Everything Counts

11 miles on the trails with Ben, Jon, and Matt, avg pace 8:02/mile. We're on trails almost the whole run, but there's some road here and there connecting the trails. While on said road section, a young college-aged kid came within an inch of hitting Ben with his side mirror and did it intentionally. Then he had the nerve to stop turn around and so us how little command he has of the English language by cussing at us for being in the road. He had no remorse for almost hitting Ben and was on the verge of wanting to fight us. That's our future, America...sheesh.

AEROBIC BUILDER: FARTLEK

I met Ken, Ben, and Jason at the pond for a big boy workout. The plan for me was ten miles alternating 5:30-paced miles with 5:05-paced miles. We did three-mile warmup with a few strides and then we were off.

I felt pretty good through six miles, but once I hit the pedestrian bridge up and over I-15 I got breathing hard and from there it became more difficult to get my breathing back under control and get back in rhythm. But overall it turned out really well.

Splits: 5:30, 5:00, 5:28, 5:00, 5:28, 5:00, 5:38, 5:03, 5:33, 5:03 for a 5:17 overall average.

Lunchtime: 5 miles easy, no watch.

11.15 miles easy in South Ogden with Ben, Jon, and Manny, avg pace 7:40/mile. I was very tired and very sluggish.

LONG MODERATE-PACED PROGRESSIVE-ISH RUN

I met Jon, Ken, Denver, and Ben at the pond at 5:00. We decided late last night after watching the Utah football game together to go long today. We ate a ton of calories during the game, so fuel shouldn't be an issue. We got going and all felt pretty sluggish. But over time we got going. The weather was hot and windy. We were all pretty thirsty throughout the run. Jon, Ken, and I traded leads into the wind in the middle miles. Overall pace for me was 6:35/mile. I got going pretty good towards the end and my last two miles were sub-6:00 without any conscious effort to pick it up; I just organically kept slowly bringing the pace down. So all in all a great run and it's the furthest run I've ever done.

12.3 miles on the Skyline Trail from Windsurfer Beach about 3/4 of the way to Lewis Peak with Jon, avg pace 8:41/mile. It was beautiful up there and had a nice chill in the air this morning, which was a nice change of pace from the hotter mornings earlier this week. After we got breakfast at Dylan's on 12th Street...good morning.

AM: 18.8 miles easy with Ben and Bryant, avg pace 6:33/mile. The weather was a lot cooler and enjoyable. We ran the Aerobic Builder route and then extended it into reverse Monroe Your Boat. I felt a bit weak earlier in the run (maybe due to yesterday's fast?), but strong at the end. Ben was adding on after Bryant and I finished; he was feeling good.

PM: 4.5 miles easy around my 'hood with 4x12 second strides on the soccer field, avg pace 6:32/mile.

10.65 miles on the trails by headlamp with Ben, Denver, and Ken for first part, avg pace 8:22/mile. We were a tad slower due to Ben's headlamp going out and him trying not to die (or sprain an ankle).

AEROBIC BUILDER: 3x4

I met Jon and Ben at Smiths. We warmed up just over 2.5 miles and I threw in one stride. Then we started a three by four-mile workout. I was aiming for 5:21 pace, as I feel that may be close to 5:15 sea level effort. But as usual I had a hard time not being a tad quick. I need to aim for 5:25 next time so it ends up at 5:21. We took about four minutes between sets. I had to take a quick stop at a ports pottie during second set.

Splits: 5:18 5:15 5:18 5:20 rest 5:17 5:19 5:17 5:15 rest 5:17 5:14 5:15 5:16

PM: 7.3 miles on the Riverdale Parkway, avg pace 6:37/mile. I felt surprisingly good considering this morning's workout. Tomorrow may be a different story...

AM: 10 miles on the Riverdale & Ogden parkways with Denver, Ben, Jon, and Ken, avg pace 7:23/mile. I was TIRED.

PM: 4.65 miles on Kay's Creek Parkway up around Hobbs Reservoir, avg pace 6:39/mile.

10.05 miles easy with Ken and Jon, while Denver did first five with us, avg pace 7:05/mile on a hilly route.

LONG RUN - QUICK PACE

I met Bryant at Farmington Station for a long run. We did two ten-mile loops on the Legacy Parkway and on the Rail Trail. We did 2-mile warmup, 16 miles at marathon pace + 15 seconds, and a 2-mile cooldown. We stopped briefly at the cars at ten miles to drop off headlamps, grab a drink, and use secret bathroom.

Splits for 16 mile pickup: 531 535 531 525 528 527 533 530 531 528 527 531 530 527 529 527

I felt strong and Bryant did awesome.

AM: 15.65 miles with Ben, Bret, and Janae on the extended aerobic builder route, avg pace 6:30/mile. Ken asked if Janae could come in his place today and if we'd help pace her quick-paced long run at 6:35 pace. So that's what we did. She ran strong and should have a good race in Chicago. I had three faster miles in middle to catch back up after stopping with some watch losing satellite issues. Three miles in 5:19, 5:12, and 5:33 to catch up.

PM: 4.4 miles on Kay's Creek Parkway, avg pace 6:19/mile.

10.5 miles very easy paced on the trails with Ben and Jon, avg pace 8:34/mile.

MARATHON WORKOUT

I met Ken, Jon, and Ben at 5:00 am at Smiths. The plan today was 2-mile warmup, 8-10 miles at 85% marathon pace (6:05-6:10), 5xmile at marathon pace with one-minute jogging rest, and 2-mile cool down.

We ended up doing 8 miles @5:57 pace and then for the miles I split 5:15, 5:14, 5:15, 5:07, 5:09. I tired to keep them at 5:15, but just got out a bit too quick on the last two. Great workout, overall pace for entire run was 6:06/mile. We avoided rain for the most part but it was very windy this morning.

10 miles easy on the Riverdale Parkway with Ben and Jon, avg pace 7:38/mile.

9.8 miles easy with Denver from his house out into South Ogden and back, avg pace 7:10/mile.

Tomorrow is my last run over 20 before Chicago. I may go up to 20 next week, but not over. We'll see. I'll be doing my run tomorrow at the Top of Utah Marathon and aiming for MP+30 for pace or around 5:45 pace. It should be good practice and I'll see how well taking Muccinex can fight off this mucous buildup I tend to get often after 18 miles or so. It'll also be good practice taking gels and water on the run.

STEADY STATE LONG RUN - CHICAGO DRESS REHEARSAL

I did the Top of Utah Marathon this morning for my final steady-state long run. The plan was to run 5:45-ish pace. I ran 2:32:09 or 5:48/mile with one quick, potty break. The weather was great and organization of the race is first class. Three more weeks.

AM: 12.3 miles on Monroe Your Boat with Ken, Jon, Ben, Cody, and Marc, avg pace 7:11/mile.

PM: 5 miles easy on the Weber River Parkway, avg pace 7:04/mile.

10.45 miles easy on Tuesday Trailday with Denver, Jon, Ben, Bret, and Cody, avg pace 8:19/mile. Usually Tuesdays are the day my legs are the most fatigued, but they felt pretty decent today.

AEROBIC BUILDER: 4-3-2-1

I met Jon and Ben at Smiths at 5:15. They warmed up a mile with me and then went a different way to do a down tempo, while I continued on to the tempo loop for a 4-3-2-1 cut down builder. The plan was 5:20s for the 4, 5:10s for the 3, 5:00s for the 2, and 4:50 for the mile. I took 3:30 jogging rest.

Splits: 4 miles 5:16, 5:20, 5:16, 5:18 3 miles 5:08 5:13 5:05 2 miles 5:01 5:08 1 mile 4:47

This ended up being a lot harder than I anticipated, mostly the 2-mile rep. I've worked so much on marathon pace that the LT pace hurt a lot. But the marathon-paced stuff was relatively easy, so at least that part bodes well.

AM: 10 miles on the trails North of Rainbow with Ben, Jon, and Moss, avg pace sl:ow/mile.

PM: 5.5 miles easy on Weber River Parkway, avg pace 7:15/mile.

10 miles easy on South Weber-Uintah loop with a jaunt on the secret BST section, avg pace 7:03/mile.

MODERATE WORKOUT

I planned on a progression run this morning of 3 wu, 3 @ 6:00, 3 @ 5:45, 3 @ 5:30, and 3 @ 5:15 with a 3-mile cooldown. But I just didn't have it today. It was really dry, hot, and windy this morning. I warmed up three miles and then did three miles 6:04, 5:56, and 5:55 followed by three more at 5:49, 5:50, 5:45. At this point I thought about just bagging the workout. I was just tired. Instead I decided to change the workout a bit and do 10 one-minute pickups to see if I could get the legs moving. So I did that alternating with one-minute off at a quick pace. I averaged around 4:53/mile on the ons and 5:55/mile on the offs. In the end it was the 3-mile warmup and then 12 miles at 5:48/mile. I called the distance early too as I really needed to find a restroom.

Not the greatest week, but not terrible either. The last four weeks are starting to wear on me, which is fine because it's almost taper time anyway.

12 miles easy on the Ogden Parkway with Ken, Ben, and Jon, avg pace 7:16/mile.

10 miles easy on Tuesday Trailday with Bryant and Jason on the Davis County section of the BST, avg pace 8:19/mile. It was a beautiful morning with a bright, full moon and pleasant temps.

FARTLEK: 3 x 3,200 Meters

I met Ben, Manny, and Moss at Smiths. They were doing 6-7 miles easy, so they did my 3-mile warm up with me. Then it was just me. I did three sets of 3,200-meter fartleks with 800-meter jog for rest. The fartleks were alternating 400s with one 800 in the middle. My legs felt the best they have in quite awhile, so that's good news.

Set One: 74.8, 86.1, 72.3, 85.9, 2:23.8, 84.1, 71.3 for 10:18 total.

Rest 800 meters in 3:40

Set Two: 71.2, 82.6, 70.2, 83.7, 2:22.2, 82.8, 70.4 for 10:03 total.

Rest 800-meters in 3:41

Set Three: 67.6, 81.4, 68.8, 81.8, 2:18.3, 83.2, 68.3 for 9:49 total

I'm really happy with this. This is basically my last hard workout. From here it's just a few marathon-paced miles here and there. Not a lot more I can do now, except lie in the bed I've made.

One year ago I was recovering from surgery and now I'm hoping to run a big PR in the marathon. I couldn't be more grateful. I think I've prepared myself the best I could without jeopardizing injury or over-training in the last year. So, regardless of what happens next week, I am proud of what I've been able to accomplish in the last 12 months.