Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 6 miles.

PM - 3 miles w/ 8 x 200m in ~36-37s.

I woke up this morning with a very tight lower back (out of nowhere as far as I can tell - maybe I slept on it wrong?). It felt "off" as I was heading to the track for the 200s so I bagged what I had planned and just tried to get loosened up. Didn't have a ton of success throughout the day, so Andrea arranged for me to see Tim after work. He put me in a world of hurt for about an hour, working on my lower back, glutes, etc. After the massage we went over to the track. I didn't feel smooth, but I'm just going to hope for a better day tomorrow. 

PM - 4 miles w/ Paul in Indianapolis.

I did not have it today. I could probably find some excuses about stuff going on that affected my performance, but the fact is that I ran 1:07 (on the dot - again!) which isn't something I should ever be doing at this point in my life. It's not acceptable. I am glad I have one more shot at a half-marathon this spring and 7 weeks to train for it before turning my attention to 26.2; I intend to knock one out of the park in Duluth and redeem myself for what has been a disturbing trend of solid training and poor racing. Ultimately, I judge my running based on actual race performances, and don't get any satisfaction about what I could/should have been able to do. The stopwatch and tape measure never lie.

The last time I was in Indianapolis, I got beat by Michael Jordan. On Thursday night I got a text message from a guy named Steve Kerr - "Hey Jake, I'll be picking you up at the airport tomorrow." You can't make this stuff up! Indianapolis-ans must have been secretly rooting for the Bulls during the 90s.

The Indy Mini is a pretty cool event - the biggest half-marathon in the USA with 38,000 runners! In addition to being a bucket list item for the masses, they also put together an impressive prize money purse which draws out a very competitive field of athletes. The course is nice and flat, as you'd expect in the Midwest... and why I keep coming here to run.

Almost 2.5 miles of the race is on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - which I had heard was a very lonely place... but it wasn't too bad - it just reminded me of my boring tempo loop! I actually wouldn't mind doing workouts there.

The RDs were very accommodating, and put me in a nice hotel (with Paul) the night before the race. We burned the midnight oil until the clock hit 8:30pm (6:30pm our time) and then hit the sack.

I felt flat from the start of the race (on our warmup too) and never really got going, despite a more conservative start compared to other half-marathons I've run.

Splits: 5:02, 4:59, 5:09, 4:57, 5:13, 5:08, 5:05, 5:16, 5:05, 5:14, 5:02, 5:12, 5:06, :27 = 1:07:00

I knew going into this that I wasn't going after 65... but I figured I had a good shot at cracking 66 and taking down my PR. That race in Long Beach just doesn't want to give up it's spot on my sidebar!

On a positive note, I was able to beat Michael Jordan this time. He now goes by "Kyle"... I guess it was getting too confusing for people. He's very white, by the way.

The top pack ran fast - 6 guys under 1:03! [Results]. Kenyans dominated. I think I was the 3rd American - in 16th place overall.

After the race I had a ton of time to kill before a 7:45pm flight home. I ended up at the hotel gym doing a lot of stretching while Frank Shorter was riding the stationary bike. I should have introduced myself, but I was afraid he would ask how I ran. Later, at the airport, Frank kept walking past me in the terminal, rubbing it in! He won the original Indy Mini, back when it started and finished on the track.

The craziest part of the day was the ride from the hotel back to the airport. I got picked up by Bill Cartwright, Stacey King, and Horace Grant. But not the Indianapolis versions... the real Chicago Bulls. I take it as a good omen from the universe that running the Chicago Marathon this fall is the right choice. Like I said, you just can't make this stuff up!

Sent from my iPad

AM - 8 miles. For my required novelty birthday run, I did 30 x 1 minute (1 minute recovery). Averaged ~7:30 per mile on the fast parts and ~7:30 per mile on the recoveries. In other words, I ran an easy hour with Allie, Josh, Fritz, and Nate.

Skied at Alta for a couple hours. The snow is turning brown and melting. Sad :-(

Luckily Scottie Pippen was there.

I'm already dreaming of some new goals for this year now that I'm 30 (image courtesy of my good friend Sean Curran who you may remember from Curran's Famous Steeple):

AM - 10 miles. Mainly horsepark loops. Speaking of which: Thoroughbreds are running as fast as they can.

PM - 8 miles.

AM - 10 miles.

PM - 8 miles.

Timely thoughts from Phoebe Wright. 

AM - 10 miles.

PM - 8 miles.

AM - 10 miles. 8K AT Tempo in 26:56 (5:25/mile avg). Splits (1600) - 5:29, 5:27, 5:24, 5:21, 5:13. HHS track w/ Nate. 3 up, 2 down. 

No PM run due to washing machine repair annoyingness.

AM - 11 miles.

PM - 11 miles.

AM - 20 mile long run. Easy pace, Jeremy Ranch. Usual out and back for 14.5 (Fritz, Josh, and Chad dropped there), then Nate, Matt, and I added on another 5.5 on the Flying Dog trail. Muddy, muddy, muddy. We saw two mooses!

PM - 4 miles. Shakeout.

I feel like this was sort of a lazy training week. I talked a good game about rebounding from my Indianapolis race, but didn't necessarily follow through - I let some other stuff alter my focus on the little things. I think today's long run was a good way to reset my mind and I'm motivated to get going again as I make the push toward some good races in June.

AM - 12 miles w/ Fritz and Collin. We checked out the Sugar House tunnel from a distance. Anticipation is building for the grand opening!

PM - 8 miles. Horsepark.

AM - 12 miles.

PM - 6 miles + 8 x 100m strides. 

AM - 9 miles. 6 Mile AT Tempo in 32:28 (5:25/mile avg) - 5:31, 5:28, 5:29, 5:22, 5:23, 5:15. Tempo loop.

PM - 7 miles. 8 x 300m in 48.3 seconds avg (1500m goal pace, 60s recovery). HHS track. 

Good point, George Swensen.

AM - 10 miles. 

PM - 7 miles. Ran pretty fast for the last quarter in lieu of strides.

I'm sad to see rollerblading on the decline.

AM - 8 miles. 

PM - 8 miles + 8 x 100m strides.

Interesting read: Reddit AMA w/ Steve Magness. 

I also want to plug a little Q&A about the USATF circuit I did for the Utah Running magazine. There are still lots of circuit races left on this year's schedule, and if you register before the end of June, points for the first half of the year will be retroactively applied to your total.

AM - 10 miles. 10 x 600m in 1:46.0 average (5K goal pace, 90s). HHS track. Target was 1:45 and I could have given 1% more effort, so this demonstrates lack of focus. I've hit a mental lowpoint, which hopefully I'll snap out of soon.

PM - 8 miles.

AM - 20 mile long run. Jeremy Ranch. 6:47/mile avg pace. Picked it up a bit over the last mile (5:25), then did a couple strides. Traded mud (last week) for sweat, sunscreen, and dust.

PM - 8 miles. 

Jeremy Ranch always restores balance. When you're feeling too cocky, it will serve you up a big slice of humble pie. And when you're feeling low, a couple hours up there (especially those last couple miles up the hills) will get you back on track.

AM - 10 miles w/ Josh. Liberty Park. 

PM - 7 miles.

Very true: "It is harder to go a little faster." Or jump over hurdles.

AM - 9 miles.

PM - 9 miles + 8 x 100m strides.

AM - 12 miles. LT Reps: 2 x 2.5 miles + 2 x 1 mile (3,1 min recovery) in 12:37, 12:36, 5:03, 5:02. Tempo loop.

PM - 8 miles.

AM - 10 miles.

PM - 10 miles.

Saucony wins.

AM - 12 miles.

PM - 7 miles. 8 x 200m (200m jog) in 33.4 avg. HHS track. I wanted to hit these in 31-32 off feel. Apparently I felt like I was moving quicker than I actually was.

AM - 8 miles.

PM - 8 miles.

The Bjorklund 1/2 is a month from tomorrow. I'm going there and competing regardless of what happens over the next couple weeks - it's my last chance to PR at that distance this year. I can turn this boat around... it's a matter of choice, not luck, but making consistent good decisions hasn't been my biggest strength recently, and it's the reason I haven't been running as well. I'm undecided about racing between now and then. I'm targeting a 5000m on June 7th in LA and then a 10,000m in Portland in June 14th, with the goal of running a pair of PRs and knocking a couple time benchmarks off my bucket list. I'll decide based on how things go over the next week. I'm hoping for a couple good workouts, even just one good session, to tell me there's a chance. Eventually I'm going to catch fire again... I know I can't force it... but man, I want it to happen soon!!!

PM - 15 miles. Didn't get out until the afternoon... for an easy 6-8 mile run that ended up being measuring a little bit long on my garmin. 

PM - 4 miles. Sunglasses at 8pm. Gotta love the long days.

Cool article from Roads & Kingdoms: In Kenya, Running with Chinese Characteristics

AM - 10 miles. 6 x 1000m (60s recovery) in 3:04 average. Splits - 3:06, 3:05, 3:04, 3:04, 3:03, 3:03. HHS track. 3 up, 3 down.

PM - 8 miles. 6 mile AT Tempo in 32:20 (5:23/mile). Splits - 5:22, 5:27, 5:26, 5:24, 5:21, 5:20. Tempo loop. 1 up, 1 down.

Original goal for the morning session was 2:55 off 90s recovery, although that plan was scrapped after the first lap. I'm happy to have gotten in some substance today, but this is the nail in the coffin in terms of racing on the track in June. Luckily those flights were booked on Southwest and can easily be used for other trips/races. I promise that I'll quit exuding negative vibes now that I've made that decision and won't change my mind again! I shouldn't have gotten greedy after Indianapolis in the first place, and just stuck with the original plan. If anything, I'm disappointed in myself because I feel like I let Bam down by going semi-rogue these last couple weeks after he spent so much time creating and modifying workouts for me this year. We wanted to get through the winter ready to run 10 miles in 50 minutes in April without beating myself up from too many miles / long runs, but instead use some different types of workouts where I could step it up from that point forward. We pretty much nailed that first goal and I was exactly where I wanted to be. I admittedly tanked after that. No where in the training plan did it say - lose your confidence and become a mental basket case, quit doing ancillary / gym / physical therapy work, gain back all the weight you lost, and jack up your mileage for no specific reason! All that stuff is on me. By no means did I completely ruin my chances to run fast this spring. I got off track a little bit, which happens to everyone from time to time. You just have to get back up and keep running...

AM - 20 mile long run at Jeremy Ranch w/ a top-drawer group of dudes. Especially Rob. Kept it easy - averaged ~7:10 pace. 

I thought Memorial Day was our four year anniversary of moving to SLC, but then I just looked back at some pictures and realized I spent Memorial Day 2010 skiing peaks; we drove out from Vail about a week later. I guess you don't really celebrate four year anniversaries, anyways. Next year, though... it's gonna get wild.

AM - 8 miles.

PM - 8 miles.

AM - 10 miles.

PM - 8 miles.

Good article from RW... run hard, live small, dream big.

AM - 10 miles. Ran to HHS and did 12 x 400m (200m) fartlek style (no split checking until I was done). Averaged 74.1 seconds. (?!?!???)

PM - 6 miles. 

AM - 9 miles.

PM - 8 miles.

Best track meet in the USA starts tonight. And some thought-provoking comments from Vern Gambetta.

AM - 9 miles. Plan was either 3x2 or 4 miles continuous at half-marathon pace, depending on how I was feeling. First mile was 5:23; I continued on for another minute then decided I was finished. Andrea was biking along and encouraged me to give it another shot. So after ~3 minutes easy I did a mile in 5:06, then took another 90 seconds jog and ran 5:15 for the last mile.