running for my mind

6 this morning. Still feeling Saturday's run in my legs for sure. Did 4 of the miles at a moderate pace though once my legs loosened up a bit. 

Anyone use heat to sooth muscles and aches? I have a heating pad at work and it seems to be helping, but wanted to get the thoughts of others. Thanks.

10 miles total. 2 mile warm up - 3-2-1 with .5 in between - cool down.

Per Josh's suggestion, I did a 3-2-1 workout this morning. He said that he likes to do a progression for mental strength. I will call the 6 miles MP miles though they were faster than I plan on running Boston. Felt good to know I am capable of today's workout though

3 - 6:46, 6:35, 6:19
2 - 6:17, 6:13
1 - 5:49

8.2 easy - my legs felt a little heavy from yesterday's workout. I think I will start a heavier taper now and get the legs feeling solid for Boston. I am happy that I have made it (almost) through another training cycle injury free.

6.5 easy. Starting to break in the new shoes that I am wearing for Boston. I think I will do somewhere close to 16 miles tomorrow. I might toss in a couple faster miles in the middle just to keep the legs turning over. Won't do anything too crazy though.

15.5 - felt OK

6 easy - felt good, but my right knee was a little rore. Could be due to the fact that I filled up a small trailer of boxes yesterday afternoon. I refuse to move any other items until after Boston.

8 easy with Scott and Tyler this morning. Tyler needed to do a 2 hour run for his Ironman training, so Scott and I joined him for his first hour and then he continued on. 

I am feeling good. Going to keep moving easy this week. I think my taper is going well so far.

[update - 4:00pm] I have a weird pain in my left ankle that has gotten progressively worse today. It is a sharp shooting pain if I lay my foot flat and slowing bend my leg forward. So, each step it hurts right before I pick my foot up to take another step. The pain is on the top of my foot / almost ankle right at the point where the skin creases at the ankle. Any thoughts?

6 easy with Scott around Murray / Holladay. Tossed in a couple strides at about 6:00 pace.

My left foot is still acting weird. It hurt yesterday until the evening when I went outside and walked around a bit on the grass and played around the swingset with my daughter. It seemed to stop hurting and I didn't really notice it until I went to bed. This morning it was a little sore, but not as bad as yesterday. I did not feel it one bit on my run, which is great! However, now it is sore again. Still, not as bad as yesterday, but we will see how it progresses as the day goes on. 

Felt like I needed a rest, so I listened. Slept in a little and then I heated up in a hot tub and stretched well before heading to work. 

Might get out for an easy few miles this evening, but most likely not because we are closing on our first house at 4. I guess that is kind of a big deal.

6 miles - 2 were about 20 seconds off of marathon pace. Feeling good about this taper. I am to the point where I just want the race to be here!

10 with Scott up by his house near the mouth of Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood. Had some hills to deal with that I felt pretty decent on. Clipped off a couple miles right at about 7:00 despite the elevation gains. Overall, I didn't feel great though. I think that is part of the taper process though. 

6 easy with Scott. Felt fresh. Had a few miles that we dipped the pace slightly and it felt easy. I think I will only continue to feel better this week. 

Crazy that Boston is only in one week! Slowly getting more nervous. 

5.25 easy

I signed up for a 5k today. Hoping to run a couple this summer for more race experience and to test my top(per) speed.

4 easy with a good crew that came to show their support before Boston. Ran with Tyler, Scott, Brayden, and Ashley. They have all helped me train a ton this year! Huge thanks to them.

Also, runmehappy.com has a new website. Check it out if you have a minute. It is something that I have been working on for a while now and I am excited to help try and make a difference in the lives of those affected by cancer. Every little bit helps.

Slept in and logged an easy 2 this morning. We fly out in the morning tomorrow to Boston. Feeling a little antsy for sure. I kind of wish I could have flown out earlier, but couldn't pull it off with work. Oh well.

Enjoyed Saturday and Sunday in Boston and felt good when I got to sleep at about 9. Woke up at 5:30, got dressed in all my layers, and headed down to the hotel restaraunt for some food. I ate a couple pieces of toast with peanut butter and a banana (my typical race morning meal). It was early, for a 10am start, but I was hungry and needed some fuel. I walked over to the buses from the hotel and thought it was a little chilly but not bad. I had on a long sleeve button up shirt with my arm warmers underneath and my jersey with bib attached over the top. No, unfortunately I do not have a picture! I had not planned on wearing my Easter Sunday shirt to the race to toss to the side, but realized I had forgotten a sweatshirt to donate when it was too late to find a replacement.

I met up with Josh and we sat down and relaxed with Kevin and a couple others that were with him. I continued to drink and eat a little and was feeling great. I figured I had consumed enough liquid because I had to go to the restroom several times the last hour and a half of waiting. I had contemplated starting the run wearing my arm warmers and beanie, but by the time we lined up I had shed everything and felt plenty warm. I am used to feeling a little chilly at the beginning of races in Utah so it was different to feel fine before beginning to run. note-this should have been my first sign that the heat of the day was going to affect me.

Before I knew it, we were off and running. It felt good to get the legs moving and finally be racing. My goal was to run the first 2 miles at about 7:00 or so and not faster than 6:50, then to drop to 6:50 until "the hills." It was amazingly crowded, but I felt like the pace was good at the start. I consciously held back a few times when I felt the mass of runners push my desired pace a little. First 2 came in at 6:57 and 6:53 (according to Garmin, so add a couple seconds if you wish). I felt good with these so I decided to stick to the plan and drop down to 6:50's but hopefully nothing faster than 6:45, with one small caveat. Mile 3 was 6:47 (5k - 21:26, according to race clock).

I took a sip of gatorade or water at each station. The next 3 miles seemed to fly by and were 6:50, 6:47, 6:41 (10k - 42:33). That 6th mile was a little quick, but I allowed myself the caveat that if the mile had a decent downhill I would allow a few seconds faster as long as I didn't have to push the effort to be there. 3 more miles in and I was still feeling great. I took a gel some time between 6 and 7 and chased it with some water from the aid station. 6:44, 6:44, 6:45 (15k - 1:03:37).

Before I knew it I was at the half way point and was still feeling great. I kept thinking to myself, "hydration is on, nutrition is on, feeling good." 10-13 were 6:48, 6:44, 6:39 (decent down), 6:45. (20k - 1:24:36). So I crossed the half at 1:29:11, which is right where I wanted to be. I took another gel somewhere around 14 and I think that I poured a cup of water down my back somewhere shortly after the half. Honestly, up to that point I didn't ever really feel hot. I obviously was warm, and I noticed that I started sweating pretty early on, but up to this point I had not thought I was overheating. I thought that I was hydrating sufficiently by consuming either water or gatorade at each station.

I kept on running and only had one little niggle in my right calf. I could tell it was tightening a little, but I have had enough experience with that pain now that I know it is nothing to worry about. Sure, I won't walk well in 2 days, but I am good to keep running. 6:43, 6:49, 6:38 I knew I would be a little faster on 16 because of the down, but I held back knowing I could have easily gone faster. I wanted to just keep an easy effort down so I could hold the effort after it flattened and went back up. (25k 1:45:31).

I like to think that 17 is where the course changes to more uphill. To hit my goal, I had said that I was willing to run up to 5 miles at a 7:00 pace across the "Newton Hills." 17 - 6:49, just banked 11 seconds and the effort felt good. 18 - 7:00, right where I intended. 19 - 6:53, 7 more seconds banked. 20 - 7:04, totally fine with that. 21 - 7:14, a little slow, but I didn't want to completely run out of steam on Heartbreak. I crested the hill and still felt ok. Obviously, by now my legs are getting tired, but I thought the tough miles were behind me. (30k - 2:07:00, 35k - 2:29:14)

The downhill felt alright. I know that others have complained of the downhill being painful, but I didn't really experience that at this point. I love running downhill and consider it one of my strengths. I had to shake the up out of my legs but I thought I would dip back under 7:00 pretty easily. 7:04, Ok, I can deal with that. I don't feel great now, but the next one will be quicker and I am still a couple seconds below my goal average. This is where the pretty picture to this point gets destroyed.

Here are my thoughts as I tried to get my legs under me and back under 7:00. "Hmm...I don't feel right. I have a slight headache and I might be a little dizzy. That is weird, my hands are tingling ever so slightly. Yup, I am dizzy. I closed my eyes for a second to think what was going on. As I said, I thought I was solid with my nutrition and hydration. I had tried to keep my core temp down. My eyes shot open as I stumbled a little to the left and felt a slight variation in the road. I felt like time slowed to a halt, my mind started racing (better than my legs at this point) with countless self defeating thoughts. "I'm falling apart." "I don't deserve to be running this epic race." "I'm a hack." And then... "Am I even going to finish?"

Thankfully, another series of thoughts followed and I realized I had 2 options, quit or push through. It wasn't going to be easy. It surely want going to be pretty. However, I thought it was possible. So, I pushed on. By now, the bottoms of my feet felt like they were on fire, my hands were definitely tingling, and each time I closed my eyes things didn't stay straight. I committed to not walk. Slow down, but never walk.

I honestly thought I was destined to collapse, hopefully not until after crossing the finish line, and end up in the med tent. I am sure I looked like a zombie (not the ones on World War Z - those were fast runners) to every spectator and especially to those gracious volunteers handing out water and gatorade. I am happy to say that I stuck to it. Those several miles were some of the most miserable I have ever run. 7:31, 8:02, 8:39, 8:50, and brought it in in 3:13 (7:54 pace). I didn't end up in the med tent!

So, Boston 2014 was an amazing experience! It was just awesome to be there and to run a 3:06. However, I am a little disappointed in the outcome. My training cycle was solid and I thought I had a sub-3 in me. I still think that I did, but unfortunately it didn't play out that way. Now it is time to regroup and decide what to run next. Thinking about putting my name in for St. George. Thoughts?

4 easy. First run post Boston and I consider it a shakeout run. Took Grey in the stroller at about 6:30pm. My quads were pretty sore by the end along with my right soleus

Going to keep things slow. Have 2 weeks before a 5k.

4 easy on the treadmill. Felt 10 times better than yesterday. Going to keep it slow and easy this entire week and hopefully feel alright by next Saturday to clip off a decent 5k.

On my way home from Boston I read parts of "Iron War" after I read a great book that my uncle suggested while we were there (more on that in one sec). Iron War is worth reading if you have not picked it up. I was feeling a little defeated on the flight as I thought about my race. I thought this quote was worth sharing.

That experience of having to drag yourself across the finish line when there's a thousand and one times you want to quit, when you don't feel you can make it, but somehow you do, it gives you a perspective within which to always have a shred of hope that somehow it will turn around for you. And when you have that inside, no matter how bad it looks., there is always a part of you that will continue to give it what you have.

The book my uncle suggested is short, only took about 2 hours to read. Super entertaining and informative as well. It is called "The Curmudgeon's Guide to Getting Ahead: Dos and Don'ts of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life" It made me laugh out loud on the plane and think about a few changes I could make in my professional and personal life.