Everything Counts

10 miles easy around the hotel early. Won't have chance to double today. Work and travel home today. Will be nice to run in the dry heat again.

10.2 miles easy in South Ogden with Dave and Albert. It was a very pleasant morning with cool, dry temps!  You gotta love that!

LONG RUN

We had a great long run this morning up in Morgan.  Brad drove from Heber to meet Bryant, Ben, and me.  Always great to see Brad.  We need to drive up to meet him one of these weeks since he's driven down twice now to meet us in Morgan.  We looped the Morgan Valley.  It was kind of cool at the start and a little hot at the end, but for the most part perfect weather.  We slowly worked the pace down to 6:00 pace by mile 6 and then held it around a 6:00 average the rest of the way on a very rolly, hilly course. It was a solid effort.  Ben is looking good on the comeback trail.  We had a stray dog run the first 6 miles with us and then it fell behind, unable to keep up.  Ben said that if it had ran the whole 20 miles he would've taken it home with him. 

I need more of these long efforts at 6:00 pace or faster.  I can't run a decent marathon unless I do these almost weekly.  But this felt pretty good today.  I would love to be able to run this route at 5:30 pace with relative ease; that would be when you know you're ready to hit a OTQ standard.

AM: 12.14 miles easy on the Riverdale Parkway with Ken, Dave, Bret, and Jon.

PM: 5 miles easy pushing the kids in the jogger and with Amy.

AM: AEROBIC BUILDER

We had a good group this morning with Jace, Ben, Jon, and Albert. Jace did seven miles with me; I went one more to make it eight miles at a 5:22 avg.

PM: 4.1 miles easy around South Weber. 

9.46 miles easy with Dave and Ken. I had some tired legs this morning, but glad to still get some ok miles in.

PM: I jogged alongside Evelyn in her South Weber kids k race. She had a lot of fun and it was fun to watch her.

PROGRESSION LONG RUN

I met up with Jace way too early in the morning and got started on a progressive long run.  The goal was to just start slow and increase in the pace each mile until we hit the low 5:00s.  We both felt pretty sluggish the whole time, but it still ended up ok (but not great).  Progression through 14 miles and then easy cool down after that.  Splits 754 718 700 706 639 616 605 558 556 547 537 530 521 506

8.45 miles easy.  Another enjoyable "Furlough Friday" trail run with Dave.

AM: SOUTH WEBER DAYS 10K (RICHARD BOUCHARD MEMORIAL)

 I'm very happy with my race this morning. I didn't plan on running this fast, but I felt really good and went with it.  This is a low key race in my neighborhood, but it's very well organized for a small city of 6,000 residents.

The course is not an easy one.  The first 5k has about 250 feet of climb and drop and the second 5k is mostly flat with one quick, very steep drop (about 0.05 long but very steep).  I took the first mile out somewhat hard and was by myself within a tenth of a mile.  So it was just me and the sheriff car.  I tried to run behind the car to block the wind...haha.  But it didn't work as well as I was hoping it would.  First mile was 5:07 (mostly flat except last tenth is up).  Mile two has a lot of uphill and is probably the most difficult mile. I ran it in 5:09, which was almost 20 seconds faster than I ran that mile last year.

Mile three drops a ton and then turns around and comes right back up the same road.  So the first half of the mile I was rolling 4:30 pace and the second half like 5:35-ish pace for a mile three split of 5:06.  My first 5k was right around 15:52 I think.

Now the course gets substantially easier.  I was still recovering from the uphill push so mile four wasn't quite as fast as I had hoped for.  Mile four 5:00.  Now I was recovered and really getting in a groove.  Mile five, which includes the quick, steep drop was 4:52.

Now I just had 1.22 of flat terrain to the finish.  I continued to push as I weaved in and out of slower 5k runners and managed a 4:51 mile six.  Then I turned it on a bit more and averaged 4:30 pace for the last 0.22 (59 seconds for last 0.22).   Final time of 31:07.  

 Last year I was 32:13 and 32:4x the year before that.  So, this was a really good time for me and it's actually my best 10k since college (minus 10k splits of downhill half marathons).

So, I'm feeling good and the weight I've dropped is paying off.   

PM: 5.51 miles easy.  My goal this week was to hit 90 miles for the first time ever.  I came up short as of this morning and it just wasn't sitting well with me.  So, I headed back out this evening to get the 90 mpw monkey off my back!  Weekly mileage PR! 

AM: 11.7 miles easy with Ken, Dave, Bret, and Jace from 21st Pond up to Ogden Canyon and then back on Bird Song Trail and down 21st Street.  Added a bit more around the pond too.

During mile one we crossed a bridge and I heard some scurrying under the bridge.  I immediately thought we were going to encounter a troll.  But it wasn't a troll, it was a skunk and it jumped out from under the bridge in attack mode and had Dave been 1-2 seconds slower, he would've been sprayed!  Definitely the closest of three very close skunk encounters over the year...it's only a matter of time.

PM: 5.05 miles easy around south Weber.

AM: AEROBIC BUILDER

I met Dave and Bret at 21st Street Pond for an aerobic builder.  We all had different paces in mind so we were on our own after a 3-mile warmup.  I ran 8 miles at a 5:17 average.  I felt pretty good this morning, which is a good sign coming off of my highest mileage ever last week.

PM: 5.3 miles easy on base with the last tenth of a mile run at 3:33 pace.

10 miles easy with Dave on the base perimeter road.

AM: MILE REPEATS

I met up with Bryant and Ken at the Dee and we warmed up three miles over into South Ogden to the "tempo loop" over there.  Bryant has been sick and wasn't sure how well he'd do this morning so he ran the first one easier and Ken was shooting for 5:15, so I was on my own. I wanted to do 5-6 reps at 4:55 or faster with 2:00 jog for rest (ended up being 2:20 as I split the difference with Ken, so he'd get 2:00 rest).  Bryant ended up doing the 2nd and 4th ones with me to help me out a bit with pace even though he didn't feel particularly fresh.  My stomach started hurting a bit on the second one and got worse with time.  By the end of the fourth I wasn't sure if I'd even finish the fifth one.  But I did manage to do five reps at a 4:53 average.  Splits 4:55 4:51 4:54 4:52 4:52

PM: 4.05 miles easy pushing girls in jogger and running with Amy.  Too much smoke in the air, I don't like it! 

10.08 miles easy with Ken on the trails on my final furlough Friday!  

LONG RUN

I met Ben and Jon at Ben's place at 6:30 and we drove up to Sardine Canyon to get a long run in.  We didn't know what to expect since we've never run up there before, but Ben's wife runs there a lot and said it was a good run.  So we dropped my car off in Brigham City and then drove about 6-7 miles up the canyon.  The plan ended up being 2 mile warm-up, a good chunk at sub-6:00, 2 miles easy, 3-mile tempo, and then 1 mile easy.

The warm up we did up a dirt road and then back down.  It was a nice dirt road and it's tempting to head up there again sometime and just run on that road.  Then we started the sub-6:00 portion of the run at mile 3.  We had 3 miles downhill (which we were still trying to get warmed up on) and then we did 9 miles around Mantua Lake on a nice, flat dirt road.  I really enjoyed the two laps of the Lake; it's very beautiful up there.  Then we started down the canyon again with two easy miles.  Finally we did 3 miles at tempo which was one really fast downhill mile, one gradual uphill mile, and then another downhill mile (though not as steep as the previous one).  Finished up with one mile easy to round off the 20 miles.

Splits:

12 miles at sub-6:00: 602 556 547 (downhill first three) 558 554 551 546 546 549 549 544 545 (9 flat miles around the lake)

3 mile tempo: 449 (steep downhill) 529 (gradual uphill) 505 (somewhat steep downhill) 

AEROBIC BUILDER: 2 X 3 MILES

I met up with Bryant, Ken, and Dave this morning for an aerobic builder. I wanted to scale it back a tad on quantity but not on pace. So, I did two by three miles. The goal was sub-5:20 pace.

First set: 5:18 5:14 5:17

Second set: 5:07 5:18 5:10

We got going a bit too fast on the second set then got back on pace and then got going too fast again. Oh well...

7.92 miles easy.  I met up with Dave and Jason in Layton and we did an extremely hilly run and ran quite slowly.  I planned on getting in 10 miles but my legs felt tired the whole run, so I settled on a shorter run.  I may or may not go again this afternoon, we'll see.  I'm ok with lower mileage this week; it's a planned cut week after a three-week buildup in mileage and it's also a race week.

8.25 miles easy on the base perimeter road.  My legs still feel very fatigued, but not as tight/stiff.  Amy massaged them (it's great to have such a supportive wife) last night and that helped relieve the tightness.  Looking back on it, maybe it wasn't wise to do my aerobic builder on Monday after Saturday's quality long run.  I think I will need to keep the aerobic builder on Tuesdays to give my legs an additional day after a long run.

7 miles easy.  My legs are starting to come around a bit.  They were still sluggish, but substantially better than yesterday.  I should be ready to roll come Saturday.  A weird thing happened during the run, some water droplets fell from the sky.  Is that what they call rain in other parts of the country?

4.1 miles easy around South Weber with some strides in the last mile.  

TOP OF UTAH HALF MARATHON

YES! I am so excited with my race today.  All year I feel like I've been on the brink of a breakthrough race, but haven't quite been able to capture it.  Then, I had the lull in May and June where I was struggling and not running well, and now to come back two months later even stronger feels great!

PRE-RACE

I felt strangely and weirdly very calm last night and this morning.  Nerves were non-existent.  I knew I had put in the work and I knew I was going to reap the reward today.  I didn't know that I would win, I knew that would take a monster effort, but I knew that sub-1:06 was there for the taking.

I dropped my girls off at my sister's (who was so awesome to watch them overnight for me while Amy is out of town) and Spencer and I met Ben at his place and carpooled up.  We all split a hotel at Travelodge and Bryant met up with us later and stayed with us as well.

This morning we all got up and drove to the buses.  Once we began our warmup, I knew ten steps in that my legs were ready.  They had been fatigued most of the week, but I took proper precautions to get some life back in them and those first few steps of the warmup were the freshest my legs have felt in a long, long time.

RACE

The gun went off and I found myself kind of in the lead (if a half-step counts) for the first tenth or two.  It seemed  that despite the deep field, no one wanted to lead.  So, I was content with a slower first mile or two.  I feel I run better when I don't force it and let it come to me.  But then like 1-2 minutes in Jake threw in surge as if to say, "C'mon guys let get this thing rolling!"

So, Jake had about 4-5 seconds on Jacob Howell, Bryant, and me at the mile.  Howell and Bryant then made their way up to just behind Jake and I was content to stay back a bit and continue to ease into it as much as I could without letting them get too big of a gap on me.

By mile two the gap was still in the 5 second range and I wasn't too worried about it since there were still 11 miles to go.  Around 2.5 miles in my legs were warmed up and ready to go.  So, on the next downhill I got my shoulders forward and looked down at the ground to force myself to keep them forward and within a half mile I caught up to and passed Howell and Bryant.

Just after mile three I think I finally got back up to Jake and then took a 2-3 step lead on him.

Miles 1-3 4:55, 4:53, 4:53

I thought maybe I could gain a small lead on Jake after passing him, but he wasn't going to let me off that easily.  He stayed right on me for the next couple of miles.  I was tempted at times to throw in a surge to test him, but thought better of it as we weren't even half way yet.

Just after mile 6 we hit some headwind and I turned and said to Jake, "It's blowing the wrong way!"  I thought last year it showed up as early as mile 5, but maybe I was wrong last year.  Anyway, right after I said that within the next minute the wind shifted and we got some tailwind around mile 6.5.  During this stretch Jake pulled up beside me and looked like he may try for the lead.  But instead we stayed side by side to mile 7 and the turn onto Hollow Road.  The tailwind lasted about 1.5 miles from 6.5 to 8-ish.

Miles 4-8 4:50, 4:47, 4:52, 4:50, 4:51

The tailwind subsided and the road seems flat at this point, but it's actually still a very slight downhill.  I had gotten another couple seconds on Jake again after the turn at mile 7 and during mile 9 his footsteps got a lot louder behind me.  I looked at my pace and saw 5:xx.  I thought, "Oh man, I'm slowing and he's gaining. I have to try and keep these as close to 5:00 as possible".  I made a mental effort to pick it up, but it didn't really show up much in the splits.

We turned off Hollow Rd. and I still only had mere seconds of a lead.  I kept thinking, "C'mon Jake, just fall back!"  It was a absolute battle out there today!  Running on the highway here I tried to just stay in a good rhythm.  I feel I'm a very good uphill runner and decided I would try to win the race in miles 11-12.  But, then during mile 10 the footsteps got a bit softer and I knew I was gapping him a bit.

I turned at 10.5 to the uphill section and unleashed what I had left.  I was going to really get after this section and try to put the race to bed before the final mile.  I was extremely pleased with my splits in this section!  

Just after mile 12 my watch beeped and I looked down and it had lost satellite reception strangely.  Up to this point my garmin was about 0.1 ahead of the actual markers (which seems typical for halves; a properly measured half usually shows up around 13.15-13.19 on my garmin).  So, I don't know my mile 13 split, but it felt fast.  I will do some calculations later and come up with my best guess.  But running down to the finish seemed to take forever. UPDATE: I think it was about 4:58 for mile 13.

Splits 9-12 5:03 5:05 5:06 5:10

With about a quarter to go I glanced back just to make sure I wasn't getting snuck up on and then knew I had it.  I came through the finish chute and allowed myself a little more emotion than normal for a win.  I was so thrilled with win and even more so with the clock!

After I waited for Jake to cross the line and congratulated him.  I couldn't have run this fast without Jake pushing me to the limit today.  I thought he ran a fantastic race and it took an absolute monster effort to beat him today.  He couldn't have been a more gracious runner-up and I appreciated that...thanks Jake.

Shortly after the finish, the race director apologized about not having the tape ready for me to break through when I came in.  I wasn't worried about it, but she went and got it out of their box and asked me to cross the line again and pretend like it was me finishing the first time...haha it was kind of awkward.

This race tells me that I am right there on the cusp of OTQ via the half marathon route.  I just need to stay hungry for success, keep my weight down, and not get away from the recipe that has gotten me this far.  Thanks to everyone who was there today for your congratulations and kind words.  It all means a lot to me and I love our Utah running community.  So, many class acts out there this morning!  Utah is getting some crazy depth in distance running and it's fun to be a part of it. 

Off day (as usual).  My legs feel pretty decent after sleeping in my compression sleeves.  Here is a link to the Herald Journal's article on the race yesterday:

http://news.hjnews.com/allaccess/article_879ec108-0d1e-11e3-97c4-0019bb2963f4.html

And a few photos of the race also from the Herald...

And this is one of Jake, Coyle, and me getting our awards; this one courtesy of Ben.

11.7 miles easy from 21st St Pond with Dave, Ben, and Bret.  We threw in a different route than usual out into North Ogden and back through DDO.  My legs feel a bit fatigued, but overall not too bad.  Retired a few pairs of shoes and broke in a new pair this morning.  They feel really good.

4.45 miles easy.

15 miles easy with Ken, Dave, Bret, and Jon (for the first 5 miles).  We ran from the Riverdale Parkway into Roy, along the rail trail into West Haven, up through West Ogden, and back along the Riverdale Parkway again.  I was feeling extremely sluggish today and tried to keep Ken from pushing the pace; he got a few 6:30s in there, but I got a lot more 6:50s (so we'll call it a draw).

9.3 miles easy on the East side of base.  Finished on the track with a 200 Meter pickup in 28.1 seconds.  My legs felt pretty sluggish for 7 miles then loosened up a bit and I felt better toward the end.

NOTE: Everyone should consider running The Classic 10k or 5k on Sept 7 in Layton.  There will be cash prizes and you can get $10 off with the code "HNRCLASSIC10".  Ken and Janae Richardson are managing the race now and are looking to really make it a big event each year in the state, maybe even adding it to the circuit next year if they can get enough people out this year.  Those of you training for St. George can use the 5k or 10k as a tempo at the end of a long run to simulate a fast finish for the marathon.  So sign up today! http://runtheclassic.eventbrite.com/?discount=HNRCLASSIC10

2nd NOTE: A group of Weber/Davis runners are planning a long run on Labor Day morning on the Huntsville Marathon course up in Monte Cristo to get some downhill MP in before St. George.  Anyone is welcome to join.  We'll likely run 20+ miles with a good chunk at MP.  Comment or message me if you want to come.  Here's the most likely route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6061992 

PM: 4 miles easy

AEROBIC BUILDER

We had an awesome turnout this morning for the aerobic builder: Ken, Jason, Dave, Ben, Bryant, Bret, and me.  Bryant and I ran together and did a 5:14 average for 8 miles.  Bryant and I were surprisingly conversational on the run, which is also a great sign that this is a manageable pace for long distances.

WARNING: If you don't want to read a long ramble about my history of aerobic builders over the last year stop reading now.  It's probably quite boring for most people.

I've looked back over my training for the last year or so and these aerobic builders have really taken me to the next level.  After a disappointing St. George Marathon last year, I took a hard look at my training and realized I didn't have any marathon-specific training at all.  I had several interval sessions and quite a few 4-mile tempos at HMP, but basically nothing at MP (or even at like a tinman pace).

So, I came up with the idea that I had to have at least one run a week where I was building aerobic endurance.  I wanted to start with something that I knew I could easily handle and go from there.  I started the aerobic builders on 23 Oct 12 with 7 miles at 5:56 pace (and that also included a break at the turnaround at 3.5 miles; which now I do them without stops).

I gradually dropped the pace by 2-5 seconds a week. By 8 Jan 13, the week before St. George Half, I was down to 8 miles at 5:26.  By 19 Feb, the last one before Phoenix Marathon, I was down to 5:20 pace.

After Phoenix I kind of went away from the aerobic builders a bit and I had some good races in April off of what was likely residual fitness and then by the time May rolled around I was really struggling and kind of back to the level I was running at last year.  I only did two builders between Phoenix Marathon in early March and USA Half in late June.  I ran poorly at USA's and it did not sit well with me at all!

In July I started back with the aerobic builders, again starting from a place I knew I could handle and have been doing them almost weekly since.  I have now jumped my fitness to the best half-marathon (and hopefully) marathon shape in my life (I even think I could get a 10k PR if I attempted it at sea level).

Here is a table of my recent builders since USA half and these are all on the exact same course.  Miles 1, 7, and 8 are slight uphills.  Miles 2 and 3 are slight down.  Miles 4-6 are pretty flat, but mile 5 has a pedestrian bridge that goes over I-15 and really sucks your pace.  But, for the most part this is about as flat of a 13-mile loop you can get in Utah.

As you can see I try to challeng my fitness each time out.  The body has an amazing ability to adapt.  If you continue to challenge it, it can usually continue to respond with results.

Sorry for the long post, but I thought maybe this could help some runners to see.  The thought of weekly 8-mile runs at MP can sound daunting, but if you start with something you can handle and go from there, I think these are very beneficial (and really I need to start extending these to 10 miles at the same pace and then continue to drop the pace after that).

AM: 9 miles easy on the trails with Dave.

PM: 6.25 miles easy in South Weber = hot out!

HOOPER TOMATO DAYS 5K

This is a great, low-key 5k that is flat as a pancake.  There are very few turns and so it's great to run a fast time on an honest course. Only problem is it's 3.07 instead of 3.1.  I met up with Ben and Dave and we drove out together.  We met Ken out there who said he was going to race while pushing his kids in his jogger.  But when we got there he didn't have his kids and Ben said, "I knew you would do this.  Tell me you're pushing kids and then show up ready to race for reals!"  So the race was on between those two.  Fun to watch.  We also saw Steve there and the five of us warmed up 4 miles and some change.

The race got off and I took the lead right off the bat and really got after it.  My first mile was 4:36 and I felt ok.  I continued to feel pretty decent through 1.5 miles.  At that point you turn north and there was some headwind (well that explains why 4:36 didn't feel too bad on mile one).  I tried to keep in the 4:40s, but I was slowing for sure.  Mile 2 was like 4:48.  Mile 3 I was way out in front and I had to battle that little voice in my head telling me it was ok to slow down.  I managed a 4:52 for mile 3, which I'm not too happy about, but oh well.  That sometimes comes with racing solo up front.  Final time was 14:37 on my watch but 14:38 chip.

Had it been the full 5k I figure I would have been 14:48-49.  So, I'm very happy with the effort and feel like with some competition I could have gone faster.  After I used my $50 and we all headed to Warren's for a well-earned breakfast.  Another great time out with the guys!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/368157071

PM: 6.4 miles easy on the trails.