running for my mind

4.4 easy miles with Adam. 

4.66 miles with Adam. Avg pace was sub 8 so I felt good about that. Not super fast but felt good to break 8 without calf pain.

10 miles with Adam and Brayden.

4.5 with Adam.

5.05 with Adam.

5 miles with Adam.

Solo run at 11am in between classes. I tried to step it up a little for miles 3 and 4. Mile 3 had a decent hill in it so I was happy with the pace and that I did not have any calf pain.

6 miles with Adam. There were crazy amounts of snow and it felt like we were running in the sand. Calves and quads were burning during this one.

10.85 - Half solo and half with Brayden. It was still pretty snowy and a little slow but was not as bad as yesterday. Felt good to get this longer run in even though I was a little sore from the run in the "sand" the day before. 

5.7 solo. Was 0 degrees during the entire run. This was the coldest I have ever run in. Felt good though. I might have dressed a little too warm though with the neck warmer I wore.

5.01 with Adam. Clocked one of the fastest miles I have done in a long time. I have not run one that fast since my last speed workout for my marathon back in September. Sub 7 felt good.

5 with Adam. We mixed up the route just a bit which makes mile 4 more of an uphill. Felt good to still average in the 7:30s.

5 miles with Adam. It was a good run. Felt a little sluggish but did the same route as yesterday but 46 seconds faster.

10.63 with Adam and Brayden for part. It was eventful. See Adam's blog for all the details but to say the least, it was fun! The first mile was a little slow because of the water that we encountered and then had to change Adam's shoes.

Planned rest day today and I am excited to have it. Going to spend some time icing, sitting in the hot tub, and stretching. I have developed a couple of weird soreness areas that I want to work out. 

Both knees hurt a little but never when I run. The ache is right on the front of the knee and not down inside the joint. Also, my left foot/ankle had been sore. This is also a unique ache to me. I feel it more in the top left of my foot near my ankle. Because I am starting to log more miles I am going to get back in the habit of icing and I think these slight aches will subside. 

--runmehappy-- 

Nice  7.67 mile run with Adam and his brother this morning. It was a little longer than our typical weekday run but it felt really good. I really like that we have been running negative splits for nearly all of our runs lately.

I just got back from the park with the fam. We did a mile loop and then came home to let our daughter nap. Felt good to just walk the snow covered trail and stay loose.

 --runmehappy-- 

 5 mile run at about 11 o'clock in between my classes. 

This was my first "official" speed workout of my training. I set out wanting to get to the track on campus and run 5 miles with miles 3 and 4 at marathon pace (6:55). I got to the track, which was about .5 miles from where I started. Unfortunately the track looked more like a white field of snow. So, I decided to stick with the plan and still try and run my tempo 2 miles on the roads. I don't love to do this because it is more difficult than the track because of the ups and downs. It does make me stronger though. I was glad that I met my goals on miles 3 and 4 despite mile 3 having a 100ft climb. 

 --runmehappy--

4.36 nice miles. It felt really cold this morning but somehow I was feeling really good. I kept my watch under my jacket and decided to just run based on how I was feeling. I knew my first mile was a quick one but I just got on cruise control and held a quick pace. At about mile 3 I turned a corner and fell on the black ice on to my hands and knees. Luckily I was not going fast and didn't get hurt. Knees feel better today because I spent some quality time with the foam roller last night so I am happy about that. 

[update] I think a slightly pulled groin is manifesting itself now later in the day. I am pretty sure this happened when I slipped on the ice. Hopefully it is not bad and I will feel alright tomorrow morning for 5 miles with Adam. I have to remember that it could have been a worse result from today's fall. 

Easy 5 miles with Adam this morning. We were lucky to get out before the freezing rain hit. My commute that normally takes about 45 minutes took me an 1hr 45min today! I felt pretty good, but was a little sore from the previous two days I think. My knees were a little tight again. I need to be more consistent with the stretching/foam rolling. I will hopefully get a little yoga and stretching/rolling in tonight so I am more loose tomorrow.

(If you ever wonder why our 4th mile is always slower, it is because it is a gradual uphill. I looked today and it is about a 130ft climb.) 

5 easy miles with Adam. It was still a little slick out on the roads so we had to take it a little slow. I was happy about this because I wanted to try and stick to about 8 min miles. As it turned out our AP was 8:04. My left foot is still bugging me, but it is not horrible. I can feel it ache for the first half mile of a run but then it goes away. I then can feel it during the day a little when I simply walk around. Going to try and take tomorrow's run pretty slow and see how the foot feels.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	40:22.2	5.00	8:04
1	8:43.3	1.00	8:43
2	7:59.9	1.00	8:00
3	7:39.6	1.00	7:40
4	7:56.3	1.00	7:56
5	8:00.7	1.00	8:01

11 easy miles this morning. I was amazed by how thick the fog was when I went out. I couldn't see street lights until I was within about 100 meters. Pretty unusual for SLC. 

I really wanted to keep my average pace around 8 min or so and just focus on form and feeling fluid. I managed to do that for the most part. Every so often I caught myself going a little faster here and there and I would have to slow up a bit. At about a mile and half left I looked at the time and realized I was supposed to be home in about 10 minutes so my wife could go spinning. So, I tossed the whole 8 min thing out the window and cruised home. 

Overall I felt good. My foot didn't really hurt and my knees were only a little tight. I will get some good stretching and foam rolling in today and enjoy my day off tomorrow. 

PMish- Just went on a 2.5 mile hike with the family. It was super nice to get out and breath some fresh Park City air and to see for a few miles across the valley by my folks house.

Today was another scheduled rest day. Felt good to be off of my feet, but I was itching to go on a run. I am early in my training for Ogden so I need to continue to be disciplined and stick to my plan.

Iced my knees and ankle/foot tonight just for preventetive measures mostly. I need to get back in the habit of icing. I was good about that last training cycle.

My goal for this week is to hit 40 total miles and to get in a speed workout with some 400 meter repeats. I might also try and squeeze in a 2 mile tempo at marathon pace like last week in the middle of one of my runs depending on what day the repeats fall on. I will probably shoot for 11-12 miles on Saturday.

I skipped this morning's run because of the storm and because I wanted to give my wife a break so I fed Grey for her so she could sleep in a bit. (Grey is our 10 month old daughter-FYI)

PM - 5.85 - Headed out late afternoon down some pretty snowy/slushy roads with Brayden and his wife Ashley. I also brought Grey along in her stroller. She is a trooper! I felt like a was pushing a shopping cart through sand at times. (not that I have experience with that, but I could imagine it would be difficult) Needless to say, the snow and the "shopping cart" made for some slower miles, but it was a great workout.

5 miles - Pretty good run this morning with Adam. It was a little snowy and slushy in places which slowed us down a little, but it was a good easy pace. Started to snow more by the end of our run and once again I had an hour and 45 minute commute. Wondering how I am going to get in my speed workouts this week if the snow keeps up. Might try and hit up the indoor track or maybe just the roads if they dry up enough.

7 mile treadmill run this morning. This was my first time on the treadmill this year. Adam and I had planned to run outside but the storm changed our plans. I wanted to get in a speed workout this week and I thought today would be the best opportunity.

I warmed up for 2 miles and then did the next 3 miles in 1/4 mile repeats of 1/4 on and 1/4 off. I ended up doing 6 1/4 miles on at 6:00 pace and the 6 1/4 miles off at 8:00 pace. I felt pretty good, but was definitely worn out. I ended with another 2 mile cool down. I hope to still work in a couple tempo miles at marathon pace this week.

question for blog readers - would my 1.5 miles at the 6:00 pace be considered Threshold Miles or VO2 Max Miles...or neither?

Split	Time	Distance	Calories
Summary	53:34.0	7.00	0
1	7:57.0	1.00
2	7:47.8	1.00
3	7:00.2	1.00
4	7:00.5	1.00
5	7:00.8	1.00
6	8:26.6	1.00
7	8:20.4	1.00
8	:01.0	0.00

6.2 easy miles. I tried to keep things right around an 8:00 pace, but once again I failed at that. My average pace was right at 8:00 but the 3 in the middle were too fast. AP was a 7:54 if I add in the last .2 that i purposely did a little faster. (the table below shows the AP without that .2)

I headed to the indoor track on campus to give it a shot. I was moderately impressed and moderately disappointed. How is that for vague?

The track is not full size, but is close. 5 laps equals a mile. This was not as bothersome as how hot it was in there. It really needed to be 10+ degrees cooler...or 20+. I wore my typical shorts and a short sleeve shirt and felt way over dressed. I really wanted this track to be a good place for me to go for speed workouts but don't know if I could handle a more intense workout in there. I would just get too hot I think because I even felt a little sluggish because of the heat on this easy run today.