Every Run is a Great Run!

Kim and I changed our plans of running the Provo river trail this morning and instead slept in then ran all around Spanish Fork and went on some routes I haven't run for a long time behind the Krishna Temple and over toward Leland and the new ball parks. Also with the funeral next Saturday we won't be running the 5K race we had planned, so that was one more reason for running close to home instead of going into Provo to check out the 5K course.

Legs feeling pretty good after a pretty aggressive training week for both Kim and me. I tried out some new shoes today, Asic DSTrainer2s. They feel pretty good, light but not like a racing flat. I think they would be great for a marathon. Next week I'll be doing a reduced mileage week. I've started doing this every 4-5 weeks and my legs seem to really appreciate it. Also with all the funeral arrangement and estate issues we'll be dealing with next week it will be good to have this week be an off week for running.  

AM: Brrrr! Felt like a step back to winter this morning with cooler temps and nasty canyon breeze. But all in all ended up being a nice run with Kimi to start the day. As has become the pattern for us as of late we ended doing a bit of a progression run as we pretty much sped up each mile. Ave pace: 9:55

Planning on going out again a lunch today also. Today will likely be my high mileage day of the week. Planning on a reduced mileage week this week to give the legs a bit of a break after 3 consecutive aggressive weeks.

Noon: Went out with Nate and ran LakeView route. Ave pace 7:57.

Ran just before noon at work on Kuhni Road. Kim warmed up with me then I got in a 4 mile tempo in the 1/2 marathon pace range. Finished up with Kim but she was starting to feel her old nemesis IT band pain acting up in her knee so she wisely stopped running and I ran back to work to get the van to go pick her up. Darn the injury bug, we've been so lucky so far I was hoping we had found the magic formula for running injury free. Most likely the long run Saturday along with most Kim's other workouts lately becoming more aggressive on the pace (partly my fault I'm afraid) are what flared up the IT band again. Any advice from you runners who have dealt with IT band issues is greatly appreciated.

The tempo miles went pretty well considering the wind factor. However I cheated a little bit, working it so that I only had the headwind on the last mile, first 3 miles had a decent tailwind to help out. Tried the new DSTrainer2 shoes. They felt pretty good, I think they are a keeper.

Ave tempo pace 6:20, splits were 6:22, 6:20, 6:18, 6:17.

I was freezing when I got back to the gym so I did some biking and circuit/weight training to warm up before stretching.

Ran the Seven Peaks hill loop with Paul and Will just before noon. Nice run, I really enjoyed the sun's rays, the company and conversation wasn't half bad either. Ave pace 8:16.

Yeah that's right, just 2 easy miles today. This is actually what I had scheduled during this reduced mileage week where most the 'reduction' comes the last half of the week. I'm planning on doing a race-like 5K training run tomorrow so I want to be fresh then. I feel a bit more fatigued today than I would like to, perhaps the recovery run I did yesterday was a bit too fast or had too many hills. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel better and have enough horses to pull off a sub-19 run.

Well the little Uneventful 5K experiment actually went pretty well. Better yet Kim was also able to get some miles today without any IT band pain. Yahoo!

Warmed up a couple of miles solo, then stretched and did another warmup mile with Kim which included a few striders to get the legs ready to make an attempt at a sub-19 5K race-like tempo run. Ran the Canyon Elementary IceBreaker 5K route. Wanted to go out around 6-min pace and see if I could hold it. Held it for 2 mile then faltered a tiny bit on mile 3 but made it up during the last .10 to average 6:00 pace for total time of 18:37. I'm very pleased with this run and although I was very tired at the end and the last mile and a half were a bit painful, I'm pretty sure I could go under 18:30 in a true race environment on a similar flat course. Afterward did 3 miles cooldown run, some with Kim and some solo.

Overall time: 18:37. Ave pace: 6:00/mi. Splits: 5:59, 6:00, 6:03, :33 (5:37 pace on last .10).

Good luck to everyone running down in Moab this weekend! Looking forward to the race reports! 

Logged the goose-egg today. Down in Ephraim/Manti for my Dad's funeral. Kim and I briefly contemplated going out in the early morning hours but we had forgotten how much colder it is down here in the morning compared to SF and we hadn't packed the right gear. Beyond that this is a reduced mileage week anyways and with all that has gone on this week it felt right to forgo the run today.

Although funerals can and should often be times of mourning and much sadness, in this case, where my Dad had lived a rich full life to a ripe age, had been in poor health, and most of all because he missed my Mother terribly (she passed away 15 yrs ago) and was very lonely,  there was a great feeling of peace, thankfulness and rejoicing that he is now out of his misery and reunited with the love of his life. We are so thankful for God's plan of salvation and for the sacrifice of his Son that allows us to enjoy associations with our loved ones beyond the grave. We will surely miss him and still mourn for a time, but we know he is in a better place now.

It was wonderful to spend the day with family and friends, many of whom we hadn't seen for years. We are staying one more night in Manti then Kim will be heading to California for a few days to help my sister-in-law Susan deal with her difficult struggle with cancer and chemotherapy. Hope all goes well for them and that Kim can make a difference, I'm pretty sure she will as she has a gift for bringing sunshine into to the lives of others. I'll miss her while she's gone but I know this will be a blessing for all of us.

AM: Didn't sleep so well last night. Not used to being alone in the bed I suppose since Kim is in CA. Finally got up just before 5 for the run. Ran into the SF Scenic Drive group so ran with them for most of the run. I'll do some more at lunch. Not sure about average pace but not too speedy, probably in the 9-9:30 range.

Noon: Did EagleView hill run with Nathan. Ugh, I haven't run that nasty hill for a while and I felt totally wimpy. I just don't seem to have any hill legs at all. Ave pace 8:10.

Seven mile 1/2 marathon pace tempo run tomorrow baby!

Ran just before noon mostly on Kuhni Road.  Two mile warmup then 7 mile tempo run in the half marathon pace range. As I walked to the gym to get the running gear on it looked like it might be a cloudy, dreary day but it actually ended up being another beautiful day, nearly perfect for this type of workout.

I was hoping I would feel similar to how I felt 2 weeks ago when I did a similar 6 mile tempo and be able to keep the pace under 6:30 but today I just couldn't seem to get in a good rhythm or find a pace that felt very good. Ended up just trying/hoping to keep all the miles under 6:40. At least I was able to do this. I've noticed a pattern after races or race-like hard runs where it seems to take me quite a few days to fully recover to where I can do a tempo run at a decent pace. I need to keep this in mind when I set expectations about these type of workouts. Or perhaps I just need Kim to come out and warm up with me and give me moral support like she has the last couple of weeks.

Ave tempo pace 6:35.

Splits were 6:28, 6:31, 6:33, 6:32, 6:38, 6:38, 6:38

Also did a half-hearted circuit/weights workout afterward.

AM solo run. I was pleased my legs felt fresher than I would have expected but I played it smart and kept the pace very easy. No garmin so not sure exactly on pace/distance but probably close to 5 miles at 8:45-9:00 pace. Seemed really dark this morning with no moon but it was kind of peaceful in a way. Didn't see another soul the whole time. I'll get some more easy miles at lunch.

Noon:  Ran Lakeview route with Paul, Nate and Steve. Nice run with some good conversation although I was a bit worried the pace was a little aggressive for a recovery run. I suppose tomorrow or during Friday's tempo run I'll know if that was the case. My legs actually felt pretty good during the run and still do at the moment. Ave pace: 7:51.

AM solo run in the dark again. Not much to say about this run, pretty much uneventful, like yesterday I didn't see a single other runner/walker out. Legs were feeling a bit dead as I expected they might. I will be good to have Kim back, she's flying home today. Average pace 8:55.

Did my long run today mostly on Kuhni road starting a bit before noon. I wasn't very excited at first to do the run since the weather looked like it would be nasty, but mother nature decided to be (mostly) kind and even give me some sun for much of the run. However the last mile I froze to death with wind/snow blowing right in my face.

I wanted to run 14 miles with the middle 10 miles at marathon pace (6:40-7:00 range). Wasn't sure what to expect since my legs were kind of dead yesterday so decided to run by feel and not push too much too early. This worked out well as the "run by feel" pace seemed to be around 6:50. Had to deal with a bit of headwind at times. Also stopped briefly after mile 6 to wash down a gel. I was pleased that I still had enough in the tank to push it a bit on mile 10 and make it the fastest mile. So for the most part I'm pleased with the workout.

Afterward cooled down for 2 miles then did a bit of circuit/weights at the gym.

Splits for the middle 10 miles:

1 - 6:50

2 - 6:49

3 - 6:46

4 - 6:49

5 - 6:50

6 - 6:50

Took a quick break (30 secs?) to wash down gel after mile 6

7 - 6:41 (got a bit perky after the short break)

8 - 6:49

9 - 6:48

10 - 6:37 (the gel must have finally kicked in on this mile)

Ave pace: 6:47

Kim and I staged a bit of a daylight savings protest today by sleeping in a bit before going out for our morning run. We went along a similar route as 2 weeks ago but tacked on an extra mile and a half to get in the miles Kim was wanting to get in preparation for Striders 1/2.  We were grateful the weather ended up being mostly pleasant during the morning hours rather than the overcast, stormy conditions that seem to be closing in even as I type. We made an effort not too push too had today since this was a longer run for Kim, most miles in the 10-10:30 pace range. Toward the end Kim's knee (different knee than before with the IT band trouble) was acting up a bit so we did some run/walk just to play is safe. Injuries STAY AWAY!!!

Thought perhaps I'd start posting my workout plans for the week here in a Sunday rest day entry. I've had a couple people ask what I was planning on doing leading up to Striders 1/2 so I figure this is a logical place to post that info publicly. Also I think this will help motivate me a bit to be accountable and not to cheat on any of the planned hard workouts.

This week is kind of messed up since I'll be spending much of the week up in Salt Lake at Novell's Brainshare trade show. Normally I would be doing my mid-tempo/long-tempo runs on Tues/Fri. but with the Brainshare schedule it works better to do them on Mon/Thurs this week.

Mon: 12-13 miles with 8 miles tempo at half-marathon pace (6:15-6:40).

Tue: 8-10 mile recovery run (all miles above 8 min/mi).

Wed: 5-6 miles AM, 5-6 miles Noon. Easy pace (7:20/mi or slower)

Thu: 15-16 miles, 11 miles at marathon pace (6:40-7:00)

Fri: 8-10 mile recovery/easy run

Sat: 10-14 mile recovery/easy run

Went out just before noon, did a few miles warmup then 8 mile tempo in the 1/2 marathon pace range. Legs felt pretty good today and I was pleased with the run, although it took my brain a couple of miles to get in the game. I was quite happy to have enough gas left on the last mile to push a bit and get the 6:16.

I wore the Adidas Adizero racing flats so that might have bought me a few seconds. But I need to remember I have to wear the right socks with these shoes or I get nasty blisters on the balls of my feet. Unfortunately I did NOT wear the right socks today so I've got a huge one on my left foot. Hope it doesn't bug me all week.

Finished the 8 mile tempo in 51:32. Ave pace 6:26. Splits were 6:31, 6:29, 6:26, 6:24, 6:26, 6:27, 6:29, 6:16.

Also did some circuit/weights afterward.

Morning run with Kim for 6 miles then a few more solo. Pretty much uneventful, no Prehistoric Monster sightings :).

Legs feeling pretty good after the hard run yesterday. I was also happy the foot blisters from yesterday didn't bother me, however the lower abdominal muscle strain was a bit uncomfortable at times. I need to watch this closely. Kim had no knee troubles so that was a good thing. Now off to SLC all day for Novell Brainshare conference. Yahoo.

With my modified work schedule this week I was able wait until the sun came out to do the 6 mile morning run with Kim. The SF canyon breeze was a bit crazy at times but with the sun shining brightly it wasn't so bothersome today, and ended up being a super run. Ave pace somewhere around 10 min/mi.

Then less than 3 hours later did the Lakeview 10K loop and had another great run with Paul and Will. This was officially my 1st day this year wearing a singlet! Yahoo! Spring really truly is on it's way! Afterward did a quick circuit/weights workout. Ave pace 8:15.

Sure nice getting the double dose of sun today but it made want a nap. Going to the Collective Soul concert tonight as part of the Brainshare festivities with Kim, Kim's brother and our 2 youngest boys. Hope I can stay awake :)

Pretty much uneventful run from my house out to Zephyr and back. Legs feeling pretty good but I felt like I was sleep running and couldn't get my head into the run. I think 2 consecutive nights of not much sleep was the main problem. Lower abs pain still buggy. Ave pace 8:35.

Well the Collective Soul concert ended up being a lot of fun. Many of the concerts I've been to at the Delta Center / ES Arena haven't been that great just because so many bands insist on have the volume so loud and the ESA is so echoey that it doesn't sound like music, more like a big loud screech like a jet engine or something. And with my ears being fried a bit back from the high school and college rock band days I usually leave concerts with ear ringing that lasts for days with a big loud-music hangover the next day. So I was very pleasantly surprised that CS kept the volume level reasonable and with the exception of the first song or 2 the sound quality was pretty good considering the location.  

Also before the concert, comedian Frank Caliendo entertained us for about an hour. He was a hoot. 

I did the long run I had originally planned for Thursday today in the late afternoon. With the way my work schedule ended up and with being really tired this week with Brainshare conference and not the best sleep, this was the most logical time for this run. I didn't have big expectations what with being exhausted from standing all day the last few days with not enough sleep. Also I usually don't seem to ever enjoy running in the afternoon so I was very pleasantly surprised the marathon pace tempo run OK. Perhaps the near perfect weather conditions helped. I was able to run in shorts and singlet again.

Did 2 mile warmup then 11 miles at MP then 2 mile cooldown. I passed JohnA tri-guy riding his bike toward the end of my cooldown. Total time for the 11 miles 1:14:58. Ave pace 6:48.

Splits were 6:50, 6:47, 6:45, 6:51, 6:52, 6:43, 6:45, 6:55, 6:47, 6:57, 6:39.

I did stop for a moment between miles 5/6 to wash down an AccelGel. Ran from home down to the bottoms, up to by Prestwich Farms then back down river bottoms road to the ballparks then over Leland way and finished at the ballparks.

I have to mention the dumb dream I had last night that was one of reasons I didn't sleep good because the dream made me mad and woke me up. I dreamed I was running a marathon, trying really hard to get a good time but various obstacles kept slowing me down. At one point I was needing a GU but they weren't giving them out you had to buy them. The guy selling the GU kept trying to get me buy this huge breakfast instead (bacon, eggs, etc.) so finally I just said "ALL I WANT IS JUST 2 GUs PLEASE!!!". So finally he sold me the GUs but then he kept teasing me and took forever to give me the change. Then when I finally got back running trying to make up the time I had lost I got stuck behind a row of not-so-skinny women who were walking the race. Then I got mad and woke up. Sigh......

Kim and I slept in a bit again this morning as we needed the rest and also enjoyed being able to run in the sun for most of the run. It was another glorious beautiful day to be out for a run. This was Kim's longest run prior to the 1/2 marathon and she did great. She was especially strong on all the hills and held up pretty well the entire distance. Good job Kim!

I was pleased to feel pretty good despite the hard long run late afternoon yesterday. Hopefully we are both peaking just in time for the race. My legs feel great and the lower abdomen pains seem to be diminishing the last couple of days. I think this was my highest mileage week ever.

Happy Easter everyone! Hope everybody is having a great day. Posting my tentative running schedule for the coming week. I'll be cutting back slightly on the length of the tempo runs this week but not the intensity as we get closer to Strider's 1/2 on 4/5. As always I reserve the right to change things up during the week based on how I feel on a particular day, i.e. if injury pains or sickness, etc. pop up. Shooting for 60-70 miles.

Mon: 6-8 miles AM, 4-6 miles at noon. Base pace (7:15 or slower). Circuit/weights.

Tue: 2 miles warmup, 6 miles at half marathon pace (6:15-6:40), 2 miles cooldown.

Wed: 5-6 miles AM, 5-6 miles noon. Recovery pace (8:00 or slower)

Thu: 6-8 miles AM, 4-6 miles noon. Base pace. Circuit/weights.

Fri: 2 miles warmup, 8 miles at marathon pace (6:40-7:00), 2 miles cooldown.

Sat: 8-12 miles @ recovery pace.

I have a theory on the lower abdominal pain/strain I've been dealing with but that now seems to be on the mend. I noticed the last couple of weeks I did my circuit/weight training (which includes some lower ab work) immediately after doing my hard tempo runs. I think doing this when my body was already in a weakened/drained state was not so smart and may have caused the lower ab muscle strain. This week I'm dropping the ab exercises entirely from the routine and we'll see how it goes.

AM run - 3.5 miles solo then 4 with Kim. Nice morning, huge moon, but of course the stiff canyon breeze to keep things from being too comfy. But all-in-all a nice start to the week. I think all miles this morning were in the 8-10 range. Planning 4-5 more at lunch in the bright spring sunshine.

Noon Eagleview 5.2 mile run with Paul and Bill R. An absolutely beautiful spring day. Had a great run with great company. Ave pace 8:19.

Did some circuit/weights afterward minus any abs stuff.

Went out just before noon. Two mile warmup, 6 mile HMP tempo run, 2 mile cooldown. I was missing the sun most the time as it was overcast for most the run but then it finally made an appearance toward the end. Body felt good but not great today. For fun I wore my super-light Asics Pirahna flats just to see if they did any better than the Adidas flats as far as blisters. Probably about the same but I think I like the Adidas better for longer distance as they don't seem to have as much wobble and they only weigh about an ounce or 2 more.  I just need to remember to wear the right socks and maybe put a bandaid or moleskin over the problem areas for the race.

Ave pace for the tempo 6:26. Splits were 6:28, 6:30, 6:27, 6:28, 6:26, 6:16.

AM: Went 6 miles with Kim. Nice morning for a run, temps fairly mild (40 degrees?) with little or no wind for a change. We ran down/up some hills and also threw in a few striders. Ave pace around 9:55 if I remember correctly. Planning on 5-6 more at lunch.

Noon: Eagleview run with Paul and Will. I felt pretty braindead and lethargic today and felt like I was sleep running so I probably wasn't very good company today. Ave pace 8:17.

AM: Got a bit over 5 with Kim then around 3 more solo miles afterward. Another fairly peaceful, mild morning. From the weather report we thought it might be stormy but the skies were pretty much clear and best of all NO WIND!!! Ave pace with Kim around 9:55 (we typically start slow then speed up each mile finishing around 9:00-9:30 pace). Ave pace solo miles 8:00.

PM: Had intended to go the gym at work and do my circuit/weights workout and then maybe a couple of miles on the treadmill. However I got engrossed in the last section of a movie and had to see the end and ended up doing almost 4 miles. I think the name of the movie was "August Rush". I need to rent it so I can see the whole thing, I thought it was pretty good. Ave pace: 7:57

Noon run on the much beloved Kuhni road. Two mile warmup then 8 miles mostly at marathon tempo pace then 2 mile cooldown. Had a hard time getting into the run for the first 3 or 4 miles. Kind of a dreary day with some headwind the first 4 tempo miles that made the run feel harder than it should. But after turnaround I had the tailwind to make the last 4 miles go much nicer/faster and feel easier than the first 4.

Time for 8 miles 53:51, ave pace 6:44. Splits: 6:44, 6:55, 6:49, 6:45, 6:45, 6:43, 6:36, 6:31.

Just some thoughts on running form..... I've noticed sometimes it takes me 4-5 miles of running before I can seem to get my form to feel half-decent. I don't have particularly great form ever, but I notice starting out on these tempo runs often I can just tell my form is bad but sometimes there is nothing I can do to immediately improve it. I seem to have to just keep running and then after a few miles my brain will finally decide to kick into gear and I finally feel like I'm running with half decent form.  Anybody else ever notice anything like this? Anyways just kind or rambling a bit today, must be a boring-not-motivated-to-work-on-Friday thing going on.

Easy 8 miles with Kim down in Manti this morning.

We will be in Ephraim all day cleaning out my Dad's house as we get ready to sell it :( It will be pretty strange to have someone else live in the house I grew up in. But it looks like my niece might buy it so that would at least keep it in the family.

Race week this week! Also going to be a reduced-mileage/taper week as my body surely could use the rest. Looking at doing something along the lines of the following...

Monday: 4 miles AM slow, 4 miles Noon at 7:00 pace or slower. Circuit/Weights.

Tuesday: 6 miles easy (7:30 pace or slower)

Wednesday: 5 miles with 2 miles tempo in the middle at HM pace (6:15-6:40).

Thursday: 3 miles easy.

Friday: 0-2 miles easy.

Saturday: Striders 1/2 marathon!!!! Going to treat this race differently than the past few races and not set any Gold/Silver/Bronze goals. My only goal is to take some risks and go out a bit more aggressive than usual, try to hold a 6:00-6:15 pace on the downhill first 8 miles of the course then try and hold on for dear life and hopefully have a PR type race. Probably a recipe for crash-and-burn but what the heck.

Well nasty blizzard like conditions and icy roads put the kabosh on my planned morning run with Kim. I ended up going to the gym at work just before noon and got in 4 miles on the treadmill (7-8 pace) then 4 more with Paul outside, I think mostly in the 7:30-8:00 pace range. The weather wasn't too bad but there was a stiff breeze in our face on the way back. Paul got in a few more miles after I finished up. I was glad he showed up and we got out, I was getting pretty bored on the treadmill.

Also did some circuit/weights stuff.