Keep running

PM

I arrived at the track about 35 mins before the 7pm start of the 1600.  I warmed up for about 2 miles.  They did a slow heat first, probably 20-25 runners.  So, the fast heat didn't get started until about 7:15 or so.  As i lined up at the start, i wasn't sure who was running also, but it did look like 4-5 runners could be close to my expectation of 5.10-5.15.  Ok, i did want to break 5 mins, but didn't think the training, which has been zero for this type of race had been done.  5.15 was more realistic.

The gun went off, and a bunch of runners sprinted out, but by the 150 mark, i settled into 3rd place behind two younger runners.  The pace felt easy, almost too easy, but i thought, let it flow, this is adrenaline, hold back.  As we came to the 400 mark, they announced a time of 80 secs....80!!  EIGHTY!!!   are you kidding me, way too slow, so, i practically ran over and tripped one of the two runners, i went by them pretty hard.  I felt someone go with me on my shoulder, but i was glad about that, any help at all is good.  As we came around again for 800 meters, the time was 2.35, so a 75 sec lap, that was good.  I was still in first, but starting the 3rd lap, a runner passed me, but i stayed right on his shoulder.  3rd lap came in at 76 secs, so we were now at 3.51.  Starting the 4th lap, there were now two other runners with me, they were in front of me, but i was hanging on.  With about 300 to go, one surged and the other went with him, but i couldn't do it.  I was running as hard as i could and hanging on to the pace i had.  As we came down the home stretch, I pushed it in to a 5.07.  76 final lap, so I went 80, 75, 76, 76.    I was pleased, but of course, i would have like to shave off 8 secs, 4.59 sounds much better.  1st place was 4.56 and 2nd place was 4.59.

I am doing the track work in anticipation of the Utah Summer Games on June 25-26, for the 5000 and the 1500.  I would like to set the age group record for both.  The 5000 record seems soft, 19.03, but the 1500 seems like a challenge of 4.48.   What is funny is that the 5.07 for the 1600 that i ran comes to a 4.48 1500!   So i guess i am right there.

I jogged the trails 5k this morning, so, so slowly.  I almost don't feel right, but oh well.  Tonight, i am going to participate in the 1600 at the Las Vegas Track Club Summer Track Series.  The forecast is 86 degrees and 15 mph wind.  Wind.  Wind. wind.  ugh.  I hope to be around 5.15.   I haven't tried to run an all out mile since my Corp Challenge days, but we haven't done that for two years, so it has been over two years since i went hard for 1 mile.  I ran sub 5 minute miles for about 10 years in a row in corp challenge, but i think those days are done, but i will try as hard as i can.

Cheers, update later.

Mike

Trails 5k.  Slow.  Achilles pretty sore after last night's 1600.

I ran the Trails 5k+2 for a total of 5.1 miles.  I did not time my effort, as i went slow....slow....slow.  I think i am going to do an uptempo 10k tomorrow morning, all of it on the roads, just to see how my foot responds.  It was sore from the track race the other night, but i really need to see what it does in a longer race.  I have not run more than a 5k distance on the roads in a race atmosphere since the Hurricane half marathon from 2009, so it has been over a year.

I am not looking to go crazy on the 10k, who knows if it is even measured right, but I would like to be around 39 mins, just uptempo.

Cheers

I did an uptempo 10k, and made one big mistake, I started way too late, at 7am, and it was blazing hot outside during the run.  It was probably mid 90's by the time we were finished, as it hit 109 here in Vegas today.

The first 3.1 miles was downhill, and the last 3.1 was back uphill, out and back.  I averaged about 6.12 per mile going down, i took it easy, knowing i had to come back up the hill.  But the heat just really wore me out, and I averaged 6.58 per mile coming back up the hill.  Total average per mile was 6.35.  Ugh.  Should have started at 5.30am if i wanted to be fast.

Cheers

Mike

I went back out to the balloon loop trail run, but added an extra loop on the balloon portion, for a total of 9.7 miles.  I didn't go fast, but didn't go slow either.  It was hot.  92 degrees when i finished, so probably 84-85 or so when i started.

My checkpoint times were 15.10 at the Y, 28.05 at the back, 44.05 back at the Y, 56.56 at the back, 1hr 12 20 back at the Y on the 2nd loop, 1:16:10 at the 90, and then finished at 1:24:11.

Average pace was 8.41, and this is 100% on trails, so, it is tough to run a quick pace, but it was a great workout.  I do love the trails.

Cheers

Mike

Trails 5k +2.   7.51 pace.  Slow.  Hot out.  I think i set a record for number of dogs avoided.  Lots of walkers and their 4 legged friends out today.

cheers

Mike

PM  2.0 miles, I jogged to the office and retrieved Erica's car.

AM

I did my speed workout of 16 400's, 45 sec rest, distance a tad over a 400, due to being at the soccer park, and needing landmarks to start/stop.  I felt ok this morning.  I didn't want any over 90 secs, and i made it.  No wind, humid, about 81 degrees at the start, 85 at the end.  Not too bad.

1st 4 400's = 89.59, 84.02, 89.60, 87.99

2nd 4 400's =  87.37, 85.96, 89.08, 87.26

3rd 4 400's =  89.01, 85.39, 88.47, 87.56

4th 4 400's = 86.93, 86.50, 87.90, 85.19

It takes awhile to get used to running in the heat, so this transition is good.  I am going to go back on Saturday and run the same uptempo 10k that i ran last Saturday, but i am going to start at 545am.  Next Tuesday is the 2nd LVTC summer track series, the race is the 3200, should be fun in the 100+ degrees to run 8 laps on the track.  I am hoping for low 11 minutes.

Cheers

Mike

Trails 5k + 2miles.   Same pace as tuesday, 7.52 per mile.  Slow.  Nice out.  Worked my way around 15 different dogs.

Cheers

Mike

I did a speed workout at the soccer park.  I decided to do 1000, 1 mile, 1000, 1 mile, and then 1000.

This was on the grass, of course, as i have stated before, the distances are a bit long due to landmark start/stop points. 

I was ok with the workout.  Short rest.

1000 = 3.46

1 mile = 5.55.  New PR.  i was 88, then 2.56, 3.09 after the loop, then 3.38 at the 1000, 4.42 at the 400 again.

1000 = 3.46

1 mile = This one hurt.  I was just trying to stay uptempo.  went through 800 in 3.10, wasn't pleased, and finished the next 800 in 3.02, for a 6.12

1000 = 3.40

Cheers

Mike

I was going to take the day off, but decided to jog the Trails5k.  slow.  nice out.  windy.

I did the same 10k that i did last weekend.  It was much nicer out, cool temps, but some wind.  I ran 19.35 on the way out 5k, last week was 19.12, but on the way back, i ran 21.09, last week it was 21.34, so i actually was 2 secs faster, total time 40.44.   Uptempo pace.

 My mile times were

6.14, 6.06, 6.27, 6.59, 6.54, 6.52, 1.12

Cool down was 2.2 miles, warmup was 0.4

I went back out to the balloon loop trail run, same as last Sunday, but big difference, it was about 20 degrees cooler, what a nice day.  When i finished the 82 minute run, it was 70 degrees, at the start, it was about 66 degree.  I only ran this 9.7 mile version of this trail run once before, and ran 84.11.  I had no intention of running hard and between 15 mins and 28 mins felt like quitting, i was feeling light headed, and just not good, but eventually came around and set a PR, 82.32, or about 8.32 per mile.

My splits, at the Y 15.08, at the back 28.12, downhill curve 37.25, back to the Y in 43.36, at the back 55.56, curve at 64.42, back to the Y at 70.58, 90 degree turn at 74.42, and finished in 82.32.   I had to deal with probably 15-20 mountain bikers in the last 10 mins.

cheers

Mike

Trails 5k + 2 miles.  39.38, or 7.48 pace.   slow.  felt ok.  nice out.  13 dogs.

cheers

Mike

AM - I ran the trails5k, time about 7.55 pace.  No wind.  Nice out.  Supposed to get windy tonight.

PM - I went out to Durango High School for the LVTC Summer Track Series, tonight was the 3200 meter race.  I wasn't real happy with the effort, but it was ok.  When we left the car, it was 98 degrees, and the wind was about 16-18 mph.  I would guess when we actually raced, it was probably 94 degrees.  So, hot and windy, but hey, this is an effort to mimic the Utah Summer Games in Cedar, so, hot, windy.....perfect!

We probably had 15 or so runners in the "fast" heat, so I was hoping for some help, and was hoping to break 11 mins, but with the wind, not so sure.   I saw Devin Mancuso and Stephen Morgan, they both wanted to break 10 mins, but that was too quick for me. 

The race started and Devin/Stephen jumped out quick, and i settled in with 3 other runners.  After about 2 laps, the only one with me was Adam Dodson.  I have never met Adam, but seemed like a good guy after the race, and a good runner.  I tried to help lead some of the laps so that he wasn't breaking the wind each time, although it didn't seem to matter.

Laps were, 82.46, 83.41, 83.90, 83.77, 84.23, 88.11, 87.65, and 77.68 for a total time of 11.11.   I honestly don't know what the heck happened in laps 6 and 7, seriously, very disappointed there.   The last lap was quick, as i tried to pull away from Adam, but i should have used that extra speed in some of my earlier laps.  Oh well.  Stephen ran a 10.14, Devin 10.23, and Adam finished at 11.19.

I guess it was good experience for Cedar, but overall, not real pleased.

We had to switch our speed workouts, we have been meeting at the Soccer Community park, but the park is under construction....geez......we liked that park, but we moved to the Trent Trail.  This is the park and trail that we ran the 10k last couple of weeks, and we went ahead and marked the trail for 400 meter splits.  The trail is nice, has a nice soft shoulder of dirt (where i stick to the workout).

We did 400, 400, 800 X 4 repeats.

#1 81.75, 90.78, 3.04.50

#2  84.25, 86.22, 3.02.54

#3  86.40, 87.33, 3.00.02

#4  83.40, 89.11, 2.58.29

I was ok with the workout, it takes me a time or two get used to the quirks of the workout location.   Cheers

I just kind of wandered around for about 5.5 miles, I went up the Trails 5k route, and then headed over to the crossing park.

Slow.

Cheers

I ran the 10k again at the Trent Park, trying to break 40 mins, and made it today.  It was nice out, about 10mph wind from the south, and about 84 degrees when i started.  Miles were 6.18, 5.58, 6.20, (19.20 at the 5k).  This 5k is definitely downhill.  Going back uphill, the miles were 6.45, 6.48, 6.34, and then 70 secs last 0.2, so 20.33 5k coming back uphill, total time of 39.53. 

I have now run this 10k three times, 40.46, 40.44, and now 39.53.  Pace this time was 6.26 per mile, and I ran by myself, so i was good with this effort.    My ankle is a little sore, i have been icing it, but it seems ok with running 40+ miles per week.   It seems to feel the same whether i don't run at all or run 40 miles in a week.

I also took my bike to the shop for a "tuneup", i am going to start riding it a bit, and eventually do some races.  A biathlon would be perfect, biking and running, lets leave the swimming out for now!

Cheers

I went to the little valley soccer park, and did my 8 laps of 1.23 mile per lap, and added a bit to make it a 10 miler.  I went slow, listened to the ipod, averaged about 7.51 per mile.  My laps were:  9.57, 10.00, 9.59, 9.55, 9.36, 9.26, 9.20, 9.00.

cheers

slow run around the Trails.

cheers. 

looking forward to Cedar City this Friday for the 5k and Saturday for the 1500.  Looks like around 90 degrees, and some wind, 18 mph.

Mike

We did a workout at the Trent park.   400, 800, 1200 X 2.   A little lighter this week, as i am running the 5k in Cedar on Friday.

1st rep:  77.01, 2.58.35, 4.32.50

2nd rep  79.47, 2.52.40, 4.25.88

I was ok with the effort, definitely could have done more.  We warmed up and cooled down for 1.5 miles each, and then later added another 2.3.

Ran the Trails 5k in 23.38.  I was going to take the day off, but decided to just run a bit.

Slow 3.1 on the Trails 5k, next day is the 5000 on the track in Cedar City!

Well, i was pretty disappointed in the whole experience for the 5k on the track for the Utah Summer Games held in Cedar City.

Start time was at 5.45pm.  I left St. George a little before 3pm to drive the 52 miles to Cedar City, about a 45-50 minute drive.  Unfortunately, the drive took almost 2.5 hours!!!  I had my two daughters, Stefani and Sydni with me, and also my good friend Eric Larsen.  When we got to the 22 mile mark on I-15, still about 37 miles to the exit for the race, the traffic was completely stopped.  It was crazy.  It took us 35 minutes to drive the next MILE.  It took 1 hr and 16 minutes to drive 3 miles!!!  So at this point, i figured i would not be running in the race.  I received a call from Aaron Metler, who was also trying to get to Cedar, he was also stuck in traffic.

We arrived at the stadium at 5:25 pm, so i had 20 mins to check in, warm up, take care of bathroom issues, so it just wasn't looking real good for a solid performance.  Aaron showed up after I did, so he had less time!  The temperature was great, probably 85 degrees, but there was some wind on the homestretch, probably 18 mph.  My race was terrible, but i cannot really pinpoint what it was.   I did not wear my watch, which was a mistake, i was disoriented out there on the track, trying to figure out how many laps had i run, or how many i had left.  The scoreboard usually has the time on it, but it was off.  Aaron Metler took off real fast, and then there was another runner, and then Ryan Neuman, and i settled into 4th place.  There were probably 20 runners on the track.

My laps were horrible, they were 42 secs for first 200, then 89.65, 87.98, 92.53, 90.37, 94.10, 93.09, 92.89, 92.29, 94.08, 95.24, 93.37, and 80.63.   I had my laps because Stef took them for me, i don't know what i was thinking not having my watch on my wrist.  I could not hear the race officials saying the time, until the first time i heard someone say "11.22", and it took me a minute to figure out what lap i was on at that point.  My finishing time was 18.58.64, but on the results they had 19.00.00 (?).  It almost felt like they didn't record my time, but thought i was around 19 mins, so that is what they put me at.  Either way, I squeaked out the 40-44 record of 19.03, but still, I should have been 30 secs faster at least. 

Aaron ran 16.47, and Ryan  ran 18.48.   I could see him as i was finishing, and i was pleased with my effort, as Ryan is a great runner, and i was only 10 secs behind him.

Because of the traffic, I decided to take a pass on repeating the 3 hour drive on Saturday for the 1500, and will plan on doing this again next year to replace this poor effort.

Cheers

Mike

Little valley repeats of 1.23 miles with Erica.  Went slow until the last lap.  total time of 55.55, with laps of 9.48, 9.41, 9.37, 9.21, 9.19, and 8.09.

Mike

AM Slow 3.1 on the trails 5k with Erica.

AM   Trails 5k with Erica.

PM   I went to the LVTC 2 mile summer track series, i did not have any expectation, especially since it was 109 degrees when we left the car, and about a 10 mph wind.  By the time we ran at 7pm, it probably "cooled" down to maybe 105-106.   The sun was going down behind the mountain, providing about half the track some shade.

When we got started, after 150 meters, we were going slow, slow, slow, so I said what the heck, i felt good, and i took off in the lead, first lap in 82.46, and Devin Mancuso and Stephen Morgan were right behind me.  We did this 2 mile race two weeks before, but the temps were in the mid to high 90's, although it was a worse wind last time.  That time, i ran 11.11, Devin 10.23, and Stephen 10.14.

So they are obviously faster than I am, so the 82.46 must have felt easy for them.  2nd lap, i was still in the lead, and we ran 80.78.  They took the lead after that, and ran away from me, but i still ran the 3rd lap in 83.60, and the 4th in 84.03, for a first mile of 5.30.87.   I didn't think breaking 11 min in this heat was possible, but i was focused on breaking my time from last time of 11.11.  5th lap in 85.34, 6th in 87.54 (ugh), 7th lap in 86.57, so total time of 9.50, i needed an 81 last lap to tie my time from last time, and i ran a 78.07 for the last lap, so 2nd mile was 5.37.52, total time of 11.08.39.  I was pleased, especially since I felt so terrible 4 days before in Cedar City for the 5k on the track.  I am still kicking myself for that lame effort.

Devin won this time in 10.21, and Stephen ran 10.26.

Cheers

Mike

wandering around the trails with Erica for 5.4 miles.