Breaking the Wall

Day of rest. Went to church. Had a return missionary and his family talk in the Sacrament meeting. He just got back from the Phillipines. The lesson in Sunday school was Nephi's vision. Then in the Elders Quorum we discussed President Uchtdorf's talk "You Matter To Him". Had a nap in the afternoon.

A.M. Total of 10. Ran 6 with Jeremy - Bejamin joined us for 4, 2 with Jenny and Julia, and 2 alone. Did circular strides. My Crocs are at almost 1700 miles and they still do not have a hole.  That is definitely a record. I do not have an explanation as to why. It is the exact same model as the one that only made it to a bit over 1200 miles.

P.M. 2 miles. 1 with Jacob, 1 with Joseph. We had some neighborhood kids running various distances.  Benjamin did 2 miles as well, and Julia did 1.

A.M. 12 total. 6 with Jeremy. 4 with Benjamin. 2 with Jenny and Julia. Did circular strides. Wanted to do a tempo run, but there was too much snow, decided to wait until some of it melts.

P.M. 2 miles. 1 with Jacob, 1 with Joseph. Had company from the neighborhood kids. 

A.M. Total of 12. Started with Jeremy and Benjamin. They did 6. I did a tempo after a warm-up. 4 miles total, 2 up the canyon, 2 back down. There was some adversity - strong wind blowing out of the canyon, some snow/ice on the trail, and overall slippery condition of the trail. My splits were 6:10, 6:11, 5:39. 5:24 - total time 23:24. I had a hard time shifting gears in the third mile because the trail was slippery and I was afraid to turn on the engine full blast. The concern is not only the mechanical aspect of maintaining balance at a higher speed, but also the loss of coordination that is inevitable as you push harder. The more toll the pace is taking you, the less brain power you have to think about avoiding icy spots. However, that helped save some energy for the last mile, and I ran it stronger with the last quarter in 77. Did circular strides, and 2 with Jenny and Julia.

P.M. 2 total. 1 with Jacob, 1 with Joseph, neighborhood kids joined us. 

A.M. Total of 12. 6 with Jeremy. 4 with Benjamin. 2 with Jenny and Julia. Had a bathroom stop, but it was not a VPB - there was actually a real port-a-potty on the trail. This took longer, so I had to run longer to catch up, about 0.7 or so. Timed 1000 in 3:44. The first quarter of it was 93. The wind was blowing pretty hard then calmed down some once I got into the canyon. Did circular strides.

P.M. 2 total. Jacob did 1, Joseph 1, Benjamin 2. Had neighborhood kids join us. 

A.M. Ran with Benjamin, Jeremy, and Gary. I did 5x400, two up the canyon, and three down with fairly short recoveries that were slightly longer than 200 jog because I would jog back some to make sure I still had partners for the next repeat. Benjamin, Gary and Jeremy did parts. Benjamin stayed with me on the last one. The times were 74.8, 73.3, 71.3, 71.9, 71.6. The wind was blowing into the canyon, so that helped the uphill times, and hurt the downhill times. The road was covered with tiny icy spots, and I felt it hurt the traction some. But obviously not so bad that I could not hit 73.3 going up.

After finishing 6 miles with the team, ran 4 more including a circular mini-tempo. I decided that due to the nature of the circle I was not powering hard enough to really need rest in between the strides. So I decided to just go about 0.5 in circles in the clockwise (opposite of the normal track) direction. I did not get a vertigo.

P.M. 2 total. Jacob did 1, Joseph 1. Had neighborhood kids join us. 

A.M. Long run. Total of 20.2. Started with Gary and Chad. After a 4.5 mile warmup I did a 6 mile tempo with 2 down the canyon, 2 back up, and 2 more down. Gary and Chad joined me for portitions of the tempo.  It was cold - 18F at the start, and the wind was strong and blowing out of the canyon. My splits were 5:35, 5:34, 6:24, 6:16, 5:41, 5:26 - total time 34:56. Chad made it to a little bit past the mile on the first one, while Gary went about 500. On the way back they helped me a little bit with the wind block, but the first quarter after the turnaround was quite horrible - 98 seconds. Then with their help I was able to run 2:22 in the next 600, still not a stellar pace, but at least not quite as disasterous. Once in the canyon the wind abated enough to allow me to run around 6:16 pace without a wind block. Was struggling to shift gears again as usual after the uphill, but then with some encouragement from the tail wind was able to do it with 0.75 to go. Last quarter was 78. Then ran home, picked up the kids. Jenny and Julia ran 2 on their own. Benjamin ran 6. Joseph and Jacob did 1 each. Jacob set a new record for our mile course - 8:36, which is quite impressive for the day. I was alone for the last 2.04 miles, and decided to repeat the last weeks tempo. Last week it was raining, I was cold, and my clothes were soaked. I'd have to say after today's experience that 26 F and some snow on the ground is not nearly as miserable and slow as having 4lb of wet clothes and running on a wet road. I was able to run 12:27 for the distance, compared to 12:52 last week. I think I am going to make that tempo at the end of a long run a regular practice. It is a great preparation for the last 2 miles of TOU, the elevation profile, the turns, and the fatigue are quite similar, perhaps the elevation profile is actually worse as there is hardly one flat spot on it. I think if I can learn to run it in 11:30 in ideal conditions at the end of 20 with some fast running done already, I would be ready for 2:28 in TOU.