Everything Counts

AM: 11 miles easy in snow, slush, and ice in Ogden with Ben, Bret, Taylor, Jared, Bryant, Moss, and we ran into Thatcher along the way and he joined us for last half, avg pace 7:52/mile. A good 90 minutes of snow shoveling afterward!

Lunchtime: 6.2 miles on the treadmill watching the second season of "Vikings", avg pace 6:57/mile.

10.15 miles easy with Benny Van in East Layton, avg pace 7:33/mile.

AM: SEMI-FAILED LACTATE SHUNTS 8 SETS OF (4-1-1-3 FARTLEK)

I fell for the forecasters 100% chance of snow and planned to run at home on the tready. Turns out I should've known better than to believe those fools. I totally could've done this outside and feel it would've been easier mentally.

I hopped on the tready warmed up three miles watching Vikings, paused the show to finish on the cool down and started the workout.

Four weeks ago I did 2-1-1-3 on this treadmill. The plan was same paces and incline as then, but extending that 2 minutes to 4. I used 11.2 mph and 12 mph for the paces. The plan was 3% incline.

I struggled and had to adjust the incline along the way.

For the eight sets, the incline was 3% 3% 2% 1.5% 1% 0.5% 1.5% 1%

PM: 3.7 miles on tready to shake out the legs, avg pace 7:47/mile.

AM: 8 miles easy in a slippery, slushy, snowy mess with Ben and Toby, avg pace 7:59/mile.

PM: 6.2 miles on tready, watching "Vikings", avg pace 7:29/mile.

10 miles easy in Ogden with Bret, avg pace 7:23/mile.

WORKOUT: 20-MINUTE TEMPO, 6 MIN REST, 18-MINUTE TEMPO, 5 MIN REST, 5X45 SECOND PICKUPS, 5X20 SECOND PICKUPS

I met Bryant, Trace, and Jason at Kent's. We warmed up 5 miles along the rail trail to Gentile and backtracking to Hill Field Rd. Trace and Jason continued an easy run, while Bryant and I started our workout. We ran 20 minutes on gradual downhill at 5:19/mile pace. 18 minutes on gradual uphill and some icy patches at 5:16/mile pace. Then I averaged 4:16/mile pace for the 45s and 3:59/mile pace for the 20s.

I felt WAY better than Wednesday! The temps were quite cold and when we picked up the pace my lips and nose went numb for a bit, but then warmed up fine. It was nice to get in some faster paces despite the cold, snow, and ice outdoors...I'm sick of fast workouts on treadmills!

AM: 10.7 miles on mostly black ice in Ogden, avg pace 7:58/mile. There was a lot of tip-toeing and short shuffling to ensure no falls occurred.

PM: 6.2 miles easy on tready watching"Vikings", avg pace 7:19/mile.

10.2 miles easy on solid ice with Ben and Bryant, avg pace 7:53/mile. The rail trail was 100% black ice, not a dry spot to be found. It was more of a shuffle than a run at times.

I woke up feeling sick to my stomach, but I met Bryant and Ben anyway. After a couple miles it was clear that I had some type of stomach bug, so I quit the run and went home and slept all day.

No run - sick

10.4 miles easy in Clearfield/Layton with Jared, Dave, and Jason, avg pace 7:10/mile. Energy levels feel decent after the layoff with the stomach bug. Stomach still just a bit uneasy and still have a little congestion.

LONG WARMUP, 15 MINUTES TEMPO @ MP, 10X60 SECOND HILLS

I met Bret, Jared, Jon, and Steve at Kneaders in Ogden. I ran the first 8.5 miles with them, catching up with Jon and Steve, who we haven't run with in awhile. Then I did my workout. 15 minutes at 5:21/mile pace on a hilly route, 5 minutes rest, and then 10x60 second hills at 5:10/mile pace. Strava had the GAP (grade-adjusted pace) at a 4:02/mile pace average, so some good pushes up the hills.

14.1 miles easy with Ben and Dave in South Ogden & Washington Terrace, avg pace 7:10/mile.

6.1 miles easy on tready, avg pace 7:18/mile, and yes I watched and episode of "Vikings".

10.2 miles easy with Jared and Ben in Clearfield/West Point, avg pace 7:43/mile. Cold and I was tired!

AM: LACTATE SHUNTS 6X(5-1-1-3)

Bryant and I met at Kneaders in Ogden in roughly 12-15 degrees to do our shunts. We warmed up 3-ish miles with strides. The workout is six sets of 5-minutes at 10-mile pace, 1-minute rest, 1-minute at 5k pace, and 3 minutes between sets.

We hit 5:03.8/mile avg for 5-min sections and 4:42.2/mile avg for 1-min sections. This was tenfold better than my shunts two weeks ago on tready (I'm more convinced than ever my tready is not calibrated correctly) and it was a few seconds per mile faster than the 3-1-1-3, so we not only extended the length, but also dropped a second or two per mile average pace. We're getting there....

PM: 5.9 miles easy, watching Vikings on tready, avg pace 7:29/mile.

AM: 9.4 miles easy in East Layton with Dave, Jared, Bryant, and Jason, avg pace 7:30/mile.

PM: 6 miles easy on the treadmill, avg pace 7:23/mile. Season 4 of "Vikings" is a clear step down from the previous three season so far!

10.05 miles easy on snowy, slushy, slow roads with Dave and Matt, avg pace 7:55/mile.

2X20-MINUTE PICKUPS

I met Jared, Dave, and Bret at Kneaders in Ogden at 7:00. There was a couple inches of snow on the roads, so my motivation to get the pickups in was quite low. We were barely running 8:00/mile pace on the warmup, so I was not thrilled with trying to get down into the 5:00s. But after six miles of slogging through the snow with the guys, I started my first 20 minutes. I hit that at 5:31/mile pace, which I thought was pretty good considering the snow. The effort was certainly strong. 5 minutes of rest and then the second pickup. I ran that one at 5:23/mile pace. The effort was definitely good on that one. I skipped the fast pickups at the end due to the slick conditions.

Overall, it was a good run and it was my highest mileage in a week since September.

PM: Ben and I tackled Malans Peak in the freshly fallen snow, it was really slow going on the second half of the climb. But the night views of the mountain snow and the city lights was worth it, avg pace 15:15/mile.

14 miles easy on tready, avg pace 7:04/mile. I shoveled half of the driveway after for about 30 minutes before I had to head to work.

PM: 6 miles on treadmill, avg pace 6:55/mile.

11 miles easy on the treadmill, avg pace 7:03/mile. I've had about enough of this winter!

MORE SNOW = TREADY WORKOUT: 15-MIN PROGRESSION DOWN TO MP THEN 8X75 SECOND HILLS

It snowed. Again. So I ran on the treadmill. Again. Did the tempo at 5:28/mile avg & 1.5% incline. Hill reps at 5:00/mile with 3@5%, 3@5.5%, and last 2@6% inclines.

PM: 6.5 miles easy on tready, avg pace 7:28/mile.

10.2 miles easy with Ben and Jared in yet another snowstorm, avg pace 8:08/mile.

PM: 6.1 miles easy on tready, avg pace 7:23/mile.

10 miles easy on tready, avg pace 7:31/mile.

WORKOUT: 20 MINUTES MP, 5 REST, 23 MINUTES (20 @ HALF PACE, 2 @ 10K, 1 @ 5K WORKING DOWN TO 3K PACE)

Bryant and I met at Farmington Station, which was a good call since it was ten degrees warmer there (15F) than it was at my place (5F). We warmed up 7 miles and then did the 20 minutes at marathon pace in 5:24/mile. That was harder than it should have been, I believe there was a light breeze that slowed it a bit. 5 minutes rest and then 23 minutes, the first 20 at 5:16/mile, 2 minutes at 5:05/mile and the last minute at 4:42/mile, so the 23 minutes overall was 5:13/mile avg. Pretty hard workout actually, but I felt strong enough to finish it off well. We cooled down 2+ mile to get to 2 hours and 19.5 miles.

I wore my new Brooks pureCadence 5s and I got a blister, so I switched to my old pair for the cool down. I guess I should've broken them in on a much shorter run.

AM: 12 miles easy in Ogden with Ben, Dave, and Jared, avg pace 7:36/mile.

PM: 3.1 mile shakeout, avg pace 7:15/mile.

7-1-1-3 FARTLEK

Bryant and I had planned on meeting in South Weber if the air quality was OK. It was not. So treadmill it is. I did a 6.25-mile warm-up and then the workout. I ran the 7-min blocks at 5:05/mile pace and 1.5% incline. I ran the 1-min blocks at 5:05/mile and 4.5% incline (6% on last one). The flat equivalent on those is 4:42/mile pace avg.

Really good workout.

PM: 6 miles easy on tready, avg pace 7:34/mile.

AM: 10 miles easy on the treadmill due to the poor air quality, avg pace 7:42/mile.

PM: 5.3 miles easy on the treadmill, avg pace 7:28/mile.

AM: 10.6 miles easy on the treadmill, avg pace 7:10/mile.

PM: 6.2 miles easy, avg pace 7:11/mile.

16.7 miles with Bryant and Dave in East Layton where the air quality was, get this...green, avg pace 7:17/mile.

13.5 miles with Ben, Dave, and Matt in East Ogden, South Ogden, and the Terrace, avg pace 7:04/mile. Just enough to hit 100 miles on the week.

AM: 12 miles easy in Clearfield & Layton with Ben and Dave in easily the best weather morning of the new year so far, avg pace 7:11/mile.

PM: 3.4 miles shakeout on tready, avg pace 7:11/mile.

AM: 15-MINUTE PROGRESSIVE TEMPO & 6X90 SECOND HILLS

Ben, Bryant, Jason, Moss, and met up on a rainy morning for a workout at Walmart in South Ogden. We warmed up just over four miles and then ran the tempo. I ran 5:24/mile for 5 min, 5:08/mile for 5 min, and 5:02/mile for final 5 minutes. We jogged to the bottom of Glassman and then the hills. I ran a 5:11/mile avg pace, which on Strava is 4:15/mile Grade-adjusted.

PM: 6.5 miles easy on tready, avg pace 7:17/mile.

AM: 10 miles easy in Clearfield & Clinton with Dave, Ben, and Jason, avg pace 7:37/mile.

PM: 6.1 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 7:29/mile.

10.2 miles in East Layton with the birthday boy, Benny Van, and Dave in light rain and upper 40s, avg pace 7:23/mile. I was pretty sluggish and tired this morning.

WORKOUT: 20 MINUTES MARATHON PACE & 25 MINUTES HALF PACE

I met Bryant at Farmington Station at 5:00 a.m. for our workout. It was unseasonably warm at 54 degrees. We warmed up north on the rail trail for 40 minutes and then did 20-minutes at 5:21/mile, 5 minutes rest, and then 25 minutes at 5:14/mile. I was supposed to have a fast finish on the 25 minutes but instead I was 5:11/ mile pace thru 20 and then bonked and tried to stop the bleeding and ended on the 5:14/mile avg pace. A bit frustrating. Bryant ran it very well at 5:09/mile.

11.1 miles easy with Taylor on the Ogden River Parkway, avg pace 6:51/mile.

AM: 12 miles easy on a chilly morning down on the Weber and Ogden River Parkways, avg pace 7:40/mile. Winter morning temperatures made their comeback this morning after a brief and glorious hiatus over the last week!

PM: 6.5 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 6:54/mile.

11.35 miles easy with Dave and Ben in Layton, avg pace 7:26/mile.

AM: 10x1K W/35 SECONDS REST

I met up with Ben, Dave, and Jared at Kent's. Jared and Dave did 5 miles warm-up with us and then Ben and I did the workout. I felt awful on the warm-up, yet pretty dang good on the workout. I ran the first 9 reps in the 3:03-3:09 range with a 3:06.8 avg which is 5:01/mile avg pace, and then cranked the last rep in 2:51 or 4:36/mile pace.

PM: 6.3 miles easy in my neighborhood, avg pace 6:39/mile.

10 recovery miles with Ben, Dave, and Jason, avg pace 7:44/mile. A lot of the run was spent giving Jason a hard time about liking the Warriors for all the same reasons he hates the Cavs.

PROGRESSIVE LONG RUN

I ran in the early afternoon from my place, avg pace 6:14/mile. It was a progression run from 7:10 down to 5:20 pace. I ran up Adam's Ave Toll, along Glassman to Country Hills, up to the Dee, and then back along Old Post, Combe, and 89. I pushed the hills pretty good.

11.1 miles on the BST north of Ogden Canyon, first 7 with Taylor, avg pace 7:44/mile.

10 miles easy on the Ogden River Parkway with Trace, Ben, Manny, and Dave, avg pace 7:31/mile. I felt surprisingly sluggish this morning.

10.3 miles easy with a two-mile pickup toward the end with Dave and Jared, avg pace 7:00/mile. We also ran into Jason on Gordon Ave. I did the two miles on the Rail Trail on a slight uphill in 9:57.9 (5:06/4:51).

10.1 miles easy in East Layton with Dave and Ben, avg pace 7:29/mile.

8.15 miles easy with Ben, Jason, and Dave, avg pace 7:23/mile with 5x30 second strides.

5 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 7:14/mile.

MESA-PHOENIX HALF MARATHON

My goal for the spring is to run a fast half marathon time on an honest course. I've been building toward that goal since late-November and Ben, Bryant, and I have laid the foundation necessary to really ramp up our training and attack a good half marathon (under the tutelage of Stazza himself aka Irish Homer Simpson). We're really just starting into the more specific phase of the training block, but Ben and I wanted to run a half marathon before the end of the block to shake off some rust and stay race ready. Phoenix is awesome this time of year and we figured it'd be a great race to start the year off with. Also, I haven't run faster than 1:07.30 on a half marathon course that is "olympic-trials qualifier" eligible. With having a goal of running sub-1:05 (and maybe even sub-1:04) later this spring I figured it was a tall task to skip steps if you will in between 1:07:30 and sub-1:05. What I mean is the fitness may be there, but mentally it is difficult to convince yourself you can make that big of a leap and have the confidence to run the faster pace early in a race. So, I figured if I hit a good time (I was thinking 1:06) at Phoenix on an eligible course, it would give me additional confidence moving forward that I can run 1:04.

So, Ben, Ken, and I headed to Phoenix. Ken was there to hang out and have fun. He's had some back issues and hasn't been able to run, but I think this weekend motivated him to take the necessary steps to be able to get back out training again. Ken drove us to the start line and warmed up with us. We were able to give him our warm clothes at the last moment to stay warm, which was nice as it was only 39 degrees, which for Mesa is a bit on the cooler side. My goal was to start around 5:05/mile pace and see how I feel and judge and go off of that. At the start I saw Mike Hardy and Ben Bruce. So, I knew it was going to be a tough race to win.

Bruce took off fast right off the line. I moved into second after 400 meters or so and Mike was just behind me. During mile 2 Mike suggested we take turns leading/drafting. It seemed that the wind should've been a slight tailwind or at least crosswind, but for some reason it did feel a tad windy and I figured every second we can shave off will matter. So we traded leads and you did notice a difference in effort when you were drafting opposed to leading.

I wasn't sure of how fit Mike was. He certainly wasn't in 65/66 minute shape last September at Huntsville Half, so it took me a turn or two drafting before I stopped worrying about making sure he was hitting pace when he led and trusting not only his pacing but his fitness. It was clear after a few turns he was every bit as fit as me and this was going to be very beneficial to work together.

Around 10k in we noticed we were reeling in Ben Bruce. We got to within 5-6 seconds of him by mile 8. At mile 10 he looked back, saw us close, and then proceeded to run basically a 14:40 closing 5k! Haha. It was impressive to see.

Throughout the race I kept checking my breathing and tried to stay in tune with how my body was feeling. Each mile that went by with another mile at 5:00/mile pace was encouraging, but also a bit of unchartered territory. My mind kept saying "Ok, ok this is fine, but let's make sure we can handle this pace before thinking of doing anything that might make us blow up". So I was pretty content to keep rolling off low 5:00s/high 4:50s. Then at 10.5 miles Mike started moving. It was as if he mentally thought to himself that it was now or never if he was going to break 65 and get the time bonus. It took me a few seconds to respond. He got a gap, and I luckily made the decision quick enough, before my body made it for me and slowed down, to respond and go after 64:xx. What was there to lose? I had never been this close and it was worth it to give it a shot.

Mike and I both closed very well with him keeping that 4 second gap essentially the rest of the way. I looked up toward the end and saw the finish line, looked at my watch and saw 64:30, I pushed hard, looked again and the line looked still 30-40 seconds away and my watch now read 1:04:40. I pushed for another few seconds and then realized it just wasn't quite going to happen. I crossed in 1:05:11, a new PR (and faster than any downhill Utah course I've run). Ben Bruce won in 1:04:33 and Mike Hardy was 2nd in 1:05:07. I was pretty happy with the result, it was on the very high end of what I thought was possible on the day (I had thought 1:05-1:07 was the range the race could fall in, as it was hard to determine my fitness). Ben finished 6th in 1:09:40, a good strong race for him and it bodes well for his half marathon times moving forward.

Splits: 5:02, 5:01, 5:00, 4:58, 4:57, 4:59, 5:01, 4:57, 4:56, 5:04 (49:58 at ten miles), 4:54, and 10:18 for the last 2.1 which is 4:51/mile pace.

AM: 10.2 miles easy with a large group of guys in a snowstorm, avg pace 7:53/mile. I was really feeling Saturday's race; legs were just tired!

PM: 5.5 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 7:34/mile.

AM: 9.1 miles easy with Ben and Jared in East Layton, avg pace 8:06/mile. I'm still quite fatigued from Saturday. It's just going to be easy recovery pace for a few days.

PM: 5 miles easy on tready 7:24/mile.

AM: 10.05 miles easy with Ben and Jason in Clearfield, avg pace 7:43/mile.

PM: 6.15 miles easy in South Weber, avg pace 6:56/mile.

AM: 11 miles easy with Ben and Matt in South Ogden, avg pace 7:48/mile. I can't believe how long it is taking to get my legs back from the race, still just tired. I may throw some strides in tomorrow to see if that helps bring some life back into them.

PM: 5 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 7:18/mile.

10.15 miles easy with a pretty large group: Ben, Bret, Matt, Matthew, Manny, Jon, and me, avg pace 7:32/mile. We headed out West in the parkway but it was flooded and impassable on West side of I-15, so we had to improvise. A lot of political discussion on the run with several viewpoints, and yet mostly pretty calm discussion.

18 miles out and back along the Davis Causeway to Antelope Island, avg pace 6:30/mile. The sunrise was stunning.

AM: 11.5 miles easy on slick, ice-covered roads in Clearfield/Layton, avg pace 7:42/mile. Winter, go away! No one likes you!

PM: 3.5 mile shakeout on the tready, avg pace 7:17/mile.

20x600-METERS OFF 60 SECOND JOGS

I met Bryant in Kaysville, we warmed up to the Rail Trail and did our reps down there on a flat section back and forth. The odd numbered reps were a bit slower into wind and the even reps a bit faster. I averaged 1:48.2 per rep, which is 4:52/mile pace. I ran the last rep in 1:39.5 or at 4:29/mile pace. I'm feeling strong on the fast intervals.

AM: 10.1 miles easy on the Rail Trail, the first four miles with Ben, avg pace 7:25/mile. My legs didn't feel as wrecked as I thought they would from yesterday's workout.

PM: 8.25 miles in lower South Weber, avg pace 6:39/mile.

10.3 miles easy with the crew in East Layton, avg pace 7:35/mile.

AM: AEROBIC BUILDER

I met Bryant at the Smith's in Layton on corner of Fairfield and Gentile. We warmed up South along Main until crossing over 89, and then we started our builder. Plan was ten miles overall, six miles at a marathon effort and last four at half marathon effort. We ran 5:28/mile pace for first six and then I ran 5:17/mile pace for last four. I needed a bathroom break 1.5 into the last four, which kinds of throws the workout off a bit. You lose rhythm but you also recover. 18.15 miles in total at 6:20/mile pace.

PM: 3.35 miles shakeout on the tready after dinner, avg pace 7:14/mile.

11.15 miles on the trails after a church meeting, avg pace 7:35/mile.

AM: 13.25 miles easy with Jared and Ben, avg pace 7:31/ mile. I have mentioned before how much I hate Daylight Savings Time? If not, you all should know I despise it!

PM: 7.2 miles easy around my neighborhood and on the fisherman's trail around the back of the gravel pit, avg pace 7:07/mile.

10.5 miles easy in East Layton with Ben, Dave, Jason, and even Wolpert, avg pace 7:45/mile.

AM: COMBO WORKOUT: WORKING DOWN THRU THE GEARS, 4-MILE PROGRESSIVE TEMPO, 5x1K, 6x500m

Ben, Bryant, Moss and I met at Kent's in Clearfield at 5:15. We warmed up north on the rail trail into Clinton, flipped around and did tempo back to Freeport Center. Splits 5:33, 5:11, 5:10, 5:09. 5 minutes rest ended up being more like seven as we re-grouped. Then 5x1k with 2-min jog rest, splits 3:01, 2:59, 3:01, 3:00, 3:02 and straight into 6x500 meters with 90-second jog rest, splits 1:27, 1:25, 1:27, 1:25, 1:19.

Average paces:

4 miles 5:16/mile

5x1k 4:51/mile

6x500m 4:35/mile

Awesome workout and we nailed it; this will be a great confidence builder.

PM: 6 miles easy in South Weber, avg pace 7:04/mile.

AM: 10.2 miles easy recovery pace with Dave, Jason, and Jared, avg pace 7:50/mile. I was feeling those 23 miles and workout from yesterday! Also daylight savings is still rough; I haven't been able to adjust my body to the earlier bed time yet.

PM: 6.2 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 7:34/mile.

10 miles easy in O-Town with Dave, Matt, and Manny, avg pace 7:58/mile.

WRC 10-MILER

I met Ben, Dave, and Jason for a warmup at the Dee. We warmed up just over four miles. I did one stride, wanting to be warmed up, but not so much that I started too fast. My workout this morning was 6 miles at marathon effort, 3 at half marathon effort, and 1 at 10k effort. The key word being effort, since this course is a hilly beast, with essentially no flat sections.

Ben ran the first two miles with me and we joked around a bit, kept it pretty conservative. During mile 3 he said, "Have a good one!" and dropped back a bit. I stuck with the conservative, marathon-paced effort through mile 6, which is right in between the two monster uphills and then I turned it up a notch for mile 7 and the second half of the hills. Finished really strong and felt great afterwards. Finished in a time of 55:46 and 1st place.

Mile markers were off quite a bit, so here's Strava splits (the lead cop vehicle DID NOT want me running tangents, so my watch actually had 10.18 miles, so these splits are faster than what the mile markers would've yielded had they been placed in the correct spots):

5:36, 5:05, 5:25, 5:33, 5:48, 6:18, 6:02, 5:05, 4:54, 5:13, and 4:34 for the last 0.18.

Not quite the CR, but they lengthened it once it was certified in 2014, and this is the fastest time post-certification and extension.

AM: 13 miles easy and early in Clearfield and Layton with Jason, Dave, Jared, and Ben, avg pace 7:34/mile.

PM: 7 miles easy in my hood, avg pace 7:00/mile.

10.1 miles easy with Ben and Dave in Clearfield and Clinton, avg pace 7:40/mile.

AM: WORKOUT: MILE REPS & 600m REPS

We had a good turnout this morning with Dave, Moss, Ben, Bryant, and I all working out, and Jared ran the warm-up with us. The workout this morning was three sets of 1 mile at half pace, 90 rest, 1 mile at 10k pace and three minutes in between sets. So 6xmile and then 5 minutes rest followed by 6x600m with 60 rest.

Splits: 4:55, 4:53, 4:55, 4:55, 4:56, 4:53 for a 4:55.1 avg (the splits are same pace but the effort on even reps was more as it was into wind)

1:46, 1:45, 1:47, 1:46, 1:47, 1:44 for a 1:46.3 avg or 4:48/mile pace.

PM: 6.25 miles easy, avg pace 7:06/mile.

AM: 8 mile shuffle in the freezing rain with Ben, Dave, and Matt, avg pace 8:39/ mile...Yes you read that right 8:39!

PM: 4 miles on treadmill, still sluggish and slow from yesterday's workout, avg pace 7:52/mile. I broke in a new pair of flats. They felt fine for four slow miles. I'll need to test them​ at faster paces and see if I want to wear them at my race in April.

10.7 miles easy with Dave before work, avg pace 7:21/mile. I definitely felt substantially better today than yesterday.

PROGRESSIVE, STEADY-STATE LONG RUN

I met Ben, Bryant, Dave, and Jake at the 21st Street Pond at 6:30. It was supposed to be cold, wet, and windy. But it didn't really rain much and the temps stayed in the mid-40s. The wind was bad only when heading West, so all in all it wasn't too bad on the weather front. We warmed up 5 miles and then did 13 steady state miles, avg pace 6:29/mile.

AM: 12.4 miles on a loop into northern Davis County with Ben, Dave, and Bryant, avg pace 7:18/mile.

PM: 6 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 7:14/mile.

10.5 easy and hilly miles in South Ogden with Dave and Ben, avg pace 7:39/mile.

AM: INTERVALS: 7x2k

I met Ben, Dave, Bryant, and Moss at Kent's. We warmed up four miles along rail trail to Gordon and down Gordon. Then we did the workout. First two reps downhill to Syracuse Trail, next two reps on rollers on the trail, and the last three reps with some uphill heading back East. We took two minutes jogging rest.

Splits: 6:19, 6:15, 6:20, 6:20, 6:23, 6:20, 6:17 for an average pace of 5:05/mile on a tough, honest route.

PM: 6.2 miles easy in South Weber, avg pace 7:06/mile.

AM: 10 miles slow and easy with Ben and Dave, avg pace 7:49/mile.

PM: 5.2 miles easy on tready, avg pace 7:36/mile.

10.25 miles easy in South Ogden with Dave and Matt, avg pace 7:46/mile.

AEROBIC BUILDER

I met Bryant, Dave, and Jake at West Haven Country Park at 5:20. We warmed up 30 minutes and then did a 40-minute builder on the rail trail, followed by 6x45 second pickups. I ran 5:17/mile avg pace. I got hot and dropped my gloves off on the way out to pick up on the way back right off 4800 in Roy. But coming back they were gone; someone took them. Those were my best gloves!

AM: 13 miles on the Santa Clara River Reserve Trails, avg pace 6:56/mile. An awesome morning, pre-rain and 50 degrees.

PM: 5.55 miles easy from the house, avg pace 7:11/mile.

11.2 miles easy up Halfway Wash Path to SR-18 Path and back, avg pace 6:58/mile.

WORKOUT: 5x3k

I did my workout on the Virgin and Santa Clara River Trails in St. George, saw Steve, Aaron, and Hayden while I was finishing up. I warmed up 3.4 miles with some strides and then was off. The rest was 1k at about 7:12/mile pace.

Splits: 9:26, 9:31, 9:30, 9:15, and 9:06 for an average of 9:21.6 or 5:01/mile pace.

AM: 10.4 miles easy with Dave, Ben, and Jason, avg pace 7:38/mile.

PM: 6.7 miles on the Centennial Trail in Riverdale, avg pace 6:56/mile.

10.1 miles easy in Ogden with Dave and Matt, avg pace 7:50/mile.

​AM: ​OGDEN WRC HALF MARATHON

​Well, I got to Eden Park this morning only to find out that the race had been cancelled...awesome. So I drove down Ogden Canyon to Rainbow Gardens and ran 13.25 miles easy in Ogden, along the parkway, several miles in the cemetary, and some on the East Bench, avg pace 7:18/mile.

PM: 5 miles on tready, avg pace 6:38/mile.

AM: 12.5 miles easy in Clearfield-Clinton with Ben, Dave, and Jason, avg pace 7:24/mile. Dave disappeared and Jason almost died...Pretty uneventful morning!

PM: 7.2 miles easy in my neighborhood, avg pace 7:03/mile.

9.2 miles easy on the tready while Amy ran outdoors with friends and the girls (mostly) slept, avg pace 7:17/mile.

AM: WORKOUT: 4x4,000m

I ran this one solo on the rail trail, starting in Clearfield. The first and last reps were very slight downhill, while the middle two reps were slight uphill. I felt strong but my legs were really feeling it on the cool down after.

Splits: 12:26, 12:32, 12:34, 12:22 for a 12:28.5 avg or 5:01/mile avg pace.

PM: 5.1 miles easy on tready, avg pace 7:58/mile.

AM: 10 miles easy with Ben and Dave on the Ogden River Parkway, avg pace 8:08/mile. The weather was ideal!

PM: 5 miles on Kay's Creek Parkway after work, avg pace 7:29/mile. Very windy and pretty hot.

10 miles easy, first five with Jared, on Rail Trail, avg pace 7:41/mile. I'm still pretty zapped from Wednesday.

AEROBIC BUILDER & 6x45 PICKUPS

I had an early morning church meeting, so I didn't get out for my run until 11:00. I parked at the Centennial Trailhead in South Weber/Uintah and ran the Parkway to West Haven TH, where it was flooded and had fallen trees blocking the path as well. So I turned there and headed back. I warmed up four miles and then did the 8-mile aerobic builder at 5:17/mile pace. Five minute jog easy and then the pickups at 4:34/mile pace average with two minute jog in between each. Somehow the wind felt like headwind both directions...go figure.

11.1 miles easy with Ben, Dave, Jason, and Jared, avg pace 7:35/mile.

10 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 7:31/mile.

WORKOUT: 2x4-MILE REPS

I met Bryant at Farmington Station for the workout. We did 3.6 miles warm up with strides, changed shoes, and started workout. First set I ran 20:11 (5:04, 5:01, 5:05, 5:00) five minutes jog rest and then second set where wind and rain picked up in 20:12 (5:04, 5:05, 5:00, 5:03).

This was a solid workout and the last major workout before USA Half Marathon National Championships next weekend. I feel ready. I just need to freshen the legs up a bit with a taper and then enjoy that sweet sea level oxygen next week en route to a PR!

10 miles easy in South Ogden with Dave and Ben, avg pace 7:48/mile.

10.1 miles on the Ogden River Parkway with Ben, Dave, and Jared, avg pace 7:37/mile. The river was really high and we saw two beavers back behind Walmart.

LIGHT FARTLEK

Amy was going to Smith's in Ogden to shop, so I went with her and ran a course home from there. I ran down Jackson to 35th, up above WSU on Country Hills, Old Post, South Ogden to Toll, and back on South Weber Drive. I did the fartlek during miles 5-7 alternating each quarter mile between half marathon effort and a steady state. Roughly 74s for the half marathon efforts and 83/84s for the float or 4:56/mile and 5:35/mile paces.

Nothing left to do for next weekend, except freshen up and avoid stupidity.

10 miles easy in Clearfield with Jason, Dave, Ben, and Jared, avg pace 7:20/mile.

AM: 4 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 7:29/mile. Amy ran with the Utah Running Club this morning, so I was home with the kids. Iris and Nora both woke up very early, so this was all I had time for, but I planned on doing ten miles today, broken up between two runs, so it works out well.

PM: 6 miles on Centennial Trail with Dave, avg pace 6:53/mile.

8 miles with 6x45-second pickups at 4:42/mile pace.

6.1 miles with Jon Grey along the river in Columbus, avg pace 6:25/mile. Extremely humid and mid 70s. I also noticed the high pollen levels with my itchy eyes and scratchy throat.

4.1 miles with Bryant along the river in Columbus, avg pace 7:17/mile. A little less humid and less pollen than yesterday. With rain forecasted later today and tomorrow, the pollen count should go down and shouldn't affect me.

USATF HALF MARATHON NATIONAL CHAMPS

Well that sucked! That's my first ever DNF for a half! The high temp/dew point combo blew me up. I was light-headed, fatigued, and had tingling in my arms by mile six. I dropped at mile 8, luckily four blocks from the hotel.

Certainly a disappointing result, considering I have trained since late November for this one race.

After doing some research post-race, I learned that with that weather I should have backed off pace 2-3%. Instead I forged ahead at 1:04:40 pace the first two miles. Live and learn.

I have very limited experience running hard/fast in humidity, and what I'm beginning to learn is I can run normal pace and feel normal for about 3-4 miles and then like a switch is flipped I bonk extremely hard. This happened in New York last summer in a workout I had to quit halfway through and also at Ibigawa Half where I battled through it but ran my worst half in years, and now here.

Splits: 4:57, 4:56, 5:09, 5:03, 5:21, 5:20, 5:22

AM: 12.6 miles on Monroe your boat with Dave, Ben, Jared, Matt, and Tim, avg pace 7:13/mile.

PM: 5.4 miles around South Weber with some laps at Central Park on the grass, avg pace 7:10/mile. Lower left calf/achilles flared up on the run a bit.

AM: 30 minutes walking on the treadmill at 9% incline, because my calf was too sore to run on.

PM: 8.55 miles easy with Dave on the Centennial Trail into Riverdale and back from Uintah trailhead, avg pace 6:55/mile. Amy massaged my calf and I took some ibuprofen and it felt better this afternoon.

AM: 11.2 miles easy with Dave, Ben, and Jared on Rail, Layton Parkway, Bambergery, Canal run, avg pace 7:11/mile.

PM: 4 miles on the tready, avg pace 7:41/mile.

10.1 miles easy with Ben, Dave, and Jared, avg pace 7:25/mile. We ran in South Ogden along Combe and some laps down in Nature Park.

8 miles easy from Smith's through stadium to Gibs and out onto the canal trail and back, with Ben, Dave, Jason, Tim, and Matt, avg pace 7:57/mile.

PROVO CITY HALF MARATHON

I got up early and headed down to Provo to run the race. On my warm up my left, lower calf/achilles flared up again and really hurt coming downhill on the warmup. It hurt enough that I stopped and walked. I was very worried I wouldn't be able to race. I sat on a rock and worked/massaged the calf for about ten minutes, and then walked down and changed my shoes and dropped my bag off. Once the race started, I felt no pain at all. So, I guess I just need to really focus on keeping the muscles loose to avoid the pain I've been having this week.

The race was pretty uneventful. I was out in front and Justin Park just behind me. It stayed that way for both of us throughout the race. It was good to see Justin, he's a good man and a great runner.

I went quite easy/conservative the first two steep downhill miles and then got to work. I was probably too fast on miles 3-8, and slowed down quite a bit the last five miles as a result. I won the race in 1:06:34, the joy of winning still somewhat swallowed up in last week's failure.

After the race my stomach was killing me! I felt really sick, which I did not feel at all during the race. I felt too sick to cool down. This lasted for about five hours after the race! Not fun.

Splits: 5:04, 4:59, 5:03, 4:56, 4:50, 4:57, 5:10, 4:58, 5:09, 5:10, 5:21, 5:16, 5:19 and 4:56 pace for last bit.

AM: 12.4 miles easy in Clinton with Dave, Ben, Bryant, and Jason, avg pace 7:17/mile.

PM: 5 miles easy on the tready, watching "Last Kingdom" Season 2 on Netflix, avg pace 7:48/mile.

8.6 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 7:47/mile.

12 miles easy with Dave in Ogden, avg pace 6:53/mile. I felt pretty decent this morning.

10 miles easy with Ben in Ogden, from Kneaders up to 29th TH, along BST to Rainbow, and back on parkway, avg pace 7:59/mile. Take that 8-min guy!

Marathon pace effort for six miles in the middle of an 11.3-mile run, avg pace for the whole run, 6:31/mile. Pace for the tempo, downhill, 5:15/mile.

9.9 miles on the Indian Trail and BST, avg pace 8:04/mile with almost 2k of elevation gain.

9.4 miles easy in Clearfield/Layton with Ben, Dave, Jason, and Jared avg pace 7:25/mile.

7 slow miles in the tready, avg pace 7:59/mile. I can't run very fast at all on the treadmill in the mornings. It's always substantially slower than had I gone outside.

8.25 miles on the ORP with Ben, Dave, Ken, and Wolpert, avg pace 6:53/mile. Two miles at MP in middle at 5:26/mile. It snowed!!!!

4.8 miles easy in Central Ogden with Ben and Jared, avg pace 7:49/mile. It was a whopping 28 Degrees this morning, so pretty much typical May weather!

3 miles easy from Smith's, avg pace 7:02/mile. Picked up a dozen bagels at Einstein's after for today to carb up for tomorrow's marathon.

OGDEN MARATHON

I didn't train at all for this race. I haven't done a long run of 20 miles since October! I didn't do any long tempos or marathon pace training. I also didn't do any downhill training. But this is my hometown race and I really enjoy it and I had the free VIP entry from winning last year. So I figured I'd try to hit the podium and collect some circuit points. Ben, Bryant, and I ran the first half together in 1:13:10. At that point Bryant surged, wanting a huge negative split to attempt the course record, and Ben slowed down a bit. I kept chugging away at roughly the same pace. With my lack of marathon prep I was too scared to try anything faster, not wanting another miserable Ogden finish. I ended up with a slight negative split and finished about 80 seconds back of Bryant for 2nd place in 2:25:46. So second half in roughly 1:12:36. I felt decent the whole way. Cardio-wise the pace was a walk in the park, but the legs didn't have the full strength needed to really get after the pace. Overall, I am pleased with the result. Once I get some marathon training in, I'll be cruising this fall.

4.5 miles hiking up the Indian Trail with Ken and Ben with 1,400 feet of gain. Legs feel pretty dang good actually.

8.5 miles with Dave from Uintah Trailhead up BST to South Ogden, Nature Park, down Toll, and along Centennial Trail a bit, avg pace 7:03/mile.

4.9 mile hike up Beus Canyon with Ken and Ben, gained over 2,000 feet.

10.25 miles easy with Dave and Jared in light rain, avg pace 7:14/mile.

10.25 miles on the Indian Trail over and back from Rainbow to Ogden Canyon with Bret and Dave, avg pace 9:58/mile with 3,500 feet of elevation gain. I pushed the Ogden Canyon to Hut climb and bettered my Strava CR by 2:30.

AM: 10.3 miles from my house with 4-mile tempo down South Weber Drive, overall run pace 6:16/mile. For the tempo I ran 4:53, 5:03, 4:56, 4:49 and felt good, strong. It's been over a month since I've felt "normal", so this was a good sign.

PM: 3.7 mile hike with my family and Denver from Ogden Canyon up the Indian Trail. Evelyn is an aerobic giant for her age. She handled the trail like a boss. Hannah did well too for a 4-year old, but needed some "carrying" from time to time from uncle Denver. I carried Nora on my back and Amy carried Iris in the baby swaddler. A lot of fun.

12.7 miles with a massive crew (Dave, Jason, Bret, Taylor, Moss, Jared, Albert, and Matt) up to Sardine Peak and Ogden Canyon Overlook, avg pace 7:56/mile and 2,250 elevation gain. So much fun!

AM: 5.5 miles easy on the treadmill, I planned on more but the kids woke up and diapers needed changing and babies needed feeding etc. Hopefully more running this afternoon.

PM: 6 miles after work, avg pace 6:37/mile.

WORKOUT: 20-MIN TEMPO, 4x3:00, 4x1:30

I met Ben, Dave, Jared, and Ken at Ken's office. We warmed up to Beus TH and then I ran my workout. 5 minutes rest between each phases of the workout and one to one rest in between the timed reps. I hit 5:07/mile on the tempo, 4:52/mile on the 3:00s, and 4:52/mile on the 1:30s. The route was rolling net downhill.

12.4 miles "recovery" on the trails with Ben, Dave, Jason, Matt, Tim, Jon, Kory, and Bret, avg pace 9:32/mile. We ran Coldwater Canyon from Ogden Nature Center then to divide and back straight CC again, gaining 2900 feet of elevation on the run. Dave was rungry and needed a Snickers!

10 miles easy with Dave and Jared in South Ogden, avg pace 7:20/mile.

AM: 10.8 miles running to Lewis Peak from the North Ogden Divide in a new pair of Brooks Caldera, avg pace 7:41/mile. I pushed the pace roundtrip.

PM: 6.7 miles running to Grandeur Peak from Millcreek Canyon, avg pace 10:55/mile. I pushed the uphill and very easy jog down. I'm going to be sore tomorrow. I finished the week with just over 12,000 feet of elevation gain.

8 miles easy in Davis County with Ben, Jared, and Dave, avg pace 7:44/mile. My legs are more sore from my double mountain runs on Saturday than after any recent marathon I can remember...ouch.

No run - legs still sore. I did however play 45 minutes of ultimate frisbee with the young men.

9.5 miles on the Davis County section of the shoreline trail, avg pace 7:40/mile. My legs are still slightly sore, yet coming around. I LOVE the Brooks Caldera by the way!

10.8 miles easy on the shoreline trail in Ogden with Ben, avg pace 8:09/mile. It was hot and windy.

4.15 miles easy from home, avg pace 7:16/mile.