Hangin' Loose

First day in the new area.  And I needed to do a swim.  Got to the pool and got kicked out of the one I was in and had to go to the outdoor pool.  Swam that for a while.  Well until I felt good and wet and called it good after 20 mins.  Just not into it today.   Mostly wanted to just loosen up the legs.

Speed workout this morning.  Way early wake up call.  Got up at 3:10 to get to in a workout.  Problem was there was a storm last night so I opted to hit the gym instead of the track.  Goals for this one is a 2 mile warm-up with 5 strides.  Then 2x ( 6 x 400 @ 1:24 with 1:30 RI) 2:30 between sets.  Then 1 mile cool down.  Hit all 12 but the last one.  The last one I had to pull up with .3 to go.  Ended up with 8 miles in 62:15.  Feeling pretty good about the workout.

Mile 1 8:45

Mile 2 7:00 ish 5 strides

.25 @ 10.7 mph on TM 1% incline.

.15 RI @ 6 mph for 1:30 and .25 RI between sets @ 6 mph

Mile 8 8:30

TT 62:15

Tempo run at the gym.  Goal was to hit 3 miles @ 6:34 after 2 miles warm up and then 1 mile cool down.  Struggled on this one more then I would like to admit.  At almost 2 miles I was not feeling it.  Ended up hopping off 3 times in the last mile winded.  Wasn't feeling well last night so didn't swim or ride.

Day 4 in my new area.  Spent most of the day in training reading and testing.  Its quite a bit different then my last area.  Still a lot of the same sort of stuff.  But most its trying to figure out the dynamics of the new group.  Very quite but clicky group.  Odd things is there is only 3 of them.

No Gumpchump run today. So decided to do a 13 miler at home. Was going to run up to Copperton and back down. And when I went out for the run at 5am. There was a few lightning strikes and a bit breezy. So opted to go to the gym. So back in and changed a few things to hit the gym. Got to the gym and found out it didn't open till 6am. ARGH!! That was still 40 mins to go. So back home to change again for outside run and just packed a garbage bag just incase of a storm. Goal was to run 7:30 pace for the run. But with it being 6.55 out and back with most of the out being uphill. Plan was first half hold a good pace if all possible going out around a 8:30 and pick up the paces for coming back sub 7s. Ran into a few runs. The first mile was a gal I guess that lives in the same area as I do training for NYC marathon in Nov. She is a 5hr marathon. So the first .5 was a bit slow warm up and then I picked up the pace and headed out faster. Coming back down saw a few runners that helped to push the pace a bit faster and tried to stay nice and relaxed for them. Was good to see so many people out there running. Had a cross/head wind going out and cross tail coming back. Mile 1 9:47 Mile 2 8:24 Mile 3 8:37 Mile 4 8:41 Mile 5 8:47 Mile 6 8:56 Biggest uphill Mile 7 7:28 Turn around mile Mile 8 6:37 Mile 9 6:29 A rabbit couple rabbits to chase down:) Mile 10 6:37 Mile 11 6:59 Taking a blok really seemed to slow me down on this one. Mile 12 7:23 Flatter road Mile 13 7:30 half up half down. Mile 13.1 43 7:24 pace TT 1:43:04 AP 7:52 After thoughts: Didn't hit my overall pace goal. Need to work on my running uphill speed. Might of held back more with the goal of running faster down. But should of pushed harder on the uphill. And as for the blok. I do like that they don't upset my stomach much. But hard to down on the run and breath. Might need to go back to GU's or something like that. To get it in faster on the run.

Just looked at the run that I did after UVM.  Only the first 3 miles are different.  But still close to the same run on June 19 about 2 months ago.  Ran this one a bit faster on the steeper uphills and also 30 secs faster on the downhill.  Feeling really good about this run.  I will do it again 2 weeks out from SG for sure too and compare.

Well looks like between the 2 marathons coming up.  I will be doing a 5k in the stake I am in.  First annual 5k.  The 2nd counselor in the stake is challenging everyone to beat him in the race.:)  Unfortunately everyone thinks I am going to beat him in the race and are rooting for me.  I have been in a few races with him.  And seen him at the finish lines.  I think he was already showered by the time I got there.  LOL  So like at SG last year he did a sub 3.  I tried to explain that to a few of them.  So I guess now the plan is.  Some will take him some brownies the night before.  And a bunch will hold him back at the starting line.  I said that would work as long as they dont let him go till I get to at least the 1 mile mark.  Should be alot of fun.  So i am looking forward to it.

Speed workout this morning. Decided to wear my racing flats. And try them without socks. OUCH!! Wont try that again for a while. Ended up with some nice blisters on my arches. Which I ended up finishing up early because of it. Workout called for 2 miles easy. 1 @ 6:01 400 RI then 2miles at 6:11 800 RI 2 x 800 @ 2:55 400 RI. The first half was into a stiff headwind. So after going for the first mile I changed up the 800s and the 2 miles. Got to the turn around after the 2nd set of 800. And blisters were really starting to form. So opted to push hard for the a mile and call it good.

Mile 1 8:38

Mile 2 7:55 7 strides

Mile 3 6:16 Into a 9 mph headwind arrrrggh

.25 2:56 RI

.50 3:22 struggled in the wind

.25 3:36 walked it out

.50 3:36 am I even running? ouch blisters

.25 3:54 nice little pep talk walking

1.00 6:03 Ah no wind at all felt good on this one. Blisters kind of made me call it good after 1 mile instead of 2.

Mile 7 9:03

Wear socks next time. That was just painful. And decided to run this one on the road I normally do my tempo runs. So I wouldnt have to worry about the track and turn.

PM- After work went for a nice swim. Got bounced around in the lanes again. But at least not pools. Did first 200 with fins and last 100 with them too. Feeling better about my kick. Just need to get that relax feeling going. Not sure what I am doing wrong.:(

Tempo run this morning.  It was nice and cool with a slight breeze.  Goal was to run 1 warm up and 1 cool down.  With 4 @ 6:49 it went pretty good.  And the blisters weren't a issue.  Great morning for a run.

Mile 1 8:02

Mile 2 6:41

Mile 3 6:50

Mile 4 6:50

Mile 5 6:46

Mile 6 8:18

TT 43:31 AP 7:15

PM-  Went for a swim after work.  Was still a great day.  Only got in 20 mins vs the 30 mins on Tues.  Got to chatting to a race director that was swimming there too.  Still a good swim.  And my legs feel much better after doing it.  I got to get back in my biking groove again. 

Went for a ride tonight after work.  Wind was from the North.  So the ride out was nice and fast.  But coming back was a bit rougher.  Still a great ride.  Did a loop down to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.  Up to Daybreak and U111.   Felt pretty good on it.  Even if I haven't rode for a while.  Just hope I wont be sore tomorrow.  

TT 1:07:06

Av Speed 18.78

Av Cadance 76

Max Speed 42.42

Crazy day.  Needed to do a long run.  Got up at 3am to do it.  But opted to do it after work instead.   Got off work at 10am and went to the gym after eating lunch.  Wasn't much fun.   Was dealing with GI issues.   Not sure really what made the run suck.  If it was eating before that threw off the run.  Or it was the tired legs from riding the first time in a few weeks.  Or even that I started my run out at the 7:35 pace and tried to hold it the whole 10 that I had plan.  But ended up calling it good at 6 miles after a couple pit stops.:(  Not great for a confidence builder for PC coming up next weekend.

Went for a nice ride with the wife and Patrick.  Patrick hadn't been riding in over 2 weeks.  So it was a bit rough for him and a slower ride for us.  Did the Temple, Daybreak, U111 loop.  And instead went down New Bingham highway.  So it was a bit shorter loop.  Bit hotter on this ride.  But the effort was alot easier.  Just what I needed really.

TT 1:14:24

Total Distance 19.5

Av speed 15.7

Av Cadance 69

AM-  Speedwork this morning.  I hit the gym to get it done.  Even though the temps and there was no wind out.  So goal was 2 miles warmup 1 mile cool down. With 6 x 400 @ 1:24 (10.7) 400m RI or 2:30 @ 6.0 pace.  Got in 5 strides in the 2nd mile.  Hit all my splits and so I feel pretty good about it.

TT 48:32

PM-  Went for a swim after work.  Spent 23 mins swimming is all.  Just keeping the swimming constant.  It sure helps to make my legs feel better.  Not that they were hurting much after the run today.  But it can only help.

AM-  Early morning run today.  Opted to do the last tempo run for the small taper before PCM.  So its 1 mile warm-up then 2 miles at 7:15.  Its a bit windy out there.  So instead of running in the wind.  Just went to the gym to get it done.  Well I got her done.  Tough I know.  Just glad its not SG this weekend.  Plan for PC will be to run a 3:30-40 Will see how it goes.

PM-  No swim tonight.  Had my girls but a tons of stuff to do before the race.  So I can relax on Fri.  Picked up my packet and also a throw away vest for the race.  Ran into Dale and RP at the packet pickup.  Really looking forward to doing this race.

Rest day.  Tomorrows race is going to be a long training run.  But considering it more of a B race.  So going to try and do better for say then Ogden and UVM.  Not sure if that will mean a better time then UVM since its a lot tougher course.  But my goal will be to beat my time from 2 yrs ago.  When I ran it last.  Was like a just under 4 hrs.  So I will be shooting for a 3:30-40.

Came into this race with a lot of good hopes.  Still wondering what happened.  What went wrong.  Might take me a few days to figure out.  But in the end I finished.  At around mile 17.5 or so I think is when Slick joined me and dragged me along.  Yeah I was not having fun at this race.  Felt a bit off right at in the first 5 miles or so.  Didn't have issues with GI which was good.  Thought I did great on nutrition.  Went to bed at 6:30PM and got up at 3:20AM to get to the race.  Felt rested and ready.  Sounded like it was going to be a cool race right from the start.  Was going to cruise right along.  Well it didnt go right along.  I was expecting the course from 2 yrs ago.  And went with a plan based on that.  It wasn't the same course.  So my mile splits I was planning on I was quickly noticing were going to be way off.  Dont feel like I went out to hard either.  Just alot of changes of where we were running.  Felt good and strong up till around mile 5 and I my feet started to feel some hot spots.  Got onto the rail trail and its was nicely groomed.  But each mile marker was getting off of where it should be.  Some were ahead others behind.  It was annoying.  Well back to the trail head.  Was good until we went about .5 and then the wind started.  I figure it was around 13-15 mile headwind.  And it was taking it out of me.  Not sure when I really started to fade.  I was just chatting along with some guy.  But noticed our pace was either dropping or the people in front of us where just taking off.  Well got to the next aid station and you had to go off the trail to get to it.  Hit the aid station and ran with another guy after that.  And some of the people I had just spend time passing were now ahead of me.  Felt like I had lost 30 secs and really didnt do anything.  Big hit to my psychy.   Heat seemed to by a issue on this part of the trail and wind was a factor.  Its where a big group that had the right idea passed me and the guy I hooked up with from the aid station.  It was like a group of 10 all drafting off of each other.  Sad thing was I didn't have anything left in me.  It must of been around mile 7 or 8.  By mile 9 I was really fighting demons.  YEAH AT MILE 9!!!!  ARGGHHHH!!!  Shortly after that Teena came flying past me.  And just left me in her dust.  I had already started walking at mile 9.  But this was mile 10 now and she was gone.  I seriously had nothing left coming into 10.  My feet were still killing me.  I am not sure what the problem was.  But I was having them.  And the walking and running was already in full swing.  My goal was to run the first half in 1:43 ish.  And I had already at that point was at 2hrs and change.  Good thing my wife was at mile 15 or I would of called it quits back at 10.  Hooked up with a small father daughter group kind of.  They were doing some 10 step break and run 50.  So I tried my own version of that and hung with them for the next 4 miles or so.  Or at least around them.  Still losing tons of ground.  I kept thinking ok Teena passed me Smooth will come and pass me sooner or later.

Well I finally ran walked my way up to the round about that Slick and MrsFit were at.  And I dont know why I kept running.  I wanted to quit right there at that was my goal.  But the run walk was working and so I kept going.  They kind of pushed me along anyhow.  So I had the mean hill to go up to Deer Valley.  Oh and found out more changes to the race.  Yet again.  All the changes was really ticking me off.  And used that to fuel the fire to get up the hill.  Where was that darn aid station.  Well I finally found the aid station and then made it to the top of the hill.  Time to run back down.  Ran down alot better.  Much less break but still took them when I was feeling spent.  It was sure a long long day of interval training.  When I got to the turn around Hawkeye.  Was there with my wife and Slick.  He had called it quits.  Yeah I was kind of like ok dude get up the hill you can do it.  And really feeling though that he was alot smarter then me.  I sure wanted to call it good.  But felt that I got the hot spots back under control.  And they werent blisters or anything.  Just my feet hurt and I was all out of gas.  But hey its all down hill from here.  Ok well kind of.  And to my great surprise the guy holding me up as I am trying to stand there offers to run with me.  WHAT!!  Oh I can't quit now.  It was go time.  So off I went of course after a kiss from the wife.  And once we got out of sight of her.  Had to take a quick walk break.  Yeah there was a small hill.  We got down to the new turn.  Which now only made Empire hill that much tougher.  It started down at the bottom of the hill now.  And even down around the corner.  Yep right there with Coach Slick by me side we started walking up the hill.  It was awesome having someone to run with in those last 8 miles or so.  And it was someone I knew wasn't going to leave me.  So we ran walked.  I almost headed off the wrong way.  Oh wait it was the way it was 2 yrs ago AGAIN!!!.  Another change they had made to the course yet again.  And didnt say anything about it.  Are you kidding me with this crap.  One of the flaggers that was directing said they had to make alot of the changes due to the Tour of Utah there in PC.  Oh ok that explains it.  Kind of sucked that we were the ones paying for it.

After a couple more miles and a few tugs on the back of my shirt to keep me going at a more normal pace.  Slick kept me going a bit stronger and I was feeling more and more better.  Was taking few breaks and only if the little bumps were actually big did I slow down.  Miles were ticking away and we were making progress.  Took my time in aid stations dumping water on my head sure gave me a great surge of energy.  And then having the extra hands of Slick was very awesome.  And seeing my wife a few more times down the road was just awesome too.  We actually started to make up some ground I though.  That maybe I wasn't going to come in at 5 hrs.  With only 5k to go.  I was wanting to get this thing done.  Sure Slick kept pulling on the shirt but I was starting to feel better and now I was in race mode again.  Oh there were people to pass now.  People to leap frog a few times before leaving behind.  And again.  I didn't know what to expect for the finish line.  It wasn't the same place and I knew it.  The last bit was coming up fast.  And I wanted to finish strong.  No cramping the whole race.  And I started to run harder again.  Only took like 1 break in the last mile.  And started passing people.  And Slick a bit earlier cracked a joke about maybe even starting to sweat.  LOL  Well I am not totally sure of my paces at the end but I was giving it my all and felt great to have him running with me.  And knowing my wife was at the finish.  Ah it felt so good to finish.

Well for a damage report.  I think only my mental game was effected.  My feet were really the only thing that felt to be a issue.  I need to get some new shoes for work.  And that might be the problem.  Those shoes have been bothering me these last 3 weeks in my new area.  With all the standing and walking around that we do.  No blisters to report and I didn't cramp up like I did last time I was here.  As for the suck fest.  That I will need to figure out.

Mile 1 8:04

Mile 2 8:11

Mile 3 8:24

Mile 4 7:46

Mile 5 7:57

Mile 6 8:18

Mile 7 8:09

Mile 8 9:08

Mile 9 9:06

Mile 10 9:17

Mile 11 10:55

Mile 12 12:25

Mile 13 12:01

Mile 14 10:41

Mile 15 11:09

Mile 16 11:44

Mile 17 10:39

Mile 18 13:29 Chat with Slick and wife here.  Chilled for a few mins obviously.

Mile 19 11:38

Mile 20 10:44

Mile 21 10:29

Mile 22 12:23

Mile 23 10:02

Mile 24 10:03

Mile 25 10:31

Mile 26 9:09

Mile 26.18 1:12 (6:51 pace)

TT 4:23:43 AP 10:05

P S ~ Forgot to mention a won a one hour massage @ the raffle - wahoo!!!

P S S Its now Sun.  My legs feel just fine.  Looking at my hydration for the last few weeks.  Being in the new area has really thrown off my balance of everything.  And hydration is just one of them.  I need to drink more at work for sure.  Along with figuring out workouts and everything else.  Got 6 weeks to figure it all out.:)

Nice ride with Patrick and my wife after work tonight.  Legs felt ok for the most part.  Only had no energy for the hill climb really.  So called it good at the temple.  And turned around there instead of taking the long hill climb.  Will work it a bit harder I think or at least longer on Wen.

TT 46:30

Distance 13

Wanted to see how the legs are recovering.  So went for a recovery run.  Only problem is that it didn't really turn out that way.  My legs felt pretty good.  Only a couple of secs of soreness here and there in the first mile.  Did the 4 mile loop.  The one with the uphill on the 2nd mile and downhill on the last.  Felt pretty good on the uphill and relaxed into close to MP on the 3rd.  And tried the legs out on the downhill.  Was able to relax pretty good for the run.  And so happy with the recovery.

Mile 1 8:39

Mile 2 8:36

Mile 3 7:29

Mile 4 6:36

TT 31:22 AP 7:51

AM-  Early morning run.  Not sure what I would call it.  Wasnt really a recovery run.  And not exactly a tempo run either.  Close to MP miles for the 2nd half.  Just wanted to get some good miles in.  First mile felt a bit rough at first and surprisingly slow.

Mile 1 9:19

Mile 2 8:34

Mile 3 8:31

Mile 4 7:22

Mile 5 7:32

Mile 6 7:23

TT 48:44 AP 8:07

Went down and ran with the chumps today.  And had a great time.  I finally got one of my friends to come join us Marty.   Plus we had a few of the regulars and another new fast kid.  So there was a nice big group out running.  I only did a little over 7 with them before bailing for a 5k race. 

The race was for a kid that is 4 and has 1-30 violent seisures a day.  So they are trying to raise money for a operation and help him out.  They had a great turnout for the race I would say 250-300 people.  Not many serious runners but there were a few there.  Since it was a fun run but I was going for a time.  I lined up behind a young kid that looked like he would be able to win it.  And told him to lead the way and stay on the course.:)  So it after a late start we got going.  There was this kid that I was using to kind of gauge my speed.  And ignored all the young kids that took off fast at the first.  About half a mile into it.  A woman caught up to me with this kid about 10 yrds ahead of me.  And notice I was running at a 5:30 pace.  And started to back off the speed.  By .8 into it I was still at a sub 6 pace.  But for the first bit we had a tail wind from the south.  Now we were heading into it.  And It helped to slow it down a bit more.  And I just tried to relax.  I was sitting in 3rd place and thought I would run it a bit competitive if all possible.

In the 2nd mile I had 2 guys catch me and pass me.  Not by much they were just a few steps ahead and I let them kind of fight the wind for me for a while and just draft behind the.  One of them started to drop about half way through this mile.  And we started up a hill and the wind was less of a factor then.  And I just hung with this guy that was fighting for 3rd.  I passed him on the hill  and held my spot just a bit ahead of him and got a small gap when we started coming downhill again.  So I just tried to relax with around a mile to go.  Maybe too much relaxing.  And we started battling it out again.  With 2nd place a bit ahead of us still.  But still in sight.  With .5 or so to go he started taking off stronger.  And started to gap me a bit more.  I didn't really feel to tired by the effort.  But just that there wasn't much there to go with still from the marathon last weekend.  I was able to hang a few steps for till my watch hit 3 miles.  And we hadn't even hit the final stretch.  And as he rounded the final corner took off really strong.  I had no response to it.  So in that last .15 he ended up beating me by 8 secs.  I ended up finishing it 4th place overall.  No AG in this one.  The gal took first with like a 19:40.  2nd was 20:30ish and we were 21:11 and 21:19 for me in 4th place.  The 5th place guy was a min or so behind us.  So they gave out some prizes for top 5 finishers suprisingly.  I won a free smoothy.:)  And they did a raffle also that I spent and got 9 of them to support the cause.  I won alot of stuff at that too.  3 out of my 9 raffles won me some subs and apptizers and kids meals.  LOL it was funny.  What I great thing to do for my Bday.:)  Not that being 37 is so exciting as turning 35 or 40 and make it easier to BQ.

5k paces

Mile 1 6:20

Mile 2 7:03

Mile 3 6:53

Mile .15 1:02

TT 21:19 AP 6:46

7 miles before with the Chumps

Mile 1 8:45

Mile 2 8:16

Mile 3 8:11

Mile 4 8:29

Mile 5 7:54

Mile 6 8:01

Mile 7 7:51

Mile 7.5 4:00 AP 7:59

TT 1:01:31 AP 8:12

Wasn't feeling to hot last night.  So didn't workout.  Went to bed with a headache.  So no early morning run.  Ran after work at the gym.  Speedwork today,  got to love it.  So today was 2 miles warm up 1 cool down.  With 3 x 1 mile @ 6:00 with 400 RI.  Struggled on the last mile alot more then I would like to admit.  Got it done though and feel pretty good afterwards.  Way sweaty though.  The gym doesnt have good circulation up there.

Mile 1 8:45

Mile 2 7:00 5 strides

3 x 1 mile @ 10mph 1% incline

3 RI @ 6mph

Mile .5 9ish

Mile 7 8:00

TT 52:05 AP 8mph