Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

AM - easy run on the Planet Walk. No watch.

(Adrenaline blue: 377 miles)

PM - Little Workout at the USU track. The plan for today was 2x1600m @ 10K pace, with 400m recovery (2:00). I warmed up for a mile on my own, and then another mile with Cody, who would be using me as a pacer on my second interval in an attempt to break 5:00 in the 1600. It was starting to rain and get windy, so we decided to get going before things got worse.

For my first 1600, I started with a 71, thought that was too fast, and settled down into 2:25 at 800m and 4:52 for the 1600m. Felt excellent. Cody did his strides in front of me on the front-stretch, which helped him get a feeling for the pace, and also blocked the headwind for me. However, the headwind died during the second half of the interval.

For my second interval, Cody tucked in behind me. The plan was to run 73-second laps. The first 200 was 35, then 73 for the 400, thanks to the headwind that re-started. 2:27 at 800m. Cody started fading a little on the 3rd lap, and I hung back to enough to keep him in contact and take the wind on the front-stretch. 3:46 at 1200m. I told Cody he needed a 73. I picked it up a little bit and finished at 5:00. Cody was 5:04. This interval felt very good as well. No anaerobic running, and recovery was fast.

I did the exact same workout the week before Ogden, and ran 5:02 and 5:01. This time around,the 4:52 felt like the 5:02 back in May. I had a similar experience with my mile intervals last week vs. the analogous workout back in May. Hopefully this means I can run St. George at an effort 10 seconds faster per mile than Ogden, which would convert to 15-20 seconds/mile faster due to the greater downhill. We'll find out.

No running today (yet). I woke up feeling rather run-down and a little achy. I went to work for a couple hours, but then decided to go home and try to nip this thing before it starts. After about 3 hours of napping, I felt a bit better and optimistic about getting a run in, and I went back to work. However, after an hour at work, I started feeling a little nauseated and called it quits for good (no vomiting yet, though). My wife says I feel "warm". Hopefully this is just a little flu bug that will be gone by tomorrow. I figure any running at this point in my taper is mostly psychological anyway, so I don't think a day off will do any harm, whereas forcing a run could cause full-blown sickness. I feel like I'm teetering on the brink, so hopefully rest and a lot of liquids will kill this thing. If I feel "perfect" by this evening, I may jog a few miles, but for now I'm content to do nothing.

I felt a bit better when I woke up this morning, other than being very hungry. I ran a block with the dog, and it felt okay. I went to work for a little while, but then my tummy started hurting again, so I went home and slept for another 3 hours. Things felt better after that, and I worked from home the rest of the day (self-quarantine). I ran 5.5 miles in the late afternoon at 7:15/mile average pace. The legs felt fine, but my stomach is definitely still a little messed up, and I feel rather weak in general. I need to be carbo-loading right now, but I have no urge to eat. I'll try my best. If I don't feel 100% tomorrow, I'll have to seriously re-evaluate my race strategy.

(Triax:  131 miles)

I woke up at 4AM this morning, and my body said, "I'm sick of sleeping. That's all you do anymore." I guess 30+ hours of sleep over a span of three days is plenty. I'm feeling quite a bit better today, and hopefully it sticks. The last couple days I've felt decent for the first few hours, then I start feeling sicker during mid-morning. But today will be different. ;-).

I ran an easy 5 miles with 4x100m strides at the end. I bumped into Cody after a mile and ran with him for a couple miles, then finished up on my own, and with the dog. Didn't wear watch.

We are leaving for St. George at 2PM, which should put us there by 8:30 or so, with a stop at the WRC and dinner along the way. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend.

(Adrenaline blue: 377 miles)

Drove up the St. George course with Clyde and ran the first few miles of the course. There was a nasty headwind, but it is supposed to die down this evening and turn into a tailwind or cross wind.

Afterward, we drove the rest of the course.

(Triax: 134 miles)

First off, awesome job to everyone who ran the race. And it was great getting to meet so many people before and after the race.

I stayed with Clyde and Mik'l both Thursday and Friday night. It helped getting there a day early, so that I could get the stress of driving out of the way and have all of Friday to relax, go to the expo, scope out the course, and finalize race-day strategy.

Clyde and I drove the course on Friday, which allowed me to lay down the foundations of what I would do on Saturday. It was helpful to see the Vejo hill, and even more helpful to see the quarter-mile downhill after it, and the three-mile uphill after that. I determined I would try to relax up Vejo as much as I could, and then regain any lost energy on the short downhill before the real test: Dammeron. For Dammeron, I would be content to not push the pace either. In fact, I planned to do as much sitting and as little leading as possible for the first 12 miles, before turning it loose at the half. Hopefully the competition would cooperate!

Race-day arrived, and the weather cooperated. And fact, it was utterly perfect. High 30s at the start, with an ever-so-slight breeze that would act as a tailwind for most of the course. At the staging area, I did very little warmup (only about 0.25 miles plus strides), and focused mostly on getting quality porta-pot experiences (4 total, matching Clyde), and keeping my core and my extremities warm by hanging out at the fire pits. So mostly, I hung out and shot the breeze with friends.

I do not get nervous for marathons, by the way. 1500's on the track make me very nervous. 5K's make me a little nervous. But the marathon is too long and too dependent on long-term training to make me nervous. The work has been done over the last several months, and now it was simply a matter to execute the training. It's kind of like typing a long document (the training), and then hitting "print" (the race). Or it's like painting a house. All the washing, chipping, scraping, caulking, and other preparation is the hard part. Painting the house is fun. At 6:45AM, it was time to paint the house.

It was still very dark when the gun went off. It remained dark for the first 5 or 6 miles, resulting in me missing most of my splits (I was running Garmin-less). This was all fine though, because I could just focus on the pace, the pack, and how I felt.

I was hoping that lots of people who were not me would want to take the lead at least through Vejo, preferably through Dammeron. Maybe it's selfish, but I wanted to run as efficiently as possible, and therefore just tuck in and let other people do the work through the hard part of the course. The weather was already cooperating, and so was the competition; several dark shadows of runners stepped up (none who I knew), allowing me to draft guilt-free. The first 5 miles went by very fast. I only got two splits: a 10:48 2-mile, and 16:06 for the next three miles. This is a conservative start for the "A" group, but fast enough for me and exactly what I was hoping for. Due to this conservative start, part of the "B" group caught up, including Mike, Sasha, and Steve. This was great. More bodies, bigger pack. Better banter too. Chit-chatting with others makes the first half of marathons go faster.

So far my body was feeling good. I was running in just shorts, singlet, and gloves, but felt okay with the cold temperature. My hands were a little cold, and my knees were freezing and achy for some reason, but other than that, things were good and the pace felt efficient. The sun started to come up, and Vejo was upon us before I knew it. Believe it or not, I was actually looking forward to Vejo, because my cold, achy knees (and lower quads) were already a little sick of the downhill (somewhat alarming), and I predetermined yesterday that I was going to relax up Vejo and expend as little energy as possible, a plan that I further committed to when Sasha informed me we were ahead of the 5:20-guy right before the hill. Indeed, Vejo was enjoyable, definitely a good change of pace. However, our pack completely fragmented here. Dave Danley pushed up the hill and separated himself. Sasha, Steve, and Mike dropped back.

At the top of the hill it was just me, Sean Sundwall, and Nick Schuetze. Nick, Sean, and I formed a temporary alliance, and began what was probably the most enjoyable part of the race for me. I drafted off of Nick for about halfway up Dammeron, and just tried to stay relaxed and easy; time did not matter yet. We made comments on the beautiful sunrise and redrock. It was a gorgeous day, and life was good. By the start of Mile 12, Nick started pushing a bit, and chasing Dave Danley. I stuck to my plan of relaxation, let him go, and worked in with Sean. We discussed trading off leads, but with no headwind, and with the hill nearly over, I was content to run side-by-side. I missed a some splits, but was averaging 5:30-5:40 on the Dammeron hill.

Sean and I crested the hill at Mile 12. I gave him a high-five, and said "It's time to go." And we did. With the mission accomplished of running a relaxed first 12 miles and mooching off others, it was time to start really working, and time to get under qualifying pace. I knew based on the splits of previous winners (James Lander, Joe Wilson, Mike Kirk), the second half is where the race is won. Mile 13 was a 5:08, and we were rolling again. Nick had gapped Sean and I by a bit, but Danley was starting to come back; I knew that we could reel him in. 1:11:24 at the half.

Seeing Snow Canyon was a beautiful site; not just its aesthetic appeal, but also the downhill it represented. I have been mentally (and physically) preparing to hit this section at sub-5 pace for several months, and now it was time to do it. Sean really helped hammer the pace from 15-17. My quads protested a little bit, but remained intact. We passed Danley around 15 miles. At Mile 17, I checked my splits and realized that we had just put together a 15:20 5K, and three consecutive sub-5's. We were definitely back under pace, now I just needed my body to hold up, kind of like a shuttle holding up during re-entry of the earth's atmosphere.

Sean and I kept working together and encouraging each other. Fist-bumps, high fives, whatever it took. We knew we were on the verge of doing it. I missed another split, but got 10:18 for a 2-mile during 18-19. Satisfactory. Then a 5:27 for 20 (up the overpass hill?). One of us remarked "10K left". No wall for me get, although my muscles were certainly all protesting from the battery, particularly my left calf. My knees were feeling better though, once it had warmed up. Sean had a pace band and informed me we were on track for 2:19. I needed nothing better than that, and tried to relax a little and just keep my body intact. But kind of like the Alta race, but body was already in auto-pilot, not heeding my mind, and working even harder. The four-mile stretch of 21-24 was 20:04. I gapped Sean a little bit with 4 miles left, but didn't feel confident enough to make the big move, and he caught back up. I felt like I still needed someone to push (or pull) me if things turned sour. I started a mantra in my head, "There will be no Wall." With 5K to go, I gapped Sean again, this time for good. "Okay, just a 5K," I thought to myself, and started doing some mental math to figure out how slow I could run a 5K and still hit the "A" standard. My mental math wasn't doing so hot, and by the time I figured it out, another 5:00-mile had passed, and now I had only two miles. "There will be no Wall."

Now I knew the "A" standard was a virtual certainty. I was hurting, my muscles were screaming at me, but I was not near the Wall. "There will be no Wall." I ran Mile 25 in 5:13 just to prove the point to my doubting mind. Now it was just a mile race. Just a 1600m track interval. "There will be no Wall". And there was no Wall. Last Mile in 5:13. Last 0.2 in 1:07. Last Half in 1:06:45.

Ryan Hall is one of running role models, not just because of how he runs, but how he uses his running as worship, as a way to praise and glorify God. How does it feel to qualify for the Trials? Elation. Absolutely amazing. And I give God the glory and praise for the chance He's given me, the gifts He's given me, the beauty of His creation, and just the feeling of running in itself, fast or slow.

I was happy to see both Sean and Dave Danley hit the "A" standard too. And I was absolutely elated to see Logan cross the line in 2:21:45. That was definitely a moment I'll remember for a long time.

Lots of other fabulous performances by other bloggers and friends. I'd like to make a list of blogger PR's, but don't have time right now. :-) Today in St. George was certainly a special day. St. George is a special course, fast by its very topographic nature. But in order to have a truly special race, you need three other things beside a fast course: 1) cool/cold weather with no wind or tailwind; 2) thick competition; 3) great training and preparation. Sometimes you get only 2 or 3 of these four things to come together. This will lead to a good race, but not a special race. It is rare when all 4 factors come together on the same day, but today was one of those days. It showed not just in my race (an 8:15 PR), but in the times and PR's of countless others. It was truly a special day in St. George: a cold start, a tailwind, superb competition (and pace groups!), and lots of well-trained individuals.

Mile	Split
1-2	10:48
3-5	16:06
6	4:58
7-8	11:02
9	5:43
10	5:31
11-12	11:23
13	5:08
14	5:12
15-16	9:49
17	4:58
18-19	10:18
20	5:27
21	4:53
22	5:05
23	5:03
24	5:03
25	5:13
26	5:13
0.2	1:07
First Half	1:11:24
Second Half	1:06:45
Total Time	2:18:09

No activity today. I feel like I was thrown off a horse, and then the horse repeatedly and purposely stomped on my left calf about 10 times. And then other various barnyard animals came out and trampled my quads, hips, and hamstrings. And then that horse came back out and stomped my left calf a few more times just for spite.

The plan is to get a long massage tomorrow, gets lots of sleep, drink lots of fluid, and do some elliptical Tues-Thurs. I'll start running again no sooner than Friday.

For those interested, Sean Sundwall (3rd place overall, the guy I ran most of the race with) has posted his race report on his personal blog. If you haven't gotten enough of race reports already, it's a good read.

http://twenty6two.blogspot.com/2007/10/olympic-trials-here-i-come.html

I'm still pretty sore today. My left calf is the main problem. I went in this afternoon for a nice, long massage. My massage therapist is a miracle worker. Talk about the laying on of hands and anointing with oil...

Afterwards, I went to the gym and did 15 minutes pretty easy on the elliptical. Planet Fitness now has a new building. It is bigger and has more TVs.

Weighed in at 131 pounds. 

Biked to the gym and did 15 minutes on the elliptical. Everything is feeling much better after the massage yesterday, especially the quads. The left calf is still the worst area, but it will be there by Friday.

Biked to the gym and did 15 minutes on the treadmill. My quads are ready to run again. My left calf is not quite there today, but should be good to go tomorrow. I'm looking forward to running again, but it's been a nice recovery week. I've needed to extra time to get logistics together for NY. The USATF and NYRR have made this as painless as possible, and I am all set up for flight and hotel. Stacy is coming with me, and we managed to get her on the same flights, and the seat next to me for the most part. Family does not stay free at the host hotel, but we're getting a very good deal for NYC, as these rooms ordinary go for about $500/night. I am really glad I hit the "A", as it allowed us to afford Stacy to come along, which is really important to me. I can't imagine how much people spend to travel out for the New York Marathon. 

Today I *gasp* went running! Finally. 7 mile out-and-back to First Dam. I bumped into Vance Twitchell, his wife, and Seth Wold's wife, and shot the breeze for a while with them about the Trials and about D-I Pre-Nats this weekend in Terre Haute. I am very interested in seeing how Seth Wold does down there, as well as our own Nick Miller. Having race results to look forward to will help diminish post-marathon race-result withdraw (PMRRW).

Anyway, the run today felt pretty good. My quads, hips, glutes, and hammies are all fully recovered and feeling loose. My right calf feels great, but my left calf is still sore, and inhibited my foot strike and push off a bit. But it is getting better every day, so hopefully it will swing around by Monday or so. 7:33/mile average pace.

(Triax: 141 miles)

7 miles on the River Trail with Cody. It was a nice morning, cool with logs of colored leaves on the ground. It started raining at the very end. My left calf felt a little better than yesterday. Went home and took a glorious nap. 7:46/mile average pace.

(Hardrock: 96 miles)

AM - 5 miles on the Planet Walk. Calf is almost 100%, but got a little tight halfway through the run. Didn't wear watch.

(Adrenaline blue: 382 miles)

PM - 6.5 miles on Landfill Loop, plus a block with the dog. Gorgeous day, nice to be outside.

(Triax: 147 miles)

In other news, the Pack win an ugly one to move to 5-1. Nasty play by the offense, even nastier play by the refs, and by far the worst play by Washington. A win is a win though.

AM - Providence Loop, easy. 7:17/mile average pace.

(1120: 322 miles)

PM - Canal Trail out-and-back, 6.5 miles. 6:54/mile average pace. Culpepper and Hall are shaking in their boots now that I can beat the 7-minute guy again.

(Adrenaline blue: 389 miles)

semi-Big Workout today. It was "only" 12 miles total, since I am not really recovered from the marathon yet, but was still enough to work me over. The workout was a fartlek: 10x2-minutes @ CV pace (roughly 5:05/mile on flat terrain) with 1-minute recovery jog between intervals. Afterwards, 10x20-second strides @ 3k-5k pace with 40 seconds recovery.

Logan and Cody joined me, which was really nice. It's so much better doing hard workouts with other people. Plus, I could draft off Logan. :-).

Since the NY course is so hilly, wimpy track workouts are out of the question. Rather, I elected to hit the road and the rolling hills of the North Logan-USU-Boulevard Loop. The first 5 intervals had a lot of uphill, but then the last half of the set flattened out and had some gradual downhill as well. I used my Garmin to record distance and pace for the fartlek intervals, but ran them mostly by feel.

Interval	Distance	Pace
1	0.40	5:04/mile
2	0.39	5:11/mile
3	0.39	5:10/mile
4	0.38	5:20/mile
5	0.39	5:06/mile
6	0.41	4:59/mile
7	0.40	5:05/mile
8	0.39	5:11/mile
9	0.39	5:06/mile
10	0.41	4:57/mile

In general, the faster intervals had more downhill, and the slower intervals had more uphill. I like this course because it's fairly challenging. Not as hard as my Millville Hill Loop, but still good. I was feeling pretty beat down halfway through, but fortunately had Logan to keep pushing me. Once we got to the top of the course, the terrain got a bit easier, but both calves really tightened up and got a fairly sore. I still have a ways to go on the recovery.

The last thing I wanted to do after the fartlek was 10 strides, but the three of us grunted our way through it. Thanks guys for a good workout. 6:37/mile average pace for the whole run.

(Triax: 160 miles)

noon - 5 easy miles to the Planet Walk from work. Didn't wear watch.

(Adrenaline blue: 394 miles)

PM - 7 miles on the River Trail. Got rained and sleeted on, and hit the snow line at only 5000'. Time to wax up the skis. 7:30/mile average pace.

(Hardrock: 103 miles)

Kind of funny side story for today: I was listening to a podcast interview by TheFinalSprint.com with Peter Gilmore this afternoon at work, and I was caught a little off-guard when my name got dropped in the middle of the interview. This is not totally random, as I write for the website, and they have been publicizing my OTQ, but still kind of freaky to me. Then Gilmore proceeded to call me a chump and said that he was going to beat me up in the parking lot after Trials. No not really. Actually the context was more like, "One of our staff writers just qualified for Trials with a pretty slow time compared to you. Do you have any tips for him and guys like him on how to stick with it, get sponsors, and become as good as you?" It was interesting.

Gilmore is definitely one of those guys that I can try to emulate, along with Brian Sell. He was not blazing fast when he started, but has worked extraordinarily hard and has taken some hard knocks along the way, but things have turned out well for him. Gilmore and Sell are definitely guys I will be rooting for at trials because of that.

The podcast is here, by the way.

noon - easy 5.5 miles on the Landfill Loop. Didn't wear watch. My left calf is finally close to 100%.

(1120: 328 miles)

PM - easy 6.5 miles on Canal Trail out-and-back. 7:03/mile average pace.

(Triax: 166 miles)

noon - easy run from work on the Planet Walk. It was surprisingly warm out today. Kept the pace as slow as I could; didn't wear watch.

(Adrenaline blue: 399 miles)

PM - easy 7.5-mile run on the Providence Loop. I tried to run as slow as I could today, which turned out to be 7:11/mile average pace. It felt like 9-minute pace. This is a good sign. Everything is feeling very smooth, and I think I'm just about recovered.

(1120: 335 miles)

What a cold, rainy awful day today. For those who need it, here is today's motivational photo:

Now get out there and get your miles in.

PM - I ended up lucking out on the weather. We drove to Ogden in the early afternoon, where I met Logan and James. The plan was a 15-mile progression run on rolling hills. Logan picked the perfect course; it was VERY rolling. We started near 7-minute pace and worked our way down to 6-minute pace by the end. This was my longest run since St. George, but it felt okay. Weather was perfect too: cool, not raining, and not windy. 6:28/mile average pace.

(Triax: 181 miles)

Afterward, Stacy and I continued down to SLC, where I picked up some shoes and equipment at Wasatch Running, and then we went to the USATF LDR Dinner at the Alta Club. I had not been to any of the USATF dinners before, and was glad I went this time. The people were fun, the food was good, and pretty much everyone won several drawing prizes. I won a SLC 5K tech shirt (which is actually pretty nice), and (yet) another night stay at the Alta Peruvian Lodge. We now have accumulated 3 free nights at the Peruvian. Now all I need is some powder.

AM - easy 5 miles on Planet Walk and with dog. Didn't wear watch.

(Adrenaline blue: 404 miles)

PM - easy 5 miles on River Heights loop and with dog. Beautiful afternoon. I ran as slow as I could. 7:55/mile average pace.

(1120: 344 miles)

For anyone who is interested, I have posted my own course map and profile for the Olympic Marathon Trials on my personal blog. Click here.

noon - easy 5 miles on Planet Walk from work. Didn't wear watch.

(Elite: 5 miles)

PM - easy 5 miles, some random loop. Felt great, light and bouncy. I think one horse started neighing or at least whimpering a little bit. 6:33/mile average pace.

(Triax: 186 miles)

noon - ran an out-and-back on Canyon Rd. I wanted to run on the canal trail, but it was blocked off and under construction. At the end of the run, I did 8x20-second hill surges up the Boulevard Hill, with 40 seconds recovery on the way back down. They felt pretty good.

(Adrenaline blue: 410 miles)

PM - 4 miles easy on Planet Walk. No watch.

(1120: 348 miles)

Yet another 9+ hour day at work today. This has been going on since St. George. I know a lot of Americans work 50 hrs/week, but I'm not into it. In terms of running, I would prefer to work 35 hrs/week or so. My schedule is flexible, but ebbs and flows with clients and workload. When a client needs something, I must perform immediately and efficiently. When a client doesn't need anything, I can go take a nap or go skiing. Unfortunately I am insanely busy right now, so I am working when I should be napping. At least I'm "only" running 80 mpw, rather than 100, and I'm getting a good 8 hrs of sleep at night, so it could be worse. But it could also be better.

Big Workout today with Logan. We did 4x200m strides on the track to warm up (35s each), and then did a 4x4-minute fartlek @ CV pace with 2 minutes recovery on the Millville Hill Loop. I told Logan he would probably hate me by the last interval, because those hills at the end are a bear.

Interval	Distance	Pace	Comment
1	0.77 mi	5:12/mile	gentle uphill
2	0.78 mi	5:07/mile	rolling
3	0.78 mi	5:09/mile	half down, half up
4	0.67 mi	5:56/mile	big big uphill

I felt pretty good and had a good workout. My stomach was churning a little by the end, and I had to find a VPB in the woods in Providence on the way back, but was better after that. It got dark on us, so we had to slow it down quite a bit the last couple miles for the sake of footing (not that I minded slowing down). 6:32/mile average pace for the run. 

(Elite: 20 miles) 

noon - easy 5 from work on the Planet Walk. Didn't wear watch.

(Adrenaline blue: 415 miles)

PM - easy 5, some random route. Stopped by the gym and weighed myself (129 lbs). Finished up with a lap on the grass around the LHS fields. 7:04/mile average pace.

(1120: 353 miles)

noon - easy 5 from work on Planet Walk. Did 8x100m strides in the middle. Didn't wear watch.

(Triax: 191 miles)

PM - went to the chiropractor in Hyrum, and then did an easy run nearby on Hollow Rd. I forgot my watch, so no time. Bummer. I'll just make something up: 6:51/mile. I also forgot to change my shoes, so my rotation got messed up. I feel kind of weird from having to run in the same pair of shoes twice in a row. Hopefully my head will not explode or anything.

(Triax: 196 miles) 

Big Workout today. Cody and I started from my house, ran up Center St. to Dry Canyon, then took the Bonneville Shoreline Trail to Millville Canyon, and back to my house along the Top of Utah Marathon course. The idea was to progress from 7:00 pace for 5 miles, to 6:30 for 5 miles, to 6:00 for 5 miles. The route is very hilly. It starts around 4500' and climbs to about 5100' at the mouth of Dry Canyon. From there to Millville Canyon, there are numerous rolling hills, with a peak at 5250', not to mention poor footing. From Millville Canyon, there is a nice downhill, and then small rolling hills to the end.

We had to run by effort and feel to hit our "pace", rather than looking at actual pace, since the hills throw it off so much. Splits were slow, well over 7-minutes, but the effort was there. I had a lot of trouble today with footing on the trail, especially the downhills, but worked the uphills pretty hard. We finally hit pavement again at about the 8-mile mark, and I was actually quite happy about it, even though I usually prefer dirt. From there on in, it was easy to hit the proper pace. We did a couple 6:20 miles on the downhill to finish off the "6:30-effort" segment. Unfortunately, Cody's IT band seemed to be awry, so we separated ways on the last 5 miles. I hit 5:55, 5:50, 5:56, 5:53: 6:04 on this stretch to finish off the run, and everything felt pretty good. It was a beautiful sunny morning, in the upper 30s at the beginning of our run and 50s by the end. Gotta love Utah this time of year!

6:50/mile average pace for the run.

(1120: 368 miles)

Took a tremendous afternoon nap, and then did an easy run on the Planet Walk and then some with the dog. Not a bad way to start the week.

(Adrenaline blue: 420 miles)

AM - 5 miles, easy. No watch.

(Triax: 201 miles)

PM - last speed workout of the year. It was an easy one, 2x1600m @ CV pace, with 800m rest. I warmed up  by running out to the USU track (3.25 miles), and then started the workout. I hit 4:59 for each of the intervals. Both intervals started slow, for some reason, with a 76-77s lap. Not sure what that means. I felt pretty good, but nothing special. Cooled down back to my house, and did 8x100m strides on the way. 6:22/mile average pace for the run.

Time to taper! 

(Tangent) 

This makes my trip to Denver that much sweeter:

Packers 19, Denver 13

A little YouTube clip for everyone's enjoyment:

On to running. I'll try to give a little bit more detail to what I'm doing and thinking over these next several days. This afternoon my boss and I are flying to Denver for a meeting tomorrow. Obviously traveling like this before a big race is not ideal, but Denver is a very easy flight (1-hr), plus I will not have to do any driving, so can just sit back and nap.

I am essentially taking today "off". I slept in until almost 8AM, then jogged around the block with the dog this morning, and will jog another mile or so this evening in Denver, just to shake out the flight. Wednesday will be 8-9 miles, Thursday will be 5-6 miles, and Friday will be 3 miles.

I get back to SLC from Denver around 6PM tomorrow (unless we catch an earlier flight). Rather than waste time and energy driving home (1.5 hours), and then driving back to SLC in the morning, Stacy is going to pick me up at the airport, and we will be staying with Mike K for the night. This makes our 9AM flight on Thursday very very easy, plus I will be able to get a run in before I leave without having to get up early. I think with proper napping, hydration, and diet, the travel will not take much out of me. I think most of "travel fatigue" may just be related to dehydration and poor eating. I've run well after business trips in the past, so am not too concerned.

The hardest part about Trials isn't just the race, but also the logistics. There is sooo much to do: check-in, chiropractic, massage, pick up per diem money, technical meetings, fluid bottle drop-off, course tours, shuttle around to and fro, etc., not to mention getting in my nap! I ended up making an hour-by-hour daily schedule spreadsheet that lays out when and where I need to be places. Doing this made my head stop spinning, and definitely made me feel a lot better and more organized going into this big weekend in a huge, unfamiliar city. I suppose if I could run 6 or 8 minutes faster, I would have an agent doing all this for me, but now it's up to me!

Got up early before my meeting and did an easy 8 miles in the dark through the mean streets of Westminster, CO. Thank goodness for Garmins during travel. 7:10/mile average pace.

I leave for New York at 9AM tomorrow morning. We'll arrive around 5PM EST. Probably won't have time for much in the evening, but will just settle in and eat dinner after we get there.

(Elite: 29 miles)