Justin Park

A.M. - Long run. 12-mile course back to back (minus the first mile on the second loop). Kept the pace nice and easy. Needed a potty stop at about mile 10.5.

A.M.#2 - Cervelo ride up to Albion Basin, Alta. First Little Cottonwood ride this year. ~25 miles. Have a lot going on today, so had to do a shorter morning-ride. The climb up Little C is quality though. Lots of people on their bikes enjoying the beautiful canyon and weather today. There is still a fair amount of snow at Alta.

A.M. - 60 minutes on the gym treadmill:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, 0.5 incline
5 mins @ 10.0, 1.0
20 mins @ 10.0, 1.5
5 mins @ 10.0, 2.0
5 mins @ 10.0, 2.5
5 mins @ 10.0, 3.0
5 mins flat with 1 min each at 10.0 mph, 10.5, 11.0, 11.5, and 12.0

P.M. - Stallion ride up Millcreek (~40 miles). Not nearly as cold, rainy, or miserable as last Wednesday : ) A little breezy, but otherwise a perfect weather afternoon for cycling.

A.M. - Standard 15-miler, normal direction. Great weather for a morning run. Wish it could stay this way all summer.

A.M. - 60 minutes on the gym treadmill, all flat:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph
5 mins @ 10.0
15 mins @ 10.5
25 mins @ 11.0
10 mins @ 11.5

P.M. - ~40 mile bike ride to the fire station up Emigration Canyon and back. Nice and easy. Pleasant evening. As I was on the path over Parley's I rode past Cotter who was running. I don't think he recognized me. 

A.M.- 12-mile course. Triangle in normal direction.

A.M. - Light run on the treadmill. 35 minutes, all flat:

10 minutes @ 9.0 mph,
10 mins @ 9.5
5 mins @ 10.0
6 mins alternating every 30 seconds with a little speed: 3 x 11.5 mph, 3 x 12.0 mph, resting segments at 10.0 mph
4.5 @ 9.5

Looking forward to a fun race tomorrow.

UTAH VALLEY HALF MARATHON

Here's a short recap: I'll admit I was a bit disappointed with the way this one turned-out. Though this race was just three weeks after the Ogden Marathon, I felt like I had recovered fairly quickly from that race and that the last couple weeks of training had been pretty good. A little over a month ago, I ran the Provo City Half Marathon in 1:11:20. I felt the course profiles of that course and UV1/2 were similar and that my fitness now is a little better than it was then. So my goal coming into this race was to go sub-1:11 and maybe break my course PR from 2 years ago of 1:10:38. Thought that would be doable, but it just wasn't in the cards. Can't really explain why, other than the fact that there must be some underlying residual fatigue in the legs from the marathon.

The field of this race was deep with great runners. I had no expectations of placing in the money (top 5), but figured a top 10 was possible. The race started and as expected, all the fast dudes took to the front (Jake, Riley, Jon Cotter, Trevor, Matt, Mike, etc.). After a mile, I was in about 10th place about 5 seconds back of Matt and Mike who were running side-by-side. They were both looking great. Somehow I think the tunnel threw off my Garmin (it gave me a weak signal notice). It didnt't ding the 1st mile until 30 seconds after we past the sign. I didn't look at it one time during the rest of the race. At about the second mile mark, I moved up along side of Matt and Mike figuring it would be a good thing to work with them. At some point around mile 3 or 4, the photographers snapped a good shot of the three of us running next to each other. We weren't moving super fast, but the pace was honestly starting to feel a bit fast for me. It became apparent to me my legs were lacking pep and mentally I was thinking this wasn't going to be a great race. We pressed on and started hitting the downhill miles of the canyon. Mike and Matt were looking great. I was breathing a bit hard. Matt seemed to be breathing too, but he was still conversational. I could hardly tell Mike was breathing at all. About mile 6, I decided to fall back a couple steps and ride their wake thinking that it might help me come into a better rhythm. It didn't. Before long I was drifting off that back and they built about a 10-15 second gap that held for a few more miles. I didn't have any energy gels onboard, so I grabbed one from a volunter about the 6th or 7th mile. It seemed to help a little. Towards the end of the canyon, Matt started pulling away from Mike. Man, he looked good. Now out of the canyon. I could see several bodies in the distance in front of me. Mike was about 10 seconds up on me, Matt was pulling away. There were three other dudes in white shirts up a little ways (incluidng Trevor) who I suspected Matt would catch. I could even see Riley's blue singlet off in the distance. Mike started to come back to me and I suspected I would eventually catch him. About the 11-mile mark I did. I watched as Matt methodically picked-off the 3 white-shirted guys. Mike was never far behind me. I never looked-back, but as on-lookers would clap and yell for me there was never a long pause before I'd hear them doing the same for him. I tried to remember back to our old HS cross-country days and wondered if it came close down to the wire if he'd out-kick me to the finish :). He just about did. I knew he was gaining on me that last 100 feet and though I beat him to the line, he couldn't have finished more than a couple seconds behind.

For some reason my chip didn't work, so my result didn't get captured, but it was about 1:12:30.

8 more easy miles after the race to just get some more mileage.

Great races for several bloggers including Matt (5th overall; very awesome), Mike, Jake, and Trevor. Real excited to see the damage Jake and Riley are going to do at Duluth in a few weeks.

For me, my next race will likely be Hobbler Half on July 13th. So we'll see what a few more weeks of training will do. I'm thinking about looking for something shorter (5-10k) around the 4th of July for a little speed stimulus. Would love suggestions for a good one if anyone has any.

P.M. - 50 mile ride to the top of Guardsman (Big C) and back. Love that ride. First time to Guardsman this year. Looking forward to many more.

A.M. - 60 minutes on the treadmill:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
15 mins @ 10.0, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, 0.5 incline
5 mins @ 10.0, 1.0
10 mins @ 10.0, 1.5
5 mins @ 10.0, 2.0
5 mins @ 10.0, 2.5
10 mins @ 10.0, flat

A.M. - 15-miler.

P.M. - Bike to Millcreek (~40 miles). Felt good on the bike this evening.

A.M. - 55 minutes on the gym treadmill, all flat:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph
5 mins @ 10.0
10 mins @ 10.5
35 mins @ 11.0

A.M. - 15 miles. Triangle in reverse.

P.M. - Ride up Little Cottonwood to Albion basin (~25 mile). Always a good shorter ride. Felt good. All work done in the saddle. Just as I was starting up the canyon, a dude was coming down. He looked at me and flipped around and latched onto my back tire and started climbing with me. Not sure what he was doing. We were moving at a moderate pace and I was wondering if he was going to surge and try and drop me (he seemed in shape to do it). He hung with me to the first major climb and then he turned around and went back down.

A.M. - 60 minutes on the treadmill, all flat:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph

5 mins @ 10.0

10 mins @ 10.5

20 mins @ 11.0

(not really feeling it today) 12.5 mins @ 10.0

2.5 mins @ 10.5

5 mins @ 10.0

A.M. - Long run. 12 and 9 mile courses back-to-back (less the first mile of the second loop. Was hoping to double-up on the 12 mile course, but got started later than wanted and had to settle for 20 due to time. Just as well. It was a real slog today and my pace was crawling. Had to take a pitstop about 1/2 way and the GI system was just off.

P.M. - Guardsman Pass and back (~50 miles). I know I did this same ride last week...I'm boring when it comes to my routines, but I love it. Excellent hard climb, especially that last mile+ to the summit. On the way down, I heard sirens coming up from behind. I slowed and let the fire department ambulance go by. Not long after, I caught up to it and several other emergency vehicles blocking the road right before the S-curves. Then I saw a dude, road cyclist, with a big neck brace on, bloody, shirt off, sitting up against the cement barrier on the side of the road. The first responders were pulling out a stretcher. Obviously, he had either been struck by a car or he had been coming down to fast and nailed the barrier. Either way, he was messed up. Glad I wasn't him. Made me think about the advertisement I received in the mail today about bicycle insurance. 

A.M. - 60-minute progressive incline treadmill run at the gym:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, 0.5 incline
5 mins @ 10.0, 1.0
20 mins @ 10.0, 1.5
5 mins @ 10.0, 2.0
5 mins @ 10.0, 2.5
5 mins @ 10.0, 3.0
5 mins @ 10.0, 3.5

A.M. - Bread and butter 15 mile route. Normal direction. Very pleasant morning for a run weather-wise. I picked up a pair of Adidas Energy Boosts and this was my first run in them. Very cool shoe.

P.M. - Cervelo ride up Millcreek (~40 miles).

A.M.- 50+ minutes on the treadmill, all flat:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph
5 mins @ 10.0
10 mins @ 10.5
30 mins @ 11.0

A.M. - 15 miles. Triangle in reverse direction.

P.M. - Ride up Big Cottonwood to Brighton and back (~40 miles). Got home just in time to see the last few minutes of the NBA Finals.

A.M. - 60 minutes on the gym treadmill, all flat:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph
5 mins @ 10.0
10 mins @ 10.5
10 mins @ 11.0 (was feeling a bit uncomfortable at this pace from last night's B.C. ride in the legs. So I backed-down)
10 mins @ 10.0
10 mins @ 10.5
5 mins @ 11.0
5 mins @ 11.5

A.M. #1 - Long run. Back-to-back 12-mile courses. Once with the triangle in normal direction; once in reverse. Had to make a pit stop again...ugh....Gotta break the body from that habit. Awesome weather morning for late June. Wish it could stay like this.

A.M. #2 - My family had planned a boating trip at East Canyon today. Naturally, it was a great opportunity to ride the bike up to the lake and meet them (via Wasatch, Emigration, Little Mtn, Big Mtn; ~45 miles). Good ride. Always love the tough climb up Big Mountain. Lots of folks out on their bikes in the canyon enjoying the awesome whether. There was a bugger of a head wind once I reached the southend of the lake and the wind dampened the fun a little bit out on the lake. Still great to get out on the lake with the family.

A.M. - 60 minutes on the treadmill. Got up earlier than usual to make a 7:15 work meeting.

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
5 mins @10.0, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, 0.5 incline
5 mins @ 10.0, 1.0
20 mins @ 10.0, 1.5
5 mins @ 10.0, 2.0
5 mins @ 10.0, 2.5
5 mins @10.0, 3.0
5 mins flat with 1 min each @ 10.0, 10.5, 11.0, 11.5, and 12.0

Was toying with taking the bike out, but the strange, windy, dark weather deterred me.

A.M. - Stamdard 15-mile route. Normal direction.

P.M. - Millcreek ride (~40 miles). Great afternoon weather. Looks like we've got several hot days coming.

A.M. - 60 minutes gym treadmill, all flat:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph
5 mins @ 10.0
10 mins @ 10.5
30 mins @ 11.0
10 mins @ 11.5

A.M. - 15 miles.

P.M. - Little Cottonwood ride (~25 miles). Nice to get up in the cooler mountain air. 

A.M. - 60 minutes on the treadmill. Did an incline/progression run I haven't done in a while:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat

5 mins @ 10.0, flat

20 mins @ 10.0, progressive inclines with 3 mins each at 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0, and 5 mins @ 3.5.

2.5 mins @ 10.0, flat

7.5 mins @ 10.5, flat

10 mins @ 11.0, flat

10 mins @ 11.5, flat 

A.M. - Long run. Garmin was dead, so I didn't wear it this morning. Not sure on exact distance. 3 times up and down the 9 mile course, with slight variations each pass. Last time I did this run (last fall) it was about 26-27 miles. So I'm going to call it 26. Felt good. Certainly wasn't ripping it, but wasn't dogging either. Just a good nice pace. No pit stops (yay! unlike the last 2 weeks). Was getting warm towards the end. I think they're saying 104 for Salt Lake today.

 P.M. - Rode to Guardsman (~50 miles). Thank goodness the canyon was much cooler than the valley.