Psalm 91:1 NKJV He who dwells in the secret place

This morning I didn't even want to get out of bed, and I really didn't stay up late only till 11pm. Also for a bizarre reason I was sore, and I didn't even run yesterday. But I did spend three hours out in the 100 degree weather vacuuming out all three of our cars so maybe the twisting in and out of the cars caused my soreness. Anyway I ran 8.6 miles at a 6:57 on a hilly course. In order for me to perform well in the Pocatello Marathon on September 1st, I'm really going to have to do well on the rolling hills in the second part of the course from miles 16 -21. This is were most runners will be tested on their fitness level.

Lunch I ran 4.4 with the dog in 93 degree weather. It really didn't feel too bad, because I was only going at a 7:14 per mile. I just did a complete 4 mile loop around my neighborhood.

Today my morning was different than usual, because of the activities the night before. My daughter is in a fast-pitch softball tournament where she had two back to back games (they won the first one and lost the next, and their the top seed). We never got home until after 9pm and still didn't have dinner yet. We ordered pizza and I was so hungry I had eight pieces. The last time I ate was 1pm in the afternoon so I downed them like I was in an eating contest. Tonight we have same situation where she has two games again, but I will eat healthier tonight, I haven't been doing that lately.

The food I ate last night felt like it was stuck in my ribs this morning, and I wanted to do speed work on the track. It took me 4 miles to warm-up, because my stomach felt very heavy. I did 8 x 400 with a pretty decent jog of 200s in between, not really what you would call a rest. I was keeping track of my splits on my IronMan watch and I messed up. The first split was 1:23 and the next was 1:26, 1:20, and the rest were messed up. Then I did some MP miles (6:33, 6:27, 6:41, 6:24 and a cool-down 6:55). Totals 12.1 miles at an overall pace of 6:30.

My daughter's team messed up bad where they should have won both games, but they can redeem themselves tonight and still win the championship. I told her just have fun.

What watch would you recommend to keep track of spilts on a track?

I ran .3 with my daughter tonight.

This morning I ran 11.3 miles at a slow 7:18 pace in 1:22. I ran with the dog for the first 8 miles then the last three miles I wanted to do under 7 minutes which was accomplished. I want to start doing more marathon pace runs in my training leading up to the September 1st marathon so I'm really really feel I'm ready. I also plan to run the Top Of Utah marathon two weeks after that... I keep forgetting to reserve a hotel. I'm very nervous about the September 1st marathon, because I feel this is an important goal for me to be under 2:50, I wish some of you guys could come up and pace me on this race.

I was very tired this morning because I stayed up till 11pm to put together our new treadmill that got here two days before we were expecting it. It's a very nice treadmill that will support the weight of 450 pounds, and has a lifetime warranty on everything including the belt. The speed will go up to 11mph..

Note: I will probably run on my lunch hour today at the health club.

Lunch 2.8 on the treadmill. First mile I ran at a 7 minute pace and the second till the end at a 6:20 pace. After the run I did some strength training on my hamstrings, calves and quads. I'll probably be sore tomorrow.

My plan for today was a 5 mile tempo and I planned to get to bed early last night, because I was dragging... very tired, with a lot of late nights and just being busy.  But yesterday at work we had a patch alert that had to be install on all of our Sun Systems that run Directory Server 5.2, and this had to be done at 9pm.  Well I got home at ll pm and went right to bed.

Woke up feeling a little run-down which I expected.  I started out on my run doing two warm-up miles then into the tempo... The first Mile I just felt like my legs were dead I was just tired (6:14), then I noticed I was really pumping my arms hard and up high which is not a very good running technique.  I lowered them down to the side not swinging them as much and this seemed to help.  Next mile  5:56 now can I be consistent  with staying at a high 5 minute mile.  Next mile 5:58, went up a decent hill and back down still being consistent.  Next mile 5:57  not bad but not fast either, (still fighting a bit to keep my arms from swinging high).  Last tempo mile 5:48 now maybe I'm seeing a breakthrough with finishing strong on the last mile. 

After that I did some marathon pace miles to need the run at 10.3 miles at a overall pace of 6:25.  MP miles (6:38, 6:33, 6:28).  I really hope with these times that I'm ready to prove that I can run a marathon under 2:50.

Sasha or anyone else reading this I need advice.  Do to a scheduling conflict I'm running my long run tomorrow (a 20 miler) on the Pocatello Marathon course.  Now, I'm 4 weeks out from the marathon on September 1st, my question is how should I run this 20 miler.  I thought of making it a endurance run and try to stay at 7 minute miles and maybe do 5 miles at marathon pace.  What would you suggest?.   

Today I ran a long run on the Pocatello marathon course (do to schedule conflicts I've changed my Long Runs for last week and this week to Friday). I started the run at 4:55am so that I could be to work around 8 to 8:30. I saw a deer and five raccoons that passed over the road while I was descending down the hill, and one raccoon strange enough followed behind me for a couple minutes. When I run this route I have to have someone come get me so that I can have them drive me back to my car on top Rapid Creek/Buckskin rd, so you kind of worry a little if any animals will mess with your car.

I ran 20.7 miles at a 6:43 pace in 2:18 really not a difficult run, and I didn't push the pace at all. I through in some MP miles in the beginning and end. (6:38, 6:31,6:29,6:24,6:38,6:46 and end 6:38, 6:20, 6:39). This run was more to stay on my feet longer and not really push the pace. I felt like I did a good job. I've ran this course so much now that I feel it's my second home.

The weather was overcast so I really wasn't able to see my Garmin for pacing until 6:10am. One advantage is we had a heavy rain last night and the temperature seemed to be a lot cooler when I ran the course the same time this week. What's difficult when you run a downhill for say the first 13 miles, and then proceed to the flat and rolling hills your legs and feet definitely have a different feeling. That's why I think it's very important to train on this course, because it's tough and it will punish you if you don't practice the downhill and rolling hills in your training. I would really feel bad for someone running this course if they only trained on a flat training course. Not really much more to tell other than I will now start to reduce my long runs in the next coming weeks.

I might run some more this afternoon or evening.

I ran 5.3 on our new treadmill tonight to give it a test run.  It's very secure and durable, and has a lifetime warranty on everything. 

No thrills on this run today, just a slow pace with the dog (7:26).  6.13 miles in 45.38.  If I have time I'll run more later, but it will be difficult