Run RF

AM: Ran Liberty Park.

PM: Track workout with Jake and Andrea, 12 by 400 at 5k pace 200m jog.  First one 72 then 74-75 in the middle with one 76 and finished with a 71.  Pretty happy and I can still walk so that's good too.

AM: Ran with the whole crew out of Highland at 6AM (Ugh) but it was a good run with sore legs from the day before.

PM: Was going to triple, and by triple I mean run twice and nap.  Mission Accomplished! Felt a lot better on run number 2 which bodes well for tomorrows workout.  Also I'll need all these miles to burn off all the calories from all the food that my family sent out.

AM: Rough workout, 7 mile tempo in Sugarhouse.  First lap in 7:55 then 8:15 and 8:20, took a half mile jog rest then did the next two laps in 8:06 and 8:23.  Took the break because I could barely make it up the hills on the third lap and hoped to do a little better with the rest.  I think the combination of going about 15 seconds too fast on the first loop and a ton of miles this week made it so rough.  No race next week so I'll space out the workouts better and hopefully redeem myself.  But now to prepare for Provo.

PM: Liberty Park, a very annoying run at this time of day lots of lights and traffic.  But felt good otherwise.

Good Morning run up City Creek Canyon, now off to see the Avengers!

Ran at the Provo City 5k today, nice little race.  Ran about what I expected to, 16:10 on tired legs bodes well for the races I actually want to run fast at.  Warmed up and cooled down (also drove down with) Jake & Andrea.  Splits were 5:19, 5:08, 5:10.

Ran with the pack, wonderful way to get over a hangover.

Down and back from my buddies sandwiching the hike I did behind the aves.

BST from Dry Creek to City Creek, felt ok still a little sore from my first hike of the year yesterday.

Workout day, started with 1 mile climb up to 11th ave then 4 mile tempo (~550/mile) jog another mile then start the avenues death march.  Starting from I street & south temple go up three blocks hard over one easy, then jog to terrace hills and split that one up into 3 sections with two short breaks up.  Then about 3.5 mile jog home.  Felt as good as I could have expected, and very nice day out.

Saw a flyer for a 5k that starts at the 18th ave church, I can only imagine that is one very painful race.

Easy run with the Wolf Pack, still very early.  Unfortunately we had a severe lack of hills that Tanner Park could have provided.

AM: Easy run down to Liberty Park before workout tonight.

PM: 8 by 1000 at the track with 200 jog rest. 319, 319, 319, 320, 321, 321, 322, 323.  Not the best workout, but what can you do?  Long run at Jeremey Ranch Saturday morning!

AM: City Creek Canyon, felt ok for trying to murder my legs last night.

PM: Up to campus, worked for a while then back home to drop off the bag and a loop around the aves.

Nice long run at Jeremey Ranch this morning, felt great the whole way.  Went to Ruth's after for some good eats.

Nice, easy run to Liberty & Sugarhouse parks.  Tomorrow is 4/5 laps hard around Liberty...fun times!

Monday workout you say? Well don't mind if I do.  Jog down to Liberty Park to the water fountain then 5 loops of the park.  Felt pretty tough but was very consistent with laps within a few seconds of each other all around 8:30.  Final tally was 5:55 pace.  Finally figured out that Liberty is not flat and you can really feel it when you try to run fast there.  Then I dragged myself home very slowly.

Ran up to school and back plus a little extra to get to an even 15.

The usual CCC run, felt the workout from yesterday.  Went shirtless to work on the tan while I increased my fitness.

AM: Early EARLY workout. Got down to Highland at 6 then warmed up about 2 miles then right into the workout 6 by 800 with 400 jog rest.  Ran 2:31, 2:30, 2:29, 2:28, 2:27, 2:25 felt great.  Then some jogging at the track and 2 laps of ins & outs then jogged around the park again. 

PM: 6.3 easy around the aves.

AM: BST from Dry creek to City Creek, tough run feeling yesterday.  But nice to be able to run to 6000' from my house.

PM: Up to school & back then around the aves.

BST from Dry Creek to Emigration.  Cold and windy, and then the rain came for the last half.  Struggling to type now as my hands start to warm.  Otherwise a pretty good run.

AM: 15 mi. Jeremy Ranch run, then over to the Pearl Izumi Outlet for 2 new pairs of Streak 2's.   And off to Ruth's for a solid brunch. Now relaxing until the High 5's 5k at 5:55 PM way up on 18th ave.

PM: Race way up in the Aves, so High they call it the High Fives 5k.  Started and finished at the church on 18th ave and was about as flat as you can make a 5k up there, which means lots of rollers, run this morning was a good warm up for this.  Splits were all around 5:35, and got under 4 min/mile pace for the kick thanks to the significant downhill into the finish, well at least according to Mr. Garmin.

Sugarhouse & Liberty run, felt good especially considering what I was up to yesterday.  Now after 3 weeks up I get to take an easy week into the race next Sunday.

City Creek Loop, legs are still sore but that may have been from the bowling last night.

I would also mention two more things from the race on Saturday, first the medals are from other sports so I will assume that they were purchased at the Surplus Medal Emporium.  Second there was a fellow at the race who seemlessly pulled off the Vibrams/Ragnar Calf Tattoo combo.  I just hope there comes a day when I can match that dudes intensity.

Workout day, went up to the U track.  Saw some girl flying on the track, paced by BJ I believe.  I finished my warmup then jumped into 16 by 200 they were all between 32 & 34, 34's mostly before I figured out how to run fast again and finished with a 31.  Cooled down then into the lab for some science!

Run with the Pack, felt good hamstring is finally starting to feel better after bowling.

I found a new running race today called Tour de Run in Highland, UT in July.  Should be a good time and a different kind of race (3 over 2 days) than normal.

tourderun.net

Did Liberty Park, was going to take the day off but I felt good so I ran.  Saw James running as I left Liberty Park so ran the last 2 miles with him as we patted ourselves on the back for making the wise decision to never Steeple.  For more info see Letsrun.com today.

City Creek Canyon loop, last run before heading back east.  Threw in 6 striders in the last part of the run since Popperton Park was getting mowed.

Peace out SLC!

Ran my old reliable Southcreek loop back home, 4 striders after.  Race tomorrow baby!

Well time for a hard race again, the Buffalo Half Marathon.  It runs all through the lakeside in Buffalo including the Sabres arena twice.  Did about 10 minutes warmup then sat on the line waiting for Crazy Old Man John Beishline to stop rambling into the mike and start the race.  The marathon & half run the first half together so everyone was ready to go, then Blamo the gun goes off and the race starts. 

The fast guys all jump into a pack and take off, I knowing that humidity is not my friend, back off and open in a 5:21, there's two guys near me so I stick around them for the first few miles. Rattling off 5:25, 5:31, 5:37 before one guy started dying and then we turned out to the lighthouse for a short out & back.  Being the intersection of a lot of parts of the course it was pretty crazy with cheering people, including my sister & parents, which is pretty awesome.  5:28 & 5:33 were those miles, the 10k (also the relay exchange point)  was hit in 34:08, and that was the last time I would see my parents for a while. 

Then the race heads south towards my hometown, as this is the big out & back right after I passed 7 miles 5:36 I saw the 12 mile stand the other direction right by First Niagara Center.  Here is where some guys started coming back to me and where the race started hitting home.  The next mile was uneventful except for a crossing of the Ohio Street bridge which is covered in open grating, not the funnest surface to run on but hit 5:35.  At this point one guy was on a bike and encouraging me and I was closing in on a guy with a University of Rochester jersey, a rival of my college.  As I pushed passed him I briefly considered condecending to him, but figured I would have the chance at the finish line if I continued to own his soul. 

I headed under route 5 and out to the Outer Harbor with 2 guys in my sights mile 9 was 5:35 and I missed both attempts at a water cup due to sweaty hands (damn humidity!) at the 15k where we turned around.  At this point an asian dude caught me who was bravely doing the full and stuck with me through 10 miles (5:35).  As we went back under route 5 and up a railroad overpass I let him by as I was feeling a little beat.  The same dude on the bike came up by me, congratulated me on passing the one guy but helpfully pointed out that there were 2 guys ahead within my sights.  I let him know I was working on it. 

Went through mile 11 in 5:43, oof, but persevered and got that wonderful cup of water after the mile 11 mark.  Finally approaching First Niagara Center again I saw one of my friends from college running the other way through the crush of people.  As mile 12 rapidly approached I finally caught the next guy, a runner from Stotan racing, a club based out of Syracuse, NY as an outgrowth of the impressive F-M running powerhouse.  When I was passing him I heard a guy yell everyone's form is all gone to hell, this made me feel better because everyone is hurting at least as bad as me.  I passed mile 12 5:35 but felt a whole lot longer, well that one was better when there's someone to chase. 

Saw my parents and sister, they took some pictures, probably awesome as a sweaty & tired runner always looks fantastic.  At this point I was alone but there were a ton of people cheering so that helped, but definitely kept checking the Garmin to see how much longer it though I had to go. Finally got onto the last straightaway on Franklin, and could see the finish.  But still a lot of ground to cover, mile 13 was 5:45, oh yeah there's the humidity.  Finished the last bit to earn my 13.1 sticker for a 7 second PR of 1:13:18. 

Was forced to take a picture and a medal was reluctantly placed on my neck, yes sir I would rather just hold it.  Then I staggered around a bit got some water & Haterade and cooled down a bit with Dave Rappleyea and changed into some dry clothes and went up to the after party.  New York, being a real state, had free beer at the end so I enjoyed one.  Unfortunately it was not a Genny Cream Ale, but that will be rectified this afternoon on the lake.  Picked up my award and rolled back home.

While not as fast as I believe I can run, it's a good start and hopefully a summer of high mileage will help bring that time down.  I though I would run a 73 before the race, so I know my conditioning pretty well. 

Run around the village, possible record high today so it was pretty miserable.  Especially considering the halfsie I did yesterday.

Took yesterday totally off, first time in a long time.  Mostly the fact that I slept for 14 hours clued me into the need to take er easy.  Today was a perfect day to run, sunny & not too hot.  Quads feel like crap so I'll work on those before Saturday otherwise everything feels really good.

Nice out, perfect weather.  Did Bussendorfer loop, quads feeling better but still not back to 100%, hopefully by Saturday I'll be grilled and good to go.