Wheeler Farm Loops

should make all the difference.

enjoyed the recap - you guys have got the right attitude.

"hobbyjogging" lol!

Nice 5k. That sub 15 is definitely in you.

You would think so, right? :-) I really should make my goal for 2012 to be: > 5 second / mile difference in pace between 5K and half-marathon... and not by getting slower in the half!

I think you'd scare the 14 minute mark if you trained specifically for the 5k.

One of your goals for this year should be > 10 second / mile difference in pace between 5K and half-marathon! And since your going to run a sub 1:05, you gotta run AT LEAST a 14:51 :o)

I am so enjoying this weather! I kind of hope we don't get hit by snowy tundra's this winter. I would like water in the Mountains, but in the Valley's meeeh.

You're up early today. Nice!

I'm with you... obviously I'd like to be skiing a bit more, but I'm also happy w/ the valleys staying dry.

Really cold here in CT Jake. Nice workout. When I go to see how you are doing, I usually track Acorn down and then access your name by reading the comments. I guess the other option would be to simply go to the mileage board - you had 5806.10 miles for 2011! Highest mileage of all the bloggers. I imagine you are always on page one of the Mileage board. SERIOUS miles! Hoping you do well with your running in 2012 and make the PRs you are seeking.

PRE - thanks! I didn't realize that you lived in Hamden... my sister went to Quinnipiac for a year before transferring - that's a nice area. We are usually out your way for thanksgiving... between Shelton and Monroe. Next year I'll probably run Manchester if it works out (ie. not having run a marathon 4 days before).

Jake - you running the Manchester Road Race would be totally awesome!!! Let me know if you do decide to do that. Next time your in CT, maybe we can connect...I really couldn't run with you because you would probably be walking and I would be winded...your super Easy pace is probably around what: 7:00/mile pace? My best 5K time is 7:43/mile pace. But I think it would be great to actually meet someone from this site (many people from Utah). I heard about your recent marathon from your fiancee on her blog site(I think she is your fiancee) and that you considered running Manchester after that race!

PRE - If I do run Manchester next year, I will definitely get in touch w/ any CTers on that blog (now that I know there are a few). You'd be surprised, I run a fair share of my easy miles at 8:00 or slower pace. Easy days EASY, hard days HARD :-)

So I've got a question which I should have asked ages ago. What do you carry with you when you run to work? Do you have to carry work clothes and a laptop or anything or do you keep stuff at work in a drawer or something?

I get asked that a lot. I don't carry anything other than my ID. I usually drive up here one day a week, and bring a duffel bag with a week's worth of clothes, and food. Luckily I have enough space in my office to store it all. And I have all my shower stuff up here too. So it works out pretty easily for me - as long as I plan ahead and leave enough stuff cached in my office, I can run back and forth most of the time. Its pretty sweet that I'm able to do this... the only days I have to drive are either for "resupply" or if we are meeting somewhere different for a workout.

Sounds like a fun morning and good to know that you stand out with your bright lights. :)

Sounds like you should have a closet and shower installed in your office.

We have showers at my office, which I use almost daily. I also have drawers in my office I could put clothes in. I have the ability to run to work T,W,Th, I just need to start doing it.

It really makes finding the motivation to run doubles easy. I'm pretty self-motivated as it is, but if running is my way home, there are absolutely no excuses to get out the door again!

I also don't mind eating the same thing for breakfast/lunch multiple days in a row. Make a casserole, shove a big bowl of it in the back of the fridge at work, and I'm all set.

That's cool you can run to work!

Wow, pretty cool. I think I'd have about as good of a chance of winning by driving up to Idaho tonight though.

That's funny, after reading further not only do you have to pick them in the right order, but you have to figure out which ones are dopers too.

Picking the top 10 is HARD!

If anyone on that list is doping, then they aren't using very good drugs :-)

Kenya has at least 70 guys who have run faster than anyone but Ryan Hall...

http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/display-article?arId=66719

Does that mean if I start doping I could beat the Kenyans, or does that mean the Kenyans are all doping?

Probably neither! :-)

Glad you're okay. I don't run fast enough to do damage when I hit those

Couple of things:

OUCH!

What the heck is up with that picture and who is that? I am sure real runners know the story behind the mask, but I am a pretend runner!

Read Run Utah magazine today (both yours and Andreas) and I can now say that I eat like a champion before a race. Ice cream is the food of champions! Great articles, I actually got a lot out of them.

Wasatch Blvd is one of my favorite places to run and now you have gone and told everybody!!!! It is gonna get crowded.

In all of your research, have you ever heard that running makes your face droopy or saggy? I have now been told this TWICE! Really? The alternative would be a saggy butt. ;o)

Ouch! I am with Acorn on this...I definitely don't go fast enough for anything to do any damage. ha!

It will definitely be 9am at the Tabernacle. I am excited you all are coming down....but hopefully your bringing a scooter with you to pull me on. :D Or maybe Allie could rent that cammel for the weekend for me to ride.

Acorn - I wasn't even running that fast! I was just waddling along, as you would say :-) I just hit it dead on, and it was more of a full limb with a sharp end than merely a branch

Kelli - That is Galen Rupp. He's the American record holder for 10K (ran 26:48 this summer). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galen_Rupp He's been a phenom since he was a prep, but people LOVE to HATE on him (especially on Letsrun.com). They give him a hard time for everything he does... he wears that mask sometimes when the pollen counts are high, which of course gets quite a reaction from the peanut gallery. Galen trains in Park City sometimes during the summer - we saw him in July - moving at a pace (during what was likely an easy run or warmup) that made me feel very slow.

And I have never seen anything about running making your face saggy! Maybe compared to spending time getting botox injections it does?

Rachelle - that sounds great, we will see you tomorrow morning! Andrea is sick and I did a long run this morning, so we will NOT be pushing the pace! :-)

Cool post Jake I'll put my predictions in, but I think I'd have a better chance predicting the NFL playoff outcomes than top 10 in the marathon trials.

Jake I wrote on Andrea's blog a minor but NICE change to the ending of our run....this way we avoid a lot of traffic except on Univ of course but will bring back found memories for me of UVM : D. The Provo Half (we will run the first 10 miles of it).

Julie that sounds great. We are down for anything. See you in the morning.

I mapped in on Course tools so you should be able to look it up--- I didn't get too strict with corners-- so it should be real close to 16 miles with us going up to 9th East in Provo just north of the BYU stadium and passing the Provo Temple. So we get to end on a nice down hill and turn on center in provo heading west to the Tabernacle. Since I am the "host" I didn't want confusion for my guests : D. If I have time I will drop some water :D.

the name I gave it on course tools is provo tabernacle.

Nice miles! I always have a hard time getting a LR in on a work day. It is seriously impressive that you all run up sunnyside. I barely made it up that road in my car.

One of my favorite runs is to go up Sunnyside PAST the zoo and keep going up Emigration Canyon to Little Mountain... then BOMB IT back down. Ask Andrea about the time I made her do that one with me :-)

The downside of LR before work is that I'll be useless by 1pm today

Everyone is useless at work by 1pm on Friday. You'll fit in. How's your wound today?

I look like a plastic surgery nightmare. I guess I'll put off any modeling gigs for the time being.

You're a running fool Jake. And an inspiration in a weird sort of way.

Rob - I'll take that as a compliment in a weird sort of way!

I like the new acronym because I can never decide to spell it Sugar House or Sugarhouse. After some investigation it is actually Sugar House (name derived from a sugar beet factory). And a little known fact, "During the 1980s, Sugar House became run down and crime ridden. Sugar House Park was notorious for drugs, crime, and illicit rendezvous." Up until the Barnes & Noble development the area to the west of the park was a dive.

I actually did know that fact about Sugar House being a crime ridden neighborhood, thanks to wikipedia. Good thing Barnes and Noble came in and cleaned things up.

135 miles for the WEEK!! ???? my MOM used to tell me stories of my grandfather who would run to work and back (10 miles each way) every day. He lived in Massachusetts and ran the Boston marathon many moons ago. I guess that's where I get it from. Where was your gene passed down from? : D.

It was nice running with you today...although you blinded me a little with your jacket and shoes! Probably why Julie had a headache :)

ha ha laughing at Andrea's comment about the bright colors. :)

Thanks so much for coming down and running with us. I found out today I am likely going to be up your way next weekend and would love to run with you guys again.

I wasn't going to say anything but that is the real reason I took the lead ;D I didn't realize we had invited the SUN. : D.

No comments on Jake's workout?

Yeah, 143 miles is "solid".

I don't feel like I'm even doing anything right now! 140 w/ one token workout is actually pretty easy after getting used to 140 w/ 2-3 hard workouts during the fall. Just laying the foundation for now...

I am reminded often by Jing, my girlfriend, how much more you are running than me. Thanks for setting the bar ludicrously high!

That's my goal - to make 90 mile weeks seem like slacking off :-)

143 is crazy, well, normal for you, but crazy for all of us mere mortals. Awesome build up phase.

He told me yesterday that he was going to run under 100 miles this week so that he would have a week to absorb the training!

I never said that. Stop trolling the blog, Andrea.

Yeah, you make me feel like a lazy bum. You're killing me in mileage while I'm doing peak marathon training, and you're just goofing off.

Paul don't you have a semi-competitive race coming up that you should be tapering for? The Ft Collins new years resolution run or something like that?

Smart idea to do the harder efforts this AM. Good way to stay warm. It finally feels like winter out there.

Yeah it definitely was colder this morning but some uphill efforts always get the body heated up pretty good!

Nice job with the quicker paces!

Your mileage is nuts. So are the Bolder Boulder and Duluth races the key ones this year?

The 1/2 champs in Duluth will definitely be the big one for the spring. Part of me is torn and wants to run an early spring marathon b/c I'm in really good shape, and we're having the driest winter in the history of mankind... so the early spring plans might change a bit... we'll see. I wish the SLC Marathon could get their act together and actually make it a competitive, well organized race. I'm giving winter 3-4 more weeks to try and impress me w/ something worth skiing on, then I'll reevaluate my plans :-)

Boston, Boston, Boston! You do realize you are capable of placing incredibly high there right........just saying.

Don't worry the snow will be here. It is just waiting for me to be able to ski :)

I know, I know, Rachelle... I try not to think about Boston b/c it gets me all FIRED UP! :-) Its definitely a possibility, though. I've been going back and forth on it every day lately. Luckily I have friends who live there, so I can play the "wait and see" game and not have to worry too much about travel logistics, so if I decided to go for it, that wouldn't be a problem.

Did you rent out the cammel on your way up? :) Nice job with the speedy mile.

Camel up, and I rode an Elephant down (that still counts as mileage, right?)

that is my favorite stretch coming out of emigration. it's perfect for flying. running of the leopards...

That was a FAST elephant!

It was Babar.

I like your quote, Jake. You are an inspirational individual.

amen

Like the quote

What time are you doing these runs? I'll be up in the area in the next few days and I always look for runners. That is fast even with the the hill. Nice.

Scott I started from HCI about 6am. The only places I ever see people are the Mt Wire trailhead area, and there is always one wacko biking down emigration canyon in the dark... kudos to whoever that guy is!

I'll probably be doing Wire tomorrow about that time. I've never run up emigration, but one of these days I'll get up there.

lots of J's and A's:)

Nice work on the iterations, I guess I should review my factorials. Great work on the miles as always.

You've been putting in some major miles. Nice job.

i like all three -- each one spells out a sound you make involuntarily at the end of a race.

BOSTON!!! I hope you get a seat with one of the Kenyans on the elite bus :o)

So I can feel like a clydesdale? :-)

Oh good, Ryan Hall needed someone to take his place among the pack of Kenyans.

Good Luck, that sounds fun. I'm planning on a 2013 Boston.

Excellent!!

Rob I'm planning on pacing Andrea at Boston 2013 :-)

Excellent, I just found myself a pace group.

Woo hoo!!! I am so very excited for you Jake!

You and Andrea better be up for a Boston Red Sox game with me while we're in town. :)

Great to see you will be running Boston, good to have another FRB represented.

Get hotels and plane tickets ASAP (or did you get in with the elites for the hotel?)!!

Congrats! I am sure you will kill it. Looking forward to reading about what kind of training you do leading up to it.

Jeff - we're going to work on travel logistics right away and try to get them figured out ASAP. I have some friends who live in Boston, so we're debating staying w/ them.

Dan - I'm just going to look at the logs of Paul Peterson, Geoffrey Mutai, and Bill Rogers. Those guys seems to know how to tackle Boston :-)

Have you read Ryan Hall's "Running with Joy" It's pretty much his running log building up to Boston.

Plus a little bonus spirituality :)

I'll have to check that out. Thanks Rob.

That's great, Jake. The group just got a little bigger and a lot better.

Sweet. Now I'm wishing I was going:)

Ooooooh exciting! Psyched to follow another one of your journeys :)

Carina brought me an autographed copy from Boston last year if you want to borrow it.

Rob, maybe we can do a book exchange. I would like to read it. I really like Ryan Hall - some people think he's a little nuts, but I love how he has total belief in himself and in how he lives his entire life. Anything on your "to-read" list for your upcoming travels? I have 90% of the books ever written about the sport

Good luck Jake I know you'll make a really nice run at it man.

Sweet...

Boston, huh? Maybe you can pull a Paul and be 3rd American.

Ha, I love that you were like I should run Boston and then 30 min later you were in 4 months after registration. Good luck!

Jon - Paul has definitely set the bar pretty high in terms of what constitutes an amazing performance at Boston!

Nate - I think my half-marathon times definitely help out quite a bit in terms of getting into races! :-) I feel really fortunate that I didn't have to make the decision 8 months in advance. In a way it feels unfair, but hopefully I can run a race that proves to the BAA that I deserve to be there.

i should have waited for final declarations before i selected. galen rupp is taking up a valuable spot on my list! scccrrraaaatch.

You can still change it!

ah, i did not know that. thanks.

the only drawback is that you have to put all of your mens picks in again - Letsrun uses some ANCIENT software for their contests

Yes, it is a pain! I looked to see if I was going to change any of my picks based on wejo/rojo's picks. I decided the answer was NO. But I do hope that abdi surprises everyone!

And, I am surprised that Janet Cherobon-Bawcom isn't on the LetsRun list (top 10). She has been tearing up this year. I saw her run her first marathon (Rocket City) after she first moved to the US ... she has just continued to improve over the past 5-6 years.

My goal... not get last like I have in every other competition!

Awesome post! Looking forward to meeting you in the AM. Looks like Dan Varga and I will be joining you for the morning run.

Nice to meet you Jake! Great course run.. May actually have the beginnings of an awesome area running club.

It was nice to run with everyone this morning. Great crew to run with.

Thanks to you and Andrea for organizing the run. It was great to meet you. I look forward to hooking up with ya'all again.

25 miles? You are seriously an animal! Either than or you have something wrong with you. ha ha jk. Nice work!!

Rachelle I thought about just running 26.2 this morning because I felt like I should have been running a marathon today in Houston anyways :-)

cool ice cream puzzle!

you should try wearing one sketcher and one ugg and see what happens.

I'd probably qualify for the olympic trials in football

Cool.. I've heard that Ravensburger puzzles are among the harder ones. Did you indulge afterwards? I don't think I could help it knowing my lack of self control with sweets..

Steve - of course, after the puzzle i had ice cream round 2 for yesterday! And since I ran almost 30 miles, I didn't feel bad about that :-)

Nice job Jake!

Way to suffer Jake. Is it snowing?

Yep, finally snowing. Pretty much knew the weather patterns would completely shift once I decided to run Boston!

So it's your fault. I'm glad I'm in California, but now I'm going to hear from my wife how she has to shovel the snow while I'm "vacationing"

Seesh, I want to stay active forever!! Thanks for sharing that motivating link.

I thought that was you flying down the hill at Sugar House (while I was going up). Nice call on Abdi (we blogged about him in December). It was cool seeing him train then execute!

Yep 99.9% chance that was me on the SHP loop... I was in all bright orange

You would not be able to handle the "rest and recovery" part of becoming a full-time athlete...good thing you have a job to make you be sedentary and keep you from running all day!

a little chilly indeed. james drove next to me in my jeep so the heater could waft its warmth on me.

so you started getting some heat at around the 7 mile mark of your run?

A lot chilly.

a little? A lotta! Eeeek!

It reminded me of being back in Colorado for the first couple miles, when I could feel the wind coming out of Emigration Canyon. After that it wasn't too bad. Gotta tough these days out - it will be worth it come spring!

Ahhhh dang it, you just made me feel slightly guilty that I am not getting outside as often as I should be. I really need to...

You're still working out a ton! That counts!

I would go insane if I had to workout inside for more than 5 minutes. I just can't do it. Would always rather be in single digit temps than indoors.

ugh I know. I loathe being indoors. It bothers me more than you know!

sweet visuals. i love it.

That's a lot of stats.

love the graphs

Ask yourself, is it really a "free" breakfast?

Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch, but breakfast can be free :-)

Oh, well in that case I'm going to go get my free breakfast. Compliments of Google!

Yeah! Is the food there really as good as people say?

The Google Campus is pretty amazing, I'm at a conference so it's just Hotel food.

All I see is free breakfast. Yum I am jealous! I have been eating the exact same boring breakfast M-F for like the last five years.

Crap. I knew I was forgetting about something this morning. No free breakfast for me :(

Free breakfast rules!!!

Thanks for all the stats from the trials.

I tried to make it an entire day once without eating so i could have my cholesterol checked and I just about lost my mind. I was SOOOO hungry.

By the way, how far north are you planning to do the Saturday morning run? I live near Ogden and I might be interested.

Not 100% sure yet Dale. Maybe the Legacy parkway trail. Once we figure it out for certain, Andrea and/or I will post it.

And yeah - fasting for a cholesterol test is rough. That is part of what I am doing - so I need them to switch it to the morning!

Did someone say free breakfast? Ummm sausage, eggs...

Right on! I'll keep my eyes peeled for the location you choose.

Now you said no gender bias, but I think it is funny that the men's graphs are pointy and the women's graphs are smoothed :) All joking aside VERY cool analyses for both races...

I realized that I formatted them differently about 2 seconds after I posted it. Thought about going back and fixing it last night, but decided to go to bed @ 830 instead :-)

More fun to give you grief about it. Plus I agree men are more jagged and women are smoother...

Dang it was 26 F here this morning and it hasn't been 48 F here all winter in the morning. I want my money back for the warm winters sales pitch we got.

You are really slacking on your swimming and biking miles...

Shut up I'm not even sure how I got the triathalon template. Obviously wasn't paying attention when I signed up for the blog.

I can guarantee that I'll never go over 0.0 swimming miles.

And what would you so called "jogging" pace be? I think it's safe to say it's probably faster than my sprinting pace. :D

Lets just say the 8-minute guy would have beat me soundly.

And I think you can sprint a lot faster than that! :-)

I'm glad the snow will be up to your minimum standards soon. Your wasatch and beyond blog posts are fun to read.

Thanks Kam. Now that I'm running Boston, though, the skiing will have to be somewhat on the backburner until after April 16th. If I can get out once a week until then, I'll be pretty happy.

Very impressive mileage lately. I am slowly getting back into running every day, or most days, each week. Gotta start training for Ogden soon and I can't wait to cross that finish line. It's been way too long!

Looks like you have been blood doping...

Great job with the MP miles. I feel the same way about my shin. I have noticed it only bothers me on inclines as today when I ran flat it didn't bother me a bit. Keep icing it and I'm sure you'll be fine in a few days.

Interesting about the blood work. You are so on top of it and way too smart for me. :) Thanks for the reading material on the blog by the way, it has successfully entertained me for the first half of my work day.

I did test positive for Moose Tracks

ba ha ha!! Have you guys tried out your icecream maker yet?

Not yet b/c we bought too many of those giant bags of broccoli @ Costco and they fill up the freezer. Stupid healthy vegetables! :-)

That was very interesting. Thanks for sharing your personal medical history. I'm impressed by your levels. Are you a red meat eater/spinach lover/iron supplement taker? I bet your HDLs are sky high too. That always puts my cholesterol number higher than the Dr. would like to see until he calculates my HDL/LDL ratio

Hey Melody - I do all those things - been eating more spinach recently, lean red meat, and I do take a women's multivitamin (for the extra iron) everyday. My HDL is 103, which is relatively high, and like you said, explains the higher reading to a certain extent.

We'll have to try to coordinate the next time we come down to Utah county for a long run - it might be in 2 weeks.

He's going to tell you you're nuts.

You don't need to go to med school to figure that out, Jon!

Borderline blood doping. I need to get some of that because my hematocrite hovers around 40%. I thought runners were usually in the low end of the range beause of the constant iron loss. Apparently I need to read up on supplements.

So good to meet you in person. Great run!

Wait, you had a short day? I don't believe it!

Btw. That is a great article about you on your left column!

Dang, i was planning on meeting with everyone this morning, but I guess I am bad at finding directions and meeting time. I was hoping check out everyones form so maybe i could make some corrections to my own. Glad you all had a good time.

Hey Dale sorry about that. Andrea posted some directions yesterday - but we didn't quite have exactly what we were doing figured out until later in the day.

Oh that's ok, maybe some other time.

Sounds like a great morning. Only 16 miles for the day....really? ha ha

Sorry I missed it. Sounds like the perfect end to the week. Nice pick-up there in the middle.

Don't worry Rachelle - I got in my shakeout and 20 for the day! :-)

Looks awesome up there. I am envious you got a good ski day.

Nice pictures Jake, makes me wish I had learned to ski.

As for the Pie, oh yeah.. I learned that lesson many years ago! It was a frequent hangout for my me and my buds in high school.

The pie rocks!

Amazing pics. I have to get this up now because for the next 15 min until you post your morning run I'm actually higher than you on the mileage board :) Have a good week. Glad you got some skiing in.

Love the pics! And thanks for the ski report. Hope that conditions will still be good for Friday. The crazy weather does make the running a bit more interesting...

I love the Pie, but man oh man it will do a number on you if you're not careful. Great pics.

I have to disagree. If I ever get super stomach sick I order the Pie and it magically cures me.

Your mind must work differently than mine. I find it incredibly easy to slack off.

... coming from the guy w/ the 2:17 PR :-) Yeah you're a total slacker!

Even one 150 mile week, let alone a month of it, would probably take me a week to recover from and I would be injured for sure. :) Enjoy the relatively low mile week of recovery.

You should spend your extra time eating all that brocoli so you can finally use your icecream maker. :)

Rachelle I think the frozen vegetable surplus has finally dwindled down enough to make that happen this week!

I had a day where i ran .9 miles more than you, and now i know the real reason haha. I fear for any person (or fast creature) that goes against you after this recovery week. You are going to feel unstoppable

2 seconds too late on that comment, Cam! :-) You didn't really think I was going to take the afternoon off in this nice snowstorm, did you?

hahaha, yes it was comically perfect timing. crazy good tempo btw.

Enjoy the rest, you deserve it.

Nice workout today. Just think about how much more skiing you can do with a down week. Hopefully, you have enough snow still! I had to cancel our school ski trip today because the rain has turned everything into a slushy mess of ice.

Ice/slush is no fun! Bummer you had to cancel the trip.

Great job with the tempo Jake!! That is pretty impressive considering the slushy conditions yesterday.

How were the roads?

paved w/ asphalt, as usual

Are you guys getting any real snow out of this storm in town and in the mountains? We got hammered yesterday down here with some much needed rain... just wondering about the snowpack up north.

The valley is actually snowy for the first time all year. The cottonwoods picked up about 50" from this past storm, which was much needed!

Snowpack is still thin and sketchy, but at least there isn't dirt visible @ 10K feet anymore!

You just don't want me to be taller than you!

You don't want that either - we'd look silly!

Are you doing an Open team for Boston?

I'd like to get one together. We'll have out work cut out to beat your master's dream team!

I better not read that article because I am obsessed with high heels. Maybe quitting my high heel addiction is the secret to me setting some new PR's. :)

Minus 1 minute off your Boston time for every 10% reduction in high-heel wearing! :-)

I am a sucker for high heels and in this case must disregard the inconvenient evidence. Let the heel wearing continue!

Wow Acorn - with you in heels, you must tower over your girlfriend!!

The secret is out! Let the record show that I towered over her even without them.

I'm 5'10, I don't wear high heels very often. So glad I don't! :)

Lily - you'd get recruited for the WNBA if you walked around in heels at 6 foot 3! :-)

Jake, I'm above you on the mileage board. What's wrong? You're normally 50 miles past me by this time...

DOWN week, Jon... I'm learning how to rest! But don't worry, I put in my PM workout and I'm back ahead of you now :-)

Although you have an opportunity to kick my butt the rest of the week, because I'm going to continue to not run very much the next couple days.

Glad to hear. Rest is good. I'm sure you'll kick my butt next week and the rest of the year anyways.

Sounds fun. This is probably the dumbest question ever but do you have to actually how snow shoes to go snow shoeing?

Also I found a 5k in Provo on April 7th so I'm all set for sub-20!!

Its only the dumbest question ever b/c I think you left out a word and I'm not sure exactly what you are asking :-)

If you are asking if you have to KNOW how to do it - nope, if you can walk, you can snowshoe

I really need to proof read what I type on here. :) I meant to say do you have to have snow shoes to go snow shoeing? Can you just wear normal shoes or do you have to actually wear snow shoes?

Ohhhh... well it kind of depends on the conditions. If the snow is deep, then yeah, you need a pair or else you'll be sinking in up to your thighs. But on the XC trails @ Alta where we are planning to go, its usually so packed down that its almost easier to just walk in regular shoes. They run a snowcat over it and groom it everyday, so its actually kind of run to hike and run on.

That sounds so fun. What time are you going? Maybe I can escape and come!

I'm running the SLC 5K @ 10am - so by the time that is over - I'm guessing we'll get going ~1pm

What the... why am I not running the SLC 5k? I want to. I love 5k madness

Its a good series - 3 races over the next 5 weeks (5K, 10K, 15K) on the only honest courses in Utah - perfectly flat out & backs starting at the SaltAir

One of my favorite views! Wish I could join you guys.

The next big thing I purchase will be snowshoes. There is a good cross country track up at Snow Basin for snowshoeing. I believe they keep it groomed and if I'm not mistaken, they held Olympic events on the same trail.

ha ha that is funny! That happens to me everytime I run laps around the track.

Better to find out I did 11 rather than 5 :-)

I'm trying not to think about it. I don't want to feel any slower than I already am. How in the bleep do you get those kind of genetics? Tell me..

Its the perfect storm of genetic ability plus a lifestyle and culture of really, really hard training. Throw a ton of $$$ out there for whoever crosses the line first, and this is what you get. Marathoning has changed so much in the last couple years. I was looking up old Boston results yesterday - you think we'll ever see a 2:10+ win the race again? No way. The bar has been raised - the africans attack the marathon like its a 10K.

We'd love to head up to Alta tomorrow but we have too much going on tomorrow. Ann is working tonight, race tomorrow, Abby is going to a "sports day" at Westminster College... See you in the morning.

I find it interesting how dominant the Kenyans were last year, and now the Ethiopians start with a bang.

Amazing.

I remember thinking I would be near 50 before I saw 2 hours broken, now I'm thinking within 5 years we'll see it done.

I always forget my reps if I'm running 8 or more!

Have fun at Alta. You can count me in in March :)

Great job...Congrats on being the 5k Utah State Champion!

Lots of fun this morning. Thank Andrea fro the great pictures.

Great race too.

Those are about the sweetest arm warmers I have ever seen. Oh and good race too :)

What kind of shoes are you wearing in these pictures?

Nothing says you've arrived as a runner as much as winning a championship coaster, congrats!

Great job Jake. Next year if I am lucky I hope to make it into that last picture (just rounding the corner of course).

Great race Jake!!

And man, those pictures are SWEET! You look awesomely fast and the background is breathtaking!

Congrats on a great race! Coasters are only as good as what you put on them.

You big freaking baby Jake. geez! ha ha jk great job. I am really, really impressed in how fit you have stayed. You are an inspiration to me that is for sure.

Awesome photography Andrea!

P.S. I'll be glad to take the GC off of your hands. :)

congratulations! thanks to the out and back, i got a glimpse of you flying by, with no one else in sight! you're a great runner and i'm sure glad you're on this blog.

Great job! Look out Boston!

WOW!!! Congratulations! What a fantastic and great race! You are off to an AWESOME year! Boston here you come!!! :)

I am a NB girl :D The gear can make a great gift for a family member. Christmas is only 11 months away. I think you are such a baby, jk. 5:00 then 5:01!!!! The record is just a bit of hindsight. Such a fast time, and better off than last year? That is awesome.

wow - awesome race Jake!!! A champion among us! :)

Great job, Jake. That explains why no one showed up for the group run this morning. Jk ha ha. You will do incredibly at Boston.

Sick run Jake!That's not far from what you ran just as a tempo last Saturday! I think you have few more gears left to say the least

Nice run, Jake! Great effort. Not a bad way to jump into your push for Boston.

Nice warm-up race for the season. You should be setup well for this next phase of Boston training.

I would have thought that's a record for that course. Impressive.

Sweet- nice work, Jake.

Thanks guys! It was a fun day and great way to kickoff the racing season for me - last year when we ran the winter series 15K we were new to the area and didn't know anyone - so its a lot more fun now (mainly because of this blog) that I feel like we're a part of such a big group at these local races.

Mr. K - Those are the Saucony Type A4s. I think they are already rolling out a new version (A5s) soon. They are a pretty lightweight flat - I like them primarily for 5K/10K... I've worn them for a half. SlowJoe will tell you that they aren't cut out the marathon! :-)

Jake: Awesome, very impressive. Keep up the good work.

I'm the AZ state champion in Scrabble. Ask allie.

Great race. 5k's suck but it's fun for me to read about other people running them:). Good luck as you enter what seems to be a monster of a training phase before Boston.

You can run a marathon in them as long as you don't mind not being able to walk for days afterward!

Great time and effort, starting 2012 off with a bang. Looking forward to watching you in Boston!

Looks like you had an awesome day! Congrats on the win.

Good race yesterday, you are a fast dude! You looked really strong too. I am interested to watch your progress this year after a good start.

Amazing! Congratulations on the win and time.

Great race Jake you were really flying. Keep up the good work you are an inspiration to runners like me fairly new to the sport. Keep it up

congrats Jake!! I like that your half marathon time and 5k pace are pretty close-- looking at your Long Beach race that is!! amazing!! according to McMillan I should be able to run a 5:28 mile (just one)--- so maybe one day you could pace me for that ONE mile.

Really nice run. I'm out the door now for mine. Wish I had it done!

no worries -- we were the ones that bailed. thanks for the "jump start" on our run -- sorry we couldn't finish it out.

cool pictures. my favorite ones are james by the "uphill traffic" sign and andrea struggling to stand up in the very, very deep snow.

Allie - you just like to see me struggling! Thanks a lot.

What? There is finally fresh snow in Utah?

Great long run! Lots of miles.

The pictures are great! Makes me miss the Utah snow. Glad you finally got some snow.

Those pics are so great. Looks like a perfect day.

You should have ran an extra .2 to get a marathon in for the day. :)

casual Sunday run at 6:15 pace ???? hee hee : D.

Oh man. That's a shame. Be careful out there.

Burt - I got my entry to the Bandidos 15K today. Fritz is thinking about coming down and running too.

That is sad.... when I heard this news Sat. it made me think of you and Andrea. so sad....

Lily - we have pretty much zero motivation to ski this year. Its so sketchy out there. We read the avalanche reports everyday, and there have been incidents on pretty much every single place we were skiing last winter. Its just not worth taking any chances. Plus, there's this race called the boston marathon that seems like a big deal, perhaps you've heard of it? :-)

Oh man have I ever. I can't wait to hear how you do!!!!

Smart waiting until after Boston to BC ski. Smart I tell ya!

Sweet! I'll have to come watch you guys run. I mean, it would be in my best interest since I put money on you guys. Err, anyway, are you still planning to come down here around Valentine's Day, also?

yes we are coming down next weekend. we're going up to sedona w/ my parents for Fri-Sun, though. Monday we'll be around - Andrea is seeing Dr. Ball in the morning, but maybe we could coordinate dinner or something like that.

Terrible news, I'm glad you and Andrea are playing it safe this year. You picked a good year to train for Boston. It all kind of fell into perfect place for you.

Jake, just because it would be awesome - I would almost be tempted to run a long one tonight and hit 600 for the month if I were you!

You consistently amaze!

You know, it would be tempting if I wasn't trying to be smart about things :-) If only they added the extra leap year day to January, I'd have it easily!

i just posted about my second highest mileage month ever. it's not even half of your total. wah...wah...

unbelievable.

Dang Jake that is impressive. I don't think I could even do 1 pullup. I better work on that. :)

I really appreciate your input, Jake. I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you that you are held in high esteem on the blog. I have tried something new with every marathon I've run (4), but with the exception of Boston '10 they left a lot to be desired and my fitness was defnitely not there. I've always been curious to see what I was capable of given the ideal conditions and perfect training module. Em is seriously kicking my tail out there, but I feel like I could be setting myself up for a PR.

Melody - chasing Emily around the track once a week is going to pay some big dividends for you. She's a 2:47 marathoner - if you are right behind her on workouts, I'd say you're in great shape!

Awesome miles this month and pullups! Are your lats getting huge?

Yep - here is a self-portrait I took last night: http://www.criticalbench.com/images/isolate-lat-muscle1.jpg

Time to update your profile pic!

Awesome job!!! I have run a small amount of miles, 0 perfect pushups, 0 perfect pullups and I've driven my car every day of the month.

You are definitely an inspiration and you really put things in perspective.

I don't know you Jake but you are insanely inspiring. What a start to 2012!

Talk to me once you hit 11.5 hour of sleep per night, then we can rumble...zzzzz.

Honestly, inspiring stuff.

An amazing start to the year. Very inspiring. By the way, that was me who said hi this morning near the ER entrance. I was headed between labs...

Crazy awesome month. I knew those old boys use to log a lot of mileage but I didn't know it was that much. Crazy how much they use to run and how good they were with junk for shoes and just a stopwatch basically to train with.

Thanks guys - just don't expect any 600+ mile months, ok? :-)

Adam - I knew that was you, as bad as my long distance eyesight is! Who else would be wandering around that part of campus before 8am?

Clyde - I wonder how accurate their mileage was back in those days before GMap and Garmins, etc.? Close enough, obviously, but it still makes me curious.

All I can say is...wow! That is an impressive month...even more so for January in Utah! You are going to have a rockin' year.

I am most evnvious of the 8.5 hours of sleep!

Jeff - the sleep is what makes it all possible! I really couldn't do it all if I didn't get the rest that I do.

Holy crazy start to the year! Pretty impressed with the lack of driving thing...

Wow - you continue to impress and inspire. Thanks for sharing. Great start to the year!!

Great job and very good sign that it felt easy. The sky is truly the limit for you this year Jake.

Nice little tempo for you. I'm liking how patient you're being with the buildup. I imagine yov've been ready to rock since Philli and I can imagine with all the mild weather and lack of skiing its been tempting to do more.

Yeah Erik I just don't want to force it quite yet. I know I'm in shape, and I could stretch these tempos out to 10-12+ miles right now, but I'm hoping that some patience will pay off and I'll be doing my best running in March and April. Touch all the systems right now, but don't go to the well - that's my plan.

I decided to run that 15K in AZ against the Mcmillan guys... I think that will be a good test for me, 5 weeks out from Boston.

I think that will be a very nice race to lead in with, plus you get a crack at the SLC 15K before the Mountain to Fountain 15K, so that should give you a nice little race specific boost to do well in AZ.

Awesome tempo! You've got crazy endurance and you've earned it.

I love the track night idea! Nice work today!

Really cool workout. I'm really looking forward to that 15k. Fast company!

i'm all in for track nights. we can play bingo after we finish the workout.

no really, that's a great idea. can't wait for more daylight in the evenings!

Emergen-C, and lots of it.

Glad you noticed you had a knee. :-)

I will be there Sat but will be shooting for a nice 8+ min pace. Maybe after you run 20+ miles you can come back and pace me for my last 4 miles at MP as your cooldown. :)

Cool - I think it will probably break into 2 groups, but then we can meet back up and chat afterwards. Looks like the weather will be superb once again.

The park address is at 12600 S 1300 W. We will want to meet at the south end off of 12800 S (there is a large parking lot there).

Perfect - thanks Chad!

She is awesome!

I really liked that quote. If you never go "all in" you'll never find out what you're capable of.

Amen to that! Nearing 40 I've wondered what I could have done if I'd trained seriously in my 20's. That mental exercise is useless. I find much more fulfillment taking a look at what is possible today. A lesson I am learning that reaches far beyond running is that life is more fulfilling when I play all out. 100%! Pedal to the metal!

Thanks for sharing Desi's entry.

Great inspiration from Desi. Thanks for sharing Jake.

"If we don’t try we’ll never know"

So does this mean you're signing up for TNF 50?

Still thinking about it Jon! I feel lousy right now, so I don't want to think about racing 50 miles, but I'm sure that will change in about 48 hours.

Hope you start to feel better soon. I'm still impressed you're out on the roads doing doubles with that chest congest.

Thanks for sharing that great quote Jake! That is the beauty of running...most of us do it for the love of the sport...for very few will take the podium. Great quote!

Great run this morning Jake! I had some serious stomach issues. I will be healthy and get with you guys more! I need it!

Quite an elite crew...looks like you are getting the perfect group for me when I'm ready for marathon tempos!

Sounds more like a road race to me. 35 people, miles run in 5:25!

We almost had enough to do a gun start. Eventually we won't need to sign up for races, although intersections get tricky without escorts.

Great week of running Jake.

I agree Jake. It was an awesome group and a great run.

Nice job with the speedy mile at the end. I hope you start feeling better, it is amazing you had such a great week considering you are pretty sick.

Wow, that did sound like a road race. You guys were almost averaging my marathon pace. Nice workout!

Thanks for showing up to our "little" event. Fantastiic running with subpar health. See you on the 18th.

It doesn't count if you don't list everyone's names.

Must have been quite a sight to see that many people running at a good clip. Impressive group, nice work to all.

It was a great time today. It's very motivating for me to hear your goals and know how hard you're willing to work. Super cool!

Look forward to another great run on the 18th. Keep up the excellent work!

Good job yesterday was nice to meet you and a few more fellow bloggers. What a fantastic group and such a fun atmospher. Made for a really great time.

Yum the pancakes sound delicious. :)

Nice run!

Another great mileage day!

That looks awesome. I would love to go, but I am not sure I could take a whole week. I am interested though.

Something about Best moosetracks icecream is incredibly intriguing to me. :-)

I think this is the same week as Colorado Ragnar but it sounds awesome and I will definitely think about it.

It probably is that same week. We thought about a Colorado trip, but its just so hard to beat Mammoth.

Sounds like a blast. I'm very tempted to see what miracles I can conjure up to make this work.

Scott (both of you) - conjure up some miracles and make it happen! :-)

Now THAT sounds like a fun vacation. In fact, I've been wanting to go on vacation there. I want to come with my wife and kids.

hey that's a great blog - thanks for the link!

I've met Vern Gambetta at a couple coaching conferences. He's an outstanding teacher - a master at presenting complex stuff in a relatively simple way.

That's what I really like about his blog - he takes big concepts and gets the main point across in a couple sentences, usually in a very motivating fashion.

Great workout. Those day are bonus days! When you get a day that looks to be gloom and doom and you find a pot of gold on the other side.

Nice workout, got to love going out somewhat uninspired then having everything falls into place more or less

Why 2 hours and 15 minutes??? :o)

I figured 2:15 was the PERFECT amount of time to practice being on my feet for a marathon... especially if Boston accidentally moves the starting line up a half mile or so! :-)

Nice middle of the week LR.....can you even imagine what you would do if you didn't have a job? 500 miles a week? Take it easy and watch the Price Is Right for me while your home lounging on the couch. :-)

Have a lovely day resting up... eat ice cream

When I saw 18.5 miles, I thought it was from yesterday. Nice job, considering you're not 100% feeling well.

I actually think the tempo run last night was an inflection point in the sickness. Ever since I started that workout, I've been progressively feeling better and better. Once again - another terrible lesson I'm learning, and something that no one else should try to mimic!

Watch soaps and eat bon bons. That's what I would do.

i'm with rachelle...the price is right! that's my favorite sick day show.

I love that you call in sick after running 18.5 miles! Don't worry I won't tell anyone :)

Everyone told me yesterday to stay home if I was still coughing! I'm just following orders :-)

Good grief!!! it would take me a month to do 250 pushups. AND you almost ran a marathon today.

nicely done. Nice of you to get shoes for your grandma.

Dale - I definitely didn't do them all at once! :-)

Sure Jake, sure...Whatever you say. Haha

Dude, you are certifiable! 25.5 miles, 250 pushups (you should have done 255 to stay in sync with the miles), and 75 freaking pull ups! On your "sick" day? I think most of us got tired just reading your entry.

Okay, the competitive side of me wants to know how you got to 250 pushups and 75 pullups. If you tell me that you did them in anything less than 3 reps, I'm going to punch you the next time I see you :-) I am definitely going to ramp up my strength training. Curse you!

Andrea was mad at me when she got home and found out what I did. I had to take advantage of all the time to rest!

Pushups started at sets of 25, and eventually became sets of 15. I did 50-75 before/after each run.

Pullups were done in sets of 7-10.

The bad news is that my arms still look wimpy!

Just sent in my permit request for the JMT this summer! Hopefully they are easy to get :)

They are not easy to get! I need more details on this - I am a JMT junkie. Are you planning to do the whole thing? What time of year?

I knew you were a junkie and that is why I told you! Whole thing. Shooting for a first week of August start.

Its going to be a great year for the JMT, in terms of mosquitoes! They were heavy when we did it - but w/ the low snowpack and the fact that you are going in August, they should be done by then.

I went through the whole "fax my permit request in 25 times" during February - and then we ended up going 2 weeks earlier than expected... we went straight to the valley and got a permit to leave the next morning at the ranger station. That ended up being pretty easy.

We're going to Mammoth Lakes the last week in July, so if you need a place crash on your journey to Yosemite, you got one!

Yeah I plan on faxing one in every day for the next month, but I honestly think the walk-in permit is the way better way to go. That's how I did the Grand Canyon and a bunch of Zion hikes without any problem.

Sweet you ran my pace today. :) Hopefully your feeling better after your "rest" day.

Hope you're feeling better.

Gonna hit it tonight w/ a workout, that will tell me if I'm better :-)

Wait... you're not doing the 10k tomorrow?

I told you I was going to AZ this weekend. The door is open for you to crank out a 31-something and win the thing!

I ran about 35:30 last year. I'm hoping for a sub 35 and I think if the conditions are good and I run even splits I can do it. I haven't broken 35 on a legit course since I turned 40.

Hope you enjoy the warmth this weekend.

I think you can do it - that road/course is suited for negative/even splits if the wind isn't blowing from the west. The weather looks like it will be even better tomorrow than it was for the 5K.

Have fun in AZ!! I am jealous but I will be there in two weeks so I guess I can't be too jealous. :-)

Have a super trip! I hope the weather is amazing. I am 0 for 2 on the JMT :(

I assume you are trying to start right from the valley? That's always the toughest permit to get... but to me its worth it - its so awesome to stand next to the "211 miles to Mt Whitney" sign w/ a heavy backpack and wonder what you are about to get yourself into!

Are you going to hook up with Burt in Arizona?

Thanks for the encouragement Jake.

34:59 it is!

Burn up the road tomorrow. With your fitness level and your training your going to do well. What shoes do you run your 10k races in. The Brooks T racer model?. The weather should be wonderful for you. Hows the net gain/loss on the course?

If I've missed a time goal from previous blogs what did you have in mine.

Dale - we're up in Sedona, but we're going to try to meet up w/ Burt depending on when we get back.

Kory - not racing this weekend, I'm out of town... maybe you are talking to Rob? :-) He wears Brooks racing flats - I wear the Saucony A4s for 10Ks.

There is a course record on a little island up this way that says you are pretty quick off the road too. :)

Another reason why I love the desert.

I'm so jealous that you are in Arizona. It is my favorite place in the world! I love the desert, too. It's perfect there this time of year.

What's wrong with being an ultrarunner who carries cameras? I did today!

I think it's because cameras are extra weight. Fast guys like Jake care about that.

Extra weight in training just makes you stronger...

Jon, I never said there was anything "wrong" with having a camera - I was merely pointing out that the reason I didn't have one w/ me was due to the fact that I am a road guy :-) And yes, I'm going to start training w/ a weighted vest, especially for downhill runs! See how much my knees can handle.

Weighted vest?

I'm thinking something that might screw up your biomechanics and lead to an injury. Maybe not though with the weight being evenly distributed.

Start with 50 lbs, and work up from there. St. George marathon won't have anything on you.

Yes, a heavy weighted vest and maybe replace the insoles with a few rolls of quarters in each shoe. That's the ticket.

Since Andrea is hurt, I'll just start carrying her on my shoulders. That way she'll get to experience the joy of 140 mile weeks.

Beautiful. Enjoy not having to wear 50 layers!

Met a guy at the 10k today named Billy Lillyman who just moved here from Columbus Ohio. He's new on the blog if you want to give him a welcome.

I told him we would include him in our rain deer games.

I'm going to welcome him to the blog because that's the coolest name EVER!

Love Sedona. Been there once and golf a nice course...no running. Really stunning in every direction. I'm jealous- wish I was there and I'm guessing the weather was awesome because it was 74F here at my house in STG today.

Jon - I put up some track running pics, that's the place we take the camera :-)

Rob - I'll give him a welcome. Nice to have another guy join the group.

Clyde - it was perfect here today... shirtless in February, and we ate dinner outside. Can't beat that.

Great day!

Great job Jake! I am incredibly jealous of your trip right now, it sounds amazing.

Awesome job with the track workout and you look so dam fit in that picture!

I love Sedona. Have a great trip and enjoy running in such a beautiful place.

Wow absolutely gorgeous. Off to the blog to check out more pictures.

Great pictures! got to love running with that kind of scenery

Wow, nice workout.

Hey, when you leaving?

How are you liking his book? I actually liked it quite a bit.

Liking it so far. His workouts are similar to what I do, but I just can't relate to the paces he runs on his hard days! At least not yet :-)

Awesome Jake!! Very good indication that you felt like you could have kept going.

You have logged 40 miles this week before my first mile!

You log way more miles than Ryan Hall.

But Ryan Halls new coach make him take Sundays off.

Jake would still log more if he took the whole weekend off.

Ryan Hall used to run 130-140 mpw and rarely take days off - back when he was running 59 minutes for the 1/2 and 2:06 on an honest course and dominating the 2008 trials. I'm not saying that his current regime of more rest is a bad thing, but he was definitely running consistently faster a few years ago.

Jake's dad could kick Ryan Hall's dad's butt any day.

Aside from not being funny, that joke could be in real bad taste if Ryan Hall's dad is dead.

I think his dad is alive, so you are safe Burt. We'll just delete this entry if anything bad every happens to him.

Thank you. Would it be too soon for any Whitney Houston jokes?

Nope, Kevin Costner jokes are fine too

I agree with the withdrawal/deposit comparison. Today was one of those days where I felt amazing during my hard workout and wanted to keep going, but stopped. And based on afternoon soreness, it was the right choice.

Jon - its definitely hard sometimes, to shut it down when you are feeling great... but if it allows you to bounce back and get in another quality session in a few days, the cumulative training is definitely beneficial. You can only go to the well so many times... and for me, I want those to be the days when I have a bib pinned on.

Jake you're tempo on that volume is pretty incredible when you think about the pace you're running at with no competition to help you along. You're restraint not to go longer is just as incredible though. Most runners don't know when to pull the plug or what is too much vs. not enough. I'd say most runners error on the side of too much, but you consistantly find a way to stay under that crucial line of too much, which may be your most valuable running attribute. Nice workout, plenty of weeks to build on this one.

How did you like Joe's Farm Grill? That place is always so busy ever since they were featured on the Food Network.

Wow, nice running today. I call workouts like that races.

Another awesome day, great 15k tempo!

Burt- Joe's farm grill was REALLY good.

Fritz- yeah, up until the past year, that would have pretty much been the best race of my life... now its just another workout.

Sea level definitely makes it easier :-)

Nice job on the workout! lol on Fritz's comment.

I like the deposit withdrawal analogy. Very nicely done, Jake. I guess we will have to wait and see what London has in store for Ryan. It could be interesting.

I'm just starting to get into my deep sleep around that time. Nice work as always!

Cool.

sprinklers. i complain about having to dodge sprinklers in the summer, but right now i miss them...

3:58am -- i hope you enjoyed that!

I figured I couldn't complain since you are up at that time everyday, and it was double/triple the temperature in AZ.

I'd struggle doing that everyday, though... if I trying to keep up this kind of volume.

Awesome! I once woke up at 2:30am to get a run in before a flight. Runners are seriously nuts.

That is dedication! I also miss the summer days of sprinkler dodging. I really hope this lame winter doesn't = a delayed spring.

Great! Now we won't have to bear those pictures of paradise anymore.

I think you guys ran right by my house when I was rolling my trash cans out.

We probably did. Allie wanted to check your garbage cans and make sure you weren't throwing away used syringes or any other evidence of PEDs.

Snow? What is that? Nice morning miles!

Just Reindeer Milk for me.

Why do you call it superconpensation? I don't get it - what are you compensating for?

Its probably not the exact terminology that should be used, but the idea is that you stress the body with a workout - then before you go into full recovery mode, you stress it again... b/c you are still at a point where you can "absorb" another training stimulus. This is commonly done by Salazar's group - where they race, and then do a workout afterwards.

Nice tempo work! You can call it the SuperDoubleSpeedDayJakester workout, or the Jakester for short.

I just call it freakin' crazy!!

I'm with Rob! Nice tempo Jake.

Ok Dan, from now on the double workout day will just be called the "Jakester"

No more fancy science mumbo-jumbo :-)

Well Andrea, looks like Jake decided to play it straight.

I for one understood your joke and laughed in the middle of class here at my computer.

And NOW I get the joke! That only took all day.

Whatever you might be compensating for...that was one whale of a workout. I'm feeling a little wussy to be ditching the track workout. Maybe next week I'll try to break my 10K PR and then do another speed workout in the evening just for giggles and grins :-)

Stay healthy and it'll be fun to see what happens for you at Boston.

Thanks for getting me to the track. I'm still impressed how quickly you recovered between 400s.

Scott/ACorn - next week I'm thinking Wednesday night again for some longer reps on the track - 800s or 1Ks

I'll plan to join you Wed. Same track?

Probably the same track - as long as we don't get too much snow in the valley from this storm.

I read this article earlier today and thought it was really good. I could not agree more....it is all about believing in yourself and having faith in your capabilities.

Did you get your notification from the Saucony Hurricane team today?

Sure did Jeff, you?

We are teammates. Which shoes are you getting? I am thinking Mirage, Cortana and maybe a Fastwitch.

I'm gonna give the Guides a try - and then go w/ my favorites... Mirage, Fastwitch... and maybe some track spikes

My ceiling = Jake. Except on trails.

:)

Thanks for a great run and a great push for me. It was cool to see how much spring you still had in your legs after 25. You're going to crush Boston!

sounds like a great run! I'm glad Andrea finally stopped you :) That is what wives are for - talk some sense into you crazy men!!

Top 15. I see it. Go for it!! love the 4:52!!

You are seriously a maniac!! Awesome workout Jake.

Pretty awesome week of running and you didn't even run an official race (just 3 or so that were unofficial). You are in incredible shape and will kill it at Boston. Thanks for putting the hurt on us.

You ran a 4:52 mile at the end of a 150 mile week? My jaw is on the floor right now. That is beyond incredible. Just...WOW!

Julie - Top 15 will take a lot of things going right for me (including a handful of africans going out too hard and dropping out!)... but its something I think I could pull off if everything comes together perfectly.

Bad legs - it was a net downhill :-) But it actually would have been fun to run it a bit harder - I didn't even realize we were going to break 5 until the hundred meters.

huge week! i'm glad you got your PM shakeout in so you won't be tight and injured. :) thanks again for the ride this morning.

Allie - he doesn't need extra encouragement!!!

Less than 26 miles would have meant a guaranteed injury! :-)

Wow!! I can't believe how good of shape you're in right now. You've put together some incredible workouts this past week. The sheer volume alone is jaw dropping, let alone the big workouts. Where is the ceiling for you? Your fitness just keeps getting better. Incredible workout!

Holy crud, you are an amazing athlete. AMAZING! You have the genetic make-up, the talent, and the drive. And the DRIVE is the key part there, without that, the rest does not matter.

Great run and nice to see ya at breakfast.

Nice running with you again. Thanks for helping to inspire us to try to go faster.

Jake nice way to cap off your week you guys really looked strong. Way to get some awesome work in. Good to see you this morning very inspiring.

Erik - I feel even stronger now than I did in the fall. Obviously Philly was a bad race, but it was preceded by months and months of really good training - and rather than get broken down by that, I've been able to BUILD on that fitness. I've heard it said that it takes 2 years of really consistent training to even begin to see what you are capable of... so hopefully I'm still far, far away from my ceiling.

thanks for the run this morning -- it was nice to have the company all the way to the fieldhouse. the very complicated logistics became very, very complicated when we realized the fieldhouse wasn't even open...

your base is definitely solid, but what is most amazing to me is that you will hit 1,000 miles for the year within the next day or two. it's still february!

Sounds like a good plan and you definitely have a very solid base!

I just wish I could have hit 1000 miles by Michael Jordan's birthday... gonna miss it by a few days! :-)

I like your plan. Time to trust your base, turn up the tempo, and get ready to smash Boston. It seems to me that you are doing a good job keeping perspective with each run. Asking the question as you run, "Is this helping me or hurting me for Boston?" The test will be to pull it back when you feel it's breaking you down--to not get so attached to hitting every workout, but to be flexible and focus on the aggregate.

Looks like I'm out for Wed's track workout--my two youngest sons have a scout banquet. I'm still working out a plan to run the 15K on Sat.

Exactly Scott. I have a calendar with "planned" workouts - but I feel like it changes every 2-3 days! The first draft that I made back in January looked A LOT different than it does right now. I try to keep evaluating what I've done, how the body is feeling, and make adjustments accordingly all the time. The whole thing, like you said, is greater than the sum of the parts. I'm not re-inventing the wheel from what I did in the fall, but I'm making some minor tweaks that I feel will be beneficial.

Hope you can make it to the 15K. No worries about the workout on Wednesday.

Jake you are really looking solid and your focus is so spot on. Keep up the great work ( I am adapting some of your workouts for my own use..well maybe not the same pace and but the generalities) hope you dont mind. It has helped me re vamp my training and have shown great improvements. Thanks for the insight even if it was inadvertent for you..P

Hey prlman that's the whole point of the blog, right? We can share ideas and inspiration and motivation. Glad whatever nuggets I can pass along are working well for you!

I love that your cutback week is 110 miles!! IMPRESSIVO!!

Good luck this afternoon.

What are you doing this afternoon?

Probably a 4-3-2-1 cut-down

I want my "big" effort this week to be the 15K... so I'm scaling this one back a little... get in some MP miles and maybe a little faster, but save the threshold running for Saturday.

Sorry that you didn't get your full workout in, the 3 mile effort was still very solid.

What are you shooting for at the 15k?

I hate it when that happens. Think of the positive though. You should have extra juice to bust a fast time this weekend! Best of luck at the race, although for you I'd say you've made your own luck.

Only 15 miles? Slacker.

TP- never leave home without it.

We'll chalk this up as a kinda-sorta-extra recovery day. Probably a good thing since the long run went longer than planned on Saturday.

ACorn - if its not too windy, I think I'll shoot for around 48 flat. I'll try to split 32ish for 10K and see what happens from there... a negative split effort would be nice. As far as I can tell, only one person has ever broken 49 on that course.

Jon - TP is useful on the trails, but not when you are running a 1.5 mile loop around the neighborhood with kids out playing in their front yards!

Geez, it got ugly for me yesterday too. :) Luckily I was out in the middle of nowhere with nobody around.

Very nice tempo splits. That is very impressive.

Awesome workout Jake! Especially in the colder morning hours. It is always much harder to warm up. What is your goal marathon pace? It is amazing to me how fast you are running right now.

Hard to say specifically what goal pace is right now... its nice to not have that "Sub 2:19 or BUST" mentality going into this one and I can have more of a goal "range". A lot depends on what happens over the next couple weeks (and the Arizona 15K in March will be an excellent indicator) - but I would say on the fast side of things on a perfect day, 5:15 pace (2:18)... on the slow side of things, 5:24 (which would break my PR).

I hear ya about the morning and afternoon thing.

Nice morning workout, somehow I figured you'd get it in. I'm with you with the morning vs. afternoon workouts, definitely takes the blood a while to get moving early.

Thanks for sending me to steep and cheap too, I'll be checking back to see when sunglasses are on.

When I get healthy again, my goal once a week is to just see how long I can hang with you on your MP tempo. Good 5k training.

Really the ideal thing would be for you to jump in/out every 600-800m. That would be awesome Vo2 max work for you.

Very nice workout, Jake. I agree with your decision to work hard today. I hope it made up for any frustration you might have been feeling yesterday.

Nice way to come back on what sounds like not a so good stomach still. I totally agree with the couple of warm-up tempo miles in the morning. I've actually used those in my afternoon runs and before races if the legs aren't feeling the best.

Awesome times on that run. Love the progressive tempo runs.

Thanks for letting me join the fun and getting me out of bed earlier than usual. I am subtly trying to leave work earlier and earlier so by the time we start weekly track workouts nobody should notice. :)

ha ha I really want to drive up to Highland tonight just so I can yell at you to go faster. :)

Nice morning run!

That's a good plan, Fritz. Just keep sneaking out a minute earlier each day. Before you know it, you'll be running 400m repeats at 4:45pm.

fjraijtaz (that was actually really hard to type) -- it looks like a name for some designer piece of IKEA furniture, but i like it.

i agree this winter has been easy -- it's the best.

Park City is really a great place to train for elites. You can get from 4000ft to 9000ft within 30 minutes, close to the airport to travel, etc. - I can't wait until a team discovers this and does all their training in Utah. Or maybe you can get fast enough and make your own team :o)

Oh PC is an absolute gem in the summer. You have great trails, dirt roads, a brand new track at 7000 feet, and you are 25 minutes from a track at 4500 feet. Salazar knows whats up - he was bringing guys here 5 years ago when no one thought of it as a place for distance running.

We need to do time share seminars every weekend this summer and stay there every friday/saturday night :-)

OR this season! Still plenty of powder days to come!

I hope it starts snowing on April 17th and doesn't stop for 10 straight days. That will keep me from running too much after Boston :-)

Those look like some sweet powder skis. All you need is a couple of kids and then you just stick to groomers with them. I think it's been good xtraining for my quads :) I love the perfect pushup handles, medicine ball and weights in the background. Are they living room art?

There is no point in ever putting them away b/c our living room doubles as an exercise room! :-)

Hey a quick question...what size Saucony tight shorts did you get? Do the run small and tight or are they pretty much to size? I wear a 31 waist pants and were size small running shorts, so should I get the small or medium in the tight shorts?

Get the small, that's what I have and they fit perfect.

Thanks for the feedback.

NIce grab on the skis and thanks for pointing me to fiddy's breakdown of elliptical speeds and their running equivalent. Cheers!

Sweet skis! I can almost guarantee powder days in June this year. Thanks for the kind words on my post today :)

Sweet skis!

That thing is fatter than your head!

And by modern standards, they are considered "mid fat" skis... you should see some of the stuff guys strap to their feet.

in the old days, we called that a snowboard. :-)

"old days" aka 1985...

haha - they had snowboards back then? :-)

That is awesome about the skies!! Maybe you can do some Spring skiing after Boston.

Very cool ski, I like it. I so not ski, so I know nothing about it, but it looks cool!

Just ate some Kroger brand Peppermint Ice Cream and of course thought of you guys. SO GOOD!

I think equipment stashed in a place they will be used is a very smart idea. Do you like the push up handles?

Yes I am a big fan of the perfect pushup! And the perfect pullup!

Sweet deal on skis! I need to get some touring equipment.

Matt - this is a good time to get touring stuff... people are dumping their gear - places like 2nd tracks have a good selection.

Nice pick on the skiis, they are wide enough they could double a water skiis!! Use them year round.

I'm not liking the weather forecast for tomorrow morning.

What the heck?

From NOAA:

"Winds could gust as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%."

I just checked the hourly forecast which looks a little better. Says winds from the west at 15 mph at 9 am.

Nothing like a 15mph headwind for the last 4.5 miles. Awesome!

This is the rare situation where I'd rather just run at 6:30am before the wind picks up!

on the bright side at least half of the race will be aided.

Yeah lets just go for a 5K PR and then hang on

Drafting could be a factor in the race tomorrow.

I've decided to throw in the towel myself. My left shin is still inflamed. My focus is still on building a base and it feels unwise to set myself back by racing tomorrow.

Best wishes to ya'all!

Good luck tomorrow.

Guys, have fun tomorrow. I missed all three this year. Shave you legs and heads, less wind resistance.

Wear your Vibram Five Fingers. And if it's really cold, wear the Vibram One Finger, too.

You are sick!

Way to kill it in the wind.

If I didn't know about your insane dedication to training, I would attribute your success in this race to the blaze orange arm warmers. Congrats on the course record.

That is a great result Jake! You should be happy with that result, especially considering you have the course record in those conditions. You're going to do great in AZ. Nice win!

You are amazing! I swear you looked stronger coming back in the wind then watching you from behind fading away from me. Great job! Cool pics as well!

Very nice race. You hung in there in the second half and ran a strong course PR (and CR!) in horrible conditions. 2012 is looking good for you!

congratulations on the strong win! (not to be confused with strong wind!) - it's always a motivating boost to this mid-packer to see you flying by, great to meet you in person today too!

Great race Jake! Amazing improvement from last year, way to set the bar high!

Congrats on killing the race! And not getting completely killed by the wind.

Great race today! Nice meeting you afterwards!

Congrats Jake! It sounds like a great day and very good indication that you are truly in the best shape of your life.

You have to be pleased with your winter series races Jake.Very impressive.

You have Boston in the bag. Just don't do anything stupid. How's that for coaching advice?

Must be the orange. Congrats.

Thanks guys! Running against a headwind is never fun, but its good marathon training for the mind - you gotta stay focused. My mile 7 split shows what can happen if you let the focus slip even just for a few minutes.

Coach Murphy - That's the kind of coaching I need - you and Andrea just telling me not to do anything stupid! I actually have a few ideas I want to run by you (maybe on the run tomorrow morning if you can make it)... but if I run a blazing time at Boston, I'll only give you 49% of the credit.

CONGRATULATIONS of an excellent race, PR and win!!! AWESOME JOB, Jake!!! :)

You are looking so strong right now!

Wait, if you are giving Rob 49% credit of Boston race, how much do I get??

Fifty one

driving up there in that wind would have been totally mental for me!! YOU are amazing to run speedily even with that in mind!! Focus, yes. Congrats on the CR!! :D

Yea!! Nice job Jake, I can't wait to see you tear up the 15K here.

Great racing once again. I will second Rob's advice for Boston. I think you deserve at least 1% of the credit for Boston.

Don't tell Rob and Andrea, but my credit scale is out of 300%

Bonnie - they posted the entry lists the other day - looks like most of Greg's guys are going to Gate River, but Jeff Egelston and a couple Kenyans are in the field, so I'm going to have all the push I can handle! Are you coming up? If so - we'll have to get together afterwards.

Great job on the race. The wind didn't seem to affect you as much as it did myself. good to meet and run with you for a bit.

Amazing race! I think you are right, in Arizona you will be running in a pack aiming for 45. I cut about two and minutes off running that course after the SLCTC 15k. I don't see as many fast younger runners this year registered. There is some serious masters competition.

Jake way to burn it up!! you looked strong after the turn. And mentally the wind can do a lot to throw you off nice job getting back on track and finishing it out.

tremendous race! Watching your training progress and your race times continually dropping is very inspirational, keep it up!!

I'm going to have to take it easy on Sunday - so go on without me.

Nice race Jake! Amazing time, I can't wait to see what kind of time you run in Arizona. That was a very significant headwind; to get a PR in those conditions has to feel good. Best of all you're not even tapered!

Awesome performance, you are running very strong! Looking great in your Saucony team gear.

Dude running in wind is horrible. Way to hang on to a hard second half after already pounding the first. Good job! Boston is looking pretty good right now.

Fantastic effort! I am really looking forward to see what the future has in store for you. It'll be great for you to run with some high-caliber talent in Arizona. Your effort and dedication is inspirational the rest of us. You've got a lot of support behind you.

I've got a lot of money riding on you for the Mountain 2 Fountain. Don't let me down.

Great job, as always!

congrats on the win and another incredible race.

Thanks for the invite today, it was an enjoyable run for me.

I plan on notifying my parents when I see them that they have one of the uglier views of Mt. Olympus. Enjoy the rest of the day!

Andrea has very high standards when it comes to beautiful mountain views!

As always thanks for the run. It makes the time fly by to do it in a group.

Also, thank you for the plug on the petition. I only hope it can helps things out.

Sounds incredibly interesting. I have a friend at work who just got back from a 2 month medical mission in Kenya and he was telling me all about the running culture back there. He said it is a way of life and everyone just runs. Hardly anyone drives and everyone either runs or walks everywhere. He said he did not see one overweight person the entire time he was there.

You should watch it Rachelle - it will fire you up! There are some great scenes of young kids running along the roads, and watching as the elites fly past... they grow up LOVING running - its a part of their life, and you see why excellence in distance running is so ingrained in their culture.

I wish we lived in a simpler culture here in the USA where it was safe for our kids to run everywhere(and us), the food was simpler, life was simpler, jobs and bills were simpler, etc....

Awesome! Thanks for sharing, I'm excited to see it.

I am definitely going to watch it when I get home tonight. I could not agree more with what April said. It was incredibly interesting to talk to my friend that spent 2 months there. He came back with a whole new perspective on life.

I like many modern luxuries - but really if I just had my laptop and wifi... you could throw me out in the mountains somewhere and I'd be perfectly content. I don't need much else. Assuming I had a hot shower as well :-)

When I watched that movie I just kept thinking how amazing it would be to go live in Iten for a month or two... hang on for dear life at the back of the back two or three times a day. Maybe someday I can make that dream a reality.

I learned much from Man on a Mission that I'm going to incorporate into my cross country coaching. Especially with younger runners.

Nice day for you.

I really like Brother Colm's approach - he's not an x's and o's / VO2 this / Lactate that kind of guy - he's an advisor and mentor - and he gets the kids to BELIEVE they can be world beaters.

Thanks for posting that link, I stayed up past my bedtime and watched it. Well worth the time. Fun to see the culture. It's humbling to see how grateful they are for spikes and gear we just expect to have.

Great job Jake!! Sleep is definitely very important and if you miss the workout this afternoon it wont be the end of the world. It's not worth risking injury if it is too slick out.

Great workout! Good luck with the PM run. Sometime I'll need to get your take on the treadmill. Seems you're pretty committed to being outside.

Unless there is a treadmill race I need to get ready for, I'll be doing 100% of my running outdoors!

I just like being outside... for me, running is more fun that way - even if the weather is crummy. You can always move workouts to different days or modify what you have planned. And when the roads are snowy, its a good excuse to run easy.

I feel like I should qualify that statement, though - in no way am I anti-treadmill. In a lot of situations it makes sense (like females who run solo in the wee hours of the morning - Hi Rachelle!)... and there is something to be said for just locking into a pace and being forced to run at that speed.

But I just hate exercising indoors. Even during hard, taxing workouts, I'm finding some enjoyment in what I'm doing. I don't get that same feeling on the treadmill... I feel like a hamster.

Although one could argue that spinning laps around the outdoor track isn't all that different :-)

I'm with you when it comes to finding enjoyment in what I'm doing. I have always loved (in a sick and twisted way) interval workouts at the track. The treadmill does feel like a hamster wheel at times. For me, I've noticed that my body seems to recover quicker after my high-intensity treadmill workouts than a similar workout outside. For you, Mr. Recovery, putting in all of your miles outside is working.

How often are you soaking in your garbage can full of ice? I don't imagine you've got one under your desk at work.

Usually just after really hard workouts or long runs. I've been slacking a bit lately b/c surprisingly nothing hurts right now. But for the next 6 weeks I'm going to really try and take a preventative approach.

Tonight, for example, if I do the second workout - I'll do the ice soak for sure.

I cannot wait for the day when I get to cancel my gym membership :)

I love the treadmill for certain workouts.

For cardio vascular fitness it is just as effective to run on a treadmill.

For acclimating to heat stress they are great.

From a neuromuscular standpoint it's a tradeoff. On the positive side, your legs get dialed in to a specific rate of turn-over. On the negative, you don't have to do the explosive push off the ground to propel yourself forward.

If you don't use music or entertainment you can build great mental focus on a treadmill.

They are best viewed as a tool. You think of a tool in terms of what it can do for you, not what it can't.

"This hammer sucks! I can't cut this board with it".

I've enjoyed everyone's take on the TM. I absolutely hate running on them, but I was so grateful I had that option this morning so I didn't have to digress too much from my schedule - especially since after the roads freeze tonight I'll be sporting my ice spikes tomorrow.

Rob I particularly liked your heat acclimation comment. I was thinking today (while on the mill), "I sure hope Boston isn't this hot, but if it is, at least I've done one training run in 70 degree heat..." Thanks for validating my thoughts today.

Yeah, lots of good thoughts there Rob. I totally agree with you that there are plenty of benefits.

I'm like one of those trail guys that hasn't run a step on pavement since 1983 - I haven't run indoors since around 2005 :-)

I have no problem saying I'm anti-treadmill. I have had problems on treadmills where I get too impatient and my stride isn't the same and it's caused me to get injured more than once.

Now this is my experience and not a statement for everyone they just don't like me. Not to say I will never run on one again. I did it with my rehab on my leg. I'm sure I'll eat these words and have to run on one soon.

Jake - regarding the extra sleep... sometimes we forget that sleep is part of your training. The elites take naps between their workouts so it's an important concept when your running hard. Your just truly an incredible runner.

Kory you are right on with the sleep - its been a huge part of why I've been able to jump a level in my training and racing, and recover quickly. I sleep 8-9 (sometimes 10) hours every night and it makes a huge difference.

i hate treadmills, mostly because i get nauseated in gyms. but i like rob's points and i agree that they can be useful training tools.

sorry it's gross out -- good luck this afternoon.

Did you find a location to meet for Saturdays run? I was going to post it today.

Rob - I agree with the heat stress. I've done a few 20 miler's in the past on treadmills and it does produce a pool of sweat. Hey all my treadmills have TV's so I have entertainment or watch a movie.

Treadmills are good if you need to do a hard workout for that day when the weather doesn't permit you to do so, and you can do it outside any other day. But I would still run outside on a bad day. :-)

8 x 800. yawn.

would 400x800 have impressed you allie?

yes, but you can do it next week...

truth be told, i'm impressed every time i visit your blog. it takes an incredible amount of energy just to read about your workouts. my laptop starts melting if i stay here too long.

I need to figure out how to get my blog to automatically play really annoying music (like myspace in the early 2000s). Then you'll really be impressed every time you visit, and your computer will surely melt (from viruses)

I am going to be in SLC this weekend for a USATF coaching class and staying at Rob's house. I was hoping to maybe hook up for a run in Sugarhouse either Saturday or Sunday early (classes start at 8am at a airport hotel). Saturday appears to be out, maybe Sunday?

95% of weekends I would be down for an early Sunday run - but Andrea & I are actually headed out of SLC for the weekend after the long run on Saturday. Sorry Jeff. They need to start the coaching clinic at 11am so everyone has time to get in their Saturday morning long run in the sunlight!

Now you know how I feel always holding up the tail end of the pack. :)

Let me know if there are any Rachelle paced runners joining you on Saturday and I will jump in.

Walter posted it on facebook - I think there may be a few coming that aren't trying to run 5-something pace down the canyon :-)

Its a good run for getting your quads used to some downhill pounding.

I need a quad pounding. My legs haven't been through that in forever!

jajajajajajajajajajaja NICE!

Obviously you don't want to do too much downhill running, but its really useful to get a few of those kinds of runs into your training if you are running any races that have some downhill - it definitely hardens up the quads. A couple emigration canyon runs were really important in my training for Utah Valley and TOU 1/2 last year.

Awesome month Jake!

Good solid month Jake. Looking forward to Saturdays long run. I will be back of the pack so I can tell Rachelle she won't be the straggler. I need to get some good downhill training in this will be a definite plus.

I'm a little concerned about the condition of that road (on the upper section) if we get more snow/ice today. I'm hoping we can do it, but I'm willing to change the location if the road conditions are too slippery. I don't want to take any chances.

If slow folks are invited, RAD and I will bring up the tail end! See you Saturday morning!

Wow! The splits are amazing. Very controlled and even. Looking forward to next weekends results!

The track is my treadmill. If I'm not really pressing too hard, I can lock into a good rhythm.

I liked running on the oversized track. It made the repeats seem to go by quicker.

Solid work! Great splits and even better that you didn't feel spent at the end of the workout.

Good call on running indoors at the Oval. Much better than taking the risk with the ice. You're going to smash the race next week.

Awesome workout Jake! That is freaking awesome that a 63 year old guy is trying to break 3 hours. Wow very inspirational.

That's Lloyd Hansen. I run with him regularly on Saturday long runs. His age grade is off the charts. Nice work out today.

Yep, that was him. I blanked on his name afterwards. Amazing runner for his age - I am really impressed by him!

Such an inspiration!

The Olympic Oval is an awesome alternative to running outdoors. Sure beats a 100-200 meter track!! Good job Jake! I am still hoping to come up to Phoenix for the race!!

Nice job!

nice work. quite the drive to the oval, eh?

Yeah... that's the only part that kinda stinks - its not really a bad drive over there at 5am, but the drive to HCI from the oval is brutal. Only on very rare occasions do things work out this way, though, and I'm definitely glad I took the extra time to go there and get a good workout in today.

it's such a nice facility -- about as good as you can get when you have to exercise indoors. if only we could drop the oval where highland high is...

exactly - keep the outdoor track at highland, but demolish the high school and put in an indoor track facility. the kids can chose to either 1) be home schooled or 2) be distance runners

Very impressive work Jake!! you are in such a good place with your training

Regarding the groupon, save your $6. Crystal Hot Springs is ghetto. Water is very mineral-laden, and you may as well be in a swimming pool, not to mention hundreds of little kids running around doing who-knows-what in the water.

Instead, go northeast of Preston to Maple Grove Hot Springs. Nice and secluded, right along the Bear River, above the Narrows. Regular price is $8.

http://maplegrovehotsprings.com/

Thanks for the insider tip Paul! I'm probably going to pick your brain about another semi-pressing matter (your thoughts on the boston course and pacing on it) at some time in the near future as well. You are my go-to guy when it comes to hot springs and marathon strategy!

I focus more on leisure activities these days...

The other nice thing about Maple Grove is that you can bring in beer or wine, as long as it's not in a glass bottle.

I think you are smart not doing it. You're definitely pulling a Lily. ha :)

I'll find an alternative way to make tomorrow count :-)

Oh I bet you will! So will I!

That sucks that someone ran into your jeep. People really suck at driving in the snow.

Running fast in the snow/ice = stupid. Good call and I really think it is going to clear up tomorrow in the valleys.

For what it's worth, I've found that the canyon road is always better than I think it's going to be in bad weather.

Drive up it later and check it out maybe.

I got rear-ended 3 times in 4 months in 2011. Idiots (said in my Napoleon Dynamite voice)! Good to hear there wasn't any damage to your Jeep.

a lot of downhill [bold; italics]...say hello to des news. it's oh so easy to go too fast down that canyon. way to keep it controlled. great tempo/long run combo.

enjoy the weekend. i'm doing the hot tub thing as well -- i won't leave until i get kicked out.

ALLIE UPDATE YOUR BLOG - WE CAN'T FIND YOUR RESULTS!!!! OR AT LEAST TELL US YOUR TIME!!

Yeah allie stop writing on my blog and at least send us a text and let us know how it went! :-) We can't find anything on their website!

But back on subject... I don't know how/why you guys run Des News. I say that everytime I run up and down that canyon! :-) It just seems so brutal. I guess that is the allure of it.

Hot tub weekend all over the country!

but it's so much more fun to comment than write a report...

andrea -- i sent you a text! two of them, actually. at 9:10 am. let me try again...

Oh, haha. Probably should've checked my phone, huh? Great job, by the way :o) :o)

Nice strong run! It's amazing with the right grade a 5:11 becomes aerobically easy. Too bad it comes with a different price to pay.

Sorry allie - I take back what I said - Andrea needs to learn to check her cell phone :-)

Yeah Dan - that's why I think its key on downhill runs to keep the pace in check and make sure you aren't tempted to really crush it... then hopefully you recover quicker. You learned that lesson on Mt Nebo, right? :-)

Awesome run Jake! Have a blast in Midway. You two totally deserve a little break.

Allie? The suspense is killing me.....

rachelle: i finsihed in

关于日本国际交流基金会.

Allie thats not very nice! I'm totally uninviting you to my next running party. ha!

I'm sure you did awesome.

Great tempo Jake! Enjoy your time up in Midway.

sorry, i couldn't resist. report is up now.

Nice week of running Jake! I can't wait to see how fast you run that 15K.

Great downhill pace. Did you stop and pick up the bobcat for your stuffed collection? Crazy.

Jake = The people's champ

Sounds like a great morning run. Best wishes to you as you prepare for next Sat.

Mark on the way back down a couple old people had gotten out of their car and were poking at it. I think they were debating taking it home and stuffing it :-)

Thanks Jake for the fantastic run up - that really is a great run up. Nice job cruising the downhill and keeping within your limits. I eventually caught Emily and finish in with her in about 60 minutes.

Sounds like I missed a lot of fun but the way I was feeling yesterday you wanted have wanted me there and I wouldn't have made it to the post office much less the hairpin. I agree that it is sad to have seen the bobcat under those circumstances but amazing to be reminded how close we live to the "real wild"...

Good job yet again Jake you looked like you were on cruise control coming down VERY STRONG!!! way to exercise some restraint and run within your parameters ( i just wanted to use that word ha ha ) any way another great workout

Sweet snow angel!! I didn't mention that the quadruple challenge was face down!!

Its like anything else in training - you have to build up slowly to the quadruple challenge!

Looks like good times at Zermatt! I enjoy jogging along the Wasatch golf course. Midway is awesome, I wouldn't mind living there.

Sounds like a super nice weekend! I enjoyed the photos :)

Shorty short shorts photos please!

Nice workout!

You have to make those kinds of photo requests to Andrea!

Rob - just 27 more kilometers at that pace with 0 meters recovery and I'll be celebrating bigtime in beantown :-)

Take care of that calf! Your workout yesterday was awesome and I'm stoked for you this weekend. Also, good luck with your scam :>

Basically I've just been trying to run fast for the past year to build up everyone's trust, and then try to rip them off on lift tickets!

Smart call on taking it easy and avoiding hills for a few days. Plus it is probably more enjoyable to have a little company on runs for a change.

Yes its VERY nice to be able to run w/ Andrea again - although I do kinda miss listening to LMFAO on my ipod :-)

All that LMFAO is going to your head (especially the "I'm sexy and I know it" song)...you need a break from it anyways! :o)

But its like they are singing directly to me!

Rest that calf! and I'll take you up on your ticket scam but you need to throw in some flights so I can get out there to use them!

It was so warm today! Doooode, you guys need to buy an e-power machine like I have. I swear to you it speeds cellular healing. I have used it when I've felt injured so many times the last 9 months and it works!

I know Lily - I feel like its something worth investing in. The E-Power is basically just an ultrasound or electrical stim machine, right?

I need to hear more about this E-Power machine. Sorry about the calf. Do you use compression socks? What are your thoughts on those?

Its no big deal - really I've already dodged 2 bullets this winter (a bum knee and a potentially broken toe) - its all part of the territory. I figure I get at least 9 lives during a marathon training cycle :-)

I wear compression socks or calf sleeves all day @ work. I don't wear them for running but keep them on for recovery the rest of the day. I am a huge believer int the power of compression clothing.

Jake, yes it is. And it works wonders!

How's $50 payable in gui-jk, cash or Paypal?

Take care of your calf. Cant wait to hear how you do this weekend. I'm sure it will be such a great time.

You will crush it. Also, anytime something is "Presented by the Bandidos" you know you're in for a great time. Have fun and let it Roll...

Sounds like there will be some great competition at the race Sunday which only means you will run faster. Very, very excited for you.

Oh wow just read the release. $11,000!! Holy cow that is huge. My friend Allison is running on the female side you will have to look for her.

They have done an excellent job assembling a fast field and putting up great prize money, and prizes for the non-elites as well. It looks like they are going to have all kinds of awards and goodies for everyone. This is really a for-runners-by-runners race. I'm excited!

Go kill it Jake! Good luck.

Cool Q&A Jake! Thanks for sharing it. Also, best of luck at the race - LEAVE IT ALL OUT THERE ON THE ROAD!! :)

So exciting! I smell a PR coming up on Sat.

Sweet interview. Everything I've wanted to know about Jake, but was too afraid to ask :) Have fun with the race this weekend!

Awesome interview! Good luck with the race this weekend, looking forward to reading about it.

Have a great next few days! I'll be sending some supercharged energy your way as you prepare and compete in AZ. Here's to an unbelievable race!

Thanks Scott! Send the supercharged energy in the form of lactate buffering or seasonal easter candy :-)

Nice job. If I didn't have to work tonight, I'd come join you guys at the track.

Have a great race this weekend.

Are there horses along horsepark loop?

Goodluck with your workout tonight. I think you are right on track for an awesome race Sunday. Sea level, perfect temps, and some fast competition...I really wish I could be there to watch.

Yes! "Technically" the name of the park is Big Cottonwood Park, but we've always called it the horsepark b/c the NE corner of the park has lots of horses.

Here's what it looks like from Google...

http://goo.gl/EJH5u

Jake,

Hi. I checked out the Big Cottonwood Park Google picture you mentioned. Could not make out what was to the left of the circle. But then all those other pictures caught my eye. Awesome pictures...even saw a picture of the ice cream (or yogurt) that you mentioned during the interview. I guess you really do like ice cream! Excellent form (the both of you) and excellent pictures. It really looks like you and Andrea mean business when you race (if that was Andrea in the pics).

I don't know if you have a link to those pictures in the sidebar on the left - but if not, you should consider adding that.

Oh, I tried adding you to my "Favorite Blogs" a few times. But every attempt, I always wind up having this 9 year old appear (same name as you) - any idea what that is about?

Hmmm I don't know why that doesn't work - I can't imagine there is another "jkrong" on the blog anywhere.

I'm not sure what that is to the left of the circle either. You mean the white thing on the grass? I'll have to look tomorrow. It can't be anything too interesting b/c I've run past it 500 times without noticing it!

Seasonal easter candy? You must be referring to Cadbury Mini Eggs. Jake, if you want to run a pancake flat marathon in September, you could set an unbeatable course record at the Layton Marathon.

Cadbury eggs are delicious. Why are they so much more expensive than M&Ms?

I like how the entire Layton Marathon website is based around setting silly world records, like fastest marathon by 7 people dressed as superheroes tied together with a rope.

Why settle for a course record? I would go for the world record for fastest marathon by someone dressed as a gingerbread man (3 hrs 42 minutes). I think I could shave a few minutes off that time if Saucony will make me a gingerbread man suit.

bahaha!! Do it! And just for the record I ran one of my very best races dressed up as a devil with horns and all. :) Maybe I should go with that for Boston....

You should be Mike Wardian's record of fastest marathon in a superhero outfit! (2:34:56)

Hey Jake, do you have any advice for what to eat before a big race? I am two weeks out rfom the Buffalo Run 100 mile.

Jake,

Hi again. "jkrong" works while "Jake K" fails. Regarding the white thing on the grass...probably long gone by now.

Matt - Andrea laughed when she saw your comment and said "you are the LAST person he should be asking for advice about fueling."

I just eat my normal diet, I don't like to feel "full" going into a race. But I imagine for a 100 miler you need to have the reserves topped off pretty well. I would recommend lots of ice cream.

The fueling DURING the race is a lot more important w/ what you are doing, since you'll be out there running for so long. And that I am no expert in for sure... guys like Jon and Jun have it dialed in pretty well I imagine.

When are you leaving for the race? Now that Dean is not contagious (since he has been taking antiviral meds) we might come up to watch the race ... Greg is definitely racing, he is using it for a tune-up for Boston too!

Good luck Jake!

Speedy Gonzalez - that should be your name.

Ice cream is bad for you in case you didn't know.

Bonnie - I'm flying down late tomorrow night. I hope I can beat Greg :-)

Rob - According to who? And when can I race them to set straight their words of blasphemy?

ha ha ... pretty sure you will jake, not that I am rooting against coach or anything ;-)

Bonnie - if you go, will you cheer extra hard for Jake since I can't be there?!

Most definitely!!

Jake good luck this weekend. And for the record I am with you on the ice cream thing and the Dreyers choc peanutbutter swirl is the bomb!!!

I am just wondering the "sale" price on Dreyers. My kids are highly addicted to ice cream. I passed on the gene and haven't found a way to control it so I just look for sales and continue to give in. : D.