Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 11 miles. Horsepark loop w/ Andrea, then kept going for a while. The sun came out, and it actually looked wintery in the foothills. Nice morning.

PM - 4 miles. Andrea joined me for the afternoon shakeout!... which was great until she threw in a surge with a quarter mile to go :-)

Solid week. 143 miles (I count Monday - Sunday... I know I'm weird but it just seems more logical to me to count things that way)... and I've been building up continually for the past 6 weeks. Body feels good and strong - any aches I felt in December have gone away. The key now is to not start hitting the workouts too hard, but start incorporating a little more faster running.  

AM - 11.5 miles up to work. Mixed in a little fartlek workout. After ~20 minutes of easy running, I did 1-2-3-2-1-2-3-2-1-1-1-1 minute efforts with 1 minute recovery (20 minutes total of faster running). Not sure of the pace... maybe like 10Kish effort? The first couple reps were flat (around SHP) and the rest were uphill. A good start to the week. Very cool-looking (and gigantic) full moon this morning.

PM - 7.8 miles. Met Andrea and we meandered through Sugar House neighborhoods.  

AM - 13 miles. Emigration Canyon run from HCI. On the way back down I decided to run what I am now calling the "zoo mile" at a faster effort (4:29). As you might expect, this mile starts near the zoo and finishes at the post office on Sunnyside. I did this about 10 days ago in 4:40. Its a 2+% gradient on that stretch, so a very aided mile... but a good way to get the legs turning over on a cold morning. 

PM - 6.2 miles. Met Andrea and we ran on Wasatch Blvd and through some Olympus Hills neighborhoods. 

Thought today's quote of the day from Letsrun was worth posting - from Utah native Patrick Smyth: "...Total immersion in any race build-up, but particularly one with the gravitas of the Olympic Trails marathon, forces one to get in touch with a few key things, not all of them cheery and inspirational. Amidst the endless miles, the underlying fatigue and general grogginess there appear occasional moments of clarity about where commitment takes you in this sport." 

I can't wait to watch the trials on Saturday.

AM - 12.6 miles. JAA/AJA/AAJ run. I'm not sure what the acronym is when James isn't there, so I'll use all the iterations. We actually ended up running a bit quicker than normal this morning. Hmmm maybe he is holding us all back? :-) After 9 miles the girls cut back down to SHP and I ran up to work, keeping the pace honest up the hill (otherwise I would have been late).

PM - 9.2 miles home.

Check Andrea's blog for details on the Saturday group run. Everyone who isn't running in the Olympic Trials is welcome to join us... sorry Paul. 

AM - 11.5 miles up to work, easy. Dressed pretty warm so I could just jog without freezing.

PM - 8.5 miles home. 

I've decided to run a spring marathon. At first I was going to hold off until the fall and just focus on the half-marathon championships, but they aren't until mid-June, and I'm already at a very good level of baseline fitness, so there is no reason why I can't do both. I emailed the BAA yesterday, and 30 minutes later I had an entry to Boston! So now a few more weeks of messing around, and then it will be time to start training seriously. Needless to say, I'm very excited. This is going to be a great opportunity for hopefully what will be a breakthrough race, and with so many bloggers making the journey out to Boston, it is going to be a lot of fun.

AM - 8 miles up to work. Slept in as late as possible today. Mixed in another little fartlek workout during the run: 10 x 1 minute w/ 1 minute recovery. They were all about 5K effort... first 5 were flat, second 5 were uphill. 

Get your picks in for the Olympic Trials prediction contest! Pick the "Fast Running Blog" group off the drop-down menu when you log in.

PM - 8.4 miles. Met Andrea after a few miles and we ran around Sugar House neighborhoods.

Looking forward to watching the trials tomorrow afternoon. I've barely been able to keep up with all the great interviews and articles this week... I love all the attention this event gives to the sport. Thought this passage I read today from Josh Cox was especially inspiring:

That’s what life is about, being faithful with your gifts and talents. Being our best, day in and day out. What would the world look like if we were all at our best? I’m not talking about “what split can you hit?” – all of us, at our best, in every area of our life, all the time. It would be astonishing. 

That’s what makes this weekend special; 130 of the best marathoners in America attempting to deliver their absolute best over 26.2 miles. When my friend Amby from Runner’s World says to my coach, ‘I think it's great that Josh is so focused on the Trials, but you've got to wonder what the point is.’ I say, going all-in is exactly the point, not just for this race but in anything in life. Honing your craft and stacking your chips for months, years, and even decades, to shove them all out on the line, hoping that one day their sum will deliver a magical performance – this is the dreamer’s dream, no matter the profession. Not hedging your bets, not having plan B’s; bleeding, clawing, and scraping to keep your dreams alive when the critics, pundits, and just about everyone else is telling you to give up. Life is full of folks telling you no, you can’t, you’re not qualified, you should move on. For every dreamer there are a hundred critics. For everyone pursuing their dreams there are a hundred cynics. But I learned something long ago; those who have abandoned their own dreams will try to convince you to abandon yours. Don’t listen. 

Here's the whole thing he wrote. 

AM - 25 miles. Biggest Saturday crew yet this morning - Andrea, Allie, Emily J, Rob, Fritz, Bryan, Cam, Dan, Matt, Scott, Steve, and Adam (who was dressed in a neon green that blows away any of the bright gear I own!). A long run with a group like this is an absolutely awesome way to kick off the day... the time just flies by! I ran up to Tanner Park from home, met everyone, and we got going. We did a 16 mile loop down to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, then back along Wasatch Blvd. I added on a little more w/ Dan, Scott, and Fritz, and then ran home from there to get an even twenty-five.

PM - 3 miles shakeout. Went for a little jog to get loose. Surprisingly felt no kinks after the longest run I've done in a while.

The trials were fun to watch, as everyone who watched knows! So cool to see some great performances on both sides. Meb running with the flag in the final stretch (in Sketchers!) was probably the highlight for me. So heartbreaking for Ritz... he really fought hard in those last couple miles. All the women ran tough - I was impressed that Kara was able to maintain contact and stay close after Shalane and Desi broke away. Like Andrea said, she is probably used to hanging on by a thread with Shalane in workouts! We are sending strong marathon teams to London.

Congrats to Paul - 2:20 and change... second straight olympic trials... he is definitely an inspiration to us.