| Location: Fort Collins,CO, Member Since: May 15, 2003 Gender: Male Goal Type: Local Elite Running Accomplishments: Unaided PR's:
5K: 14:48 (Track - 2001)
10K: 30:45 (Track - 2001)
10K: 31:32 (Bolder Boulder - 2013)
Half Marathon: 1:06:09 (Duluth - 2013)
Marathon: 2:17:54 (Grandma's) - 2014)
Marathon: 2:19:47 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2013)
Marathon: 2:19:49 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2010)
Aided PR's:
10K: 29:38 (Des News - 2011)
Half Marathon: 1:05:30 (TOU Half - 2011)
Marathon: 2:18:09 (St George - 2007)
Marathon: 2:17:35 (Boston - 2011) Short-Term Running Goals: Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in June of 2008. Started taking Enbrel in March, 2009.
Run as much as I can, and race as well as I can. Make the most of however much time I have left as an able-bodied runner.
Training for the 2018 Colorado Marathon Long-Term Running Goals: Run until I'm old, and then run some more. Stand tall. Personal: 1 wife, 2 kids. 1 cat. Work as a GIS Specialist/Map Geek
Endure and persist; this pain will turn to your good. - Ovid
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. - Romans 5:1-5
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 1387.25 | 26.00 | 73.30 | 6.75 | 193.00 | 1686.30 |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.50 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.50 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.50 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.50 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.50 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| easy distance plus 5x100m strides |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.50 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| easy distance plus 6x100m strides |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| easy distance + 6x100m strides |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| easy distance + 4x100m strides |
| | Race: |
Ogden NUTS 5-k (3.1 Miles) 00:17:22, Place overall: 4, Place in age division: 1 | | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.90 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.90 |
| Ogden NUTS series 5-k. 17:22. I tried to keep this race at a "workout" level, but of course pushed it pretty hard the last mile. The course is a loop with a pretty big climb the first mile, downhill the second mile (and part of the 3rd mile), and then a gentle uphill for the last half mile to the finish. Conditions were COLD and icy in some spots, which combined with the hills, made for a pretty slow course. I went out a little slow and then picked up steam throughout the last 2 miles. I went into 3rd place for a while and was closing on Jed Johanson in 2nd, but then ran out of juice during the long finish and got kicked down by Scott Hillman and ended up taking forth. Decent first "workout" of the year though. Don't have any mile splits, but the race was a negative split. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.50 |
| easy distance + 6x100m strides |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.50 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.50 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| easy distance + 6x100m strides |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 10.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.50 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| easy distance; ave HR 132 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| easy distance + 3x100m strides |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.50 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.50 |
| 4-mile tempo run; ave HR 151 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.50 |
| easy distance; ave HR 142 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| easy distance + 6x100m strides |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| easy distance; ave HR 134 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| easy distance; ave HR 133 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.50 |
| easy distance + 6x100m strides |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| easy distance; ave HR 137 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.50 |
| easy distance; ave HR 126 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| easy distance + 6x100m strides; ave HR 134 |
| | Race: |
Ogden NUTS 10-k (6.2 Miles) 00:35:23, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 1 | | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.80 | 0.00 | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| Ogden NUTS series 10-k. 35:23. Again, I tried to take it easy the first part of the race and then picked it up to "race" effort the last half. The first half of the race was generally uphill and the second half generally downhill, condusive to slow times but a negative split. I passed a few people on the 2nd half and moved into a duel for 2nd place with Jed Johansen. Like the 5-k, though, I ran out of gas during the long, slightly uphill finish, and was outkicked by Jed this time around. I think a lot of this is mental, and I'm having problems getting into racing again. Still, an overall good effort, and I was happy to move up a place in the series. Mile Splits/Ave HR 6:02/179 - uphill start, slow 5:51/182 - uphill/flat, still slow 6:07/185 - shaping up to be a very slow time... 5:29/186 - that's better, downhill 5:28/188 - rolling 5:20/190 1:05/190 - last 0.24, must be a little short, 'cause I died |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 9.00 |
| easy distance; ave HR 124 XC skiing; ave HR 110 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| easy distance + 5x100m; ave HR 139 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 5-mile tempo run |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| easy distance; ave HR 132 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| easy distance + 5x100m strides; ave HR 133 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| easy distance; ave HR 134 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| easy distance; ave HR 146 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| easy distance + 6x100m strides; ave HR 147 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 10.00 |
| AM - 4 miles easy; ave HR 153 PM - mixed treadmill and elliptical; ave HR 157 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Track workout: 3200m (11:33), 1600m (5:33), 3200m (11:39), 1600m (5:25); ave HR 152 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.50 |
| easy distance; ave HR 129 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 13.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.00 |
| easy distance; ave HR 136 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
| combined elliptical and running; 6x100m strides; ave HR 132 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 9.00 |
| treadmill + elliptical + running; ave HR 142 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.25 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 1.75 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| track workout: 4x1600m (5:36, 5:40, 5:31, 5:35); 3x800m (2:37, 2:38, 2:36); 1x400m (1:09) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| easy distance + 5x100m strides |
| | Race: |
Ogden NUTS 15-k (9.3 Miles) 00:53:39, Place overall: 4, Place in age division: 2 | | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 9.30 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.30 |
| Ogden NUTS series 15k. 53:39. Another NUTS race, another time getting my butt whupped on the finishing kick. But by a different person at least. The course is in Eden and is an semi-loop with gentle climbing the first half and equally gentle downhill the second half. So another negative-split course. I went out easy and picked off people over the first half and then shifted into high gear once I caught the downhill on the second half. I came up behind Tim Wight and worked off him for a couple miles until I finally caught him with about a mile to go. We worked together the last mile, which was nice, but when it came down to the kick, he had an extra gear that I didn't have, and I ended up in 4th by a second or two. Still a better kick than my previous NUTS races, so I feel okay about it. This was my first 15k ever, so technically a PR. Mile Splits: 5:48 5:58 6:03 5:57 6:01 5:26 - downhill now 5:34 5:32 5:39 1:41 - last 0.3 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| Easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Easy distance + 6x100 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.50 |
| Easy distance |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 4x400m. Was supposed to do 6x400 for Moab tune-up, but lower back was so out-of-wack that my biomechanics just felt awful and I could barely muster 75-second pace. At that speed 400s are a waste of time, so I cut the workout short. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Easy 5 miles at Arches. Lower back is REALLY irritated, and don't know how I will race tomorrow... |
| | Race: |
Canyonlands Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:18:17, Place overall: 9, Place in age division: 3 | | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 13.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 17.10 |
| Canyonlands Half Marathon. Took 9th overall with a time of 1:18:17. Very strong headwinds through the entire race, probably slowed pace down at least 10 sec/mile, more in some areas. Mile splits were 5:33, 5:41, 5:55, 5:56, 5:47, 5:51, 5:54, 5:53, 5:46, 5:56, 6:15, 7:30, 5:50. I got out fast, but realized after two miles that I wasn't "on" today. The headwind had some to do with that, but it mostly physical. I regrouped and slowed my pace to around 5:45-5:55 and held that strong through Mile 10, putting me on pace for a low 1:16 (which is a decent time for me at Moab). Miles 11 and 12 I came out of the canyon and the headwind doubled going into town. This section cost me about a minute from my race, as the combined wind + mental breakdown slowed my pace to 6:15 and 7:30 for those two respective miles. 7:30!! What is that?! Mile 13 I finally turned out of the dust storm and picked it back up to 5:50, indicating to me that the breakdown on Miles 11 and 12 were more mental than physical. In retrospect, my biggest mistake in that race was letting myself get all alone for essentially the entire race. I ran with Chris Rogers for a couple miles early on, but then let him go. Chris stayed about 15 seconds ahead of me for nearly the entire race (until Mile 12). Neal Gassman passed me around Mile 5, and I had the chance to to go with him and surge back up to Chris, but I passed on that, a decision I now regret. Had Chris and I ran together and traded leads, I'm sure we both would have run at least a minute faster in the wind. Oh well, live and learn! |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.10 |
| So Sunday after the Moab Half I could barely walk early in the morning due to my right knee being very stiff (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome; "Runner's Knee"). Not to mention my lower back is still messed up, so aside from some light hiking, I took the day completely off. Along with disappointing performance at Moab, this very discouraging, and makes me doubt I will run Ogden | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| Alright, I'll give this blog thing a try...I'll go back and fill in the last two weeks as well later today. I finally decided "enough is enough" and went to see a PT today. I saw an orthopedic and a chiropractor over last fall, but have decided to go with a PT approach now. The PT spent about 2 hours with me, tested all my muscles and joints, and told me to start stretching my left hip flexor and right SI Joint for my lower back, and keep stretching my hamstrings and strengthen my quads for my knee. It was a good basic visit and I will see him again next week to do more treatment and maybe a running analysis. I did an AM and PM session today to aid in recovery while keeping my volume up. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer each session (feels good on the knee), 10 minutes each session on a treadmill at an incline, and 5 minutes each session of "real" running. I don't know if elliptical counts as "real" miles, but I can easily sustain a heart rate of 140-150 for the entire session, which is about what my heart rate is at 6:45-7:00 miles, so I'm counting it as "mileage". Futures blogs will be shorter! | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 5 miles on road @ 7:10 pace + 6x100 striders. 30 minutes elliptical + 5 minutes treadmill in gym. Striders felt good and smooth, and recovery from Moab is going well. Back and knee felt pretty good today, as stretches seem to be helping. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| 5x1200 on track @ 5k-10k pace. 2:30 rest between intervals. Pace ended up being 80 seconds/lap (5:20 mile pace). Felt pretty strong and steady, but still not overly "snappy". I definitely need to work on my speed. My knee felt pretty good, and lower back was a little irritated, but not affecting my biomechanics as much as before, so in all I was fairly pleased. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| 14-mile medium-long run with Ben and Dave. We did an out-and-back up Canyon Rd up onto the River Trail, up to the single-track. Canyon winds were fierce and there was a lot of snow still on the trail (the frustrating thing about training in Logan). The whole run felt good and we picked it up to about 7:00/mile on the way back. My knee and back have been tolerable the whole week so far, which has been encouraging. They still have a ways to go, though, but the stretching, strengthing, ice, ibuprofin, and Xtraining all seem to be helping. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 30 minutes on elliptical; 3 miles running easy on road and track with 6x100 striders. Lower back is rather irritated today, which affected my stride some. Knee a little bit more sore than usual as well, but tolerable. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 14.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 18.00 |
| 18-mile long run today. I tried to keep the pace strong throughout, and did about 4 miles at marathon effort on the hilly Bonneville trail in the middle of the run. This was the longest run of my year so far, and felt great. I was a little bit tight at first, but really loosened up as run went on. I had what I think is a major breakthrough with my knee last night. I stretched my hamstrings long and hard, more than I ever have before, and my knee went from being pretty stiff and sore to feeling quite good. My lower back felt quite a bit better too. This morning I got up and my knee was pretty sore again, but I did some good hamstring stretching before and during my long run, and it ended up feeling pretty good by the end of the run and my biomechanics felt fluid. The test will be to see how it feels tomorrow in recovery from my long run. One more note of interest: this is my first week over 70 miles since August 2004. I never got over 65 last year. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| Recovery day. Easy 6 miles AM, easy 6 miles PM. Knee and back felt pretty good both sessions, hopefully a sign of progress. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 12.00 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| 14-mile medium-long run. Hit some good hills in the middle of the run with a marathon-pace effort. Did 8x100 strides near the end of run, and felt very snappy and fast during them, a good sign. My knee felt great, but lower back got quite irritated as the run went on. Saw the PT today and got a series of core-stabilizing exercises. My progress was good over the week, and my flexibility increased noticeabley, in both hamstrings and back. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 6-mile easy recovery run. My back felt a bit better than yesterday, although my knee did not feel as good as yesterday, but still pretty good considering the duration and hills of the previous workout. Biomechanics felt good today. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| 12-mile run with "slow tempo" in the middle. Tried to really focus on running the downhill portion fast, as the Ogden NUTS Half I'm doing this weekend will have a lot of downhill. Tacked on 6x150 on the track at the end of the workout. Knee felt decent, but not perfect; lower back was fairly irritated by end of run. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| Recovery day, slow running. Body felt so-so. My back felt a pretty stiff and sore this morning, which could partially be from the core-stabilizing exercises I recently started doing. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Easy, short day before Ogden NUTS Half Marathon. My body was very stiff, and lower back quite irritated when I woke up, so I did 30 minutes on the elliptical plus 5 minutes running to and from the gym. I spend a good while stretching afterwards and feel a little better after that. I weighed myself at the gym today (I don't have a scale at home), and I'm still at 143 lbs. Haven't lost a pound, even though my pants feel looser, but I guess it's my imagination. |
| | Race: |
Ogden NUTS Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:12:54, Place overall: 2, Place in age division: 1 | | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 13.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 16.10 |
| Ogden NUTS Half Marathon. Ran 1:12:54, a PR by over a minute. Offical clock was started late, so that is my watch time. This was a pretty good race and made me feel better about my early-spring fitness level. Splits: 5:18 (mile short?) 5:49 (mile long?) 5:27 5:40 5:23 5:36 5:30 5:25 5:33 5:32 5:41 5:35 5:48 0:32 (0.1, jogged) The course is the first half of the Ogden Marathon, so gentle downhill (400 ft drop) over the first 8 miles, and then mild rolling hills with very little net elevation change for the last 5 miles. Conditions were good: about 45 degrees, overcast, occasional sprinkles, and only occasional mild wind. Tim Wight and I took off early and broke away from the pack by Mile 3 or so. We knew that Nate Long was lurking somewhere back there, and sure enough he caught up around Mile 6. Tim and I, in the meantime, were having trouble finding a consistent pace and bounced around pace-wise in the first half for some reason (see mile splits). I'm not sure why this occurred or how much I lost in efficiency, but we sure weren't trying to surge or anything. At Mile 8 the descent ended and we turned to go around Pineview Reservoir, the rolling part of the course. Near that point Nate took over and I hopped on with him; Tim did not go with the move, but ran steady from behind. Without the downhill and with the increased pace, I began to labor more, whereas Nate was barely breathing. However, Nate turned out to be an extremely nice and generous guy, and paced and encouraged me over the tough miles and offered to take the wind for me whenever it picked up. This definitely aided me greatly and helped me get more out of the race. Nate's pacing was much steadier than mine, and we locked in on consistent 5:30-5:40 pace over the rolling hills, which I was very happy with (even splits overall for the race). We cruised into the finish together; he got a good workout and I got a nice PR. Tim ended up somewhere in the 1:13s, maybe up to a minute behind (haven't seen results yet). This race was encouraging to me, and makes me think I can run a good Ogden Marathon, perhaps in the low 2:30s, or even sub-2:30, if I can make some fitness and biomechanical improvements in the next six weeks. My mileage is finally up to the 75-80 mile range, and I think my fitness is finally getting there. I still need to lose 10lbs, which will help greatly, I believe. If my body feels good tomorrow and Monday, I will most likely register for the Ogden Marathon, but making sure my back and knee can handle hard training and racing is the first priority. During the race today, my knee felt good (didn't notice it at all, but my back was pretty tight. However, I felt smoother than any race to date. Through physical therapy, the flexibility of my hamstrings and back joints have increased dramatically, and that will only help my running and injury control. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Scheduled day off. Legs, especially quads, VERY sore from race on Saturday. I am surprised at my lack of conditioning for downhill running. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Did some very light jogging with the dog. Still VERY sore from the NUTS half marathon. Almost marathon-level soreness, which surprises me. I figured after running four training races early in the winter/spring, my recovery would be better, but I guess I was not ready for a long downhill. It's hard to tell how my knee feels, because there is so much background soreness in both my quads, but my back is definitely very stiff and sore. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.50 |
| Easy miles. I'm still quite sore from the half marathon, but at least I'm able to run again. I was not planning on taking essentially three days off, so this is a bit of a setback, but definitely better to recover properly than to force it and cause injury or burnout. While I met my personal time standard for running the Ogden Marathon (I told myself I had to run in the 1:12 range for half marathon to make it worth my while), I don't think my body is holding up to the standard I set for it (ability to recover). Right now I am leaning toward not running Ogden, working on base and letting my body heal for a month, and getting ready for the summer racing season. Right now a fast half marathon effort at Salt Lake City in June sounds tempting; may be my place to break 1:10. We'll see. I hate to put all my marbles into St. George, but right now I see running Ogden as hurting my St. George goals rather than helping. Back is still very sore, much like yesterday. Knee feels so-so, really not too bad considering the punishment I gave it. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 1 mile running; 6 miles elliptical. I have decided that my body needs a time of healing before I can proceed with quality racing. I am taking April "off" in terms of workouts, and will be working on only base,up to 80 miles/week, about half of which will come from the elliptical. In the meantime I will continue rehabbing my knee and back, and increase my core strength. Looking ahead, I think I will do the Salt Lake Half Marathon. I've decided that it's key that if I am to have a legit shot at breaking 2:22 at St. George, I need to be able to run under 1:10 on a flat half course. So Salt Lake City and Great Salt Lake half marathons may be key races for me this year on route to St. George. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 7 miles running; 3 miles elliptical |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 11.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 11.50 |
| 6 miles elliptical; 5.5 miles running. The elliptical is getting slightly less boring, and I can actually get a decent workout on it (HR ave 150 today). Definitely can't do that running without pounding my legs. Next time I may actually try some threshold intervals on it and see if I can sustain my HR around 170-180 (85-90% max). |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 14.00 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 16.00 |
| Medium-long run of 16 miles. I don't expect to be going over 18 miles until at least May. Today was my only real run of the week that was 100% running (no elliptical). I felt pretty good, knee and back were back to their "standard" bearable levels of discomfort, opposed to how they felt earlier in the week. We pick it up coming back down the river trail a bit, so I got a little bit of running at a brisk pace. The week definitely ended a lot better than it started, mileage-wise. I'd like to sit on 80 miles/week for the rest of April, with some marathon-paced workouts on the road and threshold-paced workouts on the elliptical. I'm going to ignore VO2Max until May, since that can develop in a relatively short period of time. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| Easy distance on the roads. Felt strong during the first half, but then my quads got sore then second half of the run, probably because of downhill running yesterday and the race the weekend before. Still, it felt good to be outside on a beautiful Sunday morning! |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.50 |
| 7 miles elliptical, 2.5 miles running. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.50 | 0.00 | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 7 miles elliptical, 3 miles running. I finally got a new heart rate transmitter, so I decided to try a threshold workout on the elliptical just based on HR. Since my max HR is ~200, I tried 2x7:30 intervals with my HR at 170-175 (85-87%) with 2:30 rest between. It took a little fiddling with the machine to get the proper resistance (I initially had it too high and went anaerobic quickly--not good for an LT workout), but I finally found a sustainable setting where I could keep my HR in the 170s and get a threshold "feel". It seemed to work out fine, although I was probably annoying the other people next to me by my profuse sweating. This little "experiment" was short, but now that I know it works I'll probably do 4x7:30 intervals next time. The great thing about the elliptical is that I should be able to do LT workouts more frequently, since my recovery should be faster in a non-impact setting. Ave HR for entire session: 148 Ave HR for LT intervals: 172 | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| 6 miles easy running; 6 miles elliptical, 5 of which were at "mp" effort. I originally wanted to just run today, but my knee was fairly sore, so I kept the running down and hopped on the elliptical instead. The good news is that my back has been feeling pretty good the last couple days, and also my weight has finally dipped below 140. If good for nothing else, the elliptical helps shed pounds. My clothes are noticeably looser. I'm trying to pin down what sort of heart rate I need on the elliptical to get a threshold or a marathon pace workout. I assumed that my threshold HR would be 175-180 and my marathon HR would be 160-170. I decided one way to figure it out would be to look at my HR records from races over the last three years (yes, I wear a monitor when I race). Here's the breakdown of AVERAGE HR: Marathons: Ogden (05): 173 Park City (05): 170 Des News (05): 168 TOU (03): 178 TOU (04): 179 TOU (05): 170 St. George (05): 179 Typically for these marathons my HR started near 150 and drifted up to the 190s by the end of the race. I'm going to say that my MP heartrate for elliptical workouts is 170-175. Half Marathons Moab (04): 186 (hot that year) Moab (05): 184 Great Salt Lake (03): 182 Great Salt Lake (04): 180 Surprisingly, not a ton different from my MP heartrate. Actually, not a whole lot surprising in some ways, since my half pace is about the same as my marathon pace. I'll put my threshold HR at 180-185. 10k SLC Classic (03): 186 SLC Classic (04): 184 Des News (03): 183 Ogden NUTS (06): 185 Not at all different from half marathon. 5k Draper (03): 183 Draper (04): 183 Heart of Holladay (03): 184 Not at all different from half marathon or 10k. VO2Max HR? I suppose over 190... Looking back, I've recorded max HR's of over 200 for all distances, from 5k through marathon. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| My body told me a take a day off and I listened to it. Slept in and got some rest. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 11.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 11.50 |
| 6 miles elliptical. Ave HR 145. 5.5 miles running. Ave HR 136. Running today felt a lot better than on Wednesday, as my knee was much less sore. My back didn't feel too bad, although it was pretty stiff we I got up. Stretched my hip flexors and SI joint after my run and felt quite a bit looser. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 13.00 | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 18.00 |
| 18-mile long run with Dave, Ben, and Jon. Ran up to Spring Creek Campground and back, so about half was on dirt, which felt good. Jon and I picked it up to about 6:00/mile pace for several miles during the second half of the run, and that felt pretty good. Ave HR for entire run: 143; Ave HR during "brisk" portion of run: ~160. My knee and back both felt okay, but still have a ways to go. If they feel good tomorrow I may do some light running and then back to the elliptical for next week. I'm having some weird issues with other areas of my body though. The outside part of my left quad is slightly numb. I've never experienced this before. My wife thinks it could be from a pinched sciatic nerve in my lower back. Although it doesn't bother me or affect daily activities, I don't like it when my body does weird things, so if it's still numb by Monday I'll give my PT a call and see what he thinks. Also, the bottom of my left foot from the rear of my arch to my heel feels "bruised". It's not a sharp pain, nor from a specific point location, but I'm always paranoid when it comes to foot pain because the first thing that comes to mind is "stress fracture". I've never had a stress fracture though, and don't know what they feel like. It could be my arch supports, so I've got a new pair of Brooks in the closet that I'll start wearing and see if that makes a difference. A lot of my random aches and pains just go away on their own in a few days, but I want to keep on eye on this. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Easy, enjoyable Easter run. Ave HR: 129 |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.50 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.50 |
| 2.5 miles easy running; Ave HR: 130. 8 miles elliptical with 3x7:30 threshold intervals. Ave HR on intervals: 175-180. I set a time PR for elliptical today: 55 minutes. It's definitely getting mentally easier to stay on longer. Threshold intervals felt pretty good, and my breathing felt similar to what it would be like if I was running. Next time I may try 4 intervals. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.50 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 11.50 |
| 2 miles running; 9.5 miles elliptical. New time PR for elliptial: 65 minutes! Ave HR of running: 137; Ave HR of elliptical: 155. Did 20 minutes in the middle of the elliptical workout at "MP" effort and sustained heart rates of 165-170. I'm pretty sure what's going on with my foot is plantar fasciitis. I can run on it okay, but it hurts the most after I get out of bed or after I've been sitting for awhile. I've start doing some stretches for it, and they seem to relieve the pain well. It doesn't hurt on the elliptical at all, so that's good. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 13.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.00 |
| 8.5 miles running (Ave HR: 138); 4.5 miles elliptical (Ave HR: 150). A bit of an easy day today, despite the mileage. My HR seemed high for the pace we were running, meaning either I'm not recovered from the last two days or I'm a little under the weather. I've lost another pound and am down to 138. This puts me at the halfway point: 5 down and 5 to go! | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Day off. I was feeling run-down and a bit sick (sore throat, etc.) last night, so I slept in and got some rest. I feel better today and hopefully will continue to improve. I'm a bit frustrated right now. I feel very fit from cross training and am shedding pounds, which is great, but my nagging injuries don't seem to be getting better. I don't think the elliptical is nearly as hard on my knee as running, but apparently it is preventing proper healing that only rest can provide. As much as I hate to do this, I've decided to can the idea of early-summer racing and am going to take some time off and start over. October is still a long ways away for my peak race (St. George), and there's some other good races along the way in August and September. I'm not going to resume a normal training volume until I am completely pain-free, which may take a couple weeks or a couple months, I don't know. It will be better for the long term. I figure if I ran 2:26 at St. George last year with a disfunctional body, I should be able to go faster if I let myself get compeltely healthy. In the meantime, I may jog a few miles here and there and hop on the elliptical for SHORT periods a fews day a week just to keep the weight off. I'll continue with my stretching and core strengthening and improve on that during my time off. I may explore the option of pool running, which is a fantastic non-impact cross training method, but I don't have access to a pool in the near vincinity...but it may be an option. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Another day off. My knee is already starting to feel a bit better than it has in a while, an encouraging sign. Same thing with my back. My left quad is still numb and my left hip flexor is quite irritated. I spoke with my PT yesterday and it seems that the two are probably related, so I've laid off any exercise that stretches the hip flexor over the last few days. My foot is the worst out of all the injuries. I even walk with a limp, although the severity is variable over the course of a day. Seems to exhibit every symptom of plantar fasciitis, but I haven't had it officially diagnosed yet. I've been stretching my calves, arch, and achilles, and I'm thinking about getting a "night boot", which will passively stretch it while I sleep. Any other suggestions on how to deal with this are welcome... |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Easy 5 miles with Jon, Dave, and James. Knee and back felt very stable. My foot felt no different than previous days. In all reality, I can run on it okay, but I want to lay off activity to let it heal faster. I think what I will do for these first couple weeks of recovery is to do elliptical twice a week and run a few miles on Saturday. That should allow me to heal up and still keep a baseline fitness level. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Another day off running...one of what will be many days off by all indicators. My back was pretty stiff this morning, but has loosend up a bit after going to the gym and doing some light lifting and core exercises. I made an appointment with a podiastrist to get my foot officially diagnosed. If it is indeed plantar fasciitis, from what I've read, I should expect to be out at least 4-6 weeks...if things go well. For some people it takes over a year to heal. It's crossed my mind several times that there's a possibility that I may not run competitively again, at least at the same level. My body has been messed up for a year now. You have to been able to train hard to be fast, and if I am unable to train hard...Well, I can't really think like that at this point, but it's in the back of my mind: what would life be like without running and racing? The answer is: pretty good. I have a wife who loves me, a satisfying career, a good group of friends, and MOST importantly, a God that loves me and promises salvation through grace as well as a life in full here on earth. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10 Life will go on and be good with or without running, and I feel blessed to have had the chance to do what I already have. Those thoughts have kept me grounded and given me peace about being injured. If all thing go well, I could be base training again by June or so, and run St. George well. Even if I can't run until July, I could run St. George well. If not until beyond that, well, I guess keep trying. I'm young. (although I feel like I'm 80-years old sometimes) | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running. Rode bike to and from work and did core exercises/stretches and icing in evening. My knee feel a bit better today. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running. Went to gym in morning to do some light lifting, core exercises, and few minutes of spinning on the bike just to get loose. Still more improvement on the knee, so the layoff is finally starting to pay off. My foot is roughly the same, but definitely no worse. My left hip flexor is still inflamed, and quad muscle still numb; no change. I'll try icing my hip flexor tonight to see if that helps. My lower back has been stiff when I wake up the last few mornings, and loosens up during the day. Kind of annoying, but not too dehabilitating. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running, just stretching and core strength. I went to the ortho clinic today to see a podiatrist. I got my official diagnosis of plantar fasciitis there. The stretching, icing, and ibuprofin I've already been doing are good and I will continue with that (except stretch more frequently). He also gave my heel a shot of cortisone (anti-inflammitory steriod). The doc says the first step is to get rid of inflammation, then healing can begin. The doctor seemed very interested about my other multitude of injuries. The IHC Med Center here in Logan has a facility that does a running gait analysis through video tape and foot sensors while running on a treadmill. The sensors are particularly important, because they can show quickly what imbalances and assymetries a runner has that video cannot detect. Then they can mold custom orthotics to fix the problems. It has occurred to me that this rash of injuries could be a trickle-down from a common source. Perhaps it is my feet or leg length. I am signed up to do this analysis, and they'll probably have a slot for me in a month or so. In the meantime, my foot needs to heal before I can do any sort of running anyway. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running. Rode my bike to work and did some core exercises and stretching. It seems like the cortizone shot is kicking in. Last night and today my foot has felt much better, and I walk with much less of a limp. I will have to restrain myself from running if this trend continues. My knee has been feeling great too. Not 100% yet (I can still feel it if I go into a complete squat), but it does not affect daily life. I wonder if the steroid shot to my foot is reducing inflamation to my knee as well? If things continue to improve I may start some cardio cross training again (probably recumbant bike). |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| No running. Biked to the gym (took the long way; beautiful day!), where I did my core strength workout and some light lifting. I also jumped on the elliptical for 5 minutes, just to see how it felt. Although it didn't really hurt, I could feel my foot some, so it may not be a great cross training method at this point. Recumbant bike may be safer, although harder to get a good workout on. I'll have to call my podiatrist and ask what cross training methods will be best for my foot. Especially with that steriod injection, I don't want any weird side effects. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| No running. Biked to gym and did 20 minutes on the recumbant bike, some light lifting, and my core and stretching exercises. The recumbant biking is an experiment to if it affects my knee at all. If it doesn't, I'll continue doing it. Can't really tell today, will know my how my knee feels tomorrow. I'm going to start giving daily rankings (scale of 1-10) to my various injuries as a way for me to track progress (or lack thereof). SI joint: 8 -- some stiffness, but not bad Lower back: 5 -- woke up very stiff in morning Knee: 7 -- some inflammation, probably from gardening yesterday Plantar faciitis: 6 -- a little sore in morning, but walking without a limp by evening; better than at this point in the day yesterday |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running. Biked to work. Did stretches and core exercises in evening. Ailment ratings: SI joint: 8 -- no change lower back: 6 -- less stiff this morning, loosened up during day knee: 5 -- more inflammed than yesterday; maybe recumbant bike put to much stress on it plantar fasciitis: 6.5 -- some improvement over yesterday |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| No running. Biked to gym, and warmed up muscles on elliptical for 5 minutes, then did stretching and core strength routine, along with some light lifting. One bit of good news: since I've stopped running, not only have I maintained my weight, but have actually lost a couple pounds. I'm now at 137, and just have 4 more pounds to get back to "college weight". This is unprecidented; usually I put on weight within days after ending training. I think the main reason why I'm still losing weight is because I've cut back from two PB&J sandwiches at lunch to one. Today I calculated the number of calories in one PB&J sandwich, and it came out to 460. I had no idea it would be that high, so cutting those calories is certainly helping. Also, although I am not really doing much cardio training, my core strength and stretching routine takes about 1 hour or more every day. While it's not running, it's still burning more calories than just sitting on my butt. I'll have to wear a HR monitor sometime to get an idea of what it's doing. Ailment ratings: SI joint: 8 -- no change lower back: 7 -- less stiff this morning, so good improvement over last two days knee: 6 -- still a little inflamed, but better than yesterday plantar fasciitis: 7 -- slow, steady improvement; the "morning effect" quite subdued when I got up, which is good. Hopefully I will get my night boot today. ****** Late day addendum: Such a beautiful day today...I snuck out of work at 4:30 and went for an 55-minute bike ride from my house up to where the single track starts on the Logan Canyon River Trail. This is about 13 miles total, give or take. I didn't do any single track because of time constraints and also I didn't want to get out of my saddle and stress my knee or foot at all. Everything felt great, except the left side of my back got a little sore after a while from the biking posture. My HR was in the 150s during segments where I was working hard. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running. Rode bike to work and did an hour worth of therapy stretches and core exercises in the evening. I got my night boot today, which will stretch my plantar fascia while I sleep. The PF has been getting a little better every day, to the point where I can't feel it much, so I'm optimistic about running in a few weeks. Ailment rankings: SI joint: 8 -- no change lower back: 6 -- left side of back quite sore, probably from biking yesterday; otherwise fine knee: 7.5 -- quite a bit better than yesterday; could put shoes and socks on with no pain, but still cannot go to full squat plantar fasciitis: 7.5 -- more improvement over yesterday The improvement has been encouraging, although I'm jealous to all those running Ogden this weekend. It's a great course and a great race, so good luck to everyone! | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| No running. Woke up with extremely sore and stiff lower back. Maybe if I never went to sleep, my back would actually feel good. We bought a new, expensive mattress a few months ago, but it didn't make any difference (although it is quite comfy). Went to the gym in morning and did 15 minutes on elliptical; HR ~145. Everything seemed to hold up okay on elliptical, so I may do more of that next week. My back loosened up some as usual over course of day, but as I write this around early evening, it's getting sore again. Time for more ice and ibuprofin. Ailment ratings: SI joint: 8 -- no change lower back: 4 -- hurts, not much flexbility knee: 9 -- better than ever; could go down to full squat under my own power with no pain plantar fasciitis: 7.5 -- about the same as yesterday; not much limp, and it tolerated the elliptical well |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| No running. Rode bike over to gym in morning, did 20 minutes of elliptical; ave HR 135.
Ailment ratings:
SI joint: 8 -- no change
lower back: 5 -- still pretty stiff and sore, but a little better than yesterday; seems to be loosening up better as the day goes on too
knee: 9 -- no change, which is good. Still lacking a little strength, and I hope to strengthen my quads over the next few weeks in preparation for running again
plantar fasciitis: 7.5 -- same as yesterday, may be a little better; wore night boot for the first full night last night...well almost the full night. I think I had it strapped on too tightly and I woke up at 4:30AM because my big toe and achilles were hurting. I was pretty concerned at first because I thought the brace was messing up something, but then realized that it was just digging into the skin at those points and I was getting something similar to chaffing. But the brace seemed to work, as I had very little pain in the morning. Hopefully I will get more used to it since I will be wearing it for many months. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| No running. Rode bike to gym in morning and did 25 minutes on elliptical; also stretch some stretching, core strength, and light lifting. My back is just killing me today. It tend to go through cycles, so hopefully this is just a trough. I went to my PT today, and my joint and muscle flexibility is generally good, although need improvement in some areas. I got some ultrasound at the end too. I think the PT has done about all he can do with me and has taught me a lot of good exercises, stretches, and habits, so it will definitely be beneficial in the long run as long as I keep up on it. However, I feel that I need something "more" to compliment the PT. I've seen a chiropractor before, and it really helped short-term, but I was turned off about having to go back all the time. But maybe since my core strength and flexibility has improved, it may be worth revisiting. Something else that intrigues me is massage therapy. I've never tried it, but some people swear by it. At this point I'm open-minded to about anything. I have an appointment set up through my PT for tomorrow with an IHC massage therapist, which my insurance will cover. I'm not looking forward to the pain of deep massage, but I'm eager to see if there's any results. Ailment ratings: SI joint: 5 -- quite painful as the day went on lower back: 3 -- bad knee: 8.5 -- no pain, but still needs strength plantar fasciitis: 7 -- not much change over weekend, maybe slight improvement; it's been pretty stable and I don't have much limp | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Ran 1 mile in 9 minutes on grass loop around Logan High sports fields. I did this to test my foot a little and also to measure the grass loop with a gps, since I'll be doing a lot of running on it in the future. My foot felt okay, but not great (probably won't do this again anytime soon). The loop measured out to be almost exactly 0.5 miles and I did two loops to get a better reading. This will be great because it will be a good soft surface for my PF recovery, and also an even distance so I can just count laps and even do interval workouts on it in a few months when I get to that point. And it's one block from my house. The Cache fairgrounds are a few blocks away as well, so I may GPS the grassy perimeter of that as well. In went in for a short massage therapy today. The therapist didn't really get very deep at all, since I had never had it before. I was impressed at first, but then realized as the day wore on that my back was remarkably looser, and even my SI joint was less stiff. So there seems to be some benefits. I've made an appointment with a chiropractor as well who specializes in sports med and treats runners. Did stretches and core strength in evening. Ailment ratings: SI Joint: 7 -- still stiff in morning, but very loose by evening after massage and stretching Lower back: 5 -- stiff and painful in morning, better after massage, but still had lots of issues Knee: 9 -- pain free and feeling stronger Plantar Fasc: 7 -- not much change |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running. My foot was quite sore when I woke up, first time in quite a while were it hasn't either progressed or stayed the same. Apparently 1 mile at 9 min pace on grass was too much yesterday. Predictably, it was feeling pretty good by afternoon. My wife and I took half the day off and went down to Ogden to get the Suburu serviced (half the population of Logan owns a Suburu -- why no dealer in Logan??), and we did a hike up Ogden Canyon while we were waiting. My foot felt great for that, and it was good to be outside on such a beautiful day and get any sort of exercise. Did hour worth of stretches and core exercises at night. Ailment ratings: SI Joint: 8 -- better lower back: 5 -- very stiff in morning; isolated to left side later in day knee: 7.5 -- no pain during normal activity, but feels weaker Plantar Fasciitis: 5 -- worst it's felt in over a week during morning; not limping by evening | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running. Did stretches and core strength in evening. I got my new night splint today (the previous one was irritating my toe and achilles), so hopefully that will help the PF. Ailment ratings: SI Joint: 8 -- no change Lower back: 5 - left side still quite sore; it will be interesting to see what the adjustment I have scheduled on Monday does for it. Knee: 8 -- no pain, but general weakness Plantar Fasciitis: 6 -- sore in morning, but less so that yesterday |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| Ran 1/2 mile with dog, then 20 minutes on elliptical. Also did core strength and stretching. Ailment ratings: SI Joint: 8 -- fine, no change Lower back: 5 -- start day so-so, but really broke down by late afternoon and evening. I think I need to set a timer and force myself to get up and walk around every 30 minutes, since I sit at work all day long. Knee: 8.5 -- improved a little over yesterday, still weak tough Plantar fasc: 6 -- better in morning than previous day, pretty loose in evening. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.50 |
| 2.5 running: 2 on grass Logan High fields at 8:00/mile pace and 0.5 on road in transit. Felt decent; I could feel my heel on every stride, but still fairly comfortable with no affect on my form, which is the important thing. I also spent several hours today doing yard work, pulling weeds, etc., and my back seemed to hold up well. In fact, it's feeling the best it has in the last week right now. The key words are "right now". Yes, it's loose now, we'll see how it feels tomorrow. Same thing with my foot and knee. If everything feels better, or even the same, tomorrow and Monday, then it would seem that this level of activity is sustainable and beneficial. I hope it is. I would like to start running a couple miles a day, at least several days next week, and start working up from there as my body allows. My new night brace allows me to sleep through the night without me waking up at 3AM and tearing the thing off, so I hope to get PF improvement with the better compliance as I start running again. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Biked to gym, 30 minutes on elliptical, did stretches and core exercises. Yesterday and most of today my body has been feeling pretty good, especially my back. It seems like the 3 hours of yardwork on Saturday actually helped things. I had scheduled an appointment with a chiropractor this evening. Some people call them "quacks", but at least they don't stick drugs in me every chance they get. Personally, I appreciate their methodology. I spent a couple hours over there doing an array of tests and interviews, followed by a short adjustment. I've seen chiropractors before, so I realize it takes time. I walked in there feeling pretty good and left probably feeling a little worse. What I like about this guy, though, is that he's very wholistic. He specializes in sports injuries, and seemed a lot more robust in his treatment options (and energy level) than the previous chiropractor I had seen. He treated not just my back and neck, but also my foot and knees. I've expessed interest in getting my foot taped, something that my PT or podiatrist have never offered, but the chiropractor will do it next visit. I also like how chiropractors are into natural healing. I think I may get off of ibuprofin (been taking it way too long -- scary) and try an oral enzyme he's recommended. Also, he's brought to mind making some life changes, such as attempting to drink more water and changing my diet to include for whole and natural foods. I know Sasha will vouch for this. While I don't think I'll go vegan and eat buckwheat everyday, I can surely benefit to cut out red meat and Twizzlers, and try to eat more organic fruits and vegetables. Anyway, by the end the evening I was actually starting to hurt a little bit, particularly my SI joint. I decided to go to bed sans ibuprofin and see how I feel in the morning. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running. No nothing. My whole body hurts like never before. I took me about an hour just to muster the nerve to get out of bed, and once I was up I felt like an 80-year-old man. It's everything too: my foot, my knee, my lower back, and also a groin strain I've been nursing recently has really flared up this morning. Is this what happens when I don't take ibuprofin? I've read that ibuprofin can actually inhibit healing...maybe it's true, I don't feel very healed right now. The chiropractic visit definitely had negative short-term effects...I'm banking on long-term though. I'm scheduled to see the chiropractor again tomorrow, and will lay low, stretch, and hope that things loosen up over the course of the day. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running. To recap the last two days: pain and soreness. Although I was feeling much better Wednesday morning, my evening visit to the chiropractor changed that in a hurry. All Thursday I was sore to the point of distraction; I even ended up leaving work early because of it. It doesn't help that I'm try to ween off Ibuprofin, and have started taking an oral enzyme called Wobenzym N (doesn't seem to have the immediate effects of ibuprofin). I eventually caved and took a small dose of Ibuprofin Thurs night, which helped immediately and aided me in getting good night sleep. Today I'm feeling quite a bit better (as I hoped), although still have a ways to go. Needless to say, I haven't been inspired to do any cardio work over the last few days, and I've been constrained mostly to stretching. My range of motion is poor, and just putting on my shoes and socks is an ordeal. The chiropractor taped my foot (and showed me how to on my own) during my visit on Wednesday. I was amazed on how well it works, and will continue with the taping. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.50 |
| No running. Went to gym in morning and did 20 minutes easy on elliptical. Although my back and neck are slowing recovering, they still have a ways to go before I can run on it, or live life comfortably, for that matter. Right now running is not so much a priority as living a pain-free existence. I see the chiropractor again Wednesday; hopefully he will be gentle. However, the good news: 1) my knee seems very close to 100%, if not there already; 2) my foot is responding well to taping, so the battle against PF is going well; 3) I weighed in at a touch over 135 this morning, which means I'm getting very close to my weight goal...without much cardio activity to speak of. This signifies to me that my body responds better to pure dieting than to pure exercise w/o proper dieting. Ideally, someday I may have both. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| No running. 30 minutes on elliptical; HR ~155. Sunday my back was feeling quite a bit better, and today it is near-perfect. Very pleased. Right now my foot is the only thing keeping me from running. My knee seems much stronger, my back is getting there, and I've even regained feeling back in my left quad (must have been a pinched nerve). I should also mention that I've had a mysterious groin strain for the last couple weeks. My only guess is that I got it from overstretching. Perhaps I've been a bit too zealous at times. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| No running. 30 minutes on elliptial, HR in 150s. Did stretches and core strength. My back is still holding up and feeling pretty good, although had some minor stiffness today. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| No running. 30 minutes on elliptical. Went to chiropractor today; told him not to hurt me so bad this time. I'm not sure if he took the suggestion or if my body is just adapting, but I'm not getting as much stiffness this evening and from previous visits. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| No running. Biked to gym and did 30 minutes on elliptical, and stretches and core strength. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Ran 3 miles easy on grass around Logan High. Pace around 8:45/mile. That fact that I could run today was largely based on me trying a different method of taping; gave me a lot me support and took away a lot of pain. Hopefully I can start training again, slowly. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| Ran a few miles this morning with my Wasatch Back Relay team. Although I am not actually racing, I'm still a driver and logistical captain. It was great to run again with people, even if it was only 8:30 miles on soggy grass. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running. My wife and I went up to Lava Hot Springs, ID on Saturday evening for a night at a B&B. After soaks in hot mineral water and massage therapy, my once-sore muscles were feeling much better. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running. I woke up this morning with my foot not really feeling up to any sort of run. Being a holiday, the gym was clsoed, but since I had the day off, I went for a morning hike instead. The hike was great, but beat on my foot a bit too hard, and it was rather sore immediately afterward. It recovered and felt better as the day went on. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| No running. Went to gym and did 30 minutes elliptical and some light stretching and core strength. Saw both the podiatrist and chiropractor today. Got a cortisone shot from the former and an adjustment from the latter. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| 0.5 mile running on treadmill, 30 minutes on elliptical. Foot not feeling too bad today (not great either), groin still sore. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 4th wedding anniversery. Not a day to sneak away to the gym for a workout. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No time for gym. Did core work and stretching at home. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.50 |
| 40 minutes elliptical, plus nice little saturday bike ride. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| No running. I'm in Moab for most of this week for a work conference and some training classes. After my class, I did some biking and rode up from my hotel to the Slickrock trail to check it out. The ride there was farther and steeper than I expected, and I was actually fairly gassed just from that. On top of that, you're supposed to pay $2 to ride the trail and I didn't have my wallet on me. I figured it wasn't worth breaking the rules to do something I'm bad at, and given the fact that the ride there was a very good workout and very beautiful, and that I was fairly tired and hungry by that point, I had no problems just turning around and hurtling back down the hill. Maybe later this week I'll drive out there again and try it for real. I'm a bad mountain biker, but I do enjoy it. It's hard staying in shape on the road, especially when you can't run. The "fitness center" at my hotel is a joke, so cross training is out the window. Fortunuately, I brought my bike and hope to get some good rides in. Unfortunately, my wife couldn't come to keep me company, so it's me here...me and Jack Daniels. That is, The Jack Daniels Running Formula. I just starting reading it. I'm more of a Pfitzinger guy, but this is a classic that I've been wanting to read. Side note: I actually had breakfast with Jack Daniels at the 2001 (or 2000?) DIII track nationals. My coach (Brian Diemer) was friends with Jack, as Jack had performed tests on Brian back in the 80s when Brian was an elite steepler (bronze at '84 Oly games). I'm sure Jack has no recollection of the breakfast, but looking back at it I think it's pretty cool, although I didn't think much of it at the time since I only thought of Jack as SUNY Cortland's coach and not some guru. But that was my closest brush with running fame, aside from getting lapped by most of the Hansons team in a 10k. Back to the book... | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| No running. Did bike ride to outskirts of Moab, then hiked around on trail I stumbled on. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| No running. Biked Willow Flats 4x4 road in Arches Park. It was a good ride with a few challenging parts, plus total solitude, a rarity for Arches. I was blessed with a few drops of rain at the end to cool off. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running or any workout. I drove home from Moab, and by the time I got settled in and organized, it was time for bed. I stopped by the Wasatch Running Center on the way to say hi to Glen, and stocked up on plantar fasciitis stuff as well (new shoes, arch supports, massage ball, support strap). The support strap (Bledsoe PFS) actually seems to make it hurt more, but maybe I just need to adjust it differently. I think the idea is to reduce pain through compression. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Went to gym and did some biking and light lifting. Foot hurt too much to do any elliptical. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Biked to gym and did 30 minutes on elliptical. Foot was feeling better by end of day today than in recent days. The right side of my groin has really flared up the last couple days, to the point where getting on my bike saddle is somewhat difficult. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No workout today. Went to chiropractor and he did his thing. My back and groin are still in a bad way, but my foot seems to be making some progress this week, after a bad previous week. A few things that I changed was purchasing and using a little massage ball (feels great, seems to work well), getting a beefier arch support insert, and doing a towel stretch and ball massage every morning in bed before my feet even hit the floor. Of course I'm carrying on with the taping, stretching, and icing as usual. I've been off ibuprofin cold turkey now for about two weeks (after being on it for a year). I am still looking for a good natural anti-inflammitory, something that is low-cost, effective, and without side effects. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| biked to gym and did 30 minutes elliptical. Stretched my hamstrings a lot and got my back feeling decent. My was a bit limpy in the morning and early afternoon hours, but my foot was feeling pretty good by the end of the day. Usually I get home from work and start using my massage ball, and my foot starts feeling good in this evening hours. Tomorrow I'll take the massage ball to work and see if that's the variable that's doing it, opposed to just generally stretching out my the PM hours. Groin is still very sore and immobile. It will prevent me from running on its own, even after my back and foot get better. I'm not sure how to rehap it, though, so I may need to see another PT for it at some point. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 30 minutes on elliptical. My foot is similar today as other days this week: a little limpy in the morning, but feeling pretty good by evening. Consistent at least. I'm doing lots of ball massage and have changed my stretching some to eliminate the stretches that feel like they're "tearing" the fascia.
My back has been feeling a bit better. I think it's starting to respond to the chiro treatments. Groin is still sore though. I've started experimenting with DMSO on my foot, shoulder, and groin. Some intial results indicate that it's helping my shoulder. I've also tried to eliminate or limit inflammitory items from my diet, such as red meat, grease, sugar, coffee, and alcohol. I think it's helped me this week, as I've been less sore. Next thing I know, I'll probably be eating buckwheat every day like Sasha. At this point, I'd much rather feel good than eat favorites like bratwurst with an IPA. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Mountain bike ride up Temple Fork. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 30 minutes elliptical. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 30 minutes elliptical. My foot has had a couple really "good" days in a row now. If only I can get my groin to cooperate. I have a gait analysis set up for next Wednesday, so hopefully I will be able to run a little by then, otherwise I will have to postpone. Feeling run-down by evening; some sort of sickness coming on. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| I've been a little sick for the last couple days. I took yesterday off work and slept in, and got about 10 hrs of sleep last night as well. The good news is that my foot continues to progress, and it's been consistent and steady. My lower back has been doing well these last two weeks, and my knee has been strong and stable as well. I've got a PT appointment next Monday for my groin, as that's the only thing that hasn't been making progress, and is hindering me from running. Although, in some ways it's good that my groin won't allow me to run, because it will ensure a more complete recovery for my foot (I have a tendency to push too early). At this point, my summer and most of my fall is completely shot anyway, so what's a few more weeks? St. George is looking 98% doubtful. Assuming I started running in the next week or so, I would barely be in shape for it, so it would do more harm than good. I'll probably call next week and see if I can defer my comp and $150 travel money until 2007. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| Wasatch Back Relay. Didn't run, but paced runners on bike on at night. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| Wasatch Back Relay. Didn't run, but paced runners on bike at night. My team ended up 6th overall with a time of 19:57, and won the ultra division by almost 3 hours. I'd rather be running, but the whole logistics and team captain end of things was equally rewarding, as I've always gotten a thrill out of seeing friends and teammates run fast. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running, just a recap of the last half week. I got sick last Wednesday, so I took most of Wed and Thurs off work and slept a lot, seeing as to how I had the Wasatch Back Relay coming up. I felt a bit better on Friday, but going 38 hours with no sleep caused me to relapse a bit on Saturday and Sunday. Monday I was feeling better again. My foot had been progressing nicely for the last two weeks. I was worried about what the Relay would do to it, since I'm constantly jumping in and out of the van, running around a bit, and just out of my usual routine. The foot felt fine during the event. Sunday morning it was a bit more sore than previous days, but nothing terrible; not a complete setback. Monday morning it was back to where it was last week, which is good. I had a PT appointment on Monday morning for my groin strain. I had no idea how to treat it, so I think I came out of the session with what I needed (exercises and stretches). Some of the exercises are difficult to do, as they aim directly at stretching the adductor, which is what hurts, but I'm trusting my PT. I'm sure he's seen plenty of groin strains. The PT also taped my foot and essentially mummified it (lot of tape). It's a method that I would have trouble doing on my own, similar to the low-dye method, but it seems to be working out well. I go again on Friday, so we'll see where I'm at. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Rode bike to gym, 30 minutes elliptical, then rode longer route home. I was really tired all day today. I forced myself to go to the gym in the evening, figuring it could perk me up a bit. It did; felt good the rest of the evening. Physical therapy by nature takes a while to have benefits, but so far my groin exercises haven't had any negative impact, which is good. I was a bit concerned, because some of exercises directly attack the area the hurts, whereas it's my instinct to baby it to let it "heal". Well, obviously that hadn't been working, which is why I went and saw a PT after 6 weeks of no improvement. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Biked to gym; 30 minutes on elliptical. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Quick update. We camped in Jackson Hole last weekend, which meant that I did some hiking on my foot. We did a fairly rigorous hike Saturday and an easy one on Sunday. On top of that the tape job my PT did, although it worked well, tore off a bit of skin when he took it off at my appointment Friday morning. So he deferred taping again so that the skin could heal, meaning that I had to hike around "naked". My foot definitely was pretty sore by the end of the weekend, although soaking it in the icy Gros Ventre River helped a good deal. When we got home Sunday night the LED light therapy device I had ordered was there, and I started using it that night. I've been using it 2-3 times a day on both my foot and groin, and both have had substantial improvement. Of course, this along with the other PT treatments that I do every day, bu the timing and rate of improvement has been higher than any other time span, making me think that the LED therapy is really working. This has been without tape too. Definitely an encouragement. I've been holding off doing any elliptical and have been focusing just on physical therapy exercises. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| 20 minutes elliptical plus PT exercises. Foot and groin are making good progress. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| Went for bike ride. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| PT in morning. 30 minutes elliptical in evening. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 30 minutes elliptical |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Had 2hr full-body deep massage last night. I've never had deep tissue massage before, and it was something else! The therapist hit all my problem areas, and got my foot feeling pretty close to normal. Afterwards I could grab my heel and squeeze hard without pain, which, as anyone who's had plantar fasciitis knows, is a good sign. I woke up this morning with no pain. So it was definitely beneficial, and we'll see how long it sticks. In the meantime, I'll continue taping and doing the treatments that I have been doing and hope that it continues to get stronger and more stable. The therapist also worked over my groin and got into the strain as deep as I let her (had to tell her to back off a few times due to horrible pain). My groin felt much better this morning than it had in a while, so it definitely helped. Will continue PT on my groin as well to strengthen and improve flexibility, but hopefully the massage broke the cycle of inflammation. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| PT in morning, chiro in evening, then 25 minutes on elliptical. My groin strain has shown slow but steady significant improvement over the last few weeks, quantified this morning by me being able to do a higher weight on the adductor machine than before. My foot also continues to improve slowly, and the effects of the massage from two weeks ago is still lingering. I go in for another 2-hr deep massage tomorrow. Now that the inflammation in my fascia is down a bit, I'm working more on strengthening my foot, as it is quite weak from the layoff. I'm starting to do barefoot single-calf raises, and have seen progression in strength already. I'm back from vacation in Michigan. I didn't do much in Michigan exercise-wise, except for exercising my stomach by eating rich foods. All things considered, my body came off of vacation feeling pretty good, despite all the travel, sleeping in strange beds, and being off my anti-inflammitory diet. I gained a few pounds but that's about the worst of it. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Biked to gym in morning, and did 10 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes stair stepper, and 10 minutes walking at 10% incline on treadmill. The latter two exercises more for strengthening my groin than cardio. Did some stretching and weight-lifting too. I've cut back my formal PT sessions at the hospital to once a week. All they did was have me do exercises that I could do on my own in the gym, so I didn't see the point of paying for something I can do for free. I came out of my massage yesterday pretty good. I'm now walking completely normal, my shoulder has much better range of motion (which lets me lift weights again), and my groin is getting better every day (which lets me ease into core exercises again). I'm going to try to get back into a more consistent cross-training and lifting routine to prepare myself for running by the end of August. As long as my foot stays stable and my groin continues to improve at it's current rate, I think I may be able to start running slow again in several weeks. Technically I could probably start running now, but I don't want another setback, but instead want to strengthen all my muscles first. The season is shot, so there's no real rush to run by a certain date. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 30 minutes elliptical plus lifting and stretching. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 20 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes stair-stepper, 10 minutes treadmill walking at 10% incline. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Biked to gym. 30 minutes on elliptical, then some lifting and stretching. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| PT in morning. Biked to gym in evening and did 30 minutes on elliptical. Foot is still stable; only have dull pain if I press very hard on the inside of my heel, otherwise nothing. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| biked to gym; 35 minutes on elliptical; lifted weights and stretched |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| 30 minutes elliptical, 9 minutes stair-stepper, 10 minutes brisk walk on inclined treadmill (10%). Also did weight lifting exercises for groin while at gym. Foot has ever-so-slight bit of pain today; hopefully it will not amount to anything. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| biked to gym; did 30 minutes elliptical and lifted weights |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| 35 minutes elliptical, 9 minutes stair-stepper, 10 minutes walking on inclined treadmill; lifted weights |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| biked to gym; 35 minutes on elliptical; some light lifting. Foot is getting a touch inflammed again: time for another massage. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| PT in morning. PT sessions at the hospital can be grueling. Basically it's over an hour of weights, bands, and other strength drills. My HR probably stays around 120 for the whole time, despite not doing true "cardio". My therapist tested my strength again today, and it was much better than two weeks ago, which was much better than six weeks ago. So things are coming along. We're bumping back sessions to every other week, and we'll do a running stride analysis, where they video me running and analyse it, either in two weeks or four weeks. Have deep massage scheduled for my foot this evening. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| biked to gym; 35 minutes on elliptical plus lifting |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 25 minutes on elliptical, 9 minutes on stair-stepper, 6 minutes walking on treadmill at 11% grade. Lifted with legs afterward. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| biked to gym; 40 minutes on elliptical; lifted weights. Foot is still pretty stable, just dull ache if I press as hard as I can on my heel with my thumb. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| 35 minutes on elliptical; 9 minutes on stair-stepper; 6 minutes walking on treadmill at 10% incline. My groin was noticeably better today, which was encouraging. My heel is a little tender this morning, so I will have to baby it the rest of the weekend (more than usual). Sunday is a day off, so that will probably help. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| did a little bike ride to and from gym; just lifted and stretched at gym, no elliptical. I have my pressure test tomorrow, so I wanted to rest my foot. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| biked to gym; 35 minutes on elliptical, 9 minutes on stair-stepper, and 6 minutes walking on treadmill set to 10% incline. also did lower body weights. I had my pressure test with the podiatrist today. It was pretty cool; they put thin plastic pressure sensors in my shoes, and then when I walked the on-screen display showed my weight distribution real-time. We went through a couple different temporary orthotic settings before my feet "balanced" out. Then they cast my feet in plaster. I have to wait 2-4 weeks for the custom orthotics to come in. My groin is doing really well. I moved up 10 lbs in weight again on the 4-way hip machine, and it still felt pretty easy, and very little discomfort/pain. It is very close to being 100%. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| biked to gym; 40 minutes on treadmill; lifted weights and stretched. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| biked to gym; 35 minutes elliptical, 9 minutes stair-stepper, lifted weights for lower body, and stretched. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| biked to gym; 30 minutes on elliptical; was a little tired and took it easy in preparation for longer day tomorrow. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.50 |
| biked to gym; 40 minutes elliptical, 9 minutes stair-stepper. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| lot of biking today. Biked to PT in morning. Then biked to co-workers house to attempt to find laptop power cord. Then biked to Best Buy to buy laptop power cord. Then biked to gym after work. Thankfully Logan is a small town; a car is overkill and I wouldn't want Al Gore to get mad at me. At gym did 40 minutes elliptical plus lifting and stretching. Today was my last real PT appointment. My therapist evaluated my strength and said I was a "4 or 5" out of 5 for everything, which is really good. I still have a little pain in my groin, and it flares up once in a while, but it seems like it's good to go. He also had me run on the treadmill for a few minutes and watched me. It was 10-minute mile pace, but it felt fairly good. It's hard to fathom running twice that fast for a 5k, but hopefully I will be there in a year. My foot was a little sore afterward, but I massaged it with my Rubz ball at work afterward and now it feels quite good. There's often a lag with activity and PF flareups, so I have to wait and see how it feels tomorrow and Wednesday. If it stays stable, I'll try running a mile on grass on Wednesday. I'm going to wait to get my orthotics to start up a real training program, but will run a mile on grass every fews before that if things are feeling good. After I get the orthotics broken in, I'll go back for one last PT session, which will consist soley of a running stride analysis, where my form will be video'ed and analysed. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| biked to gym; 20 minutes on elliptical plus lifting |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| biked to gym; 35 minutes on elliptical plus some lifting; ran 0.5 mile on grass in 4:15. Foot and groin felt okay, but not stellar. Maybe will try this again in a week or so. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Slothful travel day to La Crosse, WI |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.50 |
| Another mostly slothful travel day to St. Paul, MN. Ran 0.5 miles at 9 minute pace on treadmill at hotel. Foot and groin felt so-so. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Yet more sloth. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Even more sloth than before. Flew back to Logan. So far no ill effects from my couple short runs this week. I'll try a couple mile-long runs this week. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| biked to gym; 30 minutes on elliptical plus lifting and stretching; ran 1 mile on grass. I'm not sure of pace, as I was not wearing a watch, but it felt a bit smoother than my previous attempts at running. Will try running another mile around Thursday or so. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| biked to gym; 40 minutes on elliptical plus lifting and stretching. The chiropractor tried a treatment similar to Graston on my foot yesterday. See grastontechnique.com. My foot felt pretty good coming in and pretty good leaving, and fine this morning, so hard to say it's effectiveness. Basically I have just a slight bit of inflammation left (about a 0.5 out of 10) that I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| biked to the gym; did elliptical for 40 minutes, then lifted and stretched. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| 40 minutes on elliptical plus lifting and stretching |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.30 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 | 5.30 |
| 45 minutes on elliptical, 6 minutes on stair-stepper, 3 minutes running on treadmill. My foot was in a bit of discomfort, so I laid off the running. Lifted weights and stretched. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Labor Day -- no work. It also means that the gym is closed, but that's okay. I jogged out to the Logan High sports fields (0.25 miles), then did 2x200m barefoot strides in the grass, at 1:05 each. The idea of barefoot strides is to strengthen the feet, so I thought I'd give it a try. It felt okay. Then I put my shoes back on and did the 0.5 grass loop in 4:05, which is a post-injury PR. I'll take what I can get at this point. Perhaps next time I'll break the 8-minute mile barrier. Did a hike out to White Pine Lake with friends later in the morning. Fortunately it was a fairly soft dirt trail most of the way. My foot was a bit sore and tired by the end, but felt better after icing. Hopefully it will not make me worse but make me stronger. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| biked to gym; 30 mintues on elliptical plus lifting and stretching. For all the use I gave to my foot and groin yesterday, they don't feel much worse. The foot is a little more tender than usual, but nothing like it was back in May and June, so I think it held up well. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 3.25 |
| biked to gym; 30 minutes on elliptical; lifted with legs and stretched. Did some jogging around block with dog. Foot and groin feel some continued improvement. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 | 4.00 |
| biked to gym; 35 minutes on elliptical plus stretching. Jogged around block with dog. My foot has had more improvement, and I barely felt anything running today. Just need to get the left groin feeling good now. I go in for a 2-hr deep massage after work today; hopefully that will help. My orthotics are in, and I will get those on Monday. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.50 | 4.50 |
| Note: Thursday and Friday entries are switched, but I'm too lazy to fix it. biked to gym; did 40 minutes on elliptical and then 9 minutes on the stair-stepper. Stretched. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 1.75 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 | 5.25 |
| Jogged easy with dog around block, the walked out to Logan High rec fields and ran a mile in the grass in 8:20. Felt pretty good, as the massage I got yesterday really helped out my left adductor muscle, which has been problematic lately. Then I took my shoes off and did 2x200m barefoot strides in the grass in 52 seconds each. These felt really good, and were actually at 7 min/mile pace, which is my usual pace when I'm healthy. Regardless of whether they were actually 200m or not, they were each over 10 seconds faster than the strides I did on Monday on the same field, so it marks significant improvement. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| biked to gym; did 40 minutes on elliptical, lifted, and stretched. I got my custom orthotics today. We did a few more pressure tests and the doctor made some last adjustments to make sure everything was correct and my body balanced. I broke them in around the office today, and will try running a mile in them tomorrow. They are actually fairly comfortable, and I wanted to run today, but held off. I am used to having an arch support by now, but the orthotics are quite a heel lift. I will have to keep stretching my calves and achilles to avoid complications with that. I plan to keep doing barefoot strides every week in grass (at least until it snows) to keep my feet strong. Also, I'm probably only going to wear them for running; I prefer birks for everyday wear, which don't have a heel lift. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.00 |
| morning: ran 0.5 miles around block with dog. Then went out to LHS athletic fields and did 1 mile in grass in 8:02 (PR). Then kicked off my shoes and did 4x200m barefoot strides (52, 48, 46, 46). The last two strides were both 6 seconds faster than on Saturday, and 18 seconds faster than the time before that. Quite an improvement! My foot was a little sore afterwards, and I iced and massaged with ibuprofin/arnica cream. This was my first run with the new orthotics and they felt fine. Evening: biked to gym; 30 minutes on elliptical, lifted, and stretched | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.50 |
| biked to gym; 40 minutes on elliptical, then lifted weights and stretched. Jogged easy 0.5 miles around block with dog. It felt only so-so, not great. My foot is doing quite well, no bad effects from yesterday. The left side of my groin is still giving me trouble though. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.50 |
| raining and hailing like buckets in Logan, so I drove to the gym instead of biked. 40 minutes on elliptical, the 0.5 miles on treadmill in 4:30. I started at 10 minute/mile pace and worked up to 8 minute/mile pace. Felt decent. Lifted and stretched. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| 40 minutes on elliptical; lifted and stretched |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| feeling a little tired; did 30 minutes on elliptical and some lifting and stretching. Left adductor is sore. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 | 4.00 |
| biked to gym; 35 minutes on elliptical, 0.5 miles on treadmill at 6% grade at 9:00/mile pace. Daniels' treadmill chart converts that roughly to 7:00/mile at 0% grade. It seems that running on an uphill gradient is easier on my groin, so I will try it some more. Lifted and stretched as well. Did 5 or 6 sets on the adductor machine (like a thighmaster with weights), increasing weight each set. It's funny, the first set hurt my groin with just 20 pounds, but by the last set (at 80 pounds) there was very little pain. My adductor felt stronger for the rest of the night too, so I'll try to do that again. After months of PT, my adductors are still weaker than most childrens', so continuing to strengthen those to normal levels and beyond will be key for injury-free running. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.50 |
| biked to gym (in dark). Chilly morning, made me think of how cold it is waiting around for TOU to start. I'll be in my nice, warm bed though. Did 40 minutes on elliptical (wanted to quit after 30, but forced myself to finish over the protest of my quads). Lifted and stretched. Jogged 0.5 miles around block with dog. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| parents are in town, so no time to go to gym. I did manage to sneak out after work and biked over to my favorite paved trail along the Logan River for a run. They have a mile marked out, so I ran an out-and-back for 2 miles total. Total time was 14:28, and both mile splits were 7:14. At least I still have my sense of pacing. It felt good to get on one of my normal running routes, and not just do laps around the LHS fields. I would have preferred grass or dirt, but the pavement didn't feel too bad. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| 40 minutes on elliptical; lifted and stretched. No ill effects from run yesterday. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No time to run today, as I was selling maps at the TOU expo all late afternoon and evening. Met a few other bloggers, which was very cool. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.50 |
| Ran from my house to the TOU finish line, doing the last 1.5 miles on the TOU course. Got a split from Mile 25 to 26 at exactly 8:00. Felt pretty good, especially considering I was standing up at the expo all night. Did 4x150 barefoot strides on grass at the TOU finish line before the first finishers came in. I was quite impressed with all performances at TOU. Several bloggers had hefty PR's and exceeded goals. Several of my other friends killed their goals as well. I think there were something like 37 people total under 3:00, and one American qualified for trials, "breaking the seal" for the TOU race. I imagine the race can build off this year and have even better comp next year. Hopefully I can be part of that field. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.50 |
| Have a bit of buggy cough, so "slept in" this morning. In evening, I ran out to LHS rec fields, then did 3x0.5mile laps, continuous. Splits were all 3:45 (7:30/mile pace). Then did 4x200m barefoot strides in grass: 45, 41, 42, 40. So my mile pace is about 30 seconds faster than last time, and my strides several seconds faster, approaching 5:20 pace. Strides in particular felt good, and I'm digging the barefoot thing. Maybe I'll get some Nike Free's when it gets cold. I'm starting to think that my strides are less than 200m, but I measured it on Google Earth, and it's pretty much right on, over if anything. I'll take the GPS next time, to validate. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Still have annoying cough. It was a busy day today, as I had deadlines to meet at work, had to take my parents to SLC airport (3-hr round trip), and then had an evening financial class. No time for any sort of workout, other than some stretching and theraband exercises at home right before bed. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.50 |
| Very little time again today. I did manage to sneak out of my chiro's office while waiting for an adjustment and do a couple miles plus barefoot strides at Hyrum park. My groin felt a bit looser, so still some improvement. I will probably try 3 miles by the end of the week. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 4.50 |
| Biked to gym. On way to gym stopped at Logan River Trail and ran to end of trail and back, about 2.5 miles. Tried to do the little loop at the end of the park, but found that it was completely overgrown and impassible. I guess it's been awhile since I've ran there. My two Golden "Mile" splits were right around 6:35 each, so 40 seconds faster each way than last week. Good improvement in my stride. If Cody's measurement is right and my math is correct, then that comes out to 7:14/mile pace, which ironically is what I thought I ran there last week before I found out it was short. Did 20 minutes of elliptical at gym, then lifted and stretched. Good day. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| annoying cough and lethargic feeling still lingering. Took today off and got some rest. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 5.50 |
| Still coughing, but it may be a bit better. Biked out to the Logan Canyon River Trail this morning, and battled a mightly canyon wind the last mile or so. Once I got to the trail and parked my bike, it was a bit better because the trail is sheltered. Ran ~2 miles to where the single-track begins, then turned around and came back ~1 mile, as I planned to do about 3 miles and then walk for cooldown. Got bored with walking, though, and ran another 0.5 miles, then walked in the remaining quarter mile back to my bike. Biking home was much easier since the mighty canyon wind was now at my back. Pace today was slow, but it's the longest I've gone so far post-injury, so that's fine. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 1.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.25 |
| New month. "Got the urge" and jogged out to LHS rec fields and did a half mile lap (3:31) and then 4x200m barefoot strides. The first stride was in 38, then I missed the time on the next 2, but then the last one was in 35, so they're really starting to rip and feel good. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 4.50 |
| ran to gym; 20 minutes on elliptical, lifted, stretched, and ran home |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| I wanted to give my foot a break, so I just crosstrained today. Biked to gym and did 30 minutes on elliptical. That's all I had time for today. Did stretching, theraband exercises, and some core work late evening at home. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.00 |
| raining buckets. Drove over to gym and did 30 minutes on elliptical and then ran 2 miles on treadmill at a 3% grade at 7:30 pace (equivalent to 6:58 on level ground, according to Daniels chart). Felt pretty smooth. Lifted and stretched. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.50 |
| Slow day at work, so took off to the gym for an extended lunch break. Ran 2.5 miles on the Logan River trail on the way, and then did 30 minutes on elliptical. The rear part of my arch is slightly tender, but other than that everything feels fine. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| Caught a break in the rain and did an out-and-back to the 1000 W 600 S intersection. Stopped by the skate park on the way back and did 4x200m barefoot strides (36, 35, 33, 32). Pushed the last two a bit more, but they were by no means all-out (defeats the purpose of strides if they are), so I felt pretty good about it. Plus, only one little skater punk made a running remark as I went by, another bonus. Measured the path in Google Earth when I got home, and it turned out to be 191 meters, so maybe add a second or two to each one. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Woke up this morning at 7:30AM with a coughing fit. Sleep didn't come back to me, so I decided that it was time to get up and go for a run. It was rainy and cool here in Logan, and made me wonder what conditions were like in St. George; probably pretty good if it's anything like this. I drove out to the Logan Canyon River Trail, and ran to the start of the single track and back, a distance of roughly 4 miles. 15:20 up and 14:00 back on the downhill. Felt pretty good, and I ran quite a bit faster than last week without pushing it any harder, so the form is still improving. This is my longest run since April. I felt like a real runner again, being out in the rain and all, and not sweating on some elliptical or treadmill surrounded by people reading celebrity gossip magazines. 16 running miles this week; will try 20 next week. Looking forward to seeing the St. George results. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 6.00 |
| Biked to gym, and did 4-mile run into Providence and back. Pace was slow, but felt good. Afterwards, I did 20 minutes on the elliptical and lifted and stretched. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Ran to LHS rec fields and did 2 miles worth of loops in the grass; averaged about 7:15/mile pace. Did 4x200m barefoot strides (36, 36, 35, 34). So slightly faster than last Sunday. Jogged home for cooldown. Stretched and theraband exercises in evening at home. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 6.00 |
| Ran a block with the dog, then ran out to paved river trail out to the Golden Mile point, and back home, for total distance of about 4 miles. Golden Mile splits for 6:29 and 6:25, so right around 7:05 mile pace. Biked to gym after that and did 20 minutes on elliptical, lifted, and stretched. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Cross training day. Biked to gym, did 40 minutes on elliptical, lifted, and stretched. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| Ran around block with dog, then ran out to LHS rec fields and did 2 miles of grass loops (7:10 and 7:00 mile splits). Did 4x200m barefoot strides (36, 35, 35, 33). I wanted to GPS the stride field, but couldn't find my GPS... Sasha, do you still have it from Wasatch Back? | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.50 |
| Ran to end of single track and back on Logan Canyon River Trail. Pace was pretty slow, but felt good. Ran with Jon, James, and also with Cody for the first time. It has literally been MONTHS since I've run with other people, so it was very nice. I've missed the social aspect of running more than training and racing. Many of the friends I've met throughout my life have been through running. So I'm quite happy that I've built up to running distances where I can running socially again.
After the run, I biked out to the gym to lift weights and stretch. A good morning. 20 miles running for the week; will do 23 next week. Let the slow build-up continue!
edit: added a mile in the evening, as I didn't have a car available and ran to a restaurant to meet a friend. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Day off. Over the weekend I started transferring my old Polar calendar data to the Blog, so that I have a complete training and racing record in one place. So far I've completed 2003, including race reports from doing the LDR circuit. I'll try to do 2004 and 2005 when I have time. It's funny how much I can remember about each race, as I fill out the reports over 3 years later. Having done 2003, I'm amazed at how bad and haphazard my training was back then. I would literally jump from 70 miles to 100 miles in a one week span. I could get away with than then, but it's the kind of thing that got me injured this year. I've learned. Also, I did a total of about 6 speed sessions that entire summer. So really no workouts aside from racing. I had no plan and no training program, but had good health and a bit of speed left over from college. Now I have a solid training program and wisdom, but just need the body and health to support what's in my head. Need to get the speed back too. I also devised my weekly mileage build-up for the next several months. In general I will follow the "no more than 10%" rule and make it a slow build-up. Here it is: Remaining weeks of Oct: 23, 25, 27 Nov: 30, 33, 36, 40 Dec: 44, 48, 48, 50 Jan: 53, 55, 60, 60, 63 We'll see how that goes. Those numbers are based on 5 days of running until early December, and then 6 days of running after that. Of course I can't plan setbacks or illness, but I've found that it's good to map out how much I need to run each day, and actually make a daily calendar that I can refer to. That way I don't go overboard. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.60 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.60 |
| Landfill Loop. 40:00. I thought this route was 5 miles, but when I looked it up it was actually 5.6. Oops. Didn't mean to get a "long run" in! The upshot is that I thought I average 8 minute miles, but it was actually around 7:08/mile. Good run. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 5.50 |
| Flying to Denver later today for a business trip, so got up early to work out. Ran to the gym, did 20 minutes on elliptical, lifted and stretched. Ran home and jogged around the block with dog. My gym recently got some new high-tech treadmills. They vaguely resemble something out of Robocop. The upshot is that they can do negative gradients, up to -3%. This is similar to some of the steeper portions of the Top of Utah course, so it is nice to know I can do downhill training this winter when everything is snowed over. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Meetings and travel in Denver, back to SLC. What a whirlwind. No workout today. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 7.00 |
| Ran to rec center and met Cody and James. We did the River Heights Loop, a four-mile route with a large hill climb and descent. It felt pretty good. Ran to my office afterward and then back home.
Went to the gym after dinner and did 20 minutes on the elliptical, lifted, and stretched. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.00 |
| Ran to gym; elliptical for 30 minutes, lifted, and stretched. Ran home. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 6-mile trail run on the Willow Creek Trail, up Right Hand Fork with Cody, James, David, and Ben. It was a chilly morning, but got really nice toward the end of the run. The trail was extremely sloppy from recent rain and freeze/thaw, which made footing slow and difficult in places. But it was a fun run. 23 miles for the week; 25 next week. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Gorgeous Sunday up here in Logan. Too nice to stay inside all day. Took a nice autumn walk with my wife. Later, jogged out to LHS rec fields and did 4x200m strides (35, 33, 33, 32). They felt good and snappy. I spent some time last night and today transferring my Polar training log over to the Blog for the 2004 running season, including race reports. So now I have 2003, 2004, and most of 2006 posted. I'll fill the gap probably next weekend. Looking back at 2004, I did A LOT more mileage than in 2003, and I expected it to pay off and run some really fast times...but that's not what happened. In fact, 2004 was probably my worst racing season. Despite holding steady to 80-100 mile weeks for most of the summer, my times were slower compared to 2003, from 5k to marathon. This means either 1)I'm not meant to do that high of mileage; or 2)I didn't see the fruits of my labor immediately; or 3)some of my training methodology was wrong. I feel that the reality was a combination of all those reasons. When I do 100-mile weeks, I get fatigued, and don't race or work out well. However, I feel that all mieage adds to "lifetime base" and will pay off in later years. 2005 for me was a really good racing year, despite low mileage, and I think that the high mileage I did in 2004 set me up for the Grand Slam in 2005. Finally, most of my workouts in 2004 were geared toward VO2 Max (short intervals). I did little threshold and marathon-pace running, so it's no wonder that I crashed and burned at TOU that year; my body could not sustain a long effort nor store/burn fuel efficiently. Although I was doing more mileage in 2004, I still lacked any thoughtful training methodology, and just thought that if I ran lots of mileage and did track intervals, that I would become fast at all distances...immediately. The training element that killed me the most for the 2004 TOU race was my taper. I went from doing 90-100 mile/weeks through August, to 35-45 miles/week in the two weeks before TOU. I felt led to do so because I felt fatigued from the mileage and I didn't know any better. But the taper was too sharp (50-60% cut) and sustained over too long a period of time (2 full weeks). During the 2006 Grand Slam, I experimented with great success with 10-20% tapers sustained over one week. For example, if I had been running 60 mpw, I would taper to 50 miles in the week preceding the marathon. I now believe that a key to good training is not to fatigue yourself, and if you are not fatigued there is no need to taper for longer than a week, or to cut your miles by more than 10-20%. Hard-gained fitness can be lost over long tapers. I see marathon programs advocating 3-week tapers, and that just seems wrong. If one's body is so broken down that one needs three weeks to mend, replenish, and fuel it, then the training program is fundamentally flawed to begin with. Everyone is different, of course, and have different needs, but it seems that if one is in good health, has trained within their limits, and fuels their body healthily, then 1 week or maybe 2 weeks at the very most should be sufficient to run an optimal marathon. Those are my Sunday blog thoughts. Other thoughts and comments on optimal tapering are welcome. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.30 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.30 |
| Landfill Loop. 39:20 (7:25/mile pace). I worked out some frustration from work in the first half and ran some 7:00-miles, and then slowed down the last half. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 7.00 |
| Gym-to-gym loop with James and Cody. Stopped at gym midway and did 20 minutes on the elliptical, and lifted and stretched. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Crosstraining day. Did 40 minutes on the elliptical.
Today I also received my TP Massageball Kit, which I am excited about. This set of massage tools was developed by athletes for athletes, and has received very favorable reviews from many sources. Supposedly it can treat and prevent a wide array of injuries, including PF, knee pain, and lower back pain, all of which I've had over at some point over the last year. I have responded well to massage therapy, so hopefully this will be a way to do the same thing without paying $40/hr. After I use it for a few weeks or so, I'll give a full review about its effectiveness and ease of use. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 8.00 |
| AM - 30 minutes on elliptical, lifted, and stretched PM - easy 5 mile run with Cody, Jon, and baby. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 4.00 |
| Ran to gym, did some lifting and hopped on the elliptical for 10 minutes. Ran to insurance appointment, and then ran home. I love leg-powered transportation! |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Ran 6 miles of the Green Canyon Out-and-Back route with Dave and James. Over half of it is on a canal access trail and then the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. We ran into some hunters dragging a dead deer down the trail and decided that was an omen to turn around. I have nothing against hunters/hunting, but it seems kind of lazy to me to hunt off of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Probably illegal too, since it's in city limits. In any case it was a beautiful day and a nice run. 25 miles running for the week. 27 miles next week. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Today's Sunday Blog topic: 2005 training, the Grand Slam, and multiple marathoning. Over yesterday and today I transfered my Polar training for 2005 to the Blog. 2005 was a breakthrough year for me, in that I finally utilized smart training, and finally figured out how to run a marathon properly. Both of those accomplishments were greatly influenced by me reading "Advanced Marathoning" by Pfitzinger and Douglas. The ideas in the book help me formulate a good training plan that employed a lot more tempo and marathon-pace running, and less VO2Max. It also helped me with proper tapering, hydrating, and fueling, which are crucial (and often underestimated) for the marathon. This was also the year I ran the Grand Slam. Why did I do the Slam? I was so jaded from the TOU Marathon in 2004, when I put all my marbles in the one race and lost big. So I decided to do the opposite in 2005: run a bunch of marathons until I got it right. Also, there would be no pressure on me (from myself) to perform really well at any of them, which would allow me to loosen up and RUN MY OWN RACE. Well, to make a long story short, I ended up doing really well in ALL of them, and came out with some nice PR's, and a lot of valuable experience. So in order to run fast, I had to try to run slow. What this meant was that in all my previous marathons, I tried to run a pace beyond my training, and ended up running slower than I should have because of those improper race-day tactics. The downside of doing the Slam was that I got injured (knee and lower back). I chose to abuse ibuprofin and just run through it, and did so "sucessfully", but I ended up taking October-December completely off in order to rehab and recover. And when I started running again in January, I developed similar injuries again. Either my biomechanics changed or my body's ability to heal and/or absorb shock had been compromised. I hadn't had an injury before the Slam for the previous 10 years of competitive running. I do not blame the Slam itself, but rather me running it too hard with TOO LITTLE BASE. People often ask me about the Slam and for tips. Here are my tips, ideas that I did use or SHOULD HAVE used. 1) Build a big base during the 4 months preceding the first race (Ogden). 70+ miles/week for at least couple months is optimal. Once the Slam starts, you will be forced to drop mileage due to constant recovery. 2) Pick 1 or 2 races as your focus races. Run the others as "workouts" -- ie do not "race" them. For me, my focus races were Des News and St. George. 3)Negative or even-split every race. Do not hit the wall. I found that races that I negative or even-splitted, my recovery was an order of magnitude faster than races where I hit the wall and ran a slower 2nd half. 4) How do you not hit the wall? Run your race, not someone else's race. Ignore "the pack" and run a pace that seems too slow at first. You have 26 miles to get your PR. Going out hard the first few miles can ruin the last half of your race. But going out easy can make the last half a dream. I ended up passing a lot of people that are normally faster than me in the last miles of races using this strategy, and even unintentially won money by winning the "war of attrition". Pfitzinger says that running a negative split means that you could have ran faster, but that's what we want in the non-focus Grand Slam races. 5) Run for "active recovery". Hydrate and fuel EVERY aid station, even if you are not thirsty or tired. Walk through, if needed. I actually walk through aid stations now to get more fluid, and I don't believe it nets me any loss in time, because I "get it back" later. Take liquid and fuel after Mile 20, even though it will not help you for the current race, it will help you recover from the race faster, which is key for the Slam. 6) Do not taper heavily for your non-focus marathons. Since you just did a marathon a few weeks ago, your mileage will probably not be that high to begin with, and your fitness can not afford a big taper. One week with 20% reduction should do it, and then the marathon itself will add 26 miles for the week, so on paper, there will not be any drop in mileage at all! 7) Monitor your body, and think long-term rather than short term. If you are injured, suck it up and drop out of the circuit. Some injuries will go away on there own, but others will not, and continuing to run will make things worse and have long-term consequences. I've had a rough year since the Slam because I did not listen to my body and tried to mask my pain with NSAIDs. Don't do it! 8) Enjoy it! Running the Slam takes you to a lot of great courses and beautiful areas in Utah. Relax and admire the scenery during your race. Be inspired. I think that the Grand Slam in 2007 will "only" consist of 4 races rather than 5. This should make the circuit more achievable, and allow for faster times. I found that despite relatively low mileage, I built a tremendous amount of fitness through doing the Grand Slam. Why is that? Well, my theory is that Slammers do tons of marathon-specific workouts...what is a better marathon workout than 26.2 miles at MP pace? Fewer long training runs are needed, as the marathons themselves build a lot of fitness and train the body to burn fuel efficiently. Even my general speed was pretty good by September, as demonstrated by a strong Peruvian Dash finish. Finishers of the 2006 Slam had a lot of PR's and remarkable performances as well. This leads me to believe that multiple marathons are a good way to go. Of course, doing 5 in 6 months is little extreme, but if you train for months and months and do your marathon...why not do another in a month or two? You've worked very hard over several months to build your marathon fitness, and if your recovery from the first marahon goes well, why not jump in another? You have already done the work, so the second marathon is "free", and I believe the probability of a PR in a second marathon (if spaced far enough apart) is good. Those are my Sunday Blog thoughts. As usual, other people's experiences and comments are welcome. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 8.00 |
| Got up early and went to gym. Did 30 minutes on elliptical and lifted, stretched a little. Ran 30 minutes into Providence toward Millville and then back along the TOU course. Ran an additional 6 blocks with the dog. It's nice that it gets light now by 7AM, but we're still loosing the battle against daylight! |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Ran from my house to the end of the canal trail and back. Legs are feeling pretty good and bouncy. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Went to gym, did 40 minutes hard on elliptical, lifted, and stretched. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Ran River Heights Loop with Cody. Ran about 7:10 pace. Then did 4x200m barefoot strides in grass (32, 31, 32, 32). Felt good today. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 7.00 |
| Ran to gym (plus a little extra on the paved River Trail). Did elliptical for 30 minutes and 4-way hip machine. Ran home. |
| | Race: |
First Dam Run 5k (3.1 Miles) 00:18:18, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 2 | | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 3.90 | 0.00 | 3.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| First Dam Run 5k. 18:18. This is a small local fun run that I've wanted to do for awhile and decided to run it this year for fun and and to see where I'm at. It was also symbolic in way, to be able to line up at a race again, even if it's not to be a "race effort". My goal coming in was to run around 19:30 or so, and just relax and have some fun with it. As usual, though, I got a little competitive, and bumped it up as the race went on. The 5k course is a loop with about the perfect amount of turns to keep it from being too boring, but not so many that you can't get a rhythm. My elevation profile showed 79 feet of gain and loss, so pretty fast topography.
I ran with Dave for the first mile, and we got out easy and let all the rabbits go out hard, and most came back to us by the end of the first mile. Went through the mile in 6:20, in 9th place. Right on. At about 1.25 miles, I picked it up a little and Dave stayed at the same pace. I passed about 3 more people and got a mile split of 5:52. Oops, I didn't know that I could even run that fast. Oh well, it feels pretty good, and I'm not laboring at all, so I go with it. The third mile, more people ahead of me are dying off, and I increase my pace a little more in order to pick them off. Racing from behind is fun. Finally, with about a half mile left, there's just one guy just ahead of me. I'm not sure if he's the leader or not, but on the off-chance that he is, I decide to pick it up for the finish and pass him. He was hurting and coming back fast, and I passed him with about 300m left. As I crossed the finish I saw two other guys walking around, so that last guy apparently was not the leader. Oh well, 3rd is fine too. 18:18 overall (chip time was off two seconds), 5:33 pace the last 1.1 miles. 1st and 2nd place were about 16:40 and 17:10, respectively, which is why I never saw them; they were always one turn ahead.
Cooled down afterwards, but legs still feel pretty fresh, like they just did a short tempo or mp run. Very good sign. No more races until 2007, though, nothing but steady base work for the next few months. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Day off. Feel good after First Dam Run 5-k, no recovery needed.
Today's Sunday Blog topic: Relays
Relay races have been around for awhile, but they are gaining steam quickly and becoming some of the hottest and fastest-growing new races. New relays are springing up right and left. The Wasatch Back (Utah), Great River (Wisconsin), del Sol (Arizona), Wild West (Colorado), Green Mountain (Vermont), and Fall 50 (Wisconsin) are all new relays, less than a few years old. I'm assuming there's all sorts of new relays that I haven't heard about, but these are just the ones that have contracted me to make their course maps. :-) The point is that they are spring up and growing like wildfire.
Why all growth and excitement in relays? Well, in a nutshell, they are just a riot to run. Combine a college road-trip with running and racing, and you get a relay. Most relays range in distance from 50-200 miles, have 6-12 person teams, and can last well over 24 hrs. The general process is 1)pile a bunch of runners into a van; 2)jump out and run 4-8 miles really fast (or slow if you like); 3) jump back in the van and drive for awhile; 4) repeat several times. Sleeping is optional, and is the exception more than the rule.
Due to the non-standard leg distances, and often the harsh topography, getting a PR is not an option, which is actually a good thing because it lets you relax and actually enjoy running for running sake. Forget your time and mile splits, and just run hard! Relays make running how it was when you were a kid. Fun. No pressure. Combine that with the comradery and friendships that will develop from being in a van with the same people for 24-hours, and sharing the same adventures and supporting each other, relays give some of the best "bang for buck" for the "entry fee to enjoyment" ratio.
I have ran the Wild West Relay once (2005), and the Wasatch Back Relay twice (once as a runner in 2005 and once as a driver in 2006). I've seen landscapes and visited places I never would have seen before and made friends with complete strangers that I would have never met otherwise. I recommend that anyone looking for a new aspect of running and racing try a relay.
I'll be running the Relay del Sol this March 30-31. The 190-mile race starts in Wickenberg and ends near Phoenix, AZ, and will travel through some truly outstanding desert landscapes. Any bloggers who may be interested in running, let me know. I am trying to put together a competitve, but laid-back and fun team.
Post-edit: Check out the new PC TV clip on You Tube about the Wasatch Back Relay. Pretty cool clip, with a few familiar faces in there! | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 8.00 |
| Went to gym and did 30 minutes on elliptical and some lifting. Afterwards, ran 5 miles easy from gym to Millville and back along TOU course. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.70 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.70 |
| Ran the Canal Trail Loop with Cody. Averaged around 7:30 miles for whole run. Beautiful warm weather; soon it will be snowing, so I'm enjoying it while I can. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Crosstraining day. Did 40 minutes on the elliptical, lifted, and stretched. My gym got 6 brand new ellipticals. Joy. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Ran Landfill Loop backward. Averaged 6:45 pace, so a good brisk run. Ran around the block with the dog afterwards. Wet and snowy up here in Logan; winter is beginning. Maybe I will be skiing by the weekend... | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 8.00 |
| Ran Gym-to-Gym Loop easy. Stopped at gym in middle of run and did 30 minutes on the elliptical, plus lifting and stretching. Weighed in at 134 lbs after the elliptical. Closing in on old college racing weight. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.30 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.30 |
| Ran easy on the Logan Canyon River Trail with Dave, from the parking gate to Third Dam and back. There was snow along some stretches, which made for slow careful footing in places. But most of the trail was clear, and we had it to ourselves. It took about an hour, and I'm going to call it 7.3 miles so that I can log exactly 30 miles for the week. 33 miles scheduled for next week. The slow steady progression continues, with no setbacks so far (but I am paranoid of every temporary ache or weird feeling I get anywhere in my body). |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Beautiful, crisp Sunday morning. Ran around block with dog, then dropped off dog and did out-and-back along the paved Logan River Trail. Easy pace, no watch, enjoyable run. In the afternoon, I did some backcountry skiing up at Tony Grove with some friends from church. It was my first time out this year, but my runs were solid as I shook the rust off, and no crashes to speak of; a promising start to the ski season. I could feel my groin at little on some of the turns, but nothing to worry about. I managed to fit my orthotics into my T2 boots, and that worked out well, although it was a little uncomforable. I may invest in another pair of PowerSteps instead that I can just leave in my boots, so that I don't have to always be taking my custom orthotics in and out. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, and there is nothing more beautiful than winter scenery in the Utah mountains. This is a big reason I stay in Utah, it is not for the high-paying job, but for the quality of life and outdoor opportunities. I was surprised by the quality of the coverage (about 30 inches) and powder (good turns). It will only get better. It's hard balancing skiing and running every winter. Skiing is very time-consuming, and a full ski day usually means no running for that day. While it's a powerful form of cross-training, there is no better training for running than running, so I want to make sure I get my runs in too and keep increasing my mileage over the winter. I hope to get out skiing a couple times a week this winter, and not skimp out on running either. It will be a challenge, but I have my running mapped out on paper for the next 4 months, and I aim to hold to it. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| Ran modified Gym-to-Gym Loop. Part of the route is on the TOU course and I used the markings to get a mile split of 6:54 in the middle of the run. Other than that I didn't use my watch. Stopped at gym midway and lifted weights and stretched, before continuing the second half of the run. Did a half mile with the dog at the end. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Day off today. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Ski day. I got up early and drove up to Tony Grove with Ben, Dave, and Jon to do a few backcountry runs. The road to Tony Grove was a lot more rutted and in worse condition than on Sunday, and my Forester barely made it. My tires are worn and I don't have chains, but it managed to get the job done (with a little pushing help from my three passengers). Temperature of 7 degrees when we finally started skinning up, but it quickly warmed up to the point where I was sweating. It was a perfect bluebird day. We did a couple runs, and they generally went well, aside from an unneccesary tumble on my first run. The snow was inverted, in that a dense layer from Monday was on top of a lighter layer from Saturday. The cold last night wicked away the moisture in the top couple inches of snow, so the very top was powdery. The end result was riding very high in the snow, and overall fast skiing condititions. It took me a few turns to adjust to that. What makes skiing so interesting is that every day the snow is a little bit different, so the same run is always different on different days. Made it back down the road afterwards without getting stuck or veering off a cliff. The road has about had for the year (it will close soon), and my tires have about had it too. Back to running tomorrow. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| Ran the Canal Trail Loop and averaged about 7:10/mile pace. Jogged around the block with the dog afterward and was treated to a beautiful sunset. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 9.00 |
| Did 30 minutes on elliptical and lifted at gym, then ran some easy distance from the gym out into Millville and back. Got a split on Mile 22 of the TOU course of 7:18, so probably around that pace for most of the run. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Ran on River Trail to Spring Hollow campground and back with Dave, Ben, Jon, Cody, and Dan. Very easy pace. 33 miles running for the week, 36 scheduled for next week.
******
I have to brag here a little, because I'm proud...my Alma Mater, Calvin College, just won the NCAA D-III National XC title today with a team score of 37 points. That is very low. Second place had 92 points. The Calvin runners came in 2, 5, 12, 16, 17, (31), (51). This means that they had 6 All Americans (Top 35), and is probably one of the lowest team scores in D-III history. Amazing. I'm quite a proud alumnus. This is the 9th straight year the Calvin men have trophied at nationals (one 4th place, four 2nd places, and four championships). At Calvin they taught us to run as a pack, because teammates running together can achieve greater feats than individuals running for their own ends. That pack and running for team goals is what made the Calvin program great when I was there, and looking at these results, that concept is still running strong. I believe that one of the reasons of my own degradation of performance post-collegiately is that I lost my teammates, the people who pushed me, dreamed with me, and gave me a reason to be fast...for them. Running as an individual is tough because all you have is you; no one is there to pick you up, hold you accountable, and push you to new levels.
Anyway, congrats to the Calvin men, and also the women's team, who pulled out a suprise 3rd-place team trophy! Way to keep the dynasty going! |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| Ran an easy 7 miles into Providence this morning.
The Packers are getting crushed by the Pats, and Favre has an injury that may end his career. Rodgers is inept. I stopped watching in disgust.
Today's Sunday Blog topic: TP Massage Ball review.
Runners’ knee in both knees, lower back pain, SI joint pain, plantar fasciitis, and a groin strain had brought my running to a grind (literally) during 2005 and the first half of 2006. After months of not running, and enduring physical therapy, chiropractic, and massage therapy, I was finally back up and running by September of this year. I noticed that deep tissue massage was particularly effective in accelerating healing, but at $65/2-hr session, I could not afford to do it more than once or twice a month. I figured that the TP Massage set would be good investment, since I could use it every day at no cost after the initial purchase. If it holds to even half of the claims of the website and of other peoples' reviews, it would be worth the money by helping keep me injury-free and feeling good during and after runs. Other reviews of this self-massage toolset can be found by Linda Gallo, SNEWS, and active.com. Reviews such as these, plus the product's informative website, convinced me to shell out the $$ to buy it myself and add it to my arsenal of injury-prevention and running maintenance tools.
I have been using the massage tools and techniques faithfully every day now for the last 4 weeks. The tools of the “Total Package” include the Ball, the Footballer and Block, and the Quadballer. The Ball is a little bigger than a tennis ball, and the Footballer and Quadballer are dumbbell-like contraptions that you can roll various body parts on. The Baller Block is just a foam block used to get leverage. I’m sure something else could be used if I ever lost the Block. The tools all have a hard core with a unique, patent-pending material that is neither hard nor soft (kind of like a very viscous gel), so it is more comfortable and effective than using things like a rolling pin (too hard) or a tennis ball (no core, can be pushed in). The website claims that the material will mold to the form of a human thumb after 5-7 seconds of direct pressure. It is kind of a dubious claim, but having experienced it myself, I have to say that it is true; it sure feels like a thumb and it sure gets deep into the muscles!
The best part is that you can use your own body weight to control the location and amount of pressure, and you can massage a knot/trigger point to the duration and intensity of your heart’s content. Usually a few minutes is sufficient. The ball can be used for virtually any location and muscle group. If you only have $20 to spend, the ball can get it all done with a little effort. I tried replicating the feel of the TP Massage Ball with a softball and a tennis ball and couldn’t do it; the TP Ball is unique and does as advertised. I use it every day primarily for my neck, shoulders, and chest. After a minute or two on each muscle group, much of the tension built up during the day has been released. The neck is especially tender and sensitive to the ball, but it’s amazing how much better it feels afterward. The ball is supposedly effective in treating piriformis syndrome (sciatia). It was actually the reason the ball was invented. I have not used it much on my own piriformis muscles, as they have not given me any trouble.
I use the Footballer for my lower calves (soleus) and the outside of my calves and shin area. Rolling the outside of the calves feels especially good after a longer run of pounding the pavement, and helps rejuvenate the achy muscles. The first week of using the Footballer on the calves was painful; it’s amazing how tender the muscles were. But after a week, my muscles were responding well, and instead of hurting while using the product, it just felt like a good massage. I took that as a sign that the product was helping repair muscle damage, and it was actually working. According to their website, the Footballer applied to the calves is the cure for plantar fasciitis, since treating the calves can release tension on the fascia. That falls in line with other things I’ve heard, but my own case of PF was already better before I started using the product, so I can’t give first-hand testimony. I’m a bit skeptical when anyone claims they’ve found a cure-all for PF, since every case is so unique, but I imagine the TP products can help certain cases.
I use the Quadballer to roll out my quads and IT bands, and also my lower back and neck. Laying on top of the Quadballer was very painful for the first two weeks on the quads, but my muscles eventually adjusted and knots were released, and like my calves, it simply feels really good now. I was quite impressed with that. It took about three full weeks for me to lay on the Quadballer and roll out my IT band without pain (the IT band is VERY sensitive), but now I can apply my full body weight on the IT band without discomfort and can get a very good massage out of it. Both the quads and IT bands are very important for maintaining healthy knees, and my right knee, which I have had problems with and had been feeling rather weak before, is actually feeling very strong and durable now. I feel that the Quadballer has helped this, particularly in the IT band. The Quadballer will also get VERY deep into the lower back. I massage out my lower back at least once a day by lying on the Quadballer and rolling back-and-forth and side-to-side. I have had no lower back pain AT ALL in the last month, which is great, because that has been a problem for me over the last year and a half. So I’m very pleased with the Quadballer.
Aside from injury prevention and maintenance, the TP Massage tools have helped my day-to-day running performance some, particularly in my calves. When I massage out my calves before a run, I feel a bit more bouncy. My runs have been feeling very good, and I have not had any little aches and pains that can get in the way of a good run.
All TP products come with a 9-minute instructional DVD, with is only slightly helpful. It is not long enough, nor informative enough. It also comes with a small pamphlet that suffers from the same problem. Between the two, though, and by listening to my muscles, I could figure out most of the best techniques to use the tools. The website is pretty helpful, and contains some good articles diagrams, but you have to filter out all the jargon and marketing ploys. Read through the website and you will see what I mean. A few weeks ago they just released a small book called Ultimate 6 for Runners Guidebook, which is an instructional guide with step-by-step directions a full-color pictures that would be a great resource to maximize the utility of the product. But they are asking $20 for this 17-page book, which sounds like a bit of a rip-off to me. If I could get it for about half that price, I would consider buying it, because I think it would fill in the gaps of my knowledge and help me use the product better. If I end up buying it, I’ll be sure to give a full report on it.
The TP products are rather pricey, due to the materials and development behind them (and I’m sure their mark-up is substantial as well). The Ball alone is $25, the “Starter Set” (ball, block and footballer) is $70, and “Total Package” (ball, block, footballer, and quadballer) is $130. All the products come with the DVD and instructional pamphlet. These prices on their website are high, and you can save a bit of money on them by shopping around the internet and running shoe stores. Don’t pay full price for anything.
Cost and marketing ploys aside, these are great products and really simulate deep tissue massage (I have been to several massage therapists and can compare the difference). Since buying the “Total Package”, I have stopped going to my massage therapist completely, and have saved money and recouped cost that way, and I feel great! I have had my running buddies try it after Saturday runs, and they are all impressed as well. Anyone who has a history of injuries, or just wants to eliminate muscle knots and aches/pains should consider trying the TP Massage products. The Ball alone can get just above everything done, so it’s the cheapest place to start if you are money-strapped or skeptical, but the Footballer and Quadballer cover a lot more surface area and make the massage for certain muscle groups a lot easier than just using the Ball.
Anyone’s experiences or questions regarding TP Massage products are welcome.
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 9.50 |
| Ran to gym, did 30 minutes on elliptical and lifted. Ran on the TOU course on my way home and hit 7:08 and 6:59 on miles 23 and 24, respectively, to give me an idea of my pace. Did a few blocks with the dog afterward. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest day. Going to monthly chiropractor maintenance later this evening. Everything feels good this month as it is, which is a first. ***** Update on my Sunday blog on TP Massage Ball: From now until Dec 31 they are offering 20% off on holiday orders placed on their website. Just enter the discount code: HOLIDAYBALLS when making a purchase on their website. This discount will make their web store cheaper than most 3rd-party vendors. Also, Trigger Point Technologies will be at the Outdoor Retailer Expo in Salt Lake City on Jan 27-30 if you actually want to talk to them and see their product in action. And finally, the friendly folks at the Wasatch Running Center in Sandy, UT are new retailers of Trigger Point products, so stop by there as well to check out the product and get the staff's opinion on it. Sorry to sound like an advertisement, but I just got the TP newsletter. :-) |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Cross-training day. Went to gym and did 40 minutes on elliptical, lifted, and stretched. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.50 |
| Thanksgiving Day, probably my favorite holiday of all, and one of my favorite days to run on. Today was no exception, and I had a great run down the Logan Canyon River Trail to near Guineva Malibu Campground and back. Weather was surprisingly warm at first, but dropped substantially over the duration of the run; but it was nice to wear short sleeves. The run took 1:10:30, and I pushed the pace in a few places, so it was a good overall pace and a nice workout. It's great to get to the 10-mile point in my runs again! **** I've been meditating on Thanksgiving a bit, and here a list of what I'm thankful for: 1) First and foremost, that God loves us unconditionally and gives the gift of grace, and that "...while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8). 2) For my wife, who also loves me despite my faults, and who has given me support and companionship through both good times and hard times. 3) My job, that I enjoy it and that it gives my wife and I provision that we can depend on. 4) Being injury free again!! It is so wonderful being able to run again after such a long layoff. I do not take any of it for granted and am happy for each day that I get to pursue my passion. 5) Daring to dream again. During injury I had lost hope of running competitively at times, and was simply focusing on and trying to live a pain-free existance again. Now I have my sights on racing again, and PR's in the future. I have hope that the lessons I've learned and tools I've found will enable me to run competitively for years. 6) Finally, I'm thankful for other runners, not only my running buddies here in Logan, but also all the other bloggers on this site, for your encouragement, accountability, insights, and inspiration. You all rock! Keep it up everyone, and happy Thanksgiving!! | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Ran from my work to the gym during the lunch hour. I made a diversion to the paved River Trail on the way and did an out-and-back on the Golden Mile. Splits were 6:15 both ways, so 6:52/mile pace. Felt easy, which I was pleased with. Lifted weights for awhile, then ran back. I was planning on doing elliptical too, but I didn't have any shorts, so I will put that off until tomorrow. I weighed in at 136 today, so minimal Thanksgiving weight gain. I have to start watching my right knee. Although there is no pain, it feels a little weak and displaying similar symptons to the beginnings of patellofemoral pain syndrome, which I've had twice before. I just ignored the pain in the past, but would like to address it and snuff it out before it begins this time around, if that's indeed what I'm feeling. I did some extra stretching today, and also some leg extensions and press to work on strengthening the quads more. This came around just today, so it may be a result of the longer trail run (with associated downhill stretches) yesterday, but hopefully it will go away just as fast. I'm overly paranoid about injuries now, so it may be nothing, but in anycase at least I know how to recognize and treat it. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 10.00 |
| Ran modified Gym-to-Gym Loop. Took a diversion to the paved
river trail and clocked the Golden Mile splits at 6:06 and 6:08, which converts to around 6:42-6:44/mile pace. So my easy pace is getting a lot faster, which is a good sign for my training. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical in the gym and then stretched and did some core work. Ran home along the TOU course, slow pace. My knee feels okay, but the quad muscle itself is tender, from TP massage the previous night and this morning. 36 miles total this week, 40 planned for next week, as long as my knee feels good. Otherwise, I will back off. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Nice easy Sunday morning run, modified Canal Trail Loop. Went up to First Dam to turn around, and battled a very cold canyon wind, but it got warmer on the way back. Jogged around the block with the dog afterward. Knee feels fine today. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 10.00 |
| Did 30 minutes on elliptical at gym, then lifted weights and stretched a little. Afterwards, ran 7 miles from the gym to Millville Elementary and back. It was windy, but at least I beat the snow. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Sat indoors all day. I try to plan my allotted days off for the worst weather. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Crosstraining day. Did 40 minutes on elliptical, then lifted weights and stretched. Good day in the weight room. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.50 |
| Ran down paved river trail and then hooked up with the Landfill Loop. I took a few mile splits to check my pace, and they were 6:40, 6:30, 6:38, 6:40. This kind of pace is feeling easier and easier, a good sign that my aerobic base is improving. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.50 |
| Ran from work to 1st Dam, and then came back along the 1st Dam Run 10k course. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Providence Hill Loop with Jon and Cody. Butt-cold out this morning, 7 degrees according to the marquee in Providence. 40 miles for the week, 44 scheduled for next week. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Day off.
Sunday Blog topic: The Salt Lake City Marathon. How long will it be with us?
For those who haven't seen yet, the SLC Marathon has changed its date AGAIN, now back to April 21. This is the 2nd time they've changed their date in their short three years of existence, meaning that they flip-flop about as much as John Kerry. One would assume that this recent date change was in response to the effects of wretchedly hot weather during their event last JUNE, which was a dumb date to begin with. Almost as dumb as having a marathon in Salt Lake at the end of July (cough cough). Summer marathons in SLC are just asking for heatstroke.
So what of it? Why should we care? Well, when big dog Devine moves their race, all the "Mom and Pop" races have to move to get away from it. The Ogden Marathon was originally in early May. Then the SLC Marathon was started as a late April race, and Ogden had to move to late May. Then SLC moved to June, and Ogden had to move to back to early May, Park City moved to August (a good move, IMHO), and the SLC Classic ceased to exist. Now the SLC Marathon has moved BACK to late April, and yes, rumor has it Ogden will be moving to the end of May. The Striders Series, part of the USATF Circuit, has pushed all their races back three weeks to follow suit. So lots of trickle-down effects that will surely cause many people to adjust their race calendars. But really, it just rubs me the wrong way that these established Utah races have to change their schedules at the fancy of Mr. Devine. The ironic thing is that the Ogden Marathon is a better event; it's almost to the point where it could hold its own ground.
To be fair, I have not run the SLC Marathon, or any other Devine event. But I have heard nothing good about them. This I DO know: $80 for a marathon is absurd, $55 for a half marathon is even more absurd, and $30 for a 5-k is borderline insanity. The marathon course is slow, urban, and at altitude: virtually no chance for a PR, and not scenic either; the worst of all worlds. At TOU, Ogden, and especially St George, runners have a very good chance at a PR, but they are gorgeous courses too. Park City is slow, but beautiful. Even Des News (my least favorite race on the planet) is very beautiful for the first half, at least until your quads explode. In addition, I have no desire to watch a "national touring" rock band after a race, especially really bad ones. But that is what part the high entry fee is subsidizing.
Makes you wonder how the SLC Marathon is staying in business when there's so many better races out there in this already-saturated market. Well...maybe they're not! AndyB. posted a very interesting KUTV article on the St. George Marathon Board. Apparently Devine was unable to pay their vendors and top runners until just recently. One or two more years like that, and they will bite the dust. This question is, will anyone be sorry to see it go?
I’d like to hear people’s opinion on this race. What is bad about it? What is GOOD about it? Am I being too harsh or too ignorant? Let’s hear some opinions and experiences….
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 11.00 |
| Ran from work to gym. Diverted to the paved River Trail and took a couple Golden Mile splits of 6:00, which converts to 6:36/mile pace. At the gym I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, lifted, and stretched. Ran back to my office along the TOU course, and clocked splits of 7:10 and 7:09 along the way (Mile 23 and 24). Lifting weights with the legs really slows down the pace immediately after a session. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| Ran a big loop up to North Logan and back home. Easy pace. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Went to gym. 40 minutes on elliptical, lifted, and stretched. Weighed in a 134. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| Ran a modified Landfill Loop from work, extending the run out to Young Ward. I did most of the run at "brisk" pace, which is a little slower than what most people consider "marathon pace". The mile splits that I managed to take were all between 6:00-6:10. I'd like to do these brisk runs once or twice a week during the next couple months of my base-building phase. In the past I have found this kind of training to be very beneficial in building aerobic fitness. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Ran to gym and hit the paved River Trail on the way. Had Golden Mile splits each way at 5:50 (6:25/mile pace). Lifted weights at the gym. I weighed in today at 132 pounds. So that means I've finally hit my goal and returned to my college racing weight. Hurrah! I celebrated by getting my chin-up PR (14). Chin-ups are a lot easier without love handles. Celebrated more when I got home by eating an orange. I am originally from Wisconsin, and love things like beer, bratwurst, and cheese Danishes. It had taken its toll, and I developed the dreaded "skinny-fatguy belly" after college. I was about 145 pounds last winter when I got hurt, and over 140 pounds during the Grand Slam when I got hurt. A couple winters ago I hit 155. I think I read somewhere that every running stride you take, your joints bear 3x your body weight upon impact. Running downhill, it is even more. So for me to lose 10+ pounds is really like losing 30+ pounds, as far as my knees, back, and feet are concerned. It also factors into running economy and VO2Max, which may explain why holding a 6:30/mile pace seems pretty effortless right now, whereas my easy pace the past few years was 7:00+/mile. So I think meeting this weight goal will continue to help with injuries and also performance. 90% of my meals now are vegan or vegetarian, and that has been key for shedding excess weight, plus my energy levels have never been better. The funny thing is that after a while, you really start to like rice, beans, lentils and buckwheat. There are some excellent recipes out there. I still like the occasional bratwurst though, and if I lose any more weight, I will have to start adding more sausage and battered food to my diet! I am happy where I'm at and don't need to lose a pound more. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| Did a longer run in the morning with Cody and Dan. We did a big loop, going down Canyon Rd to the Canal Trail, crossing Hwy 89 (new underpass), and then hopping on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail to Green Canyon, and looping back via USU campus. It was good route, and Cody's new Toy said it was about 11 miles or so. Overall paces around 7:45/mile, slower on the steep parts, and faster on the flat parts. All in all a good run, and enabled a powerful nap later in the afternoon.
45 miles for the week. I will essentially hold this volume for a few weeks now and let my body adjust. Next week I go from 5 days to 6 days running, and 48 total running miles. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.50 |
| Easy run up to the bench via Center Street, then through River Heights and Providence and looping back into Logan. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 11.50 |
| Ran from work to gym, and jumped on the paved River Trail along the way. Golden Mile splits were 5:42 and 5:48 (6:16 and 6:22/mile pace). Did 30 minutes on elliptical, lifted, and stretched. Ran back to office via Providence and River Heights, slower pace. Warm today, short sleeves weather. I've been having fun blogging about general training, races, product reviews, etc. The opinionated stuff. I decided to migrate these non-"training log" entries to a more robust blog on my website that will accomodate pictures, RSS feeds, .html editing, better layouts, etc. I've set up the blog to also have RSS feeds of running news and training articles, which will be updated daily, so I hope for it to be a good news source. New blogs will be posted whenever I feel like it, probably weekly or bi-weekly. I may be recruiting other writers in the near future too. Check it out! http://marathongis.com/blog Of course, I will still continue blogging my daily entries here too, because Sasha has created such a great running log! |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Ran a big loop up to North Logan and back. I took a lot of mile splits (thank you, Utah grid system), and they were all in the 6:45/mile range. Rather miserable day here, damp and light snow.
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 9.00 |
| Put on the ol' reflective vest and ran to the gym early in the morning. Did 30 minutes on the elliptical, lifted, and stretched. Ran home from the gym via the TOU course, and then jogged half a mile with the dog. Easy pace. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Day off.
I have done some work on my new "Marathons and Maps" blog, so check out the updates. Most of the blog entries up to this point are updated off of this blog, but I've done some text edits and added some pictures and hyperlinks where appropriate. I've also linked the blog with Feedburner, so people can "subscribe" using RSS feeds, and receive the blog in their email or favorite news reader. Once I get the backlog from the fastrunning blog on there, I will start writing new entries. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 11.00 |
| Close to 50 degrees at 6AM this morning. It's supposed to get cold again tomorrow. But I'll enjoy it for now!
Did a Landfill Loop from work, with 3 miles at brisk pace (6:10-6:15/mile). Non-"brisk" miles were in the 6:45-7:00/mile range, so still a good clip. Finished out the run by going to a friend's house and eating pancakes to replenish the calories, then ran back to work.
Evening: went to the gym and did 30 minutes on elliptical, lifted, did core strength, and stretched. Weighed in at 132 lbs. New chin-up PR: 15.
**I have written a new blog post titled Lamentation of the Cotton T-Shirt. | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Ran the Providence Hill Loop with Cody. We averaged right around 7:00/mile pace for the entire run, with 6:35-6:45 pace on the faster parts, balanced out by some 7:30s on the big hills. I felt very good overall.
48 miles running for this week, the same scheduled for next week. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Easy pace. Loop through paved River Trail and then up to 1000N and back home on 100W.
***
I've added a new entry to my "Marathon and Maps" blog, "TP Massage Ultimate 6 for Runners Review". | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Loop through Providence into Millville and back home. Easy pace. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 9.00 |
| Ran from work to the gym during noon hour. Diverted to the paved River Trail and collected Golden Mile splits of 6:06 each way (6:45/mile pace). Did 30 minutes on the elliptical, lifted, and stretched. Ran back to work.
***
I've posted a new blog entry on my website entitled: "Eat healthy to optimize your running!" |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Took today off for rest. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 11.00 |
| AM - Went to gym, did 30 minutes on elliptical, lifted, and stretched.
PM - Ran from work during the noon hour. I decided to run the First Dam Run 10k course for my weekly brisk run. The course markings are still fairly fresh, and I want to be able to commit this course to memory before they fade. I ran the first mile in 5:56 and then a couple 6:01's to go through the 3-mile mark in 17:58. This is on the fast side of the "brisk" pace, but it felt good. After that I couldn't find any more mile markers, but the second half of the course is a net downhill, plus it felt like I increased my pace a little bit. But it must have been more than a little bit, because I crossed the finish line at 35:55, meaning my last 3.24 miles were in 17:57 (5:32/mile). So I failed in running a brisk pace, but did manage a very solid threshold workout and learned a good deal of where I'm at. I think I could probably run a little under 34:00 in an all-out 10k right now. Still have a ways to go, but significant progress over the last month.
***
I added another blog entry to my webpage about Battling Winter Blues | |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Snowy, but warmer today. The snow was shallow and grippy, though, so good footing. I ran from work through the paved River Trail and then a modified Landfill Loop. Distance was 8 miles and time was 53:20 (6:40/mile). |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 10.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 13.50 |
| Got up to go to gym this morning, but car had flat tire, so ran to gym instead. Got in 10.5 miles running and 30 minutes on the elliptical plus some lifting. 48 miles running this week, 50 miles planned for next week. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.25 |
| Ran North Logan Loop. 8.25 miles in 54:15 (6:34/mile). Felt very good. It's a beautiful Christmas Eve Day here in Logan, a little warmer and even some rays of sun. Most of the snow is melted off roads and sidewalks, so good footing.
***
I've posted a new entry on my website blog, "To Marathon or not to Marathon" |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 9.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.10 |
| Ran out on Mendon Road to 3600W and back. 62:00 (6:49/mile). An enjoyable Christmas run! |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 11.00 |
| AM - Ran from work up to bench and then into Providence and back into Logan. Accidently reset my watch midway. Easy pace. PM - Went to gym after dinner. Did 30 minutes on elliptical, lifted, and stretched. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest day.
***
I've posted a new entry to my home blog, entitled "Dreaming". |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 10.00 |
| It rained all yesterday and then froze overnight, so roads and sidewalks are very icy today. I ran to the gym, where I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, lifted a little, and stretched. Ran home via Providence and River Heights. It is supposed to get very cold again tomorrow. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Ran Landfill Loop via paved River Trail from work, brisk pace. 8 miles in 50:25 (6:18/mile). I took a few mile splits during the middle of the run, and they ranged from 6:05-6:15.
***
I added a blog entry about the Ogden Striders Series/NUTS Series |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 13.00 |
| Drove to gym, did 30 minutes on elliptical, lifted, and stretched. Then ran a big loop from the gym into Millville, up to the bench and on in to Providence. Time for 10 miles of 1:09 (6:54/mile). 50 miles for week; 53 miles planned for next week. Time to start bumping up the long runs. I also plan to add strides a couple times a week too. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Ran from home down Canyon Road to just past First Dam (up 89) and back. Did 6x100m strides on way back. Pace for run was about 7:00/mile or slighly under. **** End of year! This year's total mileage: 1686. Next I hope to not miss 5 months with injury, and to top 3000 miles. |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Crosstraining miles | Total Miles | | 1387.25 | 26.00 | 73.30 | 6.75 | 193.00 | 1686.30 |
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