On the road to BOSTON!

Today I started out  from about 3/4 mile from the start of the Snow Canyon 1/2 course, down the highway, this portion is mostly uphill. I wanted to warm up a little bit before running down the steep hills at the beggining. I then ran a good portion of the 1/2 marathon course. I cut short the west canyon portion by a little bit and adjusted the end to continue on Snow Canyon Parkway to the Running Center. The run felt pretty good except for the last 2 miles. My right heel started to hurt, I tried a differant insole, so I ended up dogging the last 2 miles with 10:00 pace walking a lot.I ended up 1:46:55 for the run.I was shooting to run 1:45 so I was off by about 4 minutes since I was going to run 13.1 and ended up short.

I am still feeling okay for the Snow Canyon 1/2 next week. I just need to get some more miles in this next 7 days. I spent most of the last week or so preparing for the 5K run. I plan on getting in 4 or so 10-15 mile runs in to get the stamina built up for the 1/2 marathon.

Splits: first 3/4 warmup 9:34/ 5:52/ 6:56/ 7:34/ 9:01/ 8:08/ 8:43/ 7:25/ 8:03/ 8:45/ 9:16/ 8:26/ 10:08/ 10:35 last .15 of run (8:14 average)

Nice easy run around Bloomington Drive Loop. The legs were tired from yesterday's run. 8:30 pace

I was hoping to run longer but needed to break for the morning. I will try and get out later today for 4 more. I need to build up some miles to get my endurance built up for the 1/2 marathon in a week and a half. Yesterday I really felt the let down after about 11 miles. I had been making several 3 mile runs for awhile and I need to lengthen those out now. I really would like to come in at 1:35-1:40. That for me would be incredible. My only other 1/2 I did at 1:58 7 1/2 weeks ago. I feel that if I can work hard enough over the next week I will be able to pull it off.......

Easy late morning run. (7.70 miles) Over Tonaquint to DC/ then towards River Road on the path for 3/4 mile and back tracked to DC then back to home on the path. My legs are still sore from Tuesday's run (quads). I couldn't really get them going (8:30 pace) Coming down Tonaquint I was struggling to get the legs rolling and was only hitting around 7:30 pace through that section...heavy legs!

I was considering running the Butch Cassidy 10K on Saturday and have decided not to. I need to get the legs feeling better and need to get the miles on them not race speed.

WOW! I just noticed that on my next run I will go over 600 miles for the year. Not a lot for most people taht are serious runners but for this beginner that started in July I feel good about that. I plan on keeping about a 30 mile average through most of the year with some bumps up before the Ogden Marathon and the St. George Marathon. I don't feel the need to do much more than that, I want to continue to enjoy the running while throwing in 2 marathons, 2-3 1/2 marathons and a few 5k and 10k's throughout the year. Keeping it fun with some challenging races hear and there to give me some purpose and meaing to the runs.

I would like to get a 5K under 21:00/ 10K under 43:00/ 1/2 marathon under 1:40 and a marathon under 3:30. That should be some pretty good goals for this 49 year old.

1.82 miles this evening around the neighborhood. Trying out my new landreth shoes trying 1/2 size larger (9 1/2) and wide width.

Had to get the 600 mark on my mileage.....couldn't wait til the morning to do it.

2 short miles this morning. Just wanted to loosen up the legs a bit. The quads are feeling good again. I may go bacl out later this afternoon for a couple. Trying to rest a little. I plan on a good hard run in the morning. Right now I am looking at running down Snow Canyon bypassing the west canyon portion and continuing down to Snow Canyon High. Basically the 1/2 course without the west canyon portion. The plan right now is to run the first 3 miles @ 6:10 pace, the 2nd 3 miles @ 7:30 and the last 3 miles @ 8:00. This would represent how I plan on running the 1/2 marathon next week. Tuseday I ran the top 3 miles @ 6:47 pace, the next 3 miles @ 8:03 and the next 3 @ 8:20. I want to see if I can do this on a training run to see how realistic my goal is. I have decided I really want to run 1:40 or under for the 1/2. This may be pushing it for me but I think it is worth a good try.

I am spent. I started off with plans as laid out yesterday. Once I got running I just wasn't feeling it. I ended up running the 3 miles to the west canyon dirt road then instead of continuing downhill I ran up the west canyon dirt road 1 1/2 miles and then back down. I then decided to run back up to the top of Snow Canyon....that I did not enjoy other than the beautiful views. Once I made it to ythe top I ran about 1 1/4 miles down towards Winchester Hills then turned around back to the car. 11.00 miles total at 8:45 pace. 1:36:30

Next week I need to run 1 minute faster pace per mile to meet my goal of 1:40 for the Half Marathon. Overall I am feeling like it is possible. If I adjust the 3 miles of uphill(steep 11:15 average) to gradual downhill miles (7:15 pace) that would cut off 12 minutes and if I can hold 7:22 pace for the final 2.1 I would be right there.

I am hoping that I can get the legs feeling fresh for next saturday and have a great run!

By the way it was beautiful out there today, nice temps with thin cloud cover....and it is Nov 1st!