"I don't really need a duck"

10:45 pm - 7.5 miles @ 7:16 pace - 54:25

Nice temperature for a nice easy night run.  Once again I had to make a potty stop at Smiths (I thought I had it all taken care of before I left).  At about the 6.5 mile mark I did an 800 meter pick-up with my quarter times at 83 and 85 (I am liking my yellow road markers). 

I also did 95 meters of lunges.  It is now time to have an ice cream bar, shower and head to bed.

Sleep got the better of me tonight - Next thing I knew it was nearly 11:30 pm.  I guess I was tired.

10:50 pm - 6.5 miles

Well apparently my GI tract was not happy with me tonight.  The plan was to do my 4.3 mile warm-up loop easy followed by my 1.47 mile test loop fast and then the 4.3 mile loop again.  On my warm-up loop thinks were feeling a bit off, and of course I had to make a pit stop at Smiths again (It is a nice clean restroom).  I figured all was taken care of but apparently I was wrong.  My 400 splits on my test loop were 88, 93, 92, 91, 86 and 77 (356 meters -0.22 miles).  I will spare you all of the disturbing details but let’s just say better out than in (I guess) and no 4.3 mile cool down loop as clean-up became a priority.

Last week I ran my test loop in 8:44.3 and this week I ran it in 8:50.2.  I was slower by 6 seconds but I will chalk it up to not feeling well. 

I am feeling better now however.

10:50 pm - 7.38 miles @ 7:23 pace - 54:29

Things felt much better this evening (no pit stops or other disasters).  I did an 800 meter pick-up toward the end (trying to target 5:50 pace) my 400's were 87 and 90.  The second 400 didn't feel pushed I just didn't realize that I had slowed down. 

Time to continue my Fat Boy diet and get to bed.

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 7:24 pace - 29:37

Hot and slow.

7:30 am - 4.0 miles @ 6:05 pace - 24:19 -

I must start out saying that James Barnes did a fantastic job with this race (as well as all the kids getting great sponsor support) and to this point with the cross country team.  This was the second annual Herriman Mustang Stampede that is held to help support the cross country and volleyball team.  For a mere $8.00 you were provided with a great race with fast competition (those cross kids are fast), breakfast, prizes for the winners and one heck of a raffle (talk about sponsor support!).  The other great thing about this race is it is only about two miles from my home and covers the streets that I run daily.

My goal heading into this race was a low 24 minute (I would be very excited if I got sub 24).  I met up with Kurt Stevens (from the blog) at the start line and chatted briefly as we discussed pace goals and I pointed those that should be at the front.  I also had some fun explaining my Croc's as a choice of running foot wear (sorry James).  As with true race starting fashion (especially with high school kids) the race started out faaaaast, but I settled my pace to some sense of normalcy after a few hundred meters. 

Mile 1 - 5:48 - this mile uphill with about 32ft of elevation change but felt nice and fast.

Mile 2 - 5:55 - this mile had a drop of nearly 80ft and really felt nice after that first fast mile. I passed up Rory toward the end of this mile.

Mile 3 - 6:19 - what goes down must come back up on loop course and this was my payback mile for the first two miles.  I passed up a kid sporting a side cramp at the beginning of this mile. 

Mile 4+ - 6:17 (6:02 pace if I want to trust my Garmin and Google Earth measurement) - This mile had a net downhill and finished with about 3/4 of a lap on the track.  I had a kid in front of me by a few seconds that I sort of tried to real in but I ended finishing 9 seconds behind him (I need figure out how to simulate Sasha support at races).  I ended up finishing 7th overall and just 19 seconds from a sub 24. 

After my race I had my 7-year-old run in the 1-mile kid’s race.  His time was slow but he kept a really good even pace and didn't stop to walk once despite some minor protesting and this being the longest he has run by nearly a half of a mile - finish time of 13:02.

As promised a nicely done breakfast was provide, awards were handed out, and the raffle (with surprisingly high quality items - I won the grand prize - a $200 photo shoot gift card) completed.  Now it is time to get the family together and head up to Wolf Creek Resort for a more-or-less relaxing day.

8:00 pm - 12.0 miles @ 7:38 pace - 1:31:47 -

4 miles was not going to be enough mileage for the day so I figured this would be a good opportunity to get in a good 12 mile out and back near Pineview Reservoir at a nice easy pace.  The first 1.3 miles had a net drop of 365 ft. (I was not looking forward to heading back up this).  The remaining 4.7 miles follow up-course of the Ogden Marathon at about the half marathon marker with a series of rollers.  My time out was 44:34 and my time back was 46:26 with the last mile being 8:39 (love that 300 + feet of climbing). 

On a slight downer note it looks as though I will have to postpone the Boston Marathon a year after to having to replace our central air unit.  It will give me the opportunity to have a better qualifying time for 2013.