dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

Resolution run 5 miler

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Location:

Alpine,UT,USA

Member Since:

Jan 01, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Olympic Trials Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

3K: 8:58 Pocatello, ID 2003 (indoors at Idaho State)

5K: 14:55 Salt Lake City, UT 2010 (Law Day 5k)

10K: 29:33 Salt Lake City, UT 2010 (Des News 10k)

1/2 marathon: 1:06:59 Provo, UT 2010 (Utah Valley Half)

marathon: 2:21:59 St. George, UT 2009 (St. George Marathon)

Short-Term Running Goals:

To get running higher mileage more consistently without getting injured

Sub 2:19:00 marathon

Personal:

I used to run competitively, and maybe I will do so again someday.  Right now I am primarily running to try and get in better shape, and to maintain both physical and emotional health, but also for the simple joy that comes when I run.

I am also the proud daddy of five little ones.  I love the opportunity that I have to be a daddy, and my challenge is to balance my family responsibilities with work and running.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Asics Speedstar Lifetime Miles: 2020.05
Asics Gel Ohana Racer Lifetime Miles: 2332.20
Adidas Adizero Lifetime Miles: 1375.45
Barefoot Lifetime Miles: 183.10
Nike Free 5.0 Lifetime Miles: 2221.85
Saucony Kinvara Lifetime Miles: 795.92
Puma Faas 200 Lifetime Miles: 381.50
Puma Faas 250 Lifetime Miles: 466.10
Altra Adam Lifetime Miles: 1836.85
Baretrek Lifetime Miles: 290.15
Hoka Conquest Lifetime Miles: 41.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3430.49234.7985.6015.623766.50
Adidas Adizero Miles: 274.70New Balance 758 Miles: 865.05Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 1506.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 231.70Asics Speedstar Miles: 289.00Brooks Axiom Miles: 272.20Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 10.94Barefoot Miles: 41.00Crocs Miles: 11.10
Race: Resolution run 5 miler (5 Miles) 00:26:05, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.000.005.000.0010.00

So, today I ran a little race close to my parent's house.  There was a possibility that one fast guy would show up, but otherwise I knew I would be running alone.  I was actually kind of dissapointed when the fast guy didn't show up (his name is Joe Gray) as it is difficult to motivate oneself when running alone.  It also didn't help matters that I came down with a cold yesterday and I wasn't feeling 100% and the wind was gusting and blowing to high heaven.  Before the race I also met a fellow blogger, Dale who I had never met before.

The race started and I took off and was alone for the entire race.  The course was an out and back with a slight uphill during the first half, and of course a slight downhill on the way back.  The wind was gusting off and on the entire race, but it was the worst during the second mile and the first part of the third mile.  I started out the race running about a 5:00 effort and ran the first mile in 5:08.  I then hit the 5k turn-around in 8:09 and hit the 2 mile mark in 10:38 (5:30 second mile... ouch!).  I made it to the 5 mile turn-around in 13:20 (2:42 for a half mile).  I missed the 3 mile marker, but I made it to 4 miles in 21:03, (7:43 from 2.5 - 4 miles) and then finished with a 5:02 last mile to finish in 26:05 by my watch (official timing was messed up so I never found out an official time).  I timed the last 200 meters of the race, which were on the track in 34 seconds.

So, not as fast as I really would have liked, but considering the wind and being just a little under the weather I think I did fine for a mid winter race with no competition.  Hopefully things will go more smoothly for me as the year progresses.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 7.00New Balance 758 Miles: 3.00
Comments
From Burt on Sat, Jan 02, 2010 at 00:33:18 from 98.177.216.165

Nice job Jeff. 2010 will be your year.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Jan 02, 2010 at 15:36:44 from 192.168.1.1

Looking at the splits, more like 25:40 effort without the wind. Not bad for being sick, and post-swine-flu.

From Dale on Sat, Jan 02, 2010 at 18:44:28 from 69.10.215.11

Nice meeting you. You really didn't have any competition in the field.....I think you're 5K split probably beat the 5K winner too. Not too shabby while sick!

From Little Bad Legs on Sat, Jan 02, 2010 at 23:26:37 from 67.170.153.203

Great job!

From Snoqualmie on Mon, Jan 04, 2010 at 11:44:15 from 24.18.192.33

Congratulations! A great beginning to the new year!

From Walter on Sun, Jan 17, 2010 at 21:52:16 from 24.10.169.110

Wow Jeff! I would be in hog heaven if my times were there right now! Great job and self discipline to push on.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.500.000.000.002.50

I felt really gross today.  I barely made it under 9:00 pace for the run.

New Balance 758 Miles: 2.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

still sick, so no running today.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

I was feeling better today, so I decided to do the full 10 just like normal.  It ended up being a bad decision as I felt horrible the entire rest of the day.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

probably could have run 6 miles or so, but I decided to take the day off instead and try to get rid of whatever it is I have as quickly as possible.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

I was feeling a lot better today, although I still have a lot of nasal congestion

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

No problems today.  Coughing a lot more now as the flem in my throat seems to be clearing up

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

Ran a 5 mile tempo fairly slow.  In the afternoon my knee started to flare up some more

New Balance 758 Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

Ran another 5 mile tempo fairly slow.  I think that running tempo runs of longer than a mile or so is bad for my knee, even when I run them slow.  So, probably no more tempos in the next few weeks.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

easy run.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

Easy run.  The cough and nasal congestion seem to finally be getting better

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

Nothing special happened

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

Ran a hard 400 today in about 71.  It felt harder than it should have

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.200.000.000.0015.20

Ran 5x400 today with 400 rest.  Splits were 70, 70, 67, 68, 70.  Sasha requested that we slow down just a little on the last repeat, thus the slight slowdown.  Otherwise the run was pretty relaxed.

New Balance 758 Miles: 15.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

Today's run was super slow.  The trail was wet, and the water was semi-frozen, which made for very slippery conditions even though there was no visible ice.  Total time of about 1:27:xx for 10.2 miles

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I ran from my house so that I could make it back in time to get to work.  The trail was still super slippery, but not as bad as yesterday.  1:24:30ish for 10.1 miles.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I ran from home again today.  Finished in about 1:21:xx

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

Just under 1:21:00 for 10.1 miles this morning.  I am feeling better than I have in a while from a health perspective (both from being sick and from knee and foot problems), but I decided to hold off on running any doubles this week so that I can study a little more for the GRE, which I take on Monday.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I slept in this morning because I have been getting less sleep lately due to GRE study.  In the afternoon, Kimia was feeling sick and she begged me to stay at home with her.  I told her that I would stay with her until she fell asleep (she went to bed around 6:30) thinking that I would have plenty of time to run after she was asleep.  However, she didn't fall asleep for good until after 9:00 and by then it was too late.  All of this makes up for a pretty pathetic start to my running in the new year.  Maybe this will teach me to get to bed on time so that I can get my run finished in the morning before life gets in the way at night.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.200.000.000.0015.20

It snowed during the night, so today's run was slow again.  However, snow is less slippery than slush, so we were still able to make decent time for the run.  1:57:12 for 15.2 miles.  I ran hard for about 5 seconds at one point to see how slippery the snow was, and it wasn't too bad.  Later on we ran a 400 hard and I finished in 79 seconds.  The effort was probably worth about 10 seconds faster.

New Balance 758 Miles: 15.20
Comments
From Tyler on Sat, Feb 13, 2010 at 23:57:38 from 96.25.37.83

Hey buddy, how are things going?

From LuzyLew on Sat, Mar 06, 2010 at 14:34:21 from 69.169.167.157

Thanks for the invitation to run that quarter mile with you and Sasha this morning. My lungs are recovering from a pretty bad case of bronchitis, but it was great to push it a bit. Wouldn't have done that on my own. I was remembering how you could sing the national anthem at that speed. I forget how amazing you guys are! Thanks for the push.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
65.000.000.000.0065.00

So, I have not updated my blog in a long long time.  In order to get caught up a little quicker I am just going to make one blanket entry per week until I get mostly caught up again.  I won't be too specific, because if I want to see my specific workouts during this period I can always just look at Sasha's blog.  So anyhow, here it goes.

65 miles this week plus a little extra, but I can't remember how much.  15 mile long run on Saturday.  I took the GRE on Monday, and I scored 750 quantitative, and 590 verbal (1340 total out of 1600).  I found out later that I scored 5.0 on the written portion of the exam.  Approximately 83rd percentile for all three sections of the test.  I was excited about this because the average score that BYU masters students in Exercise Science receive on the test is about 1050 combined with just under a 4.0 on the written. 

New Balance 758 Miles: 32.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 27.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
66.300.000.000.0066.30

66.3 miles this week.  15.5 mile long run on Saturday, with 10 miles during the rest of the week.  Construction is now being done on a section of the trail that is about a mile into our 5 mile tempo, so it messes up our tempo runs a little bit so that we now have to run back and forth on a section of trail that is only 1.5 miles long, which isn't too fun.

I turned in the last part of my application to grad school on Monday of this week.  I had printed out the wrong ecclesiastical endorsement form, so I ended up needing to print out the correct form and I turned it in on Monday.

New Balance 758 Miles: 35.80Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 30.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
67.000.000.000.0067.00

Pretty much the same schedule as the last couple of weeks, except that the long run was just a shade longer this week.  We have been adding in some speed work here and there, but it has been fairly minimal.  We have run a few 400's here and there, and on occasion 1.5 mile repeats.  We also paced Michelle through a 5 mile tempo at about 6:11 pace and then picked up the pace for the last mile (although I can't remember if that was this week or not).  I have mostly run with Sasha in the mornings but I sleep in on occasion and end up running in the afternoon.  

I have also been doing my own little experiments.  I have been walking around while at work on the balls of my feet, or the mid-foot, in hopes to condition my calf muscles to be able to withstand more stress.  If this works I will hopefully be able to increase mileage more consistently into the 90-100 mile range.  I have felt for a while that my biggest limiting factor when it comes to the mileage I run has been my calves.  They tighten up when a lot of stress is placed upon them, and injuries follow.  I am hoping that they won't tighten up as often or as much if what I am doing works.  I am also playing around switching from a heel strike to a forefoot strike when I run so I can see what kind of differences are evident from a running economy standpoint.  So far the differences seem too minimal to come to any certain conclusion.

New Balance 758 Miles: 36.50Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 30.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
70.000.000.000.0070.00

I don't remember if I ran 70.0 miles this week, or something a little higher, (but less than 71) so I will err on the side of marking my mileage a little low for the week.  I ran my first 20 mile run since December this Saturday, which was exciting for me as I am finally feeling a little better about my foot and knee health.  I have actually felt pretty good for a while now as far as speed is concerned.  I feel fast, and I feel like I could run fast race times.  However, my mileage has been low, and I would probably crash if I were to run a marathon.  I need to up my mileage significantly if I want to run a good marathon in the fall (only one marathon this year, but probably a bunch of halfs).  After the 20 mile run my legs felt pretty drained.  I could tell that it was a distance that I had not run in a while.  

We did run 7.5 miles of the run fast, running a 6 mile tempo in the middle of the run (1.5 miles on the river trail repeated 4 times back and forth), and then running 1.5 miles fast at the end.  During the 6 mile tempo we started out slow hitting the first 1.5 in about 8:48 if my memory serves me right, and then picking up the pace and running 8:35, 8:30.  I can't remember the exact time for the last 1.5, but I remember running the last .5 at about 5:00 pace.  We ran the 1.5 miles at the end of the run in about 8:20.

New Balance 758 Miles: 40.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 30.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
74.400.000.000.0074.40

More or less the same schedule as before, except I ran 12 miles on Monday, and 11 miles on Thursday with a 21 mile long run.  Sasha and I ran a little bit of speed work on Monday, so we added a little extra to make the run 12 miles.  On Thursday I slept in and when I ran in the afternoon I felt like running a few hard quarters so I added an extra mile (I ran 4x400 on the trail in 65, 65, 65, 66 with about 2:10-2:20 recovery).  On Saturday Sasha and I basically did our standard 10 mile run twice (10.2 instead of 10.1 because of the added construction) and afterwards I added a little extra to make it 21 miles for the day.  We ran our Saturday run pretty fast as well.  We started out at about 6:30 pace and eventually got down into the 6:10 range.  It really felt like we were just cruising the entire time.  Eventually we started speeding up even more, and we decided to tempo the last 5.1 miles.  5.1 mile splits were 32:45, 31:16, 30:48, and about 28:20 plus or minus a few seconds.  I lost Sasha during the last 3 miles or so, and after I finished I ran back until I met up with him, and finished with him.  I then jogged a little bit extra in order to get to 21 miles for the day.  Total time for 21 miles was about 2:07:30, but maybe a little slower.

I was also able to talk to one of the BYU professors this week (Iain Hunter) about my grad school application.  On the plus side he told me that I have one of the best looking applications that was submitted (of approximately 50 total, which I didn't find out until later) as far as GRE and GPA are concerned.  However, I was hoping to work with him during grad school and he told me that the university will not let him take on any more grad students.  He said that one of the other professors might be willing to take me on and be my advisor because my test scores were so good.

New Balance 758 Miles: 42.20Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 32.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
70.700.000.000.0070.70

This week was a bit easier than in previous weeks from an intensity standpoint.  I didn't run much hard, however Sasha and I did run a few 200's here and there during the week, and I ran a single hard 200 on Thursday in 27 seconds.  My hamstrings are feeling it a little from running the 200's as I am not used to it.  20 mile long run on Saturday.  I ran the first 16 with Sasha, running the last 4 miles (minus a little) in 22:31.  I then was going to run a little farther, but I was not sure if I wanted to run 2 more miles or 4.  I accidentally ran past my turn-around for 2 miles, so I ran 4.  I finished the run in 2:11:XX.  My legs felt pretty good at the end of this one, which I took to be very positive given the fact that this is my third consecutive 20 miler in 3 weeks after not running any runs over 16 miles for 2 months.

On a very negative note, I found out after getting home from work on Saturday night that I had not been accepted into the masters program at BYU for exercise science despite having one of the best applications that was turned in (according to one of the BYU professors).  I found out later that they didn't like that I still had a bunch of prerequisite classes that I still needed to take (despite my plans to take those classes during the spring and summer terms).  There was also a shortage of available professors who could take on masters students due to current masters students not graduating in time (this was really the biggest determining factor).  So, I need to figure some things out now.

New Balance 758 Miles: 30.30Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 40.40
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

So, I am finally caught up enough that I can get back to blogging my daily runs rather than giving weekly summaries.  I ran with Sasha this morning.  We finished 10.2 miles in 1:22:XX (I know that Sasha is probably counting it as 10.18, but I am just going to round things off as I probably undercut myself on mileage more often than not when I run from my house).  We did run a couple fast 200's during the run ranging from a 31 to a 28 (or even a high 27).

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I ran from my house this morning, and met Sasha on the trail.  I ended up finishing 10.1 miles in just under 1:18:00.  Nothing too special to report.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

Kimia and I went to the temple last night, and we got home late, so I slept in this morning and ran in the evening.  I ran 10.1 miles and finished in about 1:16:00.  The run felt pretty easy.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I ran with Sasha again this morning.  I finished 10.1 miles in just under 1:17:00.  My calves felt somewhat tight in the afternoon so I was massaging them some.  I was surprised to notice in the evening that my right calf was kind of tight as well as the left.  This is rare for me.  Tightness is almost always felt exclusively on the left side in my case.  It is probably because I ran about 8 miles on my forefoot yesterday, and ran maybe a couple miles like that today as well.  Nothing too serious as far as tightness is concerned.  I actually suspect that my experimentation of this kind is partly why my foot and knee have mostly healed now.  I think that changing my form on occasion helped to give my foot and knee a little rest that they otherwise would not have gotten.  I am still waiting to see if this type of running will help strengthen my calves so that they become more injury resistant.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Comments
From Burt on Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 21:46:28 from 98.177.220.145

When is your next marathon?

From jeffmc on Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 16:10:25 from 174.52.80.25

Sometime in the late summer or the fall. Maybe sometime between late August and early December

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I started off the run a little quicker, and hit the halfway mark in 35:15, but I slowed down during the second half to a more reasonable easy run pace and finished in 1:14:21.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.0915.260.000.0020.35

I ran a little earlier than I normally do on Saturday, because Sasha had to be somewhere.  Added to this is the fact that I ran late yesterday evening, and I was finishing over 30 miles of running in about 13 hours.  In hindsight I probably did not eat enough yesterday evening knowing that I was going to run a long run in the morning.

Anyhow, the goal was to start of at a brisk pace in the 6:30-6:40 range, and to slowly speed up over the course of the run.  Things started off well and we made it through the first quarter of our run to the first turn-around in 31:15.  We made it back to Sasha's house to finish about 10.18 miles in 1:01:35 (30:20) and I took off my coat, hat and pants.  After I got rid of the excess clothing I felt like I was barely making any effort and I was running considerably faster.  Sasha kept having to ask me to back off the pace just a little bit so that I would not drop him.  We finished the next quarter of our run in 29:11 (1:30:46) and I am thinking that I definitely would break the 2 hour mark for a run that I will round down to 20.35 miles since we do not know the exact distance due to the construction.  Sasha ask me to take him through the 6 mile mark (of the last 10 miles) at which point I would take off and finish faster.  However, once we hit the marker I could tell almost immediately that something was wrong.  I felt like there was nothing in my legs to really get going faster.  So, I made no effort to hit 5:20 pace like I was planning, but I instead only got into the mid 5:30's.  I made it a mile and a half at this pace, and then really started to hurt.  I realized that I was running out of fuel, and I struggled to get back to Sasha's house as quickly as possible, running the last mile in 6:51 (10:01 for the last 1.5) and finished the run in 2:01:18.

So, on the positive end of things, I still averaged under 6:00 pace for the entire run despite crashing, and I felt really, really good until it was time for me to speed up (about 16 miles in).  I wonder if I could have avoided the crash altogether if I simply exercised some caution and never took off.  On the negative side of the spectrum, I ran out of fuel after only about 18 miles of a 20 mile long run that never got very fast.  That is a negative sign for my marathon hopes unless I can really get healthy enough to put in some serious mileage.  When I ran out of fuel, I also crashed hard, and I crashed fast.  Within 2 miles I was already barely breaking 7:00 pace.  If this was a real marathon I would have definitely gotten into the mid 8's before I finished.  However, I did run a 10 mile run that I didn't finish until after 8:30 last night, I didn't eat enough yesterday evening, and I didn't take any fluids at all during the run, all things that are going to lead to a higher likelihood of a crash.  So, maybe things will be alright after all.

Post run my left heel and foot are pretty sore.  It is all due to calf tightness I am sure, although the primary sore spot is on the calcaneus where the achilles tendon attaches, so the location is a little different than normal.  I think that I will spend some time massaging it out this evening.  I will rub some wintercrest (I think) on it as well which I got from the St. George Marathon.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.35
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

started off super slow.  Had to get going pretty fast at the end just to break 1:20:00.  Finished in 1:19:40. 

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I started off today's run a lot faster than yesterday's, but I ran the middle miles a lot slower, so in the end I finished in about the same time 1:19:56 for 10.1 miles.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Last night, my wife gave birth to our beautiful baby girl.  Little Anita was born at 9:40 PM weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and was 17.5 inches long.  Kimia went into labor at 4:50PM, so the labor was less than 5 hours long, which is really quick for a first birth.  I attribute this almost completely to the fact that Kimia was trying hard to be active, often times going on 2-3 hour walks daily, for almost her entire pregnancy.  She was also trying hard to be healthy by eating right, so despite the fact that she had gestational diabetes our baby girl was teeny tiny, and wasn't one of those massive babies that take forever to push out.  I am so proud of Kimia and the baby.  They are doing great!

On the running front nothing much happened.  I was starting to come down with something, and staying up for the majority of the night pushed me over the edge, so I was not feeling well all day long, and ultimately decided not to run as I was going to do a shortened run anyhow. 

Comments
From allie on Thu, Mar 18, 2010 at 22:26:54 from 67.177.0.102

congrats to you and kimia! anita is a beautiful name.

From steve ash on Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 00:53:13 from 174.52.96.106

Congratulations Jeff! Welcome to fatherhood.

From Maurine/Miles on Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 23:51:30 from 97.117.73.228

Congratulations on the new little girl! Enjoy the time while you can.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.100.000.000.0012.10

Back to running again now that I am feeling better, and Kimia and Anita are home from the hospital.  I ran 12.1 miles in the afternoon in 1:27:49.  Back to the grind tomorrow.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

first early morning run since Anita was born.  I was surprisingly awake.  1:21:13 for 10.1 miles

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.500.501.000.0015.00

I ran alone today.  I kept the long run easier and shorter today than normal.  15 miles in 1:35:25.  I ran 1.05 miles in the middle in 5:33.  I was really happy with this as I did not look at my watch the entire time, and my goal was to go as fast as possible while still staying relaxed.  I was surprised that I went as fast as I did.  I also picked up the pace just a little bit at the end of the run.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.001.000.000.5014.50

I ran a little longer this morning than I normally do because I don't work Monday's and I feel like I need to start raising the mileage again.  We ran a fat mile in 5:32 (quarter splits of 84, 85, 83, 80) which felt surprisingly good.  Later on I ran a little more of the run fast as I was checking the number of steps I take per minute while running hard.  Ends up that I am right at 200 steps per minute while running 4:40 pace.  1:49:29 for 14.5 miles

New Balance 758 Miles: 14.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.950.001.000.2510.20

1:14:43 for 10.2 miles.  We ran what was supposed to be a fat mile in 5:07, and later ran a quarter in 1:05.  The fat mile felt really good considering the speed we were running.  Speed wise I am feeling great right now.  I just feel like I need to improve my mileage base in order to develop the ability to maintain the speed that I have as well as possible during a marathon.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.600.001.500.0010.10

I ran on my own today.  10.1 miles with 1 mile fast on the way out in 5:14, and a half mile on the way back in 2:38.  While I was running the fast half mile I really impressed this kid that was with some friends near the trail.  He ended up catching up to me on his bike about a mile later and seemed in awe about how fast I had been going.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that I wasn't pushing the pace that much.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.101.000.000.0010.10

I ran fairly easy with Sasha this morning and finished 10.1 miles in 1:17:10.  We ran a fat mile in the middle of the run in 5:45.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I ran alone today because I slept in this morning, but I found out later that Sasha slept in as well, so I don't feel so guilty.  I kept the pace easy today, although I was going too fast early on.  10.1 miles in 1:11:43 (34:29 first half, 37:14 second half).

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.108.000.750.2520.10

The goal for today's long run was to run 3 x 3 miles at 5:40 pace with a 1.5 mile recovery between repeats.  I had a feeling before we started that it would end up being faster, because 5:40 pace is a little slow for me.  Anyhow, after a warm-up of just over 4 miles we started and ran the first repeat in 16:44 (5:38, 5:33, 5:33).  The next repeat was finished in 16:41 (5:34, 5:35, 5:32).  Between the first two repeats the plantar fascia on my left foot started to hurt just a little, but it did not bother me too much so I just continued on.  After the second repeat the plantar fascia was hurting a lot more.  I rubbed it a little bit before starting the third repeat hoping that it would not bother me during the last 3 miles.  I finished the last repeat in 16:16 (5:35, 5:35, 5:06).  During the last repeat we took it pretty easy for the first 2 miles, but then ran the last mile faster with quarter splits of 79, 81, 78, 68 (38, 30).  I was happy with the 30 second last 200 because it felt like a 32 and I thought I could have coaxed an extra second out of my legs if it were a race.  My plantar fascia did not bother me too much during the repeat, but afterwards it started hurting a lot, and I was limping.  I stopped and massaged it for about 5 minutes, and was then able to finish the run without too much discomfort.  Total of 20.1 miles in 2:19:31.  After getting home I iced the plantar fascia and then rubbed some stuff on it.  I kept my shoes off as much as possible because it bothers me more when I have shoes on.  By the time I left for work just before 3:00pm it was feeling a lot better.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

10.2 miles with Sasha in 1:17:xx.  I could still feel the plantar fascia acting up a bit when I ran, but there was no pain.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

Can't remember the time for today's run, but it was in the evening.  The plantar fascia was pretty tight, but again no pain while running.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

My plantar fascia hurt at the beginning of my run today, and I almost turned around and went home.  However, the pain went away after about a mile, and my foot felt decent for the rest of the run.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.250.000.000.0010.25

Today I ran from work to the doctor's office where we had an appointment for Anita.  I will count that as 2.25 miles.  I then walked home with Kimia, and finished my run later on in the evening running 8 more miles.  Total time for 10.25 miles was 1:16:51.  My plantar fascia didn't really hurt at all during the run, but it didn't necessarily feel good either.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

1:16:48 for 10.1 miles this morning.  I got out of the house late because I was massaging my plantar fascia, and then I had to run fast at the beginning of the run in order to make up the time.  So, any benefit that I got from the massage was negated by my running under 6:30 pace for the first 1.5 miles.  My foot felt decent during the first half of the run, but it started to act up a little later on.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.303.050.000.0020.35

I ran most of this workout easy, hitting the halfway mark in 1:12:53.  We ran the last 3+ miles faster (17:35), and hit the last quarter in 76 seconds.  Total time was 2:18:32.  My plantar fascia was still sore during the workout, but for today at least it felt better if I ran more on my forefoot, although I switched back and forth during the workout because I can't run exclusively on my forefoot without messing myself up.  My left calf near the achilles was actually pretty sore afterwards, but I am hoping that my plantar fascia will be better off for it.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.35
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

Easy run.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

I ran in the evening.  Kept the mileage lower today because of my hips being out of alignment, and trying to fix everything there

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

Ran in the evening again.  No problems, but as far as I can tell my hips are still off by a lot.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

Easy run with Sasha in the morning.  Did some stuff to try and get my hips better aligned in the evening.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.000.000.000.005.00

This morning I felt like I had been hit by a truck.  The exercises I did yesterday to align my hips left me really sore this morning, my plantar fascia was hurting a little more than it has the previous few days, and my calves and shins felt really painful as I have been running almost exclusively on my forefoot to minimize pain with the plantar fascia.  I only ran 5 miles in the evening because of it all.

New Balance 758 Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.300.001.000.0015.30

I ran with Sasha and Steve this morning.  We kept the pace easy for the most part, but we did run 1 mile in 5:24 to test Sasha's sense of pace, and consistency while running blind.  The sense of pace was off, but the splits were fairly consistent.  Total of 15.3 miles in 1:51:XX.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 15.30
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.901.500.000.0010.40

I ran 1.5 miles fast during the second half of the run this morning.  We kept the pace slow enough, but sped up quite a bit during the last quarter.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.40
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

Ran alone in the evening today.  Total time for 10.1 miles was 1:09:44.  A faster pace than normal, but it didn't feel too hard.  My hips and legs are feeling much better now than they were last week.  I think that my back exercises are working to a certain degree.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I ran with Sasha this morning and finished 10.1 miles in 1:19:XX.  I ran all but about 1.5 miles of this run heel striking as I wanted to give my calves a break, and my plantar fascia is feeling better, so I didn't feel the need to forefoot strike.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.203.000.000.0010.20

I ran with Sasha this morning.  We ran 2 x 1.5 miles in 8:32 and 8:19.  It didn't feel too hard.  Total time for the run was 1:14:43.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.007.00

Well, today ended up being a major adventure that I would have rather not gone on, but I came out of things ok (although my wife can't say the same thing) so I have nothing to complain about.  Kimia started complaining of stomach pain during the night and couldn't sleep from about 2 am until morning.  She felt a little better after she threw up, but still couldn't sleep.  So, I skipped my run in the morning in order to take care of the baby so that Kimia could try to rest (although she still didn't sleep) figuring that I could get my run done in the evening when Kimia was feeling better.  Well, she didn't get better and I had to leave work early in order to take her to the hospital with the end result being that she needed gallbladder surgery.  

I ended up running 7 miles in just under 54:00 while she was in surgery.  In order to run and be done by the time Kimia was out of surgery I ended up dropping off the baby at Sasha's house and ran in jeans, a polo shirt, a dress watch, and sandals (albeit close-toed).  The sandals ended up leaving blisters on some of my toes, and my feet were slightly sore, but otherwise I was none the worse for wear after a less than conventional run wearing shoes that provide no more padding than five fingers do.

When Kimia got out of surgery she was totally out of it, but the surgery went well.  We will see how long her recovery ends up taking. 

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.100.000.000.0012.10

I slept on a super uncomfortable reclining chair in the hospital last night after Kimia got out of surgery, and I was woken up a ton of times because I was the main person on baby duty during the night, and the nurses were coming in and out constantly.  So, needless to say I was tired this morning.  The surgeon came in and told us today that even though the surgery went well, Kimia's bilirubin levels were so high that they needed to keep her for another night in order to make sure that a gall stone did not get stuck in the common bile duct.  As it was, Kimia's eyes were really jaundiced, and there was even a yellowish tint to her skin.  She could not hold any food down, and could barely move.  So, what is normally an outpatient procedure has already turned into a one night stay, with another night going on the books tonight.  Fun fun, another night sleeping in the hospital.

Anyhow, I was able to get a friend to come over and watch Kimia and the baby while I went out on a run.  I only ran 12 miles because of the lack of sleep and the stress from everything, and I was glad that I cut the run short today.  My feet were also still a little sore from yesterday's run sans normal shoes.  I finished 12 miles in 1:20:21, running a 1.5 mile stretch in 8:35 (about 5:44 pace) and then a 2.25 mile stretch in 12:46 (about 5:40 pace) both during the second half of my run.  After my run was finished I found out that one of the blisters from yesterday has turned into a nasty looking blood blister.  I am glad that it doesn't hurt, because it looks like it should.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Good news today, Kimia's bilirubin levels have dropped significantly, meaning that there is no obstruction in the common bile duct, so they are letting us go home.  Kimia is also able to finally eat solid foods without throwing up, so that is a plus.  She still is not feeling so hot, and can't move around very well, but that is to be expected after surgery.  All in all we are just glad that she is doing well, and that we get to go home.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.701.250.000.2513.20

Most of the run today was easy, but Sasha and I did run 1.5 miles fast in 8:18, hitting the last quarter in 72.  Total time for 13.2 miles was 1:43:55.

New Balance 758 Miles: 13.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.100.000.000.0012.10

I ran alone this evening, running 12.1 miles in 1:27:02.  I was under 7:00 pace at 7.5 miles, but I purposely slowed down over the last 4.5 miles.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.350.001.750.0010.10

Slow run today.  I finished 10.1 miles in 1:19:XX despite running a 1000 in 3:20, an 800 in 2:33 (78, 75), and another 1000 in 3:16 (41, 80, 75) during the course of the run.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.100.000.000.0015.10

I ran in the snow this morning... I hate Utah weather.  Snow on the 22nd of April, when maybe 36 hours earlier it was almost 80 degrees outside.  The first 1.5 miles of today's run were the most miserable 1.5 miles that I have run since the weather started to get cold last fall.  The wind was in my face, and the snow was soaking through the zipper of my coat, soaking my shirt underneath.  The snow hitting my face made my face burn, and I couldn't look up, because if I did the snow got in my eyes.  Like I said, I hate Utah weather.  Anyhow, 1:15:38 for 10.1 miles.

 PM:  5 miles in the evening in 35:56.  I threw in some hill sprints as I came back up the hill towards my house. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

10.1 miles this morning with Sasha.  Kept the run fairly slow.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.405.001.000.0020.40

Sasha and I ran a total of 20.4 miles this morning in 2:24:32.  We kept most of the run slow, but we did run a 4 mile tempo a little over 2.5 miles into the run.  The goal was to run the first 3 miles at 5:30 pace, and then to speed up the last mile.  We ended up hitting the 3 mile mark in 16:29, and followed that up with a final mile in which we hit the first 1200 in 4:00 and then sped up the last quarter.  Sasha ended up with a 79 last quarter, while I ended up with a 72.  Total time for 4 miles was 21:41 for me, 21:48 for Sasha.  Later on we ran 2 more miles fast, running the first in 5:38, and the second in 5:28 after a 400m recovery between repeats.  The last fast mile was faster than it was supposed to be as I got excited due to seeing a few people on bikes that I wanted to run down while passing some BYU guys running in the opposite direction.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.40
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.202.000.000.0015.20

I ran with Sasha this morning.  We ran out to the lake, and then ran 1.5 miles in 8:16 on the way back.  We finished 13.2 miles at Sasha's house, after which I ran 2 more miles alone, running a half mile in 3:00 at the end of the run.  Total time was 1:52:41 for 15.2 miles.

New Balance 758 Miles: 15.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.600.000.002.5015.10

I ran 10.1 miles with Sasha this morning, finishing in 1:12:50.  We ran 10 quarter repeats on the trail with uneven rest between repeats ranging from 200m to over half a mile as we were just picking the best spots on the trail to run them.  Splits were 77, 74, 74, 73 (high), 72, 69 (high), 75 (high), 75, 73, 71 (high).  The goal was to practice running at 5:00 pace without stressing the body too much, and to practice running relaxed.  Some of the repeats were a little fast, but for the most part I feel that we did a good job of staying relaxed and hitting a good pace.

PM:  5 miles in 40:15.  My right calf is feeling a little tight and sore.  I used to feel this all the time in my left calf, but never in the right.  I am hoping that this means the back exercises I am doing are actually helping my back to realign itself.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

kept it easy today.  I ran the first 1.75 miles with the baby, and then ran the rest alone.  1:18:00 for the run.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.501.500.000.0010.00

I ran 2 x 1200 in the middle of the run in 3:59, 3:58.  The first repeat was at a very uneven pace, while the second was dead even.  Total time for the run was 1:12:52

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.850.000.250.0010.10

I ran easy today, but I did throw in a quarter in 1:17 to simulate pace for the race tomorrow.  Total time for the run was 1:19:42.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Race: Provo City Half Marathon (13.109 Miles) 01:08:56, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.900.0013.100.0020.00

I ran the Provo City Half Marathon this morning put on by run13.com.  I was not sure exactly what to expect since I have not raced since January first of this year, and I really haven't run any serious races since the St. George Marathon last October.  I have also spent the last few months trying to fix my biomechanics and trying to realign my hips in order to become more efficient so that I can run faster without more effort, thus increasing my chances of qualifying for the Olympic Trials.  Today was the first test to see if this has actually been working.

I started the race, and within 100 meters I was completely alone (I ended up winning the race by over 10 minutes).  There was a strong headwind to start the race that kind of came and went.  In comparison to last year the wind was not as strong, but the weather was much wetter, raining off and on and even hailing/snowing at times and I did not have a pack of guys to run with.  Whenever I went around a particularly sharp corner I could feel myself slipping on the wet roads.  Splits are as follows:

1 - 5:09 - a little slower than last year, but windier

2 - 5:12 (10:21) - faster than last year, wind about the same

3 - 5:11 (15:32) - faster split than last year, wind about the same

4 - 5:15 (20:47) -  lost concentration a little bit this mile.

5 - 5:12 (25:59) - concentration better, needing to work a little more now.

6 - 5:17 (31:16) - marker was slightly off, wind not as bad here as last year

7 - 5:05 (36:21) - this marker was on, so 10:22 for a 2 mile split, wind still better than last year, and stays better until the last mile, although it was still somewhat windy at times.

8 - 10 16:04 (52:25) - as soon as I hit the river trail, I slowed down almost immediately.  It was like the trail just sucked all momentum out of my legs, and I couldn't run efficiently any more.  Part of it was the fatigue from running, and the fact that I am still not completely used to running with a forefoot strike, and part of it was the fact that running on the trail is just plain slower than running on the roads.

11 - 5:22 (57:47) - still feeling like I can't find a good rhythm.

12 - 5:26 (1:03:13) -  switched to a heel strike at the end of the previous mile, and I slowed down a bit more during this mile.  However, I think that it did give my calves a bit of a rest and I was able to pick it up a bit more the last mile.

13.1 - 5:43 (1:08:56) - 5:09 pace from 12 to the finish.  The last portion of the race was downhill, but there was more wind than during the previous miles.  I switched back to a forefoot strike, and with the rest that I had I felt like I was able to get into a better rhythm.  I was also off the trail again at this point, which helped things.  This mile was a little slower than the same section of the race last year (about 6 seconds), but my overall time was 1:42 faster than the course record that I set last year.

Overall I am very happy with the race, and with my progress.  I do feel like there is more room for improvement as I get more used to running more efficiently and hopefully can maintain pace a little better without the lag mid race.  Got 350 for the win, plus a watch. 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 18.00New Balance 758 Miles: 2.00
Comments
From Paul on Sat, May 01, 2010 at 15:40:45 from 174.27.230.30

Good job. $350 isn't bad for a solo time trial.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, May 01, 2010 at 15:44:07 from 192.168.1.1

Congratulations! You beat my prediction by 36 seconds. However, when I saw you at 11 I suspected it would be faster than 1:09:30 I was expecting as you looked very smooth, smoother than what I was expecting to see at mile 11.

From Tom on Sat, May 01, 2010 at 16:18:49 from 67.199.180.90

Great job Jeff! I saw you at miles 2, 5 and 10 (as a spectator) and you looked great. I couldn't believe how much of a lead you had on the next guy!

From MichelleL on Sat, May 01, 2010 at 16:46:16 from 67.41.226.109

Nice job Jeff. Congratulations on all the gains you have made.

From Dragonvulture on Sat, May 01, 2010 at 17:58:53 from 75.169.140.126

Congratulations on the Win!! By the way, that's not a headwind. That's just you running like a cheetah.

From Jon on Sat, May 01, 2010 at 19:02:37 from 75.169.136.131

Congrats on the win!

From Paul on Sat, May 01, 2010 at 19:25:19 from 174.27.230.30

Wow, I just looked at the course map. I had assumed that this was a downhill course like every other race in Utah, didn't realize it was a loop. That makes your race much more impressive, also given the wind and altitude and sub-par road conditions. So extra congrats! Sounds like UVM half is next for you; the sub-1:07 incentive looks really good for you after this race. When are you going to do a marathon?

From Burt on Sat, May 01, 2010 at 21:22:39 from 98.177.220.145

Great job Jeff! Good luck with your OTQ.

From Seth on Sat, May 01, 2010 at 22:50:06 from 75.162.97.88

Nice work! I imagine you have to be a pretty efficient runner to race like this after a 60 mile week, WOW!

From jeffmc on Sun, May 02, 2010 at 02:17:33 from 174.52.80.25

thanks all for your encouragement!

Paul, I am planning on running a fall marathon, with St. Jude, Baltimore, and Indianapolis being possibilities to try and get an OTQ.

From Lindsey Dunkley on Sun, May 02, 2010 at 03:13:24 from 75.169.158.16

Good job today, I saw you come in with the win. Great time, very impressive! I think I am racing with you in a couple weeks, see you there :)

From Fritz on Sun, May 02, 2010 at 16:15:29 from 65.100.192.74

Nice job Jeff. Very impressive.

From marion on Mon, May 03, 2010 at 15:53:29 from 71.213.114.98

CONGRATULATIONS! Very nicely done :)

From Tyler on Mon, May 03, 2010 at 22:20:00 from 66.96.68.168

Wow. That's all I can think to say. I'm wowed.

From josse on Tue, May 04, 2010 at 14:56:42 from 75.231.38.72

Great job on the win!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

Easy run this morning with Sasha.  A little sore after the half on Saturday, but not too bad.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

Not sore anymore, but I tweaked my back during the run today.  It hurt to breathe, which is not a good thing.  After the run I was stretching out my back and I ended up making things worse, and was rolling around on the ground in pain for a couple minutes.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

My back is still pretty painful, and is probably only slightly better than yesterday.  I was able to run without too many problems as the pain lessened some in the evening and I ran then.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

Still somewhat sore, but my back is feeling a lot better today.  However, I strained my right calf, probably as a result of changing my form due to the back pain, in addition to the stress from the half marathon a week ago.  The pain got worse after my run and it hurt to walk for a little while.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

The calf pain is still pretty bad, so I took a day off to let my leg rest.  The strain was caused from calf muscles being too tight.  I am working on loosening them up, and once that is done I should get better pretty quickly.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.100.000.000.0016.10

I was able to run 10.3 miles this morning with minimal pain.  Later on in the afternoon I ran to work, and then ran home as well to end up with a total mileage of 16.1 on the day.  Both on the way too work and on the way home my calf started to hurt, but I was able to walk fine after finishing the run with minimal pain.  After work I iced my calf and that helped a lot in addition to massaging out the tight spots.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.30Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 5.80
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

I ran easy with Sasha this morning, being careful to not stress the calf too much.  No pain, but I did feel a little tightness in the calf later on.  My back is also still sore, although not near as bad as it was last week.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I took it really easy again today so as not to stress my calf or back too much.  Nothing special happened.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I slept on the floor last night, because I think that my mattress might be too soft, and it is preventing my back from healing correctly, which is leading to additional soreness and pain.  Sleeping on the floor seemed to help.  I have also been using Sasha's inversion table on occasion with mixed results and I have started some strengthening exercises as well to strengthen my back in addition to stretching it out like I have been doing.  My calf was feeling a lot better today.  Finished the run in 1:14:55.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

slept on the floor again.  My run today was a lot of fun.  I slept in this morning, so I had to run in the evening, and I went out to this ghost town of sorts that is all streets, sidewalks, street lamps, etc. but with only one destroyed house.  It was pretty windy because it is near the lake and there are no trees.  I think that someone was starting to develop the town, but then ran out of money when they had only just barely gotten started.  I looped around the different streets on the property, and on some trails next to the lake for about 8 miles in addition to running 2 miles at home.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.350.001.600.4010.35

I ran with Sasha this morning.  We ran a 600 in 1:46 near the beginning of the run, and then later on while Sasha was taking a vpb we bot passed by Brad Osgothorpe (not sure about the spelling) who used to run for Weber State.  We sped up for about a mile in order to catch him and find out his name.  Later on while we were heading back home Brad passed us again as he was running a tempo and was heading back.  We sped up for about 1000m hitting that in 3:18.  Finished 10.35 miles in 1:14:XX.  My back is still just slightly sore, but it is feeling better every day.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.35
Race: Law Day 5k (3.1 Miles) 00:14:55, Place overall: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.400.000.003.1020.50

Well, this race report is a little late, but I figure it is better late than never, so here it goes.  I got up at 6am, and was at the race by about 7:15.  I ran the race course as a warm-up, ran a few strides and then waited for the race to start.  As the race name suggests this race is put on for law day every year, and is put on by a bunch of area law firms.  There is a competition between the different law firms where they recruit runners for their speed teams.  Our team this year was running for Manning Curtis, and was comprised of myself, Paul, Josh Steffan, Lindsey Dunkley, and Emily Bates.  Our main competition was a team put together by Olsen Shader (?) with Teren Jameson, Nate Hornock, and Albert Wint being our male competition (not sure who the women were).

Anyhow, the race started and like usual Teren took off at a sprint from the gun.  Knowing that he would do this I decided that I wanted to see how long I could hang with him and I took off just slightly behind him.  When the course started uphill I made up the distance and tucked in behind him.  My goal was to try and stay as close as possible for as long as possible.  When I ran this race last year I was able to maintain contact through the first mile, and after that Teren slowly pulled away from me.

About a half mile into the race I  was wondering how long I could maintain the pace for.  I was breathing really hard, and my legs were burning already.  I got a little break once we hit a slight uphill as I felt like Teren backed off some.  I felt like Teren backed off just a little on almost every uphill during the first half of the race and I was crowding him from behind.  I even debated passing him a few times, but decided against it.  I guess that it goes to show the respect that everyone has locally for Teren.  There was no way that I was going to try and take a lead on a runner of his caliber until the very end in a race this short.  Just before the mile mark I could see Paul coming up on us from behind in my peripheral vision, but by the time we hit that mark I could no longer see him, and I refocused on staying with Teren.  Hit 1 mile in 5:00.  The course was the same as last year for approximately the first 2K, after which it was completely different than last year.  Hit the biggest uphill of the course from 1 mile to 2K and stayed with Teren, feeling pretty good still.  Hit 2K in 6:20.  I stayed right on Teren's tail for the rest of the race, hitting 3K in 9:16 (2:56) and 4K in 12:12 (2:56).  Teren started to gap me just a bit between 3K and 4K, but I dug down and held it together.  I was right on his tail again by the time we hit 4K.  Just past that mark we were crossing the first part of the course again and the lead car had to stop because of the walkers that were in the way.  Teren and I both ran up alongside the car. Teren had to push off of it, and I almost hit the car as well before it got out of the way.  We then continued on with Teren leading until just before the last corner.  There was a slight downhill before the turn, and as we came towards the corner I made my move, passing Teren.  After rounding the corner however, Teren made his move and I couldn't respond.  He pulled ahead coming down the last straightaway and finished in 14:52, while I finished 3 seconds back in 14:55.  Paul came in third in 15:16, followed by Nate Hornock in 15:19.

I am very happy with this race, as this is the closest I have ever come to beating someone of Teren's caliber.  I also performed well in comparison to many of the other runners in the race, beating them by as much or more than I expected to, so I am really happy with how I did.  In the past I have wondered if I really will be able to hit an OTQ mark in the marathon.  Now however, I am not thinking so much about whether or not I can hit the mark eventually but about how much faster I can potentially go.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 9.50Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 11.00
Comments
From Paul on Mon, May 17, 2010 at 10:10:07 from 174.27.230.30

Nice job Jeff. That race was both smart and gutsy on your part. You're definitely moving in the direction you need to be in terms of training and racing.

From jeffmc on Mon, May 17, 2010 at 11:34:59 from 192.168.1.1

Thanks Paul. It was good racing against you and talking on Saturday. I really think that both of us are really heading in the right direction. I think that hitting the OTQ is just a matter of time for both of us. Anyhow, good job on Saturday, and I'll see you at Utah Valley in a few weeks.

From Seth on Mon, May 17, 2010 at 12:25:53 from 199.188.28.8

Nice work! You are smokin fast. Keep it up!

From Maurine/Miles on Mon, May 17, 2010 at 14:48:28 from 63.255.172.2

Great job. Thanks for the race report. It is nice to watch your super progress on the blog.

From Little Bad Legs on Wed, May 19, 2010 at 13:32:41 from 99.204.9.43

Nice race! Way to challenge for the win. I'm sure you're on your way to qualifying for the trials. Good luck!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

I ran easy with Sasha this morning.  Finished the run in 1:19:47.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.000.002.250.0015.25

I ran with Sasha this morning.  We ended up running 3x1200 during the run in 3:57, 4:02, 3:50.  I felt tired during the repeats.  I think that not getting enough sleep the last couple nights, along with not being used to the stress on the nervous system that comes from running as fast as I did in the race on Saturday made me feel more tired than usual.  Total time of 1:18:45 for the run.

PM: 5 miles in 37:19.  Didn't feel as tired as I did this morning. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.25
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I ran with Anita in the jogging stroller for the first time today.  Finished 10.1 miles in 1:22:11.  So, slower than normal, but not too much slower.  I did notice that although I was not working too much harder than normal that there was an added muscular stress that I am not used to and I was feeling a difference by the end of the run.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

Ran easy this morning with Sasha.  Finished the run in 1:21:07.  I was feeling really slow this morning.  I probably need to take it easy the rest of today.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I ran easy in the evening.  Finished the run in 1:17:05.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.206.501.000.0023.70

I ran a 20 mile long run with Sasha this morning in 2:18:04.  We ran up the Provo Canyon until we hit the 10 mile mark, which is almost at bridal veil falls.  On the way up the canyon we ran a 3 mile tempo in 17:28 (5:53, 5:49, 5:46).  We ran another 3 mile tempo on the same section of trail on our way back in 15:55 (5:28, 5:19, 5:08).  At the end of the run we ran 1.5 miles fast to finish the run hitting the last 1.5 in 8:28 (2:53, 2:50, 2:45 for half mile splits).

PM:  I ran home from work, first running to the church so that I could lock it up and turn out the lights, followed by running home.  This gave me an extra 3.7 miles for the day to finish it off.  This is actually the highest mileage that I have ever run in a single day, excluding the marathons. 

New Balance 758 Miles: 3.70Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.500.000.000.0014.50

I ran later than normal this morning because Kimia and I went to the temple.  I ended up meeting Sasha on the trail a little after 10:00am because Kimia wouldn't let me drive any more due to the snow (I know, snow... on the 24th of May!!!).  Anyhow, I ended up running 14.5 miles in 1:54:52.  Luckily the snow turned into rain once I got onto the river trail, and stopped shortly after that.  However, there was still a lot of snow on the ground at the top of the hill as I was finishing my run, so I had to run on the shoulder of the road to avoid it all.

On a side note, I just found out some great news.  I have been extended a Strategic Plan Graduate Research Assistantship at UNLV that begins this upcoming August working with one of the biomechanics professors in the department of Kinesiology and others from the department of Physical Therapy.  We will be doing research with children who have cerebral palsy.  I guess that I do not officially have the assistantship yet as I have not officially accepted it yet, but I was excited so I decided to tell everyone about it first.  Another plus is that now I get to move to a real desert, not some fake desert where it snows at the end of May.

New Balance 758 Miles: 14.50
Comments
From jtshad on Mon, May 24, 2010 at 16:40:57 from 204.134.132.225

Congrats on the Assistantship! Sounds like a really great opportunity...but you have to live in Vegas, yuck.

From Holt on Fri, May 28, 2010 at 19:00:01 from 75.169.90.161

You'll be able to come up once in a while and we'll teach you how to train in and love the desert!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I slept in this morning and ran with the baby in the afternoon.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.100.000.000.0015.10

I ran 10.1 miles with Sasha in the morning.  Nothing special happened.

PM:  5 miles alone easy.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 5.00New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.852.250.000.0015.10

I ran with Sasha in the morning.  We ran fast for 2.25 miles trying to catch someone that Sasha had passed earlier, but we never saw him so eventually we gave up.

PM:  Ran 5 miles alone, and threw in some surges coming up the hill on the way home.  Finished in 36:42

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I ran with Sasha in the morning.  Nothing special happened.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.254.101.000.0020.35

I ran with Sasha this morning.  We ran earlier than we normally do on a Saturday.  We ran to the lake and back twice, averaging close to 6:40 pace during the first 15 miles.  We ran a tempo for the last 5 miles.  I ran a lot harder the last mile and closed in 5:14.  28:54 for the last 5.1 and 2:09:54 for the run.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.35
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.200.000.000.0015.20

I ran the first 2 miles with Sasha and Benjamin, the next 10.2 miles with Sasha, and the last 3 miles mostly alone.  Sasha and I ran 1.5 miles hard in the middle of the run, hitting quarters in the low to mid 80's.  During the last quarter I held close to 80 second quarter pace for the first 300, and then ran the last 100 in 14 seconds.  8:17 for 1.5 miles.  I felt really good during the last 100.  I felt really smooth and did not feel like I was really straining as much as I would expect.  I was glad that I could go this fast at the end of a 1.5 mile interval.  Total time for the run was 1:52:11

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 15.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.850.000.000.2510.10

After running a 14 second last 100 during our interval yesterday, I wanted to see how fast I could run a quarter.  So, Sasha and I ran to the BYU track this morning and I ran an all out 400, while Sasha ran a 200.  I went through the first 100m with a high 13, hit 200m in 28, 300m in 43, and then finished in 57.25.  I was not too happy with the time, but I suspected a result similar to that, as my calves felt really tired this morning, and did not have much pop in them.  This is probably due to running 15 miles yesterday, all of it on my forefoot.  I am still not accustomed to running that far without heel striking at all.  Normally I will switch back and forth to let my calves get a break, while still providing a stimulus that will help me run more efficiently.  I suspect that in better circumstances I could probably run a 54.  I think that I will take a break from forefoot running tomorrow in order to give myself a rest, and I will stay on my heels for the day.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 10.10
Comments
From Paul on Wed, Jun 02, 2010 at 10:52:19 from 65.103.252.214

IMO, it's not really possible to run a good quarter as a time trial. If you put on spikes and singlet, and lined up with 8 other guys, you'd probably run several seconds faster.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran with Sasha this morning, finishing 10 miles in 1:15:14.  My calves are feeling pretty sore near the insertion point into the tibia, so I was heel-striking almost exclusively during the run today.

PM:  I ran 5 miles, running the first with Kimia in 11:48, and finishing 5 miles in 44:49, running the entire time with the running stroller.  I normally do not count miles as slow as the first when adding up daily mileage, but since I had the stroller with me I counted it.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 5.00New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.100.000.000.0015.10

I ran 10.1 miles this morning, finishing in 1:19:57.  My calves were feeling better today than yesterday, but are still sore.  While Sasha was taking a vpb I rubbed my legs down a little bit.  The positive news is that there was no point tenderness on the bone, however I found a big knot in my right calf, and a smaller knot in the left calf.  These knots are the main reasons why my calves have been sore.  I rubbed them out later on in the morning, and it seemed to help a lot.

PM:  I ran 5 miles alone in 37:49.  My calves felt better than they did this morning, however I could still feel some tenderness/weakness while I ran.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I ran 10.1 miles this morning with Sasha.  We kept the pace easy, but for some reason my left calf started to bug me with about a half mile left in the run.  I iced the calf twice during the afternoon and it felt better later on in the afternoon.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.352.751.250.0021.35

I ran with Sasha this morning, finishing the first half of my run in 1:17:20.  We ran slow for the most part, but finished the last 1.25 miles in 7:08.  I then went back out and ran the same course again, but on my own.  I ran 1.5 miles fast about 6 miles into the second half of the run hitting the first mile in 5:33, and then closing with 83, and 81 second quarters for an 8:17, 1.5 mile split.  I also ran the last 1.25 miles of the run fast hitting quarter splits of 80, 82, 77, 78, 80 for a 1.25 mile split of 6:37.  The third quarter did get messed up because there was a local 5k on the river trail that ended during that quarter, and there were people just standing on the trail.  I ended up needing to stop running and I stopped and then restarted my watch as well, thus messing up the split.  Total time for the run was 2:26:47 for 20.35 miles.  

After I got home I ran 1 mile with Kimia in 10:23 while pushing the running stroller.  I am proud of how well Kimia did.  She was only 7 seconds off of her mile pr just a month and a half post gallbladder surgery, and a little over two and a half months post pregnancy.  She also negative split the mile, running the second half in 4:59 which might be her half mile pr.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 21.35
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.950.002.250.0011.20

I ran 10.2 miles with Sasha this morning.  We ran .75 miles fast on the way out in 3:56 (80, 78, 78), and on the way back we ran 1.5 miles fast in 7:47 (80, 77, 80, 77, 78, 75).  Everything else was really slow today.  Near the end of the run we ran into another BYU reject like myself and we ran with him for a bit and invited him to train with us.  I think his name was Daniel Vincent (maybe David or Dustin, I can't remember exactly).  Total time for 10.2 miles was 1:17:05.

After I got home I ran another mile with Kimia in 10:54.  She was feeling kind of tired today so she ran a little slower than she did on Saturday.  This mile was also a little long because we had to run around construction, so that added a few extra seconds.  I think that from now on I will count the mileage I run with Kimia as long as it is under 11:00 mile pace.  I guess it will also depend on how far she goes as well.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 11.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

10.1 miles this morning.  We ran a half mile fast, in 2:59 to test out Daniel's current fitness a little.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.100.000.000.0014.10

10.1 miles this morning.  We kept the run pretty easy.

PM:  4 miles alone in 30:40 or so. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 4.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.600.000.000.5010.10

I ran easy again this morning except for a half mile that I ran hard in 2:24.  We started off hitting the first 300 in 57 seconds (19, 19, 19) followed by a 200 in 34, and a final 300 in 53 (17, 18, 18).

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.007.00

Kimia set the alarm clock for me last night, and accidentally set it wrong.  I woke up late and then only had time for 7 miles.  I was looking for Daniel on the trail, but I didn't see him.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 7.00
Race: Utah Valley Half Marathon (13.109 Miles) 01:06:59, Place overall: 4
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.900.0013.100.0020.00

The race was supposed to start at 5:30 this morning, so I got up at 4:00 and Kimia dropped me off near the starting line at about 4:50.  I warmed up and was all ready by 5:30, but the start was a little late, so we didn't get going until 5:45.  The weather was decent, but it was a little cold, and the streets were wet.  There was probably a slight tailwind during the early miles, little to no wind in the middle, and a slight headwind later on.  I have had a cold for a few days now, however I was hoping that the impact would be negligible.

After the gun there was quick separation between the top group of 4 guys, and everyone else, with the top group consisting of myself, Paul, Seth Pilkington, and Brad Osguthorpe.  Splits are as follows:

1 - 4:54 - mostly downhill, but with a little uphill near the end.

2 - 5:17 (10:11) - uphill mile, where we crested the hill just before the end of the mile.

3 - 4:42 (14:53) - screaming downhill on this mile.

4 - 4:50 (19:43) - a lot of downhill as well, but with a few rollers in it.  Starts to rain some.  I also noticed that my breathing was really hard, even though I did not feel like I was really pushing the pace incredibly hard.

5 - 4:59 (24:42) - a few more rollers than the previous mile.

6 - 5:05 (29:47) - I got a side cramp early on in this mile, and got dropped by the group.  I was never able to recover from this (although the cramp went away after about a mile) and I struggled the entire rest of the race.

7 - 5:08 (34:55) - Struggling to maintain focus.

8 - 5:12 (40:07) - I am no losing much ground on the leaders, but I am still losing ground, albeit slowly.

9 - 5:12 (45:19) - I still feel decent physically, but things just do not feel right.  I do not feel smooth, or comfortable.

10 - 5:18 (50:37) - I am slowing down even more now, although I really don't feel any different than I did earlier in the race.

11 - 5:17 (55:54) - 1 second faster than the previous mile, so I am glad that I slowed the bleeding a little bit.  I realized that I was cutting it close as far as breaking 1:07:00 was concerned.

12 - 5:21 (1:01:15) - I lost focus even more during this mile, and slowed down more.  I knew that I would need to pick up the pace if I was going to break 1:07:00 and get the $250 bonus.

13.1 - 5:44 (1:06:59) -  I finished well during the last mile despite a few twists and turns, and a short but steep uphill going over the bridge (5:10 pace for the last 1.109).  I feel like I should have been able to maintain that pace during the previous miles, but mentally and physically I did not have it all there today.  Things just did not seem to really click for me today.

So, overall I am glad that I broke 1:07:00 and got the bonus, plus another $150 for placing fourth.  I guess getting a little money when you don't have much always feels good, but even still, I know that I should have been able to run significantly faster than I did today.  I feel like my performance at the Provo City Half was much stronger than today's performance, despite running a slower time, and I never felt right physically today.  I do think that the cold had something to do with it, but I also never felt like I was really running with a good rhythm for the majority of the race, and mentally I was thrown off.

Seth won the race, with Paul finishing in second, and Brad coming in third.  I was expecting Seth and Brad to run more or less how they did, but Paul surprised me a bit.  All in all, those guys all ran really well today.  I even wonder if I would have placed higher than 3rd or 4th if I did not feel a little under the weather and if I was able to run better, both physically and mentally.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Comments
From crockett on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 15:37:29 from 71.36.73.105

Way to go. I guess I should have figured out who you were at the start. Somehow I missed you guys, but you all blasted away quickly. Way to go. Great race. It was great fun today. Loved the cool weather and even the rain.

From josse on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 20:12:14 from 75.220.222.178

Great job Jeff, you ran well with what you were given today. I had a great time hanging out with your wife waiting for you to come in.

From Burt on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 20:32:24 from 68.225.214.248

Good job Jeff. Sorry it didn't click, but that's some serious competition.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 20:53:54 from 192.168.1.1

Makes sense. When you have a cold, side aches are common when trying to run fast. I always get one. Also, the neural drive is reduced. It is actually really good that you managed sub-1:07 with a cold. Do you know if Seth was just messing around, or if that's all he had? If that is all he had, things looking really good for you because last year he hit the half in a low 1:06 in Chicago with plans to finish the marathon (I assume), and then dropped out around 25 K. So I assume that in an all out half on an honest sea-level course he would be quite a bit faster than 1:06.

From Little Bad Legs on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 21:55:24 from 67.170.153.203

Impressive race and equally impressive time. Great job!

From jtshad on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 21:57:00 from 69.20.183.178

Great job getting through a tough race and still finishing in the money and a great time!

From Paul on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 23:15:39 from 174.27.230.30

Good job today. It's tough to run with a cold, but you ran well.

From Jon on Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 00:32:52 from 75.169.136.39

Nice job, Jeff. Way to run through some tough stretches.

From Steve Hooper on Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 00:40:47 from 209.101.39.226

Jeff, Great job with your race today, even with the cramps!

Also, thanks a ton for pacing me the last mile of the marathon - it made a HUGE difference - you're the man!

From James on Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 00:57:50 from 174.23.33.14

Good race today! Don't ever be surprised by what Paul does!:)

From Walter on Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 10:17:25 from 24.10.169.110

Jeff, you did awesome! Talk about a professional running meet! I think the cramp you got is a sign of good things to come my friend. It means you can only get better! (Walters Law) lol It was good seeing you and your new baby! So cute! Congrats!

From Superfly on Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 10:22:22 from 208.117.127.110

Good job on a super loaded half.

From Holt on Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 16:54:28 from 75.169.90.161

Jeff, good race.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles in 1:13:58 down at sea level as I am in Washington for my Dad's retirement ceremony.  Still sore from the half marathon, but being at sea level the effort was not hard.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Same 10 mile loop as yesterday in 1:15:03.  I woke up at 3:20 AM to run before I went to the airport to catch a flight back to Utah.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

I ran back in Utah again this morning.  Kept the pace slow.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

Nothing special happened.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

Another easy run.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.800.000.000.0017.80

I got a stomach bug yesterday, and as this is an easy week for me anyhow I decided to cut my long run short by a couple miles and I ran a bit slower than I normally do for long runs.  Finished 17.8 miles in about 2:10:00.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 17.80
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.200.000.000.0013.20

I ran with Sasha this morning.  We ran out to the end of the trail, and ended up running the uneventful half marathon, plus the construction detour.  Finished in 1:38ish.  I am not too sure on the time.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 13.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

Easy run this morning.  Ran our normal route from my house down the hill, and towards the lake, then back.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.100.000.000.0015.10

10.1 miles in the morning.

 5 miles in the evening in 37:22. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 10.10Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.100.000.000.0015.10

10.1 miles in the morning.

5 miles in the evening with the baby in the stroller in 40:48.  The pace was really slow, but I did not feel excessively tired, so I am not concerned. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles this morning.  Kept the pace slow like normal.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.007.000.000.0020.00

We ran 10 miles out towards bridal veil falls this morning, and then came back.  On the way out we ran one mile fast in 5:33 running uphill.  On the way back we ran a 3 mile tempo downhill in 15:57, and then 3 miles at the end averaging between 5:34 and 5:39 per mile on a section of the trail that went through tunnels, over bridges, and in general twisted and turned.  This last 3 miles was kind of slow because it was hotter than normal (about 76 degrees at the end) and we were getting a little dehydrated.  Finished in 1:18:57.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.203.000.000.0015.20

15.2 miles this morning in 1:46:05.  Ran 13.2 miles with Sasha, running the first 3 with Benjamin as well, while running the last 3 miles with Sasha at a moderate tempo pace.  Nothing too hard, but not easy either.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 15.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.050.000.000.0015.05

I ran at 6:00AM this morning just like normal.  We were able to run on the trail all the way back once we hit our turn-around and we skipped the detour.  It is not paved yet in the construction area, but it is not too bad.

5 miles with the baby in the running stroller in the evening.  I went really slow again, and kept the pace slower than 8:00/mile. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.05
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.500.000.000.5015.00

I ran an 800 time trial this morning in 2:07.5 with splits of 1:03, 1:04 (possibly dead even splits, but I did not hit the lap time at 400).  My goal was to do it in about 2:05.  My high school pr was a 2:08, and I knew that the pr was weak, so I thought I could get it down to about 2:05 today but my legs just did not have it in them.  In hindsight I probably started off too conservatively, as I never really felt like I was running an 800.  The effort almost felt like a 1600 effort, but for some reason I had a hard time speeding up over the last 200m when I was trying to go faster to get the 2:05.  Even at the end, I was not in pain, and I felt more comfortable than I should have.  Part of this probably comes from not being accustomed to running that distance, as I have not run an all out 800 since I was 17.  I will probably try this again in about 2 weeks to see if there is improvement simply from being more comfortable.

I ran 5 miles in the evening.  I ran it faster than yesterday as I was not pushing the stroller.  Finished in about 38 minutes. 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 5.00Adidas Adizero Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.1015.10

I ran 10.1 miles this morning.  We kept the pace slow like normal.  My average finishing time for these runs is usually around 1:18.

5 miles in the evening in 37:47.  I threw in some strides as I came up the hill towards my house.  5 x 15 seconds for the strides with 1:05 recovery, with the first 4 run uphill and the last on a flat section of the road.

New Balance 758 Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.050.000.000.0010.05

This is the only day this week that I ran less than 15 miles, which is abnormal for me.  I only ran in the morning today.  I felt really tired, because I had a long day at work yesterday in addition to helping out a little as my sister was moving yesterday.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 10.05
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.106.001.000.0020.10

I ran a 20 mile long run today with Sasha.  In order to celebrate the end of the construction on the trail (they finally paved it!) we ran the 5 mile tempo about midway through our run.  My total time was 27:37 with splits of 5:41, 5:38, 5:37, 5:25, 5:16 (81, 80, 80, 75 for the last mile, and 54-55 for the last 300).  Sasha originally wanted to run 86 second quarters for the tempo (5:44 pace) but once we got started he told me that he was ok with 5:40 pace.  I didn't feel too loose at the beginning, but as I slowly became more comfortable I started to speed up until I hit an 80 second quarter during the 4th mile.  I ran the last mile alone and Sasha dropped back.  At the end of the run we ran the last 2 miles fast in 5:57 (2:58, 2:59) and 5:42 (2:54, 2:48).

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.501.000.000.5017.00

I ran 12 miles with Sasha this morning in 1:26:54.  Benjamin joined us for the first 2 miles, and Matt joined us for about 2.5 miles after that.  In the middle of the run Sasha and I ran 500 hard, with me hitting 1:19, and Sasha coming in at 1:20.  After 200 recovery we ran another 300 with me finishing in 46, and Sasha in 52.  At the end of the run we ran the last mile fast so that I could get home in time to make it to the parade, and we closed in 5:44.

Kimia and I got to be in the parade with our baby Anita this morning because Anita won the freedom festival baby contest in the 0-3 month age division.  We ended up walking about 4.5 miles by my estimate as we walked the entire parade route, and then had to walk back to our car at Provo High.  I represented the blog, and the St. George Running Center in the parade as I wore my white blog shirt with the red and black St. George/fastrunningblog logos.  Who knows if the advertising did any good, or if anyone even noticed the shirt, but it can't hurt.  We took a nap after the parade, and in the evening I ran 5 more miles with the baby stroller in 39:35.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran this morning with Sasha.

PM:  I ran 5 more miles easy

Brooks Axiom Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:11:44 with Daniel.  This is the fastest 10 mile easy morning run that I have done in quite a while.  I ran some strides heading up the hill to my house.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran 10 miles this morning with Sasha.

PM:  5 more miles alone

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran 10 miles this morning with Sasha and Daniel.

PM:  5 more miles alone

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00Brooks Axiom Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.826.380.000.0020.20

I ran my long run with Sasha this morning.  We ran the first 10 miles pretty slow, hitting our halfway mark in 1:16:40ish.  During the next half of the run we ran a 2.5 mile tempo on the way out in just under 14:00, and then ran a tempo from the start of the river trail until we got to Sasha's house (200m short of 4 miles) averaging 5:50 until we had a half mile to go, at which point we sped up a fair amount to finish 20.2 miles in 2:19:05.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.100.003.000.0015.10

I ran with Sasha this morning, and we ran 2 x 1.5 miles at 5:20 goal pace.  We hit quarter splits of 79, 82, 80, 79, 80, 78 (7:58) for the first repeat on our way out to the lake.  On the way back we hit quarter splits of 80, 80, 80, 80, 79, 76 (7:55) on the same stretch of trail running in the opposite direction.  Total time for 15.1 miles was 1:51:51

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 15.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran 10 miles this morning with Sasha and finished in 1:16:XX.

PM:  5 miles alone in 37:07.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.480.000.000.6210.10

I ran a 1000m time trial today in 2:43, which is not too bad considering that it was somewhat windy, and I feel like the wind really affected me as I was running hard enough that even just a little more effort expended at the beginning while fighting the wind really sucked the energy out of me.  By the time I hit 500m I felt dead, but I kept fighting and was able to recover just a little over the last 200m.  200 splits were 31, 32, 33, 34, 33 (2:10 for 800).  I was shooting for a 2:40, so I was not too far off pace.  Sasha ran 2:12 for 800, starting 200m after me and then drafting behind me. Afterwards I finished what I eventually decided was a little over 10 miles, so I am calling the run 10.1 miles. 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

10 miles in the AM.

 PM:  5 miles easy. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

10 miles in the AM

PM:  5 miles alone. 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 5.00New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.155.050.000.0020.20

I ran a long run with Sasha this morning.  We ran out to the end of the trail and back twice.  We ran the last 5.05 miles from the end of the trail back to Sasha's house fast to finish the run in 2:15ish.  Last 5+ miles in the mid 28:00 range.  Temperatures got up to the mid 80's by the end of the run, so that affected us during the last few miles.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.000.000.000.0013.00

Ran the first 3 miles with Benjamin, and then ran 10 more miles with Sasha.  Ran quick for a little bit, but I can't seem to recall exactly what we did.  Maybe I should update my blog more frequently so I don't forget.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 13.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Ran in the AM with Sasha.  Again, just like Monday we did have a relatively mild pickup and I forgot what it was that we did as I am now updating my blog a week and a half later.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.001.000.000.0015.00

I ran 10 miles this morning with Sasha.  If I remember correctly I think that we ran a fat mile this morning during the second half of our run.

PM: easy run with the baby in the stroller. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles easy this morning.  No PM run as I am cutting back just a little this week in order to help myself run strong at Des News on Saturday.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.500.000.500.0010.00

Easy run with Sasha.  Finished in a fairly average time.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Race: Deseret News 10K (6.214 Miles) 00:29:33, Place overall: 12, Place in age division: 8
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.750.006.250.0020.00

This year as I gear up to try and qualify for the Olympic Trials in the fall I have been running fewer races than in years past, but have run races that I feel will give me a good gauge of my current fitness and help me to fine tune myself in order to qualify for the trials.  So far this year those races have come with mixed results.  I had good results at the Provo City Half and the Law Day 5K, while running poorly at the Utah Valley Half, and all three races helped me learn important things that I think will aid me in qualifying for the trials come November.  Today was no different, and I am glad to say that I gained a valuable confidence boost while running significantly faster here than last year.

At the start of the race I had three goals.  To run 29:30 or faster, to beat Paul Peterson after getting pounded by him at Utah Valley, and to beat Jon Kotter (I was 2 - 2 lifetime against both of them so this was a rubber match of sorts for me even if they didn't know it).

I started the race fast, in front of all but the Africans and one white guy.  After a couple hundred meters I relaxed a little and waited until the top Utah guys passed me by.  I latched onto the back of that group running just behind Teren Jameson.  Just before 2 miles however I hit a rough patch for a minute or two and Teren dropped me, catching up to Jon Kotter.  I hit 2 miles in 8:49 (3 seconds off of goal pace) and Brad Osguthorpe and a guy in red passed me shortly thereafter.  I dug down to focus on running strong and relaxed and I caught back up to Brad and the guy in red.  Throughout the next few miles Brad and I traded leads back and forth as we worked on catching up to Teren and Jon who were running together just in front of us.  We hit the 3 mile mark in 13:43 (4:54) and the 4 mile mark in 18:35 (4:52).  The guy in red dropped back at some point after 3 miles and I could not hear anyone else, but I kind of knew that there were other people back there.  We hit 5 miles in 23:28 (4:53) and caught Jon Kotter shortly thereafter as Teren dropped him.  Just after catching Jon, Paul Peterson caught the group I was with and I realized after a quick glance back that within just a few seconds of one another were all the people from 10th-14th in the race.  I started to worry a little now, as I had been 11th or 12th for the majority of the race and I didn't want to get beat by a bunch of guys at the end of a hard race.  I kept telling myself; just have faith, you can run this fast, you are just as fast as these guys, and I dug down to try and keep pushing the pace.  We got onto 900 South and the long slow death commenced, as this road seems to extend for an eternity.  Brad pulled to the lead of our group with Jon and I in tow and we crossed the 6 mile mark in 28:32 (5:04).  We then kicked, and Brad pulled away from the rest of us.  I passed Jon to move into 10th, but simply did not have the speed at the end of this race to stay in front and he passed me back.  I finished 2 seconds behind both Brad and Jon, finishing in 29:33 (1:01 for the last .21).

So, I kind of reached half of my goals.  The goals to beat Paul and Jon were really not important, but were goals mainly used to help motivate me to compete with guys that run at about the level I am at, and I beat Paul by about 5 seconds, while losing to Jon by 2 seconds.  I also did not technically hit my time goal of 29:30, but only finishing 3 seconds off I think is close enough for me to be happy.  So, all in all it was a good strong race.  I ran a course pr by 40 seconds, and both Paul and I beat the blog record in the 10K that I set at this race last year.  This gives me a big confidence boost that I can qualify for the trials in November at Indianapolis.  I just need to keep taking one step at a time (both figuratively and literally) so that I can keep improving.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Comments
From Huans32 on Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 16:51:41 from 98.202.0.57

Awesome job Jeff. Was good to see you running a few marathoners in and at the first of the race too. Great race the OQ is yours for the taking.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 17:17:18 from 192.168.1.1

Congratulations on setting the blog record!

From Burt on Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 18:42:28 from 68.225.214.248

Great job Jeff! When your dad told me your time my jaw hit the floor. I look forwarded to meeting him as he will only be about 5 miles away from me.

From RAD on Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 20:02:31 from 67.172.229.125

It was wonderful to meet you today! You did an amazing job on this race!! Congrats on the PR, blog record and goals reached! You are a very talented runner and I hope you continue to reach your goals in November.

From Little Bad Legs on Sun, Jul 25, 2010 at 16:43:36 from 67.170.153.203

Great job!

From Merri on Sun, Jul 25, 2010 at 16:43:50 from 160.7.252.148

Wow that's a great job Jeff!

From Paul on Sun, Jul 25, 2010 at 17:32:05 from 174.27.193.158

Great job. I'm amazed how fast you went out. It was a tough pack there at end. Definitely great signs for the future.

From James on Sun, Jul 25, 2010 at 18:41:26 from 174.23.34.125

Very fast race! I was glad to see you run so well and compete with that group of local studs. Well done.

I think if you want to really test yourself against that old Paul Petersen guy you should run a 15k, meet in the middle.:) Good luck at law school.

From steve ash on Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 11:13:55 from 64.134.225.79

You are as fast if not faster I think. Most of your training has been base oriented Jeff.. You should be proud of that mark especially as tough as that field was.

From Superfly on Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 13:00:04 from 208.117.127.110

Great race. Have fun in Vegas. The training down there should rock this time of year:)

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.400.000.000.0012.40

I am still a little sore after Des News, but I do not feel too bad.  I ran 12.4 miles, running parts of the run with Daniel and Benjamin, and running all of it with Sasha.  Finished in 1:38:33

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.40
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.000.000.000.0017.00

I ran 12 miles in the AM with Sasha, Benjamin, and Daniel.  Finished in about 1:34:00.

PM:  I ran with Anita in the stroller and got in 5 miles in 39:04 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.001.000.000.0018.00

I ran approximately 13 miles this morning with Benjamin and Sasha.  We had to take a few detours, thus the approximate mileage for the day.  Ran a fat mile in the second half o the run in 5:31.  Total time of 1:40:38.

PM:  I ran 5 more miles alone in about 37:00 (hit the turnaround in 18:16, but run uphill the second half, so probably finished slower and never bothered checking my watch)

Today was the biggest moving day so far for us.  We have been packing every day, but today we packed the truck, and by the end of the day I felt completely dead.  I am going to back off for the rest of this week.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Brooks Axiom Miles: 13.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.600.000.000.0013.60

I ran with a bunch of people today on my last run in Provo/Orem before moving to Vegas.  We leave this evening to head out.  Approximate on the distance again.  I am calling it 13.6 because it was close enough and it gives me an even mileage for the week at 61 miles through today if I call it 13.6 instead of 13.5 (maybe it was 13.4 or 13.7, but I don't really care to measure and find out).  Total time of 1:48:XX.  My legs felt dead due to the extra stress yesterday.  I am going to take my time cleaning the apartment today so that I can rest a little extra.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 13.60
Comments
From jtshad on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 14:44:53 from 204.134.132.225

Good luck in Las Vegas and school! Keep running strong!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.251.000.000.0010.25

Kimia and I left Orem last night to start our trip to Las Vegas.  We only drove a little ways before stopping in Beaver for the night.  I ran in Beaver this morning, and for being at about 6000 ft I was surprised at how fast I was going early on in the run (there are mile markers on the road I was on).  Eventually I realized that I was going downhill.  However, I am a little bit too competitive with myself at times, and I ended up running faster on the way back while running uphill by virtue of a "fat mile" at the end of the run, which I ran in 5:51 (not bad for a slight uphill at 6000 ft).  Total time was 1:11:44 for what I will call 10.25 miles, although it was a little longer than that.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.25
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.250.000.000.0014.25

We got moved into our apartment in Henderson last night.  Our new ward was a lot of help, and the truck got unloaded rather quickly.  As I was somewhat worn out from everything going on this week I kept the long run short this week.  That ended up being a good thing as it was getting pretty hot by the end of the run.  I will need to get out and run earlier in the future.  A 7:30am start time is not good when temperatures get over 100 during the day.  Total time of 1:45:00 and I will estimate the distance at 14.25.

New Balance 758 Miles: 14.25
Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Aug 03, 2010 at 13:04:01 from 192.168.1.1

Glad to see you made it OK and got out for a run.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Easy run this morning.  I ran 1 mile on the track at the high school to give myself a better feel for how fast I am going when I run easy around here.  Not being at altitude throws me off a bit, and now I don't have a trail to run on with markers every 1/16th of a mile.  I will probably be wearing the HRM a little more around here to make sure that I do not start running too hard on my easy runs.  Average HR stayed around 130 today, which felt good.  Pace on the track was at 7:20 at that HR.  Total time of 1:14:14 for the run.

Drove to California in the afternoon with Kimia's dad.  I will be up here for a little over a week before going back to Vegas to start school. 

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Aug 03, 2010 at 13:06:01 from 192.168.1.1

Just realized Mike Schramm is on the blog, and he lives in Las Vegas. See if you can get in touch with him.

From Burt on Tue, Aug 03, 2010 at 19:06:23 from 206.19.214.144

What's the altitude in Vegas?

From Schramm on Wed, Aug 04, 2010 at 12:48:47 from 198.203.175.175

Hi Jeff, this is Mike Schramm, and I have lived in Vegas for about 20 years, although I spend each weekend in So. Utah.

Welcome to Vegas, it has quite the reputation, but there are some positives to living here, but unfortunately, one of them is not the running scene. Vegas is not very running friendly. I do have some suggestions for your running if you are interested, my email is schrammruns@yahoo.com.

Anyway, good luck here in Vegas. There is a great 5k this Saturday the 7th of Aug if you are in town, the Legends 5k, which promises to be a fast one. Other than this one, and maybe a couple of others, the races here aren't that great.

From jeffmc on Wed, Aug 04, 2010 at 23:26:46 from 67.160.195.214

I am not completely sure what the altitude is in Las Vegas. My best guess is that the altitude could be anywhere between 1000 and 2000 ft above sea level depending on where you are at. I will need to look into that.

From Schramm on Thu, Aug 05, 2010 at 11:44:48 from 198.203.175.175

The elevation of Las Vegas is about 2000 ft. Henderson is a bit lower, but not much, about 1900 ft above sea level.

From Burt on Thu, Aug 05, 2010 at 12:27:55 from 206.19.214.144

I thought it had to be somewhere around there, knowing you make a bit of a climb coming up from the Hoover Dam.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.001.000.0010.00

Easy run on the Los Gatos Creek Park Trail here in California.  This is basically a more congested, more hilly, and more twisting version of the Provo River Trail at sea level.  I ran what was supposed to be a "fat mile" on the way back, but ended up running it in 5:03 (2:31, 2:32).  Total time of 1:10:42 for the run (37:19, 33:23).

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Comments
From Kory on Mon, Aug 09, 2010 at 14:29:33 from 134.50.89.33

I've ran the Silicon Valley Marathon a couple years ago and it goes on that trail.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.001.000.000.0017.00

I did a better job of running a "fat mile" today while on the park trail.  I ran a 5:38 mile (2:51, 2:47) which felt really easy, so I was happy.  Total time of 1:28:34 for 12 miles (45:34, 43:00).

PM:  5 miles easy in 36:42.  Started off fairly slowly, and then sped up a bit later on unintentionally.  The pace felt easy, and I feel strong right now.  No pain or discomfort anywhere, so I am happy.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.250.500.000.2517.00

12 miles in the morning in 1:27:54.  I got excited about 2 miles into my run, so I ran down a guy on a bike and then passed him when he hit an uphill section (not too steep, but he slowed down a lot).  I slowed after a half mile and let him pass me again.  In total I ran a half mile fast in 2:40 kind of as a "fat" half mile, but probably a little too fast for it to really give me the desired stimulus.  Later I ran some sprints, 5 x 15 seconds hard, 3 of them going out, and 2 more on the way back.

PM:  5 more miles in about 38:00. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 12.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00
Comments
From Burt on Sat, Aug 07, 2010 at 19:37:52 from 68.225.214.248

It was nice to meet your dad today. We had a pleasant run.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.000.000.000.0014.00

Easy run today, no fat mile.  Finished 14 miles in 1:43:48.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 14.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.005.000.000.0020.00

20 mile long run on the same stretch as always, but with a variation, as the trail ends about 8 miles into the run.  I took a back road that also has mile markers on it after I got to the dam where the main  trail ends.  1:10:00 at the turn around.  On the way back I was running on a slight downhill grade on average, so the second half is naturally faster, but I also ran a 5 mile tempo (plus a little more near the end just to finish quicker).  I ran mile splits of 5:57 (mile before the tempo, but lots of steep uncomfortable downhill on this mile) 5:50, 5:45, 5:42, 5:33, 5:19 from approximately miles 13-18 of the run.  Total time of 2:10:41 for 20 miles.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.001.000.000.0015.00

Just one run today.  15 miles, with one mile fast from 10-11 in 5:11 (2:35, 2:36).  I thought that I had passed my mile marker, (it is buried in the bushes so it can be hard to see) but realized that I had slowed too soon, when I saw my watch was only at 5:00 for the mile.  I didn't feel like speeding up again and hit the actual mile mark in 5:11.  If I wouldn't have slowed too soon I probably would have ended between 5:05-5:07 by my estimation.  Total time for 15 miles was 1:48:27.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

5 miles in 38:10.  I woke up later than I was planning, so I did my short run this morning before heading out to Campbell.

PM:  10 miles in the evening running about 5.5 of it on the canal trail, which reminds me a little of a smaller shadier version of the canal trails I run on when I am in Mesa visiting grandparents.  Total time of 1:17:10ish.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.752.250.000.0012.00

I ran in Concord this morning before taking a plane back to Las Vegas.  I ran out the same way I did yesterday, although I ran a little longer, and I threw in a mini tempo of sorts that lasted about 13 minutes (so probably a little over 2.25 miles assuming about 5:40 pace).  Total time of approximately 1:25.  Was considering a PM run, but after spending all day on airplanes, waiting at airport terminals, and then following with more of the same riding on buses/waiting at bus terminals, I decided to skip the evening run.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.000.000.500.0014.50

The plan was to run 12 miles this morning before it got hot out, however I woke up before my alarm went off (6:10) and then climbed back in bed thinking that I would sleep for a few minutes, and then get up for the day.  Well, it didn't work out quite like I had planned.  I ended up waking up at 8:00, and didn't get out the door until 8:30.  So, not quite what I wanted, but I drank a cold glass of water before leaving so that I wouldn't get dehydrated.  

I ran out about 4 miles to Sunset park to explore it as I had seen that there were some trails that wound around the park.  While at the park I was enjoying myself, so I ran a little extra before coming back (probably a little over 9 miles into the run at this point).  At the end of the run I stopped by the high school track to do a pace check based on what my HR had been at over the course of the run (not completely accurate, as my HR steadily rose during the run due to the heat, but close enough).  After an 800 pace check I ran another 800 fast to get my legs moving a little bit and to practice relaxing at fast speeds.  2:24 (74, 70) for 800m, which I was happy with given that I finished the 800 almost 1:42:00 into my run.  I then finished by running back to my apartment.  Total time of 1:44:57 for what I will call 14.5 miles.

Checked the temperature after I got home.  Only 87, (although the high for today is supposed to be 104) which is why I was able to tolerate the heat as well as I did.  As long as the temperature is under 90 I don't feel too shabby.  If running in Vegas is like this every day I will be happy.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 14.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

Easy run this morning in 1:18:24.  I found a trail about a mile from my apartment, so I am glad about that.  I don't know how far it goes, but it is at least a little over 4 miles long based on the mile markers that were painted on the trail (although I don't know how accurate the markers are since there has been construction going on in the wash next to the trail, and some portions of the trail appear to be new additions which could lengthen the distance a little).  Temperature was 88 when I started the run, 93 when I finished.

 PM: 5 miles alone.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Comments
From steve ash on Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 19:09:18 from 98.202.75.78

Jeff, How are you doing? Man that must be difficult with the heat and all. I know, I have trained in Vegas.. Great to see you keeping things going!

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Aug 21, 2010 at 13:41:35 from 192.168.1.1

Jeff, time to update the blog!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.000.000.000.0020.00

I decided to try out running my long run in the evening for once to see if the heat did not feel as bad (half of what kills me when it is over 100 is the sun beating down on me).  So, I went on my run just before it got dark, and it was not too bad.  I did have some issues with the heat near the beginning, but later on I felt good.  I did nothing hard as this was my first long run in this kind of heat.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
64.000.003.000.0067.00

I am way behind on my blog, so in an effort to get up to date I am blogging this entire week on Saturday.

As a whole this week kicked my behind.  I was just getting started at UNLV with my graduate assistantship, and the lows in the morning were in the mid 90's with highs between 106-108 pretty much every day.  As a result, I kept the mileage low this week in order to get adjusted to things.  67 total miles for the week, and I only ran hard on Thursday when I ran 3x 1 mile hard on the pittman wash trail.  This trail is fairly slow as it has lots of rollers in it, as well as sharp corners.  Times were 5:28, 5:05, 5:06 with about 5 minutes rest between repeats.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 10.00Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 6.00Brooks Axiom Miles: 13.00New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 17.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles easy

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles easy

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.500.000.000.0013.50

I ran easy this morning, before school.  Nothing special happened.

 PM:  I went to a group run in Boulder City.  I didn't run too far because I got there late and it got dark shortly thereafter.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 3.50Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.001.400.000.0017.40

I ran to and from school for the first time here at UNLV, and it wasn't too bad.  It almost started raining right before I left so it cooled down.  8.7 miles each way, with a total time of 2:09:01 combined.

New Balance 758 Miles: 17.40
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles easy this morning.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.004.000.000.0020.00

I ran a long run this morning, running out 10 miles and then back.  I ran 4 miles fast on the pittman wash trail near the end of my run, averaging 5:33 for 4 miles.  I started out the tempo at 5:20 pace, however it was just enough to push me over the edge heat-wise and after about .75 miles I started to suffer a bit.  I kept the effort even and slowed down progressively until I hit the third mile in 5:42.  I honestly didn't feel too bad, I just got slower.  I finished off the last mile of the tempo in 5:29.  Total time of about 2:14:00 for 20 miles.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles easy before school on the pittman wash trail.  I felt good and I ran faster than I should have because of it.  I finished in just under 1:10:00.  I need to make sure that I take it easy at the beginning of my runs when I am on this trail, as it heads uphill for most of the way until I turn around, and then is mostly downhill on the way back.  If I run too fast on the way out I will really fly on the way back.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.501.700.000.0017.20

I ran to and from school again today.  I found a way to cut off about a tenth of a mile each way, so the total for today is only 17.2 in comparison to the 17.4 I ran last Thursday.  I ran a fartlek during part of the run in the morning, running hard between stop lights, followed by easy running until I got to the next light.  In the evening I ran an approximate fat mile as I headed home.  I ran to school in 1:03:23, and made it home in 1:02:xx.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 17.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I just kept things easy today, running to school in 1:04:59, and running home in 1:05:59.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 17.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.900.000.001.3018.20

I ran to and from school again.  Another 17.2 miles total.  On the way to school I ran 3 x 70s hard, with recovery varying due to stop lights.  Recovery at about 4:30-5:30.  Based on effort I think I would have gotten to 400m in about 65 sec if I was on the track.  After the third repeat I ran another 2:30 hard trying to keep the effort a little easier in order to practice running fast, but running relaxed.  I imagine an 800 at that effort would have been between 2:22-2:25.  Kept everything easy on the way home from school.

Before running home I also ran another mile on the alter-g treadmill that we have in the lab so that I could get accustomed to its use as we have a study that we will begin data collection on soon, so I needed to know how to use the thing.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 17.20Barefoot Miles: 1.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles easy on the trail again.  I felt tired this morning.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.904.600.000.5020.00

I wanted to simulate marathon pace this morning, so at the beginning of my run I went to the track and ran 5000m, hitting the first 4200 right at goal marathon pace, and then ran the final 800 in 2:19 (71, 68).  16:12 total for the 5k.  Effort felt a little harder than marathon effort, but I was happy with the results, as I am at (slightly) higher altitude than Indianapolis is at, I was alone, there was a little wind slowing me down, and it was hot.  It is true that I was on a track, which probably makes things a little faster, but overall I think this indicates that I am where I want to be heading into the last 2 months of marathon prep.  I ran another 2 miles hard near the end of the run in 5:29, 5:24 just to get a little fast mileage in closer to the end of my run.  20 miles total in approximately 2:23:00 (not sure on the total time as I restarted my watch after the 5k).

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles easy this morning.  I kept the pace around 8:00 for the first half, and then sped up a little the second half of the run.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.702.000.000.0017.70

I ran too and from school today.  I ran fairly fast both ways, because I was playing around with my stride length/frequency (yes I am weird, but at least I acknowledge it) during the morning run, and I ran a couple fat miles during the evening run.  I will need to make sure to run slow tomorrow.  The total distance for today is a little longer than normal because instead of running home, I ran to pick up Kimia from a relief society activity, so it added a little extra distance.  17.7 miles total.  Total time of 2:09:00.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 17.70
Comments
From steve ash on Sat, Sep 11, 2010 at 10:57:19 from 64.134.236.73

Jeff, Nothing strange about that. I do it all the time. Stride economy is something I work on every day. Hope everything is going well for you and your family:)

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I was really good this morning and I didn't run too fast.  I ran to school in a time of 1:08:32.  I will run home in a bit to finish off my day.

I ran home after school.  Another 8.6 miles in 1:08:50.  It was super windy outside, and I would have finished slower, but the last mile has a fairly steep downhill grade on it, so I sped up some. 

Brooks Axiom Miles: 17.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.600.000.500.0016.10

I ran to school in Crocs this morning.  I decided to finally take the plunge and buy some.  I got a pair for $15 at the Crocs outlet store here in Vegas.  On the good side, they are very light, and I think the cushioning is adequate for someone who wants to be close to barefoot without wanting to go all the way.  On the bad side, I needed to buy them a size too small so that they wouldn't fall off of my feet, and the right shoe had a strap that was just a little smaller than on the left, and it took about 7 miles before it finally started to feel a little more comfortable (whereas up until that point it felt like my toes were being jammed into the front of the shoe).  The plastic hinge also was digging into my foot, and it left a red mark on the right foot, and a blister on the left.  Maybe Crocs will make a shoe in the near future that is a little more running friendly, as there is potential, but right now they take a little getting used to.

PM:  6 miles at the group run put on by the village runner, as Kimia picked me up at school.  My right calf felt pretty tight at the end, and was a little sore afterwards.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 6.00Crocs Miles: 10.10
Comments
From jtshad on Sat, Sep 11, 2010 at 08:22:33 from 69.20.183.178

Good run, but why Crocs?

From Rob on Sat, Sep 11, 2010 at 11:03:30 from 72.254.61.103

I have that same problem with crocs, even walking in them I feel like my toes are being jammed. Haven't tried running in them yet.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles easy this morning before heading out to LA for a wedding in the evening.  My calf felt fine for the first couple miles, and it felt tight up until mile 5 or 6.  After that it started to hurt, and I had to stop a couple times to massage it out.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.000.000.000.0011.00

I ran barefoot on the beach in Marina Del Rey this morning.  I was hoping that it would help with the calf pain I have been feeling, and for a while things seemed to be going pretty good.  I was planning on only running 10 miles because of the calf pain the day before, but I decided to run 12 instead when I was 5 miles out.  I ended up turning around earlier only because there was an amusement park on the beach that got in the way.  That ended up being a blessing in disguise for me, as around 6.5 miles into the run my calf started to hurt, and I had a decent amount of pain from there to the finish.  So, overall I would say the calf was better than the day before, but not by much.  I ended up with 11 miles on the day.

Barefoot Miles: 8.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 3.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.005.300.000.005.30

In order to save my calf today, I decided to run on the anti-gravity treadmill in the lab at school.  Time was limited so I pushed the pace a little faster than I would have pushed otherwise, but I was at only 20-70% of my normal body weight (average of about 50%), so I figured that I was safe.  I ran in the 5:00-5:15 range for most of the workout.  The effort was definately not easy, but it was also not a 5:00 effort, so I have put it down as MP mileage.  5.3 miles total.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.400.000.000.0015.40

Today was my first run since Saturday where I was completely weight bearing, so I was a little nervous to see if my calf would hold up as I needed to run to school.  My calf held up ok on the way to school, and I made it in 1:07:19 for 8.6 miles.  There were some slight twinges on occasion, but otherwise things were fine.

PM:  I ran home from school as well, because my calf was not complaining during the day.  The calf did not hurt during the run, but just to be safe I had Kimia come and pick me up when I was a little less than 2 miles from home, because I did not want to wait until it started hurting before I stopped running.  Estimated total of 6.8 miles

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 15.40
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school again today.  Felt much better than yesterday, as I felt much more fluid, and I did not feel the little twinges I was feeling yesterday.  I still kept the pace really easy, and I finished 8.6 miles in 1:07:31.

PM:  I ran home from school.  The pace was kept pretty slow again and I finished in around 1:08:00. 

New Balance 758 Miles: 17.20
Comments
From Burt on Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 20:56:12 from 68.225.214.248

I seem to remember a multistake dance years ago at the Thomas and Mack Center. Isn't UNLV near Henderson (southern Vegas?)

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.600.000.000.0018.60

I ran too and from school again, for a total of 17.2 miles.  I also participated in the deep water running study that we are working on right now, which gave me a bit of extra mileage on the treadmill.  Unfortunately, one of the leads went bad on the instrument we use for EMG, so my data was no good for any quantitative analysis.  However, if I ever want to I can always take a glance at it for other personal reasons.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 18.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran pretty slow for the first half of my run today, as I was pretty tired this morning.  I did speed up some the second half as I was heading downhill, but nothing spectacular.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.605.000.000.0020.60

I ran a long run today, running a tempo of sorts during the first half of my run when I was heading uphill.  I was only averaging in the 6:20's for pace, but as I was going uphill I figure that it was similar to a slow marathon pace for me.  I was planning another shorter, faster tempo during the second half of the run however my calf tightened up some as I was running back downhill, and I kept the pace slow from there to the finish.  1:09:00 for the first half of my run, and 2:22:57 total for what I will estimate as 20.6 miles (I found some mile markers on my way back downhill and realized that I had gone farther than planned, and based on pace I figured that I needed to add .3 each way).

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.600.000.000.008.60

My calf tightened up just a little bit this morning, and it was probably safe for me to run a full 10 miles, but as I was already scheduled to be a lab rat today I decided that it would be wise to cut the distance short in the morning.  So, I only ran 6 miles in 48:41, and in the afternoon I performed a study on the anti-gravity treadmill, and ended up with 2.6 miles more for a total of 8.6 miles on the day.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 6.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.600.004.000.0013.60

I ran to school this morning, and ran my first real speed workout in about 2 weeks.  I have decided that the calf issues I am having have little to do with the rest I get, or how fast I run, so I figure that I just need to train like everything is normal and back off if there is any discomfort.  So, I decided to run 2 x 2 "miles" hard followed by some short sprints at the end of the run.  If the calf felt good I would keep going, and if it hurt I would back off and run easy the rest of the way.  

Anyhow, the distance between major intersections in Vegas is approximately 1 mile, and after a mile warm-up I began my first 2 "mile" repeat, meaning that I ran from one major intersection, went through the second, and finished at the third.  This gave me a decent stretch of road with only 1 stop light in the middle.  Splits were 4:45, 4:39 for the first repeat (so, a little less than 2 miles total, but not by a lot) and I was able to get through the only stop light without any interruptions.  I took a 1 "mile" rest after the first repeat, and then began the second repeat running splits of 4:57, 5:10.  The second repeat had 3 lights, and I ended up needing to stop at 2 of them (one halfway through for about 30sec, and one about 3/4 into it for 3-5sec).  The last "mile" of the second repeat probably gives me the best indicator for how fast I was going, as this was the closest to a true mile that I ran.  So, I would guess that I was averaging 5:10-5:15 pace for the bulk of the time I spent running hard.  I was pleased with how my calf felt, as there was no tightness or pain, and I was able to run the short sprints at the end of the run as well, without any pain.  57:25 total time for 8.6 miles.

PM:  I ran part way home, and then had Kimia pick me up, because I was late getting out of school, and I didn't want to come home any later than I had to.  Total of about 5 miles in about 38:00. 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 13.60
Comments
From Burt on Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 21:25:32 from 68.225.214.248

Good gravy Jeff! I don't know what I'd think if I saw somebody running down the street that fast.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.400.000.000.0015.40

I ran to school this morning.  I kept the pace slow, and finished in 1:08:29.

PM:  I ran home from school.  Kimia picked me up shortly before I made it all the way home, so only 6.8 miles on the way home. 

Brooks Axiom Miles: 15.40
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.601.000.001.0014.60

During the run to school this morning I decided to run some "400" repeats.  I ended up running   4 x approximately 80 seconds (stop lights shortened one, and I forgot to stop on another) during the run at what felt like 72-75 second 400 pace.  Near the end of the run I ran a "fat" mile.

PM: I ran to the library instead of running all the way home, because Kimia was already there, and we decided to meet there instead of at home.  6 miles from UNLV to the library.

New Balance 758 Miles: 14.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran on the Pittman wash this morning.  I was in a little bit of a hurry to get home, so I kept the pace a little quicker than normal, and finished in 1:10:08 for 10 miles.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.252.500.250.0018.00

I got out late this morning because I had a late day yesterday due to Kimia losing her wallet (luckily we got it back, but minus the cash inside).  It has not been as hot lately, so I thought I might be able to handle the heat alright.  Just to be safe I drank some cold water before leaving the house, and then stopped at water fountains at approximately 4.75, 9.25, 13, and 14 miles.  At 14 miles I started a speed workout on the track at Green Valley High, with a goal of running marathon pace for 5 miles.  However, despite my attempts to stay hydrated the heat really got to me (it was 97 degrees outside) and while I never faded terribly and stayed relatively close to goal pace throughout the tempo, I decided to pack it in after 2.5 miles (800 splits of 2:41, 2:41, 2:39, 2:40, 2:43).  I then ran easy for a bit, and after getting some more water I ran one last 400 in 1:14 to finish the workout.  I then ran home to finish up 18 miles.  Total time of 1:43:45 for the first 14 miles, 13:24 for the 2.5 mile tempo.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 18.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.003.000.000.0010.00

10 miles this morning on the Pittman wash trail.  I ran a three mile tempo during the second half of the run hitting mile splits of 6:00, 5:29, 5:17.  Total time for the run of 1:10:48.  I am not sure what to think about the tempo, as the 5:17 didn't feel like I was killing myself despite the fact that the particular section of trail that mile fell on is slow.  However, the 6:00 opening mile felt much harder than it should have.  On top of this I have felt rather strange lately, almost as if I really have to push myself just to run at a pace that should come with little to no effort.  I wonder if the lack of racing over the past 2 months has effected me, along with the minor injury I had recently in my right calf.that limited my mileage and speed work.  Half of what I am going through may be just mental, so I think that I need to run a time trial or race to set things right.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.301.000.000.0014.30

I ran to school this morning.  I took a slight detour just before getting to the lab where I work, so I added a little extra.  I will call the run 8.8 miles.  Total time of 1:05:04.

PM:  I got out of school really late because I was studying for a test, so Kimia picked me up about 5.5 miles into my run as she had just gotten out of a relief society meeting of some sort with the RS president.  I ran a "fat mile" on the way home.  5:27 for the "mile" (although I think that the distance on this street mile was actually correct).  Still not sure what to think regarding the effort it took to run this time for the mile.  It was windy, I took a phone call mid mile, and I had stomach cramps throughout from needing to use the bathroom.  But still, even being generous and giving myself 20 seconds for the distractions and wind this mile felt harder than it should have.  Again, just like I said yesterday, I think that I need to run a time trial or race just to get myself back in order psychologically.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 14.30
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.000.000.000.2017.20

I ran to school this morning, finishing in 1:07:46.  I kept the pace easy throughout, however I did run a few 5-10 second pick-ups later on in the run.

PM: I ran 6 x 5 seconds +- a second or so just to get the legs moving.  Kept the rest of the run easy as I ran home from school. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 17.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.600.001.500.0017.10

I ran to school again, and I ran 3 x 800 repeats (approximate distance, but it was consistently the same distance) in 2:33, 2:33, 2:31.  I was trying to simulate 10k race pace.  Not sure how good of a job I did, but the repeats felt alright.

PM: I ran home from school.  Kept the pace easy, but a little quicker than normal as I needed to get home because of the home teachers coming over. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 17.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran easy this morning on the Pittman wash.  Finished in just under 1:20:00.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.403.003.100.0018.50

I ran my long run this morning.  I had decided that I wanted to run a time trial, in order to simulate a race situation.  The initial goal was to run 10k on the track, and aim to hit 75 second quarters.  However, despite the fact that it was significantly cooler this morning than last Saturday, I still had issues with the heat, and it didn't help that there was a little wind either.  It also did not help that a bunch of parents and kids were arriving at the track for a kids football game while I was running, and they got in the way on virtually every lap, oftentimes setting their things in the middle of lane 1, or just standing there completely oblivious to the fact that the same guy who almost ran into them 1 lap earlier (because they stepped right in my way just as I was going by) was coming around again.  It was not the kids either, as not one kid got in the way, just parents here.  In their defense they eventually all figured it out and learned to stay on the grass, its just that more and more people kept showing up and not realizing I was there they stood right in the middle of lanes 1 and 2.  The worst was a few laps in when I had to go into the outside of lane 3 or maybe even lane 4 just as I was finishing up a lap, and about to head into the turn.

Anyhow, that is enough complaining on my part.  After 2 miles I ended up deciding that due to the heat and track congestion I would just run a 5k instead of 10, and then run another tempo later on in the run.  Finished 5k in 15:38 (4:59, 5:01, 5:04, 0:34).  I didn't feel as good as I would have liked during this tempo, but given the circumstances I don't think that I should put too much weight into this workout.  My quads felt shot after I finished, and I was running fairly slowly for a couple of miles, until I realized that I needed to hurry up if I was going to get home before conference started.  So, I sped up to 6:40-6:50 pace, which felt surprisingly easy given that just a 10-15 minutes earlier my quads felt completely shot.  Anyhow, I maintained this pace until I was about 14.25 miles into the run.  I then ran a three mile tempo, just aiming to stay comfortable at the beginning, with plans to speed up from there.  Hit the first mile in 5:34, which was a pleasant surprise, as I would have been happy with anything under 6:00.  Mile 2 was 5:31 on a significantly slower section of road, followed by a 5:20 on a trail section more similar to the first mile.  Finished 18.5 miles by running back to my house, getting home at 8:51am with 9 minutes to spare before conference started.  I hurriedly got ready, and only missed the announcements and a minute or two of Elder Hollands talk.

I am actually fairly pleased with this workout despite the not so great showing in my "time trial".  The ease at which I ran the last 3 mile tempo in warm weather was a confidence lifter for me.  It gives me a little more hope that I am still on track to OTQ next month.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 18.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

I ran with Anita in the stroller not realizing that she hadn't eaten in a while.  This ended in disaster as Kimia had left to go to the grocery store while I ran with the baby, so when I realized that Anita was hungry I couldn't just take her home to get fed.  I kept her mostly happy until I had been out about 3.5 miles, at which point she started getting pretty upset.  So, at 4 miles I stopped at a park thinking that if I could get her some water in her belly maybe she would at least be happy enough to get home, and hopefully Kimia would get back by the time I did.  This didn't work at all, as the baby just ended up getting wet, which made her cold, which made her more upset.  So, I ran fairly quickly back home with the baby.  I took off her wet coat and wrapped her in my shirt to keep her warm until we got there, and we arrived home just as Kimia got back.  She then took Anita and fed her, and everything was fine, but my run had been cut short, and at this point I didn't have the time to run any farther.  Finished just over 1:00:00 for 8 miles (maybe 61 or 62 min, but not sure because I didn't get my watch stopped).

New Balance 758 Miles: 8.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.202.002.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning, and ran 2 x 2 "mile" repeats.  The first was probably actually pretty close to 2 miles and I had approximate mile splits of 5:33 (into the wind) and 5:25 (cross-wind).  The second 2 mile split was short, but I imagine that I probably averaged about 5:15 pace (actual splits of 5:01, 5:02).  Total time of 55:10 for 8.6 miles.

PM: I came home a little faster than normal, but I did not run any parts of it particularly hard.  Total time of 1:01:21. 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 17.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.700.000.000.0013.70

I ran to school this morning in 1:05:17 for 8.6 miles.  I kept the pace slow until I got onto Tropicana, at which point I picked up the pace to about 7:00 because I was "racing" the bus.  This lasted for a little over a mile until I turned into a parking lot at the university (by the way, I did beat the bus).

PM: I ran 5.1 miles home, at which point Kimia picked me up.  Kept the pace easy (right around 8:00 pace)

Brooks Axiom Miles: 13.70
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran too and from school today.  1:03:41 on the way too school, and 1:06:31 on the way home.  I kept the pace easy both ways, other than the occasional pick-up to get through a stop light before it turned red.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 17.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.750.000.000.006.75

I don't know what it is, but I have been feeling really tired lately.  It was more of the same this morning, and I didn't get up early enough to run before I headed off to school.  It also didn't help that I had an upset stomach, which gave me less motivation to get out the door this morning.  I ran after I got home, but didn't have enough time to get in a full 10 before I needed to pick up Kimia from her new job, so I ran as long as I could and ended up with 6.75.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 6.75
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.404.600.000.0019.00

Today's run was supposed to be an out and back 20 miler on the mid mountain trail (a 34 mile loop near Henderson, Boulder City, and Lake Mead) with a 10 mile tempo during the second half.  Temps were a little warm at the start (high 70's) but not unbearable, and I felt comfortable throughout the majority of the first half.  I ended up turning around a little early on accident, because I miscounted the mile markers, so I ended up turning around at about 9.7 miles.

Once I turned around I began my tempo.  What I didn't know before coming here is that in the direction I was heading there was a mild uphill or rolling for most of the first 6 miles, followed by 1 steeper uphill mile, and then 3 miles that felt like you were getting dropped off of a cliff.  So, I began my tempo heading up a huge hill, just as the heat was starting to get to me.  Temps were in the upper 80's, and maybe even as high as 90, and there was absolutely zero shade, and I was running up a hill so steep that I was struggling to break 7:00 pace in some parts, and was never going faster than about 6:20-6:30 pace.  This lasted for what I will call 3.1 miles, at which point I got to run 1 mile downhill, and then another half mile semi-flat but still downhill.  At this point I was feeling terrible (hot, dehydrated, tired) and I decided to cut my tempo short.  Total time of 30:09 for 4.6 miles.

At this point I wanted to get some water, however I couldn't find the water fountains I thought were close to the trail.  I could tell I was overheating, so I slowed down even more hoping that I would be able to manage my body temps better while running slower.  This didn't work, so I started looking for someone that I could get water from.  I eventually got some water from a guy out with his dog, but the water was warm, and I had overheated enough at this point that I still didn't feel good after getting a small drink.  I stopped a couple minutes later and walked for a bit, hoping that my body would get temps under control if I didn't run.  This worked a little better, and after walking for about .4 miles I ran the rest of the way to my starting point.  Total running time for what ended up being 19 miles was 2:22:0X.  After finishing I got some water, and put my head in the bathroom sink to try and cool off.  I picked up some orange juice at the store and drank a lot of that as well.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 19.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

after my ordeal on Saturday, I decided to take an extra day off to make sure that my system has time to recharge.  I am not sore at all, as physically I didn't really pound my body, but I am worried that I may have stressed my nervous system a bit too much, so I figured a lazy day was in order.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.600.000.000.008.60

I ran to school this morning.  I ran a few sprints on the way, although I am not sure if you can call them sprints as they weren't very fast.  Total of 7 pick ups of 15-20 seconds each, simply to get the legs moving while trying to feel relaxed.  I was supposed to run home in the evening, but I was at school late getting a presentation ready for class tomorrow morning, so Kimia picked me up.  I figure that it is not too big of a deal, as this week will already have low mileage due to not running yesterday.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.400.000.500.0015.90

I ran to school this morning, and then ran to class after getting here because I was slow getting ready, and I didn't want to be late.  Total of 9 miles.  I ran 2 x "400" repeats on the way, simply to get my legs moving a little.  I was not trying to push the pace, and it was windy like always, so times were slow (1:18, 1:17).

PM:  I ran most of the way home, and met Kimia at the store a little ways from our house.  6.9 miles total in 53:16.  I felt very smooth while running. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 15.90
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.700.500.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning.  I ran a "half mile" at marathon pace during the run just to get a feel for pace during the marathon, and to try and stay relaxed.  It was windy as always, and the distance is approximate, so times don't mean much, but I wanted to go no faster than 2:40, and with the wind I thought 2:45-2:50 was more appropriate.  I also didn't want to artificially inflate my time by looking at my watch midway and then speeding up if it looked like I was running too slow, so I did not look at it until I finished.  I felt very relaxed, and ended up running a 2:47, which made me happy.  In fact I felt very positive about things this morning.  Part of it comes from a running quote my dad sent me yesterday, but also because I was thinking and Ether 12 came to mind where it says:

"I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (v.6)

"For if their be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith." (v.12)

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.  I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make the weak things become strong unto them." (v.27)

These words give me so much comfort.  I know that an OTQ time is within my reach.  I know that I have put in the work, and that by the grace of God I can run under 2:19:00 in a few weeks, but I must show my faith first, as it is not until after the trial of my faith that miracles will happen.  Now, I do not want to appear arrogant and proclaim that I have the faith, thus I will run an OTQ.  Nor do I want to trivialize the things of God and assume that it is in his best interest to aid my running performance, thus helping me to run an OTQ, as I know that spiritual things spoken of scripturally and temporal things are in decidedly different realms.  Nevertheless, these words bring comfort to my mind, as recently I have been weighed down with worries and mind games, wondering if I can really run an OTQ.  My mindset will be different in these coming weeks because of this, as I truly feel that if I do qualify for the Olympic Trials that it will be through the grace and aid of the Almighty, and I need to have the faith to allow that to happen.

PM: I ran home from school in 1:03:17.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 17.20
Comments
From jtshad on Fri, Oct 15, 2010 at 12:09:13 from 204.134.132.225

Well said, you have the right perspective!

I will be down in LV on Monday, Oct. 25 and will have some time to get a couple of runs in. Would you like to hook up for a few miles?

From jeffmc on Fri, Oct 15, 2010 at 15:53:42 from 131.216.80.154

That would be great! Where in LV are you going to be? I live in Henderson (Southeast LV) but I go to school every day at UNLV (near the strip). So, depending on where you are going to be staying we could meet near one of those two areas, either in the morning or after my last class gets out at 3:45pm.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 21:57:18 from 192.168.1.1

Jeff, it is interesting that we read Ether 12 in our family scripture study in the last few days (it takes us a few days to get through a chapter), and today I decided to look at your blog. Perhaps not a coincidence that you would think of those verses at this time.

I've been running with Mike lately, he is getting faster, and is starting to give me trouble sometimes in a good way.

From James W on Tue, Oct 19, 2010 at 17:46:18 from 12.151.72.1

Ditto on what Sasha said - I have actually been reading in Ether in my personal scripture study, and this past weekend, my wife and I were "Ma and Pa" for a group of 8 youth for a pioneer handcart trek re-enactment. I shared that same scripture (Ether 12:27) with them the first evening of our trek. Good luck at Indy in a few weeks!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Just an easy run this morning out on the Pittman wash.  1:16:42 for 10 miles

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.0011.000.000.0020.00

Long run this morning.  I was finally able to get a long tempo run in (10 miles) for the first time in quite a while.  I got up, and it was already 70+ degrees outside, but it didn't feel to bad.  Nevertheless, I decided that to be safe I needed to do my tempo early in my run rather than waiting until the second half when I would already be dehydrated and hot.  I warmed up for about 1.25 miles, and started the tempo at the 4 mile marker on the Pittman wash.  The majority of the way out on this tempo is uphill, so things were decidedly slower until I hit the turn-around.  There were also a fair number of twists, turns, and underpasses, which slowed me down irregardless of the direction I was heading.  All in all, I think that the downhill miles may together have been marginally faster than what I would find on flat, straight ground, while the uphill miles were considerably slower.

Anyhow, I decided to not push the pace too hard at the beginning in order to give myself a mile or so to decide how hard to run going uphill.  Splits were 6:01, 5:48 for the first 2 miles.  The first mile has the most uphill, but the second mile is probably equally slow due to lots of twists and turns, plus a bigger underpass than in the first mile.  Missed the split at mile 3, but the split at the turn-around for mile 4 was 11:32 (5:46 average, 23:21 for the first 4 miles).  Those 2 miles are definitely faster than the previous 2, with the 4th mile having only a mild uphill, and being flat for the second half mile, but for some reason I just relaxed and didn't speed up at all until after the turn-around.  Mile 5 was a 5:17 as I realized that I had been running too easy when I sped up to pass some trail construction and I still felt like I was barely working despite the increase in pace (28:38 for 5 miles).  I missed the 6 mile marker, but hit a two mile split of 10:50 at 7 miles (5:25 average, these miles are probably slower than flat miles despite the downhill due to underpasses, sharp turns, etc), followed by an 8 mile split of 5:11 (this one surprised me, but I think the downhill helped me a bit more this mile, despite another underpass, as the downhill is steeper).  Another turn-around followed at the end of this mile, and the last 2 miles were uphill again (the same stretch as the first 2 miles).  I hit these 2 miles in 5:48, 5:48 (27:37 for the second 5 miles, 56:15 total for 10 miles).

It was good to know that the same effort that got me an average pace of just under 5:20 for 4 miles mid tempo was the effort that got me the 5:48 miles at the beginning and end of the tempo, as it validated for me how slow the uphill makes those miles.  I was also glad that I felt as good as I did despite the warm weather (again), as it was 70 degrees when I started, and I imagine that temps were over 80 by the time I finished the run (the high for today was 93).  After the tempo I ran to a water fountain to get a drink, then ran to the high school so that I could get a drink there too (better water).  I was now at about 14.5 miles, so I ran 2.75 miles back out the way I came before turning around to head for home.  The same mile I hit a 5:11 on at the end of the tempo began a half mile after I started heading for home, and I ran a "fat" mile here in 5:39.  I was really just cruising, probably about a 5:50 effort on flat ground, but that was all I was shooting for anyhow.  I made it home to finish up 20 miles total in 2:09:XX.  It was good to finally get in one last long tempo before the marathon in three weeks in Indianapolis.  This was a good confidence boost for me.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.000.000.000.0011.00

I forgot that I parked my car in a different parking lot today than I do normally, so I ran from the wrong lot to the lot that my car was in, which got me about a mile.  After I got home, I ran 10 more miles, running the first 4 with Anita in the running stroller, and then running 6 more alone.  Total of 11 miles.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.205.150.750.1017.20

I ran to school today, and ran intervals of "1600", "1200", "800", "400", plus a little extra at the end (.1 mile?).  The 1600 was a little short, so I will call it .9 miles (4:41), with the 1200 just being 4:00 hard.  The 800 and 400 were probably pretty close to being accurate for distance, but I can't say for certain.  I threw the extra .1 in at the end to give myself an even 2.5 miles of speed work since the 1600 was short.

I was late leaving school to come home, so I ended up running sub 6:00 pace for about 3.5 miles to get home a little quicker.  

Asics Speedstar Miles: 17.20
Comments
From Burt on Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 18:03:42 from 206.19.214.144

I hear your dad signed you up for the Mesa Mi Amigos Turkey Trot. That's a big one. Should be some good competition. How long are you going to be in town?

From jeffmc on Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 18:51:30 from 131.216.80.154

I will just be in town for Thanksgiving (Late Wed through Sun). Who knows how I'll do in the turkey trot, as it will be less than 3 weeks post marathon. If the race is really fast I may just not go all out if I don't feel up to it. But... that is not in my nature, so I will probably go all out even if I am not feeling my best.

From Burt on Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 19:07:23 from 206.19.214.144

Hmm...the winning time last year was 32:22. That should be well within your reach. I'm not familiar with the course having never ran it. I usually run a 5k with my old stake, but hopefully I can come out and watch after I'm done. Let me know if you want to go on a recovery run Friday or Saturday. I'm sure JamesW would join us, too.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.001.000.000.0010.00

I ended up just running at school on the treadmill today, because it was raining, with lightning and thunder all day long.  10 miles, with a "fat" mile thrown in at about 5:40 pace.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.001.000.000.0010.00

I ran with Anita in the running stroller today.  She slept for over 8 miles out of the 10 that I ran.  I ran a "fat" mile with the running stroller near the end of the run in about 5:25 (there was a slight decline, but I was still surprised at how easy it felt running that fast with a stroller) and I almost got hit by a driver that wasn't paying attention as he turned out of his neighborhood onto the main street I was running on (I was already in the intersection when he pulled up, yet he still failed to notice me).  By the way, when I say me, I do mean that literally, as it was just me he almost hit, not the baby.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I woke up early this morning to run before I went off to California for the SWACSM meeting that I am presenting at this evening.  10 miles in the dark.  It started to get light near the end of my run, but it was dark the rest of the time.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.504.500.000.0015.00

I ran 15 miles in San Diego this morning before I went off to visit my mission for the first time since I came home 5 years ago.  I found a trail that went down to the beach, which was nice, however there was a lot of wind (that happens when you are by the beach) so when i did my tempo in the second half of the run I had a hard time gauging pace.  I started off my tempo with a half mile in 2:38.  I then slowed down for a bit because I took a wrong turn, and ended up waiting until I got on the main trail where there were more mile markers before I started again.  I then ran 4 more miles hard as I headed back to my hotel.  I had mile markers for about 1.5 miles during this time period.  I started off at about 5:30 pace, but then slowed down a bit because I had a fairly strong headwind.  Finished with a total time of about 1:38:30 for 15 miles.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.500.000.000.0014.50

I ran with Jeff Shadley this morning, as he is in town for work.  It is the first time that I have run with anyone in a while.  I ended up being pretty chatty during the run due to my long layoff from running with people, and I forgot to turn around at the right time, and ended up running a couple miles farther than planned.  Total of 14.5 miles in 1:39:XX.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 14.50
Comments
From jtshad on Tue, Nov 02, 2010 at 10:08:31 from 204.134.132.225

Thanks for the run and great conversation! Good luck this weekend in Indy!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.204.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning, and ran intervals of "2" and "1" miles on the way.  I finished the first "2 miles" in 10:52 (5:26, 5:26) although the second "mile" was probably a little longer than the first as I had to cross the street mid interval.  Both miles were slightly windy (and they call Chicago the windy city... the wind here is incessant).  After a recovery of about a mile and a half, I ran one last "mile" in 5:06.  I think the last mile was a little short (probably more like a 5:16 I am guessing based on the effort).

On the way home, I ran a "fat mile" in 6:02.  Again, a little windy.  Minus the wind the effort would have probably given me a low to mid 5:50.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 17.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.600.000.000.3013.90

I ran to school today and I ran a few sprints mid run.  I didn't time them, and I wasn't really trying to make it a specific distance or run a specific speed.  I was just trying to sprint as fast and as smooth as possible until I felt like stopping.  I ended up running 4 or 5 of them.

On the way home, Kimia picked me up halfway between Eastern Ave, and Pecos, so I will guess it was about 5.3 miles based on the car measurements I have taken. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 13.90
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.950.000.001.7517.70

I ran 7 x "400m" intervals on the way to school this morning.  As there are stop lights all over the place I couldn't really keep a set time or distance to space the repeats out, so I ended up taking long rest between all of them, with the minimum rest being approx 3 minutes, and the max being approx 8-10 minutes.  The first three repeats were just estimates for distance, which means that I ran, and when I felt like I had run equal to or just a little farther than 400m I slowed down.  Times mean nothing for these, (especially since the first two were run on a slight uphill grade) but the first three repeats were 1:14, 1:13, 1:08.  After this I was able to run a few repeats in areas where the streets have been arranged such that the measurements have been done for me, so the distance is pretty close to accurate, but not necessarily exactly 400m.  Finished these repeats in 1:05, 1:11, 1:08, 1:05.  The first 1:05 was a really hard effort, because the sidewalk was winding all over the place (so probably longer than 400) and I ended up slowing for a couple seconds as I ran through some ground cover, so I would guess that the effort was worth closer to a 1:00, 400 than a 1:05.  I ran the next a little slower just to relax a bit more, and then ran the last 2 at a good effort, but still easier than the first one in 1:05.  So, based on all this I think that the first three 400's were all a little long, as the effort was similar, but they couldn't have been long by much.

After school I ran home fairly quickly because I had an appointment with the missionaries.  I didn't run any mileage that I will count as marathon pace mileage, but I was going sub 6:30 pace the entire way home, and probably dipped under 6:00 pace near the end when I was running downhill.  I ran about a half mile extra on the way home, because I had to pick up the car from Kimia.  9.1 miles total on the way home.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 17.70
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

I ran a little shorter this morning than I had originally planned, because I ran farther than planned yesterday (originally Kimia was going to pick me up partway home so that I could keep the mileage a little lower, but that didn't work out).  I ended up running 8 miles in 1:01:XX.  I felt pretty good.  In fact I have felt really good these last few days.  It gives me a little confidence heading into my taper week.  I guess that today actually counts as my first official taper day, even though my long run last week was shorter than normal, and mileage the last 2 weeks has barely broken 70, but whatever, all that really matters is how I do on race day and I feel like things are falling into place nicely.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.001.001.000.0012.00

I ran short today as I am now tapering for the marathon next Saturday!  Only 12 miles, however I ran 1 mile all out about 8 miles in, plus a tempo mile a mile after that.  The original plan was to run the mile on the track after a three mile warm-up, however there was a nasty wind blowing, and when I got to the track there was a pee wee football game going on that looked official enough that I thought it was a better idea to just not run on the track.  I ended up picking a section of trail to run my all out mile that is just slightly slower than flat ground, however I couldn't start the mile until I was 7.75 miles into the run.  I don't know how the longer warm-up affected me.  The wind died down a bit about a mile before I ran my all out mile, so it wasn't as bad, however I was running away from the wind during the mile, so it was actually a tail wind.  Even though it was a tail wind, I actually feel fortunate that the wind died down a little, because it means that my mile was aided less.  Took a vpb in a drainage tunnel off of the trail, then started.

I don't have any splits for the mile, but I know more or less where the quarter marks would have been if they existed, so I know general elevation change for each quarter during the mile.  1st quarter was flat for about half of it, then downhill into a tunnel going under the road.  I started off a bit too fast, and realized it and slowed down around the same time I started heading downhill.  2nd quarter was uphill for the first part as I came out of the tunnel, and then climbed a little more until it flattened out the last 100m or so.  3rd quarter had a solid downhill for about 150m near the beginning, then flattened out, followed by a slight incline near the end of it.  I realized about 3 min into the mile, that I had forgotten how to run the mile (I haven't raced a 1600 since high school, and even then it wasn't my main event, and I was slower than I am now, so I could never really hammer the pace because I didn't have the leg strength to do it) as I wasn't hurting yet and I was almost 3/4 of the way into it.  I started picking up the pace here, but I do wonder how much I cost myself by not pushing hard enough for the second and third quarters.  The 4th quarter rolls a fair amount, as it starts with a slight uphill, has some downhill followed by a little more uphill, and then flattens out near the end, but has a nasty turn that almost makes you stop about 40m from the finish.  I was pushing this quarter, and I was finally feeling like I was running a mile, but then I hit that last turn, and it killed all momentum that I had.  I sprinted to the finish from the turn, and stopped my watch at 4:31.

So, it was a mile pr for me, which is more indicative of how weak my pr was then the shape I am in, as my previous pr (actually for 1600m, but close enough) was only a 4:34, and was set in practice when I was a freshman at BYU.  I think that the terrain for the mile (overall slight net downhill) was probably slower than on flat ground or the track, however this was negated by the tailwind that I had, so I am guessing that given the conditions it was equivalent to something flat.  I wish that I would have pushed the pace more during the middle section of the mile, as I feel that I could have gone significantly faster, but I still achieved my purpose, which was to really get my legs working hard for a short distance in the lead up to the marathon next Saturday.

I took a mile to get my legs back under me after the all out mile, and then ran a tempo mile, which ended up somewhere around 5:30 (I wasn't really focusing on pace at all, I just wanted to go fast, so I didn't look at the time too closely).  I then finished by running home.  Not sure on the total time for the run, but average pace was pretty quick for most of the run, including the easy stuff early on (I made it to 7 miles in about 50:30 before I stopped paying attention, and eventually zero'd out my watch for my hard mile).

Adidas Adizero Miles: 12.00
Comments
From Superfly on Wed, Nov 03, 2010 at 12:53:41 from 208.117.127.110

Good luck out in Indy!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

Easy run with the baby.  8 miles in 1:05:30ish.

New Balance 758 Miles: 8.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.001.000.000.006.00

I ran on the Pittman wash, and after 3 miles I ran a mile tempo at MP effort.  I missed my mile mark, but caught my time a few seconds later.  5:26 total, so I will estimate 5:23 for the mile.  That felt like a good MP effort given the fact that the mile has a tunnel in it and decent hill afterwards, a bunch of twists and turns, and a fair amount of rolling up and down, with an estimated total net downhill.  Total time for 6 miles of 42:58.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 6.00
Comments
From RAD on Wed, Nov 03, 2010 at 18:06:50 from 67.172.229.125

excellent effort Jeff!

Nice to see you're still getting out with the little one occasionally.

From Paul on Thu, Nov 04, 2010 at 11:30:05 from 65.103.252.214

No twists and turns in Indy. Those really slow a person down. See you later tonight.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.006.00

This will probably be the last time that I have a chance to get on a computer to blog before the marathon on Saturday.  Hopefully the weather will be good.  I ran 6 easy miles this morning in 48:26.  It was dark the entire time I was running.  It is the first time in a while that I have done a morning run where it did not get light before I finished.  Anyhow, I have been thinking these last few days, and I want to share a few scriptures that I have read recently.

Mark  1:40-42

And there came a aleper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me bclean.  And Jesus, moved with acompassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.  And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

Moroni 10:19-23

And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that he is the asame yesterday, today, and forever, and that all these gifts of which I have spoken, which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long as the world shall stand, only according to the bunbelief of the children of men.  Wherefore, there must be afaith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity.  And except ye have acharity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God; neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope.  And if ye have no hope ye must needs be in adespair; and despair cometh because of iniquity.  And Christ truly said unto our fathers: aIf ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me.

I like how the leper in Mark says "If thou wilt" when asking to be cleansed.  He makes no demands, but instead shows great faith and respect by stating his request in such a way that tells me he had no doubts that he knew Christ could heal him, while still acknowledging that our Savior could choose whether or not to heal him.  I believe it is that way with all requests that we make of the Lord.  We need to understand that our requests will only be fulfilled if it is his will, however even if what we ask for is something the Lord is willing to give us he can not fulfill our requests unless we first demonstrate the requisite faith to bring to pass what we ask.  I think this ties in well with the above quoted scripture from the book of Moroni where, speaking on the gifts of the spirit, Moroni quotes Christ saying "If ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me."

I write all of this in part because of the marathon I am running on Saturday, and the internal reflection that I have indulged in as I think about what my chances are at qualifying for the Olympic Trials.  Part of the reason I am also sharing these insights is because I feel that I need to share my own testimony in one way or another, and I feel that I have done a poor job of this in the past.  Whether or not I will qualify for the Olympic Trials, I do not know, the weather will determine that just as much as my own fitness.  What I do know is that if I do qualify it will not be because of my own strength, or my speed, but because the Lord has seen fit to give me a gift, and by my actions I have shown the faith necessary to recognize this gift and to reap the reward.  If I do not qualify for the Olympic Trials I do not believe that it will mean my faith was lacking, as this statement from Daniel (3:17-18) holds true:

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to adeliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not aserve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

I know that if it is the will of God, that I can and will qualify for the Olympic Trials.  But if not, it simply means that the Lord has something else in store for me right now.  Perhaps there is a lesson for me to learn, perhaps a lesson that humility, or charity still needs to be built upon and strengthened.  Or perhaps the timing is simply not right.  Whatever the outcome, my trust is in the Lord, that his will might be done.  I simply hope that I may be ready to accept his will, whatever it may be.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 6.00
Comments
From flatlander on Wed, Nov 03, 2010 at 23:39:03 from 76.31.26.153

Good luck, and good testimony.

From Rob on Thu, Nov 04, 2010 at 17:22:29 from 206.71.84.68

Good luck, your training has been great. I think you are ready physically, but a little faith can't hurt.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

4 miles easy before leaving for the airport.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 4.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.300.000.000.002.30

I ran easy with Paul around the neighborhood where his sister lives.  I will call it 2.3 miles

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 2.30
Comments
From jtshad on Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 10:29:37 from 204.134.132.225

So, what happened in Indy? Are you ok?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.0016.000.000.0020.00

 I am posting this race report on Monday even though it happened on a Saturday, because the blog is having issues claiming that there is an invalid time format, so it wont let me post on Saturday or Sunday.  Ok, so I am now realizing that it only wont let me post because it is a race report.  It will let me post a non-race report, but it is already on Monday, so it will stay here.

 Well, here goes my third attempt at this.  The first attempt is saved on my broken computer, and the second was tossed when I couldn't even post the first sentence.  Anyhow, this has been a long time coming as I ran the race over 2 months ago and have fallen off the face of the planet since then.

To put the race in perspective two months later is fairly simple.  I had two things going against me, the first being that on race morning it was cold (27 degrees) and the second was that my training had not been what I had wanted due to struggling to adjust to issues with the heat in Las Vegas.  The second issue was the biggest problem for me as hindsight tells me that I wouldn't have made it more than about 15 miles on pace even in ideal conditions as my fitness was not what I was hoping it would have been.  As it happened, it was cold (I had not stepped outside in temps colder than 50 degrees in months) and I was not dressed appropriately.  I was tight from the very beginning of the race, and I never loosened up as it was honestly too cold for me.  So, I ended up only staying on pace for about 6 miles, at which point I made the conscious decision to slow down in hopes that I would loosen up a bit at a slower pace, and thus be able to finish faster.  However this did not work, and I was almost a minute and 20 seconds off pace by the halfway mark.  I decided at around 14 miles that I would drop out, and by 16 miles I was no longer trying to run fast, as I was simply trying to decide how long I would run before stopping.  I was still in the money, but knowing that my only goal in going to this race was to qualify for the trials and that was not going to happen I felt that it would be a smarter choice for me to not finish so as to not destroy my body in an effort to break 2:30.

So, basically this race comes down to me simply not being in good enough shape to run a fast marathon, and the cold temperatures only served to make the situation worse.  The good thing for me is that being in Las Vegas I will be able to get more high quality workouts in during the winter than in Provo, as there wont be snow on the ground.

I also had a very good experience with the people that picked me up after I dropped out of the race.  I was talking to them in the van as they drove me back to the starting line and they asked me why I had chosen this particular marathon.  I was about to spout off my generic response about wanting a fast flat marathon at which to qualify for the Olympic Trials, and the thought came to mind that I should be not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.  So, instead I told the the real reason I went to Indianapolis, being that I am not willing to run a marathon on Sunday in order to keep the sabbath day holy, with the more generic response really being more of a secondary reason for picking Indy.  I received a very positive response as the couple driving the van started to quote scripture affirming that they believed the same way as I do.  I ended up having a nice conversation with them before they dropped me off, and once we returned to the starting line the driver offered a word of prayer.  It was a nice way to end an otherwise disappointing experience.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.000.000.000.0014.00

In order to catch up on my blog entries I am going to catch up a week at a time.

 14 total miles for the week after the marathon.  the original plan was to get right back into things, but after some though I decided that I needed a little more of a break.  Most of the running I did do was barefoot either on the grass, or on a treadmill.  The treadmill gave me blisters. 

Barefoot Miles: 13.00Crocs Miles: 1.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
46.200.000.000.0046.20

Another very relaxed week.  No running Monday, and only 1 mile on Tuesday.  I ran twice on Thursday, but not very far on the second run because my stomach was bothering me and Kimia picked me up on my way home from school.  On Friday I ran mostly barefoot on the grass, and on Saturday I ran a longer run on the trail.

I did do some speedwork this week, but don't remember exactly how much or how fast so I am not blogging any of it.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60Brooks Axiom Miles: 8.60Adidas Adizero Miles: 15.00Barefoot Miles: 9.00New Balance 758 Miles: 2.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 3.00
Race: Mesa Mi Amigos Turkey Trot (6.2137 Miles) 00:31:41, Place overall: 3
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.800.006.200.0012.00

I ran a local turkey trot today.  I was expecting that I would probably win the race, but I knew that on occasion some really fast guys showed up.  I drove to the race with my dad, and I met an uncle and a few cousins at the race (I have tons of family in Arizona).  Anyhow, I got warmed up and went to the start of the race.

The race started, and I took off behind a taller guy.  He didn't look too imposing, but he took off pretty quick at the beginning of the race.  When I saw the tattoo of the olympic rings on his calf I knew I was in trouble.  Ends up it was Andrew Lemoncello, who was an Olympian for Great Britain in the steeplechase in Beijing.  My problem at this point was that I was way out in front, but loosing ground to Lemoncello quickly, and it was super windy.  Just my luck, as it is always windy in Vegas.  Anyhow, I made it through the mile in 4:59, and hit 2 miles in 10:00.  I hit the three mile mark in 15:11, and then 4 miles in 20:19.  I was passed by a running from NAU during the 4th mile.  He had a teammate who had run at nationals on Monday who was pacing him, as he had been the last man left off the team to nationals and this was his season ending race.  The pacer was good for him as he didn't have to fight the wind as much the first 3 miles, and he was able to catch me during the 4th mile.  I was able to hold it together and stay with him through about 4.5 miles, and after that he slowly started to pull away.  The mile marker at 5 miles was wrong, but I hit 6 miles in 30:41 (5:11 average for 2 miles) and I finished a minute later.  The NAU runner was 12 seconds ahead of me, and Lemoncello finished in 29:51.  He honestly did not even look like he was trying very hard when I was close enough to see him, and I think he would have broken into the 28's if it weren't for the wind.

Overall, a decent race for me.  It was a good way to knock some of the rust off as I start to try and get back into the swing of things. 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 10.00Barefoot Miles: 2.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
46.355.000.000.2551.60

Mostly easy stuff this week other than the race on Thursday.  I did run a hard 400 on Wednesday in 59 seconds.  I also ran pretty hard for about 5 miles on the way to school on Tuesday because I thought I had a meeting that I needed to be at (meeting was cancelled) and I was late because of some Dr. issues.

Total mileage for the week is what I have blogged here, plus the race on Thursday. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 10.00Asics Speedstar Miles: 4.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 6.00Adidas Adizero Miles: 15.00Barefoot Miles: 8.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
45.1016.700.000.0061.80

Kimia and I got home from Arizona late on Sunday, and I had a project due on Monday which was not finished until just before class Monday afternoon.  I ended up taking an extra day off on Monday to recover from the travel and the lack of sleep finishing the project.

the rest of the week went well, as I ran an 8.6 mile tempo home from school on Tuesday averaging 5:33 on the way home despite it being windy (I was late coming home and the bishop was coming to visit).  I also ran an 8.1 mile tempo at Sunset park on Saturday as part of my long run (2.7 mile loop x 3).  Wind was less of an issue on Saturday as I was on a loop and I got a little bit of everything, but the trail I was on does twist and turn a lot and there was a net slowing effect from the wind, it simply was not as pronounced as it usually is.  I averaged 5:30 for the tempo, while averaging 5:17 the last 2.7, and 5:26 for the 2.7 miles before that after an opening loop that was considerably slower.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 13.60Brooks Axiom Miles: 8.60Adidas Adizero Miles: 18.00New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 11.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
62.2010.000.000.0072.20

So I realized that the details I put in for last week actually should belong with this week, but I don't feel like fixing it.  So, I think it is sufficient to simply state that what is written here should be swapped with what is written for last week (I did fix mileage, so the weekly mileage and shoe mileage is correct and should not be swapped).

Anyhow, two weeks ago I ran a 6 mile tempo run on Saturday as part of an 18 mile long run and I averaged about 5:40 pace for most of it.  I also did some speedwork during the week, mostly shorter repeats while running to school and the occasional "fat" mile.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 10.00Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60Brooks Axiom Miles: 13.60Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
70.900.000.000.0070.90

I ran with Anita in the baby stroller on Monday.  A little over 12 miles total.  I ran to school most of the other days.  I ran my long run on Friday because we drove to California on Saturday and I ran 20 miles.  I didn't really push the long run much, but I kept the entire thing quick and I ended up hitting the last 5 miles in about 29 minutes.  Other than that my week was fairly boring.  I know that I did a little bit of speed work, but I don't remember how much.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 10.00Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 12.20Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00New Balance 758 Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
65.0015.000.000.0080.00

I have been in California all week.  I am not sure how many miles of speedwork I have done exactly as I have just been throwing in some speed whenever I feel like it, so I will count 15 miles total as I ran an 11 mile tempo on Saturday, and I figure that I ran about 4 miles extra that were fast before then.  The Saturday tempo was at an average pace of 5:35.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 12.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 12.00Brooks Axiom Miles: 12.00Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00New Balance 758 Miles: 12.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
53.002.001.750.2557.00

I ran half of this week up until now in Campbell, and half in Concord.  I am blogging 4 miles of speedwork during the week, but it was honestly quite a bit more than that as I have been running a lot faster than normal on my runs, and I will randomly run a 6:00 mile on occasion.  I think it is because of the fact that I am sleeping a lot since I am on vacation (9-10 hours per night).  I just have more energy than normal.  I have been averaging 7:00 pace or faster on many of my runs since getting to California, although I kept the pace a lot slower today (Friday) as I have a race tomorrow, and I think that running this fast every day is not so good for me as my right calf is starting to act up a bit.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 12.00Asics Speedstar Miles: 12.00Brooks Axiom Miles: 13.00New Balance 758 Miles: 8.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3430.49234.7985.6015.623766.50
Adidas Adizero Miles: 274.70New Balance 758 Miles: 865.05Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 1506.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 231.70Asics Speedstar Miles: 289.00Brooks Axiom Miles: 272.20Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 10.94Barefoot Miles: 41.00Crocs Miles: 11.10
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