Don't wanna be FAT!

2 miles w/ strides warm-up, 8 mile tempo run, 2.06 miles cool down. For the 8 mile tempo the first 5 miles were slightly downhill and the last 3 were slightly up.  Finished a little lower than where I started so it wasn't quite honest.  AP:  5:21  Miles splits were:  5:25, 5:26, 5:25, 5:19, 5:22, 5:16, 5:19, 5:15.  This was a great workout.  I'm surprised at how strong I'm feeling these days.  Hopefully I'm not overdoing it.  

I plan on running the Murray Fun Days 5k on Friday morning hopefully I'll see some of you there. 

Good recovery run. Everything feels good. AP: 6:45

I didn't feel as good this morning. Legs were sore and tight. I went a very easy 6 miles. Hopefully my legs will be ready to race a fast 5k tomorrow. AP: 7:33.

Got up early and did 5 easy miles from my house then drove down to Murray warmed up 2 more miles did some strides then ran the Murray Fund Days 5k, then did a 2 mile cool down.  

Teran Jameson shot out to the lead early in the race followed by a group of about 5 or 6 of us.  I sat in the group for the first 1/2 mile then I felt everyone slowing down so I just kept going and went to the lead.  By the turnaround point (a little over a mile into the race) Teran and I had broken off from the rest of the pack.  Teran sat on me for the next 1/2 mile or so and then through in a big surge between around 1.75 miles in as he passed me.  I could tell the surge was meant just to make a statement as he went by me because after just a few seconds of increased speed he settled down into about the same pace we had been running.  He had about 10 meter gap on me which I closed to about a 5 meter gap with about 1/2 mile to go but then I looked back and saw that Jason Holt and Nathan Hornock were far enough back that I could just coast in for a 2nd place finish and I made a concious decision not to fight and try and get 1st but to coast in for 2nd.  I am disappointed with myself for not fighting.  I'm not sure if I could have won or not, but I definitely could have made it a better race.  I was pleased that I was able to run such a fast 5k (it was a little short)  without putting myself into too much pain.  Splits were:  4:55 (mostly uphill), 4:45 (mostly downhill), 4:54 (both up and down), and :30.  

I hadn't heard anything about Teran Jameson for a while but the guy is still a heckuva runner!

Started at the Wheeler Canyon Trail Head. Ran up Icebox Canyon to Snowbasin then did the Sardine Peak Loop. This was an awesome run. Had some stunning views, but for the most part it you're surrounded with trees, so I was covered with shade for almost the whole run. The temperature was a lot cooler up there than it was down at my house.  The only negative to this run was the amount of bike traffic I had to conted with.  For the 7.5 miles up I averaged around 9:30 pace and for the 7.5 miles down I averaged about 6:15 pace.  This might be my new favorite trail run.  

I was feeling a bit slow this morning especially at the beginning of the run.  Started feeling a bit more up to speed toward the end of the run.  AP:  7:00

2 mile warm-up w/ strides, 8 mile tempo (same course as last week), 2.06 mile cool-down. I didn't feel quite as strong as last week and my splits were all over the place, but I still managed to average 5:22 pace.  Splits were: 5:33, 5:20, 5:21, 5:24, 5:15, 5:12, 5:28, and 5:19.  It was a good workout.

On the warm-up I ran past a house where a lady was out in front with her 3 little ankle biter dogs.  As I ran by they came after me so I made the quick decision of rather than stopping and yelling and/or kicking the dogs in the head to just outrun them since I knew I could and I was ready to start my strides anyway.  Well the lady yelled at me saying, "You don't run away from dogs, you idiot!"  I was furious, her stupid dogs come running after me and rather than kicking the stupid things in the head I decide to outrun them and she calls me an idiot.  I started to yell at her and then my better judgment took over and I decided to just turn around and keep running.  The nerve of some people!

Last night I laid sod for about an hour in the 95 degree heat. I was feeling the affects of that a little bit this morning. The first 3 miles of this run were super slow and a little painful. After that I was fine. AP: 6:59.

Decided to do my long run today instead of on Saturday because I will be running a small 5k in Nephi on Saturday morning. This was another run where the farther I went the better I felt. The second half of this run was much faster than the first. Even though I got out early this morning it was still quite warm.  At the beginning of the run it was drizzling ran for a little bit.  I wish it would have continued to rain.  AP:  6:39.  

Morgan Valley Marathon finally responded to my request for a free entry today saying they don't give free entries, so I think I'm going to run the Des News 1/2 marathon that weekend instead.  I think a 1/2 marathon at that point will be better for my training anyway as my two focuses right now are the Skyline Trail Marathon and St. George Marathon.  

Went fishing with my grandpa early in the morning so I didn't get out until it was real hot outside. I didn't want to overdo anything so I just ran a little over 6 with the anticipation of running a lot of miles the next day. AP: 7:45 (There were some steep trail miles in there that brought down the average, on the flats I was below 7:00)

Ran from Levan into Nephi before the race which was 11.63 miles at an average pace of 6:50.  Then ran the ute stamped fun run 5k which actually ended up being 3.25 miles.  Then cooled down 1.27 miles.  I didn't expect any competition in this race, I just thought it would be a good one to run because we wanted to spend some time with my grandparents and we like going to the ute stampede rodeo and I knew they gave the winner free tickets to the rodeo.  I tried to give it my best effort and make a good workout of it.  Mile splits were: 5:04, 4:54, 4:54, and 1:12 for the last .25 for a final time of 16:02.  I ran the whole thing by myself and won by over 2 minutes.  I got $50.00, a $25 gas card, and 2 tickets to the rodeo so it was well worth it and a great way to get a good workout in after running almost 12 miles already before the race.  As a side note, the rodeo was awesome that night!

Between my late nights the last several nights and my heavy week last week, I was feeling it this morning. I also had to be to work earlier than normal so by the time I got out of bed I only had time to run 6. Maybe if I can get motivated enough I'll get out again tonight and run some more. I didn't get down to 7 pace until 4.5 miles into the run. Left calf is sore. AP: 7:32.  

I caught some kind of stomach bug. I have felt awful the last couple of days and have not gotten out on my runs as a consequence.

AM 9 I'm feeling better, not 100%, but much better than the last couple of days. Got out for an easy 9. Calf started hurting at about 5.5. Feels like something I will need to be cautious with. AP: 7:09.

PM 5.  Staying at a cabin with my wife's family up Tollgate Canyon (inbetween Rockport and Park City).  Decided to double because of missing a couple of days of training due to being sick.  My calf did not feel good at all during this run.  The run was all up and down on the dirt roads around the cabin.  Iced the calf earlier that day and afte the run I sat in the hot tub for a little bit.  I think it was actually the hot tub that helped it start feeling better.  AP:  7:47.  

Plan was to do 10 but with the difficulty of the terrain (still up at the cabin) and the plan to race hard the next day I decided to cut it short and only did 7.58. Calf was feeling much better on this run. AP: 8:20 (felt much harder).

Got there really early because I wasn't sure how long it was going to take to get there from the cabin and I wanted to at least run the course as a warm up before the race.  So I got the course in and then added on a little longer getting 4.13 miles in total for a warm up.  Then I did some strides and got to the start line.  My calf was feeling a lot better I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it felt.  

My race plan was to stick right on Teran for as long as I could and then try to outkick him if I was still with him.  So he went out a little slower than most expected and there was a group of 6 or 7 of us at the mile mark as we came through in about 4:53.  Then Teran and I took off running shoulder to shoulder and the 2nd mile was a 4:39.  I'm not sure how much we gapped the group but I couldn't feel anybody near us by the time we reached the 2nd mile marker.  Then I got a little impatient and went to the lead.  Teran sounded like he was struggling (grunting and such) so I tried to break him but he stuck right on back of me.  He came around me making a big push as we turned onto the trail.  I couldn't match his move and he got maybe 15 meters on me.  At about 2.8 I looked back and saw that Jason Holt wasn't far back.  I know how hard Jason finishes races, so I knew I needed to get moving if I wanted to hold on for 2nd.  Saw I got rolling again and I started to make up good ground on Teran.  It got me excited and I thought that I might be able to get him.  When I got to within 5 meters (about 100 meters left in the race) he turned and saw me and he had another gear that he switched into.  He got me by just under 3 seconds.  I felt better about this race than the Murray Fun Days 5k because I felt like I fought harder.  

After the race it was good to get 4 miles in with Josh E., Fritz, Jason Holt, and Nate Hornock and his brother for part of it.  Then I added on another 1.25 miles on my own for good measure.  

I would really like to beat Teran one of these days.  He is one heckuva fighter.  

Payson woke up screaming at 11:30 p.m. His screaming woke up Penny. It didn't take too much effort to get Payson back to sleep, but Penny did not want to go back to sleep. At 1:30 a.m. I took her for a drive because that usually puts her to sleep. Well she was quiet until I got back home then she woke up again and was screaming.  So since I was already awake and I didn't want to wake up at 5:30 which is what I had my alarm set for, I decided to take her on my run with me.  We started at about 2:00 a.m.  I did 11 miles with her in the middle of the night.  She was alseep before I hit the first mile and stayed alseep after I got home so that was the good news and I got to sleep in 'til 7:10, but I was up from 11:30 to 3:30.  When I got home both Payson and Mitchell were in my bed with Alisha so I got to go sleep on Payson's bed.  Not a fun night.  Just part of the joys of being the father of 3 small children I guess.  The run felt good though.  Stroller miles.  AP:  7:17

Easy run with 8x100 meter strides throughout the run.  I did the first stride at mile 1.5, then 2.5, then 3.5, etc.  Other than a little stiffness in my left calf, I felt really good this morning.  This is the best  I have felt in a couple of weeks.  Excited to race on Thursday!  AP:  6:40.  

Easy race day eve 6-miler. AP: 7:10.

Woke up at 3:10 and made my way down to Salt Lake.  On my way down I ate a bowl of frosted mini wheats and had a banana and drank a lot of my powerade.  When I got to the buses at Rice Eccles it was 88 degrees outside so I decided I better drink as much as I could between then and when the race started.  Just sitting on the bus waiting for it to pull out it felt like I was in an oven.  It was a weird morning with it being hotter at 6:00 a.m. then it was at 10:00 a.m. 

I did a 3 mile warm-up going up the canyon rather than down.  Then did 4 strides right before the start of the race.  My plan was to shoot for around 5:00 minute miles but right before the race started I changed my mindset to being okay with 5:05's because of the heat and the wind.  

The race started with some kid that looked like he was a high school kid going to the lead.  He did pretty well for about 1.5 miles then I didn't see him again.  Brett was up on me about 10 meter after 1 mile and about 20 after 2 miles and Jason was halfway in between us.  I think I caught up to Jason at about the 2 mile marker.  Jason and I ran together for the next 3 miles or so.  I was hoping to work with Jason because of the wind and I let him go by me so I could draft off him, but I could tell it wasn't his day.  It seemed like he was laboring quite a bit at that point already and we weren't going as fast as I wanted to be going so just a minute after talking to him about working together through the wind, I decided to take off and go it alone, feeling bad about ditching him right after I had talked to him about working together, but knowing if I was going to have a good race I needed to keep going at a decent clip.  

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful Brett had between 100 and 200 meters on me at the 5 mile mark and that didn't change a lot over the next 8.1 miles.  There were a couple times where I lessoned the gap and thought I might have a shot at catching back up to him, but I never really came that close to him.  I went out conservatively because I always race better when I go out consevertavily, but with the wind this may have been one of those races where I should've just tucked in behind Brett and let him pull me to a good race.  

I felt really good most of the race.  I didn't hurt really bad until the last mile so I think for running by myself I ran a good pace.  I just wonder if it would have been close to the same effort despite going a little faster if I would have gone with Brett from the start.   Towards the end of the race I had no idea how far back Jason was but I did not feel his presence at all so I felt pretty comfortable.   

I left my watch on auto splits so these splits are a little faster than they really were as my watch measured the course at 13.48 miles because it alwasy measure the miles a little short, but my splits per my watch were:  4:55, 4:54, 4:57, 5:09, 5:00, 5:04, 4:55, 5:02, 4:48, 5:08, 4:56, 4:57, 5:12, 2:42.  

Overall, given the conditions, I was thrilled with this race.  Going in knowing Brett was in the race I knew my chances of winning were slim to none.  I knew there were going to be some other great runners so I would be extremely fortunate to come in 2nd place.  I was hoping to go low 1:06, but I know that it was a lot slower this year because of the heat and wind and 1:07:38 is still a big aided half marathon personal best.  I have closed the gap on Brett as he beat me by 2:35 in the Salt Lake Half and 2:13 in the Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon.  He only beat me by :54 in this one (granted he didn't have anyone pushing him).  

After the race I did 2 laps on the bark chip trail around Liberty Park which amounted to about 3 miles.

It was great seeing some familiar faces at the finish line and to get to catch up with some of you.  Given the conditions I was sure glad I didn't choose to run the marathon.  There is no way I would have been anywhere near Fritz in that race.   

Started earlier than planned and as a result ran more mile than planned. Penny was up at 5:20 and it was definitely my turn to get up with her as Alisha had already been up a few times with the kids. I was going to take her for a drive, but I figured by the time I got home I wouldn't have time to climb back into bed anyway, so I just took her on my run with me.  I ran at a snail pace today the first few mile were especially painful.  As would be expected I was very sore from the fast downhill pace of the race yesterday.   Mostly lower back pains and upper legs (glutes, hamstrings, and quads were all sore)  little stiffness in the calves but not too bad.  Stroller miles AP:  8:11.  I think this is the first time it has ever taken me 1:30 to run 11 miles, but it's also the first time I have run 11 miles pushing a stroller the day after a hard half marathon. 

I was able to run a little faster this morning. I took Penny again this morning so this was another stroller run. I really like watching her cute little smiles at the beginning of the run and then her sweet, innocent, sleeping face in the latter stages of the run. AP:  7:27

Later that morning I took the whole family on a little hike to a water fall from North Fork.  It's only .4 miles each way and not strenuous at all, but my boys loved it and it was great to get out in the mountains with the whole fam.  

First 3 miles I was still feeling really sore, but after 3 I was able to get in my groove. It felt good to be able to roll at faster than 6:35 pace for the last several miles. AP: 6:50

I decided to wait one more day before doing the 8 mile tempo run I had planned on doing just to make sure I was fully recovered from the Des News Half. I will tempo tomorrow and then add some kind of speed work into my long run on Saturday. This morning I felt really good. AP: 6:34

2 mile warm-up with strides, 8 mile tempo, 2.05 mile cool-down. I ran this on the same 8 mile course that I have done my last few 8 miles tempos on. It is a pretty flat course that is not quite honest.  I finish just slightly lower than the start.  Today I had an awesome run.  The weather was perfect and I was feeling good.  I haven't done this workout for several weeks because of all the racing I have been doing, but I was hoping to do it a little faster than the last couple of times where I averaged 5:21 pace.  So I was hoping for around a 5:18 average.  Well I did a lot better than expected.  My total time was 41:39 so a 5:12.5 average.  Mile splits were:  5:13, 5:08, 5:09, 5:13, 5:12, 5:11, 5:22, and 5:10.  That 7th mile was rough but other than that I felt very strong this morning.  Workouts like these ones are what make me love running.  I love to see progress and to make jumps.  I really believe that this workout is a good indicator that I am progressing.  

I felt a lot better than I thought I would this morning.  It only took 1 mile to get going.  AP:  6:41.