Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 11 miles up to work. I thought about making some April Fools' Day joke about taking the day off or running on a treadmill, but I already did that in real life. Plus, Google is way better at April 1st than anyone else. They must spend the entire first quarter of the year getting ready.

PM - 7 miles home. Hail, cold rain, not entirely pleasant.

AM - 13 miles. 2 up, 1 down - 10 mile progressive tempo on the *treadmill*. Started at 11.0 mph (1%) and bumped it up 0.1 every mile (11.1, 11.2, 11.3, etc), and then in the last mile I did half at 11.9 and half at 12.0, not that it matters because once the belt is moving that fast I'm sure the treadmill looses most of its accuracy anyways. So 10 miles at ~5:15 pace avg which is probably more like 5:20-30 pace outdoors. I sweated a TON though. And drank an entire 8oz bottle of fluids during the run, a new PR!

After yesterday afternoon, I didn't feel like dealing with the rain again and it was kinda of gross outside when I woke up. I'm trying to be very cautious with my hamstring and not push it quicker when its cold and/or slippery. Too many hamstring problems on this blog and I don't want to be next. Mine has felt fine since the marathon, but the simple fact that it popped up again last month late in the race means that the injury from last September/October hasn't completely gone away yet.

PM - 4 miles. 

AM - 12 miles up to work.

PM - 7.5 miles. Down to SHP, a couple miles on the grass, and finished with 8 x 100m strides on the track. 

AM - 10 miles. 3 up w/ 4x200m. Lazy AT Tempo: 8K in 26:12 on the track (5:16/mi avg). 2 down. Wasn't feeling super motivated this morning, and this was essentially half of the workout I had planned... it was going to be 5K @ MP and then 4-6 x 800 @ 5K pace. The set of 200s told me that wasn't happening today. I took 2K splits instead of 1600s because I was too lazy to hit my watch at the first mile - they were 6:33, 6:33, 6:34, 6:31. Oh well, at least I was going faster than the Westminister girls running 1K reps. What a silver lining.

PM - 5 miles at the horsepark. 100% soft surfaces today. 

AM - 10.5 miles up to work.

PM - 8 miles. Down to SHP and a couple laps around the perimeter. 

AM - 18 miles. 3 up to SHP, 8 mile AT Tempo in 43:37 (5:27/mi avg, which is decent on the hilly loop). Splits - 7:29, 7:35, 7:28, 7:32, 7:30, and then 6:02 for the last 1.1+ miles. Andrea biked this portion with me, which was very nice. Quick jog over to the track, 8 x 200m in ~33 seconds. Finished with 5 more miles on the grass.

Not a bad workout, not great either. Story of the week. Didn't really accomplish what I wanted, but didn't set myself back either. Just kind of maintained. I've only got a month to train before Grand Rapids, so its time to get mentally sharper and start working harder. I'm going take the rest of the weekend to ski, then be ready to get on the attack next week.

PM - Andrea and I skinned up to the top of the Milly Express lift at Brighton after they shut down for the day.

Spent the night at Brighton so I went out for a short dawn patrol skin up to the top of the Milly lift before they opened for the day. Reminded me of the Vail days, just me and the snowcat drivers out there in the morning.

PM - 15 miles w/ Andrea (on the bike). Holladay loop, decent pace. We decided not to ski because it was a little too blustery for our cold-sensitive bodies up at high elevations today, so a medium-long run/ride was a nice way to take advantage of the nice weather in the valley. 

I broke out the Mirage 3s for the first time. Pretty impressed - a nice upgrade over the previous version, which I liked a lot to begin with. Lighter and more flexible, smooth ride, good fit in the upper. Feels like a more supportive Kinvara. 

AM - 14 miles. LT Reps: 6 x 1 mile in 5:02, 4:59, 4:58, 4:59, 4:58, 4:59 (4:59 avg). 3.5 up, 3 down. Tempo loop. Perfect weather, could have gone shirtless but my reflective vest would feel too weird against bare skin. This is actually not a bad session of mile reps for me - the last 3 times I did this I averaged 5:04, 4:58 (~2 weeks out from running 65:55), and 5:02. There is lots of work to do and room for improvement, but this tells me I'm not in a bad place right now.

PM - 4 miles. 

AM - 11 miles. Horsepark loops.

PM - 8 miles + 8 x 8 second hills. 

Downloaded Kings of the Road to the Kindle.

AM - 16 miles. AT Tempo: 7 miles in 36:13 (5:10/mi avg). Tempo loop. Splits - 5:07, 5:15, 5:12, 5:15, 5:14, 5:09, 5:01. A little too fast out of the gates... thought the first mile would be ~5:20ish and was considerably faster than that. That's what I get for actually warming up properly. So I checked it back to ~5:15 for the middle part and then picked it up again at the end. 6 up, 3 down. Felt good.

PM - 4 miles. Ran laps on the grass at Liberty Park while Andrea rollerbladed on the paved path. 

AM - 15 miles. First 10 miles on the grass at SHP, then to the track - 16 x 200m in 35.3 seconds (5K rhythm, the goal was to not break 35 on any of them. I was successful on 81% of the reps). Finished up with one more mile easy on the track.

PM - 5 miles easy w/ Andrea (on her rollerblades). 

AM - 7 miles easy + 4 x 8s hills.

I'm running the 5000m on the track tonight at the Utah Spring Classic. Free cookies and balloons, how can you beat that?

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PM - 9 miles. 3 up, 5K in 15:36, 3 down. We'll call that 3.1 miles at LT pace. I'm not really sure this is worth making a race report, but Andrea took pictures and because of that, I guess it counts. Hit the 1K in 3:01 and 1600 in ~4:50 (right where I wanted to be), but it was all downhill from there. The Idaho State guy took off and I mounted zero effort to go with him. Legs felt flat and my effort was pathetic. I deleted my splits off my watch immediately and hope that James does the same :-)

This was actually the first time I ran on the Univ of Utah track... its a really nice complex and as you'll see in the photos, quite an impressive backdrop with the mountains. I smiled at the camera towards the end (last photo) which shows how engaged I was in the race at that point. 

AM - 13 miles. I convinced Rob that we should run on soft surfaces as much as possible today so we went down to the Dimple Dell gully. We added a little stretch on the roads closer to the mouth of LCC and bumped into Justin during that stretch, so he ran ~7.5 miles with us. Nice to run with those two guys and the woodchips/dirt give the legs a nice break.

AM - 18 miles. Long(ish) run with 8 mile AT Tempo in 42:13 (5:17/mile). 8 miles up to Foothill and Sunnyside, and then ran the tempo on the SLC 1/2 Marathon course (approximately miles 2-9 of the race). Splits were all over the place, as it was windy and there are some hills in the middle - 5:14, 5:03, 5:18, 5:27, 5:28, 5:29, 5:14, 4:58. Pushed it down to HM effort on the last mile. Cooled down a quick 2 miles. Andrea biked along the whole way.

PM - 4 miles easy. 

AM - 10 miles. Easy horsepark loops.

PM - 10 miles w/ Andrea (bike) around the neighborhood and a couple horsepark loops. 

AM - 13 miles. First 10 easy and then 3 miles in 15:22 to finish. Was over by Rob's house and started thinking about the e-mail he sent me saying he was running Boston if its 110 degrees next year and all of a sudden it was 5:09, 5:08, 5:04 on the way home. Net downhill and a favorable wind so it wasn't really all that fast. Enough to clear the head, though. 

PM - 6 miles + 8 x 8s hills. 

What happened in Boston yesterday sucks. I've devastated and disgusted. Just sad about it.

But there were also some fantastic running performances from folks on this blog. While in the grand scheme of life, race times aren't the most important thing, I hope that those who ran yesterday (and worked hard for months and months to prepare) can eventually find some satisfaction and happiness in what they accomplished. That doesn't get taken away because of some senseless idiot(s).

AM - 10 miles. Failed workout. Plan was 10 x 1000m @ LT/HM pace. Ended up doing 5 x 1000m in 3:07-3:08 (200m jog) and then just stepped off the track and jogged home in the middle of the 6th rep. I've really been setting the bar high for toughness lately. No excuses, and no silver lining here.

PM - 6 miles. 

AM - 13 miles. Lots and lots of horsepark loops. Grass/dirt = good.

PM - 5 miles. Laps around SHP and then finished w/ 4 x 200m on the track in 31, 31, 31, 29. I know, I know... watch out middle distance specialists, I broke 30 seconds for a 200!

Got my new Saucony kit yesterday... I am thrilled that we now colors other than orange in the uniform. Don't get me wrong, I love traffic cone fashion, but the blue singlet is pretty sharp. And despite Lance's best efforts to ruin the color for all of humanity, I think its ok to have a little yellow in there again.

AM - 8 miles.

PM - 2 miles, quick shakeout. SLC 1/2 tomorrow. 

Photo from the start (SL Tribune). I just wanted to demonstrate that BJ is taller than me! 

OK race today. I figured 1:07 flat would win it, and I was right... unfortunately my legs didn't have it in them. 

I decided to take it out at an honest pace right from the start, basically to make Riley decide whether he was racing or just doing a workout. He came with me so I knew he was in it to win it as well. I had a small gap on him for ~3.5 miles, and we came through the 4 mile mark in 19:40. Then Riley threw down a monster surge (this was an impressive move... I honestly didn't think he'd maintain it as well as he did) and opened up a sizeable gap on me right away. The pace slowed a bit through the hills in the middle part of the course, and Brett Hales (who was lurking behind us in the faster opening miles) passed me ~10K. I maintained contact with Brett, and Riley was a good 70 meters out front. I tried to draw Brett back in on the 3300S downhill stretch, and closed the gap a bit. A little after 10 miles I threw in a surge, caught and passed Brett, and it seemed like Riley was coming back a little bit. For a minute I thought I might be able to reel him back in, but then I sort of lost momentum and the wheels came off ~11 miles. Riley ran strong to the line for the win, with Brett 10 seconds or so behind in second, and then about the same gap back to me in third.

So I'm obviously not thrilled with the outcome, but I was soundly beaten by two guys who were much better than me today. They earned and deserved the top 2 spots. I felt like I ran better today than I have in some recent workouts (and definitely better than the 5K last Friday), so hopefully I can build some momentum from here. 

Afterwards I was borderline hypothermic in the cold rain so I went and did my cooldown on the treadmill at the gym. They should add a minute to my time for that! :-) 

Andrea was riding in the pace car (driven by Amiee!) and took some photos. Everyone has snazzy new uniforms!...

Around the mile mark...

From 2013 Races

~3 miles

~10 miles

~11 miles
 
Splits - 4:56, 4:59, 9:44 (3-4), 5:05, 5:26, 5:23, 5:21, 5:00, 5:16, 10:31 (11-12), 5:53 for the last 1.1.

AM - 18 miles (2 up, race, 3 down)
PM - 5 miles shakeout. 

AM - 5 miles. Horsepark loop w/ Andrea (bike).

PM - 5 miles, exact same thing as this morning.

Spent the day skiing at Brighton. Fun. Headed back down once the legions of drunk snowboarders crossed the tipping point of annoying-ness.

AM - 10 miles w/ Andrea (bike). 

PM - 8 miles. Horsepark loops. Andrea rode the last 6 laps w/ me. I drove one mile away from home to keep the entire run on soft surfaces. 

I'll be really glad when she can run again, but its been nice to have Andrea bike along a lot recently. At least we can do that together. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) for her, I rarely break 7-8 mph.

AM - 3 miles. I was going to do roughly the same run as last Tuesday (~13 with a progressive fast finish) but my hamstring got tight so I just stopped and walked home. Nothing good would have come out of giving it a shot today.

Super lazy day, did absolutely nothing. Didn't even try to run today. My hamstring actually feels OK, but I don't trust it (if that makes sense). This issue goes back to the race on Saturday. When I made a little surge and passed Brett later in the race, I felt my left hamstring lock up just as we turned on to 600E. It wasn't painful, but my drive/power was gone... similar to what happened in the last couple marathons I've run (although this time it was the left side... my "good" hamstring!). It didn't bother me on Sunday, but at the very end of my afternoon run on Monday I felt a slight twinge. Stopped immediately. Started the run yesterday and felt the twinge again after a few miles. Stopped immediately. So the good thing is that I haven't blindly pushed through and turned what might just be a minor thing into a major thing. 

I did a bunch of rehab stuff w/ Andrea and really tried to work it on the foam roller. I haven't been able to make it hurt, and it feels normal. Still, I'm unsure of what to do going forward from here, because I don't know if its a real injury or I'm just over-reacting. The smart move is to continue to lay off for several more days, maybe a week, before giving it a shot again. I've already decided I'm not running the race in Nashville this weekend.

The 25K Championship is hanging over my head. But if we're being realistic here, I'm not in shape to reach my goals there. A weak sauce 5K doesn't bother me (I thrive off them!), but running a 1:07-high half marathon (on a downhill course) doesn't exactly bode well three weeks out. My fitness just isn't where I need it to be right now to compete for a Top 10 finish in Grand Rapids. I still feel like I have the potential to go to Duluth in June and run a PR there, so I'm trying to shift my focus to what is the best approach to make that happen. That may mean laying low for a while... I may still go to the 25K... I'm not sure yet. It might be wise(r) to spend the next couple weeks focused on addressing some of my imbalances/weaknesses with my PT coach (Andrea), dropping a little excess weight, and getting my mind laser sharp again. Right now its a little dull.

Took the advice of a couple wise folks and went up this way with my skis...

To do this...

Skinned up 6 x Milli Express at "all day" pace. Each climb is ~1110 feet, so I got in a solid 6500+ feet of vertical (I'm throwing around that word like I'm a trail runner!). The average time for the up was 26:30. That's right about 2500 vertical feet per hour, which is a decent clip on skis. Its been a while since I put in a day like that on the planks... I'm guessing the last time I did over 7K was when Andrea and I skied Lone Peak.

I needed that, mentally. Not sure it was great for my hamstring, but surely it didn't make it any worse.  My hip flexors, on the other hand, were tired!

Andrea and I attempted to go for a run together this morning. We made it about three-fourths of a mile before mutually pulling the plug and walking back home.

Skied for a few hours at Brighton, then broke out my road bike. Was going to head up to Little Mountain but I realized that my brake pads probably haven't been replaced since Lance was riding for USPS and since I don't like to go faster than 20mph, that could have been trouble on the way down. So I just meandered around and practiced clipping in and out of my pedals so I don't look like a total moron the next time I go for a ride with Andrea and Amiee.

The snow right now, when timed properly, is as close to CO/CA corn as we get in the Wasatch. The only thing that even compares to light powder is perfectly timed, consistent, smooth corn snow. Its so fun when you hit it just right.

I love this time of year, when 99.9% of people have put away their skis for the year, and you have the whole place to yourself....

Went up to Solitude, with no goals other than to ski around and find a cool viewpoint...

While snapping some photos, I remembered the day Andrea and I skied a great line off that ridge (Stupid Chute, left of center) and realized it was exactly two years ago today. There was SO MUCH snow that winter. 

I'll try running again at some point. Not today, though. I don't really feel like it. That's like 6 days in a row... definitely the most downtime since I got serious about running again.

Spent a lot of time thinking about my March/April training this spring during my solo travels over the past couple days. For two marathons in a row, I had something "big" planned just about two months after the marathon. And two times in a row, I'm not even going to make it to the starting line of that second event. When I look at most (but not all) of my best performances, I've had a very large chunk of "old school" base training come first, before I started jumping into workouts. I didn't do that this time, and forced the issue because the 25K was on the horizon. Instead of letting it come naturally, I pressed too hard, tried to force the fitness, and I paid the price. Sometimes you get away with it, and sometimes you don't. I should have backed off a few weeks ago when my workouts were consistently a little subpar, and I knew I was a little off. The best I can do now is learn from my mistakes and not repeat them three times. 

AM - 5 miles. Ran a bunch of short loops from home, so I wouldn't have to walk far if I felt a twinge. It never happened, so I'll cautiously take that as a good sign. I've only run 3 miles in the past 6 days, so you would think some healing took place during that time (especially since I stopped running last week before it hurt, just when I had a sense that something was wrong).

I was flipping through Trail Running magazine last night (yep, I have a subscription because the photos are usually really cool). The latest issue devoted several pages to "should you smoke weed while running?" I could have written that article in one word! 

AM - 7 miles. Felt about the same as yesterday.

PM - 1.5 miles w/ Andrea. Yeah, I'm going to count that as a run.