Welcome

Jeremy ranch road with Rob, Jake and Nate. After about 10 miles we let Jake and Nate gap us a bit. We averaged a solid 7:20 but they were closet to 7. Cooler today and an absolutely wonderful run. Over 90 miles in the past seven days with two long runs.

AM

6.3 with Adam, James and Collin! Another perfect morning. I sprained my toe in the creek at Jeremy Ranch yesterday and it hurt pretty good all day but no pain on the run. No watch for me.

West High 12x400 at 5k pace (targeting 77s) with 200 active rest. Ran to the track and warmed up another mile with James. Another unusually warm morning at about 70 degrees but a cool breeze. The first one was ok but the pace felt hard. I was ready to quit after two but  perseveared. I was ready to quiit at 6 and James said two more. At 8, I stopped and took a few swigs of gatorade. By this time, Acorn had made his way to the track to do a few 200s. James was saying two more and I told him I knew what he was up to. We ran part of the 9th together and by 10 I was finally feeling strong. Ran with James and Adam intermittently. Splits were 77.1, 76.7, 75.2, 76.7, 78.4, 75.4, 79, 76.8, 78.4, 75.7, 77.2, 73.7. A bit all over the place but the right stimulus I think with a 76.7 average (5:08ish pace). Glad to get through this when I wasn't feeling it. After the 12th, I finished off with a 200 in 34.1 to get a full 5k of speed.

Thanks to James and Adam for helping get me through that one.

I have failed to mention that I started training for the Top of Utah Marathon officially on Sunday. I am equal parts excited for and dreading another long marathon build up. Presumably, I am getting closer to my plateau times but I think there are still things I can improve upon and a 2:29 at TOU seems like the right stretch goal to me.

AM

5:30 meet up with James and Adam. 8 total. I wanted to run 3 at about a 6 minute pace just for fun on the downhill portion of the 2nd ave - Virginia - 11th ave - memory grove loop. We ended up with 5:55, 5:59, 5:34 and 30 to finish for an 18 minute 5k. Nice to get that turnover. Another nice morning.

Lunch

Another 6.1 very slow in high 70s weather. I wanted to run on the treadmill but that is not conducive to running slow so I put on some very slow shoes and ran the BST down to he Sunnyside trailhead back up and over red butte gardens on the skyline trail and down the canyon back to my office. The 9:30 guy started out ahead of me. The 10:00 guy caught me on the sklyine trail descent and I passed him back up on the canyon descent. Never caught the 9:30 guy.

Wanted to do some fast downhill miles to get used to quicker turnover. Thought about maybe doing 6 downhill sub 5:20 at lunch but that didn't work out. I got out late (12:30) and was in a time crunch. In addition to mid 70s weather, there was a 10+ mph headwind down the canyon. I did four (5:32, 5:41, 5:49 (a south turn on Foothill and navigating across the street), 5:45) and called it quits. My miles back up to the office were 8:50 pace so that's abou as good as I was feeling. Calling them marathon pace because they were hard. Not worried about this work out as I am just having fun this week and next (after the Tuesday unfunness).

AM run with Collin and Adam. James had some fathering to do. City creek up and back.

Our team mascot has taken up residence in my front yard. Four babies found this morning. I don't know where mom is but I don't want to get between them!

Lunch

7 on the treadmill in my office (7.25 b/c it's off) in 45:30. I was super board. I hate the treadmill more and more these days.

From HHS with Kotter. Wasatch, Emigration, Research Park, U, JCC, Popperton, 11th, 1 mile up city creek, memory grove, 2nd ave, university ave to guardsman and back. My legs died in 15 but I was able to maintain pace with more effort. 6:50 average for the run with more than 1400 ft of hills. Left at 7 to avoid heat but it was 60-70 during the run. 

That's a 90 mile week but with 20 milers on both ends.

Goose egg for the week. I got home from Maui a bit after noon today. I was going to go out at 3 but passed out on the couch. Spent the only time I had to run sleeping. So 8 UNINTENTIONAL DAYS OFF! The vacation was like all others for me. It just doesn't feel like a good idea to go for a run. I don't like to stress out about getting a run in so I end up vacationing from everything. So I brought my stuff there and brought it all back unused.

Very excited to get back at it in the AM. Hopefully I can adjust to sleep quickly. It was a real issue for the group in HI. I don't remember it being that big of a deal the only other time I went eight years ago...

AM

Finally a run on the JRP with James and Adam. I was pretty hung over after a night of fathers day epics. 7 at 7:40 pace felt just fine. I was the one dragging this morning. I wanted to yak perhaps six times. I did after I got home.

Lunch

10 at 8:08 pace. I even did 6x1/2 mile in 2:45, 2:41, 2:43, 2:39, 2:48 and 2:39 over on Wasatch - effort was 10kish which should be low to mid 5:20s for me. Generally even effort but the slight hilliness accounts for the changes. Legs felt snappy for the first time in a while which I suppose was to be expected. Overall an easy workout - should've done 8 reps. I otherwise felt like going very slow and did all this with Adam H. Had heart burn maybe 12 times during the run. bleh

AM

Met up with James at West High. Adam was thinking of joining but he saw the rain and went deeper into his covers. James was doing 12x400 at 5k pace. I did 400 then 200 with him on and off the whole time and we finished with a hard 200. He hadn't done the workout with the 200 active recoveries (shorter rests) but high 80s seemed too easy (by my observation of his effort) so he dropped it little by little. I would guess he can do a flat 5k at 5:40 pace.

Lunch

Chile verde chicken chimichanga smothered in cheese, sour cream and guac with a very uncustomary coke. I am off. Hoping for a 45 minute treadmill session later.

DOES ANYONE KNOW ANYONE RUNNING THE AF HALF? Picking up my packet is a logistical nightmare Friday.

FRITZ!!

AM

James and Adam run at 5:30 from West High up to 11th and V. Did two faster miles on the onset of the downhill. 5:05 and 5:06 with 158 ft down per mile. Adam stayed with me and it is clear he had tons of speed. I felt pretty good not great. James held up really well getting more comfortable sub 6. Chilly but perfect running weather in the low 40s.

Lunch

2x2 miles at HMP down the mountain with a 1/2 mile recovery jog back up in between. Warmed up from the office up past ruth's a bit about 3.9. For the workout, splits were 5:00 (too fast), 5:16, 5:12, 5:21 (legs tiring out here). Each descent ended up being almost exactly 130 ft. According to analytical but unscientifc Josh, I should be running HMP at about 5:15 at 125 ft down so these ended up pretty much spot on other than the too fast first one.  Weather was mid to high 50s with a 5-10 mph headwind down the canyon (nice and cool; not inhibiting). Desire, temperature (mouth didn't dry up) and fresher legs were the difference between today and my failed efforts in prior weeks.

I considered stopping on the first one because I only needed 2x2 for the day and I'd gotten two in in the morning. I didn't want to compromise the AF Half on Saturday. I ultimately saw it through because it's a fun race not a goal race and I am still working on getting faster. I left my Garmin home accidentally so had to record it all on the Strava app and hold my phone the whole way.

Easy now 'til Saturday. Goal there is to compete. No time goal.

4pm run with Adam up dry creek. Cooler on the creek and a nice run. I could feel yesterday's workout in my quads a bit.

Easy early lunch run with Nate around research park/sunnyside. Averaged 7:43.

A goal was sub 1:10, A+ goal was sub 1:09. I didn't have a specific time goal but I thought those would be good performances. Stayed over at a friends in Orem and didn't get to bed until 11:30.

Warmed up two. The race started with the gun shot before they had us advance to the start. So maybe 4-5 seconds behind the start. Strange. Splits:

Mile Pace Drop Comment

1 5:00.8 174 good - maybe working too hard

2 5:18.9 118

3 5:18.2 70

4 5:08.9 185 laboring too much

5 5:02.6 271 have to force pace; tough to dip under 5

6 5:02.3 298 can't get any speed out of my legs

7 5:15.3 146 right quad starts pooping out

8 5:27.9 198 falling off pace; Walter has separated himself by 45 seconds maybe

9 5:47.8 86 parkway, forcing pace

10 5:50.2 80

11 5:55.3 55 Walter jumps out of the bathroom; I tell him I'm cooked; Scott helps for a bit

12 5:47.4 121 Trying to get in the 1:10s

13 6:07.6 24 Legs are done

14 :27.9 5:24

My watch said 1:11:31 but official time was 1:11:50. Elevation drop of over 1700 feet. Last bit was .08 or .09; all of the mile markers were slightly off.

I never felt great during the race and my quads were already blown by mile 7. Suffered through the latter half with a little boost from Scott Keate right after the hill in mile 11. He got my pace up a bit but I let up again after he dropped off. Thanks Scott.

Great weather and perhaps a mild tailwind down the canyon so good conditions. Congrats to Matt on a great time running solo and Walter for holding up reasonably well through the last 5.

More than a three minute downhill PR from last year's DesNews. Not satisfied but sometimes I want to bite off more than I can chew. This is the fastest I've run a 10k on up so my legs need some acclimation. I think the best I could've done today was about 1:10 flat. Won a pair of Altras for 3rd place.

Used all my UtahRunning.com gear and it worked well though my left foot got hot on the downhill and I picked up three blisters; one big one.

"Shake out" with Jake, Adam and Adam. Went north on the BST from city creek to the road in N Salt Lake. 1800 ft of ascent I felt bad at mile 3 but good the rest of the time. I had a hard time getting out of my car when I got home.

Funny how you can be sore in some ways but fine in others. Overall, I think the run today will speed recovery and was the perfect thing to do.

Lunch

Long hike with the kids up at Alta with my brother's family.

The AM boys were both sick so I took it as a sign to take the day off. Legs still pretty beat up.

Lunch run while it was in the upper 80s. Wasatch out and back. I wanted something slightly quicker than easy and 7:02 pace for the run was plenty for a good effort. Legs are much better than yesterday but they still need another day.

Tried out some new shoes and there was a hot spot on the left big toe. Hot spots always on the left side. I will probably return them because I hate my Saucony Rides with a similar issue.

AM

9.7 on the JRP with James. 69:12 total. Legs not back yet.

Lunch

Another 7.5 with Adam at 11 before the heat of the day. Legs felt very sluggish. Low 80s.

9.25 on the treadmill at work in the 2:00 hour. A little soreness in my left calf and hamstring.

I thought I was out but they pulled me back in again. I somehow agreed to do another Ragnar. I like making friends but I hate this race. And the nice guy I am, I am doing the entirety of Ragnar hill. I am stupid.

Ultra Ragnar Wasatch Back

I decided to help a team out even though I swore off Ragnar last year. We had a 10 am start time and I had legs 3-4, 18, and 33-34. Only 27 miles but more than 4,000 feet of ascent including Ragnar hill. We turned out having a diverse set of runners with guys averaging any where from 6:30 pace to 14:30 pace. We guessed about a 26 hour finish and it ended up close to 29.

Legs 3-4 go from Hyrum to the base of Avon pass with a net ascent of 280 ft. I warmed up two because my mileage was going to be low. Nice rolling leg and the weather was nice and cool Friday. I started at 11:40 and finished the 11.1 miles in 71 minutes for a 6:26 pace.

One of our runners struggled going up Avon and that's when adjustments started. I decided to take one of his night legs so I added leg 19 to my run which was only 3.6 miles but with 644 ft of total ascent. These legs started at 10:30 pm and together had a net ascent of 1060 ft and a total ascent over 1500 ft. I finished the 11.8 miles in 83 minutes or a 7:04 pace. Felt pretty good and I felt like I was doing a good job of saving myself for Ragnar hill. I did start to get tired toward the end of the second leg with an ascent of 400 ft over the last 1.5 miles.

Ragnar day II

I started legs 33 and 34 at 11:40 am and Saturday was hotter than Friday. I went shirtless and was able to stay sufficienty cool. 33 starts with an easier 1.5 miles getting to the base of the pass. The total ascent for the two legs is more than 3200 ft. I was not feeling good on the 1.5 and was worried but I settled down on the hill and never had tired legs or walked a step. I wasn't fast but I was earnest. I finished in 80 minutes with a 9:39 pace. Yeah! Feeling good and done! 

But the guy doing the last leg was worried that he wasn't feeling great at the end of his run earlier that morning. So there was a chance someone would step in for him on 36 and that someone would likely be me. I tried to pretend to be finished getting back in my crocs eating an ice cream sandwich and drinking a monster protein shake in the finishing area. We waited for the exchange and he took a while. He finally came through and apparently he had made a 3 mile wrong turn because of no marking on the trail as he was coming down. So he was toast and I was on my way over "Park City hill" which is the worst way one could ever conceive of finshing a race. You start from the finishing area and take a rocky steep climb up a little hill going a net 490 ft over .8 miles with numerous switchbacks. For me this was in the 2:00 hour so much hotter. The crocs aren't good at doing dozens of very short switch backs and I didn't even try to go hard. I just wanted to finish and we did so. That leg, which claims to be 2.8 miles, was 3.6 miles. Time was 33 minutes or 9:22 pace. I was much more spent after this run and was just done.

And that's it. 34.9 miles in about 4.5 hours with 5800 ft of elevation gain and 1100 ft down - half of that descent coming on the last run. Stayed in touch with Fritz. They had two vans. He arrived at 5 pm and was done by noon. Didn't pay for anything and got a bunch of gear. That sounds like slighlty more fun but nothing could incent me to repeat this error again. #neveragain

Today, Sunday, I am fine. No soreness and I will probably get out for 8-10 up City Creek.

No AM crew today. I considered running then reconsidered.

Luckily lunch weather was in the mid 70s - about 10 degrees cooler than expected. I got my free Altras in the mail today and took them up dry creek. They are definitely more agile than the Cascadias but I suspect I won't get 400 miles out of them. My legs weren't sore but they were surprisingly heavy for the first two miles. 8:22 pace