Everything Counts

HALF-MILE REPEATS

Did a lighter interval session to keep things sharp for Wednesday's half marathon.  I met up with Ken, Ben, Jon, Bret, and Bryant at the pond.  We warmed up 5 miles after which Bret and Bryant continued easy for a long run, while the rest of us did a workout.

Ken, Jon, and I did 6x0.5 miles with 1:45 jog for rest.  Ben did one half mile and then five quarters.  My splits were 2:25 2:23 2:26 2:24 2:25 and 2:21.  Ken ran with me and Jon was only 3-4 seconds back on the first five and then only 1-2 seconds back on the last one, so that was a great workout for him.

5 miles easy.  Looking forward to the race tomorrow.

AM: DES NEWS HALF MARATHON

It was an early start to the day.  I woke up at 2:30, got ready, and then met my Mom and Ben at the park n ride in South Weber.  We caught the buses at Rice Eccles and got to the starting line with 1.5 hours to spare (I hate how early they bus you up there and then make you wait).  Did a 2-mile warmup with Ben and Josh and found a secret bathroom during this time too of course!

The race started and Brett, Fritz, and I came gunning out of the gates.  First mile was 4:34 with a lot of downhill.  After that Fritz fell back a bit and it was just Brett and me for the rest of the canyon.  We ran virtually side by side up until just after mile 7.  Then, I just hit a wall.  I went from sub-5:00s to 5:1xs in no time.  I think I still have some residual fatigue in my legs from Bryce.  Miles 8-13.1 were a grind, I just didn't have any juice.  Brett pulled away quite easily and the rest was pretty uneventful, just me plugging along at a slower pace running in and out of slow 10k runners.  I really wanted to hit 1:05:xx, but I just didn't have it today.

But, the time was still decent and I can't complain about 2nd place either.

Splits: 434 448 454 (14:51 5k) 455 454 449 (29:57 at 10k) 449 509 502 514 517 516 527 and 535 pace for last bit.

It was awesome seeing so many friends and bloggers at the finish.  Just about everyone was there...good times.  The 10k had quite the deep field and I was a little jealous I wasn't part of that competitive beast, sounds like it was a battle.

PM: 4 miles easy pushing the kids in the jogger and running with Amy on the Riverdale Parkway.  All in all a pretty productive mandatory furlough day from work.

AM: 9.1 miles easy on North Base Loop.  My legs weren't even close to being as sore as they were the day after Bryce.  So, that is very good news.  They actually felt somewhat decent this morning.  Usually two days later is when they feel the most fatigued for me after a half so we'll see how they feel tomorrow.

PM: 4.05 miles easy pushing the girls in the jogger.  Didn't feel as good this evening as I did this morning.  Still not sore but very TIRED.

AM: 10.15 miles easy on the trails with Dave.  It was a very enjoyable run at a nice, easy, and conversational pace.  I wore my brand new trail shoes and they were very nice; no more rock bruises!

PM: 4.27 miles easy in South Weber.  I ran the last 0.11 miles at 3:25 mile pace. It felt awesome; you eat up the ground so quickly at those speeds.

13.7 miles easy with Brett and Jace.  Somehow Brett convinced Jace and me to drive to Midvale to run with him.  We did some trail running in Dimple Dell (I guess that's what it's called).  Now he owes us a Saturday run up North.  Jace brought some of the spoils of his earlier 5k (chocolate milk delivered to his house for 13 weeks!) and shared with us after...delicious!

My legs were very tired and ready to call it a week.  Now it's off to the Zoo and City Creek to celebrate my daughter Evelyn's 3rd birthday!