Second Wind

Kept a nice steady pace throughout the run today and it felt good.  It was almost scary how good the knee felt.  I was worried at the beginning of the week that I would need to start taking the NSAID's again but now by the end of the week things are looking up.  We pushed the pace a little more during mile 5 and we were just under 8:00/mile when the garmin gremlins struck and we went from 8:00 min pace to 8:30 pace.  We had to run about 15-20 seconds past our usual 5 mile finishing spot to hit 5 miles on the garmin.  Oh well, what are you gonna do (I usually mumble and grumble a bit and then get over it).  It just makes me feel like a boltushka (as Sasha likes to say).  The weather was nice again today with temps around 35 and no wind to speak of.  I'm looking forward to runnning with the group of guys doing the wasatch back relay tomorrow to kinda gauge myself.  I don't know how much of a guage it will be though because by the time I meet up with them I will have already run 8 miles of my 14 mile long run........long warm up I guess.

Time:  8:16/mile

Today was the big day to run with the wasatch back group for half of the run.  Meg and I got out by about 5:10 and got in 7 miles at an 8:35 pace, then I jumped in the car and met the group at the church for their 6 mile training.  Having never run with any of these guys before I didn't know what to expect as far as pace goes.  So we took off and I just tried to hang with someone in the 8:00/mile range.  Our pace for the run actually ended up being 7:43 average.  It was a little faster than I probably should go for a long run day but oh well, felt good.

Time:  8:10/mile

Rest.

Great run today, everything felt really good and the quicker than usual paces didn't seem much work at all.  These days are nice to have once in a while, I would prefer them much more often but I will take them when I can get them. 

We woke up about 4:10 today so we could get our 8 miles before I had to take the boys to jazz band.  Turns out we didn't need to get up quite that early because of our faster pace.  My daughter came in right at 4:10 though with a bad dream so we decided to just tuck her back in and get going.  Lucky for us she usually just goes right back to sleep. 

We are following Pete Pfitzingers 18 week schedule with some of our own modifications and today called for an 8 mile aerobic pace run with 10x100 meter strides.  We ran our first four miles at and 8:10-8:20 pace and continued to pick up the pace in miles 5 and 6 which is where I started doing my strides.  My strides ended up being a little faster than Megs so I ended up leaving her behind for the rest of the run.  I didn't think the strides would take much out of me but with only 100-200 meters recovery in between each one I was pretty tired by the last one.  I don't know for sure how fast I should be running these but by the time I accelerate in the first 70 meters I am going pretty close to mile pace or faster.  At which point I kinda float for the last 30 and coast to a stop.  I guess the point of these is to maintain good form and stay relaxed while running fast in order to teach your muscles to run more efficiently at higher running speeds.  When I checked my Garmin at the end of the run my max speed during the run was 5:15/mile pace so I imagine that would have been the max speed of my strides.

Meg's friend Nan came with us again today but since we were running a faster pace we kinda left her in the dust.  We circled around behind her at a few points so that she didn't feel completely abandoned.  Is that mean to do?  I don't know.  We are pretty poor company for her since she runs a bit slower.  Thankfully she seems okay with letting us cruise ahead.

Time:  8:02/mile

Cold and windy today.  Didn't feel real great for most of the run probably due to lingering fatigue from yesterdays run.  Took it pretty slow in hopes of having a nice recovery for tomorrows run.

Time:  8:43/mile

Uneventful 10 miler today.  Stayed inside our neighborhood for the full run today doing 1.45 mile loops.  Nan joined us today again but since we were doing our usual 8:15/mile pace it was a bit to fast for her and so we ended up leaving her behind and looping back around behind her in a few places along the way to check in on her.  Everything went better than anticipated this morning.  I figured since I ate bunch of garbage after dinner last night that I might run low on energy today but I felt pretty good, probably just fatter.

Time:  8:15/mile

Kept it really slow the whole way today for our easy recovery run.  Heart rate was in the low 140's and pace ended up being in the 9:30 range.  I still have a hard time keeping the pace slow on the easy days but after how I felt by the end of last week recovery wise, I am starting to see the benefits.  Keeping the easy days easy allows me to work harder on the hard days and get more benefit from the workout.  I would typically keep my easy days around 9:00/mile but we were with Nan again today and this is about her pace which is just fine for me after the 10 miler yesterday.  The weather is continuing to improve each day and we may see 60s for the high by the end of the week.  Spring is just around the corner for us here in Vegas.

Pace:  9:28/mile

Picked up the pace today compared to yesterday.  Everything felt really good and I can almost say the knee is 100%, but not quite.  When I stretch my quads I still have very light tightness, I can live with that.  Picked up the last mile to under 8:00/mile so called it a fast one.  It was 42 degees this morning with a light south breeze.  If the temps are in that range tomorrow I will be running in shorts and loving it.  Gave the final word to the Wasatch Back relay team captin yesterday that I will be part of the team so it looks like I am in for sure.  We are the "Tule12."  Not much of a creative name, our stake is the Tule Springs Stake so we are the "Tule12."  Someone suggested we go with "The Quorum" and then the name "Quorum of the 12" was suggested.......lightning was seen brewing in the skies.  I look forward to coming up north in the summer and getting out of the Vegas heat for a few days, should be fun times.

Time:  8:17/mile

Today was a 15 mile long run.  Felt pretty worn out by the end.  Legs were getting fatigued and lower back was tightening up a bit.  I can't wait to get back into marathon shape again over the next several weeks.  Despite the slower pace I was able to pick it up to about 8:10 for the last mile and it actually felt good for the legs to switch it up a bit and extend a little further.  Next week will be my first week over 50 miles since the second week of the year.  Should be a good challenge as the tempo runs and intervals start to come back into play over the coming weeks.  Ran in shorts and long sleeve shirt today because it was 47 degrees out, the high today is supposed to be close to 70.  It appears that spring is just about here but I imagine we will get another cold spell or two before it really arrives.

Time:  8:33/mile

Rest.

Tempo run today and of course it's breezy as usual.  Not as bad as the last tempo run but breezy all the same.  My last tempo run was 8 miles with 4 at tempo pace and my tempo pace was around 7:20 per mile with the wind.  Today I was shooting for 7:10 or better pace for the 4 miles at tempo pace, ended up being 7:06/mile.  Did a three mile warm up and then started the tempo.  Splits were 7:10, 7:05, 7:06, 7:04.  Felt pretty good until the last mile when my breathing got a little out of sync due to pushing a little too hard the first half.  I can tell that my lower back problems are creeping up on me again as the marathon training starts to get into the intense mode.  Hopefully I can keep it at bay this time around and not over do it again.  Started extra early today to get home in time to watch kids for a friend who is having surgery today.  Temp was 49 at the start but the breeze made it feel colder than that.  Sure am enjoying running in shorts again.

Time:  7:49/mile 

Recovery day today with five miles at an easy pace.  My back was feeling better today and the legs still had some energy after yesterdays run which may be a good sigh.....either I am getting more accustomed to the routine or I didn't push hard enough yesterday.  During our run this morning we came upon a guy who had crashed on his moped on his way to work.  He was down laying next to his moped with what looked to be a broken leg.  He says he hit a rock while rounding the corner......that is why I will probably never own a motorcycle.  When a rock can put you to the ground I don't want any part of it.  I'll take the relative protection of my car thank you very much.  That was the only real excitement during the run as it was a run of the mill recovery run in preparation for tomorrows 10 miler.  Wind was blowing again today but the temp was 52 and it felt really good outside.

Time:  8:36/mile

Good moderate pace 10 miler today.  Weather was perfect at 46 degrees and no wind.  My legs felt pretty well recovered from the shorter day yesterday and Meg and I really did a good job of holding a nice steady pace today.  We had a couple of miles that came in right around 8:00/mile.  The knee is at 99 percent and the back is slightly better than average so today was a good day for a moderate pace medium long run.  Today I am signing us up for Ogden so I guess it will be official now.  I look forward to running more than just one marathon per year as I have done the past two years.  The other ones I plan to do this year include St. George and Las Vegas.  Supposed to be really windy over the next couple of days so I hope to get my runs in without too much problem.

Time:  8:12/mile

Recovery run this morning and a good thing too because I was kinda hurting toward the end of the day yesterday.  I think I spent too much time sitting at work and didn't follow my normal routine of stretching and walking periodically through out the day.  I did feel better this morning but took it fairly easy and kept the pace in the slow range.  The wind really kicked up bad last night with gusts in the 50 mph range.  This morning the winds had calmed quite a bit so I was able to get out and log the miles.  Suprisingly everything felt pretty good except for some lingering fatigue in the legs from yesterdays 10 miler.  Meg didn't run today because her achilles is bothering her and I didn't want her to push it on a recovery day when she gets plenty of walking at school each day and that could serve as her recovery.  I hope the winds go away by Saturday.  17 miles in high winds does not sound fun at all.

Time:  8:45/mile

A half recovery half aerobic 5 miler today in preparation for the big nasty tomorrow.  Weather continues to be a bit cold and windy today but is supposed to be fairly nice tomorrow with light winds.  Everything felt really good today and the energy in the legs was up with no aches and pains to speak of.  So far I am liking the results I am getting from the Pfitzinger 18/55 training plan.  I was (and still am) a little leary of these 5 mile recovery days but I think for me it is working well or at least appears to be.  I find myself alot fresher for my hard workouts which allows me to work harder on those days to hopefully reap more benefits.  I think as time goes on those 5 mile recovery days could be extended to 6 or 7 miles but for know they are working fine.  Ogden will be a good marathon for me to test the results of this training.  If I can improve upon my 2007 SGM time of 3:39 at Ogden then I will feel confident that the training is working.  My current goal for Ogden is anywhere under 3:30 which should be doeable but we shall see.  With the elevation and less downhill I am not quite sure what to expect.

Time:  8:35/mile

What a fun and rewarding run today.  It was truely a confidence builder for me.  I planned to go out easy for the first 6 miles and run at about 8:45 pace.  The next 6 miles I would step it up to 8:15 or better pace and the final 5 I would crank it up to full BQ pace.  Every part of the plan worked perfectly and by the end I felt really good like I could keep going at BQ pace without too much trouble.  My splits for the last five miles were 7:40, 7:21, 7:22, 7:22, 7:18. 

Sometime during mile 14 my Garmin freaked out and recorded my mile at 5:28.  Luckily I was on a part of the course that I know the mile landmarks and was able to determine that the Garmin shortened the mile by about .25 and I was able to add the quarter mile to the end of the run.  If I only had to run 3/4 mile for every mile in the marathon I might be able to keep up with some of you elites......wishful thinking.

In the my past long runs I have relied on carbohydrate gels with water for energy.  Today, and on several of my past longer runs (including Painters) I have been relying on Gatorade only.  I find that it is easier to swollow than a gel and tastes better, I seem to get all the necessary energy I need (my body seems to process it well) and I won't have to pack those dang gel packs in my pocket for the marathon.  I need to see how my theory works on one of my upcoming 20 milers and make a final decision before Ogden.

Time:  8:11/mile

Rest.

Today begins a so called "recovery week" in the Pfitzinger plan so the total mileage for the week will be around 43 but I plan on running just as hard as any other week.  Today was no exception other than I slept in and got a late start.  Since it's president's day today I didn't have to go to work so I slept in and ran around 8:00 am in the light for once.  Since meg got up at the usual time and went with out me I was on my own.  I didn't feel real great for most of the run but stuck with it and got through it.  I still had some lingering back and hip pain from the Saturday long run and just didn't feel in sync.  Added in 8 100 meter strides which helped me to pick up the pace for the last four miles of the run to end up with a pretty good overall average for me.

Time:  7:58/mile

Nice easy recovery run today.  Still a little achey in the lower back region but seemed a little smoother today than yesterday.  The pace of my runs seems to picking up without any extra perceived effort on my part.  I'll take that as a good sign.  Hopefully the "harder" running doesn't translate into more back trouble.  With this being a recovery week I am trying not to over do it too much, just maintain where I am before shifting gears for the next few weeks.  The weather here continues to improve with most morning temps hanging out in the 45-50 range.  I'm glad to be back in shorts (hopefully for good) since I don't own any running tights and the old slick sweat pants just don't do much for me.

Time:  8:19/mile

Today's run was a bit tougher than usual.  I agreed to ref a couple of church basketball games last night at 6:30 and 7:30 and it's been a while since I have run up and down the hard court.  I don't know why it is but my legs seem to get more fatigued running up and down on the wood than running on the pavement.  It may have to do with the shoes I wear or the wood or the occasional sprinting, or more likely a combination of all three.  All I know is that this morning I felt pretty beat up from the first mile all the way to the last.  The fact that I was able to maintain a decent pace I guess I can credit to my stubborn personality.  I expected to average at least 8:15/mile today so by dang I was going to do it.  The next couple of days are five mile days and one of those will be a slower recovery day so I hope to be feeling better over the next couple of days.  The back was also a bit tighter than usual this morning which I attribute to the reffing last night as well.  Maybe I will have to think twice about reffing again.  I don't much like listening to the know-it-all's anyway.......  Temp was 53 this morning with just a slight breeze.  The weather is supposed to get rainy over the next couple of days, should be fun running in the rain.....not.

Time:  8:11/mile

Based on how crappy I felt yesterday (and today) and realizing that this is supposed to be a recovery week in preparation for several very hard weeks ahead, I took it very easy today.  We decided we better get some recovery out of this so called "recovery week" so we took it real easy today and will probably take it real easy on our Friday and Saturday runs as well.  I don't remember the last time my calfs and quads felt sore but they are sore now, probably due in part to the infamous church ball officiating from Tuesday night......still.  The weather was near perfect today with no wind and 44 degree temps.  We were approached again by our famous ankle biter dogs which came at us at a dead sprint.  Not even an appology from the owner until I retorted "it's okay" to which she responded "I'm sorry!"  Should I have had to say anything for her to appologize? 

Meg and I had a lengthy discussion on the state of our youth these days.  I was commenting to her about scouts last night and the complete disrespect shown by some of the boys who sit there and play with there cell phones, listen to their music, sit in groups by themselves to have their own little conversations, wear pants that hang below both butt cheeks with boxer showing, and all this while the young mens pres is trying to teach us the requirements for the family life merit badge.  Granted, it was a small number of priest age boys who were the culprits but what kind of respect is this?  What are we teaching these kids?  I realize the leaders probably don't want to get upset and look like the bad guy but I think these boys need to learn to be respectful of other people who are giving up their time away from family and other interests for them.  We came up with no solutions other than to reflect on how our leaders treated us as youth.  I remember getting out of hand one time and the leader grabbed me by the hair and made me sleep with the leader for the night.  Maybe not the most appropriate method for teaching respect.....but very effective.  Anyway, I digress.

Time:  8:54/mile

Picked up the pace a little bit today from yesterday but not much.  Don't want to push the pace too much the rest of this week, just get the miles in and stay healthy.  Was very tempted to stay in bed this morning and almost did.  Got up really late but still made it to work with 5 minutes to spare.  Weather was overcast today with a breeze from the south and temps at 51 degrees....it was nearly perfect.....glad I got up.

Time:  8:28/mile

Just a relatively short medium long run today.  Nothing too exciting, just putting in the miles.  Did run out to Arbor View HS to drop off my share of the entry fee for the Wasatch Back relay team.  Wind was in my face for most of the 3ish mile run out to Arbor View so I was happy to return home with the wind at my back and picked up the pace a little for a couple of miles to near marathon race pace.  Meg has some nasty bronchitis brewing so she decided not to go with me out to Arbor View into the wind.  When I got back to our development she was just coming in too and told me that she was having trouble breathing.  After we got done we sat outside and she told me about her experience during her run when she stopped and sat on the curb and contemplated flagging someone down to take her home (it was that bad).  Long story short, she made it home and then when we came inside her lungs tightened up again and she thought she might pass out.  We gave her a breathing treatment with some kind of medicine (don't know the name) and machine that we had borrowed from a friend for my other son.  I hope she is not developing some kind of asthma and that this is just bad bronchitis.  It seems like she has had congestion for quite a while so we will see what happens.

Time:  8:27/mile

Rest.

The tempo runs are starting to increase in distance in the training plan.  Today was a 5 mile LT run with a three mile warm up and a two mile cool down.  My goal going into this thing today was to keep the tempo pace miles under 7:10/mile.  During the warm-up miles I decided to see if I could average under 7:00/mile for the tempo miles because I was feeling good and wanted to really see what I could do.  Here are the splits:  7:01, 6:51, 7:02, 7:04 and 6:58 with an average of 6:59/mile.  I may have gone a little too fast on that second mile but you never know for sure with the Garmin if you are slightly off on the mileage.  The longest tempo run on this training program is 7 miles and I think I could have maintained that pace for a couple more miles but I don't know for sure.  I would like to eventually bring that tempo pace down into the 6:50/mile range but we will just see how the training goes.  Fought with a little bit of a breeze this morning on the north facing sections of the course but other than that the temps were perfect at a balmy 46 degrees.  I am finally starting to see some movement in my weight again (in the downward direction) and hopefully it will keep going down as I am about 14 pounds from my current goal of 160.  If I ever hit 160 (and that's a big IF) I will have to reevaluate to see if I should go any lower or not.  With 12 weeks until Ogden things are still looking good.  The next two weeks will give me the bigger picture as they are some of the highest mileage weeks I will have ever run with 56 this week and 59 next week.  This will be the point were my body will break down and risk injury so I will be trying to run smart and stay healthy. 

As it turns out, today is a 10 mile (training) PR for me as well.  It was a better run than I thought.

Time:  7:41/mile

Just a nice easy recovery run today.  Had a little residual fatigue and sorness from yesterdays run but not as bad as I have felt it in the past.  I'm finding these easy lower mileage days to be a huge help in my recovery for the longer, harder days.  I'm still getting the running six days a week but I am getting better recovery for the runs that count.  Temp was 52 this morning but it was a little breezy even more than yesterday.  I don't mind the wind as much on a recovery day and pace is not an issue, so I just enjoyed being out and about today.

Time:  8:18/mile

These medium long runs can really throw a wrench in your schedule if you don't get starte right on time.  We got started about 7-8 minutes late today and then I had to make a quick pit stop at about mile 5 for a few minutes so I really had to crank out the last few miles so I wouldn't be late getting the kids to jazz band practice this morning.  I have typically tried to keep these medium long runs at around an 8:10-8:15 pace/mile put this morning with the rush I averaged 8:01/mile.  Things felt pretty good for the most part, not alot of aches and pains to contend with other than some minor back acheage.  The aerobic system seems to be doing pretty well lately as it has become easier to maintain this pace without going anaerobic.  I ran most of the run without Megan because the pace was a little too fast and she continues to struggle with a few of her own aches and pains.  Amazingly she still get the miles in most days and guts it out. Temp was 51 degrees today with slightly breezy conditions....again.  I guess the wind just comes with the desert.  Can't complain too much though, spring is upon us.

Time:  8:01/mile

Took it pretty easy today and made this a nice recovery run.  Instead of running the prescribed 5 miles today I ran 6 because after tomorrows run I will be at 200 miles for the month instead of 199.  Just couldn't live with coming up one mile short of the ever elusive 200 mile mark.  My previous longest month was July of last year with 193.5.  After that month I spent August recovering from injury.  I don't anticipate that being the case this year but you never know when something will jump up and bite you in the butt.  Another beautiful morning with mild temps and a fairly light breeze.

Time:  8:17/mile

Well.....I finally reached it.....200 miles in a month.  I ran my 200th mile today in symbolic fashion.....15 seconds faster than goal marathon pace just to prove to myself that I could.  I'm glad to have that milestone behind me so that I can now concentrate on the task at hand and that is train as hard as possible for the next 2 months while not getting injured.  If I can do that I will be going for the BQ at Ogden.  I was looking at the Ogden and SGM 2007 results for the 35-39 age group to see what percentage of men qualified for Boston in each race.  There is a wider gap than I expected.  Ogden had 10% or 13/129 and SGM had 23% or 108/465.  I guess I could come up with several reasons for this rather large difference but I won't even waste my time.  Ogden looks like a great course with some small uphill with mostly flat and downhill sections near the finish.  The plan right now is to at least start out at BQ pace at Ogden and see how far I can go.  The way I see it is if I don't at least try, I will never know if I could have.  What's the worst that could happen?  I would have to try again at St. George?  I can live with that.

Time:  8:02/mile