"I don't really need a duck"

5:15 am - Dave and I on my 10 mile home loop.  The air was cooler but still doable with just a tech-t and shorts.  

5:30 am - I did 4 miles on my own before meeting up with Matt, Scott and Mike from Matt's house for another 6.25.  I was really a perfect weather day.

5:30 am - Ran the Shaggy Mountain loop mostly solo except for the last 2 miles that Rachel joined me on.  I was tired on the hills (I need to get more sleep).  The wind was cold out of the north wich made me glad to have my jacket.  Kudos to Rachel for clocking a relatively conversational 6:32 and 6:52 pace.

Didn't get home until 1 am (Utah football game).  Opted for sleep and took the day off.

6:00 am - A total of 18 miles with Sasha (as well as Benjamin, Jenny, Julia, George, and Jacob).

Following a 3 mile + warmup Sasha, Benjamin and I proceeded to do a 10k time trial starting just above Bridal Veil and ending at Sashas house.  Miles splits were as follows - 5:33, 5:37, 5:34, 5:33, 5:47, 6:06 and 1:13 for the remaining 0.2.  I went through the first 5k in 17:17 and the second in 18:06.  I maintained direct contact through the 5k and relatively close visual contact through mile 5.5.  Although aided (320 ft net drop) I have yet broken 37 minutes in a 10k let alone 36 minutes.  Needless to say am very pleased with my performance. 

While waiting for kids to get ready for there runs I had a glass of water, dextrose and EmergenC.  We ran another 7+ miles with the rest of the kids and finished of the session with a Sasha fast mile under 6 minutes.  

The fast mile went much better than I had expected and I was the one pushing the pace.  The quarters were as follows - 82, 83, 82 and 79 totaling a 5:26 mile and I could have continued on a bit more.  This is the first time that I have been able to put in this fast of a push (by a long way) this late into a run.  Certainly my fitness has improved, but I also believe I found my new running fuel - dextrose and EmergenC (it will be on tap for SOJO).

The weather was cold (high 20's/low 30's) with just a little bit of wind heading up the canyon, but I dressed appropiately and found it comfortable enough.

Took the day off.

5:15 am - 10 miles loop from my house with Dave.  The south wind was making it's presence, but otherwise it was warm.  My left calf was a bit sore but nothing concerning (I suspect residual from Saturday).

Noon - 7 lunch miles on the parkway.

5:15 am Shaggy mountain.

5:30 am with the Lehi crew.

12 miles with Jake, Allie, Fritz, Josh and James in the Highland area.

5 am with Scott, Matt, Chris and Mike.

5:30 am - 7 from my house.

5:30 am - 6 easy with Matt on the parkway in Lehi.

In spite of my goal going into this marathon of breaking 2:50, I am still pleased with how this one played out.  Although I had a relatively large positive split I performed better on the second half of this marathon than any prior.  I was pleased with my fueling strategy of dextrose and emergency (now I need to figure out how to get that at other marathons).  I am going to continue to try and build my endurance in hopes to take down the 2:50 monster next year at Utah Valley.  

The quick detailed info: 10 mile - 1:03:33 (6:21) / 1:07:44 (6:46) / last 10k - 43:18 (6:59) 13.1 - 1:23:38 (6:23) / 1:31:04 (6:57) 5k splits - 18:59 (6:07), 21:15 (6:51), 18:53 (6:06), 19:36 (6:19), 20:47 (6:42), 21:53 (7:04), 21:38 (6:59), 21:53 (7:04) and 9:40 for the last 1.3 miles (7:26). All these times are off of my garmin in conjunction with Google Earth - the markers on the course were a mess. A 1 min 15 second PR and a 4 min plus course PR from last year.

While waiting for my son at karate I went over to the Riverton High track and walked a mile and then ran a mile (jeans and a long sleeve shirt).  It felt nice.

5:30 am - 7 easy miles from my house with Rachel and Dave.  

5 am - 10 miles with Matt, Mike, Chris and Ty along the parkway in Lehi.  The average pace was right at 7 minute.  My legs are still a bit stiff but are feeling fine and getting better.

5:15 am - Shaggy Mountain with Rachel and George - nice and easy.

8 am - 8.5 miles with Sasha.  We did the that last two miles of the classic 3 miles course down the canyon in around 10:50 jogged about 3/4 of a mile then did another mile at about 5:48.  The legs are fealing great post marathon.

5 am - Keate 10 w/ Scott, Mike, Matt, Chris and Reed.  Whatever it was today I just felt like moving so I did.  Finished the loop in 1:07:58 (7:55, 7:22, 6:30, 7:02, 6:32, 6:21, 6:15, 6:09, 6:27, 6:27)