Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 16.5 mi. Started at East High track and ran up Emigration Canyon. Easy (7:05 pace) on the way up, then came back down quicker (5:27 pace). Wanted to get my legs used to a little more downhill pounding. Was actually surprised I was running sub 5:30 pace b/c it felt a lot easier. That's a good thing! I think my downhill running form is getting a lot smoother.

Today marks the end of a streak for me. I count my weekly mileage starting on Monday and ending on Sunday... for the previous 27 weeks (starting November 15th), I haven't run less than 100 miles (GRAPH). The average for those 27 weeks was 124 miles / week. (This week I'm at 95 and I'm not running again today... and I'll cut back quite a bit more in the next 12 days). This is pretty incredible if you knew my injury history from 2003-2008... I don't think I was ever able to run triple digits for more than 3-4 weeks w/out something going wrong. 

So no matter what happens at UVM, I've already accomplished what I set out to do... I got myself back in the game. After falling below expectations in college, and then not even running a single race from summer 2008 until 4 months ago (and running maybe 45 mpw during that time), I've gotten myself back to a competitive level, I'm totally healthy, and I love running more than I ever have (but I'm not obsessed with it like I used to be). I have a much better balance in my life these days (and Andrea gets 99% of the credit for that!). My next 5-10 years will be my best years of running... I truly believe that.

AM - 11 mi. Started at Mt Olympus high school, down to 6200S then back on Wasatch blvd. Planned on doing a set of 200s at the end of the run, but jogged over to the track and realized all the construction equipment I saw when I was pulling in was there b/c they have torn out the track! So no 200s. But at least there will be a track new track close to home once they put the new one in.

I can't believe the Collins plot at Alta is showing 10" of new snow. A huge part of me wants to ski, but I've skied a ton this winter and right now I shouldn't be doing much other than resting. Boooo! :-) 

PM - Couldn't resist going to up Solitude and skiing a quick lap. There's still as much snow up there as there was 5 weeks ago! 

From Memorial Day 10K

 

AM - 4.5 mi easy.

PM - 13 mi. Last big workout before Utah Valley. Plan was to do 2 x 5 miles @ MP. I usually do tempo runs on the Jordan River Bike Path, but figured it was probably flooded, so I drove out west of the airport and started from Exit 111 and ran on the frontage road (where the SLC Track Club does the winter series races). I rode west 2.5 miles on my bike and marked out 1/2 mile splits with chalk on the road. I figured I'd do out & back loops. It was pretty windy, but since I was running east to west and back, and the wind was primarily from the south, it was more of a cross-wind.

(1 mile warmup) 
Rep #1 - 5:21, 5:21, 5:15, 5:21, 5:09 = 26:37
(1 mile recovery)
Rep #2 - 5:13, 5:11, 5:18, 5:18, 5:09 = 26:09
(1 mile cooldown)

The hay is in the barn now, so to speak. This obviously ended up being a bit faster than marathon pace, but I felt totally in control the whole time, and was actually surprised it ended up being so quick. But not too surprised, b/c I feel like I've jumped to a new level, and this is where I'm at now. Between the 10K on Saturday, a big negative split longer run on Sunday, and this workout today, I've done quite a bit of quality running in the past 4 days. Now its time to rest and not doing anything silly in the next 10 days :-)

AM - 4.5 mi. Easy run up on campus. Recovery, recovery, recovery.
PM - 3.6 mi. Two laps around Sugarhouse. 

AM - 7.2 mi. Easy run up to work.
PM - 6 mi. Ran to the track and did 6x200m in ~33 seconds 

AM - 6.3 mi. Easy run w/ Andrea. Third straight easy day... feels pretty good! We're running a 5K tomorrow as a last little shakeout/tuneup workout before UVM. I'm definitely more geared towards a 50 mile race than a 5K right now, but it should be fun!

Last tune-up before UVM... the race started at Tanner Park and finished in Sugarhouse. Got a much better warmup than before the 10K last weekend. The first 1.5 miles of the course had a net drop, then it was pretty much flat the rest of the way. Definitely a nice, fast course (although it was also definitely long... we measured it twice, and both times it was about 90 meters long).

My primary competition was Andrea, so I didn't have anyone with me right from the start. I came through the first mile in 4:29... whew!... haven't run that fast since some track races in DC 3 year ago... kept cruising on the second mile, which I hit in 4:38 (9:08 at 2 miles). At this point my focus shifted to making sure I didn't do anything to hurt myself (I've had a slight groin pull that I'm hoping doesn't act up in the marathon next weekend), so I took the pedal off the gas a bit in the third mile (5:10). I had a ton of half-marathon runners to catch in the last stretch, and came through in 14:47. Somehow the posted results had me ~5-6 seconds slower, but there is no way that is correct... I stopped my watch after going past both of the timing mats because I was trying to be very conservative with my time.

Pretty happy with how good I felt today. So far I think I am getting the taper right :-)

Andrea finished 2nd overall in 16:52. Flying!!!