Fly me to the moon...

Met at Sasha's house again with a group consisting of Brad and Josse.  We headed along the trail to pick up Jeff and then turned around and headed the usual direction.  I turned around at the usual 3 mile mark.  My total time was 54:27 which included the 6 miles, the jog to Sasha's house and the ~0.5 to get Jeff.  That is about 8:04/mile for the run.  The foot felt fine today too.  I think I should take it easier on the pace and give the foot some time to strengthen.

Five miles along the trail.  I tried to slow it down and take it easy.  I think I was fairly successful except for the mile where I did 8x100m strides with 100m rest.  Total time was 36:31 for a 7:18/mile pace with splits of 7:38, 7:35, 6:46, 7:29, and 7:01.  The foot felt fine.

Just 4 easy miles along the trail this morning.  The total time was 29:52 for a 7:28/mile pace.  The splits were 7:54, 7:41, 7:14, and 7:02.  The foot felt fine.

A total of 6 along the trail.  Total time was 43:02 for a pace of 7:10/mile.  I wanted to take it fairly easy for the first half and then push the pace for the next two and then slow it down for the last one.  My splits were 7:34, 7:22, 7:12, 7:05, 6:45, and 7:03.  The foot felt fine, and the legs were fresh.

It was a nice 8 miles along the trail today.  I felt pretty relaxed the whole time.  The wind was pretty strong, and I was glad I wasn't running a race.  Right around 2.75 miles out there was a trail of orange and lemon-lime sports beans along the trail.  There were also some sports gel wrappers and things.  I figured they must have had an aid station near there for the Provo Half.  My time was 57:57 for a 7:14/mile pace.  Splits were 7:27, 7:21, 7:13, 7:11, 7:07, 7:15, 7:14, and 7:06.

I really tried to take it easy today.  I did fairly well until I turned around and hit the downhill mile.  Then my legs just wanted to keep going.  My total time was 44:16 for a pace of 7:22/mile.  Splits were 7:32, 7:30, 7:25, 7:17, 7:19, and 7:11.

Easy run along the trail.  Total time was 44:46 for the 6 miles for a 7:27/mile pace.  Splits were 7:46, 7:33, 7:23, 7:26, 7:20, and 7:16.  I felt good, and the foot felt fine.

I ran a 2 mile warm-up (7:55 and 7:43), and then did 4x800m along the trail with 3 minutes rest in between.  My times were 2:55, 2:52, 2:47, and 2:50.  I felt okay during the intervals but not great.  I was able to recover quickly though and felt like 2 minutes would have been sufficient.  That was encouraging.  I then finished with 2 miles cool-down.

Just 5 easy miles along the trail this evening in a total time of 36:25 for a pace 7:17/mile.  Splits were 7:30, 7:25, 7:13, 7:13, and 7:02.  I felt good and the legs were fine.  I just ran by feel and didn't look at my watch during the run.  I just hit the lap button at each mile.  I enjoyed not worrying about times.  I never used to run with a watch.

Nothing unfortunately.  It has been a busy, stressful couple of days.  I had meetings with my thesis advisors yesterday to discuss my project and graduation.  The general consensus was that it would be difficult to finish by August when I hope to begin my Ph.D at Arkansas.  We decided to meet together today as a committee to talk it over.  I spent the day trying to get a meeting together when everyone could be there.  It kept getting pushed back and finally started at 3:30pm.  My advisor and I decided we would call Arkansas again on Monday and see if they would defer my enrollment until January.  I had previously called today, and they weren't too enthusiastic or forthcoming about deferring or of my chances of getting in again should I choose to re-apply in the spring.  After the meeting I had to walk home (~2 miles) so I could be there to babysit at 5pm for a friend's baby.  Kathleen and I do it every Friday, and since she has her water aerobics class after work, I leave the car for her to drive home afterwards.  I didn't get a chance to run before the baby was dropped off, and it was 9:30pm before they came to pick him up.  I didn't feel like going for a run at 10pm at night, but I was bummed that I didn't get my run in.

Eight miles along the trail in the afternoon.  It was a warm, beautiful, sunny afternoon.  The wind was pretty strong, but it was nice to be able to run in shorts and t-shirt the entire time.  I think that was the first run of the year where I didn't at least start with a hat or long sleeved shirt.  I felt good and relaxed.  The legs were also fresh from not running the previous day.  I saw signs of the marathon from the morning with a few mile markers along the trail and even an aid station with water and Gatorade still out.  My total time was 56:45 for a 7:05/mile pace.  Around 5 miles I was feeling great and decided to beat the 7:10 guy so I picked it up a little.  My splits were 7:16, 7:13, 7:09, 7:10, 7:08, 6:58, 6:56, and 6:52.  The last three were probably a little fast, but it felt comfortable.

This run felt really smooth and relaxed.  The stride felt really smooth with no excess motions and mechanically excellent.  I love those days.  My total time for the 6 miles was 42:33 which is around 7:05/mile pace.  Splits were 7:11, 7:11, 7:06, 7:02, 7:05, and 6:54.  I didn't feel like I was pushing that hard.

Another 6 miles along the trail in the early evening.  Yesterday was a beautiful day and was even a little on the warm side at around 70 degrees.  Today was totally different with low 40s wind and snow.  I'm a little tired of the snow at this point.  As nice, easy and relaxed as yesterday was, today was totally different at least for the first 3 miles.  My legs just wouldn't go.  I felt like my effort was as much or more than yesterday, but I struggled with times in the 7:20s per mile.  Total time was 43:06 for 7:11 pace with splits of 7:22, 7:26, 7:25, 7:01 (downhill with a tailwind), 7:04, and 6:46.

Decided to do a tempo run today. I started with 1.5 warm-up in 11:14 and then started the tempo run with a goal of 6:15/mile. A few weeks ago (Mar. 8) I did one with a pace of about 6:40/mile.  I started out with a 5:58, then 6:07, and 6:11.  The middle mile was with a turnaround and was probably faster and felt okay.  The last mile was a little bit of a struggle to hold that pace.  Overall I am pleased with my progress.  I still need a lot more base though.  I finished with 1.5 cool-down.

The plan was to do 6 along the trail, but I felt good and had some extra time so I decided to go a little farther.  My total time for the 7 was 50:20 for a pace of 7:11/mile.  My splits were 7:20, 7:15, 7:10, 7:10, 7:10, 7:06, and 7:05.

Just 6 easy along the trail in the afternoon.  I wanted to go slower, but I felt worse going slower than at a little faster speed.  My quads were tired by about 3 miles and felt sore.  I don't know if it was from the long week or the increased foot strike of a slower pace, but they were tired.  Total time was 43:54 for a 7:19/mile pace.  My splits were 7:22, 7:20, 7:20, 7:20, 7:15, and 7:15.

It was warm and windy.  The first 4 miles were nice with predominantly a tailwind.  Then I turned around...  I tried going the opposite direction away from the lake today.  I didn't like it after about 3 miles when you turn on University.  It is completely open and right along the highway.  I ran out 4 that direction and then turned around and did a half in the other direction and headed home.  It was a nice run.  My legs felt sore and tired after about 3 again.  I think it is just fatigue and lactic acid build-up from my tempo run on Wednesday.  My time was 1:04:59 for 7:13/mile pace.  My splits were 7:33, 7:20, 7:19, 7:09, 7:06, 7:11, 7:08, 7:05, and 7:04.

7.5 with Sasha, Adam, and Jeff.

0.25 while walking to school.

6 in 42:54 with splits of 7:20, 7:12, 7:06, 7:01, 7:11, and 7:01.

Just 7 along the trail in 49:25. I did 4x800m strides in the middle with 100m jog rest in between. The pace was around 22-23s for each one. The fifth mile I pushed the pace a little to simulate a surge in a race. The splits were 7:30, 7:20, 6:34, 7:05, 6:42, 7:15, and 6:57.

Started with a quarter mile to Sasha's house.  Then ran about 6.75 with Sasha with varying amounts with Hyrum and Jeff.  Time was 59:15, but I'm not sure if that was for the entire 7 or the 6.75.  It was slow and comfortable with several stops.  We ran to BYU where Sasha and Jeff did a leg extension test.  I opted not to try.  I was curious to see if our estimates on the distance were accurate so I mapped out our entire route with all of the turns and backtracking.  Sasha estimated 6.7 for all of our run together, and I got slightly more than that.  Including the run from my house to Sasha's, and the run together, I mapped out 6.98 miles which I rounded up to 7.

Just 6 total along the trail in a time of 42:12 for a 7:02/mile pace.  Yesterday Sasha asked me what my fastest 1/4 mile was.  I told him 56 seconds.  Then he asked me if I could do it now.  I thought I could still do a 58.  That got me curious.  I wanted to see how fast I could go.  I started out just running my regular pace and decided to try it at a flat part of the trail.  I did the first mile in 7:14, then 7:09 for the second mile, and hit 3/4 mile at 5:10 for the third mile.  That was when I started the 1/4 mile.  It was a running start, and the final time was 66 seconds giving me 6:16 for the third mile.  It has been a while since I ran that fast, and it felt good.  I felt there was still something left in the tank, and that I could have gone faster.  At the same time though, I think my legs were a little surprised at the speed.  They aren't used to it.  I think I also have a bit of a mental block to that speed too.  I was having flashbacks to a particularly bad wipeout on my mission while running fast.  My mind was saying, "Don't go too fast now.  Remember what happened last time."  We were running home to our apartment (a typical occurrence with this particular missionary companion), and I had fallen a little behind.  I decided to pick up the pace and catch up.  I was running top speed when I stumbled, did a flip, landed on my back and skidded for about 10 feet.  It hurt.  I learned two things from that.  Don't try to run that fast while wearing a full suit and buttoned up trenchcoat or while running on uneven ground.  I wasn't making full strides due to the trenchcoat, and I think I hit a dip in the sidewalk and lost it. 

One thing I did notice today was that my form was better at that speed.  I was getting more of a midfoot strike rather than a heel strike.  I finished up the 3 miles with splits of 7:24, 7:04, and 7:03.

Nothing today unfortunately.  I went on our Ward's father-son camping trip this weekend.  I didn't get much sleep on Friday night and wasn't feeling good.  I had the start of a cold the day before and sleeping outside in the cold didn't help.  I had already committed to going and felt obligated to go though.  It's a shame because I had some good miles this week to this point.

I felt a little better than yesterday, but still not 100%.  I had breakfast this moring and then took a 4 hour nap.  That really helped.  I decided to try and run a little bit.  I got out and did 4 in a time of 29:07 (7:16/mile).  The legs felt fresh, but a bit of a headache and sinus pressure didn't feel good.  I was a bit light headed right after I finished, but I was glad to have gotten out and done something.

I felt much better today and went 6 miles in 43:05 with splits of 7:21, 7:09, 7:08, 7:09, 7:10, and 7:06.

Eight miles along the trail in 56:59 for a 7:07/mile pace.  I took it easy the first 4 miles and then I hit the downhill section and started hitting sub-7 pace.  It kind of turned into an unplanned 4 mile pace run.  Once I get my legs going at that speed I just get into a comfortable groove and keep that pace.  I hit 14:56 for the first 2 miles, 14:21 for the second 2, and then picked it up.  My next 4 miles were 6:58, 6:56, 6:58, and 6:48.  Tomorrow is an easy day.  I felt almost 100%.