Run like a horse

Time 58:26

Avg mile 7:18

Avg HR 151

Peak HR 180

HR Started high and deceased thought the run, and did not seem to be a function of pace. The elevation of the run was fairly flat.

Time 35:10

Avg mile 7:01

No HR data

Time 1:51:24

Avg mile 6:57

Avg HR 161

Peak HR 177

Time 42:52

Avg mile 7:08

Avg HR 148

Peak HR 165

Time 54:08

Avg mile 6:46

No HR data

Time 43:11

Avg mile 7:12

Avg HR 153

Peak HR 161

Time 1:20:03

Avg mile 6:40

Avg HR 155

Peak HR 171

Time 58:32

Avg mile 7:18

No HR data

Time 28:18

Avg mile 7:04

No HR data

Time 1:07:42

Avg mile 6:45

Avg HR 152

Peak HR 184

Peak HR came in the first 2 min of the run where the pace does not seem to justify it, strange.

Time 28:56

Avg mile 7:13

Avg HR 148

Time 53:43

Avg mile 6:41

Avg HR 158

Peak HR 174

Time 28:05

Avg mile 7:01

No HR data

AF Canyon Half Marathon

1.5 mile warmup

Race started at Tibble Fork Reservoir up American Fork Canyon and ran down the canyon to AF High. The race course dropped a total of 2,039 feet and gained 297 feet.

Time 1:18:45

Avg Mile 05:59

Avg HR 165

Peak HR 177

7th Over-all 1st in age group

Time 46:35

Avg Mile 7:45

Avg HR 144

Time 45:46

Avg Mile 7:16

No HR Data

2.05 mile warmup

400m X 6 /W 1 min rest

1-1:20 HR 158 peak 171

2-1:12 HR 158 peak 180

3-1:18 HR 161 peak 181

4-1:17 HR 165 peak 181

5-1:20 HR 164 peak 181

6-1:20 HR 162 peak 177

2.03 mile Cool Down

Time 42:41

Avg Mile 7:06

Avg HR 150

Max HR 164

Time 36:31

Avg Mile 7:18

Avg HR 142

Peak HR 153

1.99 mile warm up

Provo Freedom Festival 10K (Actual distance 6.31M)

Time 38:31

Avg mile 6:06

Best pace 4:51

Elevation Gain 179 ft

Elevation loss 248 ft

Avg HR 169

Peak HR 176

1.23 mile cool down

The race was well organized, and started on time, however the course was setup incorrectly increasing the race distance by.11 miles. Racing the parade route was fun, but fighting the 5K crowd was unexpected. Finished 10 overall and 2 in my age group.

Race Recovery

Time 57:18

Avg Mile 7:09

No HR Data

Time 29:50

Avg Mile 7:27

Avg HR 142

Peak HR 155

Rode Mt Bike

Time 1:25:15

Distance 18.17 miles

Elevation Gain 1982ft

Calories 1122

Avg Speed 12.8 mph

Max Speed 39.2 mph

Avg HR 131

Peak HR 156

Rode Mt Bike

Time 1:56:12

Distance 30.52 miles

Elevation Gain 734ft

Calories 1645

Avg Speed 15.8 mph

Max Speed 25.3 mph

Avg HR 133

Mac HR 165

Time 27:34

Avg mile 6:53

No HR Data

time 1:07:22

avg mile 6:43

avg HR 152 

Time 35:03 

avg mile 7:00

avg HR 143

2 mile warm up

1600 x 5 /w 3min rest

1-5:39 avg HR 169 peak 178

2-5:42 avg HR 172 peak 181

3-5:50 avg HR 169 peak 179

4-5:53 avg HR 169 peak  179

5-5:54 avg HR 171 peak 178

2 mile cool down 

Time 42:27 

Avg mile 7:04

Avg HR 148

lack of sleep is catching up to me. This was scheduled to be and 8 miler.

Time 28:59

Avg mile 7:14

Avg HR 142  

Time 45:28

Avg mile 6:29

Avg HR 153

Peak HR 174 

Time 33:00

Avg Mile 6:36

No HR Data

Time 1:35:13

Avg mile 6:38

Avg HR 160

Peak HR 173

Time 41:29

Avg mile 6:54

No HR data

Time 50:02

Avg mile 7:09

Avg HR 148

Peak HR 161

My oldest boy (10 years) rode his bike with me on this run. That made it much more fun.

2.03 mile warm up

10 x 400m w/1 min rest

#/ Time/ Avg HR/ Max HR/ Avg rest HR

1- 1:18 155 171 140

2- 1:16 157 176 145

3- 1:17 159 178 151

4- 1:17 160 177 150

5- 1:17 160 179 151

6- 1:18 160 178 150

7- 1:16 159 180 152

8- 1:18 160 178 152

9- 1:17 160 179 154

10-1:15 163 181 154

Totaling 2.5 miles of interval work

2.06 mile cool down

Time 36:45

Avg mile 7:21

Avg HR 138

Peak HR 156

There is nothing like P.F. Chang's, birthday cake, and ice cream to anchor your run. Ugh... Gut Rot. It is worth it for my wife's birthday.

I spent all day at Lagoon amusement park. I think this is a good day to take off this week.

Time 34:37

Avg mile 6:55

No HR Data

Time 56:10

Avg mile 7:03

No HR Data

Time 35:36

Avg mile 7:04

Avg HR 146

Peak HR 158

Time 1:42:35

Avg mile 7:05

Avg HR 145

Peak HR 161

This run was intentionally slowed down from the goal pace of 6:30-6:45/mile to a goal of 7:10/mile. I still ran a little quicker than the goal pace, however I was still able to complete the run without the usual post run cookie toss that accompanied the faster paces. It would appear that I have been expecting a bit too much out of my long runs in the past. Or I have just not been ready for the faster pace yet. I will pick it up a little for my next long run and see how it goes.

Time 29:37

Avg mile 7:20

No HR Data

2.00 mile warmup

6 x 1600m w/3min rest

#/Time/ Ave HR/ Peak HR/ Avg rest HR (#)=Difference from July 12 workout

1-5:44(+5) 166(-3) 173(-5) 122(-2)

2-5:44(+2) 167(-4) 174(-7) 124(-3)

3-5:46(-4) 167(-2) 175(-4) 126(-2)

4-5:48(-5) 166(-3) 174(-5) 128(-3)

5-5:40(-5) 169(-2) 178(-1) 129(-4)

*6-5:44 169 179 133

*July 12 workout only had 5 intervals

Synopsis

Time=1.4 Seconds quicker per interval

Avg HR=2.8 BPM slower

Peak HR=4.4 BPM slower

Avg Rest HR=2.8 BPM slower

With one additional interval

2:01 mile cool down

That's a good day at the track for me.

Time 27:52

Avg mile 6:58

No HR Data

Cooper's Run 5K Orem UT

Race Start 08:30

1.5 mile warmup

unofficial race time 18:40*

1st place Over all

Mile 1 5:49

Mile 2 5:53 11:42

Mile 3 5:39 17:21

*My Forerunner 305 claims a total of 3.22 miles in the race making my 3.1 mile time 17:58.

Avg HR 173

Peak HR 182

Avg Mile 5:47

5.23 mile cool down

Time 41:35

Avg pace 7:57

No HR Data

During Thursday’s interval session I decided that I really needed a 5K this weekend. After searching the calendar I found the Cooper’s Run. Having a child named Cooper, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to do the race. Because this race was a memorial race, and due to the tragic way young Cooper died, I fully expected an emotional wife for the event. At the one mile mark there were about 6 strong runners in the lead pack. Looking around, I noticed that I was by far the oldest. At this point I was convinced that my odds of winning this race were slim to none. However over the second mile the pace thinned down to myself and one other person. Around 2.25 miles I checked my watch for a pace update and my fellow runner asked what the pace was. I told him “5:35”. He said “man this is cooking, we need to slow down”. I looked at him, smiled and said, “you first”. He was not slowing down. At about 2.5 miles I decided I really had to make a go of it if I was going to have a chance to win. I could almost feel him breathing down my neck for the rest of the race. At the end I had only won by a few seconds. It has been many years since I had really raced someone. It felt great. I’m sure I would not have run as fast alone.

Over, all the race was a great event, for a great cause. There were some signs that the race had been put on by a non-runner. For example the starting line was not well defined, it was more like a starting area, The mile signs never made it to the course, and there were prizes given to the top 3 overall. This naturally is not very fair to the women in the race. However, I’m sure that they will work this all out for next years race. The game’s, firetruck, Airmed helicopter, and crash simulator were all a big hit.

Time 50:17

Avg mile 7:00

Avg HR 139

Peak HR 165 (Racing my Son up a hill on his bike)

I rolled my ankle at the 1.5 mile mark, followed by a not so graceful trip to the ground. I considered scrapping the rest of the run at that point, however I decided I was OK to continue. I'm not yet sure that was a good call. I think I would rather get injured running too hard, but to roll an ankle?!? AAAHHHHH!!! I'll see how it feels tomorrow.

Time 48:36

Avg mile 7:04

Avg HR 142

peak HR 164

The ankle was feeling just a bit sore, however it never did swell and it doesn't look like it will interfere with my running.

Time 35:24

Avg pace 7:06

Avg HR 137

Peak HR 157

2.16 mile warmup

400m X 10/w 1 min rest

#/Time/ Avg HR/ Peak HR/ Avg rest HR

1-1:15 156 174 142

2-1:15 159 178 151

3-1:16 161 180 151

4-1:16 160 180 152

5-1:16 161 179 153

6-1:17 161 181 153

7-1:17 162 181 156

8-1:16 163 182 156

9-1:16 163 182 157

10-1:12 168 186 158

2.00 mile cool down

Time 47:01

Avg pace 7:18

Avg HR 143

Peak HR 163

Today I just didn't feel like running... It has been a while since I took a day off so I think I will just hangout with the wife tonight and not run.

Time 34:59

Avg pace 6:69

No HR Data

Time 1:48:52

Avg pace 6:48

Avg HR 148

Peak HR 171

The last time I ran 16 miles was Jun 12th which was done on the same course as today's. I took a look at the two runs to compare them and found my avg HR went down 13 bpm, even though the pace was an avg of 9 sec/mile faster today. It feels so good to see some actual improvements.

Time 36:11

Avg pace 7:14 Though it felt faster than that, but I think that's just yesterdays 16 miler talking.

Avg HR 144

Peak HR 159

Time 42:32

Avg Pace 7:05

No HR Data

Some right knee pain. I think I will hold off on intervals this week.

Time 54:17

Avg pace 6:47

Avg HR 148

Peak HR 166

I took it easy for the first mile then I let the pace drop down between 6:30 and 6:45. It felt really good to brake out of the 7 min pace rut, and I didn't have to deal with the knee pain that I did earlier in the week. It felt like I was getting a lot more speed for the effort than normal. It looks like the knee will let me jump in the Herriman Mustang Stampede 4 mile run this Saturday after all. I am really looking forward to it.

Time 41:21 

Avg pace 6:53

No HR Data

Time 21:12

Avg Pace 7:03

This was just enough to keep my legs form feeling stale at the race tomorrow. I have no idea how things are going to go, but one things for sure. I'm going to collect another race shirt.

Warmup 1.78 miles

Race

Mile 1 5:42

Mile 2 5:37

Mile 3 6:00

Mile 4 5:42

5K Split 17:44 (17:58 at Coopers Run 5K 3 weeks ago)

Avg HR 157

Peak HR 186

186 is the highest peak HR recorded since Race For Red 5K on May 21 2011. The HR graph has a nice gradual climb throughout the race. I passed the lactate acid Threshold HR of 173 at the 4 min mark.

Speaking with Chad (from the blog) before the race I mentioned that I would like to run this race at 5:50 mile pace. I based this time off my last 5K race time converted to a 4 mile race. A short way into the race I looked at my Garmin and noticed we were running 5:09 pace, and we were a few seconds off the lead group! I don’t care what race it is, if you are running 5 min/mile pace I have no problem letting you go. Thankfully this pace was mostly a ruse. This pace was driven by some very excited high school runners. The pace slowed as we leveled out from the first down hill part of the course, but I still had a hard time chasing down the front pack. None the less I was able to pass several runners over the next few miles. I was running 4th with about 3/4 mile to go when I caught up to the 3rd pace runner. When I passed him he put up a fight for a while then reluctantly settled in behind me. Entering the last 400m of the race I had about a 1 second lead on 4th. As we rounded the last turn on the track the kid pass me like he was hitting the afterburner button. It was like a Wile Coyote cartoon. I simply did not have the speed to fend him off. Not only that, he beat me by a few second in the last 150m. Ouch. Come to find out the kid specializes in the 1600m, and he is half my age. So all said and done I am very happy with 4th. My Garmin claims that I ran 4.04 miles in 23:00 and my 4 mile time would be 22:47. This puts my average pace at 5:41, nine seconds faster than my goal. I am very happy about that. Looking at the splits they appear a little erratic, but that is mostly caused by the hilly course.

I really don’t think that I have improved 9 seconds per mile since my last race 3 weeks ago. I think this race shows that I have not been digging down to the bottom of my tank in my last races. I think that I need to add a greater degree of wall busting, gut wrenching toughness to my workout program. Perhaps then I will be better adept at emptying my tank on race day.

Time 1:10:50

Avg pace 7:05

Avg HR 148

Peak HR 171

This was an incredibly rewarding run today. Starting out I wanted to run between 7 and 10 miles, but at the 3.5 mile mark I was just not ready to turn around. I ran on roads that I have never been on before. The run had a total of 932 feet of elevation gain with the lion share of that on the first half of the run. With that much of a climb I probably should have saved this fun for a some other day when I was not recovering from a race. However, it just felt great! When I reached the top of the run and looked back at the incredible view I was so glad to be a runner. There is something so cool about exploring new places on your own two feet, and to get an awesome view in the middle is very rewarding.

First half

Avg HR 147

Peak HR 171

Avg Pace 7:25

Second half

Avg HR 149

Peak HR 161

Avg Pace 6:41

Time 1:51:26

Avg Pace 6:57

Avg HR 147

Peak HR 163

The run felt good, no aches or pains for once. I even considered adding another mile in the middle of the run, but when I got back I was glad I didn't. I am tired and ready for bed.

Time 36:56

Avg Pace 7:23

Avg HR 141

Peak HR 149

Just a nice and easy short run.

Time 1:11:07

Avg Pace 7:06

Avg HR 144

Max HR 159

It look like this is going to be a good mileage week.

Time 42:06

Avg Pace 7:01

No HR Data

This run seemed refreshing and energizing after a long day. Mile 1 was just hard and slow like I was wearing cement shoes. By mile 3 I was feeling good. I was just motoring effortlessly through mile 4, 5, and 6.

Time 21:08

Avg pace 7:02

No HR data

I had to dramatically reduce my milage today or risk increasing my weekly milage by too great of a margin. As we all know this has a way of angering the God of injury, and I never want to do that.

During this run easy 3 mile run I couldn’t help but think about when 3 miles was not so easy for me. For comparison I pulled up a run that I did on Jul 14, 2007 in Pittsburg, PA.

Elevation 1,200 feet

Distance 2.00 miles

Time 18:56

Avg pace 9:29

Avg HR 167

Peak HR 186

Weight 265 lb.

Looking back on it now, I’m amazed that I didn’t have a heart attack. What ever else I get from my running I feel like it has already been worth the time and effort.

Time 1:25:23

Avg pace 7:04

Avg HR 156

Peak HR 168

It was so refreshing to finally log some miles with another runner. This was the first time in years that I have done a training run with someone. Chad, from the blog, was kind enough to let me tag along on his 12 miler today. This was a fantastic course in a neighborhood that I used to live in. We were able to do the entire run without stoping for traffic, this was also a first in a long while for me. The course featured wide shoulders, light traffic, and about 550 feet of climb and decent. All said and done this was a great way to end the week. Thanks Chad!

Time 55:18

Avg Pace 6:54

No HR data

Climb 890 ft.

Descent 890 ft.

Today I ran up City Creek Canyon 4 miles and back to Memory Grove Park. I have lived along the Wasatch Front for about 20 years and I haven’t been up City Creek until today. The run was very enjoyable and the only other traffic were bikers and fellow runners. I’m sure it won’t take me 20 years to get back there.

Splits

1-7:41

2-7:26

3-7:42

4-7:41

5-6:04

6-6:04

7-6:18

8-6:30

Time 1:47:26

Avg pace 7:09

No HR data

Elevation Gain 1415 ft

Elevation Loss 1383 ft I stopped a little before I got back to the starting point

I ran along Wasatch Blvd from Big Cottonwood Canyon to the North. There were plenty of hills along this route especial once I got to Parleys Canyon. I think there is just a bit too much traffic to do this run after dark.

At the beginning of this week I had grand plans to run 70 miles. That all went up in smoke today, literally. I was cleaning up the kitchen when my apartment shook and a big ball of fire erupted on my patio. I garbed my fire extinguisher and was able to put it out, but only just. I then convinced some people in the parking lot that were speaking with a 911 operator that I had everything under control. I then spent the rest of my night on in to the morning cleaning up my patio. So today I had to sacrifice my run for fire cleanup duty. Maybe Sasha could put that in the top ten excuses to miss a run. I would really rather be running. For those of you who love to grill a nice lean protein just be careful what you have around your grill.

Time 45:58

Avg Pace 6:52

No HR data

I was not expecting to be able to keep a normal pace on 3.5 hours sleep. This is a good run for me. It feel really good to get out.

AM

4 miles

Time 27:40 w/jogging stroller

Avg Pace 6:54

No HR data

Does a serious runner run with a jogging stroller?

Today I am starting to add an A.M. run to my program. I am trying to get to 70+ miles a week, however this is difficult for me to do in one run a day. I have an opportunity 3 days a week when I only have one of my kids with me to do an A.M. run. Naturally I can’t leave my 2 year old alone so he will be coming with me on the AM runs. I feel like would fit right in with the Mommy club.

PM

2 mile warmup

8x800m with 200m active recovery

Time Avg HR Peak HR

1-2:55 155 167

2-2:55 167 171

3-2:52 166 172

4-2:53 166 172

5-2:55 165 171

6-2:58 164 170

7-2:55 165 172

8-2:53 168 174

Avg Time 2:54.5

Avg HR 164.5

I was dragging tail on this speed work. I’m glad to have done it but I think my lack of sleep is catching up to me.

Time 1:25:34

Avg Pave 7:07

No HR Data

Time 29:18

Avg Pace 7:01

No HR Data

I cut my plans to do a ten mile run down to 4 because my knee was getting a bit twinge. I could almost here my high school coach in my head telling me that I cant make up for a lost run, just move on.

Time 56:37

Avg pace 7:04

Avg HR 140

Peak HR 150

Running at 11:00 on a Sunday night in the middle of a thunderstorm... Today I feel like a runner.

Time 35:39

Avg pace 6:57

Avg HR 147

Peak HR 169

Time 2:04.43

Avg Pace 6:55

AVG HR 149

PEAK HR 163

Mile time/HR

1-6:56/135

2-6:58/149

3-7:25/143

4-7:23/143

5-7:02/150

6-6:59/153

7-6:42/151

8-7:20/151

9-7:00/156

10-6:32/148 (its good to have the wind at your back)

11-6:41/149

12-6:44/152

13-6:41/156

14-6:40/152

15-6:59/147

16-6:52/149

17-6:57/152

18-6:51/151

It felt great to get a good long run in today. This is a landmark run for me because it ties my lifetime long distance run record. I know some people in this blog will this distance and longer before breakfast, however for me it is a really good run. Some day soon I am going to have to check off a marathon form my goal list.

AM

4 miles with a jogging stroller

Time 29:14

Avg Pace 7:18

That 18 miler yesterday took quite a bit out of my legs. Wow, I'm feeling it this morning.

PM

6 miles

Time 43:06

Avg Pace 7:10

I felt better and better as this run went on. I am in the middle of what I hope will end up being a 70 mile week, I could use some leg that are ready to run.

AM

3 miles w/jogging stroller

Time 21:57

Avg Pace 7:18

I thought about the SoJo Marathon a lot yesterday. After a in-depth review and talk with my wife I am going to do it. My wife said that she would be mad if I hurt myself doing it, so I have got to be careful and avoid injury on this one. I’m starting to get excited, I have a plan for my FIRST MARATHON!!

PM

2.03 mile warmup

6 x 1600m w/3min rest

Time/Avg HR/Peak HR/Following rest avg HR

1-5:40/ 163/ 174/ 120

2-5:37/ 168/ 176/ 122

3-5:42/ 166/ 175/ 122

4-5:40/ 166/ 176/ 125

And then I put on my big boy underwear

5-5:33/ 170/ 178/ 129

6-5:34/ 170/ 179/ 131

2.13 mile cool down

My last 1600m interval session was way back on July 28th. I had averaged 5:44.3 for that workout The HR was comparable if not a bit higher for the July session during the running. But the July session had significantly higher HR on the rest phase of the workout. I went in to this workout with a goal of 5:40 miles. I averaged 5:37.6, that 6.7 seconds better than the July workout. I am feeling really good about that. It is nice to know that all the hard work and long runs are making a difference.

Time 42:31

Avg pace 7:05

This was just enough to get some recovery form yesterdays 1600's and get ready for tomorrows 22 miler. I have to admit I am a little excited to do 22 miles.

Time 2:27:53

Avg pace 6:43

Avg HR 150

Peak HR 172

WHAT A GREAT RUN! I have been told to hang out with those you want to be like. Well I want to be a better runner than I am now, so I did this run with Rob. He put together a fantastic run that started up East Canyon and covered the Des News course down to Wasatch Blvd, then ran south to the park and ride. My Garmin says that the run gained 1,251 ft and descended 2,596 ft. That turned out to be a perfect course to brake my all time long distance run record of 18 miles. Now that I have done a 22 mile run the marathon feels a lot more attainable.

We started the run just a bit before 6:00 am. The temperature was about 45 degrees, perfect for a marathon. It was still dark and would be for quite a while. I’m glad that Rob was smart enough to bring a headlamp. This really help keep the cars off us.

We had planed to run about 7:00 min pace. I’m glad I was planing on this because if I knew the pace would be so close to my marathon race pace I may have chickened out of the run. As it turned out 6:43 avg was perfect. In fact just about everything about the run was perfect. We enjoyed some fantastic views, good course that I had never run on before and a quality runner to pound it out with. This was a great way to end the week!

1- 7:10, 161, +46/-218

2- 6:38, 144, +36/-139

3- 6:46, 151, +65/-41

4- 7:26, 157, +137/-0

5- 7:15, 156, +140/-100

6- 6:20, 140, +12/-237

7- 6:27, 138, +0/-240

8- 6:32, 140, +0/-168

9- 6:39, 140, +0/-144

10-6:32, 142, +33/-168

11-6:22, 144, +17/-145

12-6:27, 145, +40/-173

13-6:38, 139, +15/-145

14-6:38, 152, +71/-38

15-6:39, 154, +34/-42

16-6:39, 155, +73/-212

17-7:20, 159, +312/-69

18-6:53, 155, +86/-65

19-6:26, 152, +0/-88

20-6:28, 150, +36/-80

21-6:42, 156, +67/-34

22-6:48, 156, +26/-41

Thanks Rob!

Time 57:17

Avg pace 7:09

Today my legs feel so sore and heavy, and I love it. The important part is that they do not hurt, I don't have any pain. I was nervous that jumping form 60 to 82 mile over one week was asking for an injury. I just did the Mexican hat dance all over the 10% increase rule. I feel like I just blew through a proverbial speed trap going 82 in a 65 zone and getaway with it!

Time 1:12:00

Avg pace 7:11

Avg HR 139

Peak HR 166

Today is just one of those days that you run because you know you will regret it tomorrow if you don't. I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night and today has had a lot going on. I just let my legs go what ever pace they wanted to today. I'm sure that I will sleep well tonight.

AM

6 miles w/jogging stroller

Time 42:31

Avg Pace 7:05

This is my longest run to date with a jogging stroller. It went fairly well.

PM

12.01 miles

Time 1:25:06

Avg pace 7:05

Avg HR 140

Peak HR 154

Tonight I ran in my new Nike free run shoes. They are very light, and have a good feel to them. They felt a little odd when I first put them on, but I attribute that to them being new. I think They will work out well.

My run was a good cap to a high millage day for me. It felt nice and smooth, that is except for the unplanned urgent stop at the gas station. I think I need to wait more than 20 minuets after dinner to do my runs. Maybe give my food more of a chance to digest.

AM

5 miles w/stroller

Time 35:57

Avg pace 7:11

Another 5 miles closer to my marathon.

PM

8.15 miles

Time 57:49

Avg pace 7:05

It feels so odd to be on the front page of the mileage board this late in the week. I'm not going to complain about it though:)

AM

4 miles/w stroller

Time 28:19

Avg Pace 7:04

Feeling good this morning. I'm looking forward to the speed work tonight.

PM

2.0 mile warmup

12 x 1000m w/45 sec rest.

I was looking for a good lactic threshold workout, and boy was this ever it. I would have liked to pace the workout better to have more of an even negative split to it, but that just didn't happen. I think I would have had better pacing if I could have run the intervals with some other people, but we all know how hard it is to get groups together for workouts, especially mid-week. That being said I am happy with the workout. I feel like it did the job it was designed to do, that is push my lactic threshold.

Time, Avg HR, Peak HR, Rest Avg HR

1- 3:38(5:50 pace), 159, 167, 148

2- 3:37(5:49 pace), 165, 172, 153

3- 3:41(5:55 pace), 163, 170, 155

4- 3:38(5:50 pace), 165, 174, 159

5- 3:39(5:52 pace), 164, 172, 156

6- 3:39(5:52 pace), 166, 174, 160

7- 3:38(5:50 pace), 168, 174, 161

8- 3:39(5:52 pace), 168, 175, 167

9- 3:38(5:50 pace), 170, 178, 163

10-3:38(5:50 pace), 171, 179, 168

11-3:39(5:52 pace), 173, 179, 166

12-3:32(5:41 pace), 175, 182, 167

Ya I know I put the mile pace conversion in the list. I just rarely do 1k intervals, and I am just not familiar with the times.

2.11 mile cool down

Time 50:54

Avg pace 7:16

Today I focused on slowing down and working on my form. I felt surprising good after the LT work yesterday, but this is still the highest mileage week that I have done in a decade. So taking it easy today was defiantly warranted.

Time 1:45:42

Avg pace 7:02

Avg HR 149

Peak HR 167

Today I did the first 15 miles of the SoJo Marathon course. I'm glad I got out there to take a look at the course. Now I know a bit more what to expect on race day. I plan to do 22 mile run on the last part of the course next week.

I stopped to pick up my first water at mile 6 and noticed that some dang critter beat me to it! The top of the water bottle had teeth marks and wholes in it. I was not about to risk getting sick though, so I dumped it. My next, and only remaining, water was at mile 11. Then I started to notice how warm and windy it was. I know some of you are tough enough to run 20 miles with out a water stop, but I'm a wuss for hydration. Even with one water stop I could see myself running 6:30 avg on that course. It would not be easy, but a marathon is not supposed to be easy.

Time 48:55

Avg Pace 6:59

I ran on one of my more hilly coursed today. It felt really good to open up the throttle a bit here and there.  It was just enough to make sure I remembered  where the gas pedal is.

Time 1:08:51

Avg pace 6:47

Avg HR 157

Peak HR 174

I ran around Liberty Park today because I was looking for someplace flat that didn't have stop lights for my tempo run. My plan was to hold the tempo pace for 8-9 miles. But, that was just not in the cards today. I pulled the plug after only 6 miles at pace. I'm sure some of the problem was that I was just not prepared mentally for a that hard of a run, and some of it may be the fatigue from the higher millage that I have been running recently. In either case I am disappointed to not get to at least 8 miles.

splits, HR

1-7:01, 148 Warmup

2-6:12, 164 Tempo start

3-6:18, 168

4-6:16, 168

5-6:14, 168

6-6:24, 168 this is a problem

7-6:17, 173

8-7:30, 145 recovery run

9-7:38, 145

10-7:56, 139

.13-7:50,139

Looking at it now I can see that I carried the same effort though the 6th split, but my fitness level started to slow me down. The following mile was significantly more taxing as shown by the elevated HR, but I should have been able to do another 2 miles. GRRRR!

AM

3 miles w/stroller

Time 21:04

Avg pace 7:01

PM

8 miles

Time 58:49

Avg pace 7:20

Avg HR 136

Peak HR 145

This was just an nice easy scenic slow run. I wanted a run that would give my legs a chance to rest up for tomorrows hard workout. I don't want any excuses at the end of tomorrow, just some sore legs and fast times. I could use a good solid well run workout. And I am going to get it!

AM

4miles w/stroller

Time 29:10

Avg pace 7:17

Just a good little wake up run.

PM

2 mile warmup

8x800m w/400m jog

Time, Avg HR, Peak HR, Rest HR

1-2:51.8, 154, 166, 142

2-2:43.8, 168, 175, 147

3-2:46.0, 167, 175, 146

4-2:47.9, 165, 175, 145

5-2:50.0, 167, 173, 145

6-2:45.3, 168, 176, 145

7-2:48.0, 170, 177, 148

8-2:48.5, 170, 177, 149

Average time 2:47.6

Is Yasso right??? Do I Have any holes in my training that would make this prediction inaccurate in my case? I guess I will find out on October 15th. 31 days left to put it all together. This is going to be quite a ride.

2.12 mile cool down

Mean while enjoy these marathon signs I found online.

"In our minds, you're all Kenyans."

"Your feet hurt because you are kicking so much butt!"

"Your legs will forgive you...eventually."

"Don't stop -- people are watching."

"Worst Parade Ever" <-- I love this one.

"That's not sweat, it's your fat cells crying."

"If it was easy, I would do it."

"Run like you stole something."

"This is easier than labor and delivery."

"You're not slow. You're just enjoying the course."

"Stop reading this and keep running!"

"Beat Oprah!"

"Puke and rally!"

"Don't worry, toenails are overrated."

"Run like someone's chasing you."

"It'll feel better when it stops hurting."

"Mortuary ahead....look alive!"

"If I ran it, by God, you can, too."

"Chuck Norris never ran a marathon."

"Staying up all night making this sign was hard too."

"You are NOT almost there." (seen at mile 1)

"The end is near." (Sign held by man dressed as the Grim Reaper at mile 21 of the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon, which was on Halloween)

AM

5 miles w/stroller

Time 36:50

Avg Pace 7:22

Wow my calves are sore this morning. I really need to work on my form after this marathon and fix some things.

PM

8.0 miles

Time 59:01

Avg pace 7:22

I wanted a nice slow run but I still wanted to do it over some hills. I ran east toward the mountains and back. I am still sore but it was a very nice run.

Time 43:36

Avg pace 7:16

Nothing to it, just an easy 6. I'm saving up for my long run tomorrow morning. I plan on doing to last 22 miles of the SoJo Marathon. I am very excited.

Time 2:29:38

Avg pace 6:35.7

Avg HR 149

Peak HR 177 (on the first mile)

I ran the last 22 or so miles of the SoJo Marathon course early this morning. I tried out my marathon breakfast that consists of 3 pieces of whole wheat toast with peanut butter. I also used the drink from the book “Born to Run”, water, lime juice, chi seeds, and a little sugar. Both seemed to work out great. I felt comfortably full and well hydrated during the run. I was a little concerned about leaving my car at 5:30 in the morning on the side of the road on Bacus Highway, but that turned out just fine.

I could not have asked for a better run. I felt strong throughout the entire workout. I know I didn’t take my usual easy run pace of 7:00 plus minutes, but I wanted to push my self a bit on this run. I’m not going to classify the pace as marathon pace simply because I know I can go faster come race day. I always felt like I had more in the tank on this run.

This was a very encouraging workout leading up to my first marathon. I think I will do well come race day as long as I can avoid doing anything stupid between now and then that will get me injured. I am more excited than ever for race day.

No run today. I was thinking of taking off for a little 3-5 miler but I have a cold and still feel tired after spending most the day in bed. So today I’ll take some passive recovery.

Time 1:12:16

Avg pace 7:16

Avg HR 143

Peak HR 154

Nothing to it, just an easy 10. Feeling a little under the weather, but nothing will clear the sinuses like a good run.

AM

4.25 miles w/Stroller

Time 31:39

Avg pace 7:27

I thought I would give my boy a little different scenery this morning, so I ran around liberty park. What a beautiful morning!

PM

9.13 miles

Time 1:04:01

Avg pace 7:01

Today I would have normally done some sort of speed work, LT, or Tempo run. But I just didn't feel like my body was up to it yet so I'm going to save it for later. I did round out this run with 4 x 100m strides if that counts.

AM

4 miles w/jogging stroller

Time 29:29

Avg pace 7:22

I'm glad I waited to do the speed work till today. I feel much better today than I did yesterday.

PM

2 mile warmup

3x1600m w/3min rest

Time, avg HR, Peak HR, Rest HR

1-5:38.4,163,173,109

2-5:37.4,165,173,109

3-5:35.0,164,174,112

2.18 mile cool down

I had planed on doing 6 however when I was warming up I felt a twinge in my right foot. That twinge steadily grew into a significant pain, so I shut it down. I was very disappointed to quit the workout early, but I am not going to risk what I have already worked so hard for, just to get a tiny bit more. Like Ed Eyestone once told me, "The hay is already in the barn".

Today I went to the gym and used the dreaded stationary bike for an hour. I HATE this thing. But, it is the safe move with my sore foot. I just don’t feel like I get any good cardio form the stupid thing. Ya, I can make my legs tired and sore, but that doesn't get my pulse up to the same level as a good run.

Time 57:20

Avg Pace 7:09

This was just a test run to see if my foot is ready for some more running. I wanted to get a up to 8 miles and was pleased that my foot didn't seem to object to much. There is still some lingering low grade soreness, but I don't think it is anything that ice and Ibuprofen cant handle.

Dirty Dash and Piglet Run.

I had promised my son for some time now that I would take him up to do that dirty dash. My foot be damned, I was not going to let him down. All the same I didn't have any problems with it today.

For those of you that are strictly competitive runners, this event is not for you. I won't be classifying this as a "race report" because I used it as a tempo/speed workout. I even hesitate to call it that. I did have a blast though.

Against my wife's better judgement, I dressed up in a blue morph suit for the race. For those of you who don’t know what that is, picture a head to toe suit made out of blue spandex. This covers the face and every other square inch of skin. It has the same effect as a scary version of the Blue Man Group. It was surprisingly easy to run in, that is until the face got wet, then it was like breathing through a wet shirt, and wasn’t much easier to see through. However it dries fast so let the fun continue.

I ran a hard interval pace between the obstacles in the race in order to get a good workout, but I have no idea how long it took me. I don’t think the time is relevant when it includes, sloshing through wait deep mud, climbing through corrugated tubing, trudging through 200m of waist deep water, climbing over wooden walls and the like, all in a morph suit.

The fellow Dirty Dash runners got a good kick out of the “Blue Man”. I have never had so many strangers take my picture and give me hugs. I made a few kids laugh and scared the crap out of a few others.

After the Dirty Dash was over I shed the suit and ran the Piglet Plunge with my four year old son. This was a very proud Dad moment. He ran the whole race. Including the slick steep uphill muddy sections. He was a trooper. I believe I have a future runner. He was so proud of himself that he wore an ear to ear grin for some time afterwards. I will definitely be entering him in more kids races, and perhaps taking him out on some training runs.

Time 1:21:55

Avg pace 6:49

This was my first solid workout since my foot started giving me problems. I was a little nervous that it might act up when I was 6 miles form home but I hardly feet a thing. I think my foot problems are behind me. I was targeting a low 7 min pace for this run but I started feeling a little frisky and just let it go. I guess it was all the unspent energy form my low mileage week I had.

11 x 400m w/60sec rest

2.00 mile warmup

Time	Avg HR	Peak HR	Rest HR
1-1:10.9	148	173	145
2-1:11.4	159	178	152
3-1:11.2	163	182	159
4-1:11.0	166	184	161
5-1:11.7	166	185	162
6-1:12.0	168	186	162
7-1:12.9	166	184	164
8-1:12.3	168	185	166
9-1:11.0	171	187	167
10-1:12.0	171	185	167
11-1:13.3	171	184	163

 I was hoping to get 12 done but I stopped after nearly puking on number 11.  I would have liked to see more of a negative split to the workout, but I think I got a little excited at the beginning and went out just a bit too fast. However, I did bring my average time down form 1:15.6 on August 3rd to 1:11.7 today. When I compared the HR form Aug 3rd I noticed that some of the gains are due to increased fitness and some of it is due to just working harder today.

Time 1:04:11

Avg pace 6:58

Today was just a nice quick, get it done, nine miler. I went on a course that I don't usually use, so the change of scenery was nice. I also didn't do a morning run today due to the taper for the SoJo Marathon. It feels a little anticlimactic starting my taper after such a bad mileage week due to my foot last week. I can't make up for that. I'm just going to move on with the plan.

AM 

2 miles w/jogging stroller 

Time 14:20

Avg pace 7:10

I feel odd doing a run this short but I only have 10 miles to work with today. So my choice is use 2 in the AM or do only one run today.  I choose the 2 run option. 

PM

8 miles

Time 53:17

Avg pace 6:40

I wanted to get a little marathon pace work in. So I went to liberty park so that I wouldn't have to deal with any stoplights. I started out with a warmup mile then went into marathon pace, or a little faster, for 6 miles then rounded it out with a cool down mile.

When I started I was running about 20 feet behind a guy for the enter first mile. I didn't think much of it, so when the time came I eased into my pace at the one mile point. I passes the guy that I was running behind, then he quickly passed me back. Hmm... that's odd, I thought. Within about 100m I passes him again without really trying. Sure enough, here he comes sprinting past me again. I smile to myself and think, O this is going to be FUN! When I caught him again I looked at him and said, “nice job, your really working”. He replied, “ya, I don’t know if I can keep up with you”. I reassured him that he could, knowing full well that I’m going to be doing this for 6 miles before I slow down. I made it a goal to keep him with me as long as I could. Every time I would pass him I would do my best to spur him on, then he would pass me back. This went back and forth about 10 times. Then when I passed him he didn’t catch back up. A little while later I hear him yell form behind me, “DANG IT!!” That was one competitive

AM 

6.19 miles with Jogging Stroller

Time 45:28

Avg pace 7:21

I started this run at Sugarhouse Park. I haven't run the park since 1997 during the high school cross country championships. I had forgotten how hilly the park is. After one loop I decided that it was a bit much for a jogging stroller on an easy day. I left the park and ran the neighborhood for the rest of the run. Good times. 

PM

3.83 miles

Time 27:51

Avg pace 7:16

I am really noticing the cut in mileage due to the taper for my marathon. I only scheduled 10 miles for the day and my AM run went longer than I had planned on, So all I get tonight is a little 3.8 mile leftover. Still a good run though. 

Time:36:10

Avg pace 7:14

I got up very early to do this run before my wife went to work, and it felt like it. I think I sleep-ran through most of it. My wife and I have always taken a fall trip up the canyon to Park City to see the colors change, have dinner, and then walk up and down Main Street. As usual this was well worth getting up early to make sure the run didn't get in the way of the evening.

I only did 5 miles because I am saving up the rest of my taper miles this week for a 15 miler tomorrow.

Time 1:44:11

Avg pace 6:57

I really didn't want to push this run so I was surprised when I ended up with a sub 7 average. I was not very happy with the gels that I used on this run, but I'm glad that I did. Now I know not to use the same gel on my marathon.

During this whole morning all I could think about was the Saint George Marathon what was going on down there, where people were in the race, how everyone was doing. I ‘m so jealous! I can’t wait to read all the race reports. Congratulations, to all those who ran SGM today!

Time 43:13

Avg pace 7:12

Well this is two weeks to go till the SoJo Marathon. I'm deep into the taper this week. I only have 56 miles scheduled. That is about a third less than my peak mileage week. After reading all the race reports form SGM I can only hope that it is not going to be hot. Somehow I think it is just as likely to snow vs being too hot. My mind is going through all the issues and potential problems that could come up on race day and what can I do to prevent or mitigate them. It is two weeks out and I am already nervous.

To all of you who ran SGM, well done and congratulations.

Time 1:14:40

Avg pace 7:20

My wife was kind enough to drop me off for a rare one way run from down town SLC to Midvale. I probably could have chosen a better day for it though. I was facing a stiff head wind the entire way. That's OK though I had a good time. I love the runs that are low pressure and just more or less for fun.

Time 55:34

Avg pace 6:57

I ran the first 4 miles nice and easy, then I dropped the pace down to marathon tempo, or a little bit quicker, then I pulled back on the last two miles to coast in.

Mile 5- 6:22

Mile 6- 6:21

The rest were in the 7:05-7:15 range.

I'm really enjoying the taper, but it definitely does take a bit of confidence not to go out and do some hard solid running.

AM

4.01 miles w/jogging stroller

Time 29:23

Avg pace 7:20

Pushing the stroller into the wind on the first two miles was like pushing a bus, but on the way back I hardly had to touch the thing. In fact I had to speed up to catch it a couple of times. The wind was crazy this morning.

PM

6.21 miles

Time 44:33

Avg pace 7:10

I started to notice a light pain in my left calf this morning. On the run tonight it seemed to be a bit worse. I have no idea how in the world I could have developed a calf pain in the taper phase of my marathon training, but it appears that I have managed to do just that. I haven't done any hard work for some time. My mileage has been cut and it has all been easy, that is except for 2 miles at marathon pace yesterday. I guess it is a good thing that it is happening now, because I can spend the time to take care of it without losing any valuable training. I just don't know were I developed this.

Today I let my cautious side win. I had an AM 4 miler and PM 7 miler on the schedule. But, I decided to do some cross training on the elliptical. My left calf has been acting up a bit and I wouldn’t get much more if anything form the run that I wouldn’t get from cross training. So I went to the dreaded gym and did 45 min on the elliptical machine.

Today was a rest day on my schedule. I would like to “make up” the mileage that I didn’t do yesterday because of the cross training, but I know that won’t help me taper for the marathon.

Time 1:23:07

Avg pace 6:55

every time I looked at my watch I noticed that my pace was creeping down faster and faster. I would slow down and then it would happen again. 6:30 pace just felt like 7 min pace. I'm sure this is all because of the marathon taper. I just hope that feeling lasts through the enter marathon.

This is the last week before the first marathon of my life. I am so excited, anxious, nervous. Do I have enough to make my goal? One way or another I'm pumped to become part of the .1% of Americans that have run a marathon. This is going to be good.

Time 38:30

Avg pace 6:59

Nice easy Sunday afternoon run. I threw in 4 100m turnovers at about 1600m race pace. Every thing feels good and on track for the race.

Time 28:00

Avg pace 7:00

I put on my compression sock for this run, and my wife says that I look like a cute little soccer player. I'm not sure how to take that.

Time 40:07

Avg pace 6:41

Today was my “dress rehearsal” for the marathon this Saturday. I had all my race cloths and gear set up the night before. I woke up early to get it all done before my Wife went to work. I will be doing all my runs in the early morning to get used to it for race day. I dressed just how I would for the race to see how my cloths would do with the cooler temperature. It was a bit cold but I would prefer that to getting too hot. I ran the first two miles at warmup pace. 7:12 and 6:54. Than I ran marathon pace or just a bit faster for the next three, 6:24, 6:23, 6:12. Than I finished up with a mile cool down at 6:59.

I learned that my race shoes are just too tight for a marathon. I went out and picked up another pare of race flats that has more room in the toe-box. I think this will give me a much better chance of finishing without bleeding too much. I am liking that.

Time 28:25

Avg pace 7:06

Nice and easy cool morning run.

No running today, Just prepping things for the race. 

Just an easy 3 mile shake out run.

WOW! What a day!

I went to bed last night at 8:00 with the plan to wake up at 4:00 AM to make my 5:15 bus time. I get a good nights sleep despite being super excited and anxious. I woke up ready to go. I had all my gear laid out in order of what needed to go on first so getting ready went fast. I had a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter for breakfast. I made a conscious effort to not drink too much water and get water logged. It was big fear of mine that I would have to use all the port-o-potties along the race course.

I ended up arriving early at the race at about 4:55. I couldn’t see any point waiting for my assigned 5:15 bus time so I got on the next marathon bus. The race started in Copperton which is a small town on the North side of Kennecott Copper mine. The Bus driver drove up the Old Bingham Highway and took a left at US-111. This would have been fine, except for the fact that we were supposed to go straight. So now we are driving away for the start along the race course. I’m looking around the bus and see a lot of confused faces. I decided that someone needs to let the driver know that we would prefer to go to the starting line. I made my way to the front of the bus and told the driver “unless you know of another way to get to Copperton”, and there is none “I think you are going the wrong way.” He assured me that we were going the right way to get to Kennecott, and he was right, we were headed to Kennecott. I then did my best to explain to him the difference between Kennecott and Coperton without sounding demeaning or condescending. After all, our race and very lives were still in his hands. The fun continued into the small town as we took another wrong turn and drove down an impossibly narrow street with overgrown trees scraping the top of the bus. Eventually we made it to the race start and with time to spare, despite taking the scenic tour. I saddled down to go over the race plan in my mind, and wait out the time to start. After a while I decided to take a crack at lighting a propane heater that didn’t appear to be working. After getting the heater lit I warmed up for a bit and went over to use a hidden port-o-potty that was in an adjacent parking lot. All was going to plan so far. I ran a very slow mile to get warmed up. After a good stretch I was ready to go.

I found Walter at the starting line and chatted for a moment. We started out together for the first half to 3/4 mile. I knew that I shouldn't spend too much time with him because he is a much faster runner than I am.

Mile 1-5:53 This was a bit faster that the course tool said that I needed, but it was still very comfortable and felt slow. I let Walter go and ran in second place.

Mile 2-5:47 Walter was still fairly close and holding steady. I ran this mile about 15 seconds fast. I could hear someone making up ground behind me. I took a look back at the turn just after the mile mark and saw Steve who won this race last year. I knew it was to early and to fast for me to start being competitive for positioning.

Mile 3-5:57 Steve closed the gap on me somewhere on this mile and suggested alternating the lead every mile. I started to reconsider my race plan. I had been targeting a 2:50, but this pace was so easy and smooth. I thought I should be looking at a 2:45, or maybe a touch faster.

Mile 4-6:22 Steve and I start taking turns leading into the wind. This was really helpful, especially climbing up the hill to the entrance of Kennecott.

Mile 5-6:31 This mile kicked off the biggest climb of the race. I’m was not all sad that it was Steve’s turn to lead. I was still feeling fantastic though. I focused on lifting the knees and shorting my stride.

Mile 6-7:19 This was the guts of the climb, and once again Steve’s turn to lead. For the first time in the race I started to feel like I was going to work, not too hard, but definitely work.

Mile 7-6:25 I took the lead back to finish out the climb. When we started down I let the legs roll as fast as they wanted to go. It felt nice to pick the pace back up from the slow climb.

Mile 8-6:01 Steve had the lead when he darted to the far side of the road and grabbed his shorts with both hands. I was sad to see that he was having some troubles. I was also bummed to be running solo.

Mile 9-6:11 Well no longer running solo. Trevor, the eventual winner, caught up to me, and we chatted for a bit.

Mile 10- 6:14 At this point in the race I am convinced that my goal of 2:50 is just not going to cut it. I should be shooting for at least a 2:45. Steve had caught back up with us, and everyone was looking strong.

Mile 11-6:17 I wanted to run a bit more conservatively than Trevor and Steve and decided that it would be best to let them battle for 2nd and 3rd. I hung back to make sure I was not going to blow my race that had been going so well to this point. My family was waiting for me at the mile 11 aid station and that was AWSOME to see them. My wife explained to my 4 year old son Jace, that it was polite to cheer on the runners as they pass. So Jace said to Walter, “So how you doing?” I think we need to work on his race etiquette.

Mile 12-6:32 I eased back to my original race pace plan over the next few miles to make sure I didn’t crash in the later stages of the race. Still feeling good aside from the blister that I could feel under my left foot, but this was just a blister, no big deal.

Mile 13-6:30 I could see Steve make another run for the port-o-potties. I felt bad for all the time he was losing. I was still within reach of Trevor and feeling strong.

Mile 14- 6:36 I think I feel asleep just a bit in this mile. I had a problem getting the two drinks that I was looking for at the aid station, but I didn’t think it slowed me down that much.

Mile 15- 6:39 I started to feel some thing in my right knee. Nothing alarming, just a twinge.

Mile 16- 6:32 This mile started out with a steep down hill leaving Day Break. I wanted to take advantage of the hill, but just then alarm bells started to go off in my head. My knee was no longer twigging. It hurt! I took it easy down the hill to no avail. The pain was starting to get worse and worse.

Mile 17-26.2 9:42/mile avg. The wheels came off! I stopped to stretch a bit in hopes that it would help. Steve passed me as I did and asked if I was OK. I told him I was fine. I was lying. I was not fine. Started back running thinking It would ease up. If I could get things under control I could still salvage a 2:50. This hope faded fast. I passed a photographer when I was climbing up the hill to the temple. I was hoping that he would not take my picture. I didn’t want to remember this moment. I considered dropping out for the next couple of miles. Came across two women running beside the race and asked them if they had a cell phone. If they did I was going to ask my wife to come and get me. I continued to stop and stretch with periods of walking and hobbling. I steeled my nerve by mile 19 and decided I was going to finish even if I had to walk the rest of the D@^^& thing! I had someone at the next aid station call my wife so that she wouldn’t worry too much about me.

Right about the time when I was starting to really go to work and race, I couldn’t. When I read all the race reports and disappointments from St. George I thought that somehow I would beat the odds and have a good first marathon. I knew the risks, I knew all the things that could go wrong, but I was going to have a great race. I hope there weren’t any kids around me when that dream came crashing down. If there were then they now have a more colorful vocabulary.

I finished the race. Slowly, but I finished. I have never been one for finisher medals. I want an over all medal, but today am glad to get a finisher medal. This one actually represents something for me.

I think I am going to take it easy for the next few days. I have to get my knee healed for the ARMY PT and 2 mile time trail in two weeks. There is no medal for that, but it has far more consequences on my Warrant Officer Packet that I will be submitting in November.

Damage Report

The first day after the marathon. I’m more sore than I thought I would be having ended racing at about the 16 mile mark. Though thinking about it, I did hobble for 10 more miles, that can still take a toll. The calfs and quads are feeling it, though no more than if I would have ran a good 10K race. My left foot feels a bit sore, but I think that is mostly a secondary injury form the change in my form over the last 10 miles. I am mostly concerned about how my right knee will feel when I run tomorrow. It feels better than it did when I woke up, however the pain seems to come and go in waves. Because of that I believe the problem to be inflammation or nerve related. I had my AWSOME wife give me a deep tissue massage to work out the sore mussels. That has always cut days off my recovery in the past.

No running today, but I am looking forward to getting back to it. I’m scrapping my plans to run the Halloween Half because of my knee problems, but I am hoping to jump in the Cottenwood Heights Turkey Trot 5K. I hope to run a little tomorrow if the knee will let me. Otherwise I will have to get in some time on the bike.

I ran one mile on a treadmill to start out my workout, more for diagnostic purposes than anything else. This was the first mile after my marathon. The knee and foot are still problems, however I don’t think the problems will last. I then rode a stationary bike for 45 min. Defiantly not my favorite thing to do, but it got the job done. I think I will play it by ear tomorrow.

Time 56:18

Avg pace 7:10

I wanted to do 8 today but my right knee started shooting pain around mile 6.5. I slowed down to recovery pace and than decided to walk the last little bit back home. #*$& knee is starting to make me mad! Or maybe I'm over reacting and should give it some more time to recover, nah.

Running

6 miles on the treadmill

Time 41:40

Avg pace 6:56

Stationary Bike

25 Min

I started out on the treadmill to give my right knee a softer surface to run on. My plan starting out was to do 9 miles, but I thought I should stop at 6 and finish on the bike.

In the absence of an injury I would have liked to do some sort of speed work today, but with my knee giving me problems that is just not going to happen today. I have to get this thing better before Wednesday because that is when I plan on taking my Army physical fitness test which includes a 2 mile time trial.

Time 42:09

Avg pace 6:54

Avg HR 152

I took a loop course around my house so I could stop just in case my knee started acting up. Thank goodness it didn't seen to mind the run today. I think it is starting to get a bit better. I have resigned my self to the fact that I won't be able to get any speed work in before I have to do my Army 2 miler. I still think it will turn out OK.

Time 40:56

Avg pace 6:48

Avg HR 147

Peak HR 170

Just an easy 6.

Time 42:04

Avg pace 7:00

Avg HR 145

Peak HR 175

The knee still feels like it could go either way. GRRR.

Time 46:22

Avg pace 6:58

Avg HR 149

Peak HR 178

I ran almost all of this on strictly residential roads. I made 30 turns to do it, but it was kind of fun. I had no idea where I was going to go next. I haven't done a run like that since high school. However it did keep me close to home in case my knee started to act up.

OFF

I took today off to make sure that my knee would be in good enough shape for the Army PT on this Wednesday.

30 minutes on a stationary bike.

I wanted to do something that would keep me from feeling stale during Wednesdays PT but still give my knee a chance to rest. I’m a little nervous about how it is going to hold out on the two mile run.

APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test)

This is not a conventional race. For those who are not familiar, the APFT is required for the Warrant Officer Packet that I am assembling for a Warrant Officership as a helicopter pilot in the US Army. Because of potential implication the results of this test and the fact that I flat out raced it, I chose to mark it as a race for blogging purposes.

The goal for the test was to score at least a 300 score. That is to say 100 in each of the three events, pushups, sit-ups, and the 2 mile run. I thought I could score as high as a 370 on the no longer used “extended scale.” The Army is currently caping the PT scores to 300, though the selection board still gets to see you individual event performances.

I was a bit concerned about how my right knee would hold out in the run. If it went well I should do just fine. If it gave out like it did in my past marathon....I would be extremely disappointed to say the least.

We started with the pushups. I had 2 minutes to do as many as I could. Passing would be 36, but to get a 100 I needed 75. I was confident enough in this portion of the test. I ended up doing 124 which earned me 149 points in the event.

Moving on to sit-ups. I was given all the time I wanted to rest for the following sections of the test, but it was cold and my family came to cheer me on, so I didn’t want to keep them waiting/freezing any longer then I had to. I was also given 2 minutes to do as many sit-ups as I could. The passing mark was 42, but I needed 76 to earn 100 points. I ended with 90 earning 114.

Now on to the main event! I took a bit of time to relax after the sit-ups. The sit-ups can really burn your hip flexers and quads. My goal for the 2 mile was 10:45. I arrived at this goal with the help of the McMillan running calculator. It was a conversion of my marathon goal of 2:50:00. It has only been a week and a half since my marathon attempt, and I have been struggling with an injury so I had a B goal of sub 11:00.

I had done a 1.8 mile warmup before starting any of the events. So I took a few strides to loosen up. I was running the event alone so I was a little concerned about my pacing. This was a concern that turned out to be valid. In my usual fashion I started out too fast.

My first lap clocked in at 1:15.0, not the goal of 1:20.6 that I was looking for.

1-1:15.0

2-1:20.6 Nice pacing

3-1:20.8 Dialed in now

4-1:20.8 Now its time to go to work

5-1:21.0 Or start letting it slip...

6-1:22.1

7-1:22.8

8-1:23.3

Avg HR 178

Peak HR 185

I had a choice to make on the last 3 laps, go faster and puke, or hold it in and let it slide. I’m ashamed to say I chose the latter. I can’t blame that on my knee, it held out just fine in the run. However, I could feel my lack of LT work. I couldn’t puke on that nice new track at Jordan High! I ended up with a 10:46.3 earning 126 points for the run. My grand total was 389. This was better than I thought I would do. I think It will be enough to convince the Warrant Officer board that I am in good enough shape to be selected.

I ended the workout with a 5.0 mile jog

Time 40:45

Avg Pace 7:19

Avg HR 136

Peak 146

My knee started acting up in the last mile, but that’s ok, it held up when it counted.

Time 50:31

Avg Pace 7:13

I went to the gym so I could use a tread mill for this run. I wanted to be close to a bike in case my knee started acting up. It seems to be good for about 6-7 miles and then starts to bonk like it did at the end of this run. I would have liked to go further but it wasn't in the cards today.

I have decided to take a couple of days off to give my knee a chance to really heal. I am tired of fighting this problem. I just hope I don't get too rusty while it heals.

OFF

OFF

Starting to get the get running withdraw symptoms. The shakes are coming on fast now. I always told myself I could stop any time I wanted, I guess that was all a big lie.

Despite the time that I took off form running my knee is still giving me problems. I have come to the conclusion that it would be in the best interest of my long range running goals to take the time to revamp my running form. I need to fix some inefficiencies that are also making me more injury prone. I have made the change before during my collegiate running career. But, when I took up running again I reverted to my natural poor form.

I expect the process to take about a month. During this time I will not be doing much conventional running. I will focus on form drills, strength training, and supplementing my workouts with biking.

My goals for the form change are:

1 Raise the knees

2 Land on the ball of the foot

3 Strike the ground under the center of mass, not forward as I have been.

4 Bring the heel closer to the glut after push off.

5 Shorten the stride.

If I can relearn how to run then I think I have a good chance of becoming injury free, and reaching my ultimate potential. It would be so cool to train without a thought of injury, to be concerned only about what will make a better runner! That's where I want to be.

So for now I have put all my racing plans on hold and joined a gym.

For today's work out.

20 minutes of form drills

30 minutes stationary bike, at 100 RPM. This is to train for a shorter stride.

Pushups

Sit-ups

Weights for back, traps, shoulders, and triceps.

I miss running!

Form drills

30 min on the stationary bike

Weights for chest, biceps, pushups and sit-ups

Form drills

30 min on the stationary bike

Weights for Back and triceps, pushups and sit-ups.

Form drills

30 min on the stationary bike at tempo HR

Weights for chest, biceps, shoulders, pushups and sit-ups

Today I found out that I am too old for the Warrant Officership that I have been working on over the last year. I considered not doing a workout today, but I’m glad I did. I ended up taking out a lot of my frustration in the workout. I’m sure anyone that looked at me at the gym thought I was just a bit too intense, but that all OK with me. Tomorrow will be a new day with new choices to make.

Form drills

Today I “ran” for 30 min. I put it in quotes because It was not running in a traditional sense. I keep about 9 min pace with a very quick turnover and raised my knees to about waist high, and brought my heals to my but every stride. I took a lot of steps, but had a very short stride. This was extremely tiring. I probably looked ridiculous doing it, but its an over exaggeration of the changes that I’m trying to make in my form.

Weights for back and triceps, pushups and sit-ups

Form Drills

30 min on elliptical- inclined to the max for the knee lifts.

Weights for Chest, Biceps Pushups, Sit-ups

I caught up on my blogging for the last week. I realized that I haven’t been keeping up because I don’t find these workouts inspiring. I don’t like doing them. I know that is will help me be a better runner, but that doesn't change the fact that I would just rather be running!