Everything Counts

AM 12 miles easy.  I met up with Ken and Bret at the 21st Street Pond.  We did two miles with Bret and then he did some mile repeats.  Ken and I just went easy on the Parkway.

PM 5.1 miles easy with 3.5 of it barefoot on grass.

AM: AEROBIC BUILDER

I thought I was going to be flying solo this morning, but then Jace text me last night and said he'd join me if he didn't get called in to work.  Lucky, for me he didn't get called in and I had a running partner this morning.  We met at 21st Pond and warmed up three miles.  Then we started the AB.  The goal was to average 5:35 pace, since we both feel our fitness isn't where it was in the spring when these were a weekly staple in our training.  It turned out pretty decent, we ran 7 miles at 5:33 avg.  We passed Coach Hislop along the way who was out for a walk, but we didn't stop to talk since it was in the middle of our AB. 

After we planned to jog 0.5 miles and then do 4x400 meters.  We did the first one in 1:12, but then we ran into route difficulties.  When I mapped the run online it showed a road going through an area, but it actually didn't go through there, so we had to search for another way and it took up some time.  By the time we found a way through (if we didn't find one we would've had to add another 2-3 miles to the run), too much time had passed so we bagged the last three 400s.

I'm happy to get this in and have Jace there to run it with me.  I need to get back to doing these weekly.  Jace and I discusssed how these are a necessary evil for us, since we aren't as predisposed to distance/endurance as most other distance runners.  We can take any amount of pain you want to throw at us for 5 minutes, but we hate the slow, gradual pain for an extended period of time.

PM: 3.2 miles easy

10.56 miles easy. I'm in Orem for the week for Amy's family's reunion. So I got the pleasure of running with Matt and Spencer from Matt's house in Lehi this morning. Good run with great company.

FREEDOM FESTIVAL 5K

Well this went about as good as I can expect with where my current fitness is and with the mileage I've done this week leading into the race.

The race started and I was in about 6th or so for the first half mile. Then I pulled even with Brett hales and Jon nelson just before the mile. First mile was 4:53.

Then they gapped me on the second mile and I got passed too so I was fourth. Mile 2 4:59.

now you start the climb. The race has a net overall elevation gain. I passed the third place guy powering up the hill and then tried to finish strong. mile three was 5:15.

12 miles easy from Orem soccer fields up Provo Canyon and back. Then 2 miles barefoot on the grass. Nice and cool this morning.

I had a good long run this morning with Brad Osguthorpe. We met at the mouth of Provo Canyon and ran an easy 8 miles up into South Fork. Then did three miles at marathon pace 5:45 5:24 and 5:30 and then dropped the pace even more for another 3.5 5:17 5:07 5:08 and 5:03 for last half mile. We were going to do eight miles of tempo but Brad had to use the bathroom after 6.5. That's right Brad had to stop not Riley!

Good run and temps this morning.

AM: 11 miles easy on the parkway with Bret, Jon, Albert, and Ben.

Lunch: 4.33 miles easy.  I did the last tenth at 3:12 pace.  I've been doing a fast tenth at the end of a run about once a week and this was my fastest yet.  I think I'm getting my speed back slowly. 

PM: 3 miles easy with Amy and while pushing kids in stroller.

AEROBIC BUILDER

I met up with Jace for another AB.  We did the same route as last week (minus the detour on the cooldown) and our goal was to average about 5 seconds faster than last week (5:33 avg for 7 miles last week).  We did a pretty good job: 7 miles at 5:28 average.  The pace is coming back a bit.  Now we need to extend this to 8-10 miles and keep the same pace and then speed it up again, until we get to 10 miles at 5:20.  It will take some time, but we'll get back there again.

My morning weigh-in was the lowest it's been since March 29, which is also encouraging.  I know weight can fluctuate a lot, so I don't put much stock in a single day's weigh in.  But, it's still nice to see a lower number.  I keep track of real weight progress with weekly averages.

15 miles easy from 21st Pond with Ken, Ben, Bret, Bryant, and Jon.  Great crew this morning and good times.

LIGHT INTERVALS

I met up with Albert, Jace, and Bret at the pond for a light workout.  After a 4-mile warmup we did 2 x 1.5 miles.  Goal was to run 5:10 for the first mile and then drop the last 0.5 to 5:00 pace.

Split 1 - 7:37 (5:07, 2:30)

3 minutes rest

Split 2 - 7:31 (5:04, 2:27)

These felt easier than I anticipated, especially coming off a 15-mile run yesterday.  I feel like I could've easily done another and even a fourth if necessary.

6.2 miles easy in South Weber.

BRYCE CANYON HALF MARATHON

So, I didn't decide until Thursday night that I was going to race this.  I knew I wanted to race this weekend, I just wasn't quite sure where.  I thought I'd do Bryce if I could get someone to head down with me, but I didn't have any takers until Thursday Bret said he'd come with me.  This was Bret's first half marathon as a post-collegiate runner and he did well (3rd Place 1:11:50).

So Bret and I headed down Friday afternoon, checked into an old, run-down motel in Panguitch and then went to packet pickup.

At the starting line I realized I would likely win the race.  I didn't really see anyone I knew, except for Jason Nance, who ran for Weber the last few years, but has chosen to forego his senior year.  Sure enough after a half mile it thinned out quickly.  I promised myself I would take the first two miles very, very conservatively.  The race starts at 7600 feet and the first two miles are flat.  I had no intention of going out too quickly at 7600 feet and paying for it the rest of the race.  So, two miles in I was about 10 seconds back from Jason, but right where I wanted to be. Mile 1 5:26 Mile 2 5:28

After two miles the course drops substantially.  This is a very aided course, albeit at high elevation.  Mile three is easily the quickest and steepest.  Right when the downhill started I quickened my  pace as planned and flew down mile three.  I passed Jason very quickly and just went right on by.  Mile 3 4:34

Miles 4-7 are all very decent downhill, although not as steep as mile three.  I am not a very good downhill runner, due to my form (arched back).  So, I just tried to focus here on getting my shoulders forward and not working against gravity.  Mile 4 4:45 Mile 5 4:46 Mile 6 4:48 Mile 7 4:57

Here the race flattens out a bit and even has a minor uphill (how dare they!).  I tried to keep the effort up on this stretch.  I knew if I could manage decent splits for these next two miles, I'd get some good downhill again after these.  Mile 8 5:06 Mile 9 5:07

I knew at this point I had the race in the bag and it was now only a matter of how fast could I finish.  The next two miles are still good downhill and I kept the rhythm going.  Mile 10 5:03 Mile 11 5:05.

Two miles to go and my legs were aching some from the pounding downhill.  Luckily for my legs the course flattens out again to the finish.  I kept a good effort here, but let up a bit mentally, which cost me a 1:05:xx.  My only regret is not pushing these miles a bit more.  But when you have the race in the bag sometimes it's easy to let up a tad.  Mile 12 5:13 Mile 13 5:13 and 5:04 for last tenth.  Final time of 1:06:15.

I am pretty happy with this effort.  It's a PR for me, although it's quite aided.  The race starts at 7600 feet and finishes at 5800 feet.  So it has a lot of drop to help your pace.  But I was happy I still managed pretty decent splits on the flat sections at 6,000+ feet.

I don't think this is my best effort of the year, even though it's my fastest.  I still think St. George, Strider's, and SLC halves were more impressive.  But this is way better than I've been running since April, so I will certainly take it.  I'm also glad I didn't get sucked into a faster pace those first two miles and was able to stick to my race plan (high 5:20s is fast enough for flat miles at 7600 feet).

I was happy for Bret to take third.  He trains with us a lot but rarely races, so it was good to get him out in a race. 

My legs are going to be sore, I'm certain.  So, I may have to take a few easy days at the start of next week.  But, after that it'll be back to the grind.  I've started my Aerobic Builders again and I've gotten my weight down to 151-ish, so I'm getting back on track and hope I can surpass my spring fitness in a few more weeks.

Oh two more notes.  This is the most mileage I've ever had in a week I've raced a half marathon.  Also, today I surpassed my total miles last year of 5:30 or faster pace.  So, that shows that my quality of training has been much, much better this year.

9.5 miles easy.

AM: 6.5 miles easy.

PM: 5.5 miles easy.

AM: 8.75 miles easy.

PM: 4.5 miles easy. Very hot. Very humid here in Ohio. Legs still don't have bounce in them since Saturdays race. I'm hoping they'll feel well enough for a workout tomorrow but not that may not happen.

6.25 miles easy in South Weber.  I got home late last night from my work trip and it was a tough week of running in Ohio! Good to be home.  I've felt pretty sore, fatigued, and tired all week from the half last weekend.  Add to that the two-hour time change (running at 3:00 am MST) and the hottest, most humid week they've had all year back there and it turned out to just be a flat week.

I planned on hitting 85 miles this week, but there's no way that was going to happen.  Every morning (and afternoon) that I left the hotel to run, I always turned back earlier than planned soaked, tired, and with no energy.  Yesterday's Aerobic Builder was a disgrace.  So, I gave in and decided this would be an easy/recovery week. 

Tomorrow's race could be either really bad if I still feel like blah.  Or it could be really good with all the 7:30+ paced miles I've trudged through this week.  I guess we'll see tomorrow.

On the positive side, my weigh in this morning was really good.  Usually after work trips (or any trip) I come home up on weight for a few days, but it was down this time.  So, the nutrition changes are helping.

DRAPER DAYS 5K

Pretty good race for me this morning.  I feel like I'm gaining some of my lost fitness back. Spencer was awesome enough to pick up race packets for Ben and me and let us stay at his place last night.  Thanks Spence!  It was nice not having to wake up early and drive down.

My goal for the race was to run hard and really get after it.  I really didn't know what to expect.  I felt pretty horrible all week, so I figured it could be as good as 15:00 or as bad as 15:30.  But I wanted to go hard after 15:00.

The first mile we got out pretty decent but not quite as fast as I wanted.  I wanted 4:45-ish.  I took the lead about 0.6 miles in and tried to quicken the pace a bit, but still only came through in like 4:53 (on garmin; according to mile mark 4:48).  I was slightly in the lead but a good group was right there with me, about five of us I think.

In the second mile Jake threw in a surge and Josh, Tomy, and Teren went with him.  I fell back about two seconds or so.  But then I focused on getting my shoulders forward and caught right back up.  At the turn Josh and I were side by side leading with me on the outside.  We came up to a turn where there had been some construction and there was a temporary stop sign about five feet away from the curb.  Apparently Josh thought we had to round that so he turned very wide and with me being on his shoulder I didn't really have a choice but to turn even wider.  Meanwhile Teren and Jake took the inside of the stop sign and gained a few feet on us.  I was kind of annoyed at Josh, but oh well.  I don't blame Teren or Jake at all, that's the same path I would have taken had Josh not been in my way.  So, now I was in like 4th just like that and I never caught back up to Teren, he and Josh pulled away from me a bit right before mile 2 and Jake fell back just a tad.  Mile two was 4:43.

Mile three has some decent uphill and I was just trying to bear down and run hard to the finish, knowing that Jake was breathing down my neck.  I couldn't make up ground  on Josh and Teren though either.  Mile three was 4:58 and then 4:34 pace for the last tenth.  Finish time of 15:04. 

I'm happy with this.  It's the best flat 5k I've run since college.  I had fun cooling down and hanging out with everyone afterward (Spencer, Ben, Scott, Jake, and Bryant - who was kind enough to handicap himself by running 10 miles in 60 minutes before the race!)

HALF-MILE REPEATS

Did a lighter interval session to keep things sharp for Wednesday's half marathon.  I met up with Ken, Ben, Jon, Bret, and Bryant at the pond.  We warmed up 5 miles after which Bret and Bryant continued easy for a long run, while the rest of us did a workout.

Ken, Jon, and I did 6x0.5 miles with 1:45 jog for rest.  Ben did one half mile and then five quarters.  My splits were 2:25 2:23 2:26 2:24 2:25 and 2:21.  Ken ran with me and Jon was only 3-4 seconds back on the first five and then only 1-2 seconds back on the last one, so that was a great workout for him.

5 miles easy.  Looking forward to the race tomorrow.

AM: DES NEWS HALF MARATHON

It was an early start to the day.  I woke up at 2:30, got ready, and then met my Mom and Ben at the park n ride in South Weber.  We caught the buses at Rice Eccles and got to the starting line with 1.5 hours to spare (I hate how early they bus you up there and then make you wait).  Did a 2-mile warmup with Ben and Josh and found a secret bathroom during this time too of course!

The race started and Brett, Fritz, and I came gunning out of the gates.  First mile was 4:34 with a lot of downhill.  After that Fritz fell back a bit and it was just Brett and me for the rest of the canyon.  We ran virtually side by side up until just after mile 7.  Then, I just hit a wall.  I went from sub-5:00s to 5:1xs in no time.  I think I still have some residual fatigue in my legs from Bryce.  Miles 8-13.1 were a grind, I just didn't have any juice.  Brett pulled away quite easily and the rest was pretty uneventful, just me plugging along at a slower pace running in and out of slow 10k runners.  I really wanted to hit 1:05:xx, but I just didn't have it today.

But, the time was still decent and I can't complain about 2nd place either.

Splits: 434 448 454 (14:51 5k) 455 454 449 (29:57 at 10k) 449 509 502 514 517 516 527 and 535 pace for last bit.

It was awesome seeing so many friends and bloggers at the finish.  Just about everyone was there...good times.  The 10k had quite the deep field and I was a little jealous I wasn't part of that competitive beast, sounds like it was a battle.

PM: 4 miles easy pushing the kids in the jogger and running with Amy on the Riverdale Parkway.  All in all a pretty productive mandatory furlough day from work.

AM: 9.1 miles easy on North Base Loop.  My legs weren't even close to being as sore as they were the day after Bryce.  So, that is very good news.  They actually felt somewhat decent this morning.  Usually two days later is when they feel the most fatigued for me after a half so we'll see how they feel tomorrow.

PM: 4.05 miles easy pushing the girls in the jogger.  Didn't feel as good this evening as I did this morning.  Still not sore but very TIRED.

AM: 10.15 miles easy on the trails with Dave.  It was a very enjoyable run at a nice, easy, and conversational pace.  I wore my brand new trail shoes and they were very nice; no more rock bruises!

PM: 4.27 miles easy in South Weber.  I ran the last 0.11 miles at 3:25 mile pace. It felt awesome; you eat up the ground so quickly at those speeds.

13.7 miles easy with Brett and Jace.  Somehow Brett convinced Jace and me to drive to Midvale to run with him.  We did some trail running in Dimple Dell (I guess that's what it's called).  Now he owes us a Saturday run up North.  Jace brought some of the spoils of his earlier 5k (chocolate milk delivered to his house for 13 weeks!) and shared with us after...delicious!

My legs were very tired and ready to call it a week.  Now it's off to the Zoo and City Creek to celebrate my daughter Evelyn's 3rd birthday!

AM: AEROBIC BUILDER

I usually do these on Tuesdays, but I have to go to Ohio again in a couple hours for work for the week.  And it's tough to get quality workouts in back there when I'm working, so I wanted to do this before I left.

Bret agreed to run with me, which turned out to be very nice and helpful.  Bret ran the first five miles at my pace and then he took a short break and finished the last three miles at 6:00.  I ended up averaging 5:27/mile for eight miles.  It was really nice to have Bret there for the first five; these aren't fun to do solo.  I thought this was a great effort for Bret too and his progress is coming along nicely.  I am happy with my effort this morning too.  It's about the same pace as two weeks ago only I extended it from 7 to 8 miles.  Ideally, I will be doing these for 10 miles at 5:20 pace in a few weeks. 

PM: 6.35 miles once we got checked into the hotel. Ran down to the Great Miami River Parkway.

11.1 miles easy and very early.

PM: 4 miles easy.

1,000 METER REPEATS

I wasn't able to do as many as I wanted but this was still ok. Goal was three sets of five reps with 1:05 rest between reps and 3:00 between sets. But crazy humidity and gi distress caused me to only do two sets. The humidity didn't slow me down or fatigue me as much as it just annoyed me. I was sopping wet and my shoes would squish out sweat out the sides with each step. That combined with a search for a bathroom after the tenth rep that took too long just caused me to call it early.

So I did two sets of five repeats or ten total 1,000s in an avg of 3:02 or like 4:52 pace.

Oh and I hate afternoon workouts now. I used to prefer them but now my stomach just struggles with them.