Everything Counts

11.2 miles easy with Dave, Ken, Bret, Jon, and Bryant. Windchill of 0 but can't complain when Midwest has -30 windchill going on. Plus Albert sent me this link too: http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/siberian-man-runs-coldest-marathon-in-the-world-in-minus-38c/

4.3 more miles at lunch with Dave.

Some quick stats from my 2013 running season, which I didn’t get around to blogging until now:

2013 total miles: 3,772 (up from 2,611 in 2012 or 44% increase). Of the 3,772 miles, 913 miles were run at 6:00 pace or faster (24% of total mileage). Of those 913 miles, 699 miles were run at 5:30 pace or faster (18.5% of total mileage). And finally of those 699 miles, 189 were run at 5:00 pace or faster (5% of total mileage). Those same numbers in 2012 were 603 (6:00 or faster), 343 (5:30 or faster), and 130 (5:00 or faster).

20 races: 10 half marathons, 4 5ks, 3 10ks, and 3 marathons

PRs accomplished in 2013: Half Marathon PR at SLC Half (lowered it from 1:07:44 to 1:07:13), Half Marathon PR at Bryce Canyon Half (lowered from 1:07:13 to 1:06:15), Half Marathon PR at Top of Utah Half (lowered from 1:06:15 to 1:05:16), Marathon PR at Phoenix Marathon (lowered from 2:29:22 to 2:27:13), Marathon PR at St George Marathon (lowered from 2:27:13 to 2:22:56), Road 5k PR at Turkey Leg 5k (lowered from 14:55 to 14:49), Road 10k PR at SLCTC 10k (lowered from 32:11 to 31:46), and Road 10k PR at South Weber Days (lowered from 31:46 to 31:07).

If you’re into using conversions and calculators to compare races, here were my top five races of the year (using calculator at runworks.com to convert to flat, sea level races using garmin distance and elevation data, which admittedly isn’t accurate, but it is at least used consistently):

1. Top of Utah Half Marathon

2. Salt Lake Half Marathon (Garmin had the race over ¼ mile long, which helped this one look better than the time would indicate)

3. Strider’s Half Marathon

4. St. George Half Marathon (this one would move up to 3rd if you subtract quick bathroom stop)

5. Turkey Leg 5k

My best race in 2012 would’ve tied for fourth on the 2013 list.

Worst five races with number one being the worst and five being the fifth worst:

1. Ogden Marathon

2. Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon

3. Freedom Festival 5k

4. Phoenix Marathon

5. USA Half Marathon

That’s about all of the geeky stats for 2013 that I got. Goals for 2014 are coming soon.

AEROBIC BUILDER

It was just Jason and me this morning for the AB. This was the coldest temp I've run a builder in this winter I think and I had a hard time going the first three miles. After that I finally got down to the paces I wanted and felt decent the last five miles. Overall avg for 8 miles was 5:14 (5:12 for last 5). Driving to work after with no heat in my car was less than pleasant.

11.9 miles with some of the Ogden Crew: Ben, Jon, and Albert. We met at the pond and ran a new loop route into West Haven and Kanesville. Very pleasant run minus my lack of a brimmed hat, and hence little icy snowflakes piercing my eyeballs and temporarily blinding me about once a minute.

10K CONTINUOUS FARTLEK

I met Dave at the base gym for a hard workout, since the roads would be too slick. We warmed up three miles on the indoor track (a square track with nine laps to a mile, too sharp for fast running), hit the bathroom really quick, and then we hopped on some treadmills.

I decided to do the 10k fartlek. It's a year almost to the date since I last ran this. At that time I ran the workout in 32:23 but at 0% incline. Today I ran at 1% incline and wanted to see how far I'd come in a year for this workout.

Here is how it went:

1.25 miles in 6:00 (4:48 pace)

1 mile "easy" in 5:43

1 mile in 4:45

.75 easy in 4:12 (5:36)

.75 in 3:31 (4:41)

.5 easy in 2:46 (5:32)

.5 in 2:17 (4:34)

.21 in 1:07 (5:19)

.25 in 1:08 (4:32)

Total 10k time of 31:31 or 5:04 pace.

I'm very happy with this workout, as it gives me confidence heading into next weekend. It was hard, not going to lie. I was pretty spent at the end. But it was basically a 10k tempo at 5:04 pace the hard way!

10 miles easy with Ben on the Strider's 10-mile course. It was nice to sleep in a bit and run later in the morning. I needed to catch up on some rest, as it's been a rough week with my family being sick and my girls getting up in the night every night this week. I may double if the opportunity presents itself later this evening, but I'm not going to set time aside.  So if it happens great, if not, that's fine too. I wanted close to 80 miles this week going into race week, and a double would put me about right at 80 after tomorrow, but 75 will suffice too.

15.25 miles at a moderate pace (6:35) with Jon, Steve, Bret, Jason, and Dave. Great morning for a run with warmer temps, some sunlight, and a nice course through West Ogden out into West Haven and finishing up with a loop in downtown Ogden. Great turnout and run for the Ogden Crew. I'm still waiting for the day that we get everyone out on the same day. I think eight is the most we've done so far, but have the potential for 11 if you include people who come at least a few times a month (yes Jace that means you)!