Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 11.5 miles up to work. Starting to get a little sick, felt it coming on yesterday. Might as well just get all this stuff out of the way at once.

PM - 4.5 miles down to SHP. Met Andrea along the way. 

Lots of good cross / indoor track action this weekend - USA XC Championships (webcast on Runnerspace... women's 8K at noon, men's 12K at 12:45) and New Balance Grand Prix (webcast on ESPN3... the mile/2mi/3K start at 4:40pm, Utah time).

AM - 14 miles. 4.5 mi warmup w/ 2.5 miles @ 6:10 pace (Andrea's tempo), then 8 Mile AT Tempo in 41:44 (5:13/mile avg), 1.5 cooldown straight home and right into the ice bucket.

Woke up feeling sicker than yesterday (HR pushing 50, it doesn't even get that high the morning after a marathon), but the weather is great and I knew I needed to test out the leg. Andrea and I warmed up together and I ran alongside for her tempo. By the time that was over, I was feeling a lot better. I had low expectations for the workout, just wanted at least 3-4 but no more than 8 miles at a steady effort. If I felt any twinge in the quad, I'd stop immediately. Figured I'd ease into it and start at 5:30-5:40 pace... well, that didn't happen... my legs are very rested right now and I hit the mile quite a bit quicker than expected... then backed off a bit  Splits were 5:08, 5:17, 5:18, 5:14, 5:14, 5:14, 5:12, 5:06. Quad held up fine (I got a compression sleeve to keep pressure on my quad/hamstring, which might have helped). There was a temptation to keep going but I knew I should just cut it at 8 miles and then re-evaluate based on how I feel tomorrow. I'm not going to jump the gun and say I'm back to 100%... I have a lot of work to do in the next 3 weeks if I'm still going to get able to run a respectable marathon, but this leaves me cautiously optimistic. 

PM - 4 miles easy, then watched the NB Indoor meet. Mary Cain!!! 

AM - 16.5 miles. What happened to the sunshine?!?! Ran a couple 5 mile loops from SHP, first w/ Andrea/Allie and then Nate/Rossy, then home. Kept the pace easy... just wanted to be on my feet for ~2 hrs today and make sure nothing would feel weird. To be honest, my illness is affecting me more right now that any injuries.

Regardless of what happens in the Super/Puppy bowls later, Mary Cain wins athlete of the weekend. 

PM - OFF. Went to the gym for some hot/cold contrast therapy, stretching, massage, achilles strengthening, etc.

AM - 10 miles up to work.

PM - 4.5 miles down to SHP. 

Bill Simmons' article from late last week is a must read if you missed it - Daring to Ask the PED Question. Andrea started reading Tyler Hamilton's book as well, so this general subject has been a hot topic of conversation lately. 

AM - 20.5 miles. 3 up, 26.2K (16.3 mile) Tempo in 1:29:11 (5:28/mile avg, ~97-98% of MP), 1+ down back home. Splits - 5:33, 5:33, 5:31, 5:29, 5:29, 5:25, 5:26, 5:29, 5:25, 5:29, 5:29, 5:30, 5:30, 5:28, 5:31, 5:20, 1:36.

Can't shake the cold. Woke up feeling junky again, and called in sick to work (I hate doing that, but I work in a cancer hospital, so its not really ethically a good thing to show up to work sick). I still wanted to get in a solid workout today, since I'd have plenty of time to ice / rest afterwards. This was really my only chance to get in a long tempo effort, so I decided to modify the original session which I had planned to do 4 days ago. Instead of running the whole thing at MP, I thought it would be wiser to run at ~95% of MP. I tried that for the first mile, but 5:35 is just too slow and doesn't quite feel right. So I split the difference. I feel like this was a good workout - I got what I needed out of it, but I didn't go to the well. Deposit, not withdrawal.

This little injury / illness setback has really made me think hard about what I'm doing every day - I scrapped my original plan and came up with a new approach for the last month before Phoenix. To a certain extent, I'm embracing the extra challenge.

AM - 8 miles up to work. Feeling a lot better... by yesterday afternoon, my congestion was gone and energy levels were finally starting to come back up. I guess yesterday's workout reset the system.

PM - 4.5 miles down to SHP, met Andrea along the way.  

The first USATF-Utah Circuit race of the year is this Saturday. Come and run one of the only honest 10Ks in the state! I'm going to shamelessly keep promoting the circuit this year, so get used to it :-)

AM - 9 miles. Started easy for 5.5 around the neighborhoods and then threw in a little 2 mile pickup in 10:30 (5:16, 5:14) on the tempo loop. Right as I was finishing up the effort, my eyes were blinded by the brightest pink jacket in the world (Andrea!) and I ran home with her. I was just looking for a little token effort to shake out the legs... this fit the bill. No point in doing anything more strenuous today.

PM - 3 miles w/ Andrea. 

Despite the fact that the layout of Gary Cohen's website hurts my head, he has a good interview with Adam Goucher, one of my favorite athletes.

AM - 9 miles up to work.

PM - 4.5 miles down to SHP, met Andrea on the run. 

Gotta give a shout to one of the young guys on the blog, Mike Finch, who signed w/ SUU earlier this week. I really liked what Coach Holt had to say:  ...it demonstrates how hard work and dedication (everyday, all the time - not just "when I feel like it commitment") really do pay off.

Not sure how I feel about this one. After RnR AZ I figured I'd be cracking 31 minutes with no problem today, but the last 3 weeks haven't exactly gone as planned. My quad seems better, but I'm still very hesitant to run much faster than marathon pace on my achilles. My goal today was to put in an effort similar to what I did last Saturday and try to beat everyone except Riley (figuring he'd end up running quite a bit quicker, which I was right about - he is very fit right now). So on one hand I did the exact workout I wanted to - and my leg actually appears to be getting better... But on the other hand, I hate being in a race and not responding when someone makes a move. I like racing aggressively, so now in hindsight I am slightly mad at myself for not being more aggressive today... of course if I was more aggressive and re-aggravated my foot, then I'd be really mad at myself! I guess slightly mad is better than really mad.

I tried to start conservative and we had a pack until about the one mile mark. Riley was running strong and started to drop the pace around that point... obviously very motivated to get that RRCA state championship coaster :-). I didn't go with him, but still felt like I was putting a gap on everyone else because the footsteps were disappearing behind me. Hit the first 5K in ~15:45 (tailwind), then turned around into the pelting snow-wind and I'll be honest - it was not very pleasant! Riley was gone and it didn't seem like anyone was close behind me, so I ran what felt like tempo effort on the way back. Second 5K was ~16:40, not very impressive!

The good news is that my achilles felt good... actually better after the race on the cooldown than when I was warming up. And it also feels better than it did earlier this week. I got this achilles brace yesterday, and despite the fact that its one of the more primitive contraptions I've ever spent $20 on, it works extremely well.

Afterwards we did a casual cool down (the weather was a lot nicer by that point) and it was nice to chat with all the guys. For a wintery February day, the depth at this race (mainly because it was the first event on the USATF circuit) was incredible. I haven't seen the results yet, but I'd betting Fast Running Blog took about 9 of the top 10 spots on the men's side.

SLC Track Club has some good photos on their Facebook page... here's one from the start:

Seriously - what would you rather be doing with your friends on a Saturday morning?!? :-) 

And the Terminator kicking it in for 3rd place:

Stealing these next two from Matt...

Riley, Me, Matt:

Old Guys:

AM - 18 miles. Ran up to HHS to meet the guys (Rob, Kevin, Fritz, Nate, Rossy)... we did the Holladay loop, then Kevin joined me for the run back home where I planned to stop at 16.5... but I saw that Andrea had put out a water bottle for me, so I figured I might as well practice taking in some fluids and did that while I ran an extra loop around the block.

Another snowy, slushy, messy morning. I'm looking forward to some sunshine! Not sure when that is going to happen, though.

Highlight of the run was Rob's story of when he smashed up a car with a concrete block. He's a tough dude - don't mess with him!! 

PM - 3 miles w/ Andrea. 

AM - 8 miles up to work, slow and easy.

PM - 8 miles home, at a pace quicker than simply jogging for once! Followed by eccentric exercises and ice bucket. 

AM - 14 miles. 3 up, 8 Mile AT Tempo in 43:43 (5:28/mile avg), 3 down. Splits: 5:32, 5:32, 5:27, 5:27, 5:30, 5:27, 5:27, 5:21. 

I could make all the excuses in the world, but for a variety of reasons its obvious that I'm a bit "off" right now. I'm trying to not force any workouts, though... just maintain my aerobic fitness while continuing to improve my structural health... and hopefully I'll be able to catch fire again. I've got 2.5 weeks for that to happen. Plenty of time?

PM - 4 miles. A few w/ Andrea then an extra loop around the block. 

AM - 10 miles up to work. 

I think I'm making some progress with my achilles. I had to temporarily ditch the brace/strap I wore last weekend because it was bruising my lateral mallelous. Wearing more shoe during the work day (ie. more heel lift) and less shoe while I'm running seems to help. Lots of massage, ice, and eccentric exercises. Keeping the calf muscles very loose is key - but I've also found that stretching them actually makes the injury worse... better to use massage and a heating pack to achieve the same goal.

PM - 5.5 miles, met Andrea and finished at SHP.

Now I gotta start my Achilles PT for the night. Andrea made me an extensive spreadsheet of all this stuff I need to do... so she can keep track when she's in Brazil for the next couple weeks... its exhausting!

AM - 13.5 miles. 4.5 up, 6 mile progression in 31:43 (5:17/mile avg), 3 down. Splits: 5:25, 5:21, 5:20, 5:16, 5:15, 5:05.

Andrea suggested this workout (6 miles starting at 5:30 and cutting down to 5:10) to me last night and I thought it was a better idea than what I originally had planned, so I went with it and I'm glad I did. Felt better than I have recently, and stopping at only 6 miles leaves a lot in the tank for the weekend. Cooled down w/ Coach Andrea herself afterwards.

PM - 4 miles easy. 

AM - 10 miles up to work. 

PM - 5.5 miles to SHP, met Andrea along the way. 

AM - 13.5 miles. 4 miles warmup w/ Andrea. LT Reps: 6 x 1 mile @ HM pace - 5:04, 5:04, 5:03, 5:00, 5:01, 5:01. Did this on my tempo loop (so ~0.3 mi b/w reps). Average = 5:02. Cooled down ~2 mi back home. 

OK session. Anything under 5:00 would be too big of a risk on my achilles right now. I can pretty much tell exactly where that threshold is... so I just kept it right there, around half-marathon effort. Tomorrow will be a longer workout.

Afterwards we had a goodbye brunch for Andrea as she is off to Brazil in a little while... as usual it just turned into everyone laying on the floor doing physical therapy! 

PM - 6 miles easy. Finished up just in time to watch the meat of the action from the Millrose Games! 

AM - 20 miles. 8 miles easy to start, then right into 10 miles at marathon effort in 53:53 (5:23 / mile avg), 2 mile cooldown w/ 4 strides in the last half-mile (to finish on a neuromuscular stimulus instead of just slogging it in). Splits were: 5:21, 5:23, 5:23, 5:34, 5:25, 5:22, 5:23, 5:18, 5:25, 5:18. 

The course for this run was a semi-simulation of the PHX course. Miles 1-3 were downhill, 4 was back uphill (~80 feet), 5-6 were flat, 7 was net downhill w/ a couple short inclines, and 8-10 were flat (tempo loop). I wanted to see how my foot would respond to running a little more varied terrain, since I've been doing all of my workouts on a flat loop. The interesting thing is that due to the lack of ROM in my right ankle, its actually easier for me to run faster on flat instead of downhill. I can live with that. My achilles felt good on the uphill mile as well, which was a nice sign. I should also mention that I was chased by a dog for about 100 meters during the 8th mile... I threw in a little acceleration and the dog did not catch me... although it was like a 25 pounder with little stubby legs, so I'm not getting too cocky about out-running it :-)

Pretty happy w/ the back to back workouts this weekend. I pretty much did exactly what I hoped to do, despite waking up yesterday morning and feeling like there was no way in h#ll I was going to pull it off. I was only going to do a final long run if it was going to be a quality effort, and I feel like today's run accomplished that goal.

Here's your track-dork historical video of the weekend: Ron Clarke documentary.

PM - 4 miles easy. Took a break in the middle of Zero Dark Thirty (long movie!) and went out for a short run in the dark. I've done soooo much PT today... I don't know how Andrea does it. Seriously, running 20+ miles is really the easy part...

AM - 8 miles up to work (in 1:13:40!!!).

PM - 8 miles home.

AM - 10 miles up to work. 

PM - 8 miles home. Found the rear window smashed out in my jeep, lots of stuff stolen. Right outside our condo. They ripped out the stereo system in a busch league manner... not a clean removal! The stereo was worthless, but quite a bit of valuable items were stolen - my portable jump starter, a sweet auto repair kit, bunch of other auto equipment, iPod accessories, 3 pairs of really good ski poles, etc. Not really what I want to be dealing with right now... window gone just in time for a snowstorm!

It should be noted that a pair of 1.5" split shorts were left behind!!! Those were good shorts, and I'm glad I still have them! 

It should also be noted that ANY IDIOT with opposable thumbs and a clothes hangar can easily break into a 2001 Jeep Cherokee. Don't break the windows! A monkey could do it w/out breaking the window. Heck, even I've done it when I've locked my keys inside.

AM - 15.5 miles. 4 mi up, AT Reps: 2 x 4 miles in 21:41 (5:25/mi), 21:34 (5:23/mi) + 1 mile @ LT (5:00). Half mile steady b/w reps. Cooled down 1.5 mi home. 

Usually I'd do a pretty hard workout 10 days out from the marathon, but due to going to bed too late, being up really early, and a mildly hectic day on tap, I modified it to be much more of a moderate session. No sense in risking getting in a recovery hole right now. 

PM - 3.5 miles, easy shakeout. Resisted the urge to run home from work. Dropped off the jeep for repairs during the afternoon... the insurance people could not wrap their head around the fact that I wouldn't accept a rental car. I said I'd take a segway if they had one, and if not, I'll gladly take the bus. They didn't have a segway!

AM - 8 miles up to work. 

PM - 8 miles home. Threw in a spontaneous 2 mile pickup (5:24, 5:19) in the middle. Its been a long time since I've done something like that. This was probably the first run in a month where I just RAN freely and didn't worry about whether I was going to hurt something. 

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I read this study on EPO and running performance yesterday. Pretty interesting. It basically shows what we already expect to be the case, but it was a well-designed trial and actually specific to running (most of the literature in this area uses cyclists as test subjects). Since PEDs are depressing, here's something that will make you smile: Park City's new avalanche dog!

AM - 9 miles up to work. Snowy! Another day for the trail shoes... which are very, very clean because I pretty much only use them to run in the snow.

PM - 8 miles home. Not snowy. 

BUMMER. I was really hoping to start logging some "PM - 4.5 miles down to SugarDaddie.com park" runs. Plus, just imagine how much the value of Fritz's new house would increase if this name change actually took place.

Salt Lake Winter Series 15K 
TREADMILL WORKOUT (What the what?!)

The plan today was the use the SLC 15K as my last moderate workout before the marathon - run the first couple miles easy and then progress into marathon pace for the last 6-7 miles. Rob and I left around 8:45am and the weather was perfect - warm and calm. By the time we got out to SaltAir 25 minutes later, it was an absolute white out storm (graupel) that made the 10K from a couple weeks ago seem downright tropical. We went out for our warmup and were completely miserable and freezing within the first 15 seconds. Rob said that all we needed now was to add some lightning to the mix. No lie, 2 seconds later there was a lightning strike and thunder. Thunder snow!!! 

We decided that the only was to get a quality workout was to either go back in time a few hours and run at 7am when it was nice out or go to the gym and run on the treadmill. The treadmill was actually my suggestion. I'm usually very flexible about workouts (modifying / moving sessions based on the weather during the winter) but that doesn't work when you are 7-10 days out from an important race. You kind of need to do things at more specific time points.

I only have a couple rules when it comes to running, and two of them are: 1) Don't run on a treadmill and 2) No racing in long tights or with a shirt under your singlet. One of those rules was going to be broken today regardless of what I did, so I opted to be warm :-)

About 2.5 hours after leaving home, I was finally at the gym and ready to get running. Rob showed me how to work the buttons (this was my first treadmill run since approximately 2005, other than some random testing in gait labs).

The workout ended up being 15 minutes warmup, 45 minutes at ~AT effort (5:30 pace for 35 minutes and then progressed down to 5:00 pace over the last 10 minutes), then another 15 or so minutes cooldown. 

I kept the incline at 1%, even though I know it should be at least 2-2.5% to truly account for wind resistance. Anything above 1.5% felt like it was straining my achilles a little too much. So the workout obviously was a lot easier than it would have been outdoors, but I do think there was some advantage of running in a much warmer environment than I am used to. I probably should have been doing more of this throughout the winter, being that its probably going to be pretty warm in Phoenix next weekend. It was nice to have Rob to chat with during the run... otherwise it would have just been insanely boring!

I felt like I got a good sweat and a nice little aerobic stimulus today. Definitely a better quality effort than I would have gotten outside. Kudos to those who braved the elements!!

The treadmill says I ran 12-something miles but I'll call it zero since it was a treadmill, after all. 

I should also add that I was "that guy" wearing my complete race uniform at the gym. I sort of felt like a tool, but what can you do? It was the only clothes I had with me.

PM - 4 miles, OUTSIDE on a pleasant evening with some light snow coming down. It was something of a winter wonderland. My spirits were so high that I decided to count this morning's run as "real" miles :-) 

AM - 9.5 miles. Met the guys at Highland for the usual Sunday loop through Holladay. 

PM - 4.5 miles. 

Andrea went for a 17 mile hike through this region yesterday. I can't wait to see her photos, the area looks amazing (Update: Pictures posted, very cool!). I'm mainly just happy that she felt good afterwards, because that is a lot of time on the feet. Hopefully a good sign of things to come.

AM - 7 miles up to work. After today, no more running up the hill for a while :-)

PM - 4 miles, followed by the great shoe experiment. I've developed an annoying "pump bump" on my left heel. I've always had a bit of a Haglund's Deformity, but it hasn't manifested itself in a very long time (5+ years). No doubt, compensating for the right achilles has unleashed the beast. No matter how hard you try not to compensate, you're almost always doing it at some level. Running in an older pair of Kinvara 2s has actually felt the best lately, but they're not really ideal for racing (too soft). I jogged around in all my flats and its a toss up between the Fastwitch 6 and Type A3 (old ones!). My preference is to wear the FT if possible because they have a little more heel lift, so I'll give them a last chance test on my run tomorrow - if they bother the bump too much, I'll go with the ancient A3s.

AM - 7 miles, treadmill. Fritz saw me, so I have to admit it. Decided to do this light workout in warmer conditions, a last chance for heat acclimation of sorts. Warmed up 2.5 and then 4 mile AT progression at 5:30, 5:20, 5:10, 5:00 (1%). Wore the FT6s and the bump on my heel bothered me a bit during the warmup, but it goes away once I get rolling. The achilles is feeling pretty decent the last couple days as well. I hit the big red emergency stop button just before the display said 7.5 miles on my cool down, that way I could still round it down. Gotta do something to hold on to whatever I have left of my blue-collar runner status... its dwindling away quickly!

PM - OFF. Home late, and I'm mentally fried from the day, so probably a good night to not run and get to sleep as early as possible. 

AM - OFF. You better be right about this whole "resting" thing, Murphy!

PM - 6 miles easy + 8 x short strides. 

AM - 6 miles, treadmill (again). Ever since I decided that device wasn't all that bad, I've gotten obsessed with making sure my achilles is warm and loose all the time, and getting myself used to running in warmer temps (2 long sleeve shirts, indoors!). I'm able to shake out any achilles tightness after ~2 miles now, which is great because that means I don't have to do a 30 minute warmup before the marathon. The opposite heel is annoying but the discomfort goes away after a few miles as well. Anyways, I ran 4.5 miles at a decent clip and then 1 mile ~MP effort (5:20 down to 5:00, so whatever than means in real life). Cooled down until I hit 40 minutes. I really have no idea how I'm going to hold up over 26.2, and I'll just be relieved if I get through this in one piece and my decision to run doesn't set back the other things I'm planning this spring/summer.

PM - 2 mile shakeout.