Turn your rut into a groove.

am--11.5 Sunbrook loop w/ some neighbors. A little later I went w/ a Gooblur relative out into SCRR, on the "Anasazi" trail, and shot the bull about cosmology, mythology, and language. I'm glad I got back on the trails again. I've been a little jumpy about snakes. 

am--5 Morning practice w/ the kids. Warm-up, core exercises, run, and stretch. I stayed with the lead pack and felt pretty good. In all honesty, the pace was probably a tempo pace for me. 

am--5.25 I have a little achilles ache, so I didn't run yesterday evening. I got out this morning and felt good.

pm--5 Ran a hill workout w/ the WBR teams. Probably not the best thing for my achilles, but oh well. I still feel all right. We ran up Webb Hill. I did it 1.5 times. Pretty killer. One thing I want to get better at in my running is hills. It's not the legs that dread them. It's the mind and the lungs. We'll see what we can do. It is cool to run w/ some awesome runners.  

pm--8.25 Set out for an easy 8--my long run this week--to see if the achilles would give me trouble. At first it did because the padded collar of my sock was sagging between my tendon and the back of the shoe. But I fixed that before I crossed Santa Clara Drive, and the tendon ache was very minimal for the rest of the run. I also tried to work a 10-second walk break into every mile. I'm going to go with that in the marathon to hopefully avoid an unscalable wall. Just as I went in and out of one of these breaks I think I passed Mike Warren out walking the dogs. The run felt great. 

am--8.25 Woke up and ran to the Speedster 5k/10k to help w/ the XC kids then ran home. On the way over, I was worried about getting to the course on time. On the way back, I was thinking about all the inspirational runners. Ironically, I ran faster on the way home even though it was hotter, and I was more tired. Was also hoping that Holt felt great today. 

pm--8 Ran Oak Grove w/ the WBR kids. Hard but good. 

am--5 Last run before the first marathon. I'm feeling pretty good. My primary goal is to finish. Secondary goal to get in under 4:00:00. Ideal goal to get in under 3:45:00. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to try and trust my body and run according to how it's feeling. The weather is supposed to be nice w/ some possible showers. Good luck to everybody else running. 

I didn't know what to expect, but 26.2 miles is a lot of miles. The course for the Utah Valley Marathon is beautiful--about 10 miles in the canyon, 10 miles on the Provo/Jordan river trail, and 6 or so on the roads through the neighborhood near Provo Towne Centre. Here's how the race went.

1--8:45.50

2--8:05.03

3--8:17.29

4--7:49.45

5--8:20.14

6--8:00.64

7--7:59.41

8--7:58.28

9--8:01.45

10--8:05.96

11--8:04.84

12--8:11.21

13--7:59.01

14--8:02.98

15--8:09.86

16--8:16.49

17--8:02.54

18--8:22.06

19--9:47.16

20--8:55.16

21--9:17.19

22--9:24.97

23--10:59.69

24--10:06.07

25--10:19.72

26--10:16.95

.2--3ish (I forgot to flip the switch when I crossed the line).

I was cruising at roughly a 3:30:00 marathon until mile 18, and then it all fell apart. I was still on track for 3:45:00 with 3.2 to go and only had to hit a 30:00 5K but couldn't quite do it. I'm thankful for the marathon experience and am glad that it's over. But mostly I'm thankful for Jerry--a guy I met running on the shoulder--and his pacing skills. We kept each other going, and I never got a chance to thank him after the race. Thanks, Jerry. After mile 18, it was all about gutting it out. Overall, I'm very pleased. I hit 2 of my goals and nearly licked the 3rd one. Now I know what to expect, somewhat. It's the legs that were giving out today, not the mind or the lungs, which is different than other days. BTW there were quite a few STG runners and bloggers who ran great races today. Way to run.

am--5 Back at it today w/ the XC kids. I got there early and did an extra barefoot lap before core exercises and a 4-mile run. The legs are fatigued, and the IT on my right leg is achy. But, overall, a nice recovery run. It's good to get back at it. 

pm--5 w/ the WBR kids. The body feels good up to 3 miles, and then the aches come--tight hammy, IT band. I'm just going to continue to keep it slow and low this week. 

pm--recovery 5. Same aches and pains as the last two days but near the end of the run. A few more slow and lows and then I'll step it up a tiny bit next week and hit the training hard come the 29th.

am--5 Last easy recovery 5 w/ Dr. Hunter before he heads out to conquer the world.

am--6.5 Barefoot warm up, core exercises, and 6 w/ XC kids. Stuck right behind the varsity boys, pushing the pace a little for me, but it felt good. No hammy tightness. A minor ache in the IT. 

am--5 a mile barefoot, core exercises, and a run into Green Springs. Extra pain in the IT today. I'm going to ice the crap out of it. 

am--5.5 XC practice. Barefoot warm up, core exercises, and an easy 5 along the parkway.

am--4.5 barefoot warm up, core exercises, run towards Green Springs, and barefoot striders. Still having some IT issues. Hope to ease those out. 

pm--3.5 An easy run w/ Nate on the Temple Quarry Trail. 

pm--5.75 I flaked out on the XC kids, so I had to redeem myself. The body felt good and pushed the lungs a bit. I made it through the run w/ only minor aches in the IT and overcame that w/ visualization. I saw myself breathing through my IT band. How's that, Kabat-Zinn?

am--6 XC practice. A mile barefoot, core exercises, and a run out on Telegraph to the river trail. 

pm--Easy 4. My first double-digit mileage day since the marathon. The IT's a little sore. It was aching about a mile in and then mellowed out when I started to hit it with the Jedi mind tricks. Like a greased piston, in and out w/ the breath. I'm going to try to up my miles this week but hold off another week or two until I hit some quality workouts.

am--5.25 XC practice w/ the kids. Barefoot warm up, core exercises, parkway. The IT was a constant nuisance. Every time I give it a little extra--distance or speed--the next day is a killer. I'm to the point that I just want to be done w/ it, even if I have to really just not run for a week or so.