It ain't Chinese algebra!

No problems with today's tempo run. I felt pretty good and survived the cold. My feet felt like solid bricks after just 1 mile, but seemed to "thaw out" by mile 4. I ran north past the armory, so the route was flat most of the time. Started with 1 mile easy, 5 mile tempo, then 1 mile easy to finish. My time was 2 seconds faster than on December 19th (also a 5 mile tempo on a similar course) and today was much colder. On the 19th I had to finish with a 5:01 last mile for a decent time, but today I was much more "even" in my splits, so I was happy with that (goal was 5:30):

• 5:24
• 5:28
• 5:26
• 5:30 (slight uphill)
  
• 5:20 (slight downhill)
  

Total Tempo Time: 27:09

Pace: 5:26

Sinster (13)

Today was ROUGH!!!  One of my worst runs in months.  I like to think that I can generally handle unpleasant conditions.  I'll run in single digit temps, snow, rain, ice, etc.  I don't love it, but I survive.  I guess today I learned the one thing that gets to me though--wind.  It was horrible this morning.  Weather channel said the wind was blowing @ 28 mph with gusts up to 39 mph.  It was coming from the south, so I tried to run east to west and avoid it head-on, but it wasn't happening.  As usual with my long runs, I wanted to hit around 6 min/mile, or even 5:50 after the last 2 weeks, but I didn't even come close.  I did 1 mile easy, then started my garmin.  Course was to the canyon trail, south past old hospital, through Jill's old neighborhood and the motel frontage road.  Splits were:

• 6:46-Slight wind
• 6:47-Increased wind and uphill
• 7:21-Wind directly to my front, all uphill (at one point, garmin says 9:15 pace) :(
  
• 7:10-Wind straight on, all uphill
  
• 7:04-Wind off and on as I go through a neighborhood
  
• 7:29-Road now flat, but wind seems to pick up
• 7:36-DOWNHILL and I slow down even more.  What a joke.  Gusts were easily 35+ right about now.

At this point, I've ran 7 miles in 50:10 (7:10 min/mile) and feel trashed.  So I decide to turn around and run home:

• 5:41-Uphill the entire mile and it feels like I'm running DOWN an escalator!
• 5:44-Flat road, wind to my back
  
• 6:16-Wind off and on through neighborhood
• 5:47-Flat, wind off and on
• 6:21-Downhill-ish, but the wind picks up and nearly knocks me over multiple times
• 5:37-Finally flat and wind at my side
• 5:28-Same as above.

So my second 7 splits were all over the place, but my average was 5:51 per mile, so when it's all said and done, I'm okay with that.  I was happy that, after 13 miles, I was able to finish with 2 quick miles.  Overall though, it was just brutal today.  I was frustrated at how slow I was going even though I thought my effort felt as high as ever.  Whatever.....  I guess that's just the way it goes living in a windy city.  It makes me appreciate the runs in 10 mph winds!

Red (63)

An easy 4 miles after the dentist and before work. Winds were 25+ mph again this morning, so I stayed inside and ran on the treadmill. First 3 miles were at 5% incline, last mile was at 7%.

Sinster (17)

Lots of snow last night made for a very wet/slushy run, but it was fun anyway.  The plan was 5x1000m repeats on the track, so I started out with an easy 3 miles to warm up.  Just as I was starting my first interval.......I got kicked off by the track team.  Bummer.  I ran over to the high school to see if it was cleared off (it wasn't), so I called it a day and ran home.  I thought about doing hills instead, but I need to get these legs moving, so speed work is postponed until tomorrow.

Sinster (21)

I took the GRE today. Find out in 15 days how I did, then I can start applying to graduate school. After the test I just wanted to relax, but I talked myself into running anyway. 3 easy miles to start, then speed on the track, followed by 1.5 miles easy. Splits:

400	68
800	2:16
800	2:18
800	2:19
800	2:18

Between each repeat I jogged 400m. Usually when I do 800's, I shoot for 2:20 and miss it by a couple seconds, so I was happy they were all under my goal. Probably went a little too hard on the first 800.

Speedstar

5 miles easy to loosen things up on the Wal-Mart loop. Average was 6:49. I stretched for a couple minutes and then started my 3 mile tempo. Ran from Home Depot north to the high school, then through neighborhoods to the college. Splits:

Mile Split	Total Time	Course Layout
5:02	5:02	Slight downhill past the movies
5:14	10:16	Slight uphill towards the high school
5:01	15:17	Flat for .85, downhill for final .15

1 mile easy finish things up. I was shooting for splits between 5:15-5:20, so I'm very pleased with todays run. It seems that I've been hitting my times pretty consistently lately, so maybe it's time to recalculate and shoot for bigger goals?

Total Tempo Time: 15:17

Pace: 5:06

Sinster (30)

The workout was an 8 mile run, then 2 miles easy. I'm pleased with today's run. I had to run @ 5 in order to be at work at 7. That's probably no big deal to most of you, but that's early for me. I ran to the south of town, then north to the hospital, then back to the house. I had two cops tell me to get off the road! I figure I can run wherever I want @ 5 am when zero cars are on the road, so I was running in the turning lane..... I guess I learned my lesson after the second cop yelled at me.

Total Time: 45:51

Pace: 5:44

Red (73)

I started with 4 easy miles (6:45 pace), then went to the track for some speed.  I did 6x400m repeats with a 400m jog between each.  Splits were:

• 66
• 66
• 68
• 66
• 65
• 63

Finished up the run with 2 more easy miles.  Overall it was a good run and I'm very pleased with where I'm at right now.

Sinster (39)

I'm sure this entry is going to sound similar to all those running in Utah.....COLD! It was 4 degrees when I left my house, but with the wind chill it was negative 11. Freezing! I survived though. I didn't run with my garmin or any other watch, so I'm not sure about the pace. I'm guessing around 6:40/mile. The last mile I increased the pace, but I'm sure it wasn't faster than 5:35/mile.

Red (78)

Not sure it was even worth running today. I missed my alarm and by the time I got up, I only had 30 minutes to run. I got dressed and headed outside, realized it was 3 degrees (plus whatever the wind-chill made it), and was fine going only a few miles.

Sinster (42)

Here goes the report. To begin the day, I made sure to not make the same mistake as last year and run on an empty stomach. I ate a bagel and banana about 2 1/2 hours before the race began, got in the car and made my way to St. George. I warmed up with only 1 mile of light jogging. It was right around 30 degrees, so I ended up wearing a t-shirt, shorts, gloves and beanie. I wanted to run a PR, so anything under 1:13:36 would have made me happy.

The race started and I went out faster than I ever had for a half marathon. Right away I met up with Sasha, Dave, Nick, Logan and Karl. We ran as a group, taking turns with the lead every .25 miles. It was a lot of fun to share the workload and run as a group, something that is very foreign to me. I've pretty much ran solo my entire life, even while running in high school and college....just the way things worked out. Anyway, we ran together until mile 4 when I got left in the dust! I have always thought of myself as a strong hill runner, but these guys made me look like I was walking as we left the trail system and ran through a park. After the climb ended, and for the next 2 miles or so, I was able to keep the gap between the myself and the lead group to about 15-20 feet. By the time we I crossed the bridge and started towards Bloomington, the gap was easily 75 meters to Sasha and Dave. I was in no-mans land from here until the finish.

For me, the Bloomington loop is pure misery. Every time I run it, it feels as if it's twice the length it is. Back on the trail and heading towards the finish line, I was on pace for a great time. According to my garmin, I came through mile 10 @ 53:53, so I was confident I could hold on for a few more miles. I didn't feel as though I had slowed down, but I would look down at my watch and see my pace in the high 5's and even low 6's. I would re-commit and push harder, or so it felt, but nothing changed. I just fell apart and I'm not sure why. For the last 2 miles, right after leaving the golf course "net" area, my vision went haywire. I could see people's bodies, but none of their features. Everything was blurry. I'd blink and hope to clear things up, but nothing changed until I was walking through the finishers shoot and having my number scanned. I've never experienced anything like that, so who knows..... I'm sure it's nothing.

My garmin had me at 13.18, but I hear that the majority of people were more like 12.95-12.98, so who knows. I hesitate to put my splits as they must be in-accurate, but here they are anyway:

• 5:34
• 5:27
• 5:16
• 5:27
• 5:31 (27:18 @ 5)
• 5:05
• 5:00
• 5:46
• 5:24
• 5:19 (53:53 @ 10)
• 5:37 (slowing...)
  
• 5:47 (slowing even more....)
• 6:04 (WOW! I've fallen apart.....)
• 5:22 (for final .18 on my garmin)

Like I said, I'm sure it's not that my garmin is accurate and 100+ others are off. Mine is goofed up somehow. Does that make all my previous distances wrong? Who knows.... So when it's all said and done, I guess I can't say, with confidence, that I ran a PR given the short course. However, I will say that I'd take this time on this course any day over my current half pr on Bryce Canyon's downhill course.  Oh yeah, I guess I can't complain...last year I ran Painter's in 1:15:47, so short course or not, I improved by 3:26.

Anyway, I ran 2 miles to cool down. I raced in my Sinisters. Never again. I'll use them for tempo's under 10 miles. My right achillies was sore something fierce Saturday and Sunday.

Sinister (58)

Wal-Mart loop plus Lay Hill by way of Dell Taco. I need to do more hills after last Saturday. Nice and easy today, like all of this week is going to be.

Total Time: 59:57

Pace: 6:40

Red (87)

Ran to the north of town, through the golf course neighborhoods.  Nice run with a good mix of hills and flat.

Total Time:59:30

Pace 6:37

Rotterdam (50) 

4 easy miles this morning in the snow. No watch.

Sinister (62)

16 degrees when I began my run, with the wind chill bringing it down to 9 degrees. I'm SO ready for winter to be over. Regardless of the weather, really enjoyed my run. It was very quiet with just a couple cars on the road. It was nice to feel alone and seemingly have the roads to myself. I wanted to take it nice and easy this morning, with the pace somewhere around 6:40/mile. I started out going through town for a bit, around the college, then south on the hotel frontage road. After 7 miles I turned north and went around the Cedar Knoll until I reached Highway 56. I turned east, ran up the "cove" to tack on 1 more mile, then finished up right in my backyard. I'm going to title this route "Cedar Knoll" for future reference. I'm sure I'll be running it again, due to the lack of traffic and rolling hills.

Total Time: 1:38:19

Pace: 6:33

Red (102)

Winds this morning were at 30 mph, with gusts up to 36 mph. As a result, I stayed inside and ran on the treadmill. I'm not sure which choice is worse.... I loathe running on that thing, but I wasn't up for the wind either. I ran the first mile with at 6% incline, 2nd @ 7%, 3rd @ 8%, 4th @ 9% and final @ 10%. I was raining sweat, but that's normal for me and indoor running. I checked my heart rate a few times and it was generally between around 150, but up around 175-180 at the end. About 30 minutes after I finished, vision in my left eye went all sorts of haywire. It started out like when you look at a bright light and can't see what your directly looking at (ie, the sun, light bulb, flashlight). After about 15 minutes of that, everything went blurry (only in the left eye) and I couldn't focus on anything. It made driving to school.......interesting, and sitting through class.......unpleasant. 2 hours later, my vision has cleared and all I'm left with is a pounding headache. That's twice in 10 days that running has effected my vision. What gives?

Rotterdam (55)

There is snow and ice on every road in Cedar City. Hope it goes away today, but not likely. I went to the pool this morning and "ran" in the water. This won't make any sense, but I "ran" the length of the pool 22 times and swam the length 10 times. It took me between 90-110 seconds to "run" the length of the pool, with my total time just under 45 minutes, so I guess that's my standard for next time. I was beat by the end, but it was actually pretty enjoyable.

Interesting run this morning. I started out with an easy 5 miles, then tried to do a tempo run. It didn't happen. Too much ice, uneven footing, and cold temps. I was freezing this morning for some reason. I called it quits at 9 miles, went home to use the bathroom, then jumped on the treadmill for another 3. No headaches or vision issues. Good stuff.

Red (111)

Rotterdam (58)

I enjoyed the pool enough on Tuesday (and it was 2 degrees when I got up this morning) that I thought I'd go back. I "ran" the pool length 28 times and swam the length 10 times in 50:40. I had a good time once again.