Breaking the Wall

Much needed day of rest after the move. Went to our new ward. The talks in Sacrament were on the life of Christ. The lesson in Sunday school was titled "What think ye of Christ?", and covered the testimonies of the Savior born by ancient and modern prophets and apostles. Then we talked about exaltation in the Elders Quorum. 

We received a warm welcome in our new ward, and had three families visit us after church.

A.M. First run officially from our new house. I ran 2 miles with Benjamin, Jenny and Julia first. Benjamin had a sore throat so I had him run with the girls to avoid excessive stress. Then 1 more with Joseph and Jacob. It was nice - no cars to dodge except for one pickup truck on the 260 or so meter stretch of Carterville road before the real trail begins, and that one went around us, we just stayed where we were.  Then I ran 9 more to about 2 miles into the Provo Canyon and back. Did a 2 mile tempo to test the waters on the way back. The road was slippery today being covered with fresh snow, but it was not too bad. I was able to run 7:10 pace uphill without too much effort. In the tempo I put in an effort that I felt was sustainable, but I also had to be careful to not trip so there was a little bit of holding back the throttle that way. I went through the first mile in 5:45, the second mile was 5:51, and I felt the difference. In the first mile I was feeling more or less normal. But in the second that same feeling that kept me back from running much faster than 6:00 on Saturday was with me again. I would consider this to be an aerobic weakness, not a strength issue. Total of 12.

A.M. Started with 8 alone. The road was covered with snow, no chance of any decent tempo. That is OK as it was good for me to skip the tempo after yesterday's effort. No big deal, just two miles, but it adds up. So it was good to have a break. I maintained about 7:30 average with about 7:00 effort. Then ran with the kids. Jacob did 1, Joseph 1, Jenny and Julia 2, Benjamin 2. Some of the runs were combined. Total of 12.

I like our new neighborhood. The word about our healthy eating habits quickly got out and people have been bringing us fruit instead of candy and cookies.

A.M. Starting with 8 in the Provo Canyon. The road conditions were better today though worse than Monday, but I decided to try a short tempo anyway. Did 2 miles down the canyon in 11:26. Most marks were not visible. However, I caught 2:51 split for the first 0.5. This time I did not feel that fatigue I experienced on Monday in the second mile, and it showed in the pace. Jenny and Julia ran 3 with Sarah. I ran 1 with Jacob,then 1 with Joseph, and 2.5 with Benjamin. He still has a sore throat so he's been taking it easy. Total of 12.5 for me.

A.M. Ran 8 on my own in the Provo Canyon. The road was better, so I decided to do another tempo. Since my 2 mile mark was covered I decided to make it 2.25. First mile went well. I ran it in 5:32. Tailwind helped some. Then I had some headwind in the second mile, and I slowed down to 5:47. The last quarter had minor headwind, but I was apparently tired from the wind battles and the distance, and ran it in 88. This gave me 12:47 for 2.25. I felt, though, that it was more of a problem with rhythm than the actual fitness. Headwind earlier broke by rhythm and I had not yet regained it. In the last 300 right before our house I decided to do a little hill interval. There are marks on the road every 100 meters, I am suspecting Ed Eystone and the BYU team for putting them and they appear accurate - I am always hitting reasonable splits on all of them. So I ran that 300 that had maybe 50 meters of 3-5% downhill, and then 250 of maybe 4-6% uphill in 1:00.

Then ran with the kids. Jenny and Julia did 2. Joseph and Jacob 1. Benjamin 2. I ended up with a total of 12.

A.M. Ran with the kids, total of 4. Benjamin did 2, Joseph and Jacob 1, Jenny and Julia 2. Benjamin still had a sore throat so I had him take it easy. Then ran 8 more to the magic spot in the Provo Canyon and back. Did a little interval in the last quarter before the house. It was a slight down in the first 100, then more down in the next 50, then up in the last 250. The time was 78.

P.M. An experience worth sharing. Our garage door broke. Of all things, it had to break on a Friday night before Christmas Eve with Monday being a legal holiday. It broke badly, our van could not get out. So with it in that state we'd be stuck at home for a while. I tried to see if it was something I could fix. I can command an electronic device to obey me, but this was a mechanical problem - an area where I am handicapped. I knew I lacked what it took to fix it, and said a silent prayer. Ten minutes later a man and his wife showed up at our house to meet the new neighbors. Turns out he is good at fixing things. He started looking at the matter, and knew what to do. He went to his house and brought a spare part for that particular garage opener, and fixed the problem. I think that is the best Christmas present I have ever received.

A.M. Total of 17. Started with 5 with the kids. Jenny and Julia did 2, Joseph and Jacob 1, Benjamin 3. He starting to feel better but still not 100%. Then I went for 12 more. Did 2x2 miles down the Provo Canyon. I considered doing 3x2 with the first down, second up, and the last down, but after the first one reconsidered. I felt it was important to learn to run a good pace downhill first before practicing uphill tempo pace. Slow pace teaches bad form, and I was not ready for a fast relaxed pace uphill yet. In the first interval I opened with a 5:26 mile, and the first 0.75 of it felt like a jog. Then it got harder. I put in a little bit more effort, and it produced only 5:35. So I ended up with 11:01.0. In the second one I went through the first mile in 5:31 and it felt harder than 5:26 in the previous repetition. Part of it I think was the lack of endurance from the sickness, but part was also fuel depletion as by that time I was about 14 miles into my run. However, I gave it a push in the second mile and managed to hold off the fading some. With a kick in 79 in the last quarter I actually pulled off another 5:31 mile, which gave me 11:02.7 for the interval.

On the positive side of things, even though struggling to run 5:30s down the Provo Canyon does not excite me too much, being able to do it at all is a marked improvement over the last week, and shows that my fitness is gradually returning.