Every Run is a Great Run!

Went out just before lunch on a sunny but (as usual) windy day but with wind coming from the NW rather than the usual SE from the canyon.  Warmed up about 2.5 miles with Kim then some speed and tempo.

After 4 mile warmup did the speed part of the workout which included 15 x 60s @ 5K pace with 60s jog rests in between.  Looks like my flat 5K pace is somewhere in the 6:15-6:30 range so I kept most miles in that range but I did cheat on the last couple at closer to 6 min pace.  Actually felt pretty good and felt like I could have done 5 more or so without killing myself.

Then did 2 miles easy followed by 2 miles "hard" which today meant around marathon pace.  Nice to get this run done with.

8:14/156 

Recovery 6-miler at work.  Did 8 x 10s hill sprints toward the end.  Ran watch/HRM free today.

Warm and sunny day for April.  Went out around 10:30am it was already 60 degrees and probably warmed up a few more before we got done. Ran just over 2 miles with Kim then she did her loop while I went to do some hill repeats. 

Plan was for hill ladder repeats 1min-2min-3min-2-1-2-3 @ 5K-3K effort, jogging down the hill between each one.  The 1-2-3-2-1 wasn't so bad, but the last 2-3 was not so fun. Guess it's not supposed to be that fun.

Finished up with 3 mile cooldown with Kim.

8:38/155 

Six mile watch-free recovery run at work.  

Woke up to blizzard conditions during the AM hours!  With the roads a snowy, sloppy mess and the weather just plain nasty it wasn't working for the run at the usual time before lunch.  So ended up getting out around 2pm in much nicer conditions and the roads mostly cleared up.  Gotta love Utah spring weather!

Plan was for 5 mile tempo run around HM pace. There was some wind that probably slowed me down a bit but not nearly as breezy as earlier today. 

Tempo miles and ave HR were as follows: 6:56/169, 6:51/175, 6:55/179, 6:59/185, 6:50/188.

Overall ave pace/HR: 6:55/179 (max HR 189) 

Brrrrr cold & windy morning for April!  After the last few weeks of mild weather I was hoping I could put my longs away for the year but not quite time for that yet.  Ran 12 miles mostly with Kim and the 3 D's (Doug, Darin, and David).  Just kept things pretty nice & easy to hopefully help recover nicely from the tempo run yesterday.

9:00/140 

Nice early morning run in St George as Kim and I are down for a very quick "work" trip. Kim's PF was threatening so she decided to not push her luck but take a rest day instead.

Great morning for a run, temps in the low 50's and lots of red & green landscape. Did out and back run towards Snow Canyon and back. I really enjoyed the run.  I don't usually notice the 2500 ft elevation difference when we run down here but today I could tell a difference with how easy the pace felt.

Did a progression run finishing the last 4 miles in the MP to HMP range.

7:57/154 

Six mile recovery run.  Ran first 4 with Kim then headed back towards home while she finished a 10-miler.  Did 9 x 10s hill sprints up Heartbreak Hill.

8:51/134 

Staying up in SLC for a couple days with the girls for spring break.  Ran 9 miles early mostly on the JRP.  In the middle did 6 x 2 min @ 5K pace with 2 min rests.  

8:05/154 

Ran with Kim around the streets of downtown SLC and up/down City Creek canyon. We were happy the weather decided to take a break this morning and not pour down rain upon us. 

Home from SLC now but still off work so I slept in a bit. Today I did a repeat of the 4-mile time trial track workout I did 5 weeks ago.

The point of this workout is not to hit any certain pace but go more off of heart rate and try to keep it in the half marathon range (175-185 for me).  Of course the hope/expectation during a training cycle is that the pace goes down for the same effort each time you do the time trial every 4 or 5 weeks while preparing for a half marathon race.

Wasn't sure how things would go since I had a bit of upset stomach and GI issues yesterday (bad fish at Denny's perhaps??).  Luckily I felt pretty good and was able to cut off nearly 30 seconds compared to 5 weeks ago keeping my HR in a similar range. Looks like I pretty much locked into 6:55 pace and stuck there until the last lap when I picked it up a tad.

5 weeks ago: 28:03 (7:01 pace) ave HR 182

Today: 27:37 (6:54 pace) ave HR 181 max 189

mile pace/aveHR: 6:55/170, 6:55/181, 6:55/186, 6:52/187

Got in 13 mile recovery run on a beautiful spring morning.  Not much wind which was nice for a change.  Ran mostly with Kim and Doug and also Kelly joined for a while. No watch today so not sure on pace, probably right around 9 min/mi.

Time for a rest week next week with 10K race to finish things out next Saturday.

A great day for a run today.  I was thinking about the poor folks overheating running Boston today and feeling pretty happy about our 50 degrees and sunny.

Warmed up around 3 miles with Kim then did some intervals - 15 x 90s @ 10K pace with 90s active rests in between repeats. Felt great doing these and felt like I could have done quite a few more.  Nice to only have to do 10K pace for 90s.  Not exactly sure what my 10K flat pace is so did the first 10 around 6:30-6:45 pace.  These felt plenty easy so the last 5 I cheated a little and dipped under 6:30 pace. 

7:55/155 (nice to see my ave HR staying below 160 for pace below 8 min/mi) 

Six easy garmin-free miles in a light rain around noon-ish at work. Did 10 x 10s hill sprints toward the end.

Went out around 11am, warmed up 2 miles running down to the river bottoms then did some fartlek intervals.  Plan was for 6-8 x 3min @ 10K pace with 2min jog rests.

I wasn't feeling the love today, have a bit of upset stomach for some reason and starting having nausea/GI problems on the 5th repeat so I stopped at 6.  All repeats in the 6:30-6:45 pace range, mostly around 6:40. Hopefully I'll feel better on Saturday for the 10K.

7:47/161 

Easy 6 miler at work. No watch.

Ran 3 easy miles about half with my soon-to-be-married son Tyler. Legs felt pretty heavy but seems like they always do the day before a race.  Did a few strides along the way.

Found out the 10K doesn't start until 11am. Why so late? So likely going to be awfully warm and I really dislike warm races, I'll take 30 degrees over 70 anytime. 

8:47/133 

This was one tough course and race for me.  It had all the things I don't much care for in a race: heat (70+ degrees), wind (very stiff from the South), hills (in particular lots of uphill late in the race), late start (11am), and incorrect distance (6.35 according to most everyone with GPS). But on the positive side I got a great workout and worked harder than I would have if it were just a training run.

First 3 miles were nice with more downhill than up and some tailwind, last 1/2 of race was killer with that stiff south breeze and LOTS of uphill the last 2 miles.  And it's always a heart-breaker when you're watch says the race should be over but you get a couple "bonus" 10th of miles tacked on to the end.

I faded pretty bad the last half but I guess the good news was that the runners around me were fading worse. I passed about 5 or 6 guys and didn't get passed by anyone so I'll count that as positive. Overall I'm OK with this race, but I don't think I'll run it again.

Overall time/pace: 45:25/7:09 (6.35 miles)

Splits: 6:49, 6:50, 6:50 (headwind), 7:13 (worst of headwind), 7:36 (worst of the uphill), 7:30 (still plenty of uphill), 2:36 (7:23 pace still uphill to the finish except for last .10) 

Got in 12 miles this morning on an absolutely beautiful April (but more like June) morning, even with the canyon winds.  Ran about 5 solo then joined Kim for her run for nearly another 5 miles, then finished last 2 miles solo again. Took things really easy today as I can still feel some Saturday race aches & pain.

8:53/144 

Six miles at work with no watch.  Did 10 x 10s hill sprints toward the end.  I felt really wimpy today in the heat, it was around 75 degrees but felt like 95 to me.

Went out around 7:30a to beat the heat. Had some cloud cover today and a bit breezy. Original plan was for 4 x 1 mile @ 10K pace with 3min jog rests.  But with the race Saturday and feeling a little off the last couple of days I decided to just do 3 x 1 mile. Seems like this was a good move as I wasn't feeling the greatest and the pace felt harder than it should have.  Also noticed my HR maxing out the last 2 miles and it shouldn't really max out at all for this workout.  Hopefully after a couple more days taking it easy I'll feel back to normal.

The 3 fast miles were all around 6:40 pace. 

7:54/163 

Nine easy miles at work. No watch.

Six mile just before lunch on a blustery day.  Ran 4 with Kim then 2 solo. 

8:59/133 

Up bright and early to meet up with the 5:30 run gang. Started out with Kim & I, Chad, Dan & Hal.  Picked up a few other runners a long the way.  Got in about 7.5 with the group then did my own thing the rest of the time while they headed up Harry's.  

Ran a moderate progression run, gradually speeding up and finishing the last 5 miles at MP and HMP.

8:08/153 

Went out around 9am since the weather was near perfect.  Some wind from the canyon but not too bad.  Did a long warmup 5 miles up the river trail, past the golf course to just below Jack Rabbit. 

Plan was for 3 x 10 min @ HMP-to-10KP with 2 min jog rests. Ends up being right around 1.5 miles per tempo section.  I was pleased I felt pretty good today, much better than last week when I did 3 x 1 mile repeats at about the same pace with 3 min rests.

Split ave pace/HR:  6:47/162, 6:43/180, 6:39/184.

Overall: 7:43/160 (max HR 189)