LineUpAndWait

20 weeks until the Ogden Marathon.  After St. George I took it easy and just tried to do the bare minimum to keep my weight in check.  Usually  only 10 -15 miles per week.  Now it's time to get back into a training cycle.  New year, new goals.  I should update my profile.

Day 1 of week 1:       6 miles outside.  Nice day. Clean air. Weight: 189 lbs.

8:25 / 8:39 / 8:38 / 8:27 / 8:18 / 8:28  AP: 8:29

Outside run. Nice weather. AP: 8:41

 8:48 / 8:39 / 8:43 / 8:32

Four very uninspired miles on the treadmill.

Treadmill

Very cold to start (low 20s) but very nice once I warmed up.  AP 8:39

8:46 / 8:58 / 8:34 / 8:37 / 8:39 / 8:19

Only planned on 5 or 6.  The pace was slow but this was my longest run in 3 months.  Very windy but warm.  AP: 8:51

8:37 / 8:42 / 8:55 / 9:07 / 8:59 / 8:53 / 9:09 / 8:44 / 8:08 last .46

Treadmill

Treadmill

First run of more than 10 miles in a long time.  Legs felt heavy the whole run.  Pace was really slow but I kept plugging away.  Good fat burning miles anyway.

AP 9:04

9:27 / 9:02 / 9:10 / 9:01 / 8:58 / 9:06 / 9:07 / 9:08 / 9:05 / 8:49 / 8:46 pace last .58

Hill workout on the treadmill.  I've never had my treadmill on a 12 degree incline.  My head was only a few inches from my basement ceiling.

Treadmill AP  8:25 1% incline.

Treadmill again. AP 8:49

Tempo run on TM.  Worked up to a 7 m/m. Held that pace for almost a mile then backed off to an 8 m/m.

TM..........

First time this year to run the old loop from the house to Harmons, up Bangerter to the PRT, then back to the park, then the new trail to Fort St. Talk about a run on sentence.

The goal is to run this once a week and each time go further up Bangerter towards Suncrest while trying to keep the pace on the uphill sections under a 9 m/m.  Didn't quite do that today.

8:35 / 8:34 / 9:11 / 9:17 / 8:47 / 8:37 / 8:33 / 8:28  AP 8:45 

Hill workout on the treadmill.  Mostly 6 percent grade with a max grade of 10 percent but only for a minute on two separate occasions.  A real sweatfest.

TM

TM.  Last 2 @ MP

TM

Weekly hill workout included.  House to Harmons and then up Bangerter to the Chevron station.  The grade just before the PRT overpass to the Chevron station gets so steep. Brutal.  Turned west on Highland drive until connecting with the PRT.  PRT all the way back to the Draper park then home.  The hill section really knocked the AP down.  Only 8:59. Nice day. No wind, even near the point.

8:56 / 9:00 / 9:28 / 10:22 / 8:51 / 8:41 / 8:51 / 8:41 / 8:43 / 8:26

Nice outside.  Draper park / PRT loop. AP 8:35

8:55 / 8:43 / 8:38 / 8:27 / 8:27 / 8:36 / 8:22

TM

TM. Last mile @4 % grade and 8:34 pace.

Cold & wet outside.  So more TM.

Treadmill again..

Last 2 miles @ MP.

TM

TM

4 Miles outside on the PRT. The truck said 38 degrees but it felt warmer than that.

AP 8:26        8:57 / 8:31 / 8:28 / 7:51. 

TMMMMMM.

TM

Weekly hill workout on the TM.  3 miles alternating between 2 and 4 % Grade.  Then 3.2  more.

Will it ever get warm enough to run outside?

Beautiful day.  Ran outside today for the first time in quite a while.  This was just going to be an easy recovery run.  When I run outside my pace is easily 30+ seconds per mile faster than on the TM with the same effort.  Why is that?  Started really slow with no warm up.  Was really surprised by the pace for the last 2 miles.

AP 8:41   9:16 / 9:04 / 8:54 / 8:38 / 8:07 / 8:09

Treadmill

Sluggish evening run on the TM.

Weekly long run on the TM.  Mostly slow and easy with the last mile at a little under MP (7:53)

Nice day.  It was a bit chilly with a south wind near the sand pit.  Ran the PRT with the detour up to the the Chevron station.  That hill just kills me.  Came off the PRT just in front of another guy who was coming up Bangerter.  It's amazing what younger legs can do.  He was 50 yards ahead of me by the time I got to Highland Drive.  Good workout.  Going to try and get 50 miles this week.

8:46 / 8:39 / 8:42 / 8:37 / 8:24 / 9:34 (the hill) / 8:48 / 8:28 / 8:50 / 8:31 / 8:35 /  AP: 8:43

It was so nice out today.  What a shame I didn't take advantage of the nice weather.  8.5 miles inside on the TM.

TM

TM. Groundhog day?

Got my long run in after work tonight.  Looking forward to a day off tomorrow.  Legs felt really heavy today.  First 50 mile week in over 6 months.  Weather was great. Ran in shorts and a long sleeve shirt.  Willow Creek trail to the Draper park.  Then PRT all the way to the end and back.  Really sucks when you get a block away from your house and realize you're a mile short.  Was tempted to just bag it but I didn't.  AP was really slow but at least I got all the miles in.

8:57 / 8:54 / 8:52 / 8:58 / 8:53 / 9:01 / 9:11 / 9:11 / 9:10 / 8:55 / 9:18 / 8:59 / 8:57 / 8:57 / 9:06 / 9:12 / 9:08 .

Outside just to shake things out after a high mileage week (for me).  My wife rode a bike alongside to keep me company.

AP: 8:21   9:26 / 9:01 / 9:04 / 8:31 / 8:22 / 7:30 

Windy but warm. AP: 8:19

8:51 / 8:21 / 8:24 / 8:26 / 7:31

TM

1 Mile warm @ 8:47

7.5 miles AP: 8:30

8:30 / 8:43 / 8:31 / 8:31 / 8:21 / 8:37 / 8:22

Enjoying the nice weather. Winter returns late Saturday.

Good start to the week.  Looking for 50-60 miles this week. The wx was windy and cold so I just hit the TM.

TM.

No motivation today. Quit after just 4 miles on the TM.

Still no motivation.

It was so nice to get my long run in early this week. I reset my Garmin every 5 miles. Don't know why, just did. Legs have felt heavy all week long. When I started I wasn't sure if this was actually going to be a long run or shortened to just 5 or 6 miles.

Miles 1-5 AP: 9:05 9:18 / 8:58 / 9:02 / 9:18 / 8:49

Miles 6-10 AP: 9:06 8:57 / 9:22 / 9:35 / 8:48 / 9:05

Miles 11-15 AP: 8:50 8:51 / 8:44 / 8:39 / 9:03 / 8:51

Miles 16-20 AP: 8:58 9:01 / 9:21 / 8:54 / 8:55 / 8:48

1 Mile cool down.

This run hurt but it felt much better than 2 weeks ago. Maybe my base mileage is getting there. Need to start doing some "speed" work.

TM

Road trip this week.  7 miles on the hotel TM.

6 more miles on as hotel TM

TM at the hotel in Helena.

Almost exactly the same conditions as last year. Strong south wind but warmer.  Started with the 1:40 pacers which felt comfortable (tailwind).  They dropped me on the last segment of the first steep hill.  Kept them close until the second segment on the JRP heading into the wind when my resolve faltered.  I think mentally the headwind hurt me more than the tailwind helped.  The 1:45 pace group caught me at around mile 6ish. Ran a mile with them and then just let them go. No resolve. Actually had to walk the last 20 yards of the last big hill.  Really thought I could do sub 1:45 today.

Finished in 1:47:31 (my garmin time which is more accurate than the non chip timed results).  I ran this race last year in 1:48:10.  Maybe I should be happy with dropping 39 seconds.  At least my conditioning is no worse than this time last year.  It was a nice day but I was looking for a better result getting ready for the Ogden Marathon in 7 weeks.

7:23 / 7:29 / 7:31 / 8:19 / 8:14 / 8:02 / 8:34 / 8:23 / 8:47 / 8:40 / 9:11 / 8:53 / 8:03 /

Weekly mileage is there.  I just need push the pace now.

2 mile cool down.

Great weather, good run. Small measure of redemption from Saturday's run.  Need more miles in the 7s during these shorter runs.

7:48 / 7:46 / 7:44 / 7:40 / 7:20   AP: 7:40

1 mile cool.

Did some really slow 800s.  Probably not a good idea to try and do some "speed" work after yesterday's tempo run.  Anyway, did 2 to warm up and 2 to cool down with 4 sluggish ones in the middle.  The wind was pretty strong out of the south around noon.  Tried starting at different points on the track to minimize the mental effect of the wind.  The last one started on the corner heading into the wind leaving a nice tailwind on the straight away to finish.

3:42 / 3:33 / 3:34 / 3:20.

TM.

Perfect day with no wind.  Got 10 miles in this morning before a busy day.  Last week was a little light on the miles.  This week needs to be 50+.  So today was a good start with great conditions.

1 mile warm up @ 8:56.

Then 8.5 miles. AP 8:12

8:20 / 7:55 / 8:09 / 8:19 / 8:23 / 8:18 / 8:09 / 8:20 / 7:44 pace for last .5

Half mile trot to finish.

TM

TM

Wet, cold, and rainy outside for the next few days.  Wanted to get my long run in before the weekend but didn't want to go out in the weather.  Decided around 8pm to give the TM a try.  I wasn't looking forward to 20 miles on the TM.  I only lasted 11 miles.  So I still have that monkey on my back to do a long run either Friday or Saturday.

I can't believe I actually did this today.  When I started out this afternoon I was sure I would only get a couple of miles in before turning around and calling it a day.  My hips were very sore and tight.  I questioned wether or not I should even be doing a long run this week because I was so fatigued and sore.  For the first time in a long time I was worried about injuring myself.

I started out really slow and that's pretty much how the whole run went.  Things felt better after 3-4 miles so I just kept on going.  It was a bit cool at times but being outside instead of on a TM was nice and kept me going.

Couldn't believe how hungry I was when I finished.  Ate everything I could find while taking an ice bath.  Egg sandwich, slice of pizza, apple pie with ice cream (yes...sitting in ice water eating ice cream. I'm still cold).

Sort of a walk-trot-walk with my wife to shake things out from Friday's long run. I'm gonna count it.

TM

Legs were well rested from the short layoff.

So nice out this morning.  Lots of people out on the PRT today.

8:55 / 8:37 / 8:24 / 8:39 / 8:27 / 8:20 / 8:15 / 8:19 / 8:13 / 8:18

AP 8:27

Took it easy last week to let the body heal a little.  Thiswill be the last "higher mileage" week until Ogden.  Going to try and hit 60+ before the taper begins.

Waited until 7pm so that the temps would cool off a little.  Ran over to Bangerter and then up to the PRT.  The first few miles were really warm.  The last 3 were perfect.  The legs felt heavy from doing 10 yesterday.  Started really slow but after the hill up Bangerter the legs started to feel better.  The last 2 felt great.

8:53 / 8:37 / 9:14(hill) / 8:45 / 8:37 / 8:39 / 8:23 / 7:46

AP 8:37

Treadmill.

Sort of the same route as Monday with a little detour west on the PRT.  Just trying to put in some quality miles near the end in spite of the tired legs.

AP: 8:48

9:11 / 8:48 / 9:27(hill) / 9:02 / 8:47 / 8:56 / 8:40 / 8:25 / 7:56

Easy miles on the TM. Saving up for the last long run before Ogden.

So this is the high water mark for my weekly mileage.  Needed to get 20 in today to hit 60 miles for the week.  Ran some bandit on the Thanksgiving Point half course to break things up and push the pace a little faster than I would running by myself.  I didn't really worry about the pace, just let the crowd move me along and ran what felt comfortable.  Didn't look at my Garmin the whole run.  So my day went like this... 

1 mile easy @9:34

13.? miles AP 8:12 My Garmin went into lock up mode at the start and the finish.

8:09 / 7:55 / 7:55 / 8:04 / 8:28 / 8:16 / 8:30 / 8:25 / 8:34 / 8:18 / 8:38 / 8:20 / 8:14.

6 really slow miles because my legs were trashed from all the up and down.

9:58 / 9:47 / 9:40 / 9:43 / 9:06 / 9:33.

Way slow.  Even some walking.

8 miles AP: 8:54

Legs just weren't in to it today.  Still tired from Saturday.

8:57 / 8:54 / 9:14 / 9:18 / 8:58 / 9:10 / 8:56 / 8:32

TM

TM. Started slow at 4% incline and worked up to 7mm pace.  Briefly ran a couple of minutes at 6:40 pace.

2 miles on the TM to warm up a little then 10 miles outside.

AP: 8:35

8:38 / 8:44 / 8:31 / 8:35 / 8:43 / 8:33 / 8:30 / 8:39 / 8:29 / 8:29

AP 8:31

9:18 / 8:50 / 8:38 / 8:19 / 8:30 / 7:33

9:26 / 8:51 / 8:27 / 8:08 / 7:32

AP 8:29

Plan called for 30 minute tempo run. Did 4.16 miles in 32 minutes

AP 7:41

7:58 / 7:32 / 7:38 / 7:41

9:03 / 8:34 / 7:57

Plan called for just 2 today.

Started nice and easy..by the time I'd warmed up and got going I was done.

2 @ MP

Ogden Marathon:  The good, the bad, and the very ugly.

7:31 / 7:47 / 7:50 / 7:37 / 7:43 / 7:51 / 7:55 / 7:48 / 7:55 / 7:56 / 8:33 falling off the back of the 3:25 pace group / 8:20 / 8:20 / 8:50 / 9:04 / 8:44 / 8:49 / 8:44 / 9:19 / 9:55 / 8:54 / 9:03 / 8:39 / 10:37 / 9:39 / 9:55 / 3:12 (8:45 pace).

3:46:28

First run since OGD. Ran slowly while the Mrs. rode along side.

AP: 9:25     9:53 / 9:32 / 9:06 / 9:05

Ran a free 10K in American Fork with my daughter.  I wasn't feeling up for a big effort so I just paced along with Jenni.  I let her set the pace and tried to encourage her when she needed it.  Lots of rolling hills. 

8:13 / 8:38 / 10:10 / 9:17 / 8:41 / 8:40 / 1:21 (6:49)  Total Time 54:59 AP: 8:52

8:58 / 8:31 / 8:21 / 8:24 / 8:25 / 8:24 / 3:08 (8:24 pace) AP:8:30

Really lacking motivation.  For the first time in a couple of years I'm not registered for a marathon.  I didn't get into SGM this year (I really hate/love/hate/hate the SGM).  Need to figure out what's next before everthing fills up.

Ran home from the Draper pool after watching my 17 year old swim a great 100 free (too bad the race was a 200), a better 50 free and and an awesome 200 back.  It's been fun watching him swim against college swimmers who are home for the summer.  Nobody is in race trim this early in the season, but the experience of racing in the lane next to swimmers who's high school records he's trying to break is a big confidence builder.

AP: 8:10      7:57 / 7:53 / 8:09 / 8:33 / 8:16

9:59 / 9:14 / 9:03 / 8:48 / 8:28 / 8:28

AP 8:55

AP: 8:16

8:33 / 8:14 / 8:34 / 8:13 / 7:58 / 8:07

Bought someone's New Years resolution off KSL the day before the race for 30 bucks.  It's hard to plan ahead for races that sell out due to my work situation.  So I was glad to be running even if it was as a 24 year old female.

Really thought I could do sub 1:40 today but the sustained wind for the first 5 miles hurt me and I'm just not there yet.  I've trained myself into a slower pace.  Time to get reaquainted with the track.

7:17 / 7:19 / 7:59 / 7:51 / 7:47 / 7:46 / 7:49 / 7:55 / 7:51 / 8:07 / 8:14 / 8:00 / 8:04 / 1:11(7:29 pace)

AP 7:50

Slow .......

7 miles along the PRT. AP: 8:31

8:47 / 8:23 / 8:29 / 8:38 / 8:25 / 8:33 / 8:19 /

Then 2+ miles real easy.

AP : 8:38

Smokin hot outside today! 9:09 / 8:33 / 8:43 / 8:23 / 8:25

Perfect temps. No wind. AP 8:46

9:29 / 9:05 / 8:43 / 8:27 / 8:23 / 8:29 / 8:34

AP 8:30

AP 8:44

AP 9:14

TM

TM

Too hot outside. So 6 on the TM.

TM

Paced Jenni to a 2:09 in her very first half marathon.  I should have picked an easier one for her.  This one was tough; Canyon to Canyon up at East Canyon Resort.  She ran very well and place 5th in her age division. 

Trying to get back into a more regular training mode.  I still haven't decided on a fall marathon.  I need to decide this week or I won't have adequate time to train.  It's already going to be a very short window.  Looking at doing something up in the Seattle area where I'll be working off and on.

AP 9:12

TM

TM

AP 8:42     9:12 / 8:42 / 8:29 / 8:36 / 8:39 / 8:31

AP 8:34

AP : 8:54

9:41 / 9:03 / 8:50 / 8:58 / 8:46 / 8:42 / 8:34

TM

Tried out a new trail here in Kent. It's called the Soos Creek Trail. Nice rolling trail.

Soos creek trail northbound.

Getting to know the the Soos Creek Trail rather well. Longest run in quite a while. Slow ave pace (8:53).

8:36 / 8:45 / 8:46 / 8:49 / 8:48 / 8:57 / 8:55 / 9:07 / 9:06

Soos Creek Trail. Got a little further north than in past runs. AP 9:06

9:33 / 8:48 / 9:07 / 8:53 / 8:55 / 9:12 / 9:12 / 9:15 / 8:57 / 8:59 / 9:23 /

Went to the track at the local high school (Kentwood). Couldn't really call it a track work out. Trotted out a few 800s. The last one in 3:22.

Ran around the neighborhood east of Lake Meridian.

AP 8:47

Today was a first for me. I went for a long run with a local running group here in the Seattle are. I've never trained with an organized club or group. Really excited about the impact this could have on my running.

I thought the plan was to do just 14 miles but I misunderstood that was their usual run beginning at Lake Wilderness. Because of a huge high school cross country meet at Lake Wilderness today, the group met at another starting point. I didn't realize that the alternate starting point added 3 miles to their usual run until around mile 11. That was a bit longer than I was prepared for.

Running with a group made the miles and pace fly by. Great people and good conversation. The pace for the first 12 miles varied between 8:00-8:15 per mile. I had to slow the last 5 miles to around a 9:00 mm pace.

The trail was beautiful. Lake Wilderness and Cedar River Trails.

Definitely wore myself out today.

Slow and easy shake out from the long run yesterday.

Track workout at the Kentwood HS. Warmed up with some slow 800s then 3.5 miles at 8:30 pace. Finished with a couple of 800s at 3:26 and 3:25.

Back in Utah for a long weekend. Staying up at East Canyon for the weekend. Spent some time on the Jeremy Ranch road trying to get used to the altitude again.

8:58 / 9:17 / 9:40 / 9:45 / 9:07 / 9:16 / 9:04 / 8:26 AP : 9:12

14 Miles on the Cedar river trail. Great group of about a dozen runners and 6 dogs. Got to be the most fit dogs on the planet. My Garmin is about ready to die and was consistently showing a slower pace and lagging on the mile count from everyone else. I think it was having problems with all the tree cover on the trail. 14 miles in 1:55:18 which works out to be an 8:14 pace.

So the plan was to just go for a walk to shake things out a little from yesterdays long run. Walking was boring so I started to run very very slow. Ended up going 5 miles and did the last mile a MP.

Ran around the track at Kentwood HS.  Did a mile warm up followed by a few 800s.  Time on the first two were 3:14 and 3:15.  Didn't get the time on the next two but I'm sure they were slower.  Did a couple of untimed 400s a slow cool down and called it a day.

I ran another great trail here in the Seattle area.  Found out about a continuous 9.6 mile trail which goes all the way around Lake Youngs, which is only a 15 minute drive from my place in Kent.  I had envisioned this trail meandering around the lake with great views of the water.  That's really not at all what it was like.  In fact, I never saw water or any part of the lake.  Apparently the lake is protected watershed and there's a tall fence and perimeter road on the inside of the fence to keep people out.  Along the outside of the fence is a nice wide gravel/dirt path which occasionally narrowed to a single track on the east side of the lake.  The trail is very, very hilly in sections and has mile/half mile markers posted on the fence.  They seemed to be accurate.  The trail was well shaded and quiet for most of the trip.  The weird thing about the path is there are numerous turns around the lake but all of the turns are exactly 90 degree turns, which meant all sections fo the path were a perfectly straight.  Kind of weird but I got used to it.  I had forgotten my Garmin so I used a stop watch to time my total run and some occasional miles based on the fence markings.  Mile 3 was 8:24, mile 6 was 8:10 and I really pushed mile the last mile which was very hilly at 7:50.  Ran past where I had parked in order to make it an even 10 miles.

Total time was 1:21:58 for 10 miles = 8:11 pace.

I will definitely be doing this run again.

There's an inexpensive marathon/half marathon west of Olympia on Saturday.  I'm not in marathon shape but I may do it anyway.  If not, then definitely the half.

This was easily the smallest race I have even run. It was even smaller than the Outlaw run at Beaver, Utah last summer. It was a fairly flat out and back course and runners could chose from a 1/2 marathon, ten mile, 10K, & 5K distances. So fewer than a dozen runners lined up together to start. Bummer I was really hoping for a bigger crowd, or any crowd, to push me along. So as soon as we started this tall guy goes right to the front and seems to be running a good pace for me so I hung back about 10 yards and followed. So I'm thinking this race won't be such a bust after all. All I need is one runner to pace off of and behold there he was. Right after my Garmin beeped at mile 1 I saw some orange cones just ahead indicating a turn around point for one of the distances. I thought, "that can't be the 5K turn around it's way too early." No big deal, I wasn't here for a 5K anyway. I just kept focusing on staying 10 yards behind tall guy. When tall guy got to the cones-HE TURNED AROUND! WHAT!! Are you kidding me?! Great, I'm going to be running all by myself for the next 12 miles. I'm not good at doing this solo. I wanted to test myself today to see where I was at.

OK time to enjoy a quiet and lonely half. Just around the corner there was another set of cones staffed with a volunteer. This was the actual 5K turn around. Tall guy had turned around at the kids race marker. I had to laugh when I thought about tall guy finishing in around 15 minutes thinking he was superman with a huge PR. The rest of the race I just enjoyed the great weather with temps in the mid 60s. Tried not to bonk the last 5K. Did OK. I really think I could have run some of the middle miles quicker. After the "race" I drove another half an hour to see the ocean since I was so close.

Slow and easy. Still sore from yesterday's effort. Ran outbound on the Soos Creek Trail exactly 2.62 miles and turned around. That made today's total 5.24 on the nose which gives me and even thousand miles for the year.

Track workout at Kentwood HS.

Getting on a plane tomorrow night so I knew I would miss the Youngs Lake workout with the Cedar River group.  I decided to run it a day early.  It's so hilly but I like the dirt/gravel trail.

AP 8:48

Finally decided on a Fall marathon.  I've decided to run the Tri-Cities Marathon on October 28th in Southeast Washington.  That means I needed to get serious about a mini marathon training plan.  I'm certainly not in marathon shape but I want to do one before the snow flies.  I don't have any expectations about running a fast time or setting a new PR.  I haven't done a long run since before the Ogden marathon.  This one kind of hurt.  I kept messing with my watch but the AP was around 8:46.  I'll try to ramp up the mileage the next couple weeks and then do a mini taper.

Kentwood HS Track...

Did some 800s: 3:19 / 3:22 / 3:24 / a couple untimed.

Did a pace mile @ 7:20

Then a few more laps....

All in all 6 miles total

Lake Youngs trail. Left my Garmin in Utah so I just used a watch and the mile markers on the fence. Legs were still sore from the 20 miler on Sunday. First 8 miles were around 8:45 pace. Mile 9 was 7:45. Mile 10 was uphill and 8:00.

Group run along the Cedar River. After 81 days without any measurable precipitation, some one turned on the spigot. Steady rain the entire run. It wasn't a downpour, but certainly more than a drizzle. Actually enjoyed the run. Outbound 7 mile leg from Lake Wilderness to Landsburg Park was 57:58 with an AP of 8:17. On the way back I paced for 3 miles with a guy who got into the NY Marathon based on a qualify time. No Garmin, but the pace was probably around 7:30. I backed it off and let him go. Each time I do this run I feel stronger, longer. The 7 mile return leg was 57:00 flat or 8:08 AP. Iced in Lake Wilderness and called it a day.

Hilly, rolling Lake Youngs trail. Nice and easy pace. Probably just under 9mm pace.

Seven miles on the hotel tredmill in Denver.

Paced Jenni to a 1:58 in the SoJo Half Marathon. Good times!

Soos Creek Trail - No watch.

So I haven't run a marathon since early Spring and wanted to get one in before the snow flies.  This long distance commuting has made it difficult to stick to a training plan and even though I wasn't in marathon shape, I decided to do one anyway.  Tri-Cities was the perfect choice.  It's a very well done small marathon.  The course was fantastic.  Nearly flat except for the 4 times you cross the Columbia river.  The scenery was great.  Race conditions were ideal. Overcast skies with temps in the low 50s.  No rain. My Garmin was in Seattle but I left the charger in Utah so dead Garmin means no Garmin.  I just used a stop watch to occasionally check my time on a few miles.  The first 3 miles were all around 8:10 pace.  I stopped looking at it after that and just enjoyed the river.  The wind was dead calm and the Columbia was like glass.  Went through the half at 1:47:42 with an ave pace of 8:14.  I had only done one long run in preparation for this race so I knew the second half would be rough and the last 10K torturous.  I definitely slowed down the second half but just kept going.  Tried to focus on not completely blowing up and posting any double digit miles.  I think I had a couple of 9:20-9:30ish miles in the last 10K but never slower than that.

Good times.

Slow and easy around the track at Kentwood HS. Really no soreness from the marathon. I would have stayed longer but it's getting dark so much earlier these days.

Ran the Willow Creek - PRT loop back home.

Treadmill

Treadmill

Treadmill

Treadill

New shoes! Killer deal on not one but 2 new pair of shoes at Wasatch Running. Broke them in tonight on he treadmill.

Treadmill @ the hotel in Phoenix.

On the home treadmill.

Windy and cold here in Seattle today so I tried out the treadmills in the workout facility after work. Not bad for a free gym. They had the Precors just like every hotel in the world. Afterwards played on the weight machines a little then went home.

Milling around after work.

Had the gym at work all to myself.

Day 1 of my training plan for the Yakima Marathon...

Just enough to round out an even 1200 miles for the year. Probably didn't log all the miles I put in this year but I like leaving it at an nice even number. Perhaps I should shoot for a higher number next year.