Everything Counts

LONG RUN

We had a great group out this morning for a long run down Monte Cristo into Huntsville.  We met up at Rainbow Gardens and from there piled into Ben's Van.  We had Ken, Ben, Bryant, Dave, Jon, and Jason.  Albert was the hero of the day and woke up early to drive us to the top and drop us off.  He's had some plantar's and hasn't been able to run with us lately, but was awesome to drive us today.

The run drops like 1800 feet in the first ten miles and then like 400 more feet over the last ten miles.  So, it's easy to keep a good pace early on in the run. We warmed up three miles and then ran in the 5:40s for awhile.  Bryant and I wanted to kind of do the run in a progression, but instead of every mile, we dropped the pace every five miles and then held steady for five miles.  So from 4-8 we were 543 543 536 535 539.  Mile 9 we stopped during the middle of to get water and take gels so it was a bit slower as we wanted to warm back into it with a 541.

Now the terrain levels off (although still a minor aide, it's basically the first few miles of Ogden Marathon or Strider's Half) and we were ready for the real meat of the run.  Miles 10-14 522 527 525 517 515.

Now we hit the section with the least amount of elevation drop (it appears flat but it's still down hill, kind of like miles 8-10 at TOU Half).  Here we wanted to finish up with a good 4-mile push.  Unfortunately my stomach started its shenanigans and I was able to hold off stopping for most of this section, but with 0.85 to go I just had to stop for a secret bathroom. These miles were 505 512 500 and 0.15 at 449 pace before the stop.  It's too bad my stomach couldn't hold out, I think we could've dropped a sub-5:00 on that last one.  Bryant did finish that mile while I stopped in like 506 and said he thinks he could've gone sub-5:00 had I not stopped and had we finished it together.

All in all I thought it was a really good run.  20.25 miles at a 5:42 average which includes warm up and cool down.  So, I'll take it.  I think I still could use some more endurance though, and I have a month to work on that.  The other guys all ran well too and I think everyone was sub-6:00 or close overall for the run.  It's fun running with these guys.  It was crazy humid this morning for Utah!  88% But we avoided rain the entire run!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/369458486#

pm: 3.4 mile shakeout run. Legs were TIRED.

10.5 miles easy with Ben and Dave. I felt like garbage the whole time, but just grinded it out. It was nice to have good company at least. This would've been an awful solo run.

PM: 4.3 miles easy.  I told Dave this morning I thought this afternoon's double would feel better than this morning's run.  During the first mile I thought I had made a liar of myself, but after that my legs loosened up quite a bit and I actually beat the 7:00 guy the rest of the run.

10.9 miles easy.  Today was just as slow as yesterday, but the legs felt much better.

AEROBIC BUILDER

We had another decent-sized group this moring with Bret, Jace, Bryant, Dave, and Jon.  It was dark early in the run and we were on the parkway with headlamps.  All of the sudden we heard an animal charging us from out of the bushes.  My first thought was skunk, but then it made a ferocious sound that only a large blood-thirsty animal could make.  I flashed my headlamp at the huge beast and saw not one, but two sets of eyes glowing in the headlamp.  Both creatures were charging but then retreated once I shined them pretty good with my light.  Turns out it was two small cats, on of which was a kitten...haha.  It scared the crap out of all of us though and I said, "Well, no need to warmup anymore more, our heartrates are plenty elevated".  It was pretty funny looking back on it.  We all thought for sure we were going to be attacked.  And in our defense it really did sound like a much larger animal than two small cats when it charged and "roared" at us.

On to the run itself.  Bryant and I ran together again.  We weren't sure how our legs would respond from high mileage and still feeling sluggish from Monday's long run.  But it turned out pretty dang good actually.  8 miles at a 5:11 average.  They all felt really good and in the aerobic range, except for the last one.  Bryant picked that one up to a 5:04 and it was slight uphill into headwind.  I think we left the "aerobic" range on that one, but otherwise all the 5:10-5:13s we threw down felt pretty aerobic.  So, I'm thrilled with it.

PM: 5 miles easy around South Weber.  I've seen the same dime on the road the last 7-8 easy runs I've done in South Weber and today I finally worked up the energy to bend over and pick it up.  It's been there for weeks, if I didn't pick it up how much longer would it have stayed there?

7.55 miles easy with Ben in North Ogden.

LAYTON CLASSIC 10K

My only goal for this race was to win.  I wasn't worried about time this morning and I was still undecided on if I was going to race Alta Downhill Dash tonight or just jog it, so I just wanted a "comfortable" win.  At the start it was pretty clear that Ben, Dave, James, and I were going to be the front runners this morning.  The race started and I just went out nice and relaxed.  I ran with Ben for the first mile and we split a 5:08.  The course really climbs a lot in miles two and three.  I just tried to keep the pace/effort at MP and ran these miles in 5:21 and 5:33.  At the halfway point the course starts to drop and you have some fast downhill miles.  My lead was pretty good so I didn't push these miles too much.  Miles four and five were 5:06 and 4:57.  Right after mile five my watch lost satellite reception (a bad habit my watch is forming - losing reception with a mile to go. The same thing happened at TOU Half with a mile to go...weird).  So I only have the split for the last 1.21 which was 5:51, which is 4:50 pace (which seems about right - I had 5k runners to pass and I think I ran the last mile the fastest).  Final time of 31:54.

After I cooled down two miles and then immediately jetted out of there to get ready to head to West Jordan for a baptism.  After the baptism I ate a lot of food.  I did this on purpose to help make the decision not to race Alta easier.  I really don't want a setback in my marathon training next week due to sore legs.  So, I decided to just take Alta extremely easy.  So I wore trainers and I ran with my brother Jared and his girlfriend Delia.  It was enjoyable to run a bit easier and to take in the views of that beautiful canyon.  I am sad that race is ending, it's the best value you can get.  You get a great meal afterward and the prizes, even age group prizes are fantastic.  I won first in my age group with a 35-minute downhill 8k...haha.  I guess it helps when you're the only person in the race in your age group!  All in all a great day.

Standard Examiner article on the Classic Race http://www.standard.net/stories/2013/09/07/runners-hit-classic-heart-health

And a few photos from the Standard:

And this last one was taken by Andrea and posted online by Jake.  Thanks guys:

AM: 12 miles easy on the Riverdale Parkway with Ken, Jason, Bret, Dave, and Bryant.

PM: 6.1 miles easy in South Weber with Amy and while pushing girls in the double jogger (my girls are growing I can tell!)

Just registered for Boston...dang that's a lot of money!

AM: AEROBIC BUILDER

Another solid crew this morning for the builder: Ben, Dave, Jason, and Jon.  I finally extended this workout to a longer distance.  I added an extra 1.5 miles to the usual loop while the other guys did the regular 8.  They were kind enough to wait a few minutes at the end for me.  So, I did 9.5 miles at a 5:15 avg.  I am pretty happy with the workout.  The pace was about 4 seconds per mile slower than last week, but 1.5 miles further and it was a solo effort.  So, I'll take it.  I think even with the slower pace, this is more specific to marathon training than last week's 8 miles at 5:11.

PM: 5.05 miles easy around the neighborhood.

10.75 miles easy.

MILE REPEATS

I came down with a bit of a headcold last night (just trying to be like Matt!), so I didn't want to try and kill this workout.  Instead I wanted a good effort that wouldn't wear my body down too much.  So, I figured I would run about the same pace as I did for this workout a month ago (4:53 avg for 5 reps).

I met up with Jason and Dave and we ran these around the pond.  The first three reps I felt sluggish and tired, but I actually felt quite brilliant on the last two.  I picked up the last 1/4 mile of the final one too.  Splits: 4:54 4:52 4:53 4:49 4:44 (4:51 avg)

I will try to get a lot of sleep over the next few days and see if I can get rid of this cold quickly.  The timing is much better though with the cold this time.  This is my third cold of the year and the other two were one week out from Phoenix Marathon and one week out from Utah Valley Half.  So, it's nice to have plenty of time this time around to get rid of this before St. George.

10.5 miles easy with Jon, Dave, and Ben.

PM: No second run.  I kept thinking I would get out, but then decided with the headcold, it's probably best to just do the one run today with the big long run tomorrow morning with Bryant.  I originally wanted 100 miles this week, but now with my cold I have adjusted down to 90-95 range.  Which is fine.  No need to jump mileage so quickly.  I feel like I've built my mileage up wisely adding 5-10 miles per week per cycle.

LONG RUN

Bryant and I did the same long run as on Labor Day, except we added two miles by turning around at mile 7 and running uphill for one mile to simulate Veyo Hill. We did only 1-mile warm up and then started rolling. We did the first 20 miles at 5:35 average.  Then we cooled down the rest of the way to the car. Total mileage was 22.1 at 5:39 average.

I think this is the best week of training I've had, maybe ever. My highest mileage ever is 92 and that's what I hit this week. Plus I hit several MP miles and a good mile repeats workout. So, I'm very happy with where my training is at and feeling very confident heading into St. George that the marathon breakthrough I've waited for is there for the taking.

I think I'll try to get out for a 2-mile shakeout tonight, we'll see though.

AM: 12 miles easy with Dave and Bret into North Ogden from 21st Pond.  My legs felt a lot better than I anticipated after Saturday's long run.

Lunchtime: 5 miles easy with Dave on the base perimeter road.

AEROBIC BUILDER

Another solid outing with the guys.  Jason, Ken, Bret, Dave, Jon, and Ben all showed up for an aerobic builder.  Three mile warmup including three strides and then we were off.  I did the same route as last week.  I did 9.5 miles in 49:08 or a 5:10 average.  I felt pretty decent.  The last two miles into the Southern headwind were a bit tougher, but other than that it felt pretty solid.  The guys all seemed to have pretty good workouts as well.  Ken had his best builder in almost a year or so with a 5:31 average for 8 miles.  So maybe we can get him rolling again.

Oh and I forgot to mention I passed my yearly mileage from all of last year today!  So new yearly mileage PR!

AM: 10.25 miles easy with Ben and Ken up the Ogden Parkway to the canal trail, back down to Monroe, back to parkway, and finishing up with a loop of the pond.

I keep going back and forth on what to do with workouts between now and STG.  Part of me wants to just lock into what I plan to run at STG (5:10-5:15 downhill or 5:20-5:25 flat) and not go faster than that from here on out.  The other part of me wants to sneak in another faster workout tomorrow.  The problem is that 5:20-5:25 pace flat doesn't feel too difficult (a good thing) after hitting my recent aerobic builders, but only hitting that pace makes me feel like I'm backing off too much and losing fitness.  Man I hate the last few weeks before the marathon.  I also can't decide how hard and long to go this Saturday...taper decisions.

PM: 3 miles easy.

2-MILE REPEATS

I met up with the guys (Ken, Ben, Jason, and Bret) at the Riverdale Parkway to do a workout.  It was substantially colder this morning than it's been since maybe April?  I warmed up with arm sleeves and I wore gloves for the whole run.  The plan was to do 3x2-miles in a progressive manner.  The plan was to run the second mile in each rep five seconds faster than the first miles, and to run the next rep ten seconds faster than the previous one.  I don't know if it was the cold, running against the flow of the river (so slight uphill UPDATE: I looked up the elevation and you gain 35 feet over this 2-mile stretch, so reps 1 and 3 slight up and rep 2 down), or the fact that I wore trainers instead of flats, but that first rep was slow and it felt hard.  Luckily I got going a lot better on the second and third reps.

Splits:

#1 - Plan was 5:10/5:05 for 10:15; Actual 5:15/5:08 for 10:23

#2 - Plan 5:05/5:00 for 10:05; Actual 5:01/4:59 for 10:01

#3 - Plan 5:00/4:55 or faster for 9:55 or faster; Actual 4:57/4:53 for 9:51

10.5 miles on Upper Upper Pipe as the guys at Weber called it. I always argued it should just be Upper Pipe.  Lots of climbing the first two miles and then nice long gradual down.  I got out at 10:30 and it was a beautiful late morning temperature to run in.

pm 4.15 miles easy with Dave from my place.

LONG RUN

Ken, Dave, Ben, Jason and I drove up to Sardine Canyon and Mantua to run our long run. We warmed up two miles and then did a 3-mile MP push down to the lake.  I wanted to simulate STG pace as best I could.  So I started somewhat conservative and then warmed into the pace by mile two, which is what I'd like to do in two weeks.  This first 3-mile felt very EASY.  I was surprised, but very happy, with how easy this felt even with 10 MPH headwinds. 5:19 5:04 5:04

Then we did two laps around the lake in the 6:20-6:30 range. Once we got back on the highway we did another 3-mile push to finish the run. First two miles were good downhill and then the last mile was uphill, similar to the hills in the miles after Veyo (not as steep as Veyo, but still good uphill).  Once again I tried to simulate MP and not go any faster (though I was tempted).  5:16 5:02 5:26.  The 5:02 was really good downhill and felt easy.  The 5:26 may have been a tad fast for the uphill for MP, but it was close enough.

This run was encouraging in that running 5:0x pace downhill into stiff winds felt very easy. The question will be can my legs/GI system hold up at that pace, because I'm certain my cardio won't have a problem.

12 miles easy with Dave from 21st Pond out into Riverdale on the Parkway and back. Quite chilly this morning; I brought gloves but opted not to wear them...huge mistake!

AEROBIC BUILDER: 2x4-MILES

I met up with Ben, Bret, Dave, and Jason at 21st Pond for the weekly builder. The plan today was only eight miles and to break it into two sets of four miles. On paper this sounds easier, but in practice I actually prefer not to stop (throws me out of my rhythm). I ended up with a 5:10 average on the first set (which is the quicker half of the route: slight tailwind and slight downhill) and a 5:13 average for the second set (slight uphill and slight headwind). The effort was quite a bit more on the second set than the first even though it was slower.

The other guys all seemed to have very good runs this morning. They are getting quicker with each week and looking great.

6.25 miles easy.

4.25 miles easy at lunchtime.

2X3-MILE FARTLEK

Dave, Ben, and I met up at 21st to do our last "full" hard workout before STG. The plan was two sets of a 3-mile fartlek. I wanted to alternate pace each half mile between 5:30 and 5:00 (so 2:45 and 2:30).

1st Set: 2:47, 2:31, 2:48, 2:28, 2:46, 2:28 = 15:48

2nd Set: 2:43, 2:29, 2:46, 2:27, 2:45, 2:28 = 15:40

The workout felt pretty decent. The goal of the workout is to make MP effort feel easier. You try to trick your body into thinking MP isn't too bad and that in fact it can recover from a fast push at MP.

The countdown to STG is on! I'm super excited.

7.5 miles easy.

2ND ANNUAL STG TUNE-UP 5K

We had a great group out this morning, meeting at Lee's Market in No. Ogden. Ben, Jon, Bryant, Jason, Dave, and Jace all showed up. After a 5-mile warmup we did the 5k push. Same course as last year (Pleasant View 5k course). I didn't want to push all-out (unlike last year where I gave it my all). Instead I wanted a good push, but wanted to ease off the pedal on the downhill so as not to take a chance at hurting/pulling anything. Most the guys didn't even know they were in for an impromtu 5k, but everyone was game.

With taking it easier and wearing trainers instead of flats, I figured 5:00 pace would be a fair pace. The first mile is mostly flat with a few quick, steep gullies where you go down and right back up. It's also a dirt canal road. I got out in 4:54 (4:51 last year ). After this I was all alone and looked back and didn't see the other guys and wondered if this was a joke and I was the only one running hard.

Second mile had lots of downhill. I hit 4:39 last year, but I wasn't willing to go that fast today. I ran 4:45 today. Last mile has some uphill, a flat section, and then downhill to the finish. I ran 5:02 (last year was like 4:56 I think). Then I got to the finish and it was short 3.07, so I just kept running until my watch hit 3.11. 15:12 this year vs. 14:55 last year. But last year I was a man on a mission to break 15:00, today I didn't really care and just wanted a good push. I didn't feel too tired at all at the end today.

I thought the effort was just about right. The time may seem fast, but it's a good net downhill, so it really wasn't as fast as it looks. I got a good effort in without taking any chances by running "all-out". Bryant and Jason came in together in the 15:40s, followed by Ben, Dave, Jace, and then Jon.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/382464244

I met up with Dave, Bret, Jon, Albert, and Ken at 21st Pond for an easy run. I threw in 2 miles at MP in the middle to get that pace locked in. I felt good.