Every Race is an Adventure!

At noon I ran Eagles View with Tom at an easy pace. The weather was cool and pleasant and the run was very enjoyable. I suspect Saturday's run will be a little less comfortable.

I ran some easy miles through Lindon with Larry and Wayne this morning.

I'm a little bummed about my bum knee. I tweaked it during Saturday's run, but the pain quickly subsided after a few steps so I didn't worry too much. But then I felt a couple of twinges during yesterday's run, and again this morning. I still don't worry too much because this is my bad knee that's bothered me off and on for the past 33 years. (I was clipped playing youth football at age 14 and had major knee surgery. One of the effects is that my left leg is a little over an inch shorter than my right leg, I wear a lift in my left shoe, and my knee can predict an approaching low pressure system.) My knee often aches when the weather changes and occassionally when I'm running, but it's never been serious or lasted very long. I hope this is the same thing, but it's marathon week so every little worry is magnifiied.

I was planning to run a little more this week, but now I've decided that the next running I do will be mile one of the marathon (or maybe a little warmup beforehand). The good news is that my knee feels quite strong except the few times I've stepped on it in just the right (wrong?) way that it triggers a temporary twinge of pain. My plan is to wear my knee strap to reduce the stress on the knee, and if it hurts when I step on it a certain way, try not to step on it that way too often.

Our neighborhood's streets have been torn up throughout July, August, and September as they have been replacing storm, sewer, and water pipes. Yesterday we finally got new asphalt. Our street used to be one of the worst in Orem, now it's brand new. I did some laps around the neighborhood on the new asphalt this morning to test my knee, try out a couple of my knee supports, and remind myself that I am ready for the marathon.

My knee is definitely not 100%, but the more I warmed up the less I noticed it. I've decided the knee strap feels the best. It provides just the support I need at the spot I need it. After a mile and a half of warm up and test runs I put in a mile at fast marathon pace. It felt good. I started out at about a 7:20 pace but ended up averaging 7:00/mi overall. I definitely won't try running that pace for the marathon, but it was encouraging that it felt so good.

I'm ready. Next stop St. George. 

My goal today was to run by feel, leave my fear behind, and just go for it. I wanted to discover what was in me, and leave it all on the road. Judging on how difficult the last two miles were, I think I met my goal. The end result was a 20 minute PR.

My finish time was 3:07:02 (7:08/mi). My goal all year up until a couple of weeks ago was 3:20. Then Tom and Nathan and others convinced me to go for 3:15 or faster. Then I went to the FastRunningBlog pasta party and Sasha told me I had a 3:10 in me. I wasn't completely convinced, but he did convince me to not be afraid of going out fast. (It was great finally meeting many of you.)

I was planning to run with Nathan and Will but I was never able to find Nathan before the start. I apparently missed him at our bus meeting spot by a minute or two and never found him by the bonfires. I thought I had missed Will, too, but shortly before the start I heard his voice behind me and we were able to start together. I also started with Verdon's son, Verdon III. He was out to set the Walker family marathon record of 3:11 set by his father.

We stayed together for the first 4 or 5 miles but Verdon dropped off sometime before Veyo. During this time we gradually caught and passed the 3:10 pace group. We were all feeling comfortable so we didn't back off. One of my strategies was to not push the hills, especially Veyo. Just as I got to the top of Veyo I heard the 3:10 pace group right behind me. We more or less ran with the 3:10 pace group through the midpoint of the marathon, although since they were running even splits (I asked the pace guy and he said that's what he was trying to do) they gradually pulled ahead on the uphills. I saw and talked with James W. briefly during this stretch.

Somewhere prior to the halfway point Will dropped back a little. At the midpoint an energetic young woman was cheerfully celebrating reaching that point. I told her I could use some of her energy and asked her what she was taking. She smiled and said just ibuprofen. We were running the same pace so we ran together for a few miles. I found out her name was Amber Green and she was from Diamond Valley which was coming up. I think every person along the road near Diamond Valley knew her and cheered her enthusiastically. I stole a little energy from them, as she clearly didn't need it. As we passed the crowd at Snow Canyon I drew energy from the crowd again and pulled a little ahead of her.

I think it was somewhere around miles 17 or 18 I saw Nathan just ahead of me. It was on a downhill so I pushed a little to catch him. It was nice being able to run with Nathan for a number of miles. We were both maintaining pace, but neither of us had much desire to go any faster. My right calf had started feeling really tight and I wasn't sure it was going to make it to the end. I took an eGel, ate some banana, got some Icy Hot on my calf at an aid station, and prayed (not a figure of speech) that it wouldn't give out. Somewhere along here Amber passed us, said she was glad I found Nathan, and then went on to beat us by 3:00 minutes.

As we approached St. George I started drawing energy from the crowds again and pulled a little ahead of Nathan. I wasn't trying to beat Nathan. I was just trying to stick to my goal of giving all I had and never intentionally reducing effort. The last two miles were a gut check. I just tried to maintain rhythm and form and keep my feet moving. I passed a few people and was passed by a few more. By this point the 3:10 pace group was well behind me so I was confident I was going to break 3:10. My wife and three daughters were about halfway down Main St. just before the last turn before the finish. I put on a good show for them, trying not to look as bad as I felt, and drew energy from their encouragement. Coming up the last stretch I tried to finish strong and even kick a little, but my kicks never lasted long. I was elated to finish in 3:07. I was equally excited to discover that Nathan was only 20 seconds behind me and also finished in 3:07.

I missed pushing the lap button various times until after I was through the aid stations, and missed a couple of mile markers altogether, so some of my splits are a little off. My splits were:

1	7:37
2	7:08
3	7:00
4	6:57
5	7:20
6	6:25
7-8	15:48 (7:54/mi)
9	6:39
10	7:50
11	7:50
12	6:56
13	7:29
13.1	0:35	1:35:33
14-15	12:30 (6:33/mi)
16	6:33
17-18	14:00 (7:00/mi)
19-20	14:38 (7:19/mi)
21-22	13:33 (6:47/mi)
23	7:26
24-25	13:42 (6:51/mi)
26.2	9:11 (7:39/mi)	3:07:02

Like I said, I didn't do a very good job of recording my splits. I am, however, very satisfied (ecstatic!) about the results of my efforts. The weather was awesome. I changed running partners a few times along the way, and benefited greatly from each of them. I appreciated and drew energy from the volunteers and spectators. I'd especially like to thank and give credit to my awesome running buddies from the neighborhood, at work, and from my Wasatch Back Relay team, and my virtual running buddies on the blog, especially Sasha. You are all an inspiration to me. As I told various people this past week, actually running the marathon is just the icing on the cake. The true benefits are reaped throughout the year from being outdoors, staying fit, occasional solitary runs to ponder life or talk with God, and socializing with some of the best people I know. I am truly blessed.

I did some cross-training on a stationary bike in the fitness center at noon. Part way into it I noticed Nathan on a treadmill behind me. I figured my legs were loosened up enough I could give a slow jog a try. I only made it about 0.2 miles before my left knee told me it wasn't a good idea. I went back to the bike and watched a little more "Romancing the Stone". It wasn't long before Nathan gave up the treadmill and also moved to a bike.

I'm pretty excited about running 3:07 Saturday, but I think Nathan is even more excited. We both have our eye on sub-3:00 now. That's pretty aggressive considering we're doing well to just walk without looking stupid.

Nathan, Tom, and I ran the Lake View course at noon. The weather was beautiful. We only planned on about a 5K, but our sore legs (Nathan and me) weren't getting any worse so we went the whole 5.2 miles. We started out very slowly but unconsciously gradually picked up the pace. We ended up averaging 8:42/mi overall. This is quite a bit slower than we normally run it, but it felt great just to be able to run again.

The only significant pain remaining is in my right calf, the same one that troubled me during the marathon on Saturday. I've been massaging it (and the rest of my sore leg muscles) with my stick, and they are improving quickly.

I did some creative cross training this morning. I was planning to run with Larry and Wayne but Larry called last night and said that Kent (our friend, neighbor, and former running buddy...got to get him running again) had asked for his help at 6:30am with a large concrete pour for a new RV pad to the side of his house. He didn't want the cement mixer breaking the sprinkler pipes in his lawn, so all the concrete was to be hauled by wheelbarrow. So, instead of my planned morning run I grabbed my shovels and wheelbarrow and headed over to wheelbarrow party. My legs (and shoulders and back and hands) help up pretty well. We had 8 or 9 wheel barrows going and unloaded both cement mixers (with a break in between) in pretty good time.

I was so tempted to go for a run at lunch (now), but I got into work a little late and decided I'd better skip the run today. In the long run (pun intended) it will probably be better for my sore knee and calf to not try too much too soon anyway.

I ran the Lake View course solo at noon. My calves are still a little sore, but other than that I'm feeling great. Even jogging down the stairs on the way to the fitness center I didn't feel any soreness at all in my quads. I think I'll wait until my calves feel the same before I run anything faster than an easy pace. I averaged 8:47/mi for the 5.2 miles today. Running at an easy pace doesn't seem to make them any worse.

I ran Provo Canyon up to Bridal Veil this morning with Larry and Wayne. The temperature was in the 50's with a light to steady rain the whole way. I got pretty wet and a little cold but never really too cold, except for my hands maybe. I just got back and I'm having a little trouble working the keyboard.

We ran 7.7 miles in 1:07:35 (8:46/mi). That's an easy pace, but it didn't feel all that easy near the end. But then again Larry pushed the pace near the end and we averaged 7:13/mi for that stretch. The legs still aren't 100% recovered from the marathon, but they're feeling a lot better. It seems that soreness in the right calf might linger a while longer.

I ran the Lake View run at noon. Tom ran hard this morning and was still recovering from his fast 5K on Saturday so he didn't join me. Nathan had told me he would be out of town the next two weeks but I saw him finishing up a treadmill workout when I got to the fitness center. He said he worked out early and was heading to the airport soon to fly out. I also saw Bill Rieske on the the ellipticals and talked with him for a bit. As I was dressing in the locker room I heard Will ask if I was headed out. I said "no", but he knew I was kidding. I told him he always makes me run too fast and my legs weren't up to it today. He said his foot was hurting and we was only going a few miles easy, so I agreed to run with him.

It was fun talking about St. George. Will and I had run together from the start to somewhere between miles 10 and 12. Once he realized he wasn't going to hit a BQ at 3:15 (I admire him for going for it) he backed off a little but still set a new PR at 3:24.

Will turned back at 1.5 miles today to get his 3 miles and I went on to complete the 5.2 miles in 44:37 (8:35/mi). My legs didn't complain about this pace, but communicated to me clearly that I shouldn't try to go any faster. Someone told me it takes 26 days to fully recover from a marathon (1 day per mile). I'm not sure I believe that (I think it takes Sasha about 26 hours), but I plan to continue to listen to my body for a while and try not to push too much too soon.

Still taking it easy until the legs are fully recovered from St. George. Larry, Wayne, and I wandered through the hills of Lindon this morning at a very easy pace. Wayne's shin is still bothering him so we cut it a little short. I added another 1/2 mile after we finished talking, but still only got 4.2 miles. I'm not too concerned about the mileage until I'm recovered. I think Sasha refers to what I'm doing as active recovery, doing light, easy effort instead of just sitting around while sore muscles heal.

Some guys at work have been inviting me to play basketball with them at lunch. Now that they are using light and dark shirts instead of shirts and skins, I might give it a try today.

... 

Well, I didn't play basketball today (because they didn't play), but I did survive some pretty heavy company layoffs. I guess my endurance extends beyond just running. It was still difficult watching good friends and coworkers leave.

I was planning to run at work at noon today, but I ended up not getting into the office today. After the kids were off to school I started the day by taking my wife's car to have the brakes checked. They were making some hideous noises last night. I ended up leaving the car there for $300 worth of brake repairs. If I would have been dressed to run I could have run home (but then I would have been all sweaty). As it was, I couldn't immediately reach any of the three drivers at home so I started walking home. I enjoyed the walk, but I didn't have time to walk all the way home.

I finally reached my wife who picked me up so I could take our son to the doctor to have his back checked out. The doctor suggested he try rest, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, and back exercises for a week. By the time we picked up prescriptions and turned in his work release form at his employer it was past noon. Being a car short, and with rain threatening (so I couldn't ride my motorcycle), I decided to work from home for the afternoon and catch up on some online training I've been trying to get done.

Around 5:00pm I was finally able to get out for a run. I ran 5 easy miles (8:24/mi) around the greater neighborhood in a couple of loops. It was pretty chilly and my legs were reluctant to warm up, but overall they didn't feel too bad.

I ran Lake View solo at noon today. It was a little chilly, but much sunnier and warmer than it was at 5:45am this morning. I took it easy going out. I didn't push real hard coming back either, but I did shift gears a little on the return trip to see how it felt. I went the 2.6 miles out in 23:14 (8:56/mi), and back in 20:49 (8:00/mi). The legs still felt a little sluggish, but I wasn't sure if that was because they are still recovering from the marathon or because they were just cold. Either way, they feel better...not quite perky yet...but better.

I ran Lake View solo again at noon. It was cool (maybe warmish), clear, and beautiful. I felt a little more zippy today so I pushed the pace a little right from the start. I was thinking maybe I'd try to average 8:00/mi. I didn't have my Garmin, and I was too lazy to do the math to calculate the target time for 5.2 miles at 8:00/mi, so I just decided to shoot for around 40:00 minutes, roughly 20:00 out and a negative split back. This would be a little faster than 8:00/mi, but what the heck.

I finished in 39:38 (7:37/mi), out in 20:18 (7:49/mi) and back in 19:20 (7:26/mi). I was pushing, especially on the way back, but I wasn't really working too hard and the legs felt great. I think I'm ready to start bumping the mileage back up next week and start getting back into a training rhythm.

Now I just have to figure out a training program. I had a great year this year, so I don't want to change too much, but I do want to raise the bar. I'd like to start by gradually pushing my average weekly mileage to around 60 miles (from 45-50). Paul Petersen suggested Cody do one tinman tempo and one aerobic fartlek every week, plus 6-8 strides 3x per week. This sounds good to me, once I get used to the increased mileage.

This year I've been running roughly 6 miles each weekday morning, solo M, W, F and with Larry and Wayne on T, Th. These were usually easy runs, with the solo runs sometimes including some tempo miles. I would run doubles on M, W by also running 5 miles at noon with the work guys (Tom, Nathan, others). These usually started out easy but often ended up as tempo runs. Saturday morning was typically a long run with Larry and Wayne, which sometimes also served as a team run for the "2 Slow 2 Win 2 Dumb 2 Quit" Wasatch Back Relay team.

If I continue this schedule, I can add the increased mileage by also running doubles on T, Th, F when work allows, or run longer on my morning runs by leaving a little earlier (which I did occasionally this year). I think that would be enough of a challenge for the winter months. Once spring arrives I can reevaluate. I also need to get with Tom and Nathan (all three of us want to go sub-3:00 next year) and plan our fast runs a little better.

Larry and I went out for 7 at 7 this morning. Larry's aussie shepherd Taz that normally runs with us got out last night so one of the goals of the run was to keep an eye out for him...no luck. We also ran by to take a look at a sprinkler job Larry's crew was doing at a church in Lindon. (Now he gets to deduct the cost of his running shoes as a business expense.) By the way, if anyone needs any sprinkler work done, I highly recommend Larry and his crew (Custom Sprinkler, Orem, UT).

I think we picked a good time to run. We both overdressed slightly because we didn't believe the temperature was really in the 60's. That's probably going to be the high for today. By the time we finished the wind had started to pick up and the temperatures had started to fall.

I probably could have handled a little longer run today, but I'm not too stressed about mileage right now. It's only been two weeks since I hammered my legs at St. George, and there's plenty of time to abuse my old body between now and the Painter's 1/2 in January.
 

I have a dentist appointment at noon so I ran a little longer than normal this morning. I did a solo loop through Orem, basically down to Costco and back. The temperature was in the high 20's. I averaged 9:00/mi for the 8.5 miles. I must be cold blooded because I sure seem to have a hard time getting going when it's cold.

Still, the legs felt pretty good. I'm feeling a little PF and mild neuroma in my left foot, but neither of them really interfere with my running. I'll have to keep an eye on them.

I hope my body hasn't started to fall apart. I'm going to the dentist today because a tooth broke off while eating popcorn last week. I must have already had a root canal on that tooth, because it hasn't hurt at all. Both my parents wear dentures. I come from a long line of bad teeth.

I'm also going to an orthopedic specialist this morning to have him look at my right shoulder. My adult son had his right shoulder scoped earlier in the year and they said he had a congenital defect in his shoulder bone. They ground off a small hook on the bone. I've had chronic shoulder pain in my right shoulder for years, but it has recently gotten worse. My dad has also talked about having chronic shoulder pain. I'm curious if I have something similar to what my son had, but mostly I just want my shoulder to stop hurting.

I ran six easy miles with Larry through Lindon. It was cold, but mostly it was dark. It took a lot of faith at times to keep running into the darkness. We only averaged about 9:30/mi. I think the pace might have been considerably quicker if we could have stepped forward with more confidence. I'll either have to start wearing my headlamp on dark mornings, or convince Larry to run on the better lit streets of Orem. I think one of the issues is that Larry's dog runs with us, and the streets of Lindon are a little safer (less traffic).

I did a solo run through Orem this morning. The temperature was in the high 30's. Instead of feeling cold this morning, I felt a little invigorated. I only averaged a 9:00/mi pace on Monday and 9:30/mi on Tuesday, both easy days. This morning I pushed a little and averaged 7:50/mi, 6.5 miles in 50:59. My mile splits were 8:23, 7:47, 7:45, 7:47, 7:36, 7:51, 3:47 for 0.5 (7:34/mi).

I did a little reading on Tinman tempo runs (http://www.therunzone.com/BasicTerms.html) and the formulas are (using a 20 minute 5K, 6:15/mi, as my 5K pace):

long tempo run (60-80 minutes) = 5K pace / .87 = 7:11/mi

medium tempo run (40-60 minutes) = 5K pace / .90 = 6:57/mi

short tempo run (20-40 minutes) = 5K pace / .93 = 6:43/mi

So to make things easier for me to remember, I'll say my target long, medium, and short Tinman tempo paces are 7:15, 7:00, and 6:45.

Today's run was roughly 51 minutes, so to be a Tinman tempo run my pace should have been 7:00/mi instead of 7:50/mi. If I take out the first warmup mile, my time drops to 42:36 and my pace drops to 7:45, but that doesn't help all that much. The good news is I've been trying to ease back into my training after the marathon, so I wasn't pushing all that hard this morning. Maybe next week I'll give it a little more effort so I can get a feel for what "Tinman tempo" effort feels like.

At noon, I had a nice surprise and was able to run with Darin Cable, Bill Rieske, and Will Peterson (although Will only went a couple of miles with us). None of us was in any big hurry and it was great talking with them. We ran the 5.2 miles of the Lake View run in 42:40 (8:12/mi).

Larry and I went 5 easy miles this morning. We had to cut it a little short because Larry had to get back early. I hope to be able to get out at noon again today.

I explored a new route solo this morning. My goal is to find a 6 mile route that is close to home, well lit, and doesn't cross any busy streets that might be dangerous for Larry's dog Ozzie. Our normal routes into Lindon are too dark this time of year, but Orem streets all have street lights.

I did pretty well for not having studied any maps in advance. The route I ran basically zig zags west through residential streets to 400 West and back for 4 miles, then zig zags east through residential streets to 210 East and back for another 2 miles.

On the blogs of the elite runners I've noticed comments about doing striders during easy runs, and they sound like a good idea, but I've never really done them before. I tried some (8) today during my easy 6 mile run (8:32/mi). I liked being able to focus on form, efficiency, and foot speed without too much worry about overdoing it and getting injured.

I started the day by running 6.2 easy miles with Larry. We ran up past Cascade golf course and back and averaged 9:34/mi. Larry is hosting a young Japanese visitor for a week and had to get back for some morning activities.

I had planned on doing around 14 miles to make sure I got over 50 miles this week, so after a short walk with Larry and a quick pit stop at my house I headed out again. I decided to head up the Main St. hill to Oak Canyon Jr. High and then get on the canal road and head north until I got to 4 miles and then come back. I was toying with the idea of trying a few marathon pace miles on the way back if my legs felt up to it.

Today I was trying out the new shoes I bought yesterday, Brooks Axiom 2's. They felt great while running with Larry, and as I ran north on the canal road I continued to feel pleased with my selection. So much so that I decided to a little over 5 miles out, and do 4 miles at marathon pace effort on the way back. I had averaged around 9:30/mi with Larry, and just under 9:00/mi for the first 5 miles of my solo run. I decided that 8:00/mi would be a good goal for my tempo run, but I was going to focus on form at a marathon pace effort and let the pace be whatever it turned out to be.

One of the ways I try to maintain marathon pace effort (not too fast and not too slow) is by monitoring my breathing patterns. My breathing pattern is normally 1-2 1-2 at marathon pace effort, inhaling the first 1-2 and exhaling the second 1-2, while maintaining good form and foot turnover. I did this for my 4 tempo miles and my splits were 8:10, 8:02, 7:59, and 8:07. I was a little disappointed with the 8:07 at the end, and I had about a half mile of canal road left before my turnoff, so I picked up the pace and switched to my faster 5K/10K breathing pattern of 1-2-3 1-2-3, exhaling on 1 and inhaling on 2-3. I averaged 7:33/mi for this stretch. I then slowed down to 8:45/mi pace for the last 0.7 miles home, feeling quite satisfied with my 16.45 miles workout this morning. I enjoyed my run with Larry, my solo run on the canal road, my new shoes, and just being out on a brisk, beautiful, and sunny fall morning.

I think I may even enjoy putting up the Christmas lights today. I have to get on my high roof to do it so I want to get it done before winter settles in. I usually do it the first good weather Saturday in November, but it's close enough to November, and with me getting shoulder surgery on Tuesday it may be a while before my shoulder feels up to putting up Christmas lights again.

(Axiom 16.5 miles)

I ran the six mile serpentine route near my home this morning at an easy/moderate marathon pace effort in 47:55 (7:59/mi), with 8x100 striders mixed in miles 3 and 4.My splits were:

8:06

7:46

7:39

8:24

8:13

7:42

Mile 5 has a pretty good hill in it, but I'm not sure what happened to the pace during mile 4, which is flat. I think I just lost focus after pushing the striders pretty hard.

(Axiom 22.5 miles)

At noon I ran Eagles view with Nathan, Darin, David, and Merrill. I'd never met David or Merrill before, but Darin apparently knew them and invited them along. They are pretty decent runners because we had planned to take it easy but I had our finish time for the 5 miles as 39:04 (7:53/mi), and we were all pretty close together. That's pretty good for this big hill run. I feel good whenever we go under 40:00.

Of course, it's not quite Tom's 34:02 (6:55/mi) solo run on this course last Monday. I hope everyone's back next Monday, including Tom. I don't think any of us at work have seen Tom go all out since his recent training breakthroughs. I'm sure Darin could give him a run for his money, and I'd like to see Nathan take a shot at keeping up as well. You may notice my lack of personal trash talking, that's because Tom's blog numbers (miles and paces) really have me quite intimidated.

Larry only had about a half hour this morning so we ran 4 easy miles on the serpentine route. I was going to go a few more miles, but I'm pre-surgery fasting, and can't even drink anything after 7:45am, so I didn't want to overdo it. I decided to grab my golden retriever and run 1/2 mile around the block with her and then walk another 1/2 mile (so she could get her sniffing and pooping in). She's almost 9 years old but still has way too much energy. She drug me most of the first half mile, which we finished in 3:24 (6:48/mi). I averaged 8:37/mi for 4.5 miles.

My shoulder surgery is scheduled for 1:45pm. I hope it goes well and I can recover quickly and get back to running soon.

The shoulder surgery went well yesterday. I felt some nausea and dizziness last night and early this morning, but I've since dropped to one rather than two pain pills and I feel great, except for a little stiffness and minor ache in my shoulder. I'm sure the hydrocodone is doing its work and masking a lot of pain, but I'm surprised at how good I feel. I'm typing right now with no sling and feel no discomfort at

I was pretty out of it when the doctor was talking to me after the surgery, but Karen says he told me not to run for three weeks. Three weeks?!!! Is he nuts? Prior to the surgery he said that the only thing that would restrict me after the surgery would be pain. I could do almost anything without much risk to undoing what he did during the surgery. I'll talk to him again when he calls to check on me. I can't go three weeks without running.