Rhett

It was 40 degrees and raining out so I wimped out and went to the gym for an easy 7 mile TM run.  Avg HR 133

30 minutes on the stair-mill keeping HR in the 130s

Then a little warm up followed by 5 all out sprints of about 100m with a little cool down probably totally about 1 mile.

Nice easy 6 mile trail recovery run.  I do love being on the trails.

20 minutes stairmill

10 minutes jump rope

20 minutes stair mill

10 minutes jump rope

Avg HR 132

12 easy miles keeping my HR under 141 then 8 miles at mp (ended up being about a 6:55 average). Then 1 mile cool down for a total of 21.  Felt great like I was getting stronger the longer the run went. 

Run was done carb free this morning  since dinner last night. 

Lane woke up with a bloody nose at 4:20 this morning. Since I was up, I headed to the gym for an easy recovery TM run. 

14 miles, kept the HR right at 126 the whole time. 

6 easy miles on the trails this morning keeping HR in upper 130s.  It looks like our winter is over, it was in the upper 50s when I got up this morning.  I was wishing it would hold on till the end of the month so my marathon would be colder. :(

30 minutes on the stairmill at HR around 136;

Then a small warm up followed by 5 all out 100 m sprints with a 100 m walk recovery and then a little cool down all totalling around 1 mile.

4 very easy trail miles at HR in 120s.

20 minutes stairmill

10 minutes jump rope

20 minutes stairmill

10 minutes jump rope

11 easy miles, but I was having difficulty keeping my HR under 141 this morning. Then I started into some mp miles which felt much better (averaged around 6:55).  Did that for 8 miles. Then a 2 mile cool down.  No fuel during run or before run since I ate dinner last night around 5:30, just water.

2 weeks and 1 day till Phoenix Marathon!

11 easy miles of trail adventure keeping HR in the mid130s

Congrats to fellow BYU alumni Jared Ward for making the Olympic marathon team today. 

I've been pretty sick since Saturday evening so I haven't run since Saturday morning. I felt it coming on Friday afternoon. I guess that explains why I was having trouble keeping my HR down on my run Friday.  I woke up feeling much better today so I did a very slow 4 mile trail run. I had to keep it way slower than normal to keep my HR in the 130s though.  I'm glad the sickness happened this past weekend, not this weekend or the next. I think I'll be back to 100% by race day on the 27th. 

I'm still trying to get my legs back under me as I recover from the flu.

First I did a slow short warm up jog, then I jumped rope for 10 minutes and followed it with 2 150 m stides.  I repeated that 2 more times for a total of about 30 minutes jumping rope and 6 strides.  Finally I did a short cool down jog.  Total running was about 2 miles.

5 really slow miles out keeping my HR in the 130s.  I'm obviously still not 100% because I had to run about 9 minute miles to keep my HR in that range.  Then I turned around and ran back at mp averaging 6:57 which actually felt pretty good.  That will be my last run of any consequence till raceday.  I'm heading out of town with my sweetie after lunch today for the weekend for a little R & R.  Hopefully I return back on Monday feeling 100% normal again.

4 easy on the trails, really slow...over 10 min per mile pace.

Same 4 miles as yesterday but feeling a bit healthier so I tiny bit faster. 9:53 per mile

I woke up feeling great this morning for the first time in about 2 weeks!

First I did a nice slow short warm up jog.  Then 5 minutes jumping rope followed by two stride around 150 m at about mile pace with 150 m jog recovery.  Then I repeated the whole thing 2 more time for a total of 15 minutes jumping rope and 6 strides.  Then I very short cool down jog.

Total running ended up being right at 2 miles.

My legs felt light this morning.  For some reason jumping rope always helps my feel light on my feet, probably because contact time with the ground is so quick and I'm up on my toes the whole time.

4 very easy trail miles keeping the HR in the 130s and then a few mp strides.

2 days till race day. I feel healthy and strong. Now I just hope it's not too hot.  The high for Satruday in Phoenix is snupposed to be 88.  Hopefully it will still be in the 60s at the time I finish.

Now they are predicting 90 degrees tomorrow. :(

2 easy miles this morning with 4 mp strides of about 200 m each thrown in.

Bring on raceday.  Please be cooler than predicted though.

2016 Phoenix Marathon

Blake and I ran the Phoenix Marathon today.  It was warm and sunny but no significant wind.  The plan was to try and pace Blake to a 3:05 marathon since his BQ time is 3:10.  The actual 3:05 pacer was crazy faster than he should have been right from the start so we did our own thing and ran the first half in 1:32:01 exactly were we wanted to be at that point.  With the warm weather I was dumping water on my head at every aid station starting at mile 7 but it still caught up with us eventually.  During the 18th mile Blake dropped of the pace so I slowed a bit hoping he would come back to me.  At mile 20 I was at 2:22:25 which still had us on pace to get a fast enough time to get him into Boston but he was no longer near me.  At that point I was starting to feel it a bit and we already had decided that if he didn't get a good BQ time we would run Revel Mt. Charelston on May 7th to try again, so I decided to mail it in and cruise in to an easy BQ without spending myself too much.  I only ran an 8:26 pace for the last 6.2 and finished in 3:14:38 for a BQ with 10+ minutes to spare. I turn 45 in May so I only needed a 3:25.  I was tired at the end, but my legs on not sore like they usually are when I run a marathon all out, so with a week of cross training I should be ready to pick right back up on marathon training.  

After Blake realized he wasn't going to make his BQ, he did the smart thing and walk/jogged the rest of the way in, so didn't finish until 3:34:??.  Now we get to run another marathon!  Hopefully he will get that BQ and we can enjoy Boston together next year.  His wife says we are all going whether he qualifies or not.  :)  We'll see.

30 minutes easy on the stationary bike for a little active recovery.  Legs feel really good.

This is next part is so I can refer back in the future as I continue my discovery of what I can do on low carbs.  I don't think I really bonked at all in the race but the last 6 miles were tough.  Not sure if it was the heat, having been sick the previous 2 weeks, the mild calf injury I had to deal with the last 8 weeks before the race, or if my nutrition had something to do with it.

Anyways, here is what I ate previous to and during the marathon:

Friday

Breakfast- 4 eggs, sauteed spinach, avacado, parmesan cheese

Lunch- 2 large bowls of chicken and vegtable soup

Snack- 2 Lara bars

Dinner- 6 oz steak, 12 grilled shrip, small salad without crutons, brocolli

Saturday

Prerace- A glass of unsweetened almond milk with 2 tablespoons coconut oil

During race- 3 gels and a lot of water

I meant to take a 4th gel around mile 21 but I forgot.