Everything Counts

AEROBIC BUILDER

We got an awesome group out this morning for an aerobic builder.  I met up with Ken, Jace, Jon, Bryant, Hales, and Ben at the 21st street exit.  We warmed up two miles and then did an 8-mile aerobic builder.  During the first mile Ken told the story of when he and I met Mike Tyson in Las Vegas at Fat Burger and how he and Tyson had a bonding moment, thanks to my Coca-Cola Classic!  After 5 miles there wasn't a ton of conversation, just a few comments here and there.

The pace was quite brisk, we averaged 5:36 for 8 miles.  It was fun to run with everyone and it was a great start to 2013!  Happy New Year's y'all!

My mileage for 2012 ended up being 2611 miles.  In 2011 it was 2067 miles.  So I increased my mileage by just over 25%.  My goal for 2013 is going to be 3200 miles.

AM: 8.3 miles easy on base perimeter road.  The middle miles into the canyon wind were crazy cold!  My eyes kept trying to freeze shut.  Coming back the opposite direction though wasn't too bad.

PM: 5 miles easy.

10K FARTLEK

I did the same workout as two weeks ago: 10k fartlek on the treadmill.  I wasn't going to attempt a fast workout outside in 6 degrees with wind!  Two weeks ago I ran 32:45 and it felt easy, today I ran 32:23 and it felt pretty tough.  Here's the splits:

1.25 miles 6:08 (4:55 pace)

1 mile 5:51

1 mile 4:50

0.75 miles 4:21 (5:48 pace)

0.75 miles 3:35 (4:47 pace)

0.5 miles 2:52 (5:46 pace)

0.5 miles 2:24 (4:48 pace)

0.22 miles 1:14 (5:36 pace)

0.25 miles 1:07 (4:28 pace)

Total 6.22 miles 32:23 (5:13 pace)

7.3 miles easy.  I ran on the South side of base to avoid the canyon wind as much as possible.  I felt pretty tired, I think I need more sleep.

150 minute run or 23.1 miles up in Ogden Valley with Ken, Bryant, and Jon.  Bryant wanted to get out of the smog, so we traded off a few degrees in temp for cleaner air.  It was 0 degrees when we started the run.  Toward the end I did a two-mile pickup 5:19 and 5:09.  Glad to get this one in even if it wasn't the most pleasant of runs.

10.11 miles easy.  I just flat out didn't want to run in the cold again, so I ran on the indoor track at the gym.  It got really crowded at one point with slow airmen, so I did three miles in the middle on the treamill.  Once the crowd thinned, I hopped back on the track.  So seven miles indoor track and three on the mill.

AM: AEROBIC BUILDER

I met Ken at Flying J again on 21st Street.  I never thought 23 degrees could feel like paradise, but it was great this morning to have a warmer temp!  Two mile warmup followed by eight miles in 5:29 average (5:29 also happened to be the median and mode today too for you stat geeks) and a small cooldown after.

PM: 5 miles semi-easy, probably should've gone a bit easier.  Oh well.

10.1 miles easy on base perimeter road.  My iPod shuffle actually worked today so I was able to listen to some tunes this morning.  A few of the songs that were enjoyable this morning:  U2's "Bad" got me started, "While We Were Hunting Rabbits" by Matthew Good, song from Inception's soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer, "Hang" by Matchbox Twenty, "Million Voices" by Wyclef, and "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" by The Postal Service finished out the run.

My weight this morning is the lowest it's been for a morning weigh in since 2005!  Hopefully I can keep it down.

After my run this morning by buddy at work showed me a national map showing air pollution and a list of the five worst cities in the nation for the day.  1-5 were Logan, Ogden, Provo, SLC, and Brigham!  Yeah, go Utah!

PROGRESSIVE TEMPO

I ran a loop around the base and did a 6-mile progressive tempo on the second half.  The plan was to start at 5:28 and drop 5 seconds per mile down to 5:03.  Actual splits were: 5:23 5:20 5:15 5:08 5:06 4:54 (5:11 avg).  The last 2.5 miles were slightly aided (maybe 30 feet per mile).  The middle four miles were easier than I anticipated.  The first mile is always hard for me to get the blood pumping and the last mile was a task picking it up.

5 miles easy on my treadmill.  I was exhausted from shoveling two feet of snow off my  driveway and just didn't feel like going any further than five miles.

BIG WORKOUT

I wanted to get a quality workout in this morning and that wasn't going to happen on the roads.  So I headed to the gym on base.  The plan was to do 2x5 miles and 1x3 miles with 1 mile in between each.  I did the fast miles on the treadmill and the recovery jogs on the indoor track to mix things up.

5 miles (5:30 5:28 5:24 5:23 5:19 or 5:25 avg.)

5 miles (5:27 5:24 5:21 5:19 5:15 or 5:21 avg.)

3 miles (5:19 5:16 5:10 or 5:15 avg.)

This was easily the most boring 18-miler I've ever done.  I hate the treadmill, but it sure serves a purpose on days like today when I want to still get a good workout in.

9 miles easy.  I told myself last night if the temp was above 0 I would go outside, if not I would hit up the gym.  Temp was -4 (feels like -14), so I went to the gym.  5 miles on indoor track and 4 miles on treadmill.

AM: AEROBIC BUILDER

I met up with Bryant at Flying J on 21st Street and did a 6-mile aerobic builder.  The roads weren't completely clear and a few spots had questionable footing, but mostly it was safe to run fast.  I averaged 5:22 for the six miles.  It wasn't too cold out running; what was cold was driving to work after the run in my car with no heat!

PM: 5 miles easy

7 miles easy on the base perimeter road.  I got started late for several reasons and only had time for 7 miles before work.  I hadn't run on the perimeter road since before the storm last week and hence wasn't aware how slippery it still is.  Solid ice in some spots, but I managed.

PRIMER REPEATS

I did a light workout to get primed for the race Saturday.  I did 2 by 1.5 miles in 7:40 (5:07 pace) with 0.5 jog at 7:00 pace for rest in between.  It felt pretty good.  I had to get this in super early due to an early morning meeting at work.  I hate when work gets in the way of workouts...what's up with that?!

St. George Half Marathon

Warmed up from the hotel with Bryant and Ken.  During the warmup I felt a little sluggish, but felt pretty good on my strides.  I got one last visit to the potty and was ready to roll.  The weather was a bit chilly at first but after a few miles it felt fine.

The gun went on and Ken and I ran side by side in front for the first straightaway.  After the turn he dropped back a bit and Holt got up on my side.  After 400 meters it was really just Holt and me, which was surprising; I thought more people would challenge for the lead early on.  But, judging from everyone's times, they started conservatively and it paid off as many people had great times today.

Mile 1 split 5:14.  Dave and I were just rolling side by side with a tiny bit of chatting but not much.  Ben was biking alongside us and he and Dave struck up a light conversation as well.

Mile 2 5:17.  This was some gradual uphill; nothing bad though.  I was still just feeling out the race and getting into a rhythm.  Dave was still alongside me.

Mile 3 5:11. This mile was some downhill followed by some up and then a bit more down.  I think Dave dropped back at some point during this mile.  I was starting to roll and ready to increase the pace.

Mile 4 5:03.  Feeling good and just rolling along.  Ben keeps telling me to continue to open the lead up.

Mile 5 5:05.  The hills start on this portion.  The lead bike takes a wrong turn, but I knew the right way and ignored them.

Mile 6 5:19.  There was some decent uphill on this section.  It's all uphill but it's not steep; just a grind.  But I felt good and just tried to maintain a good pace.  Toward the end of this mile I thought I may need to stop for a pit stop, but was hoping to hold it.

Mile 7 5:18.  This mile contains the steepest portion of the course, but I attacked it and kept the pace under 5:20.  My stomach is really starting to churn though and I feel like it cost me a few seconds on this mile and the next two.

Mile 8 5:04.  Some good downhill followed by a good flat section.  I wasn't laboring at all and I didn't even feel like I was racing on this mile, yet I couldn't go faster with my stomach churning.  This mile should've been like 4:55.  It was that good of a stretch of down and flat.

Mile 9 5:07.  I know by now that I'm going to have to stop for a potty break, but the helicopter is overhead and flying low and watching me!  I'll wait until it goes away.  Also the lead biker is a girl so I will wait until she goes around a curve.

Mile 10 5:42.  There's a really good spot behind a bush right off the paved trail and the lead biker is out of sight.  I pull off the side and take care of business.  I am now only running with one glove ;-)  Ben timed my stop and had it at 25 seconds.  It was worth stopping because I couldn't run faster than 5:20 at this point without the stop.

Mile 11 5:03.  I am really feeling good and feel like I have a ton left in the tank.

Mile 12 5:00.  I've made the turn and am heading toward the finish.  I can't believe how easy the pace is feeling.

Mile 13 4:55.  I'm really rolling.  Ben can tell I'm not laboring much and yells at me "come on! start working!"  

Finish 4:35 pace for the last bit.  I realize I just missed going under 1:08 and the pit stop cost me that 1:07, but you gotta do what you gotta do (my "moving time" on my garmin report was 1:07:43, which would have been a 1 second PR).  I finish and feel like I left quite a bit on the course.  I felt so good.  I felt like I could've kept rolling.  The mile splits are from my garmin and my garmin had the race at 13.19, so add a about 2 seconds per mile to get about what the actual splits were on the mile markers.

Overall, I am happy with the result.  It's a new non-aided PR by two minutes on a very honest course with some good uphill portions.  Before the race Ben said I had 1:07:30 in me and I didn't really believe him.  But now I think maybe I could've come close to that with a quicker start.  But this is a confidence builder and I am excited for the new year.

Bryant was second and we were hoping Ken would finish third for a 1-2-3 sweep for our training group, but he didn't quite have it. 

It was great to hang out after with everyone: Ben, Scott, Bryant, Jon, Spencer, Ken, Matt. And I met more of the Utah county crew: Brandon and Mike. 

Congrats to everyone who ran.  It was so good to come down and get out of the cold and haze.  St. George did a great job of putting this race on and Aaron Metler is to be commended as the race director: job well done! 

Here's the garmin data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/264368349

9 miles easy with Ken in Ogden. 

Single digits and haze!  It's so nice to be back!  My legs felt pretty decent this morning; there's no soreness, just a tad of fatigue.  I'll see how they are feeling tomorrow morning and decide whether I can do my aerobic builder tomorrow or if I need to push it back to Wednesday.

AM: AEROBIC BUILDER

I decided my legs felt up to getting back to business as usual, and that means an aerobic builder on Tuesdays.  With it being 5 degrees outside, I headed to the gym and did the workout on the treadmill.  I averaged 5:21 pace for 8 miles.

PM: 5 miles easy on the base perimeter road.  It's still cold in the afternoon and the road is still covered in ice...yeah!

AM: No run.  I got violently ill last night with some sort of flu bug or food poisoning or something.  It was a long, miserable night (I lost 5 pounds overnight).  I feel a bit better this morning, but I feel very weak and dehydrated.  I don't have an appetite, but I will try to get some food and especially water down and see if I can get out for a really easy run this evening.

9.5 miles easy.  I feel really fatigued and low on energy from being sick, but I was able to slug out 9.5 easy miles.  I definitely didn't have any where near the energy needed to get in my weekly Thursday hard workout.  Hopefully I can get my energy levels back before Saturday's long run.

8 miles easy around South Weber.  It was cold, wet, and icy, but I was still able to hold a decent pace.  I feel like I'm almost fully recovered from my mid-week stomach virus.  I'm looking forward to a good long run tomorrow.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

LONG RUN

I met up with Jed, Ken, and Bryant for a 2.5 hour run.  Jed was only planning on 10 miles, so we headed out on a 10-mile loop.  Three miles in I simply had no energy and felt so weak.  I was thinking I was going to be lucky to make it 10 miles.  I figured my energy was still low from being sick.  But, after awhile I got going.  It never felt great, but I got the whole workout in.  Bryant and Ken stopped at 16 miles and then Ken drove 6.5 miles out and picked me up after I finished.  I threw in a 4-mile pickup at 5:27-ish average.  I wanted to average 5:20 but the first two miles were into a headwind and were slower, once I turned and it was a crosswind I easily managed 5:20 pace for the last two.

After shoveling my driveway tonight, I feel like yesterday's long run may not have been the best idea.  I was so wasted today trying to shovel.  My energy was way low.  Oh well, I will take tomorrow easy and see how I feel by Tuesday.

11 miles easy on base.  I still feel kind of wiped out from being sick last week.

AM: AEROBIC BUILDER & SHORT TEMPO

Well it snowed a ton again!  I am so done with this!  Anyway Ken met me at the the gym since an aerobic builder wasn't going to happen outside.  We warmed up two miles on the track and then hit the treadmills to get the workout in.  I was planning on doing 8-10 miles at 5:20-5:25 average pace.  But, 6.5 miles in I had to...you guessed it...use the restroom.  So I had 6.5 miles at a 5:22 average.  Then after a quick break I decided to finish with a tempo effort since aerobic builder pace would feel too easy after a break and for only another 3.5 miles.  So, I did a 3.5 mile tempo at 5:05 average to finish up.  1 mile cooldown on the track after.  It was a good workout and I'm happy to get it in. 

PM: 4 miles easy

10 miles easy on base.  I was pretty fatigued from yesterday's workout.  The snow shoveling workout that is!  Ok, the actually running workout played a role too.  So, I just went really easy this morning.

1,000 METER REPEATS

Even though I woke up and there wasn't new snow on my driveway and the temperature was nice, I went to the gym to run 1,000 meter repeats on the treadmill.  It's nice out there this morning, but still a little too slick to attempt running 4:40 pace on.  So I warmed up two miles on the track with some strides and then got on a treadmill.  I did 10 x 1,000 meters at 2:53.5 or 4:39 pace with 1:30 rest.  After I cooled down two more miles on the track.  It was a great workout, but now I need to find a way to run that pace for 10,000 meters without taking a 90 second rest 9 times during it ;-)