Keep running

I ran the trails 5k right outside my home here in Vegas, and then added on 2.0 miles.  I am trying to recover from an achillies pain, since May of 2009.  It is starting to feel a bit better, i am hoping to race a 5k here in Vegas on May 22nd.  I am hopeful of no wind!

Very windy.  Ran 3.1 on the usual Trails 5k course here in Vegas right outside my home.

I wanted to do a speed workout this morning, but the wind was really tough, so decided to delay it until tomorrow morning.  I ended up doing the usual, 5.1 miles, which includes the Trails 5k course, and then added on two extra miles. I did the total mileage in 37.24, so about 7.24 per mile pace.  Felt easy.

I made it to 40 miles last week, so i am feeling better.  The achilles still hurts, actually most of the day, but once i get it warmed up, it doesn't feel too bad while i am running.   I am feeling like i am getting back in shape.   I am looking forward to the 5k on the 22nd of May, i hope the wind is non existent and the course is measured accurately, i want to break 18 mins, and maybe close to 17.30.  Hey, you can only hope for so much at my advanced age of 42.

Cheers

It was a beautiful morning, so I went ahead with a speed workout.  I did 16 x 400's with a 45 sec rest after each repeat.  I do these repeats at a soccer park in Vegas, the total length of the park is about 0.53 miles.  The upside of the park is the repeats are on grass, which helps my recovery, but the downside is the terrain and distance.  The footing is not bad, actually quite good, but a few tough spots.  Each repeat is about 3-4 secs longer than a true 400, as i looked for a common solid start/finish line "marker".  I did the workout with my friend Stacy Ross, and also, Erica was there for timing and coaching purposes :).

The first 400 is slightly uphill, the next is slightly downhill, and they i reverse course back to my original starting line.

My repeats were:

1st 4 400's (mile) were 89.34, 83.49, 87.75, 87.02     total mile time 5.47.60

2nd repeat was 91.58 (ugh, lost focus), 83.16, 86.88, 86.15   total time  5.47.77

3rd repeat  was 87.79, 83.68, 88.00, 85.55   total time   5.45.02

4th repeat was  86.28, 80.23, 85.98, 82.33   total time 5.34.82!

I was pleased, as my fourth repeat total time of 5.34.82 was a PR, and also, my last repeat of 82.33 was a PR for that particular 400, and also my 2nd to last repeat of 85.98 was also a PR for that repeat.

Well, that was good, i want to continue on with picking up my speed looking forward to the 5k on the 22nd of May.

Cheers

I ran the same 5.1 as the others this week, the Trails 5k and 2 additional miles, total time of 36.52, pace about 7.16 per mile, and it really felt very comfortable.  Most of this is running on grass and dirt, dodging rocks, roots, dogs on leashes, immobile dog owners, so i was pleased.

Headed to St.george tonight, as my oldest daughter, Stefani, is going to do her final Panthera performance, as she is a senior at Pine View High School, and is headed to BYU in the fall!!And i still think she is supposed to be in 2nd grade......

Cheers

I ran at Dixie College, just randomly around the grassy areas between some of the bldgs.  I did a loop that i made up 5 times, each loop a little more than a mile.  Nothing hard, just an easy run.

Cheers

I try and do my "long" run on Sunday, and went a bit uptempo during the 9.84 miles.  I have a loop that is 1.23 miles down at the Little Valley soccer fields and schools.  I wanted to run quick today, and break my PR of 71 mins 22 secs there.

I ran 8 loops, and my per loop times were:  8.30.46,  8.39.24,   8.37.50,  8.31.41,  8.34.02,  8.30.09,  8.33.10,   and 7.57.13 on my last one.  I didn't feel so good on my first 3, but after that i was into a good rhythm and felt ok.  My total time was 67.52, new PR, pace of about 6.52 per mile.  It is all on grass with so-so footing, so i was very pleased.

Cheers

I only had time for 3.1 Trails 5k, time was about 23.50.

I went to St. George on Monday night, so it was a late drive back to Vegas, we got home around 11pm, so Tues morning, i was dead tired, and wasn't going to run at all, but decided to jog the Trails 5k to shake out the cobwebs.  I ran 23.20.  

And, bummer, the forecast for this Saturday right before the 7am race time is 31 mph winds!!!   I think i am cursed.

I went back to the Community Park to do a speed workout, but, as i am planning on doing a 5k race this Saturday, decided to do 3 uptempo miles, and not my usual 4.  I decided to do 3 reps of a 4,4,8 workout, 400, 400, 800.  My rest is short, 45 secs after the 400's and about 90 secs after the 800.

At the park, the distance is a bit more than a 400, or an 800, as i have mentioned before, i pick landmarks to start and stop to make it easier.  Also, this is all on grass, the footing is good but not great.  My friend Stacy was also there, and also my live in coach, Erica, was giving me pointers and and timing me as she walked the course

My first rep went 85.74, 81.71 and then a PR on the 800 of 2.49.19.  Nice start, as i felt good, and i did push it to get a PR on the 800, but now the rest of the workout might suffer.

Second rep went 86.84, 82.37 and 2.57.10.   I did suffer a bit here.

Third rep went 80.19, 84.94 and 2.55.17.  I was happy here as I accidently shortened my rest period by 30 secs after the 2nd rep 800 before i ran the 80.19 400, which is a PR on that particular 400, so that was good.

Overall, i felt pretty good, i didn't leave everything on the grass, i felt i could go some more.
Cheers

I ran the trails 5k plus 2 miles.  I ran it in 36.30, or a pace of 7.11 per mile.  I gave a little effort, but didn't really push much.

All week i have been thinking about the 5k this Saturday and hoping for no wind.  The forecast was calling for winds of 36 mph a few hours before the race, but when i checked the forecast this morning, it now says 14 mph at race time.  Not great, but not as bad as it could be.  And please, no speeches that it is the same for everyone on the course,  i am not worried about any competition, i am focused on my time, i want to break 18 mins.  A great example of that is the Laughlin 5k this year in March.   I actually got lucky and won the race (by one second), but my time was 19.58, which is what you get with 30+ mph winds.  It is my slowest 5k race ever in 15 years of running, by about 75 secs!!

Cheers

I ran the Trails 5k just to shake out the cobwebs, getting ready for the race tomorrow.  I ran 24.09.  The wind is supposed to be 20+ mph tomorrow.  Still hoping for sub 18.

Well. the race was finally here.  I had been planning on sub 18 for this race for awhile as i try to get myself back in race shape.  Of course, I have been looking at the weather forecast, as the worst thing for me is wind, and it was projected at race time to be 20+ mph.  During the night, i woke up, and the wind was howling very bad, trees shaking, it was easily over 30 mph.  I thought great, race is not going to go well.

I woke up at 515am to walk the dogs, and surprisingly there really wasn't much wind.  Wow, it had died down.  Good.  I left at 555 am to get to the race, and we got there around 615am.  I had about 20 co-workers also running the race, so we took a picture, and then i finished my warmup.  I ran about 2.5 miles before the race, about 0.5 of it in surges and sprints.  The wind was now about 12 mph, not too bad.

As we lined up to the start line, i noticed Devin Mancuso there, he is a solid runner and should be under 17 mins, but other than that, i didn't see anyone real quick.  I was hoping for a few good runners to help me with the sub 18, but i knew Devin was too quick for me.  We took off, and Devin started out fairly slow, and so I definitely wasn't going to pass him.  He finally took off at about 0.5 miles in, and i stayed back in 4th place as I hit the mile in 5.46.  I was ok with that, as the 12-14 mph wind was a headwind in mile 1, also it was very slightly uphill.  As we turned off of Jones and onto Oakey, it is now slightly downhill and the wind at our back.  I caught 2nd and 3rd place, one was a high school runner that fell of the pace, and the other was a young runner, Victor Bautista, that i knew was a solid runner.  I had beat him by a few seconds at a 5k in January.

We hit mile two in 11.26, so a 5.40 2nd mile.  Erica was there cheering me on.  I felt good, but i knew as we turned off of Oakey, and onto Decatur, it was going to be a headwind.    We made the turn, and it was a bit of a struggle, but, not bad, then we turned right back onto Sahara to finish up.  Victor and I ran together from about mile 1, and i think as we came up to mile 3, we were both just hanging onto each other.  As we came up to the final turn, i thought we had another block, so i backed off, as the pace was getting a little quick.  Then i realized that we were turning right then, and it was the 3 mile mark.  I quickly caught back up to him, and then for the last 0.1 miles, we started to surge and sprint.  Now, he is 22 and I am 42, so I figured I was in trouble.  He finally surged with maybe 10 secs to go, and i backed off, cause that was it for me.  Well, he sensed that, and then he started to coast into the finish as the 2nd place runner.  When I saw him do that, I surged again, and went by him and got him by 1 second.  He shouldn't have coasted, you got to finish strong, even against old guys like me.

So I ran 17.54.  I was happy.  I was glad to have Victor with me from mile one, or i probably wouldn't have broke 18.  The foot felt ok.  The wind was tough, but not as ridiculous as i thought it could be.

Cheers

Mike

I ran my long run, which is 8 laps at Little Valley School/Soccer fields.  I went easy today, as i just wanted to listen to the Ipod and relax after yesterday's race.  Each lap is 1.23 miles, and my lap times were 9.52, 9.45, 9.32, 9.25, 9.28, 9.10, 9.03 and 8.38.  Total time with another 0.14 to finish up ten miles was 1:16:08, or 7.37 per mile.

I was pondering different changes in life, as we had a grad party last night for Stefani, my oldest daughter that is graduating from Pine View High School and headed to BYU in the fall.  Wow, that went fast, she really should be in 4th or 5th grade now.  Also, i could have a job change soon, so things keep changing. 

Then i started focusing on something i have noticed since i run in the parks, and it is a problem both in Vegas and St.George.  Why do people litter so much?  As i do each of my loops, i notice all the trash lying around, and there is literally, a garbage can less than 10 feet away.  It really bugs me.  I try and pick up 4 or 5 pieces of trash, and i think of it as an "admission" fee for letting me jog on the field. 

Cheers

Mike

Just the trails 5k today, very slow, 24.35.

Mike

I ran my speedwork today, 4 miles total.  I did 16 400's, with a 45 sec rest in between.  I did this at the soccer park, each repeat about 2-4 secs more than a 400.  I was not feeling it today, maybe left over from the race on Saturday.  I have told many runners that have worked out with me, "if you aren't feeling it, at least complete the workout".  Well, today, i was telling myself that same thing.

1st mile, 90.53, 86.09, 90.54, 88.33

2nd mile   92.37, 87.12, 89.76, 88.05

3rd mile  94.16 86.70, 87.58, 87.56

4th mile  91.37, 86.26, 88.03, 84.52

At least i ran my fastest 400's during the last mile, but overall, yuck.

Cheers

I was in St. George, as the high school graduation for Pine View is today, so this morning, i drove down to the old road on the Arizona Strip, and just ran for 1 hour.  I ended up doing 7.8 miles.  I was trying to figure out a route for some possible marathon training this summer, if I run a fall marathon. 

I am signed up for St.George marathon, and I am also considering the top of Utah marathon in Logan.  I won't do both, at least not seriously.  And i might not do either, it all depends on the achilles.  I really want to go to Boston next April, but to do that, I need a qualifying time, which is why I am looking at either Logan on Sept 18th, or St. George on Oct 2nd.

Cheers

Mike

I was going to do my speedwork today, but I arrived home very late from St.George last night, so to turn around 6-7 hours later and do a speed workout doesn't work at my advanced age, so i will do it on Friday.  Today, just 3.1 in Trails 5k in about 24.20.

Also, I feel ok after running 8 miles yesterday, most of it on pavement, that is a good sign as i contemplate a marathon in the fall.

I did my 2nd speed workout for the week at the soccer park, a good 20 mph wind, great, this will be good training for my races in the wind.  I decided to do 2 X 2 miles.  All on grass, most of it in the wind.   Each lap on the grass is about 0.53 miles, so I do 3 laps and then on the 4th, i almost complete another lap to get to 2 miles.

1st time I went 3.29, 3.28, 3.25, and 2.31 for a total time of 12.53.  I was ok with this, the wind was a drag, and i just wanted to do it a bit uptempo.

Of course the next time, i really just wanted to be close to the first try.   My PR for 2 miles is 12.38, but that was done on a stand alone basis, not in the midst of 2X2Miles.

2nd time I went 3.28, 3.22, 3.26 and 2.32 for a total time of 12.48.  Good enough.

My friend Stacy also ran the workout, and of course, Erica was there walking the course, timing me, and giving me lots of encouragement.  She is taking a break for awhile, but at some point, she will be back out there tearing it up!

PM - ran from my house to work to get my car.  4.7 miles

Cheers
Mike

I like to as much trail running as i can.  Especially fairly level trails.  I have been running off of the sidewalks and asphalt roads for about a year, and staying on softer surfaces, mainly because of my achilles, but also, my overall body just feels very sore and almost arthritic.  Now that i have stayed off the roads for almost a year, i am feeling much better.  One of my favorite trails is called the "balloon loop" and is in the Spring Mountains in Las Vegas, near hwy 159.  I decided to go hard on the trail, and my PR is 51.17 for the 6.4 miles, however, the day i did that PR, my dog Peyton, who was running with me, got distracted and cost me about 2 mins, so i really consider 49.17 to be my PR.

Peyton was there again, but this time he was walking the trail with Erica.  I set out on a steady pace, but uptempo.  I don't have any mile markers to compare, but I do have certain spots that i look for.  At the spot "90", I was at 9.21, at the spot "two trails", I was 10.52, at the "Y", I was 13.15, at the spot "back end", i was 24.54, which was about 9 secs off my PR, at the spot "far pt curve" i was 33.01, then back to the "Y" i was 38.29, "two trails" 40.34, at "90", I was 41.45, at "rocky top finish" I was 46.55, and I finished with a PR of 48.41.  I was very pleased.  It was funny, with about 60 secs to go, my good friend and former running partner Dan Kempf was out hiking with his good buddy Doug.  Dan was actually the one that showed Erica and I this trail.  He was just hiking, and he needs to get his act together and get back out there running.

Cheers

My long run.  11.0 miles.  I did 3.2 of it on the roads, and 7.8 at the Crossing Park, which was 14 laps of 0.56 per lap.  I did the whole run in a little less than 8 min pace.  I don't know how to assess where I am at with my achilles.  I am slowing putting miles back out on the road, and I cannot seem to tell what the impact is yet on my foot.  This morning, it was a bit sore, which I don't like.  It has been about 1 year now of this achilles stuff, and I am frankly sick of it.  I really took most of the last 6 months off, and had it treated in various ways.  I can now run on it, but it still just aches all of the time.   After I run for a few minutes, it doesn't seem to hurt to bad, but other than that, it just aches.  Oh well.

Cheers

5 slow miles at the Fields at Little Valley.  I am going to do a 1600 tomorrow night at the first installment at the Las Vegas Track Club summer track series.  I am hoping for sub 5.15.

Cheers

Mike

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.

I went to the Trent Park for mile repeats with Stacy Ross and Erica was also there.  She is done with her layoff, and slowly getting back into it.

We did 4X1 mile, rest was 2.30 minutes, probably too long.

We ran the Trent trail, down a mile, back, and then again.  I went 6.07.20, 6.05.03, 5.56.28, and 5.58.46.  I was pleased.

I ran the trails 5k in 23.34, then wandered around the park for another 1.3

Started some marathon training, with my longest run since last July.   I did the Trent 10k twice, with an extra 0.7 thrown in on the 2nd 10k.   My time was 1.39.22, so i was ok with 7.37 pace in the morning heat of Vegas.   I wasn't trying to knock it out real fast, just wanted to say I did it.

My 5k's were 22.50 going down on the first 10k, then 24.09 on the way back up, then 23.10 the second time, but then i ended up with a 23.30 coming back up for the last 5k, so my 2nd 10k was faster.  It was ok, but my foot was very, very sore.   Dang it.....the foot is not responding well.

Cheers
Mike

I was not going to run AT ALL today.  I woke up, very, very sore from the half training run yesterday.  But, after walking the dogs, i decided to run the Little Valley Ball field loop on 3 times, but ended up doing it 4 times and a bit more for 5 miles.   Went really, really slow.

Cheers

Mike

My foot felt ok this morning, so i went back out to the balloon loop to do the 9.7 version of this trail run, and i was determined to run hard and PR.  My PR was 82.32, done a month or so ago, and when i started running that PR day, the temps were 66 at the start and 70 at the end.

Today, the temps were 82 at the start and 88 at the end, but I still wanted to set a record.  First checkpoint at the Y, I was 15.12, 4 secs behind PR, at the back, I was 28.27, 15 secs behind, curve I was 37.36, 11 secs back, at the Y again, 43.48, 12 secs back, then I started to kick it in, at the back again, I was 55.58, 2 secs back, then 64.12 at the curve, I was now 30 secs ahead of PR, then at the Y, 70.03, I was about 50 secs ahead, at the 90 degree turn, I was 73.37, now I was 1 min 5 secs ahead, last time I finished in 7.50 for a total time of 82.32, but this time, I did the last section in 7.15, for a total time of 80.52, which is about 8.20 pace per mile.  Not bad on this up and down tricky trail. 

Cheers

Mike

I jogged down to Pueblo Park to the "1" mile mark, than back home.

We did a speed workout at the Trent Trail.  Erica is back to doing speed workouts, and also, our good friend Stacy joined us.

We decided to do 400, 800, 1200 times two repeats, and then an 800, 400, 400 to finish the workout, total of 4 miles.  Rest 45 secs after 400, 75 secs after 800, and 120 secs after 1200.

My times were, 1st repeat.....80.97, 2.53.15, and 4.31.90.  2nd repeat.......79.82, 2.49.84, and 4.28.89.   Then my 800, 400, 400 went 2.54.44, 85.19 and 80.28.

I was ok with the workout, but my foot was very, very sore afterwards.  Dang it.  I am so sick of this, it has been over a year.  I don't think it will ever recover.  I am going to go see another doctor sometime this month.

I took yesterday off, because of my foot, it felt a bit better today before the run, but afterwards, not that good.  I will be running a 15miler tomorrow, so it will give me a good indication of what is up with it as far as pain level.

i did a somewhat uptempo Trails 5k in a time of 21.48.  Erica ran also and ran 21.36, good for her.

Cheers

Mike

This was a tough, and not a real good start to doing a long run.  It was hot and humid when I started, so i figured it wasn't going to go well.   I started with a 2.6 mile loop that i ran about 7.45 pace, then i did the 10k, the 5k down the Trent Trail in 21.40, so under 7 min pace, then back up to the start in 23.30, so 7.36 mile pace, so, now i have 8.8 miles in, and i feel ok, but i took water at this point, and turned around back in the sun to go back down and do the 10k again, and.....ugh, the heat humidity, everything kind of hit me, I went about another mile, and wasn't pleased with the pace, so i turned off my watch and practiced the "marathon shuffle" for the next 5.2 miles to get the 15 in.  Ugh.  It was rough.  I hate the marathon shuffle, and don't want to practice it, but, well, sometimes it happens.  It was unusually muggy for Vegas, and when I finished, it was 98 degrees.  I started at 5.40am, but i need to move it to around 5am in the future.

Cheers

I ran in St.George, but once again, it was much more humid than usual, about 95 degrees, it was hot.  Erica and I did the Little Valley loop 5 times, all of them between 9.30 and 9.55 per loop, so around 7.45 min per mile pace.

Cheers

Mike

Erica and I jogged over to the Crossing Park, and went around it 4 times, and back home.

Stacy and I did 4X1mile repeats, while Erica did 3 reps of 4,4,8.

I was ok with the workout, but not thrilled.  Slight headwind coming back so the 2nd and 4th miles were a bit slow.

Times were 5.57.93, 6.06.10, 5.55.03, and 6.13.30.   I was a bit surprised on the 4th one, i thought my effort was the same, but it was a bit slower.  rest time was 2.30 in between.

Cheers

Jogged the trails 5k with Erica.

I am running the Notch run at Mt. Charleston on Saturday, a 4 mile race straight up the mountain, big time elevation increase.   We start at 8000 feet, then climb 1000 or so feet in elevation during the 4 miles.  I ran repeats today, but did only 10, at about 85% effort, 45 sec rest in between repeats, averaged about 90 secs.

Mike

Just the Trails 5k, nothing to hard, getting ready for tomorrow.

I ran in the Mt. Charleston Notch run this year, i haven't done this race since 2001. This race is only 4 miles, but starts at about 7800 ft above sea level and then climbs about 1000 feet to end close to 9000 feet. Tough race. When i was 10 years younger and much better shape, I ran my best time of 29.53, about 7.30 pace, so this is a tough race. Another comparison, the all time record for this race was done by the legendary Hobie Call, when he ran a phenomenal time of 24.08, so for 4 miles, he didn't quite break 6 min pace, just to give you an idea of the difficulty.

We started the race, and the usual 10-15 high school runners jump out in the lead, but most of them have never done this race, and are they in for a surprise. My first mile was 7.12, and I was probably in about 8th place, the 2nd mile is tough, and I ran 8.09, and was now in 6 place, Devin Mancuso was in the lead, and then Stephen Morgan and James

Edwards were 2nd/3rd, then two high school runners, and myself.

I finally passed the two high school runners in the 3rd mile, when I ran a 8.02, and now it was time for the toughest mile, the 4th mile, it just goes straight up. I ran that race in 8.30, and finished at 31.53. I might not have broke 32 mins but Erica and Julian Julani were screaming at me to finish hard and break 32, so I hustled it in.

Good Race. Nice temps, about 75 degrees. The achilles was pretty sore, probably pretty stupid to run this race with a sore achilles.

Cheers

Mike

I ran 10 laps of the Little Valley school/park area.  Soccer players were there only on last two laps.  This is the longest I have run out there.  Temps were 85 at the start, 94 at the end.  It was ok.

My lap times, which are each 1.23 miles, were:  9.43.04,  9.46.85, 9.50.75, 9.31.20, 9.28.87, 9.32.62, 9.35.39, 9.21.81, 9.20.32, and 8.32.41.

While I was running, i was thinking about the latest project I did, I actually got a copy of all 33 years of the results of the St. George marathon, and compiled the top 1000 fastest mens times and the top 1000 fastest women's times for all years.  It was quite the project.   I found it interesting that there is actually ONE male runner that has a time in the top 1000 in each decade of the 1970's, 80's, 90's, and 2000's........amazing, huh?

cheers

Mike 

slow Trails 5k with Erica.

Ran 4X1 mile at the Trent park with Stacy and Erica.  I ran 5.59, 6.09, 5.57 and 6.19 (ugh) with a 2.30 break, hot and humid!

I ran the Bristlecone Loop at Mt Charleston, this is a 6.15 mile loop with many ups and downs in elevation, it is run mainly over 9000 feet, I did the loop twice.

First time around leaving the parking lot i was 8.53, 18min ridge i was 20.26, 180 overlook 27.30, Summit 32.53, Downhill rock 42.19, Meadow Curve 48.29, and total time 57.01.

2nd time around  at the parking lot 8.48, 18min ridge 20.21, 180 overlook 27.05, summit 32:00, downhill rock 41.05, meadow curve 46.55, and total time 54.46.

It was a very pleasant run, temps around 75 degrees, overall, two thumbs up!!

Ran very slowly the Trails 5k with Erica.  I am going to run the Enterprise 10k tomorrow morning, I have no or little expectation, I will use it as a uptempo run, but I think breaking 37 mins is doable.  The Enterprise 10k is downhill for at least 4 miles, and then flattens out for the last two miles.  I do question the overall distance measurement, but, the last time I ran, there were a few runners with GPS that verified that it was 6.2 miles, so it is all good.

Cheers

Mike

We did the Enterprise races today, my wife Erica and my daughter Stefani did the 5k, and I did the 10k. THis race has so much potential, the cool weather in the middle of summer, the downhill course, but man, they could tighten up a few things to make it really a nice race.

They didn't have enough buses, so a bit of a delay there, but not a big deal. The guy in charge of the start didn't know exactly where the starting line was, we just kind of picked a spot, and he said go. Then, the mile markers were 5,4,3,2,1.......was the 5 meaning 5 miles to go, and so we ran 1.2 miles to start? And finally, i have always had my suspicions on the distance, but, oh well, you take what you get.

Of course there are positives, it is a nice small town race, great finish line area, friendly people, the course is great, approx 4 miles of downhill, and two miles of fairly flat, with the last mile down the main street of this town.

My mile splits are all over the place, 5.41, 6.06, 5.19,6.06, 6.09, 5.57, and i have no idea which part of the miles contained the 0.2. I have talked to others in the past who ran with a GPS, and they all came pretty close to 6.2 in distance, so i guess this is a 10k.

Cheers

Mike

My foot is not good today, so i took the day off, and that isn't good, because i wanted to do at least 10 miles. ugh. Very sore achilles right now, i guess the 10k yesterday wasn't such a good idea. I am seeing a new doctor in Vegas, so I hope he can help.

Cheers

Mike

Very slow 3.1 5k on the trails, ankle not so good.

AM   Trails 5k.  ankle feels ok.  I am going to the Summer Track series tonight, 5k and 5k relay.

PM  I ran the 5k on the track in the summer track series.  Nothing too serious, just a tempo run.  105+ degrees, and a bit windy.  I ran 19.30.   6.11, 6.20, and 6.59 for last 1.1.  I was ok with the effort, just trying to run consistently.

Then at the last minute, Erica my wife and my friend Stacy decided to jump in the 5k relay and run that, a 3 person relay.  I ran the first 1800 in 6.48, and then Erica and Stacy decided to alternate 400's, Erica running them in about 90 secs, and Stacy running them in about 80 secs.  This was after each of us did the whole 5k earlier.  Our total time was 18.12.

Cheers

Mike

Well, definitely a setback, my achilles is very sore, and i really shouldn't have been racing at all or doing short intervals, it is very inflamed.  I went to a new doctor this week, and he has been great, and has even said I can run 30 miles or so a week, or even 40, but no short hard stuff.

Well, I would still like to do a fall marathon, so I am going to run 18.6 miles at Mt. Charleston this Saturday, and see how I do.  All slow miles, all on trails, so we will see.

I did 3.1 slowly this morning, hobbling along.  ugh.

Mike

I ran the Bristlecone loop at Mt. Charleston, two times, first time 62 mins, second time just under 59 mins.  My achilles is sore, but it feels so much better running slower and on a trail than doing speed work.  I will ice it, and we will see how it feels tomorrow.  This was a tough week.

I ran 7 laps at the Little Valley fields, so 8.6 miles, very slow, the achilles was aching a bit, and the course was restricted with ropes, to help the grass grow, and so I finally said enough, and went home.   When i got home, i decided to run an extra 2.4 miles to make 11.   The achilles is sore, we will see.

a few miles with Erica on the grass, achilles feels much better, back to the grass!!

once again, on the grass again at Crossing Park, a little quicker than yesterday, a little bit under 8 mins per mile pace.

I did the same Crossing park run today, 10 laps on the grass, went a bit quicker today, 41.43, about 7.25 per mile.

Cheers

Mike

Slow trails 5k with Erica.

I ran a bit waiting for the Legends 5k to start, as Erica was running, really it was her first attempt back running after taking some time off.  She wanted to break 20 mins.  The course seemed to be accurately measured, and it was an out and back course, probably 80% on dirt.

Erica finished 5th in 20.09, so she was ok with that effort.  Amazing run by the 1st place male, Jeremy Sudbury, who now runs for the university of Oklahoma ran a 14.32.  Nice.  His teammate from Oklahoma was 2nd in 15.07.

Mike

Well, I did something crazy, I went out and ran 16 miles of the St. George marathon course, from mile 7 (right in Veyo) until mile 23 (right at the Church as you enter St. George).  I didn't push hard, as I was worried about the foot, I finished in 2:04.  About 7:45 per mile pace.  My foot was sore afterwards, but not that bad.  It feels much worse when I do an all out mile.  I am signed up for the marathon, but, obviously have very low expectations.  I want to run Boston next year (with my foot 100%, so i am dreaming obviously), so i need to at least do 3:20.

Mike

I went around the Crossing park 15 times.   8.4 miles.   Round and round and round again.  ugh.  lots of dog walkers and lots of sprinklers.  Such is life with a bad achilles.  My pace was about 7.45 per mile.

Mike

trails 5k.  slow.

I ran the crossing park loop 15 time again, I tried to pick up the pace, and I did, I was  around 7 min pace, which is good as this is a fairly tough grass course.

My lap times were pretty consistent.  I wanted to break 60 mins, so 4 mins per lap, but I didn't think that would happen.

4.01, 3.57, 4.01, 3.58, 3.57, 3.58, 3.58, 4.00, 4.01, 4.00, 4.04, 4.04, 4.05, 4.07, 3.43, total time 59.55.32, so I was very happy.

I ran the Balloon loop very slowly.  felt ok.  hot outside, I started too late, and didn't finish until 930am.

Erica and I hiked/jogged to the summit of Mt. Charleston, which is at 11,988 ft above sea level.  It was a great day, but tough.  We start at about 7000 feet.  It took 3 hrs 25 mins going up, and 3 hrs 17 mins coming back down.

Good times.

Trails 5k.  slow.

I ran 2 laps slow at crossing park, then i ran 8 laps uptempo.  my laps were 3.51, 3.54, 3.52, 3.52, 3.53, 3.56, 4.00, 3.43 for a total time of 31.02.  That is about 4.5 miles, so about 6.55 per mile pace, this is on the grass, so it is harder to get rolling.  I felt ok, but it was hot and muggy.  my pr is 30.38, but that was done in November, cooler temps, lighter shoes, better conditions.

i then ran another 5 laps slow.

10 laps at crossing park.  about half of them with Erica.  slow.

4 laps around Country rose.  slow.  Erica did a mini workout, did very well.  She is getting back in the saddle.

Mike

I drove my car to work at 6am, then jogged back home.  Everyone will wonder why I am at work so early, i might do this more often.   I did the same jog after work, from home back to work to get my car again.

Wow. Ugh.  I ran 23 miles of the St. George course.  I started at the start line, way up in Central, and was only going to run 20 miles.  But, because of the logistics of the other runners, and where they were at on the course, I ended up doing the first 23 miles, down to the church at the entrance to St. George.

I really only ran uptempo (a relative term) for the first 20 miles, and then slowly jogged in the last 3, because my mindset was only on the first 20.  I ran the 20 in about 7:40 pace.  I felt ok, my body responded ok, i am sore, and my achilles is sore, but it did better than i thought.  I now wonder if I can maybe pull off a sub 3 hour on race day, but, not sure about that.  I won't have enough long runs in the bank to probably do that, but i am going to give it a shot. 

I ran the 15 loops at the Crossing park today, i wanted to run uptempo again, but after running 23 miles two days before, I wasn't sure how it would go.  I averaged just under 4 mins per lap the last time i did this run, but on the first lap, i ran 4:04, then 4:12, so I knew I was not going to run under 4 mins per lap.  I then decided that i would look every two laps, and if i went slower than 8.30 for the two laps, I would be done for the day.  I actually sped up, and didn't have a two lap time under 8.20, so i was pleased.  Last lap was 3.46.  Total time was 62.08, so that is ok, about 7.20 per mile, on rough grass, sprinklers, dogs, etc.....

Erica and I went to Provo to help my oldest daughter Stefani move into the dorms at BYU, where she will be a freshman this year.  While there. we ran 6.2 miles on the Provo River trail.

Well, today Erica and I did a marathon relay, the Provo Marathon.  Very low key race, maybe 40 runners in total.  Erica's half was very straight forward, started in Walsburg, and ended up by the Deer Creek Dam. She finished in 1.33.06, and handed off to me.

My half was an adventure.  wow.  Course not really marked very well, and after 26 mins of running, I was back at the start line, at mile 13.1.  Geez.  I finally got on the right course, but then it was just one mismarked area after another.  It went down the Provo River trail, which should be pretty easy to follow, but it had a few obstacle courses, and a few dog legs, that the other runners did not really follow.  I passed a runner 3 times, and he never passed me once, if you can figure that out.......He kept missing turns, I would make the turn, then lo and behold, he was in front of me again.

My half time was 1hr 58 mins.  I think my real time was probably around 1hr 27 mins.  I chalk it up to a good long run with a bit of speed included.

Just a slow 5 miler on the river trail in st.george. i haven't run this in a long time, being careful with the ankle. i felt ok. not real pleased with yesterdays run, the effort wasn't even what i wanted.

Just ran very slowly the Pueblo Park run down to the 1 mile mark and back.  5.2 miles with Erica.

I was very happy today.  I went back out on the roads for a tempo run, and ran 5.2 miles in 34.23, or 6.35 pace.  On the grass, i am lucky to break 7 mins per mile, but the roads are much friendlier to pace, but maybe not as friendly to the body.  My legs and feet are sore, but doing ok.  We did the Faith Lutheran loop twice, first loop i was 17.13.04, and the 2nd loop, i was 17.10.38.  I didn't stop after the first loop, kept going on.   my interval times were first loop Sahara 7.22, Hualapai 11.02, Lutheran 14.38, top hill 15.41, end 17.13.  2nd time, S 7.31, H 11.13, L 14.49, th 15.48, end 17.10.

Erica and Stacy also ran the same loops.

I ran 6.0 miles slowly at the Crossing Park.  Not real happy.  I ran on Tuesday, 5.2 miles uptempo on the roads, and i have been basically disabled since then.  Wow, i cannot seem to go on the roads without feeling like I got hit by a truck.  Not good.

I ran the balloon loop, not too fast, 1:28:44, however, i encountered a rattlesnake out there after running about 50 mins, and it was one of the scariest moments of my life.  It was only about 6 inches from me, rattling and hissing, and i never moved so fast in all my life.  Yikes.

I have talked to others, and I guess there are snakes out there, i didn't realize that.

Mike

I rode my racing bike for 52 miles!!   I haven't rode the bike for about 3 years, and have never rode for more than 18 miles at one time.  It was good.  It took me about 3 hrs 20 mns.

Mike

slow run of 10.25 miles in Mt. Charleston on Mack Canyon road.  It was good.  I ran with Erica.  many ups and downs.

Mike

I set an unexpected record for the 8 laps of Crossing Park.  total time of 30.28.  4.5 miles.  I ran about 3:51 per lap for the first 5 with Erica, then ran 3.45 for laps 6 and 7, then busted out a 3.35 for the last lap.  I felt very good, it felt easy.

Mike

I ran the 15 laps of the Crossing Park, not fast, but not slow.  I ran an average of 4.23 per lap, so about 7.45 pace per mile.  It is tougher on the grass.  I was out there running for about 65 mins.  No sprinklers today, yeah!   Plenty of dogs, however.

i guess i have now been recruited to run on the relay team for Red Rock with Aaron Metler.  It should be fun.  And, of course, I am running Top of Utah marathon next week, that should be a disaster...I have read it is better to be undertrained than overtrained, especially for a marathon, so, well, i am prepared at being undertrained!

Cheers

I ran in the Red Rock Relay.  It was fun.  Teamed up with Aaron Metler and Ross Decker and a few others that I didn't know.  Erica was also on the team.  On Friday night, i had my first leg, it was leg #16, I started around 1030pm, and it was supposedly 5.8 miles, all on a dirt road, all uphill, the whole way, including 4 cattle guards, and plenty of rocks and pot holes.  Actually, the footing wasn't bad, a few distractions, but ok.  My total time was 46.05, which averages out to a 7.50 mile pace, I really felt like I was going about 7.10 pace, so I think it was a bit long, and the van that i rode in measured it longer, but that isn't the point.  I passed quite a few runners, so it was all good.

I did my other two legs in the Red Rock Relay on Saturday.  My 2nd leg was leg #26, which was basically miles 10 to 16 of the St. George marathon.  I felt ok here, i tried to push it as hard as I could, but i had no sleep at all, and it was now 430am in the morning, so it made it difficult to run well.  The first two miles were gradual uphill, and I did those in about 13.35 minutes, so about 6.47 per mile pace.  Then started the downhills, and i was actually quite disappointed.  I know i didn't go 100% because of my ankle is not a big fan of running downhill, but my total time for the 4 miles either flat or downhill was 25.55, so about 6.25 per mile.  ugh.  I wanted faster than that.   So for the six miles, i ran 39.30, or 6.35 per mile.  Once again, I passed a bunch of runners.

My last leg started around 1040am, and it was miserable.  If you have run the Hurricane Half marathon, I ran that route in reverse, but starting at mile 10 of the half marathon.  Which is the beginning of the uphill on Hwy 9 going to Zion.  It was straight uphill for about 1.5 miles or so.  And, with no sleep, and already two legs in, I was not feeling too good.  I was very tight, very sore, and just trying to put one foot in front of the other.  After about 1 mile of uphill, they took us off the main highway onto a dirt trail, which was really cool, but it still went straight up, and the footing was terrible.  During this portion, i am sure i wasn't even going 10 mins per mile, and i still passed 4 runners.  I finally made it back to Hwy 9, and then ran 4 more miles to finish my leg.  And it was miserable.  I was done, shot, finished, kaput.....My average during these 4 miles was probably 7.30 pace, and it was either flat or downhill, so i was struggling.  My total time for the 5.5 miles was 46 mins, so it shows you how difficult the uphill and dirt portion was.  That 1.5 miles took me about 16 mins.

Overall, I had a great time, I think our overall time for the coed team was around 24 hrs and 20 mins, and i think we took third behind the UVU coed team, and also Clyde Behunin's team I think took 2nd Coed.

I went to the Crossing Park today, ran 7 miles, pretty slow, about 8 min pace.

I ran 10 laps at Crossing Park, i am headed to Logan tomorrow.  I am not real optimistic about the 26.2 race.  My feet, both of them are just very sore.  I am not sure why, it isn't really my achilles, but just both feet overall very sore, maybe left over from the relay race last week.  I want to go easy at the start, and negative split.  I know that TOU has a much easier first half, so that is probably not possible, so how about around 1.30, then 1.35.  Probably won't happen, i will probably limp home in 3.25.  My bib # is 35, how did i get that low of a number?!?!?  I think I predicted 2.59, so nothing crazy.......won't that be great to see bib #35 struggling to keep the time under 4 hrs........oh well, excited about a new race, Logan seems to be a cool town, and I get to see Stefani, my oldest daughter on Saturday after the race, she is now a freshman at BYU.

I did 4 laps uptempo, but not that quick at all, between 3.41 and 3.58.

I did a quick 3.1 Trails 5k before the flight to SLC.

We landed in SLC on Thursday afternoon and then drove up to Logan.  I really like Logan, nice town.  We made it to our hotel, had a quick bite to eat, then drove around the 5k course that Erica will be doing.

On Friday morning, we decided to run the 5k course for TOU, which Erica will be running, and it basically follows the last 2.7 miles of the marathon.  It seemed basically flat.  We then met our friend Stacy and drove up to the marathon start line.   The canyon which is the first 14 miles is definitely downhill, but it isn't crazy downhill, much more gradual, which is a good thing.

At the expo, Erica got caught up in the excitement of the marathon, and switched from the 5k to the marathon.  She has NO marathon training at all.  This should be interesting.  We ate at a restaurant called Le Noone Friday night, good food.

Well, TOU is over.  Overall, I would rate this marathon an A on organization.  Seriously, it was very good.

We woke up at 4:15am.  Ate a bit.  Made it to the bus by 5:15am.  Bus ride took forever, made it to start line at 5:50am.  Quick porta potty stop, then went into the heated tent, nice idea, as it was a bit chilly at the start.  at 6:25am, went back to porta potties, holy smokes, the lines were slow as molasses, geez......got back to the start line at 6:58am.  No problem, as i really wasn't stressed at all.  My training has been terrible, only one long run of 20 miles, and one semi long run of 16 miles all summer long.  I wasn't expecting much, so wasn't stressed.  Start happened about 7:03am.

First 6 miles -  The start went down the canyon, it took me 20 secs to get to the start line after the gun, so i had many runners ahead of me.  A bit of congestion at first, so i felt like i was race walking at times.  I decided to not look at my watch until mile 6.  It felt so easy, i guessed 7:15 pace, so my prediction after 6 was 43.30.  The time was 43.34, so about what i thought.

Miles 6 to10 - Just kept the easy pace through the canyon, around mile 10, my stomach started twisting around, uh oh, not good.....slowed down a bit.  Went through 10 in 1hr 12m 25 secs, so my overall pace is still 7:15 per mile.

Halfway is now here at 1:34:50, 7:14 pace.  I am running with 3 other guys, Devin, 20yrs old going to BYU, running first marathon, trying to qualify for Boston.  Matt, 33 yrs old, trying to qualify for Boston, he is from Fresno, covering the Fresno St. football team for the school newspaper, they are in town to play Utah State, and Mike, a 22 yr old from Laramie WY, running 3rd marathon, also trying to qualify for Boston.   So they are shooting for a 3:10, seems reasonable to me.

We come out of the canyon at 14, and then it seems flat until mile 18.  I kind of take the lead from the 3 guys around 16, and break it up a bit, we hit 18 in 2:09:01, so we are now averaging 7:10 per mile.  The course starts to hit some hills, and I start to struggle around mile 20.  ugh.  I didn't want a death march.  I hit mile 20 in 2:24:07, mile 21 is 7:19, and mile 22 is 7:31, so not bad, only four miles, but i am in serious pain.   Miles 23 and 24 are bad, time of 8.39 and 8.40.   I try to rally in 25, and run 8.14, and then realize only a mile left, and run mile 26 in 7.37, and last 0.2 in 1.29.  I didn't finish too well, but still probably passed 8-10 runners in last two miles.  I was 86th overall out of 1,836 finishers.

Matt and Mike qualified for Boston.  Devin missed it by 20 secs or so.  I guess I qualified also, as my age category qualification is 3:20.

I really enjoyed TOU.  Course was great.  Support was great.  Weather was perfect.  Finish line area was top notch.  Erica surprised me by being the 23rd female in a time of 3:19.  Stacy was 3:21.

Recovering from the marathon, decided to slowly do 3.3 miles at the crossing park, averaged a very slow 5min 9 secs per lap.

I ran 9 laps of the Crossing Park, averaged a speedy (not) 4m 48s per lap.  Hey, quicker than yesterday, and more laps.   Still recovering from marathon.

low key week as i recover from the TOU marathon.  slow 5k at the trails.

once again, just a slow 5k stroll at the trails, just to help me wake up in the morning.  I still have the marathon soreness from last week.

decided to run a bit uptempo, i did 2  by 4 laps at the soccer park with Erica and Stacy.  The 4 laps equals 2.12 miles.  So, 7 min pace would be 14.50.  THe first time, I did 14.41, followed closely by Erica and Stacy.  After a 3 minute rest, 4 more laps in 14.23.  we did laps of 3.33, 3.41, 3.41, and 3.27.

two warm up laps and two cool down laps also.

I did the Larkspur 5 miler today, tried to pick it up a bit, ran 37.01, so about 7.24 per mile, first mile in 7.41, so picked it up after that.  I am still deciding on the marathon next weekend, probably a "no", but we will see.

Mike

slow 5k on the trails.

Stacy, Erica and I decided to do a  800, 2mile, 800 on the grass.  Not quite 100%, but close.  I ran the opening 800 in 3.11, pretty slow, but the grass definitely makes a difference.  I did the two mile in 13.06, 6.34 and 6.32.   Felt ok.  The final 800 in 3:00.

I guess it is going to be a bit warm this Saturday in STG.  Marathon should be fun.

11 laps on the Crossing Park fields.  We ran into an old running friend, Andrew Duncan.  Good guy and a great runner.   He is 43, and since turning 40, he has run 8.49 on the track for 3000 meters, 15.22 in the Carlsbad 5000, and 31.57 for 10,000 meters, i believe on the track.  He has been in Wash D.C. for two years, so he is back in Vegas.

slow trails 5k.

Hey, good luck to everyone tomorrow, i ran a slow 5k at the Trails, we will be headed to St.George later today, and get to the expo around 8pm. 

Wow.  Frustrating.  I started the St. George marathon, and wanted to break 3 hrs.  I estimated a first half of 1:32:50, and then a 2nd half in 1:27:09.  I thought it was conservative.  It was warm at the start line, especially compared to the other 11 times i have run the race.  I felt pretty good, so i was ready to go.  The gun went off and for the first half i was running a bit aggressive, as compared to my estimate of 1:32:50.  First mile in 6:50, and same for the 2nd mile.  I went through 5 miles in 33:05.  I went through 7 miles in 46 mins.  Ryan Newman was running in my vicinity for the entire first half.

Unfortunately, my feet were very sore going down the first 7 miles.  And not just my achilles, but my entire foot, both of them, were aching on every step from the downhill portion, from the ball of my foot all the way up through the achilles.  I did feel this soreness running the TOU two weeks prior, but that race isn't as steep downhill as SGM.  The next 5 miles are gradual uphill, and I felt so-so there.  But, then, during mile 13, which is downhill, but not that bad, the pounding of each step was just too much.  I ran the 13th mile in 6:50, so i was feeling fine, just couldn't take the pounding.  My 13.1 mile time was 1:30:22.  I then thought of mile 15 and 16, which have a steep drop to them in both miles, and I knew my day was done.  I literally would not be able to go down those two miles at all.

I was very disappointed, as I really felt like I was ready to go.  I knew my feet were not 100%, but, just like TOU, i thought I could get through it.   This marathon was just too downhill.  I was in pain during the first half, which doesn't have the downhills like the 2nd half does.  Oh well. 

I am done running for an extended period.  I am very tired of dealing with this every day.  Limping around at work and at home is very frustrating.  I have done massages, chiropractors, anti-inflammatories, ice, podiatrists....and on and on and on.   I cannot run through these injuries anymore.  I don't know how long i will take off, but I just have too.  I ran injury free for 13 years, and enjoyed the training and the racing.  But the last 18 months have just been terrible.   I hope to be back on the roads at some point.