Everything Counts

5.1 miles easy with Denver in South Weber, avg pace 7:13. After the run we did core exercises, hip exercises, and pushups.

6 miles easy with Denver & Dave out and back on the base perimeter road from East gym, avg pace 7:34. I used my balaclava for the first time this winter. After the run I did 20 minutes on the Arc Trainer with Dave discussing the glorious fall of the SEC in bowl games, then did core exercises, hip exercises, pushups, and upper body lifting.

9 miles in West Haven/West Ogden at a 6:36 avg pace. We have a huge group this morning: Ken, Dave, Ben, Jon, Jason, Taylor, and Jared. We got moving pretty good at the end, finished with a 5:56 last mile. I felt surprisingly good and felt  I could've kept going further at that pace, which is a great sign. Once I got home I did my core exercises, hip exercises, and pushups.

8 miles easy with Denver, Dave, and Ken from 21st Street Pond, avg pace 7:45. Denver was struggling with the pace even though it was slower and he looked really warm, you could tell he was likely sick. So we looped back to drop him off at 4 miles. Then we picked the pace up just a tad.

After the run, Dave and I went to the base gym to do our core exercises, hip exercises, and pushups.

PROGRESSIVE TEMPO

I met up with Jon, Dave, and Ken for a 4-mile tempo. Dave and I hoped to run 6:00, 5:50, 5:40, 5:30. But we knew that would be tough after only five weeks back to running.

It ended up going much better than I could've hoped for: 5:54 5:42 5:33 5:23 for a 5:38 avg. That's easily the fastest I've run since March and post-injury.

After the run, we did core exercises, hip exercises, pushups, and lower body lifting at the gym followed by an ice cold shower, since a pipe burst...that was fun!

5 very easy, recovery miles with Denver & Dave on base, avg pace 8:10. Dave and I were pretty tired from yesterday and Denver is still getting over being sick, so we kept pace really easy. After the run I did core, hip exercises, pushups, and upper body lifting.

7 miles easy with Bret, Dave, & Ken on the Ogden Parkway, avg pace 7:17. Then I did core exercises, hip exercises, pushups, and lower body lifting at the gym.

6.25 miles easy with Denver & Dave on a semi-hilly route in Ogden, avg pace 7:03. Afterward we did core, hips exercises, and pushups.

It was actually somewhat clear this morning. Last night there was terrible haze, but the wind seems to have blown most of it out west and it was clear up near the mountains. That and running with actual daylight was a very nice and welcomed change.

10 miles with a very large and fun group (Bret, Ben, Denver, Dave, Ken, Taylor, and Jon) on the Riverdale and Ogden Parkways, avg pace 6:40. I picked up miles 7-8 on a very slight uphill and hit 5:42/5:38. I felt a bit stronger last Saturday than today, but progress is still coming right along.

This was my first double-digit run in 10 months! It's so good to be back running.

9 miles easy with Jon, Dave, and Ken on the parkway, avg pace 7:04/mile. Then core, hip exercises, pushups, pullups, and bar dips at the gym

8.9 miles easy in Ogden with Denver, Dave, Jon, Ken, and Bret, avg pace 7:27/mile.

AEROBIC BUILDER

I met up with Dave and Ken at Smith's for an aerobic builder. Dave and I planned to run just under 6:00 pace for five miles then throw in a fast mile to finish. It went better than we anticipated with splits of 5:54 5:50 5:50 5:42 5:44 and 5:25 to finish for an avg of 5:44. Total pace for the entire run was 6:23. After we headed to the gym and did core and hip exercises and some pushups.

5 miles easy with Denver and Dave on base, avg pace 7:45. Then I did core, hips, 10 min on eliptical, lower body and upper body lifting.

6.1 miles easy with Denver on base, avg pace 7:41.

SEMI-LONG RUN - PROGRESSION

I met up with Jon, Taylor, Denver, Dave, and Ben at the Flying J off the 21st Street Exit to go for a run out in West Haven. We ended up doing a progression for the first 10 miles and then a one-mile cool down. Overall pace for me was 6:28. Splits: 7:28, 6:59, 6:56, 6:53, 6:40, 6:25, 6:01, 5:43, 5:33, 5:22, then 7:03 for cool down. Once I got home I did core and hip exercises, pushups, and some dips.

I feel like I'm slowly getting stronger each week. The road back to fitness is certainly a long one, but it's an enjoyable ride.

No run - came down with the flu and spent most of the day in bed.

9.5 miles easy on half trails half road in Washington, UT at 7:04 pace w/1.075 feet of climbing. Energy levels felt decent considering the flu, but I paid for it later in the day. After the run I did core exercises, hip exercises, pushups, lunges, and dips.

8.65 miles easy in Snow Canyon at 7:14 pace w/500 feet of climbing. I felt very sluggish and fatigued but managed ok. Did some more "hiking" with the family after. Pushups and hip exercises later at night while watching "Person of Interest" Season 3.

11.5 miles on the Hurricane Rim Trail at 7:33 pace w/1,500 feet of climbing. I really enjoyed this trail run. It was at sunrise and it overlooks the Virgin River from a couple hundred feet up above. I ran it pretty hard since I wasn't doing a workout this week and I felt ok, but once again I paid the price later in the day with zero energy. I hate getting sick. I was really only sick for 36 hours, but the fatigue lasts the rest of the week it seems. This is the longest run so far for me since coming back. But I will surpass it on Saturday, barely. At night I did core exercises, hip exercises, and pushups.

My streak of trail runs stopped here. I was really needing an easy day, and trails are never easy (even when you are taking them easy). So I just looped around Dixie Springs and Sand Hollow in Hurricane. 7.55 miles easy at 7:33 pace. 

12.1 miles at a 6:36 pace on the Riverdale Parkway with Dave, Bret, Jared, Denver, Albert, and Jason. We picked up a few miles on the way back and I hit 6:09 5:28 5:15 and then backed off as I was close to red-lining and did one more mile in 5:54. Once I got home I did my core exercises, hip exercises, and pushups.

This was my 8th week back after nine months off. I am feeling good. It's hard to be patient. I want to ramp up my volume and my quality more rapidly, but so far I am sticking with a conservative approach and hope it pays off with no injuries thru the ramp-up process. I'd love to be fit to run some races this spring without getting destroyed by other racers.

10 miles easy with Denver and Dave in South Ogden, avg pace 7:25/mile. Core, hips, and pushups after.

AEROBIC BUILDER

I met up with Dave and Jason at the pond for my first builder on the official Ogden Crew Aerobic Builder course. I was pretty excited to see what I could do and find out where my fitness is at. After a 2-mile warmup with one stride we were off. I ran 8 miles in 45:25, which is like a 5:40 avg/mile. I was really happy with the effort. Jason ran extremely well, in the low 5:20s, his best ever. I'm excited to see what he can do at Phoenix Marathon.

Splits: 5:50.2, 5:44.7, 5:37.3, 5:43.6, 5:44.1, 5:42.3, 5:39.6, and 5:23.9 (overall avg clearly benefitting from last mile)

After the run, I did core exercises, hip exercises, pushups, and some lower body lifting

7 miles easy with Denver, Dave, and Ken, avg pace 7:54/mile. It was a beautiful morning with warm temps and the smell of rain. After the run I did core, hips, and upper body lifting at the gym.

10.05 miles on a very hilly route with Dave, avg pace 6:54/mile. After the run I did core, hips, pushups, and lower body lifting.

8 easy miles with Dave, Albert, and Denver, avg pace 7:44/mile. It was a rough night last night in the Cook house. I was up for almost three hours from 1:00 AM to 4:00 AM with my daughters, then up at 5:00 AM to go run. Needless to say I was quite sluggish on the run, but I got it in.

I was supposed to meet the guys at 6:30 at the pond for a run, but when Evelyn came into our room at 6:50, I realized I had set my alarm wrong (PM instead of AM). So I headed to the pond anyway in case I run into them somewhere. I did run into Denver finishing off his 10 miles and ran the last 2.5 miles with him. Then I started into my fartlek section of the run up the parkway East toward the Canyon.

FARTLEK

6 minutes - 1.1 miles or 5:28 pace

5 minutes rest at 7:22 pace

5 minutes - .93 miles or 5:23 pace

4 minutes rest at 7:53 pace

4 minutes - .78 miles or 5:09 pace

3 minutes rest at 7:02 pace

3 minutes - .59 miles or 5:06 pace

2 minutes rest at 7:28 pace

2 minutes - .42 miles or 4:49 pace

1 minute rest at 7:46 pace

1 minute - .22 miles or 4:35 pace

60 miles for the week. Next week will be a cut week in mileage and then the week after I'll shoot for 60 again.
 

8 miles easy on the Riverdale Parkway with Ken, Jon, Dave, Denver, and Matt, avg pace 7:09/mile. Once I got home I did some core, hips, and pushups.

7 miles easy in Manhattan Beach, avg pace 7:10/mile. Later after work I did core, hips, pushups, and dips.

6 miles on the Strand in Manhattan Beach, avg pace 6:10/mile. I picked up three miles in the middle 5:30, 4:57, and 5:40-ish. That was my first sub-5:00 mile since the comeback began! I still feel lethargic running here. Humidity maybe? I don't know. I am getting plenty of rest.

7 miles along the Strand in Manhattan Beach, avg pace 6:45/mile. I ran the middle two miles fast in 5:28 and 4:55. It was a good run and the moon was just setting over the ocean, which was really cool to see. Later in the evening I did core, hips, and pushups.

5.3 miles easy with some loops on grass at the park nearby, avg pace 7:58/mile.

In the afternoon we did a 3-mile hike up above the Hollywood sign.

12.1 miles in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach, avg pace 6:25/mile. I started on the Greenbelt, which is a wood-chipped path for about 4 miles into Redondo and then back along the Strand on the beach to Manhattan. I had four miles at a quicker pace 5:44 5:41 5:21 and 5:15.

My Cut-down week is now over and I feel ready to get some more volume again next week.

10 miles easy, avg pace 7:15/mile. Later after work I did core, hips, and pushups.

2-MILE REPEATS

I ran 3x2-mile repeats in Manhattan Beach with a 4-minute jog for rest. The first rep was on the greenbelt trail, which is wood-chipped. I thought the softer surface would be nice impact-wise on my legs. But it was dark and running fast on an uneven surface in the dark turned out to be not very fun. So the second two sets I did on the Strand down by the beach.

Set 1: 10:43 (5:26/5:17)

Set 2: 10:24 (5:11/5:13)

Set 3: 10:28 (5:15/5:13)

Overall the workout was good, but it definitely shows that I have a long ways to go still to get fit again. I really thought I could maybe average 5:10 on these, but I'm just not there yet. Later after work I did core, hips, pushups, and some leg exercises with loop bands.

8.2 miles easy on the Greenbelt, avg pace 7:30/mile.

10 miles on the Strand in Manhattan Beach, avg pace 6:51/mile. I did a one-mile pickup after about 3 miles in 4:56, took a 4-minute jog, and then did a pickup from the Hermosa pier to the Manhattan pier (1.7 miles) in 8:47, which is about 5:12 pace.

7.15 miles very easy down on the Strand and on the beach and piers in Manhattan Beach. I'll miss the early morning runs in shorts and a t shirt, but I can't wait to get home and see my family!

LONG RUN

14.25 miles on the Parkway with Denver, Dave, Taylor, and Jared, avg pace 6:33/mile. I picked up three miles from 11-13 in 5:57, 5:45, 5:29. It was a great run in great temps and with great company.

10 miles easy with Denver on the Davis County section of Bonneville Shoreline Trail, avg pace 8:13/mile. It was nice to get out a bit later this morning and actually see some sunshine. The trails were a nice change of scenery too, even the North-facing slopes were 100% clear of snow, crazy!

AEROBIC BUILDER

I met up with Jason, Bret, and Ken for an aerobic builder. The plan was 2x4-miles with about 4:00 jog for rest. Jason was planning 5:20 pace for his last hard workout before Phoenix next weekend. I told him I'd shoot for high 5:30s on first set and then try to hang with him as long as I could on second set at 5:20.

We started the first set and those three took off fast! So I was bringing up the rear and came thru mile in 5:21! Yikes, that was probably too fast but I decided to see how long I could hold it. By end of mile two I caught Ken and Bret. And by end of three I got to within two seconds of Jason. I finished first set with 5:21 5:19 5:16 5:17.   

I figured I had spent most my legs and energy and was hoping to just stay sub-6:00 on second set. We took 7 minutes rest due to bathroom breaks and then started second set and I felt crazy good. I ran the whole set with Jason in 5:20 5:22 5:22 5:17! I was blown away at how fast I was able to run. I did not see that coming! I am very happy with today. In the evening I did core, hips, pushups, and some lower body-weight strengthening.

7 miles easy with Ben and Jon on mostly grass and a bit of dirt at the fairgrounds, avg pace 8:01/mile. My goal is to try and get more recovery runs done on softer surfaces this year. After the run I did core, hips, and pushups at the gym.

9.2 miles easy on the trails with Bret and Matt, avg pace 8:04. Quite a bit of climbing first half and mostly downhill second half. After the run I did core, hips, pushups, and some lower body lifting.

6 miles easy with Dave on the Gibs Loop Trail x 2, avg pace 7:24/mile.

15 miles with a huge group this morning (Dave, Bret, Taylor, Jared, Albert, and Steve), avg pace 6:31/mile. I picked up miles 12-14 in 5:50, 5:34, & 5:29. This was my longest run in almost a year!

10 miles easy with Denver, Dave, Jon, and Matt, avg pace 7:39/mile. We ran a very zig-zagged route to break up the wind. After the run I did core, hips, and pushups at gym.

9.2 miles easy with Dave, Ken, Bret, and Denver in South Ogden, avg pace 7:13/mile. Core, hips, and pushups after.

WORKOUT: 4XMILE & 6X200-METERS

We started off with a big group at Smith's with Ken, Albert, Dave, Bret, Jon, Denver, Matt and Tim. But once the workout started everyone was either in small groups or on their own for the most part. Ken and I did the whole workout together.

We did mile reps with 2:45 jogging rest at 5:04, 5:06, 5:02, and 5:01. The plan was originally five reps but we were pretty spent; the pace was tougher than I anticipated it would be (either I was overconfident from last Tues or my cold has taken a bigger toll on my energy levels than I thought). Then we did six by 200 meters with 200 meter jog rest ranging from 29-32 seconds. Overall, it was good progress moving forward with my comeback.

8 miles easy with Dave, Thatcher, Denver, and Tim mostly doing loops on the grass at Mt Ogden Park with one loop on the Gibs trail too, avg pace 7:57/mile.

6 miles easy with Dave on base perimeter road, avg pace 7:05/mile. Core, hips, and pushups after.

LONG RUN

We had an enormous group of runners meet up this morning (Dave, Jon, Bret, Bryant, Ben, Denver, Matt, Tim, and Kory). We mostly all ran the first five together, and then most of the group turned for a 10 mile route. Dave and I kept heading west and once all the others had turned for shorter routes we picked up the pace. We ran 9 miles (7-15) faster with a goal of a 6:00 average. But we got going quicker than we bargained for and just held that instead. I ran 9 miles in a 5:46 average (6:00 5:46 5:50 5:56 5:46 5:44 5:45 5:37 5:32) and then cooled down the last mile in like 30 mph headwind that all of the sudden came out of nowhere!

Denver and Dave both had probably their best runs since we all resumed training in December. Ben looked good coming back from his recent injury and Bryant ran like he hadn't missed a beat.

11.15 miles easy through Ogden with Dave, Denver, Ken, Ben, and Jon, avg pace 7:17/mile. At one point we had Ken laughing so hard he collapsed to the ground and laid in the curb laughing...good ab workout!

10.3 miles easy on a snow-filled, hilly route, avg pace 7:16/mile.

400 METER REPS

I met Ken, Denver, Dave, and Matt at Smith's and we warmed up out to the tempo loop with a few strides and the did 12 by 400 with 90-second jogging rest. I averaged 67.8, which is 4:31 pace. Next time we do this workout I need to extend to 500 meters or do 16 reps of 400.

9 miles easy with Dave, Denver, and Jon M from the 21st street pond, avg pace 7:35/mile.

6 miles easy with Dave from my house in South Weber, avg pace 6:58/mile. Still no new baby here in the Cook house. Unless Amy goes into labor tonight, I think I may hop in the Ogden WRC 10-miler tomorrow morning. I haven't raced in over a year, and I'm apprehensive about racing right now due to lack of fitness. But I think racing tomorrow will get me going and light a fire, so it'd be good.

FAILED 10-MILE TEMPO/RACE SIMULATION

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I was going to hop in the WRC 10-miler if Amy didn't go into labor. Well, at 1:30 am, Amy woke me up and by just before 5:00 am this little cutie entered the world:

We named her Nora.

So the race was off. I didn't really plan on running, but a window of opportunity opened to get a run in and I decided to run the race route as a tempo to see where my fitness stood.

I did a 2-mile warmup and then started the tempo. The downhill really hurt! I haven't run any fast downhill since I started running again and I could tell on the steep downhill sections. I got through the first 4.25 miles at 5:20 pace (5:21, 4:56, 5:23, 5:32), but then my GI system told me I had to stop. I did a quick 0.4 mile detour to a restroom and then tried to resume the tempo. I ran the next 1.8-ish miles uphill the beastly hills at a 6:00 average, but then had to stop again as my stomach just wasn't having it. So after that I just called off the rest of the tempo and headed back. So, I didn't really learn anything about my fitness and have no clue how fast I could've run.

So, we're happy to have our new baby with us and both Mom and baby are doing well.

AM: 12 miles easy on the Riverdale Parkway with Ben, Ken, Dave, Jon, Denver, and Matt, avg pace 7:20/mile. I was very tired!

PM: 3.8 more easy miles at 7:12/mile pace. I also threw in 5x7-second hill sprints at max speed. When I got home I did core and pushups.

10 miles easy with Ben in South Ogden, avg pace 7:26/mile.

AM: AEROBIC BUILDER: 3-2-3 SANDWICH

I met up with Ken, Jason, Dave, Ben, Jon, and John at the 21st Street Pond for a builder. Ken and I wanted 8 miles worth of 5:15 pace. I knew I couldn't do 8 miles non-stop, but I thought we could maybe swing 2x4 miles at 5:15. Jason joined us for the first mile, but quickly realized he wasn't quite recovered from last week's marathon and he backed off. Just before the 3rd mile of the builder Ken was starting to fade a bit and I was very questionable on whether I could hold for another mile, so I told him to stick with me to three miles and we'd adjust to a 3-3-2 or 3-2-3. So we rested four minutes after the first three miles then ran a two-mile set that went up over the pedestrian bridge (easily the slowest/hardest mile), rested another four minutes, and then we closed with a three-mile set. So it didn't end up like I planned (2x4) but I did still get 8 miles at 5:15 and I was more concerned with pace and quantity than I was with how it was broken down.

3 miles: 5:13 5:17 5:16 (mile 2 was likely 5:14 effort as I had to slow for traffic crossing)

2 miles: 5:06 5:15

3 miles: 5:15 5:15 5:15

PM: 2.05 easy shakeout run around South Weber, 7:14/mile pace. Then I did my core and pushups. I also did a fair amount of painful foam rolling.

9.65-mile easy, trail run with Denver, avg pace 8:14/mile.

10.05 miles easy in Ogden with Ken, Ben, Dave, Denver, and Matt, avg pace 7:04/mile.

LONG RUN WITH 8-MILE PICKUP

We had a great group of guys out there this morning. We met at the 29th Street Trailhead and ran along the trails out to North Ogden and then dropped down to Ben's house. Other than a few slower miles on single track in the dark, we held a pretty good pace for the whole run. Ken, Jason, Dave, and I ran 8 miles faster from 9-16. Splits were 5:58 5:46 5:45 5:43 5:40 5:42 5:08 5:11. The first six were mostly flat with some soft rollers on dirt, the 7th mile was bombing downhill, and the last mile was a very slight uphill.

AM: 13 miles easy with the guys on the Monday Funday route, avg pace 7:15/mile. We did 5x7-second hill sprints towards the end of the run.

PM: 3.8 miles easy in South Weber, avg pace 6:42/mile. Then I did some core and pushups at home afterwards. I've gotten a bit lazy on the core and need to get back on top of it.

10 miles easy with Ben, Denver, and Dave on the Riverdale Parkway, avg pace 7:37/mile.

800-METER REPEATS

We had a large group meet at the Ogden High Track for some intervals. I ran 10 reps of 800 meters with a 400-meter jog in between.

Splits: 2:27 2:25 2:28 2:25 2:24 2:24 2:24 2:23 2:24 2:20 (Avg just barely under 2:25).

PM: 2.05 mile shakeout avg pace 7:07/mile.

10 easy, recovery miles on the trails in the dark by headlamp with Dave, avg pace 8:52/mile with 1,600 feet of elevation change (am I blogging this correctly trail runners?) It was a very enjoyable run, we saw two herds of deer, which is cool and also creepy in the dark when your headlamp suddenly illuminates ten pairs of eyes! After the run I did some upper body lifting at the gym.

7.3 miles with a monster climb to the top of the "U", avg pace 8:14/mile. No, not to the top of that "U", to the top of this "U":

LONG RUN: PROGRESSION

I met Jason at his house in Layton/Clearfield and we did a long run on the rail trail and west into Syracuse and along that pathway out there into West Point and finally climbing back up to the rail trail again back to his house. 

We ran the first 15 miles on a progression, the final four of which were uphill. First 15 miles were: 720 653 635 633 628 622 554 555 555 551 551 544 541 535 529. Then we ran the last four miles as a cooldown. Overall pace was 6:23/mile. This is my longest run in a over a year! This fat, old, out-of-shape, previously-injured body is starting to round back into form slowly...

10.25 miles easy on our Monday Funday route with Ken, Bret, Denver, Dave, Jon, and Ben, avg pace 7:00/mile.

TEMPO RUN: PROGRESSION

Another solid turnout this morning for a tempo run. Dave, Ben, Ken, Jason, Denver, Matt, Tim, and I warmed up four miles from the pond to the mouth of Ogden Canyon and then tempo-ed back to the pond. I planned on a progressive tempo. My splits were:

Mile one: 5:14 (net drop 64 feet)

Mile two: 5:11 (net drop 39 feet)

Mile three: 5:04 (net drop 24 feet)

Mile four: 4:58 (net drop 2 feet)

10 miles easy in East Ogden with some grass, some trails, and some road, avg pace 8:04/mile. After the run I did some light upper body lifting at the gym.

8 miles easy on the Riverdale Parkway with detours on the Kingfisher Loop and in Fort Buenaventura with Ken, Jon, Denver, and Dave, avg pace 7:38/mile.

6.05 miles easy at work with Dave, avg pace 6:52/mile.

Tomorrow will be my first race in 13 months! Yikes! I'm certainly a little nervous and very excited. I don't know what to expect. But I do want a positive experience out of it, so I plan a conservative start. My fitness is ok, but I'm skeptical I have the stamina and endurance for a really fast time. I would be happy with anything under 1:12 and thrilled with 1:10, especially since this is my rust-buster! Everyone who's running I will see you up there tomorrow!

OGDEN WRC HALF MARATHON

Well first race in over a year is finally in the books! Man it felt so good to finally race again. I'm grateful to be back at it and healthy. I tried to keep my expectations in check for today. It's only been four months since I resumed training and although I've had some good workouts, I was worried about my stamina/endurance. I've hit short tempos in the 5:15 range but nothing close to 13 miles!

I came up with a range of 1:10-1:12 and hoped to hit that, but full disclosure in the back of my mind I thought on a perfect day I could maybe, just maybe hit a 1:09. But I tried not to think about that and I certainly didn't want to try and force that.

At the start we knew it was essentially a four-man race up front with Fritz, Mike, and Dave joining me. I stuck to my conservative start for the first mile hitting a 5:20 on the mile that has the most elevation drop of the whole race (NOTE: They changed the course a bit, moving the start line up the canyon a mile so it corresponds exactly with the first half of the Ogden Marathon, but after mile 8 they had us go onto a paved trail along the road that was very rolling and probably slower than the road would've been. So essentially they gave us probably 20 seconds by switching start line, but then took some back by making us hit the path. Overall, this new course is faster though I'd think). Fritz took a lead with some mystery kid, while Mike and I ran side by side for the first two miles. Mile 2 was 5:24, so still conservative.

Here's picture taken by OnlyinOgden of the race start:

Toward the end of mile 2 Fritz was coming back a bit and Mike and I weren't really pushing the pace, by mile 3 we had caught and passed Fritz. It was obvious it just wasn't Fritz's day; he's at the end of a long marathon block with tons of volume and workouts and his legs just weren't fresh (He'll be just fine though once he tapers for a marathon). Mile 3 was 5:09.

I could hear Mike's footsteps just behind me through mile 4 or 5 and then they slowly faded away. So, I knew I had at least a little bit of a lead. Mile 4 was 5:08 and Mile 5 5:09.

Here's Mike and me in either mile 3 or 4, not certain which:

Right around the same spot on the course:

Not too much else to report for the rest of the race, I mainly tried to keep a good pace as I knew there were excellent runners still just behind me. At Mile 6 I did a mental check and evaluated how I felt. Breathing was good, legs felt good, and I felt I could keep this effort for quite a bit longer. At mile 8 you turn and the downhill is over and you hit the path and the rolling hills. Mile 6 5:09 Mile 7 5:12 Mile 8 5:15.

Mile 11 was particularly brutal on the path with a gradual climb and then a very steep bombing down; I couldn't help but look at the road at this point and yearn for it! Mile 9 5:20 Mile 10 5:17 Mile 11 5:27.

During mile 12 I got a side-stitch but nothing bad enough to slow me down. At this point I just really wanted to get to the finish. Mile 12 was 5:19 and Mile 13 5:18 with 5:18 pace for final tenth as well. I was happy to cross that line with my first race back under my belt and even happier it was a win.

Finish photo by GOAL Foundation:

After the race Dave, Fritz, Mike, and I did a cool down on the trails around the lake. It was fun seeing so many familiar faces that I haven't seen in awhile. 

So, the comeback is going well (as good as I could hope really up to this point). But I still have a ways to go! I want a huge year and I want to take a crack at an OTQ. But I'm nowhere near fit enough yet for that, so it's back to work!

AM: 12 miles easy in South Ogden with Denver, Dave, Jon, Ken, and Ben avg pace 7:30/mile.

PM: 3.4 miles easy in South Weber, avg pace 6:50/mile.

10.3 miles easy with Dave and Ben on Monday Funday route on a Tuesday, avg pace 7:18/mile. After the run Dave and I did some light upper body lifting.

AM: 11.75 miles easy at work with Denver and Dave, avg pace 7:17/mile. Then Dave and I did some light lower body lifting.

PM: 3.4 miles easy in my neighborhood, avg pace 6:44/mile. I tried to keep my heart rate at 130 bpm the whole run and was pretty close with a 126 bpm average. After the run I did some core.

12 miles easy with Dave with 5 sets of uphill/downhill 7-second sprints, avg pace 7:25/mile. Light upper body lifting afterward.

8.05 miles easy on the BST with Dave, avg pace 8:04/mile.

LONG ADVENTURE RUN

We did a very unique and awesome run this morning. Denver, Dave, Ben, Jared, Jon, Bryant and I met at Jared's in Syracuse and headed out to Antelope Island. From there we ran the Causeway for just over a mile and then hit a natural sandbar that appears only when the Great Salt Lake is very low. The sandbar is well over 100 meters wide and goes 7.5 miles or so to Fremont Island. Once to Fremont, we climbed up to the highest point. Stunning views of the Wasatch Front front the middle of the lake. Overall, we averaged a 7:50/mile pace, but had a few very slow miles bushwhacking and climbing on the island. Here's a few photos:

AM: 12 miles easy with 5 sets of uphill/downhill sprints, overall average pace is 7:36/mile.

PM: 4 miles easy in my neighborhood, avg pace 6:36/mile.

10 miles easy in East Ogden with about half on trails, avg pace 8:03/mile. My legs were quite tired from the leg strengthening I did last night. After the run this morning I did some light upper body lifting.

AEROBIC BUILDER 2x4

I met up with Ben, both Jons, and Denver at the pond for our normal aerobic builder route. We missed the rain thankfully, but is was very windy, especially the last 2.5 miles of the builder!

I wanted a 5:15 overall average for the whole thing. First four miles were just a hair under 5:15 avg, but was somewhat easy on effort with a bit of tailwind for the middle two miles. The second set was 5:20 avg, as the headwind was too much, despite an increase in effort, to hit 5:15s. But overall, the effort was good and this should be a beneficial workout for me moving forward.

A few weeks ago I could only manage a 3-2-3 at this pace, so now I've lengthened that to 4-4, and hopefully next time 6-2, if not just 8 straight. Eventually I'd like 12 miles uninterrupted at 5:15.

10.8 easy, recovery miles in South Ogden with Dave, Ben, Jon, and Denver for half of it, avg pace 7:31/mile. I was definitely feeling yesterday's workout.

9.1 miles easy at work with Dave, avg pace 6:55/mile. Legs felt substantially better today than yesterday. I'm ready for a long run tomorrow...

LONG RUN W/12-MILE PICKUP

I met up with Ken, Dave, Jon, and Tom for a long run. We warmed up 7 miles and then did a 12-mile steady state effort followed by a 2-mile cooldown. Average pace for the whole run was 6:20/mile, average pace for the 12 miles was 5:42/mile. It was a beautiful morning out there with great temps. 

The run felt really good except for the last mile of the steady state when I picked up a wicked side-stitch, but other than that I felt strong and comfortable.

12 miles easy on Monday Funday with Denver, Dave, and Ben, avg pace 7:33/mile. I'm enjoying the earlier sunrises each morning, only first 6-7 miles required a headlamp this morning.

400-METER REPS

I met Albert and Ben at Smiths and warmed up just over three miles including three strides to the Ogden High Track. We met Ken, Denver, Dave, Matt, and Tim there. The plan for me was to do 16 repeats at 69 average. But it was super windy out, a constant 10 MPH wind with gusts up the 30 MPH at times, so I was a little worried about finishing the workout on pace.

But I started anyway still shooting for 69s. It was definitely a tough workout and I thought about cutting it short after the first handful of reps, but I kept taking them one at a time and I ended up hitting 16 reps at a 68.8 avg (4:37/mile pace) with 300-meter jogs for rest in 1:31 average (8:08 pace). I'm very happy with the workout with that wind! Temps were amazing though in the low 60s.

AM: 10 wet, slushy, snowy, breezy miles in South Ogden with Dave, Denver, Ben, and Ken, avg pace 7:47/mile

PM: 4.45 easy miles, avg pace 6:55/mile. Still wet and snowy, not so much slushy and breezy.

AM: 18 miles moderate with Ken at 5:00 am from the 21st Street Pond, avg pace 6:36/mile. A very enjoyable run this morning with Ken, we just talked running for two hours straight. By the way, have I mentioned that the Brooks Adrenaline is basically my favorite shoe of all time! Love that shoe!

PM: 4.35 miles easy after work, avg pace 6:38/mile.

11.4 miles easy with Ken, Ben, and Jon from Rainbow Gardens down to the pond on the parkway and then back across 24th Street Viaduct and up thru central Ogden, avg pace 7:17/mile.

When I got home Evelyn asked, "Dad why do you always run in the middle of the night?" I said, "I don't run in the middle of the night, I just run really early". She answered, "Dad, that's not early morning; that's the middle of the night. It's always dark". I'll give her that, although it is getting lighter every morning, which is nice.

1.5-MILE REPEATS

I  met Ken this morning at the Dee and we warmed up over to the Tempo Loop. I felt awful on the warmup and very lethargic. I wasn't sure how well the workout would go. The plan was 4x1.5 miles at 7:34-7:35 (or 5:03 pace). In Feb, I did 4x1 mile at this pace so the goal was to lengthen the interval at the same pace.

The first rep I felt like my vision was blurry and like I may pass out in the first 1/3 mile. I said a quick prayer and kept on it. Eventually I felt a bit better and by the end of the rep I felt pretty good. The second and third reps felt relatively easy and then the last rep was a tough one.

Splits: 7:32, 7:32, 7:30, 7:28 with 3:00 jogs for rest in between.

I'm really happy with this workout, especially considering how terrible I felt on the warmup and the start of the first rep. The fitness is surely coming around. This has been my best week since the comeback began.

12 miles easy on reverse Monday Funday with Denver, Ken, Ben, and Jon, avg pace 7:12/mile.

1,000-METER REPS

I had a great workout this morning. I met Ken, Jason, Ben, and Jon at Wal Mart in South Ogden and we warmed up just over three miles with strides. Ben and Jon then just continued an easy run while Ken, Jason, and I got down to business. My goal was to run 8x1000 @ 4:51 pace. We did 400 meter jog for rest (2:05-2:20 time-wise). My splits were: 2:59.0 3:00.7 2:59.6 2:56.3 2:58.3 2:58.0 2:58.7 2:56.1 for an avg of 2:58.3 or 4:48 pace. This is the same pace I did 800s at a few weeks ago, so I successfully increased the distance at that pace. Next time I'll shoot for 8x1200 at this pace with same rest.

10 easy, recovery miles on the trails with Denver & Dave (recently returned from getting married in Vegas!), avg pace 8:12/mile.

10.2 miles with 4 of it moderate and the rest easy, avg pace 6:56/mile. I met Ken, Ben, and Denver at the pond. We warmed up to mouth of Ogden Canyon and then Ken and I paced Denver for his 4-mile tempo. He did great averaging about 6:00-flat.

6.8 miles easy, avg 6:46/mile.

SOUTHERN UTAH HALF MARATHON

I had a great time down at the Southern Utah Half Marathon. It rained the night before the race and started again for the start of the race thru mile 4, and then it was cloudy and low 50s with slightest of headwinds. The course starts up at Highland Park in Washington overlooking Corral Canyon and drops a TON the first three miles down to the Virgin River. After that you take the Virgin River Trail (paved parkway) all the way to Bloomington for the finish. So you drop about 550+ feet in first three miles and then hit the parkway which, although has soft rollers the whole way, drops another 150 feet over the last ten miles. The water on the parkway made for a slippery surface for those final ten miles, especially thru miles 6-10 it seemed; your foot would slip back just slightly on each step as you pushed off. The scenery, especially with the rain was fantastic as was the fresh smell of rain most of the way.

I was warming up and I saw a fast looking couple. The girl, eventually female winner, was sporting the same Brooks jacket as me. So I knew she was likely sponsored and fast, but her boyfriend also looked legit. Turns out he was my competition on the day. At the gun I took off at what I thought was a reasonable pace, but turns out it was a 4:49 and he was right on my tail drafting. He stuck with me for another half mile and then within 10-15 feet until mile two, but then I put a pretty good gap on him as I flew down the Cottonwood Wash on mile three! Mile 2 4:45 Mile 3 4:47.

Although the first few miles felt relatively ok cardio-wise they took their toll on my legs. I never did hit the paces I wanted for the rest of the race. I was hoping for 5:10s or so and just couldn't hit those on a consistent basis. The downhill fast start definitely slowed my later miles. My plan was to take it easy on those first few steep drops but that kid made me anxious I guess. So after I gapped him at mile three I felt dumb for having pushed the pace since it had tired my legs pretty good. But once the race was over and I found out I only beat him by 53 seconds, in hindsight maybe it was good I got the gap early. After the race he told me it was his first half marathon and that he's a 5k runner who lives in Phoenix. He's running the Payton Jordan Invite at Stanford next Saturday hoping for a 13:30 5k. I hope his legs recover in time from those screaming downhill miles!

Miles 4-13 were quite uneventful. I got too comfortable with my lead in mile 9 and started giving in to a slower pace, but luckily scolded myself after that slower split and got moving a tiny bit better to the finish. As I came into the park to finish, I gave my daughter Evelyn a high-five and seeing the clock and realizing I couldn't get under 1:07, just coasted in.

Splits: 4:49 4:45 4:47 5:12 5:14 5:17 5:05 5:11 5:21 5:12 5:14 5:17 5:17 and 5:06 pace for last tenth.

I'm pretty happy with the end result, but not with how I executed it. I would've liked those last ten miles to be quicker. But the slickness of the path also played a 1-2 second per mile role I think. It's certainly progress, but I still need to keep working; I got a ways to go still. I need more speed endurance to keep miles 9-13 faster, more builders I suppose in the next few weeks.

12 miles easy on Monday Funday route with one of our largest groups yet (9 guys), avg pace 7:23/mile. Both my hamstrings, but especially my left one are quite sore from Saturday's race.

10 miles easy from Smith's through Central Ogden with Denver, Dave, Matt, Ben, and Tim, avg pace 7:35/mile. My legs are still angry from Saturday's race.

AM: 10.1 miles easy on the parkway with Matt, Bret, and Dave, avg pace 7:26/mile. Legs feel a lot better today than yesterday, but are still heavy.

Looks like I'm running Ogden Marathon now...yikes. I'm not really in marathon shape and have a lack of quality long runs and aerobic builders, but I got offered a free entry through a friend at work whose neighbor sponsors the race and gets a handful of entries. So I couldn't turn it down. I won't be running any killer paces, but if I'm conservative maybe I can run a ok race. Plus it's my hometown so it's kind of fun. I just wish I had run more 20+ mile runs...

PM: 4.2 miles easy at lunch, avg pace 6:59/mile. Tired.

8.8 miles easy on parkway with Dave, Ben, Albert, and Jon, avg pace 7:38/mile. I think I was dehydrated from yesterday and felt it on the run today. I need to focus on drinking more fluids today.

6 miles easy with Dave from my parents' house in East Ogden, avg pace 6:57/mile. My legs are feeling back to normal...just in time for me to destroy them again tomorrow in the race :)

PROVO CITY HALF MARATHON

I signed up for this race back in either December or January I can't remember when for sure, but it was to be my first race back and I thought at that time that a 1:15 would be pretty good coming back from injury. Well, clearly I underestimated how quickly I'd get back in shape, which is awesome and a blessing.

I wasn't sure how today would go, since I raced last week and was sore/fatigued most of this week, and I also worked in my yard all day yesterday hauling and laying sod out in the sun. But I figured just like any other race, I'd give it my best shot and let it fall where it may.

We stayed the night at Amy's grandparents' house, who are always willing to let me stay there for races in Utah County, which makes it a lot more feasible to race there. Denver, my brother, stayed there too and he and I met Dave and his wife, Kayla, at the buses and headed up to the start. The weather was a tad cool at the start, which is great news for racing. We warmed up just a tad, 1.5 miles, and then started the race.

Right as we started the race I saw Scott and Mike jogging up and figured they had ran up from the bottom of the canyon and were going to tempo a bit with us racers. That was indeed the case and I enjoyed chatting with them for 1.5 miles or so before they backed off a tad and wished me well. From then on out it was just me and the lead bike pacer. I ran hard and took tangents as best I could through the canyon. I wasn't hitting splits as fast as I thought I would, but I kept plugging along anyway.

Out of the canyon I tried to keep pace as in the past I usually slow a lot on University Ave in both this race and UVM. I indeed kept an ok pace. I saw Amy and my girls drive by and honk at mile 9 and I waved back to them. I was slower than I wanted on mile 11 with the only uphill of the race and was now right on the edge of sub-1:07, whereas I was on pace to go under up to that point. So I knew I had to hit the last two miles really hard if I wanted 1:06:xx. I managed to run the next 1.5 really well, but with 0.5 left I kind of hit a wall. Luckily I still got close to the finish with 30 seconds to cross it and it seemed manageable. So I gave my last push and crossed for the win in 1:06:50. I also tried to give Evelyn, my daughter, a five on the way in and totally missed! But she gave me a "A" for effort.

I waited for Dave to finish and was happy to see him come in second place with a solid 1:11. Then we both waited for Denver to finish. He didn't believe me earlier when I told him that I thought he could average 6:10-6:15 pace. But he ran very well and finished in 1:19! He was running 1:30s here and there over the last couple years off little to no training, but now after 4 months running with us, he's really starting to get fit again. I was super proud of him!

Dave and I cooled down two miles, the second mile while eating a Creamie (still managed an 8:20).

Splits: 5:07 4:59 5:17 5:04 4:55 5:03 5:03 5:05 5:10 5:09 5:15 4:59 5:06 and 4:49 pace for last tenth.

12 miles easy on Monday Funday with Denver, Dave, Ben, Manny, Jon, and Matt, avg pace 7:30/mile.

My legs feel better today than last Monday, so that's good news. Maybe I can get a workout or last long run in before Ogden, if they bounce back more over the next two days.

PM: some core and pushups while watching season finale of "The Last Man on Earth".

11 miles easy with Ben, Denver, Matt, Tim, and Dave on the Riverdale Parkway, avg pace 7:16/mile. Some light upper body lifting at the gym after the run.

LONG RUN: PROGRESSION

I met Dave, Ben, Albert, Matt, and Denver at the pond at 5:00 am. Denver and Matt went East on parkway for a tempo, the rest of us went out West for a progressive long run. Albert dropped a bomb on us that he was moving and this was his last day running with us. We'll miss him, he's a great runner and friend. He's moving to SLC so those of you down there, get him out running with you!

I wore my heart rate monitor on the run so I'll post my splits for each mile of the progression with heart rate in parentheses for each mile. We did progression thru 15, then 2.5 cool down in perfect temps, although it was humid by Utah standards.

Splits: 7:45 (109) 7:29 (116) 7:19 (119) 6:57 (124) 6:45 (127) 6:44 (132) 6:29 (132) 6:18 (142) 6:07 (146) 5:56 (157) 5:46 (159) 5:38 (167) 5:30 (172) 5:19 (179) 5:08 (181)

10.75 miles easy in East and Central Ogden with Ben, Dave, Tim, Matt, and Denver, avg pace 7:18/mile.

9.15 miles easy with Jon in Ogden, avg pace 6:50/mile.

10.15 miles running an out and back along Pineview with Ben, Ken, Denver, Matt, Jon, Manny, Taylor, and Jake. We warmed up just over four miles and then ran tempos of various lengths and speeds. I ran miles 14-17 of the Ogden Marathon course at marathon pace with Jake and Jon. We ran 5:37, 5:46, 5:32, and 5:34.

After the run a few of us went to Kneader's for some French Toast for my birthday, good times.

10 miles easy from the pond with Denver, Jon, Ben, and Ken, avg pace 7:07/mile.

8.15 miles from the 21st Street Pond up and down the Ogden River Parkway with Ken, Dave, Ben, Jon, and Bret, avg pace 6:40/mile with two miles at MP in 5:29 and 5:27.

6.05 miles easy with Dave, Denver, and Ben, avg pace 7:20/mile.

4 easy taper miles with Dave at work, avg 7:04/mile. Legs feel decent. They should be ready for Saturday. Now if we can have the rain give us a window that morning...

2.2 miles easy with Denver, avg pace 7:25/mile with two uphill strides at the end.

My legs feel pretty good. The only minor concern is my left hamstring is still a tad tight from Provo Half two weeks ago. But I don't think it'll be concern, at least not until very late in the race if it is. 

The goal tomorrow is to be on the podium, top three. I don't really have any time goals in mind. I just want to give it a good effort and see where it falls. This course has owned me in the past and I wouldn't mind a little revenge!

Let's all pray for no rain in the morning! Good luck to everyone else racing.

OGDEN MARATHON

Well this course is just simply my kryptonite! This year was basically a combination of the last two times I've attempted this race, with the exception of I felt a lot better later into the race.

Weather was the big topic leading up to race day and for good reason it was a downpour and low 40s for the entire race. We lucked out in that the starting area was clear and rain didn't show until mile 2 or so. So, it was easier this year to stay warm for the 1.5+ hours you have to sit in that field before the race starts.

The race was off and I executed my pacing strategy almost to the exact second on most of the first half. I wanted 1:12:30 give or take 10 seconds and I came thru in 1:12:10. Anyway, there was a pack of six of us early on Anthony, an East African, Jake, Fritz, and some guy who I didn't recognize.

After two miles Anthony and the East African started to pull away and Fritz and the other guy gapped Jake and me about 3-4 seconds. Eventually Jake worked up to Fritz and I was content to keep hitting my splits back in 6th, saving legs for the rollers and the canyon. During mile 3 I had two throw-up burps...gross and a foreshadow of things to come.

By mile 6-7 I was about 10 seconds back of the chase pack of Fritz, Jake, and other guy. During 7 I decided to "race" even though I had been hitting my splits as planned. So this mile and the next were the two that got me 20 seconds ahead of schedule at the half. But I passed Fritz and Jake here, but Jake latched on and came with me.

Jake and I passed other guy just as we started the rollers. I have struggled in the section in the past and tried to keep my pace at 5:30 or slower to ensure I didn't blow up. So, Jake gapped me a bit again here.

I took the only gel I took all race in mile 10 and slowly nursed it until the next aid station and then washed it down with 1-2 ounces of water. I was feeling pretty good and caught back up to Jake at the half. At this point we saw the East African walking on the side of the road and we were now both in podium positions.

I took a lead on Jake just after the half and probably had 5-8 seconds when I stopped at 16 to use the port a potty. My stomach had been sour all race long and it was really started to bug me. I came out still in 3rd and figured I could catch Jake still if, and it was a big IF with how my stomach felt at this time, I didn't throw up.

During mile 17 I started dry heaving and gagging on some mucous. I stopped and hacked that up and started again maybe 60 seconds back of Jake. Once I turned off the dam and hit the biggest downhill of the race my stomach had had enough and I stopped and try so hard not to throw up. I knew it was game over if I threw up. But I couldn't hold it back, I threw up 8 times. I couldn't believe I even had that much fluid in me since I'd taken only 1-2 ounces. The death sentence had been pronounced and it was now only a matter of time before the others caught up to me. I was able to pull off one more 5:40 before the cramping set in. The next 5-6 miles down the canyon consisted of slow running, stopping to self massage, and stretch. I was still in 3rd, but finally around 20-21 Fritz passed me. I gave him a five and wished him well and on his way.

Later just before mile 22 I got passed by other guy and I immediately felt sick again and threw up 6 more times. During this time Dave passed me, which I had no idea happened until after the race. So all race from here out I thought I was one place higher than I really was. Finally my stomach was completely empty and I could at least run without feeling sick. So I was able to finish the race without any more stopping. But with the cramping it was 7:00-7:30 pace range. I had a hard time lifting my legs. And strangely enough my arms and shoulders were cramping too and I ran a good portion of the last 10k with my arms dangling to the sides because I couldn't lift them into running position.

Jon passed me around Monroe Blvd, and Tracey passed me at like mile 25. The last mile was a bit of a blur, but I passed my family and apparently gave Ben a five, though I only vaguely remember that. I finished and collapsed, but got caught by Jason Blackham and another volunteer. They kept asking me if I was ok and I  was so cold I couldn't speak, I finally muttered, "cccold". They sent me into med tent and covered me head to toe in blankets, took my BP and pulse.

So tough race, but I knew that I had to finish. I wanted to drop out SO BADLY. I'm ashamedly a prideful man and dropping out would allow me to avoid being passed by friends and maybe even the top female finisher. I could drop and no one would blame me, I mean it was a brutal hand I was dealt. But, I had promised my daughter Evelyn I'd give her I high five at the end. My older sister Karlie was also running the half marathon after months of training and attempting to lose weight. I knew she wouldn't quit and I wouldn't either. Finally, I had watched "Unbroken" last night with Ben and Spencer and after seeing that my situation seemed like child's play. So I finished and took the bruises to my ego, glad I did!

8th place 2:41:46

Splits: 

1st Half: 540 535 521 521 523 528 525 516 524 528 539 527 530 1:12:10

2nd Half: 521 549 (hill) 629 (bathroom) 606 (hacking) 635 (throwing up) 540 709 800 808 (throwing up) 644 711 722 707 and 255 for what was .43 on my watch 1:29:30-ish.

Rest

Rest

10 miles easy on the Riverdale Parkway with Dave and Ben, avg pace 7:22/mile. Not much soreness left, except my right calf was tight the second half of the run. Still a lot of deep fatigue too. It'll be just easy running this week.

10 miles easy thru Ogden with Denver, Dave, and Ben, avg pace 7:27/mile. We ran thru Jefferson historic district and saw all the old mansions of the early 1900s and then also hit the Enchanted Round-a-bout, a magical place where Ben is a 2:17 marathoner as long as he's there, but once he leaves....it's back to 2:25. Dave wanted to be a 3:50 miler whilst in the Enchanted Round-a-bout, but there are some unrealistic things that not even magic can make happen...

10 miles easy with Ken and Dave on the parkway, avg pace 7:08/mile.

TRAIL RUN AT SNOW BASIN

I met Ken at his place at 6:00 and we drove up to the Wheeler Canyon Trailhead, just below Pineview. From there we ran up Wheeler, taking the Arc and Nord Trail, then hit the Green Pond Trail, Needles, Maple, and then back down Icebox to Wheeler. The first 1.5 miles were very runnable despite the rain, but after that it was a mudfest the rest of the way and the pace dropped substantially.

During mile 3 a moose ran across the trail about 15 meters in front of me. And then toward the end of the run before hitting Icebox, another moose came crashing out of the bushes and ran parallel to us about 20 feet off the trail. It easily outgained us, but then stopped and just stood there just off the trail again about 15 meters in front of us. We didn't want to get any closer and we couldn't get it to move by making noise. So eventually backtracked a bit and took a the other trail at a fork in the trail. The trails just before Icebox were basically streams as opposed to trails, tons of water rushing down the trail. The scenary was incredible up there in the clouds with the rain and the lush green.

Overall we averaged a 8:34/mile pace. My stabilizing muscles are a bit tired from all the slipping and sliding in the mud. Great morning run though.

12.8 miles up on trails. I started at Beus Trailhead and went up to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, ran that to Rainbow, then back on the Lake Street trail and Gibs trail, avg pace 7:14/mile.

AM: 10.1 miles easy with Denver, Ken, and Manny, avg pace 7:21/mile. My weight is finally back to pre-marathon levels, which is probably a good thing, considering the lower weight was purely from lost fluids. Now I need to get back to 150 with healthy weight loss.

PM: 6 miles easy in South Weber, avg pace 6:48/mile.

10.4 miles easy with Dave, Denver, Tim, Matt, and Jon in South Ogden, avg pace 7:27/mile. I think I'm coming down with a cold, which sucks. I have avoided being sick all year so far. But I woke up with an irritated throat and my resting heart rate was elevated about five beats per minute. So it's vitamin C time, see if I can cut this cold off at the pass!

AEROBIC BUILDER: PROGRESSION

I met up with Dave, Jason, Denver, and Ken at the pond at 5:30. Out west where we were headed was a lightning storm. After a mile it started to downpour. We were soaked before we even started the builder. My shirt was so wet and cold that I just took it off and ran shirtless, which was much warmer.

The rain stopped before we started as jt made its way East to Ogden and South to Davis County. We started the builder. My plan was 5:40 first mile and try to cut five seconds each mile, finishing with a 5:05.

Splits: 5:32, 5:36, 5:26, 5:20, 5:21, 5:13, 5:10, 4:59

10.1 miles on the Bacon Run with Dave and Denver, avg pace 7:41/mile.

STEADY STATE RUN

I ran 13 miles at a 5:40 average with 2.5 warmup and 1 mile cooldown.

AM: 15.15 miles easy, avg pace 7:01/mile. I met Ken at 5:10 and we did 2.5 miles before the other guys showed up at 5:30. We ran Monday Funday and then did three sets of up and downhill sprints. By the third set we finally got Ben moving faster than half marathon pace!

PM: 4 miles easy in South Weber, avg pace 6:55/mile. I went right after dinner, which made for an uncomfortable run. But, hey I got it in!

12 miles easy mostly on the trails with Denver, Matt, Dave, Jon, and Ben, avg pace 8:05/mile.

TWO-MILE REPEATS

We had a big group out this morning for some lactate threshold work. After the warm up we kind of split into two groups. My plan was three reps of two miles at 10:06 (5:03 pace). This was an extension of the 1.5 mile reps I did last month. Same pace, overall distance, and rest, but each rep extended a half mile longer. I got out too quickly on both the first and second reps and paid the price for it on the third rep. But overall it was a great, successful workout.

Splits: 9:57.18 (4:57 5:00), 9:57.74 (4:56 5:01), 10:09.03 (5:02 5:06) I tried to keep that last mile on pace but I just couldn't. I was spent.

PM: 4.5 miles easy, avg pace 7:43/mile for first 4. I met Dave and Denver at Denver's house and I pushed Evie and Nora in the double jogger, while Dave pushed Hannah is a single jogger (Denver helped some too). The steeper hills were tough!

Then Evie wanted to practice for her kid's K so we ran 0.5 miles with her at 10:14/mile pace. Which I think is pretty good for a 4-year girl.

10.5 miles easy on a hilly route in East Layton with Dave and Denver, avg pace 7:35/mile. We were all pretty tired from yesterday's workout and second run pushing kids in joggers.

12 miles easy on the BST trail with Bret and Ken, avg pace 8:04/mile. Matt and Tim joined us for the first four miles and we ran into Jon halfway through and he joined us for just over a mile. I felt surprisingly fresh despite being toward the end of my largest weekly volume of the year.

LONG RUN - STEP PROGRESSION

Ben and I did a long run out West. 3-mile warmup, followed by 5 miles targeted at 6:00/mile, 5 miles targeted at 5:50/mile, and 5 miles targeted under 5:40/mile. Ben was with me thru mile 14 (11 into faster section) then I finished solo.

Splits for 15 middle miles: 6:04 5:56 6:01 5:59 5:54 5:46 5:47 5:50 5:44 5:46 5:34 5:36 5:34 5:32 5:30    Avg 5:46

I felt pretty tired throughout, but I guess that's to be expected, considering this is my highest weekly mileage this year and post-injury. I need more of these longer sustained efforts. These are what really help me get my endurance going.

AM: 16.6 miles with four sets of hill sprints at the end, avg pace 7:08/mile.

PM: 4.7 miles easy from my house, avg pace 6:58/mile.

10 miles easy on the trails with Ben, Matt, and Denver, avg pace 8:18/mile. My legs were TIRED.

1200-METER REPEATS

I met up with Ben, Jason, Jon, Ken, Denver, and Matt at Smiths. We warmed up over to tempo loop and then Denver and Matt just kept going easy while the rest of us got down to business. Goal today was eight 1200-meter reps at 4:51 pace with 2-minute jogging rest (I ended up with about 2:15 rest since we went off of Kens 2-minutes).

I was worried this may end up being an ugly workout. My legs have been very fatigued and tired all week. Also I woke up with a really dry mouth and felt dehydrated the whole run. But in the end it all worked out and I got a great workout in.

Splits: 3:36.6 3:37.0 3:35.3 3:37.5 3:35.1 3:35.1 3:36.3 3:34.3 for a 3:35.9 avg which is 4:49/mile pace.

10.15 miles easy on the BST with Bret, avg pace 8:08/mile.

6 miles easy around my neighborhood, avg pace 6:46/mile. Then I did another mile with my kids to get ready for their kid's k next week.

I'm running UV Half tomorrow. I don't have high expectations, but I'd like to do well. Typically May and June are my worst racing months due to allergies, so I guess my goal is to run my best June Half or a June PR. My legs have felt heavy all week from the increase in volume last week and most of this week. But, they felt a bit better today and should be good to go tomorrow.

UTAH VALLEY HALF MARATHON

This is my second time running this half; the first time two years ago was miserable. I was sick and struggled the whole way. Today, was quite the opposite. I felt surprisingly good, despite heavy legs earlier in the week. I really enjoyed the race out there this morning. Temps were perfect, with the whole race being run before the sun hit me. There was also a noticeable tailwind for sections of the first half in the canyon, which was nice.

Before the race my stomach was not too happy, so I didn't get much of a warmup, only 1.4 miles which included a couple half-hearted strides. The field of competitors was loaded up front. Ryan Hall was in the race, but he ended up doing a fartlek of alternating 5:00 miles with 7:00 miles I think. 

At the gun I settled into second behind Brett Hales, who has an OTQ in the half earlier this year. After a tenth of a mile or so Ryan Hall passed me and settled in right behind Brett. After the mile Hall slowed down and I took over second place and stayed there the rest of the race.

I measured the gap from Hales to me a few times and despite some sub-5:00 miles in the middle, he was still increasing his lead. I ran strong the whole way though and actually negative split the course. I did some poor math in my head somehow and thought I could break 1:06 if I ran last four miles at 5:02 pace. So I really went after those miles and then with one mile to go and I did the math again and realized I wasn't really all that close afterall to 1:06 and I think that killed my spirit a bit and I let up the last mile a little.

But overall I'm happy with the result. I was second place in 1:06:49. Brett won in 1:05:44. There were a lot of other great performances out there today. Congrats to everyone that ran. Utah Valley puts on a great race and is very organized with great staff and volunteers. Thanks to all of them!

Garmin Splits: 5:10 5:05 5:15 5:04 4:52 4:53 5:03 4:57 5:01 5:04 5:12 4:57 5:08 and 4:50 pace for the leftover change.

10 recovery miles in Ogden with Denver, Jon, Matt, and Ben, avg pace 7:46/mile. Then I did some core and pushups at gym after; I've gotten lazy with my core and hopefully this will get me back on track.

11.25 miles on the lower East bench trails with Ben, Jon, Denver, and Manny, avg pace 7:54/mile.

Tomorrow we are running Ben Lomond peak at 5:00 am. If anyone wants to join us, you're welcome to. We'll have one group starting at 5:00 and another 10 minutes later. Should be just shy of 16 miles roundtrip. I'm excited.

BEN LOMOND PEAK FKT ATTEMPT

I woke up at 3:50 and got ready and headed out to meet Bret and Ken at the North Ogden Divide Trailhead. Ben and Jon had met 20 minutes earlier to get a head start on us, so that we would all end up at the summit around the same time. Ken ended up having to bail, and Jon had to turn around early to get home on time. So in the end only Ben, Bret, and I made the summit.

Bret had the FKT, or Strava CR, coming into the day, but I was convinced I had the fastest moving time (last time I ran it I stopped several times to wait for others). So Bret and I ran together and chatted most of the way up on a beautiful morning. We got within a mile of the summit before the sun crested to mountains to the East over the Ogden Valley.

Once we hit the steep section at the end Bret fell behind a bit and I went on to summit in 1:15:50, which is now the CR. It was 1:20 before and my personal best was 1:23 (but that included stops). Ben made the summit at almost the exact time as Bret, so the timing worked out great. We took a couple photos on top with Ben's GoPro and then headed back down. It was an awesome morning out there. Overall pace was 8:52/mile, as we took the descent rather easy.

AM 10.55 miles easy with Ben in South Ogden, avg pace 7:31/mile.

PM 0.95 miles running alongside Evelyn for her South Ogden Days Kids Race. She ran it in 10:00! She was awesome.

10 miles easy from the pond with Dave and Jon, avg pace 7:06/mile. It was good to have Dave out again, he's been out two weeks with calf injury. He's now listed day to day on the Ogden Crew injury report.

17.5 miles from Ben's house with Ben, Denver, and Jake, avg pace 7:58/mile. We ran on the Up N Over Trail up to the top of the North Ogden Divide, then back down, and along the BST under the shadow of Ben Lomond, and back to Ben's for a full loop. A lot of climbing today. It was a beautiful morning and felt pretty good.

15 miles easy with four sets of hill sprints at the end, avg pace 7:20/mile. Ran in Ogden with Matt and Denver.

10.6 miles on the lower trails in East Ogden with Ben and Jon, avg pace 7:47/mile.