Seeking a better country...

15 miles, overall pace was 8:17.  Not fast enough, but considering the terrain, it was all right.  I ran Deuel Creek to Farmington Canyon, west to Legacy Parkway, and home on the trail.  The first 4 miles are up and down, over dirt and ice road this time of year, so there was no make-up speedy stretches on the downhill.  By mile 4, I felt a blister rubbing on my arch, but it never got too bad.  I got off the dirt road around 7 miles.  I had a fast mile coming down into Farmington, and then trudged along for the rest on Legacy.  My run was mostly completed in solitude, aside from a couple bikers on Legacy and a few hikers on the trail.  

My legs are tired.  I'm very tired.  I'm very sore in my core/inguinal area.  I've got a ways to go, but it was a good effort.  10 more similar runs between now and the marathon.  It's weird to run that long.  It's hard to stay on top of things mentally.  I know the last 5 miles of that run is the whole purpose of the workout, and I tried to make them count.  

I brought along 36 oz of powerade...I'm glad I did.  I need to experiment with clif blocks and gu, just to figure out what works and for how long.  I was sloshing a bit.  Last year I ate a lot of Starburst Jelly beans on the long runs.  Soon the easter candy will be for sale and I can replenish that supply.  Any tips on what works for replacement on the long ones would be appreciated.  Splits were:  10:05, 8:23, 8:15, 9:07, 9:51, 8:56, 8:50, 6:57, 7:50, 7:39, 7:46, 8:02, 7:44, 7:36, 7:17.  I'm proud of that last mile.  The 6:57 is true, it was a gradual descent from the canyon into downtown Farmington.   

I tried to go slow to recover from yesterday's 15 miler.  The first 3 miles were over 8 min pace.  Mile four was 7:30 ish and mile five was 7:06.

These were slow, treadmill miles.  Hot, sweaty, languid miles.  For the first time, I had to wait a bit for a treadmill.  Several people were exceeding the 30 minute time limit, extending my wait.  This didn't bother me since I exceed that limit all the time.  The parking lot was full due to a state hockey game. 

I need to get a haircut or remember my headband.  Too many times my hair flipped sweat into my eyes.

I decided to do mile intervals rather than slog along on the TM.  7:15, 7:08, 6:53, 6:53, with 60-90 sec recovery in between.  Good times.

Treadmill.  Nothing special.

7:43, 7:43, 7:38, 7:54, 7:51, 7:24, 8:10, 7:15, 7:18, 7:57, 7:43, 7:22.

I ran the mostly flat course from home to the walking overpass on south Legacy trail.  It rained light and steady for the first hour.  I'm soaked and cold.  These splits include walk time so fiddle with my piece if sh## ipod shuffle that doesn't work properly, also to drink.  I tried the caffeine tang.  Mostly it tasted nasty, but hey, it's a little fluid.  Max met me at 9.3 miles with some powerade, which 4 out of 5 people prefer in a blind taste test.  

There were no bikers on the trail, but 8 other runners.  I saw a dead, decomposing red fox, and two roosting eagles on Pages lane.  Also a cow urinating with better pressure and flow than my garden hose.  (not a euphemism)  

Overall pace for the run was 7:40/mile.  That's satisfactory, for what is supposed to be a long, slow run.  By the end, I was feeling the belgian waffle breakfast, and wanting to walk.  Well, I told myself, "You can do anything at any point in time for 10 more minutes."  Thus, the 7:22 final mile, uphill.  I'm feeling pretty good about the progress this month.  I need to look back on last year's garmin stuff and see how I'm comparing.  At this point, the Boston qualifying is achievable.  13 weeks to go.  That's a long grind.  It'll be tough to keep up the excitement and intensity.  I plan to turn one short run each week into mile repeats, just to vary the workouts, and keep things interesting.   

My feet are in good shape.  The blister I wore and drained on Monday is completely fine.  My toes look good, only one nail is coming off.