Everything Counts

7.45 Miles @ 6:22 pace.  Finally, I am able to get a decent run in!  My knee is getting better and wasn't painful today, only slightly uncomfortable the last 1.5 miles.  Hopefully it's on the way to full recovery and I can put a horrible month of June running behind me and move forward.  I did a 400 Meter pickup up the main hill on my course today in 75 and then picked up the last 800 Meters in 2:31.

5.03 miles @ 7:02 pace.  I tried to keep the pace easy this morning, as this was my first back-to-back days of running since mid-June.  I wasn't sure how the knee would respond, so I went short and easy.  The knee held up fine and wasn't even uncomfortable at all during the run, so that's a huge relief. 

I didn't have high hopes for this race after how poorly I ran last Saturday.  The goal was similar to Saturday, just run hard and pick up some circuit points.

Showed up 45 minutes early, warmed up 2 miles with Ken Richardson and Albert Wint.

The course was mostly run on State Street in Murray.  The first mile is uphill then you turn around and come back down and the third mile is uphill for the first half and downhill for the second half.

I knew it would be a competitive race.  Teren Jameson, Jamal Tongo, Nate Hornock, Ken Richardson, and Albert Wint are all very good runners.  The race started and Teren, Ken, Jamal, and two high schoolers got out very quickly.  I settled into 6th place and ran the first mile in 5:13.  I passed the two high schoolers right around the mile mark.  Ken, Jamal, and Teren were like 4:50 for that first mile (uphill!).  Nate caught up to me just at the turnaround and we ran the next half mile mostly together.  Nate gapped me by about 4 seconds at 1.5 miles.  Up ahead I could see Teren pulling away, Jamal in second, and Ken somewhat coming back to us.  The second mile was 5:01.

Nate got up to maybe 7 seconds on me by 2.5 miles.  Ken was about 15 seconds up.  We approached a sharp right turn and Ken glanced back and saw Nate and I were closing and he threw in a surge to keep his lead.  At 2.9 I had closed on Nate and the gap was 4-5 seconds.  I decided it was time to go to the closet, find my old wheels from my days running the mile, dust them off, and see if they still worked!  I started kicking hard (somewhere in here I hit mile 3 but was too busy kicking to see my pace, later I found out it was 5:04) Nate turned back and saw me after the crowd got louder and he started sprinting.  I found yet another gear and went into 100 meter all out sprint.  I ended up getting him by 3-4 seconds for 4th place.  My last .15 was 34 seconds or 3:44 mile pace! I figure my last 400 was sub-60.

Total time was 15:54 (though I had 15:52 and it was hand timed so who's to say who was more accurate) for 3.15 miles (at least according to my garmin).

So the race went alot better than I expected after how poorly Saturday went.  What a difference just two days of running makes! The best news of the day was my knee didn't bother me at all!

3.35 mile cooldown with Ken.  Teren and Nate joined us for part of it as well.

Got home and did my 10.5 minute ab workout.

7.5 miles @ 6:27 pace.  Met Ken early before work on base for an easy 7.5 mile run.  It was pretty windy this morning.  We picked up 400 meters on the main uphill again in 73 seconds.  Other than that just a nice easy morning run.  Finished up with 10.5 minutes of ab workout.

5.21 miles @ 6:42 avg pace.  Got an easy run in at lunch.  I had considered cross training as a precaution with the knee, but decided to just do an easy, short run instead.  The weather wasn't too bad for July mid-day.  Did some light leg lifting and 10.5 minute ab workout afterwards.

MOUNTAIN RUN!

15.78 miles @ 8:24 avg pace.  Up at 4 am and started running at 5.  Ran up Ben Lomond Peak with Ken, Jon, Bryant, and Ben.  This was Ben's second ascent in three days! Crazy kid that one!  He was a bit fatigued and told us to just go.  We waited for him on top.  Beautiful morning to run up there!  We hit the summit just after sunrise. Cold on top but the cool breeze was awesome on the descent once the sun was up.  We gained 3,780 feet in the first 7.9 miles and then dropped that much on the way down.  Awesome run, we need to run it more often.  I haven't run this mountain since like 2005, it was nice to run it again.

12 miles easy @ 6:46 avg pace.  I ran a loop around the base before work.  My quads were a little sore/tender still from Saturday's run, so I just kept the pace nice and easy.

AM: 8.26 miles at 6:44 avg pace.  My legs felt quite fatigued today.  Yesterday they were sore but still had some spring; today they weren't really sore just tired.  First two miles were substantially slower than the rest of the run.  I picked up for 400 Meters on the hill again into the wind in 74 seconds.  I also did an 800 Meter pickup going on a slight downhill with a tailwind in 2:17. 

I had a hard time waking up this morning and planned on getting some abs and light lifting in after my run, but had to cut that part of the workout to get to work on time.

PM: 4.42 miles at 6:48 avg pace.  I got in a quick, easy run after we layed Evelyn down for bed.  I ran to the park and did a mile barefoot on the grass, during which I did four 20-second pickups at about 200 meter speed. 

After I got back I got my 10.5 minute ab workout in.

7.33 miles @ 6:37 avg pace.  This morning was rough.  This is the worst I've felt on a run in quite sometime.  My resting heart rate this morning was about 6 beats higher than normal, meaning I'm fatigued and may be headed for sickness.  I planned a 4-mile tempo this morning and still tried to do it.  The first mile was 5:47 uphill into a very strong headwind.  The effort felt sub-5:00, it was a brutal mile.  Mile two was 5:15, this was substantially easier than the first mile (1/4 of it was still uphill into wind, then flat with crosswind).  After the second mile I felt so fatigued that I called off the other two miles of the tempo.  On the way back, I felt so tired that I was struggling to hit 7:15.  I guess I need some rest. 

Afterward I did 6-minute ab workout.

4.03 miles @ 7:02 avg pace.  I am definitely coming down with a bit of a cold or something.  I thought about resting today, but decided to give it a try running and see how I feel.  I felt pretty wasted so I turned around after two miles and headed back.  I am pumping in the vitamin C and hopefully this illness won't last long. 

No run today.  I am still getting over this bit of sickness I've had.  I am registered for a race tomorrow and figured I could use the rest given my fatigue and sickness as of late.

This morning I ran the Run through the Lavender Half Marathon.  It well organized and was a really fun time.  They also had great prizes, both overall and age group.

I slept in Lindon at Amy's Grandma's house.  Got up early and met the Talley's just off I-15 and rode with them down to the race.  Before the race even started I was quite certain I was going to place 5th.  There was quite a fast field today and my fitness isn't very high right now.  The field included Jon Kotter, Jake Krong, Brett Hales, and Alden Bahr.

I only got a very short warmup in of one mile, but the race went out slower, so it wasn't a problem.  There was a group of 6 at the start and the first two miles were 5:41 and 5:44.  Jon Rosswog fell off the pace somewhere around mile 2 and then there were five of us.  I knew I couldn't hang with these guys once they got moving, but as long as they were running slower I may as well have someone to run with.  Mile 3 was 5:31.  The pace quickened after mile 3 and I knew I couldn't hold it so I backed off and let the four of them go.  Mile 4 was 5:25 (They must've been around 5:15).  The uphill started at this point and didn't really let up untill 11.5 miles.  But it was only gradual and gentle for most of it.  When we turned to head East I glanced back to see where 6th place was and I couldn't see anyone at all anywhere close.  So, I was quite a ways behind the top four and way out in front of 6th in no man's land.  I figured, well heck why kill myself if I'm not going to improve my place, so I let up a tad.  I wanted to keep a still somewhat honest pace, but not kill myself.  Miles 5-10 were 5:36 5:42 5:55 5:46 5:52 and 5:49. 

At this point we turned into the lavender fields and we had quite the uphill from 10.5 to 11.5 and the last mile was mostly downhill to the finish.  I glanced back a few times to make sure no one was coming up on me and sure enough no one was in sight, so I coasted to the finish.  Final miles were 6:02 6:00 5:33 and 1:12 for final .23.  The final time was 1:15:54.

Alden was first followed by Brett, Jon, and Jake.  The 5k was also super competitive.  I won $100 for 5th place, which is pretty good for 5th!  I finished with about the time I estimated I could run on this uphill course.  It wasn't fancy by any means, but it was a good workout and I had fun.  Even if I had pushed harder I wouldn't have been more than a minute faster and Jake in 4th beat me by like three minutes, so I'm glad I cut back the effort a bit in the middle and save the legs a bit.

It was fun to see some old teammates in Corbin (7th in half), Brett (2nd), and Jace (3rd in 5k).  I ran three miles slowly and not all at once for a cooldown.

20 miles @ 6:33 avg. pace.  We're visiting Amy's family up in Washington this week.  So, I had plenty of time to get a good run in.  I went 20 miles along the Columbia River.  At 13 miles I mixed is some faster stuff:

2 miles in 10:33

1 mile in 4:55

1/2 mile in 2:21

1/4 mile in 1:07

I jogged a half mile in between each.  Overall, it was a pretty good run. 

8.02 miles at 7:05 avg pace.   Just a nice and easy run this morning.  My legs were a bit tired from yesterday's run, so I kept this one pretty easy.

AM: WORKOUT: MILE REPEATS

I did some "lighter" mile repeats down by the river.  I wanted to get a good workout in, but not run so fast that I'd be tired tomorrow.  I warmed up 2.5 miles then did mile repeats along the river.  The goal was 5:08-5:10 pace with 2 minutes in between.

Splits: 5:07 5:11 5:09 5:06 and 5:04

Afterward I cooled down 1.93 miles.

PM: 5.83 miles @ 6:47 avg. pace.  Just easy later evening miles up in the hills.  Pace ranged from 7:30 to 5:30, but the effort was pretty consistent.

AM: 5.21 miles at 6:59 avg. pace.  Just some easy morning miles.  I ran barefoot on the grass for two miles, after when I put my shoes back on it felt like I was running with concrete blocks on my feet.

PM: 4.13 miles at 7:01 avg pace.  Very similar route to last night.

No run today :(  I drove 9 hours back from Washington and was just too tired to get out and run late at night.

DRAPER DAYS 5K

Well I woke up at 4:45 to get ready and meet Ben at the Park and Ride to drive down to Draper.  Both of us were way tired and weren't sure how up to racing we felt.  Once we got there we noticed it was going to be a pretty packed field today.  We ran into Albert and the three of us warmed up together.

Once the race got started I settled into about 5:00 pace on the first mile.  I was surprised to see I was in 9th place a half mile into the race, despite running 5-minute pace.  In front, running five abreast were Teren, Jamal, Ben, Fritz, and Albert.  Slightly behind them were Ken, Steve, and Nate.  I passed Steve around 3/4 mile in and was in 8th at the mile. Mile One 5:00

Right at the mile you turn and head West and it's a decent downhill.  I started feeling really good and made a move. I passed Albert in the next half mile.  We turned and started heading north and I was gaining on Ben and Fritz.  Right before mile two I passed those two at the same time.  Fritz looked like he was tempted to latch on and come with me, so I threw in a quick surge to discourage it (sorry Fritz).  I was now in 5th and closing on Nate and Ken. Mile Two 4:50

Nate moved up and passed Ken in front of me, Ken tried to go with him but just didn't have it.  I passed Ken seconds after that and moved into 4th where I would stay.  I was only about three seconds back of Nate but he started moving really well.  We made the turn back East again and now had to finish uphill as it was a loop course with the start and finish right next to each other.  Nate snuck a peak and saw me a few seconds back and decided to build a lead since I outkicked him last time.  He ended up beating me by about 8 seconds I think.  He told me after the race I had put the fear of God in him after last race so he really ran hard to build the lead and discouage me attempting a kick; it worked I was too far out of range to attempt one.  Mile Three 5:05 and final .11 in 31 seconds or 4:52 pace.

Total time 15:25 

I was very happy with this race as it's substantially better than I was running three weeks ago.  I cooled down with Ben, Nate, and Albert.  And later hung out with those guys and Fritz.  Good times.

AM: PROGRESSIVE TEMPO RUN

Met Ken on base at 5:15 to get in an early run.  We looped around the base.  5.72 miles easy then started into a 5-mile progressive tempo run. 

Goal Splits were 5:40 5:30 5:20 5:10 5:00

Actual Splits were 5:34 5:28 5:17 5:09 4:54 (miles 3&4 are slightly aided)

We finished the loop with the last 1.28 miles easy.  It was a really good run to get the week started.

PM: 4 miles easy @ 7:15 pace.

AM: 8 easy miles at roughly 7:10 pace.  Met Dave and Jed at the Parkway at 5:45 to get in an easy run this morning.  My watch's battery drained halfway through the run, but I know the 4 mile turnaround from before I had a garmin.  Nice run and good company.

PM: 5.11 miles at 6:43 pace.  Late evening run around South Weber.  I saw lots of people out doing fireworks along the way.  I did my 10.5 minute ab workout afterward.

7.43 miles at 7:00 pace.  I ran the north base loop.  I picked 1/4 mile on the uphill again in 76 seconds; I gain 60 feet during this quarter mile.  Other than that just some slow, easy miles.

6.1 miles @ 6:50 pace.  Just an easy out and back on the base perimeter road.

3.4 miles @ 6:53 pace.

MORGAN VALLEY MARATHON

I had a plan to use this as a good, quality distance and as a trial run on trying to nail down in-race marathon nutrition.  I've had bad experiences of running out of fuel in marathons, so I wanted to use a small, low-key marathon to practice taking in more calories.

I had a great support crew this morning who drove the whole way and gave me water and gatorade every few miles which was sweet.

My plan was to run 20 miles very conservative and then use the last 6.2 as a tempo.  In short, I executed that plan perfectly.  The course is very honest.  It's a loop course with rolling hills, you gain and lose 600 feet over the race; and the elevation is just over 5,000 feet.

I ran the first few miles with Bryant Jensen who planned on running a bit faster than I planned so once he was ready to get rolling at his faster pace I was on my own.  We were in 2nd and 3rd place for quite awhile.

I had to take a whiz on mile 6 and I had to take two additional pits stops along the way.  The stomach was just not cooperating AGAIN.  Everytime I was about to pass the second place guy, I had to stop for a pit stop.  These last two stops were during miles 9 and 13.

I finally caught the second place guy right as I started my 6.2 mile tempo during mile 21.  The last 6.5 miles felt awesome and I had plenty of fuel to finish strong. 

We were midirected in the second mile and from mile 2 on my watch was consistently beeping .25 miles before the marker.  The cops had taken us down the half marathon route and it adding an early quarter mile.

So my official time was 2:43:32 I think; my watch had me at 26.2 miles in 2:41:49.  And my moving time (minus the three potty stops) was 2:41:24 for the 26.53 miles.  So, I was stopped at breaks for like 3 minutes.

Overall, I feel good about this.  Clearly, it was easier to not bonk when you run conservative for 20 miles, but it's nice to feel awesome the last 6 miles of a marathon. 

Splits (potty break miles marked with *): 6:40 6:22 6:19 6:11 6:14 6:30* 6:05 6:06 6:48* 6:01 6:12 6:21 7:29* 6:04 6:07 6:09 6:15 6:16 6:07 6:03 5:43 5:52 5:47 5:46 5:37 5:28 and 2:50 (5:21 pace) for last .53.

Garmin report: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/203989053

Oh and the highlight of the week was I tied my weekly mileage all-time PR at 72 miles.

AM: 7.73 miles easy.  Got up early and met Bentley and Troy (some neighbors) to go for an easy run around South Weber.  My legs aren't sore at all from the marathon, but they are a bit heavy from fatigue.

PM: 5.48 miles easy.  Ran in the blistering heat out and back on the base perimeter road.  I tacked on a bit extra at the end.

8.13 miles easy.  Got up early again and met Jed and Dave at the Riverdale Parkway.  Lots of bugs out this morning.