Training for Top of Utah 2011

Had some friends over for pasta feed last night to get carbo-loaded and it really worked.

Weather was drizzly and showery and some rain toward the end of the race. About 45 degrees so nice that way. Not too much wind.

Target pace was 7:30...went out and got stuck at a 7:15 pace and thought to myself "hey, maybe I can do this". No! Bad idea...just tried to run easy but by mile 4 it was not easy but also not killing me. Got passed a few times...the annoying part was an older guy who had to be over 60 who had a weird running gait...I just could not catch him at the end of the race...he beat me by maybe 10 seconds. 7:24 pace was better than I ever expected all though this week instead of full plan running I scaled back so as not to die during the race.

Splits:7:13, 7:19, 7:13, 7:19, 7:28, 7:25, 7:29, 7:28, 7:18, 7:31, 7:14, 7:27, 7:04, 6:47(.21 miles) by missing tangents I added a tenth of a mile...garmin says I had a 7:19 pace.

Beautiful scenery and some way gorgeous homes out at the turnaround...didn't realize that I knew some people out there and they ended up cheering me on which really helped. Enjoyed the Mariachi bands and any music as I forgot to bring my mp3.

My buddy Mark beat me by about 30 seconds or so...I had him in my sights the whole time...Finished 4th in my AG so one of these days I will get some hardware.

Had my wife bring a gallon of chocolate milk to share and boy was it ever GOOD! After a long race there is nothing better than thick rich sweet chocolate milk!

Made some new friends and had a great time(other than my lungs bursting for over an hour). Sean really had it set up very well at the high school in the gym...no waiting lines for anything. Next up- Newport Marathon in 5 weeks!

Supposed to run 10 miles today but after the race on Saturday I'm a little sore so it ended up as a tread run to take it easy on the legs...took about a mile to get them feeling OK and just moved the speed up gradually. Will do 5 more tread tomorrow to do the same thing then back to normal routine on Wednesday.

Really happy that I've recovered so quickly though.

Decided not to run yesterday and will just resume normal plan today. 10 easy @ the ridge. 40 degrees when I left so put on pants and gloves but only 2 tech shirts...didn't realize that there was a light rain coming down until getting out there and was too lazy to go back and get more protection. 

Ended up being rained upon and hailed on...not much wind but when it hit it was icy. Conditions were pretty much miserable and when it started raining hard I headed for home and finished last 1.75 on treadski.

 Legs felt fine although a touch stiff the first quarter mile...after that...good to go...

8:40 pace exactly...

Back to back 10 milers and I was expecting to have a hard time...surprisingly good run...although did start to run out of gas at about 8 miles.

Went a different route and just ran easy with a few moderate hills thrown in. Pace came in way below target @ 8:33 and I wasn't trying to lower it...

16 on Saturday is the plan with the Hildebeast thrown in at the end...

Feeling like I just may have a chance to BQ @ Newport!

Flu bug nailed me and the wife yesterday and we were both hammered, but she got it the worst...was still pretty weak this morning but still "needed" to get this run in even if it wasn't the whole thing. 

Afternoon run on the tread so I could be near a bathroom...kept drinking every 25 minutes to make sure my fluid levels were good...started running out of gas toward the end...legs were super weak but they hung in pretty well.

Next week is my biggest mile week with a 54. That's nothing for a lot of others but seems crazy to me! Will finish the week up with a 20 miler up to Rattlesnake lake and back with Mark.

Race is only 4 weeks out!!

Another and hopefully the last tread run of this year...or at least until late fall. Still feeling a bit ill so hit the tread for 12...that is tough to do 2 times in three days...BORING!

Looking forward to my tempo run on Wed. at the HS track...6 miles @ 7:22...should be simple after the half...we shall see.

5 year old was throwing up all night and since I was feeling crappy my wife did duty all night long...she earned the title Mother last night...(OK, she earned it a long time ago, just reinforced it again last night)

I was looking forward to running outside after being sick and having to run on the treadmill for 2 long runs. Close to perfect weather out there. 50 degrees and mostly cloudy...not much wind until halfway into the run. @ High School track.

2 easy warmup miles then into the tempo run. Switched up after miles 2, 5 and 8 so as to get even running.Target for tempo was 7:22 but with being sick etc. wasn't sure...and it ended up being pretty tough but for some reason the last 3 were not bad and I pushed it pretty hard the last mile.

Lap Splits:8:46, 8:31, 7:27, 7:30, 7:28, 7:18, 7:18, 6:51, 8:48, 8:54

Easy run at the ridge tomorrow.

Perfect morning for a run. And I do mean perfect! 50 degrees and very light wind...no clouds. 

Hit the Deer Park run, then over to the industrials and to main park. Stop at 4.5 miles and then after running Cascade and the center loop hit Tanner Jeans park @ 7.5 miles...finally up into my old neighborhood and then back home on the trail...Wow! Gorgeous on that trail...need to go for walks with the family on that more often now that we have easy access. Unfortunately the last .25 miles was all uphill and finally a little walking to finish.

Target Pace: 8:35 which is what I had until the last quarter mile and finished with an 8:37

Splits: 8:30, 8:33, 8:22, 8:49, 8:34, 8:39, 8:35, 8:31, 8:52, 8:47

Felt good the whole run...I'm surprised there was really no soreness from the speedwork yesterday even...weird...is this what it feels like to be in good shape? I'm liking it...ready for Rattlesnake run on Saturday...

Early run with Mark Howard. Met him at 6:30 @ centennial park and off from there the back way to get all of the trail. 

Stopped @ the in-laws for water at about 3.5 miles then back to the trail and had another stop about 3 miles from there where I had cached some water and then up to Rattlesnake lake where I had left more water.

As we were going up the trail a lady was standing off to the side with her dog, which got away from her and nipped at Mark...irresponsible pet owner. On the way back down we saw another lady with a dog and when she saw us she took the dog way off the side and made sure that there would be no issues. Responsible pet owner. If you can't control your pet, don't have it out in a public place!

Very nice run and the gradual incline was not too bad as we were able to score about a 9 min. pace on the uphill part. My pace goal was set at 8:35 but I was running with Mark so I knew it would probably end up faster(which is why I like to run with him). Plus instead of 20 miles we ended up going 22. With water stops etc. time ended up being 3 hours and 20 minutes. We did throw in 2 8 min. pace miles right toward the end and they weren't killers

Splits: 8:39, 8:29, 8:39, 8:28, 8:42, 8:46, 8:46, 8:59, 8:59, 8:52, 8:33, 8:12, 8:09, 8:17, 8:17, 8:26, 8:13, 8:19, 8:14, 8:02, 7:58, 9:15 Overall avg. pace ended up at 8:30

After almost finishing, I drank some Accelerade and then finished off the run with some walking and watching a little league baseball game. That stuff really helps me recover quicker than normal. We will do that run again sometime.

Easy run @ the ridge. Stayed away from any big hills. Didn't eat anything this a.m. and didn't get out for the run until 10 :15 or so. Nice weather in high 50's and mostly cloudy and not much wind. First 2 miles were sort of slow as my legs were loosening up from the 22 miles on Saturday...once loose they were good to go.

I didn't worry at all about pace and it ended up at 8:43. I did come in a little early and ate a power bar and drank some apple juice then finished 1.4 miles on Tread.

Sweet Video

Speed run today. 4 X 1 mile @ 6:45 with .5 mile jog in between.

Worked most of the day at home and was planning this run in the afternoon...got a little concerned when the wind really kicked up.

Got everything ready and drove down to Centennial park, then got out of the car and it started raining HARD. Plus the wind didn't calm down at all so it was coming in sideways. Got back in the car and drove home. Went to the garage and ran the treadmill. Was a warm day so the garage was nice and toasty(unfortunately).

  Did 2.25 miles warm up then stretched and got back on and did first interval @ 6:44. Tough!

Did 2nd one and thought I was going to die. Decided to finish with 4 X .5 mile instead of full miles. Did 1st one @ 6:44 then 2nd at 6:49, 3rd at 7:03 and last one at 6:40(that last one tested my manhood big time). Then 2 miles cooldown and 8 minutes of walking to get my HR down. I don't know why but the tread just kicks my butt doing speedwork. Wore HR monitor and HR got as high as 173 during the last few intervals.

I am just plain beat. 

Had to miss one 10 mile run this week for various reasons so decided to make this a marathon pace run for part.

Went to a farewell(funeral) earlier and ate a bunch of cookies etc so wasn't feeling all that good. Didnt even start the run until after 5:30 ish. Thought we were done with the 40% chance of rain so wore a tech shirt...no hat etc. upper 50's temp.

Ran down the hill and then over to Centennial park for first pit stop. 4.5 miles. then up the SVT for 1.5 and then back to Centennial for 2nd pit stop. Unfortunately the nice day had turned dark and rain was beginning to come lightly at first and then pretty hard. Problem was that I did not have a hat to shield the rain from my glasses and it was tough to see at times. Headed back to the parkway and partway up another pit stop at around 10.5 miles to wipe off my glasses and warm my hands up on the hand dryer in the bathroom. By that time I could see some clearing on the way but still had plenty of rain. And finally back home.

First 8 miles @ 8 minute pace. Then 1 at 8:40 and then the parkway in the 9's...overall pace ended up being 8:20. No more runs scheduled over 8 miles. Ahhhhhhhhhh!

Stomach issues caused me to stay at home and so it was treadmill time. Unfortunately it was perfect running weather here. Dang!

Officially in taper mode now... easy street!

Everything feeling good and I'm not going to do something stupid to screw up this close to marathon so it's "follow the plan" time. 28 miles planned this week.

Rain today...just wasn't feeling a tempo run in the rain...at least not after Saturday's soaking. Tread run with 30 second sprints every 5 minutes starting @15 after warmup etc...laddered the speed of them up to the fastest and thought the treadmill was going to launch me at the top.

Legs feel very good after the run! Tomorrow another 6.5er and then an easy 8 on Saturday with Mark...will probably do some MP miles on Saturday just to get some speed work in.

Nice morning for a run. Temp around 50...only light wind but a few small showers.

Was a little sluggish to start out due to running treadmill already 2 times this week...that really doesn't give you a proper workout. Hard to regulate pace here at the ridge but I tried to keep effort about the same the whole time.

Splits: 8:20, 8:33, 8:36, 8:33, 8:34, 8:38, 8:51(.5 mile and uphill)

finished by walking a bit and then glycogen replacement drink was accelerade. Just finished 3 homemade cinnamon rolls...Wow that was good!

Pretty miserable weather...windy, rainy and sort of cold.

Plan was to run with Mark and the club this a.m. however with my wife's bad back and the baby waking up just before 7(didn't want her lifting the baby(18 months old) out of crib and tweaking her back worse) I stayed at the ridge and ran even though I didn't want to run any hills.

This run was Super Easy from several standpoints...I ran slower than normal even though my legs felt like they were ready to fly...had to keep next week in mind. Stayed away from any bigger hills and forced myself to stay slow.

Did 7 miles and then walked a good 2/10ths of a mile home...drank some accelerade and then 15 minute cooldown jog and walk on tread to help with glycogen replenishment.

And now 3 waffles with some good honey...

3 easy miles at the ridge...Deer Park loop. Pace 8:45 and then for good measure a .5 mile walk.