my makeup may be flaking

Tough run today, but I think runs like this are an important part of my marathon training. Definitely not feeling fresh this morning but not feeling terrible either. I decided to try to beat my time up city creek canyon from 2 years ago. By the time I reached the trail head I was feeling quite hot so I stripped down to just my running short and tied all my excess clothes around my waist. Later on I was very glad I had them.

Anyway, it's pretty hard to map out the road going up city creek, but there are mile markers. I hit the first mark in about 6:49 (compared to 7:07 from my record). I was kind of disappointed about this split because I felt like I was really moving well. The course tool now says that this is really like a 5:40 or so because of the steep grade which makes me feel a bit better.

One issue with the first marker is that I'm not really sure where mile "zero" is. In hindsight I should have used the kilometers marked on the road from various races. Anyway, I reached the mile 2 marker in 14:00 which was really dissapointing and I began to lose confidence. The course tool says that this was still sub 6 equivalent pace. I got to the 3.5 mile mark in 24:23 which is about 5:50 equivalent pace overall and still ahead of my best time. At this point I felt like I was going to get my record and started to pick up the effort. It looked like I was going to do it, but for some reason the road was not plowed all the way to the top. They came up about 800meters short. I decided to try to pick my way through the snow but the final 800meters of this run are pretty brutal anyway as it is about a 7% grade at almost 6000ft. Eventually the snow became waist deep so I decided to hit my watch and turnaround. I figured that I stopped maybe .1 miles short of the summit but it is hard to say.

On the way back down I was running about 5:45-6:00 miles but my legs were really tired at this point so I wasn't really expending much energy. When I got back to downtown I managed to maintain around 6:20 pace. Overall the run was 6:37 pace for 18.75 miles.

AM 5.5 Miles

PM 11.25

Included 3 by mile with 200m jog on the U of U track. Lifted at the field house afterwards.

AM One loop of Sugarhouse

PM Did 6.2 miles hard in in 35:21. Ran down 500East to 2100S, then up to 1300 E, then down 900S.  Half way is right at 1300E and 2100S and I split 17:58. The course tool says that I was right on with my splits and that the run was 5:31 pace overall.

Today was one of those races that was all about effort. Going in I thought that the primary competition would be Teren and Fritz. At the Salt Lake Half I had started out with Teren and Fritz for 2 miles before blowing up badly. I decided that today I would go with Teren and Fritz if it seemed reasonable and face the consequences.

At the start, Teren sprinted out to a lead and Fritz followed. It seemed like they were going fast but I felt pretty comfortable sticking about 20-30m behind them. Brian Summers was also right next to me as I went through the mile at about 5:11. I was concerned that this was way too fast but I just wanted to see what would happen.

What happened was that it got very hard very quickly. Brian and I pushed each other the second mile but we only managed 5:38. I made a little surge here to try to get into a better pace and catch Fritz. Somewhere around here Jake Krong passed me. I wanted to try to stick with him to catch fritz but here my calves and shins cramped up really badly. This often happens to me in races and it goes away after a few miles but it was certainly not welcome at this point.

Thanks to Jake pushing me, mile 3 was 5:31 but once I lost him I started to become conscious of my allergies. This was not a good combination for me and I could feel myself drastically slowing down. I suddenly knew that this race was going to be slower than Salt Lake City. When I passed mile 4 with a 5:50 I knew I was in trouble and I entertained the thought of dropping out. Right around here I got caught by UVU grad Jared Keller (who was apparently running his first ever half) and Brian Summers. As they moved to pass me I glanced over and saw that they were running hard. (When Jake passed me he looked very relaxed). I knew that I could beat them if I pushed myself.

How do I beat people in races? Generally by throwing in surges at really awful times. We turned on to Center Street and faced a 2.5 mile long stretch with no turns. I surged away running 5:44 for mile 5 and 5:41 for mile 6. We left the street and turned on to a little trail. My legs were getting pretty tired and I was feeling a little bit nauseous. When I slowed down, Jared caught me again but he didn't pass. I thought to myself that he was either struggling to stay with me and couldn't pass or he just didn't want to make me surge again. My pace was pretty erratic on the trail as I seemed to go through good and bad patches once every 30 seconds or so. Never really finding a rhythm.

We left the trail and came out on to the road and I decided to surge again, hard. I got another lead on Jared and reach 10 miles in 56:50. I had kept my pace up on the trail much better than I thought. I was really crumbling at this point. I was having difficulty controlling my breathing for some reason, possibly a combination of the higher altitude (which always seems to hurt me and my allergies) plus I hadn't had any water and was getting pretty hot. My lead over Jared seemed to be growing though so I wasn't worried as I hit mile 11 and 12 in 12mins even. My last 1.15 was 7:30 which was not great even though there was a hill in it. I definitely fell apart pretty badly in the last 5k. I ended up well behind Fritz (close to 3 mins) but I beat Jared by over 30 seconds and Brian Summers by close to 2mins.

Trying to put this race in perspective: My first thought was that I was dissappointed I was faster than SLC. Well, that course was .06 short, this one was .05 long. That course was also lower elevation (about a 20-25 second difference). Plus this course is about 80-90 seconds harder in terms of elevation. Add that all together and you get a 2 to 2.5 minute difference.

Is that reflected in the times?

Here are the top ten people that ran both

Person	SLC	Provo	Difference
Teren	1:08:51	1:09:44	0:53
Fritz	1:12:34	1:13:24	0:50
Brian Summers	1:13:30	1:18:02	4:32
Me	1:15:00	1:16:18	1:18
Michelle Lowry	1:21:20	1:25:10	3:50
Eric Peterson	1:23:19	1:27:02	3:43
Mel Lemon	1:26:47	1:29:32	2:45
Demetrio	1:31:29	1:34:27	2:58
Skip Morehead	1:27:06	1:35:21	8:15

So a really, really good race for Teren then. I had thought after the first two circuit races that he was on the decline, but he seems to be rounding into form. Fritz also bounced back nicely from SLC and so did I, to a lesser extent.

Long run to 4500S, up to Wasatch BLVD then along Parley's trail and finishing at school.

Felt pretty good on this run and gradually picked it up. Splits are only very approximate but give a general sense.

Miles	Mins	Split	Pace	Cum Pace	Adj Pace
2.5	23	23	9:12	9:12	7:43	7:43
5.3	43	20	7:09	8:07	7:15	7:30
6.2	50	7	7:47	8:04	7:43	7:32
7.1	55	5	5:33	7:45	5:30	7:17
9.7	75	20	7:09	7:44	6:38	7:06
11.5	88	13	7:13	7:39	6:46	7:03
14.6	107	19	6:08	7:20	5:43	6:46
17.4	126	19	6:47	7:14	6:23	6:42
19.0	136.5	10.5	6:33	7:13	7:23	6:45

Lifted afterwards.

AM 5.5

PM Ran to sugarhouse park and did three loops. (10:30,10:26,10:47). I did full recovery in between, but I had GI issues during the last one (actually the whole workout). Given that and the cold wind blowing the whole time (which was the reason I did this instead of a track workout) I actually feel pretty good about this workout. I felt pretty relaxed the whole time an my legs didn't feel bad afterwards.

Ran through the mountains to emigration canyon road and then down following the des news course. Included about 8miles at tempo pace.

Went down to Moab to run the 1st ever Red Rock Relay with Kevin Smith, Steven Gonzalez, Abbie Tuomi, Kim Capalbo and Erica Anderson. Despite not being a "stacked" team, we were in the last group to start and we were gunning for the win.

Kevin led off and got us out to a big lead quickly and Steve extended it. However, like I said we didn't have a "stacked" team and we were being chased by an all-male team from a running store in Colorado. After Kim's first leg we were 6.5 mins down and it was my turn. I had a 5.5 mile leg that gained 1000ft (the course tool said it was more like 6.5 miles equivalent). I passed 16 people on my leg and cut our deficit down to 3.5mins but that would be the closest we would get for the rest of the race. I felt pretty good about my leg because the guy from the running store was someone that Kevin had competed against in college and I managed to make up 3 mins in 5.5 miles. My total time was 35:26 which is 6:24 pace. That comes out to 5:25 equivalent on the course tool. This is similar to my best efforts on tempo runs.

The lead was back up to about 10mins after the next leg and it seemed like we were toast. To have a realistic shot at winning we needed Abbie to make up at least 5 mins in her 3 mile leg against a competitive male runner. To her credit, Abbie barely lost any time but it was time to stop worrying about winning.

Legs 7 and 8 were truly horrific as we climbed up to 8300 feet. Steve gained 1100 feet in less than 3 miles and later climbed to have blocked out the entire memory.  Kim had the next leg and as we were driving it quickly became apparent that this would be a really hard leg so I jumped out of the car to run with her. I think Kim was feeling quite a bit of pressure because she was pushing herself so hard that she was hallucinating and getting faint. We put a lot of distance on some teams in this leg simply because she was able to finish without walking (climbing mile long hills at 8000ft is tough).

On Erica's leg were started to roll by teams again and at this point it was all about how many teams we could pass before the finish. Kevin blitzed the final run through the mountain at about 5:30 pace, passing 14 more teams and he handed off to Abbie who ran her leg at 6:30 pace passing 16 people.

I had been assigned the last leg with the thinking that I would break the heart of the running store team if we were anywhere close. By that point, we were over 30 minutes down most likely so I was just out for blood. I had a 7.6 mile leg with a 1000ft drop. I took off like a mad man and was quickly feeling the not only the effort of my first leg, but also the affects of dehydration. My teammates gave me water about 15 mins in at which point I had passed about 5 people. Everytime someone came into view I simply surged until I caught them, barely paying attention to the fact that I could barely swallow. I barely needed my team to give me more water but they had to speed to the finish to be sure to cross the line with me. Fortunately, a few other vans sprayed water in my face and it seemed like everyone was cheering me on as I passed team after team. The last couple of miles were on a dirt trail that had a lot of turns and rather questionable footing. At several point it seemed like I was running in sand. Just before leaving the trail I passed my 20th victim and my thirst for blood was sated. Running through the small town of Moab I caught one more team to get myself to 21 and then I entered Swanny park where the race finished. There was another team taking a victory run down the finish chute. Our whole team sprinted by them to steal their thunder and give me my 22nd roadkill for the leg. I crossed the line in 43:26 for 7.55 miles (course tool 7.45). So 5:45 vs 5:50 adjusted.

I was extremely done after this effort as the sun had taken quite a bit out of me. Overall it was a good experience and makes me excited for Wasatch Back.

Got back from Moab and the wind was blowing like crazy. Seemed like the perfect time for a long run so I ran down to 4500S on the Jordan River Trail. I felt ok but not great. Total time was 2:10 which is about 7:40 pace. The wind definitely died on the way back which was annoying because I didn't get the tail wind that I deserved.

AM Two laps liberty park.

PM Another really bad allergy day had me scaling back my PM workout plans. I did two loops of liberty park with 90 seconds rest (8:22,8:18) with a bunch of running in the park tacked on. Loops of the park on the woodchip trail are tough!

AM 5.5

PM 11.2 Des News Finish loop (6:49 pace)

AM 6.2

PM 9.5

After running 15+ miles three days in a row I wasn't sure how I would handle a 20miler this morning. I had no specific plan on how I was going to run, the plan was to see the DesNews couse and see how my body responded. Allie sweetly volunteered (or maybe I bribed her with yogurt and grapefruit juice) to drive me to the top of Big Mountain so I could run the first 20 or so miles. There was a slight snag when we saw that the road was closed. I wondered aloud what the road is even for other than Des News (not a lot according to the map).

So here was my alternate "20" miler. I started at Little Dell Golf Course under the bridge and ran straight up Little Mountain then I turned around and ran back down the hill...then I turned around again and ran back up. On my second time up I managed to notice the "6M" painted on the road, so I knew I had about 15 miles or running left.

Anyway I climbed up Little Mountain at 6:48 pace which is actually pretty good. The hill is definitely in my "wheelhouse" both in terms of length and grade. I was feeling pretty good coming down the other side and very easily ran 5:40 pace between the summit and the turnaround. I decided to add on the little section in the neighbourhood and noted that it took my a little under 4 mins. That means that I should be able to see all the leaders come race day. It's a really good addition to the course I think.

I rolled down Emigration Canyon still clicking 5:40s (apparently...I didn't calculate my speed until later) I felt untroubled by the pace and felt that it would be a very sensible marathon pace. At about mile 14, a little past Ruth's, my achilles started to fatigue a little, which was not surprising but definitely something to watch out for on this course. I also saw a mile marker for the first time since Mile 6 and it told me that I had average about 6 min pace since that point. I was very pleased about this as I knew that included a fair amount of climbing.

Turning off Emigration Canyon by the zoo I was pleased with how my legs responded to the hill and when I passed the 16 mile mark I noted that I had gone about 11:40 for the last two miles. (Perhaps faster as I was not cutting tangents). In Mile 17 I started to feel a little bit more fatigue in my glute and I actually stopped and gave it a quick massage. I was very pleased that on that two mile stretch I was still sub 6 minute pace.

When I got to foothill I realized that it was probably sensible to try to hold 6 minute pace the rest of the way as I was almost done. I was a bit surprised to see that Mile 19 was so slow (6:01) but I attributed that partly to the lack of tangent and also to the 180 degree turn you have to make during that mile. Indeed, with a similar effort I ran sub 6 again for mile 20 which is theoretically a slower mile. I felt really good as I climbed the big hill in mile 21 and going down 500S didn't feel as bad as I expected. My calves were pretty tired hear and I was now heel striking and slapping my feet quite a bit (fortunately my quad didn't feel bad at all!). I found that I could still get some good tempo going if I shortened my stride. I turned off 500S and into the parking lot of Rice Eccles and my legs immediately complained about the lack of downhill. I found myself shuffling a little before semi recovering. I finished with a steep uphill to bring myself in front of the fieldhouse.

All in all it was an excellent, excellent run. Judging from my course analysis I ran 15 miles of the course at a pace which would predict a finish time of 2:33-2:34. That makes me feel like my goal of sub 2:30 is actually realistic, but will also be hard. In general my taper can give me an extra 5-10 seconds a mile in the race as compared to my long tempos. That means if all goes well and there are no disasters (beyond the inevitable slowdown past mile 20) that a 2:30 is a very practical goal. However, a lot can happen between now and pioneer day and I have to just be careful and make use of everything I've learnt in the past couple of years.

Here is a summary of my splits.

 

Miles	Split	Pace	Total	Total Pace	Notes
2.1	15:50	7:32	15:50	7:32	Long hill running from Little Dell to base of little mountain
3.6	10:35	7:03	26:25	7:20	Up Little Mountain
5.1	8:50	5:53	35:15	6:55	Back down...
6.6	10:12	6:48	45:27	6:53	And up again!
8.33	9:47	5:39	55:13	6:38	From summit to turn off into neighbourhood
8.63	2:06	7:00	57:19	6:38	Up to turnaround point
8.93	1:48	6:00	59:07	6:37	And down again
14.93	34:15	5:43	1:33:22	6:15	Down Emigration
17.4	14:59	6:04	1:48:21	6:14	From Zoo to foothill
21.2	22:24	5:54	2:10:44	6:10	Down foothill/500S to Fieldhouse.

AM Allie and I went up to Ogden to volunteer at the Ogden Marathon. I had a bit of time to run before the runners came by so I checked out the trailhead that was across the street. It was pretty nice and the cool morning air helped get some MUCUS! out of my nose.

PM Pretty relaxed run around liberty park. It was one of those "nice" days to run. ie, there were a lot of people out running because it was sunny outside. I would have preferred it if it was raining but most people would have said it was ideal weather.

Three loops of Liberty Park. It was pretty windy but a great temperature. My Nike Frees felt really good.

AM Two laps of Liberty Park

PM Ran to Sugarhouse park and did 4*800 on the Highland High School track with 90 seconds rest (2:31,2:28,2:31,2:31). I was pretty sore before starting and it was quite windy so I pleased with this. Then I went and ran one loop on the road in 8:00 (5:58 pace, 5:46 adjusted). Came back and did two sets of 3*200m with a lap jog in between.

Ran back to school and went for a workout in the fieldhouse.

Wait hold on a second. You're telling me that I can't just take 4 months off, start doing a hundred miles a week and then throw in a sprinting workout without being sore? Bunk! I say!

Well anyway I was very sore today, but I didn't really care. I spent my runs today scoping out the course for the state capitol half this monday. In the morning I ran up through the avenues until I got to the JCC.

In the evening I ran from my office to Red Butte Garden and then along the course. I was very sore so running downhill meant some very slow running. Let me tell you, the last 5 miles of this course should be seriously fast. If I can't close the last 5k under 18 minutes, something is seriously wrong with me.

Had some real sinus issues today. I really need to take care of that.

AM 2*Liberty

Decided that I would try my first fartlek workout in a couple of years today. I was feeling kind of sore and allergy but I managed to do it ok anyway. Did 10 mins warmup then 5mins hard, 5mins easy running to Sugarhouse park and back. Not really sure what to make of my paces as I wasn't 100% today but I was down in the 5:30-5:40 range it seemed for hard section.

Met Allie for some lifting and plyos. I am very proud of the fact that I have never seen anyone do more than me for the back extension. In fact, Allie does the same as these big lifter types.

Another very Allegirific day today. So much so that I broke down and got some nasal spray after my run. I try to avoid using this stuff as it is habit-forming but there was no other option.

Anyway my run today was just to go along foothill to 2300 East and then follow the State Capitol half marathon course (again). I had to do a lot of improvising because the of construction on the course. It was unclear how the race was going to be able to deal with this.

After the run I got an email from the race director saying the race has been postponed until the 4th of July. Well I guess I already ran the course so it doesn't matter.

Went down to American Fork today to run a Memorial Day race. Given that this was one of 26.2 running company's "Platinum" races I thought there would probably be some good competition. I had pretty low expectations as I had planned on doing a low key half marathon today that got canceled.

I saw quite a few runners with 26.2 running co. singlets at the start so I figured I probably wouldn't be competitive. The 5k and 10K started together and so I was content to let the pack get away a little at the start. After about 800m, Brandon Hebbert flew by me and went to the front of the pack. He looked strong and I could only hope he wasn't running the 10k.

Right at the mile (5:11, it was a bit short) I was starting to catch up to some people when the 5k and 10k split. Suddenly it was just Brandon ahead of me (by over 20 seconds). I started to cramp up a little and feel a bit nauseous. Glancing back I saw 3 or 4 people within 20 seconds of me so I knew I had to keep pushing.

The next couple of miles were uphill and I slowed down quite a bit (5:32 and 6:04). These miles were both slightly short by a few seconds and the slowdown was mostly due to the uphill. I reached mile 3 (2.94 miles) in 16:48. The course tool said I should be at 17:08 here based on my finish. That meant I lost 20 seconds in the next 2 miles (which included a steep down and a steep up). I was feeling fairly nauseous still and also my shoe came untied. I was also out of sight of both first and third place now so I had entered more of a tempo mode.

In the last mile I picked up the intensity a little but I didn't feel fantastic and there were now a lot of people to weave in and out of. In addition a lot of the 5k runners from the lead pack were now doing a cool own going back along the course and getting in my way. Even though they could see me coming I was forced into oncoming traffic a couple of times. Maybe I needed to be wearing one of those neon green singlets the 26.2 guys had. Anyway I achieved my goal of a sub 34. The course was certainly short but this was probably off set by the hills.

Although this was a free race I find it a bit ridiculous that prize money only guys to people on the 26.2 racing team (yes I asked to be on this team). (Prize for 2nd was $50). Of course Allie won the 5k and the prize for that should have been $100 (along with the $100 from SLC half marathon) so I shouldn't complain. Allie and I split the $25 coupon to Costa Vida that Seth Wold handed to her for her efforts.

Anyway, about 5 mins after I finished the 10k I found myself lining up to do a mile. I didn't even time this for myself so I don't know but I would guess 5:15-5:20 (based on Fritz's 4:55). It felt ok, it just wasn't enough rest after running a 10k.

Went down to American Fork today to run a Memorial Day race. Given that this was one of 26.2 running company's "Platinum" races I thought there would probably be some good competition. I had pretty low expectations as I had planned on doing a low key half marathon today that got canceled.

I saw quite a few runners with 26.2 running co. singlets at the start so I figured I probably wouldn't be competitive. The 5k and 10K started together and so I was content to let the pack get away a little at the start. After about 800m, Brandon Hebbert flew by me and went to the front of the pack. He looked strong and I could only hope he wasn't running the 10k.

Right at the mile (5:11, it was a bit short) I was starting to catch up to some people when the 5k and 10k split. Suddenly it was just Brandon ahead of me (by over 20 seconds). I started to cramp up a little and feel a bit nauseous. Glancing back I saw 3 or 4 people within 20 seconds of me so I knew I had to keep pushing.

The next couple of miles were uphill and I slowed down quite a bit (5:32 and 6:04). These miles were both slightly short by a few seconds and the slowdown was mostly due to the uphill. I reached mile 3 (2.94 miles) in 16:48. The course tool said I should be at 17:08 here based on my finish. That meant I lost 20 seconds in the next 2 miles (which included a steep down and a steep up). I was feeling fairly nauseous still and also my shoe came untied. I was also out of sight of both first and third place now so I had entered more of a tempo mode.

In the last mile I picked up the intensity a little but I didn't feel fantastic and there were now a lot of people to weave in and out of. In addition a lot of the 5k runners from the lead pack were now doing a cool own going back along the course and getting in my way. Even though they could see me coming I was forced into oncoming traffic a couple of times. Maybe I needed to be wearing one of those neon green singlets the 26.2 guys had. Anyway I achieved my goal of a sub 34. The course was certainly short but this was probably off set by the hills.

This was a free race which is awesome and I wasn't too concerned that the course length was off. Allie and I split the $25 coupon to Costa Vida that Seth Wold handed to her for her efforts.