Training for Top of Utah 2011

Treadmill run to keep from getting chilled...trying to get rid of this stupid cold! Easy runner starting @ 4 on the machine and finishing @ 6.8 then cooldown and walk until I hit 1000 calories burnt.

Wore the HR monitor and it stayed under 140 the whole run...Sweet!

Still planning my 20 miler for Sat. morning EARLY, EARLY so I don't have to miss any of conference...

Wow! This run just plain hurt at the end...felt like it was the end of a real marathon...

Didn't get an early start like I planned so missed conference...I'll catch that session later.

Kind of glad I didn't start earlier because the weather was crappy when I started but cleared up a bit about halfway through. Started at RR area...ran around the Snoqualmie loop by Kinghorns then to rivierview park for water...then off to mill pond rd  to Centennial park to fuel up @ 6 miles. Then off to Grandma's house in NB just off the SVT. Picked up a water bottle to carry for a ways so I could fuel along the way. Continue on SVT and went under I-90 for a little over a mile(uphill there) and turned, came back. That part of SVT was gorgeous running right by a river and nice scenery. Went to the NB Library for water and finished off my power bar there. That was 15.5 miles. Then back to Centennial for water and another lap there and finally back to the car through town...

So happy no long run next week...just 4 9 milers.

Avg pace was on schedule today @ 8:45 even. Wore my HR monitor(which was a mistake) and avg. was only 143 for the full 20. SWEET! Bad part was it wore another hole in my chest...Note to self...if you are going on a long run...DO NOT wear HR monitor! I lubed up the important parts before leaving on this run but forgot about the nipples...Ouch! That just plain hurts in the hot water shower!! 

Glad this one is in the books and hope the next 3 20 milers are easier...

Run @ the ridge this morning with all it's ups and downs. Nice day for a run though...cloudy with a few sunbreaks and lower 40's for weather.

9 miles and I was supposed to do it faster but not with these stinking hills and 2 days after a 20 miler. Gonna do 4 9 milers this week. Wed. and Sat. will have some bigger and longer hills involved.

8:50 pace

Should have done this run in the morning or early afternoon when it wasn't rainy, cold and windy. Dang! mid 40's...wore 3 tech shirts and pants and gloves... Ran the ridge upsy downsy hills and then down the parkway stopping at the parkway park @ 4 miles and then 7 miles on the way back up...

Tough run but certainly not tougher than speedwork or tempo run. Just miserable out there...better go get in the shower here quickly before I freeze.

Avg. Pace 8:40 and am happy with that...may run my other 2 times this week on Friday and Saturday...not sure yet...will see tomorrow in the a.m.

Not enough time so a quick 2 on treadski...will try to make up a few tomorrow...easy though.

After reading too many people blowing up training too hard...figured this week is my easy week and I will take it easy...shouldn't have run the hard hill the other day. 

Next week back at it hard.

Ate a LOT of chinese food last night and then came home and had no bake cookies and finished up with ice cream...Slept in till 8 this morning and finally hit the road at 8:45. 

37 degrees but at least there was some sun. Icy wind at times.

10 miles at the ridge avoiding any big hills. Easy runner @ an 8:56 pace. Gotta start doing more running here at the ridge so I get used to the hills. 2 stops @ miles 3.5 and 7.

46 miles on the docket for next week with an 8 mile tempo run...not really looking forward to that or the 20 miler on Saturday...I will do it though!

Almost perfect running weather this morning...45 degrees and cloudy with not much wind and no rain at all.

Since I decided to do more running here at the ridge...that's what today was. Lot's of hills and I didn't avoid the tougher ones...My plan has me lowering the pace down to 8:40 and it came in at 8:36...

Something that I didn't think was a big deal turns out to be a Big Deal. When I was drinking Accelerade right after runs I recovered super quickly...but when I felt it was no big deal I have found myself hurting(muscles mostly) so I went back to Acclerade and am feeling much better. 

Another afternoon run....just don't seem to like those much...not enough sleep lately either which is kicking my butt. 1 warmup mile...8 tempo miles...1 cooldown mile.

Nice weather @ 60+ degrees with some wind on the way back. Started at Centennial park with 1 mile warmup. Then started at the edge of the park. I stopped at 2 miles for a quick drink at the North bend library then 2 miles out Sno. Valley trail and then turnaround and back to library for some more water and finally back to the park.

Not much wind going out but the wind coming back was tough at times. Worked way harder than I should have but that's how it goes.

Plan said 7:34 pace...well the plan didn't have to run against the wind.

Splits. 8:45, 7:34, 7:30, 7:35, 7:35, 7:32, 7:34, 7:34, 7:31, 9:33 and my buns were dragging at the end. went to the car and fueled with accelerade then finished my cooldown and stretched.

52 degrees sunny and partly cloudy during run with a little wind here and there. 

New route over to deer park(creek?) anywho...nice run on the ridge with 2 stops @ 3 miles and 6 miles. 

Thanks accelerade...after yesterdays long tempo run I figured I'd be pretty beat up...nope...felt a little sluggish but not bad at all.

Target pace was 8:45 and I hit 8:43...happy about that...now to prepare for the 20 miler on Saturday...looking to run from centennial park up to rattlesnack lake and back on the Sno Valley trail...there is some up hill there too.

The Beast has been tamed...well at least domesticated. That parkway hill did not get the best of me today even after having already run 17 miles...happy to be able to hang in there and not be dead at the top...had enough leftover to run a marathon pace mile to finish.

Legs felt very good to start and most of the run. Almost perfect day for a long run...rain overnight and 50 degrees with not too much wind. A few sprinkles here and there.

Started from home and hit the ridge for a couple miles, then down the parkway with a stop at the park @ 2.75. Then finished parkway down and through town over to riverview park @ 5.50 miles. Then up and around Kinghorns loop and back to riverview @ 8.75 mile and 1/3 powerbar. Then Mill pond rd to Centennial park @ 11.75(stretched). Then golf course and Sno Valley trail and back to park @ 15.3 miles(this is where I was feeling a little tired due to running that trail so cut it short). Saw John Milks there with his son Logan who had a baseball game and ended up chatting for about 5 minutes with him(nice break).

Finally headed back home and stopped at the parkway park @ 18.25. Was able to power up the rest of the hill and finish strong with a .5 mile walk to finish up. I didn't eat anything before this run and it felt great! Ate a power bar while running and that is it. I was STARVING when I got home. Drank a bunch of Accelerade when I got home and had a Large bowl of raising bran since it was the first thing I saw when I walked in the kitchen. 

Target Pace as per plan was 8:45

**edit**(pace was supposed to be 8:40) ended up being 8:44

Splits: 8:43, 8:45, 8:12, 8:21, 8:44, 8:45, 9:00, 8:36, 8:45, 8:43, 8:44, 8:42, 8:43, 8:42, 8:52, 8:48, 8:47, 9:16, 9:45, 8:00 Yeah Baby!

Got up early...ate leftover popcorn for breakfast...then went on my run at 9:45 a.m. 

Windy but mid 60 degree weather was so nice! Gorgeous day for a run! Ran the hills of Snoqualmie Ridge and did not avoid them at all but tried to embrace them...

Surprisingly I did quite well...although I ran out of gas at about 9 miles though and headed home to fuel up and then just finished on the tread.

Legs felt really good even after the 20 miler on Sat.

Just noticed that my buddy Sommer(Sean Sundwall's sister) killed Boston(marathon) and ran a 7:27 pace for a 3:15! I will be happy to run a 7:30 pace for my upcoming half.

Also very happy to see that TeenaMarie was able to run and finish as well...

Target pace: 8:40    Actual pace: 8:40  

Crazy Rain this a.m.! Decided not to run my speedworkout in this stuff...instead looks like I will add it into Saturday's long run...that should be interesting!

Easy run at the ridge with plenty of hills. My schedule was flexible so was able to go later than normal and not have quite so much rain.

Pace 8:38

Not enough time for a run this a.m. so it's a rare evening run...ate lunch at 2:30 and went for the run @ 6. I did something that I normally don't do...drank a Dr. Pepper just to see if the caffeine would help at all 4 hours later...don't know if it was the caffeine but the run went very well. Lots of hills and the top of the parkway and into Eaglepoint a new subdivision at the top of the parkway...I've heard rumors that our new church may be built up there...that would be Awesome! Already have 33 miles this week and an 11 and 10 miler back to back which is very rare for me to do big miles right after each other. Sun was out but it was a bit chilly wearing just a thin short sleeve tech shirt toward the end. Temple open house tomorrow in Canada and then up early for 16 miler Saturday with 4 X 1 mile speed workout...not sure if I should run up the hill/beast after the workout or not.

*My 16 year old daughter has been running(happy about this) 4 times a week for about a month in training for an 8K...she uses my garmin and sometimes forgets to turn it off(not so happy about this) so garmin died at 7.5 miles. No pace but it was easy and probably close to 8:45ish.

Last night was a carbo load dinner at La Fogata Mex. restaurant in Snoqualmie. Knocked out a full combo...2 enchiladas with rice and beans and more than my fair share of chips and salsa...baby decided to wake up super early...5:55...and I knew my wife needed some sleep so once 8:00 rolled around I knew running was not an option this a.m...

Ate a bowl of grape nuts and that was it as I don't run well with anything in my stomach...got out to run at about 1:45. Bad news right when I walked out my door it started to rain! Than about 1.5 miles in it started to hail and got windy. Down the parkway and around mill pond over to centennial park where it was pouring down very hard! Went to the bathroom and took off both shirts and rung out the water and then dried them out a little with the hand drying machine. Hat was soaked through, shoes waterlogged. Shorts were hanging in there OK for now. Then off to the high school track for the speedwork that didn't get done Wednesday due to rain. 4X1mile @ 6:50 pace....which was nothing but Hard Work. Lungs were fine but my legs were tired...probably due to the uptick in miles and running hills all week. Last mile came in @ 6:45...I was trying to get around the track before another storm cloud burst over me...didn't make it and because I had taken my hat off my glasses got pretty spotted up with water.

Then off to riverview park and hit the pavillion there to stretch and wait out another downpour. And finally back up the parkway...feeling sluggish after the brief layover there. As I was just starting up the parkway a car pulled over and asked me if I could provide directions to the casino...I wonder if he saw that I was wearing a BYU hat? Yeah, I'm not a fan of casinos and won't even go near one.

Powered(okay, hobbled may be a better description) up the parkway and did not stop for water at the midway point....just kept plugging. Saw my buddy Timothy Tree coming down the parkway and I thought...lucky! He's fresh and going downhill and with the wind. Made it back and last mile was an 8:31 despite 3/4ths of it being uphill. Overall pace ended up being 8:20 with speedwork included.

Walked for about a quarter mile and then when I got home immediately ate 3 waffles and drank 32 ounces of accelerade. Now off to a hot shower. 

One week until the Half Marathon here in Snoqualmie...

Super Windy out today...I'm beat up from my run on Saturday...decided to take it easy on the legs...treadmill run...yes boring but easy on the legs and not getting blown over was nice too. I was looking out the window and a robin was trying to walk across the street and it was looking like it had too much to drink.

Gonna run M-Th lower miles this week instead of M W Th higher miles...just so I can be slightly fresh for the half marathon this Saturday.

Still keeping it easy so I have some juice left for the race Saturday morning. Did not run yesterday due to various things but will run tomorrow...probably short again...

Easy pace at 8:40 for most of the run. Did 5 miles to the main park at the ridge, then 5 .08 mile strides on the main soccer field @ 4:10 pace...hard to believe people can run that fast for a mile!!

Not totally sure what pace I should shoot for in the half...probably 7:30 just because it's a nice round #. Will probably be trailing my buddy Mark for most of it though...Gonna try and beat him in a race one of these days. He and I are going to be trying to BQ @ Newport together in June. 

Wow, I am running some really low miles here this week...gonna have to have an awesome race on Saturday to make up for it...