Training for Top of Utah 2011

TM run. Easy with speed at the end then 10 minute cooldown. Boring, Boring and more Boring in the garage.

Snow last night and rained this morning. 

Yesterday I found my next race. A 5k in Snoqualmie put on by Sean Sundwall. Find it at runsnoqualmie.com

Today is my first official workout towards that race. I'm going to use the plan from runnersworld for intermediate runners. It's a 6 week job so I will have to modify it. I'm going to work on speed for the next couple of months.

25 minute warmup then 3 5 minute hills hard.

After 1st hill HR topped out at 171 then recovered at 1 mph slower with no incline(5 mins)

After 2nd hill HR topped out at 174 then recovered at .5 mile slower with no incline(5 mins)

3rd hill was a little tougher because of less recovery. HR topped out at 176 then another 5 minute recovery; 3 at .5 less mph and 2 more at 1 mph less.

Then 10 minute cooldown.

Ice cream the last 2 nights has not helped me out in the least. Going to have to go with fruit for a late night snack after this.

TM run. Very easy. HR max was only 142. Hoping for decent weather Sat. Morn for a nice easy long run in the 'hood. Popcorn instead of Ice Cream for a late night snack last night.

TM run. 8 .1 mile sprints scattered every 5 minutes after 15 minute warm-up. Just trying to get a little speed work here and there as well as power(hill) work every week.

After workout Tori and I went to help 3 families down in Snoqualmie that were flooded. The first couple is older and there home was OK except under the house the insulation was soaked and had to come out. 2nd was a Single Mom who we helped 2 years ago. We loaded boxes and furniture that had just been soaked and was ruined into a truck for disposal. Then went to another home we helped with 2 years ago. Another older couple who said that their home was supposed to be raised two months ago but the gov't took their own sweet time getting the paperwork done so we had to move all the stuff again.

My daughter said "I'm sure glad we live on higher ground"! Carter was helping in Snoqualmie also from 9-3. It's nice to see kids willing to help others.

TM workout. Was not feeling well at all. Thought I was going to lose it at the end. May have just been getting too hot in the garage. Easy workout with no speed. Oatmeal, date, banana and craisins for breakfast.

Outside run finally! I don't like running in the afternoons or evenings as my body much prefers the morning, but not too early. Couldn't run this morning due to taking Tori to school. Got home a little early. It was sort of cold; mid to high 30's. Fog everywhere which got worse and worse. It did stay light though which really helped.

Started with a 2.5 mile warm up at 9:00 minute pace. Went to the main park at the ridge next to the elementary school. There is a nice big field there(upper one). Ran sprints diagonally to get the longest run I could there. .095 miles per sprint. Did them each around 23,24 seconds each. Not sure how fast that is because it was grass and it was wet so it was a little slow. I was getting pretty tired on the last one.

Then a cool down run back home which was a little tough after the sprints. It is definitely different running outside after being on the TM for so long.

Nova baby got her shots yesterday and was not a happy camper all day and most of the night. (not much sleep) Tori had to get to a job shadow this morning so no running today. Will hit it Friday morning and hopefully a trail run on Sat. morning.

Got up at 6:45 and looked at the thermo - 30 degrees. Then cracked the blinds - Dark and Foggy. Couldn't see much. TM morning. Easy run.

Still a little sore from Wednesdays speed work. Felt it while stretching.

Was going to do 9-10 but ended up going only 8.25 due to a lot of hills that I sought out on this run. TM running has helped my form and allowed my legs to turnover more quickly so I was able to run at a very nice 8:50 pace even on the big hill(210 ft. climb over .8 miles). Problem is that my heart rate was up to 156 avg. and hit 180 on the hill. Funny thing is that it wasn't killing me like it might have in the past so must be getting in better shape. 

Yesterday was my wife's bday and we had ribs, slaw, potato salad, and for dessert she had me whip up a mud pie. Unfortunately there were 2 extra pieces of the pie and somebody had to get rid of them before they melted. 

I earned every step of my run today. Weather was gorgeous!! Sunny, upper 40's and almost balmy. Problem was the stinking wind. It seemed like it was against me no matter which way I was running. Especially tough on the uphills.

HR avg. 151(Higher than I like)

Pace 8:45 (loved this)

Ended up doing a TM run with 4 800's at a very fast pace(for me). Tori has to be at Overlake hospital to finish up a job shadow for sports med class at 8 this morning.

Got up this morning at 6:45 and looked outside. Dark, foggy and very cold in the mid 20's so it turned into a TM morning unfortunately. Tempo run on my 5k training schedule.

Started very easy and warmed up for 20 minutes to HR of high 150's. Then 20 minutes gradually faster running with HR topping out at 171. Finished with 20 minute cooldown.

Felt very strong today and could have gone longer or faster but kept it in check. Long run on the agenda tomorrow; either trails or around the ridge.

Trail run at Cougar Mtn. with Bruce who has been sick and under the weather for a couple of weeks so it ended up being pretty slow. It took us an hour and 3 minutes. 11:3X pace.

Nice run and nice to be outside even though it was very cold. My ears and hands(even with gloves) were totally frozen the first 2 miles. This ends the 1st week of 8 in prep for the St. Patty's day 5K in Snoqualmie.

Today was supposed to be a speed day but yesterday I felt a twinge of pain in my left ankle so today became an easy peasy day. 22 degrees outside and didn't want to get out there and have to walk back if my ankle acted up.

Very easy warm-up then very easy jog. HR max was only 141 which is lower than my normal avg. HR. No pain today so tomorrow becomes the speed day.

600 X 5 speed work on the High School track. Shooting for 6:15 pace

1.85 mile warm up with 3 100 meter strides after the first mile was done.

Then Stretched

1st one in 2:20 with 2 minute jogging break in between sets

2nd in 2:24

3rd in 223

4th in 2:21

5th in 2:22 Max Hr 180

Then cool down. Another stretch(muscles). That was harder than I had hoped. May have to slow the speed work down a bit to make sure that I keep good form.

Beautiful morning. Partway thru the run the sun came up. Clear and cold at 32. Easy at the ridge with full pacing on hills(that's what kicked the HR up). The only problem today was breathing in Garbage truck exhaust, Culligan man blue smoke and school bus exhaust. Yuck!!

Pace: 8:52 happy with that

HR avg: 154 not happy with that

I was so happy that the sun is coming up earlier as the darkness is not fun to run in. But if it's light I don't care what else is happening- rain, snow, wind or cold.

Just looked up on the web a comparison to running Concrete vs. Asphalt. Here is the result.

Runner's World magazine rated running surfaces from worst (1) to best (10). Here are surfaces and their ratings: snow (2), concrete (2.5), sand (6), asphalt (6), treadmill (6.5), synthetic track (7), cinders (7.5), dirt (8), wood chips (9) and grass (9.5).

Needless to say I have been trying to avoid sidewalks as much as possible.

Issaquah Cougar Mtn. trail run with Bruce. After yesterdays run I figured that fatigue was going to get me but I felt pretty good. Pretty sloppy mud in places. 

Pace: 11:24

Avg HR: 141 (better than expected)

Nice to run on trails with minimal shock to the system. Beautiful day!!

Our 4 year old got sick about 2:30 this morning so no sleep. Was going to run in the afternoon and I got sick.

Temp at home 43. Temp at HS track. lower, but not sure how much. It was pretty cold. Didn't bring gloves so my hands froze the first 2 miles. 

3 days off plus being sick yesterday killed me today.1.5 warm up then 3 mile tempo. HR was way higher than normal. (avg. overall was 157) once I got going on the tempo run it settled in between 170-173 at least 5-8 higher than I would have liked.

Pace was not that good either for a tempo run, ending with an avg. 7:45. It didn't help that there was some work going on around the grounds and the fumes from the exhaust was killing me too.

It did feel good to be out there though. Changed my Marathon this year to the Newport, OR May 30th as my little bro. is going to be running his first there. Weight is down to 170. Hope to get to 165ish before the marathon.

Cold. Cougar Mtn. Trails. Good run with Bruce and John. Kicked it up the last .5 miles to get my HR up to 175. 

Only my second run this week due to illness. Glad it feels gone. 

HR avg. 142 nice.

Pace avg. 11:15

Woke up to an inch of snow so back to the TM. Easy run. Boring as all get out! Kept HR below 140 most of the run.

Same as yesterday except no snow. Had to run early so I hit the TM one more time. High HR in mid 140's. Tomorrow is speed workout at the track. Looking forward to it(sort of).

30 degrees at the high school track which was a little slick. 1.25 warmup then

.25 mile at 6:40 pace then jog .25

.5 mile at 6:40 pace then jog .25

.5 mile at 6:40 then jog .25

.5 mile 6:40 pace then 1.25 cool down.

Hard but doable. I found that when I relaxed my lower body and didn't try to muscle through the run it was much smoother.

35 degrees. Ridge run. Beautiful morning. I started out too fast and was paying for it the last 4 miles. It felt like I was carrying a piano on my back. That bug last week combined with spotty running this week is killing my fitness. Gotta hit it harder next week! 

32 degrees and the rain last night had turned to ice on the streets. As a friend of mine says in a french accent, it was slicker than cow slaw-bear. Going downhill was scary. Uphill was difficult because my feet were slipping the whole time. Flat was OK but slow. 

HR was decent at 144. Pace slow at 9:23. Overall felt way better than Saturdays run. Also after Sat. run my weight was down to 165. It hasn't been there for 15+ years. That might be why my runs are feeling easier.

Tempo run on the track at Mount Si High School. Temp said 36.5 at my house so I wear shorts. I get to the track and it's more like 26,27 degrees. On top of that there is a good news bad news sitch. No wind is the good news. No wind is the bad news because of the people living close to the track burning wood in their wood stoves. Yuck! When I start the tempo the workers fixing the damage from the flood fired up the heavy machinery to add to the nastiness in the air. 

Workout went well. 

1.5 mile warm up at 9:12 pace nice and easy.

3 mile tempo(runnersworld.com plan said to do 7:26) Did 7:23(Yipee Skipee) pace without killing myself too badly. Maxed the HR at about 174 with avg at 168

 1.5 mile Cool down at 9:16 pace

Usually the day after a speed workout I don't do very well, but today my legs felt good. 6 easy on the ridge, with plenty of hills. Not much traffic-probably because of  mid-winter break.

HR avg. 149 Pace 9:12

Weighed in at 165 again! Soon that might be the ticket. The love handles are going bye-bye. Love that!!

Gorgeous morning! Sunny and clear. Ran the ridge. Some gusty winds in some places. The first few miles was going against the wind. It's a killer when it's uphill against the wind. Anywho, started easy so it wouldn't be like last week where I was carrying piano the last 4 miles. Stopped at 3 miles and 7 miles for water. Decided to hit the parkway hill(usually a killer) about halfway through the run. 

It's amazing how much easier it is to run with less weight on your body. I can remember trying to run this hill when I was weighing 200+ lbs. I almost kept my same pace up the hill. 

Here are the stats from the run.

Avg. HR 148   Avg. Pace 8:53(not too bad with that hill in there) max HR on the hill 173

Sun was just trying to come up creating a gorgeous red/orange sky in the east. Ran the ridge with plenty of hills. Decided to run the parkway hill. Felt strong the whole way. 

Pace of 8:56 HR avg. of 149 with a high of 171 on the Hill.

We had an open house for Carter last night for those that wanted to say Goodbye. I ate way too many cookies/treats. Glad to burn some off this morning. Had almost 100 people come by. It was great!

Took Tori to school and then was going to run on the track but they were power washing it so it was off to Centennial park. Was thinking of hitting Sno. valley trail but with all the rain didn't want to run in the mud. Plan was for 2 1600's but I changed it to 800, 1600, 1600, 800.

Weather was miserable. Windy, rainy and fairly cold. My shoes were soaked pretty quick. Wind gusts were changing all over the place and it was hard to keep a decent pace.

Here are the splits.

1.5 mile warmup

.5 mile 6:56 pace .25 jog

1 mile 7:01 pace .5 jog

.5 mile 7:09 pace(Wind was gusting and I decided to do .5 instead of mile) .25 jog

.5 mile 6:53 pace .25 jog

.5 mile 6:42 pace(I hit this last one pretty hard but ran into a hard wind otherwise would have been faster.

1 mile cooldown. As I was walking afterwards there was an intense rainbow right by the park. Awesome!

Snowed last night so TM run this morning. Wow, after being able to run outside that is really boring! 3 minute walk to warm-up then 7 miles at 9 minute pace and then 4 minute walk to cool down. Today is Carter's last full day here and we are going to spend it hanging out together as a family. He will be set apart tonight at the Stake center.

Windy, windy and did I say windy? Wow!! Going out the first few miles was very tough. Coming home the last few miles saved my bacon on pace. Water breaks at 2.5, 5.8 and 8.1 with some swedish fish thrown in to see how they would affect me. Didn't notice much difference. 

Ran the Parkway hill and did pretty well. HR max was 169 on the hill. 

Overall HR avg. was149. Very good for me with a 10 mile run.

Avg. pace 8:51 which was wind aided at the end but I struggled up several hills during the run.

That's 31 miles this week. 5k in 2 weeks and then time to get serious about training for the Newport marathon.

I'm starting to like these reebok shoes more. Due to sore throat and cough I decided to stay out of the cold and wind and rain this morning. TM run and I am very surprised how well I did. Perhaps the fact that I felt like crap yesterday helped me get some rest. 3 min. walk warmup-then right to it. HR stayed low the whole run. I didn't gauge overall avg. but would expect it was low 30's. Max HR was only 145 and I was going faster than I normally do. It's nice to run with less weight! That has to have something to do with it. Still boring as ever though on that TM.

Plan said 4 X 800 meters at 3:20.  I decided to do something that Sean mentioned earlier this year to me. 400,400,800 then repeat with half distance jogs after. High school track about 35-36 degrees with a very light wind coming from the west.

Here are the results: after 1.5 mile warmup.

400 @ 1:35 then 200 jog

400 @ 135 200 jog

800 @ 3:20 400 jog

400 @ 1:36 200 jog

400 @ 1:35 200 jog

800 @ 3:21 400 jog

400 @ 1:35 200 jog

400 @ 1:35 200 jog

800 @ 3:13 (just had to kick this one up a notch

1.5 cool down. HR high was 176 today(pretty good) Legs felt good. Could have probably gone a little faster but no reason to kill myself a week before the 5k.

Woke up and to my surprise it started snowing so I geared down and hit the treadmill and am glad I did because it started coming down hard! Counted my stride rate multiple times and it kept coming in at 174 no matter what speed I was at. Not sure how to kick it up just a bit more but will try to work on it. HR stayed nice and moderate with a high of 145. Next run Saturday 12 miler with some decent hills in there. Gotta get going on my marathon training soon.

The plan was to run 12 miles with the 5k in the middle somewhere. I wanted to preview next weeks race. 39 degrees when I got up so I contemplated wearing shorts. Really glad that I didn't! I started snowing 3 miles in. Hard corn snow that is like hail. 

2.9 mile warmup @9:07 pace

3.1 miles (5k) @ 7:16 pace HR max 178 avg . 166 after this run my glasses were totally fogged and soaked from snow hitting my glasses. stopped at a restroom to clear it off.

4 miles @ 9:17 pace

Felt surprisingly good! I'm watching the snow come down as I type and am loving it. going to relax and play with Amanda(4 yr old) today. I'm ready for the official 5k next week now.

Woke up and looked outside at black ice on the roads. Stayed inside and did a TM workout. Took it pretty easy. Max HR was 145ish. 

Both 5k plans that I looked at called for 6 X 200 meter sprints with 200 meter jogs between. Went to the Mt. Si track and it was cold with a mild east wind. Mild wind but freezing!!! Wore my heavy comfy shoes to make the speedwork a little tougher.

Goal was to hit 5:30 pacing level on the 200's. Surprised myself by hitting close to 5:00 pace. Here are the splits.

2 mile warm up @ 8:50 pace then light stretch and into the speed work

200 in 39 seconds - 200 jog

200 in 39 seconds - 200 jog

200 in 39 -200 jog

200 in 40 200 jog

200 in 39 200 jog

200 in 39

2ish miles cool down @ 9:38 pace. Tomorrow another 5.5 then rest Friday and Race Day Sat.

Very easy run on the ridge. Cold, about 27 or 28 but roads nice and clear of ice and snow. 

Pace avg. 9:27 slow for me lately but that was on purpose.

HR Max 150 very briefly on hills. HR avg 137 nice and low.

I woke up a few small muscle groups with those 200 meter sprints yesterday! Yow!

The last few days we've had nice dry weather. Woke up during the night 2 times with baby Nova and heard the rain coming down. Not really much rain during the race but it was miserable waiting in the cold and wet to get registered.

Race went well. Was targeting 7:00 minute pace and hit 6:56 according to my garmin. I will update the results when they come out. There were about a gazillion people starting out and it was tough to get around a lot of them. I parked it right behind Mark Howard and kept close but couldn't catch him at the end.

I finally met Snoqualmie and that was great. Wish we had gotten more time to just talk about the race. Sounds like it went great for her.

*Update* Was 6th place in 45-50 year olds. If I had been in either 30-34 or 40-44 I would have been 2nd. What's up with all the old guys running so dang fast? According to the Official timer I was right at 7:00 pace, so still happy even though my garmin says I was faster.

Can't believe it snowed again overnight. What happened to all the global warming??? 8-) And now I heard on the radio(yes I believe everything that I hear on the radio) that we are in for 3 decades of global cooling. Just gonna stop listening to the radio.

Snow on the streets was the slushy kind so it's hard to run on without soaking yourself. Thus, I hit the TM yet again. I feel like the guy on ghostbusters that keeps getting zapped and says "I'm getting a little tired of this". Definitely tired of seeing the same stuff that I haven't cleaned up in the garage like the "Incredible Shrinky dinks" game. 

Going to do 5 days of 7 miles each this week in prep for bigger mileage coming up for the marathon. I'm amazed that my legs are not sore or tired after the race on Sat.

HR stayed low throughout the run even though once again I pushed the speed up a bit. High was 142 and only at the very end.

High School track. Was planning on 4 miles at my goal marathon pace (8:00). Ended up getting 8:10 pace thanks to that beastly wind kicking down from the Mtn.

1.5 warmup  4 miles at marathon pace sort of 1.5 cooldown

3 more days this week of easy running. I need to remember that.

Dropped Tori off at the high school and then went to Centennial park for my run on the Snoqualmie valley trail. They've done some weed wacking here and put new hard pack gravel in spots. It sure is nice to run on a level place. I'm so used to running on the hills that it seems really easy on the flat areas. Little drizzle but not too bad today. Nice cool temp.

A little headwind with a very slight uphill going to N. Bend.  Tailwind and slight downhill coming back was nice.

Pace 9:00

Avg HR 146 Just about right and seems to be improving all the time.

What a morning...Tori (15 year old daughter) got up at 3:30 to make some cookies for her friends at school. She is not a quiet person with anything she does. Dishes clanking and microwave beeping etc. made me want to get after her. Instead I shut the door to our room and heard a little less but still didn't sleep that well.

This is the 3rd straight day of running this week and I didn't want to get up and go...but did. Took about a mile to get my legs warmed up...otherwise it felt pretty good. I know now that I should not have done the speed workout on Wednesday. Had to grind a little bit to finish today but it wasn't killing me. 

Nice morning for a run. Wet but not raining when I was out there. 46 degrees was almost perfect running weather. Unlike yesterday I was able to stop for 2 water breaks at 2.6 and 4.9 which did help me feel better. Knees were feeling it today though not too bad.

Pace of 9.00 even was nice

HR was at 144 even nicer since it was up and down the hills here.

Got back later than expected and had to do these on the treadmill. Better than nothing though.

Had to burn off some of the rich food I had at the wedding!

Got a 1:00 am wake up call with Amanda crying in our room. Heidi finally got her back to sleep and then she started crying again at 3:00 am. Finally figured out that she has an earache. Gaver her some motrin and watched some TV and she calmed down. Had a hard time getting back to sleep after that.

Cold wind in the streets this a.m. Making my eyes water. 10 weeks until the Marathon. Now that I've run one I have a better feel for what needs to be done to prepare for it. 

Pretty good #'s this morning

Pace: 9.04

HR(avg) 141

My fingers are almost warm again. Snowed again last night and I was not prepared for it during my run. Totally forgot my gloves as I thought it wouldn't be so cold. Ran the sno. valley trail by the golf course for my Tempo run.

Plan said 7 miles with 4 tempo @ 7:32. I wwent a total of 8 because I shorted monday's run.

As I was doing the tempo the forerunner 305 was jumping around a bit from low 7's to high 7's so couldn't get a read on my speed. Trouble with clouds and snow for the satelite I guess. Was trying to keep my hr in mid 160's.

Pace 7:32   HR avg 161 with peak at 168  during tempo

Avg overall pace 8:24 and overall HR avg 150

Plan was for 8 mile today but I woke up at 2:00 with a VERY Sore Throat:(

Decided to put this run off until tomorrow and then a 12 miler on Sat. Morning. They are both easy runs though so it shouldn't be too bad.

Another sick day....hopefully can go tomorrow! Dang!

Can't breathe and I have no energy so another day without a run...this is gonna be tough once I start  back up. No running tomorrow on the Lord's day. Cross my fingers for Monday.

My cold is starting to leave finally. I've gone through multiple boxes of tissue in the past week. I can finally breathe out of one nostril.  I wish I would have just hit the TM a day or 2 of this illness.

Finally after a week of no running I got out this morning! It was a little tougher than expected. My speed workout was supposed to be 2 X 1 mile but I changed it to 2 X  .5 mile with .25 mile jog in between. 6:50 pace on the half milers.

Overall pace 9:11 and HR avg. overall was 151. Definitely higher than hoped.

I decided that with all this rain to stay inside and not get soaked. Still got a little cough and a little bit stuffed up. 

Easy 7. 12 on Sat. morning. Then full blast again next week!

Got up at 7 to go run and immediately looked at the temp outside...32.1 and went back to bed for 30 more minutes. Then Tori woke me up to cook pancakes for the huge people(track team's throwers...Discus and Shotput) downstairs in the kitchen. Those guys & girls can eat!!Finally got out to run about 8:15.

Around the ridge for 6 then down the parkway over to centennial park then over to grandma's house to watch conference. Nice weather! Sunshine 8-)

I was pretty tired...why do all the marathon plans say easy long run...that's an oxymoron. The week off is still dragging me down I guess. Mileage full on next week again so I hope I'm feeling better.

Pace 9:10 not too bad.

HR Avg. of 144 decent as well but the parkway downhill really helped that. Last 2.5 miles I was burning it at 150.

Legs were extremely stiff this morning. I was running about 15 min. pace for the first .25 mile...at least that is what my garmin said...not sure if this thing was working right but it seemed to even out. Gorgeous morning! Mild wind 50 degrees.

Ran the parkway hill and was amazed at how low my HR stayed.

Avg Pace 8:55

Avg. HR 138

HR seems to be doing great but my legs are darn tired and beat up a little.

Was supposed to do 8 miles with 2 X 1 mile repeat @ 7:02 but didn't feel like going to the track. So I ran the parkway hill twice hard. Remind me not to do that again! That will test a guys manhood- Way harder than running the track repeats.

Warm up of 2.3 miles 8:38 pace( getting easier) HR avg 139

1st hill repeat of 1 mile @ 7:44 HR of 165

1 mile easy 8:55 pace hr 143

2nd hill repeat with side ache 8:03 hr of 167

2.69mile cool down with some walking and 1 mile of  nice soft trail. 9:36 pace and hr of 144

There needs to be a place on here to put "really" slow miles. Felt great yesterday totally slow today. Day after a speed or hill workout is work I guess. 

Nice day for a run though...rain overnight with wet roadways. Very little wind and wet streets but pretty close to perfect. Saw Sean running and was actually able to give him a high five instead of a miss like the other day :-)

14 miler on Saturday...Not sure how that will go but I better fuel up better for that than I did yesterday.

Pace 9:14 There was a time when I would have felt good about this pace.

HR avg. 144

2nd long run in prep for Newport marathon. I waited too  long to get these babies started! 38 miles this week though...happy with that. 

run log today carried 16 oz gatorade

2.5 miles to main park. 6 oz water

2.5 to bottom of parkway 6 oz gatorade

2.5 to  centennial park via mill pond road 6 oz water

2.5 back to bottom of parkway 6 oz of gatorade then stretched out well as I didn't want to do what my little bro did and tweak a hamstring going up a hill.

2 miles to Fairway 4 oz gatorade - 1.5 miles to tanner jeans park to watch easter egg hunt. 4 oz water. Too wet and cold so I left before it started. .6 mile home

avg pace 9:14 - was 9:05 first ten mile then I got smacked by the parkway hill.

avg HR 142. pretty darn good.

16 next saturday 40-42 for next week

Had to take Tori to school for wasl testing so I stayed over there and ran the sno valley trail. 40 degrees and wind coming in from North bend so 1st half was a little slow.

Big Easter dinner with 2 helpings of strawberry shortcake didn't help the cause.

9:00 minute pace

140 avg. HR

Okay spring anytime now....

Took Tori to the Orthodontist and so got a late start. Woke up and the thermo said 33. Looked outside and was happy to see a clear day.

After dropping Tori off at school went to centennial park. Fogged in there, so a little cold still. 

2.5 warm up on Sno valley trail.  pace 9  hr avg 144

5 mile tempo pace 7:32 HR avg 162(decent) seemed like it was upper 160's the last part. During the tempo I saw what looked to be a horse in the distance...got closer and noticed it was a Giant Great Dane! The woman walking with it didn't hear me and the dog was coming towards me so I started walking and yelled for the lady to get her dog. She said sorry that she didn't see me coming. Seriously that was a GIANT DOG! Scary-

2.5 mile cool down...my legs were not happy about this at all for the first 1.5 miles. pace 9:24 hr avg. 150

The fog burnt off and it was a gorgeous morning!

Gorgeous morning. 42 when I left the house. Not much wind. Perfect day for running except for the fact yesterday was a speed workout. Which means may legs are a little hammered, especially since i did 10 yesterday. 

1st 2 miles felt really good today. After that it was tough so I slowed down and took it easy.

Pace 9:15

HR avg 145

16 miler on Saturday...

Great day for a run. Somehow my shorts have been dissappearing and so I had to borrow some of Tori's shorts. Surprisingly they fit pretty well. I could have used my racing shorts but didn't want to freeze as they are very thin and it was 38 degrees out. 

3.3 miles to main park - water

at 6 miles bottom of parkway accelerade

at 8.5 miles via mill pond road centenial park and water

then to Mt. Si golf course and snovalley trail with a backtrack to mill pond road to the bottom of parkway 12 miles accelerade and stretching before the run/jog up the 2 miles of hill. As of 12 miles pace is 8:52 and feeling pretty good.

Then comes the hill...I'm running it at the end to make myself become a little more mentally tough as that last 5-6 miles in the marathon made me hurt that first time around. First .5 miles no problem, then 1.5 miles with HR in the 160's was tough but I pushed through.

at 14 miles another short walking break with accelerade then off to home with 2 miles left.

Pace ended up at 9:00 and HR avg. was 143. I was pretty happy with the run and even now a couple hours after the run I'm still feeling pretty good. I am definitely feeling better about this upcoming marathon than the last one, my first one. Sommer Reynolds (S. Sundwall's sister) is gunning for a 3:30 and I am going to try and keep up. I ran my first 10K with her for the first few miles and she really helped me.

When I wasn't carrying a bottle and was on flat ground I worked on keeping my arms low with my hands about waist high. Noticed that when my thoughts were just going wherever my HR stayed lower. So need to keep that in mind for racing. Tried to keep a nice easy stride to conserve energy and it seemed to work pretty well.

Holy Cow! What a gorgeous morning! 45 degrees when I left the house...no wind. Perfect running conditions. Started off a little stiff from my Sat. long run but after .5 mile felt good. In fact I felt so good that I thought that something was wrong. I was running easy and before long checked my garmin and noticed my pace at 8:50. Huh? Plus HR was staying in the mid 130's...what the...heck is going on here? Maybe my body is finally adapting and getting faster. Sweet! Sure took it's time though. I think the long runs are really helping. Plus doing the hill at the end of the long run might have somthing to do with it too.

I was powering up hills easy peasy today. This is where running gets to be more fun I guess.

Numbers for today are pretty good.

Pace 8:47   HR avg. 136

Next run wednesday...10 miles with 6 or 7 at tempo pace 7:30-7:40

We are trying to get to know more of our neighbors and invited a family over for dinner yesterday and I didn't get cheated on the eating part. BBQ ribs, slaw, homecooked beans and fruit salad with brownie for dessert with some Chocolate PB ice cream. Decent carbo load there.

47 degrees with misty showers but not too bad. Went out to Centennial park and jogged 2 miles. Then started the tempo run from the golf course. Exactly 3 miles to Mt. Si Road and turned around. Was easy starting out, in fact first little bit was 6:45 pace and I thought WOW, this is getting a lot easier, then settled into 7:30 pace for the remainder of the 1st 3 miles. Then I found out why it was so easy going...Wind was reverse of normal!! And it was killer coming back...surprised myself that my HR stayed reasonably low even with all of the extra work against the wind. It was work but it was doable. Not easy but I know I'm improving and that is nice! Tons of rabbits on the trail

Next speed workout on April 29 and am shooting for 5 X 1 mile with 800 jogs and a total of 10-11 miles.

Todays #'s

2 mile warm up @ 9:14 pace and 132 hr avg

6 mile tempo run @ 7:30 pace and 157 hr avg

2 mile cooldown @ 9:11 pace and 139 hr avg

37 degrees when I left the house this morning. About 4 miles into the run there was some white stuff coming down. I thought it was just something from the trees but it was snow...for about 5 minutes.

this run was the exact opposite of my easy Monday run. There is a pattern that is showing up here. This is my only back to back run and it is always after my speed or tempo runs. My body doesn't really like this run but I know that it is helping my mental toughness to run when my body says "Don't do it...stay in bed!"

Most interesting song on the radio during the run was 'She's a super freak'- Saw a gorgeous white pigeon during the run as well. Avoided hills as much as possible. I'm just plain tired after that-

#'s

Avg. pace 9:16

Avg. hr 142

Next run Sat. in Snoqualmie with no hills this week. 18 Miles

41 degrees at 6:15 when I got up. Drove to Centennial park with 1 stop on the way to drop off some water at the bottom of the parkway. Ran from park on sno. valley trail to mill pond road to parkway. 1st stop for water at 3.35 miles.

Then up and around Snoqualmie for another 3 miles, then water break. Back to the park via mill pond road and saw Sommer and her friend running on there. They were going 20 today.

@10 miles back at the park. Accelarade break and half an orange just to see how my body feels using it. Called grandpa in North bend so he could get me some OJ to drink when I arrived. 12.75 @ his house. Then back to the trail and he caught up on his bike. Chatted and then he took off. back to his house to finish the OJ...15.5 miles. Only 2.5 to go and the wind at my back now.

If you've seen the movie Remember the Titans you will know what I mean when I was saying to myself "What is Pain?" French Bread! It wasn't a killer but it was not easy.

Today's #'s

Pace avg. 8:57

HR avg. 138 (nice and low)

Nice morning for a run. Overcast and 42 degrees. Decided that this week will be 3 easy 10's and then my speed work will be Sat. 16 miles with 13.1 miles @ (hopeful) marathon pace 8:00. 

Today's #'s 

Avg. Pace 8:59

Avg. HR 138

Next run Wednesday 10 easy on Sno valley trail

Nice morning for a run at 40 or so degrees out. Hit the sno. valley trail for 6.5 and surrounding roads etc. for the other 3.5. It is so beautiful right now with the different hues of green everywhere.

Uneventful run other than plugging along for 10 miles(never thought I'd be able to even run 10 let alone on consecutive days).

Todays #'s 

Avg. Pace - 8:56

Avg. HR - 140

Next run - tomorrow 10 miles easy

Wow! Perfect morning for a run! Usually my body has been rebelling for these back to back runs from Wed. to Thurs. This week 3 10 milers easy on M,W,Thurs. have made this pleasant.

This should prove nice when I do my 13.1 @ marathon pace on Sat. 8:00 min/mile pace.

#'s today

9:00 pace easy as I avoided as many hills as possible

HR Avg. @138

Great weather for running again. 61 at our house and 56 in Snoqualmie when the run started at 6:40 or so. 

Today was my speed day this week instead of the usual Wednesday. Forecasts called for rain showers this morning but they didn't show up. Very happy about that as I went without a hat to keep from holding heat on my head. I have to wear glasses and they really get nasty when it rains on them. That's why I usually wear a hat if it's going to be raining.

1.5 mile warmup easy. Then a quick stretch to loosen up a bit and I was off. Was surprised that the 8 minute pace was as easy as it was. Had to slow down several times. Light wind the first 4 miles which wasn't too bad. Took on fluids at 2.35(water), 4.6(accelerade), 8(Accelerade), 10(acc).

At 6.25 miles in was running by Bishop Kinghorns house and didn't feel right just waving as he and Deeno were out getting some work done. Stopped for about 2 minutes to chat and was off again.

HR was hanging around 150 most of the run which I was very happy about. It used to be if I ran any distance at 10:00 minute pace that's where it would be. Nice to see some improvement! The last 1 mile kicked it up to tempo pace(at least tempo effort). Can I hold that pace for 26 miles? Great question- We shall see in about 4 weeks.

Now to get those ribs smoked! Spare ribs tonight as a reward :-)

Another perfect morning for a run. Forecast said rain but it didn't show and it was a perfect blend of weather. A little overcast and 46 degrees. 

Another one of those days where my body felt great running today. I stepped my game up because of it. Avg. pace of 8:43 and powered up the hills without too much trouble.

Going to change things up this week a bit. Going for 50+ miles this week. 5 days running instead of 4 to make it easier on my body. 7.5 today and tomorrow. 10 with speed on Wed. and 6-7 on Thursday with a 20 miler on Sat.

HR is doing great on these latest runs. avg today of 137! Yeah Baby!

Didn't feel like getting blown away with the wind and the rain so hit the elliptical for 30+ minutes and then TM for 35. Will count this for 6.5 miles. Tried out my new marathon shoes...Brooks Ghost. They feel pretty good so far.

I had forgotten how boring a treadmill is even if it's just a half hour. Nice thing and probably one of the only nice things is that it allows me to work on my form.

Next run: Tomorrow - 11 miles with 6 @ 7:28 Tempo pace

Wet morning...this is a northwest day. Dropped Tori off at school and went to Centennial park.

2.5 mile warm-up at 9:28 pace

6  mile tempo...1st 3 miles going against the wind with a very slight uphill on the sno. valley trail.

Target pace is 7:28 but first half comes in @ 7:35 - effort was there but not the pace. I knew I could get some of that back on the return with a tail wind and slight downhill. @ 4 miles was down to 7:32 pace...@ 4.5 miles pace down to7:31. ..@ 5 pace at 7:29 and at 5.6 pace @ 7:28 and then I eased up and had to kick it up at the end to make sure to get my 7:28. Nailed it!

Cool down of 2.5 miles @ 9:36 pace

Not a fan of running in the wind but I couldn't skip today's workout or any going forward from here. 3.5 weeks to go.

About 40 degrees. Wore my new brooks ghost shoes for the first time on the road. They felt OK but my feet got a little warm even though it was cold outside. Still have some breaking in to do. Had to chase a woodpecker off our roof this a.m. - saw a few rabbits and 3 deer during my run.

Cold and a little windy- Felt good after the speed work yesterday though. Usually this is the day I dread but today was fine. I will attribute part of it to an article that I read on runnersworld that said after speedwork and before your cool down take in some 4/1 carb/protein mix. So that's what I did and it helped me recover better. (unless of course it's all in my head)

Felt so good today that my pace overall was 8:41.  Avg. HR nice and low at 139

Even tackled a few hills on the run.

Next run Saturday: 20 miles with pace goal between 8:40-8:45.

The plan said 20 today @ 8:46 pace. Drove to Centennial park and dropped off some gatorade along the way(couldn't find my preferred accelerade dang it). It was way too cold at mid 30's starting. Foggy as well. Got started off slow due to the cold but within a mile was on track at 8:45 pace. Water break at 2.5. Gato @ 5 and then 8.5. Water and part of a power bar @ 11. Powerade at Gma & Gpa's house @ 13.5 and 16. 

At that point avg pace was @ 8:42...My rio mp3 device died there and was feeling sluggish with the wind lightly blowing against me so...decided to kick it up a notch to marathon pace for a couple miles. From 16.25 to 18.25 did 8:00 pace and it didn't feel bad at all. Then I figured I could go right back to 8:45 pace....uhhhhh NO. 9:14 pace to finish out the 1.75 miles to 20.

Glad that is through. I think my body responds better to just water for the first 10-12 miles then some sugar. That's for next weeks run. Going to do 16 with at least 2 on the parkway hill. Now to go do some shopping with Amanda for bday and Mother's day gifts. Gotta get spare ribs and salmon for Mother's day tomorrow. Yum!!

Made the mistake of talking to S. Sundwall at church yesterday and he convinced me to keep my mile up this week instead of starting to taper off. Runnersworld plan said to do 11. Started off thinking 10 after that 20 spot on Saturday. Partway through decided to go for it and do 11. 

It's amazing how much these really long runs help with cardio fitness. My Avg. HR is down today to 135. Avg. Pace down also to 8:44.

Got up early(for me) at 6:00 and was on the road  by 6:25 ish. Rain during the night but only drizzle and some dry during the run. Saw Sommer Reynolds flying around over on Silent Creek.

48 degrees was nice. When trying to get in 11 miles here at the ridge you are required to hit a few hills and that's what I did. Feeling good on them still.

Just had to burn off my 4/1 protein/carb ration yesterday of 3 parts ribs-1 part salmon and 1 part orange sherbet/vanilla icecream-sprite slushy. OK maybe more than 1 part on that last one. Felt good to burn it off this a.m.

Only annoyance of the morning  was breathing in the nastiness of those school buses.

SWEET NELLY PIE! I surprised even myself with this run- target of 6:55 pace for 4 1 mile repeats with .5 mile jog between. Haven't done intervals for quite some time so I was a little worried.

 40 degrees and forgot my gloves dang it. Perfect running weather however with slight overcast with peeps of the sun. Hands cold for the 2.5 mile warm up but didn't even give them a thought once the mile repeats began.

2.5 warmup on snovalley trail. Didn't want to run fast on the gravel so decided to run on Boalch  where they recently repaved and it's nice and soft asphalt.

Started at centennial park and went towards the pirates plank area.

1st mile 7:00 pace and 156 HR avg (against the wind and slight uphill)

2nd mile 6:47 pace and 164 HR avg (with the wind and slight downhill)

3rd mile 6:49 pace and 166 HR avg (against the wind and slight uphill)

4th mile 6:32 pace and 169 HR avg (with the wind and slight downhill)

at the start of the 2nd mile I remembered something that I read the other day about keeping your stride shorter and that was to move your arms faster. WOW!! What a difference that made. Much easier to keep the pace and even go faster. 

Very Extremely happy with this run.

Next run: Thursday 11 mile easy

Today I was running in the clouds...not to be confused with the far more positive running on a cloud. Rained hard during the night and the wind was whipping around pretty good too.

mid 40's with rain showers and some hard downpours as well this a. m. windy at times as well - Wore my pants and jacket...problem was the pants are not the good kind that are skin tight, they are the kind that get wet and start slapping from one leg to the other. That was very annoying.

About 6 miles in I  was bit by a dog whose owner could not hold him back(who has a mean spaniel anyway). Fortunately the bite didn't break the skin but there is a bump there and  a little bruising.

Then saw Sno. soon after that at the park where I stopped for some water. Chatted with her and then decided to cut my run short from 11 to 9 miles. It was just way too miserable out there today.

Had some hot chocolate to warmup when I got home. That hit the spot. I drained about 5 lbs. of water out of my clothes once I could get them off.

Oh and to top off a lovely morning...my commute is normally 35-40 minutes turned out to be 1 hour and 15 minutes and I was almost rearended by mr. giant truck talking on the phone.

Next run will be Saturday...20 miles.

Forgot to take the garbage cans out last night so got up at 6:30 and took out the garbage. Was going to do a couple intervals. Like to the garbage cans and then back from the garbage cans, but decided not to as my hands were full and I wasn't properly warmed up :)

Gorgeous and perfect morning for a run if you are feeling good. When you have a sore throat and can barely breathe through the night and don't get much sleep it's nice to be outside but tough to do the running part. Especially when you have a 20 miler planned.

Went with a friend who is preparing for his first ever marathon on July 4 down in Portland. This was his longest run so far of his life- He did great! We hit the sno valley trail for 12 miles at 10:00 pace. He plugged along like he could have kept going all day. I was a little sluggish once we finished that. My body told me to quit after 17...could've finished the 20 but didn't want to totally wipe myself out- Did the last five at 9:12 pace...wasn't really watching the pace, just out running on a really nice day. 

We had a couple of yearling elk running on the trail with us. We were hoping not to see a big bull elk around there. Took the trail all the way to I-90...want to explore that further...nice area out there.

Sinuses feel a little better now and I hope this crap goes away fast as the marathon is officially only 2 weeks from today.

Next run Monday morning: 9-10 miler easy

Sweet morning! @ 6:30 temp is 54 and looking perfect. Once again some sleep issues with my coughing. Still a little plugged up. Got at least 5 solid hours though so can't complain too much.

Sluggish start- Was planning on doing 9 until feeling pretty crappy during the first 3 miles so changed my mind to 6 miles then after a few more miles the energy started coming back to me and decided to go whatever I could. Ended at 7.5 without being totally worn out.

Pace was a blistering 9:09 total but for the first 3 miles it was at 9:15.

Didn't wear my hr moniter today or saturday.

Next run wednesday: 6-7 tempo or marathon pace miles, not sure how many total 8-10 with 10 if I'm feeling good....

45 degrees and overcast, normally a great day for a run. Ran the Sno valley trail and it was pretty soggy which made it a little harder to do. Sleep was hard to come by last night as Nova is doing a little bit of coughing and we've got the moniter in our bedroom to hear her.

Warm up for 2 miles 1st mile 9:05 2nd mile 8:43

Tempo Run: This is my last real speed work other than some MP miles next Tuesday.

Mile 1 7:34

2 7:29

3 7:31

4 7:36

5 7:35

Cool down mile 9:47

Really struggled today. Normally that wouldn't have been so tough but DANG this cold, it's P_s__ng me off a little bit this close to the marathon. 10 days away! Aaaarrggghhhh!! Gonna take it a little easier on the rest of my runs so as not to burn out any extra juice.

WOW! What a beautiful day! Going to take the day off to let this cold die down. 

Had to get up at 6 to take Tori to a job shadow for school an saw a lot of runners out there. Saw Sno. as well as Char Olson and then on the way back saw Sommer and Laura, the two women I will be running the Newport Marathon with. 

Tori qualified for State in the Discus throw yesterday and she's only a sophomore- She is really excited.

What a difference a day makes. The rest yesterday really did it for the most part. The run today started good and ended good. Couldn't believe how much energy was in the old body today!

I thank Teena for taking my cold so I can finish prepping for this marathon. 

Almost 50 degrees and perfect running weather. Saw Benji Reynolds(husband of one of my marathon racemates) out hitting it hard getting ready for the Leavenworth half in Oct. I may end up running that as I haven't run a half this year and it is a goal of mine to run one each year.

#'s Overall pace 8:36 HR Avg. 142

Splits (pace)

1-8:28

2-8:41

3-8:26

4-8:30

5-8:51

6-8:43

7-8:30

8-8:44 (.75 mile)

Next run Saturday(tomorrow): 8.25 mile @ 8:46 pace...going to run the sno valley trail or mill pond road.

Another perfect morning for a run. 50 degrees and light breeze. Drove to the bottom of the parkway.

Ran the mill pond road to centennial park. Water break. Then off to Pirates Plank turnaround and back to the park for another water break. Saw Sean and chatted with him, he's doing 23 today with 10 speed miles on the track. Back to the car for a stretch and chugalug some accelerade. When I was driving away I saw Sommer and Laura just finishing their run. I'm sure they went longer than me as I parked after them and finished before they got there.

Splits today - 8:46, 8:46, 8:44, 8:46, 8:46, 8:44, 8:45, (8:38 .75 miles)

Next run Monday: no idea how long...Exactly one week till the marathon

50 degrees and beautiful outside and yet I'm doing 20 minutes on the Elliptical and 25 minutes on the TM. My body and legs are beat up. I know that these two workouts don't beat me up as badly as running on pavement and I didn't feel like driving to a trail. I guess I shouldn't have done the keep away frisbee on Sat. at the b-day party.  Plus, this cold is just kicking my b__t still! 

Just call me Phlegm.

Easy day today, off tomorrow and a sort of dress rehearsal on Wednesday of 1 mile warmup 3 miles @ marathon pace, 1 mile MP -15 seconds then 2 mile cool down. Thursday 3 mile easy. Friday off and travel day.

Great morning for a run with 50 degrees and overcast. Took Tori to school and then went to the track(still trying to keep my legs fresh off the roads).

Felt sluggish the first lap or so. After the warmup mile did a quick stretch and then into 3 miles @ marathon pace and then one more at MP - 15 seconds. Had to slow down several times as my legs were ready to wheel. Had tons of energy. Still not sure I can hold 8 minute pace for 26.2 but am ready to find out on Saturday. 

Wore the wrong kind of shorts due to saving my other ones for the marathon and started chafing at mile 5. OUCH!

Mile splits     HR avg

1 9:02            129

2 7:59             140

3 7:58              148

4 8:00               151

5 7:41                156

6 8:58              138

7 8:54              138

 3 more tomorrow with my little brother Mikey.

3 miles easy with my "little bro". He's in town from Sacramento and is going to run the marathon with me. Hit the Sno Valley trail to keep it easy on the legs. Everything feels good.

No miles tomorrow. Overall Pace 9:21 and Avg. HR 131

Next run: Saturday 26.2 miles @ 8:00 pace (hopefully)

Won't be posting until after the race :)

Friday: Matt(Our Bishop, 35) Mike(my brother, 40) and Mark(good friend,52) and I had a big buttermilk pancake breakfast in the morning, then off to drive for 6 hours.  Stopped for lunch and everybody fueled up well. Mike and I shared a large pizza of which he ate 4 monster pieces and I had only 2 and was called various names for not pounding down more. Was glad I didn’t overeat as I have before other races.

Subway sandwich for dinner at 9:00 which was way too late as I couldn’t sleep very well afterwards. Got about 3-4 hours of sleep. Up at 5:00 to eat a banana and then 5:15 for a powerbar and water. That was it for fuel except for a few sips of accelerade and water.

Race Day: Sommer and Laura(the two girls that Mark and I were going to try to keep up with) and the rest of us walked down to the starting area. The girls took a bathroom break(long line) and we got in the starting zone a little ways back. The girls must have finagled their way into the front of the line as we only saw them in front of us after that. This race was not chip timed so I started my garmin when we crossed the starting line.

Mark and I stayed together and started at a nice easy 8:00 pace which was our goal.

The first 4 miles or so go through some business areas and residential streets with a little up and down but not bad. Then to the dock area(lovely fish smell which reminded me of my mission in Concepcion, Chile) and to the waterfront. Beautiful place to run! The weather was just about as perfect as it could be, around 50 degrees and partly cloudy. The sun came out for a bit but then we were running with a hill blocking the sun so it was really nice. Mark was getting antsy to get out ahead and run but I stayed on the 8:00 pace and he stayed  with me instead of bolting ahead like his legs were telling him to.

There were 3 men around our age that kept passing us and then they would stop and walk for a bit. Found out they were running 8 minutes and then walking 20 seconds. They were trying to BQ. After a few more times we lost them and I highly doubt if they got there BQ times. One of the guys was really heavy on his feet. Clomp, clomp and clomp.

We thought several times that we might be making up some distance on the girls but we never did and they came in at 3:30 and 3:31 which was what they were shooting for.

As we ran along the waterfront we kept our same effort and were losing a few seconds off our goal pace of 8:00 and I mentioned this to Mark who said “it is what it is”. I thought he might want to kick it up a notch and get back on target pace but he was OK staying at that effort level.

We hit every water station on the way. I had water only the first 2 and then HEED and water after that. The HEED stuff was pretty much tasteless but worked well for me. We picked up a gu and held it til the next water break and had a heck of a time getting it opened up so we could drink it with water.

We hit the turnaround about 15.4 miles and I was feeling pretty good until I noticed that now we were going against the wind. It felt good with the cool breeze but I also felt like we slowed down after that too.

We finally passed a guy who had been ahead of us for quite some time and he said that we looked pretty fresh. He then said that he was going to draft us and got right behind me. If he hadn’t said anything then I probably wouldn’t have cared much about it. So I kicked it in gear and we lost him in short order. It felt good to go a little faster as we had gotten a little sluggish.

At the water station around 20 I ate 2 orange pieces and picked up 2 bananas to carry with me to fuel up along the way which worked well for me.

I saw this quote the other day from Sasha and it cracked me up.

"I believe there is a fine line between hard and retard, and that line is at 20 miles. But marathons pay better than anything else, so if it makes a difference of a few hundred bucks and some media coverage I am willing to run another 6 in the retard zone."

Super Beautiful morning! Low 60's with a nice breeze. Just had to get in a run. Dropped Tori off at high school and was planning on running on the track to save my legs but forgot the stupid key so went to centennial park and ran asphalt and trail about 2 miles each.

Monday evening played a softball doubleheader  and it took a little time to warm up. Fortunately I didn't have to do any fast running since I play 3rd base.

4 miles real easy today. 1st mile was tough just getting going; the 2 middle miles were money and the last mile was tougher than it should have been. Maybe should have just done 3 but it sure felt good.

Avg. pace 9:14 and avg. HR 138

Next run Friday morning: probably another 4 easy

60 degrees and Gorgeous outside this morning! 5 easy with 2 strides to loosen the legs up as they are a little sluggish still. Just an easy run on the mean streets of Snoqualmie Ridge - Surprising how a few more degrees can make you sweat. Not used to it. Looks like I will have to start wearing my Sweet head bands to keep the sweat out of my eyes.

Splits 8:44, 9:09, 8:54, 8:50, 8:50 then a short walk home.

On wednesday after my easy 4 miler I ate a banana and had a power bar. Usually I drink Accelerade after my runs. Wednesday evening my muscles were still sore so I'm drinking my Accelerade right now to see if that is what made the difference.

Next run: Sat. 5 easy again

My wife decided to come home from Utah a bit earlier than expected and arrived on Friday evening. Slept in and then got up with the kids so she could really sleep in.

1 hours worth of elliptical with 15 minutes going in reverse(that puts it on the quads harder).

55 degrees and overcast...perfect running weather. Had to take Tori to school because the friend that normally takes her to Seminary goes to fast start so I will be taking her to school the rest of the 2 weeks left.

Went to a church social on Sat. Night and was talked in to running a couple more races this summer. First one is June 20th, which is exactly 3 weeks from the marathon...not sure if that's a little too quick to run a 10K that soon after a marathon? The other is late July in Seattle for the Seafair Torchlight run 8K. My friend Mark Howard runs this every year and says it's really cool at the end there are a ton of people cheering you on. 

Ran on the track to save my legs from the pavement pounding. That's a lot of round and round.

Did harder than easy but easier than moderate. Splits are 8:43, 8:27, 8:24, 8:25, 8:31

Sun popped out after 4 miles or so and started to warm up nicely. Looks like  a nice week for running.

Almost 60 degrees. Nice weather. My legs are stiff and sore from 2 softball games on Monday night. Didn't seem like it was that much running since I hit like my grandma who's 6 feet under.  This run is a street run at the ridge.

Felt good starting out though. Took a slightly hillier than normal to get a decent workout in. HR stayed at a very reasonable level too. HR avg. was 139. Pace avg. was 8:38 with these splits 8:39, 8:57, 8:33, 8:29, 8:37. Now I'm drinking accelerade as that stuff seems to keep me from getting so sore.

Next run: Thursday probably another 5-6 miler

Felt a little bit of a tweak in my left ankle so I'm going to play it safe and run Friday or Saturday.

No reason to pound it  this soon after a marathon.

Overcast and 57 degrees- Nice, Nice running weather. High School track for this one after 4 days off just to give the body a break. It's really boring running the track but easy on the legs. Some wind that was switching up at times but not too bad. 3 strides at 3 miles 3.5 and 4, just real easy ones...nothing really fast.

Mile Splits 8:50, 8:44, 8:42, 8:39, 8:45

I'm planning on running a 10K race this Saturday but not sure what kind of running I should do this week to prepare for it.

7 Easy miles @ the ridge. Overcast and about 56 degrees, beautiful for running. 

Took on the "Hill" of about 1 mile on the parkway since I haven't done anything with effort for some time. Felt good and stayed at a decent HR.

Splits 8:30, 8:51, 8:39, 8:51(big hill), 8:29(downhill), 8:50, 8:19

Avg. HR 143 and avg overall pace 8:38

Race plan for Sat. Morning Fall city fun run 10K.

Will be meeting Mark and Sommer(ran the marathon with them) and hope to keep up. Going to try to start at and stay at 7:00 pace the whole way and sprint the last bit if possible.

My first race ever as an adult was exactly 2 years ago at this race and I did better than expected for myself. I believe it was around 48 ish minutes. I stayed with Sommer for about 2 - 2.5 miles last time then told her to take off as I was running out of gas.

10k pr from last year is 45:01(7:15 pace) @ Snoqualmie Railroad days which I'll be running in mid August also.

It was raining very hard last night when I hit the sack. Was hoping it wouldn't be this morning. Woke up @ 7 am and had a banana then a power bar @ 7:30 with water.

50 degrees with partly cloudy skies. Another perfect morning for running. Got to Fall city and immediately saw the Reynolds clan. Got in line for my packet and then saw Mark and Kim Howard. Was planning on running with Mark and Sommer(all shooting at 7:00 pace) so that worked out well. Saw Snoqualmie and chatted with her and told her we were starting toward the front so we don't have to dodge a gazillion people to get our pace. It worked out very well that way. Planned to go @ 7:00 pace evenly the whole way till the end.

Mile 1  6:59  Had to dodge a few people but not too bad at all. Mark jumped out ahead after about .5 miles...he just can't run any slower.

Mile 2 7:01 Sommer and I were staying steady.

Mile 3 7:03 Stopped at the turnaround and drank water(only stop for water)

Mile 4 6:59 Just trying to keep the pace...Mark is way out so I didn't even consider trying to catch him.

Mile 5 6:55 Here is where Sommer and I started reeling in a lot of people. We got running with a girl from the high school(we think). She did NOT want us to pass her and kept speeding up.

Mile 6 6:47 Tried to keep this mile around 6:45 and was close but was getting tired. Lungs felt good but my legs were starting to turn to jelly. I had been following a tall guy with a red shirt who was the only one even close so decided I needed to pass him if possible on the last stretch. Left high school girl/ and Sommer here.

Mile .2 I screwed up by not turning off my garmin when I passed the finish line so not sure the pace but passed tall/redshirt guy. Felt great to sort of sprint to the finish. Killed my PR of 45:01 from last August by almost 2 minutes. Very happy with this race as I thought it would be hard since I hadn't done a lot of running since the marathon.

Mark is an absolute beast...he's 6 years older than I am but just keeps getting faster- he finished in 42:21

Sommer finished in 43:22 just 11 seconds behind me and she beat high school girl. She's pretty competitive so it's fun to run with her. I did get revenge on her for beating me at the marathon :-)

Talked to Snoqualmie after the race and she said she did really well also. Very happy for her.

Softball last night. Ate dinner at 9:30 after getting home. Woke up early and decided to go running earlier than I normally do. 49 degrees at 6 am.

I woke up some new muscles after my 10K on Saturday. The lower abdomen area just below the belt and above the important stuff. Very tender starting out for about 2 miles then it was OK but still could feel it. Hope it's just a temporary thing. 

Nice easy run at the ridge. Splits. 8:47, 8:50, 8:32, 8:46, 9:01, 8:58, 8:38(.15)

Not sure what this week will bring but going to run with the Mt. Si Running Club this Saturday-

Gonna be off the grid for a week or 2 just to rest up my body. Will check in on the race reports etc. 

Watched "Forever Strong" last night...good flick- typical of that genre...very predictable. 

45-50 degrees and sun is shining!

Have been feeling fine the last 2 days so decided to go run with the MSRC (Mt. Si Running Club). A little bit tender still dang it, but feeling pretty good. Will just do easy runs for the next little while.

Met next to the High School. Running was from the HS to the Sno valley trail. A whopping 5 people showed up. Sean Sundwall's sister Sommer showed up to get it going. She went off with 2 people at 8 minute pace and I went with the 1 other guy who wanted to go @ 11 minute pace.

Boy that felt slow but good. I was pushing him harder than he was used to and he was huffing and puffing but hanging in there. After 2.4 miles he turned around.  I continued on to Grandma and Grandpa's place @ 3 miles and fueled with powerade. Then another 4 and back to gma and gpas place. Then 3 back to the HS.

Splits 9:40, 10:06, 9:17, 9:03, 9:25, 9:12, 9:16, 9:11, 9:10, 9:29

Now to get ready for smoking up some St. Louis style ribs! Homemade baked beans and coleslaw....should be a gorgeous day!!!

Saturday's 10 caused some soreness in the calves but nothing too major. Everything else seems good. 6 easy today around the ridge with as few hills as possible. Perfect weather again at 49 degrees and no wind!

Splits 8:59, 9:20, 8:50, 9:09, 9:05, 9:00   with the avg being 9:03

Softball tonight late - 8:30 - 11:00

Next run Wednesday 7 with  parkway hill.

Have had some soreness the last few days so it's the elliptical for a while.

60 minutes with a gradual buildup from easy to moderate then 5 minute cooldown.

HR high 147 Avg. 122

Another elliptical day - I had the garmin on the wrong screen and was watching avg. hr instead of current hr. Wondered why it was so tough to get my hr up. Oh well, good darn workout! Max HR 158 and avg. 135. This is working my quads pretty good without causing the tenderness I've been having lately that comes with running. Probably another week like this then maybe test it on a short run.

Happy Independence day! Just put a 10 lb. brisket on the smoker...dinner @ 3 today