comes back into view and he is strugglin.  He pulls to the side of the trail with about a mile left and lets me pass.  I was so glad to be done.  This race is hard, but is actually pretty fun.

I will take it easy for the next few days, and will actually probably start to taper for St. George.  I was amazed at how my legs just had nothing in them for this race.  I don’t want that problem for St. George.

No running or any physical activity for me today.  I'm still pretty sore from the marathon on Saturday.  At times during the day I don't feel that bad, but at other times during the day I ache all over.  I will try and put in some easy miles tomorrow morning.

4.0 recovery miles.  Stayed up late watching the Raiders (it's hard to be a fan of the Raiders), but actually didn't feel too bad on the run.  Ran without a watch.  Legs a bit sore, but not as bad as expected.

Lifted weights and did the elliptical for 15 minutes in the evening.

Pretty easy run with no watch.  Felt really good at first, and then legs felt tired at the end.

Slept in today and justified it by saying that I was still recovering from the marathon.  Will probably lift and do some elliptical tonight.

6.0 with no watch.  Nothing hard, just nice and easy.  Planning on around 16 up and down Provo Canyon tomorrow morning.

16.03 at overall pace of 7:40 up and down Provo Canyon early this morning.  This was a lot faster than I was planning on, but on the way out of the canyon this guy named Richard (crack o dawn group) passed me and so I let him pace me.  We ended up talking and running for a good 3-4 miles and it made me go a lot faster than I had planned.  I need to back off a bit for the next few weeks.  Had a lot of miles in the 7:30-7:50 range and a couple in the 6:20s.

6.19 in around 50 minutes.  About 8:05 pace.  I wanted to run a marathon yesterday after reading all the TOU race reports.

4.33 in 35:11 around the neighborhood.  It was the coldest its been in quite some time this morning.

7.06 in 54:54. 2 mile warmup.  1 mile fast (6:18). 1 mile slow.  1 mile fast (6:31, but would have been around 6:00 if I didn't have to come to a complete stop at two separate times having to wait for cars).  2 mile cool down.

I'm encouraged with the two fast miles.  I had to work at them, but I felt pretty good overall.

5.03 at about 7:53 overall pace.  Kept things pretty easy.

6.03 in around 47:45 or about 7:54 overall pace.  Threw in 10 100 meter (approx.) strides.  Legs didn't feel all that great.  Planning on around 12 easy miles up and down Provo Canyon tomorrow morning.  Feeling fat as a result of the cutback in mileage for STG.

12.04 at overall pace of 7:54.  Never felt like I pushed the pace at all, but my legs didn't feel all that good.  I still think I'm recovering from the marathon a couple weeks ago.  I will take it real easy this week and hopefully the legs will be ok next week.

5.51 at overall pace of 7:18.  Felt pretty good today.  Didn't feel like I had to work that hard to keep a pretty fast pace, which is usually hard for me to do in the mornings.  Good sign for the marathon this Saturday.  No running for me on Tuesday or Wednesday as I'll be out of town.  Plan on around 5 miles on Thursday and nothing on Friday.  I'm very excited for the race this Saturday though.

4.35 additional miles in the evening at around 7:20 pace.

4.50 with no watch, but it felt like I pushed the pace in certain areas.  Was out of town the last two days in Dallas and have come back to what feels like winter temps.  Probably no running tomorrow and will leave for S.G. around 10.  Very excited and feeling confident for the race, although I'm a little tired right now.

Good race.  About an 11 minute PR for me.  I was going to try and stick with the sub 3 pace group, but I thought they were going too fast for me after about 5 miles.  I wish I could have stuck with them though because I think it would have helped me in the later stages of the race.

1-6:52

2-6:44

3-6:28

4-6:18

5-6:30 This is around the point where I dropped from the pace group.   I was feeling pretty good overall.

6-6:27

7-6:32

8-7:24 Ran with Matt K. from the blog for a few miles.  Got up Veyo without too much trouble. 

9-7:15

10-7:07

11-7:25

12-7:12 Miles 9-13 were pretty tough.  I think the steady climb was getting to my legs a bit.

13-6:43 Hit the half way point right around 1:30:10 and figured I was in good shape if I could negative split.

14-6:55

15-6:58

16-6:21

17-6:29

18-6:50 It was around this point in time where I start having trouble with my toes.  Both my big toes are going numb on me. I think it is a combination of the heel inserts I’ve been wearing all year and my shoes being tied too tight.

19-7:20 Uh oh

20-7:07

21-6:33

22-7:24 I’m starting to spend more time at the aid station and I am not doing good mentally.  Bottoms of my feet are killing me.  There is some walking in some of these miles.

23-7:17

24-6:54 Apparently I’m feeling better than I thought.

25-7:55 It’s over.  I’m mentally done and I am walking more and more now.  Getting passed a lot, but I know I’ve got my BQ in the bag.

26-8:09 Death march to the end.

.2-1:45

Overall, a great race for me.  I don’t think I was ready for miles 22-26.2.  I need to get stronger mentally.  My legs were obviously the first thing to go and they were getting shaky around mile 19.  However, looking back at my splits, I think I let the race get the best of me.  I was still trucking along pretty good around mile 21 or so, but going from a 6:54 mile to a 7:55 mile from 24-25 is frustrating.

I think I have lots of room to improve and get the marathon time a lot lower.  I need to change some things (eat better, lose some weight – I was racing at around 160 lbs, and do more runs at marathon pace).   I guess more than anything, I am motivated to get better.  Will take any advice from anybody on the blog to help me get there.

Extremely sore from the race still.  Everything hurts from the midsection and lower.  I don't plan on doing anything today, and will start with the elliptical tomorrow.

30 minutes of lifting and 30 minutes of elliptical.

45 minutes on the elliptical this morning.  My quads are still sore from the race.  I don't know that they have been this sore after a race.  I'm going to try and not run until Saturday, and then next week I think I will try and do the same thing.  I think it is good for me to take a little running break.  We will see if I can do it.

So far, so good on not running.  45 minutes on the elliptical.  Will try to go lift later on tonight.  Legs are feeling better and better.

Lifted for an hour and then walked 10 minutes on the treadmill while talking to Becca and did 10 minutes on the elliptical. 

35 minutes on the stationary bike because there were no ellipticals available at the gym (grrrrhhh).  This was after I drove around all of Lehi looking for a way to get by the train that had blocked almost all of my available routes to the gym. 

11.71 at overall pace of 8:15 up to Vivian Park and back down.  Felt good for the first 6 miles or so, and then the soreness got worse and worse in my quads. This was a stupid move to run this far and I didn't realize how much damage the SGM did to my legs. I felt worse last night than I did at any point last week. Will try and do runs of 3-4 miles this week at slow pace.

4.02 in around 37:15.  After Saturday's run, I decided I would intentionally take things really, really slow.  Some soreness in the quads, but felt better than Saturday.  I don't know why I feel it's necessary to include the 0.02 in my mileage, but I do.

PM 4.0 at around 8:15 pace.

4.27 in 35:27.  Really warm this morning compared to yesterday.  Didn't feel all that great, but made it through the run.

PM 4.0 on the TM after lifting for 40 minutes.

4.50 on the TM because it was too windy to run outside.  Walked an additional .25 after as I talked with Melanie from the blog about the SGM.

PM 4.0 in 29:58.  It started raining pretty good about 1/2 way through my run. For some reason my pace was descently fast, plus I think the rain made me go faster as well.

5.34 in 44 something.  Didn't feel that well in my legs and my stomach was giving me problems.

Nothing this morning.  I had good intentions, but rationalized not getting out by saying that a day of rest today will help me feel better for a little bit longer run tomorrow.