Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Ran around the block with the dog in the morning. Ran the Planet Walk with Jon in the evening.

Stacy and Seth came home from the hospital this morning, so now it's time to settle in.

Quick report: ran the Wheet 'n' Beet 10K in Garland. It was only $5, and I got free breakfast. Jon, Cody, and Walter were also there representing the blog. In fact, we all carpooled together. My goal was to break 35 minutes, and also win the race. Only one of the two was possible today.

The course is an out-and-back, slight uphill on the first half, and slight downhill on the second half. The route started in the middle of Garland and quickly goes to rural farmland. I thought it was quite nice. We had a noticeable headwind on the first half as well, so combined with the uphill, it was safe to expect a negative split. There was a 5K with the event as well, and the 5K runners simply turn around earlier.

The race started fast (as all po-dunk races do). Two younger guys ran out in the lead after the first mile, with Walter a few seconds behind them, and Jon and I a few seconds behind Walter. Fortunately, the two leaders turned around for the 5K, which guaranteed a 1-4 Blog sweep for the 10K. Walter continued to lead through the 10K turnaround, with Jon and I working about 10 seconds behind him (mostly Jon working...I drafted as much as I could). Pace felt comfortable, good enough for conversation here and there. That said, I was counting down for the turnaround, so that I would get a little downhill and out of the headwind. When you lack fitness as I do, those little gradients and breezes hurt more. 5K split was 17:45.

A little after the half point, Jon took off, and I let him go. I was feeling fairly good, but not that good. Jon slowly reeled Walter in, and took over the lead with about 2 to go. It was well-executed and fun to watch. I tried to stay steady from behind, run hard and even, and pick up any road kill if there was any. On the last uphill with one mile to go, Jon and Walter slowed a little, and I pulled a bit closer, but then they took off again. Jon ended up about 12 seconds ahead of me, and Walter was 5 seconds ahead of me. Mostly I was focusing on my goal to break 35:00, and knew with a mile left that I needed at least a 5:35 to finish off the race. I manged to hold sub-5:30 for this stretch, and my final time was 34:55. Mile splits were 5:20, 5:53, 5:49, 5:32, 5:38, 5:29, and 1:10 (5:13 pace). 2nd 5K split was 17:10. Jon ran a sub-17 to win. My garmin measured 6.22 miles. (the course was not certified)

This was my first race since the Moab 5-miler in March, and my first real "race effort" since Trials last November. I'd like to say I was just doing a tempo run to run this time, but I ran hard. It's hard to push through the hurt on your first 10K in a year (it takes practice), but I gave it a solid effort and had fun racing. I will get my revenge on Jon and Walter the next time we race.

Ran to First Dam and back, via the canal trail. Hot out. 7:43/mile average pace.

AM - ran around the block with Gil

PM - Jon was doing a workout this evening at LHS track, so I jumped in with him. I warmed up for a couple miles, and then did a tinman tempo mile in about 6:10-6:15, and then we started our mile repeats. Jon was doing 6x1600 @ LT pace, with 300m rest between intervals. I figured I'd hang in there as long as I felt like it. I ended up doing 4 intervals with him, before Jon veered off and had to take a bathroom stop. Being impatient, plus figuring my kid was crying and driving Stacy nuts, I just went home at that point, although I definitely had another in me. All of the intervals were at 5:45, give or take a second. I was still feeling sluggish from Saturday, but not a bad run, all in all. Nice cool overcast evening too. 

AM - ran around the block with the dog.

PM - ran around the block with the dog, then did the Planet Walk. 7:38/mile average pace. 

Ran with Jon and Cody; did the Landfill Loop via Planet Walk. Legs were heavy for all and pace was slow. 7:56/mile average.

Ran the Top of Utah Half Marathon course with Cody. He picked me up at my house, and then shuttled to the start line, then we ran the course back to my house, and shuttled back to the top.

I was hoping I would feel good today and be in the mood for some sub-6's, but I felt flat from the beginning and gave up on that idea. Despite that, we kept an even pace throughout the run, and had an enjoyable morning. My foot was sore, but other than that my body felt good.

Mile splits were 6:39, 6:36, 6:43, 6:44, 6:42, 6:22, 6:31, 6:33, 6:30, 6:33, 6:46 (up Millville Hill), 6:01 (pushed it into the finish). Then cooled down to my house with a couple 7:20's. Half marathon split was around 1:26:20, and overall pace for the entire run was 6:39/mile. I'll try it again in a couple weeks.

Jogged the dog around the block in the morning. Around noon, and I went out and ran the Providence Hill Loop. Average pace was 6:49/mile, which I was pleased with. Really nice day today, cooler than usual.

AM - ran around the block with my dog.

PM - ran the Planet Walk, then did a loop in the grass at LHS. Ran into Jon on the PW, so did half my run with him.

Warmed up a couple miles then did 6x1000m at the LHS track with Jon and Cody. We got a little cloud cover, which helped, but also they were watering the field (which is artificial turf, oddly enough), so the sprinklers really helped for cooling down too. The workout felt great, better than I expected. The intervals were: 3:20, 3:19, 3:20, 3:16, 3:15, 3:14. We took 200m recovery between intervals, with one longer water break after the 4th.

I called it good after 6 repeats, since there's no need to bury myself when I'm only doing 45 mpw. Cooled down for a bit with Jon and Cody afterward. It definitely wore me out, but it felt good to hit those splits and feel comfortable.

Ran the dog around the block, then ran to the chiropractic and then back to work. 7:24/mile average pace. I didn't plan on going this far today, and am a bit tired. But tomorrow is a day off.

Ran with Jon's ATK club on the Netwon-Clarkston Loop. Cody, Jon, and I did a bit of a progression, starting sluggish at 8-minute miles on the uphill, then starting to get a rhythm going on the rolling hills with some high 6's, and dipped under 6-minute pace for the last few miles, which were conveniently downhill. Especially convenient for me, since my longest run two weeks ago was 11.5 miles. Then I got 15 miles last Saturday, and a little over 18 miles today. But despite threatening to make Cody carry me the last few miles, I did make it, and was even incited to catch the 7-minute guy down the stretch (which we did, thanks to a 5:37 last mile). 6:58/mile average pace for the run.

AM - ran the dog for a mile.

PM - ran the Canal Trail to First Dam (7.25 miles). Averaged  7:27/mile.

Did a workout with Jon and Cody. Warmed up for about 2.5 miles, then 8 miles of tempo, capped off by 1.5 miles of cooldown. We did the Millville Hill Loop backwards (although Cody considers it forward). I think I still like my way better, because it feels more brutal, but this variation certainly had its charm.

Mile	Split	Comment
1	6:58	All uphill. Hardest part of the tempo
2	6:12	Mixed uphill and downhill
3	5:56	Rolling, then downhill
4	5:30	All downhill
5	5:38	1/4 down, 3/4 uphill. This is the hill of the TOU Half, so I was stoked to hit this split
6	5:54	Up, flat, then slight down; feeling spent after the last mile
7	5:50	Mostly downhill. Hit a much-needed water stop
8	5:53	Flat, rolling

I was surprised to hit some of these splits, but for the most part it felt great, especially given that we were running in the evening heat. Mile 5 definitely wiped me out, but the water stop rejuvenated me enough to finish the workout. And fortunately we got some cloud cover, which helped. I felt pretty beat during the cooldown, but I guess I should since the last time I did a workout like this, it was 2007 and I was running 90-100 mpw.

But the work is done for the week, so now it's just a matter of resting up for the TOU Half. 6:36/mile average pace for the run. 

AM - ran the dog around the block

PM - started down the River Trail, but had to turn back early on because of construction. On the way back, I bumped into Jon (small pond here in Logan...), and we ended up running on the Bonneville Trail to Green Canyon. It was a bit longer, harder, and hotter than I originally intended, but so be it. Legs pretty tired from yesterday, but not sore or anything. My foot felt pretty good. 8:02/mile average pace.

Planned day off today. My legs are tired from the last two days, so I will enjoy resting today, and an easy few miles tomorrow morning.

Ran the dog around the block, then ran the Planet Walk, all real easy. Nice morning.

Raced the TOU Half today. I've been looking forward to this for a while, and was excited to run hard and compete against myself and others. Initial goals were to run in the 1:12 range. I thought sub-1:12 was possible, if everything fired. My other goals were to beat Walter, Jon, and perhaps Sasha (if he had an off day), and I was also hoping for an outside chance of Top 3. In some ways it would be an uphill battle on a downhill course. My running mileage since May 1 has been 6, 1, 4, 0, 0, 11, 18, 13, 22, 31, 35, 45, 50, 50. Although I've been feeling good, I was a bit concerned about my endurance. I expected to run strong and fast for about 10 miles, and then have the wheels fall off the last few.

I slept okay the night before (couldn't fall asleep for awhile). Warmed up for a couple miles and got the bare minimum of required pit stops (only a 2-Star race today). Fortunately, my bowels cooperated during the race, so no issues. Saw two moose on the warmup and decided that was a good omen. How many half marathons out there can you see a moose along the course?

They started the race 15 minutes late, due to crowds and getting buses through those crowds. The race has tripled in size over the last couple years, so it is experiencing some growing pains. Other than that, though, it is very well managed, and I recommend it to anyone.

I wore my sports watch rather than the Garmin today, as I trust the mile markers on this course.

Mile	Split	Overall	Comment......................................................
1	5:34	5:34	Feel really sluggish, and discouraged by the split. 5:34 should not feel this hard going downhill during the first mile. Hoping things magically get easier. I'm right with Jon and Walter, in 6th/7th place.
2	5:28	11:02	5:28 should not feel this hard this early into a downhill race. Really laboring and breathing hard. Still with Jon and Walter
3	5:23	16:26	Still laboring hard, but a little happier with the split. Jon starts running faster, and I can't / won't match it. This is plenty fast. Walter still on my heels. Hoping for a big tailwind later on to bail me out, otherwise it could get ugly.
4	5:27	21:53	Things magically get better once I let Jon go. Hit a nice split, while breathing gets easier. Jon about 5 seconds ahead, and Walter right behind me.
5	5:21	27:15	Starting to feel more relaxed and sure of myself. Get a little tailwind starting here, but wind was swirling for most of the canyon, including some headwind. Not even close to the favorable wind we got last year.
6	5:22	32:37	Still in the canyon, and still rolling. It sounds like I dropped Walter, but Jon still about 10s ahead. Catchable, but not if he keeps running sub-5:20 splits. I'm really happy with the pace I'm running right now and hoping to maintain until the uphill.
7	5:22	37:59	Last mile in the canyon. Nice downhill and nice tailwind. Thinking how I'm about halfway, and just need to repeat what I just did one more time. uggh. Jon still running incredibly strong. Sasha and Josh about 1 minute up. They look to be running very strong as well. Teren and Seth are way the heck out there.
8	5:29	43:29	Hollow Road, still a gentle downhill and a favorable wind.
9	5:31	49:00	Another solid split on Hollow Rd. Jon seems to have looked the same distance away for quite some time.
10	5:31	54:32	Still feeling strong and happy with the pace. The hard part is coming up.
11	5:39	1:00:11	On Hwy 165. Pretty much flat, then uphill the second half. Others complained of a headwind, but I didn't notice. Tried increasing my turnover to keep the pace. Happy with the split, given the difficult stretch.
12	5:59	1:06:11	This mile is all uphill, but I knew there was nice downhill after. Stopped and walked for gatorade for a few seconds at an aid station, hoping refueling would help for the longer haul. Not the mile I was looking for, and Jon pulled away a bit, pretty much checkmating me. No one behind me though.
13	5:29	1:11:40	I knew with a couple miles to go that sub-1:12 would be possible. With 1.1 mile to go, I figured if I could burn a 5-minute mile or close to it, I would have it. I did this last year, and also have done it in training runs on this road. However, this year is not last year. Not enough pop in my stride, but all in all I was happy to get back under 5:30 to finish out the race.
13.1	0:32	1:12:12	Low 1:12. I can dig it.

After I finished, I grabbed a drink and an orange, and then watched Cody nab his much sought-after PR. Then we all cooled down for 2 miles.

So I consider this to be a very good race, given the winter, spring, and summer I've had. Looking at the big picture, my PR two years ago was 1:12:55, and I beat that. I think this was actually the 4th fastest half I've ran, and all of the faster ones were last year. Although I wanted to beat Jon, he just flat out ran a great race, so I'm pretty happy for him (although I'm sick of looking at his green-shorted rear end). Definitely a breakthrough for him. I thought I ran a really solid race, and did well with pacing. I expected myself to feel better early on, and terrible at the end, and for some reason it was the opposite; I couldn't get going at the beginning, but ran solid splits throughout the race. Hopefully a good sign for things to come.

My next races will be the Top of Utah 5K in September, probably The Moab Other Half in October, and our local First Dam Run 10K in November. One race a month is enough to keep it fun and interested. I'll probably keep building mileage, but not looking to do anything like last year. I'm still not as healthy as I'd like to be (foot and neck are still sore), plus I just don't have the time or desire to run twice a day. But just doing what I'm doing now over extended time will give me plenty of ROI.

I was pretty sore and tired from the Saturday's race, so I just jogged to the gym and did 30 minutes on the elliptical. Hamstrings are very tight.

Ran the dog around the block in the morning, then ran the Landfill Loop (5.5 miles) at noon. Felt better than yesterday, although muscles are still a bit stiff and sore. 7:14/mile average pace.

Ran the dog around the block in the morning. Ran to First Dam and back in the evening. 7:41/mile pace. Still recovering from Saturday. It stinks to not have a base.

Ran the dog around the block, then biked to the chiropractor and back. Good enough for today.

Finally feel recovered from Saturday. This morning I ran the dog around the block, then did a North Logan Loop (about 10 miles). Averaged 7:04/mile. I think I'll get back to doing workouts next week, but this recovery week has been good.

Ran the dog around the block, then ran out to the end of the single track on the River Trail (it's finally open again). Hit a voracious headwind going into Logan Canyon, but got it as a tailwind going out. I did about 5 miles of tinman tempo on the way back, hitting 5:50-6:00 miles for that stretch, and finally passed up the 7-minute guy with about a mile to go. 6:57 average pace for the run.