Speed only kills if you don't have it!

Easy run and 1.5 hours of basketball against the 9th grade team.

I slept in as long as I could, until about 8:00am. I went on a loop course into PG that ended up being 8.5 miles. Easy pace and an easy run. 7:26 ave per mile. I am excited to finally be off for summer and have more time to relax, train, and work on projects.

(Kayano- 165 miles)  

AM- I went running about 9:00 after a nice sleep in session. I did my loop up Alpine and Highland hwy and back through west Highland. The weather was perfect for running, nice and cool, and I felt good. I ran with my Polar HR monitor instead of a Garmin or Timex like I usually do. 56:40 for the 8 miles (7:05 ave pace, and 163 ave. HR).

(2130- 77 miles)

PM- Easy run this evening. I looped around by my twin sister's house and back passed the High School. When I got home I grabbed the VFFs and ran over to the park to do 4x100m strides on the lawn. 3.5 miles and 7:28 pace.

(Omni- 465 miles)

AM-  Decided to do my first track workout of the year this morning, and it was nothing blazing, but a good start to the summer.  I have a goal to hit the track once a week, unlike last year where I hit about 6 times the whole year.  I warmed up by running to the AF HS track and then did a 8x400m workout with 200m recoveries.  The HS was hopping with every kind of sport so I had a audience while running.  I ended up running in the 3rd lane most of the time because the first two lanes were getting watered pretty good, so that probably added a couple of seconds to each interval.  Legs felt dead from Saturday too.  Here was the breakdown: 1:15, 1:15, 1:17, 1:16, 1:15, 1:16, 1:15, 1:13.  It was a fairly conservative workout and my heart rate for each interval was around 180bpm.  I did a lot of working on form because it felt so weird to run faster than 5:30 pace.  I cooled down on the run home.  7 miles total 53:00.

(Omni- 472 miles)

AM-  Woke up this morning and ran an easy run up Alpine hwy to the mouth of AF canyon. I came back on the Highland trail, passed Lone Peak and the Temple. Beautiful morning to run. 7:15 ave pace for the run. I felt sluggish at first and then stayed pretty relaxed after a couple of miles.

PM-  Went out again for some more miles.  It was very windy and it was like standing still going into the wind, and like someone pushing you from behind going with the wind. I did a loop up around the Temple and then grabbed the VVFs and went to the park to do some strides.  7:39 pace for the run.

(Kayano- 180 miles)

(VFF- 3 miles)

I ran over to the AF track to do another workout.  It was chilly and very windy.  I did a 16x200m workout with 200m recoveries.  After I got all warmed up and did my first two intervals Timo came out and we stood and talked and froze for 45 minutes.  I had to warm up all over again and it took me a while to get going.   The wind was pretty tough and made me run a bit slower.  I hate running into a hard wind, but I know it makes you tough so I sucked it up and did the workout.  I cooled down the same way I warmed up by running home the long way.  Glad to get my 2nd workout under my belt.  I might go out later for a few miles if the weather isn't too nasty.  8.5 miles in 1:02:00 for the run.  I averaged 35s for my first 8 and 33s for my second 8, not bad for not doing any speed forever, and doing intervals on such a windy morning.

(Omni- 481 miles) 

I met Timo at 26.2 and we went on an easy recovery run around west American Fork.  Honestly I wasn't sure where we were at times, somewhere out in the farm land.  After the run, and a BS session about running, I added two more miles with 6x100 strides in the VFFs at the park Nice day today, and it was fun to finally run with someone again.  7:51 average pace.

(Kayano- 187 miles)

(VFF- 4 miles)

Slept in a nit because I was so tired.  It is nice that I can do that right now.  I ran a loop into east AF and west PG.  I kept the pace nice and easy and felt relaxed.  I grabbed the VFFs and ran to the park across from my church to do 4x100m strides on the grass, and I felt even better after that.  45:00 for the run (7:30 ave pace). 

 (2130- 82 miles)

(VFF- 5 miles)

Hopefully I will feel decent in my 10 miler tomorrow.  I really don't know what to expect or how much gas I'll have in the tank.  I haven't raced in a long time so this will at least give me a decent idea of where my fitness is and where it needs to go.

Well I took my time getting to the Riverwoods this morning because it was a Curt race and I knew the first bus wouldn't leave when it said it would. Butted in line with Michelle and Josse to get our numbers. On the way up our bus stopped at Timp park so people could use the bathroom, I had already went. I was annoyed by the stop and just wanted to get to the start .The bus ride took forever and it was freezing at the starting line. I did a 2 mile warm up, mostly with Josse and Michelle.

I wasn't in race mode since I hadn't done one in so long. I figured I would just hang back on the first couple of miles and see what was going on and how I felt. No pressure for this race.

There were a couple of people that took off pretty fast, including Michelle, but I wasn't worried. I was mostly using this run to estimate my fitness and to get a good workout for WBR. I hung around two guys in the lead pack for the first 3 miles. Those are the fastest miles of the race where you can really cook if you want to. I wanted to hang back though, so I did.

At Vivian park I could tell that my competition was wavering and stayed right on there butts until mile 4, then took the lead over. From there to the finish was like a long tempo run and I just watched the lead bikers speed up and slow down in front of while we all dodged the mass amounts of people on the trail. One of the lead bikers took a spill around mile seven, I don't think he got hurt, but it was rather funny! He looked back to see where I was, after they had been dinking around, and I surprised him being so close and he pulled his handle bars in the same direction as his head and went down. Other than that it was, me, myself, and I out on a tempo run. At times I got a little lazy in my pace but still averaged 5:40s for the run. Not bad for crappy training and no racing, I felt great the whole time! Here are the splits for all you split fanatics out there.

1- 5:34 Just hanging around and enjoying the ease of this mile

2- 5:34 The guy from Cali leading would surge everytime me and the other guy caught him, rather annoying

3- 5:34 (how is that for consistency!) Slow for those first three miles, but I wasn't worried about the first three miles.

4- 5:43 Took over the lead eventhough I really didn't want to yet.

5- 5:45 Just trying to relax and enjoy myself, but wondered who was coming behind me still.

6- 5:35 Feeling good. Asked for water at aid station and ended up throwing Gatorade down the front of me.

7- 5:43 Feeling lazy, got a good chuckle out of the biker going down.

8- 5:47 Still being lazy and a little uphill, got more bugs in the eyes than anything!

9- 5:47 Put in it cruise control for good, couldn't see anyone coming up on me. Dodged a lot of people. 3rd mile in a row with super bad tangents!

10- 5:36 Smelling the barn but no need to push.

It was fun to win one to start my season off on a good note. Thanks everyone else for running different races this weekend so I could have a fun race all by myself!

I did a 3 mile cool down, some with Kent, Michelle, and Josse, all of who ran great races. People didn't believe me that my training has been weak lately, maybe they will look at the blog and see for themselves. I plan on getting it going now.

Side note on my time. When I came across the line the timers yelled out my time 56:42, I caught 56:43, being a bit slow to stop my watch. On the results they put 57:02 or something like that. I went to see what had happed to my time because 56 sounds better than 57. They couldn't figure it out and kept saying that they wouldn't have missed me since I was the first runner. Turns out they had a little girl pushing the space bar and she didn't do it when I came across, so they pushed it late and never went back to fix my time when they printed the results. I don't think they knew my time and didn't bother asking. I told them to fix it if they remembered so Sasha could better critique my run!:) Sasha could fix it anyway if it really mattered.

61 miles this week, (that is more like it), three workouts, and a race win made for a good week. Next week my goals are similar as far as mileage. WBR should be a lot of fun!

  (Omni- 483 miles) (Fastwitch -77 miles)

First morning of my summer training camp with my XC kids.  I had about 50 kids come out on the first day at 6:30 am, so I was happy about that.  I did an easy 5.5 miles with my faster guys along the canal that runs west and north of the high school.  It should be a fun summer with this group.  7:44 pace

(Kahana- 221 miles)

AM-  I was hammered and slept in until almost 8:00am today. I went on an easy run up 300 N into Pleasant Grove to Canyon Road, and looped back by the AF hospital. It was pretty warm this morning, which is good because I need to get used to the heat. I hope to get back out this afternoon for some more heat training to get me ready for this weekend. 7:14 pace for the 7.5 mile run.

PM-  I wanted to get out when it was still hot to try and get myself adjusted to running when it is in the 80s and 90s instead of the 50s all of the time.  I went out about 6:30 pm.  I ran up the south hill by the Temple and out on Lone Peak hwy to the Highland Greenhouse and back.  It was hot and I could feel it the whole time, but especially when I picked up the pace to do some tempo.  I did tempo for the last two miles and was glad that was the only two!  5:57 and 5:57 for both miles.  The last mile had some uphill in it and I was working hard.  When I got home I dumped some water over my head and splashed it all over my body, then grabbed the VFFs to go do some strides at the park.  I did 5x100meter strides on the grass and walked home.  It took me a while to get cooled down after that.  I am a little concerned about the heat on my first leg at WBR this weekend, so hopefully running in the late afternoon-early evening for the next couple of days will help.  7 miles total, 6:59 average.

(Omni- 497 miles) (VFF- 5.5 miles)

XC practice this morning. I had the kids meet at the Riverton swimming pool for a long run on the Jordan River Parkway trail. I went with Derrek, Chris, and Dillon for 8 miles. We ran south into Bluffdale. It was a nice morning and I had a good time running with my kids. 59:24, 7:26 pace overall.

(2130- 90 miles)

AM- I met Timo at 26.2 for a super easy run this morning. We had a good conversation, mostly about running of course. We di an easy loop around East AF, picked some paper work up at AF HS, and headed back to the store. I finished with 5x100 meter strides at the park across the street form my church. 8:20 pace overall.

PM- Went out about 5:00 pm so I could run when it was hot. I did a zig zag run on the East side of AF. I did my best to stay away from any king of hills and keep the pace nice and slow. 7:34 pace and 37:49 overall for the 5 miles. Sat in the our kiddy pool with Jaren when I got home. We had just filled it with hose water so it was nice and cold, like icing the legs. Felt good!

(Omni- 507 miles) (VFF- 6 miles)

Easy two miles at XC practice to get the old legs moving before WBR.

(Kahana- 223 miles)

Hot start to WBR like usual, the difference was I was one of the first ones instead of very last like I have been in previous years.  I have been captaining the white team but decided to run on the blue team when all was said and done.  My van was a fun one with some very cool guys ( Mitch, Steve Hooper, me, Dustin, Chad, Jon, and Paul as the driver), so I was pumped for that.

My first leg was super hot, something I was not used to after all of our 60 degree temps.  I soaked my hat and put it on hoping it would help me.  I had no time to warm up because we spent so much time aiding Steve that we didn't get to the exchange much before he did.  I started at 6:13pm and almost right away I was lost and off course.  Some how I took a right turn when I was supposed to go straight.  I figured it out after a block or so and headed back to where I was supposed to be.  That was all I need was to have to run .3 miles further than what I need, not too mention the steep hill I went up that I should have had to run up, when it was 94 degrees out.  I felt stupid for not looking at my legs and memorizing where to go like I should have, and am always telling others to do.  Honestly I didn't even look at my legs at all before I ran, I have been too busy doing the logistics part of the race to pay attention to what I was doing.  Good thing was I knew I was off and knew where I need to end up.  The van came by about a mile and a half into my run and it was good to get a quick swallow of water and see that I was where I  was supposed to be.  I was all by myself out the running through fields on a gradual uphill climb from Hyrum into Paradise.  It was so hot and I wanted to stop every time I saw a sprinkler in a field but I knew I had wasted almost two minutes already.  The van stopped three times for me which wasn't enough with the hot sun pounding on me, and me out on a tempo that seemed never ending.  I finally made it to the park and handed off to Dustin and went straight to the shade.  I was glad to get that leg out of the way.  I was supposed to run the 5.6 miles at 6:20 pace but ended up running the 5.95 miles in 36:18 (6:09 pace).  It took me a long time to cool down after that run.  Too bad I got lost and ran a bit extra because my pace was faster than our white team's pace for that leg. 

2nd Leg We were running well after the first leg and were about as far behind the white team as they were behind BYU's stud team. I actually like the times of day that I got to run on this leg. My second leg started at 12:08 am. It was the opposite of my first leg, dark, cool, and tons of people. I felt decent in this leg and had around 40 roadkill. This leg had a lot of rollers and because it was so dark and the moon wasn't up yet I couldn't tell if I was going uphill or downhill sometimes. I averaged right around 6:00 pace for every mile on this leg. It went by quick too because of all of the people. I have never had that many people to pass in a relay before. I would come up on another roadkill every couple hundred yards. I lost count after 30 roadkill but figured that I passed another 10 or so after that. This leg was longer than it was supposed to be. Paul seemed pretty concerned that my Garmin read it as 5.24 miles when it was supposed to be 4.9 miles. It worked out though because Dustin's next leg was about as much short as mine was long. I think that Paul does a great job with the maps, but they seem to throw those exchanges wherever they want and it knocks the legs off a bit. 31:06 for the 5.24 miles (5:56 pace, right on projection).   (Tangent-239 miles)

After my second leg I was feeling pretty tired and my stomach was all kinds of messed up! We did get about an hour and a half of sleep at exchange 24. It was cold at night which was better than 95 degrees. I hit the potty a couple of times and chewed some gum to try to get my stomach to calm down before my last leg. I was glad that I only had one leg to go and that I would get done early, but I sure didn't feel like doing anything but sleeping. My body was done! But I knew it would be over soon and I could tough this one out no matter how crappy I was feeling.

3rd Leg 6:41 am- This one started in Kamas and ended by the Provo River going to the Res. The first 3 miles was a gradual uphill where I was averaging 6:20 pace. I passed several people on this leg as well, including a hand bike that was struggling on the lond uphill. I was struggling myself with some nasty stomach cramps and trying to relax and work them out. When I turned along side the river with just over two miles to go the downhill started and I was grateful, although my stomach was not. I went from 6:20 pace to 5:25 pace for the last stretch. This was where I got passed for the first time ever in my 6 relays. The guy on the hand bike that was struggling on the long uphill came down the downhill at 40 MPH and left me in the dust! Not much I could do about that. I finished strong, and even had some people trying to out kick me to the exchange, which was not going to happen! I handed off to Dustin and was done. 5.2 miles in 31:10 (6:00 pace). It felt great to be completely finished by 7:30 am. I cooled down for almost one mile before I got in the van and we headed to aid Dustin. (Fastwitch -88 miles)

Everyone on both teams did well. I felt apart of both teams because I was captain and had done all of the logistic and organization for the white team, but was running for the Blue team. I was glad I was in the van I was because we had a lot of fun. All of my van ran well but I'll let them tell the tales. Paul, Jon, and Mitch left early right after Jon ran his last leg, so Steve, Chad, Dustin, and I hung out together until the finish. I saw a lot of friends and people I knew along the course and at the finish and had some good visits. BYU came in 34 minutes ahead of white and blue came in almost one hour after white. Our second van had some struggles but still ran great on their last leg. I think that both teams did their job, BYU just had an almost unbeatable team this time. The blue team rocked as well. To put it into perspective, we ran 25 minutes slower than last year's team with guys like Paul, Sasha, and Clyde. With the added mileage to the course this year we probably ran better than last. Not too bad for being the supposed "B" team, as some people were calling it! 3rd overall with that many teams and we sewed that place up pretty easy, I'd say that is a good showing. I know that some of our legs were actually better than our white counter-part's, so some guys have some bragging rights, you might say. Good times once again. Big thanks to our volunteers and drivers. Also to Paul, Steve, and Sasha for their sponsorship, and Cody for helping me with the logistics for two teams (which is not an easy task). Everyone that ran with us was an absolute stud! Another relay in the books and another batton on the shelf.

7 easy miles with my kids at XC practice today.  I felt great, no soreness after this year's relay like I usaully have, but I didn't run leg 11!    Just tired still from no sleep on Friday night.

(Kayano- 194 miles)

I was going to run with Sasha this morning at 5:30 am, too early for me today. I slept outside with my little boy and was so tired that I slept right through my alarm. I could finally move my body at about 8:00 am. That is what happens when you do a rely over the weekend.

I went running just after 8:00 am when I got up. I went up the 900 E hill passed the Temple and up to the mouth of AF canyon via the highways. There was a stiff canyon breeze blowing. I came back on the Highland trail system and 100 E. I saw a lot of people out biking, running, and golfing. I felt comfortable and good other than my one shoulder being kinking from sleeping funny on it last night.  11 miles in 1:19:32, 7:14 average.

(2130- 101 miles)

XC practice with my kids. We met at Butterfield canyon and did and up and back run. It is a nice canyon with some good rolling hills. I had a lot of fun on that run this morning. 54:22 (7:46 average pace).

(Kahana- 230 miles) 

Went out on my own this morning and did Grinder. I wanted to see how close I could come to the AF XC team's standard of greatness for running up that hill, with out racing up it. If they do it in 9 minutes or less they get a special t-shirt. I didn't really throw down any race miles but averaging 8 minute pace up that got my heart rate up to 175 bpm. That is a mother of a hill and I made it to the top in about 9:30, then followed the road up to Grove Creek canyon parking lot where I turned around and headed back. It took me a quite a few minutes to recover because I was flying down the mountain. I stopped at a few sprinklers to cool down along the way. It was a great run for me and I did it about 3 minutes faster than I ever had. I am hammered now and might need a nap later. 1:13:24 for the 10 miles.

(Omni- 517 miles)

1000 miles for the year!

Easy 6 miles with my kids for XC practice.  Did some 100m barefoot strides in the grass after.  Then we played Ultimate for an hour barefoot.  There is some definite tightness in my right gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus, and my left calf, probably from Grinder yesterday.  I could feel them while playing Ultimate.

(Kahana- 235 miles)  

I was so tired again that i went to bed about 10:00pm and woke up about 7:30am.  I think I am still recovering from WBR and the night of zero sleep last weekend.  

I thought about doing a 5k like the one in Herriman or Lavender days in Mona, but after I felt sore yesterday I decided to bag it and do a longer run.   I was glad I did because i had a good run after it took me 5 miles to get warmed up.   I did an extended version of my six city loop that starts in AF and goes through Highland, Alpine, Cedar hills, Manilla, PG and back home to AF.  I took a GU at halfway and grabbed a drink in Cedar Hills.  I figure I need to start training with that type of stuff once in a while to get used to it for some of my up and coming longer races.  I felt good and ran comfortably the whole run, even with some of the big hills.  I averaged just over 6:30 pace for the last 8 miles.   1:39:18 for the run.

(Kayano- 201 miles)

XC practice with my kids. We ran on the Jordan River Parkway North and did 6 hill repeats at the end of the trail. Nice morning for running, not looking forward to the heat later though. My right glute is still knotted up but feels better than the other day.

(Omni- 524 miles)