dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

I ran 12 miles today.  I ran most of it easy, however I used some marks on the road and timed .75 miles in 3:51 (5:08 pace).  Total time for the run was about 1:30:00.

I ran 11 miles alone today, in my first run back in Provo.  The run was rather odd for the first while, as I was running at or near 7:00 pace, and it felt like 7:30 or 7:40 pace.  Even the sections with a little bit of snow weren't really slowing me down.  At 5 miles I was at 35:17, and I decided to speed up and catch the 7:00 guy.  I ran the next half mile in 3:04 to make it to the half-way mark in 38:21.  After this I decided to slow down, however I had some trouble actually doing it for the first couple miles.  After turning around I hit miles from 7:14-7:28 over the next 4 miles before finally slowing down a bit more heading up the hill to home to finish in 1:19:25.

Todays run was the longest run I have ever completed based on time.  It was even longer than both of the marathons that I ran, although the distance was shorter.  We started off with a whole crew of people, as Daniel, James, Sasha, Mary Ann, and Angela Wagner (BYU runner) all showed up to run.  After a warm-up of about 2.75 we started a 5k tempo pacing the women.  Daniel and James headed for home.  We ran the tempo with them, hitting the first 2.5 miles at about 6:00 pace on the snow and ice, and then running back and finishing with Mary Ann at a slightly slower pace.  After this we ran back to Sasha's house and dropped off Mary Ann and Angela.  On the way back I slipped in one of the tunnels and landed on my hip pretty hard.  It is still a little sore.  After returning to Sasha's house, we ran back out and did about 11.5 miles more to finish 20+ miles in 2:43:24.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Daniel this morning.  It was cold.  I hate cold weather.  We finished in 1:20:20 for 10.1 miles.  We threw in some surges for a few seconds at a time in the middle of the run.

Darn it.  I did it again.  I posted Mondays workout on Sunday.  Oh well, it doesn't really matter, this can count for Sunday instead.

I ran with Sasha today, and I think that this was the slowest run I have ever done. We ran out to the lake and back, and the snow was terrible. At one point we got up to 8:00 pace, and we really had to work just to get going that fast. We had a number of miles in the 10:30 range. We ended up finishing the run in 1:35:32.

I ran alone today.  It was a lot warmer since I ran in the afternoon, and the snow had been melting so I decided to try and make up for how slow yesterdays run was.  I ended up finishing 10 miles in 1:10:25 (36:20 first half, 34:05 second half).  On the way home I had a couple of miles I timed in the 6:30 range.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Daniel today.  Daniel turned around after 3 miles, and the rest of us went out to the lake and back.  The trail wasn't too snowy, but there were parts that were still bad enough to slow us down quite a bit.  There were also areas where we sped up into the low to mid 7:00 range because the trail was clear.  We finished in 1:20:06.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Daniel today.  Daniel turned around after 3 miles.  The rest of us went to the lake and back.  We finished the first 10.1 in 1:23:00 and some change.  After that I ran with Sasha and Benjamin for 1 mile as Benjamin ran his run for the day, and then continued on so that I could get home.  Kimia needed the car this morning so I had to run home.  From Sasha's house to mine is a little over 3 miles by my estimation, but I will just count 3.  Total time of 1:48:47 for 13.1 miles.

I ran with Sasha, and Daniel this morning. Our workout was rather odd because we ran out a little ways and then spent the next hour or so shoveling out one of the underpasses on the provo river trail so that people would not fall during the race in the afternoon. We also set up mile markers and other signs for the races. Sasha and I finished 7.2 miles, after which I went out for 3 more miles before heading home. I had just enough time to get home, eat some breakfast, and change into race clothes before I needed to leave and get back to where the race was.

There were only 3 people in the 5k. Most of the rest were in the 10k. We all started together, and Nick McCombs, Sasha and I took off. We went through the mile in 5:06, which was probably more like a 4:56 effort due to the snow and ice. At this point Sasha dropped back, and Nick and I stayed together until my turn-around at 2.5k (8:06 first half). Nick continued on as he was running the 10k. At this point I slowed down, and took it a little easier so that I wouldn't have to worry as much about slipping and falling on the ice. I made it through 2 miles in 10:42 and finished in 16:36, closing with a 2:35 last half mile.

After finishing I turned around and went back until I met up with Nick again. I ran hard with him as he finished the 10k. A little while later I ran a few more miles to finish up for the day.

Anyhow, I like the fact that Mary Ann is starting up a race series here in Provo.  I think that it will be good for those of us who are local as well as those who are from a little farther away.  So, run one of her races if you get a chance to help get this thing off the ground.

So, I went to my new ward for the first time.  It doesn't start until 1pm so I slept in and then hung out for a while at home before finally getting ready for church.

I ran with Sasha and Mary Ann this morning.  We just ran out to the lake and back.  Nothing spectacular, however we did finish a little quicker today than we have been lately.  1:17:59 for 10.1 miles.

AM:  10.1 miles in 1:16:29 with Sasha and Mary Ann.  Daniel ran with us for the first 3 miles.  We threw in a few surges here and there of about 3-5 seconds each when the trail was clear.

PM:  I decided to start running doubles now, whereas in the past I was increasing daily mileage only running once per day.  Now I am going to start slowly adding a second run in until I am running doubles most days.  I will keep my morning runs to 10 miles.  I ran 3 miles in 23:10. 

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Daniel this morning.  We did a few sprints again.  I feel just a little tight every day during the first few sprints.  I relaxed a bit on those, then pushed it harder later on.  Total time for 10.1 miles 1:16:38, almost the same as yesterday.

I ran with Sasha, Daniel, Mary Ann and her friend Chauncey this morning.  We ran the first 6 miles all together, after which Sasha, Mary Ann and myself went out and ran 4 more miles.  Total time of 1:20:01.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Daniel this morning.  We ran the first 4 miles together, after which we dropped off Mary Ann.  Then, we went back out and ran 6 more miles.  Daniel ran the next mile with us and then turned around to go home.  Sasha and I ran 1000m in 3:15 in order to simulate race pace for tomorrow.  It felt pretty good.  We ran the last 400m of the 1000m in 1:16.  That felt a little fast, but manageable.  Total time for the run was 1:18:03

Ok, so I ran the half-marathon this morning and as far as first impressions go on how I did their are some mixed reviews, although the overall prognosis is pretty good.

I am pleased that I ran a decent race time wise on a course that was hillier than I realized, and I am happy that I won. I am also happy that I was able to work through the issues that were bugging me prior to and at the beginning of the race, and that they did not affect me too much (I was having some stomach issues prior to the race, and during the first few miles my shins were tight in an almost shin-splint type fasion).

However, I really thought that I could break 1:10:00 for the course, and I was a minute off that mark. I also was hoping that I would be able to maintain a faster pace on some of the middle and later miles of the race, (especially considering that we had a slow start) and it just wasn't in me today.

So, I am happy but I am not content. I guess that it is the story of my life. I am never completely happy with how I run, because I always want to be faster than I am and I want to keep improving. I guess I am kind of like the rich man who is never happy with how much money he has, and who continues to want more and more despite the fact that he is already rich. Anyhow, here are my splits for the race:

1. 5:40 - slow start, which is ok. We didn't want to push too much

2. 5:35, 11:15 - more of the same. There is a big pack of us who are running together

3. 5:20, 16:35 - downhill mile. About the same effort as the previous two

4. 5:20, 21:55 - starting to work a little harder. Mostly flat

5. 5:36, 27:31 - rolling hills, with a few short but steep uphill sections. Five of us are still together including myself, Paul, Hayden, Dave, and Sasha. Sasha drops back during this mile

6. 5:15, 32:46 - still some rolling hills this mile, but we are mostly heading down. Hayden falls near the end of this mile and Paul and I put a gap on him and Dave.

7. 5:21, 38:07 - feeling pretty good now. I started to chat with Paul for a bit. Not pushing it too hard.

8. Missed the marker, but still not pushing it too hard

9. 10:54, 49:01 - 2 mile splits average at 5:27. The second mile was probably faster than the first. I started to push hard during this mile and I began to slowly pull away from Paul

10. 5:17, 54:18 - rolling hills during this mile. Pushing it harder to try and create a gap

11. 5:23, 59:41 - still rolling hills, but it felt like there was a decent amount of uphill

12. Missed the marker again because I started to zone out a bit. Caught an approximate split at 20k which I believe was between 1:07:20-1:07:24

Finish. 1:10:59 - during the last few hundred meters there is a sharp 180 degree turn. I slowed down a lot making the turn. During this mile I was hurting some and I had a decent lead, so I didn't push it too hard to the finish. I averaged a 5:22 pace from 11 miles to the finish, which wasn't bad considering the 180 and a few other sharp turns, plus what I believe was a net uphill from 11 miles to the finish.

So, all in all it was a good race. I went back with Sasha to pace Mary Ann to the finish and she was just about done anyhow, so we didn't run much with her. After that I went out and ran a little less than 5 miles out on the race course to finish up with 20 miles for the day.

The morning was relaxing as we don't have church until 1:00.  In the evening we had a bunch of people over for dinner.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, Daniel and Chauncey this morning.  Daniel and Chauncey turned around after 3 miles.  The rest of us finished 10.1 miles in 1:16:54.  My shins are feeling tight still after the half-marathon on Saturday, so I didn't really do the short sprints that Sasha was doing.  I felt pretty good by the end of the workout as the tightness seemed to have worked itself out.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Daniel this morning.  Daniel turned around after 3 miles.  We threw in a few explosive sprints for a few seconds where the trail was clear.  It is odd, because the trail is getting more snow and ice on it than before even though it has not snowed recently.  We decided that it was because the snow from the trees is getting blown to the ground by the wind.  Total time of 1:17:45 for 10.1 miles.

Same group as normal this morning. Same route to the lake and back. I used to dislike running the same way every single day, and I would make a point to run 4-5 different routes fairly regularly. Now, I have gotten used to just running the same way every single day, and I can say that it doesn't really matter to me anymore if I change up my route or not. Anyhow, we finished 10.1 miles in 1:18:09.

PM:  4 more miles in 31:04.  I felt pretty good, and my legs didn't feel too tired

It was a good run this morning. We started off about the same pace as normal, but then quickly sped up before settling into a more relaxed pace (though not any slower) about a mile into the run. We did a few explosive sprints in the middle of the run when the trail was clear. On some of them I just stayed with Sasha, and on a few of them I decided to push it harder. We finished with 10.1 miles in 1:16:46.

PM:  I ran 4 more miles alone in 31:17.  I was really tired by bedtime.  After 2 straight days of doubles I can tell that I am not used to running twice a day.  I will get used to it eventually.

I ran with the same group as always, plus Chauncey came again.  We ran 6 miles as a group, and then Sasha, Mary Ann and I ran 4 more miles to finish up 10 miles in 1:19:58.  Todays run was interesting because Sasha wanted to test our singing ability while running 6:00 pace.  It is probably the third time I have done this with him, and I am still unsure as to why he likes doing it.  Anyhow, it was kind of fun, and for the most part our pace was slower than normal because we were talking more and I didn't mind that either.

I ran with the same group of people today as normal plus Matt, Sasha's friend who I have run with once before.  Daniel turned around after 3 miles and the rest of us finished up 10.1 miles in 1:15:19.  Sasha and I then went out for another 10.1 miles along the same course to the lake and back.  We decided to push the pace a little more and with the exception of a few areas where there was snow and ice we were under 6:00 pace the entire time (miles ranged from 5:41-5:55).  With about .75 miles left I took off and finished the last mile in 5:33 for a total time of 58:43 for the last 10.1 miles (2:14:02 for 20.2 miles).

Nothing special to report except that I slept a lot, and church was good (note: I didn't sleep in church).

I ran with a bunch of people today.  There were six of us.  We ran out 3 miles and then back, but we continued on the river trail for about 2 more miles before coming back to Sasha's house.  We finished in 1:22:09.  The distance is approximate since we could not see the marks on the trail due to the snow.

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:15:22.  Same group as yesterday, minus Chauncey.  We turned around after 3.5 miles and then came back with Daniel.  Then, we continued on the trail to the final turnaround of the uneventful half before heading back to Sasha's house. 

After I got back I did a standing long jump test in Sasha's basement and a stair sprint while I waited for the lock to the car to unfreeze.  My best jump was 88 inches (7'4").  I have jumped 92" in the past, but after a run it just wasn't in me.  My best stair sprint was 2.7 seconds.  I think that a lot of the variation in this is due to how quickly people can get started once they hear the start signal.

nothing different to report from yesterday except we finished the run a bit quicker today.  We finished 10 miles in 1:14:05.  We also threw an 800 in the middle of the run in 2:46.

I ran with Sasha and Mary Ann this morning.  We ran out to the lake and back. 

On the way out we ran a hard 1000 just a little over 2 miles into the run.  The goal was to run a 3:10 and we started out hitting the first 200 in 37s followed by a 38 to make it to the quarter in 1:15.  This was followed by another 37 to hit 600 in 1:52.  Around this point we started hitting some patches on the trail that had snow on them and it was necessary to stutter step a bit in order to jump over them or run through them.  This actually prompted me to speed up because I was trying harder not to slow down.  The half mile marker was covered by snow so I don't know the split, but I finished the 1000 between 3:03-3:04 so the last quarter was done between 1:11 and 1:12.  Sasha came in at 3:05-3:06, and Mary Ann, who was just supposed to pick up the pace a little, got excited and ran a 3:28.

We finished the run in 1:13:31 for 10.1 miles.  I have noticed that we are slowly picking up the pace on our easy runs in the morning.  For a while we were going no faster than 1:18-1:20 for 10 miles, and now we are hitting in the 1:16 range consistently and going faster on some days.  We hit our first mile in 7:48 this morning, which is unheard of for us.  I don't mind it as I feel pretty good, so we'll see if it helps us at all. 

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, Daniel, and Bryce this morning.  Bryce was our new addition for the day as we is friends with Mary Ann and he decided to come down.  We ran out to the 7 mile turn-around and then came back and continued on the trail to the turn-around for the uneventful half before finishing at Sasha's house in 1:18:41 for 10 miles.  We threw in a few accelerations in the middle of the run as well.

On a side note, Sasha gave us the new racing jerseys today.  They will debut tomorrow at the Salt Lake City race series 5k.  The logo for the blog and for the St. George Running Center are much bigger on the new jerseys than on the old ones.

Going into the race today I did not know fully what to expect because I have not truly raced a 5k since August, and the only other 5k between then and now was not all out, and was run on the Provo river trail in icy conditions. I have been feeling good lately so I expected to run well, I just was not sure how well.

Anyhow, we did a warm-up running the entire race course plus a little extra. After this I stretched out for a bit and then took of my pants and coat and ran a few strides to finish getting ready for the race to start. My main competition at the race was comprised of two of the Salt Lake Running Company's runners, Seth Wold (who is on the blog) and BJ Christenson.

When the race started BJ, Seth and I took off, and within a very short period of time we had dropped every other runner in the field. BJ led, with Seth following, while I took the rear. There was a crossing headwind that affected us for most of the race, so we ran in a line and drafted off of one another rather then running together. I think that BJ was actually going out hard in order to help Seth out and to let Seth sit on him, because he is not in his top shape right now. Anyhow, we hit the mile mark in 4:59. Shortly before the turn-around Seth took off and shot past BJ. I followed, and it turned into a two man race. I did not catch my split at the turn-around because I was focusing more on not letting Seth get away from me than I was about the time (Sasha was close enough that he caught my split for me, it was a 7:50). We made it to the 2 mile mark in 10:03 (5:04 mile). I have decided that BJ must have been slowing down the first half of that mile before Seth took off, because the pace during the second half of that mile was considerably harder than during the first. During the third mile I was still pushing hard trying to stay with Seth, who was not making it easy on me. However, I did have enough left to make a move with half a mile left, and as I slowly moved past Seth he gave me a pat on the back, said "good job" and slowed down. So, I do not know what was going on there, but I was alone from there to the finish. With a half mile left my watch read 13:09, and I closed with two consecutive 1:13 quarters to finish the race in 15:35.

After I finished I waited for Sasha to come in, and without stopping our watches we began a 10k tempo run, running the race course twice with another of the runners named Jason (he ran for Weber State back in the day). We started the tempo at 18:20 on our watches, so I had a break of 2:45 before starting. Even with the break I was hurting some at the beginning of the tempo, so we chatted some and warmed into it with a couple miles at 6:19 and 6:15. We then got a little more serious and we sped up. We finished the first half of the tempo at 37:23 (19:03 for 5k) and slowly picked up the pace after that. We ran the second half of the tempo in 17:36 to finish with a 54:59 for 15k (52:14 if I don't count the time standing around).

After this we ran over to where they were doing the awards, and I finished up my mileage later on in the afternoon running for what I will count as 2.7 miles in 21:44 while Mary Ann was getting her new shoes that she won for winning the women's race, and running 4 miles at home in 29:55 as well as running a mile with Kimia in about 12:30 (I will count this mile as .5 due to the speed).  This gives me 20 miles for the day.

Day of rest, so no running.  I helped with fast offerings in the morning and then went to church in the afternoon.  Testimony meeting was nice, as there was this old, old man who got up and bore the sweetest testimony about the love he has for his wife.  It was a reminder to me of the love that I need to show my wife on a daily basis.

I ran alone today.  I left from my house and ran out and back five miles down State street and on the Provo river trail.  My stomach was freaking out the entire time I was running and I had to take 2 vpb's in the middle of the run, and I almost had to take a third.  Anyhow, I finished my run in 1:17:02 for 10 miles.

I ran this morning with Mary Ann, Sasha, and Daniel on our route that has become somewhat standard lately, out to the 7 mile turn-around, and back to the uneventful half turn-around before finishing at Sasha's.  We threw in a few sprints in the middle of the run.  I did not push them too hard at all.  We also ran into Tommy Gruenewald (not sure if it is spelled right or not) from the BYU track team and ran with him for a bit.  We ended up finishing up 10 miles in 1:14:30.

PM:  I ran 4 miles on my own.  The first two miles were a little faster than they should have been, in part because I was running downhill.  I turned around at 14:55 for 2 miles, and then purposefully slowed down some the last 2 miles, which was made easier by the fact that I was running uphill on the way back.  Total time 31:15 for 4 miles.

I ran with Sasha at 5:15AM this morning. It has been a while since I have gotten up that early to run. Anyhow, we ran pretty slowly and talked the entire time about computer stuff. Finished up 10.1 miles in 1:22:09.

PM: I ran 4 miles this afternoon on my own, finishing in 31:11.  I am still not used to running doubles, so I am pretty tired from running doubles the last 2 days.  I also have been going out with Kimia and running a mile with her every afternoon.  Her best so far is 12:14 for 1 mile. 

Everything was pretty normal this morning.  We met at the same time as normal with the same group and ran the same basic route.  Total time was 1:18:39 for 10 miles.

I ran with the same group as always, plus Matt. We ran out to the 3.5 mile mark and turned around coming back to the turn-around for the uneventful half and then heading back to Sasha's house to finish 10 miles in 1:17:02. We also threw in some sprints here and there just like we have been consistently doing for the past few weeks.

PM: 4 more miles alone in 32:41.  My left calf is feeling kind of tight so I made sure to keep the pace really easy, especially the second half. 

My calf has been bugging me since yesterday, near where the muscle ends and the achillies tendon begins.  So, I just took it easy today, and I only ran 18 miles instead of 20.  I also helped set up the course for Mary Ann's race.  I ran the first couple miles with Daniel, and the first 10.1 with Sasha.  I then finished it off alone.  Total time was 2:24:33 for 18.1 miles.

Well, my calf felt better today than on Saturday, which is good.  I have decided that the discomfort was coming from the head of the calf muscle being too tight, and thus putting excess pressure on the muscle insertion near the achilles.  So, I spent a lot of time today massaging the muscle and stretching it out.

I ran with the normal group this morning.  We finished 10 miles in 1:19:23.  My calf felt a lot better today than it has been, but somewhere in the latter part of my run it started to act up again.  So, not perfect but getting better.  Hopefully it is good enough for me to race on Saturday.  We will see.

Easy run.  Nothing special.

I ran with the same group as usual, but I didn't do the entire run with them because I didn't have the car, so I split off early and ran home.

Again, same as normal for today.

I ran the winter series 10k this morning.  Like last time, Seth was my main competition.  This time however, we were also competing against the wind and snow, and wet slippery conditions in general.  We ran a little less than 3.5 for a warm-up, and then headed to the start line.

The race started with a minimal, but almost non-existent tail wind.  Snow was also coming down, and it was slippery.  So, we started off slowly hitting the first mile in about 5:28.  There was a pack of 5 of us, including Sasha, myself, Seth, Bryan Summers (lives in Salt Lake I think), and James (Fiddy on the blog).  Sasha dropped back after the first mile, and the rest of us kept up pretty much the same pace.  We hit the second mile in 5:29, and the third mile in 5:30.  I think that about 2 miles in that a decent tail wind picked up, because the snow stopped, however we didn't notice it until after the turn-around.  We hit the turn-around in 17:06, and promptly hit a nasty wall of wind that slowed us down from that point until the finish.  The fourth mile was a 6:08, followed by a 5:55.  Bryan dropped back after 4 miles, and James dropped back between 4.5 and 5 miles.  From around 5 miles in Seth and I slowly picked up the pace.  I led most of the way as Seth was content to just take it easy and kept slowing down.  I knew that if it came down to a finishing kick over the last half mile or so that I would probably lose, so I felt like I had to lead if I wanted a shot at winning.  With a half mile left Seth took off, and I followed.  We hit the sixth mile in 5:35, which was really fast considering the snow and wind.  After Seth took off, I started to slip quite a bit on the snow.  I am not sure how he was able to go that fast given the conditions.  I felt like my legs were strong enough to go faster, but that I couldn't because of how slippery it was.  Anyhow, Seth finally dropped me right around the 6 mile mark, and he finished 2 seconds ahead of me (I made it from 6 to the finish at about 5:23 pace).

Anyhow, it was a decent race given the conditions.  I can't say that I enjoyed it much, but it was a good workout.  During the first 5 miles I really felt like I could maintain the pace I was going forever.  I felt strong, but I realized that it was too risky to try and run alone.  I felt like I couldn't go any faster during those miles because of the snow, yet somehow I was able to speed up quite a bit the last mile.  I also think that running in front for so long hurt me, but I really don't know if the outcome could have been changed if I would have slowed down in order to let Seth lead, because he still probably would have out sprinted me.  Anyhow, hopefully the weather is better for the 15k in two weeks.

Church was good.  I really liked the high counciler's talk during sacrament meeting.

Funny run today.  I ran 4 miles with Sasha, then he stopped because he is feeling sick.  Then, the rest of us ran 1.05 around the block while waiting for Craig to show up (Mary Ann invited him to come).  Then we all ran 3 miles with Craig, after which Mary Ann and Daniel were finished, so I finished up the last 2 miles alone.  Total time for 10.05 miles 1:23:13.

I ran with Daniel this morning.  Sasha is sick, and I guess Mary Ann is in Salt Lake City, so it was just the two of us.  We ran 8 miles, and then I went out for 2 more on my own to finish up 10 miles in 1:18:16.

I ran with Sasha, Daniel, Mary Ann, and Chauncey this morning.  Chauncey was only doing 6 miles so we stayed with him and then went farther down the trail instead of heading back to Sasha's house.  Daniel turned around a mile later, and the rest of us ran the full 10.  It was really slow, because Sasha is still getting over being sick.  Total time of 1:25:55 for 10 miles.

PM:  I went out for 4 more miles on my own.  Finished in 30:51.

I ran with Adam and Mary Ann this morning.  We ran 10.1 miles in 1:11:38.  It was a little faster than normal, but I felt good.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Matt this morning.  We ran 10.1 miles in 1:15:07.

PM:  I ran 4 miles alone in 30:16.  I felt a little tired, but otherwise pretty good.  I need to make sure and get to bed on time tonight.

paced mary ann through a 15 mile tempo in 1:34:33.  Ran a warm up and cool down as well to get to 20.12 miles in 2:14:30.

Today is my anniversary.  1 year!

Easy run with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Matt.  We went to the lake and back.  Total time of 1:15:40.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Daniel this morning.  Daniel turned around after 4 miles and the rest of us went to the lake and back.  I tried out the new racing flats that I got yesterday.  Everything felt fine.  I think I will run one more time in them before the race on Saturday.  Total time of 1:13:43 for 10.1 miles.

Everything today was the same as yesterday, except that we kept the pace a little slower on purpose.  Total time of 1:18:06 for 10.1 miles.

PM:  4 miles in 31:07.  I saw three thermometers on the side of the bank while I was running and all of them were registering temperatures over 60 degrees, yet I was running in the same stuff I wear when it is 10 degrees outside.  Needless to say, it was hot, but suprisingly bearable.  Maybe it was the wind that helped it not feel so hot.

10.1 miles with Sasha and Mary Ann this morning.  Daniel joined us for the first 3.  Total time of 1:17:37.

PM:  4 miles in 28:46 with a couple sections thrown in the middle at a higher intensity.  The first hard section was 1.5 miles into the run, and I ran .5 in 2:33.  It would have been a 2:32 but I slowed near the end because of my turn-around, and I didn't want to stop suddenly.  Then I ran an easy quarter before running one more quarter hard in 1:18.  This last quarter involved running through a tunnel and almost plowing over a lady pushing a stroller, so it is also a little slower than it should have been.  I then finished up running home.

The whole purpose of doing this was to simulate race pace for Saturday without really pushing it too hard.  I feel like 5:10 pace should be reasonable for the majority of the race as long as the weather is good.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and another lady this morning (sorry I forgot your name already).  We ran out the normal route to the lake and back for a total of 10.1 miles in 1:22:49.  I felt pretty good.  We did run about 500m at close to 6:00 pace because Sasha wanted to showcase how well I can sing while running, but otherwise we kept the pace easy.

I ran the last race of the race series today.  There was a light headwind at the beginning of the race so I didn't want to lead out.  However, I quickly realized that the pace was too slow.  I decided to just run with everyone else anyhow, and after 2 miles I threw in a short surge to test the waters and see who would follow me.  Seth Wold was the only taker, and just before the 3 mile mark I sped up again, this time for good. 

My splits are as follows:  5:36, 5:26, 5:27, 5:14, 5:12, 5:11, 5:09, 5:13, 5:06, 1:38 (5:05 pace). 

1st half 25:10, second half 24:02, 5k split 17:02, 10k split 33:12-33:13 (not sure if it was one or the other), last 10k 32:10 (new pr), last 5k 15:59-16:00. 

So, I felt like I could hold 5:10 pace forever, but when Seth made a move with just under a mile left I felt like there was nothing in me to speed up at all, and 5:05-5:06 pace was all I could do.  he came in 8 seconds in front of me, with all of it coming in the last mile.

I slept a bunch last night.  I needed it after that race yesterday and then working until 11:00pm.

I met with the same basic group as always this morning, plus Matt.  We ran out to the lake and back for a total of 10.1 miles in 1:14:59.  The arch in my right foot has been feeling slightly sore since yesterday, but I didn't really even notice it while I was running, so I think it should be fine.

PM:  ran 4 more miles in 29:53.  Ended at the car place to pick up the car after an oil change so I didn't run back up the hill to the house, which probably gives me an aided time for my run today.  Oh, well.

I ran with Sasha, Daniel, and Mary Ann this morning.  Daniel turned around after 4 miles, while the rest of us ran 10.1 miles in 1:20:32.  In the middle of the run I did 5x400 in 1:10, 1:11, 1:10, 1:10, 1:10.  Sasha ran half of each 400 with me on all but the last repeat when he ran the full 400.  I felt good running them, but I could tell that I have not done anything like this in quite a while as I had to put in a little more effort to push off of the ground than I normally should need to do. Basically, the muscles in my shins felt a little weak because I am not used to this.

PM:  I ran 4 more miles in 31:28.  I felt good, but a little tired, so I kept the pace slightly slower than I normally do.

I ran with Sasha and Mary Ann this morning.  I was really dragging because I only got 6 hours of sleep last night, and we met at 5:15 in the morning.  I know that some people on the blog get up that early every day, but I am just not used to it.  It also doesn't help that I work until 10:00pm most every night.  Anyhow, we ran 10.1 miles in 1:23:13.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Daniel this morning.  Daniel turned around after 4 miles, and the rest of us finished 10.1 miles in 1:18:17.  In the middle of the run I did one mile hard in 4:58.  Sasha did the first half of this with me.  Quarter splits: 1:13, 1:16, 1:16, 1:13.  I would have been right at 5:00 which was goal pace, but I sped up a little the last 50-100m or so to dip under 5:00.

PM:  4 more miles in 30:04.  I came back in the same time it took to go out.  That is actually somewhat odd for me, since going out I am heading downhill, and coming back I go up.

10.1 miles this morning with Sasha, Daniel, Mary Ann, and Matt.  I took a vpb in the middle of the run and ran about half a mile fast to catch up.  I timed 400 in 1:15 during the catch-up.  Total time of 1:18:38 for 10.1 miles.

I ran on my own this morning because Sasha had to run earlier in the morning, and Mary Ann was running a race.  I needed to do a hard long tempo run anyway, so I was probably going to end up running alone regardless.  So, I drove to the start of our 5 mile tempo run, and after a 1 mile warm-up in 7:48 I jumped into the tempo.  My splits were as follows:

1 - 5:52 - right on goal pace, but the pace throughout the mile was very uneven.

2 - 5:55 - my shins are starting to tighten up and hurt a bit

3 - 5:59 - the shins are hurting pretty bad now and are slowing me down.  Hit my first turn-around during this mile

4 - 5:57 - I started focusing on pushing off more from my toes and it helped stretch out my shins

5 - 5:53 - 29:36 for 5 miles.  In the pace range I wanted, but slightly slower than expected.  Second turn-around at the end of this mile

6 - 5:55 - the shins are finally starting to feel normal and I can run without pain

7 - 5:52 - now that I am feeling better the quarter splits are starting to yo-yo as my body is telling me it wants to go faster, and I accidentally would run too fast for one quarter, and then overcompensate and run too slow on the next.  This went on for a few miles

8 - 5:50 - I hit the third turn-around during this mile

9 - 5:55

10 - 5:53 - 29:25 for the second 5 miles, 59:01 for 10 miles.  fourth turn-around at the 10 mile mark

11 - 5:47 - After 10 miles I was sick and tired of trying to force myself to stay at 5:52 pace, so I just decided to run and not worry about pace anymore

12 - 5:52

13 - 5:47 - 5th turn-around during this mile

14 - 5:51

15 - 5:47 - 6th turn-around at the 15 mile mark.  29:04 for 5 miles, 1:28:05 for 15 miles

16 - 5:47

17 - 5:51 - I purposefully slowed a bit this mile since I knew that at the 17 mile mark I was going to be running all out to the finish.

18 - 5:12 - As soon as I started this mile I took off, and I pushed it hard to the finish.  Quarter splits for this mile were 76, 80, 79, 77 with my last turn-around coming half-way through.  The 80 second quarter was slowed by some wind, and the turn, while the 77 was probably slightly wind-aided

19 - 5:12 - quarter splits of 79, 77, 79, 77.  I was working pretty hard by the time I finished this mile

20 - 5:17 - quarter splits of 81, 79, 79, 78.  I lost concentration a bit during the first quarter, otherwise I probably would have run a 5:15 for this mile.  I was really hurting by the end of this mile.  15:41 for the last 3 miles, 27:19 for the last 5 miles, 56:23 for the last 10 miles, 1:55:24 for 20 miles

So, the results of this tempo were very encouraging.  First, it lets me know that I am getting over the fuel issues that I have had in the past, as I did not feel like I was running low on fuel at the end of the tempo.  Second, it lets me know that I can run close to my all out 5k pace after running 17 miles averaging 5:52 per mile.  I still feel that I have some work to do, as I was hoping to hold 5:12 pace through the finish, but overall I think that the results of this are very positive.

I felt more rested than I thought I would after yesterday's nasty workout, which was good.  On the negative side I am pretty sore from running the longest tempo run I have ever done, and from running the most overall distance I have ever done other than the marathons.  I am mainly sore in my calves and in my shins, which is to be expected considering the tightness I felt early on in the tempo, so I am not really concerned.  I just need to take it easy this week. 

My calves were still sore this morning, although my shins are feeling a lot better than yesterday.  We kept the pace pretty easy for the most part, and we finished 10.1 miles in 1:22:16.

On a side note, I was looking at some of the times from the Run For Red 5k that was held near where I ran my tempo run on Saturday, and I thought it was somewhat amusing that the last 3 miles of my 20 mile tempo were run at a faster pace than the winning time in that race.  On the women's side there was some good competition, however on the mens side there was nobody.

I ran alone today.  10 miles in 1:16:18.  I felt a pinching sensation in my left knee over the last 3-4 miles.  It is probably nothing, but I am going to pay more attention to it just to be safe.

10.2 miles this morning in 1:08:16.  I ran in the neighborhood of a 1:06:40 for the normal 10.1 that we do every day, plus we added a little more at the beginning.  We had to keep the pace faster today because Sasha needed to leave at 9:00 to go somewhere and we got started late.

PM: 4 more miles.  I haven't actually run them yet, but I am heading out the door as soon as I get this posted.  I will probably run the 4 miles in about 31:00.  Ok, so I just finished and the total time was 30:58.  My estimated time was pretty close (and I wasn't purposefully speeding up or slowing down to hit it either).

This morning I ran with the same group as normal, plus Steve Ashbaker.  We did the normal route to the lake and back.  I threw in a few 400's during the workout; three on the way out to the lake in 1:05, 1:06, 1:05, and two on the way back in 1:08, 1:10.  Total time of 1:23:07 for 10.1 miles.

PM:  4 miles in 32:09.  I kept things really easy and slow today because I want to be careful so that I do not get injured with the little nagging pains that I am having right now.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Matt this morning.  I was not sure exactly what time we would start at, and I needed to get back earlier than normal, so I ran around the block a couple of times before we started so that I could make sure that I got my entire run in.  It ended up that I didn't need to do it because everyone showed up on time this morning, so I got in 10.1 miles with the group in 1:15:00 plus an extra .7 miles alone in 5:25 for a total of 10.8 miles in 1:20:25.

I ran with Sasha today and after a short warm up of less than 1.5 miles, we jumped into a 10 mile tempo run.  Sasha was kind of testing himself to see if he is getting better after the ear infection, while I was just wanting to do a shorter tempo than last week. I finished the tempo in 57:44, while Sasha fell back the last couple hundred meters and finished in 57:48.

Mile splits are as follows: 5:47, 5:49, 5:49, 5:50, 5:52, 5:49, 5:47, 5:48, 5:39, 5:34.

2.5 miles splits: 14:30, 14:37, 14:31, 14:06.

5 mile splits: 29:07, 28:37.

After the tempo we finished up with a long cool-down, speeding up near the end and hitting the last half mile in about 2:55.  Total time for 20.1 miles 2:12:12. 

It is interesting to gauge how I felt today compared to how I felt last week.  The pace felt easier last week than it did today (maybe I am still recovering a little?), but today I felt less shin tightness and pain than I did last week, and it went away sooner (from doing less speedwork this week?).  Also, I noticed that my legs felt much more tired last week after I was finished with the run, however I felt like my fuel levels were worse today (did I not eat enough the last few days?).  Anyhow, a nice long run.  I might keep my long run easier next week as well.  I will just have to wait and see.

Good day at church today.  We had ward conference so we got to hear from the stake president, as well as our bishop.

I ran with the same basic group as normal, minus Daniel.  We ran to the lake and back for a total of 10.1 miles.  I finished in 1:16:06.  I took a standing vpb in the middle of the run, so I did pick up the pace for a little over 300m in order to catch up.

PM: 4 miles in 29:52

We ran 10.2 miles total in 1:22:06.  I ran a hard mile in the middle of the run in 4:42.  The goal was to run a 4:40.  I started off hitting the first 200 in 34, so I slowed down to a 36 for the second 200 (400 in 70) which was perfect, however I relaxed a little too much and I went through the next 400 in 72 (36, 36).  I then sped back up and hit the last two quarters in 70, 70 with almost even 35 second 200's.  So, all in all I was pleased.  The last 800 was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but it was not unbearable so I am happy.

I felt really drained last night, so I got to bed a little earlier than normal, which was good. 10 miles this morning with the normal group, plus Mary Ann's friend. We ran 4 miles with the friend and then 6 more to finish up with a total time of 1:24:07.

PM: 4 miles. I am leaving to get it done right now, then off to work.  I ended up running the 4 miles in 29:26.

I basically did the same workout today that I did on Tuesday; I went to the lake and back, and I threw a hard mile in the middle of the run.  I ran the mile in 4:42 again.  This time however, I felt drained almost from the beginning, and I had to work much harder in order to finish in the same time.  My splits were: 70, 71, 70.5, 70.5 (the last two quarters are approximate because obviously I can't measure that exactly while on the run, but I know they were about the same based on my watch, and the cumulative time for the second half was a 2:21).  If I felt good I was going to take 4:40 pace to a mile and a quarter, but after 1 mile I was spent, so I packed it in and called it a day.  Total time for 10.1 miles was 1:20:13.

10.1 miles in 1:16:27.  I am a little tired because I had a late night at work last night, but I feel better than I thought I would considering how tired I was at about 9:00 last night.

PM: 4 miles in 31:41.  Nothing special happened, but I did feel a little tired.

I did my long run with Sasha this morning.  We just did the normal 10.1 like always, but we did it twice.  5.05 mile splits were 32:18, 31:37, 30:06, 29:38.  Total time for the run was 2:03:39.  We started off at about 6:40 pace and quickly sped up until we were running sub 6:20 pace.  We then held this until after we were over half way finished.  We then sped up and started hitting miles in the 5:50 range.  At the end I sped up a little more and got down to about 5:40 for the last mile or so (last half mile in 2:49).

Good day.  Kimia and I went to church and then to the Draper Temple dedication.

I felt pretty good today.  Normally I feel a little worse on Mondays, so I am happy that I seem to be recovering better after my 20 mile long runs than I used to.  There was a big group of us this morning, but by the end it was just the regulars.  Total time was 1:19:27 for 10 miles.

PM: I ran 4 miles in 30:51 and then ran to Kimia's work right after i finished to get in another .5 miles for a total time of 34:47 for 4.5 miles.

I woke up late this morning on accident, so I missed Josse and Carolyn, but the others waited for me.  We ran about 2.5 for a warm-up and then ran 1.25 in 6:42 pacing Mary Ann, I then attempted to run 4:40 pace until failure.  My problem was that I couldn't push myself hard enough to really fail.  I made it through 400 in 1:10, but could not go faster than 1:15 for the last 800 until I stopped.  It did not hurt that bad, but I just could not push myself to go any faster.  Afterwards we ran a cool-down to finish with 11.35 miles in 1:26:43.

PM:  4 miles in 30:38.  My stomach has been bothering me all day today.  Maybe I have a little bug of some sort.

I ran 10.1 miles this morning with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Matt.  We ran to the lake and back like always.  Total time was 1:18:12.

We ran our normal route this morning, and during the middle I threw in a couple 400s. I ran them in 66 and 65. I would have run more of them, but it was really windy and it was snowing some. The wind also slowed the repeats down, otherwise they would have been a little faster. With about 2 miles left in the run I took a vpb and then sped up some so that I could catch up to Sasha, and Mary Ann. Total time was 1:18:11 for 10.1 miles.

PM:  4 more miles in 30:34.  There was a lot of wind this afternoon, but fortunately for me I had it at my back at the beginning of my run when I typically go the slowest.

Last night was miserable.  I am sure that most people don't want to know the details, so don't read any more unless you want to read some gross stuff.  I have had a stomach bug for the last few days, and it started getting worse yesterday afternoon.  I had all kinds of gas coming out of both ends, and it stunk.  I think that the gas from my mouth was especially gross.  Anyhow, I woke up a number of times in the middle of the night with stomach cramps and bad diarrhea.  I ended up spending a good portion of the night on the toilet, and now my bum is sore.  On the plus side I do not feel physically sick, so my running should not be affected, at least in the way of total mileage.

So, due to the late night, I accidentally slept in this morning so I ended up just meeting Sasha and the others on the trail this morning.  We paced Carolyn through a tempo at just under 8:00 pace for 8 miles, followed by a rest mile in 9:12 before speeding up again.  Total time for 10.65 miles was 1:25:31.

Since I have had a stomach bug, I knew coming into my long run today that I was going to be starting the run low on fuel.  I decided to use it as a test of sorts to see how long I could run at 6:00 pace with no fuel.  I made it through the first 10.1 (9.1 at 6:00 pace) and I was struggling.  I was dizzy and just feeling downright lousy.  I could have gone farther at 6:00 pace, but I didn't want to mess myself up at all.  So, I got a drink to fuel up at Sasha's house and then I ran another 6 miles at 6:00 pace before slowing down.  We then picked it up again with about 1000m to go.  I finished with a total time of 1:50:14 for 18.1 miles.

I felt pretty good today.  obviously I didn't run, but I felt better than I normally do on Sundays.  Probably because I went a little shorter and didn't run as hard as normal yesterday, due to the issues I have been dealing with.

I ran 10.1 miles this morning in 1:19:37.  I did a post vpb pick up to marathon pace for about a mile in order to catch up to Sasha and Mary Ann that brought me under 1:20:00 for the day.  My stomach is getting better, which is a plus.

PM:  4 miles in 29:52.  I went out in 14:07 going downhill with the wind at my back, then came back much slower, mainly because I had a stiff wind in my face the entire time.

I ran with Sasha and Mary Ann for most of the run, and with Daniel for a little over 2.5 miles. 

After a warm-up we ran 1.25 miles in 6:40, hitting almost all of the splits dead even.  After 1.25 the goal was to keep going, speeding up to 4:48 pace (72 second quarters) for up to 1.25 miles more.  I hit the first quarter in 73, but I started out slow the first 100 so I figured that I was fine.  However, I learned something interesting after that.  I thought that I could just maintain the same intensity and stay at the same pace, however I continuously increased the intensity from about 600 on in an attempt to speed up, yet I was not speeding up.  I think now that once I get going at faster speeds I need to keep increasing the intensity if I want to maintain pace.  I need to learn to make myself more uncomfortable during races in the 5k range, because I think that I actually have more in me then I have previously shown. 

I ended up making it to 2.25 miles total before I stopped because I was not hitting my goal pace, although I was still not running all out.  Anyhow, my splits for the entire workout were 1:20, 1:20, 1:20, 1:20, 1:20, 1:13, 1:14, 1:14, 1:14.  Total time of 11:35 for 2.25 miles.  I then finished the workout with a long cool-down.  After Sasha and Mary Ann caught back up we ended up doing another 1.75 miles in two segments at just under 6:00 pace.  I ended up running about 11.9 miles total in 1:26:19.

PM:  I don't want to get in too many miles this week, and I ran farther than normal this morning, so I decided to cut my afternoon run a little shorter than normal.  The fact that I was a little short on time also aided in my decision.  Anyhow, I only ran 2.5 miles, and I did it fast, finishing in 16:54.

I slept a little later than normal this morning, and I ran alone.  The extra sleep was nice.  I ended up running 10 miles in 1:18:50.

Total time of 1:39:01 for 12.75 miles.  We ran 1.75 miles hard in the middle of the run, starting with 1.25 at 5:20 pace (6:40 total).  We were right on pace for the entire 1.25.  At the end of 1.25 we went straight into an all out 800.  I ran it in 2:10 hitting the 200 splits in 31, 33, 33, 33.

Total time of 1:18:08 for 10 miles.  Sasha's old friend Ben came and ran with us for a while.

I came into this race today not completely sure what to expect because I am running the Salt Lake Marathon in 2 weeks. I didn't want to run so hard that I would not be able to recover for the marathon, but I also wanted to be competitive.

I have to say that I really like the race directors for run13.com. I also ran the 10k that they put on for Pioneer day last year and I think that organizationally they did a good job for that race and for this race as well. I am also glad that this race was certified and the mile markers were more accurate then the race last July.

The race started off next to the Provo Tabernacle and headed through South Provo before going near the lake and then back along the Provo River trail before finishing back at the Provo Tabernacle. The weather was cold, with temperatures in the low to mid 30's (I think). There was also a light snow coming down for most of the race, and it was pretty windy. My mile splits were:

5:01, 5:21 (10:22), 5:29 (15:51), 5:34 (21:25), 5:34 (26:59), 5:32 (32:31), 5:28 (37:59), 5:29 (43:28), 5:27 (48:55), 5:20 (54:15), 5:25 (59:40), 5:27 (1:05:07), 5:03 (1:10:10), 0:29 (1:10:39)

At the beginning of the race there was a group of 5 of us including myself, Sasha, Shin Nozuki, Nick McCombs, and Ian Hunter. At about 2.5 miles Ian dropped back as he was not actually in the race and was just pacing Nick for the first few miles. Sasha dropped back here as well. Shin, Nick and myself then ran together until about 6 or 6.5 miles, at which point Shin started to fade and he dropped back. I had been drafting off of Shin or the other guys up to this point, but from here on I pretty much just sat on Nick. There were a few places where I started moving up next to Nick, but each time I did he sped up, so I would drop back again so as not to push the pace too fast. Just past the 12 mile mark I moved up and passed Nick. I ended up running a 5:03 mile from 12 to 13 and finished the last tenth in 29 seconds to win in 1:10:39.

I was pleased with this race because I have never felt this good after a race, or tempo run, that has been this long and this fast. I did not get very sore at all, and I still felt strong after the race.

Ran easy.  felt good after the half-marathon, but my quads were a little tight.

ran 2000 in the middle in 6:40 plus 1600 more in 4:59

good run.  Nothing special happened.

Took it easy.  Finished in 1:18:XX

Total time of 1:16:XX for 10.3 miles.  I ran 2 miles at marathon pace in the middle in 10:59 (5:30, 5:29).  I had a hard time telling if I was really running at marathon effort, or if it was a half-marathon effort, because my shins were tight, and hurt a little due to a short warm-up.  The longer I went however, the better it felt.

Only 10 miles today as I begin my pre-marathon taper.  We were pacing Mary Ann through a tempo run at 6:20 pace and we started off fast, hitting the first mile in a warm-up time of 6:30, and then getting right down to goal pace by the second mile.  After a couple miles I needed to use the restroom, so I took a vpb.  Because of how fast Sasha and Mary Ann were going it took me 3.5 miles at about 5:40 pace to catch up to them, after which I ran for a few more miles with them, before turning around to head back to my car.  I slowed down after turning around, but still finished 10 miles in 1:02:56.

In the afternoon I took 2 naps totaling 3.5 hours.  I needed it as I have not been sleeping enough the last couple of nights.  That is one thing that I really need to focus on over the next week as I prepare for the marathon.

good day.  I slept late, and went to stake conference.  My siblings came over for easter dinner in the evening.

10.3 miles this morning with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Daniel.  A funny thing that happened this morning, I stopped about 4.5 miles into the run to take a vpb, and while I am doing my business I see a plastic frog staring at me from under a rock.  Next to it was a plastic container with something in it.  I was intrigued, so after I finished I pulled it out from its hiding spot and I started running with it.  Ends up that it was a geo caching site and the container was filled with plastic frogs for people to take with them, and a log book to sign and put a stamp in saying that you had found it.  After I finished looking through it I decided that I needed to speed up and catch the others, which I did.  I then had to run a little extra after catching them so that I could figure out where it was I needed to put the container for other people to find it, afte which I caught up again.  All added up I think that this gave me about a mile at marathon pace, maybe faster.  I finished the run in 1:17:58 for what I will estimate was 10.3 miles.

ran about 8.1 miles in just under 1:05:00.  Ran 1.25 miles hard in the middle hitting 1000 in 3:18, and then slowly speeding up and hitting the last 1000 in 2:58, with the last 400 in 1:09.  I never felt like I was going all out, but it was pretty hard by the end.

nothing special happened

again, nothing special happened

2 miles in 14:59

So, for this marathon, I have some mixed reactions as I think about how things went.  On the plus side I reached my goal of placing in the top 5 and I got $100 dollars for my efforts (I already got the check!  No waiting for a year!).  I also now know how much more I need to improve before I can really say that I am an elite marathon runner (I hung close to the 3rd place finisher through about 18 miles).  I also ran an equivalent of my best marathon to date.  On the negative side, I have still not yet broken the 2:30 mark in a marathon as I crashed yet again (although my slowest mile was a 7:44 uphill mile in comparison to an 8:15 flat mile at St. George).  Crashing yet again was disapointing as I felt that my preparation for this marathon was so much better than in the past.  Anyhow, overall I feel that this was a positive experience.  I will learn from it and do better next time, just as I did better this time than the time before.  Here are my mile splits as I remember them.

1 - 5:22 felt really easy

2 - 10:55 (5:33) still easy

3 - missed the mark, but passed the aid station at 16:30

4 - 21:40 not completely sure on the time, but it is close

5 - 27:12 we head into sugarhouse park.  There are rolling hills throughout the next few miles.

6 - 32:44 (5:32)  not completely sure on the split, but fairly certain

7 - 38:24 (5:40)  There is a decent sized hill during this mile and Ezekiel Ruto and I let the top 2 Kenyans and Seth go.  again, not completely sure on the exact split, but this is pretty close.

8 - 43:53 (5:29)  From here on, the overall splits are correct.

9 - 49:37 (5:44)  The last few miles have been at a consistent effort, but have been rolling so the times jump around a bit.

10 - 55:00 (5:23)

11 - 1:00:20 (5:20)

12 - 1:05:53 (5:33)  I take my first (and eventually only) gel during ths mile.

13 - 1:11:38 (5:45)  I start to have stomach cramps due to drinking some gatorade as well as from taking the gel.

halfway - 1:12:13  I still feel strong, but I am a little worried because I felt better at the end of the Provo City Half than I felt at this point of the marathon even though I was running slower and the weather was better.

14 - 1:16:59 (5:21)  Ruto is starting to push the pace a little more

15 - 1:22:30 (5:31)  Ruto gaps me by about 13 seconds during this mile.  At the beginning of this mile I was messing with my shirt and trying to untuck it, and my second gel fell out onto the ground.  I decided to just leave it.

16 - 1:28:00 (5:30)  Uphill mile.  Average is exactly 5:30 through 16 miles

17 - 1:33:41 (5:41)  I made the decision during this mile to slow down a little and to try and run 5:40's to the finish.  The first mile of this was right on.

18 - 1:39:25 (5:44)  A little slower than I wanted, but still acceptable since the mile had a slight uphill in the second half.

19 - 1:45:17 (5:52)  I realize that I am about to hit the wall as my effort is staying the same, but I am starting to slow a little more.  I am determined at this point to not crash as bad as last time.

20 - 1:51:25 (6:08)  Second 10 mile section in 56:25.

21 - 1:58:03 (6:38)  I was surprised that my pace dropped so quickly.  I thought that my slow death would be a little slower.

22 - 2:04:44 (6:41)  I pushed a little harder this mile because I was trying not to slow down as much.

23 - 2:11:52 (7:08)  During this mile I had to start fighting to pass the half marathon runners who were getting in the way.  I ended up stopping at the aid station to grab gatorage as I couldn't do it on the run, and I bumped into a lot of people as I tried to get away.

24 - 2:19:19 (7:27)  Sasha gave me this split and the split at 25, so as far as I know these are correct.  Sasha and James (fiddy) joined me to pace me this mile.  They also helped me grab gatorade at aid stations, although I still collided with a couple of people

25 - 2:27:03 (7:44)  Considering what seemed like a massive hill that we had to climb during this mile, I don't think that the time is as bad as it looks

26.2 - 2:35:07 (6:37 pace from 25 to the finish)  We had a downhill mile to finish the race and I was able to get a better rythym going.  I was glad that I was able to pick it up towards the end, but at the same time I was a little disappointed that I was too weak to push it harder during the few previous miles when I think I should have been able to

So, all in all I think that placewise I finished where I was supposed to finish, I just came in 7-10 minutes slower than I wanted to.  I didn't feel as rotten at the end as I did at St. George, and I was able to speed up the last mile with an uphill mile that was still 30 seconds faster than my last mile at St. George last year.  I think that things will work out eventually, and I will run a great marathon, but it just might take a couple more years.

I ran 6 miles this morning in 43:22. This was my first run after the marathon. I am surprised at how quickly I have been able to recover after this marathon in comparison to the last 2. I am still sore, but it is not too bad. I will probably do no more than 6 for the rest of this week just to be safe.

I thought it would be kind of fun to post this picture that the ksl camera guy took of my 5th place check from the marathon on Saturday.

I ran 6 miles with Ted, Daniel, and Sasha this morning.  We finished in 45:11, after which Sasha and Daniel ran a few more miles.  I am still just a little sore post marathon, but I am feeling much better at this point than I did after my first two marathons.  Mainly now, my quads feel tight when I crouch down.

6 miles in 44:44.  I felt tired this morning even though I got to bed fairly quickly after I got home.  Maybe I am just adjusting to the earlier wake up time.  I am also still recovering from the marathon, so I shouldn't be too surprised.

I ran 6 miles in 43:38, running the last mile in approximately 6:40.  I felt good, but there is still some tightness in my quads.  I don't know how some people can run races at close to 100% just a few days after finishing a marathon.  I feel much better after this marathon than after past marathons, and I feel like I am in no condition to race competitively.  I guess that I just need to increase my resistance to the pounding, which means that I need to up my mileage some more.

I ran 6 miles this morning in 44:22.  It was a good run, and I am feeling strong.  Still a little bit of tightness in the quads, but I almost don't even notice it now.  I mainly only notice it when I kneel down.  After the run I hopped on my bike and acted as an aid to Sasha while he was doing his long run.  I carried a water bottle for him, and gave it to him every two miles during the second half of his workout, plus a couple of extra times near the end.  Sasha ended up running the last 10.1 miles in 58:44.  I will count my biking as 4 running miles for today.

ran 6 miles with Ted and Sasha, and then 2.5 more with Sasha.  Finished the first 6 in 43:09, and finished 8.5 with a total time of 1:00:19.  Ran the last mile in 5:13 (83, 77, 76, 77).  I didn't really mean to go that fast, I only intended to hit 5:30-6:00 pace, but I got excited.

ran 10 miles with Sasha in 1:13:53.  I found out that I have not recovered completely from the marathon when I ran a 3 mile tempo, and even with an easy first mile in 5:46 I was struggling a lot by the end.  Last 2 miles in 5:18, and 5:12.  Afterwards finished up running back to Sasha's house.

I ran the first 6 miles with Sasha and Ted in 43:04.  It is the fastest we have finished 6 miles since I ran the marathon.  Afterwards Sasha and I ran 4 more miles.  During the last mile we picked the pace up and ran a 5:59 last mile.  I stopped in the middle of this mile to give my wife Kimia a kiss as she was walking down the Provo river trail.  The goal of running a faster last mile is to see if I can slowly trail my body to run using a higher percentage of energy from fats at fast paces, so we pick up the pace just enough that it starts to feel uncomfortable, where if we picked up the pace any more we would actually feel better.  The theory is that our body is still trying to use fats to power the muscles as it has been the entire run, so speeding up just a little will train the body to use fats at faster speeds, thus limiting the blow-up in a marathon.  However, if we speed up too fast, our body will naturally switch over to using muscle glycogen as the primary source of energy.  Total time for 10 miles 1:13:36.

Just me and Sasha this morning, with the exception of about a mile near the beginning when Adam ran with us.  After about 3.5 miles, Sasha ran the 5 mile tempo while I just ran easy.  After Sasha finished the tempo he ran back to where I was at and we ran back to his house.  We ran the last mile in 6:00 to try and train the body to run on fats.  Total time of 1:14:20.

I ran with Sasha this morning.  We ran out to the lake and back, and threw in a "fat" half mile in the middle in 3:01, and a mile at the end that started out really slow, but we finished the last half mile in 3:01(6:11+ for the mile).  Total time for 10.1 miles 1:18:38.

On a side note, I am very happy with my beautiful little wife.  She has started running with Sasha's wife Sarah in the morning and has come to run with her each of the last 3 days.  I am proud of her.

This is a race that is a little different than most in that their is a team aspect to it.  Some of the different law firms up in Salt Lake put together teams of 3 men and 2 women, and compete against one another.  All of the times for the 5 people are added up at the end of the race, and the team with the lowest combined times is the winner.  I was running on the team that Chad put together for his law firm. 

So, I get to the race expecting to see some good competition, as the different law firms all like to bring in ringers like myself to help them win.  However, I was not expecting to see a runner of Jeren Jameson's caliber at the race.  I was expecting someone like BJ Christiansen who came to the race last year.  Anyhow, I knew that I had my work cut out for me, and since Teren was running on a team with Thatcher Olsen, Neal Ferrin, and Emily Jameson, I knew that our team was also going to have to run well to win.

So, the race starts and Teren takes off.  I follow, and I stay right behind him for the first mile.  The first half of the race is mostly uphill, and the second half is mostly downhill and winds through the U of U campus.  We hit the first mile in 5:21, and at the 2 km mark Teren starts to pull away (6:56 at 2k).  I hit sections where I was focusing really well, and I was able to maintain the distance behind Teren, and at times even close the distance a little, but then I would lose focus and he would start to pull away again.  I hit the second mile in 5:29, and then missed all of the rest of the marks until the finish, crossing the line in 16:08 by my watch (16:09 officially, but the start was funny because no one knew if it had really started or not, so we hesitated for a second or so).

Teren finished the race in 15:53 officially, so just 16 seconds ahead of me.  I could see him the entire time, which was good, especially considering the fact that I ran a marathon 2 weeks ago, and I have yet to completely recover.  I think that is why I was having trouble hanging on to Teren, as I felt like I could maintain the pace when I was focusing well and maintaining the gap, yet then I would lose concentration and I would fall back a little more.  Overall, it was a good race, and a nice gauge to how I am running and recovering from the marathon.

Our team ended up winning the team title by a mere three seconds over Teren's team, as we had a team time of 1:28:42 to their 1:28:45.  It helped that we had the top women's finisher in Emily Bates, and after I came in, Josh Steffen finished 20 seconds in front of Thatcher to give us a little bit of breathing room.

I feel sore after the race on Saturday.  This tells me that I am not recovered from the marathon, because I am not usually sore after a 5k.

I ran 10 miles in 1:13:58, running 4.5 of it with Ted, and 6.5 of it with Sasha and Ben.  Afterwards I ran with Kimia and Sarah for a few minutes and I pushed William in the stroller.  I really only ran the last quarter of that, so I will only count that towards my mileage.

I ran 10.1 miles in 1:18:11.  Ran a half mile in 2:59 a little over half way through, and then ran the fat mile in just over 6:00 at the end.

I ran at 5:15 this morning with Sasha and Ted.  We finished 6 miles, after which Sasha and I went out for 4 more.  Total time of 1:17:06 for 10 miles.

I ran 10.1 miles with Sasha this morning in a total time of 1:16:22.  We ran into Ted and a couple of his cadets near the beginning and ran with them for a little while.  We ran the fat mile twice on the way back.

I ran with Sasha, Ted, and one of the cadets (I need to learn his name) this morning.  At 3 miles Ted and the cadet turned around, and Sasha and I went out to the turn around for 10.1 miles.  We marked out the course for the 5 mile race tomorrow and also ran the fat mile on the way back.  Total running time of 1:16:42.

So, I ran Sasha's race this morning.  However, I did not run the race until after I had already gone out running for 15.1 miles.  I ran the first 10.1 miles before the race in 1:03:59 (32:41, 31:18 per 5.05 segment), followed by 5 more miles in 32:27 to hit 15.1 miles before the race in 1:36:26 (6:23 pace).  I slowed down just a little over the last 2 miles of my extended "warm-up" otherwise I would have been right on 6:20 pace.

At the start of the race some guy in grey took off and was way ahead of us for the first couple hundred meters.  I got excited because of this, and ran a little faster than I should have for the first little bit.  I ran with Sasha for the first 2 miles hitting them in 5:15 and 5:24 (10:39).  At two miles I took off to see if I could induce myself to crash because of lack of fuel.  I ran the third mile in 5:12 (15:51), but then lacked the motivation or the strength to really push it and closed with a 5:20 (21:11) and a 5:24 to finish in 26:35 by my watch.  The official time was 1 second slower.

So, it is the fastest I have ever ran the "5 mile tempo" by 15 or 16 seconds even though I was not fresh at all by the time the race started.  I did think that I had it in me to go faster, but I just wasn't feeling it today.  Either way it was a good workout, and I think that Sasha and Sarah did a good job of putting it together.  It is nice to have a nice little race with more of a community feel to it and less of the frills.

1:17:48 for 10.1 miles

1:17:42 for 10.1 miles.  Ran 2 fat miles during the second half at around 6:00 pace.

1:18:10 for 10.1 miles.  Also ran the fat miles today.

1:17:01 for 10.1 miles.  Ran the fat miles a little faster today than normal.  5:45 for the first, and 5:56 for the second.

1:16:08 for 10.1 miles.  Again, ran the fat miles.

PM:  I ran my first double today since the marathon last month.  I felt good, but I probably ran it a little too fast.  25:26 for 4 miles.

The plan for today was to go out to the lake, and then run the 5 mile tempo in the middle of the run on the way back, finishing with a mile around the block by my house.  Everything went as planned for the first while, but I ran a little faster than planned.  33:21 for the first 5 miles.  After 5 miles I sped up, running 5:45 pace for about 2 miles before slowing to 5:50 pace for another 3.85 miles to get me to 10.85 miles in 1:07:18 (14:35 for the last 2.5 of this).  I then began the 5 mile tempo, and I sped up, hitting a half mile in 2:51, followed by miles in 5:40, 5:36,(14:07 for 2.5) 5:32, 5:34, and then closing with a half mile in 2:46 (13:52 for the last 2.5 and 27:59 for 5 miles, with the last 7.5 being done in 42:34).  At this point I was at 15.85 miles (1:35:17).  The original plan was to maintain no slower than 6:00 pace from here to my house, including running up state street (monster hill).  However I did not feel well, as it was warmer than I am accustomed to and I had not eaten anything since the previous evening.  So, I slowed down.  Things seemed to be ok, until I was about 2 miles from home, and my vision started to get really blurry and I started feeling like absolute garbage.  Finally, as I was running up state street I decided that I had to stop, as I could tell that I was seriously dehydrated, and out of fuel.  I did, and I found a little stream and got a drink, waited a few minutes, and then finished running home at around 10:00 pace.  Total time of 2:02:22 for 19.35 miles.

Good day today.  We walked home from church barefoot because Kimia's shoes were hurting her feet, so we both took our shoes off.  I could tell that my feet were not used to it, as I got some hot spots on my heels.

I missed running with Sasha and Ted this morning, because I couldn't fall asleep last night until almost 2 am and I was too tired to get up this morning.  I ran alone in the afternoon.  It was the first training run this year that I have run wearing both short sleeves and shorts.  Total time of 1:09:11 for 10 miles.  I wasn't trying to go that fast, it just happened.  I did simulate a fat mile coming up the hill at the end of the run, but I'm not sure how far it was.

I ran a three mile tempo today with Sasha.  We ran the first mile at a comfortable pace in 5:46 (2:57,2:49).  We then sped up and hit the second mile in a fairly even split 5:19 (pace did vary a little starting slower and finishing faster).  Just before we hit 2 miles, Sasha dropped back and I was alone from there to the finish.  I ran the last mile in 5:08, hitting quarters in 78,78,76,76.  HR around 184 at the end.  The 76 quarters felt comparable to the 78's.  I then took a vpb and didn't stop my watch before running back to Sasha's house.  Finished 10 miles in 1:14:47 counting the vpb.

 PM:  I ran 4 miles in 29:08.  I found out that my heart rate jumps about 10 bpm when I run up the hill back to my house, and has a similar decrease when I am running downhill, even when the effort feels the same.

We ran 6 miles with Ted and Colby this morning, finishing back at Sasha's house in 42:49.  Sasha, Tyler and myself then went back out and ran some more.  Tyler turned around after a mile, and Sasha and I finished 10 miles with a total time of 1:13:09.  We ran a couple of fat miles in the middle and at the end of the run, hitting 5:51 on the first, and 5:59 on the second. 

I ran with Daniel, Tyler, and Sasha this morning.  We ran out to the end of the trail, running a fat mile on the way out.  Sasha and I then said goodbye to the others and we ran the 5 mile tempo together.  We were trying not to push the pace too much.  Mile splits are 5:44, 5:42, 5:43, 5:28, 5:24.  The last 2 miles felt harder than they should have.  Probably because my sleep has not been ideal the last couple nights.  I was just a little tired.  My heart rate topped out at 183 during the last quarter of the tempo, when I hit a 77.  We finished up with a cool down to get 14 miles for the run, with a total time of 1:35:20.

On a side note, we met a crazy guy on the trail today.  He was not wearing much clothing, and looked to be exercising.  However, when we came up near him he started yelling incomprehensible things, jumped in front of us, and gave Sasha a slap on the back.  This happened 2 more times in one fashion or another during the workout, with him coming out of the bushes to scare us the last time.   Weird.

I ran 10 miles this morning with Sasha, Ted, Colby, Tyler, and this guy that Kimia knew when he served his mission in California (I can't remember his name at the moment).  It was one of the bigger groups we have had.  We ran 6 miles together.  After the first 6 miles, Sasha and I finished up with 4 more, to finish up the run with a total time of 1:15:40.

PM:  4 more miles in 28:57.  I felt pretty good.

I ran with Sasha this morning.  We went for 10 miles up the Provo Canyon, turning around in 1:14:42.  We then came back down, running the last 10 miles in 1:02:25.  Total time of 2:17:07.  We ran a 5 mile tempo on the way back in 28:42 (6:01, 5:51, 11:24 for 2 miles, 5:26).  At the end we also ran a fat mile in 5:57.

I am also very proud of Kimia, because she did not want to get up this morning and run because she was not feeling well, but when I came home she had gotten ready to go running and was waiting for me so that I could take her out.  

I ran in Arizona today, as I am down here for my sister's wedding.  I finished my run in 1:16:32.  I originally thought that is was about 10 miles.  However, later on I realized that there are mile markers on the trail in Mesa that I was running on, and between this run and the evening run I did I ran at least 1 mile farther than planned and quite possibly a little more.  After I finished the run I ran 2 more miles with Kimia, although I am only counting them as 1 mile because they were slow.

PM:  I originally thought it was 4 miles in about 29:00, but probably a little more like 4.2 or 4.3

I ran 10 miles this morning.  Again, it was probably a little over 10 miles, but it was closer this time.  Total time of 1:12:36.

This was my last run in Arizona, as my sister got married last night.  I ran 10 miles in 1:10:39.  I think that I finally got the time right for the distance I was trying to run.  On the way home, a skateboarder came onto the trail I was running on while I was running a "fat" mile.  I passed him, and I think that his pride got the better of him because shortly thereafter he goes flying by me, and was definitely working pretty hard.  So, I decided that I was going to hold with him.  I sped up a lot, and actually gained on him over the last .5 of my fat mile that was now without doubt anything but a fat mile.  I timed myself at 5:11 for that mile, and I think that I might have hit the last .5 in about 2:21.  At the end of my fat mile, the skateboarder went back onto the street, and I continued on the trail.

After getting back to my granparent's house, I had the blessing of being able to drive 11 hours back to Utah (yuck, I hate driving long distances).  I was just a little on the tired side by the time I got home.

I ran with Sasha, and Daniel this morning.  Sasha ran a three mile tempo, and Daniel and I ran the first mile of it with him in about 5:42.  We finished with a total time of 1:15:49 for 10 miles.

PM: I ran three miles in the evening in about 24:00.

I ran with Sasha this morning.  We ran 10.1 miles in 1:14:41.  We threw in 2 fat miles during the second half of the run, the first being run in 5:52, and the second in 5:45.

PM:  4 more miles in 28:15.

I ran a long run today, running the first half with Sasha in 1:13:52, and running the second half alone in 1:06:42.  I kept the pace pretty easy the entire time, because I don't want to kill myself 2 weeks out from another marathon as I think that I hurt myself in Salt Lake because of the half that I ran 2 weeks before.  I did push the pace a little bit during the second half as I just wanted to get done, and during the first half of the run Sasha and I ran a couple fat miles.

I ran 10.1 miles this morning in 1:15:44.  We added two fat miles in the second half of the run in 5:55 and 5:57.

I ran a little extra this morning instead of running a double today or tomorrow.  I ran 11.35 miles in a little over 1:27:30, followed by 2 more miles with Benjamin in 15:28, and finally a mile alone in 6:53 for a total time of 1:49:54 for 14.35 miles.  During the first portion of the run Sasha was running a 3 mile tempo, and I ran the first 2 miles of it in 5:41 and 5:23.  The 5:41 felt like a solid marathon effort as I really wasn't pushing it at all.  The 5:23 also felt very comfortable, but more like a half marathon effort.

I ran with Sasha this morning.  We ran 10.1 miles in 1:14:26 with 2 fat miles thrown into the later miles in 5:58 and 6:03.  It was interesting to observe that my heart rate was lower in relation to Sasha's this morning and when we have run earlier lately it has consistently been lower than normal.  Sasha thinks that it might be a blood volume issue that is brought into play by rising temperatures as the day gets warmer.  I am not sure, but my heart rate was also lower in the earlier morning in Mesa, AZ and it was hot there even in the early morning.

11 miles total in 1:17:40.  We went out 3 miles, and then came back and ran the 5 mile tempo.  The goal was to stay relaxed between 5:40 and 5:45 pace.  Splits are 5:47, 5:43, 5:41, 5:36, 5:15.  So, we were pretty close to goal pace the entire time, with the exception of the last mile, during which I ran the first half in 2:46, followed by 1:18 and 1:11 quarters.  Sasha finished 11 seconds back. 

I ran with Sasha this morning out to the lake and back for a total time of 1:16:14.  We ran 2 fat miles on the way back to the house in around 6:00 or a little under.

I ran with Sasha this morning.  12 miles in 1:29:35.  We threw in 2.5 miles a little faster at about 5:50 pace to get the feel for a nice easy marathon pace.  On a side note, the marathon next Saturday goes along the river trail, and it goes through a number of tunnels.  It looks like 3 of those tunnels are flooded right now.  So, my question now is, do they make us run through the water which might be a foot deep, does the city come to try and fix the problem, or do they bring the course onto the roads over the tunnels and pay for more police to deal with the traffic?  I do not want to run through the water, since the first of the flooded tunnels is maybe 15-16 miles into the race, and 10+ miles with wet shoes does not sound fun.  I do not trust the city to get the tunnels cleaned out by race day, and I don't know if it is financially possible for Hyrum to hire more police support to move out of the tunnels (or if he will be able to re-certify the course, if necessary, or have the time to get the changes approved by the city).  Anyhow, I am interested to see how this all plays out by next Saturday.

10.1 miles in 1:12:44 with 2.5 miles at marathon pace thrown in.

8 miles with Sasha this morning in 1:03:32.  We ran 1 mile hard during the run.  The goal was to hit it in about 5:20 pace as a nice little tune up to the marathon this Saturday.  However, I felt good and the pace felt really easy, so I ended up running a 5:03 (78,76,75,74).  The first quarter actually felt the hardest of the entire mile, and it was probably closer to a 77.5 than a 78.  After the first quarter I felt relaxed and smooth and I felt like I was just coasting through the last three quarters.  It felt kind of like 10k race pace, but I don't know if I really could have held it that long.  HR topped out at 177 or 178 during the last quarter.

On a side note, some of the tunnels that the marathon is going through are still flooded.  I guess Hyrum talked with the city and they said that they would clear out all of them with the exception of the tunnel at Geneva Rd.  It just so happens that this particular tunnel is the worst of them all.  So, Hyrum pumped out the tunnel last night, and about 12 hours later when Sasha and I were running, the tunnel was about ankle deep in water.  The problem is that the water is soaking through the ground on the side of the tunnel away from the river and filling the tunnel back up again.  Maybe if Hyrum pumps the tunnel again right before the race starts, and then sandbags it, it won't fill up by the time the runners go through.  Anyhow, I hope that this all gets worked out.

6.25 miles with Sasha this morning in just over 49:00.  We ran 1 fat mile in 5:48, which felt pretty easy.

I ran an easy 6 miles with Sasha (2 miles with Benjamin) in 47:XX.  Not sure about the exact time because I mishit my watch and it was off. by about 5 minutes.  We ran a fat half mile about 4 miles into the run to simulate marathon pace in 2:54.

2 miles in about 16:30.

The first thing that comes to my mind as I write about my race today is about stepping stones, and to put it in just a few words, that is how I feel about today's performance.  I set a new pr in the marathon of almost 3 minutes (compared to my old pr which I set at St. George 2007 it is really more than a 3 minute improvement) and I ran a virtual negative split (barely slower on the second half, but based on terrain, the quality was much better).  I also came the closest to not blowing up than I have done in any previous marathon (although there was a minor blow-up the last 2-3 miles), and I ran the fastest second half of anyone in the race.  However, that is not good enough.  I still finished out of the money (by only 47 seconds to a guy that was almost 5 minutes up on me at the half).  I wasn't able to maintain a 5:50 pace the last few miles in order to get me in the money and under 2:30:00 (instead finishing with a 6:08 and a 6:29).  And finally, I am still comparitively slower in the marathon than I am in other distances.  So, like I already said, stepping stones.  I know that I am not quite where I want to be, but I feel like I am a lot closer than I was even just a couple of months ago, so I am pleased with the progress.  Anyhow, on to the race.

The plan for the race was to go out with Sasha, and to run a 5:50 effort through the first 16 miles or so.  There was a group of 4 guys that took off after a mile and left us behind, so Sasha, me and Steve Ashbaker were all running together.  We were basing 5:50 effort off of our heart rate, so I was paying more attention to that than I was paying attention to my splits, which is just as well.  I think that when I can zone out and forget to look for mile markers and check my splits that I can actually relax more and I run better.  This is more or less what happened during the first half of the race.  At 5 miles we were at 29:10, and we went through 10 miles in 57:00.  We hit the half in 1:15:03.  My heart rate varied from about 160-171 during most of these miles, with an average of about 166.  My heart rate started to climb a bit after about 11 miles, and from 11-16 it was anywhere from 168-173.  I was probably starting to push the pace a little more because I was getting anxious to pick up the pace and begin the chase.  Sasha and I lost Steve around 11 or 12 miles, and At 16 miles I picked up the pace and dropped Sasha.

I owe a lot to Sasha in this race, because he helped pace me during the early miles, and helped me to not get too excited and take off too soon in chase of the leaders.  I hope that I was able to make those early miles easier for him as well, as he was running his first marathon in his five fingers.  Anyhow, After I dropped Sasha, I picked up the pace a lot and my HR climbed into the high 170's.  I then decided that the pace was too aggressive and I backed off just a little until I hit the 20 mile mark.  Mile splits from 16-20 were 5:30, 5:42, 5:42, 5:40.  At mile 20 I realized that I really needed to work if I wanted to catch 3rd place and finish in the money, so even though I didn't feel like I could maintain the pace for 6 miles, I picked up the pace again and got my HR in the 177-178 range.  I made it from 20-22 in 11:11 (5:35.5 average) and maintained pace pretty well for another mile.  However around 23 I really started to hurt.  I could see 4th place in the distance in front of me, and I could visibly tell that I was gaining on him, but I felt like garbage.  I still made it from 22-24 in decent time, running 11:39 for the 2 miles (5:49.5 average) but I think that the second of the 2 miles was just barely under 6:00, while the first was close to 5:40.  From 24 to the finish things started to unravel.  I ran my next mile in 6:08, and ran the final mile in 6:29.  I was still gaining on 4th place the entire time, despite starting to crash, but I was just not gaining fast enough and I was running out of room.

I was never able to really get into striking distance of the 4th place guy, and he ended up passing the 3rd place runner right before the finish to get himself into the money.  I finished 47 seconds back.  So, I am happy with how I ran, and I am mostly happy with how I finished the race, and to tell the truth I really do not care that I finished out of the money.  I was not planning on getting any money before the race started anyhow, so I wasn't dissapointed that I finished where I was supposed to finish.  As I said before and I will say it again, stepping stones.  I think that the key is to never be content so that complacency never becomes a problem, that way I can someday reach my potential.

6 miles in 49:08

6 miles in 48:02

6 miles in 47:29

feeling just a little better now than I did after the Salt Lake Marathon, so I ran a little extra.  8 miles in just under an hour

I was feeling pretty good, so I ran 10 miles today, with 5 of it in 29:23 (last mile in 5:31).  Total time for 10 miles was 1:09:57

It was a good day.  I slept in, and walked home from church barefoot again.  I am no longer getting hot spots on my feet from walking barefoot.

I fell asleep really early last night and slept a lot.  It was good.  I ran 10 miles this morning with Sasha in 1:13:46.  We sped up the last half mile or so and ran the last quarter in 1:18.

mostly ran easy, but Sasha and I did run a short tempo run at "fat mile" pace.

We kept the pace easy, but brisk today.  Total time of 1:11:12 for 10.1 miles.

I ran with Sasha today.  He was running quarters, so after a vpb I ended up running a fat mile to catch up as he didn't wait for me.  We also ran a fat mile together on the way back.  Total time of 1:12:40 for 10.1 miles.

We ran a little slower than we have been going the last couple of days, but we still threw in a couple of fat miles during the second half of the run.  Total time for 10.1 miles was around 1:15:00.

PM:  I ran a half mile with Kimia in 5:14 because she had missed her run that morning and wanted to do something.

Sasha and I ran a warm-up followed by a 10 mile tempo.  The goal was to start out at just under 6:00 pace, and to then slowly pick up the pace throughout the tempo until we were going pretty fast by the end of it.  We started off a little faster than I was expecting, hitting the first mile in under 5:50, but everything else went according to plan.  We slowly picked up the pace throughout until we we in the low 5:30's near the end of the tempo.  I will admit that the pace felt harder than it should have, but I think that it is understandable since I ran a marathon 2 weeks ago, and I feel like I am still recovering to a certain degree.  I finished the tempo with a total time of 56:34.  Here are my splits:

mile splits - 5:48, 5:48, 5:46, 5:43, 5:43, 5:40, 5:35, 5:32, 5:32, 5:27.

2.5 mile splits - 14:30, 14:18, 14:03, 13:43.

I actually ran the last half mile in 2:41, and that felt way harder than it should have.  Sasha stayed with me until about 9 miles in.  He maintained contact to a certain degree until about 9.5 miles, at which point I decided to push the pace a little harder to the end, and he fell back.  Sasha finished about 11 or 12 seconds back.

I ran our to the lake and back with Sasha this morning.  Daniel joined us for the first 3 miles.

Today was a day of firsts, and I can not say that it was a good thing (however, I can't say that it was too terribly bad).  So, during the night I woke up a number of times because my stomach was bothering me.  Nothing bad, but annoying nonetheless.  Anyhow, I wake up and promptly make a trip to the bathroom.  At this point I know that I am in for a fun day.  I drive over to Sasha's house and we leave on our run.  At this point my stomach is not feeling too hot, but I assume that the discomfort will go away as I run, just like in times past. 

Well, my assumptions were not to be, as the discomfort only got worse.  Finally a little less than 1.5 miles into the run, and right before we were going to begin our tempo run for the day, for the very first time, and for the first time in 14 years... I threw up.  Sasha actually thought it was kind of funny, because I went back to take a look at my vomit after a minute or so becasue I wanted to see how well I could make out the food I ate the day before (the lentils were barely visible, but the carrots were easy to see, as were a couple other things).

Anyhow,  I felt good enough physically that we decided to start our tempo run and see how things went.  I was having difficulty maintaining 6:00 pace, and it was weird, because the pace did not feel hard, but I felt like I couldn't really go faster.  We went through the first mile in about 6:07-6:08 and my stomach was still screaming at me.  Subsequently, my body decided that it was not too happy with me for going close to 6:00 pace, so my bowels screamed at me and a vpb was in order.  I thought that I would feel better after taking a vpb, but when we started up again I actually felt worse.  Less than a half mile later I started to dry heave mid run, and promptly stopped and hurled once more all over the provo river trail.  I have to say, it was pure nastiness.

The worst part about puking my guts out all over the trail was that I then had to taste my vomit for almost the entire duration of the run after the fact.  It was nasty.  Anyhow, I began my tempo run anew with Sasha, and we hit the 2.5 mile turn-around in 15:16.  At this point I was starting to feel a little better, and we slowly sped up as we chased an older lady riding a bike down the trail.  At the 4 mile mark we were at 24:10 and had made up just 6 seconds on the 6:00 guy, and were holding even with the old lady but not making up any ground.  I wanted to at least break 30:00 for 5 miles, so I sped up just a little more, and after running an 81 second quarter we finally passed and dropped the old biker lady with about a quarter left.  We finished the last mile in 5:40 for a total time of 29:50 for 5 miles.

We then ran back to Sasha's house to finish up 10 miles.  On the way home we passed by Kimia and Sarah running together.  I gave Kimia a little kiss, but afterwards wondered if she could taste the vomit still on my breath.  So, ultimately I am disappointed that my vomitless streak has finally ended (the last time I remember throwing up was when I was in the 5th grade) but at least I feel fine now (although it took about 3 hours after the run was over for me to start feeling fine).

Ran 10.1 miles faster than normal.  Total time of 1:10:30

I ran quarter repeats with Sasha this morning.  We ran the first 5 heading towards the lake, and then ran the last one on the way back.  Our quarter splits were 74.6, (just warming up) 70.1, 69.4, 70.4, 70.6, 69 (exact time approximate on the last one.  It was somewhere in the high 68 to low 69 range).  None of the quarters felt exceptionally hard, but I could tell that I was not used to running them as it was m first time running quarters in a few months.  Average rest between repeats was about 72 seconds over 200m (not counting the rest from the 5th to the 6th repeats).

PM: After work I ran 2 more miles with Kimia.  We ran out an estimated 1 mile and then came back.  Assuming that our estimation was correct, Kimia set her mile pr on the way out with a 10:18!

Kept the pace easy, but ran 2 fat miles in 5:48 and 5:50.  Total time was in the 1:14:00 range for 10.1 miles

Sasha and I ran up the Provo Canyon from Sasha's house until the area just before bridal veil falls making it 10 miles in 1:14:24.  The way out was a slight uphill, with a light headwind during the last 3-4 miles, and the way back was the opposite, although I didn't notice the tailwind, I just assume it was there.

After the turn-around we started off our tempo kind of slow, as I was more interested in our pre-tempo discussion.  I didn't pay attention to any of our mile splits during the first 3 miles of the tempo.  Our splits from the 4th mile of the tempo to the end were: 5:50, 5:35, 5:40, 5:35, 5:37, 5:16, 5:15.  I was pushing the pace pretty hard over the last 2 miles, and I wish that I could have gone a little faster, but at least I was under 5:20 pace for those miles and there were a lot of twists and turns as well due to the tunnels and bridges on the river trail.  Total time for 20 miles was 2:10:19, finishing the last 10 miles in 55:55.

I ran with Sasha this morning.  We kept things easy and just ran our normal route

I ran a 10 mile tempo this morning with Sasha.  We ran to the start of the 5 mile tempo, and we ran it twice, followed by running back to Sasha's house.  We started off the tempo kind of slow making it through the first mile at slower than 6:00 pace, and then picking it up into the 5:50's.  we hit 5 miles in 29:39 (first 2.5 in 14:53, second 2.5 in 14:46).  After that, we slowly picked up the pace a little more and went through the last 5 miles in about 28:2X to finish a few seconds over 58:00 for 10 miles.  12.75 total for the run counting the warm-up and cool-down.

I slept in on accident, so I only ran 7 miles with Sasha, and the last 3 I ran alone.  We kept the pace fairly easy, but we did throw in some fat miles.  During the last 3 miles I also caught up to some kid who was running, and he started going almost all out just to keep up with me, and in the process I sped up as well.  He goes to some boarding school in town that I didn't even know existed.  I finished 10 miles in 1:11:42.

The original plan was to run a double today, but this evening I was feeling really bad, so I scrapped the plans for a second run.

No running today.  I came down with something yesterday, and I was feeling really nasty.  I don't know what it was, but by this evening I was feeling mostly fine.  I wanted to go out running around 7:00 or 8:00 in the evening so that I at least would get in a few miles for the day, but Kimia wanted me to just stay at home so that I would be completely recovered by the next day.

I ran with Sasha this morning.  Total time of a little under 1:15:00.  We also threw in some fat miles, the second being a fat 1.25 because I needed to get home faster than running slower would allow for.  The last two quarters were 1:20, 1:21 (6:59 for 1.25)

PM:  I ran a double today, first running about 1.25 with Kimia (I will count it as 1 mile) and then running three miles alone.  After 1 mile on pavement I went over to a park near my house, and I ran 2 more miles on the grass barefoot.  This was my first ever barefoot run (not counting playing games like frisbee).  Running barefoot will take some getting used to, but it felt good.  The weirdest part about it was when I put my shoes back on at the end and ran a couple hundred yards more.  I felt like I had forgotten how to run.  What felt so natural barefoot felt foreign and intrusive once shoes were on my feet again.

I also had a little adventure while running barefoot.  A dog came after me, (just a little runt of a dog) and I went sprinting off to out-run it.  However it was gaining on me, and I really had to turn on the gas to drop the thing.  I also noticed that my heart rate is higher when I don't wear shoes.  I noticed the same with Sasha when he is shoeless.  Average about 123 bpm at 8:00 pace with shoes and 10-15 bpm higher without shoes.

I ran Sasha's second race today.  The weather was nice, and after the race we even got a few showers, although I wish there would have been just a little more rain.  Anyhow, I warmed up running 4 miles in 28:57 and then the race.

I decided that since I had been sick, I would  just run 5:20 pace for the first 3-4 miles and then pick it up later on.  I did that, hitting the first mile in 5:20, followed by a 5:21 and a 5:19.  So, right on target for the first mile.  I then started to speed up just a little, but not much as I made it through 4 miles in 21:17 (5:17 mile).  During the race I decided that I didn't really want to push the pace too much until the end, so I still waited, and at about 4.5 I finally sped up, and ran two quarters in 72, 73 (4:50 pace) to run the last mile in 5:06, and to finish with a time of 26:23 for 5 miles.  So, 12 seconds faster than last time, although last time I ran almost 15 miles before the race started and I was working a lot harder to maintain the pace during the race.  Today, the pace felt relatively comfortable until that last 800.

After the race I ran about 11.5 miles of cooldown in 1:23:28, running the last mile in 5:51 as a fat mile.

It was a relaxing day at church today.  Kimia and I got to speak in sacrament meeting, and later on my siblings came over for dinner.

I ran with Sasha this morning, and we ran 10.1 miles in 1:16:45.  We ran one fat mile in the middle of the run, and we got excited, so it wasn't really a fat mile.  5:30 for the mile.  I was happy with how the mile felt because I was trying to feel as relaxed as possible, and still keep up the effort.  The end result was that I progressively sped up as I went, even though I didn't really feel like I was increasing the effort.  After we finished our run, I went out with Sasha and Benjamin and ran 2 more miles with them, in order to help Benjamin run a mile time trial.  He finished with a 6:07 for a new mile pr.

I ran a tempo with Sasha this morning.  We didn't want to push the pace too hard, but we planned on hitting the last mile hard where I would try to go as fast as possible, and Sasha would try to hang with me for as long as he could before slowing down and tempoing the rest of the way to the finish.  Anyhow, we started off slow, and went through the first 2 miles in 5:57, 5:57.  The third mile was a 5:52, followed by 5:48, 5:47, 5:49 for miles 4-6.  I then sped up a little, probably in anticipation of the mile to come, and ran the next half mile in 2:51 (86, 85) before launching into my all out mile.  My goal for the last mile was to run it in 4:55 or faster, and I went through the first quarter in 73 (on pace for a 4:52, good).  The second quarter was also a 73.  Sasha lost contact about 300m into the second quarter, and after that I really had trouble motivating myself to go faster.  Without realizing it I slowed down quite a bit, and the next thing I realized the pace no longer hurt, I had run a 77 second third quarter, and I was having trouble motivating myself to speed up.  I think that I slowed down even more during the 4th quarter before finally speeding back up over the last 200m to finish with a 76 last quarter, and 4:59 for the last mile.  I was not too happy with myself for the lack of focus, or for the inability to push through the discomfort as soon as I was alone.  However, I still finished under 5:00 for the last mile, and it does give me some consolation knowing that the mile is slightly uphill the entire way.  The total time for the tempo was 42:59.  After this, we finished our run by running back to Sasha's house for a total of 10.25 miles in 1:05:57.

I ran 10.1 miles with Sasha this morning.  We started out pretty slow, and just barely caught the 8:00 guy before the turn-around.  On the way back we ran a couple fat miles (5:45, 5:40), and our pace otherwise was also quicker, so we finished with a total time of 1:14:26.

PM:  I ran 4 miles alone (probably slightly more than 4 miles), running the first 2 miles in shoes, and the last two miles barefoot on the grass.  Total time of 31:00.