Every Race is an Adventure!

I did another route remix this morning, combining portions of the Tri-City and Serpentine routes for an 8.1 mile solo run. My average pace was 8:55/mi. It was nice having it get lighter during the run, but of course that will end with daylight savings time starting this weekend.

My base building plan seems to be going well so far. I bumped my mileage up to 45 miles for each of the last two weeks with no ill effects. I'm still feeling minor pain occasionally from my Achilles and PF in my left foot, but they are much better. The combination of icing, wearing neoprene ankle supports for therapeutic heat, and sleeping in my Strassburg sock occasionally seems to be helping. Most of this has been preventative, done at the slightest hint of a flare up.

The plan this week is to run around 45 miles again, including a long run of around 14 miles on Saturday as I prepare for the UV Marathon on April 12. With the Spectrum 10K being a week from Saturday, I'd also like to try at least a moderate tempo run sometime this week, but I'm going to play it by ear. If it feels right one day, maybe I'll push the pace for a few miles. I threw in a couple of striders this morning and it felt good.

I ran the Orem route down to 400 South and back this morning. It was nice having it be nearly 20 degrees warmer this morning than yesterday morning.

Shortly into the run I was feeling pretty good and decided to insert a couple of fast miles. I decided I would push the pace on the mile from 800 North down to Center St. on 400 East, rest the mile down to 400 South and back, and then push again from Center St. back up to 800 North.

I ran the first (downgrade, wind-aided) fast mile in 6:54, the second (upgrade, headwind) fast mile in 7:24, and averaged 8:11/mi overall for the 6.5 mile run.

It felt good to run a sub-7:00 mile again, even if it was wind-aided on a downgrade. I mostly just wanted to try moving my legs that fast again. I was actually running around 6:40/mi the first part of that mile but backed off a little. I ran the Spectrum 10K in 41:42.5 last year (6:44/mi) and won my age division. I would love to match or beat that next week, but with my foot injuries over the winter I have not been putting in any speed work or tempo runs so I'm a little concerned about leg turnover. I averaged 7:07/mi in the Painter's half in January, and there's some great downhill in the first three miles of Spectrum 10K, so maybe I have a chance.

Even though 7:24 isn't very fast for the second "fast" mile, it was on a steady slight upgrade into a pretty stiff headwind. It was great practice focusing on keeping my legs moving and pushing when it wasn't very easy. It seems odd even to me, but I kind of enjoy that struggle.

Even though I was pushing the pace more than I have for quite a while, I was still reluctant to give it full throttle. The last time I did that, two weeks after the St. George marathon last October, it triggered the injuries I've been fighting all winter. I feel good about how my training is going and don't want to jeopardize it by beeing foolish going for too much too soon.

I had a great run with Tom and Will at lunch time today. We ran towards Seven Peaks then looped back down University Ave and around the East Bay area, the same run Tom and I did a couple of weeks ago. It was sunny and in the mid 30's. I really enjoyed it.

We averaged around 8:16/mi for the 8 miles.

I ran an extended Tri-City loop again this morning, 8.1 miles @ 9:25/mi. The pace was easy, but my effort to hold the easy pace was not all that easy. I think yesterday's run with Tom and Will took a little more out of my legs than I thought. I think the temperature being in the low 20's made me a little slower as well. Nevertheless, every run is a great run. (Do I have to pay Tom a royalty every time I say that?)

My goal this week was to run about 45 miles, including a 14 mile long run. I already had 30 miles, and my planned 14 miler tomorrow will put me at 44, so my thought for today was to take it easy and maybe get in a few easy miles.

There's a group of guys (and one girl) that play basketball at lunch time at work. I know some of them and they have invited me to play various times over the last couple of years. I bumped into two of them in a meeting yesterday. It got me thinking, so I brought in my shoes and ankle supports today and played with them at lunch time. It was pretty fun, and I managed to avoid injury.

After basketball, I changed my shoes and ran a loop around the Novell campus area for about 1.6 miles at around an 8:30 pace.

Larry's still in Hawaii, and he usually coordinates our Saturday runs, so I just headed out solo this morning. My new Saucony Pro Grid Trigon 5 Guides arrived yesterday so I started by taking them out for a 1 mile test run. They felt good, but I didn't trust them enough for my first run in them to be a long run, so after a couple of laps around the neighborhood I swapped them for my tried and true Brooks Axiom 2's and headed toward Provo Canyon.

I ended up running from my house up to Bridal Veil Falls and back. Once I got to the canyon trail I saw quite a few runners out. I had a bit of adversity on the way up the canyon. Let's just say I shouldn't have eaten a piece of my daughter's ice cream birthday cake last night (I don't tolerate ice cream well), I wish they could find a way to provide restrooms up there during the winter, and I'm glad I carried some paper with me this morning. The restrooms I tried were all locked, including the port-a-potty at Nunn's Park that I used just last Saturday.

After interfacing with nature about 7 or 8 miles into the run I felt much better as I continued up the canyon. On the way back down the canyon I took an eGel, stopped at the fountain near Timpanogos Park for a good drink, then pushed on up into Orem and back home.

I was planning on 14 miles, but with the shoe test drive mile, and running a little farther than planned, I ended up with 16 miles. My average pace was 9:08/mi for the 16 miles, with the last two miles being 8:21 and 8:10. It felt good to finish strong. The eGel must have kicked in.

The extra miles put me at just over 50 miles for the week. That makes 45, 45, and 50 for the last three weeks. I'm encouraged. I'm feeling pretty good and the injuries seem to be staying away (knock on wood).