Rivers and Roads

Ran a few laps around the hospital in Orem with Emily and Chris. It was a fun shakeout after a long day of being lazy and going to Scheels. Such a fun day to kick off the new year. AP 9:00

Trying to enjoy these early miles as I get rolling again. It's frustrating having lost so much strength but it's also fun to have zero pressure every run. I should be doing nothing but going slow and easy right now. So I'm trying to enjoy it. AP 7:56

Trail 051 at 6 a.m. with Eric, Jake, and Blake. There's no better way to start the day than with headlamps in the mountains. Took a graceful tumble on the pipeline road just as it drops down to the shooting range parking lot. It made for some good laughs as I slid next to Blake on the ice for a while. AP 13:05
 

Beautiful sunny day with Emily on the PRT. AP 9:29

Running is just hard right now. AP 7:48

Cruisin' on the PRT. Everything is harder than I wish it were. AP 7:42

A.M. Ran with the SRC on the Murdock Canal. Bill Hiatt, David Taylor, Jake and I just cruised for just over 7 miles. Getting my legs back under me. AP 7:32

P.M. Snowshoeing up at Big Springs for 3.1 miles.

Met Jake and Blake at Center St. and Univ. Ave. at 6 a.m. We just ran north on Univ. Ave. and then turned around at 3.

MTC miles with Jake, Blake, Caleb, Levi, Jenn, and Katie. I only did 2 reps at 5:36 and 5:43. Jake unfortunately had to leave early because we started late. Glad to finally be getting back into speed workouts. Goal today was just to not get hurt.

This was a very enjoyable run with Emily and Tom. AP 10:24

Met Jake and Blake at Center St. and Univ. Ave. at 6 a.m. to get a few miles in. We ran over to the PRT and headed towards the lake. It was cold, dark, and icy, but good for the soul. AP 7:53

What started as a Trail 051 loop ended up being a knee-deep snow adventure. I turned off Trail 051 to get down to Ireland and from there dropped straight down on top of the shooting range.

And the build begins... AP 7:42

Easy run on MLK day on the PRT. AP 8:04

The BYU outdoor track was iced over so we did our 1000m repeats on the indoor track. There was a big, fun group that Jake and Blake brought together. The plan was 1000m at 5k pace followed by a 322m (1 lap) recovery. I felt miserable after the 3rd and was just going to jog while the others did a 4th rep. I was peer pressured into the 4th rep and ended up holding the pace. I ran 3:38, 3:35, 3:30, 3:39. It's a start...

Eerie, dense fog out on some country roads by the lake. AP 9:07

Beautiful afternoon run out on the country road by the lake. Saw a hawk and an osprey. Very peaceful run. AP 8:04

Downhill point-to-point with Jake from Vivian to his house in Provo. First run of substantial mileage for me during this build. AP 7:16

Vacant country roads down by the lake in the early morning. It's fun to be back out embracing the work and sacrifice. I'm feeling stronger, more resistant to injury, and hopefully will be getting some good miles and workouts in the coming weeks. AP 8:18

MTC miles with Jake, Blake, Jenn, Amber, and Katie. Just working back into speedwork so I really took it easy. Did the 3 repeats at 5:47, 5:45, and 5:41. Can't wait to get past these early weeks and run fast again. AP 8:02

Deep snow on the PRT. It was a blast stomping my way up the canyon. Absolutely beautiful morning. Missed my Wednesday run due to all the babysitting I've been doing for my sister-in-law. She finally had her baby today so hopefully things will be back to normal. I'm not sure my body is strong enough to be running every day right now, anyways. So for now I'm welcoming off days and enjoying the process of getting my fitness back. AP 8:17

Ran with Jake on his lunch break from US Synthetic. We took an urban route heading north up to Center St. in Orem, then up to 8th East, and back down Univ. Parkway. The miles flew by. Great confidence booster. AP 7:33

Such a great, unexpected run. I was thinking around noon that I would settle for a slow 11-miler. Just then I noticed I missed a call from Jake. When I called him back he was already running to my house to get me off my butt for this 14-miler. I'm so grateful for friends who hold me accountable to my plans and push me to my limits. I'm still building so needless to say I was thrilled to feel so good about this run. I felt smooth and relaxed the entire time. The longer miles (than what I've been used to) didn't fatigue my legs with any significance in the last 4 miles. We were running through an absolute blizzard from miles 2-5. Great times! AP 7:26

Loosening up after last Saturday's 14-miler. I'm still building so I'm probably overly cautious about avoiding injury. This week my three goals are to get at least one quality speed workout, eclipse 50 miles for the week, and continue avoiding injury. I still feel tight every day, indicating that my body is still adapting to the stresses imposed by running. Overall, I'm happy about how things are progressing. I'm getting slightly impatient with my lack of speed. But at least I'm getting my mileage up to a more functional level. Once I get a couple consecutive weeks in the 50's I'll feel more confident about attacking speedwork with more purpose. AP 7:55

I was bummed that I missed the 1000m repeats at the indoor track. We were up late helping Emily's aunt, though, so it was worth it. I've been wanting to find some flat, long stretches of road to do workouts this year. I felt like I really missed that in my training last year. Almost every single tempo I did last year was on a downhill. So after I dropped Emily off at work I ventured down to Springville/Spanish Fork to run the country roads by the lake. It was a running paradise for me. All the roads are flat, long, and nearly barren with regard to vehicles. There are no shoulders but the traffic is negligible so it doesn't matter. I did a 3 mile WU with 2 x 2 miles @ 6:30 with 1 mile CD at 8:00 after each rep (6:35,6:32/6:24,6:30). I'm bummed that 6:30 is still a "workout" for me but am still excited to just be out running. I'm hoping that by next month I'll be doing more like 3 x 4 miles at MP. AP 7:23

The main goals today were to have a little bit of a workout without piling on mileage and get used to the MRC 1600's again. My feet need to get stronger to use these shoes. I ran 2 x 1-mile repeats in 5:49 and 5:48 with a 1-ish mile recovery. Ideally that'll be HM pace for me by the end of the year. A little bummed the reps were so slow. I thought even in bad shape I'd still be in the 5:30's since I decided beforehand I was only going to do 2 reps. Despite the minor disappointment I'm excited to have felt a sub-6:00 pace on a flat route (there was zero elevation change on my entire run today). I feel like I'm still doing wussy workouts but I know I have to start small and build. Both my body and mind get stronger from days like today. And I'm thrilled about that. AP 7:14

Today's run was simply rejuvinating. I don't know why it took me so long to come back to these Thursday runs. It was so fun to run with the Big Dawggs again. Matt and I just cruised in the back taking it easy. He imparted some valuable wisdom in regards to my hopeful future as a PT. Got to talk to Brandon about his new career :) It was just a pleasure. It's great to be back. Well, at least socially. My legs still have a long ways to go. AP 7:22

Just keeping fresh before tomorrow's 16. Didn't want to exceed 55 miles for the week so kept it short. Still cautiously building... AP 8:08

On an entirely different note I have 3, in-the-box, never-been-worn pairs of shoes I'm selling. I completely forgot I had these until I was doing some cleaning today. After being a running store manager shoes seem to pop up all over the place. I have a pair of Hokas, Saucony Mirage 3's, and New Balance MT910's. They're all men's size 11. Just follow the links.

Hoka Stinson Evo Low: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=28635072&cat=605

Saucony Mirage 3: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=28635257&cat=605

NB MT910SLC: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=28635548&cat=605

Spread the word if you have a friend looking for a good deal (and a men's size 11).

I couldn't be happier about where I'm at. I'm uninjured and back up to last year's mileage. My speed isn't what it was last year, but my mileage is in the 50's now. My peak mileage weeks last year were 50-60. Today was just gorgeous running weather. Nothing fancy about the run. Just took it easy to the south, ran the muddy/icy road around the airport, then hit the PRT to Univ. Ave. and followed that home. Ended the run just in time to make the quorum service project. Feeling great about today and excited to start incorporating more speed starting next week or the following week. I'm still going by feel. AP 7:49

I got to run at about 3 p.m. today when it was 42 degrees. I listened to a podcast featuring an interview with Jack Daniels. It wasn't spectacular as far as epiphanies go, but it was fun to listen to a world class expert nonetheless. As I coasted down the PRT toward the lake listening to Dr. Daniels in 42 degree weather, I couldn't help but feel lucky. How many people get to experience running 10 miles and feel that it was "easy"? As far as runners go I'll never be elite. Principally, I believe, because I don't want to put in the time. But I feel extremely blessed to have reached this point of fitness with my body. Only 6 weeks ago a 10 mile run was extremely difficult. I am incredibly lucky to be coming back on schedule. On a broader scale I'm incredibly lucky to just be able to run. Higher than any other goal this year is my goal to never forget that. AP 7:49

Missed this morning's speedwork with Jake, Blake, and Co. because I misunderstood their plans. I thought they were doing mile repeats and I wanted some tempo. Turns out I misssed a good 2x2-mile tempo workout. Anyways, last night I decided I'd do my own thing this morning. I've been craving some more marathon pace miles in my training. So I decided to head up the canyon and get some aided, downhill MP miles. I ran 3.5 up to Nunn's (beyond which is now an avalanche zone), and turned around to start a 4.5-mile tempo with an AP of 6:20. I couldn't believe how easy it felt. So happy about that. I'm mostly looking forward to the Abe Lincoln Relay on Thursday. Definitely saving my legs for that! AP 7:14

I am in love with podcasts. Listened to an exercise physiology lecture during the run. It was a proper use of time while churning out the miles. AP 8:00

A.M. Knowing that I'll be running the 3x1-mile repeats tonight at Runner's Corner I just wanted some easy miles this morning. Listened to Lecture #4 by Dr. Doyle (Oxidative Phosphorylation). Hammered out 10 slow ones in the Hokas. AP 8:08

P.M. Well the build finally caught up with me. I decided not to do 18 tomorrow morning and instead split 18 in today's double. I felt too fatigued after this morning's run. That told me my body needs to slow down for a bit and catch up. Next week can't come soon enough from a recovery standpoint. I'm happy I was able to build so much and am only just now feeling overburdoned. I thought this would happen much earlier so I'm quite pleased. The mile repeats were rough. All 3 were at 5:57. I guess I couldn't ask for much better right now though.

Easy 10 with Jake. Did some scouting out by the lake for some workout worthy roads. Found a great area that extends for miles. It'll be exciting to run fast out there. AP 7:38

This was a timely reprieve of the miles I've been logging. My body was asking for a break. We went down to St. George and had a very relaxing weekend at Emily's grandparents'. We went to the grapevine trailhead and Emily has been getting sicker. So I ran the first mile and then just hiked the rest of the loop with her. AP 16:58

Fun jaunt around the Provo Airport with Danny, Derick, and Adam Jenkins. Contracted a virus that Emily's had for a couple weeks. It finally caught up to me. But felt good enough for a little run with some friends. AP 7:05

Well after being sick for a couple days and losing about 5 pounds I decided I needed some mountain air. I went to the shooting range and used the Grizzly Road to hit a couple different single track segments to add mileage. It was incredibly sloppy and I felt much less sick than I thought I would. I told myself that if, after starting, I felt like I was forcing my body to run I'd turn around. It seems this sickness is passing because I felt pretty good. It was fun to get muddy again. AP 10:45

Ran in the late afternoon on the PRT out by the lake. Most gorgeous weather we've yet had this year. Still a little achey and sluggish but I think this cold is passing. Will run again with Emily after she's done with work. AP 8:13

Picked up Emily from work and went right on a run. Just enjoying this weather as much as I can. Utah usually gives a few pump fakes before the nice weather sticks. AP 10:14

Definitely still sick. My body is recovering but it's still just weak. Both my legs and chest felt really heavy from mile 5 to the end. It was not a fun run. But, I'm glad I did it and that it's over. And I really hope that next week I'm ready to finally do some good speedwork. AP 7:33

An easy 8.2 with Jake around Provo. Stopped at a Maverick with the got-to-go's. Just hoping I feel better this week. AP 8:03

First five I ran solo before I picked up Emily from work. AP 7:32

After picking up Emily we ran 4.3 down by the lake. Got to throw in some strides on a flat, straight road. Absolutely beautiful day. AP 8:50

Ran in the afternoon before picking up Emily from work. Wanted to feel some MP miles in my legs. 3-mile WU, 4-mile MP tempo, 2.2-mile CD. MP tempo splits were 6:22, 6:34, 6:22, 6:28. I hoped it'd feel easy but wasn't necessarily expecting it. I was so thrilled that it felt so fun and natural. Progress feels good! AP 7:04

Ran with Jake and Blake from US Synthetic over to Vineyard Rd. We were in a downpour the entire time. That made it extra fun. I turned around at 4 and they kept going. It was a fun, easy 8. AP 7:13

Last easy run before the Lake to Lake Relay in St. George. I'm hoping for some good threshold miles tomorrow. Kept it easy today. AP 7:49

What a memorable day of running. Emily and I went down to St. George for the Lake to Lake Relay. It's a small relay that her family likes to do. This was going to be my first time I donned the SRC jersey since June of last year. My first leg was Leg #4, a 5.2-mile sprint down a bike path. The downhill made it fast but the bike path made it difficult. I felt better than I ever have, though, and finished at a 5:56 AP. It was so fun to feel fast again. Although I plan on getting much faster this year, that's one of the fastest runs I've ever had. Very encouraging. I didn't have high expectations for my results and after the first leg I felt I had achieved success. That took the pressure off and got me excited for my second leg. Feeling that I had spent myself I only wanted to push and have fun. The second leg (#9) was a dirt road that rolls and climbs about 500 ft. during the 5.9-mile effort (6:50 AP). There are a couple big hills, one at 1 mile and one at 5 miles. I'm so excited that I'm back to where I was last year. I finally feel like I've climbed my way back to where I used to be and now I can start exploring new territory. I ran a 3.7 out and back to fetch our last runner and bring him into the finish line. Then ate a 4 lb. carne asada burrito at a hole-in-the-wall mexican place and life was perfect.

Recovery jog. AP 8:02

Just another recovery jog on the PRT. Only had a 90 min. window to run today with two work shifts and some elders quorum projects. Spoke with Salem on the phone which cut into the run. But it was worth catching up with her. It's probably for the best because I'm still pretty tight after Saturday's race. AP 7:45

Easy lunch run with Jake. AP 7:33

Easy 8 on the PRT to loosen up for tomorrow's 20. I couldn't believe how heavy and tired my legs felt. I hope going slow will help rid me of this funk and get me ready for tomorrow. AP 8:04

Today was awesome. All the doubts I had after yesterday's run were silenced this morning. Jake ran  the first 10 with me on the Murdock. We ran the first 5 hovering right at 7:00 and then decided to run the next 5 at MP (AP 6:29). Jakes stomach was given him fits so he ended his run there. I ran the next 10 solo just enjoying the perfect weather this morning. Felt entirely strong until mile 18ish and even after that never felt defeated by the mileage. But for my first 20 this year I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. So glad to be feeling strong again. AP 7:03

Recovery jog with Emily. We both had the got-to-go's but the weather was beautiful. AP 11:36

Met Blake this morning at the BYU Indoor track. He's a trooper waking up at 5 a.m. with a new baby. We had some good conversation about breaking mental barriers holding us back in our training. I hadn't done speedwork for a couple weeks so thought I'd ease into it. I ran the first 3 repeats in 5:28, 5:30, and 5:23. It felt somewhat conservative. The last repeat I went for nothing but speed and came in at 5:07. The first quarter mile or so I was running closer to 5:20/5:25 so I really pushed the last 0.75 miles. It felt awesome. I'm feeling stronger than I ever have. I've decided that this year I'm going to recover more aggressively. Last year I think I was far too conservative during the weeks after long runs and races. I had been following some advice I'd taken from people far more experienced than I. But I've decided that doesn't work for me. I need to push myself more. And I feel like today's workout proves it.

Beautiful weather on this afternoon run. Went out for an easy 10 and threw a couple MP miles into the middle (6:24, 6:27) to feel some turnover. Feeling extremely good about how this week is going. Last Saturday was my first 20-miler of the year and I feel incredibly lucky it didn't set me back this week. I feel like I'm only moving forward right now.

Ran with the Big Dogs this morning. It's always a fun experience. MP is feeling easier and easier. I didn't even realize until my watch would beep at the mile splits that we were hovering around my MP for most of the way back. Good run. AP 7:09

Just an easy shakeout. I've been running more MP miles this week than I have in the past. And this week followed my first 20-miler. So, I think my body just needed to go slow, easy, and short today. AP 7:59

I'll remember today's run for a long time. We went up to Aunt Suz's cabin in Wallsburg on Friday night and woke up on Saturday morning to party all day with the fam. It was a gorgeous day, minus the outrageous wind. My original plan was to do 15 easy but without a running buddy up there (Emily was sick) I was having a hard time committing to a long solo effort. So, I decided that I'd settle for 11 miles since I've felt good about my miles this week. I accidentally ended up running 5.3 miles at MP (AP 6:22) which I'm excited about. 6:30 is just feeling easier and easier, which tells me that I'm doing things right. A huge confidence boosting run even though it wasn't particularly long or particularly fast. Just loving how things are going. AP 7:07

Yesterday Emily and I were sick so we slept a ton. I woke up at 5:30 this morning and was wide awake. So, I figured I'd get out the door and if I felt terrible I could always turn right back around. I felt stiff and achey but pressed on for some grueling miles. We'll see if that was brave or stupid by the end of the day. AP 8:19

This was not an encouraging workout. I'm going to assume my body was still weak from being sick on Sunday (even though I really wasn't that sick... But Emily thinks I was). Jake and I planned on doing 6x1000m on the track with 600m recovery. We ended up doing 4x1000m with 600m recovery since niether of us was feeling well (3:42, 3:40, 3:38, 3:37). I really hope these times were so slow because I was sick. If I really do lack speed that badly I'm in trouble. It is possible though, since most of my speedwork has been geared toward the marathon. Time will tell. Let's just say I feel I have a lot of unfinished business on the track. I'll be trying this again soon. AP 7:47

Great run with Jake on his lunch break. Finally felt back to full strength after weak runs on Monday and Tuesday. Cruising just above MP and we were talking the entire run. AP 7:03

Easy miles out by the lake on the PRT. First 2 miles with Emily. Easy feels good right now. Just a little sluggish this week. AP 8:06

Another easy run. Going 17 tomorrow and if I feel good I might include a short tempo. Giving the legs a chance to get ready for that. AP 7:30

This was just a rough week. I'm just glad I didn't give up and take days off. My mileage has still increased the last 3 weeks and I hit the high 50's this week. That's important since next week is my final build week before my taper for Boston.

Some interesting stats up until this point. 5 of the last 8 weeks I've eclipsed 50 miles. The other 3 were 48, 49, and 41 (when I was sick for several days). Last year I had 6 50-mile weeks all year. I'm at 522.5 miles for the year after a slow January. That's almost half of the mileage I had all of last year.  I'm a much stronger runner this year and I'm excited for next week--The Final Build.

Today's run sucked. I felt sluggish and I was just churning out the miles waiting for the end. But, I did it. AP 7:21

Ran the Murdock nice and easy up in Cedar Hills while Emily was teaching piano. Loved exploring this part of the Murdock. Absolutely gorgeous weather (60ish). Just enjoyed this recovery jog. AP 7:59

A.M. Missed the speedwork this morning but was kind of glad because I want to save my legs for Saturday's Boston simulation. I think I would have been pressured into running faster than I should this week. Did my own run out by the lake. Threw in 2 miles at MP (6:22, 6:23). It felt pretty good but I still feel a little slow and sluggish. Let's hope I get past this by Saturday. AP 7:17

P.M. Went on a trail run/hike with Emily and Chris. The gorgeous weather continues. Got to watch the sunset. AP 18:38

Started my run at 7:25 p.m. Bad choice. A crazy hail storm rolled in. I was not prepared for it and promptly turned around. AP 7:55

Ran with Jake out by Vineyard. I absolutely love running out there. We went a little faster than we had planned but it felt easy the whole way. We talked about Saturday's long run and a lot about Boston pacing. Starting to get really excited for Boston. AP 7:09

Really easy solo 10 out by the lake. Hoping my legs are rested enough to make tomorrow's race simulation really effective. AP 7:45

First of all, happy birthday, Brandon! What an inspiring friend. He's a champ at life. I loved running out there with such a great group (Jake L., Scott, Brandon, Matt, Mike, Toni, Dave, Spencer, Ryan J.). Really fed off the energy of all these inspiring runners. Great feast at Magleby's afterwards.

Executed today's Boston simulation perfectly. We ran 5.5 WU on the PRT from the soccer park to Bridal Veil. The avalanche had melted enough it was easy to climb over. Started 15 miles of MP tempo with Spencer from that point. Ran the 2 miles left to Vivian then turned around (crossing the bridge to avoid the avalanche and taking the old highway to meet back up with the PRT at Nunn's) and tempoed out to Will's. Turned around there and headed north to 800 N. Spencer hung back and called it good. I really needed this tempo for my mental strength. I learned that I have trained well enough to have some ownership of 6:30 pace. Uphill, downhill, or flat I can run this pace. I had to extend on the Murdock and overshoot the park to get my 15 in (6:33 AP for the 15). I also learned not to freak out having a few miles in the 6:40's and 6:50's. I can make up for it on the downhills with controlled, mile-by-mile evalutaions. This was a big run for me. I'm getting very excited for Boston. This was an honest 22 with some downhill and a lot of climbing. All in, baby. AP 6:54

My pes anserinus is inflamed. I'm hoping I can nip this in the bud by the end of the week. I can't let this set me back too much. AP 8:13

Had a great run with Danny to test out the knee. It's been hurting all week just running up and down the stairs at work. I've been stretching my hamstrings a lot hoping that it's a slight inflammation that'll subside with basic stretching and massage. Knee felt good during the run. I hope I can run this weekend! AP 7:50

Ran some with Emily and some with Jake. I was very disappointed to have missed such a great run Saturday morning. Realized it is probably a groin issue instead of a tight hamstring. I've been stretching my groin nonstop for the last few days in this last ditch effort. I feel incredibly lucky and blessed that this may have been the cure. I hope I'm not speaking too soon but I felt almost nothing on the run today nor did it seize up at work. I'm continuing to aggressively stretch and massage the groin muscle I believe to be tight. I can't have this set me back any more! 1 more good week and race day will be within my sights. AP 9:12