Everything Counts

AM: 12 miles at a moderate pace with Ken, Bret, and Jon. We mostly hit the 6:05-6:20 range, but dipped below 6:00 toward the end.

PM: 6.15 miles easy around South Weber.

AM: AEROBIC BUILDER

I met up with Dave and Albert at 21st Street Pond for an aerobic builder. My thoughts going in were 9.5 miles at 5:20. But I got off to a faster start than planned and kept rolling with it. Once I got to the T in the road where you turn left for 9.5 or right for 8, I had a choice. I could slow down a bit and get the 9.5 or keep pace and hit 8 (I knew I wasn't quite ready for 9.5 at 5:11 pace). So, I decided I wanted to keep rolling at 5:10s. I ended up with 8 miles in 41:28 (5:11 avg).

Mile 5 has a pedestrian bridge that goes up and over I-15. That mile is a very good indicator of effort. Usually if the effort is about right, I only lose 3-4 seconds on that mile. If I am over-reaching a bit, I will lose more. Today I lost 7 seconds on that mile. That seems about right. I knew that 5:11 pace was a tad quicker than I was ready for today, but I got through it. I need to show more patience though early on in my post-marathon training. This ended up just fine, but really the 9.5 miles at 5:20 would've been more marathon-specific and what I was aiming for.

PM: 4.3 miles easy around South Weber.

10.7 miles easy with Ken, Dave, Bret, Albert, and Jon. We ran through Ogden on Adams Ave. to South Ogden, to Washington Terrace, and finally back to Ogden down by the tracks. It was the coldest day yet this morning.

AM: 2-MILE REPEATS

I met up with Albert, Bret, and Ken at Smith's on Harrison and we warmed up along Glassman and over to the tempo loop (making a stop at Starbuck's for the most convenient runner's bathroom). We did a few strides and then got into the repeats on the loop. I wanted to average 10:00.

#1 9:59 (5:00/4:59)

#2 9:57 (4:57/5:00)

#3 9:56 (4:57/4:59)

Then we all met back up and cooled down back the same way we came. All in all in was a decent workout for me. I hit about exactly what I wanted to and while it was hard, it wasn't super difficult. So, just about the right effort this morning. It was challenging mentally to get the second half of each rep on pace; I found myself slowing after the mile and having to re-focus to get back on pace.

PM: 4.25 miles easy around South Weber with 4x8-second hill sprints on 1900 East.

10 miles easy from my house through South Weber, crossing into Uintah, hitting the trail along the tracks, to 89, and back home.

LONG RUN - STEP PROGRESSION

I met up with my I-pod Shuffle at 21st Pond for a long run. I had mapped out a beautiful, mostly flat 20-mile loop. I planned on running it progression-style. The plan was three-mile warm up, followed by five miles at 6:00 pace, five miles at 5:40 pace, five miles stepping down five seconds per mile from 5:30 pace to finish with 5:10 for mile 18, and finish up with a two-mile cool-down.

Miles 4-8: Goal 6:00 avg - Actual (6:09, 5:57, 5:55, 5:54, 5:47)

Miles 9-13: Goal 5:40 avg - Actual (5:44, 5:36, 5:33, 5:37, 5:37)

Miles 14-18 Goal 5:30, 5:25, 5:20, 5:15, 5:10 - Actual (5:27, 5:22, 5:17, 5:10, 5:03)

Cardio-wise this run felt fantastic. Leg-wise I got a bit tired toward the end, mostly in the cooldown actually. But I'm very pleased with where my endurance is at. This is the best endurance I think I've ever had. Speed could use a little work, but I haven't really focused on speed, so that's ok. You don't need super crazy speed for the half and the full.

Look at this beautiful route. 20 miles and less than 200 feet total climb and drop the whole way...about as flat as you can get a 20-loop in Utah:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/392493810