| Location: Las Vegas,NV,USA Member Since: Jan 13, 2007 Gender: Male Goal Type: Boston Qualifier Running Accomplishments: 1600M - 5:51 (Corp Challenge 2009)
5K - 19:38 (Tule Springs Stake 2009)
10K - 42:30 (Spectrum 2008)
Half-Marathon - 1:28:23 (Fontana 2009)
Marathon - 3:29:28 (St. George 2008, Monsoon) Short-Term Running Goals: Train well enough to run a BQ 3:15 marathon. Long-Term Running Goals: Continue to train well stay healthy and enjoy running for many years to come. Personal: Married with 4 children ages 8-14. Favorite Blogs: |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 1406.54 | 263.59 | 1670.13 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
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| | Race: |
Painter's Half-Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:54:35, Place overall: 205, Place in age division: 32 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 13.10 | 13.10 |
| First half marathon ever. It was cold as heck today, 19 degrees at the start. Was bundled up heavily at the start and didn't really shed any clothes during the race. Started well but faded fast the last 5-6 miles. Ended up beating my goal of sub 2 hours so overall I am pleased with the effort. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 1.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Race: |
Laughlin Half-Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:49:14, Place overall: 19, Place in age division: 8 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 13.10 | 13.10 |
| This was my second half-marathon and about a five minute PR over the first, but still not where I know I can be. This race was an out and back course on a dirt road that runs along the Colorado River just outside of Laughlin, NV near the Avi casino. The race started at about 9:00 am and it was very, very warm for March. The aid stations near the end of the course ran out of water so it was a real struggle to get in. Luckily there was still some water at the finish when I came in but when my wife came in all they had was Propel which she really dislikes. I don't know if we will be going back to this race due to this major oversite on the part of the organizers. Other than the water, everything seemed to run fairly smooth. Meg actually placed 6th overall and 2nd in her age group so very good run for her although it was not a PR. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 13.00 | 0.00 | 13.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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| | Race: |
Corporate Challenge 5K (3.1 Miles) 00:23:10, Place overall: 22, Place in age division: 5 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 3.10 | 3.10 |
| I normally don't run on Sunday but due to one of our teammates being sick I was asked to sub for him. Great day for running but the course was rediculous. We were asked to start our running the first .25 miles in the opposite direction of the course, then go around a tall orange cone and run back to the start and then run two laps around the water detention basin at Wayne Bunker Park. Try to imagine close to 600 runners circling this cone and then going back against the grain, what a mess. Once we got out of the mess the flow was fine and the rest of the course was pretty good. The only other gripe I have was that my Garmin recorded the distance as 3.25 instead of 3.1 so my time is probably a bit slow for a 5K but I guess that is the way it goes. I will just have to run another 5K sometime to set a new PR. The Southwest Gas team ended up taking the team silver medal so overall it was a good day. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
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| | Race: |
Corporate Challenge 1600 Meter (1 Miles) 00:06:12, Place in age division: 4 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| This was breakthrough race for me to know that I could run a mile this fast. I missed the Bronze medal by 7 seconds but I feel pretty good about my effort and it was a good run for me. I hope to improve my times in this race over the next several years as I will be the one from the company in my age group who will be running this race. My goal would be to eventually go sub 6 min and possibly sub 5:45 some day. The Southwest Gas team took home the overall gold for track and field so another good day for the team. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Race: |
Corporate Challenge Walk Race (2.2 Miles) 00:22:57, Place overall: 8, Place in age division: 1 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.20 | 0.00 | 2.20 |
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Walk racing has become a passion of mine over the last four years and today I won my third gold in this event. The only year I didn't win the gold was two years ago and I won silver because I got lazy at the end and lost by 2 seconds, that won't happen again. Really, really windy day and much of the race was on the super speedway track at Las Vegas motor speedway. Considered not walking this year due to the upcoming Hurricane half-marathon in a few days and the stress that walk racing can put on your shins and hips. Didn't seem to have any ill effects from the race so I am glad I did it and once again the team took the gold medal for the walk race event. woo hoo!! |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Race: |
Hurricane Half-Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:45:58, Place overall: 63, Place in age division: 11 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 13.10 | 13.10 |
| Really fun race and a PR! I felt really strong from the start of the race. If it hadn't been for the head winds part of the way I may have been able to go a little faster. From the start of the race to about mile 8 there are rolling hills and they all felt really smooth and the legs felt strong. At about mile 9 there is a huge 2 mile downhill where you can just let it go and really pick up the pace. I think my pace during this section was in the 7:40/mile range. Not super fast but effortless. The final couple of miles included mostly flat racing with a small hill about mile 12 which also seemed effortless. My wife and I pushed hard the last mile and finished together. Not a PR for her but a good run just the same. Before the race started I ate three shot blocks and a banana, during the race I used 4 vanilla power gels and drank only water. I am still experimenting with what to eat during races and this combination worked well. My only question is how do I carry 8 of these gels during the marathon? Maybe with better conditioning I won't need to consume as many extra carbs during the race....but I can really tell a difference in my legs when I do. The best part about this race was that I still felt strong at the end like I could have kept going for several miles. Very fun race, and scenic course, I think it will be an annual tradition! |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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Long run today instead of Saturday due to Father and Sons outing with the boys. Still recovering from Hurricane half-marathon. Will look to pick up the pace next week in preparation for Fontana half-marathon on June 2. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 1.50 | 0.00 | 1.50 |
| Ran this short run up at Mt. Charleston (8500 ft. elevation) where our church was have a fathers and sons outing. Course was very hilly and it literally took my breath away. Due to the rough dirt roads, elevation and hills I cut this run short in order to save my body for another day. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 3.00 | 7.00 |
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Ran aerobic intervals today. This is the first day that I am begining to ramp up the miles for my St. George Marathon training. Ran 4 1:30 intervals 2 2:00 intervals and 1 3:00 interval all at about 7:00 - 7:15 per mile pace. Felt a bit sloppy and winded but got through it. Pushed hard on the last interval to finish in 56 minutes.
Time 8:00/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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Recovery day from yesterdays speed work/aerobic intervals.
Time 8:21/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 5.00 | 8.00 |
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This was my first 8 miler on a week day. I ran 5 miles as a tempo run and my average pace for those miles was about 7:25/mile. Found myself struggling on the last mile of the five mile stretch but pushed and got through it. Have been trying to nurse a minor shin splint in my right inside calf area. Leg hurts at the beginning of the run then goes away during the run, then returns after the run is complete. May scale back on the speed work for a couple weeks until this injury is fully healed.
Time: 7:55/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Ran a nice easy 7 miler with the wife this morning. Felt a little sluggish and tight, not really smooth like I would expect on an easy pace run. Maybe it is due to my pushing it harder at the beginning of the week. In any case, got through it without a lot of extra effort. Considering a 20 mile long run tomorrow but may wait and see how I feel at 10 or 12 and go from there. No need to add a long run at this point, just want to prove to myself that I can do it. Longest run since the St. George Marathon last year was 15 miles, so would like to go beyond that. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.
Time: 8:40/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 16.00 | 0.00 | 16.00 |
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So much for the 20 mile long run. Managed 16 today and felt pretty good for the first 12 or 13 then the legs started to get fatigued. Took some power gel but it didn't seem to do much for me. I really need to contnue to do more of these longer runs to build up my endurance if I am going to turn in a respectable marathon time. Still have a little twinge in the the right calf area that I hope to run through next week. Will try for six days next week at easy pace days.
Time: 8:52/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Slow run today and probably slow for the rest of the week. Felt pretty good once I got going and was able to increase the pace a bit each mile. Still, average time was a bit slow but I'll take it. Slower runs will be to try and shake this nagging shin issue. I really think it is just a very tight muscle and I have been massaging every day and icing after runs. Hopefully I will see some improvement this week with these less intense runs.
Time: 8:42/mile
The wife and I finally got our mountain bikes tuned up after years of sitting in the garage. We got talked into doing a sprint distance triathalon on June 16 so we decided to start going for a ride each evening. Bike riding is a nice change from running but you've got to go a long way to get the same benefits. We went on a 9 mile ride over a level course and it felt pretty good. I think we will be going out each night at least for a short ride. I'm a little worried about the swimming portion of the triathalon. I hope I don't drown. Havn't gone swimming in years. Will try to do some laps somewhere before the big day. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Another day of relatively slow miles. Still trying to go easy to let the right shin and calf heal a bit. Didn't take as long today for the pain in the calf/shin to go away at the start of the run. Maybe that's a sign that things are on the mend, maybe it's just dumb luck. Whatever it is, I'll take what I can get. It was pretty windy today but it didn't seem to affect my stride or speed. I must have been pushing a bit harder into the wind. Temperatures were a little cooler this morning too and that is always a pleasant change down here in the desert. Overall a nice comfortable run.
Time: 8:36/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Did not run today due to gusty winds 25-35 MPH. Probably not such a bad thing considering I'm still getting over this minor injury. Will pick it up again tomorrow when the winds are supposed to be calm again. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 1.00 | 7.00 |
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Great run today! The wife and I really went out strong today and after the first half mile or so it started to feel effortless. Our pace increased each mile and by mile 5 I felt so good I decided to go for a sub 7 minute mile. Ended up running a 6:56. Felt good to run fast again and get the oxygen flowing hard. Still working on the calf injury but again today it felt pretty good. Spent some time last night really massaging the area and it seems to help. With Fontana coming up in a week I want to be at my peak for the big race so I will try to go easy from now until then. Sometimes, though, you just feel like going faster.
Time - 8:03/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Nice easy run today. Felt a little worn out and tired. Maintained a pretty steady pace for the entire run. Will have one more long run tomorrow before the Fontana half-marathon and then a mini taper next week to get well rested for the big day.
Time: 8:43/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
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Good run today. Ran the first 8 miles at about an 8:52 pace then stepped it up a bit for the final 4 miles to drop the pace to 8:41 overall. Trying harder to work on the mental aspect of running and trying to relax and run smooth even when exhaustion is setting in. Final four miles were 8:21, 8:10, 8:22, 8:31. After Fontana next week there will be 18 weeks until the SGM and it will be time to start piling on the miles and the intensity.
Time - 8:41/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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Nice easy day on the stake pres loop. We call it the stake pres loop because we pass the stake presidents house about half way through the run. It is a nice run up Tropical to Jones and then on some back roads through some open ranch land that bring us back to Tenaya and home. Since it was a holiday we decided to break out of our usual 1.45 mile rut around our develpment and have some fun. I swear we have almost run a rut in the ground where we run every morning around our place. The weather was perfect and run was nice and easy as we start to taper for Fontana. Went to Mt. Charleston with the kids and went for a short hike up the bristlecone trail near the ski resort. Very nice to get out of the 90s and into the 60s.
Time: 8:54/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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Nice run today, perfect weather and okay pace. Another easy run to go along with our taper for Fontana. Still debating about what time to shoot for at Fontana. With marathon training starting the Monday after I don't want to push it so hard that I have to take a week off to rest the quads due to the pounding but with the downhill course I am excited to see just how fast I can go. With 18 weeks until St. George I am tempted to just go for it and see what the body is capable of doing. I think a sub 1:40 is possible on this course for me and I'd like to shoot for at least that time. We'll see how the taper progresses and go from there.
Time: 8:39/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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Another low mileage and slow taper day. The weather here has been incredible, 70 at the start of the run with little or no wind. This may be considered warm by some but for us Las Vegans, low 70's are a treat in the summer. Still I think the temps are a bit above average for this time of year. I imagine next month we will start seeing some warmer early morning temps. Run felt good today with only slight pain in the calfs and a tad in the knees. This month will end up being my highest mileage month since I started running last year, this may explain why my calfs and knees complain from time to time. Still looking forward to Fontana with a goal time to be decided in the next couple of days.
Time: 8:33/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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This run finishes off the month with the most miles for me in my running career with 152.8. My previous record was 151.1 a couple of months earlier this year in March. As the training continues through the summer and if I can stay injury free I expect this record will be broken several times over. Good smooth run today with very little effort. Nice taper run to allow all the little aches and pains to heal a bit. Calfs are feeling stronger everyday and knees are feeling good too. One more short taper run tomorrow of 2 or 3 miles and then we'll be all set for Fontana. I still haven't decided on a goal time but I think it would be something like this:
Happy 1:45 Very Happy 1:40 Ecstatic 1:35 Any of these times would also be a half-marathon PR so life would be good in any scenario.
Time: 8:40/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
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Just 2 slow miles today to keep the engine idling before the Fontana half tomorrow. I am excited about the race and as always have butterflies in the stomache. I have confidence that I can PR tomorrow but by how much remains to be seen. The weather in Fontana looks to be mostly cloudy in the morning with some clearing later in the day and temps during the race in the 60-70 degree range with light 5-10 mph winds. Sounds like a great day for a run. Body felt good today and I can almost feel the healing in my calfs as I have tapered this week. Amazing what cutting back on intensity and distance will do. Will also try to work on my mental strength tomorrow during the race in telling my body to keep going even when it gets tired.......not to sure how that will go either, sometimes I turn in to a real case by the finish line. Should be fun....can't wait!
Time: 8:38/mile | |
| | Race: |
Fontana Half-Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:34:22, Place overall: 115, Place in age division: 11 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 13.17 | 13.17 |
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Wow!!! What a great day for a race. The weather was close to perfect at the start. I have no idea what the temperature was but it was perfect. Very light breeze......just enough to shimmy the leaves on the trees a tiny bit. Lots of friendly runners and a very helpful staff of volunteers who ran a very organized race from my perspective.
Boarded the buses at about 5:30 and got up to the camp ground around 6:00 and well....you all know what happens before the race. Spend time in lines waiting for the POPs (at least twice). Anyway......I ran a bit and stretched...you know.....the other important pre-race stuff.
Finally....the horn sounded and we were off and running like the wind (or at least it felt that way as we began cascading down the hill back to the Inland Empire). Heard several friends telling each other to "slow down we are going out to fast" and as it turned out many of them did as we passed several walkers with beat up calfs and shins along the way.
Mile 1: 6:53
Oops!! Went out a lot faster than anticipated! I was hoping this wasn't going to kill me later in the race.
Mile 2: 6:59
Still didn't learn from the first mile and decided to try and put on the brakes a little just to conserve energy.
Mile 3: 7:09
Much better......this is the pace I like and and as you can tell tried to stick to it for the remainter of the race.
Mile 4: 7:11
Mile 5: 7:09
Mile 6: 7:08
Mile 7: 7:04
Mile 8: 7:04
End of the down hill and now a stretch along the loneliest road in the world. The field is so spread out and there is nothing but weeds and bushes for the next 2-3 miles.
Mile 9: 7:09
Mile 10: 7:08
Finally back to civilization and decided to walk through the aid station to hydrate, power gel and gear up for the last 5K.
Mile 11: 7:19
Can tell body is starting to feel the miles and decide to take one more drink at this aid station.
Mile 12: 7:37
Starting to lose it here. Should have skipped the drink, stomach is now feeling it.
Mile 13: 7:23
Ran past a business cooking something that didn't agree with my nose but they had the music turned up and it helped me to refocus a little bit. Are those balloons getting any closer?
Mile .17?: 1:09
Not sure what happened with the Garmin but ended up with 13.17 miles. I imagine running through canyon may have messed up the signal here and there.
Over all felt really good throughout the entire run and am totally excited about the new PR. Not really sure if a generally downhill course really counts for a PR but I never even dreamed of averaging 7:13/mile so I don't really care if it counts or not. Old PR was 1:45:58. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Much needed rest day after Fontana. whew!! |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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Very slow 5 miler today due to recovery from Fontana. Quads, Calves, and Butt are still a bit sore and the first mile was really rough. Once we got the warm up out of the way we slowly picked up the pace and the rest of the run felt really good. Hal Higdon's "Advanced I" marathon training program started for Meg and I today but we are moving a few of the days around and will be running slow in order to recover properly and without injury. Should be a fairly easy week to start the big push for St. George and then time to start ramping up the mileage and intensity.
Time: 9:27/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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Today was a short run with some cross training. Since my wife and I have a triathlon coming up next week we decided to go out and ride our bikes for about 8.4 miles and then run the 3 miles required as part of the training plan. We did okay with the riding, nothing really hard just a moderate pace. Then we tried running the last 100 yards or so with our bikes to get used to the transitions since I don't think you are allowed to ride your bike in the transition area. Then we ran our required 3 miles. It's a bit strange getting off the bike and trying to find your running legs. I really thought we were running at about a 9:00/mile pace but we ended up running an 8:27/mile pace which was nice to see. We are still running a bit easy trying to recover from Fontana and the rest of the week should be fairly simple accept for the 5 mile run on Friday at marathon pace. I think I will try to run those race pace days at a 7:30/mile pace even though that might be slightly faster than I can run the whole marathon.
Time: 8:27/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
|
Hill training today. We are limited in the number of hills available near our place in Las Vegas so we decided to run the Azure overpass at I-95. It is about a .2 mile run moderate hill that today happened to be directly into the wind also. According to Hal Higdon, the grade of the hill is not that important just the fact that you are running hills and training to run them better and faster. We did the Azure overpass 3 times and warmed up and cooled off with about 2 miles each. Miles were slow today due to winds and hills but felt good overall and gave a good effort considering the conditions.
Time: 9:02/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Still running a bit slow coming back from Fontana. The wind was bad again today and the temperature had dropped a bit from yesterday too, I think it was in the low 60s....Chilly for Vegas in June. Anyway, still felt pretty good and will be looking to run a hard run tomorrow with 5 miles at marathon pace. I still have a slight pain in my right upper calf and knee area but if it doesn't get any worse I will continue to train hard. If it does get worse I will back it off now while I still have plenty of time to heal up before St. George.
Time: 8:46/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 2.00 | 7.00 |
|
Nice run today. Felt really good and feel like I am making a great recovery from Fontana. Decided to cut back on the training plan prescribed 5 miles at marathon pace and did two miles at marathon pace. Both miles were right at about 7:25/mile. The rest of the run was also at a faster pace than normal for me but it felt really good, like I could go for a long time at that pace. Weather was also very nice this morning, 63 at the start and little to no wind.....finally. The nice thing about Vegas is the number of fair weather days far outweigh the number of poor ones.
Time: 8:09/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
|
Long slow run today. Legs felt like they were full of lead. I am pretty sure that is due to swimming a half mile yesterday afternoon with my wife just to see if I am capable of completing the swim portion of the sprint triathlon we will be participating in next Saturday. I hate swimming I spent most of the swim doing the side stroke with some crawl and backstroke mixed in. My problem is I have never learned the breathing technique and always end up with a mouth full of water. I was glad to find out that I can make it that distance but not very fast to say the least. Oh well, it shouldn't be hard to find my bike when I finish the swim because it will be the only one left in the rack. Anyway, back to the run, I did not feel well at all, everything was tired, my legs, my head, and my whole body. We started later than usual so we finished the last few miles in about 85 degree temps.....Blaughghghg! Remind me not to go to Cafe Rio on friday night before a long run either, I would much rather stick with the pasta al dente thank you very much. Save Cafe Rio for Saturday night. Overall, not a terrible pace for a long run but boy it wasn't easy.
Time: 8:49/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 4.00 | 6.00 |
|
Tempo run today. Hal Higdon calls for a 30 minute tempo run today. His idea of a tempo run is easy pace for 10-15 minutes, pick it up over the next 10-15 minutes with near max speed for 3-6 minutes and then a 10 minute cool down. In speaking with other runners I decided to go with their idea of a tempo run. Today I started out with a slow first mile and then ran 4 fast miles at my suggested tempo pace then finished up with an easy cool down mile. McMillan Calculator suggests I run my tempo runs between 6:55 and 7:13/mile. My pace for the 4 miles today was about 7:05 with the following splits: 7:00, 7:02, 7:10, and 7:10. I was really feeling it by the last mile and was glad to be done. The legs felt pretty good today, no real pain in the knees, calfs or shins. I think last weeks recovery went pretty well. I think we are going swimming again today, yuck! Oh well, I could probably use the practice since we are only 5 days away from the St. George triathlon.
Time: 7:34/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Easy 3 miler today. It was good since last night we went to the pool again to get some swimming in before the big tri coming up. Swimming is a real pain, I hate it! I will be glad when this tri thing is over and I can go back to focusing on running. Felt a bit tired today probably due to the swimming last night and a little bit to the tempo run yesterday. I sometimes wonder if these short runs are doing me any good but I am going to stick to my training plan and see how it all works out. They are nice to slip in between the hard days and treat it almost like a rest day. Weather was very nice today, high 60s at the start and no wind.
Time: 8:30/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
|
Easy 5 today. According to Mcmillan my easy miles need to be in the 8:00 to 8:30 range so that is were I tried to keep them today. I also tried to concentrate on maintaining good form throughout the run. Run felt good today despite the continued discomfort in my right upper shin area. Once I get warmed up things are fine but those first few minutes in the morning are a little tough. Also if I stop and then start again I have to go a couple minutes before the area numbs up again. Symptoms seem to indicate a minor shin splint and my tight calfs could be the explanation. I continue to work on stretching and massaging to try to heal the area. I counted my stride rate a couple of times during my run and found that I was right around 180 steps per minute. I read in runners world that 180 is the number to shoot for and I appear to be about right on. I'm not a really fast runner and I have a fairly short stride length with minimal vertical bounce so maybe this explains why I am right around 180. The weather was great again today and temps are on the rise for another hot sweaty summer (even at 5:00 a.m.).
Time: 8:14/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
|
Another 5 easy miles today. Easy is a relative term. I am trying to go a little bit faster on my easy runs and stay within the 8:00 - 8:30 pace recommended on the McMillan calculator. To me this pace should feel easier than it does and maybe over time it will become easier, but some days it feels too much like work. Today felt okay and once again increased my 5 mile PR, which isn't saying much. Started out with a couple of slower miles and then picked up the pace just a little when Meg needed to stop. She hasn't been feeling well the last couple of days. The last 3 miles I ran right at about an 8:00/mile pace which is where I would like to be on my "easy" days. Only one more day until the USG triathalon in St. George, can't wait until that is over with. Blaughghgh! Warm weather today about 76 at the start of the run.
Time: 8:10/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Nice run today. Got up a bit late so had to endure the extra heat, luckily it was only for 3 miles. Run felt good but body feels a little tired. Wife and I seem to coming down with a small bug of some kind but it's not severe enough to take us out of the game, just make us fatigued. Tomorrow is the USG Triathalon in St. George and then it will be time to really get serious about training for SGM over the next 16 weeks.
Time: 8:10/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 3.10 | 3.10 |
| Thank goodness that is over with. Endured the USG Triathalon today and I really stink at swimming. I was very slow.....like almost the last one out of the water. The bike wasn't much better and by the time I got to the run I was too tired to really push the pace. One thing I know for sure now, I can check triathalon off my list and never come back to it. As if running isn't challenging enough, learning to bike and swim well are very difficult. I have much more respect for the athletes that participate in this sport now that I have tried it (my hats off). From now on I will just support my wife from the crowd instead of on the course. I guess this will have to count as my long run this week and I will have to pick it up again next week. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.84 | 2.00 | 6.84 |
| Ran 4x800 meter repeats today. This is my first time doing this type of work out so I was excited to see what is was like. Bottom line, this is a pretty tough work out. Higdon's marathon training plan works up to 8x800 meter repeats near the end of the plan so I don't imagine this will be getting easier any time soon. Without easy access to a track I decided to use the interval training option on my Garmin 301 and set if for 4x1/2 mile intervals with 3:15 rest between each interval. The splits for the intervals were: 3:16, 3:20, 3:15 and 3:22. Since my goal pace for these intervals was 3:15 I feel like I was was in the ball park with my goal. Having an equal amount of rest time as the interval seemed to work out about right. I walked/jogged between each interval and things felt pretty good. I warmed up and cooled down with 2 miles of easy running. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Ran 3 easy miles today and added some strides just for the fun of it. Finally learned what strides are and what they are used for. I really tried to focus on staying relaxed and maintaining good form for the small stretches of faster pace. It was fun to see how much I could relax and still maintain a pace near marathon pace. All the little aches and pains are starting to diminish which is a good thing since this is really the last "easy" week of this training plan. These first three weeks on the plan have been great for gradually building fitness but more importantly healing up and preparing for the real hard work in the weeks ahead. Weather was nice again, a little on the hot side in the high 70s at the start and low 80s at the finish with no wind.
Time: 8:30/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
|
Another fairly easy day with six miles and a few strides. Lower back muscles have been tight the last few days. Have been trying to focus on doing more stretching in the evenings to alleviate the pain but still end up tight in the morning. Maybe it's time for a new matress. Faster pace of the strides feels more comfortable but then again it is only for 100-200 meters. Warm again today, the heat of summer is definately here. Ran 1 mile with the boys in the evening.
Time: 8:18/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 1.00 | 4.00 |
|
Scheduled for 3 easy miles today, decided to run 3 easy and 1 fast. The one fast started out as a set of strides but decided to keep the pace up for the whole mile. Felt pretty good the whole way. Really working on form and running relaxed and in control at the faster pace. Started to break in a new pair of shoes today, Saucony Grid Trigon 4 Guide. It is a stability shoe which is the type of shoe I have run in for the last two pair. Just retired the Pearl Izumi SynchroGuide and before that it was the New Balance 767ST. Really enjoyed the feel of the Pearls but for the price of the shoe I can't afford to shell out that much every 2-3 months. That is why I am running in the Trigon 4 and not the Trigon 5, they were on clearance. The 767s were good also and I may go back to those again if I can get them at a decent price. So far the Trigon 4s are good but a new pair of shoes always seems to start out good. We'll see how they are in 200 miles. Glanced at the temp this morning when I finished at 6:20 a.m. it was 90 degrees. ouch!
Time: 8:24/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 6.00 | 8.00 |
|
Ran 6 miles at marathon pace today. Average pace for those six miles was around 7:25/mile. I can't say that it was easy and there is no way that I could maintain that pace for 26 miles at this point but I can say that it is getting "easier" to maintain that pace. I am starting to learn how to run more relaxed and control my breathing. Everything felt really good for the entire run, no real aches or pains to speak of just the fatigue factor and mental factor of maintaining that pace. These runs will be good tests for me in the coming weeks to measure my progress, there are 9 more of these leading up the marathon and they eventually build up to 10 miles at marathon pace. Also ran a mile warm up and a mile cool down. Temp was 82 degrees at the start before the sun was even up.
Time: 7:48/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
|
The long run for the week. Easy 10 today. Felt really smooth from the start all the way through to the finish. After the first five miles decided to run reverse splits for the next four and ran 8:29, 8:23, 8:21, 8:13 and then cooled off with an 8:40. Started a little later than usual today (6:00 a.m.) and by the time I was done the sun was in full force. This week's weather has been great for running with no wind and moderate temps. With nearly 39 miles for the week things are slowly ramping up in the program. There are only two more week remaining that are under 40 miles, the rest are all over 40 with 4 week over 50. I have never passed 44 miles/week in training and look forward to the challange and to see how my body will handle it. Only 15 week to go until St. George!
Time: 8:36/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest day. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 1.00 | 6.00 |
|
4x hills today. Don't have many hills near my home in Vegas so I use a nearby freeway overpass to do hill repeats. It is a moderate climb of about a quarter mile. Today I focused on running fast and relaxed and it seemed to help with the overall pain. I also tried to go fast coming back down the hill as St. George marathon is a downhill course and the down hill training will only help in the race. Ran the repeats at the same intensity that I would run a 400 meter repeat and ended up doing one of the miles at sub 8:00 per mile, thus the one fast mile today. The fast mile was not intended it just happened as a result of running fast and relaxed. The legs and body are all still feeling really good at theis point in the training. This is a remarkable transformation for me since last year at this time (my first couple months of running) I was suffering from severe shin splints. Running is not completely pain free but I have noticed of late that the pains are less intense. Beautiful weather today, not sure what the temps were but it felt comfortable.
Time: 8:36/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Easy 3 today with some strides. Good run, felt good and nice break in the action. I enjoy this plan that has me running 6 days a week with a couple of easy days of 3 or 4 miles each. The 3 mile days eventually build up to 5 mile days in the next few weeks but they are still easy runs. For me, it is a good day to recover from speed or hill work and avoid injury. Today is also my baby's birthday, she is 7 and she was up at 5:00 a.m. and was very excited. Wish I could get that excited about my birthday. Great weather again today, 75 at the start 81 at the finish.
Time: 8:23/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 1.00 | 6.00 |
|
Easy 6 today. Decided to run negative splits about halfway through this run and finished our fifth mile in just under 8:00, thus the 1 fast mile. After mile 1 we shaved about 15 seconds off per mile and then cooled down with a slow mile 6. Everything is feeling pretty good except my lower back. I can run with it and it's not bad pain it just kinda nags at me as I run. I'm hoping that losing the excess belly fat and strengthening my abs will help support my back better in the future. Temps seemed a little cooler today at the start and the weather was perfect again.
Time: 8:27/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
|
Decided to go 4 instead of 3 miles today. Ended up doing reverse splits today and it felt better and better with each mile. Pace wasn't really that fast I just think my body is really slow to wake up in the mornings. Considering my slow wake-up time in the mornings, when it comes time to run the marathon I will need to be sure to have a good pre-race warm-up in order to be able to go out strong at marathon pace (or at least close to marathon pace for the first mile). Weather was again perfect today, 75 at the start with no wind.
Time: 8:31/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 1.00 | 7.00 | 8.00 |
|
Ran 8 miles with 6 at marathon pace. The marathon pace I am shooting for is 7:28 per mile, so I kept all six miles under 7:28 and ran the 8th mile (a moderate cool down) under 8:00 as well as I was trying to catch Meg. After I caught her I jogged with her for another quarter mile to complete my cool down. The pace felt easier this week than last week which was a repeat of the same run. The overall run was fater today by over a minute yet my average heart rate was 167 compared to 170 last week. I don't know if this is a fluke over the course of just one week but I know that my fitness has improved greatly over the last several months (lots of room for improvement). The best part of today was knowing that I could have kept going at that pace. I don't know for how far but I definately could have kept going. Putting additional atttention toward relaxing and controlled breathing during training has also helped a great deal as well. I am finding it easier to relax and just run.
Time: 7:37/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 13.00 | 0.00 | 13.00 |
|
Long run today of 13 miles. Legs were still a little tired from yesterdays marathon pace run so the first few miles were a little labored. Once we got settled in it was time for a bathroom stop at about mile four. Finally got back out and felt pretty good for the next few miles but the muscles continued to ache there were other places I would have rather been. I can tell my endurance is really lacking. Hopefully the long runs over the next several week will help to build that area of weakness. This completes another month of running and another PR for most miles in a month.
Time: 8:48/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 5.00 | 7.00 |
|
Higdon's plan calls for a 35 minute tempo run today, my translation of that is one warm-up, five fast miles, and one cool-off for a total of seven miles. On my tempo runs I try to keep the pace at around 7:00/mile which is about 30 seconds faster than my anticipated marathon pace, hopefully this pace is fast enough to reap the desired benefits. The splits were as follows: 7:01, 6:59, 6:55, 6:56, 6:59. I felt pretty good about this effort and how the run felt. Luckily today I ran pain free, the only things to worry about were breathing, relaxing and keeping those legs pumping. I do think this speedwork is helping my overall fitness and making marathon pace feel easier.
Time: 7:24/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
|
Just 4 easy miles today. Incorporated some strides to work on form and turnover. Mostly just a nice easy pace and easy run. Temps continue to go up and up...83 degrees at 5:00 am this morning. Should be a really hot fourth of July.
Time: 8:19/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 2.00 | 7.00 |
|
Happy Independence Day to everyone out there! What a great day to enjoy our freedoms and a great run! Ran 7 miles today and felt so good we decided to throw in a couple of sub 8:00 miles which were about 25-30 seconds slower than marathon pace. So not too fast but faster than normal. After we finished our run the wife talked me into going for a bike ride and since I didn't have to go to work today I decided to go out with her and we did 12 miles at a fairly easy pace. I think I am going to sleep the rest of the day. We had a great ward party at a members house with a pool and enjoyed pancakes and breakfast burritos. Pretty decent post work out recovery meal. Man it is hot here. When we started our run today at 5 am it was 86 degrees an our later it was 94 and rising, supposed to reach about 115 today. Hot Hot and more Hot.
Time: 8:08/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 2.00 | 4.00 |
|
Ran 4 miles today with a couple of sub 8:00 minute miles. After staying up a little later than usual for the 4th of July festivities I found myself a little more tired than usual this morning so the run felt a little harder on the legs. Thankfully I got through it and tomorrow is another day. Some days when you just don't feel like running are the days when you really need to get out and do it. Right shin was botherin me a little more than usual, I think I have a slight shin splint. I forgot to massage and roll my shins last night so that may have been part of the reason for the discomfort. Temperature was 89 degrees this morning at the start of our run. Vegas is looking at a possible record high today.
Time: 8:16/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 5.00 | 8.00 |
|
Ran 8 miles today instead of the prescibed 7 miles. Felt really good the whole way and picked up the pace for 5 miles to about 15-20 seconds slower than marathon pace. Pain in the knees and shins were very minimal and it all felt good. There were even some clouds in the sky today to keep the sun hidden for a bit longer than usual and cool the temps although it is still very hot and we were close to an all time record yesterday.
Time: 7:59/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
|
Ran 14 miles today for my long run. Ran with Chad and Meg today, Chad is also training for St. George and will be going for a Boston qualifier this year which he just missed last year. Overall the run felt pretty good and Chad and I even picked up the pace to about 8:10/mile for miles 11-13 but after mile 13 I was done and finished out the run with a 8:45 mile. The sun and heat was a huge factor today as it was 98 degrees when we got back home at 7:00 am. My prerun food consisted of a vanilla power gel and water and then just water throughout the run. I may need to start adding additional food in the morning before runs that go 15 and beyond. I will start experimenting with bagels and bananas over the next few weeks to see how it goes. I also think we will need to start our longer runs 30-60 minutes earlier due to the heat. The heat causes my body to work harder than it needs to to get the same result. Overall good run today but lots of work.
Time: 8:37/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.35 | 2.50 | 7.85 |
|
Interval training today with 5 x 800 meter repeats. Began and ended with an easy 2 mile run for a total of 7.85 miles today. Once again, today I tried to run each of these intervals as near to 3:15 as possible and here are the splits: 3:15, 3:17, 3:15, 3:17, 3:13 (pushed a little harder on that last once because I didn't want it to be my slowest). Tough workout but rewarding at the end. You know you have worked hard and your week quads are evidence of that. This week is a cut back week on Higdon's plan so it will be my last week at or near 40 miles. Probably a good thing since we will be at Duck Creek Village above Cedar City from Thursday - Saturday of this week and the running won't be easy at 8500 feet but I imagine it will be beneficial.
Time: 8:45/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
|
Switched the normal 3-4 mile run today with a 7 mile run. Lower back has been bothering me a little more than normal lately and the muscles in that area are feeling really tight. Hopefully some additional stretching will loosen things up if not I will start on some anti inflamatories for a few days. Funny how once your legs are fit and doing well something else always pops up to give you problems. Run felt good today, besides the back and we ran negative splits through 6 miles and then cooled down slightly on the 7th mile.
Time: 8:24/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Easy run today, we are leaving to go to Duck Creek today and will be running 23 miles up there over the next 3 days. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
|
First run at Duck Creek and didn't sleep well the night before. Running at 8500 elevation really works you good. Took it pretty easy for the entire run. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| This run was supposed to be 7 miles at marathon pace but with the elevation and lack of sleep it turned out to be a "let's just log the miles" run. Ran 9 miles on the roads through the camp ground and was glad to be done. The quads are feeling week and the lack of good sleep is killing me. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Didn't feel good this morning at all. Quads hurt, knees hurt, head hurt, just felt worn out. This was our third and final run at Duck Creek and the elevation has finally kicked my butt. This turned out to be a very very slow 10 miles through ATV trails, dirt roads, and mountian highways and it seemed like everything was aching. Let's just say I was glad to be done with the run and will be glad to get back to Las Vegas to continue with the marathon training. I was glad that I didn't miss a run and logged all the prescribed miles during this vacation but I am not really pleased with the effort or the way my body felt. Hopefully things will get back to normal when I return to familiar territory. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Well starting today and for the remaining 12 weeks until the marathon, Mondays will be my lower mileage days. I decided to switch Mondays to the lower mileage run because the Saturday runs are getting longer and I thought an additional recovery day might do me some good. That way I will be refreshed on Tuesday for the hills, tempo, or interval runs. Run felt a little sluggish today. By the third mile I got it down to 8:00/mile pace but the first two miles were pretty slow. Probably still recovering from last weeks vacation. It is good to be back and I'm not planning on any distractions over the next 12 weeks leading up to the marathon so I am hoping for some good hard training and preparation. This week's mileage is 47 and I have never gone that far in a week so from here on out I will be running in unfamiliar territory. Hopefully the body and mind hold up as I am planning on the mileage topping out at about 60/week by the end.
Time: 8:36/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 1.00 | 7.00 |
|
Today was 5xhills and it was a good hard workout. Began with two easy miles to warm up and then ran up and down the Azure overpass 5 times. Decided to run up and down at the same intensity since SGM requires lots of down hill running. Ended up running one of the mile splits during the hill repeats under 8:00/mile, thus the one fast mile. This was Megs first day using her new toy (Garmin 301) and I think she enjoyed it but is not too fond of the heart rate strap. It took me a week or two to get used to it and now I hardly know it's there. I don't really know what the temps were today but it really doesn't matter, it was hot. We are going through the peak of the hot season right now. By the first couple weeks of September things usually start to cool down.
Time: 8:26/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 3.00 | 8.00 |
|
Longer midweek run today of 8 miles. Decided to pick up the pace a bit for 3 of the 8 miles to at or near marathon pace. The faster pace miles felt a little more labored today probably due to my hill workout yesterday. It continues to get darker and darker each morning as the days get shorter. This seems to keep the temps down a little bit....still hot though.
Time: 8:05/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
|
Easy 4 today. Took it fairly easy today in preparation for the big Friday and Saturday runs. Added a few strides during miles 3 and 4 just to let the legs get the feel of race pace. Temps were actually quite nice today with 79 at the start it actually felt a bit cooler today which is always nice. Been working on controlling my diet over the last couple of months and it seems to be paying off as I have slowly been dropping the pounds. My goal is to get down to about 165-170 (5'11" average build) and lose the fat (spare tire) around my waist. I am at about 178 now so I think by SGM I should be pretty close to my goal as the training miles increase and the diet stays healthy.
Time: 8:22/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
|
I was scheduled to run an 8 mile marathon pace run today but it didn't quite work out that way. Started off as normal with a nice easy warm up mile and then gently picked up the pace to marathon pace. After about two miles I noticed something was not quite right. I was laboring too hard at this pace. I decided to stop in for a sip of gatorade to see if that would help. Continued on for the next two miles at marathon pace and felt better for a bit but eventually the same result, couldn't maintain the pace. Stopped in for one more sip of gatorade and was able to complete one more mile at marathon pace and then decided to back it off. Heart rate was going higher than normal and body was laboring way too hard. So I ended up today with 5 miles at marathon pace (7:28/mile) and the rest of the miles at an easy pace. As I look back at yesterday I think my water intake was a bit less than normal and the slight dehydration may have had something to do with my problems. I know you can't be on your game every day so I will keep an eye on this issue over the next week and see how my performances are, especially with a 40 minute tempo run coming up next week, that will be a good guage on whether I had a bad day or something else is wrong.
Time: 8:05/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 16.00 | 0.00 | 16.00 |
|
Long run today of 16 miles and it went much better than expected. Based on my performance yesterday with my marathon pace run and my major bonk I expected today to be a very difficult and long run. It turned out to be my best long run to date. Not to say that it was easy, but relatively speaking it was easier than expected. Started out fairly slow with just under 9:00/mile and had a few miles under a few miles over 9:00 the whole way. I think the easy pace really helped to make this a good run. By the last two miles I still had a little gas in the tank to step up the pace to about 8:30/mile which was a nice confidence builder based on how I have felt at the end of previous long runs. Felt like the perfect long run. Pre run meal was a banana and about 8 ounces of water with 2 Advil. I could feel the advil working within the first couple of miles because the legs felt really good. During the run I consumed 700 ml of water and two Vanilla power gel packets. We started our run at about 4:15 and ran around our complex a couple of times for 3 miles just to let it get a little lighter and then we headed out on our regular long run course down to Jones up to Grand Teton up Tenaya and back home. Temps were about 84 at the start and it was bit more humid than usual. We were running with the wind for the first few miles so the temps were almost unbearable. Eventually the winds changed as we moved through the course and we got some small breezes here and there to cool us off but not much. Luckily we got home before the sun really started blazing down. This completes my longest mileage week to date at 48 miles. Plan I am following tops out at 60.
Time: 8:52/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Easy 3 miler today. Legs felt good considering the 16 mile long run on Saturday, but my lower back was killing me. It really started hurting early Sunday and has continued to ache today as well. Decided today to take 800mg Ibuprofen 3 times daily to see if that will knock out the pain over the next couple of days. The only things I can attribute this flare up to would be our stake pioneer day celebration where I helped prepare corn for the whole stake and much of the work involved lifting boxes of corn, etc. Not much of a relaxing day after an early monrning long run ehhh. Hopefully it is not a result of the long run but I guess the possibility exists since running can be hard on the lower back especially one like mine that has already gone through one surgery back in 1993 to repair a herniated disk. I will continue to stretch my back and take Ibuprofen over the next few days and see where we are. Maybe a new matress is in order too. Ours is really old! Run today was very slow and the weather was hot and wet with the monsoon seaon upon us.
Time: 8:48/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 6.00 | 8.00 |
|
Ran a 6 mile tempo run today with a mile warm up and cool down. Wasn't exactly sure what to expect to be able to do today based on my last marathon pace run being a complete disaster. Started the run with medium expectations of running a fairly fast temp pace. Ended up runnning the 6 tempo miles at a 7:13/mile pace which isn't bad but is slower than my expected capability. Overall I am happy with the run and felt pretty good for most of the way except for the lower back which has continued to ache but seems to be doing better with the Ibuprofen regemin. Not much rain in the valley but man it is humid for Vegas. I was drenched when I got done today.
Time: 7:30/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 4.00 | 8.00 |
|
I decided to run my 8 mile run today in the familiar negative split format. Since I wanted to finish with a 7:30 or better pace on the last mile I started mile 1 at about an 8:40 pace and cut 10 seconds per mile for each mile. Meg stayed with me until about mile 4 and then we went our seperate ways. Short story long, I exceeded my goal and ran the last mile at 7:19. Weather was very humid again today and the sweat was flowing freely although the temps were only in the high 70s. I will take the dry heat and high temps over the wet heat and lower temps any day, this humidity is a killer.
Time: 8:01/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
|
Ran 8 easy miles today. My back is still bothering me but we bought a new matress topper to go on our bed and it seems to be helping. I stopped taking the ibuprofen yesterday as well so I can get a better read on how the back was feeling. We'll see how the next couple of days go and go from there. Today was supposed to be a 4 mile run but Meg doesn't like going 8 on Friday and then long on Saturday so we decided to switch 8 to today and move 4 to Friday. I will probably go 5 or 6 tomorrow just for the extra conditioning. Todays run felt pretty good and the pace was a little faster than my normal easy runs but still felt pretty easy. There have been lots of threatening clouds in the skies the last few days but not much rain to show for it. Hopefully the rains will be coming soon because the valley really could use it. Temps were in the high 70s today but it was still very humid.
Time: 8:22/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
|
Today I decided not to look at my Garmin for the entire run and just run at a pace that felt comfortable regardless of the time. I do have the alarm set to go off each mile so I knew what mile I was on and so I took of just running at a pace that felt good. I figured I was running about 8:45-8:55 pace but when I completed the run I was pleased to find that my pace was 8:29 per mile. My back actually felt a little better today. The last couple of days I have been running on the opposite side of the road than usual and that may be helping a little bit as well due to the slightly cambered roads in my neighborhood. The new matress topper seems to be working pretty well so far too. I seem to be sleeping better at night and tossing and turning less, or at least it seems that way. Temps are still slightly cooler than normal but the humidity more than makes up for the cooler temps.
Time: 8:29/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 13.00 | 4.00 | 17.00 |
|
Long run today that I decided to run as a 3/1 run. In other words I ran the first 13 miles at an easy long run pace and the final 4 miles at marathon pace. Had some stomach issues for the first several miles and had to make a couple of stops at the house for the bathroom. Once the system was cleared out is was smooth sailing. Started feeling better as the run continued and decided to pick up the pace the last four miles to near marathon pace. I think my average for these last 4 miles was around 7:30/mile. It was good to try and get to marathon pace on tired legs so that I could know what it felt like. It wasn't easy but as the last miles clicked by it didn't get any harder either, which I think is a good sign. Felt pretty good for the rest of the day with no real soreness or aches on Sunday either. I know I am much more fit this year than last year based on my shorter recovery from these long runs. The long runs would wipe me out for the weekend last year. This year I feel like I could go for a run on Sunday if it weren't my day of rest. Needless to say, I am pleased with the overall results of this run even though I need to figure out the bathroom thing. I think I really ate too much food on Friday due to a lunch at work which was different than my typical small portions. That won't happen again. Temps were warm as usual and the humidity was relatively high, making for another wet run. This concludes my highest mileage week ever at 49 miles enroute to my highest mileage month ever which ends tomorrow.
Time: 8:28/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Took it easy today in preparation for 6 x 800 tomorrow. Thought about going an extra mile or two but changed my mind due to the fact that this a cut back week and the two weeks following this week are going to be fairly demanding with long runs of 19 and 20 miles. So I will make this a true cutback week in order to hopefully benefit from a bit of recovery, although the mileage difference is only 3 miles less with a 12 mile long run on Saturday. Added a few strides today during the last mile just for fun. Hot and muggy again today.
Time: 8:33/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.65 | 3.00 | 8.65 |
|
Speed workout today! 6 x 800 meter intervals with 3 minute breaks. Splits for 800s were as follows: 3:15, 3:07, 3:13, 3:16, 3:18, 3:18. Gave a little too much on the second and third intervals and paid for it on the final three, which were tough. This was my third 800 meter workout during this training cycle which has been building from 4x800 and each one has become progressively harder. There will be two more of these workouts before the marathon 7x800 and 8x800. Ran slow for 3 minutes between each interval and ran 2 mile warm-up and 2 mile cool down at a very slow pace. Nice cloud cover today but it was still hot and muggy. I guess that will be the theme for then next few weeks during the monsoon season. This also concludes a huge record mileage month for me at 193.5 (previous record was 153).
Time: 8:36/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
|
Easy 9 today. Took it easy today ran at a comfortable pace the whole way. Added a couple of strides but they didn't feel right so only did the two. Back problem continues to cause me some problems, depending on how this week goes I may end up cutting out the speed work in the future runs and just focus on base miles. Have thought about getting an inversion table several times but have never done it. Maybe now is the time to get serious about getting one due to the nagging back issues. Another hot and muggy day today 86 with fairly heavy cloud cover.
Time: 8:39/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 2.00 | 4.00 |
|
Decided to pick it up on my 4 miler today to see if I would be able to run my marathon pace miles tomorrow. Ran middle two miles today at 7:25 pace and felt really good. The back and related leg issues only bothered me for the first half mile or so and things got better as I went along. Weather continues to be hot and muggy although this morning was a bit cooler than yesterday.
Time: 7:58/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 9.00 | 11.00 |
|
Ran 9 miles at marathon pace today.....well "close" to marathon pace. After a mile warm up I started out hitting about 7:30 miles for the first five miles, then faded off for a couple of miles but still kept the pace under 7:50 then finished off the last two closer to 7:35. for an average pace of 7:37 per mile. Not too bad, but not where I want to be. Part of my problem relates to the back issues I have been having lately and part of the problem (besides lack of fitness) is not refeuling at mile 6 or 7. I usually take in some gel on my long runs at about mile 7 but for some reason (lack of planning and laziness) on my pace runs I never take anything, not even water. I still have three more 9+ mile marathon pace runs so I think for each one of those I will plan on taking a gel and water at about mile 7 to see if that makes any difference. Started earlier than usual today in order to get done at a decent hour and the temps seemed a bit cooler. 81 degrees at the end and still quite a bit of humidity in the air. Since this is a cut back week, only 12 tomorrow for the long run, then two huge weeks follow that. The true test of my fitness will come in the next six weeks as the miles and intensity to beyond anything I've done before.
Time: 7:50/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
|
Long run today of 12 miles. First few miles were very slow, about 9:00/mile due to pain in my left hip area due to the back issues. After several miles the pain tends to subside and I am able to pick up the pace. Picked up the last few miles to a sub 8:30/mile pace and felt pretty natural and good. These shorter "long" runs just aren't as challenging as they used to be. I still remember my first 10 miler last year like it was yesterday, what a struggle that was at the time. Since this is a cut back week the shorter run will help me recover more for the upcoming huge week. I have been contemplating taking a few days off next week to see if the hip and back feel any better with less running. We'll see how it's doing Sunday and then see how it feels on Monday morning and go from there. I hate to miss any days with the last six big weeks staring me in the face before the taper but if I'm going to have a chance to be completely healthy for the marathon, rest sooner rather than later is probably a better choice.
Time: 8:35/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Walke about 1.5 miles today in order to rest my back and hip problems. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
|
Ran with fellow fastrunningbloger Clay today. It's nice to meet people in person that you know from the blog so you can put a name with an actual person. Met up with Clay at my house just before 5:00 am and we went for a 7 mile run around my neck of the woods. Clay is in town on vacation with his wife from Northern Utah. We ran a loop around my subdivision and then took off and did a loop that my wife and I usually do on the weekend. It was a little cooler than normal this morning and there was a little bit of a breeze to boot so running today was not as uncomfortable as it has been. The hip and back were feeling better today but still could use more rest, I will be taking it day to day at this point. Ran a little faster pace to start than I normally would but I think that happens when you run with someone new. We settled in after a couple of miles and finished with an average pace just under 8:30.
Time: 8:29/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running today. Still giving the back a bit more time to heal up. The pain in the hip seems to be subsiding a bit but not as much as I would like. I hope to make it back by Friday or Saturday for my long runs and to salvage the week, but I won't push it if I'm not there yet. I hate not being able to run. I am usually the kind of person to just push through this stuff but I think I pushed long enough and it wasn't getting any better. Hopefully this extended break will help. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Still down due to back problems. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Still down due to back problems. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Still down due to back problems. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Still down due to back problems. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Still down due to back problems. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Still down due to back problems. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Still down due to back problems. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Still down due to back problems. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 20.00 | 0.00 | 20.00 |
|
Well....this was probably not the wisest decision of my running career but it turned out to be one of the most rewarding. I have been rehabing my back and hip for the better part of two weeks now with only some very light running and lots of walking and stretching. Started todays run with the intention of going until my body said to stop and then grab the bike and go for a ride. Well long story short, I decided to finish the whole 20 mile run. This is my first 20 miler of my running career that I was able to finish relatively pain free. My only previous 20 miler was last year in preparation for the SGM and when I finished I was in severe pain with shin and knee problems and never fully recovered in time to run a good SGM. This year I was wiped out physically but the rest of my body seemed to be in good working order. Calfs...good....knees....good....back....fair.....hip.....fair. I am writing this on sunday and things are feeling pretty good. I will probably continue on with the training program tomorrow depending on how I feel in the morning but all speed, interval and hill work will be out. I will be focusing only on base miles and staying injury free from here on out. I have borrowed an inversion table from a member or our ward and have used it for the last couple of day and it really seems to be helping so far with the aches and pains. My goal with borrowing first is to determine whether to purchase one for myself. Based on my experience so far I would say a purchase is in my future. Hopefully the next 7 weeks will go smooth and I can stay injury free to run a respectable time at SGM. Oh....the run.....well my wife and I started out really well keeping the pace in the 8:45-8:50 range and then due to my lack of planning on Friday I think a bit of dehydration set in for me and I struggled the last 3-4 miles but ended up maintaining and average pace of 9:03. Not bad for two weeks off and I'll take it considering my current level of fitness.
Time: 9:03/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
|
Just a short 4 miler today. Felt pretty good for the entire run. Picked it up a little for the last mile and was happy to know it still feels good to run faster. Not sure if I will be able to continue running everyday but if not I will be doing the elliptical. The elliptical doesn't bother my back or hip much and I can get a pretty good cardio work out so it is definately better than nothing at all.
Time: 8:42/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 60 minutes on the elliptical. The key to surviving this indoor training is finding a good movie and just going to work. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 40 minutes on the elliptical. Finished watching the end of I Robot today. Good thing I have a good assortment of movies to get me through this indoor training stuff. I go in for an MRI today to discover the extent of the damage in my back. If I had to guess, I would say that I have re-herniated my L5 S1 disk that I had operated on 15 years ago. I should be meeting with the doctor to discuss the results by early next week. Hopefully it is something that can be corrected with therapy rather then surgery. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
Rest due to injury.
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| Walked two miles today due to injury. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest due to injury. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
Rest.
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest due to injury |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Ran 1 mile and walked 2 miles. Hip is till hurting a bit. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| Walked 2 miles today. Went in for my epidural steriod injection today. I wasn't really all that nervous considering I was about to have several needles inserted into my back near the nerves. Things didn't start out too well as the nurse who was to hook up an IV had to stick me twice in one hand and once in the other before she finally got it in the vain. After that things went much smoother as they injected me with some happy drugs and went to work on the epidural stuff. I felt nothing until the doctor started to inject the steroids and then I felt pretty bad pain down the hamstrings of both legs which lasted for a few seconds and then was gone. I imagine he was pretty darn close to the nerves in that area so the pain was not totally unexpected, maybe just not to that degree. After about a 15 minute recovery we headed for home and I pretty much sacked out for the night. The area around the injection site was a bit sore but other than that everything felt pretty good. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Decided to walk three miles today just to test how things were feeling. Injection site was still pretty sore and hamstrings and butt muscles were also a little sore, probably from tensing up during the procedure. Still to early to tell if the procedure worked or not. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Walked 4 miles today and muscles are still a little sore but feeling better. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Don't remember why I took this day off. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Decided to try some really easy running today. Ran 3 miles at about a 10:00/mile pace and then walked an additional mile. I can tell I have lost some serious finess and the road back will be rough. The back seems to be feeling better and the hip is doing okay as well. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Ran a full 4 miles today and felt really good, however my fitness is gone. Heart rate is way up for the effort and calfs are feeling tight from yesterday. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
|
Increased the mileage to 5 today and ran them at a very slow pace. Calfs are really getting sore due to the layoff but everything else is feeling good. Have noticed a decrease in the tingling down my left leg and foot. Have also noticed an improvement in my hip. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Increased mileage again today and ran slow again today. My plan from now until the marathon is to run only base miles and cut out all hills, intervals and other speed work. I will plan on doing some strides now and then during runs as well as run a fast mile (7:30ish) once in a while but that will be the extent of it. My realistic goal for the marathon is probably around 4 hours but I thing that 3:45 is still a slight possibility if I can run a smart race and if things feel good on that day. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Joined Meg today on her 20 mile run at her 10 mile mark and paced her at a pretty good clip for several miles. We tried to keep the pace right around 8:00 per mile and ended up averaging 8:24 for the 10 miles. I felt really good during this run and it was a nice confidence builder going into the last week of real training before the taper weeks for SGM. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 1.00 | 4.00 |
| 4 miles today and decided to add a fast mile just to see how it felt to run under 8:00/mile pace.....felt pretty good. Everything is feeling good and confidence is good. Calfs are still sore, need to really work on loosening them up and stretching during the day. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 2.00 | 7.00 |
| Decided to go a bit longer today and through in a couple of faster miles just to test out the legs and back and hip. Other then my lack of fitness, everything seems good. Was planning on running six today but our neighbors dogs got out so I ran another mile around our subdivision looking for them. Turns out they ran to the next subdivision and she found them before I did. Oh well, I needed the extra mile anyway. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 1.00 | 8.00 |
|
Another increase in miles today and everything is well. The calfs are still sore but they loosen up during the run. It's amazing how much you lose in just a few weeks of time off. I hope this soreness goes away during the taper because I really don't need to be cramping up during the marathon. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| Seven fairly easy miles today. Still just piling on the base miles to try and rebuild some fitness in the shortest time possible without re-injuring things. All the injuries seem fine but I could tell my legs were feeling a bit of fatigue due to the everyday training so far this week and part of last week. I imagine this is normal as I am getting back into things and hopefully the taper will bring some life back into these old muscles. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 1.00 | 6.00 |
| I cut back the mileage to six today to try and give the calves a small break. Spent a little extra time stretching after the run today to try and really loosen up those tight muscles and get some of the soreness out. I am finally starting to feel some releif but it is slow in coming. The back and hip felt average today and I was able to step up the pace for one mile today and really get the heart rate going. I have been trying to concentrate on my form the last few runs and staying relaxed when picking up the pace. Sloppy form may have been one of the causes that caused all the aggravation in my back and hip so extra attention to form will hopefully pay off. Based on my plan for tomorrow, I should end the week with 47.1 miles. My first taper week won't be much of a cut back with about 42 miles, after that it drops to 30 and then 13 in the final week before the marathon. Depending on the level of soreness I may cut that 42 mile week back a bit further to gain some extra recovery but at this point I can't afford to cut back too much and lose fitness. I will just have to take it a day at a time and listen to the body. | |
| | Race: |
Candlelighters 5K Race for Our Kids (3.12 Miles) 00:22:59, Place overall: 31, Place in age division: 3 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 3.12 | 15.12 |
| What a great day for a run. This is a race report but I also logged 12 miles as a long run to keep the marathon training going. The temps were almost chilly this morning at 73 degrees and a light breeze. It was a very pleasant change from the usual 80's. The 12 mile run went well and I really tried to stay well hydrated today which is something I really don't do well when I run. A rarely drink anything on runs 10 miles or under and I think my performance suffers a bit due to this. Today I drank every 2 miles and felt really good the whole way. Meg and I started our run about 4:45ish and ended just in time to jump in the car and drive across town to the Candlelighters 5K race at Mountains Edge Exploration Park in Southwest Vegas. My plan for the race was to run hard but back off if anything felt out of place with my hip or back. The scheduled start of the race was 7:30 am but due to major parking shortages and slow check-ins and late registrations the race didn't begin until 8:10. Needless to say, it was hot and I was very worn out already from our earlier run. I went out pretty hard for me and clocked the first mile at around 7:13. The second mile turned up hill and I really started to feel the fatigue in my legs. Realizing that we would be finishing on a nice downhill for the last mile I just coasted up the hill as best I could and hit mile two in 7:55. One we started on the down hill I really tried hard to find another gear and was able to push hard with a 7:01 mile and finish time of 22:59. I was hoping to run a little better than that but after the 12 mile run earlier I will take the time and it is a PR for me even though it is not a great time. I havn't run enough 5K's to really figure out a racing strategy and establish a good PR. That will be something I will work toward next year after the marathon. Meg ended up taking 2nd in her age group and so we each took home some really nice hardware. The Candlelighters had children suffering from cancer create paintings on canvas and then the paintings were framed in very nice frames which included a small inscription of our place, age group and the date. It was a very fun event and rewarding to take home some hardware for once. I doubt that will happen very often so I will take it when I can get it. This was a pretty heavy mileage week for me after coming back from injury so I wil probably look to cut back just slightly next week and try to stay healthy for the ultimate goal of SGM. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Woke up late today and was only able to slog out 3 slow miles. Probably okay though because I was still feeling some soreness from the long run and 5K last Saturday. I have stopped taking the 800mg Ibuprofen every 8 hours so I can test how the back and hip are coming along. My last dose was Saturday morning before our long run and today I could feel a few more aches and pains here and there and my hip was hurting a little more than usual. This was to be expected since I have been drugged out on Advil for the better part of a month now. We'll see how it feels tomorrow and go from there. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
|
One dose of Ibuprofen yesterday around dinner due to the aches and pains, but none this morning before our run. The hip and back actually felt pretty good, but my legs still felt dead. I had to make a bathroom stop just before mile 7 and when I went back out, the last 1.4 miles felt really good and I was able to step up the pace. I think I still have some lingering fatigue from last Saturday. I know I am still trying to get some fitness back and the 47 miles last week was only 2 miles short of my all time weekly mileage high, so I think I can attribute some of the fatigue to that as well. This week I am looking to log around 40-42 miles as I will be going into a slight taper mode for SGM. Hopefully the legs find some zip soon as the marathon is fast approaching. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Another 8 base miles today. Things felt a little bit better today and the legs were not quite as fatigued today but nowhere near where I want them to be. I imagine things will start feeling progressively better as the week goes along. It was another chilly one today by Las Vegas standards, the starting temp was about 71. I think summer is finally over and we have probably seen the last of 100 degree days. I must be getting climatized to running in Vegas when 70 feels cold. I am gonna freeze at the start of SGM where the temps can be below 40. I'm going camping this Friday night up on Mt. Charleston and there is a chance of rain and temps could be around 40......I should get up and run that morning just to get the lovely feeling of running in the freezing cold......NOT! I think I will wait until I get home in the evening to run. I have run up there before and running at 8500 ft is not fun and the dirt roads are a mess.....don't need a sprained ankle at this stage of the game. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Another 8 miles of aerobic base today. Hip and back felt remarkably better today. Have been trying to do a bit more easy stretching during the day at work and maybe that is helping a bit. I know my hamstrings are always really tight so lossening thing up a bit can only help. The temps continue to fall as our run this morning was around 67; a bit chilly at first but just right once you get going. Tomorrow we may do a marathon pace run of about 4 miles plus a mile warm-up and cool down. 8:00/mile is our/my new goal for the marathon but I am having doubts as to my ability to hold that pace for the whole marathon. We'll see how tomorrow goes for 4 miles and maybe make some goal adjustments after that. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Well my marathon pace didn't work out as expected. I think fatigue is still giving me some problems and some dehydration this morning was a bit of a problem. Ended up running a couple of miles in a light rain shower this morning and it was much more humid than anticipated. I also realized too late that I really hadn't had any water after dinner last night and I could feel it this morning. Thought about stopping at 4 or 5 miles but decided to slog it out to the end and at least be able to s.....log the miles. Not much of a confidence builder this morning, I'm starting to doubt my ability to maintian an 8:00/mile pace for SGM. I keep hoping each day will get better and for the most part it has but not to the degree that I have been hoping for. Hopefully as my modified taper progresses, some of the fatigue will give way to a bit more energy in the legs and more will power in the mind. Tonight I am going to 11 year old scout camp with my youngest son and it is gonna be cold with rain a very good possibility and snow a slight possibility. I don't get to excited about camping anymore with the thought of sleeping on the ground, or on an air matress. I just don't sleep well out of my normal comfort zone. Besides the fact that we will be freezing. I am planning on doing a 10-12 mile run Saturday evening when we get back from the camp. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| Literally slogged and sloshed through this wet run. I shouldn't complaint too loud though because it only rains about 2 days a year here in Vegas. Really struggled on todays run. Nothing wanted to go, the legs were tired, the knees were a little achy and my mind just wasn't into it. It was another one of those runs that really is a confidence killer for the upcoming marathon, especially when you don't feel good the whole way. I am really hoping that I can attribute most of my fatigue and pain on the last two week of getting back into training and that the coming days will bring some much needed releif and energy. Only time will tell but today I would have never been able to finish a marathon. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 2.00 | 6.00 |
| WOW!! What a difference from Saturday to today. Everything just felt better and the fatigue, while still noticable, has diminished substantially. By the last two miles of my run today I was able to pick up the pace and knock out a 7:50 and a 7:24 mile. I plan to log about 35 miles this week, with no speed or hill training, just base miles and hopefully that will be enough of a reduction to put some of the spring back in my legs and some air into my lungs. Weather was even more chilly than normal today with 61 degrees at the start and a brisk north wind. Although this run was only 6 miles it does help with the confidence a little bit. Just knowing I can run sub 8:00/miles is huge for me at this point. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 1.00 | 6.00 |
|
Another nice run today. Took me a couple of miles to get really warmed up but was able to pick up the pace to one sub 8:00 mile today and felt really good by the end. Meg is having a little trouble with her arch lately and tomorrow both of us are going to see our podiatrist for a cortizone shot in the arch area. My arch isn't near as bad as hers as she has had a couple of surgeries to relieve some of the tightness in the fascia. I usually need to go in every 8-10 months for a cortizone injection and then I am good to go. She rode her bike today while I ran. It was cold and breezy again today with temps in the low 60's. When I got to work my arch had really tightened up so I am looking forward to the cortizone tomorrow and the anticipated relief. I am completely off all other meds right now and everything else if feeling pretty good. Only 11 days to go until show time. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 2.00 | 8.00 |
| Two days off did wonders!! On Tuesday Meg and I went in for our cortisone shots in our left feet....man those things are painful. I must admit that this doc is really good at taking his time with the injection and keeping the pain to a minimum. He is a former collegiate track middle distance runner and really relates well to the things Meg and I are going through. My injection continued to hurt worse than normal on Wednesday morning so I took the day off. Part of the reason I took the day off was because we just got our new computer from Dell and I spent half the night setting it up and getting it up and running. Foot continued to ache on Thursday as well and I took that day off too just as a precaution. Needless to say I was ready to run again today and it was a great run. The first thing I noticed was I felt none of the usual little pains (other than a very small ache in my cortisone foot). The back and hip are feeling better and my breathing and heart rate were very much under control. I was very comfortable for the first six miles. Meg ended her run at six and I continued on to do 8....kinda to make up for the two missed days a little bit and kinda because I felt so good. I decided to step up the pace for the last two miles to sub 8:00/mile and was very surprised at the ease with which I was able to run sub 8. After getting back to running over the past four weeks I think my fitness is about back to where it was before my back and hip injuries that started at the beginning of August. I wish I had another couple of months to train for St. George but I will have to be satisfied with being healthy and able to attempt the marathon at all. I feel so much more prepared and healthy this year compared to last year when I was suffering from shin splints/stress fractures and nagging knee pains for the entire 26.2. I am excited to see what I can do even it is going to fall short of my original goal of 3:15. I will be satisfied with a sub 4 and would like to attempt to push it closer to 3:30 but that may be a little far fetched. Great weather this morning. Temps were 65 and there was basically no wind. Too bad St. George will be at least 20 degrees colder than that at the start. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Todays semi-long run felt so much better than last weeks 12 mile run. The form felt good, the breathing felt good and all the usual aches and pains were gone. A bit of the confidence is back now and that should be a posative going in to the final week of training before SGM. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
|
Ran these miles at about 20 seconds slower than anticipated marathon pace and felt really good. I'm a little worried that my anticipated 8:00/mile pace for the marathon might be a bit too fast for my fitness. Holding 8:00 for six miles is nothing compared to holding it for 26.2 |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Overall pace for this run was just about 10 seconds slower than marathon pace and will be may last "faster" run before the marathon. Body is feeling well and healed. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Nice easy 3 miler just to keep the muscles sharp. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| Nice easy two miler on day before the big show. Everything feels great. With all the obstacles I have overcome over the past couple of months I feel remarkably ready to put in a nice effort at SGM. |
| | Race: |
St. George Maraton (26.2 Miles) 03:39:35, Place overall: 1407, Place in age division: 202 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 26.20 | 26.20 |
|
Got the sub 4 that I was looking for but didn't quite meet my secondary goal of going 3:30. Kinda fell apart the last 6 miles and couldn't keep pushing. Still very pleased with the effort and look forward to bettering it next year. Compared to last years 4:55 I am happy to know that I have the ability to "run" the entrire 26.2 miles, even if the the last 6 miles were a bit slow. More to come later.
I am now typing this for second time DANGIT!
Going into this marathon I really wasn't sure what to have as a goal finishing time for several reasons: First, I have never "run" the full marathon distance. Last years SGM really doesn't count for me because I ended up walking the last 7 miles. Second, I had missed about 180 miles worth of training in August and I could tell that I had lost a lot of fitness as a result. Third, I wasn't sure how much of an advantage or disadvantage the hills would be during the last few miles of the race. With these things in mind I decided to set my sights high and try for a 3:30, Meg agreed to try for the same time.
Originally we were going to go up to St. George on Thursday night and stay with my parents through the weekend. Considering how poorly we usually sleep before a race we decided to stay in Las Vegas on Thursday night and sleep in our own bed and sleep in so be sure and get a good nights sleep the night before. I'm glad we did that because as expected (maybe a self fulfilling prophecy) we didn't sleep well on Friday. I was up at 2 and then again at 3 at which time we decided to just get up and get going.
After freezing last year at the starting line I swore I would never go up on the early bus again. As it turns out, this year we ended up on the very first but....go figure. This year though, we were prepared with blankets and we planted ourselves squarely in front of a nice fire and relaxed for the next two hours and stayed very warm.
As the race time approached we ended up having to hustle to the clothing truck to toss in our bags. The poor kids in the back of the truck were getting bombed as people were hurrying to make it back to the starting line on time. I got back just in time to meet up with Meg and take off running. Our warm-up could have been a little better. We ended up jogging from the last fire pits to near the clothing truck and some very easy stretching. We started somewhere between the 3:10 and 3:20 pace groups.
The start was a bit crowded but not as crowded as I remember it from last year. I think our faster pace than last year really helped to keep us closer to the front of the pack and things seemed to thin out relatively quickly.
Things felt really good for the first several miles and we were right on pace. We were careful not to go out too fast knowing that we would really pay for it later. I ran with Meg up until about mile 10 when she took her first potty break. I knew she would eventually catch me due to her competative nature and her desire not to lose to me today.
The next few miles alone were very boring. The uphill section after Veyo are very long and generally uphill and difficult. At the halfway point I was right at about 1:46 which is right were I figured I needed to be to meet my 3:30 goal.
Some time around Snow Canyon I get a tap on my shoulder and it is Meg. She came roaring back a lot sooner than I had expected and it was nice to have a running partner again. I was only able to hang with her for about a mile since by this time my pace was starting to slow and I had to let her go. I could feel the 3:30 pace group breathing down my neck and I knew it wouldn't be long before they would chew me up and spit me out. It was at this point that I decided to take a potty break.
I could still see the 3:30 pace group up ahead but I knew that I could never catch them as I was really starting to feel the fatigue and my pace was slowing constantly. At about mile 20 I was begining to wonder if I was going to be able to finish while still running or if I was going to have to walk it in. I determined in my mind that I was going to finish running not walking.....so I did.
The last several downhill miles turned out to be a big disadvantge to me, my feet were jammed into the front of my shoes, my calves and quads were screaming STOP, and my legs just couldn't move any faster. This is one lesson that I hope will help me prepare better next year for the downhill sections of the course.
At the mile 23 aid station I had the volunteers slap a little icy hot on my calfs and I walked through the aid station to get the full benefit a cup of water and I set off to finish strong. By this time I knew that my 3:30 goal was gone but I had determined that a sub 3:40 was still possible if I could just hold a sub 9 pace. During the last two miles I must have gotten passed by over 100 people but I didn't quit running. I was so zoned out that I really didn't even hear the crowd until we got to around tabernacle and the crowds were getting larger and a band was playing. At this point I knew I would make it and I was able to find a little extra energy to finish strong....relatively speaking of course.
Overall we are happy with our effort. Meg finished in 3:34 which is an 11 minute PR for her. I think the stronger training plan and faster running this summer really helped her get to the next level. This was her 4th marathon and she did awsome.
We are already signed up for the runner series so we are guaranteed for SGM 2008. I think the things I learned from this day will really help in my training for next year and maybe that Boston qualifier will become a reality. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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Three very easy miles today. Just a shake down run to see what is hurting if anything. Most of the soerness in my legs is gone and I am feeling pretty well other than my legs were very fatigued by the last mile. I guess I still have some recovering to do.
Michael just had is appendix out on Wednesday morning. He had been complaining on Monday night about pains in his lower abdomen. We decided to wait and see how he felt in the morning. Turns out the pain didn't go away so we took him to the doctor on Tuesday and she sent us directly to the emergency room with an initial diagnosis of appendicitis. In the emergency room they ran blood tests and sent him in for a CT scan. The results of these test were not decisive and the doctor was 50/50 as to whether or not to go through with the surgery and remove the appendix. She deided to keep him in the hospital for the night and re-evalute him in the morning. On Wednesday morning they re-evaluated him and determined that it would be best to remove the appendix rather than risk a future rupture and we tended to agree with this line of reasoning. The surgery went well and he's home now recovering but still in a bit of pain as he is waiting for his wounds to heal. Thankfully he looks to make a full recovery and thankfully there was a doc in the OR who broke scrub and came to help me give him a blessing before his surgery. It's nice to know that there are priesthood holders throughout the world who are worthy and willing to help in times of need. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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Four easy miles with Meg today. She was feeling the effects of staying with Michael in the hospital the past couple of day so she stopped at 3 miles. I was feeling better than yesterday so I picked up the last mile to about an 8:15 pace. My recovery seems to be going well and hopefully normal training will resume on Monday. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. Actually participated the American Heart Associations heart walk with 3 of my kids today. Thought is was going to be a 1.5 mile course, ended up being a 3.1 mile course. The same 5K course that Meg and I ran a few weeks ago. It was a bit warm and long for the kids but we still had fun. Michael stayed at home still recovering from his appendix surgery and seems to be doing very well. He will probably be going back to school on Monday, and I will start my regular training again on Monday. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 4.00 | 6.00 |
|
Felt like pushing the pace a little bit today so started out pretty fast. Things felt really good and the pace seemed effortless for the first couple of miles. Took a different route than usual today which took me over the Azure overpass which was a nice hill to add near the end of the run. Ended up making it into the runners series for the SGM and am now trying to decide which races to run. I am leaning toward Snow Canyon and Hurricane 1/2 marathons but Hurricane happens about the same time as the Ogden marathon and I may want to do that one this year just to experience a marathon other than St. George. I have read and heard good things about Ogden and it would be nice to see how well I can maintain my training during the winter months. Still have time to decide so no hurry at this point. Just happy to be running and feeling good again.
8:03/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 1.00 | 8.00 |
|
Woke up a bit earlier than usual today and decided to just get up and go running. Since I had the extra time today it wasn't such a burden to log 8 miles and I had plenty of time to spare. Run felt pretty good today. Legs seemed a bit heavy compared to yesterday. Tried another variation of my running route today and enjoyed it. I don't like to stray too far from home due to the lake of bathrooms along any of my courses so I am never more than a couple of miles from home. Weather was really nice today with a light breeze out of the southwest and temps in the mid 60s. Meg was has been feeling sick so she stayed home today and got some much needed rest.
8:23/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 2.00 | 8.00 |
|
Another 8 miler today. Sasha says I shouldn't be doing any speed work until I am running at least 8 miles a day, six days a week, so this is my new goal distance each day until Saturday when I will run a 10+ mile long run. Hopefully this will serve to further strengthen my aerobic ability and get my fitness to a level where I can start working on increasing my speed. As the winter months set in and the training gets harder in the wind and cold I hope to do better than just maintain my fitness, but increase it with this plan. Today's run went well and everything felt really good. Gave a moderate effort on the last two miles and was able to do a couple of sub 8's. Weather was a little cooler today at 55 degrees but there was no wind at all.
Time: 8:15/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 1.00 | 6.00 |
|
Only six miles today. At the start legs were feeling kinda heavy so I decided to take it easy today and only go six. Stayed with Meg today since I wanted to take it easy and she is still getting over her cold/sore throat. We went along at about an 8:45-8:50 pace for the first 5 miles then I picked it up for the last mile and ran it in 6:50. It was a strong effort and It felt good to really pick up the pace to that level. I can tell I still have a lot of work to do to be able to sustain that pace for any extended period of time but it felt good nonetheless. Weather was cool again this morning with temps in the mid 50s and a slight north breeze to make it feel even a little cooler. This temp was almost perfect for running, once you get warmed up it is great.
Time: 8:28/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 1.00 | 8.00 |
|
Regular 8 miler today. Wasn't sure from the start whether to run 6 or 8 today. Felt really good at 6 so decided to finish off the last two. Meg ran with me for the first 5 miles and decided to stop as she is still recovering from a cold (probably as a result of the SGM). Weather was perfect again today with temps in the high 50s and a light breeze. Always a little chilly at the start but after a couple miles in the temp feels great.
Time: 8:21/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
|
Decided to run 14 today for my long run partly because I need the long run workouts but mostly because I wanted to get 50 for the week. I don't know what mystique that 50 miles holdes but since I had never achieved that distance in a week I figured I would go for it today.
Planned on going 20% slower than marathon pace for the first few miles and then picking it up to 10% slower than marathon pace for the remaining miles. Ran the first 5 at just under a 9:00/mile pace and then picked it up to 8:15ish for the last 9 miles. Felt like I was laboring a bit to hold the pace during the last few miles. Legs felt a bit tired and the long week of mileage was probably getting to me. Overall I am pleased with the effort and the amount of miles I was able to log so soon after SGM. The weather was great this morning with only a slight north breeze and temps in the high 50s.
Time: 8:31/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
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When I checked the temperature outside this morning, I thought 54 degrees would be pretty nice. Then I stepped outside and felt the wind chill and had to step back in and grab a sweat shirt. The wind ended up being in our faces a few times this morning and it made running a bit more difficult. Kept the pace pretty easy today as Met is still recovering from a cold. Picked up the pace a little the last couple of miles after Meg ended at 6. I have been studying the schedules in the Advanced Marathoning book by Pete Pfitzinger and have been thinking about using the 18 week 70 mile schedule to train for my next marathon which will either be Ogden in May or SGM. The first week of the schedule starts out just over 50 miles and contains some midweek runs of 11-16 miles which could prove to be difficult to complete given my work schedule. In order to complete these runs I will have to get up about 30 minutes early than usual........or just run a lot faster.
Time: 8:41/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 1.00 | 8.00 |
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A.M. Decided to take a much needed rest today to let some nagging pains have a break. Will hopefully resume tomorrow.
P.M. Well so much for the rest. Took my daughter to softball practice where I would be sitting around for an hour and a half with nothing to do so decided to go running. The ball fields are located on the far west side of Vegas and the area is quite hilly. I have this fear or dislike of running hill, especially up, because it is so much work. Well I started off my first mile exploring the area to see if I could find some level ground to run on but it just wasn't happening. I decided to run loops around the softball complex which included a nice downhill, a long stretch of farily level ground and about a half mile uphill section. the loop was 1.6 miles so I ran it 4 times after logging my first mile and then added a littl bit more at the end. I was very surprised to see that my mile splits were in the low eights even though I really dislike hills. Running uphill seamed to come easier this evening for whatever reason. I don't run hill very often so maybe it was just a result of my improving fitness or maybe it was just one of those days. The evening whether was pretty nice with mild temps and only a slight breeze which happened to be a headwind on the uphill section. Glad I got the miles in today after all.
Time: 8:16/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
|
Wasn't sure if I was going to be able to run this morning based on last nights run. When I got up I felt pretty good with only a little residual fatigue from last night. I decided to go out and run this as a slow recovery run and just take it easy. As it turns out it ended up being a regular aerobic run at my usual 8:30ish pace. The effort seemed a bit faster than the actual time probably due to the fatigue from the night before. Wheather was the same with the temp around 57 and little to no wind, nearly perfect. Sure beats the dog days of summer here in Vegas.
Time: 8:36/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 5.00 | 7.00 |
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Was up later than normal last night at Jamie's softball game which started 40 minutes late due to the umpire for the previous game showing up late. I'm not sure why they don't make adjustments in situation like that considering this is a school night, because we didn't leave the park until 9:45 and we were in bed by about 10:20. Just a little bit late for a 9 year old in my humble opinion. They did end up winning, 13-7!! Jamie had a walk, and a fielders choice hit with an RBI. Anyway, I still managed to get up and get going this morning even though I was about 10 minutes late getting started. Wanted to go 8 miles today, then considered 6 during the run, settled on 7 because I was able to pick up the pace and get done at a reasonable hour. For some reason the effort today didn't seem very hard for the pace. I guess the fatigue from Tuesday nights hill run had worn off and I was able to pick it up. Maybe it was the fact that I was in a hurry to log the miles and get done at a decent hour. Whatever the reason, things went well this morning and the faster pace felt pretty good, not easy, but comfortable, could have kept going at that pace for a while. Weather was a tad warmer today at 63 and breeze was fairly light.
Time: 7:53/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 1.00 | 8.00 |
|
A bit of a recovery run today due to yesterdays semi-fast run. Left knee was hurting a little for the first 2 or 3 miles and then didn't notice it again for the rest of the run. Decided to pick up the pace for the last mile and see what I could do and ran a 6:45. Not where I would hope to be but not bad. Coming up on the end of another 50 mile week this will make two in a row. I don't know that I will increase the mileage much for the next couple of months as I will let my body adapt to going this distance on a regular basis. Hopefully the body will allow me to continue to do this so I can eventually reach my goal of doing a 70 mile week next year sometime. The weather was perfect again today with temp around 59 and no wind.
Time: 8:24/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
|
What a perfect day for a run. Weather has been great these last couple of weeks. Decided to run today a Pfitzinger describes the long run and go at 20% slower than marathon pace for the first half and 10% slower for the second half. For me that is 9:00/mile and 8:15/mile. Ran with Meg for the first half of the run and since she was only doing 10 and didn't want to go at the faster pace she dropped of and I picked up the pace to 8:00-8:15/mile for the last 7.5 miles. Felt pretty good throughout the run and didn't have much problem maintaining the faster pace. Legs did begin to tire and cramp a little at about mile 12-13 but was able to shorten my stride a little and hold the pace. It's been a long week with a lot of miles for me. This week is again a personal high for me at 52 miles for the week. I think I will cut back the mileage by 5 or 6 miles next week just to take a slight recovery before trying to increase again. Meg and I signed up for the new Snow Canyon half marathon on November 17 and we are excited to be racing again so soon. Having a race on the horizon is always good motivation to keep you training hard.
Time: 8:31/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
|
Legs felt really heavy today and didn't start feeling good until about mile 4-5. I think the increased mileage is starting to wear on me. I have considered cutting back the mileage this week by around 10-15% and I think that will be a good idea considering how my body feels. Ran a pretty slow pace today and just kinda put in the miles. Weather was perfect again with temp around 63 and only a slight wind out of the North.
Time: 8:43/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 1.00 | 7.00 |
|
Body is feeling kinda worn out these last few runs and today was no different. Despite the fact that the legs felt heavy I was able to maintain a decent pace and finish the last mile with a 6:57. Legs aren't sore they just ache a bit like they need more recovery. This week will be a cut back in miles so maybe that will help. Weather was again nearly perfect today in the low 60's and a light breeze.
Time: 8:15/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
|
Took it easy today as the body if feeling worn out. Legs just don't seem to be recovering as fast as I would like. Once I get started and get about 3 miles in I start to feel better but the first mile or two has been a bit crapy and slow. Hopefully this lower mileage week will help to aid in the recovery so my legs can get back to feeling strong again. Nice weather today with a little more breeze than usual, not bad though. This caps off another nice month for me with my second highest mileage month at 171.2. Happy Halloween!
Time: 8:47/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 1.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
|
Not a great start to the new month but decided to take a needed day off today to rest some aching muscles. May run this evening with the kids just to get a couple of miles.
Ran 1 mile with Cory and Michael tonight at a very slow pace. We got Cory some new running shoes so I am going to have to start going more often with him in the evenings so he can start training toward a 5K or something.
Time: 9:50/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
Rest.
Stayed home this morning to watch the olympic marathon trials and after some trial and error was finally able to login and watch from about mile 7 to the end. I was absolutely amazed at the young up and coming talents of Hall and Ritz. Hall has the smoothest stride of any runner I have ever seen and looked so fresh at the end of the marathon. I think he has a tremendous chance to medal at the the olympics if not win the gold. Ritz is also right there as well and also has a great chance to medal. I was stunned and shocked by the news of Ryan Shay going down around mile 5 and then later passing away on the way to the hospital. He is another young talent that will be greatly missed in the elite running community. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
Rest.
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
|
Finally put in a run after all the lay off last week. Felt well rested this morning at the start of the run and the first few miles were effortless. About mile 3 I started to feel my calfs tightening up a bit. I'm not sure why that happened but as I write this they are still a little tight. Maybe it is the extra few days off that caused them to tighten, I don't know. Whatever the case it is not too bad and I feel like it's something I can just stretch out or roll out over the course of the day today. We will see how it does in the morning. Weather was nice with the temp at 61 and a breeze out of the north west, as usual.
Time: 8:26/mile
PM - Ran one mile with Cory and Jamie in 10:55 then dropped Jamie off at home and ran one more mile with Cory in about 10:45. The kids are really starting to get excited about running with the upcoming kids marathon in association with the Las Vegas Marathon. Over the cours of several weeks they run 25 miles on there own and then run the last 1.2 miles of the Las Vegas marathon course and cross the finish line and receive an official finishers medal. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 2.00 | 7.00 |
|
Picked up the pace a little bit today on the last two miles trying to get a feel for maintaining a 7:30 pace for the upcoming Snow Canyon half marathon in less than two weeks. Would like to shoot for sub 1:40 and I think it is very possible but this is the first year of this run so I am unsure of the course and the hill situation other than to say that there will be a lot of downhill coming down through Snow Canyon. Weather continues to be perfect at 62 and light winds out of the north. Everything felt really good today. The super easy recovery run last night with the kids is probably a nice way to stimulate some faster recovery.
Time: 8:15/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
|
Ran 6 very easy miles today. Didn't feel like running this morning but once we got a mile into it things started to feel okay. I have been really tired lately and running has become harder. Hopefully I will break out of this trend soon but for now I will just keep plugging along. Weather continues to be perfect down here and that helps make the runs a little less burdensome.
Time: 8:42/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 4.00 | 8.00 |
|
Ran today at a bit faster pace than normal. If I had gotten up at the usual time (20 minute earlier) I could have done 10 today but was happy to get at least the 8 miles. I must have slept well because my back really wasn't bothering me at all this morning. Usually have a dull ache that never goes away but this morning things felt really good. I was able to do 4 miles under 8:00/mile pace and I think I did a couple under 7:50/pace. I actually feel really good after a faster paced run most of the time, it seems like the next day's run is when the fatigue shows itself, we will see tomorrow. The weather continues to be unbeleivable but for how much longer.....who knows. I have been thinking about investin in a pair of running tights for the winter months but they are really expensive. Since the cooler months are really only about 3 months of the year I will probably just suck it up and use the old sweat pants for another year.
Time: 8:10/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 1.00 | 8.00 |
|
Another 8 mostly recovery miles today but felt good on mile 6 and decided to make it a fast one at marathon pace. Ran alone today as Meg and her friend went for a bike ride. Did the Azure overpass loop today and felt pretty good most of the way. Legs did show signs of some fatigue at the end but after yesterdays run I guess that is to be expected. With a decent long run tomorrow I will log another week with 50 miles. I can sure feel the fatigue of these 50 mile weeks but I am amazed that I have already done three since SGM and I never go one before SGM. As time has gone on I have slowly been able to increase my mileage and feel less and less ill effects. It is by no means pain free but then again I don't think running is supposed to be pain free. Next week will be a bit of a mini taper in preparation for the Snow Canyon half and then it will be back to the 50 mile weeks until Painters half in January.
Time: 8:28/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 16.00 | 0.00 | 16.00 |
|
Another successfull long run today. Ran the first half just under a 9:00/mile pace and ran the second half at an 8:15 pace or better. Felt pretty good the whole way. With the half-marathon coming up I wasn't sure how far I should run today so at some point in the run before the halfway point I concluded that 16 would be a good number. This caps off another great mileage week for me at 54 miles. My body is doing amazingly well considering my history of injury and back problems. I worry about pushing it too hard too soon so hopefully I am able to just maintain this amount of training through the colder months. Weather is still great, it will be interesting to see how long I can still run in shorts and a long sleeve shirt.
Time: 8:29/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 6.00 | 8.00 |
|
Felt pretty good this morning and decided to log a faster paced run. It's been awhile since I really deviated from my regular 8:30ish pace so I decided today would be the day. After a relatively slow warm-up mile I pushed the pace to under 8:00/mile for the rest of the way and didn't have too much trouble maintaining the faster pace. I probably could have pushed it faster but decided to be conservative with the upcoming race.
Time: 7:54/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
|
Today I was in Manhattan Beach, CA as I am in town for a bean counter seminar on FAS 109 and FIN 48. The hotel is about two miles from the beach so I decided to head out in that direction and see where it took me. The road between the hotel and beach is pretty hilly and I really don't run much on hills so I struggled a bit. Due to the traffic on the street I ran most of the way on the concrete sidewalk which I really don't enjoy much. Once I got down to the beach there were an amazing number of runners, walkers and bikers out exercising. Meg and I rarely see anyone out in the mornings around our neighborhood but the beach was crawling with health nuts. It was quite nice to be out running with so many people, it lets you know you are not alone in your endeavors (kinda like coming on the blog everyday and reading about peoples challenges). Anyway the run went pretty well. I went a mile further than I had planned but I was having too much fun to stop at 8.
Time: 8:49/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
|
Still in Manhattan Beach, CA today and the run was a bit harder today then yesterday. Maybe the hills got to me. During the run I was getting some soreness on the top of my feet, especially when going downhill. Not sure what this is all about but I will do some research on it to see what I can find. I have had it in the past but never to this extreme. Took it pretty easy and walked for part of my run as well so as not to agravate the injury even worse. Hopefully the pain will lessen before the race this Saturday.
Time: 8:45/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Finally back in Las Vegas and glad to sleep in my own bed again. This run is part of a taper for the snow canyon half marathon this Saturday and I took it really easy. The legs and body are still a little fatigued from the past two hilly runs and traveling but the tops of my feet did feel a little better today. I think they are mostly agravated by the down hill running. I know I am due for some new shoes and luckily they just came in the mail yesterday so I can start out with those on Monday, maybe that will help.
Time: 8:39/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Did an easy 3 this morning as the final taper day before tomorrows Snow Canyon half-marathon. The tops of my feet felt a bit better today. I think part of my problem was I was wearing my shoes to tight and as that area got more and more irritated it started to swell slightly. Yesterday I kept my shoes untied most of the day at work and gave some releif to that area. I don't think I will be at 100 percent tomorrow but I should be in pretty good shape for a decent race as long as my condition is not aggravated by the hills. I do fine on the flats but the hills seem to cause irritation right now on the feet.
Had a scary experience happen last night as my wife and I were coming home from Costco and makin a stop at Walgreens pharmacy on the way home. As we made the turn to get to walgreens we noticed two cars facing each other in the oncoming lane and our first thought was either a wreck or car trouble. We proceeded slowly to make sure everything was okay and noticed that everything seemed fine but the drivers seemed to be in some kind of stare down. We continued on by and then I watched in my rearview as the cars started to move toward and around each other. I figured maybe there was going to be a fight or words or something....well it turned out to be something as we heard about five gunshots come from one of the vehicles. You talk about a panic as we pulled into the Walgreens and called 911. Not knowing if one of the drivers would be coming toward us or after us for having witnessed the event I kept going around the parking lot and back onto the main road away from the action while my wife spoke with the 911 operator. We eventually made our way back around the block slowly to see if either driver had been shot and found that both cars were gone. So we went back to Walgreens to get our prescription and as we rounded the corner from the drive-thru the exit was blocked and the police had one of the drivers in custody. We back tracked and eventually made it home but man what a scary experience and so close to home as well, less than a mile from our house. Makes you think twice about how quickly stuff like this can happen and the kind of idiots that are out there. It gives you a renewed appreciation for life and your blessings. | |
| | Race: |
Snow Canyon Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:45:12, Place overall: 70, Place in age division: 8 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 13.10 | 13.10 |
| What a great day for a race!! Took the buses to the starting line, waited in line for about 10 minutes for one of the 3 POPs available at the top. (not sure how you plan a race and have only 3 POPs for so many runners. Luckily we made it through the POPs before the start of the race and then we were off to the starting line.
My goal for the day was to go sub 1:40, but having never run the course I really didn't know what to expect. So we were off down through the canyon and man it was steep. That first mile was way way way too fast for me 5:45. I tried pulling back a bit but the second mile was still way fast at around 6:20. Close to mile three is when I started to feel like I was going to die with stomach cramps and side aches. When we got to the dirt section of the course I started to feel the effects of going way too fast in the early miles and had a hard time maintaining any sort of decent pace. My legs were already feeling fatigued by mile 5 and I was ready to give up and die right there on the road. But I kept going and eventually the cramps subsided but the fatigue never did and I just couldn't find the strength to pick up the pace. I don't know if it was the first two miles that killed me or the higher mileage training I have been doing lately that is causing me more fatigue. Whatever it was, it didn't help me enjoy this race today at all. I was able to hang on for a 1:45:12 finish and was able to hold off a late surging pack of runners closing on me quick. Missed my goal of 1:40 but I am still satisfied due to the toughness of this course with its steep downhills and steady uphills and my dumb strategy for the first 3 miles. I would like to attempt this race again with a different race strategy to see how it turns out.
Complaints:
No aid station at the 5.5 mile turnaround. (had my gel in hand just waiting for water to wash it down only to find there was no aid station)
Lack of adequate POPs at the starting line.
Compliments:
Great scenery.
Perfect weather and time of year for a half marathon.
Fair finishers medals and T-Shirts considering the cheap $35 entry fee. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
|
Nice easy recovery run today. Quads, Hams, Gluts and Calfs are all farily sore this morning so I ran a nice easy pace and just took it easy. Other than the sore muscles, everything feels pretty good for having raced on Saturday. The weather is supposed to start cooling off this week down into the 40s for lows. I know that is probably warm for those of you up north but for us desert rats, that is getting pretty chilly.
Time: 9:02/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 1.00 | 6.00 |
|
Today's run felt 100% better than yesterday. Still fighting a little soreness and fatigue but didn't take 2-3 miles to warm up to a decent pace. Those Monday runs after hard Saturday race are killer. Was able to squeak in a sub 8:00 mile on mile 6 and felt really good. Next race on the calendar is Painters half marathon in St. George. My son is talking about running the 5K so Meg or I or both of us will probably run it with him. Since Meg really doesn't like this race she will probably run with him and I will run the half. I am anxious to run Painter's for the second time, since this was my first half marathon ever last year, and I have a feeling I can really improve my time this year. Weather was nice today but I think tomorrow is supposed to be in the 40s so I gotta break out the sweats tonight. Running in the cold and wind is not one of my favorite things to do.
Time: 8:21/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
|
Can you say WINDY!! Wow, it was probably the coldest day of the year so far at a balmy 48 degrees but the wind was the killer today. Everytime I would turn a corner heading into the wind it would almost take my breath away. Despite the wind I was still able to maintain a good pace for me today. I may have had some sub 8:00/mile splits but I didn't check the splits when I got done. Meg didn't go out with me today as she is still fighting off a cold and I doubt the wind and cold would have helped matters. I am looking forward to doing some longer runs over the next few days with the days off work, the only thing that will get in the way is the weather. But after todays run in the windy conditions I think I could handle much worse.
Time: 8:09/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 1.00 | 10.00 |
| Ran a nice Turkey trot today and it felt pretty good. It was a little breezy but other than that it was a nice day of running. By the time I finally got up Meg was already out running so I ran a mile or two with her but most of the miles on my own. We have company in town all weekend and we always go out on Black Friday to look for the best Christmas deals so I don't know what my running will look like over the next couple of days. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| Ran two miles with Cory this morning after we got back from the Black Friday events at Wal-Mart and Target. It was windy and cold this morning and luckily Wal-Mart let us into the building at 4:00 but we couldn't buy any of their deals until five, at least we were warm. After Wal-Mart we went to Target were Meg and her sister stood outside in the huge line and cold weather for 45 minutes and luckily came away with the item we were looking for. We thought we were out of luck at first but a woman who had two of the item we were looking for graciously gave us one since the store had run out of stock. Beleive it or not there are some kind shoppers this time of year. Cory is planning on running the Painter's 5K this year so we are going to try to run together as often as possible over the next few weeks to get him ready. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Didn't run today. Calf and knee have been bothering me and decided to just take a day off. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Spent all last knight hugging the porcelin bowl and was too week come morning to even think about running. Stayed home from work today and just recouperated. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
|
Planned on doing a few more miles than just 3 today but didn't get up in time. Maybe I will do a couple of miles with Cory tonight to help witht the daily total. Everything felt good this morning and the stomach seems to be feeling better today so here I am at work. I need to get some kind of training plan going for Painter's which is coming up sooner than I want.
Time: 8:37/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Windy and cold so I wimped out today. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 1.00 | 7.00 |
| Finally a nice calm morning with moderate temps. At 42 degrees it was a little chilly but I was still able to run in shorts and a sweatshirt with some gloves. Finally able to put in a decent run for the week even though it is now Thursday. I have pretty much written off this week for getting some good mileage, but I still hope to get it in the 30 mile range after Saturday's run. Everything felt pretty good this morning except my chest which still seems a bit tight from my Sunday night throw-up party (at least I think that's what it is from). With about seven weeks to go until painters I am looking to put in some long high quality miles and crush my course record which shouldn't be too hard since it is around 1:54. Hopefully the weather is a bit warmer this year than last years 19 degree start. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 5.00 | 7.00 |
|
Since my laziness left me with less time than I needed to run 10 miles today I decided to do 7 and pick up the pace a bit. The first couple of miles I ran with Meg and we were clipping along at about an 8:30 pace, she pulled out and wanted to shake out her knee a bit and she told me to keep going so I decided to break into my sub 8 miles for the remainder of the run. The pace felt pretty good so I continued to pick it up a little each mile until I hit 7:15 on the last mile. I really need to do at least one of these quicker runs each week if I am going to see some improvement in my fitness and times. I tend to just go out each day determined to just set the bar at a height I know I can clear instead of raising the bar from time to time to get stronger. I was doing this (raising the bar) much more during the summer months when training for the SGM but ever since getting injured last August I have been a little wary to really push much beyond a comfortable pace. With Ogden coming up in April another training cycle will begin so there will be some opportunity to do more running at marathon pace and faster. I am looking forward to the challenge. Hopefully this time my body will handle the training a little better and I will get through it injury free.
Time: 7:58/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
|
What a beautiful morning for a run. It rained most of the day yesterday and drizzled most of the night so this morning everything was fresh and clean. The temps were actually still quite mild for this time of year too so all the conditions for a good run were there...for some reason today I just didn't have any energy. The humidity in the air made everything wet and when the sweatshirt gets wet everything starts to get cold. Had planned on doing a few more miles than 11 today but just couldn't muster the will power. Will do a little more running with the kids this afternoon at the kids marathon portion of the Las Vegas marathon so that will help the total a little. I guess it is just one of those days were you don't feel good.....at least I hope that is the case.
Time: 8:58/mile
Afternoon:
Ran/walked the kids marathon portion of the Las Vegas marathon with some kids from my wifes school where she is a PE assistant. The distance was a little over a mile and between running and walking it took us about 16 minutes. Rod Dixon (1972 bronze medalist in the 1500 M) was there to lead the race. We had a good time and the kids received some nice goodie bags and t-shirts, just like running the real marathon. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 1.00 | 7.00 |
|
Was able to get in 7 today on the most chilly running day of the year so far. Temp was around 38 and it was breezy, but at least it was dry today. Meg and I ran a really nice pace for the first 6 miles and I finished off the last mile with a 7:25ish. Sure a far cry from the run last Saturday where I felt like crap.
Time: 8:15/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 3.00 | 7.00 |
|
Picked up the overall pace today and ran 3 sub 8:00 miles with the last one around 7:25. Would like most of my general aerobic runs to be right around the 8:00-8:15/mile pace. Don't know if my body will agree with that on a daily basis but I am going to give it a try for a couple weeks and see how it goes. I have been getting the feeling the last few weeks that I have become a bit lazy and repetative in my training so I want to challenge my body a little more to move to the next level of fitness. Adding a few more challenging miles during my runs might be the key to get me there. Temps were a tad warmer today at around 43 and the winds were fairly light but enough to feel when you were running into it. Meg dropped out at about mile 4 today to shake out some pain in her ankle and that is where I picked up the pace a little and carried it through to the end. She did finish her 6 miles today and the ankle seems to be feeling okay. Maybe just one of those freek pains you get when it's cold.
Time: 8:02/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
|
This was a bit of a recovery run from yesterdays semi-fast run. Decided to take it a little easy and let the legs recover in preparation for tomorrows anticipated marathon pace run. Weather was perfect today, even ran in shorts with little to no wind and 48 degree temps. It would be nice to be able to train in this type of weather year around.
Time: 8:34/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 1.00 | 8.00 | 9.00 |
|
Really busted one out today (by slow fat man standards). Went out with the intention of running 8 miles with 6 at marathon pace (7:28/mile). This pace however is not really my marathon pace based on my performance at SGM 2007 with an average pace of 8:23/mile. So I guess I should call the 7:28/mile pace my BQ pace or my dream marathon pace. Whatever you call it, I was able to maintain it for the first 8 miles where my average pace ended at 7:26/mile including the so called warm-up mile at 7:50/mile. When I had finished the 8 miles I checked my watch and saw that I still had time to go another mile so I completed the 9th mile at a recovery pace and ended up with a 7:32 overall pace for the run. In looking back at my Excel running log I could only find one other 9 mile run and the total time was 1:19:46. I must have been having a bad day that day because I shattered my PR for the distance by nearly 12 minutes. Total time today was 1:07:52. I feel like I am slowly getting back to my pre-injury fitness and am hopefully ready to start building beyond that level over the next several weeks. I hope this time I am able to do so in a safe and injury free way.
Time: 7:32/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
|
Pretty good day for a run. When I checked the temp outside as I do every morning I was surprised to see 55 degrees. I put on shorts and a my SGM 2006 shirt and a pair of gloves just in case. There was a little bit of rain drizzling and the wind seemed to be at my face no matter which direction I turned but I felt pretty good most of the way. Kept the pace at a fairly easy recovery type pace due to yesterdays hard run and in preparation for tomorrows anticipated long run. Meg wasn't feeling well today so I was on my own.
Time: 8:34/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 18.00 | 0.00 | 18.00 |
|
I was hoping today's long run would go better than last weeks disaster. The weather didn't cooperate much with us as we were running in wind and sometimes rain. By mile 3 mile legs were feeling crappy and I was afraid this would be another long run cut short. We stopped in for Gatorade at 3 miles and from there, things seemed to pick up a bit. We continued to hydrate with Gatorade every few miles and the legs and energy started feeling better and better. By 13 miles I was thinking I could add a few more miles than my anticipated 16 mile run. Drank the last of my Gatorade on mile 15 and finished off 3 more. I think the reason I didn't feel as well today in the beginning was the later than usual bed times I have had the last couple of nights and my nutrition on Friday night. We had a Christmas party to go to and even though Olive Garden was catering the event (plenty o pasta) I still ate some things that probably didn't help. Oh well, live and learn. Overall I am very satisfied with the run and the effort.
Time: 8:35/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
|
Windy as heck today but I was feeling very well recovered from the Saturday run and wanted to get out, so we went for it. It was a little tough going into the wind in a few places but other than that everything felt real good today. Pace suffered a bit today due to the wind but it wasn't much different than my usual pace and not bad for a Monday mornning in the wind.
Time: 8:39/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 3.00 | 7.00 |
|
The usual 7-mile run today. Didn't sleep real well last night and come 4:15 I was wide awake and ready to go. Hoped to get an extra mile or two today with waking up a little earlier than usual but it didn't happen due to the dreaded pit-stop mid run. Felt pretty good this morning even though it was cold (39 degrees) and windy again today. Was able to pick up the pace to under 8:00/mile for the last 3 miles.
Time: 8:06/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
|
Fairly easy run today in anticipation of tomorrows tempo/marathon pace run. Winds were finally lighter than usual and the temps weren't too bad at a balmy 36 degrees. Construction crews tore up a portion of the road along our usual route so we had to alter it a just a bit to get around the construction. After the first mile today I tried to keep the pace around 8:10-8:15 which is a little faster than my normal pace. Eventually I would like this pace to be my easy pace. I will get there eventually.
Time: 8:15/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 7.00 | 9.00 |
|
Tough run today. Was able to manage a 7:28 pace through the first 7 miles and then faded off with a couple of cool down miles at around 8:15 pace. Didn't really ever get into a good groove today for whatever reason. Legs felt a little heavy and fatigued. I think a few swigs of Gatorade before the run may have helped but we are out. Still pretty satisfied with the run and the effort but felt like I had to work too hard to go the pace I wanted to go. I do enjoy adding this run to the mix each Thursday as it breaks up the bordem of the same stuff every day.
Time: 7:38/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
|
Fairly easy run today as a bit of a recovery from yesterdays effort. Felt pretty good most of the way and wished I had time to do a few more miles becuase I don't know when I am going to have time to run on Saturday. I am going on a scout camp tonight and won't get back until Saturday afternoon. Hopefully there will be time to squeeze in a decent long run before the ward Christmas party at 6:00. This month is so crazy, I am having a hard time seeing how this is the "most wonderful time of the year." Bah Humbug!
Time: 8:22/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 17.00 | 0.00 | 17.00 |
|
Have you ever had one of those days where you didn't think you could make yourself tired? Well today was one of those days for me. The long run started out great. Everything was clicking and I was thinking to myself that I was going out way too fast. The amazing thing was that I didn't seem to be feeling too bad even though I kept holding an 8:00/mile pace. My usual average pace for my long runs is around 8:30ish so I figured I was going to lose it sooner or later. My legs finally started to feel the fatigue around mile 15 and it was starting to get cold so I wrapped it up at 17 miles. Ended up doing my run in the afternoon today since I went up camping with the scouts last night and didn't get home until past midnight Saturday morning. A good ending to another strong week of training.
Time: 8:06/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 2.00 | 7.00 |
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Road construction is done now so I am able to run the regular loop around my neighborhood. It's a flat 1.45 mile loop and relatively light traffic, so on most days, especially cold and windy ones, we stay in the neighborhood. I wish there were some hills around the loop but unfortunately it's about as flat as a pancake. The only real hills that are very close are the bridges over the freeway. Legs felt a little heavy and the pace felt a bit more labored than the pace of my long run on Saturday. Maybe I'm still recovering a bit from the faster paced long run.
Time: 8:15/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 1.00 | 8.00 |
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Got up a little early for once instead of a little late and was able to squeeze in an extra mile. Probably could have got up even earlier because I looked at the clock at 4:00 and went back to sleep until 4:20. It seems like 4:00 is when I have been waking up lately and then just laying in bed half sleeping until 4:30 when the alarm goes off. Maybe I need to just start getting up when I wake up. Anyway, the weather was warmer today (40) and no wind again. Felt pretty good for most of the run and picked it up the last 1.5 to finish strong. Can't believe Christmas is one week from today, still not completely ready.....typical guy.
Time: 8:16/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
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Another uneventful 8 miles today. Today was even warmer than yesterday at 48 degrees. I considered trading the in the sweats for some shorts but decided to keep them on since today was going to be a relatively easy run anyway. Kept the pace right around 8:30 most of the way and just tried to run relaxed. Added some strides in the last mile just to work on my form. It's been nice to get up a few minutes earlier than usual and get in the extra mile these last two days. If I am awake I figure I might as well get up. I think my body is programed to get up at 4:30 or earlier now after two years of doing this. It is a rare day when the alarm clock actually wakes me up.
Time: 8:28/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 2.00 | 4.00 |
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Kind of a crudy day. Actually felt really good the first couple of miles then felt like crap and decided to wrap it up at 4 miles. Not really sure what the problem was, legs just felt dead. We were up a little later than usual last night because we went to see Danny Gans at the Mirage (good show by the way), but we were in bed by 10:15. Anyway, chalk it up as one of those days I guess. Hopefully things will feel better tomorrow.
Time: 7:46/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Lazy. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Lazy. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Lazy. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Lazy. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Lazy. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Lazy. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Well what do you know....I finally decided to run again. After a week long layoff I finally got my lazy butt up and went for a run today. It was a nice break but I think it is time to go back to work now. The break was good to let some of my nagging pains have a chance to heal up a bit and for me to have a chance to get some extra rest and spend more time with the family. Since I have Painter's in 3 weeks I hope to get a couple of really nice weeks of running in and then a taper week. Today's run was uneventful and I could tell I was a little rusty and felt a little clunky.
Time: 8:34/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
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Got up a bit earlier this morning and got in 12 slow miles. Calfs were tight and legs were heavy. It seems like whenever I take a week or so off from running I always get tight after the first run back. It's better to just keep going than take the extended break. Anyway, I got through it and was glad to get it done. Hopefully by monday the legs will feel better and the muscles will have lossened up.
Time: 8:42/mile |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rest. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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Last run of the year and I was glad to be out running this morning. It was almost 40 degrees with a slight north breeze, still chilly for us Las Vegas wimps. Legs are feeling better today with most of the soreness gone. I guess it's that time of year when you start to think about running goals for the upcoming year and things you want to accomplish. One of my biggest goals would be to drop these last 15-20 pounds that I am packing around my waist. I think that goal alone would help me to become a better runner. I would like to make this the year that I qualify for Boston at SGM. If I can stay injury free, I think I can do it. I would like to improve my PRs at all the distances I run this year starting with the mile and 5K as well as the half and full marathons. I would also like to keep my weekly mileage consistantly above 45-50 miles. I think the consistancy will add tons to my endurance which is what I seem to be lacking the most. Anyway, best wishes for a happy new year to all of you out there.
Time: 8:28/mile | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 1406.54 | 263.59 | 1670.13 |
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