Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Big Workout today. This morning I ran with Jon's ATK club, which is a great deal because they have caches of water and gatorade every 3 miles, plus bagels and other goodies at the end. James, Dan, and Logan mooched on too. We met at the end of Hollow Road (Mile 17 of the TOU course), and shuttled up Blacksmith Fork Canyon to Mile 3 of the TOU course. From there we ran up to the top of the canyon to the start and Hardware Ranch, took a drink/potty break, and started running down.

After a potty break at Hyrum Park (TOU Half and Freedom Run start lines), Logan and I began a marathon-pace tempo back to the cars. I never felt great at any point of the tempo, but did feel strong enough to keep truckin'. I think that is a result of the 100-mile weeks. I don't have a ton of spring in my steps, but my endurance is very high. Toward the bottom we got a slight tailwind, but nowhere near what we experienced last week. It also started to get warmer out. We stopped once during the tempo, about 7 miles into it, to take some water and gatorade, but other than that it was continuous. Average pace for the tempo was 5:17/mile. If I can do that for all of St. George, that would be good. Average pace for the entire run was 6:11/mile, a new PR for a 20-mile training run. My quads got rocked good by the downhill, but that is what I needed. They need to adapt in order to kill it during the last half of St. George.

Nice progression run today. Splits are below.

Mile	Split	Comment
1	7:48	uphill
2	7:38	uphill
3	7:20	uphill
4	6:54	up and little, then down
5	6:52	downhill
6	6:43	downhill
7	6:45	downhill
8	6:37	downhill
9	6:33	downhill
10	6:20	downhill
11	6:02	downhill; started tempo last 0.2
12	5:18	tempo; downhill
13	5:20	tempo; downhill
14	5:17	tempo; downhill
15	5:17	tempo; downhill
16	5:13	tempo; downhill
17	5:16	tempo; downhill
18	5:19	tempo; hollow rd; stopped for water
19	5:12	tempo; hollow rd
20	5:51	tinman tempo; hollow rd
20.25	5:48/mile pace	tinman tempo; hollow rd

103 miles this week. With two big weeks in a row, next week will be "down" a little bit, probably low to mid-90s. I like to do three-week cycles of two big weeks followed by one moderate week. This usually correlates to my race schedule so that the race is on a moderate week. My favorite race in the Utah, the Alta Peruvian Downhill Dash, is next Saturday.

(Triax: 52 miles)

Day off. Today I focused on taking naps, sitting in my hammock, and working my way through The Lore of Running. My legs feel pretty good after yesterday. Noakes makes me paranoid about overtraining and destroying my body, since that seems to be all he writes about, but so far I'm not exhibiting any symptoms.

For anyone who's interested, I've posted a profile graph comparing Ogden, Top of Utah, and St. George Marathons on my personal blog. Click here.

I slept in until 7:15 today (hurrah, Labor Day!), then ran the dog around the block, ate my oatmeal (complete with James' awesome peaches), and headed out to the River Trail. From the River Trail parking lot, I did a route I haven't ran in awhile: River Trail to the single track, then took the upper route of the single track ("Bridger Lookout"), which goes to the rock fall above Spring Hollow. Ran/stumbled down the steep rockfall about a third of a mile to the Crimson trailhead, and then ran the entire Crimson Trail.

I was particularly happy because I was able to make it up the ascent without walking at all, except for when I bumped into Logan Fielding's wife and mother-in-law and stopped to talk to them for a while. I had the top of the Crimson Trail to myself, and enjoyed the nice, rolling single track before descending back down to River Trail just above Guineva Malibu Campground. I didn't bother going to the campground, but just ran back on the River Trail.

On the last bit of single track coming back on the River Trail some mountain bikers came up behind me, which lit a fire under my butt for some reason, and I started cranking to keep ahead of them. Mission accomplished, I made it to the end of the single track ahead, and then let up. It was a nice little spurt, and proved once again that legs are better than wheels.

I passed Drew Michener near the end of my run and stopped to talk to him for a little bit. He was just beginning the same route as me, except he was going to go the other way (probably a smart idea).

Caught the 9-minute guy during the last mile, and finished the run averaging 8:53/mile. Considering the route contains a lot of rocky, steep single track, and has 1400' of total relief between the trailhead and the summit (with plenty of ups and downs in the middle), I was pretty happy with that, and felt really good today.

(Hardrock: 63 miles)

AM - 9-mile Logan Loop, easy. 7:13/mile average pace.

(1120: 252 miles)

PM - 6.5 miles on the canal loop. It was pouring buckets a little bit earlier, but then I got a little window of calm to run in. Unfortunately, the window only lasted 30 minutes, and I needed 40! I was thoroughly soaked when I got home, but happy to squeeze the run in despite the weather. I didn't wear a watch or GPS, but pace was "brisk" to say the least, as I did not want to hang around long enough to get struck by lightening.

(Adrenaline blue: 340 miles)

Big Workout today. It was raining this morning, so I waited until the afternoon to do it. This is all good, because I always feel better in the afternoon or evening, plus the temperature was quite nice.

From my house I warmed up half a mile, and then did a 2-mile tinman tempo, averaging 5:40/mile. I ran easy the rest of the way to the USU track, where I did 8x1000m @ CV pace, with 200m (1:00) rest between intervals. The intervals went quite well, and I felt strong, smooth, and in control the whole way: 3:11, 3:12, 3:10, 3:10, 3:10, 3:10, 3:09, 3:05. I took 400m (2:00) rest after the 4th interval, splitting the session into two sets. There was a slight headwind on the backstretch, and tailwind on the front stretch. There was also a big throwing cage in the middle of the backstretch, so I had to cut into the infield for about 10 meters every lap, which may have cost a little bit of time. I also got to watch the Aggie football practice. I think I saw about 50 dropped passes during the short time I was on the track. They should really consider going D-I AA or maybe D-II.

After the intervals, I bumped into Taylor Price (USU runner), and talked to him for a few minutes, and then headed back toward my house. I did another 2 miles of tinman tempo, averaging 5:40/mile again. After that, I kept a "brisk" pace for the remainder of the run, which involved doing an out-and-back on the Planet Walk. Pace averaged around 6:30/mile. I ended up with 16.5 miles for the run, with an average pace of 5:54/mile. According to my GPS, I hit the half marathon mark in 1:16:00.

I'm glad to have this Big Workout in the bag. It will probably be my last 1000m CV interval workout before St. George. This workout is one of my "keystone" workouts that I can use periodically to gauge my fitness. It's nice to be able to compare it to the same workout throughout the year. It is even nicer to see that I am smashing the workouts I was doing before Ogden. Here is the breakdown:

	3-19-07	4-13-07	4-24-07	7-9-07	7-31-07	9-5-07
1	3:14	3:13	3:15	3:15	3:12	3:11
2	3:16	3:15	3:17	3:16	3:12	3:12
3	3:16	3:13	3:17	3:16	3:12	3:10
4	3:15	3:15	3:16	3:14	3:12	3:10
5	3:15	3:13	3:17	3:14	3:11	3:10
6	3:16	3:08	3:17	3:14	3:12	3:10
7	3:15				3:07	3:09
8	3:11					3:05
Ave Time	3:15	3:13	3:16	3:15	3:11	3:09
Pace	5:14/mile	5:11/mile	5:16/mile	5:14/mile	5:07/mile	5:05/mile

(Burn: 259 miles)

AM - easy 8.5 miles on Providence Hill Loop, with a block with the dog afterward. A bit stiff and a little tired from yesterday. 7:34/mile average pace.

(Triax: 61 miles)

PM - 7.25 miles easy. Ran most of it with Jon and Cody (and their kids in jogging strollers). Did the Planet Walk a few times. Beautiful day.

(1120: 259 miles)

AM - landfill loop plus a few blocks with the dog for 6 miles total. 7:39/mile average pace.

(Adrenaline blue: 346 miles)

PM - Planet Walk with 4x150m barefoot strides in the grass at LHS.

(Triax: 66 miles)

AM - easy 6 miles on the River Trail. Beautiful, chilly morning in Logan. Hopefully it will be like this for TOU next week. I am running the Alta Peruvian Dash later this afternoon. I love PM races.

(Hardrock: 69 miles)

PM - Alta Peruvian Downhill Dash 8K. This is a rare afternoon race, but they can pull it off because it is up Little Cottonwood Canyon and starts at just over 8700'. It finishes at 6800' ft. For those of you keeping track, that is an average grade of -7.2%. Weather was beautiful, upper 60s with a very slight headwind.

I warmed up a couple miles with Bob, Sasha, and Cody, took my final bathroom break, and then warmed up a little bit more to the start line. This is a small race, about 80 people every year, but it is an LDR Circuit race, so it tends to be top-heavy. I was most worried about Sasha and Bob, but in general liked my chances for a good finish. My unofficial goal was to break 22:00. My course PR is 22:55, from 2003. I also ran 23:30 back in 2005.

Here is the race breakdown:

Mile	Split	Comment
1	4:30	honest pace to start; ran with pack
2	4:19	hit a bigger downhill and made a surge, and soon found myself alone. Legs already regretting the move.
3	4:23	Very painful, but holding pace
4	4:25	Horrible pain. Why did I make a move with 4 miles left??
5	4:08 (4:10/mile pace)	Make it stop. Feet on fire. Trying to slow down, but it's to steep for brakes.

Final time was 21:46 (4:21/mile average pace), so I made my goal, plus won the race. There are great prizes here, such as free night stays at the Peruvian Lodge during ski season, so I'm all about that. I also won some Wasatch Running Center socks in the raffle, to go along with my three other pairs.

This was definitely one of the most painful races I've ran in a while. The downhill is simply unrelenting, but even though my pain level kept increasing, my speed held. It's intimidating seeing that "9% grade" road sign with a mile to go, and your quads and feet are already burning. But I'm pleased with mentally hanging in there, and with the last mile split (a PR - ha ha). Looking at other peoples' performances here over the years, I'm right on track where I need to be.

I would have like to have waited longer to make my surge, but my body just kind of does its own thing during some races. Seemed to work at least.

My garmin measured 4.99. Cody and Sasha had 4.99 and 4.98 as well. An 8K is 4.97 miles, so this is a very close, consistent measurement. I ran tangents pretty well, but there's always room for improvement in that area. The mile markers were all way off, but at least the finish was right. It's funny: starting with Mile 2, the miles got shorter and shorter. For instance, my Garmin read 2.86 at the Mile 3 sign, and then 3.82 at the Mile 4 sign. I was sincerely hoping for the finish to come at 4.80! It was disappointing to have to run for almost another quarter mile, but it's probably best that the finish was honest.

A good finish for the Wasatch Running Center: 1, 2, 4, 5.

I cooled down by running back up to the Lodge. Did about half of it with Bob, and then the rest on my own. Running up hurt almost as bad as running down! 

(Burn: 272 miles)

Ran out to my friend's house to feed her dogs, and then did the Planet Walk. Didn't wear watch. My lower quads are sore today, but not nearly as bad as previous years from the Peruvian. Going down stairs is no problem, and running actually felt pretty good. We'll see how tomorrow feels, but I'm quite optimistic for a fast recovery. I don't really need my legs for another 4 weeks, so lots of time. It's difficult to judge how much damage to put your muscles through, but I really need my quads to be strong enough to hit some sub-5's late in the race at St. George. I honestly think the Peruvian was gamble needed to build that adaptation.

The Packers beat the Eagles, so all is well. The Pack's offense is anemic, but their defense was fantastic, a trend for the year, I imagine.

(1120: 265 miles)

AM - canal trail loop plus a block with the dog, 7 miles total. I'm definitely having a good case of DOMS from the race Saturday, as quads are more sore today than yesterday. Needless to say, the pace was easy this morning. 8:31/mile average pace.

Cold enough this morning for long sleeves and gloves. I love it.

(Triax: 73 miles)

PM - easy 4.5 miles. I started on the Planet Walk, but then bumped into Jon and ran with him back to his house, and then along the TOU course back to my house. 300 S is all chewed up from construction, and is closed to through traffic. I wonder how that will affect the race on Saturday...

Didn't wear watch.

(1120: 264 miles)

AM - landfill loop plus some extra with the dog. Legs are getting better, but still have a little ways to go. 7:39/mile average pace.

(Adrenaline blue: 353 miles)

So the official title of the Alta Peruvian race is "8K Downhill Dash and Barbecue Bash." It has been for years, it's on the website, etc. For those who haven't noticed though, the race t-shirt (cotton of course) says "Downhill Dash and Barbecue Dash". I don't know why, but a blatant typo on a mass-produced race t-shirt just tickles my funny bone and endears the shirt to me.

Lisa: "Come to Homer's BBBQ, the extra 'B' is for BYOBB"

Bart: What's that extra B for?

Homer: That's a typo.

PM - 8 miles on the River Trail with Drew. Still sore, but the downhills felt okay. I wore my New Balance 790's for the first time today. They are a lightweight trail shoe, only 7.9 onces. I think they are lighter than my racing flats! It feels like wearing a slipper on the trails. Definitely feel the rocks more. I think I am going to run in these and the Tangents a little bit more over the next few weeks to ensure my calves and feet are ready to handle flats for St. George (I have never worn racing flats for a marathon). 8:13/mile average pace.

(790: 8 miles)

AM - planet walk plus a mile with the dog. 5 miles total. No watch. Soreness steadily decreasing.

(Triax: 78 miles)

PM - went to the chiropractor in Hyrum and then had my wife drop me off at the end of Hollow Rd, and I ran back to my house along the TOU course. 6:59/mile average pace.

My pelvis was torqued from the Alta race. The chiro fixed it up.

(1120: 274 miles)

AM - planet walk, easy. I bumped into Cody and we ran together for a while. Didn't wear watch. My quads are back to normal, groin is very close. Hamstrings are still a bit tight, and calves are a little tight, but I think the calves are from wearing the trail flats on Tuesday. I think I am on track to feel 100% tomorrow, and hopefully 105% on Saturday. Heh. But in case I don't, my wife will be waiting for me with the car at Mile 20.5 on the TOU course. Always have an exit strategy.

(Adrenaline blue: 358 miles)

PM - Little Workout. Did the Young Ward Loop (11 miles) with 4 miles of tinman tempo in the middle. Splits were 5:53, 5:50, 5:56, 5:49. My hammies had loosened up considerably since this morning and I had a bit more bounce in my step, at least for the first half. The last few miles definitely dragged, and I tightened up as well. Bumped into Jon late in the run and ran with him the last mile or so. 6:46/mile average pace.

(Triax: 89 miles)

AM - 7.5 miles on the canal trail. Took it slow and easy. 8:44/mile average pace. Some dude passed me on the canal trail coming back. That felt sort of weird.

Will do a few more miles tonight. My probability to finishing TOU has been upgraded from 30% to 33%.

(1120: 281 miles)

Top of Utah preview newspaper article is HERE. Jon's pace group made the print, heh heh. Now the pressure is really on. The article also mentioned someone else who I did not know was running: Joseph Sitienei. He has run a marathon barely under 2:22 at sea level, and several marathons and halves much slower. He will contend for top 3, but I doubt he can win. Being a sea-level flatlander will not help him either. But it will make an interesting race.

PM - ran with the dog, then ran to the TOU expo to get my packet. Chit-chatted with people way too long, and then dashed back to my house to get ready for dinner. Picked up a couple miles total.

Dinner was fun. We have a full house, and my wife and I set PR's for most people in the house at once (20), and most children in our house at once (5). I'll post some pictures on the news board tomorrow. By the way, someone left a bib that says "Lil Flirt". If it's unclaimed, I'll made the dog wear it. 

Top of Utah Marathon. I've been looking forward to this for awhile even though it was not to be an all-out race. I enjoy the local event, and was looking forward to pacing people.

Weather was just about perfect. Nice and cool at the start but not uncomfortable. Good tailwind coming out of the canyon. It felt a little warm halfway through, but stayed mild to the finish, especially once I dumped some water on me.

Due to the Alta race last Saturday, I was unsure whether I would finish. I knew I had more than enough fitness to meet the task, but it was previous muscle damage I was worried about. My quads had recovered, but my hamstrings were tight all week. I knew if they tightened up too bad, or if the quads reactivated, I would need to call it a day at Mile 20, nothing more than a good long run. But I did want to run all the way through if it won't cause damage. I just needed to listen to my body.

Along with pacing goals, I wanted to treat today as a dress rehearsal for St. George - same routine, same clothes, same shoes, same drinking, gu, etc. I needed several questions answered:

• Would flats agree with me for the marathon (I've never worn them before).
• Would the Garmin be distracting over that distance (due to autolap)
• Would Gu upset my stomach

As far as the race itself, Jon's entry best summarized it. My garmin ended up getting quite a bit off due to poor tangents (hard run good tangents in a large group), so I will borrow Jon's watch splits. For St. George, I will either turn autolap off, or just use a regular watch.

It took me a while to find our pace. By the third mile, though, we were locked in, and I stopped thinking about it, and just checked the garmin every so often to make sure we were not too fast. I had to stop and tinkle twice, which cost 20 seconds apiece, but I was able to catch up within the mile both times. That is strange for me, because I usually don't have to tinkle during races, and twice is certainly excessive.

I started out the first few miles feeling good, but my hammies tightened up by Mile 5. This made my finish doubtful. However, they didn't feel any worse at Mile 10, and about the same at Mile 15. I decided at Mile 18 that I would finish, as my stride was still bouncy and my body was hanging in there just fine. The flats felt good, so I will go with them for St. George. I drank lots of gatorade a took a couple GU's, and no problem from that either.

Pacing was fun, and it was rewarding to run for a purpose beyond individual accomplishment. I have always gotten a thrill from seeing other people PR (a great thing about track and field, lots of events to watch teammates!), and was happy to take part in helping people in the race today. Logan and I were on a mission. I'll remember this race because of it.

The first 16 miles were pretty easy for pacing because everyone was feeling good. The only trick was to slow the pack down when it needed it. Once we hit the tailwind, we tried to decrease effort and coast for a while to let people "rest". It's tempting to hammer too hard in those situations. Even with that, those miles were still the fastest.

After Mile 16, I could sense Jon laboring a bit more. Steve and Adam broke off, and both were looking great. Logan and I stayed with Jon and went to work with him and on him. I'm not sure if Jon got sick of me yelling at him for 10 miles, but my goal was to encourage him and keep him focused on his goals. We concentrated on milking the downhill through Mile 18, and then had Jon tuck in close behind us for the rather long climb through Millville into Providence. We hit about 6:20 for those uphills miles, which was great. We tried to work the downhill into Providence and mustered 6:10 or so. I knew Jon was grappling with the Wall, but hoped that Logan and I could do as much of the work as possible (there was headwind here and there), and help keep him focused and resolute. Speaking from my own experience, it's easy to stop caring during a race and just "settle" for finishing, but that was not an option today.

Jon was an absolute champ and kept his focus, never doing anything slower than 6:40 during the last four miles. I knew one really bad mile could cost him 2:40, but all the miles were solid. Most miles were 6:30 or a little under. That is very good for this late in a marathon while fatigued, especially the TOU course, which is not forgiving. We caught Adam in River Heights, and dropped him a little bit later. We worked the uphills, and had Jon open up on the downhills, where he got some nice surges in and ate up ground. The last quarter mile Jon was able to to smell the barn and kicked it in hard. We got 2:40 with room to spare. Group hugs all around. Adam finished soon afterward, a very nice PR for him as well.

I was happy to finish and felt pretty good considering the hard week I had recovering from Alta, but I was most happy for Jon, Adam, Cody, Kory, and the others who ran their butts off and got awesome PR's. The FastRunningBlog took 1-2-3-4-5 in the 24-29 age group: a clean sweep. That was pretty cool.

Congrats also to Hobie Call for a performance that lifts him among America's elites. Very few Americans can run that fast. Cool stuff, and inspiring too.

I took today off for recovery. I feel pretty darn good after the marathon, no soreness and little fatigue. Felt even better after a 2.5-hr nap! Hopefully tomorrow will not bring any delayed soreness, but not over the course of today so far, so I don't expect any. Very encouraging, especially after last week.

A few interesting TOU Marathon notes:

• This year was my second fastest TOU time, just 1.3 seconds faster than 2005 (2:39:22.5 vs. 2:39:23.8)
• My gun time was 0.04 seconds faster than Logan's, but his chip time was 0.07 seconds faster than mine.
  
• Although we were denied Top 3, Fast Running Bloggers swept every spot from 4th to 12th. Pretty cool.
• Jon Allen captured a front paged title in the Herald Journal this morning. "Allen aided by mantourage."
  

In more important news, the Pack win again!

Now back to watching the Patriots game.

AM - easy 5 miles on Planet Walk and a few blocks with the dog. Feeling splendid. No tightness or soreness. I'm still going to take it relatively easy until Thursday, just to ensure proper recovery.

(Adrenaline blue: 363 miles)

It looks like the USATF LDR has posted the final standings HERE. 5 bloggers in the Top 10, including a clean sweep of the Top 3.

I am not sure if I will go to the Awards Banquet or not. I usually skip stuff like that (especially for $30/plate + 170 miles driving round-trip), but if it exceptionally fun and/or if the food is exceptionally good, I may go this year. Has anyone gone in the past that can fill me in? Anyone else going this year?

PM - 8 miles on the canal trail loop. Rained a little bit. 7:08/mile average pace.

(1120: 289 miles)

Canal trail to BST to Green Canyon to end of Green Canyon single-track and back. Perfect weather today. Some fall colors are starting to appear up Green Canyon. It's amazing how much better I feel this week than last week. After my first mile today, I thought to myself, "I get to run 14 more miles! Happy Joy!" Not sarcastic, either. So it was a good run, and I enjoyed climbing hills in the 790s. They are a good shoe, although my feet are definitely tired after 15 miles. 6:54/mile average pace.

(790: 23 miles)

AM - planet walk, easy, no watch.

(Adrenaline blue: 368 miles)

PM - Providence Hill Loop, via Von's Park. Felt great. 6:47/mile average pace.

(Triax: 97 miles)

I went to the doctor today to have my iron checked. I feel fine and exhibit no symptoms of low iron. However, I just wanted to check and make sure, since I have been doing doing the most mileage of my life, and am eating a semi-vegetarian diet. I weighed in at 130 lbs, fully clothed with birkenstocks on and pockets full of keys, wallet, phone, etc. This is the first I've been weighed in a few months, and it's where I want to be.

My test was good. I am the opposite of anemic, on the high end of normal. Now at least I know for sure.

Big Workout today, which turned into Big Disaster. Well, that's exaggerating. More like Moderate Disappointment and Slight Anger. I was planning on doing MP intervals: 5-mile tempo with 2 minutes recovery, 4-mile tempo with 2 minutes recovery, 3-mile tempo with 2 minutes recovery. So 12 miles of tempo total. An ambitious workout, but I did something similar before Ogden and I liked it.

Unfortunately, I didn't run until afternoon, and it was about 80 degrees by then, warmer than it had been all week. So that was mistake number one. And then I choose to do the Young Ward-ICON Loop, which can be windy in the afternoon; sure enough I had a headwind for the first 5 miles. Mistake number two. And then I didn't finish eating my lunch until an hour before my run. Mistake number three. So the heat sucker-punched me, the headwind kicked me to the ground, and the upset stomach spat in my face.

The workout started well enough, and I was down to sub-6:30 pace at the end of my 1-mile warmup. I started the first tempo segment and hit a 5:30 and then a 5:28. But I was already struggling by the second mile. I decided to break it up into smaller intervals, so took a two-minute recovery right then, and then started another 2-mile interval. First mile in 5:24, but then I felt pretty bad, and rather than push through it, I called off the dogs and canned the workout after another quarter mile. I hate giving up like that, but at this stage of the game, trying to push through 80-degree heat and a headwind just to hit some splits would have done damage, not good. I underestimated the heat, and pushed too hard during the first 2 miles, and I think it messed up my body for the rest of my workout. But in any case, my stomach was getting upset too. And my shoe was giving me a blister. And the air was stinky. Just not a good day.

I completed the loop and tried to just keep a steady pace. I would surge up to tinman tempo pace every so often and hit a few sub-6 splits, but mostly tried to keep it under control. Lessons learned: 1) get the workout done in the morning, or even early afternoon while it is cooler; 2) adjust pace better for heat and headwind. A split is just a number, it is the effort that matters.

Finished up with 12 miles instead of the scheduled 16, but my body told me to call it a day and not push it. It's time to start tapering. 6:12/mile average pace for the run.

(Burn: 284 miles)

AM - easy 5 on the Planet Walk and with the dog.

(1120: 294 miles)

PM - easy 8 miles on the Logan Loop. 7:08/mile average pace.

(Triax: 105 miles)

Different kind of run today. I met Cody and Leland Barker at First Dam, and we drove up to Beaver Creek to mark the Bear 100 course for next week. We first ran out to near Danish Pass, and then back to car. Then we ran over to where my Aid Station will be next Friday (Fish Haven Canyon). At that point Leland drove back down, and Cody and I continued running down Old Logan Road, marking the course every 300-400 meters or so. It was a nice road and the aspen were peaked in color. We got down to the Beaver Creek campground and met back up with Leland. Cody and I need more miles, so we went on to run all the way out to the highway. With the nice downhill, and without having to stop and flag, we were averaging about 6:40/mile on this part. The pace on the uphills earlier in the run was much slower, but I wasn't really paying attention. I originally wanted a few more miles than this, but maybe I'll grab a mile or two in the afternoon. For now I'll call it good with mileage in the low 80s for the week. This is a bit more taper than I anticipated, but I think I need it, after Alta and TOU. I'll probably hit upper-60s next week.

Took a glorious nap in the afternoon, and then ran 1.5 miles with the dog in the rain to clear my head and get blood moving again. 

(Hardrock: 80 miles)

Easy run on the planet walk, then a block with the dog. No watch.

(Adrenaline blue: 372 miles)

The Packers defeat the Chargers. 3-0. All is well in Packerland. The Packsquatch is celebrating.

Moderate Workout today. Fortunately, I had perfect weather this time: overcast, mid-50's with no wind. I put on my racing flats and ran from my house up to the USU track (3.25 miles) at about 6:40/mile pace. Then I did 5x1600m @ LT pace, with 400m (2:00) recovery.

Interval	Split
1	5:09
2	5:09
3	5:08
4	5:08
5	5:00

These all felt good, and I felt relaxed for the whole session. Definitely a confidence-booster after last Thursday. My right SI joint is a little tight, but I have a chiro appointment followed by a two-hour deep massage tomorrow, so that should take care of it.

Ran home from the track, a little under 7:00/mile pace. 6:11/mile pace for the entire run.

*************************************

Here's a picture of our TOU pace group. To say we were enjoying ourselves immensely was an understatement. The photo needs a good caption.

Ran to the dentist for my 8AM appointment (2.5 miles). Good checkup, no cavities. The dentist looked down my mouth and said, "You're not from Utah, are you?" He is not the first dentist to infer that just from my teeth. I don't know why they don't fluoridate the water out here; every other place I've lived has fluoridated. Oh yeah, I forgot: "Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face?" We wouldn't want to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids, now would we?

Enough ranting about fluoride, or lack thereof. I ran back home from the dentist (yes, carrying my new toothbrush and floss), dropped off my stuff, and then did a few more miles out to the Planet Walk. 8 miles total, about 7:30/mile average, give or take. It was a beautiful morning, crisp and sunny, with caps of snow on the Wellsvilles.

My day of appointments continues this afternoon, with visits to the chiropractor and the massage therapist. Gotta love the taper.

(Triax: 113 miles)

I ran after work again today, and it was absolutely beautiful. Low 60's, sunny, no wind. I did a 9-mile run, down the canal trail to First Dam, and then up Hwy 89 to USU. I had to make a stop at the Merill Library at USU to photocopy a journal for documentation for my professional GIS Certification. Now that I have over 4 years of work experience, I qualify to apply. I could barely recognize the library (or the campus for that matter), since so much has changed over the last 5 years. I used to have to get my own journals from the shelves, but those are long gone. Now you make a request via computer, and some high-tech James Bond-like devices bring the journal to the person behind the counter, and then they give it to you. In any case, I managed to make my photocopies (on new high-tech copiers), and then continued the run home, via 1000W. I was wondering all day if my horses would be neighing. I think I had one horse neighing, but maybe it was wishful thinking. Definitely not two. But that's good, since I have 10 days left. 10 days!! If horses neigh too loudly for too long, they end up losing their voice. 6:46/mile average pace.

(1120: 303 miles)

Moderate Workout today. I wanted a progression run, with a couple honest warmup miles, then to brisk, then to tinman tempo, then to MP, and then a short cooldown. I did the Millville Hill Loop, the old, tough standard. Here's how it went.

Mile	Split	Comment
1	6:43	warmup
2	6:26	warmup
3	6:14	"brisk" pace; uphill
4	5:56	tinman; rolling
5	5:48	tinman; half down, half up
6	6:20	MP; all uphill
7	5:46	tinman; rolling
8	5:06	MP; downhill
9	5:45	half MP, half tinman; downhill
10	5:24	MP; rolling
11	6:33	cooldown
12	6:30	cooldown

It was a really good workout, definitely the fastest I've done this loop. One horse neighing, maybe one and a half. 6:20 is the fastest I've done the big hill mile by about 10 seconds, and it felt excellent. This mile has about 280 ft elevation gain (~5% gradient). After the big hill, I recovered for a while on the flat, and then tore into the big downhill. 5:00 pace felt conversational at times. I hit a bio-break after Mile 8 at a park, and then it took me about another half mile to find my rhythm again, but I was hitting 5:20-pace on the last half of that mile. The last mile of the tempo I just held 5:25. 6:02/mile average pace for the run.

(Triax: 125 miles)

Today I skipped out on work and volunteered at an aid station for the Bear 100, our local ultra trail race. I was at the Fish Haven Road aid station, which is near Mile 34. I left Logan at 10AM and started setting up a little after 11AM (it's a long drive). It was just me and two ham radio guys from Bear Lake, who turned out to be pretty cool. Karl Meltzer came roaring through at around 12:15 PM. I've gone through marathon aid stations slower than he went through this one. Probably 3 seconds between check in and check out. He is trying to break the course record. Best of luck to him. He must be around Mile 75 by now (9PM).

Running the aid station was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot. It was painfully obvious at times that I was a rookie, but hopefully I will do it again next year with a year under my belt and be more polished and have more of the "little things" right. It was enlightening to be on the "other side" of a race and serve rather than take. I will definitely never get mad a volunteer ever again, that's for sure. What a neat experience, I hope to do more of it.

Toward the end of the day, when there were only 4 runners left to go through our checkpoint, I started doing little mini-runs to get my miles in. I ran the course backward on Old Logan Road until I saw the next runner, then I would run back to aid station before they got there. After 3 times of doing that, I had 6 miles in. The last runner had dropped out, so we didn't have to wait any longer, and it was time to pack up, at around 6 PM. After packing the car, I did a little out-and-back down Fish Haver Road, which is a nice dirt road that goes to Bear Lake. I caught some really nice vistas of the lake. The aspen are peaked, and it was a wonderful, glorious day to be outside in God's creation. Definitely lifted my spirits. I love fall.

(Hardrock: 89 miles)

Ran with Dan and Cody from Dan's house, up to the Deer fence trail, and went from Millville Canyon to Dry Canyon and back. Pace was slow, although those hills are hard no matter how slow you go. Temperature dropped about 10 degrees during the run. 8:33/mile average pace.

This afternoon I went out to the finish of the Bear 100 to drop off some stuff. Karl Meltzer did indeed break the course record by over an hour, with a time of 18 hours, 50 minutes. That is an average 11:20/mile for 100 miles. Leland Barker was second, with a PR of a shade under 21 hours (I think, I can't quite remember).

(1120: 316 miles)

Went for a nice little fall colors hike with my wife, up Dry Canyon. Beautiful day.

Pack win again, to move to 4-0. Favre sets all-time TD record. Geb's new record is great, but I still like Favre better.