New York State of Mind

It's been almost a year, and I am ready to come back out of "retirement"...but slowly. A couple factors motivated my return - Sarah wanting to run NY together, Clyde's fantastic SLC marathon, and reminiscing about the Boston Marathon last year.

Sarah, Clyde and I ran five miles just under 8 min/mile. I liked it. Great conversation. My plan is to run twice a week for about 2 months, then slowly up the schedule to 6 days per week. Shooting for a PR in next year's StG Marathon.

Sarah had an 18 mile run planned this morning so I planned on running the first nine with her as her "bodyguard" in the dark. We ran 8 min/mile for 6 miles and then she wanted to take it up a notch. Yeah, right, I was struggling, so I convinced her to go ahead and I shifted down to Ironman pace (which is almost walking) and jogged the last three miles home.

I think she is going to PR at her marathon in a few weeks. As for me, I am going to slowly build back what I've lost. No rush, it's all good.

Nice ez run. We went slow - min/mile splits were 10,8:09,8:23, 7:58, 11.

Good conversation - Zac, Hughes, Tom, James, Mike, and I . Trying to be patient with my times, I have a year and a half to get ready.

Did my favorite workout - running to the gym, lifting weights then running home. Slow.

Nice easy run w/ sim, duckett, and hughes. Hughes and I did the airport hill at a better pace - 7:36 for that mile. But, overall, still nice and easy.

kept it under 7:45 with sarah (she did 22 miles). this was my best run of the year.

Ran with Sarah. She is really fast.

easy run out in the fields with duckett and hughes

My first attempt at yasso 800s.

Did 5 repeats with 3:00 active recovery in between. kept them all under 2:58. Not that hard, I probably could have done more, but I will see how sore I am over the next few days , and then maybe let er rip next time.

Great run w/ Clyde. Pushed the pace for the first 6 miles or so, then tapered off. feeling good about my progression.

slow, by myself

Averaged 7:12, with a slow warmup mile. i felt sluggish in the second half - probably because I haven't run in days (i was at cont ed classes in vegas friday and saturday and didnt run). 

It was a satisfactory run time-wise, but I felt like I had to work too hard. Clyde is getting ready for utah valley this weekend, and claimed he didn't need to run any faster than that. 

I still have a long time before the half, but I need to up my effort starting now.

Ran the bloomington satellite hill with Hughes. Harder than I thought it was going to be.

Thought about yassos, but the hammies were taught, so I did a slow run to warm up, then did 2 fast miles (no watch, felt like under 7min/mile) then cooled down.

Web Hill in the afternoon. Lost 6 pounds of sweat. I also biked on the trainer for two hours in the morning.

slow, felt good

Yasso repeats w active recovery

2:46, 2:48, 2:48, 2:52, 2:56.  I felt like crap today but kept it under 3:00.

Ran with Clyde and Steve. hamstrings still tight, and i was dragging, but it was a good run. three of the miles were under 7:30 which is satisfactory. i am worried about qualifying for NY at hobble. i need some speed. clyde is going to help me out with a training plan.

My first day on the Half Marathon training program designed by Clyde. I am excited. 477 miles to go...

Summit loop with Steve. Average pace, but we slowed on the second half. My legs felt bad - like I had bruised calves. Hope it feels better for tomorrows tempo.

Wow. The first big test and I barely passed. Ran 3 really slow warmup miles until my calfs felt ok. They have felt bruised and tight for days. I worked them over really well last night with the stick (Fathers Day present) and i think that helped.

I did 3 miles at race pace. The first half mile I couldnt even find the pace, it has been a long time since I ran that fast (6:20). And then it took me another half mile to find some "peace". I just couldnt setlle down, relax, and get in a groove. By the time I was "dialed in" and feeling like I was in the right gear, I started running out of gas. I really really labored through that third mile and held it together. I was so oxygen-deprived and tired, that I walked an entire mile, then did the "ironman shuffle" home for two miles.

So, i made the race pace for three miles, but had to walk. I have a long way to go. But today's run was mostly flat, the race will have a nice downhill.

EZ run up to the track, ran a couple miles there, jogged home. Felt fantastic.

ez run to the gym, lifted, ez run home. I feel good. Wanted to run more, but fri and sat will be longer runs.

Ran down the course early this morning, and I felt fantastic. I forgot how much easier it is going downhill, feeling a lot better about the race.

 Started with Duckett and Steve ; we didnt finish together, but everyone had good days.

Here are my splits for the first four miles:

7:35 warmup, 6:46 steve still with me, 6:52 in a good rhythm, feeling great , 6:07 decided to let it go and see how it felt.

slowed to 7:08 going up the ledges hill. I stopped halfway for my gatorade and walked around until steve caught up, we jogged up the rest of the hill, then hit it hard all the way down to the church.

my splits were : 6:08,  5:58, 6:14,  6:22 then I cooled to 6:40 and then jogged a half mile at super slow pace.

feeling great. 

wasted, tired, hot. lifted weights. up past midnight for tys bball camp. must find a nap today.

warmup mile, then 4 at 7:30, then a cool down.

ran with sarah in the fields. i love running with sarah.

Totally bombed on my tempo tuesday run. i was hoping to hold race pace through four flat miles. My splits were 615, then I blew up and mentally lost it for a 715, but finished with 650 and 650. bad day, oh well.

Tried running in the heat. Ironman shuffle, too freaking hot.

Went really early, felt great, ran along the river. Did it as a tempo and hit almost a mile under race pace, but slowed back down. i just wanted to remind myself what race pace feels like.

25 mile bike ride hard, then a slow 8 mile run in the heat

One of the most enjoyable runs I have ever had. Trail run w running center. Just Sarah and me, running all morning. Life is good. We averaged 8:25 per mile, which is great considering all those tough uphill miles.

One of the darkest days/nights of my life, really. Up all night on the phone. And all morning, and most of the day. Had young men tonight - hauling rocks all evening, then more phone calls. No running, but I need to , for my mental/emotional health.

Ran with Hughes for the first 3 or four miles and averaged a little over 8 including the warmup. Then we separated and I slowly built up to race pace for almost a mile, then slowed down and jogged home.

felt good, considering monday's long run, and not being able to run yesterday.

Good hard run in the fields and then around summit.

splits: 9:17, 7:44,7:53,7:55, hughes and i went different directions at this point. I ran the rest alone 7:12,6:52,7:00,7:02,7:23,7:15. I felt good. And I liked this run, it was solid.

After not running for three days, the guilt is overwhelming. Nice weekend in Lake Powell, but i should have gotten in a run or two. oh well. I started off feeling fat, heavy, and sluggish, but after a warmup mile, I attacked the summit loop and ran a good 10k, followed with a cooldown mile.

splits during the summit loop: 6:41, 6:17, 7:24, 7:08, 7:24, 7:01, 6:50 (a third of a mile). An average barely under 7 which is a good run.

Tempo tuesday tomorrow.

Nice run out through Bloomington to the Country club with Hughes. Then we separated and I finished the tempo at a respecatble pace. Felt good, took it up to race pace a couple times and it felt fine. Getting over ten miles on a tuesday is good.

Mile splits were : 8:09, 8:02,7:51,8:01,8:03,7:24,7:09,6:54, 7:24,7:24 then a cooldown.

slept in, ran uninspired. long day ahead of me.

Idaho

travelling, no time

DX center with Sarah and Steve. Ended up with a 730 avg but really felt like I had to work for even that. A depressing run result, but after a weekend of travelling, eating poorly, and not running enough, it's no surprise. Tempo tuesday coming.

a mile and a half warmup, then hit race pace and held 6:13 average for 4.8 miles before cooling down. my last mile was under 6, which is a first for this year. Can I hold that pace for 13.2? not today, but I have a few more weeks...

Great solo run out by bloomington. I increased each mile split up to mile 7 where I held race pace, then cooled down the rest of the way. Felt fantastic, it was cooler this morning. Feeling more confident about Hobble Creek.

30 mile bike ride

Planned on a long run, but totally bonked. Can't explain it. Cold sweat, dizziness. Stopped and rested, then jogged home super slow and slept.

Nice easy run out in the fields then to the back of the airport on the old road. With steve and sarah. Feeling great, can't figure out what happened saturday. oh well.

Southern Parkway, light rain. Ran the downhills at/around race pace. The rest slow - keeping the overall average below 7:30.  Felt great.

drove 13 miles up the marathon course from my house and ran all the way home. hot.

mile splits:

7:30, 7:37, 6:31, 6:10,6:16, 5:59, 6:20, 6:29, 6:37, 7:18, 6:42, 7:22, 7:23

w running club from dixie center. 1 mile at race pace

running at 8000 ft plus. not fast

high altitude running is brutal

slow

got home at 2pm and still got up to run. good boy.

Started off with the white kenyans for tempo tuesday, 3 warmup miles out in the fields and then one and a half miles of sub-6 did me in. I turned around and jogged a winding path home, after a half mile recovery I did two at 6:30 then cooled down. It was fun to run with Clyde, Logan, Steve, and Dave. Those guys are craaaazy fast.

ez, felt crappy

easy again

with sarah, 

with clyde and hughes. bloomington, nothing real fast. early, but hot

middle mile at 6min pace. ez

A solid race today, with a bittersweet finish. My only goal was to qualify for NY, which requires a 1:23.

Hung out with Sarah's and her girlfriends at the beginning. Not enough buses, started half hour late, blah blah blah. It was relaxing to chat with the girls, but it's awkward to talk about menstruation cycles. Why do girls always want to have that conversation? Funny. They are cool girls, though- friendly, pretty, and freaky fast (runners). I still like Sarah the best. Staci said she'd run with me as we had similiar goals, and although I usually prefer running alone, I appreciated having a friend to run with. It was nice of her . We stayed together most of the race, but there was a little distance between us starting around mile 9. After I finished, I turned around and she was right there.  And then came Sarah at 1:32, which is what she wanted (awesome!). The others came right in afterwards.

Anyhow, I started off at 6:16 and basically held it for 8 miles, then let my average slip up to 6:19. The second mile was actually a faster pace because my dumb shoe came untied! How frustrating is that (15 seconds down the drain).

My first 6 mile splits were steady -- 6:18, 6:16, 6:17, 6:17, 6:18, 6:16, then hit the first rollers and an aid station for 6:25, 6:21. 6:24, 6:24. At this point I am averaging 6:19 and feeling like qualifying is in the bag.

I did feel like I was laboring a bit up the rollers, and it was getting hot because of the late start. But I was still very optimistic -- my stomach was fine, I had been taking liquids at every aid station, I had choked down most of 2 gu's, and swallowed a salt pill about half way. No signs of cramping.

That's when I made a bad decision -- I decided to "play it safe" and coast in to the finish line around 1:23. Why risk blowing up or cramping? If I cooled the pace even to 6:45, I could still finish under 1:24 and qualify.  The pack I was in had thinned down to me and the lead two girls and told them I was coasting in and slowed my pace. I was glad, because some of those "rollers" were full-blown "hills." Got into town feeling fine, looking at my watch and calculating and re-calculating my anticipated finish time. I jogged in at 1:23:50 with a smile on my face.

Well, Natalie broke the bad news to me about 45 minutes later that NY qualifying rules don't give you the extra grace minute that Boston does. Makes me like the Red Sox more than the Yankees, but whatever.

I wasn't upset - because I had only myself to blame. And it's hard to complain about a race where my pre-game plan went exactly right and I felt good. That was the pace I had trained for. And now I am very confident I can get it next time. I had never done a half before, and I like that distance a lot now.  I guess I will have to up my training a bit and qualify at Snow Canyon, I hear it is a downhill, runner-friendly course. 

slow cycling for 45 mins

ouch