Welcome

Easy from work down to the U track. Did a 5k in 18:38 with even 6:00 1600s throughout and a 38 second push for the last 200. Then meandered down through the U and back up to work. 1:13:12 total.

The forecast down south is getting cooler!

Memory grove out and back from the house in 42:01. Four eighty step strides down. Felt great.

Another day of rest. Super windy today but it's supposed to quiet down by Saturday.

From my St. George Condo down to a park that had laps that were about .4 total. Did one mile in 6:03 and then backed off to return up the hill to the condo. Beautiful morning but it made me realize how unused to running in the cold I am.

1:20:21 first half, 1:16:20 second half. 15 minute PR. Very happy with the result.

When I finished the Ogden Marathon, I had a thought that it would be my last target race above 6:00 pace. That seemed a little unrealistic at the time, but it stayed with me. I plotted the performances of Fritz, Scott Keate and Brandon Dase last year and came up with a plan to break 2:40. Then I came up with my A+ plan to break 2:37:12, 6:00 pace. Here is the A+ plan and my performance today.

I don't memorize desired splits but I do try to get a sense for where I should be on any given grade. So I know if I am going too fast or slow by a glance at the pace. I think my performance shows that I gave it the right effort and stayed consistent throughout (mile 26 was the only time I felt I couldn't hold pace).

Details.

Pre-race. Got up at 3:45 and did my usual routine. I am pretty sure my taper and pre-race meal are spot on. My wife dropped me off at the buses at about 4:15. I did not win a raffle ticket for arriving early. With bib 131, I was not an elite and made my way with the huddling masses to a place of shelter. I brought a blanket this time and combined with the mylar, I tried to keep the cold and wind away while not wasting energy shivering or moving about. I did a little warm-up routine that included lunges and leg swings and then entered the elite starting area which was the only place around where you could run a bit. I ran back and forth nervously for a while then lined up. I found Reed, Ryan and Dave who were the guys shooting for the same goal. It was a perfect day to run well and take advantage of the cool weather and the tailwind.

Miles 1-5 in the dark and cold. The pace felt really easy so I knew I was doing the right thing. I tried to glance at my watch only occasionally for pace and split pace. Everything seemed perfect and the splts reflected it. 6:06, 6:10, 5:54, 5:56, 6:02.

Miles 6-7 are faster. I let go a bit and hit these right on. It was still cold but it was getting lighter and I could see Veyo coming up. Took my first GU at mile 7. 5:44, 5:47.

Miles 8-9 around Veyo. This is where I separated from Ryan. He had mentioned around mile 6 that he got a blister but was feeling good. I saw at the end that both feet blistered awfully and bled through his shoes! He was very tough to keep going 20 miles with bad feet and still get a 2:45. I was among Emily Jameson and a number of other unknowns on the hill and not more than 30 seconds behind the lead woman, Amber. She was easy to spot with the motorcade. I am strong on hills and didn't labor with the pace at all. 6:37, 6:20

Miles 10-12. Dammeron. Still feeling strong. Not laboring on the hills. Trying to keep everything under control. I still had that feeling that I could just sprint ahead which boosted my confidence. This is when I decided that the A+ goal was possible. Took a salt tablet at mile 10 as a precautionary measure. 6:12, 6:36, 6:18

Miles 13-14. These are downhill but not a much as those to come, so I just kept it at 6:00 pace. Took a GU at mile 13. 6:00, 5:56

Miles 15-16. Ok - time to go. I hit mile 15 in 5:31 and decided that was too fast and pulled off the throttle a bit for 16 at 5:42. I still had no issues other than a growing nuisance in my right hip right at the socket. This was a new pain but it wasn't bothersome. I saw Dave right around mile 16 and didn't see him again after he grabbed his bottle.

Miles 17-19. Still feeling strong. My splits are spot on here including the intersection at mile 19. But my legs started to feel heavy right toward the top of the hill at 19. I caught up to Reed right around the intersection. He was with the Amber crew and there were maybe 6-8 people around her that I dropped after the hill. Had a salt cap at mile 19. 5:48, 5:53, 6:11

Miles 20-21. My pace is still good though I am in some pain. Mile 21 is a fast mile and I was able to hold pacce. Right around this time, Jordan Perry caught back up to me. He looked stronger than I did. He asked how I was and I told him that the legs were heavy and the right quad and hamstring were tightening up. He offered me salt but I'd just had some. I had a GU at mile 20. 5:53, 5:32

Miles 22-25. In a lot of pain but my pace is still good. I am staying on Jordan's shoulder. I start to fall back after turning onto 300 West and Jordan calls for me to come back to him. Somehow, my legs comply and I run 5:20 pace to get back with him. The crowds are helping a lot and the thought of finishing. Also the sheer elation of realizing that I would break 2:37 if I just didn't let up. In other races, I would let the pain slow me down but I am learning to just go with it and give it my best.

Mile 26 and finish. I fall back from Jordan again and he gaps me a bit. I struggle to hold pace but I try not to let up. I was slowing toward the latter part of mile 26 but saw my family to boost me in to the finish. 6:03 and 1:17 to finish (5:50 pace).

I congratulated a few folks and made my way to my family. I got a massage, picked up my packet and left.

After a bit of reflection, I think the reason for my performance today was peaking at the right time. I was less than thrilled with my training until about the last 5 weeks. After I took a week off in August on vacation, I had some bad weeks and wasn't following my training plan. Then the weather cooled and things started coming together. Running with Fritz and others also gave me more of a sense of where my fitness was compared to theirs and I gained a lot of confidence after a couple good weekend runs and some nice workouts during the week.

I feel like I am finally starting to understand the marathon distance and what it takes to succeed. It is amazing what a little experience does. Next up - Boston. I'm not sure I can train much more than I do now but if I can maintain 70-80 miles, I should have a good race there. I am looking forward to a week off and I hope my goals will reveal themselves over time.

Congratulations to all those who ran well and had big personal bests.

I was going to take a full week off but my legs are feeling good and I was super itchy to get out there today. I havene'd had any trouble with stairs or mobility and I feel much stronger than after Ogden. So instead of the stationary bike, I elected to reconnect with the hills behind my office. I miss trail runs. There is some minor achiness and my right quad and hamstring are still a little sore from the last few miles of the race but everything else felt fine. I kept making plans to run fast up a hill or take a fun tangent but then disciplined self would wake up and tell me not to be stupid. I stopped at just over 30 minutes and walked 5 minutes back to the office. Beautiful day.

I think yesterday's shakeout helped a lot. My legs felt great this morning. I did another trail run at lunch. This was my classic Round Red Butte and though I am in recovery it has never felt easier. All the hills and taking my iphone ensure that I don't go too fast up or down. I could feel some tightness in my right quad, hamstring, calf on the downhill so I am by no means close to 100% 40:00 total with almost 900 ft up.

10 minute warm up on the stationary bike then 30 minutes on the treadmill at a 1.5 incline and then a 10 minute cool down on the bike. Sped up a little toward the end of the treadmill run and all seems good other than the left glute pain I got from running Ogden.

Easy miles from work south on the BST to Wasatch. 2.66 miles on trails and the rest on road.  Some tightenss in my right calf lingered and the shoes I wore didn't help. Definitely the best I'v felt thus far. 50:03 total with probably 4-500 ft up.

Easy miles from Highland High with Jake, Fritz, Allie, James and Chad. 1:14:43.

Easy run with Frtiz, Jake, Nate, Steve and Collin from Liberty Park. 1:27:30. a Little warmer this morning but overcast. Calves were a bit tight. I've decided to retire the Altras.

Sugarhouse out and back from work. Far point was 1500 E and 2100 S before cutting back into the neighborhood. Felt really good today. Usually when I do this run, I struggle coming back up the hill in the second half but I felt strong throughout. That chilly air is such a blessing. 56:41 with 700 ft up.

I have a very upset coworker because I told him about the fox song and his kids won't stop watching/singing it. Apparently they all want to be foxes for Halloween.

Plan this week was to go easy. I left work with my crocs and they had different ideas. They wanted to move. After a 6:19 warm up mile down the hill (I usually do this in 7:15-8:00) I hurried up emigration against a decent headwind in 7:03 miles. I turned around and with the tailwind I did 5:39, 5:29, 5:22. 51:42 with 750 up. HR checks were mid to high 150s so I'm counting a few marathon pace miles. I have been feeling so good lately.

My boss told me to go on a longer run today so I complied and went over to the pipeline trail. My first time on this trail and it is wonderful but more treacherous than I expected. I tripped twice and got a little bloodied and bruised. The first time was navigating one of the three dozen puddles and kicking a hiding root. That got me muddy and bloody. Then on the way back, I kicked a good sized rock and fell in a pile of rocks and got bruised just about everywhere. On the Wahsatch Steeplechase, I tripped nonce and that's supposed to be way gnarlier.

I also missed my trail at the waterfall on the way back and took some steep switchbacks down just to climb back up maybe 300 feet. Perfect day and definitely one to repeat. 75:01 but who knows if the mileage is right.

Ran a bit over 18 minutes in some Kinvara 5s for Jake. Very excited for the new shoe - a huge upgrade and very fast! I was cruising pretty good without thinking about it. I hit 6:17 for mile 1 and was surprised I'd been going that fast; (it was downhill). I forgot to bring shoes today so it is now an official down day. If I am really itching, I may do 4 tonight.

When oh when will Jake start giving out those shoes?!?!

AM - 10 easy with James and Scott. Met at 4800 S JRP and went south. Considered doing a progression but we didn't want to lose anyone so we just did a faster finish doing 7:07, 6:31 and 6:22 for the last 3. Felt good. So cold at the start but perfect at thend. 1:11:52 total very flat!

Splits for James.

Lunch - 4.5 on the treadmill at work. Accelerated from 7:00 pace to 5:40 pace (for .15) then cooled down 4 minutes. 29:45 total all at a 1.5 incline but the cool down. First time wearing my NB shoes since they tore my foot apart at Alta Peruvian. All better.

Not much time for a run today. I had to hurry a bit to get in 8 miles in 53:53. Went to liberty park and back. Miles were pretty even the effort put the heart rate in the low to mid 140s.

Did 6 miles alone from Highland High up to Sunnyside and back. I did one marathon pace loop around Sugarhouse Park in 8:13 (5:55 pace). Then joined Jake, Andrea, Rob, Steve and Allie for a little 10 mile meandering loopish run. Perfect morning. Idea was to run 2 hours but I got to my car in 1:58 and called it good.

Very easy miles from work up Wasatch with Adam H. Averaged 7:50 a mile. Don't you think it's such a shame, this weather can't last a while.

I hit my 2013 target goal of 2500 miles today. The blessing of health will never be underappreciated.

AM

7.25 miles - Woke up at 5:15 and went to the west high track. Warmed up 2 total then did 4 striders on the straightaways. My brother in law met me there but he doesn't really run so he was just trying to move a bit. He probably broke my rhythym a bit but he got me out there.

I did 3x800 trying to aim for sub 2:30 with 3 minutes rest between. These were 2:33, 2:38, 2:40.

Then 10 minutes easy jogging with my brother in law which ended up being at about 11 minute pace.

Then 6x200 aiming for the same speed (37.5). Splits were 36.8, 37.5, 37.3, 37.5, 39.5, 41.4. Rests were 30, 25, 20, 15 and 10 seconds. I had to dodge a guy on the inside track on 1, 3 and 5.

Then cooled down a bit over a mile. I would like to get more comfortable running 5 pace and hopefully this is a building block. The trouble is my ischial tendonitis in my left glute flares up when running this speed. I would like to figure out what to do with it but I don't really know where to start.

Lunch

4.65 miles - I went down to the U track, ran a 1600 in 5:38 and came back. I am also trying to get comfortable at 5:40-5:45 pace on flat routes and I wanted to get a feel for where I am with this pace. Unfortunately, my left glute bothered me a bit. Now I am worried that it will get in the way of my speed goals. I came back and did some PT, strenght and stretching.

Easy BST out and back. I ran only 30 minutes so I could get in a good strength stretch and core routine. It is a blend of a number of things I've learned and I have a lot of hip stuff in there. Now adding some more hamstring specific stuff. The glute felt great after the session. Hopefully I can get in another run tonight.

Easy with Adam from research park up 11th ave. Glad to have the company and someone who keeps me from getting too eager. 1:01:49 or 7:44. Hillier today with 800 ft of hills and that steep popperton stuff.

Easy run with Adam. From research park up emigration. I somehow stopped it just after the turnaround but it was pretty close to 8 even and 58 minutes. Another perfect day.

Met up with Fritz and Nate at the JRP close to the Davis County line. Idea was 20 in 6:30-7. I prepared mentally to run it in 6:30.  We were at right around 6:35 pace at the 10 mile mark and then we picked it up at the turnaround. After miles of 6:06, 6:01 and 5:53 (fell behind a bit here), I let them drop me. I stayed just under 6:30 pace and then met up with them just after mile 17 where they'd concluded their tempo. Ended up averaging 6:29 for the run and finishing in 2:09:36. Happy with the run - garmin gives it 100 ft of elevation gains and losses over 20 miles so as honest as they come. I a counting miles under 6:15 as marathon pace, so a few of those dotted in there.

Considered taking a day off but decided to go out around 3:30. I did a 40 minute shake out going up by the capitol and to the top of bonneville road. Then turned back and went down memory grove and home. Right around the road at the top of memory grove, a woman was driving the wrong way in the biker/runner/walker lane. I put up my hands and begged her to go the other way but on she went. It was hot! 70 degrees. 400 ft up

My legs were fatigued but I think they will feel much better tomorrow with today's run. 

Super easy with Adam up Wasatch via the BST. Windy going south but no storm yet. 63:59 with 800 ft up. Feeling great.

I did a little speed session at lunch. 5x1k@5k pace with 90 seconds recovery. Went to the U track and it was windy. I thought I could do these in 3:20 (5:22 pace) but I have difficulty pacing at this speed. The first was too fast - 3:15. Then 3:22, 3:30, 3:28 and 3:21 to finish. Range of 5:14 to 5:39 pace and average of 3:23.6 or 5:28. That's a 16:59 5k which is about what I ran in my last build up. I extended the recoveries on the last two from 300m-400m (93, 84, 118, 115).

I think I tend to check out when running gets tough and sets 3 and 4 reflect this lack of  toughness. The last one didn't even feel that hard. My body was just glad that I was getting this over with and let me let loose a bit. No flare up of the left glute so I am encouraged by that.

The other experiment here was the crocs. I wondered how they'd feel on the track and they were not great. It's harder to get a foothold on the curves and I got a nice blister on the outside of the left foot. So, yeah. That's a first and a last. With different shoes and no wind, I bet I could hold that 3:20 no problem.

60:12 total for the run with 300 ft up

Easy with Adam. I left early accidentally and ended up with a couple extra miles. Went through the U and over to 11th ave. "Looped" back on 10th ave for a bit. Got back right before some more rain. 1:21:20 with 850 ft up

And there it is. The 257 mile month via the 10.47 mile treadmill run. I haven't done one of these in a while since I've been enjoying the weather so much but it really is a great workout.

5 minutes building from 9-9.5 mph, 5 mts at 10, 15 at 10.3, 15 at 10.4 and 15.5 at 10.5. Hit 55:30 at 9.47 and did 1 mile cool going from 10-9. 61:35 total. 1.5 incline for all but a flat cool down.

Happy Halloween!

p.s. for allie - what do you call a hot dog with nothin inside it? a hollow-weenie!