Dave's Addiction

Just going to and from the gym, going to lighten up this week, bike tomorrow.

+ 3 bike with Abigail, counting it a 1 EZ

57 minutes of moderate bike and easy trail running, calling it 5 EZ

Three miles with three strides, first on the flat, then 14 on the TM, then max up the steep hill. Ready for HM tomorrow!

Well if all the races this year are this fun I'll have a really great year. I took a blanket up on the bus because future me was yelling at current me that it was too freeking cold at the start. Well maybe next time future me can tell current me to take something better than a @$#% blanket. Anyway after a very long wait almost near enough to a fire to feel some heat, and a shorter wait in front of a running schoolbus where some heat was coming through the air intake, the marathoners started off with their slow lopes. How anyone manages to go that slowly at the beginning of a race mystifies me. 

So they lined the halfers up and we waited three or four minutes while the ladies streamed in from random very odd locations downwind of the start, then we were off. I ran a bit with the leaders, then they seemed to drop back a lot, then it was completely silent. I didn't think I was really going that fast. After passing mile 1 (5:12) Brett finally caught up to me. He was very tall. I don't think he saw me. After mile 2 (5:25) we had come out in the flat part of the canyon and three more guys passed me, looking very strong and intimidating. I tried keeping up a bit but I started to feel a small bit of pain and it was too early in the race for that so I just concentrated on weaving in and out of the marathoners. I was worried about running into bad blockage, but the only places where the trail was completely blocked was around the pacers and they were alert and moved their crowd out of the way.

Miles 3-7 passed uneventfully (5:50,33,36,44,52). I could tell I was gradually losing energy so I backed it off ever so slowly. All I needed to do was accumulate 180 seconds of sub-6 time and I had done half of it on the first two miles so I wanted to save a little for the last two miles on the highway.

Mile 8 was whacked. Some hot little bobtail job came screaming by at what had to be a 5:20 pace. I had never heard of Kodi before but I had also never been so thoroughly chicked before on a race where I was doing well. (She ended just under 1:13 - insane, almost 5 minutes faster than Kassi's record) I got 5:51. Miles 9 and 10 took me to the 5k start (5:53, 6 flat) where I saw Brandon and Mike. Mile 11 contains the only real uphill in the race but sets you up for the final gentle downhill into down town, I got 6:06, quite respectable!

I turned on a little more energy at that point but I was already getting pretty near the limit. I could feel Collin's eyes in my back just like at Leopards though so I just focused and watched the Zions Bank building get closer (5:55,5:54). Not too many marathoners to pass now so the street was totally empty and I burned it in to the line at a 5:20 for the last tenth. Waited around for 5k which Matt took second and Brandon took fifth in but it looked like they were on an easy run so I don't think it counts :) Then waited for prizes but lost patience so I gave my number to Brad and left so I could see Iron Man. Great fun!

Now I get home and see that the course only dropped 870 feet or so. Are you serious? I thought it was like 1300. Now I am really happy with my time.

Heyy - this was supposed to be low miles rest week. Not sure how I ended up with 41 but I sure felt rested!

Still a little sore in the calves, going Krong easy except for the middle 2 got a bit fast. Felt like lying on the massage table with gentle whacks on the muscles for 46 minutes

OK, so I tried the downhill threshold workout today. I did it on the Hobbler Half course, just to start getting a good benchmark. Last year I got 1:16:45 for 1100 down vs this year's Provo 1:15:19 with 870 down, so I figure I have about 7 seconds per mile fitness gain over those 10 months. I haven't recovered completely from the Provo, but no muscle soreness today - knock about 8 per mile off. There's nobody racing with me, so knock another 6 or so off. Last year's first three miles were 5:19,35,42 with an average pace of 5:51 so if I can hold an average pace of 5:26 with as little variance as possible then it's good. The 3 miles in question is mostly down with a few tenths of nasty up scattered randomly throughout, one in each mile.

The first mile I immediately dropped to a 4:35, which I usually do in the first 2 tenths of a race, and ended with a 5:21. The next two were 5:34 and 5:37 but the third wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be - I almost counted it as threshold instead of VO2 max. Really it was just the end that was somewhat difficult. I think there might be something to Sasha's mental block thing. I almost tried another two mile down after the run back to the car, but it was too late and I wanted to start slow. Next time I will step up the intensity for miles 2 and 3 and try to make them level with mile 1.

Actually, a descent review shows that mile 1 drops 130, but miles 2 and 3 drop 70, so that was a pretty good job of keeping the intensity level. I'll still try to step it up a bit, but I think I only need 4 seconds or so on the second two to get a flat output.

The Brandon Dase Memorial Treadmill Progression run has been completed, 9.1 to 11.9 with a 14.0 kicker. Sorry but I had to drop down to 10.0 for 2 minutes, so I extended the end by 30 seconds :)

10x10. Legs were kind of dead the first 4 miles, then I did the hill sprinst, then they were less dead. They feel positively zippy now. I think I will do the Powerhouse on Saturday.

35 minutes on bike, really, decided to bag threshold workout and pound it tomorrow

Powerhouse, yeah!

 OK not the full powerhouse because  I had to be back in time for the baptism but I drove to the base of the mountain and did it from there. Stage 1 is 3.6 miles up the canyon for a gain of 1970 feet (13:49, 12:16, 16:42, 9:42). The only goal - don't stop running, except for 100 meters of really steep part. Did it! Then go easy until mile 4 and go hard for 1, easy for 1 four times (5:12 (392 down), 6:49, 5:06 (309 down), 7:03, 5:31 (92 down), 7:07, 5:38 (109 down)) then MP for the rest (6:32, 6:19, 5:26 for .4)

The top never disappoints and today was no exception, as the rising sun was a ball lying on the ground right in front of my feet. Made it hard to see though :) I feel pretty zippy now so I am thinking I am ready to rock the Timp Trail Half next week.

Calves still pretty sore after Saturday, so going Krong easy (7:55 avg). Felt much better at the end.

Sasha was kind enough to show me his course this morning and have a go at diagnosing my weak points. We left his house and ran 5.2 or so up Provo canyon, super slow (8s). Then he told me to take off back down at a speed I could hold for 3 miles, like half marathon race pace. So I did. But having him there triggered a full-on case of the out too fasts and I did the first mile in a holy smokes 5:06. Felt pretty good at the end of it too. But after the middle of the second mile, the wheels started to come off. It's not very downhill  (65,69,60 feet down) but even so I got 5:31 and 5:32 - that third mile was bloody murder. I started it at 102% and finished it at 105% and when Sasha called for a kick I wondered to myself if he meant "the bucket". Also I thought I was going to take a dump right there on the trail and let's hear it for UCCU for leaving a door open so I could get to business before, well, things got worse. 2 easy miles back and I felt like a million bucks on the way home. Except the intestines are still complaining a bit. I know I got a few seconds faster on my 5k today!

Ran to the gym the long way, upper body, then more running up to the canyon trying to keep it EZ. But then I noticed that I was going to be late to drive the kid to the piano lesson so I picked it up to 6:10 but it was downhill and downwind so still super easy. It was like swimming in a clear cool stream for 55 minutes, but that's Utah in the summer for you! Then I ran another .14 after dropoff to make it an honest 8.

I wanted to do another 8 today but I fell under the "four sore no more" rule which cancels all workouts until soreness goes away after four days in a row of muscle soreness. So I did some aerobic bike this morning (30 min) and the soreness was gone by the evening, so I ran another 1 with my wife riding a bike.

Standard pre-race day 5K with 3 strides, 1 on the flat, 1 on the TM and 1 uphill at the end.

Plus another 1 in PM, feeling a bit peaky

I was going for a big W and a course record, but the rain had just stopped before I arrived and things were looking grim. But none of the people who beat me last year were there, and I was feeling at the top, so all there was to do was to run it!

Mile 1 - with a 220 foot gain in the first half mile we don't start this race fast :) I was tiptoeing lightly up the road but rapidly left everyone in the dust. However a few hardy souls started feeling the pace and knocking on the door in mile 2. 7:19, 1 second faster than last year, road in good shape. Could be good!

Mile 2 is flat until the little 80 foot bump up to the meadow, you go easy to recover from the climb. I got 7:05, 7 seconds faster. There are four of us duking it out now and nobody else is even close. Looks like a 4 man race! (no peeking at the top)

Mile 3 has the fairly docile 440 foot climb to the upper road. I walked it a few times just to conserve, probably should not have done that since I practiced not walking two weeks ago. I got passed by 3 and 4, 1 passed me on the lower road at mile 2. 9:39, 22 seconds slower. Finding a bit of mud but nothing big yet.

Mile 4 has the last 40 feet of the climb and then you are on the upper road. Auuggghh!! Mud!! Nooooooo! Looks like CR is out of the question but let's see. The two guys 150 meters in front of mee had never run the course before and did not know that the grass on the side of the road, while unpleasantly wet, did not hide any rocks or holes so while they were slogging it out I was a little less sloggy. 7:17, 20 seconds slower, easy 40 second mud penalty.

I moved back into second with first in easy reach at mile 5, none of these guys knew about the mud secrets and it was costing them. But they figured it out as I passed and they fell into line behind, even with the sheer drop off the left side of the slippery grass it was still better than the sucking swamp of doom in the middle of the road. Still, my 6:38 was 11 seconds slower than last year - wet feet are still heavy.

At mile 5.5 the mud mostly ends and there is a fast 1 mile descent to the low point of the mid-course at the gun range. I had to stop and tie my shoe, which dropped me back to 3rd. Mile 6 was 5:50, 5 seconds slower.

Miles 7 8 and 9 wind gradually up the front side of Timp and then steeply up Dry Canyon. I walked once more, falling to fourth, but then I found my uphill mojo and was able to run. Splits were 7:43, 10:30, and 15:02, 19 faster, 14 slower, and 1:01 faster (!) than last year. I am definitely in better shape :) But rhose guys were getting further ahead, I never saw them again no matter how crazy I got.

During mile 10 it started to hail. Seriously? Well I guess there isn't much left to the race. Unfortunately the Mario Kart tracks filled quickly with running rocks and water, making things interesting to say the least. Mario Kart mile splits were 7:14, 6:27, and 6:38, 18 faster, 15 slower, and 11 faster than last year. Very surprising given last year's flawless conditions.

Mile 13 and the last half were the ugliest of all. The hail had turned to rain, filling my glasses with water and making it nearly impossible to see the trail. To top it off we get a half mile of the mud road again before the final descent into Timp Park, that was nuts doing it half blind. I had to stop and wipe my glasses out several times so I wouldn't fall over the 40 foot cliffs on the first part of the descent. Once I made it to the main road I burned it in down to a 4:28 pace on the mud-free road and the grass at the end. Splits were 7:02 and 2:46 (47 slower, 2 faster, all weather related). The last half mile was a 5:19 pace.

So I didn't beat my old record, although I felt like weather adjusted I did. But I did win masters! And in operation domination, all I need is the age group award. So there. I ate a bowl of chili and bailed before I got too chilly.

Rain shut me down at 4.5, I'll do the other 3.5 tonight with the wife on a bike. I can't believe I have absolutely no soreness from Saturday! I guess I really left it on the hill. I'll try harder next race.

Very illuminating run today, thanks again to Sasha for taking the time out to do it, in this case he took 9 seconds out of last week's 3 mile time. 5 super slow up the canyon, then we started off and immediately clamped it to a 5:20 pace which was pretty hard at first because I am used to touching the ceiling before settling in. First mile was only 90% instead of 96%, second mile climbed to 97% average, third mile went from 99% at beginning to 102% at end instead of 102 to 105 like last week. I even had a very tiny kick sort of. Recovery was similar to last week but I felt very zippy driving home, although slightly fatigued right now and drinking a lot. I can see that going out slower doesn't make the last mile a whole lot easier, but it does make it decently faster. It felt like he was speeding up all through the second mile but in reality it was a bit slower, as splits were 5:17, 5:23 and 5:21 (totaling 16:00 and change) I didn't hit the lactic painwall until 2.25 instead of 1.75 this time. I can see what needs to be done but it will take many many high end workouts to get the pacing right and balance adrenal output with push. Also I kind of had a bad mental attitude in the middle two quarters of the third mile and would have slowed significantly without Sasha's presence.

So at least the lights are on, but there isn't anybody home yet :)

8 EZ AP 7:32 ran by Mc Donalds. Still a little tired from yesterday, but not much.

OK, so the idea was to conquer the Art City hill of doom today. Oooog. Started out with 1 mile jog to the track and 2x880 on the track, which is the finish line of the 5k, targeting 2:30. Got 2:29 and 2:32. Not bad, but something new - I got to the second lap of the 880 and instead of going into full respiratory distress it was like I just stopped getting more tired and could keep going and even push a little. Freaky. Love it.

Then I jogged 1.5 to the middle of the race, a quarter before the hill. Then I accelerated to race pace and turned left and pounded up the hill. I was to do this three times. The first one I hit 5:42 on the "flat" (really a bit uphill, and into a nasty wind) and dropped to 7:20 by the end of the fence. Then I got 5:51 and 7:25. On the third one I had to continue past the hill run back down on the upper road as fast as I could. I got 5:53 and 8:05 and it took a full minute to recover enough to get back under 7 and push again. That hill is nasty. I jogged towards home and found one more slightly less nasty hill, cresting it at 6:49. Then a slow jog that gradually went to 6 flat and back to 7 again to the house. So 2 880 and 4 660 with hills. I feel really good now.

Very enjoyable EZ run with Brandon And Jacob this morning, showed them the nice parts of town. (Wouldn't want them to see the crack hos down on the south side, ha ha) We went up on the bench and then down the 4th north canyon, then rode the tailwind back to the house, Three strides at the end, hit a 3:15 pace on the last one. Wheee! We really must do this again in June. I swear running with fun people makes it feel like you ran half the distance. Hobble progression (14 miles out and back) tomorrow at 5:45 if anybody wants to come.

Super freaky long run today, not sure what is happening to me. Goal was 7 7:45s up and 5 6:45s down Hobble Creek with the last two at threshold. The wind was decently string over the first three miles, then the grade takes over for the last 4 to provide a nicely increasing effort. Uphill miles went from 7:35 at the start to 7:08 at the end, moderately easy. Downhill miles locked in at 6:26 plus or minus a few. Then I put the hammer down and found that sweet spot from the 880s the other day. 5:26! 5:30! Faster than my old VO2max on the same course, and back to back, and not too difficult. I pushed it a little more on the last mile because the wind and hill were less but wow! And to top it off I barely feel like I ran today - usually I am much more fatigued. And this week is my all time volume record by a significant (10%) margin. I was going to give my body a break before the 5k next Saturday but now I am not so sure. Looking forward to the 8EZ on Monday and the negative tempo in Provo Canyon on Tuesday.

Fun EZ run in the Mapleton flats with the wife on a bike, started Krong easy at 7:45 and gradually sped up to 7:15, keeping breathing insignificant. Wife got bored at the end and rode ahead, I decided to let it unwind and see how fast I could go without getting lactic. I got under 6 easily, passed through 5:20 and still wasn't feeling it much. I had to get to 4:36 before I actually started to feel significant accumulation. This EZ stuff is psycho. I had no idea it could do that.

These Sasha runs are habit forming! We took Benjamin this morning, and went extra slow for the 5 up the canyon. The goal today was to do negative splits on the tempo run, starting at 5:30. I was excited to see what the new and improved body could do, and was not disappointed! The first mile at 5:30 did not feel like 5:30 at all, in fact it felt like we were starting at 6:20. By the end of it I was still in the green, mostly. The second mile accelerated to 5:23, that was enough to put me into the yellow but I was really shocked to come on its end so suddenly. Ben was having some trouble and I wanted to get to the red and maybe black zone so I immediately accelerated past them to 880 pace and held it for most of the quarter, like 4:58 or something. Then I started getting the lung bands, but not the tiredness in the legs! I kept hoping I could maintain this speed to the end as I was now solidly in the red. Sasha came up and passed me and I accelerated again to match him but that put me in the black and he ended up coming in 1 second before me. I got 5:11 for the last mile. That's a pretty cool trick considering that 2 weeks ago I was slower and in much more distress for more of the run. I can hardly wait for Saturday's 5k!

Knees were whining a little bit about the huge volume over the last 10 days so I switched up the 1 hour EZ to moderate bike, knees thanked me.Calling it 6

Nice 8EZ around the Springville library and Mapleton park. Can't barely wait until Saturday

Standard pre-race EZ 5k with three strides, one on the flat, one at 14 on the treadmill, last one up a hill. Tomorrow will be very interesting.