Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 9.5 miles at Liberty Park w/ Andrea. Easy pace, soft surfaces.

I was doing a little googling this morning and found this article about the Long Beach 1/2 Marathon... apparently there are ~20 guys trying to hit the OTQ, and a few guys who have already hit the time are going to be pacing. Somehow the elite coordinator who setup our entries neglected to tell me this... haha! Honestly I figured there was a 50/50 chance that I'd even have a group to run with, based on previous years' results. But now that there appears to be a huge pack trying to run sub 5:00 pace, that changes my strategy a bit. I may just have to go out with this pack, tuck in, conserve energy, and see how long I can hang. 

PM - 2 miles shakeout. I'm ready for it to be next Sunday already! I feel like I didn't even do anything this week and still hit 90 miles. I'm gonna go nuts in the next 6 days! 

AM - 10.5 miles, up to work. 6 w/ Andrea. 

PM - 4.3 miles down to Sugarhouse.  

AM - 3 miles on campus. The light rain this morning is a sign of things to come... its a good weekend to head to California! Last tuneup workout before the Long Beach 1/2 this afternoon. I didn't feel like doing it in the dark, and figured I might as well get as many 10 hr nights of sleep as possible this week, so I slept in.

PM - 8 miles. Track workout - 5 x 1000m + 5 x 200m (400m "float" b/w 1Ks, ~45 secs b/w 200s) Warmed up 2 miles and did some strides, then got rolling. The plan was 1/2 marathon pace (or slightly faster) for the 1000s, then "fast but relaxed" for the 200s. Splits were 3:05, 3:05, 3:04, 3:04, 2:59, 33, 31, 31, 31, 28. Cooled down with a mile jog.

AM - 7.3 miles, easy recovery run. Legs are feeling great. Andrea was doing a workout this morning on the track, and I didn't like the idea of her running alone in the dark, so I went with her. I ran her warmup/cooldown with her, and ran laps around the perimeter of the track while she was doing her reps... yelling "LAST CHANCE WORKOUT" the whole time :-)

PM - 2 miles, rain shakeout. 

Did you know the accuracy of the running course in a triathlon only has to be accurate to 10%?! (Link to story) So technically the "marathon" portion of an Ironman can be 2.5 miles short and that is perfectly within the rules. I don't necessarily have an opinion on the matter, or really even care at all, I just find it interesting the so much margin of error is allowed.

AM - 6.7 miles. A cold and rainy run w/ Andrea, Allie, and James through Sugarhouse. 

PM - 1.8 miles, quick shakeout after work. Just trying to stay in the normal routine. 

Not running-related, but worth a watch: 60 Minutes segment on Alex Honnold. My hands start to sweat just watching him on a video.

AM - 4.4 miles. Ran the horsepark loop w/ Andrea, then did six quick strides. We'll do our pre-race 200m reps tonight. I feel strangely relaxed this morning... maybe even calm. I've had highs and lows this week as I mentally prepare for the race on Sunday (as everyone does)... but now I feel balanced, I've visualized what is going to happen a thousand times, and physically I am as ready as I can be.

PM - 2.5 miles. 8 x 200m on the track in ~35 seconds w/ 200m float in between. We went to Granite High (since there are HS football games at the tracks we usually use)... an old 4 lane track with super tight turns and extra long straightaways.

Oh, and I quit Diet Mountain Dew about 3 weeks ago. Maybe the lack of caffeine is why I feel calm :-) Here's a blog post on my history with diet dew. 

AM - 4.4 miles, horsepark loop w/ Andrea, then 8 quick strides. Now we're off to the airport. I make no promises about tomorrow other than I'm going to give it my best shot. I don't really feel that much pressure because I only began to have illusions of qualifying in the half a few days ago, and Philly is still "Plan A". So this will be fun!!!

"And Cassidy stood tall there in the dark, while a cool breeze ruffled the ragged lock of hair on his forehead, knowing that for one instant there would be a kind of calm in the midst of all that pounding, roaring furor, a moment of serene calm before an unholy storm. There would be a single instant of near disbelief that it would finally be happening in a fraction of a second; finally happening after the months, the miles, the misty mornings; finally happening after the eight or ninth now forgotten interval along the way somewhere that broke your heart once again. He would be leaning over tensely with the rest of them while the white lights burned down on them and for an awful split-second he would feel as if his legs had no strength at all. But then his heart would nearly explode when the pistol cracked." 

Live results w/ 10K and 10.8 mile splits will be here: http://liveraceresults.com/LBM
My # is 14790, Andrea is 14873