Every Race is an Adventure!

10.75 miles - mostly slow with a few fast miles

Kevin, Wayne, and I ran up to Rock Pile then looped east on the Middle Earth trail which comes back along the fire road to the top of the water tank hills. We were just out to enjoy a trail hike/run together. We walked a lot of the uphill and ran the downhills easy. I think we all very much enjoyed the run, especially doing it together. With injuries, we've had fewer group runs than previous years.

Near the end, as we were coming back on the mostly level fire road, I decided to push the pace for a couple of miles. Wayne sent us ahead and Kevin came with me. The first mile was only at about 8:45 pace. After emptying my bladder, and my water bottle, and tying my long sleeve shirt around my waist, I felt much more comfortable and we ran the second mile in 8:07. My legs were aching from all the uphill and downhill earlier, but I decided to push for a third mile. Kevin had been hanging with me regardless of my pace. He stopped a couple of times briefly during the 3rd mile but caught me again both times. Finally I broke him (not my intention) and he let me go. I ran the last mile in 8:05.

It feels so good to be able to run hard again and push through exhaustion. I'm not quite sure why I enjoy that so much, it's kind of uncomfortable. I especially enjoyed being out with Kevin and Wayne. I missed Larry and Jo, who normally would have been with us. The weather was a little windy and, surprisingly for November, a little warm at times. It felt good to run in the mountains with my buddies. It felt good to stop. It was a great morning.

6.3 miles @ 10:00/mi.  Easy day easy.

6 miles @ 9:04/mi.  Murdock/Lindon loop.

The "feels like" temp was 18, and it was pretty dark even with the DST change. The extra clothing slowed me down but kept me warm. I enjoyed the uptempo running in the cold and dark. I averaged 8:48/mi for the middle 4 marathon pace miles. Not spectacular, but acceptable under the conditions.

6.1 miles @ 9:44/mi.  Orem library loop. Easy day easy.

1.6 miles @ 9:56/mi  2000 N uphill
8.5 miles @ 10:48/mi  Dry Canyon trailhead, foothills, Timpanogos park, Murdock trail, steep hill back to Dry Canyon road
2.0 miles @ 8:29/mi  2000 N downhill

Kevin and I didn't really know where we were headed when we started, but we were both okay with that. There seemed to be a lot of uphill today, but I enjoyed the whole run. The single track trail running portion was most enjoyable. It was a little chilly at times, but I was dressed well for it. I know we need the moisture from the snow, but I've enjoyed the sunny, chilly, autumn days.

Near the end of our run Kevin was telling me some interesting things about Steve Young he'd read recently. He mentioned that as a freshman Steve Young was 8th on the QB depth chart behind, among others, Royce Bybee, a neighbor and fellow runner. As Kevin and I started the climb back up to Dry Canyon, we saw Jo Marshall driving down. Kevin's knee was bothering him so she drove him back up to his car. I decided to run down 2000 N back home. At the Murdock trail I happened to cross paths with Martin Wright and Royce Bybee and got to hear Royce's view of those days. Very interesting and enjoyable. So many blessings from running.

6.1 miles @ 10:11/mi  Ye old Lindon loop through Lindon Park solo.

The angels had their leaf blowers out this morning. There was a strong wind from the NW. It was nice at 3 miles out when I hit the NW corner of my route and then had the wind to my back. At one point some leaves ran right along with me for a bit. There was a bright moon out. It was enjoyable.

I think my legs were still a little tired from all those uphills on Saturday.

6 miles @ 9:25/mi.  Murdock trail north with Kevin.

I was sure glad Kevin was out this morning. My legs felt dead as I started out into the cold and dark. I briefly considered turning back and not running, and seriously considered cutting the run in half. Fortunately, I didn't and endured far enough to meet up with Kevin. From then on I enjoyed the run.

6 miles @ 9:16/mi.  Murdock trail north with Kevin.

I've been feeling slow in the cold. After dropping off Kevin I decided to push the last 0.6 miles home, a mix of moderate downhill and flat. I averaged 7:10/.mi. I'll take it.

6 miles @ 8:56/mi.  Murdock trail north with Kevin.

The little bit of speed I did at the end of yesterday's run felt so good I decided to go a little more uptempo today. I didn't warn Kevin, but he hung right with me. Conversation was down a bit, but it was a great run.

The first and last miles were at an easier pace, but we ran marathon pace-ish for the middle 4 flat miles. Splits: 9:44 (up), 9:03, 8:44, 8:34, 8:35, 8:56 (down).

10 miles @ 8:37/mi.  Murdock canal north solo @ 3:30pm.

My running buddies were not available in the morning, and I wanted to get an early start to help Karen with some holiday preparations...and it was cold...so I postponed my AM run. About 3:00pm Karen and the girls went shopping so I decided to head out for a 10 mile run before the BYU football game at 5pm.

I decided to try to push the pace a little. After the first warmup (uphill) mile I held marathon pace effort for miles 2-5. This was mostly into a strong, cold headwind from the north. The key thing I wanted to do was to push miles 6-9 at threshold pace on the way back, before cooling down the last mile.

My splits were:
Warmup: 9:13 (uphill)
Marathon pace: 8:50, 8:55, 9:04, 9:26 (very slight downhill, headwind)
Threshold: 7:49, 7:58, 7:58, 7:49 (very slight uphill, tailwind)
Cooldown: 9:03 (downhill)

The cold headwind made the marathon pace miles a little more challenging. I was nervous about how much faster, if at all, I would be able to push miles 5-9. Turning around at mile 5 out of the headwind to a tailwind helped much more than I had anticipated. I feel good abaout hold sub-8:00 pace for 4 miles.

Part of the run today was to prepare mentally...and physically...for the 4 mile Earn Your Turkey run I signed up for on Thanksgiving morning. It looks like I should be able to run sub-8:00 pace if I work hard. I'm sort of hoping race day magic might get me closer to 7:30 pace and running the 4 miles in sub-30 minutes. Make it or not, I'm looking forward to the opportunity.

6.1 miles @ 9:34/mi.  Murdock canal north variant solo.

It was cold, only about 14 degrees. I only saw a few others out this morning.

I felt like running a couple of fartleks this morning. I pushed one flat section for 0.25 miles @ 7:16/mi about 3.5 miles into the run and then at about mile 5 pushed the 0.5 mile downhill from 400 E to Main on 1600 N at 6:41/mi.

I'm not used to seeing sub-7:00 on my watch, especially when it's so cold. The encouraging part is that I didn't really feel like I was pushing that hard. I love the feeling of running fast and smooth. I need to be careful that I don't get carried away and overdo it. I'm trying to add a little more speed right now because of the 4 mile "Earn Your Turkey" run I signed up for on Thanksgiving morning. I'm a little surprised at how much I'm looking forward to it.

6 miles @ 9:22/mi.  Murdock canal north solo.

It was cold again, about 16°. Ran first 3 miles easy. I picked up to 8:09 for mile 4 but then my left calf kindly asked me to back off, reminding me we had pushed some speed on Saturday and Monday. So I did. The last half mile down from the trail I eased into 8:03/mi which felt very comfortable.

6 miles @ 9:21/mi.  Murdock trail north with Kevin and Dash in the cold and dark.

6 miles @ 8:55/mi.  Murdock trail north solo.

I threw in some 1/2 mile intervals this morning at the beginning of miles 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Split pace/mi: 7:39, 7:09, 7:20, 7:12
The last 1/2 downhill-ish mile was at 7:54/mi at moderate effort.

At the 3 mile turn around I stopped at the gate and tried some of the exercises from the "Th Ideal Pre-Race Warm-Up". I know the timing wasn't ideal, but I didn't think about it until I was well into my run. I've seen some elite runners doing this sort of exercises. I may try to work them into my routine. Here's the link:
http://www.active.com/running/Articles/The-Ideal-Pre-Race-Warm-Up.htm

9.7 miles @ 9:09/mi.  Timp park to Vivian with Kevin and Wayne.

I took it easy going up. On the way down I tried to push the pace for 4 miles. The headwind coming in ahead of the cold front was quite strong and cold. My effort, which I felt was pretty strong and consistent, didn't result in very fast splits. I was envisioning sub-8:00 at least, maybe closer to 7:30, but they were: 8:37, 8:12, 8:24, 8:23. I still feel good about the effort. The mental and physical strength I gained from the pushing against the resistance will pay benefits in a future race, especially with a downhill tailwind.

6 miles @ 9:48/mi.  Murdock canal north. Easy day easy.

3.1 miles @ 8:31/mi.

I slept in a bit, did some church work, then just looped around the neighborhood and medium+ effort for a few miles to loosen up the legs for tomorrow's 4 mile "Earn Your Turkey" race. The race is at 8:00am. I ran today at 7:30am (instead of normal 5;30am) to get the feel for the temperature and how to dress tomorrow. It looks like the weather should be pretty good, about like this morning...sunny, low 30's.

Other than our annual neighborhood 5K and some relay legs, it's been several years since I've run an organized race shorter than a half marathon. It's also been that long at least since I've been in as good of running shape as I am. I've been adding some speed since the St. George marathon back in October. I'm pretty excited to see what I can do tomorrow. I'm hoping to break 8:00 pace, and maybe be closer to 7:30. I can't predict race day magic.

4 miles @ 7:15/mi  Earn Your Turkey Run - Orem, Utah
1 mile warm up and cool down

I was looking forward to just trying to run fast, and I wasn't disappointed. I was definitely hoping to break 32 minutes (8:00/mi), and hopefully 30 minutes (7:30/mi). My chip time was 28:49.5 (7:12/mi). My watch only showed 3.97 miles in 28:51.22 (7:16/mi). I'll just call it 7:15/mi.

Mile splits: 7:01, 7:16, 7:40, 7:05

The course basically loops the block twice, 1/2 mile per side. The sides heading north and east were slight uphill, south and west slight downhill. The 7:40 mile was two uphill sides. The others were a mix. I felt like I held a strong, consistent pace.

The only slight disappointment I had was when Rod Riggs passed me on the last stretch though the park to the finish line. When he passed me I recognized him. I know him from work and figured he was probably in my age division. I had already been pushing the last mile and was pushing for the finish. I didn't have enough left to hold him off or overtake him. I talked to him right after the race. Yep, we're the same age, both 54. He ended up taking 3rd in our age division by 15 seconds. Honestly, I'm okay with it. Averaging 7:15/mi was faster than my best hope for today. I've recovered quickly and feel ready to run again. I think I need to continue to work on speed...and on my mental toughness during the final kick.

I got tired of waiting around for awards and the drawing. I decided I'd rather be with my family so I left my number with my coworker Justin. I hope he won a turkey or pie or something.

The weather was sunny and upper 30's or 40. It was a beautiful morning and a great way to start Thanksgiving Day.

Cross training. Long morning of basketball with my son and the old bball gang in PG. I didn't know if I would remember how, but it was lots of fun.

13.1 miles @ 8:37/mi.  Murdock trail north solo.

I was only going to go 12 miles, with a long tempo run mixed in. My legs were a little tired from the speed on Thursday and all the basketball yesterday, but I felt pretty good. At about 6 miles I was at 8:41/mi average, my marathon pace at the St. George marathon in October. I decided to see if I could hold that for half marathon distance today.

As it follows the old canal, I knew this route is slight downhill out and slight uphill back so I was prepared to work. As I turned around at 6.55 miles I realized I had been running with a tail wind, so there would be headwind to go with the uphill. The headwind had slowed me to around 9:00 pace just after I turned around. It was decision time. I decided to push my effort for now and hope for the best.

It was mentally tough at times but I held on. I was at 8:40/mi avg until the last downhill half mile and dropped the average to 8:37.

Splits: 9:53, 8:23, 8:25, 8:51, 8:31, 8:12, 8:37, 8:51, 8:40, 8:32, 8:33, 8:34, 8:11

The weather was mild and beautiful. Lots of nice people on the trails.Great way to start the day. Only having running buddies out today would have made it better.