Thatcher's Running Blog

I got in seven miles on the treadmill before we left to go home. I averaged 7:20 pace. I felt pretty good, my hamstrings are sore.

Today was the Minuteman 5k. I got there about 7:00 and drove the course with my dad. I then warmed up and went to the bathroom. I stretched and got ready. I got to the line and it was very crowded. There were a lot of good runners at the race. The race started out very fast. I backed off a little bit and was a little bit behind the front pack at the beginning. The first half mile was 2:20 something, and the mile was 5:00. I was more tired at the mile than I should have been. I remember thinking that a five minute mile should not seem this hard.

The next mile was painful. There was a group of about three guys right ahead of me, and I tried to stay with them, but I couldn't. I wasn't breathing especially hard, but my legs wouldn't move much faster. I don't know if I need more speedwork, or if my legs are tired from the higher mileage this week, but I just couldn't push to get with the guys. After that another guy passed me, and I stayed with him for a little bit, but my legs were just so tired. The second mile was 5:16.

The third mile was the hardest. I tried to push it to close the gap on the group in front of me, but it was hard. I didn't have much of a kick at the end, but I pushed it in. It was also the slowest, 5:30.

I was disappointed with this race, but I guess I just have to move on. I'm sure that the high mileage and a ten hour car ride yesterday didn't help, but I can just focus on getting ready for the Autumn Classic now. I think I will hit around 70 miles for the next three weeks, then taper to 60 and 50 the week of the Autumn Classic.

After the race I felt sick to my stomach and wasn't going to cool down much, but Bill Cobbler asked me if I wanted to cool down with the East xc team. I did, and we ran 5 miles at a 7:59 pace. We pushed the last half mile to get under 8:00 pace. It felt pretty good and it was nice cooling down with them.

Today I ran to the top of Millcreek Canyon. I felt good today, and it was my fastest pace. Morgan stayed with me until 50 minutes, when he turned around. I made it to the top in 76:45. I then cooled down until my mom picked me up. I averaged about 7:30 until 7 miles, and it slowed down a little bit from there.

 I saw a sign at the top that said "elevation: 7200 ft.". That means I gained about 2500 ft. in ten miles.

I didn't have time to run in the morning, because I went backpacking yesterday. I was tired all day from a lack of sleep, but my run went pretty well. I ran 11 miles at about a 7:20 pace. I ran from my house to Sugarhouse Park, did a few laps and ran back. I felt surprisingly good, but kept the pace pretty easy. I saw Bill Cobbler at the park, and he mentioned that I could have run with them a little earlier.

Today I did 800 meter repeats. I wasn't feeling great, I think I was tired from a longer run in the evening than I am used to. I warmed up about a mile. The first 800 was 2:34. (The gramin said .54) It's pretty hard, with a steep uphill to start out on. The next 800 said 2:50. I would guess that the distance is wrong, because I know I was going faster than that. It starts out downhill, and ends in an uphill. The third interval was 2:34. This one felt all right, and I had to run right through some sprinklers in the middle. It starts out flat, and ends in a slight uphill. The fourth interval was 2:38. This one starts out uphill, and ends downhill. The fifth interval is the fastest one. I'm not sure if the distance was right, but it was about 2:30. The last one was a 2:35. I had to push hard at the end to keep going. After that, I did ten hills (with the skyline team) and cooled down about a mile.

The workout was pretty good, but I wanted to go under 2:30. I still feel like these intervals are too hard, they feel harder than they should. After all, I was doing 2:13-2:15 during track season(on the track). I'm hoping that as I do more shorter intervals, they will get easier. I also guess that running on the grass is harder, and that will take some getting used to as well. Any ideas or suggestions?

 I later ran on the treadmill. I did three miles easy. I felt sorta sick to my stomach. I also lifted weights.

I ran with Oliver Williams today. He went to Brighton high school. We went to a trail up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was a long was up, and I think I felt the elevation, The elevation was around 10,000 ft. I started out and it took me a few minutes to get my breathing under control. We went out for 41 minutes. It started out really steep for a mile and a half or so, then it wasn't as bad. It was harder than I planned on though, and the hills were hard on my legs. My quads were sore still. It was a good run, and I would guess it was around 7:30 pace.

Today I went to Liberty Park for a tempo run with Skyline. It was a three mile tempo run. I'm not sure on my splits, because my Garmin didn't have a good lock there, and I wasn't exactly sure where the mile markers are. 

We started out with a warm up around the park, and some stretching and drills. My plan was to start out at five thirty for the first mile, and get faster from there. I started out and my legs were very tired. I tried to not start out too fast, and I think my first mile was five thirty. I then picked it up a little bit from there. My next mile was about 5:27. I should have picked it up more that mile, but didn't. I picked it up more on the last mile, but still only managed about a 5:20. After we were done, we cooled down a lap.

It was a pretty good workout, but I think that I could have gone faster. It didn't seem very hard once I was done, and I recovered very quickly. I also realized that it was only a little bit slower than what I did in the Minute Man 5k (for three miles), and it felt much easier.

 I later went out and ran 5.5 miles at a pretty easy pace. It was around 7:30 pace. I felt fine, and kept it easy.

Today I did a long run. I didn't push it very hard, because I had three pretty hard days in a row. I just wanted to get the mileage in. The pace was about 7:20 per mile. I ran 15.3 miles. It felt pretty good, and it didn't feel too long. This is my first week over 70!

I went up to Jeremy Ranch this morning with Skyline. I went out five miles easy, about 6:55 pace, and came back faster. I came back at about 6:20 pace. Overall pace was 6:37. My last mile was 5:54. It felt pretty good, but I was feeling a little bit sick after.

 Later I was at Skyline for their cross country fundraiser. It's a "24 hour running marathon". I did three miles in 17:55, then finished off with a 65 second last lap for fun. (I wanted to beat my friend Morgan, who did three miles in 18:30) Everyone is running 20 minute legs at a time. I might have to run another one tonight.

About 3.5 at three in the morning for the "running marathon" went with Brett around to the school and around. It was peaceful and slow. But it wasn't nice running at 3 am.

Later we all ran the last mile together of the running marathon. I am really tired from almost no sleep, but it was fun. I also took a long nap.

Today I ran with Skyline at Sugarhouse Park. We did 5 1000's on the grass. I think some of the distance was off, because the splits were all over the place.

We warmed up and got going. The first interval had some uphill and downhill, and was at 3:12. I felt pretty good, and it wasn't too bad. The next one was 3:33. It had a steep hill, but I think it must have been long or something. I felt okay on that one, but not great. The next one was 3:27. This one was flat, then had a long hill. I felt really tired on this one, and struggled to stay ahead of Morgan. The fourth one was 3:30, but I think it was a little bit long as well. Morgan was right with me on this one, and I was pretty tired. The last one felt pretty good, and I beat Morgan. The time was 3:00, but it was short.

After, we did ten hill sprints. I felt pretty strong. I then did a cool down.

I talked to the my coach (really my old coach), and he suggested I drop my mileage down a lot starting now. My race is three weeks from Saturday, and I need to taper for it, so I have the best race possible. I have been feeling fatigued in intervals and workouts, and it is probablly from the high mileage. I'm going to drop somewhere around 50 miles, and maybe even lower than that the next couple of weeks.

I slept in today because I was up late watching the olympics. I ran six miles easy, at a 7:42 pace. It felt pretty good. I did seven strides after.

I didn't have time to do my run in the morning, so I did it this afternoon. It wasn't too hot today. I ran six miles at a 7:25 pace. It felt really easy, and my legs felt good. I did eight striders after.

Today I went to Liberty Park for a tempo run. I did three 1.5 mile tempo runs. Going in, my goal was to start out at 5:15 for the first mile, then speed up the last half mile. I warmed up one lap and did some drills.

My first repeat felt pretty good, and I was at 5:12 at the mile. I tried speeding up, but I didn't push hard enough and did my last 800 in 2:40. My overall pace was 5:17 for the first one.

On the second one, I came through the mile at 5:12. This time I picked it up more, and did a 2:32 last 800. My overall pace was about 5:10.

On the last interval, I pushed it the hardest. I came through the mile at 5:02, and pushed it really hard the last 800, to finish it in 2:25. My overall pace for the last one was 4:58. 

This was a great workout. I didn't get much sleep last night, so I didn't know how good it would be, but I guess the lower mileage is helping me. This was my best workout in a long time. I cooled down about two miles.

I had to get up early and run today. I'm leaving to go backpacking until wednesday. I only had time for four miles. I averaged about 6:45 pace, with the last mile in 5:45.

We hiked in eight miles backpacking, and even though I usually only count running mileage, I decided to count half of it. 

We hiked about 18 miles today. It was pretty tough. We hiked to the top of King's Peak, and then backpacked out. 

I watched the region 2 pre-region meet, so I didn't run until later in the day. I did six miles at a 7:15 pace. My legs were tired, but not too bad. I also did some striders after.

Today I went to Sugarhouse Park and did 400's on the grass. I did eight of them. I didn't push too hard, but was feeling pretty good. They were 72, 75, 68, 72, 70, 72, 69, and 64. It felt pretty good, and the last one was the best. I then cooled down.

I went out to the Jordan River Parkway today with Skyline. I ran six and a half miles. I ran pretty easy, about 7:15 pace.

Today I ran a 5k. It was the Dimple Dell 5k. (I can't remember the exact name.) I wanted to get a pr and break 16:00, but it didn't happen. I don't know what happened. I warmed up and my legs felt good, but I had a bad stomach-ache. I was hoping it would just go away.

I started out and felt pretty good. I wanted to hit just under 5:10 for the first mile. I was at 2:34 for the half mile, but I was only at 5:15 for the mile. I don't know what happened. After that, there was some downhill, but that mile was slow. It was a 5:34. I really don't know what happened there. I tried pushing it, and it felt harder than a 5:34. After that, I knew I had no shot at breaking sixteen, so I didn't try very hard. The last mile had a steep uphill and was 6:00. I really didn't care at that point what happened. I just jogged in the last 200 meters, didn't even feel like pushing.

I tried cooling down, but I had a side-ache, and still had a bad stomach-ache, so I didn't do much. This was a really bad race. Last week in my tempo run, 5:13 pace felt comfortable(for 1.5 mile repeats). A few weeks ago, I did a three mile tempo run in 16:20, and I felt I had a lot more to give. It was very frustrating, and I don't know what went wrong. At least I won some Jazz game tickets!

Today I did a track workout. I was planning on doing 1000, 800, 600, 400, 200, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000. I started by warming up a mile. The first 1000 was 3:02. It felt okay, but not great. The 800 was 2:25, and it didn't feel good. I was at 69 at the first 400, and the second 400 felt horrible. The 600 was 1:44. This one felt okay, but I was struggling the last 200. On the four hundred I was hurting  lot, but still managed a 65. The first 200 was hard, and it was a 31. The second 200 was better, 29. The next 400 was worse, 68. After that, I just felt really bad. I had a headache, and was really lightheaded. The 600 was 1:50. I could barely finish. The 800 was the worst one. I came through the 400 at 72, and was hoping to finish in 68, but I fell apart. The last 200 was really slow, at least 40 seconds. I got a really bad sideache, and couldn't breathe. I called it quits after that one, considering I could barely move.

This was not a good workout. I only hit my goal times on the first 1000, 400, and the second 200. I still had a stomach-ache, like on Saturday, before my race. The only other thing I can think of is dehydration. I fasted yesterday, and I got a really bad headache the second interval into the workout. I'm taking it easy the next two days, and then on Thursday, I'm doing a Tempo run in Provo. (I'm moving to Provo on Wednesday.)

I went on a pretty easy seven mile run today. I averaged about 7:25 pace. I went out on Wasatch Blvd. My body felt good, but I had another stomach ache. After, I did eight striders.

I'm going to Provo today, so I ran with Skyline for the last time today. We did the Brookburn Loop. It felt good. We finished it in 27:57, and it's four miles. It felt pretty easy. We pushed it a little bit at the end to finish. Morgan and I sprinted the last 75 meters, and I kept up with him for once. I warmed up a mile to the school, and cooled down a mile. After, I did six striders.

I was planning on doing a tempo run today, but my alarm didn't go off! Or at least I didn't hear it. So I got up at seven fifteen and just did a run around campus. I felt great. I wasn't even pushing it, and I averaged 6:47 pace for 5.5 miles. On my way back, I ran by the track and did a couple of laps on it. I did a 35 second 200 and some striders. It all felt good. 

I later ran to the gym and back to lift weights.

This morning I was going to do my tempo run, but I didn't wake up early enough to get it done. I ran 2.5 miles.

I later went out and did my tempo run. I tried to find a good spot on the Provo River Parkway, but the spot I went to wasn't very good. I remembered it from Cross Country camp, but it was more uphill than I remembered. It was at the base of the canyon. I decided to do a three mile tempo run. I started out pretty hard, but then settled into the pace after about 200 meters. My first mile was about 5:27. It wasn't too hard, but it was more uphill than I thought. The second mile was about 5:33. I turned around half-way. I pushed it more the last mile, and it was about 5:10. I'm not sure on the splits, because my garmin had a bad signal, so I had to use the markers. But the total was about 16:10-16:15 for three miles. This run was pretty good, but I felt pretty bad. I was tired and didn't really feel up to it. But for feeling bad, it was about as fast as my last one.

I ran from my  dorm to the Provo River Parkway. It was an easy run. I kept the pace at 7:30. I saw a lot of runners, and it wasn't too hot outside.