Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

AM - Smithfield Canyon with Carson. 8.5 miles, 7:12/mile average. Raining. Again.

PM -  Forrester Acres with Seth. Dodged the rain for once.

Awesome morning today. The rain finally stopped and it cleared up. It was brisk but sunny out, so I decided to make my run brisk as well. I did the Saddleback-Bear River Ranch route, west of town. Out-and-back, 14 miles total. About 12 miles worth of tempo, although I eased into it during the first two miles. Then cooldown for the last two miles. It was a great workout, and I felt wonderful. Splits were 5:55, 5:53, 5:29, 5:32, 5:31, 5:37, 5:25, 5:31, 5:19, 5:20, 5:29, 5:28, 6:22, 6:52. I averaged 5:32/mile for the 12-mile tempo, and averaged 5:28/mile if you take out the first two "ease in" miles. Hit 13.1 miles at 1:13:25. So all-in-all, a pretty good day. I was really happy to hit sub-5:30s coming back on the uphill portion of the out-and-back route. It's definitely a good sign that training is coming along very well.

AM - easy 5 miles on the canal trail.

PM - ran home from work. 9.5 miles, averaged 6:55/mile.

AM - 9 miles very easy with Carson (about 7:35/mile). We ran around rather haphazardly. Checked out part of the middle canal trail that I had never been on, but we hit a locked gate, so then we went up to the upper canal.

PM - 5 miles with Seth. Mack Park. 7:40/mile average.

AM - Birch Creek Canyon. 5 miles, very slow.

PM - ran home from work. 8.75 miles. Averaged 6:56/mile.

Weighed in yesterday at 125 lbs on the Wii Fit. This is how much I weighed as a freshman in high school. Not sure if this means that I'm the fittest I've ever been, or if grain-free eating doesn't go well with high mileage and thus I'm losing weight. I've introduced yams into my daily diet for additional calories and some extra carbohydrate. Perhaps I should dip them in chocolate as well. Since I feel pretty good, and have plenty of energy, I think I'm just fit and trim, but I'm making a conscious effort to up the calories as well. After all, this is the highest mileage I've hit since fall of 2007.

Did my run around 11AM this morning. Weather was perfect: cool temps, light rain off-and-on, and little wind. I wanted 18 miles at a decent pace for most miles, and also with 2x2-mile LT intervals somewhere in the middle. I did an out-and-back up Smithfield Canyon, since that would give me a long stretch of downhill to hammer the intervals on. I've been training on mostly flat and rolling terrain all winter and spring, and I needed some downhill specific training to get ready for my string of heinous downhill summer races (UVM 1/2, Des News 10K, and TOU 1/2). So the goal for today was to bust my quads and have fun doing it.

And it was a good day to run. I tried to keep the pace honest on the uphill part, and hit a really sweet rhythm that I locked into until I hit the dirt road. Averaged about 6:30/mile on the paved part, and then low-7s on the dirt/mud road. Was averaging 6:43/mile at the turnaround at 9 miles, which I was pleased with, given that there was about 1500' of elevation gain. I turned around at the end of the dirt road & start of the single track. The road was pretty muddy and a little slick in places due to all the rain (and I was getting sprinkled/snowed on a little during the run), so I kept the pace under control, right around 7:00/mile until I got off the dirt and back onto the asphalt.

Then I slowly ramped up to about 6-minute pace on the downhill through Mile 12. After my garmin beeped for Mile 12, I started the first 2-mile interval. I wanted a half marathon race pace effort, which I figured would translate to 5:00/mile or a little under, given the downhill (it's steeper than the TOU course or the UVM course, but less steep than St George). I just let the downhill carry me for the first interval. I had forgotten how easy downhill running is. Hit 4:57 and 4:54 for the splits, 9:51 total on the first interval. Breathing felt conversational, although my legs and feet were getting sick of running. Active recovery for 0.25 miles (1:45), and then did the second interval: 4:54 and then 4:53, 9:47 total. I was definitely working harder on this one, but still in a nice groove and it never felt too hard. Cooled down for the final 1.75 miles, which unfortunately included the 200' climb back to my house. That always feels hard. Finished the 18 miles averaging 6:22/mile overall; very good long run for me, and no fueling issues. I'm really looking forward to UVM 1/2. I am definitely a rhythm runner, and I'm hoping the long downhill and straight sections (no turns) will help me to just lock in and go. The good competition will make it really fun too.