fueled by M&M's

5mi @ AF golds.  Watchin' iRobot in the cardio cinema.  2 of the treadmills on the front row are broken right now.

4 @ the lehi legacy center.  i might swap my gold's gym pass for this place since the legacy center is closer to my house and their treadmills seem newer/nicer.

5 at night at the lehi legacy center

PM - 4@ lehi legacy center

5 at golds in south orem.  

First off, this site is great for mapping out your training routes if you've never seen it before:  http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

Here's the route I ran today:  http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4233261

almost 13mi from my house to the JRP and back. it's really nice that the river trail gets plowed in the wintertime.  the trail wasn't too icy at all.  I also saw one of the sister wives, wives, driving away from her home while jogging.  (my wife thought that was cool, me, not so much) so yay for living in a post hickish-farmland-backcountry-polygamist community...  it keeps the runs interesting at least.

one week until the st. george half 

EDIT:  p.s. i forgot to mention.  there was a dad & daughter walking on the JRP trail with their huntin' dog shooting their guns.  i'm pretty sure that's not legal right?

congratulations to all of the old folks, 11 & 12 year olds, lizards, etc who ran the half faster than me.

on a positive note, the course was really nice and the race was very well organized.

lehi legacy center... yeehaw.  some of the treadmill belts seem to slip a bit as a run, semi annoying.  so i did the 2nd half of my run around the indoor track.

running around lehi this morning freezing to death w/ my neighbor.  i was covered in frost by the time i got home and my glasses had a layer of ice on them.

4 @ the lehi legacy center.  i ran until 11pm when the center shuts down. busy day. bleh

3mi @ a tiny humid hotel gym in Kingston Jamaica. The gym wasn't just for hotel guests so I got to run with the local peeps.  After 3 I couldn't handle the heat and humidity.  I got yelled at by the gym attendant when I didn't drop my towel in the right bin on my way outta the gym.  Good times.  I'm very glad my company doesn't send me on more business trips.

first off, did everyone already see the new Boston Marathon qualifing times and entry process? 

http://www.baa.org/news-and-press/news-listing/2011/february/boston-athletic-association-announces-new-registration-process.aspx

Slow night run at the Lehi Legacy center.  No pain during the run but that night my foot start hurting big time.  & has slowly gotten progressively more swollen and sore through today (friday).  I'm going to go get it x-rayed today.  Not sure what to think, just hoping it's nothing major.

long story short: possible stress fracture on my left foot a few weeks ago.  and then sprained right ankle a few days after that.  so i took a few weeks off for recovery.

this saturday i decided to take a test run.  no aches/pains post run, so this week it's back to real training!  i'm so glad this syncs up with the daylight savings change.  13 weeks until the UVM full and 16 weeks after that SGM.  yikes!   also it's not smart but i'm going to cautiously run & maybe walk the canyonlands half.  i'm just happy i got in, so i'm going to run slow n' easy and take in the scenery.

5.5 @ the lehi legacy center late tonight. i love that they stay open until 11pm. i think i'll be okay busting out 13mi this weekend if i just take it nice and slow.  no real foot or ankle pain after my last 3 runs.

My goals for this race, due to recent injuries, run dirt slow, take in the scenery, have fun and run pain free.  I walked for 30 seconds at each mile marker just to take time to make sure my foot and/or ankle pain wasn't returning.  Also I decided to run with brand new shoes, which I'm sure everyone on this site will agree is a swell idea.  (new shoes ended up not being a problem at all, but I know I'm lucky)  I felt really good up until mile 12, and then my wimpy winter mileage came back to haunt me.  I ended up walking about half of the last mile.  The swirling head winds off and on thoughout the race didn't help, but I'm not complaining since the race announcer said last years start was 20 degrees colder!  Brrr

Overall, it was a really pretty course.  Hopefully I'll be back next year, running a lot faster. 

12 weeks until the UVM...  Quickly this year my running plans for each race are going from a goal finish time to "just finish".  Which I guess is okay since I am still a complete newb.  I'd like to post a good time for the SGM so we'll see how Spring/Summer training goes.

Last night I went to a Runners Corner running form clinic at the BYU Smith Fieldhouse.  Super helpful information!  All for $5.  I feel lucky to have that store and it's employees around as a running resource for newb (and non-newb) runners.

This was my 2nd race for the SGM runners series.  

Bill and I decided to not stay in St. George for this race.  We drove from Utah County to St. George starting at 2AM!  We hit some pretty rough weather driving south, before Cedar City, but survived.  

The race was fun.  It was pretty chilly and rainy pre & post race but perfect conditions while running. 

5.5 'round lehi.  starting off the week right!

intervals at the Lehi High School track around 6:30pm when the wind started to get pretty wild. 

averaged 8:10 - 8:30 mm pace for each 800.  with the wind i probably ran around 16 minutes per mile pace going North & 4 minutes per mile running South.  i've never an in conditions like this before, pretty funny!

---->   also my family has been begging me to get a dog for 5+ years.  i finally gave in.  we adopted a 5 month old lab/shiba inu from a shelter.  her name is comet.  i've already taken her on 2 2mi runs and she shows no signs of tiring.  i'll take it easy on her until she's at least a year old but it looks like she's going to be a great running buddy.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4437915

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4441769

Is there an option with this blog to start your weekly mileage tracking on Monday instead of Sunday?  If so I need that option...

Here's my running plan for the week that I'll be *trying* to stick to:

morning 2mi (x3) strength intervals at the PHS track.  i saw the cross country/track coach right before i finished. he looked close to how he looked 18 years ago (yikes where does the time go?)

only had time for 4 today.  not exactly following my schedule!  :(

Finally!!  40+ miles in a week.  It's really about time.  I would have loved to follow my schedule and log 50+ miles, but they way my legs are feeling right now makes me think it was better to take Friday off.

Anywho, ran with Bill from our work to the Bridal Viel Falls parking lot and back.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4453576 

Around mile 13 I was getting a little delirious, cut across the corner of a guys yard trying to catch up to Bill & got quite a chew out from the owner for stepping on his grass.  I'll spare everyone the details, but the guy was MAD.  Totally my fault for taking a few steps on the grass but "wow" I didn't expect that. Anger issues people...

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4459435

late night running around the lehi sticks with my little brother.

late night running around lehi.  perfect running weather.

3.5 on the TM

4.5 on the indoor track at the lehi legacy center.  i don't know why i usually use the TM's, running on the track is a lot more fun.   After stretching for 10min I ran home for another 2.5.

Giving myself 1mi since my blog isn't setup for biking miles.  I opt'ed out of running today and went mountain biking after work up South Fork.  For you Utah County MTB folks, it looks like there's still a bit too much snow above the 5th grade camp to bike the entire figure 8 trail.  Wait another 1-2 weeks and the full trail will be clear.  It was really nice to get out and do something other than running for exercise.  I don't think it's the biking but my legs having been feeling pretty hammered for last few days.

1+ hr of  biking around Town.  No running today but at least I pushed pretty hard on the bike.

Had a great day of running, glad I woke up early.  I went out with 2 of my neighbor friends at 6am.  The temps were a bit cold at first but ended up being perfect running weather.  We found a new 10 mile loop that is going to be my favorite loop to run from my home.  I'll have to post the course later today, the route has a few minor uphills which is nice since I'm usually not getting any elevation gain. 

After stopping by the house for a drink I ran another 5mi to get close to my training schedule mileage.  The last 5 made my hips ache, I'm not sure what's up with that. I've never had that sort of minor pain before while running.

running w/ the dog

RL is kicking my butt & short on time so i did a late night 3 mile speed test run.  ran 3 in 8:15 and then 1 mile cooldown.

My first off road running adventure from Cedar Hills to Lehi.  I had a few off road miles following a construction road over a newly buried canal, ran down a dirt hill and ended up on the Tri-Cities Golf course on hole #4, but luckily it was 9pm and the golfers were done for the day so I ran across the course to hole #8, jumped a fence and back onto the roads.  Then some winding through some nice quiet neighborhoods in AF, under I-15 and then wrapped up with a few dark miles on Lehi farmland backroad hitting a few waves of cow and skunk smell.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4504605 

i'm going to call todays run "fast" miles but i was going pretty slow..

6 miles at the track.  I was running around 9min miles and having a really hard time breathing.  i didn't get much of a workout but I couldn't get enough air to run much faster.  my wife had a big time asthma attack last night after we watched our daughters windy softball practice so maybe something is in the air.

i decided to skip getting a Garmin and i purchased a Nike+ Tom Tom gps watch! From what I've read it sounds like the watches were buggy at first (released a month or two ago) but my watch came with the 3rd firmware update and it's working great!  The GPS is really good if I start my run an extra 20 to 30 seconds after it says its "synced".   If I start as soon as the watch says it's ready to go then my first .1mi is a bit off while the GPS catches up to my real location.

 4mi in the rain late last night.  pretty cold but glad i got out. 

edit: the nike+ website isn't the best, but it works.  i found a nice donationware mac gps app that will pull the data from the nike+ running website. (and has an export to .gpx option) http://trailrunnerx.com/

10.4 miles biking up and down Squaw Peak road.  I made it to the dirt road before turning around and wasn't even close to hitting snow.  I'm hoping to bike further along the road this week.  Just for laughs here are my splits...  a 2:06 mile!  :P

4mi at the legacy center.  ran until they closed for the night...

i was supposed to run 2x 3mi "strength" intervals.  the first interval went fine 8:42, 8:47, 8:20 (i keep calling myself "fast" like you told me to Sasha, but it's not working! lol  oh yeah, i have to run consistantly too, shoot....)  I took the dog on the 2nd interval, she's fast but she likes to swerve in front of me so I slowed to around 10 min miles so I wouldn't end up in the E.R.  I'll finish up the 2nd interval tonight.  Took an ice bath post run.

10mi, 9:20 average pace. testing my "marathon pace"   so slow, but i'm getting better at pacing for the upcoming UVM.   I'm going to stick around 9:15 for the first 13 miles and then see if I can pick up the pace a bit after that.  UVM will be my first full so I'm not going to push it. by the SGM i'll speed up a lot.

post run i feel a lot better about my running technique. the runners corner running technique clinic from a while ago was helpful but I went totally overboard critiquing my runs after that.  i finally feel like i'm running sort of relaxed and naturally again, if that makes sense. i'm still trying to incorporate the techniques i learned at the clinic into my running, but i'm going to make the changes much more slowly & carefully. 

gave the nike free runs another try... yep, they are still are horrible running shoes. at least for "bigger" folks. if i somehow loose 50 lbs someday i'll try them again.  until then they will be nice walking shoes.

ran my miles late, on backroads, in the dark, on a cloudy night.  some night i'm going to get attacked by a skunk and not even know it's coming.

MTB'ing in South Fork.

taking a rest day.  i'm feeling pretty hammered after mountain biking.  so i'm moving my long run to tomorrow.

my last long run before the UVM.  10:13 min per mile average.

6mi.  plus a hike up battle creek canyon. 

2x 5k "strength intervals" with a mile warmup, a mile in between 5k's and a mile+ cooldown.   my first mile of the first interval was sub 8min.  this was due to a downhill section, but regardless it felt nice to run fast again.

5k #1 - 8:28 min/mi

5k #2 - 8:42 min/mi 

8+ along the BST from Rock Canyon to South Provo.  I was trying to track down a friend running the altered course for the Squaw Peak 50. Seeing participants at around miles 36-39 and hour 10 of their run was a little freaky.  Most looked like zombies and I didn't see much running or even slow walking.  Not sure if this kind of race would every be my thing? The off road running part was nice for sure, a nice change from pounding the pavement. Who knows...maybe next year. Caught up to my friend at around mile 35 of the course and he was looking less hammered than most.  Ran/Walked with him back to Rock Canyon. 

.5mi warmup/cooldown.  i decided for my 2nd to last pre UVM run to try and keep my average pace sub 9min/mile.  barely pulled it off due to a slow 2nd mile.

2mi x2 intervals @ the PHS track.  Lots of teenagers doing their summer school activities on and around the track, awkward... Last run before my first full marathon, the UVM! Wish me luck, i will need it!!! :-) 

I feel like I trained for this marathon like I prepared for tests in High School, prepping just enough to squeak by...  

approx mile times:

miles 1/2 - 8:00/8:30

miles 3/4 - 8:30/8:00

I had a great time & I learned a lot today.  My SGM time will be much faster, I will make sure of it.

Took the early van/bus to the starting line. The race directors didn't bring enough wood so I sat around and shivered a bit for 2 hrs.  I'm glad the starting line temperature was nice and cool.

My plan was to stick around 9:30 min/mile until mile 17 and then see what I had left. For the most part I followed that.  But ran out of steam.  My dad met me at mile 20 and I downed a Cherry Pepsi, which saved me, I was starting to hit a wall at that point.

My watch lost the gps signal at around 17.5 mi.  I reset at mile 18 but I think I'll only post splits for 1-17.  Anyone who looks at the splits and my final time and does the math will know I had a one way ticket to WussTown by around mile 16.

By the time I crossed the line I was toast!  I laid in the grass in the park for a bit to recover.

Thanks to all my friends and family. 

Positive notes:

- buying nice socks!  (saved my feet)

- trying something new and pushing myself.  even if i didn't get the finishing time i was going for.

- preparing the best ipod playlist of all time.  with lots of hard music.  it helped...

- drinking and eating enough during the race.  

- Using a new version 1 Nike gps watch.  it helped but had issues. 

Negatives:

- Not tapering properly this week.

- Not getting in enough base miles during the last 18 weeks of training.

- Using a new version 1 Nike gps watch

I'm tired!  If i think of something else I'll update later. 

Bike ride over the Alpine Loop before the loop is open to traffic!  Very nice and quiet.

feels good to be running again.  my legs are feeling pretty well recovered.

3x1mi intervals.  

lehi round-up 5k, yeehaw

took it easy on the race and it was nice to chill while running.  splits 8:36/8:39/8:29 

late night intervals

12 early morning miles along the Provo River Trail.  

I've sort of hit a lul in keeping my blog up to date.  But I still love the site, nobody panic... i'm still here.  

pre 5k test. 8:52 ave pace. it's official, i have become a total butterball.  i've really got to start sticking to my SGM marathon plan next week!  yikes

3 hr bike ride up squaw peak road and down rock canyon.  super fun!

Battle Creek Canyon to Dry Canyon Experiment Part 1:

Rattlesnakes - 1

Bumps all over my arms and legs from bumping into strange tall plants - around 5,000

I finally got out to check out the Battle Creek Canyon trail. My original plan was to try and summit Big Baldy but I turned around around a mile from the top due to time constraints...  This looks like it'll be a fun trail to keep running on...  There was one stream crossing that I couldn't get across dry so I just walked through the water, the wet shoes didn't bother me much and dried out pretty quickly.  As you near the top of the Battle Creek trail the weeds get around 6 ft tall and cover most of the trail, so that was a little annoying to deal with.  Around 1mi after the "right" turn to head towards Big Baldy I almost stepped on a rattlesnake.  Instead of screaming like a girl I just let out a big "ahhhhh!" and jumped back about 5 ft.  & then the snake and I went our separate ways.  I saw Faceless Ghost on the way down so that was cool.  I read his blog occasionally and it seems like he's up in the Dry/Battle/Grove Creek area quite often.  I'll have to ask him how often he runs into snakes and how to deal with that...

I'm hoping to make the full Battle/Dry loop in the next 1-2 weeks.  We've got a family vacation @ Bear Lake next weekend so I don't know if I'll have time for the full loop before then. 

- Chris

3 hrs of Mtn Biking 

3miles - Lehi

5mi @ Rock Canyon

6mi around Lehi late @ night.

early morning running at the Provo HS track.  finally getting back into some decent training.

What a great course!  I love running a half next to my all time favorite golf course. My time was nothing to write home about, but I had fun.  I think I'm getting better at setting my pace to match my fitness level (which is pretty low a.t.m.), so I don't completely crash at the end of the race.

Right at mile marker 6 a black wasp flew in my mouth and it took me a bit to spit it out onto the ground.  Somehow I didn't get stung.  Not sure if the people around me knew what was happening, I probably just looked like a weirdo. lol 

7:56, 8:41,8:51, 8:48, 9:01, 9:05, 10:07, 9:56, 9:51, 10:51, ????....

Here's a useful article for Nike+ users: 

link 

late night miles around lehi.  

cooler temperatures are great.  but quickly shrinking daylight hours, not so great.

Meadow Elementary School (Lehi) 5k

8:01, 8:51, 8:53

More running to come in the PM... 

My Brooks Launchs are definitely too hammered for the Marathon. Bummer, I've really liked these shoes... 

2 warmup miles with my dog and then 4.5mi solo @ night.  nice night and the cold waves have started to kill off all the bugs! woot...

11 along the JRP, saratoga springs/lehi area

4 late miles with my dog

i've been running every night for a few miles with my dog and talking long walks on my work breaks.  hopefully all of that will help a bit keeping my legs moving for the marathon, but not overdoing it since it's too late for real progress before the big event.  i'm super excited to see the course & nervous at the same time. 

here's to winter 2011-12 and spring 2012 training that will be much more consistant! 

**changed my nickname from peaks to chris.  this site has become my favorite spot on the web (really i just browse the rss feeds when i'm bored) so i figure that i'll be using the site for quite a while. might as well use my real name...

I'm going to keep this short.  In summary,the SGM kicked my butt this year.  For the first 8 miles I stuck right to my plan, I was running faster than 9 min/miles. I took it easy up Veyo to save my energy for the 2nd half of the race.  At the 13.1 split I was at 2:12 (10:04 average) which wasn't great but I felt like I'd saved everything for the 2nd half.  At mile 15 my calf cramped up big time and didn't let up until around mile 17. By mile 20 my legs just gave up and walking and running were pretty much the same pace. I finished very very slowly. Bleh, no fun. I really smurfed up here, even though I've been planning on this race for a very long time.  Lesson learned, lack of training equals poor results. The organization of the race was great and I really liked the racing atmosphere.  Hopefully I will be much much more prepared for future races. 

~ Peaks/Chris 

7.5 along the jordan river parkway.  my legs are feeling good, only a tiny bit of post race stiffness remained & that cleared up after a few miles.

it's time to start logging some real miles weekly, with some real consistancy.  8mo until the UVM!!!

3mi in the rain with my dog.  i'm happy i made it out of the house even though it was late.

Shooooooot!  I have been planning on racing 2 bigger races next year, the Ogden 1/2 and the UVM.  It looks like I'll have to find a new springtime race.