Speed only kills if you don't have it!

Warm morning!  I did a Lundstrom Park 4 miler as a warm up and then headed to the track.  I ran a lap around the USU track and then did a 13x200 workout with 200 meter cool downs.

:34, :36, :35, :35, :35, :34, :34, :34, :34, :34, :34, :34, :30

It was starting to get hot and there were a few old people that got in my way, but other than that it was a pretty decent run.  I wanted to run 35s and went up and down for a while and then got in a 34 second groove.  My last one in 30 seconds was about all that I could do after the 12 others.  It doesn't sound like that tough of a workout but it is.  It was good to get a track workout in after the marathon.  Speedwork has been my achilles heel for the last five years, I just plain haven't done any.  This year I hope to get on the track once a week and also get some tempo in, because I know it will help me.

1:07:30

AM- I went with my friend Damon Cox over to the Dixie Center where we met up with Clyde and Steve Hooper.  We did a fun little loop up the hill to the South past a radio tower and down along a river trail.  It was fun to get out and run with Clyde and Damon.  I totally recognized Steve from back when he worked at Runners Corner, and I enjoyed talking to him as well.  Damon was beat after the run, but he hasn't run much in the last three years.  He used to take me out every run and kick my trash, and that was when I was in the best shape of my life.  I was impressed that he was able to hang in at a decent pace for over 7 miles with zero training.  Good times!  7.1 miles 55:42

PM-  Met Clyde at his house and ran 6.1 miles with him around his area.  It was over 100 degrees when we went out at 7:30 pm.  We had a good visit and a good run.  We even did about a mile bare-foot on a golf course.  I also got to meet his wife and little ones (dogs).   I had a great time in both runs today.  42:53 

(Adrenaline-175miles)

I met Clyde at his house again, and Dave Holt showed up too.  It was good to meet Dave, and the three of us had a good run and a good visit.  We went out on a really soft red dirt trail that headed into the middle of the desert and eventually went into a town that I didn't know existed.  We then went past some of our evening run last night and headed back to Clyde's house.  It felt at times like we were going at a pretty good pace, but I am not really sure.  Thanks for the fun run and letting me tag along guys.   Didn't see any desert turtles, but I saw a bunch of road runners!

59:24 

(Hurricane-230 miles)

Damon and I went over to the Pineview track to run with the St. George crew at 6 am.  We were a few minutes late so they were already on a warm up so we did our own.  It was super windy and the weather looked pretty ugly at first.  We did a workout with Steve Hooper, Dustin, and Dave.  I did a 12x400 meter workout with 200 meter recovery.  The other guys were doing 15 or 16x400 meters and I didn't want to do quite that many today so I had a couple of 400 meter recoveries to stay with them while they did an extra 400 interval.  The 400s felt good until you came around the corner into the wind and then it felt like you were standing still sometimes.  I wanted to do all of my 400s around 75 seconds and was pretty consistant for the most part until I had some nasty windy laps, but I pulled the last couple back in where I wanted them.

1:13

1:14

1:14

1:16

1:19

1:16

1:16

1:17

1:18

1:14

1:15

1:13

I ended up pretty close to averaging what I wanted to.  Damon ran 4x400s and came on the cool down run.  He went to High School with Dave and wanted to see him again.  Other than the wind it was a good and fun workout.  I have enjoyed running with the guys down in St. George, they are a talented and fun group of guys.  We had a good visit after the run, in fact, after each run this week. 

(Adrenaline-183 miles) 

Damon and I went and checked Steve's store on my way out of town.  We met Steve's wife Kendra and his three little kids.  It is good to see someone who actually knows something about running open a store up, I wish Steve luck with it.

It was 84 degrees when we left St. George and 50 when we hit Ceder City, and 38 when we got home to Logan!  Typical weather for this year, it will get blazing hot and then snow on us a few days later!

I waited until this afternoon when it had finally stopped raining.  I went on an 8.2 mile loop through River Heights and Providence.  I wanted an easy run today, but even with a slower pace I still didn't feel too great.  It was probably a mix of not much sleep on my trip to St. George, the quality runs that I have had this week, travel, and the 60 degree in temperature difference from two days ago to now.  I just never got in a rhythm or felt good, and it was still pretty chilly when I was out.  I got spoiled running with people all week and when I went out today by myself, in the cold, it was kind of a drag.  At least I got a few more miles in today.

59:04

(Hurricane-238 miles)

I went tonight for a 5miler to loosen up the muscles and nerves.  I have to take the praxis 2 for my teaching certificate in the morning so I have been studying like crazy for the last two days.  After my 6 hours of tests tomorrow I plan on doing a fun trail run with Paul.  I didn't feel like going out tonight but I knew it would help me and it did.  After a couple of miles I felt really good, and I am much more relaxed now.  I ran into River Heights and back the exact same way.  Nice evening, and I am glad that I ran a few miles.

35:07

(Adrenaline-188 miles) 

After taking tests for 6.5 hours straight and having my brain destroyed, I met Paul to do a trail run.  It was a nice day and I need to release all the built up stress and tightness from the rest of the day.  It was just me and Paul which was kind of fun.  I think that the two of us have only run by ourself together once before.  I am going to copy half of what Paul wrote because I wasn't sure where we were at times and he is the map and trail master, besides he cracks me up!

We met at first dam and headed up Logan Canyon to the Right Hand Fork trailhead. From there we did a big 16+ mile loop: started up the Willow Creek Trail, then turned onto Steel Hollow and took it to its terminus at FR 056. We turned north onto FR 056 (Long Hollow) and paid homage to Old Ephraim by visiting his grave memorial. Old Ephraim was a legendary 9'11" grizzly bear that terrorized sheep during the 1920s, until a brave rancher repeatedly shot him to death with his gun. Pity. Now there are no more grizzlies in our area, but we seem to be overrun with livestock, most of which trample and poop all over my trails. Anyway, after stopping at the Ephraim memorial, we continued on Long Hollow, and then turned west onto FR 007 and headed toward Mud Flat. We then took Mud Flat all the way around to Cottonwood Spring and then Little Cottonwood Creek. And then we were back at the car. It's a great loop, and I've never done that particular variation of it (I usually come down Willow Creek instead of Mud Flat). The views are splendid on this run, particularly the second half, and everything is very very green right now.

According to the Garmin, our average pace was 9:07/mile. Total time 2:29:10. Fastest mile was 7:40, slowest was 10:31. Also according to the Garmin, total ascent/decent was ~4250 ft, which maybe why we ran so slow.

It took me a while to get loosened up because I was so tight is my shoulder area.  I have a very hard time putting todays miles in the "Easy" category because I don't remember anything easy about it.  We did a ton of climbing and it was tough.  The run took us a long time and we never went very fast but we weren't just moseying along.  If you don't believe me think about this: a 2:26 marathoner like Paul doesn't just normally train at a 9 minute mile pace and say that it kicked his butt.  The reason why it took so long was  that we climbed the whole darn mountain three times!  And eventhough it killed me I loved almost every minute of it.  It was one the the prettiest runs that I have ever done.  It was just added to my list of favorites and might spend a long time there.  It was nice to be up in those mountains and just shoot the breeze with Paul, it felt like we were truly in God's country.  We made a few stops along the way to take in the sites and the beauty of our run, and to catch our breath and suck down every last drop of liquid that we had with us.  That run was just what I needed today, and I will sleep very well tonight now because of it.

AM- Slept in a bit today because I was up late with my little boy.  For my run I decided to do some tempo.  I hate tempo and never do any, but I know it works and has some major benefits to racing, so I am trying to incorporate it into my training.  I ran over on the Island and up the Center Street hill, then did a 5K tempo run.  My first mile was up the last part of Center Street hill and up Mountain Road to the mouth of Dry Canyon.  It was a hard mile and i really felt like I was pushing it but only ran up in 7:25.  The same mile going down I ran a 4:48, it is all downhill!  There was a really steep tenth of a mile down the Center Street hill that was :28 seconds, I felt like I was falling on my face.  The last mile was coming off of Center Street and going down just past River Heights Elementary, all downhill until the last 1/4 mile then it starts to flatten out (5:07).  My total time for the 5K was 17:48.  It was a bugger of a tempo run but I was pleaesd with how I ran.  I cooled down for about 3.2 miles home and finished my run going up the 800 North hill.  I tried to simulate some of the type of miles I will be running at WBR next weekend.  My first leg in climbing up to Snow Basin and is pretty steep uphill, and my third leg is down Deer Valley and is some pretty steep downhill.  It was a tough run but a good start to the week.  1:05:06

PM-  I was going to meet up with Jon on his run somewhere, but had to go out a bit earlier so that my wife could go to the gym.  Pretty warm this evening.  I did a Lundstrom Park 5 miler and ended up cruising along in the last couple of miles at 6 minute pace.  It could have been considered a tempo run, even though it was nothing like my run this morning and felt quite comfortable.  Good day of running and some really good runs for me.  I hope I still have a little left for some easy miles tomorrow.  33:34

(Hurricane-252 miles)

AM-  Easy morning run.  I went out about 6:30am and ran just past the end of canal trail and back.  It was a beautiful morning and I didn't feel too bad.  I made myself hang around 8 minute miles, the easy pace felt good.  I ended up coming back over a minute faster, probably due to just getting warmed up.  38:00

PM-  Went out again after work.  It was starting to get warm so I decided to put on my shorty shorts and sunglasses for this one.  I did a Lundrom Park 4 miler, but stopped at the park and ran around bare-foot for over 8:30 which should have been at least a mile.   I felt pretty good for my second two-a-dayer in a row, but I might be feeling it tomorrow.  Nice and easy pace , but I had to hold back at the end so I could keep it that way.  36:30

Warmed up with 4.75 miles around the University and Lundstrom Park then hit the USU track for a workout.  I had to dodge a few old people before they realized that the inside lanes of the track aren't for slow walking.  That is the only problem with going to the USU track in the mornings.  Sometimes it isn't a big deal, but other times it really ticks me off!  I did a 13x200 meter with 200 meter recovery.   I wanted to stay at 35 average or below for the workout.

I got up early and went up Logan Canyon to 2nd dam.  It was an excellent morning for running.  I was very tired and pretty darn tight, but after about 6 miles I started to feel better.  I averaged about 8-8:30 miles for the first 6 or 7 miles and then went down to 6:45s.  The canyon wind was blowing hard like usual, but I was early enough today that got a tailwind coming back.  Nice to have my running over for the day, I need the rest.   1:18:17

(Hurricane-263 miles)

Slept in a bit and went on an easy 4 miler over to Merlin Olsen Park and back via Boulevard.  I was running about 7:30 pace until the last mile when i through in a couple of 100 metter striders.  Good recovery run, felt good.  29:23

(Adrenaline-201 miles) 

Another tough and beatiful trail run with Paul.  We got started at 8:00 am at 1st Dam.  I will copy where we went from Paul's blog.  And once again, it is hard to call these miles easy, because I don't remember anything easy.  Maybe we need a new category called "extremely slow and hard trail miles", and I would put them in there.

We went through the Hydro Park, then up onto the Pipeline Trail, which spit us out onto Hwy 89. We then crossed 89 and jumped on the River Trail and took it to its terminus at Guineva Malibu campground. Then we crossed 89 again and started up the Wind Caves trail.  As we we heading up the trail toward the wind caves, Paul almost stepped on a Rattle Snake and avoided it by jumping half way off the trail.  I was right behind him and almost stepped on it myself.  It was a good way to get my heart-rate maxed out.  After about a mile, we took a little side trail that takes us up to the ridge. Here, things got tough. This trail is is a bit less-traveled and has poor footing and a steep gradient. Plus it was getting pretty hot. We did the best we could and run/walked up to the ridge, at 7300', where we were treated to panoramas of Logan Canyon and the Bear River Range. Just before making it to the ridge Paul asked me if I hated him for bringing me on the run, I told him heck no.  It was kind of funny because before we ran up over the whole mountain, I had just told Paul that I was glad our run today was easier than last weeks.  I wasn't mad at all, I was loving it eventhough I was hammered.  It was tough, and when you get on rough trails that climb that high in that amount of time, it is actually faster to walk some spots.  From the ridge, we then dove down into Green Canyon on the Bierdeneau Trail, which was in much better shape, plus was shaded. We made it to Green Canyon Road (dirt road) and ran out of Green Canyon and then linked up with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, which took us back to our cars at First Dam.  It was a hot day and with the difficulty of the run I was getting tired.  We ended up finding water with about 3 miles to go, which was just what I needed to refresh me for the last stretch.  These trails runs are long and slow, but they sure make you tough!  Good run.  I liked the course a lot, even with the degree of difficulty.  Paul knows all of the good trails, and like I said before, there is nothing better than being in the mountains on a trail run, enjoying some good conversation with a friend.  Sat in the shade for a while after the run until we felt good enough the go home.  2:41:22

I woke up in the middle of the night with a major cramp in my left calf.  When I got up this morning my calf was super sore and my left ankle was stiff as well.  I decided that I wasn't recovered enough from last week to do a hard workout, so I made it an easy run instead.  I ran up to 2nd dam and back via the canal trail.  It took me a few miles to get going , but I felt good after that.  It was a nice morning, a lot cooler than the weekend was.  The river trail is so thick and lush this time of year and there wasn't very many people out either.  Good run.  It is funny how I call a run like that an easy run, when two years ago, after I first moved to Logan and I wasn't running much, I considered it difficult.  It is amazing what a little more training and motivation can do for you.  1:15:52

(Hurricane-274 miles)

Nice cool morning for a workout, but I had a hard time getting my bones out of bed and out the door.  I think the biggest reason I had such a hard time getting going was because I knew it was going to hurt!  I did the same up and downhill tempo run as last week.  I was hoping to do it a bit faster than last week, just so I could show some progress.  I ran over on the Island and up the Center Street hill, just over 3 miles, then started my tempo.  I ran up to Dry Canyon in 7:11, I thought I was going to die!  I tried to really push it up that long hill without going anaerobic, and it hurt.  The down hill I really hammered out too.  The mile down Mountain Road and Center Street was 4:49, a second slower than last week.  The stretch just over 1/10 of a mile was :24, I was flying!  My last mile I kicked it down hard in the last stretch to break 5:00, (4:59).  I was trashed after my tempo, but a half mile into my cool-down home I felt good again.  I added another 1/4 mile at the end of my run to make it 9.5 miles.  I was happy to break 5:00 in both downhill miles.  I could never break 5:15 in the last mile last year, and I did that mile solo, not in a 5k tempo run.  I was the most pleased with my 7:11 mile up Center Street and Mountain Road.   It sounds slow but it is a toughy of a mile up that mountain.  Good run for me today, 17:23 for a 5K in a training run gives me some confidence going into the summer.  I might not be running sub 5:00 on a flat course for 2/3s of the race, but I sure as heck wouldn't run 7:11 for my first mile either.  1:06:46 total time.

(Adrenaline-211 miles) 

Met Jon and Paul at 1st Dam for an evening run.  We ran up the canyon and river trail to Gueneva Malibu and back.  We did a lot of gabbing along the way, which is always fun.  Good easy pace.  Hot run at first but it cooled off when we got up the canyon a ways. Averaged about 8:10 miles.  1:29:32

(Hurricane-286 miles)

Easy morning run, partially in the heat.  I went down onto the Island, up into River Heights, and back.  I didn't feel super spry today, but did 3x100 meter strides in the last mile and felt better.  I tried out a pair of racing shoes that i was going to wear in Ogden but chickened out. They felt good and are extremely cushioned for a race shoe, kind of a beefy flat.  I will use them at WBR, and they willl make a good 1/2 marathon shoe for sure. 37:55

(Fastwitch -5 miles)

1000 miles this year!

Day 1 of WBR

This year was more relaxed for me than last year was, probably because I am in a lot better shape, I had to run half the mileage, and I have a little relay experience now.  Last year was fun because we got a bunch of us nobodies from Logan, plus Sasha, and ran under 20 hours with an ultra team.  This year was fun because I knew most of our team, and we would be a Top 3 challenger.  There is something about being on a team like this that has a bonding affect on you, and I was honored to be a part of such a talented team of runners and people.

My first leg was at about 11:00 pm.  Leg 12 was new this year and started somewhere on the road going up to Snow Basin.  It was a 1100 foot climb in 4 miles, not near as tough as "Ragnar" or "You've go to be kidding Me!", but still one heck of a climb!   It was very dark when I got the baton from Jon and started up the mountain.  There was only one other vehicle that passed me besides our own SUV, and that was for the runner that I caught about 3 minutes into my leg.  It was kind of trippy being out in the middle of no-where and not seeing anyone.  I had no idea of my pace during the climb, I just knew that I was working extremely hard up the mountain.  The run seamed to take forever, and I would look at my watch after what seemed like 20 minutes, and only 5 minutes would have passed.  I just kept pushing along, knowing that eventually I would see the exchange and be done.  I almost ran over Sasha when I handed off to him, he must not have been able to tell how far away I was because I sure wasn't going very fast.  I was glad that was my first leg and could get the exteme uphill in the dark out of the way.  I did the 4+ mile leg in a blazing 29:02.  It was said to be 3.9 or 4 miles (It is amazing how close Paul comes sometimes), but according to the BYU guy's Garim it was between 4 and 4.1 miles.  It doesn't really matter to me, either way I was about the right pace (7:00-7:15).  The BYU guy that I was running against only ran 4 seconds faster than I did, so I felt good about that.  I lost track of BYU after our first two legs, so I never got any other details.  I can see why people like to have their Garmins on legs like that.

I ran into my Dad, who was on a masters team of all plus 50 year old guys (CUPS), after my leg and cooled down with him until my van was ready to head to the next major exchange and try to get some sleep.

Day 2 of WBR

We did get some sleep at the third major exchange, I ended up with about 50 minutes.  I have never gotten more than 30 minutes worth of naps on one of these relays and I probably got about one hour and 45 minutes on this one.  It is amazing how an extra hour of sleep can make you feel a lot better.  Another weird thing about these relays is how fast time will pass when you are not the one running! 

My next leg was at about 5:00 a.m. and is one that I did last year.  It wasn't as bad as I remembered it to be.  It was along the shore of the Rockport reservoir, on a busy high, and usually has a good head wind.  It is kind of a deceiving leg because the map shows that you climb upto a certain point and then role in on flat the last half of the run.  In reality it is hard to say exactly with no sleep at 5:00 a.m., the mind plays tricks.  What I remember from last year when Paul biked with me, was that we climbed a lot more than we should have.  What I remember from this time is I went up and up until about 4 miles and then had a slight downhill for the next 1.2 to 1.5 miles.  I felt kind of sick to my stomach at first, but was okay after about a mile.  The head wind coming around the res. was rater annoying, but at least their wasn't tons head on traffic like last year.  I pushed it hard and felt like I was flying in some parts of the leg.  I passed about 10-15 teams, which is always fun because they don't like it most of the time.  I really don't have any idea of my pace but it felt fast, probably a lot faster than what it really was.  I pushed it hard the whole way and felt like I ran well.  The worst part about that leg is that you can see the next major exchange the whole run!  When I came in I was starting to pass about 3-4 teams and the exchange was weird.  There was not a shute to run through, and the runners were waiting off to the side of the road.  I could see Sasha, but he couldn't see me.  Jon and Dan were trying to tell me and him where eachother were, but I ran right past him anyways before we made a bad exchange.  I told Jon and Dan after that leg that I felt like I was going 5:30 pace, not 6 minute pace.  32:24

(Tangent-151 miles)

We went to the middle school in Heber after my 2nd leg and got another 45 minutes to hour of sleep before it was our turn again.   I was pleased with how my van ran all of their legs, but the 3rd one is always the most impressive, because it shows you what people are made of.  My van (Dan, Walter, Drew, Clyde, and Jon) ran some great 3rd legs.  Of course the last four are the most extreme ones of the whole relay, with elevation gain and drop.  I won't steal anyone's thunder, but they ran great! 

My last leg came quick, since I got to the exchange only a couple of minutes before Jon did, good thing I didn't have to use the potty!  I didn't have the preasure of pushing for a win or anything, but I knew that I had to run very fast in order to break 18:30:00.  Plus, the Roadrunner team, that started at 4 p.m., was running right with us at the time and had Jody Benson running the last leg against me, and I didn't want him to catch me.  I took off on this steep hill that goes up for .3 mile before you drop down the mountain, and felt like I was at a very slow crawl.  At the top of the hill I was able to switch gears and run around 5 minute pace the rest of the way down the mountain.  It didn't hurt as bad as last year with running leg 35 and 36 together, ouch!  I felt okay considering it was the very end of a fast relay and it was getting hot.  I pushed it hard down the mountain, hoping the whole time that I could hold on and break 18:30:00.  Knowing that Jody wanted to catch me and that he wasn't too far back gave me a little extra motivation.  I was breathing pretty hard for a downhill section, but that gave me confidence that I was moving fast, so I didn't let it bother me.  There was no mile to go marker in the last leg, but they are never accurate anyways.  The one I hit on the Snow Basin leg was way off or I ran an 11 minute last mile, and I am pretty sure that it was really a sub 7:00 mile.  It is always confusing when you hit down-town and they make you cross streets, go through tunnels, and turn several corners.  But finally I turned the final corner to see my team waiting to cross the line with me.  We all went across together and finished in a time of 18:29:29.  My time for the leg was 23:47.  I talked to Jody after he came in and I actually ran faster than he did down, he never told me how much though. 

It was sure good to be done!  Eventhough we had some difficulties with getting lost and having some injuries, everyone stepped up and we still ran awesome!  Weber and BYU were the only teams that beat us, but I know they are not unbeatable, especially if they follow the rules.  I was glad to see Weber win it over BYU, they should have from the beginning because they had an excellent team.  Another great relay experience, with a great team! 

I stuck around the finish to see when my Dad's team came in.  We didn't pass them until Dan's 2nd leg, so I knew that they weren't too many hours back.  They ended up finishing in a time of 22:35:35, and lost their division by one minute.  I slept the entire ride back to Logan and crashed hard when I got home.

(Fastwitch -10 miles)

I was so sore today in my vastus lateralis (out quad muscles)!  I was way more sore than yesterday, talk about delayed onset.  I was hoping for 5-7 miles but I was in a bad way.  The funny thing was that no other muscles seemed too bad.  I contemplated not even going but I needed to at least get loosed up a bit.  The first block down 1000 North was about too much for me, and I almost turned around.  But as soon as I hit some flat and uphill I was fine.  I tried to run the flattest course possible, which is hard because I live up by the University.  I ran over to the Temple and felt great when I was on an incline.  But I was in trouble everytime I hit any kind of downhill, even the sightest grade.  Also, when I had to stop I could really feel it.  I guess my legs at WBR were a little meaner than I thought they were.   25:42

(Hurricane-289 miles)

I went out about 2 p.m. today.  It was pretty warm but only about 80 degrees, not like Clyde's 100 degree weather down in St. George.  Still, that was warm enough for me to put on the hat and shorty shorts for my run.  I went up to 2nd Dam and back via canal trail.  It was nice to be on the trail all by myself for a change, and the tree made for some ggod shade in spots.  I felt great on my recovery run today going up the canyon and was averaging around 7:10 per mile.  On the way back I slowed down alot because of my sore quads, and averaged just under 8 minute miles for a while until I loosed up somemore.  It is funny because I usually run that run the opposite; 8:00s up and 7:00s down.  I can run fine on the uphill, but give me a little downhill and I can really feel it.  Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow, but I for sure won't be running any downhill tempo!  Walked down the street on my cool down and stood in the canal by the credit union for about 10 minutes to ice my legs, it felt good.  Not a bad run considering I could hardly run down the hill by my house yesterday.  1:16:17

(Hurricane-299 miles)

An interesting sidenote for me: I hit 1000 miles for the year the day before WBR, and last year I only ran 975 miles the whole year.  The mileage alone gives me confidence that I can reach my goals, and I have had some good quality training as well.

Morrning run.  I went out into North Logan and Hyde Park on an easy run.  I looped through the south east part of Hyde Park and came home along 1600 East.  I added a part around the University to give me 9 miles.  I took it easy and didn't feel like running fast in most places, but I picked it up a bit in the last couple of miles.  Once again, the uphills felt fine and the downhills hurt.  My quads felt tons better today though.  1:07:37 under 7:30 average still, not bad for that run.

(Adrenaline-220 miles) 

I went out early this morning and wanted to get a workout in.  My legs felt heavy and I was way tired.  I warmed up with 4.5 miles and headed over to the USU track to try and push myself through some 800s.  When I got to the track I noticed the they had gates up every 40 meters blocking the first 5 lanes.  When I went to move them I found that they were all locked into place.  I didn't want to do my 800s in the 6th lane so I left.  What a pain in the butt!  I was ticked off for a little while but I didn't really feel good enough to do a workout anyway.  I probably would have been disappointed with my efforts, so going on 4 more easy miles was likely the better decision.  1:04:01

(Hurricane-308 miles)

AM- Good run for me this morning.  I went on canal trail up the canyon to thr nature trail gate and back.  I came back the way of 800 N. hill.  I started out at 7:30 pace and got faster and faster as I went.  I averaged just over 7 minutes pace going up the canyon, and 6:30 pace going home.  The run felt good, nice temperature too.  7.5 miles   51:43

PM- I  went out after work for another 4 miles.  I went down to Merlin Olsen Park and back.  It was very hot, around 95 degrees, and I had been out in the sun all day so it was starting to wear on me by the end of the run.  I was glad that I just had to go short this afternoon.  29:51

(Hurricane-312 miles)

I met Jon at the end of Hollow Road at 6:00 am.  We ran up to the Hydro Park in Blacksmith Fork canyon.  On the way up there was a nasty headwind, and I thought that it was going to make for a very long and hard run, but it mellowed down after a couple of miles.  We ran up to the park in about 53 minutes (7 miles).  On the way down we did some faster miles to get a feel for the 15K on the 4th.  We did two fast in 11:53, one slow in 8:55 (talking to some slower runners), two fast in 11:53, one slow in 7:36, and one more fast with the big hill at the end in 5:48.  We added on another 3.5 miles at the end down Hollow Road and back to give me over 60 miles and Jon 70 miles for the week.  It was a good run today and felt good to get some tempo miles in.  I am looking forward to the race on the 4th now.

(Adrenaline-237 miles)