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
2980.44461.2243.1521.543506.35
Adidas Adizero Miles: 644.30Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 605.30Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 591.25New Balance 758 Miles: 152.50Brooks Axiom Miles: 293.65Asics Speedstar Miles: 468.00Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 6.20Barefoot Miles: 40.00Saucony Kinvara Miles: 430.70Crocs Miles: 2.25Puma Faas 200 Miles: 71.60Puma Faas 250 Miles: 23.85
Race: Resolution run 5 miler (5 Miles) 00:26:35, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.001.005.000.0020.00

So, I am so very far behind in my blogging, as I have not had computer access for a while as my computer broke, and I never was able to blog when at school, or on vacation until now.  Anyhow, I will get caught up with everything as soon as possible, but until then I will start with the beginning of this year.

I found out about this race on the 29th of December, and I saw that there had been good competition the previous year (Iain Hunter was third and got beat by 1:25 by the winner), and the race was close by in an area I was familiar with.  So, I figured I would try to get a comp into the race.  I called up the race director, and he agreed to give me half price on the entry.  Normally I wouldn't run a race unless I got a full comp, but I felt like I needed to get in a race, so I agreed to the half price deal.

I ran from the in-laws house to the race (about 6 miles) and then warmed up a little more after I got there.  Temps were a little colder than I am used to but not bad, however it was raining, and it was a little windy, so the ground was very wet and there were puddles scattered throughout the race course along with wet leaves and mud on occasion.  The race started, and I shot out to the front.  The competition I was hoping for did not show up, and I was all alone for the entire race.  My closest competition was a woman who finished 1:56 behind me (very impressive time for a woman, but I was alone nonetheless).

The race starts on the track at Los Gatos High School, and then runs uphill for the majority of the first half on a fairly wide dirt/gravel trail (there is some pavement near the turn-around).  There are  two monster uphills in the first half that are so steep I would not be surprised if I was only hitting 7:00 pace going up them (I really have no idea how fast or slow I was going on these hills, but nothing would surprise me).  The second of the two big hills is paved, but it is long and ends at the turn-around on top of the dam a little past the halfway point of the race.  After the turn-around you run back downhill, and it is so steep that your biggest concern becomes not hurting yourself, and you end up braking more than running down the hill (honestly these hills were that steep.  Running down them hurt).  At the end of the race you come back onto the track and run an additional 350m to the finish

From the beginning of the race I tried to hit a pace that was hard but comfortable as I was running alone, and I made it to the mile mark in 5:07, with the first 650m on the track, followed by pavement and then the trail, with rolling on the pavement, and a slight uphill on the trail.  There were no mile markers after the first, but there are markers every half mile on the trail, and I caught one split before I hit the first big uphill (2:44 all of it unpaved and slightly uphill).  I didn't catch any more splits the rest of the way because the turn-around is past the halfway mark, so I had nothing to base time on, and I failed to catch the markers on the trail on the way back down.  I accidentally ran past the turn-around because there was nothing marking it, and the guy that was manning the aid station didn't tell me anything until after I had passed the turn and had slowed down trying to figure out where it was supposed to be.  Just after running down the first big hill I also stepped on a decent sized rock, and it got stuck in the heel of my shoe.  I slowed down trying to get it out, and I eventually stopped to try and pry it out.  However, the rock was stuck pretty good, so I started running again and I left it in my shoe (it kind of hurt because it was digging into my heel through the bottom of my shoe, but otherwise it wasn't too bad).  I didn't really push the pace much during the second half of the race, due to the downhill, the rain, wind, mud, the rock in my shoe, and not having much motivation as nobody was close to me, but I still made an attempt to push the pace the last mile or so.  I came in to finish in 26:35, with the first place woman finishing in 28:31.  The second place man was maybe 30 seconds to a minute behind her.

I was pleased with the time given the conditions, as last year in good weather, with good competition the winner only ran 30 seconds faster.  I figure that that the missed turn and the rock in my shoe cost me about 10 seconds.  The wind cost me maybe 5-10 seconds, and the rain probably cost me about 30 seconds more.  If I would have had competition I may have been able to chop another 10-20 seconds off of my time.  Overall, I am pleased, and I feel like things are getting on track to make for a good 2011.

 After the race I was talking to the women's winner, who recently moved to the bay area, and who runs for one of the local track clubs.  She wants to try and get an OTQ next year, and is trying to decide between either Boston, or Country Music/Grandma's etc.  In her opinion Boston is about 3 minutes slower than the other courses (for an elite woman) simply because at Boston the women have their own start, whereas at the other races the men and women run together.  I have always assumed that women have an advantage by being able to run with men, but I had never heard anyone put a number on it, so I would be interested in hearing what others think.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Comments
From Burt on Sat, Jan 08, 2011 at 15:25:58 from 72.223.84.236

Great race. Nice to see you some more of your reports. Wish I could have come watched you run in Mesa.

From Paul on Sat, Jan 08, 2011 at 21:32:37 from 174.27.212.238

Good job. Glad to see you are still alive.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

The race on Saturday had so much downhill during the second half that it really hashed my legs up and even though I am not really sore now I decided to take it easy today and I only ran 10 miles as opposed to the 12 miles I have done for most easy runs here in CA.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.500.000.500.0012.00

I ran easy again today.  My right calf is still feeling tight.  This is probably partially due to the race on Saturday, and partially from other things (running too fast on easy runs, not massaging when I knew I needed to, etc).  12 miles total.  I did run a half mile fast near the end of the run just to shake my legs out a bit (2:29 split).

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

The plan was to run 12-14 miles today, but my calf started bothering me a lot more during my run today, so I cut it down to 10 miles.  I stopped about 4.5 miles into the run and massaged my calf out for a little while and that helped.  No more pain for the rest of the run after the massage.

I found a good sized knot in the muscle just above the insertion point of the calf on the tibia.  It is the same problem that led to a stress fracture just before the St. George Marathon in 2007 except on the opposite leg.  It has almost always been the left leg that has caused me problems in the past, but ever since I switched to more of a forefoot strike I have had more problems with the right leg.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.007.00

I shortened up my run again today because of my calf.  It honestly wasn't any worse than yesterday, but I started to feel pain a little earlier in the run, and I had been massaging the calf yesterday evening, which may have actually caused more discomfort (when I really massage deep and hard I often am sore for a day or so afterwards).  Anyhow, I cut the run to 7 miles just to be on the safe side.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 7.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

My leg was feeling a little bit better today, so I ran 10 miles again.  There is still some point tenderness near the bone, but not enough to cause discomfort while running.  I finished 10 miles in 1:14:53, which is a lot faster than I had been running the last couple of days (I had been averaging no faster than 8:00 pace the last 2 days) but it was still slow enough for me to feel comfortable and relaxed.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

The original plan was to run after we got home from CA as I wanted to give my leg a little bit more of a rest before another run.  However, one thing led to another and we didn't get home until 11:45pm so I didn't run.  It doesn't concern me much because my calf will probably appreciate the rest.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Easy run today.  My leg felt much better than last week after taking two days off, but there was still just a little bit of point tenderness near the bone as the calf is still not completely knot free.

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

Just ran easy today, along the Pittman wash trail.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.000.000.000.005.00

Just five miles today.  I could have run more, but I am taking this week (as well as last week) easy in order to get over the calf issues I was having.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.001.000.0010.00

Easy run today.  Calf feeling just a little bit tight before the run, but I massaged it, and during the run it felt fine.  I tested out running with long socks on, as the extra support on the calf seems to help (not sure if this is reality, but it seems to help).  Later on in the run I ran 1 mile hard in the low 5:00 range to test out the calf, and also to practice running relaxed, as I think that part of why my calf muscles tend to lock up on me is because I am too tense when I run.  If I can run relaxed I think that long term I will have less issues in the lower leg.

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

I am starting to feel a lot better now, so I ran today's run a lot faster than my other runs I have done lately.  For the most part I have been hitting about 7:30 pace during my runs, but today I averaged just a shade under 7:00 pace for 10 miles.  I also threw in a few 15-20 second sprints to test out my calf.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.605.400.000.0015.00

As I am still testing out my calf to see if it will be fine I didn't want to run a full long run of 20 miles today, but I wanted to run more than 10 miles, and I compromised running 15.  I ran out to Sunset Park and ran my second tempo run there (the first being in December) running two loops on the 2.7 mile trail that goes around a portion of the park.  As the trail loops around almost continually the effect of the ever-present wind is lessened and at times I even got a tail wind!  However, the wind still ends up slowing you down and it is impossible to know for sure how much it affects you.  Even minus the wind this trail is not fast due to the constant twists and turns, but it is fairly flat so it is the best location for me to do tempo runs that I can think of.  Anyhow, I ran 4 miles to the park, plus about 1.6 miles extra before starting my tempo run.  I wanted to start off hard to test how my calf would hold up running something a little more dynamic, and also to see how well I would be able to maintain the effort when starting off by running hard.  I was pleased with the results of the tempo as my calf held up pretty well (a few twinges near the beginning but otherwise fine) and after starting off faster than I could maintain for 5 miles I was still able to rally and run the second loop faster than the first (14:08, 14:05) to finish with a total time of 28:13 for 5.4 miles (5:13 average).  I ran home after finishing to finish up the 15 miles.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.501.500.000.0010.00

Today I made a point to keep the effort easy when it was supposed to be easy.  I ran 10 miles on the Pittman wash.  I ran a "fat" mile just after the turn-around in 5:26, and then a half mile later on in 2:33 (big downhill on this one, probably worth about 5-7 seconds).  I finished the run in 1:14:42.

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

10 miles easy in about 1:17.  I did run a few strides during the second half of the run.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.003.000.000.0014.00

I ran to school this morning.  On the way I ran approximate 2 mile, then 1 mile intervals.  I use the streets to measure out the mileage, and while I don't know if any of the intervals are the exact distance I want, I know that they are close.  I also know that the individual "miles" in the 2 mile interval are the same distance.  The same can not be said for the 1 mile interval.  While I know that the distance is very close to 1 mile I am not sure how close the distance is to the other 2 miles, as the street distances get messed up in that part of town.

Anyhow, I ran the 2 mile interval in 10:53 (5:39, 5:14) with a solid head wind the first mile, followed by a cross/tail wind the second mile after I turned North onto Eastern Ave.  The result was a very slow first mile, and a second mile that was aided ever so slightly, as the effort during the 2 miles probably would have given me something like a 5:22, 5:18 split without wind.  I ran the last fast mile after a 1 mile rest somewhere in the 5:24-5:28 range (I was unsure about my ending point so I took my split at two different spots).  This mile also had a headwind that was similar to the headwind I had earlier on, but I was pushing harder.  I finished 8.8 miles in 1:00:26.

PM:  I ran part of the way home, about 5.2 miles total and Kimia picked me up.  I also ran a couple of strides just before getting picked up.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 8.80Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.600.000.000.008.60

I just took it nice and easy today.  8.6 miles on the way to school in 1:05:06.

New Balance 758 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Another easy run today.  I ran with Anita in the running stroller this morning so the pace was even slower than it otherwise would have been.  I did throw in some strides averaging 15-16 seconds each (7 total) which were spread throughout the run, but mostly occurring during the first half of the run.  Total time of 1:19:43 for 10 miles.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00
Race: St. George Half Marathon (13.35 Miles) 01:09:41, Place overall: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.1513.350.000.0018.50

Kimia and I drove up from Las Vegas for the St. George Half on Friday evening for the race this morning.  Temperatures were a little colder than I am used to (I know, I am a wuss now that I live in Vegas) so I came prepared this time (unlike with the Indy Monumental in Nov when I only had shorts in 27 degree weather).  I copied Paul to an extent and went with some compression shorts and long socks that cover my calves.  I got in about 3 miles before the race started and also did a couple strides just before the start, in addition to taking off the long shirt, coat, and pants that I was wearing.

The gun went off and I immediately shot off to the front.  I was unexpectedly alone for the first few meters, but I knew that others would be in the mix, so I backed off and waited for Paul to catch up.  He did, as well as Fritz and the three of us went through the first 2 miles in a fairly leisurely pace (5:29, 5:27).  We were actually chatting quite a bit at the beginning, but we started to get more serious past the two mile mark.  We hit mile three in 5:14 despite a decent hill near the end of it, followed by a 5:01.  Fritz fell off the pace near the beginning of the fourth mile, and it was just Paul and I after that.  We hit the fifth mile in 5:11, followed by a 5:13 for mile 6 (total time of 31:35).  

The seventh mile was a 5:20, and I am honestly not sure why we slowed down, but we hit mile 8 together in 5:01 (41:56).  I started to struggle during mile 9, and Paul pulled ahead of me.  He had about 1 second on me at the 9 mile mark (5:17 split), but we made a couple of turns shortly thereafter and I caught back up before we had even made it 150m past the 9 mile mark.  However, this was to be short lived as I started to get a cramp in my side, and Paul feeling good, put in a strong surge and dropped me pretty quick.  I worked through the cramp and was feeling better by the time that I hit the 10 mile mark (5:09 split, 52:22 total) and I started to focus on keeping Paul close.  

During the 11th mile I figured that Paul was about 15 seconds ahead of me, and things didn't look any different when I hit that mark with a split of 5:12.  However, just past the 11 mile mark we went up a steep but short hill and I lost sight of Paul.  I decided to use the hill as a chance to make up some room and I pushed hard up the hill.  The reason I couldn't see Paul is because the course looped back on itself near the end, and as Paul and I were getting to the end of the race there were other people who were only 6 or 7 miles into the race that we now had to pass.  There were so many people that I was constantly yelling at people to warn them, and swerving all over the trail.  On occasion I would bump people or leave the trail entirely in order to get past them.  The last 3 miles of this race were really a mess.  Anyhow, after I got to the top of the hill I still could not see Paul, but I heard another runner mention that the race was going to be pretty close.  It was only a few seconds later that I caught sight of Paul again and realized that my surge up the hill had worked and I had closed close to half of the distance between us.  I decided to use a downhill section on the course to attempt the same thing shortly thereafter and I closed the gap even more.  I continued to push in order to close the gap, and by the 12 mile marker I was maybe 1 or 2 seconds back (5:16 split, 1:02:50 total).

This split was the last that I caught before the race got even weirder.  I passed Paul just after crossing a bridge and he immediately surged to take back the lead.  We were then weaving in and out of people trying to stay in front of one another, and we missed the final turn we were supposed to take to finish the race.  There were supposed to be people manning the turn, but they didn't direct us to take the turn, and there were spectators standing in the way as well, further muddling the picture.  Somehow Paul heard a guy mention that we had passed the turn, and once we realized that we had gone past the turn we both turned around and went back towards the finish.

This was a real momentum killer for me after I had spent so much time catching back up to Paul.  I was slower turning around then he was, and I was a step behind from here to the finish.  Once we made the correct turn Paul really started to push, and I made no move to cover.  I am really mad at myself for not taking more of a shot at winning this at the end.  When Paul made his move I thought to myself that I would wait just a little longer and then really kick hard on the homestretch to try and win, but I was already a couple seconds behind before we even got to the homestretch and at this point I just didn't have anything left in me to try and catch Paul again and I ended up finishing 3 seconds back.  It is possible that Paul still would have out kicked me even if I would have tried to cover his move, but I wish that I would have tried.  On a more positive note, I am very pleased that I was able to keep pushing and catch back up to Paul after he dropped me earlier on in the race.  I really am pleased that I was able to catch back up, as mentally getting dropped can leave you demoralized and it is easy to give up and is hard to make up ground on a runner (especially when you have to dodge around a trail full of people).

Overall I think this was a good race.  I feel really positive about how things went.  I figure that I would have finished in about 1:08:20 if it weren't for the missed turn, which is a very good time, and I feel good about how I competed (with the exception being the last few hundred meters). 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 18.50
Comments
From Burt on Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 01:00:14 from 72.223.84.236

Awesome report. Too bad about not seeing the turn. That is a momentum killer.

From MichelleL on Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 01:22:54 from 75.220.227.81

Good job on the race and making up ground so late in the race. There's almost always room to dig deeper, but you had a good race. It was nice to chat with you and Kimia.

From Maurine/Miles on Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 10:03:42 from 97.117.70.62

Great job on the race!

From Jon on Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 10:44:58 from 74.177.82.79

Sounds like a good race, Jeff- don't be too hard on yourself at the end. You'll have that killer drive next time.

From steve ash on Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 10:53:21 from 64.134.224.97

Jeff, You did everything you could to overtake Paul but hey.. I'd take your time anyday! Very nice running.

From Steve Hooper on Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 11:27:33 from 209.33.254.93

Hey Jeff, good to see you yesterday. What a great race and a great time. Keep up the good work.

From Paul on Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 15:15:09 from 174.27.207.154

Nice battle out there today. You really surprised me when you passed me with a mile to go, but it made for an interesting end (along with the turn mishap). At least we both missed the turn, instead of just one of us. All in all it was a fun race.

From Kelli on Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 21:08:17 from 71.219.84.215

It was great to see you two fly by for those of us in the back, but I was so frustrated that people were not moving out of your way. You guys looked like mountain climbers at times jumping off the trail. Really bummer about the crowds making such a mess of things, that trail was too narrow to have loops going on like that! However, you handled it with finesse!

Nice race.

From Walter on Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 21:25:17 from 24.10.169.110

Great Job Jeff! If Fritz were any closer to you two he would have snuck a win from you guys.

From Fritz on Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 22:11:01 from 67.182.226.25

Nice job Jeff. Amazing that you were able to catch back up and almost pull it off. Next time!

From jtshad on Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 10:05:59 from 204.134.132.225

Nice tactical race, you ran strong. Congrats on the great time, too bad about the issues at the end of the course. You guys are just amazing!

From Holt on Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 10:11:24 from 204.113.55.41

Great race Jeff.

From Superfly on Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 12:27:47 from 208.117.127.110

Way to run!

From mtaylor on Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 02:42:04 from 174.52.133.21

Great race Jeff, I can tell that you have been training well.

From Seth on Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 11:48:43 from 199.188.28.8

Great running! A few of your earlier posts have helped my own running, so keep it up!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Just an easy run this morning.  There is still some lingering soreness/muscle fatigue in my calves that hasn't gone away yet.  During the run I actually felt pretty good, but on occasion my calves would remind me that I ran a race on Saturday.  Total time of 1:14:06 for 10 miles.

I have also been thinking a bit more about my race from Saturday.  I actually felt very positively about the whole experience despite being mad at myself about how I finished the last quarter or so which didn't allow me the chance to pull out a win.  After some thought I think the real reason why I feel so good about things is because this is the first time since I switched to a forefoot strike while running that I feel I have been able to run a complete effort in a race longer than a 10k.  I ran very well at the Provo City Half last year, but I was only able to make it through 7 miles before I started slowing (despite having a mild tailwind from about 7.5 to 12 miles).  At the Utah Valley Half I made it through about 5.5 miles before I started to struggle.  However, on Saturday I was able to maintain pace without feeling like I was starting to fade throughout the entire race.  This may have been aided by the slow start, but it still reflects 11+ miles of hard, fast running without fading.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Comments
From Kam on Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 14:04:20 from 68.66.163.179

You had an amazing race on Sat. Everything except the win. Nice job today.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.600.000.000.0014.60

Easy run on the way to school this morning.  Total time of 1:03:10 for 8.6 miles.  The last bit of lingering fatigue/soreness in my calves is finally going away.  I may do some strides on the way home.

PM:  I ran a little bit at school on the anti-gravity treadmill as a demonstration for some people interested in a partnership with our lab at UNLV, and then I ran 5.8 miles on the way home before I met Kimia, who had been grocery shopping and who picked me up after finishing.  I did run 6 sprints on the way home averaging about 11 seconds for each one.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.80Brooks Axiom Miles: 5.80
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.854.200.000.2518.30

I ran to school today, and after getting to school I ran a hard 400 to get a feel for what type of effort it would take to run one in the low 60's after running for almost 9 miles.  I started off pretty hard, and I hit the 200 mark in 29-30 seconds.  I then let up a bit the last 200, slowing a lot just before the line, and I finished with a 61.  So, I was right about where I wanted to be, and the effort did not feel too hard.  I actually considered taking it to 600 near the end, but decided against it.  I then ran a slow lap on the track and then ran to the lab to finish the run.  I will call the total distance 9.7 miles.  Time was probably in the 1:12-1:13 range.

PM: I ran home from school.  8.6 miles in 57:11.  I ran a 4.2 mile tempo on the way home in 23:38 (5:37 average).  Considering the effort the tempo was really slow.  I ran the last mile of the tempo in what felt like a 5:15 effort and I ran that mile in 5:30.  There was a little wind, but it was honestly negligible as far as time was concerned.  Maybe 5-10 seconds total for the entire tempo.  I was confused enough about the slow time that I even plugged the course I ran for the tempo into the course tool, and the distance came out exactly as long as I thought it was.  I think that I was just tired after being at school all day, plus running a hard 400 this morning (even though it was just 1 x 400) in addition to running strides on the way home from school yesterday.  It was all little stuff, but it adds up.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 8.60Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 9.70
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.600.000.000.008.60

I felt pretty tired today, but surprisingly no so bad while I was running.  I ran to school, 8.6 miles in 1:00:54.  My calf was feeling tight before I started, but after I had been running a mile or so it loosened up and felt fine.

New Balance 758 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles this morning.  I was still feeling a little tired when I first got up this morning, so instead of taking Anita in the running stroller, I waited for Kimia to get home from her walk and I ran alone.  I wasn't trying to go fast at all, but I ended up finishing the run in 1:11:50ish.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.606.250.000.2517.10

Today's run was a little odd in terms of it being a long run, but I think I got a decent workout in so I am not upset at all.  This past week had me pretty tired by the end of it, and despite going to bed on time I stayed in bed later than normal and I got up at 8:00 this morning.  Because of that I had less time to run before Kimia went to a stake women's conference.  So, I ran 8.25 miles with the plan to finish that and then take Anita in the running stroller for the remainder of the run.  I ran 8.25 miles in 48:55 (5:55 average), running 5.75 miles as a tempo in 31:35 (approximately) running half of the tempo on a rolling uphill, and then the second half on a rolling downhill.  During the downhill section I started chasing a guy on a bike.  I would gain on him every time the grade was flat or uphill, but then he would gain on me when it was downhill.  I split a half mile in 2:27 while chasing him, and in the next half mile he turned off of the trail, so my fun ended.

After I got home to pick up Anita I got a bad cramp in my right calf.  I think it is because my calf has still not recovered fully from either the issues it was having at the beginning of the month, or the half marathon last Saturday.  I think running hard downhill is really what did me in, I need to remember not to do that any more.  Anyhow, I decided to massage it out before finishing the run with Anita, and while I was doing that Anita fell asleep.  So, I ended up letting Anita sleep, and I waited for Kimia to get home from the women's conference before I finished the run.

My calf was still sore and hurt some when I left again (even though I had been at home for about 3.5 hours) so I decided against running a full 20 today.  I ended up running out 4 miles and coming back, adding a detour to the track near the end.  I ran another half mile or so fast while running uphill on the way out.  I didn't measure or time it, but I got going pretty quick.  At the end of the run I wanted to see what kind of quarter speed I had left after 16+ miles, so I ran a quarter on the track finishing in 1:04.  There was some wind on the track, but not enough to slow me down by more than a second or so (I couldn't feel the tail wind when I had it, so the head wind must have not been too strong either).  I finished what I will call 8.85 miles in 1:02:38 (1:51:33 total for 17.1 miles).

My calf is still bugging me as I write this.  It doesn't feel like I hurt it at all, it just feels like it is sore after a hard race or workout.  I probably should have taken it easier than I did during the middle of last week since I had run a half the previous Saturday.  Hopefully the slightly easier than normal Saturday run and Sunday off will let it recover so that I can keep up with my training next week. 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 17.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I took it really easy today.  My calf was feeling just a little weird, but was fine otherwise.  I averaged just under 8:00 pace for the first 5 miles when I was running mostly uphill, and then came back a fair amount faster while running downhill.  Total time of 1:15:50 for 10 miles.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.100.000.000.0014.10

Ran pretty easy this morning on the way to school.  1:06:02 for 8.6 miles.  Surprisingly there was very little wind for the first 7 miles or so of the run, and the wind after that was only moderately bad.  I am not looking forward to the evening run however, as there is a wind advisory warning and gusts are supposed to get up to 60mph+ in some areas.  Hopefully it is a tail wind, I would actually enjoy that.

Ok, the wind was a disappointment.  Here I was anticipating wind, and dreading it, but secretly kind of excited to be able to battle 60mph winds on the way home... and I ended up getting wind that was no stronger than on average, and at times even weaker than normal.  So much for that wind advisory warning.  Anyhow, I ran 5.5 miles in the evening in 43:11.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 5.50Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.205.000.000.0017.20

Sasha and his family are passing through town, so they stayed with us last night and I ran with Sasha this morning.  It is the first time in a while that I have run with someone else.  I ran to school, and Sasha went with me and then turned around after 5 miles, and I continued on the rest of the way to school alone.  We kept the pace fairly easy.  Total time of 1:04:33 for 8.6 miles.

PM:  I ran home from school today with a total time of 55:11.  I ran what I will call a 5 mile tempo on the way back in 28:11.  I was not too pleased with the time for the tempo.  I am not sure what it is, but in the evenings I have issues going much faster than 5:40 when I am on the way home from school.  I started the tempo at sub 5:20 pace for the first mile, and then turned onto Eastern Ave, where I was hit with strong but sporadic gusts of wind for the last 4 miles.  When there was wind I can understand slowing a little bit (especially owing to the fact that I was wearing a coat and it acts like a sail when the wind hits it), but I wasn't going any faster even when there was no wind.  I can't even pull out the fatigue card this time and say I was tired, as I felt fine before the tempo and I hadn't run anything hard since last Saturday.  Anyhow, there is something that maybe I am just not seeing that makes this stretch of road super slow.  I will hopefully figure it out someday.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran to school again this morning.  I kept the pace easy, and made it to school in 1:03:03 for 8.6 miles.

PM:  I ran most of the way home from school, and Kimia picked me up on the way home, as she was already out in my direction.  I kept the pace pretty easy, but did hit a couple miles in the low 7:00 range.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 6.40Brooks Axiom Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Just another easy run this morning.  I finished 10 miles in 1:14:xx.  I felt fine, and I am looking forward to a hard workout tomorrow.  I have kept this week pretty light as far as speed work is concerned, so I am excited for a workout that is actually fast.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.408.100.500.0020.00

I know this is long, but the end is interesting, so skip to the end if you don't want to read it all. 

Long run this morning.  I ran out to Sunset Park, with the goal of running a 10.8 mile tempo at close to marathon goal pace.  This meant that I would be running four loops of the park, with a goal time per loop of 14:24 (5:20 pace).  This is more challenging than it would seem, because this park twists and turns all over the place, and there is always the possibility of wind, which can really hurt you if it is strong (but it is a loop, so you get tailwind too).

I got to the park, and the wind was really bad.  I was hoping that it would let up during the tempo, but no luck there.  I realized how lucky I have been the last two times I have run tempo runs here as the wind those days was nothing compared to today (I think I was even complaining about the wind a little then, whereas now I realize I was just being a wuss).  I also realized how much the wind can help you when it is at your back, as at times you don't really notice a tailwind when you have one and it feels like you are fighting the wind all the time, when in reality the wind is helping you almost as much as it is hurting you.

I started the tempo 5.2 miles into my run (37:44 for the warm-up) and things were immediately hard as I was starting heading into the wind.  When I got a tail wind I felt like I was really cruising along, but I mostly had a headwind for the first half of the loop.  I got more tail wind in the second half of the loop, but still some headwind and I came around in 15:00 (ouch, 36 seconds off goal pace, 5:33 average).  I pushed harder during the windy sections on the second loop and I was able to speed up a bit (14:42, 5:26 pace).  I realized in part how strong the wind was on the second loop when I passed a lady on roller blades who was standing with her arms stretched out, who was letting the wind push her.  At the beginning of the third loop I decided to only run 3 loops instead of 4, so I pushed this loop a little harder.  I hit some of the worst stretches of wind during this loop, but I still finished a few seconds faster in 14:39 (5:25 pace).  Total of 44:21 for the tempo (5:28 average), which was 14 seconds faster than the last time I ran an 8.1 mile tempo here, although I was working a lot harder this time.

I decided that since I had cut my tempo short I was going to finish at the track by my house, by running a couple hard 400's just to see what I could push out of my legs after almost 20 miles.  My legs felt like dead weights the entire way home from Sunset Park.  I felt dead.  On the bright side, the wind stopped almost completely by the time I got to the track, so I had a little luck on my side here.  Once I got to the track and was about to start my first 400 (18 miles into my run) I said out loud to myself, "With how I'm feeling now, I'll be happy if I just break 70."  I ran the 400 in 69 (splits of 35, 34), and I was pushing it.  I felt almost maxed out, and 69 was all I could do.  Knowing that I had 1 more 400 left it is possible that I could have pushed a 67 out of my legs, but definitely no faster.  However, after I ran the first 400 it seemed like my legs just woke up a bit and they remembered how to run fast.  I took a full recovery (3 laps) and started my last 400 at the 19 mile mark of the run.

Just before I started my last 400 a little boy came to the track with his dad and started running around the track in the outside lanes.  I figured it was not big deal as he was in the outside, and I was in lane 1.  So I started my 400 not thinking much of it, but as I came down the back stretch I realized that the little boy had slowly moved from lane 8 all the way over to lane 2.  Still, I thought it would be ok.  I hit the 200m mark in 31 seconds, and I felt great considering I was over 19 miles into my run.  I had already passed the little boy's dad now, and I was about to pass the boy as well, when he moved into lane one as he looked toward his dad.  He saw me barreling towards him and he freaked out and immediately moved off the track.  "Great" I am thinking to myself, "the kid was smart enough to get out of the way".  So, I make no effort to move or slow down, however in the little boy's scared state he ran back onto the track after running off of it, and as I now had no time to react I crashed straight into him and sent him flying.  I went down to the track as well, and after stopping my watch I jumped up to help the little boy who was already being picked up by his dad, screaming.  I checked to make sure he was ok (a few scrapes, but nothing major) and after that I finished my 400 where I had left off, finishing in 65 seconds.  So, I quite possibly destroyed a little boy's desire to ever run on the track again, and in the process ran a disappointing 400 that I was hoping I could finish in 62 seconds.

I then finished my run by running to my house, and then running for a minute or two around the block to finish up the last little bit of my run mileage wise.  Total time of 2:11:29 for 20 miles. 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Comments
From Burt on Sun, Feb 06, 2011 at 12:30:12 from 206.213.40.111

Telling me to skip to the bottom only made me want to read the whole thing all the more.

That poor kid. Haha!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

No running today, but the skin on my right leg still stings a little from my crash on the track yesterday.  It doesn't feel like there is anything more than superficial damage however, so I am not really concerned, I am just whining because my leg stings.

So, yesterday before I started my tempo run, I saw the missionaries out on their bikes.  They challenged me to a "race" and I jokingly told them that they would loose.  I went through a stop light, and after they caught up again I took off and "raced" them for a bit until they had to turn.  Today at church I saw them again, and they told me that they clocked me at 15mph (4:00 mile pace).  That surprised me because my 800 pr is only 2:07, but I felt like I could have maintained that effort for longer than 800m.

Testimony meeting was, and always is good.  The comfort that I feel from knowing what is in store after this life has been on my mind a lot recently, and that seemed to be a theme of sorts during today's meeting. 

Comments
From Burt on Mon, Feb 07, 2011 at 12:31:09 from 206.19.214.144

Wow!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I woke up at 4:40 this morning to run since Kimia had an interview so that she can become a citizen and her interview was at 7:45.  Because I was running so much earlier than normal my body did not want to wake up, and I made it through the first five miles over 1:30 slower than 8:00 pace.  I finally woke up during the second half of the run, and I finished in 1:18:38.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.800.000.000.0014.80

Easy run this morning.  My right leg was hurting some yesterday during the run, so I massaged it out some last night and it felt a little better this morning.  I took it easy just to be safe.  1:05:03 for 8.6 miles.

PM: I ran most of the way home from school before Kimia picked me up.  She had been out on a walk with a friend, so she was in the area.  I kept the pace fairly quick during the run because surprisingly my leg felt better when I was going a tiny bit quicker than normal.  My leg hurt a little more than it did this morning, but was still feeling better than yesterday.  Ran for a total time of 46:04 and what I will call 6.2 miles.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60Brooks Axiom Miles: 6.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.201.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning and at the beginning of the run my leg was feeling pretty good.  I decided to test it and see how good it was really feeling, so after 3 miles I ran a mile hard in 5:13 to test out the leg.  There was no pain during the hard mile, but right after I finished my calf tightened up and I could feel some pain in my tibia where the calf was pulling.  My leg felt like this off and on for the rest of the run, but in general the pain was minimal.  It felt similar to how my leg felt last night.  1:03:52 for 8.6 miles.

PM:  I ran home from school.  8.6 miles in 1:05:49.  I took it slow so as not to hurt my leg worse.  It didn't feel too bad, as it hurt less than it did this morning (after the fast mile).  My hips may be getting out of alignment again, which may be part of my problem with the leg. 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.900.000.000.0014.90

I ran to school, 8.6 miles in 1:04:29.  I kept the pace easy.  My leg was bothering me a bit, but not in the same place as usual, and it wasn't too bad.

PM: I ran most of the way  home from school, running approximately 6.3 miles in 48:xx.  My leg didn't feel too bad, just a dull ache in the tibia. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 6.30New Balance 758 Miles: 8.60
Comments
From steve ash on Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 10:33:41 from 64.134.223.101

Jeff, Are packing your books also when you commute to school that way?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.0010.000.000.0010.00

As I have not really had the chance to run hard this week, I wanted the chance to run hard and fast while still giving my leg a break.  So, I decided to run on the alter-g treadmill in the lab at school.  I ran 10 miles in 50:57, starting at 7:30 pace, moving up to 6:00 pace, and then holding steady at 5:00 pace from the 3-4 minute mark of the run until I had been running for 9 miles.  I started off setting my weight at 50% of normal, and I steadily moved it up until I was at 70% of my body weight 8 miles into the run (went from 50 to 55,60,65,and then 70%).  At the 9 mile mark of the run I started cranking up the speed on the treadmill until I got around 13 mph.  At 9.7 miles I started to bring my body weight back to normal despite running near pr pace for the mile.  I brought my body weight up 1% for each .01 mile I ran from 9.7-9.9 miles.  At this point it was getting too hard to run and change my body weight so I just left my weight at 90% for the last .1 mile.  I finished the last mile in 4:42.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.005.000.000.0020.00

I decided that this week I would run an "easy" 20 miler, meaning that I would not hammer out a long tempo run at a fast pace.  I still wanted to get the run done however, so I was not about to take my time to run 20 miles.  I made it through the first 5 miles in 35:56.  I passed 2 sets of missionaries during these miles.  The second set of missionaries was going the same direction as me, and they were on bikes.  They were surprised to see a guy pass them while on foot.  I made it through the next 5 miles in 34:28.  I suspect that this 5 mile section may have been a little long.  Total time of 1:10:24 at the turn around.  The next 5 mile section took me 32:50 (1:43:14 for 15 miles).  I timed myself over a two mile stretch that was measured on the road during these miles in 12:26.  That is part of why I think that this 5 mile stretch may be long, but I can't be sure unless I measure it.  I passed a third set of missionaries during this section of the run.  I am not sure if seeing all of these missionaries was a good thing or not.  On the one hand I know that they were out working, which is good, however seeing them out also means that they were not inside teaching anyone, which is not so good.  On the bright side, at least I know that they were out trying to find people to teach!  I finished up running the last 5 mile section in 28:25 to finish 20 miles with a total time of 2:11:39.  The last 5 miles was downhill, so I really was not pushing it that hard, but I was happy to go under 30:00 by as much as I did.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

No running today.  I have some sort of stomach bug, and I didn't feel so good this morning.  I felt better by the afternoon and I wanted to run a few miles just to get my legs moving, but I just didn't have time.  I was super antsy by the end of the day.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.700.000.000.0017.70

I ran to school this morning pushing the running stroller with Anita, because Kimia had a doctor's appointment to get her thyroid checked.  It ends up that when she got to the appointment they decided to do an ultrasound instead and she found out the gender of the new baby without me being there.  So, we are having a boy this time around.  I am excited, although I am just a little bit disappointed that I didn't get to be there.

I ran to school with the stroller in 1:05:03.  I didn't really push the pace at all, and luckily the wind wasn't too bad.  After I got to school I also ran from the lab to the institute class that I take on Tuesday mornings so that I wouldn't be late.  I will give myself another half mile for that (although I know it was a bit farther I don't have it measured).

PM:  I ran home from school in 1:04:50.  I ran a few strides on the way home.


Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.203.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning, and I ran 3 x 1 mile repeats on the way to school with about 1 mile recovery in between repeats.  The first repeat was run into a headwind and I finished in 5:25.  The second repeat felt like there was very little wind (so I probably had a tailwind) and I finished it in 5:05.  The third repeat had headwind again, but not as strong as during the first mile, and I finished in 5:19.  I didn't feel as smooth or relaxed on the third repeat as I did on the first two.

I was massaging my leg again this morning, and I noticed that the point tenderness on the bone is gone now.  There is still a nagging ache in my leg at times when I am running, but the pain is not there when I press on the bone, which is positive.

PM:  I ran home from school.  8.6 miles in 55:58.  There was a really strong wind out this evening.  On the plus side, the wind was at my back for 5+ miles of the run.  On the negative side, the wind was in my face for about 3.5 miles.  I was in kind of a competitive mood, so I decided to show the wind who was boss, and I pushed the pace faster than I should have during the really windy sections.  When the wind was at my back I was still putting in about a 7:00 effort (although with the wind and downhill I was averaging in the 6:20's the last 4 miles).  I was really pretty tired in the evening, so I went to bed earlier than normal.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

My leg was bugging me this morning.  I think that I pushed it too hard on my runs yesterday, as I ran mile repeats in the morning, and I didn't allow myself to recover in the evening by running too hard against the wind.  Mainly I think that I was just tired, but as a result my leg hurt.  Total time of 1:14:48 for 10 miles.

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

I realized yesterday afternoon that part of the reason I was feeling like I hadn't recovered properly from Wednesday's runs was because I was actually still sick.  I guess that I had held off whatever bug it was well enough to log a good number of miles on Tue and Wed, but by Thurs it started to catch up with me.  Because of this I scratched the evening run (5 miles) I had planned on doing.  I went to bed early again last night (8:30pm) and I slept in until 7:30am this morning.  I did get up for about a half hour during the night because Anita was screaming (had a rash that her wet diaper didn't agree with) but otherwise I slept pretty well.

When I started my run this morning I was feeling a lot better than I was yesterday, and I cruised through the first few miles a lot faster than yesterday.  However, after about 4.5 miles or so I started to feel like I had no energy and I slogged through the last part of my run pretty slowly to finish 10 miles with a total time of 1:16:05.  So, obviously I am still a little sick, but at least I got a run in.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.605.700.000.0017.30

Long run today.  As I have not been feeling well, I decided to just run and figure out how far I would go once I had been out for a little while.  I figured that I would run a minimum of 15 miles even if I wasn't feeling good, and possibly as many as 20 if I felt great.  I ran out to sunset park, and decided to run a loop of the park hard just to make sure that I would still get a little speed work in even if I started feeling bad.  The wind was pretty strong again (similar to Wednesday, but maybe a little bit weaker).  The wind was significantly stronger than the last time I ran a tempo run here, but for some reason I think that the net effect on me was less as the wind was blowing in a different direction and it slowed me down less in relation to how much it helped me.  Anyhow, I ran the 2.7 mile loop in 14:10 (just under 5:15 average), which made me happy as I was just shooting for a 14:24 (5:20 average).  I then ran two more loops of the park easy.  I started to feel like I was still kind of sick around 10 miles into the run so I decided to run home after the second of the two easy loops around the park.  I still wanted to run some more mileage fast before finishing, so I ran three miles hard followed by one last mile easy.  The wind was against me for only 1:05 of the last 3 miles, followed by a strong tailwind for the rest of it.  I finished the 3 miles in 15:02 with a mile split of 4:55 in the middle of it.  Even though I wasn't feeling 100% prior to the tempo, the wind (plus a mild downhill) really helped.  I made it home to finish 17.3 miles in 1:51:38.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 17.30
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Easy run today.  My legs took most of the run just to feel like they were awake.  I did a few strides during the run just to try and wake myself up a bit.  Total time of 1:15:57 for 10 miles.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.002.500.000.5010.00

I didn't run to school today because of the holiday yesterday (I had no food or clothes there so I couldn't run).  Instead, I drove to school and then ran there.  I ran about 4.5 miles as a warm up, and then went over to the track.  I got lucky today, as there was only minimal wind (it helps that the track is built to minimize the wind).  I ran intervals of 2400, 1600, and 800m with 800 recovery between intervals.  I kept the first interval fairly relaxed and finished it in 7:52, recovery was about 3:40, followed by the 1600 in 5:04.  Again, recovery was about 3:40, but I stopped to fix my shoelaces so it was really more like 4:30ish.  I ran the last interval all out in 2:12 with 200 splits of 31, 33, 34, 34.  I was fairly pleased with the 800, but I was hoping to break 2:10.  I do realize that I had just run two and a half miles of intervals and I kept the recovery brisk, so I guess I really can't expect too much (especially seeing that I only have an 800 pr of 2:07).  After finishing the intervals I ran one last mile on the track before running back to the lab where I work to finish up 10 miles for the day.

PM:  I didn't get enough sleep last night, and this mornings workout took more out of me than I thought it would, so I scrapped the run I had planned for the evening. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.900.000.000.0017.90

I ran over to the track with Anita this morning, as Kimia had gone over there to do a little exercise of her own, and I ran a tiny bit more at the track.  After that, I walked home with Kimia, and then ran to school.  I ran to school faster than I normally do, as I was feeling pretty fluid and smooth as I ran this morning, so it was comfortable to run a little faster.  I finished the 8.6 mile run to school in 1:01:03.

PM:  I ran home from school.  I felt pretty good, and I cruised through the run fairly quickly.  8.6 miles in 1:00:32.  I got home just in time to listen over the phone as my brother opened up his mission call.  He will be going to Argentina on July, 6th.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 9.30
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.206.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school again this morning.  8.6 miles in 1:02:53.  I kept the pace easy, but I plan on doing some speed work on the way home.  Either 2 x 3 miles or a single 6 mile tempo.  Hopefully the wind doesn't pick up this evening.  The wind has been pretty mild this week, so I hope it stays that way this evening as well.

PM:  I ran home from school.  I decided to run 2 x 3 miles hard on the way home because it was windy, and I was hoping for better wind if I had a break before starting the second three miles (ended up being true).  First 3 miles in 16:16 with a mild headwind for the first mile, and then a stronger wind for the last 2 miles (not terrible wind, but still not easy).  Second 3 miles in 16:03.  The second 3 mile section was the same section I ran 3 miles hard at on Saturday.  I had a stronger wind for the first 1:05 (again, same as Saturday) and then had a lighter headwind for the rest of it.  I could have run the second 3 miles faster, but I didn't push the first mile very hard because my legs were feeling tired, but I sped up the last 2 miles.  Total time for 8.6 miles was 51:51.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.000.000.000.0011.00

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:18:26.  Strong winds and uphill on the way out, so I only made it to my halfway mark in 41:21, but with downhill and the wind at my back I finished the second half in 37:05.  My legs were feeling pretty tired after yesterday's workout, so I was glad that I was running easy and didn't need to fight against the wind.

I was shooting some high speed video for a project I was doing for class at UNLV, so I ended up running more on the treadmill at school.  I will call it a mile, but I am not exactly sure how far it was (probably longer than a mile) as I was stopping and starting repeatedly.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00Adidas Adizero Miles: 1.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.0010.000.000.0020.00

My long run today put the cap on what for me was a fairly brutal week running wise.  I normally am not accustomed to running a lot of speed work, but on Tuesday I ran an impromptu speed session (2400,1600,800), and I still wanted to run some longer intervals prior to the long run so I ended up running 2 x 3 miles hard on Thursday evening (a workout which left me feeling just a little sore the next morning).  All put together with the long run, and the fact that I ran 66 miles from Wed until Sat, this week wore me out.  I am definitely ready for no running tomorrow.

My original plan was to run a 4 lap tempo at Sunset park (approx. 10.8 miles).  However, the wind was every bit as bad as yesterday, and knowing that I was already feeling tired, I didn't want to have to fight the wind at the park.  Instead, I decided to run 20 miles out and back on the Pittman wash and up St. Rose Parkway like I did 2 weeks ago.  I am fairly certain that it was 10 miles, but I don't have real accurate mile markers along the route, so I will just estimate 5 mile markers for the sake of guessing.

The first 5 miles was mostly uphill with a strong cross wind that slowed me down a fair amount (34:44) followed by 5 miles that was also mostly uphill, but with cross wind (about a mile) tail wind (another mile or so) and headwind (the last 3 miles).  I turned around at 1:10:00 (35:16 second 5 miles) and immediately felt a difference that was night and day from what I had been feeling as I went from having a strong headwind to having a strong tailwind instead.  I started my tempo when I turned around, and based on some marks on the trail I was on it appeared that for the first few miles I was averaging mid 5:20's.  Once I hit the section where I had tailwind on the way out I hit the corresponding headwind on the way back, and it was nasty.  I was just glad that I only had to endure it for a little while (approx. 5:50 on the way back vs. approx. 6:50 for this section on the way out).  After I made it through the section with the headwind I had a really hard time picking the pace back up, as I was dealing with cross winds for what seemed like the majority of the rest of the run.  I hit my 15 mile mark in 1:38:05 (28:05 for 5 miles) and ran the next mile in 5:40 as I fought the cross wind.  I don't feel like I sped up at all over the next 2 miles, and I didn't want to finish the last 5 miles slower than the previous 5 miles.  So, just before my approximate 2 mile mark from my house I started ramping up the effort (extra downhill did help some) and I ran the last "2 mile" stretch in 10:37 to finish my run with a total time of 2:05:43 (27:38 for the last 5 miles).

So, 55:43 for the last 10 miles, with an average of 5:34 per mile.  I am not super happy about the pace per mile for the run, but considering how I was feeling prior to the run I am just happy to get this workout out of the way.  I don't think the pace is really all that important anyhow, as I mainly just wanted to get some work in that was hard enough to give myself a stimulus to help in my marathon prep.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.500.500.000.0010.00

 I ran 10 miles on the Pittman Wash this morning.  I kept the pace easy for the entire run, until during the last mile a city worker passed me driving a tractor and I couldn't resist, so I sped up and ran alongside the tractor for a little over a half mile.  I finished the run in 1:13:0x.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.950.000.000.2517.20

I ran to school this morning.  I ran 6 x 10s sprints mixed throughout the run.  I finished 8.6 miles in about 1:01.

PM:  I ran home in 1:03:33.  I kept the pace easy.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 17.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.703.000.500.0017.20

I ran to school this morning and ran 2 x 1 mile in 5:07, 5:10-13 (missed the beginning split on the second one).  The first mile had very little wind (some cross-wind but didn't effect me much), while the second mile had some headwind which slowed me down.  Overall I felt much more smooth on the second repeat then the first, despite the wind.  As I got near school I also ran a half mile in 2:30.  I felt much less smooth during the half mile, but I started feeling better near the end of it.  Total time for the run was 1:00:26 (I think).

PM:  I ran home in the evening.  I ran another mile repeat near the end of the run with a time of 5:02.  There was a slight downhill during this mile.  I made it home in 1:01:41.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 17.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.600.000.000.0013.60

I felt tired this morning.  I ran to school in a time of 1:05:05.  At times the run felt easy and relaxed, but at other times my legs felt like dead weights.

PM:  I felt better this evening than I did in the morning.  Kimia was at the library so she picked me up after about 5 miles. 

Brooks Axiom Miles: 13.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.000.000.002.00

I felt fine when I went to bed last night, but when I woke up this morning I could barely walk.  My right knee hurts, and there is point sensitivity on the medial condyle of the tibia.  Pain is also evident medially when the knee is non weight bearing and I flex the knee. The pain is worse when I rotate the knee externally as I walk, but it is not as bad when I rotate the knee internally.  

Later in the afternoon the knee was feeling better so I decided to test it out.  I ran about 2 miles (1 mile barefoot and 1 mile in sandals) just to test the knee out.  I didn't wear running shoes because I didn't want to mask any problems (or make them worse) by wearing shoes that may cause (or inhibit) rotation at the knee joint.  There was zero pain while I was running, but once I was finished my knee flared up on me within a few minutes of stopping.  

I'm not sure what to think of it.  The only stress I have noticed on the knee is one bad step I took during the second mile repeat I ran on the way to school on Wednesday as I felt a slight twinge in the knee as I made ground contact during a slight turn near then end of the mile.  However, I felt no pain as I finished that run, or on the way home that afternoon, or during either run on Thursday.  It seems so strange that I would just wake up to find myself injured.  It is frustrating.

On a more positive side I have had very minor knee issues in the past, and they always seem to clear up within a day or two mostly on their own.  Hopefully this will be similar. 

Barefoot Miles: 1.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

No running today because of the knee issue.  I looked more into what the problem might be, and my best guess so far is Pes Anserine Tendinopathy.  Probably due to what happened on Wednesday, and the running on subsequent days simply led to inflammation and pain at the joint line/medial tibial condyle.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.000.000.000.005.00

Just a short run today to test out the knee after the issues I was having at the end of last week.  No pain during the run, but I felt like there was a degree of instability when I ran down steeper downhill grades.  I felt a mild ache in my knee after I finished, but no pain and the achy feeling went away after a few minutes.  Total time of 38:03 for 5 miles.

Seeing that today went fairly well I will probably try to run about 10 miles tomorrow.  Hopefully all goes well tomorrow, and I can get back to normal in a few days.

New Balance 758 Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.300.800.400.5010.00

I ran an easy run this morning on the treadmill at school.  I wanted to be able to bail at any time if the knee flared up so I ran indoors today.  7 miles in 53:01.

PM: I ran 3 more miles as I had to collect video data for a class.  I wanted to do this on Saturday but as my knee was hurting I waited until today (I couldn't wait any longer because the assignment is due on Friday).  I was nervous because I had to run hard prior to taking the video, but I hoped that I would be fine.  The test consisted of running at a preferred speed (8.3mph for me) that was determined during a blind test, followed by increases of 15% every 2 minutes until failure.  I warmed up at 7-7.3mph for 2 minutes and then started the test.  I started at 8.3, then after 2 min I upped the pace to 9.5, then 10.8, then 12.0, followed by 13.3 (4:30ish pace) and finally 14.5 (4:08 pace).  I was not expecting to last the full two minutes at 14.5mph but somehow I did it.  I did know that there was no way I was going to be able to go up to 15.8 so I didn't up the pace after 2 min and instead maintained 14.5 for 11 seconds after the 2 min was up before stopping.  I honestly could have lasted a little longer, but for the purposes of my test I had done enough and my legs were dead.  I am not sure what to think of this, but based on the speeds I was running at I set a pr in the 800 (2:04) and in the mile (4:20) during this test.  It makes me wonder if I really have more speed than I have realized previously.  I also wonder if the treadmill moving underneath me might have provided a benefit that I can not duplicate when running on the track.  I guess that I can chalk these up as treadmill prs if that is worth anything 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 3.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 7.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.800.000.000.0010.80

I ran to school this morning.  I was actually sore after the test that I did yesterday, and my shins and quads were complaining just a little.  Overall the run was good.  1:01:53 for 8.6 miles.

PM:  I started to run home, and Kimia picked me up because I didn't want to run too much as I am still taking it easy after my knee scared me last week.  I only made it about 2.2 miles before Kimia got to where I was at.  I was planning on going a little farther, but it didn't bother me to keep the run short.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 2.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.400.000.000.0012.40

I ran to school this morning.  8.6 miles in 1:01:27

PM:  I ran part of the way home before Kimia picked me up.  3.8 miles. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 8.60Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 3.80
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.000.000.009.00

I stayed up really late last night finishing a project for school, so I ended up sleeping in this morning, and I cut my run a little short so that I could have enough time to get ready to go to Kimia's ceremony to become a citizen.  I ran a total of 9 miles in 1:07:58

Asics Speedstar Miles: 9.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.704.500.000.0020.20

I ran my long run this afternoon while Anita was taking a nap.  I have not gotten enough sleep lately because I have had a bunch of projects due at school and I could tell that I was not 100% today.  I ran out to Sunset park and took it easy until I had been running a little under 11 miles.  I then ran a hard loop of the park in 14:23 (just under 5:20 pace) followed by another easy loop of the park before I started running home.  I was originally planning on running 2 loops of the park hard, but I was tired so I decided to only run the one lap hard, followed by a little more speedwork on the way home from the park.  I ran 1.8 miles hard on the way home and averaged about 5:20-21 pace for 1.8 miles (9:37).  I finished 20.2 miles in 2:17:xx.  I was glad to be done.  Hopefully with spring break next week I will be able to rest and get a more normal running schedule in as my knee is not bothering me anymore.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles this morning, running most of it on the grass barefoot.  I threw a few (3) surges in while I was running on the grass, although they weren't more than about 5-7 seconds each and were just to get my legs moving.

Barefoot Miles: 8.00New Balance 758 Miles: 2.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

I am in Arizona right now visiting my parents as I am on spring break.  I ran 12 miles on the canal near my parents house.  Temps were in the high 70's when I started my run, so I imagine it was over 80 by the time I finished.  1:28:01 for 12 miles.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.251.001.500.2514.00

I ran out on the canal again, and during the run I ran a workout of 400-800-1600-800-400.  Distances were all approximate because I didn't have any markers on the trail to measure the repeats, and I imagine that for the most part I went a little long on my repeats.  Near the end of the run I ended up running one more hard 400 just to get my legs moving a little more.  Total of 14 miles in 1:37:48.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 14.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

I felt tired today.  My legs just didn't have much in them, so I ran pretty slow and finished 12 miles in 1:31:39.  It was also hot.  Both yesterday and today temperatures hit a high of 90, and I went running during the hottest part of the day, so at best I was running in temperatures that were in the high 80's.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 12.00
Comments
From Seth on Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 15:48:28 from 199.188.28.8

That is some heat! I probably won't see temps like that until May or June.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.002.000.000.0012.00

I felt a lot better today than I did yesterday.  Temps were only in the mid 70's when I finished, so that may have been part of it, but my legs felt like they had more spring in them too.  I hit the halfway mark of my run in 44:00 (vs 46:22 yesterday) and I maintained the same pace until about 9.5 miles.  Then, a lady came out onto the canal riding her bike and I was feeling feisty, so I decided to pace myself off of her.  She didn't start out too fast (maybe 5:40 pace) but eventually it felt like I was going about 5:00 pace, and maybe a little faster.  Eventually she started talking to me because she couldn't believe that I was going so fast, and we talked for a bit (while still moving close to 5:00 pace) until I had to turn off to go home.  Total of 12 miles in 1:23:37, with the last approximate 3 miles in 17:41 (some of this was running hard, and some of it was slow).

Asics Speedstar Miles: 12.00
Race: Green Valley Stake 5k (3.15 Miles) 00:16:06, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.806.053.150.0020.00

Today our stake put on a 5k as a big stake activity.  They had a pancake breakfast with eggs, sausage, bananas, and juice/milk after the race.  I got a gallon of gatorade and a granola bar as prizes for winning.  

I gave the granola bar away, and I don't plan on drinking the gatorade, but all in all I think that for a little "fun run" this race had more to offer than a lot of the 20-30 dollar 5k's out there that offer little to nothing to their finishers (lots of food here), and only give the "good" prizes in the raffle (thankfully no raffle here, despite being in Vegas).  They also had prizes for the ward with the most people that participated, for the ward with the most primary children participating, as well as some other miscellaneous awards (I was actually hoping to get the bubbles as my prize instead of the gatorade, but oh well).  Overall, I liked this race, because the focus was on the race (and breakfast) not on the raffle (and the race).

To top everything off, this race was free (thank you tithing funds) although I got the feeling that there really weren't many expenses other than for the food, as most everything else (labor, equipment, etc) seemed to be donated.  If one of those 20-30 dollar a head races put on the same kind of race I would bet that the entrance fee money would be more than enough to provide everything we had today.

Anyhow, as for the race, it was what it was, a "fun run" with minimal competition, an approximate distance, and no mile markers.  That was to be expected as it was put on by people that had never put on a race before, and these people were not runners.  The race started off, and I immediately went to the front.  Temperatures at the start of the race were perfect (mid 50's), but it was pretty windy.  On the plus side, we were running through neighborhoods, so the wind was blocked to a degree by the houses and trees, minimizing its effect, however the wind still slowed the race down a bit.  The race was an out and back that was mostly flat, but had a couple mild hills.  The course turned enough that there was a mix of headwind and tailwind during each half of the race, however there was definitely more headwind during the second half of the race (thus more tailwind during the first half).

I am fairly sure that the race was long but I am not sure by how much.  What I do know is that despite an honest effort, and what seemed like more tailwind on the way out I hit the halfway mark in 8:03 when I felt like I should have turned around at about 7:45.  On the way back, since I felt it was long, I wasn't as precise in following the line that had been chalked on the road and the distance was shorter (thus the equal time for the second half despite having more headwind on the return trip).  After getting home I used the course tool to measure the course on the way out and I ended up measuring it to be 1.6 miles (3.2 miles total).  I know that the course tool is not very accurate, but in this case I think it is accurate enough to know that the course was long.  Since I cut some corners on the way back I figure that I probably ended up running about 3.15 miles.

So, even adjusting for length, I ran this race in the low 15:50's, which is fairly slow for me.  The wind is probably mostly to blame, despite the fact that I did get a tailwind during some portions of the race.  I figure that the wind cost me about 20-30 seconds over the course of the race, but who knows if that is accurate or not.

After the race was over I ran the course again as a cool-down, while looking for Kimia (she was supposed to be walking the course but turned around early to see the finish and then missed it because she was inside).  After eating some food, and waiting for awards we drove home to put Anita down for a nap.  After bumming around at home for about 20 min or so, I finally headed out the door again to finish my run for the day.  I ended up running a 6 mile tempo to finish 20 miles.  Approximate mile splits for the tempo were: 11:53 for 2 miles, 5:54 for 1.05 miles (5:37 pace), 10:48 for 2 miles, 4:55.  The first 2 miles were almost all right into a nasty headwind, the third mile was a mixture of headwind and tailwind, the fourth and fifth miles had some tail wind, and some cross wind, and the final mile had a nice strong tailwind with added downhill to speed me up.  All in all, it gave me a time of 33:30 for 6.05 miles. 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Comments
From Bill on Sun, Mar 20, 2011 at 13:02:21 from 71.219.132.8

If your in SLC next weekend come run our 5K. Running of the Leopards 5K.

From Burt on Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 15:21:23 from 206.19.214.144

Nice job Jeff.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.250.000.000.5010.75

I ran a mostly easy run today, but I threw in a couple 400's just to practice going fast.  The first "400" was uphill and into a decent headwind, and since I didn't have any marks measured out to get an exact distance, I just ran for 70 seconds.  I imagine that it was a little short, but the effort and the time were what I was looking for, so no worries.  I turned around at 5 miles (36:25) and I took it pretty easy on the way back hitting 10 miles in 1:14:02 (37:37 second half).  I wanted to run one more 400 that was actually measured, so I went over to the track and ran one last 400 in 64 seconds.  I was shooting for a 62, but it was still really windy so I figure that minus the wind the time would have been about right.  I ran home after that, and finished what I will call 10.75 miles in 1:19:06.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.75
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning in 1:04:27.  I kept the pace pretty slow and easy.

PM:  I ran home from school in 1:01:03.  The effort was also easy, but I did need to run a little quicker than I really wanted to because I had to get home so that Kimia and I could go to the temple for our ward temple night.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60Brooks Axiom Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.207.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning in 1:02:07.  Not as much wind this morning as we have had here recently, which was nice.

PM:  I ran home from school today in 51:14.  On the way home I ran approximately 7 miles as a tempo run in 38:37 (5:31 pace).  The wind was nasty on the way home today (either a headwind or a crossing headwind the entire way) so I am rather pleased with the effort given the conditions.

I started my tempo after a warm-up of a little less than a mile.  I have measured this route multiple times in my car over the last couple months, so I have approximate mile markers that I use to gauge pace off of.  The first mile (5:35) had a crossing headwind, and I decided to not push myself too much at the beginning in order to allow myself to relax into the pace a little.  After 1 mile I turned straight into the headwind and spent the next 3 miles fighting the wind.  I increased the effort, yet I still slowed down in comparison to the first mile.  I couldn't remember exactly where my second mile marker was, but I hit the next two miles in 11:25 (5:42.5 pace).  I followed this up with another mile in 5:42, at which point I turned again and had a crossing headwind from here until the end of the tempo.  After I turned again, it still felt like the wind was slowing me down a lot, so I was pleasantly surprised when I split the next mile in 5:25, even with a slight uphill grade over the last 200-300m (the wind probably felt worse than it really was due to the crosswind).  After 5 miles I don't really have any mile markers measured off, but after a little more uphill (for about 2 min) the grade starts heading downhill.  Just after the downhill starts there is a mile measured by some race that is marked in the street, which I ran in 5:12.  Once I was only 1 mile from my house I knew that I was 6.8 miles into my tempo, so I estimated how long .2 miles would take (based on my last timed mile) and I ran hard until I reached that time.  So if my estimations for distance are correct I ran the last 2 miles in 10:30 (5:15 average).  There was a slight downhill the last 2 miles, but I stopped the tempo before I got to the bigger downhill, so I think that the downhill did nothing more than eliminate the effect of the wind.

Overall, I think that the day ended well.  I feel like I am really getting into good shape right now. 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.600.000.000.008.60

I ran to school this morning, 8.6 miles in 1:02:36.  It took me a mile or so for my legs to wake up, but once they did I was cruising along in the low 7:00 range for most of the run.  I was surprised, as I was expecting to feel more fatigued after the hard tempo that I ran last night.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:14:38.  I kept the effort easy and felt relaxed.  I was glad that I didn't run home from school yesterday, as my legs needed a little bit more rest and I was better off today because of it.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.259.750.000.0020.00

I ran 20 miles this morning in 1:59:54.  This is the fastest that I have ran a 20 mile run in a long time, and I am happy that I finished feeling like I still had more in the tank.  To top it off it was windy as always, with the wind definitely affecting me over the course of the run (although the wind was stronger last Saturday).  I would have finished this run a fair amount faster if it weren't for the wind.

For today's workout the plan was to run 9.5 miles easy, followed by a 9.5 mile tempo, followed by a 1 mile cool-down to finish at my house.  I started off faster than I normally do, as there was somewhere we needed to be later on in the morning and I wanted to give myself a few more minutes after getting home to get ready.  I made it through 4 miles in about 27:30 after an uphill first mile in 7:22 (big uphill, that is why I never run hard the last mile of workouts... I don't want to run down it).  I then averaged about 6:35 or so on two loops of sunset park of 2.7 miles each (18:09 and 17:25).  I then ran an extra 40 seconds to get to 9.5 miles in 1:03:44 before the start of my tempo run.

I started my tempo, and I did the little loop of the park (1.1 miles) in 6:09 (5:35 pace).  I didn't push too hard on this loop, as I was just trying to get a feel for the wind, but I started increasing the effort at the end of this loop when I started the first of two big loops of the park.

Recently in trying to assess where I need to make improvements I have come to the conclusion that my quad strength is lacking, or at least my ability to utilize this strength while running hard is lacking.  I notice this the most when I am running in adverse conditions (i.e. against the wind or uphill) and as such I decided that when pushing against the wind I needed to try and better utilize my quads as power generators.  So, my tempo run today ended up feeling like I was running lots of surges, as I was pushing harder against the wind, and then just trying to maintain speed when the wind was more favorable.

I was not sure what to expect time wise after the first big loop of the park, but I was pleasantly surprised when I came through with a 14:22 split (5:19 average) for 2.7 miles.  I just tried to maintain the effort during the next loop and I split 2.7 miles in 14:13 (5:16 average).  Considering the wind I was very happy with this, as the effort felt pretty hard, but did not feel unmanageable.  I then left the park to run the last 3 miles of the tempo on the roads.  I split the last three miles in 15:35 (5:11 average) with individual mile splits of 5:17 and 5:05 during this section.  The wind was not as bad during the last three miles, as it was a cross wind the whole time that switched off and on from a headwind to a tailwind, but generally did not hurt me as much as earlier when I was running on a loop (it helps that the last 2 miles has a net downhill).

Total time for the 9.5 mile tempo was 50:19 (5:17 pace), at which point I slowed down to run the last mile home.  As I made it to the bottom of the hill I realized that I still had a shot at breaking 2 hours for the run, and I sped up quite a bit over the last quarter in order to break the 2 hour mark.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

I ran easy this morning, running 8 miles out and back on the Pittman Wash, and throwing in 4 miles barefoot on the grass at the baseball fields after the first mile.  Total time was 1:28:22 for 12 miles.

Barefoot Miles: 4.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran too and from school today.  I kept the pace easy in both directions.  I ran about 1:03 on the way too school, and 1:06 on the way home in the evening.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 8.60Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.500.501.000.0010.00

I ran on the Pittman wash today instead of running to school, as I am driving out to Utah in the evening.  I ran 10 miles in 1:10:48.  I ran a mile fast on the way home in 5:04 (2:40,2:24) followed by a half mile in 2:23 a little over a mile later.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.003.000.000.0010.00

I ran with Sasha this morning before heading off to USU to present my poster.  We ran a three mile tempo during the run, hitting mile splits of 5:20, 5:22, 5:31.  Sasha started to struggle during the second half so we slowed down a bit, but it wasn't a big deal to me as I was not planning on running anything fast today, and I had only gotten 4.5 hours of sleep due to the travel.  Total time of 1:11 for 10 miles.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.401.000.250.0012.65

I ran with Sasha again.  We ran a fast 400 with Benjamin in 70 seconds, and later ran a mile in 5:32.  Otherwise we kept things slow.  Total time was about 1:40.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 12.65
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.509.500.500.0020.50

I ran a 10 mile tempo with Sasha this morning out on the Provo River Trail 5 mile out and back course.  We hit splits of 5:48, 5:43, 5:43, 5:43, 5:59 for the first 5 miles.  Other than during the second and fifth miles, pace was erratic as I kept wanting to speed up, and Sasha would ask me to slow down.  The fifth mile was slow because Sasha needed a break.  During the second half I ran mile splits of 5:42, 5:40, 5:30, 5:09, 5:02.  I was with Sasha until 7.5 miles, at which point I took off after the turn-around and ran the last 2.5 miles in 12:48 with quarter splits of 79, 78, 78, 78, 77, 76, 77, 76, 75, 74.  Total time for 10 miles was 55:59.  Sasha finished almost 2 minutes after me in 57:57.  I was happy with the effort and result of the tempo.  The majority was much easier than I am accustomed to, but the last 2.5 miles made up for it, and I finished stronger than I remember finishing when I used to live here.

After running back to Sasha's house we ran with his kids, and finished up 20.5 miles in 2:23 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

With all the excitement I have gone through lately, traveling to Utah and all, I was tired and accidentally slept in this morning.  I decided to run in the afternoon instead, but when I got home from school I found out my bike had been stolen.  By the time the policeman left our apartment it was pretty late, and I still had to finish an assignment that was due by midnight (I didn't finish it sooner because I was in Utah).  So, I ended up not running at all today.  I wasn't too happy with the whole situation, but I guess things happen.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.700.000.001.5017.20

I ran to school this morning, running 8.6 miles in 1:01:12.  I was moving a little quicker than normal as I had two days off in a row.  I will run home in the evening.

PM: I ran home from school, finishing 8.6 miles in just over 1:03:00.  I felt like doing some speed work, so I ran what I will call 6 x 400m on the way home.  I ran what I have estimated previously to be a quarter mile, and I ran it in 69 seconds, so as I continued to run home I ran 5 more "400's" and just ran what felt like a good 400 effort for 70 seconds before stopping.  I had about 4:00 rest after the first and second repeats, and then had about 2:00 rest after the others.  The first 4 repeats were into the wind, and I had a cross wind during the last 2 repeats (basically the wind didn't effect me at all during the last 2 repeats).

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60New Balance 758 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.900.000.000.0016.90

I ran to school this morning.  I took off a little quicker than normal because I was a little late in leaving the house, and after a couple miles my right calf started to complain.  I think that my legs were just tight after the 400's last night, and by starting out quickly I didn't give my body the chance to relax into the pace.  Anyhow, I ended up stopping a few times to stretch the calf, and to massage it out.  Kimia ended up picking me up just before I got to school as she was coming to drop off a poster for me, so I only ran what I will call 8.3 miles (instead of 8.6) in 1:02:35.

My leg kept hurting after I got to school, and as I was walking back from class it was bothering me a lot.  Luckily, it started to feel better and did not hurt at all as I was walking around campus later on in the afternoon.  I am going to massage some here at school, and hopefully get the leg feeling good enough to run home.

PM:  I ran home in the evening, running 8.6 miles in 1:09:10.  I ran so slow because I was trying to be careful so as not to make the calf worse than it already was.  After about 1.5 miles my calf started to feel pretty tight, but I didn't experience any pain running home, so I ended up making it all the way.  All in all I am happy with the run, as I made it home and I don't feel like I hurt myself any worse.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60Brooks Axiom Miles: 8.30
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.400.000.000.0017.40

I ran to school this morning.  I kept the pace pretty slow like yesterday evening, and my calf felt tight for most of the run again, but I felt much more relaxed while running, so I ended up finishing 8.6 miles in 1:05:56.  I feel like my leg is getting better pretty quickly, I just need to take it easy until the end of the week to make sure that I don't strain it worse.  The last thing I want is to get hurt before the marathon I am running at the end of this month.  A few days of easy running will not affect me, but a few weeks will.

PM: I ran to the mall from school, because Kimia was there, and she drove me home after I showed up.  It ended up being just a little bit longer than the run to our apartment.  I will call it 8.8 miles, in 1:08:12

Brooks Axiom Miles: 8.80Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.000.000.000.003.00

I realized today that what I had thought was improvement in the calf strain was really just increased flexibility after I had massaged out all of the knots.  My leg really hasn't been getting better, and part of it has been the mileage.  So, today I started my run, but bailed out after 3 miles because my calf was bothering me.  Hopefully the extra rest will help me heal more quickly.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 3.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.002.001.000.0020.00

My leg felt much better this morning than it did yesterday, however after about 3.5 miles I noticed it starting to feel somewhat tight, and after 4.5 miles there was a little pain.  I ended up turning around at 6 miles, and the pain felt tolerable until the end of the run, but not great.  I finished 12 miles in 1:29:05.  I sped up slowly over the last 4 miles to try and see if speed caused more pain, or if the difference was negligible.  Results of my test were good, as pain seemed to be fairly equivalent at the faster (6:30-7:15 pace) speeds.

PM: I wanted to still get in good mileage for today, and I was itching to go faster, because I hadn't run anything fast since Tuesday.  So, I went over to the track and ran a few mile repeats, with 1 mile rest between repeats (I know, I am stupid for running hard when my leg is hurt, and for running a double when running doubles has been preventing me from healing).  The first repeat was a 5:26 (90, 81, 78, 77), followed by a 5:06 (82, 75, 75, 74), and finishing with a 4:56 (75, 75, 73, 73).  I felt like I could run 75 second quarters forever, despite the calf issues,  My calf hurt less when I was running fast than when I was running slow, but it would flare up as soon as I finished a repeat.  I ran the last repeat with some wind (I got lucky on the first 2, virtually no wind) and I was glad that I was able to maintain a good pace despite the wind.  Total of 8 miles.

I ran the mile repeats in part because I wanted to make sure that if this problem has not gone away by the time I run my next marathon in Illinois in 3 weeks I will still be able to run fast without any problems.  The test indicated that my leg should hold up fine.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.00Adidas Adizero Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.800.000.000.009.80

I ran a shorter run than normal this morning, because I needed to run from school to a funeral in the evening, and I didn't want to put in too many miles, because I wanted to let my calf rest a bit.  So, I ran 6 miles in the morning in about 46 or 47 minutes.  My calf felt decent, but there were brief moments when I would take a funny step, or go down a sharp decline and I would feel a short stabbing pain lasting about a second or so.

PM: I ran from school until Kimia was able to pick me up.  I will call it 3.8 miles.  I decided to test and see how well my leg was holding up while I was running.  I picked up the pace some (I was running sub 7:00 pace, but I am not sure how fast) and I just tried to cruise along at that pace.  My leg felt surprisingly good.  I felt some of the same twinges I felt this morning, but I didn't have to deal with the sharp inclines/declines so the calf felt better overall.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 3.80New Balance 758 Miles: 6.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning.  I ran faster than I normally do, although I was not trying to run faster, so I was happy with the organic speed increase as opposed to forcing the pace.  My calf felt better than it has on any day in the past week, as I only started to feel some minor twinges in the calf muscle during the second half of the run, and they were minor nothing more, no pain.  Total time for 8.6 miles was 1:00:46.

PM: I ran home from school finishing 8.6 miles in 1:00:23.  I was surprised to finish as fast as I did, seeing that I only hit the 5 mile mark in about 37 minutes.  It ended up being a mix of downhill, and a strong tailwind the last few miles that caused me to want to slow down on the last steep downhill, despite not trying to run fast at all.  My calf hurt a little at the beginning of the run, and I stopped to stretch it out before continuing.  Overall the calf felt worse than this morning, but I didn't really feel any pain other than the minor discomfort at the beginning of the run.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.205.000.000.0017.20

I wanted to run a tempo run today as long as my calf was feeling good.  I decided to run the tempo in the morning because I figured that my calf would hold up better during the tempo if I hadn't already run earlier in the day.  So, after warming up for a little less than three miles I started my tempo. 

The first mile was into a strong headwind (approximately 5:58), but I turned on Eastern Ave after 1 mile, and I got a nice tailwind for the next 3 miles as the wind was blowing from the Southwest, and I was heading West and North.  I don't really have accurate splits for the wind aided miles, but my average pace per mile was about 5:05.  I turned onto Tropicana Ave just past the 4 mile mark, and I hit the headwind again for the last mile.  I pushed this mile harder than the others since I wanted to finish strong, and I closed with a 5:33 for the last mile.

Total time for the tempo was 26:46 (5:21 pace).  I was happy with this, as I felt the headwind and tailwind canceled one another out pretty well despite having more tailwind miles than headwind miles (it felt like the headwind was stronger than the tailwind as the wind was not blowing directly from the Southwest, but seemed to be more of a WSW wind, although that may have just been my imagination).  Anyhow, my workouts over the past couple months have made me feel good about my fitness, and this workout gives me confidence heading into the marathon I am running in Illinois in a couple weeks, knowing that I didn't loose anything last week when I did not get much quality mileage in due to the calf issues.  I am also encouraged by the practice I have gotten running in windy conditions (Illinois can get windy) as I feel that I can run well in the wind as long as I get a matching tailwind too (loop course... check!)

I finished running to school after finishing the tempo, and ended 8.6 miles in 54:57

PM:  I ran home from school, finishing 8.6 miles in 1:01:28.  The wind was nasty on my way home.  Luckily, I only had a nasty headwind for about 3.5 miles, while the rest was tailwind.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.700.000.000.0014.70

I ran to school this morning.  I finished 8.6 miles in 1:03:08.  My legs felt somewhat fatigued this morning after I woke up, so I made sure to take it easy for the first mile, and I wore long socks to make sure that the muscles didn't get cold and tight.

PM:  I ran most of the way home from school, but I asked to Kimia to pick me up because I don't want to push my mileage too high this week.  I will call it 6.1 miles in 46:50.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 6.10Brooks Axiom Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

I felt pretty good this morning, but I shortened my run by a bit because I don't want to get my total mileage too high this week with the Illinois marathon coming up in just 2 weeks.  So, I only ran 8 miles finishing in 57:14.  Tomorrow will be my last 20 mile run before the marathon.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.106.400.000.0020.50

I ran my last 20 mile run before the marathon I run in Illinois in two weeks.  The original plan was to run the same 9.5 mile tempo that I ran a few weeks ago, but as I started I decided to run a 5.4 mile tempo (2 x sunset park loop), followed by a 5.7 mile tempo (1 x sunset park loop + 3 miles towards home).  I ran 6.7 miles easy before starting the first tempo section at just faster than 6:40 pace, however around 5 or 6 miles my calf started complaining again (same calf as before, but the opposite side, so maybe the result of some overcompensating).  So, after the first loop of the park (2.7 miles in 15:00/ 5:33 pace) I stopped the first tempo run.  I ran easy for a little while, and stopped to massage my calf and stretch it out, and eventually started the second tempo run right when I had originally planned.  The second tempo hurt more than the first, although the pain seemed to relax away to a certain degree near the end of the park loop.  I finished the second 2.7 mile loop in 14:53 (5:30 pace).  I stopped the second tempo at that point rather than risk any damage, but I ran 1 mile out of the last three miles of the planned tempo section in 5:23.  I made it home to finish 20 miles in 2:10:28.

Wind was not bad during the run, but it was swirling around everywhere, so I never really got a good tailwind to offset the headwind, which is why the tempos were so slow.  A tornado cloud even formed in the middle of the park as I was running easy and I got pretty close to it, watched it for a minute or so, and then started running again.

I went to the running store, and got new racing flats after I finished my run, so I added a little extra mileage.  I will give myself an extra 0.5 miles for it

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.600.000.000.008.60

I wasted all morning clicking update buttons over and over again to check the progress of the Boston Marathon, so I had to run in the evening.  Kimia came with me when I drove to school, and I ran home at the end of the day.  I wore the new racing flats that I bought on Saturday, and I threw in a few strides on the way home to get a better feel for the shoes.  Total time of 1:02:49 for 8.6 miles.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.800.000.000.0011.80

I ran to school this morning in 1:01:59.  I kept the pace easy, but I was messing around with my form, so I ended up running a little harder than I probably should have.  Its not like I was running that fast, but I should have been running just a little bit more relaxed.  I could also tell that I have done a good job of training myself to be comfortable in the heat, as temps were somewhere in the 70 degree range and I still had goosebumps on my arms near the end of my run and at times I wished that I would have worn a long sleeve shirt.

PM:  I ran part of the way home, and Kimia picked me up.  I will call it 3.2 miles

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 3.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.353.250.000.0012.60

I ran on the Pittman wash today, and I ran 3 x 1 mile repeats during the run.  The first was actually about 1.25 miles, was uphill and into a mild headwind (7:25).  This was a warm-up of sorts, so I didn't push the pace too hard on this repeat, but the effort was a lot harder than 5:56 pace.  The second and third repeats had a slight downhill with tailwind so they were inherently faster, and I finished both in 5:03 (pure coincidence there as I didn't look at my watch between the start and finish).  Total time for the run was 1:09:38.

PM: I ran part of the way home from school before Kimia picked me up.  I ended up making it about 2.6 miles.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 2.60Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.400.000.000.0013.40

I ran to school this morning.  I kept the pace pretty easy (except for when I sped up to get through a couple stop lights) and finished 8.6 miles in 1:04:00.  Super windy out today.  I am lucky that the wind normally comes from the Southwest, so it is only in my face for about half of the run, and it is at my back for the rest of it.

PM: 4.8 miles before Kimia picked me up on the -++way home from school.------------------------------- (Anita just did that).  Total time was 35:52

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 4.80Brooks Axiom Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Easy run this morning.  I ran 10 miles in 1:14:33, starting out pretty slow (about 16:20 for 2 miles) as I was running uphill on the Pittman Wash (38:54 for the first 5 miles) and then speeding up on the downhill on the way back.  I ran 4 strides during the run to shake out my legs a bit since I am running a 5k tomorrow as part of my tune up for the marathon on the 30th.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Race: Las Vegas 5k (3.107 Miles) 00:15:24, Place overall: 8
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.900.003.100.0012.00

I ran the Las Vegas 5k this morning.  The race had been advertised on letsrun.com, and there was a $1000 prize for first place, with money going 5 deep so competition was expected to be pretty good.  I ran a 5 mile warm-up before the race started and added in a few strides to get my legs moving a bit.  The weather was as good as I can expect for Las Vegas as wind was blowing between 10-15mph from the Southwest, and temperatures were in the 60-70 degree range.  The course itself has a lot of turns, so I was not expecting a blazing time for the winner, but I figured that it would still be pretty fast as it is flat, and there was good competition.

The race started, and a few guys took off at an insane pace.  I had to remind myself to not push the pace too hard and I held back, running what felt super comfortable for the first few hundred meters.  Eventually, all of the insane sprinters dropped off pace, and the fastest of us settled into a pack, with one beastly looking guy sporting dreadlocks dropping all of us like it was nothing.  This guy was something else, as physically he did not look the part of an elite distance runner, having wide muscular looking shoulders versus the emaciated look that you almost expect to see from top distance runners, yet he smoked the field putting a fairly large gap on all of us by the time we hit the mile mark (the mile marks were all off, so no splits today).

I was still within striking distance of the guy in second just past the mile mark, but at that point he started to pull away from the pack leaving a group of 5 guys (myself included) to fight for the last 3 money spots in the race.  It was just past this point that the race started to go south for me.  Before we were a mile and a half into the race I started to feel a pain and tightness in my chest, and I felt like my breathing was being constricted.  I was still able to maintain contact with the pack, but I felt like I had no ability to really compete with these guys.  I can't say that I reacted well to the adversity either, as mentally I kind of gave up.  During the third mile another guy passed me (pushing me back into 8th place) and over the last half mile the pack slowly pulled away from me (I was still within contact of the 3rd place finisher until then).

 I finished the race in 15:24, good for 8th place (the winner finished in 14:30).  I am not sure exactly how far back I was from 3rd, but it was not too much.  I feel like on a better day I would have been able to stay with those guys, but I just didn't have "it" today.  After I finished I could barely stand up because the pain in my abdomen just about made me keel over.  My legs didn't feel too bad, I just felt like I didn't have the ability today to push myself to my full capacity today.

Overall, I am a little disappointed that I did not finish better than I did, but to put things in perspective this was a tune-up race, nothing more.  Considering the conditions, and whatever it was that happened to my abdomen (maybe something I ate?), the time wasn't that bad, and considering that this was just a pre-marathon tune up, I was happy with the effort and the workout that I got in.  If I came across as negative in this post that was mostly unintentional, as I honestly was not that upset with the sub par performance, as my focus race for the spring is coming up next Saturday at the Illinois Marathon, and I really don't have the time to dwell on a sub par performance at a little 5k.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 12.00
Comments
From Fritz on Sat, Apr 23, 2011 at 22:59:43 from 67.182.226.25

The guy who won ran 1:01:56 a few weeks ago in the NYC Half. You were among some stiff competition. Nice job!

http://web2.nyrrc.org/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/86895.1.530829637251057019

From Burt on Sun, Apr 24, 2011 at 01:16:00 from 72.223.90.79

Tightness in the chest doesn't sound good. Are you sure you haven't been sick lately?

From jeffmc on Sun, Apr 24, 2011 at 01:59:04 from 68.227.2.226

Burt - I actually have had a cold of sorts lately. It has not been very bad, but it has been there fairly consistently recently (maybe just allergies?). I also ate seafood (crab, crayfish, mussel, etc) last night for the first time in a while, and that may have possibly upset my stomach as well. Who knows.

Fritz - Thanks for pointing that out. I actually looked up all of the guys that beat me in this race after I read your comment, and none of them have road 5k pr's slower than 14:34, and I found pr's for some of them in the marathon/half of 2:12-2:14/1:03-1:04 range.

I think that I feel better about my performance now. Sub-par nonetheless, but not so bad.

From MichelleL on Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 10:17:29 from 67.41.182.93

Sounds to me like a great tune up with very strong competition. It's good to get a reminder to force yourself to CARE in the last 1/3 of a race, even when it hurts and you don't want to care any more.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Easy run this morning on the Pittman wash.  10 miles total in 1:13:42.  I ran approximately 0.5 miles with Kimia after I finished, running barefoot to toughen up my feet a bit.  Kimia is almost 29 weeks pregnant, so I don't count it as actual mileage because we go slow, but I wanted to mention it because I am proud of her for making the effort to stay active while pregnant.  Kimia also goes on walks regularly, sometimes walking 3 miles or more with Anita in the stroller.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.600.001.000.008.60

I ran to school today.  the wind was nasty just about the entire way, because it was blowing from the Northwest instead of the Southwest like normal.  I ran 2 half mile repeats during the run.  It is the last hard stuff I am running before the marathon on Saturday.  The first repeat was a slight uphill, and into the wind (distance is approximate, maybe plus or minus 2-3 seconds) and I finished it in 2:35.  The second repeat was in a flat area, but the wind felt stronger (again, the distance is approximate) and I finished it in 2:34.  The second repeat was a lot harder than the first, so I imagine that either the wind was a lot stronger than the first repeat, or it was slightly longer.  I finished running to school with a total time of 1:03:24.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.006.00

Easy run this morning in 43:20.  Just 6 miles as I am running the Illinois Marathon on Saturday.  The forecast is iffy for that race.  The night before the race looks like it should be perfect as lows are forecast for around 50 degrees, with fairly mild winds forecast at 9mph.  However, the next day the forecast says there is a 30% chance of rain (not bad) and says that we will be seeing 22mph winds (no so good).  So, I will just need to wait and see.  At least I train in the wind everyday, so at least I am not getting myself into something I am not prepared for.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 6.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

Just 4 miles easy this morning.  I ran a couple strides during the run.  Total time was 29:22.  I am starting to get a little anxious with the marathon coming up on Saturday.  Partly from the taper, and partly just because I haven't finished a marathon since St George 2009.  It almost feels like I am debuting at the distance all over again.

So, you learn new things every day, but I guess you don't always have to be glad that you learned something.  Today I learned that when you step on a bee while barefoot and the stinger gets you right in one of your toes, your body rushes lots of blood to the area and the toe gets hot even when the other toes are cold.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 4.00
Comments
From Paul on Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 13:54:41 from 24.10.141.104

Best wishes, I hope you do really well!

From jeffmc on Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 19:20:03 from 131.216.80.154

Thanks Paul, I am going to need it.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 19:37:19 from 192.168.1.1

Interestingly enough, I stepped on a bee while running barefoot a couple of days before TOU 2009. I hope that is not a bad omen :-)

From Burt on Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 19:39:45 from 206.19.214.144

There's no such thing as bad omens Sasha. Or Karma. Or the Force.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.000.000.002.00

Last chance I have to blog before the race.  I am leaving now to run a couple miles.  I'll throw in a couple strides just for the heck of it too.

I flew into Illinois today.  Got everything ready for the race and went to the pre-race pasta dinner.  Frank Shorter was the speaker at the dinner.  Afterwards when everyone cleared out I took the opportunity to have a little chat with Frank for about 20 minutes or so about his work with the ADA.  He is pretty convinced that many of the Africans are doping.  It was interesting talking to him. 

New Balance 758 Miles: 2.00
Comments
From Burt on Fri, Apr 29, 2011 at 09:51:28 from 72.223.90.79

Say hi to bloggers Karen and Squirrel up there in IL. Good luck!

From jtshad on Fri, Apr 29, 2011 at 12:19:49 from 204.134.132.225

Good luck at the race tomorrow!

Race: Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon (26.218 Miles) 02:30:48, Place overall: 3
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.0026.200.000.0029.20

So, I decided to put the wrong time for the race on my blog to force people to actually read the race report to find out how I did.  I always find it more interesting when I don't look at the finishing time before reading a race report.  I will correct the time and place in a few days.

First off, I have nothing but good things to say about the town of Champaign-Urbana, and the organization of this race.  I thought that they did a really good job of putting this race together, and weather permitting this course is fast!  The only thing that really could have been more organized was the finishing chute, as things got chaotic once you crossed the line.

Anyhow, on to the race.  I got up at 5:00am and got ready, heading out the door for a warm-up starting at 6:00am.  I checked the weather after I got up, and at 5:00am the wind was blowing 14 mph from the SSE.  The wind was supposed to get progressively worse during the day, with 25 mph winds and gusts up to 40 mph.  My guess is that the wind was blowing about 16-18 mph at the start of the race.  I was hopeful that the wind would not hurt us too much early on in the race, and based on the direction of the wind I was hoping to get a solid tailwind from about mile 8-20.  If this held to be true I was hopeful that I could still be in contention for the OTQ qualifier by mile 20, and then gut out the last 6 miles with the hope that there was some way I could maintain pace into the wind.  By about 6:35am I had made my way over to the starting line and I went into the elite athlete room to relax a bit before the race.  I ran a few strides, and at about 6:55am I went over to the starting line.

The race started right on time, with the bikes going off at 6:59am, and the rest of us at 7:00am (half marathoners started at 7:30am).  Following are mile splits for the race.

 Mile 1 - 5:18 - Just warmed into the pace not wanting to push too hard.  the wind was at our backs, so it kept this mile fairly relaxed.

Mile 2 - 5:20 (10:38)- A guy from Texas (Jose Munoz) takes the lead and I start drafting off of him as now we were running into the wind.  Feeling like the pace is a little fast for this early in the race.

Mile 3 - 5:24 (16:02)- I made a conscious decision to back off the pace and I let Jose and another guy go.  It was a tough decision to make because I wanted to draft off of them, but I didn't want to push the pace too hard either.

Mile 4 - 5:34 (21:36)- The wind was already killer.  My effort was strong, but the pace wasn't.  I was already looking forward to the eventual tailwind.  Effort was about the same this mile as the previous, but the wind was stronger, and I was no longer drafting.

Mile 5 - 5:27 (27:03)- The guy who tried to go with Jose was already dropping back, and I passed him this mile.  I sped up a bit because I probably got excited and I didn't want him to draft off of me as he had really slowed down a lot and I knew he wasn't going to be helping me with the wind.

Mile 6 - 5:30 (32:33)-  Settling into the pace a bit more.  Jose is not too far out in front (30-40 seconds maybe?)

Mile 7 - 5:31 (38:04)-  Still trying to relax, but not trying to run so slow that I put myself out of OTQ contention (already a minute behind pace)

Mile 8 - 5:27 (43:31)-  Looping through a park.  Kind of a wetlands restoration sort of thing (but minus the wetlands part, this is Illinois, it was more of a grassland type thing I guess)

Mile 9 - 5:27 (48:58)-  Wondering why I don't feel like I have gotten any tailwind yet.  Hoping that it starts up soon.

Mile 10 - 5:14 (54:12)-  Finally, I got some tailwind!  At the 10 mile mark a guy tells me that I am 50 seconds behind the leader Jose.  He is still very visible, and I can hear the sirens on the lead car sounding to announce that he is going through intersections.

Mile 11 - 5:17 (59:29)-  Effort about the same as during the previous mile, the problem is that I can tell it does not feel sustainable.  While the wind is not in my face anymore it does not feel like it is really helping me.

Mile 12 - 5:19 (1:04:48)-  I turned onto a different street during this mile and immediately felt more headwind (I am supposed to get my tailwind until mile 20 whats up!!).  The wind was mostly crossing, but it still slowed me down a little.

Mile 13 - 5:20 (1:10:08)-  Someone tells me that I am now 1:05 behind Jose.  My pace is going in the wrong direction, so I am getting worried, and I am not getting the tailwind I was hoping for.  The wind is only getting worse too.

Half - 1:10:42

 Miles 14 & 15 - 11:06 (1:21:14)-  I missed the mark at mile 14, and I was surprised to see that I only averaged 5:33 over the 2 mile stretch at mile 15.  With the wind and my beginning to slow, the race now becomes not one of getting an OTQ, but of not bonking and falling out of the money (money went 3 deep).

Mile 16 - 5:52 (1:27:06)- I was very surprised by this mile.  I can only assume that the wind was picking up more because I did not feel like I was already bonking, but the pace indicated I was.

Mile 17 - 5:56 (1:33:02)-  Pace is still slow, but at least it is still under 6:00.  I am quickly falling behind the leader, but 3rd place is nowhere in sight, so he was probably at least as far behind me as I was behind 1st.

Mile 18 - 5:41 (1:38:43)-  I don't think I really got a tailwind this mile, I think that the wind just wasn't really hurting me this mile.  I was at least happy that I was going a little faster.

Mile 19 - 5:58 (1:44:41)-  Not happy to see that my pace went right back where it had been once we got some more wind.

Mile 20 - 6:09 (1:50:50)-  My first mile slower than 6:00.  I wasn't too happy with this, but I was still trying to hold on.  I was now worried about the guys coming up from behind, although I still could not see them.  I was about 2-3 minutes behind the leader Jose.

Mile 21 - 6:19 (1:57:09)-  I was having trouble keeping the contents of my stomach in.  I think that I reacted poorly to my drinks, and when I picked up the last one at mile 21 I couldn't drink any of it.  I took one gulp and almost threw up.  Instead, I started swishing it in my mouth and spitting it out.  That seemed to work.  I was holding down water fine, so I started drinking that at every aid station thinking that maybe I got the osmolarity off with the bottles I mixed.  Water should help speed up my system helping it to absorb nutrients.  I notice after this mile that 3rd place is now visible and he is closing in on me.

Mile 22 - 6:27 (2:03:36)-  Still ahead of 3rd place, but not by much.  He caught me shortly after I hit this marker.

Mile 23 - 6:21 (2:09:57)-  The 3rd place runner passes me during this mile.  I try to stay with him for a brief moment but can not do it.  He pulls maybe 5-10 seconds ahead by the end of this mile.  When he passes I ask him how far back 4th place is.  he thought maybe a minute.

Miles 24 & 25 - 13:10 (2:23:07)-  I didn't feel like I had slowed down an additional 14 seconds per mile during this stretch (6:35 average), and as with earlier I will attribute some of the slowdown to the wind getting stronger, but it is hard to say how much was from the wind and how much was from fatigue.  At mile 25 I could see 4th place, and he was closing in on me.  I did not want to fall out of the money, because I needed to pay for my trip, and I couldn't afford the trip otherwise.

Mile 26.2 - 7:41 (2:30:48)-  I really dug deep to stay in front of 4th place and I increased the effort this mile (6:18 average to the finish).  Once I got going faster it felt sustainable, so I was kicking myself a bit, wondering if I was just weak mentally.  Could I have stayed with the second place finisher when he passed me and mentally I just gave up?  Could I have maintained the pace better from mile 20 to the finish instead of slowing down so much?  I partly wonder this because the wind was stronger during this mile than during any other mile of the race (I think that we got one of those 40 mph gusts of wind during this mile).  As we turned onto First Street heading to the University of Illinois football stadium I looked back and I knew that the guy in 4th would not catch me.  Just to make sure I pushed as hard as during any other time in the race trying to fight the wind.  I felt as if I were standing still the wind was blowing so hard.  I turned into the stadium off of first street, and ran into the finish with a time of 2:30:48.

Once I crossed the line a woman came up to me asking if I was the 3rd place marathon finisher (half marathoners were finishing too, so it was hard to tell) but I didn't have the chance to tell her.  As soon as I finished I lost my breakfast and everything else that I drank during the race.  I puked 5 or 6 times until there was nothing left in my stomach.  I was then escorted over to the media guy to give a little interview of sorts and a little while later I was given my award for finishing third place ($800).

My legs felt decent enough after the end of the race that I was able to jog over to the elite athlete room where I left my stuff pre-race, and then to my hotel so that I could shower.  I was surprised that I didn't feel like I had hashed my legs completely.

Overall I have mixed feelings about this race.  I am obviously disappointed with the time, but I am happy that I payed for my expenses (hotel and airfare) by finishing third.  I think that the wind cost us 5-6 minutes overall, which would have given me a 2:25 without the wind.  If I would have paced myself better I probably would have been in the 2:23 range without the wind (I pushed myself too hard in the first half trying to stay within striking range of the OTQ which cost me later on in the race).  This is not bad, but it is a far cry from the 2:19 I was shooting for.  I obviously still have some issues that I need to work on, and this race was a good indicator for what those issues are.  I am encouraged that I can run a 2:25 equivalent marathon even with a minor blowup (minor, but extended as my first mile over 5:50 was mile 16).

Now it is time to get to things.  I know I still have the OTQ in me.  Things went better this time than they did in November (even with the wind) and if I get back to the drawing board and work on my weaknesses the OTQ will come.

So, the official results have me at 2:30:56 (8 seconds slower) and have me 10 seconds slower than my watch at the halfway mark and the 20 mile mark.  I think that our chips started early because there were 2 mats and we crossed the first before starting at the second just a bit later.  I will go with my watch time, because that is probably more accurate.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 29.20
Comments
From Walter on Sun, May 01, 2011 at 12:34:01 from 24.2.66.36

Great Race report and congrats on a World Record time! Sweet!

But seriously, I am not a strong runner when it comes to wind. Even Paul Peterson had a hard time in Moab with that pesky wind and look what he slammed out in Boston! I know you have it in you to get that OTQ! Keep it up big guy! Hope you use this race as a motivator to bounce back to kick A in the next race!

From Paul on Sun, May 01, 2011 at 16:56:09 from 24.10.141.104

I hate the wind. Nothing is so brutal. Congrats though on being tough, a 3rd place finish, and a little money. Hopefully it will be a stepping stone.

From Bob on Sun, May 01, 2011 at 19:18:51 from 99.37.51.192

Wow, terrific job given the elements. I didn't like the wind either, especially that one stretch out in the open up a small hill. Sneaky bad. BTW, do you wear a Garmin? I did and it measured 0.2 mi long for the course. Others confirmed this as well. Plan to let the RD know to double check the distance. Great job and keep on a chugging.

From jtshad on Sun, May 01, 2011 at 19:47:21 from 69.20.183.178

Congrats on running a strong race despite the wind conditions. Nice job holding off the guy in 4th and finishing in the money. That OTQ is getting closer!

From Burt on Mon, May 02, 2011 at 14:44:00 from 206.19.214.144

What a report. Nice job. I told Karen that you were running this, too. I hope it wasn't too awkward when she introduced herself to you in the elite corral.

From Tracy on Mon, May 02, 2011 at 17:10:53 from 209.175.177.37

Congrats on a great race. You probably finished your marathon right around the time I finished my half! I think they announced the first marathoners right around that time. Glad you finished in the money. Enjoyed your report.

From jeffmc on Mon, May 02, 2011 at 20:10:45 from 131.216.80.154

Thanks to all for the comments.

Bob, I heard from others that they thought the course was long as well so it is possible that it was. That being said I do not think it was long, as the course is certified by USATF. Assuming it was measured correctly, Garmin watches should be measuring long (especially with those sneaky tangents where the median blocked the best line) as certification requires an additional 1% to be added to the measured distance.

From peds endo doc on Mon, May 02, 2011 at 23:10:41 from 216.52.44.163

Jeff... I enjoyed reading the report. There are so many things that have to come together to allow things to turn out for the best. Good luck in your decisions; put your family first and if this is meant to be it will still happen.

From MichelleL on Mon, May 02, 2011 at 23:21:27 from 67.41.182.93

Agree with Paul, a stepping stone, hopefully you'll get your OTQ.

From Holt on Tue, May 03, 2011 at 10:23:25 from 204.113.55.41

Good attitude Jeff - you are a great runner and this is all learning for the time that you hit it.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I woke up this morning feeling like I had been hit by a truck.  Super sore.  The good thing is that the soreness feels like it won't last for too long, unlike after past marathons where I felt like I had been hit by a truck.

 I am actually encouraged by how I feel.  I feel like I will be able to get back to normal training sooner rather than later.  The Lord always has his ways of teaching me, and this marathon may be one of those times just as the last one in November was.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.000.000.000.001.00

Still fairly sore, but not too bad.  I didn't do a formal run because I think that it is good to take an extra day off after a marathon, but I did run to one of my classes, and I ran from my lab to my car at the end of the day.  I will call it 1 mile of running.  I didn't feel too bad.  My quads were tight, but did not really hurt, so that was a positive.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.006.00

I ran most of the way home from school before meeting Kimia at the library.  6 miles total.  I didn't feel too bad, but once I started running I felt more soreness than I thought I would.  6 miles may have been a little too much, so I will probably run less tomorrow.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 6.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

4 miles this morning in just over 29 minutes.  My quads felt sore yesterday, and my hamstrings felt sore today, however overall I felt much better today than yesterday.  The soreness I felt today seemed to relax away for the most part by the time I had been running about a mile and I felt pretty good over the last 3 miles.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 4.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

I ran most of the way home from school today before meeting Kimia on her way to the park with Anita.  I ended up walking with them for a while, but no extra running.  I will call it 8 miles for the run which I finished in 56:xx (I was running a little quicker than normal).  My legs don't really feel sore (just a little soreness in the quads when I squat) but they still feel somewhat dead.  I can run quick, but I just don't feel like I have that spring in my legs that I normally have.  I guess that is what happens after you run a marathon.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I woke up yesterday morning feeling fried.  I realized that in my excitement to get back into training mode again I was coming back too fast after just having run a marathon last Saturday.  Even though I was not really sore it was more than my body could handle.  So, I didn't run yesterday, and today I went hiking with Kimia instead of running (probably hiked about 3 miles at about 8000 ft altitude up on Mt. Charleston).

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

No running today (again).  I was planning on running, but I spent all morning studying for a final, and I spent all afternoon working on a final project for another class.  I didn't necessarily think that not running was a bad thing, so I just didn't run at all.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.006.00

I am finally going to start getting more back into the swing of things now that I am feeling a little better.  My left hamstrings have actually started to hurt a little and feel pretty tight just in the last day or two, but otherwise I am feeling good.  The hamstring issues seemed to go away as I was running today, so no worries there.  My right calf did start to feel kind of tight towards the end of the run, so I am glad that I only ran 6 miles.  The run was much faster than I was planning, and I finished 6 miles in 41:41.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 6.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.801.000.000.008.80

I ran on the treadmill today so that I could bail if anything started to hurt at all.  It ended up that I felt fine, so I ran for as long as the treadmill will let me run before it stops automatically (1:05).  I set the treadmill to a "cross country" setting, so the grade changed between 0% and 7% during the run.  I spent most of the run at 8mph (7:30 pace), but sped up to 10.6mph (5:39 pace) for a while (I will estimate that it was about 1 mile, but I am not sure) near the end just to see what running faster felt like.  Total distance was 8.8 miles.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 8.80
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Easy run today, but I really cruised in comparison to what is normal for me.  1:08:56 for 10 miles.  Finally starting to feel more normal again, although my left hamstring is still bothering me a little.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.750.001.250.009.00

I tried out the new tempo loop that I mapped out on the course tool recently.  Course loops around the Galleria Mall here in Henderson, and based on the map was right at 1.25 miles.  I figured it was worth a shot trying it out as it would be easy to run long tempos here with decent feedback on the pace.  I figured out approximate locations for quarter markers and then timed them as I was running.  The markers were not too far off, but they were definitely not accurate.  However, I am pretty sure that the overall distance is very close to what the course tool says.  Another bonus is that since the course runs around the mall there are bathrooms just inside that I can use (no more bushes for me!).  The course itself rolls a fair amount, with downhill during the first quarter, uphill during the last quarter, and rolling in the middle.  I don't think it will be a particularly fast loop, but I don't think it will be particularly slow either.

For my run today I ran to the mall, ran 5 miles on the tempo loop (last loop in 6:27, 5:09 pace, HR max 183), after which I ran to the high school just to make sure that when the effort was equal I was running the same speed on the track that I was running around the mall.  After that I ran home.  I was originally going to run 10 miles, but after I got to the track I realized that I was a little shorter than I had originally planned (I thought that the mall was farther away from my house than it ended up being) and I just decided to call it good at 9 miles.  I am not going to worry too much about daily mileage totals for another week or so and it was only a mile short, so I figured it was good enough (plus it was close to 90 degrees outside... that was a big part of the decision to be honest).  Total time was rather quick, 1:00:45 for 9 miles as I was really cruising early on (subconsciously I think I was trying to impress all the people driving by, so I sped up), plus I ran the last mall loop pretty fast.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 9.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

Today was my first "long" run since the marathon.  It wasn't my standard 20 miles, but it was good to get out for a longer run.  It was hot out this morning (in the 80's) and I decided not to push the pace at all during the run.  I kept the pace just a little under 8:00 pace for the first half (59:15 for 7.5 miles), but on the downhill second half I sped up quite a bit, holding HR around 160 for a while to see how fast I would go at that HR.  HR of 160 gave me mile splits of 6:14, 6:32, 6:35.  My body was not reacting well to the heat and the subsequent dehydration, which explains the slowdown.  I will need to do something like this again when it is not as hot out to see how fast I go with a HR of 160.  Total time for 15 miles was 1:51:25.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.501.000.000.0010.50

I ran on the Pittman wash today.  I ran 1 mile at 160 HR over the same section where I did it on Saturday.  Differences: only 5.5 miles into the run vs 10, about 15 degrees cooler (about 70 degrees vs about 85), and a slightly more favorable wind.  The result was a 5:49 mile in comparison to the 6:14 I ran on the same section on Saturday.  I think it goes to show the difference that heat can make, as the additional aid from wind and from running this mile earlier in the run (less fatigue) can honestly only account for maybe 5-10 seconds, and the difference was 25.  Total time for 10.5 miles was 1:20:29.

New Balance 758 Miles: 10.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.002.000.000.0010.00

I ran on the Pittman wash this morning.  I was running uphill into a headwind on the way out, and downhill with a tailwind on the way back.  I tried to keep my HR in the low 130's on the way out, and I hit my turnaround in 42:00.  On the way back I ran 4 x 800 with about 400m rest after the first two, and about 800m rest after the third.  During the 800's I tried to keep my HR right around 170 and I ended up with splits of 2:36, 2:36, 2:42, 2:35.  The third repeat was slower because it was during a half mile that has 7 sharp turns, a steep downhill (with a sharp turn at the bottom so you can't use the downhill effectively) and a steep uphill.  The fourth repeat had more downhill than the others and utilized the wind better, so it should have been faster, but I accidentally let the HR drop into the mid 160's during this repeat (probably daydreaming) and I finished close to where I was at during the first two repeats.  Total time for 10 miles was 1:15:05 (33:05 second half).

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.001.000.000.0010.00

Today was mostly easy, with 1 mile at a faster pace in the middle.  I didn't wear the heart rate monitor today so no feedback there.  I had a headwind for most of the first half of the run on the Pittman Wash, but after about 4 miles the wind started to shift and by 4.5 miles I had a nice solid tailwind.  The only problem was that I turned around at 5 miles and once again had a headwind, which lasted for the remainder of my run.  I ran my faster mile just after turning around.  I ran a little faster than I normally would have because there was a guy running in the same direction up in front of me and I got exited.  It was also kind of fun to push against the wind for a little while (the wind had some nasty gusts that hit me, but it was not consistent so I don't know how much it slowed me down).  I finished that mile in 5:44, after which I finished running home with a total time of 1:16:07 for 10 miles.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.002.500.000.0010.50

I ran out on the Pittman Wash, and on the way back I ran 2 miles at a HR of approximately 170, finishing in 11:05 (5:20, 5:45).  Splits for the 2 miles are so different because the second mile rolls up and down constantly with 4 sharp turns, while the first mile is a steady gradual downhill.  I also averaged 171-172 HR for the first mile, so I backed off a bit, averaging 169 HR or so for the second mile.  The terrain differences and the decreased effort really made a big difference.  There was also a mild headwind during the 2 mile tempo that slowed me a little, but not a lot.  After about a mile and a quarter easy I ran another half mile at 170 HR in 2:35.  This half mile had a lot of downhill (with one short but significant uphill) which is why it was so much faster.  Total time for the run was in the 1:17:xx range for 10.5 miles (not entirely sure on the time because I cleared my watch part way into the run.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

I woke up not feeling so well this morning.  I figured it was just congestion, but later realized that I was coming down with something.  I decided to do my entire run, but to not look at the time on my watch for the first five miles.  Instead I just monitored my HR to make sure that it didn't get too high.  I made it through 5 miles with an average HR of 137, and a time of 44:00 (8:48 average... ouch that is slow).  Based on effort I should have been going about 8:00 pace, but I could tell that I was going a lot slower.  On the way back I sped up to a HR of 160 for 1 mile to test how sick I really am.  6:10 for the mile (21 seconds slower than a few days ago, but 4 seconds faster than last Saturday).  The mile left me feeling reasonably optimistic that I am not too sick.  Finished running 12 miles in 1:37:38 after making it through 6 miles in 52:38.

New Balance 758 Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.005.000.000.0017.00

I wasn't sure how far I would run this morning as I am sick, but I woke up feeling decent this morning so I decided to run a minimum of 15 miles today, and hopefully more, with a 5 mile tempo thrown in on my new tempo loop around the mall (1.25 mile loop).

I started by running to the mall, and running laps around it until it was time for the tempo to start (6 laps total).  I was thinking about picking it up just a little bit on the 6th lap as a segway into the tempo, but I started to feel a little sick and achy during the 5th lap, and I ran the 6th lap easy instead.  My plan at the beginning of the run was to hit a heart rate of 165 for the first two laps, and then to pick it up to 170 and 175 for the third and fourth laps.  However, when I started to not feel achy my heart rate started to spike, and by the time I started the tempo it was in the mid 150's.

At the start of the tempo my HR was in the high 160's, but I felt like I was jogging.  I went through the first quarter (downhill) in 1:20, followed by two consecutive 1:30's (rolling).  I then decided to not worry about my preset HR goals, and I picked up the effort to what felt reasonable.  800 splits were 2:50, 2:58, 2:55, 2:56, 2:58, 2:52, 2:54, 2:50, 2:49, 2:40.  Total time for the tempo was 28:42.  My heart rate averaged about 170 during the first couple miles, and then slowly climbed until it was around 180 at the beginning of the final mile.  During that mile it climbed as high as 186 during the final quarter when I was running uphill back to the starting line.

The tempo was interesting.  Yes, my heart rate was high because I was sick, and yes the tempo was kind of slow.  What interested me was the fact that my heart itself did not seem to be affected.  The HR was high I believe to compensate for other issues that were not the way they were supposed to be.  It was also interesting, because I had no problem pushing the HR higher than I normally see it get, and I could tell early on in the tempo that I was not working hard, despite the high HR.  I am going to have to experiment with things a little more.

After finishing the tempo I ran home to get some water (by this point I was pretty dehydrated) and then ran a couple miles extra to finish up with 17 miles on the day in a time of 1:55:40 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 17.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.006.00

I woke up feeling much worse today than I have felt the last couple of days.  As a result I ended up only running 6 miles.  I just ran out until I started to feel achy, and then turned around at the next mile marker and came home.  The positives I take out of today are that my pace was quicker than on Friday when I first started to feel sick (8:24 pace for first 3 miles vs 8:48 pace for the first 5 miles on Friday), despite keeping the HR at a similar effort (134 average for the first 3 miles vs 136 on Friday at three miles).  Total time for 6 miles was 49:11.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 6.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I started to slowly feel worse and worse yesterday evening, and by this morning I was feeling pretty crummy.  My entire body felt super achy, and I was hacking up all kinds of mucus of various colors.  No run today because I am sick, and I honestly think I would have made things worse by running.  I had a temperature of 100.9 degrees and I slept on and off until about 1:30 this afternoon.  I am feeling a little better now, but my body is still having trouble regulating temperature (its 82 degrees in my apartment, and at times I feel cold)

 Just to add an update to things, I took my temperature again before I went to bed, and it was 101.8 degrees... not so good. 

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.000.000.000.001.00

The fever broke last night, but I still feel like garbage.  I jogged an easy mile to assess the situation, and my legs felt fine, but the rest of me didn't.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.000.000.000.001.00

Mostly the same as yesterday, except I actually felt slightly worse.  I jogged another mile just to get my legs moving, but no real running.

I felt like garbage in the evening.  The pressure in my sinuses was so bad that I could hear very little, and my ears and head hurt quite a bit.  Not fun.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

The ear pain went away during the night, but I still feel like there is fluid or something in my ears, and I can barely hear anything.  Being sick is really kicking my behind.  This is way worse than when I had the swine flu.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

I ran 4 miles today.  I kept the pace easy, but my HR was skyrocketing despite not running hard.  My chest hurt during the entire run, as did much of the rest of my body.  I was coughing a fair amount during the run as well.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 4.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

So, I have been coughing so much, and so violently that I strained my back from coughing.  It really hurts.  Walking hurts, and I didn't even want to try running with it hurting like this.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.500.000.000.001.50

So, I finally made it in to see a doctor today.  It ends up that I have a sinus infection that I picked up when the fever went away.  Also found out that being sick somehow made my asthma come back.  I had noticed the wheezing, but never thought of the asthma as I have not had issues with that in over 5 years.  Hopefully that goes away as I get better from the sinus infection.

Ran about a mile just to test things out.  My back hurt quite a bit.  It definitely made running uncomfortable.  I am going to try and run a little more later to see if the pain will ease if I run slightly farther distances.

Attempted to run a little more, but it hurts too much, so I only got in a half mile extra.

Comments
From jtshad on Wed, Jun 01, 2011 at 19:05:49 from 204.134.132.225

I hope you start feeling better and the meds help with the sinus infection.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.000.000.002.00

I ran 2 miles today, and it hurt.  I really wanted to run at least 4 miles, but within a couple minutes of starting the run I was already planning on running 3 miles due to the pain.  By the time I had been going about 6 minutes I knew that 2 miles was all I could do.  I had to stop a couple times because the pain in my back felt almost debilitating.  Finished 2 miles in about 16:22

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 2.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.500.000.000.004.50

I ran 4 miles today while the car was getting an oil change in about 32:30.  The cough is still affecting me, but my back is slowly getting better.  It was still sore and tight today, but the resultant pain was runnable pain.  I probably could have gone farther, but I am trying to be careful.  I also ran from the lab at school to my car later on just for the sake of running a little extra.  I will call that a half mile.

As far as I can tell, I am getting better from being sick, however I can tell that I am still wheezing a fair amount.  When I was younger I would never wheeze this much when I was not exercising.  It makes me wonder if I have had some asthma related problems that have been creeping up for a while now, but are just getting bad enough that I am noticing.  It also makes me wonder if this may have affected me in the marathon about a month ago.  Is it possible that I was effectively running a marathon at altitude, even though I was physically near sea level, due to the inability to bring in sufficient oxygen to restricted air-ways?

Brooks Axiom Miles: 4.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.000.000.000.005.00

Stopped while driving to California and ran 5 miles out in the desert near Barstow.  It was good to get out of the car for a bit, even though I had only been driving for 3 hours.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

No run today.  Didn't have a chance to run until after 7pm, and the inability to run more than 5 miles right now was kind of depressing.  To be honest, I just didn't want to go out to run unless I had the capacity to run a little more.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.501.500.000.0012.00

I finally am feeling good enough to run!  I did need to take ibuprofen to make the pain in my back minimal enough to run with, but it felt good to be outside running.  Total time was 1:30:11.  I ran hard for about a mile and a half while chasing a guy on a bike averaging about 5:20 pace while chasing him.  HR was high when I was running hard (high 170's) due to the asthma issues I have been having.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.002.000.000.0010.00

Mostly I ran easy today, but I ran 2 miles hard to test where my HR would be at a given effort.  First mile was 5:36, but I had to slow down because of geese on the Los Gatos Creek park trail.  The second mile was 5:33 (I think, but I am a little fuzzy on the time).  HR was about 170, which is too high given the muscular effort.  Finished 10 miles total.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

Easy run today.  I was trying to see how long I could run before my average HR rose above 130 for the run.  It took about 4 miles before I hit 130, and my average HR was at 132 at 6 miles and 133 at the finish.  Total time for 12 miles was about 1:32:40.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.003.000.000.0012.00

I was up in Concord today, and I went exploring for a while on my run before heading over to the Contra Costa Canal trail and running a mini tempo run on my way back to my sister in law's house.  The tempo was 19 minutes long, and I am calling it 3 miles, although I know that it was longer than that.  I simply don't know how far it was.  Total time was 1:30:46.  I will call it 12 miles.  Based on my HR that should be pretty close.

I also tried running today without taking ibuprofen to see how my back would handle things.  It wasn't horrible, and the pain was minor enough that I could run with the pain.  However, it was not super comfortable, so I will keep taking ibuprofen for a few more days until the pain gets a little better 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

I ran easy today.  My breathing is finally getting better.  There is something in the air in Las Vegas that really has messed me up.  It took this entire week to really feel like the asthma issues had subsided, and now that I am feeling better I am going back to the desert.  I was able to keep my average HR below 130 for the entire run, finishing with an average HR of 129, and a total time of 1:31:xx (just under 1:32:00) for 12 miles.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.000.000.000.0020.00

I just wanted to get this over with today.  As we were driving back to Las Vegas yesterday I could feel my nose start to run, and my throat started to get sore from the drainage.  I need to find some sort of way to minimize the damage that these allergens are doing to me.  I can't say I ran hard during the run, but my HR was super high due to the heat (90ish) with lots of sun, dehydration (ond overheating that comes afterwards), uphill running during the first half, and lots of wind.  I finished 20 miles in 2:20:40.  I am just glad that I finished at close to a 7:00 average pace.

If anyone knows of any natural methods (or any other method for that matter) that I can use to help with the allergies, and the resultant issues with asthma that I am having I would appreciate the info.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Comments
From RAD on Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 01:10:43 from 98.202.17.113

Nice job running through the gunk! I might have just called it.

As far as suggestions go, I know a few people that swear by a few different therapeutic oils. No personal experience with them, but I guess they really help with allergies and breathing issues. Maybe google it?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I did an easy run this morning before Kimia went to her doctor appointment.  5 miles easy in 38:11.  I will do another run in the evening.  I didn't take any pain meds before running this morning, and I was pleased with how my back felt.  On the negative side of things I could tell that I was wheezing just a little, and my HR was higher than it should have been, so I think that the asthma symptoms are already coming back just a few days after getting back to Vegas from California.  I wonder if getting a more expensive filter for our a/c unit will help with things.

I ran 10 more miles in the evening in 1:19:49.  I didn't wear the HR monitor and instead decided to wear my other watch.  I didn't look at the time until 5 miles into the run, and instead decided to just run what felt like 8:00 pace.  I was surprised when halfway through I was at 42:15 instead of 40:00.  I sped up the the second half to catch the 8:00 guy, and did not feel good.  My legs just felt tired and drained. 

New Balance 758 Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.253.750.000.0015.00

I ran a speed workout on my mall loop this morning.  I ran a total of 15 miles in 1:49:57.  I got out earlier than normal because I wanted to get some speed work in and I didn't want to fight the heat as much as normal.  I got out the door at 6:30 and realized very quickly that I should have made it out the door by 5:30 at the absolute latest.  It is not that it was incredibly hot at 6:30 (although it was pretty hot by the time I finished), what really killed me was the sun beating down on me as I looped around the mall parking lot (virtually no shade and the sun was already way up in the sky by 6:30) as the sun here just drains me.  Based on the forecast it appears that the temperature was around 80 degrees when I started the run, plus or minus a little, and in the mid to upper 80's by the time I finished.

About 5 miles into the run, I ran 2.5 miles hard (2 loops around the mall) at what felt like a good effort that I would normally maintain for a 5 mile tempo.  Finished in 14:03, with lap splits of 7:09 and 6:54.  Half mile splits were 2:51, 2:51, 2:49, 2:48, 2:44 (last quarter in 79 running uphill).  

After finishing the mini tempo, I ran 3 more loops around the mall (3.75 miles) before running one last loop hard (1.25 miles) in 6:51, with quarter splits of 81 (downhill), 83, 84, 83 (all three rolling), 80 (uphill).  HR maxed out at 186 at the end of the last 2 hard loops, with an average HR of 176 for the last loop around the mall.  

Considering the pace, the HR was way, way higher than it should have been.  It is hard to tell how much of the high HR is due to the heat, and how much is due to the breathing issues I have been having.  Breathing felt better at the beginning of the run in comparison to yesterday's runs, however I did feel like I started to wheeze a little bit after I ran my first mini tempo section, and my HR never dropped below 150 after that point.  However, it was also starting to get hotter around the same time, so it is hard to pinpoint how much of the problem is heat related, and how much is breathing related.

After I got home I weighed myself before eating breakfast (I did eat a little cantaloupe first) and I weighed 118 pounds.  I have been weighing around 118 fairly consistently after all my longer runs lately.  I feel like I am in high school again as I wrestled 119 my senior year (although I was an inch shorter then).

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran 10 miles easy this morning in 1:19:xx.  I got out later than I was originally planning (I was super tired this morning, despite getting to bed early last night, so I slept in) and it was over 90 degrees out by the time I went running.  The heat was not too big of an issue since it was just an easy run, and I was only going 10 miles.  I can afford to sleep in a little when I am running easy, but not when I do hard workouts.  

I checked my resting HR this morning when I first woke up, and it was at 36 bpm.  That is the lowest I have ever measured my resting HR, as normally it is around 39 bpm, and sometimes it is in the low 40's.  I check it by putting on the HR monitor, and then lying back down (usually on the floor so that I don't fall asleep).  I check my HR every few minutes to see how low it will get while I am lying there.

PM:  5 more miles in the evening.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 5.00Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.500.000.000.5013.00

I was planning to run 5 x 400 this morning on the mall loop, but my legs have been feeling dead as I have gone from practically no running while being sick/injured to hitting 78 miles last week and being on pace for more miles this week.  So, I cut the 400's short, only running 2 and giving myself 1200 rest vs the planned 400 rest.  I just ran up on the Pittman wash since I was cutting the majority of the speedwork, and it worked out fine.  First 400 may have been a little short, and I ran it in 64 (maybe worth a 67?) and the second was a 69 on a stretch of trail with a number of 90 degree turns.  Total time for the run was 1:18:53

PM: I wanted to run 5 miles, but I didn't have enough time before I went out with the missionaries, so I ran 3 miles at a brisk pace instead (20:10). 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 3.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles easy this morning.  Temps were in the mid 70's and it was overcast, and I can say that I really enjoyed the cooler morning without the sun.  My HR was also lower without the heat or the sun, and I finished 10 miles in 1:18:17, with an average HR for the run of 129.

I have come to the conclusion that the high HR I have had lately is mostly heat related, as the temps the last few days have gotten up to about 107 and the allergens that were causing the asthma problems I was having have seemingly been burned up by the heat.  The wheezing has gone away for the most part, and now that it was cooler today my HR dropped back to normal.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.0010.000.000.0020.00

I ran a long run on the mall loop this morning.  It was the first long tempo that I have run run since running the Illinois Marathon.  I ran to the mall, and then ran 6 laps around the mall before beginning the tempo run.  I got up at 5:30 this morning, and the sun had not yet come up over the tops of the mountains.  However, by the time I made it out the door around 5:45 the sun was above the mountains, and the temperature was somewhere near 80 degrees (my phone said 82, but it doesn't update often, so it may have been cooler).  Knowing that it was progressively getting warmer, I was unsure how the tempo would go.  By the time I started the tempo run, the sun was beating down on me, and any semblance of a shadow cast by the surrounding buildings was long gone.  I decided to not worry too much about the pace as long as it was sub 6:00, and I started the tempo.

My HR started out near 160, rose up to the high 160's after a couple miles, and then rose higher still to the low-mid 170's.  In the last mile, my HR got as high as 186, staying around 180 for the majority of that mile.

I took lap splits (1.25 miles each) and mile splits during the run.  The lap splits are probably a better indicator of how fast I was going.  Mile splits are as follows: 5:56, 5:56, 5:51, 5:53, 5:51, 5:47, 5:46, 5:45, 5:46, 5:33.  Lap splits were: 7:30, 7:23, 7:19, 7:15, 7:17, 7:12, 7:12, 6:56.  Total time of 58:04.

After finishing the tempo, I ran home to finish with a total time for 20 miles of 2:12:28. 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Comments
From Burt on Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 21:14:50 from 72.223.90.79

Looks like you're feeling better.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 14:40:12 from 192.168.1.1

Nice to see you are recovering. I had a thought. We have been trying to solve the marathon crash problem, but I am wondering if we should leave that problem alone for a bit and target something else. The 2:08 or so 800 meter speed needs to be 2:03. The workouts will be something like 400 - 300 - 2x200 all at 4:00 pace starting with full recoveries and cutting it down, then 500 + 300, then 600 + 200, all the same pace. You do need to be careful not to get injured on those. To get the maximum benefit, you need to be able to take a nap on the day of this workout afterwards. The frequency of this should be once a week.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.003.000.000.0015.00

I ran fairly easy for most of the run today, as I ran out on the Pittman Wash and then up on St Rose Parkway until I hit 7.5 miles, after which I ran back.  On the way back I ran a 3 mile tempo of sorts from 10-13 miles.  I started out at just a little bit faster than 6:00 pace, and then every half mile or so I threw in a short sprint for 10-15 seconds.  Mile splits ended up being 5:42, 5:45, 5:43.  Total time for 15 miles was 1:50:19.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 15.00
Race: Las Vegas Track Club 3200m (2 Miles) 00:09:41, Place overall: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.250.002.000.0018.25

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:18:58.  Checked the resting HR again this morning, and it was 36 bpm again, but my HR was a little higher while I was running than I thought it should be, probably meaning that I am just a little bit fatigued still after running 15 miles yesterday, after running a hard 20 on Saturday (I felt dead all day on Saturday and even a little on Sunday after the tempo I ran, even though it wasn't even fast).  I hoped that I would feel stronger in the evening for the race I was running.

PM:  I ran the Las Vegas Track Club 3200 meter race that was held at the Green Valley High School track across the street from my house.  This is one of a series of free summer track races that the track club puts on.  The race was at 7:00pm, but the sun was still glaring down on us when 7:00 hit.  Temperatures were in the high 90's at the start of the race (the high today was 102), but luckily for us we got some shade on the backstretch from the bleachers.  Luckily there was virtually no wind to add to the heat (when it is that hot, the wind feels like a giant hair dryer... not fun).  Pre race goal was to try and hit 73 second quarters, giving me a 9:44, which I considered reasonable considering the heat, and the fact that I feel like I am lacking fitness right now with the layoff I had recently due to illness.

As I was warming up my legs felt completely dead.  I was barely running sub 8:00 pace, and it seemed like a struggle.  This was not a good sign for me, and with the added heat I started wondering if I would even be able to go sub 10:00 for this race, even though I routinely split two miles faster than that in longer races.  Add to this the fact that I had not run a race this short since 2003 and I was more worried than I should have been for a local free race.  I talked to a guy named Andrew before the race, and he thought that the heat would cost us about 15 seconds per mile.  He seemed to be my closest competition at the race, and appeared to know what he was talking about, so this made me even more unsure as to how I would do when the gun went off.  I decided to just go for it, staying with the leaders for the first lap, and then trying to hit 73 second quarters even if it was too fast for me.  I hoped it would turn out ok.  I dumped some water over my head before the start to help me keep my body temperature down during the race.

The race started, and two kids shot to the front, immediately putting a decent gap on the rest of the field.  I stayed reasonably close to them, and Andrew tucked in behind me.  I picked off the first kid near the end of the first lap, hitting it in 1:14.  The pace felt good, so I picked up the pace just a little in order to try and hit 1:13's.  I caught the second kid at about the 500m mark and from here on out it was just me, with Andrew right on my heels.  We hit 800m in 2:27 (1:13) and I could tell that Andrew was not just a random guy, but he was real competition.  He mentioned to me after the second lap that if we kept up the pace we were going we would lap a lot of people during the race.  I picked up the effort a little for the third lap to test Andrew and see how he would respond, and he stayed glued to my backside.  3:39 for three laps (1:12) so I was right on goal pace now.  The fourth lap slowed down just a little, and we went through 1600m in 5:53 (1:14).  I wasn't happy that I had slowed down and was now a second behind pace, so I sped up again the fifth lap going through 2000m in 6:05 (1:12).  By the sixth lap I started to feel the pace, and I was hurting just a bit trying not to slow down.  Despite the effort not to slow, I did slow some, and went through 2400m in 7:20 (1:15).  At this point we were lapping a lot of people, and throughout the race I had to swing wide to get by people on both the straightaways and the corners.  It is possible that some of the slowdown on this lap was related to the extra people we were passing.  The seventh lap was the same (1:15) and I hit the bell lap in 8:35.  I was now 4 seconds behind goal pace, but I was honestly not worrying about this at all as Andrew was still right behind me.  I started to push the pace at the beginning of this lap, and I could tell that he was starting to fall back a little.  I hoped that it would be enough.  I ran the next 200 in 35 seconds to make it to 3000m in 9:10, and then really started to push as I swung wide to pass some people before hitting the final straightaway.  In the last 100m Andrew sprinted past me, as he had an extra gear that just wasn't there for me and we both finished in 9:41, giving me a 31 second final 200m and a 1:06 last lap.

Despite not winning, I felt very happy about this race.  It helped me realize that I am in better shape than I thought I was in, and I was able to run solid splits without killing off my kick completely, while leading virtually the entire race, even though I felt like my legs were dead weights before the race started.  I think that if the heat were not there I would have run no slower than 9:30, and potentially as fast as 9:20, so this is encouraging.  I finished by running a long cool down with Andrew.  Ends up he is 44 years old, but just last year ran a 4:06 1500m (4:24 mile converted) which is faster than I have ever run over that distance.  Total of 8.25 miles for the evening.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00Saucony Kinvara Miles: 6.00
Comments
From Seth on Wed, Jun 22, 2011 at 17:52:30 from 199.188.28.8

Smokin fast man, especially in those temps. Nice work!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

After running the race last night, I decided to run my short run in the morning today, so I only ran 5 miles, finishing in just under 37 minutes.  I will run more this evening.

PM: 10 miles in 1:18:50.  When I left on my run at 8pm it was 103 degrees outside.  The thing with Vegas however, is that once the sun is no longer right on you the heat is not too bad.  When the sun is directly on you it sucks you dry and you overheat before too long, but at night while it may be hot it is not too bad. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 10.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.500.000.000.5017.00

Temps were hot this morning (in the high 80's or low 90's at the beginning of the run and in the mid 90's at the end), but most of the run was not too bad.  Even though it was not as hot as last night, I had the sun shining on me today so that makes the conditions more difficult.

I first ran out on the Pittman Wash before running back and making my way over to the track where I ran a couple 400m repeats.  I was feeling the effects of the heat, and it was windy as well, so I was not sure how the repeats would go.  I decided to just run them hard and see what I would end up with, fast or slow.

The first repeat was in 64.  The wind was not horrible on this repeat, but probably slowed me down by a second or two.  After I ran 2 laps as recovery I ran another repeat in 67-68, but the wind was much stronger this time around, so the wind probably cost me 3-4 seconds.

I finished by running home and finishing 13 miles total in 1:36:46.

PM: 4 more miles at school after I was done working.  Total time around 31 minutes. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 13.00New Balance 758 Miles: 4.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.001.000.000.0015.00

I ran 10 miles easy this morning.  Halfway through the run I ran 1 mile fast in 5:24 as a test of sorts to see how my body would respond to the heat.  Finished the run in 1:15:01

PM: I ran 5 miles at school in the evening. 

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.0010.250.000.0020.25

This run finished off my first ever 100 mile week!  It is not like the number itself really means that much, but I am excited nonetheless, as I hope to be putting in more of these weeks over the course of the summer.

 I did my weekly long run this morning, running most of it around the Galleria Mall, and then finishing the run on the Pittman Wash.  I made it out the door at 5:20 am, which is the earliest I have gotten out the door so far this summer.  The temperature was around 80 when I left the house (similar to last Saturday) and I was hoping that I would react well to the heat since I was leaving earlier than normal.

The workout goal was to run 3 x 3 laps around the mall (3.75 miles total for each repeat) with a one lap recovery (1.25 miles).  I started the first repeat after 5 miles, and ran lap splits of: 7:23, 7:13, 6:58.  Mile splits (plus .75) were: 5:54, 5:44, 5:40, 4:16.  The first lap had virtually no wind as I warmed into the pace, but after that lap a wind started to pick up from the SW that affected me during some of the rolling quarters and the uphill quarter at the end of each lap.  

After a 1.25 mile recovery (9:32) I ran the second repeat with lap splits of: 7:10, 7:08, 7:00.  Mile splits (plus .75) were: 5:40, 5:41, 5:36, 4:21.  The wind was much stronger during this repeat, and I really had to work hard just to break 6:00 pace during the quarters into the wind.  The wind definitely hurt me more when it was in my face than it helped when it was at my back.

After this repeat I ran another lap for recovery in 9:49, but I decided that I would shorten the last repeat, extend the recovery a little longer, and run the last section somewhere that the wind would be at my back a little more consistently.  The combination of the wind, the heat, and the fact that I have never run this many miles in a week before just sapped the energy from me, and I struggled home to get some H2O before finishing the run.  I ran out onto the Pittman Wash, and then started my final tempo heading into the wind for a few minutes before turning around and getting a nice tailwind over the final 2 miles, finishing at my apartment.  At the beginning of the last repeat I actually miscalculated where I needed to turn around, so I ended up running about a quarter mile farther than I should have.  I finished the last repeat with a total time of 15:31, for what I will call 2.75 miles (it may have been just a little bit shorter, but it was closer to 2.75 than 2.5, which for my purposes is close enough).

Total time for the run (20.25 miles) was 2:17:02.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.25
Comments
From Jon on Sat, Jun 25, 2011 at 23:42:23 from 98.71.183.63

Nice job on getting 100, Jeff.

From Holt on Sun, Jun 26, 2011 at 10:51:06 from 97.126.207.204

Good job on the first 100 - like I told Fritz, its all downhill from here!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran an easy 10 miles this morning in 1:19:09.  Average HR for the run was 129, which is good considering temps were in the low to mid 80's.  I ran a quick pick up of about 200m in 34-35 seconds just past the 6 mile mark of my run just to shake my legs out.

PM: I ran 5 more miles alone in the evening. 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.500.000.001.5015.00

I ran to the mall loop this morning, and at the 2.5 mile mark of my run I ran 3 x 400m with 1/2 mile recovery between each 400.  I ran the 400's pretty close to all out, and based on the times I wonder if this loop may be a little longer than 1.25 miles.  400 splits were: 63 (slight headwind, but downhill), 67 (first 200 up then second 200 down, plus some crosswind), and 66 (uphill for about 50 meters, then a slight downhill but mostly flat to the finish, net loss/gain almost zero).  After the third repeat I ran easy for 2 miles and then ran 3 x 400m again at the same places, in the same order.  400 splits were: 64.5 (the wind shifted some, so it was more like a strong crosswind this time), 69 (strong headwind this time), 64 (maybe a high 63, but also may have had some tailwind).  After I finished the last 400, I ran home and then finished up the last 5 miles by going out and back on the Pittman Wash.  Total time of 1:54:40 for 15 miles.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.000.000.000.0017.00

I ran 11 miles this morning in 1:27:04.  At the end of the run I went over to the track and ran 3 100s in 16s 15s and 14s, in that order.  I just wanted to get a better feel for what 4:00 pace feels like.

PM: I ran 6 more miles in 47:07.  The temperature felt cooler tonight than it has recently in the evenings.

New Balance 758 Miles: 6.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 11.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.500.002.000.5018.00

I ran 13 miles this morning, running out to the end of the Pittman Wash and back, before heading over to the track to run a few 200 repeats.  While on the Pittman Wash, I ran 4 x 0.5 mile repeats with about a half mile recovery between each.  The goal wasn't really to have a super hard speed workout, but to get a better feel for running a faster pace, as despite the 3200 race I ran last Tuesday I have been feeling kind of slow ever since I got sick about a month ago.  Split times were 2:30, 2:24, 2:23, 2:22.  The first repeat actually felt harder than the others for some reason.  When I went over to the track at the end of my run, I ran 4 x 200m repeats with 600m recovery, running them in 30, 30, 30, 29.  The 200's felt strange as 30 second splits did not feel that difficult, but I did not feel like I could really go faster than that.  It could simply be that I have not done much short speed work in a long time and my body just needs to get used to it again.  Total time of 1:35:20 for 13 miles.

PM: 5 miles in 36:42. 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 13.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran 11 miles this morning with Anita in the running stroller.  She did awesome, as it was hot outside, and I had not run with her in a few months, yet she did not whine or fuss at all during the run.  I think that she actually really enjoyed being out with me, as she was looking around and babbling quite a bit, and she drank almost all of the water from her water bottle.  Total time for the run was 1:27:10.

PM: 4 miles in 30:16.  My legs have been feeling kind of dead all week, but felt surprisingly good this evening.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 11.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 4.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.009.001.000.0021.00

I was dreading this run all week long, as the temperatures are starting to get hotter, and the hotter it gets, the easier it is to overheat while out on a long run.  I was originally planning on running at 5:00am and was hoping that I could get in a good chunk of my daily mileage before the sun really started beating down on me.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) I slept horribly last night, waking up nearly every 30 minutes while having trouble falling asleep as well (you would think with the mileage I have been running lately that sleep would not be a problem).  Due to the sleep issues I decided to sleep in a bit and go to plan B, which was to drive to UNLV and run on the treadmill indoors where I would not have to deal with the heat or the sun.

I got to UNLV and it was 79 degrees inside, a temperature at which I actually find it quite comfortable to run.  However, due to the workout I had planned I turned on the a/c to cool the place down to 70 degrees (I don't know how long it took, but the thermometer was reading 70 by the time I finished my run).  I then started my run, with the plan to run an 8 mile warm-up, followed by a 2 x 5 mile tempo with a 2 mile recovery between repeats.

The workout started according to plan, as I made it through the first 7.5 miles in 53:40.  I then paused my workout so that I could grab some water before starting the first 5 mile tempo at the 8 mile mark of the run.  I also turned on a fan, which I placed directly in front of me to provide some wind to make up for the lack of air resistance that exists when running in place on a treadmill.  The goal for the first tempo was to average 5:30 pace, which would give me 27:30 for 5 miles.  The goal for the second repeat was to average 5:20 pace, for a time of 26:40.  I sped up slowly at the beginning of the first repeat, going through 1 mile in 5:34, followed by a 5:30.  At 2.5 miles I decided that I felt good and wanted to speed up a little, so I sped up to finish the third mile in 5:29, followed by a 5:24 and a 5:22 to finish with a time of 27:19 for 5 miles.  This was followed by 2 miles at 7:30 pace (plus I stopped briefly to get some more water) before starting the final 5 mile tempo at the 15 mile mark of the run.

When I started this repeat I decided to shoot for the OTQ pace of 5:18 instead of 5:20, which would give me a 26:30 if I did it (vs. 26:40).  I started out right on pace this time (no warming into the pace at all) and it felt harder than I thought it would.  I think that the first 5 mile tempo had taken more out of me than I realized.  I was not sure if I would be able to hold pace for the entire tempo, so I just focused on relaxing at that pace.  I also decided that if I could hang on for 4 miles and if I still had anything left in the tank I would make an attempt at speeding up the final mile.  The pace never really started to feel easier than it did at the beginning of this tempo, but luckily it never started to feel harder either, and I made it through 4 miles right at 5:18 pace (21:12).  I then sped up progressively over the final mile, finishing with a final mile split of 4:56 for a total time of 26:08 for 5 miles.

After I finished the final tempo I felt like I should run one final mile to cool down a bit.  The final mile kind of hurt, but I think it was good for me since I had to drive home right after finishing.  I finished the final tempo to make it through 20 miles with a total time of 2:05:52, and 2:13:48 for 21 miles.  This finishes off my second consecutive 100 mile week.  I think that I am going to back off just a bit next week, plus once the baby comes I am going to take a fairly easy week as well (which may end up being next week anyways).

Adidas Adizero Miles: 21.00
Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 14:30:45 from 192.168.1.1

Treadmill running has its redeeming qualities. You can force the pace to be what you want to be. I am wondering if you could actually benefit from running the last 5 of 20 in your long runs on a treadmill in the absence of a trail with quarter mile marks and the presence of hot temperatures.

From jeffmc on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 14:56:04 from 131.216.80.154

Probably true. I plan on running at least one more hard long run on the treadmill for the benefit that treadmill running does give me here. That being said, I can tell that I have adapted fairly well to the heat, and I feel like I am affected less by the heat now. As long as I avoid the sun the heat is not so bad, and I do have a course that gives me approximate quarter mile marks (though it was measured on the course tool, so I don't know how accurate it is)

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Easy run today.  I finished 10 miles in 1:16:xx.  I am still sore from Saturday, which makes me think that I may have pushed it a little too much at the end of a long week.  As it is, I was planning on making this week easy, so things should be fine.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

10 miles this morning in 1:14:38.  I kept the pace easy, but the soreness is still kind of there.  I feel more stiff than anything.

PM: 5 more miles in the evening in 37:48. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 5.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles this morning in 1:16:25.  It has been humid lately, and it is interesting comparing the humidity to the hot dry weather we usually have.  It seems to me that humidity makes it feel about 10 degrees hotter than it really is.  It also makes it feel hotter than normal in the morning, but the heat is more manageable in the afternoon than it normally is.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.003.000.000.0015.00

10 miles this morning at school on the treadmill.  I ran 3 miles in about 17:30 in the middle of the run to get a feel for how my left calf is doing.  It is still feeling pretty tight.

 PM: 5 miles in 39:07. 

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00New Balance 758 Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Nice easy run this morning.  I ran 10 miles, finishing in 1:17:xx.  I massaged my left calf out for a couple minutes this morning, and it felt much better than it has felt previously.

PM: No more running for me today, as I am now the proud daddy of a little boy!  Shayon Ray McClellan was born at 7:43pm, weighing 7 lb 2 oz, and 20 inches in length.  Kimia and the little one are both doing great!

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Comments
From Rob on Sat, Jul 09, 2011 at 10:53:46 from 67.217.136.66

Congrats, that's exciting. Soon you can be the guy that win's all the 5K races pushing a baby stroller. Those guys rule.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 14:33:27 from 192.168.1.1

Congratulations! Where does the name come from?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I was at the hospital from last night until around 8:30pm tonight helping Kimia, and helping take care of the baby.  By the time we got situated at home it was after 10:30pm, so I just ended up not running today.  Not what I had planned, but this was an easy week anyhow, and there are some things that take priority over running.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I just ran easy today.  Nothing special happened.  I did a few pick-ups during the run as well just to shake out my legs a bit.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.500.000.000.5010.00

I was going to run a free 800m race next Tuesday, but I realized that I have a Stake training meeting that I need to be at that same night.  Instead I decided to run a solo 800m time trial today.  I went out to the track to run the time trial, and when I got there I found out that the track had been torn up as a new one is being installed soon.

So, luck was obviously not on my side, but I figured that I could run a half mile time trial out on the Pittman wash instead.  I ended up running the time trial just over 5 miles into the run, running a few strides before starting.  Luck was still not on my side, as I had a solid headwind that I had to deal with for the entire half mile.  It evened things out a bit seeing that there was a net downhill during this section of the trail, but I still think that the wind had a net slowing effect on the performance vs what I would have run on the track.  I was also running a half mile on a trail vs. 800m on the track.  800m is actually about 5m shorter than a half mile and is measured 8 inches from the inside rail, meaning that if you run right on the rail the distance is actually shorter than 800m (at least for the inside leg).

Anyhow, I started the time trial and struggled with the fact that I was not getting consistent pace feedback.  I tried to keep the effort hard to make up for the lack of pace feedback, but the wind was making things difficult for me.  I finished somewhere in the high 2:09 to mid 2:10 range.  So, obviously not what I would have liked to run, but conditions were not the best.

Total time for the run was 1:16:24 

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.620.000.000.3815.00

I ran an easy 10 miles this morning in 1:16:27.  During the middle of the run I ran a hard 300m in a section where a start, 200m and 300m marks are randomly painted on the trail I run on.  I just wanted to get a better feel for the effort that it will take for me to run a 45 second 300m because I will be running 300m repeats tomorrow.

PM:  I ran 5 miles this evening in 37:24.  I felt pretty good considering that it was the second run of the day for me.  I guess that is to be expected since I only ran 60 miles last week, and haven't run any doubles yet this week until today. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 5.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.850.000.001.1515.00

I went to UNLV and ran a track workout this morning since the track by my house is torn up.  The goal was to run 4-6 x 300m repeats in about 45 seconds with 300m recovery.  I ran a 3 mile warm-up at a fairly brisk pace (20:23 for 3 miles), and then changed into my track flats, ran an extra half mile with some strides, and started the workout.  

There was a good amount of wind this morning, so I decided to cut out the homestretch when the wind would be the worst.  The wind still slowed me down on the corners, but it sped me up on the backstretch so I think it ended up being about even.  The first repeat was a 45.1 and it felt easy.  I even took my foot off the gas a little during the last few meters so as not to run too fast.  However, things got progressively harder from there, as the next three repeats were 46.1, 46.3, and 45.4.  I should note that it is hard to hit the stop button on my watch, so I probably cost myself a few tenths of a second on each repeat in slowing and trying to hit the stop button.  After the fourth repeat I decided to keep going and try to run 6 repeats, but I gave myself and extra minute or so to rest.  I ran the fifth repeat in 46.6 and I felt spent.  I think that some of the slow-down was psychological, but I did not feel good so I decided to shut it down after this repeat.  I ran a cool-down on the track, and while running I decided that I didn't want to end my workout on a bad note.  So, after running just under 1.75 miles for recovery I ran one last 300m repeat, finishing in 44.9.  This repeat also felt easy, similar to the first.  It was interesting to compare the effort it took to run fast when fatigued, yet be able to run as fast or faster just a few minutes later after resting a bit.

After finishing, I ran barefoot on the grass for a little while, and I wanted to get some water so I ended up running over to the lab and finishing on the treadmill after getting a drink.  Total of 15 miles.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.00Barefoot Miles: 2.50
Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 14:40:09 from 192.168.1.1

Looks like the recovery seems to make quite a bit of difference. I would tie that with the struggle that happens past 500 meters in the 800 run. I think the next step is to identify the point of breakdown. Can you run 500 in 1:15? 600 in 1:30?

From jeffmc on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 14:49:08 from 131.216.80.154

Not sure how long I can hold 60 second pace for. I assume that I could through 500, but I don't know how long I could hold it after that. Once my knee feels a little better I may try it out.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:09:xx.  I kept the pace a little quicker than normal because I wanted to hurry and get to work.  I felt relaxed, so that was good.

PM:  I ran a half mile over to the baseball fields and then ran barefoot on the grass.  While I was running some sprinklers turned on, soaking my shoes, so I just ran home barefoot as well.  Total time of 38:15, which I will call 5 miles. 

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00Barefoot Miles: 4.50New Balance 758 Miles: 0.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.000.000.000.0020.00

The workout I did not Thursday was pretty tough, and I didn't feel like getting up early this morning, so I decided on Friday to just run a solid pace for 20 miles without doing any speed work.  I ran out 10 miles on the Pittman wash, and up St. Rose Pkwy in 1:10:24 (5 mile splits of 35:45, 34:40).  I then turned around and ran 10 miles back home to finish with a total time of 2:18:05 for 20 miles (5 mile splits of 33:45, 33:55 during the second half).

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.000.000.000.0016.00

I ran 10 miles easy this morning in 1:12:39

PM:  6 miles easy in 46:38 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00New Balance 758 Miles: 6.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.003.001.000.0015.00

I ran 15 miles this morning at the Galleria Mall.  During the run I ran 4 x 1 mile repeats with 0.75 miles for recovery between each repeat (recovery time of: 5:58, 5:41, 5:51).  I wanted to do repeats of some sort that were longer than what I have been doing recently, but I still wanted to get something in that was reasonably fast.  So, I ended up deciding to run the first 0.75 of each repeat at a reasonable pace that felt fast, but still comfortable.  I would then speed up gradually over the last 0.25 to finish off each repeat fast.  Goal accomplished as far as the workout was concerned, and I felt good doing it too, which is a plus (especially considering that the temps were in the mid to upper 80's during my run).  As my mall loop has a fair amount of elevation change, individual quarter splits don't mean a whole lot, but I will post them anyhow.

Mile repeats were finished in:

5:07 - 79, 82, 76, 70 - Fist half mostly uphill, second half mostly downhill, with net elevation change near zero (probably a net decrease, but not much)

5:10 - 76, 79, 82, 73 - First half mostly downhill, second half rolling a fair amount, with a net downhill

5:08 - 78.5, 79, 80, 70.5 - Fist half rolling, third quarter uphill, final quarter downhill, net elevation change near zero (probably a minimal net increase)

5:07 - 79, 76, 79, 73 - First quarter uphill, second quarter downhill, last half rolling, with a net uphill

I finished by cooling down for about 5.5 miles and ended at my apartment with a total time of 1:45:20 for 15 miles. 

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.000.000.000.0017.00

I ran 11 miles this morning in 1:22:55 out on the Pittman wash.

PM:  6 more miles, mostly barefoot on the baseball fields in 46:14.  I felt very fluid while running.  I like it when I feel that way. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 11.00Barefoot Miles: 5.25Crocs Miles: 0.75
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.250.120.000.6317.00

I ran out on the Pittman wash this morning.  My legs felt very stiff as I started the run, which is normal for me, as they seem to feel this way just about every morning.  After a couple miles my legs seemed to wake up, and the rest of the run was good.

I didn't want to run hard today, but I didn't want to go completely without speedwork until Saturday, when I am running a hard tempo/time trial of sorts, so I ran a moderate paced 200 (slight uphill and into a mild headwind) in 44 seconds about 4 miles into the run, and during the second half of the run I ran 4 x 200 (distance estimated for the first 2 repeats) in 30s, 30s, 32s (high), and 32s.  The first 2 repeats had a mild downhill and tailwind, so I do not doubt that I ran a full 200m.  The last 2 repeats were both into a headwind as I had changed directions slightly, with the wind affecting me less during the last repeat.  The third repeat was also on a mild downhill, but the fourth repeat had a mild uphill grade.  Recovery was 1:50, and 1:53 after the first 2 repeats, and about 2:30ish after the third.  Later on as I got closer to home I realized that I had run a total of 5 x 200 for the day (counting the moderate 200 early on) and I wanted to even the distance up, so I ran a sixth 200 (distance estimated) in 31s.

I finished with a total of 13 miles in about 1:37:00 (not sure on the time, because I stopped for a second and accidentally didn't restart my watch just a couple minutes before I got home).

PM:  I ran 4 more miles easy in 31:41 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 4.00Adidas Adizero Miles: 13.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:14:14.  My right knee is a tiny bit sore this morning, and I think it is due to the 200m repeats I ran yesterday.  I think that the mild downhill I had on some of them put more stress on my knee than I would have expected, so the knee is sore now.  Luckily I don't notice any discomfort at all when running, only when I kneel down and put pressure on the knee.  Probably just an inflamed bursa.

PM:  5 more miles, running a little at work as I was collecting pilot data for my thesis (0.75 miles) and then running the last bit after I got home, running most of that on the grass on the baseball fields (3 miles barefoot, 4.25 total). 

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00Barefoot Miles: 3.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.9013.100.000.0020.00

I decided early on in the week that I wanted to run a half marathon time trial today, as I have not raced anything recently (other than a track 3200), and I can't seem to find suitable races to run even when looking in other states.  My main issue is finding the time (and money) to travel somewhere else.  With a new baby, things are even tighter as far as scheduling goes.  I will probably do this again during the month of August, and potentially in September as well.

The main issue that I had previously when running speed work was in finding a place suitable to run fast, in a location where I would have the ability to get fairly constant pace feedback.  I found a good place for this in discovering that the loop around the Galleria Mall is almost exactly 1.25 miles.  I was able to use maps to measure out quarter mile markers on this loop.  The benefit of this is that I can now run speed work of virtually any distance interval, with whatever sort of recovery I want as well.  The drawback is that the distance is not as accurate as I would like, and when you are running a long tempo (or HM time trial such as today) any inaccuracies in distance tend to add up.  I tend to think that the loop is a little long (because it is so slow), but at least it is consistent, so it is a good gauge of progress for me.

In order to beat the heat and run the time trial without needing to worry too much about overheating, I got up at 4:20am and was running by 4:35am.  I ran a warm-up of about 2.75 miles, and after drinking some of the water I brought with me and running some strides, I stashed the water bottle on the curb (so that I could get water half way through), and I started the time trial at 5:05am.  My goal coming in was to run each lap at 7:00 or faster (5:36 pace).  This doesn't seem like it is very fast, but on this loop I struggle to go sub 7:00 for more than a couple consecutive laps (which is why I think it is long, although the hills may have something to do with that too, so I don't know).  An average of 7:00 per lap would give me a finishing time in the 1:13 range, which is a little slow, but fast enough for my purposes today (especially at the end of a 100 mile week).  After the start my lap splits (for each 1.25 mile loop) were as follows:

6:53 - Faster than I was expecting.  I didn't want to start off slow, but I did not feel like I was pressing the pace either.

6:53 - I decided to change my goal, and shoot to average 6:53 for the rest of the time trial, which would put me in the 1:12 range at the finish.

6:54 - Just a little slower than I wanted.  I wondered if my new time goal was too aggressive, but I did not feel like I was pressing and I continued onward.

6:52 - Back on pace, going through 5 miles in 27:32 (just about 5:30 pace).  A mild wind started to pick up during this lap, and the wind helped/hurt me intermittently over the rest of the time trial (although it really was fairly mild to be honest).

6:53 - Hit my "half way" mark in 34:25 (Total distance was 10 laps plus 0.6 miles, so I thought of this as a half way point of sorts).  Really feeling like this is a solid marathon pace, which is good, but I don't feel like I can sustain a pace that is much faster.

6:52 - I got my water at the beginning of this lap, so I was surprised that I had sped up, considering I had to come to an almost complete stop to pick up the water.  I also carried the water for about a minute and a half while I drank it, so that can't have helped me pace-wise.

6:48 - I was not expecting this at all.  I did feel like I picked up the effort a little, but not enough to speed up by 4-5 seconds for one lap.

6:50 - Hit my 10 mile mark in 54:55 (27:23 for the last 5 miles).  Feeling strong.

6:47 - Still surprised that I feel as strong as I do considering how I felt early on, and also considering that the low temperature this morning was forecast at 80 degrees (probably about right).

6:46 -  1:08:28 for 12.5 miles.  I am now 22 seconds under goal pace, and looking at breaking 1:12 (vs the mid 1:13 I was hoping for before the start).

3:10 - Ran the quarters from 12.5 - 13 miles in 1:17, 1:18 (not as fast as it sounds because it is downhill), and then ran 35 seconds more to estimate the time for the last 0.1 miles (uphill, so not as slow as it sounds).  Total time was 1:11:38.  I ran the last 5 miles (from 8-13) in 27:07, so I am glad that I finished strong on a tough course in semi-hot weather.

Overall, I was very happy with how things turned out during the time trial today.  The pace overall was not too strenuous, and I feel like I could hold this effort for the marathon if I just start a tiny bit faster, and then don't hit the middle miles as hard as I finished today.  If I do this on a fast course in better weather, this will bode well for my shot at the OTQ.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 20.00
Comments
From Burt on Sat, Jul 23, 2011 at 22:35:58 from 72.223.88.109

Awesome Jeff.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 14:50:04 from 192.168.1.1

For the record it would be good to measure this course with a wheel. You can get one from Home Depot or online, although I have been burnt with buying a wheel online as it ended up being defective. But regardless of the length, you now have a benchmark. Also, you can check what the Course Tool thinks about this course. And, another way to gauge it - run at a steady effort (monitored via HRM) on the track for 2K, then repeat the effort on the loop.

From jeffmc on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 15:12:02 from 131.216.80.154

I have actually been wanting to buy a wheel so that I can measure this loop.

The original measurements I did were with the course tool, and I subsequently drove the loop to verify that my car gave me the same general distance, although the car is even less reliable than the course tool.

I also tried the steady effort HRM trick, but only ran a quarter or half mile on the track at the end of a workout, comparing to the steady state HR during my warm-up. So, that was not as accurate for me, as HR can spike after running hard for a while (plus it was hot outside, which affects HR as well). It is also hard to gauge whether or not a given effort gives the correct distance on this loop, because it is so hilly.

Part of my problem is also the measured length of the loop being only 1.25 miles. If the course is even a few meters long/short it can make a big difference over a long period of time. Just 30m long would have really been over 300m at the end of the time trial.

From Rob on Mon, Aug 01, 2011 at 16:43:26 from 206.71.84.68

Wow! nice job. That's hard core being able to keep yourself motivated running circles around a mall with no competition to push you.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Felt just a tiny bit of soreness in my legs this morning, which is good considering the workout I did yesterday.  My knee is still a little tender, so I will probably avoid any short fast sprints until it starts feeling better.

At church I also got the opportunity to teach the Elders quorum lesson, after being asked to teach in the middle of Sunday school.  I was given the wrong lesson, and ended up teaching on the law of chastity instead of Teachings For Our Times.

Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 14:24:22 from 192.168.1.1

Law of chastity is always a good topic in Las Vegas.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.000.000.000.0011.00

I ran 11 miles this morning.  I kept the pace easy.  I felt pretty good considering I ran 100 miles last week.  

In the afternoon I bought a wheel and decided that I was going to measure the mall loop that I have been running speed workouts on.  I only made it a half mile before a security guard stopped me and after talking to me told me that I was not only not allowed to continue measuring the road, but that I was not allowed to ever run on the road around the mall again.  Evidently it is a "hazard" to run there because there is no sidewalk.  I find this extremely silly because I run on this particular loop before the mall even opens in the morning, and I find it much safer to run here where the traffic is minimal and drives slowly, in comparison to running on sidewalks where cars are driving 45 mph within feet of where I am running.  I guess that I will have to find a new loop to run speedwork on.

On the plus side, I was able to measure a half mile of the loop, and what I found was that the course tool measurements that I took seemed to be accurate to within a few meters.  It gives me a little more confidence that the course was the right distance. 

PM: I was supposed to run a second run today, but I started not feeling so well in the evening.  I mainly just felt really tired, so I cancelled the second run.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 11.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I slept in this morning because I was still just not feeling good.  I did not feel like I was sick, but I just felt tired.  I ended up getting about 10 hours of sleep last night.

I felt good enough to run later on in the afternoon, but Anita came down with something and had an underarm temperature of 102.2 degrees.  Because of this I ended up staying home all day and taking care of her.  By the time I was able to run it was getting late, and considering how I had felt that morning (and the evening before) I decided that it would not be a bad idea to give myself a little rest. 

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.505.500.000.0012.00

I slept in again (still just feeling super tired) and was planning on running in the evening after coming home from work.  My aunt called during the day however, to tell Kimia that they were in town, so I ended up running on the treadmill at work, and we went out to dinner with them afterwards.

The only problem with running at work was that I didn't have any running stuff with me.  Because of this, I ended up using a pair of test shoes from the cabinet in the lab, and I ran without socks.  The workout ended up being good, but the shoes I wore hashed up my feet, and I have sores and blisters all over them now.

I ended up running a fartlek workout on the treadmill, running hard for 2, 3, 4, and 5 minutes on the treadmill, with active recovery of 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 minutes at 7.5 mph.  Speed was 12.4, 12.0, 11.6, and 11.2 mph for the the different repeats.  After the 5 minute repeat, I hopped off the treadmill to put a band-aid on my heel as it was already getting a nasty sore on it.  I then got back on the treadmill and ran the same ladder in reverse, running 5, 4, 3, 2, plus 1 minute hard to top off the workout.  Recovery after each repeat was the same as before, but the speed for the repeats was just a little faster, as I ran them at 11.3, 11.7, 12.1, 12.5, and 12.9 mph.  I don't want to figure out exactly how much of the workout was speed-work, and how much was easy, so I will just count 5.5 miles hard.  12 miles total in about 1:15:00 (I think I am remembering that right)

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran too and from school today, running to school in heat of about 102 degrees, and then running home in the evening.  Time in the afternoon to run 8.6 miles was 1:05:18, and in the evening it took me 1:02:52 to run 8.6 miles home.  My heels hurt quite a bit running both ways because of the blisters and sores on them.  My little toes on both feet also hurt quite a bit by the end of the day because of the blisters on them.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 17.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Because of how much my feet were hurting I decided to run barefoot on the grass this morning.  I ran a bit before going over to the baseball fields, and started running there.  However, as I started running on the fields I noticed there were a lot of bees flying around everywhere.  I noted that I should remain cautious so as not to step on any bees.  Despite my caution it was not to be, and I stepped on a bee in the grass after running barefoot for less than a half mile.  My foot hurt quite a bit from the bee sting, and the blisters made running in shoes uncomfortable, so I ended up just running home.  I ran a total of 2.5 miles in about 20 minutes.

PM:  My planned run this evening was only 5 miles, but since my run this morning was cut short due to the bee sting I extended the run a bit so that I would at least get in 10 miles on the day.  I ran 7.5 miles in just under 56 minutes.  My heels were still hurting a lot as well. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 7.50Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 2.00Barefoot Miles: 0.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.0010.000.000.0020.00

I was up late last night, as I was helping one of the professors perform data collection for a project, so I decided to just run a speed workout on the treadmill at UNLV where I would not have to deal with as much heat.  I waited until the little ones went down for naps before leaving, and when I got to UNLV the lab was 84 degrees inside (so I guess it really wasn't much of a relief from the heat).  I turned the a/c down to cool the lab off, and started my run.  I had bandaged up my feet so that they would not hurt so much, and that worked out pretty well for me.  I started off slow, but sped up progressively over the first few miles until I was running 6:40 pace just 3 miles into the run.  I then continued to speed up until I was running sub 6:20 pace for the mile before I started my tempo run.

I started my speed work after 9 miles, running the first 8.5 miles in 58:01.  The plan was to run 10 miles, with the first 5 miles at 11.3 mph (approximately 5:18 pace) and the last 5 miles at 11.4 mph (approximately 5:15 pace).  In order to account for the lack of wind resistance I put the treadmill on a mild incline (1%), and then put a fan to my side to simulate a cross wind.  Just before I started the tempo I went to the bathroom, got some water and changed my shoes as well.  I also checked the temperature in the lab, and it was still 80 degrees when I started the tempo.  The first 5 miles went according to plan, and I went through 5 miles at 11.3 mph in 26:32.  I did not feel like I could run 5 more miles at 11.4 mph, but I upped the pace anyways after the first 5 miles, and kept running.  7 miles into the tempo I could tell that I was struggling.  I was glad that I was on the treadmill, because if I was not I probably would have just given up and slowed down.  Mentally it is easier to not slow down when you have to do something physically to make it happen (push the slow down button).  I could tell that my body was capable of running the pace, but it was hard enough that I knew if I did not have that extra motivation I would have caved mentally and slowed down.

9 miles into the tempo (last 4 miles in 21:02) I felt like I was pushing the pace too hard, and was not relaxing enough, so I decided to back off the pace for a half mile in order to relax.  I hoped to follow this by running a final mile at 11.4 mph.  The problem was that a half mile was not long enough for me to truly recover, and I was running too fast to recover quickly (finished the half mile in 3:41 for an average pace of 7:22).  The result was that the final mile felt a little easier for about 0.1, and the final 0.9 felt considerably harder than it felt before I slowed down.  That last mile was torture.  It has been a long time since I have hurt that bad while running, but I held the pace.  The total time for the final 5 miles (excluding the half mile "recovery") was 26:18, for a 10 mile split time of 52:50 (again, minus the "recovery").  I then ran an extra half mile to finish 20 miles with a total time of 2:01:42.

I have mixed feelings about this workout.  Conditions were not ideal (77-78 degrees inside when I finished the workout) and the mild incline the treadmill was on plus the fan made conditions difficult as well, so I was not surprised that I struggled some.  I also ran the 10 mile tempo faster today than the 2 x 5 mile tempo I ran on the same treadmill a month or so ago (despite running a faster warm-up).  However, I feel like I should be able to handle this type of pace with almost zero difficulty even when conditions are not ideal if I am going to qualify for the trials this fall.  If I can barely manage OTQ pace for 10 miles in a workout at the end of a low mileage week, how am I supposed to do it for 26 miles?  I may be reacting somewhat harshly, as the workout didn't kill my legs like the last treadmill long run I ran (wasn't sore at all on Sunday), and the temperature difference of about 20 degrees (or more), and the difference of about 2000 ft elevation when running at sea level during my next marathon will certainly make hitting an OTQ easier in November than it would be running on the treadmill here in Vegas.  However, I can't seem to shake the thought that I really need to be able to hit my goal pace even in bad circumstances for at least the half marathon distance if I want to get the qualifier.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 8.50Adidas Adizero Miles: 11.50
Comments
From Jake K on Wed, Aug 03, 2011 at 13:13:16 from 155.100.226.53

Jeff - I wouldn't worry too much. You've been hitting some solid workouts in warm temperatures. Come November, it will be 45 degrees and you'll have another 3 months of workouts behind you.

What marathon are you planning to run this fall?

From jeffmc on Wed, Aug 03, 2011 at 14:50:40 from 131.216.80.154

I am planning on running the Santa Barbara International Marathon on November 12th, although I haven't contacted the race directors yet, so things may change.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.400.000.000.0017.40

I ran to work this afternoon.  Temps were near 100 degrees.  I ran 8.6 miles in 1:04:28.

PM:  I ran to the mall from school to meet Kimia, and then drove back home from there.  I will call it 8.8 miles, as it is just slightly farther than running home.  I was really cruising during the run, and I felt good so I made no effort to slow down.  Total time of 1:01:34.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 17.40
Race: Las Vegas Track Club 1600m (0.994 Miles) 00:04:34, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.750.000.001.2515.00

I ran 10 miles easy this morning in 1:13:27.  I ran a 200m pickup in 33s during the second half of the run to simulate goal pace for the 1600m race that I am running tonight.

PM:  I ran a free 1600m race put on by the Las Vegas Track Club.  I was hoping that Andrew (the guy who beat me at the last free race I came to) would show up so that I would have someone to drag me to a 1600m pr.  This is the first 1600m race that I have run since high school (over 9 years ago).

Luck was not on my side, and Andrew did not come to the race.  There was also a fair amount of wind on the backstretch (not horrible, but enough to slow your overall time down).  I decided that I would just start the race at a hard pace and then see how things went from there.

The gun went off, and I started off at a solid pace.  I was surprised to make it to 200m in 33 seconds, and even more surprised that another runner was right on my shoulder.  I felt good, so I was hoping this translated into a solid time for me.  I backed off a little at 200 because I did not trust in my ability to run 4:24 pace for the entire race.  Just before the 400m mark the kid went past me.  I hit 400m in 1:07 (34 sec. for the second 200m) with the kid one second ahead in 1:06.  However, as soon as we crossed the 400m mark the kid slowed down just a little, and I started to run up on him.  This really messed up the rhythm I was in as I couldn't really pass him without a major surge, due to the turn, and he was running just fast enough that I hoped I could stay behind him until we got through the backstretch where the wind was the worst.  This ended up being a bad decision for me, as we slowed down to 35 sec for the 200m from 400-600m, and I had trouble getting back in a faster rhythm for the remainder of the race.  It was like my body just locked into that pace, and it didn't feel incredibly hard, but I couldn't speed up either.  I did end up surging to pass the kid at the beginning of the next turn, so the next 200m was run in 34 sec (2:16 for 800m).  By the time I hit 800m I had a 20-30m lead on the kid, and the lead just got bigger from there to the finish.  I ran the next three 200m sections in 35 seconds each (3:26 at 1200m, and 4:01 at 1400m), and then closed in 33 seconds over the final 200m to finish in 4:34 (1:08 for the final 400m).

Overall, I was not displeased with how things turned out.  I have not really done any 1600m specific workouts, and I ran 10 miles this morning in addition to the 17.4 miles I ran Monday, and the hard tempo run last Saturday.  The time equaled my 1600m pr that I set in practice when I was running for BYU, and beat my high school pr by 4 seconds.  On top of everything it was a little windy, and while the sun was not bad the temperature was still around 100 degrees.  If you throw out the rhythm killer after the first lap I think I would have run about 2 seconds faster as well.  Considering everything I'll take the time I got, however I still do feel like there is some sort of inhibitor that is preventing me from going faster, and it is not physical.  Hopefully I can work that issue out soon, whatever the issue may be.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00Barefoot Miles: 2.50New Balance 758 Miles: 1.50
Comments
From steve ash on Wed, Aug 03, 2011 at 16:02:33 from 174.52.97.157

Jeff, I would have been thrilled man. Nice work:)

From Rob Murphy on Thu, Aug 04, 2011 at 00:40:02 from 98.202.141.17

You could have rounded the distance up to a mile and I wouldn't have called you on it.

From jtshad on Thu, Aug 04, 2011 at 18:12:14 from 204.134.132.225

Awesome time...I think the issue would be called HEAT! But even that issue didn't bother you all that bad to throw down a PR!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.000.000.000.0017.00

I ran 12 miles easy this morning in 1:27:46.  It was a good run for me.  My legs didn't seem to really feel the race last night (I guess I should expect that since the race was only 1600m).  It felt hotter than normal, even though I was out running earlier than I have been lately.  It may be that I was just expecting it to feel much cooler than it was.

PM: 5 miles in 39:02.  I went out to the store with Kimia and the kids after I got home from work, and it took more out of my legs than I would have expected, so I felt fairly tired during the run. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.002.000.000.0017.00

I ran to UNLV this afternoon, and after getting on campus I headed over to the track and ran 2 x 1600m repeats in 5:19, and 5:17 with 1600m recovery between repeats.  

I was originally planning on running a 1600m followed by a 3200m, but despite the water I carried with me today (usually I run without water) I was still struggling a bit with the heat.  To top it off, there was a strong wind that I had to deal with almost the entire way to UNLV, and during the repeats.  So, I ended up just running 2 x 1600m instead.  The purpose of today's workout was not really to push myself hard or to test my limits, but to get a little more practice running a little faster than normal, while maintaining control (staying relaxed).

I ended up with a total of 13 miles for the workout, finishing in 1:36:36.

PM: 4 miles easy in 30:15.  Kimia picked me up partway home. 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 17.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.900.000.100.0010.00

I ran 10 miles easy this morning in 1:15:34.  On the way home I ran 3 short sprints just to get my legs moving a bit.  My left calf felt just a bit tight, probably due to the 1600m race I ran on Tuesday.  This is all the running I am doing today, as I am running a 5k race tomorrow against some tough competition, and I want to see how I stack up.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 10.00
Race: LVTC Legends of Cross Country 5k (3.1 Miles) 00:16:10, Place overall: 3
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.904.003.100.0020.00

Today I ran the only real competitive annual 5k that exists in Vegas.  The winner from the previous 4 years was back again (currently runs for the University of Oklahoma), plus a kid who is a 4:10 miler was going to be there, and hopefully a couple other fast guys, so I knew that there would be a decent amount of competition.  I warmed up by running the course, and I knew that it would be super slow, as there was a fair amount of rolling terrain, and the race was mostly on sand and uneven gravel (with a bit of pavement and grass mixed in).  To give an example of how slow the course is, this is the state championship course for cross country (when the championship is held in Southern Nevada) and the course record is only 16:04 (set last year by Nick Hartle, the 4:10 miler).  To top it off, it was fairly hot outside (forecast called for 84 degrees at the start of the race, and it was probably correct), and since the race didn't start until 7:30am, the sun was already out... the sun is the real killer; I'll take 95-100 degrees in the dark over 84 in the sun any day.  On the plus side, it wasn't windy out, as I have come to find that the nasty wind that plagues Vegas during the fall, winter and spring is really fairly mild during the summer.

We all lined up on the giant start line just before 7:30 (it is a cross country race, so you have to have a giant extended line followed by a bottleneck about a 100m after the start), and after some introductions the gun went off and... I got smoked.  Jeremy Sudbury (the returning champion) put 20 seconds on me in the first mile, and was followed closely by his former high school nemesis, Solomon Bennett who was ahead of me by 17 seconds at the mile.  I came through in 5:02, and it felt like I had run a 4:45.  My legs never felt in this race, as even prior to the start I felt tired.  Less than 800m into the race I felt the way I normally do after 2 miles.  I think that the mileage from this week, and the brutal tempo run I did last Saturday just sucked the power out of my legs and I had nothing.

I ran the second mile in 5:22 (Sudbury is now gone, but the gap between me and Bennett has held fairly even).  This was the slowest mile of the race as it contained the most sand.  Nick Hartle, the 4:10 miler, had stayed in front of me for the majority of the first mile, but just prior to the mile mark I passed him and it felt like he just fell off the face of the planet as I ended up beating him by 52 seconds.  This meant that for the majority of the race I was running alone, too far behind second place to really have a chance at beating him, and far enough in front of fourth place that there was no one to push me.

I closed the final 1.1 miles in 5:12 pace to finish in 16:10.  Sudbury won the race in 15:17, with Bennett finishing in 15:40 or 15:50 (official time was 15:40, but Mike Schramm thought he saw him finish in about 15:50 which I think is more accurate, as at 15:54 on my watch he appeared to have just finished).  Hartle was fourth in 17:02.  So, all in all I don't think it was my best performance, but I decided early on in the week that putting in a solid week of mileage was more important than running well today.  As it is, I have heard that Sudbury has a sub 14:00 track 5k pr, so losing to him by 53 seconds isn't as bad as it would seem.  I think that tapered I could have finished with Bennett, or maybe beaten him, but who knows.  Bennett lives here in town, so I may start training with him soon if my schedule allows for it.

After the race I ran the course one more time as a cool-down, and a couple hours after I got home I ended up making it out to finish off my mileage for the day by running 10.5 miles more in 1:06:25.  I ran a 4 mile tempo in 100+ degree heat on the way home in 21:31 (5:26, 5:20, 5:27, 5:18).

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 16.70
Comments
From Burt on Sat, Aug 06, 2011 at 22:48:11 from 72.223.91.148

Great job! That Sudbury sounds like a fast dude.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.000.000.000.0017.00

I ran 12 miles this morning in 1:31:13.  I kept things pretty slow for the first half (47:00), and then slowly sped up during the second half.

PM:  5 more miles in 38:30. 

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 5.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.005.000.000.0020.00

15 miles this morning.  I went to meet Solomon Bennett (the second place finisher from the race last Saturday) so that we could run mile repeats.  However, there was some poor communication as far as where exactly we were going to meet, and by the time I got to where Solomon was at he had already run two of the three mile repeats he was doing.  I ran the last repeat with him and the group he was with in 4:47 (it measured out to 0.96 on one kids garmin, so it was probably worth about 4:59).  I then talked with him and his coach for a bit, and as Solomon was not feeling too good (tired) he decided to just run more in the evening, and I was now alone.

I decided to run more mile repeats, but I was not too big a fan of the gravel trail the group was running them on, so I went over to the asphalt trail around Sunset park to run "mile" repeats on a section of the trail that is just a little longer than 1 mile (maybe about 1.05?).  It was windy on the trail (vs. on gravel where the trees blocked the wind), so this loop felt fairly slow.  Splits were 5:32, 5:17, 5:17 and I had recovery of 3:57, and 3:55 between repeats.  I then ran a longer recovery (2.7 miles) before running one final repeat in 5:13.  On the last repeat I focused on driving forward with my quads because I feel like either my quads are weak, or my ability to utilize the strength in them is undeveloped.  I want to find out which is the case.

PM:  5 miles in 38:55 

New Balance 758 Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.000.000.000.0017.00

Easy run this morning, then drove to Long Beach for the American Society of Biomechanics national meeting, then ran 5 more miles after I got there.  I seem to have gotten some sort of stomach bug, because I have had diarrhea all day long.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 5.00Brooks Axiom Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.001.000.0010.00

The travel, stomach bug, and bad sleep has really taken it out of me.  I ran 10 miles today, skipped the second run, and cut my speed workout short.

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

10 miles "easy" which ended up meaning about a 6:30 average (I pushed the pace a little more than normal because I just wanted to get the run finished with, and the lack of speed work yesterday has my legs feeling peppy, yet tired at the same time from being sick).  Still feeling the effects of the constant diarrhea and resultant fatigue, as I feel that my body has not been absorbing any nutrients because everything is coming out so quickly.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.007.000.000.0010.00

Still feeling the effects of everything.  Traveling certainly hasn't helped, as I have been super busy with this conference.  Decided to not do a long run today, but still run a tempo run of sorts.  I ran 10 miles, with a 7 mile tempo where I struggled to go much faster than 6:00 pace (although I did run about 0.75 in 5:12 pace) as my legs just felt drained.  Total time of 1:01:28.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Easy run this morning, except the pace was a little quicker than normal.  Total time of 1:11:14 for 10 miles.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.005.000.000.0018.00

Somewhat disappointed with this mornings workout.  I should have gotten out of the house sooner, and by the time I left it was pretty hot outside.  I was going to run a 2 x 3 mile workout, but modified that to a 2 + 2 + 1 workout.  I ran the workout on my new long tempo course, and I can say that this course is not easy.  According to the course tool there is 120 ft of climbing per 2 mile loop.  This means that if I were to run another half marathon time trial on this loop I would have a total climb of around 750 ft (Although I would have a net drop of about 40 ft if I started at the top and ended at the bottom).

 Anyhow, I ran a warm-up followed by the first 2 mile interval in 10:59 (5:24, 5:35) running the first mile with a net down, followed by a second mile with a net up.  The mile with the net uphill was brutal, and even the mile with a net drop has a fair amount of climbing.  It also didn't help that temps were in the mid to upper 90's.  The second 2 miles started with the uphill mile, and ended with the downhill mile with a total time of 11:25 (5:41, 5:44).  I am not sure why, but I started to get a side cramp about a half mile in, and it got progressively worse throughout the interval.  I stopped at home and got some water after this interval, followed by one final mile hard in 5:40 on the downhill portion of the loop.  I just had a hard time getting my legs moving on the uphill.  On the downhill I split virtually the same time that I did earlier on the 5:24 mile (3 seconds slower), but I lost 13 seconds on the uphill.

I ended the workout with a 2 mile cool down, for a total of 13 miles in 1:30:31.

PM: 5 miles in 35:59.  I just wanted to get out of the sun, because it was still over 100 degrees when I ran the second time.

Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 5.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 13.00
Comments
From Paul on Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 13:58:51 from 24.10.141.104

What's your next marathon?

From jeffmc on Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 14:08:51 from 68.227.2.226

Hopefully Santa Barbara in November.

Any races planned for you before the end of the year?

From Paul on Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 14:36:46 from 24.10.141.104

Just the TOU 1/2 and the TOU Marathon, both in the next month of so. And I'll probably find something during November and December to use as tune-ups/workouts, but haven't thought that far ahead.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.000.000.000.0016.00

12 miles easy this morning in 1:36:41.  I was pleased that my heart rate stayed as low as it did considering the heat (mid 90's).  In the past I have been unable to keep my HR lower than 133-135 when it is this hot (even when I run really slow), but today I averaged 129 for 12 miles.

PM:  4 miles in 32:34.  I ran the first two uphill miles in 17:31, followed by a 15:03 downhill for the last two miles.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 12.00New Balance 758 Miles: 4.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.002.2517.25

I ran a 6 x 600m workout today.  I started by warming up for 3 miles, with a stride thrown in to get my legs moving.  My goal was to run all 6 of the repeats in 1:40 or less.  Recovery was about 2:00 with a 200m jog.  The green valley cross country team was on the track today, so at first I had to deal with passing the kids, which cost me some time the first repeat when I had to swing out into lane 5 on the straightaway.  However, after the second repeat the coaches had their kids stay in lane 2, and it wasn't a problem.  Splits were 1:40, 1:40, 1:39, 1:40, 1:42, 1:40.  After the fifth repeat my legs were feeling kind of dead, and I was feeling the heat (around 90 degrees), so I ran an extra 400m easy (600m total) and stopped to get a little water before starting the final repeat.  When I account for the extra distance I ran on the first couple repeats I figure that it makes up for the 2 seconds I lost on the fifth repeat, and puts my average right at 1:40 for all of the 600's.  I am relatively pleased with this workout.  After the stinker of a workout that I ran on Tuesday it was nice to get a better workout in.

My legs felt dead after the workout was over, so I began my 6 mile cool down really slowly, hitting the 3 mile mark in 26:00 (8:40 average).  I sped up some the last 3 miles, to finish the 6 mile cool down in 48:20.

PM:  5 miles, starting off really slow (8:45ish for the first mile) and finishing in 39:51.

Brooks Axiom Miles: 5.00Adidas Adizero Miles: 12.25
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.000.000.000.0014.00

I met up with Solomon this morning.  We ran about 10 miles (probably a little more) in 1:07:40.  It is faster than I am used to, but my legs felt fine so I am not worried about recovery prior to running another half marathon time trial tomorrow morning.

PM:  4 miles in the evening in just under 31 minutes.  Felt good, but didn't run longer because I wanted to be done sooner so that I could get to bed early (I am getting up at 4:30am tomorrow morning) 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 4.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Comments
From Rob on Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 16:17:01 from 206.71.84.68

Hey Jeff, I'm going to be in Vegas for the next two weeks for work. Any suggestions on where I should run early in the morning? Is running the strip going to be my best bet?

From jeffmc on Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 17:54:54 from 68.227.0.14

Personally, I wouldn't run the strip. I would rather run on the treadmill at the hotel than on the strip (too much traffic, too crowded, and too much sin at the heart of 'sin city' for me). If you have trouble with the heat you may also want to consider running in the evening after it gets dark if you want to run outside (doesn't feel as hot even when temps are over 100) unless you plan on running at 5am just before it gets light. There are a few paved trails that you could try running on, but the closest one to the strip (that I know of) starts near the south side of the airport. There is also a track at UNLV (by the hard rock hotel) that you can run speedwork on.

From Rob on Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 18:13:05 from 204.15.86.95

Great, thanks for the info. I do run at 5:00am usually the majority of "sin" has found their cars and gone home by then. The track sounds like a good option, Is it open at 5:00? With lights?

From jeffmc on Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 18:25:13 from 68.227.0.14

The track is left unlocked, so no worries there. No lights at the track, but by 5:00am it is usually light enough to see even though the sun has not risen yet, so I would not worry about that.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.9013.100.000.0021.00

I ran another half marathon time trial this morning as part of my long run.  The differences between this time and last time are that I can no longer run on my loop around the mall (security didn't like it when I tried to measure the loop with a wheel and they told me that I was no longer allowed to run there anymore), so I had to come up with an alternate loop that is tougher (hillier) than the original, with the other differences being that I had a partner for the first 6 miles today and I started the time trial at 5:40 today vs. 5:05 last time (not a big difference, but the heat played more of a factor today than last time because of the slightly later start time).

Solomon met me at my house, and we ran a warm up of about 3.5 miles before starting the time trial at the back end of the loop (so that the last mile would have a net downhill instead of a net uphill).  The loop measured out to 2.01 miles on the course tool, so I figured that if I ran six and a half laps I would only need to add on about 17 seconds to finish the half marathon.  My goal going into the workout was to try and hit an average of 11:00 per lap, which would give me a finishing time of 1:11:47.  I also wanted to have an average HR of about 170 for the first half of the workout, with the plan to slowly increase my HR into the mid 170's over the final few miles.

We started the time trial, and Solomon went out pretty hard.  It felt a little too fast, but I figured that it wouldn't be a problem as long as I backed off once my HR hit 170.  The problem was that for some reason or another my HR was rising really slowly at the beginning of the tempo, so by the time I realized it we were almost done with the first loop, and we were still hitting the pace pretty hard.  We finished the first loop in 10:45 (subtract about 3 seconds per loop to get a 2 mile split), and then settled into the pace my HR was giving me to follow that up with an 11:00 split for the second loop.  Solomon started to drop back after the second loop, so I was leading and he was trailing me by a few meters for the majority of the third loop.  At the end of the third loop Solomon passed me and then pulled ahead to finish his workout a second in front of me.  I went through the third loop in 11:04 for a total time of 32:49 for 6+ miles (11 seconds ahead of goal pace, but losing time).  I was all alone for the remainder of the tempo, and despite keeping my HR in the same range I slowed down even more during the next loop coming through in 11:11 (44:00).  I think that the heat was starting to get to me a bit (temps were in the low to mid 80's, which is not too bad, but it still effects you when you are pushing the pace for a long time, plus the sun was out now and the sun here is brutal).  So, after 8+ miles I was right on pace, but I couldn't afford to lose any more time during the next two miles.  Solomon handed me a water bottle here, and I ran with the bottle for the next 1.x miles until it was empty before tossing it.  I was still losing time during this loop, but after I tossed the water bottle I started working to try and make up the time I had lost.  I went through the next loop in 11:11 again (55:11), which put me just a little behind goal pace, but I also knew that I was starting to make up time rather then lose more, so the goal time wasn't out the window yet.  My HR rose up into the high 170's, and maybe even the low 180's during the 6th loop, and I went through the 12+ mile mark in 66:05 (10:54), meaning that I only had to run a 5:25 on the final downhill mile (but still hilly) to hit my goal time.  I pushed the uphill pretty hard on this mile, and that helped me a lot, as I ran the final mile in 5:18 to hit 13+ miles in 1:11:23, followed by the final 17 seconds hard to finish up the half marathon in 1:11:40, for a finishing time that was 7 seconds faster than my goal time.

The finishing time was 2 seconds slower than the last time I ran a time trial half marathon, so it was basically the same considering that the distance is merely an estimate based on measurements from the course tool.  However, I think that this course is slower as the hills are much worse, and I didn't make things easier for myself by starting 35 minutes later in the morning.  Add to this the fact that I started out a little too aggressively at the beginning of the time trial (thus making the rest of the workout much more difficult) and I think that the result is a fair amount better than the last half marathon time trial that I ran.  Overall, I am pleased with the workout.  I plan on running at least one more time trial like this in September, and possibly in early October as I prepare for a November marathon.

I finished by running a cool down of about 4.4 miles at just under 8:00 pace to finish with 21 miles on the day. 

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 21.00
Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 18:56:34 from 192.168.1.1

Jeff:

My thoughts on your training. I looked at your mileage graph and observed a possible cause for your struggles in your last marathon. The mileage from December to April was relatively low with a lot of dips. Enough for a solid half, but not the full marathon. You do seem to have corrected that in the last month with doubles and several weeks over 100 miles.

Unfortunately all the track workouts and races were run in less than ideal conditions, so they are hard to gauge. But it is a positive sign that you are competitive with the local collegiate runners in a 5 K, and are able to drop them in a tempo workout. The ability to run several 600s with short rest in between in the 1:40 range is also a positive.

Can Solomon run a 4:24 mile, and if so, can he be convinced to pace you? If yes, have him pace you on the track in the mile with that goal. The purpose of this is to test if you can actually do it (you should be able to given good conditions), and to reset the internal clock. This would hopefully have the effect of shifting the entire pace spectrum to where you think of faster paces as suitable for longer distances.

As far as preparation for the marathon goes, not much to do except maintain the mileage, run tempos, take care of the recovery (sleep, food, stay away from germs as much as you can), and hope for the best.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran 15 miles this morning as I won't have time to run again this evening because of FHE.  I slept in, so I ran when it was hot out (about 100 degrees).  This was planned, and I have gotten used to the heat, so it was not a big deal.  I had 3 water stops planned during the run, so I was able to stop at those on the way out and again on the way back.  I also threw in 3 surges during the run to wake up my legs a bit after the day off yesterday.  Total time for the run was 1:52:43

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.370.000.000.6316.00

I ran 5 x 200m today after running a 4 mile warm up in just over 30 minutes.  I gave myself 100m recovery in 60 seconds between the first 4 repeats, and then gave myself a longer recovery before running the fifth repeat.  The goal was to simulate running an 800m in approximately 2:00, so goal pace for the 200's was 30 seconds.  My reasoning is that if I can teach myself to run comfortably at a 4:00 mile pace, then I should be able to transfer that speed to distances longer than 400m.  So, my goal was to not only run the 200's in 30 seconds, but to relax while doing so.  Times were 31s, 30s, 31s, 31s for the first 4 repeats.  I simply mispaced the first repeat, as the effort was pretty easy.  During the third and fourth repeats I hit 100m in 15.xx seconds, but would have needed to speed up just a little in order to finish under 31s.  I ended up focusing more on not putting forth too much effort, and less on staying at goal pace, so these repeats ended up being slower.

After the fourth repeat I took a longer recovery, running 500m plus walking around for a couple minutes, before running the final repeat.  The goal for the final repeat was to run all out, and see how fast I could go after running the other repeats.  On top of this, I was doing wall sits earlier in the morning to try and strengthen my quads, so my quads were not 100% from a power standpoint.  When I started the final repeat I ended up starting off too slow, because I was worried about fading over the final 50m.  At 100m I really turned it on, and at the finish I felt like I could maintain the speed I was going for at least another 100m, and possible longer.  Time for the final repeat was 29.5s.  I am not sure how much faster I could have gone if I would have just started off faster.

The strange thing about the last 200 I ran was that by the end I felt like I was moving my legs pretty quick, and I had a good turnover, but I seemed unable to really put enough force into the ground to get moving fast.  It felt like I had deactivated the fast twitch muscle fibers in my legs, from running the other 4 repeats, and I was trying to sprint using my slow twitch fibers.  Obviously this is not entirely the case, as I gave myself ample recovery for my fast twitch fibers to be ready to go, but there may be a degree of truth to the thought.  I also really felt like I was getting nothing from my quads, as normally my quads will burn when I am trying to sprint, whereas today I didn't really feel anything.  I guess ultimately that is what I want, as I am a distance runner, and the faster I can go on slow twitch fibers the higher the likelihood that I will be able to maintain that speed over longer and longer distances.

I finished by running a cool down at just under 8:00 pace to finish 11 miles for the run.

PM:  5 miles in about 39:30, running most of it on the grass barefoot. 

Barefoot Miles: 4.25Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 11.00Crocs Miles: 0.75
Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 18:05:59 from 192.168.1.1

My thinking that high turnover without speed to show for it comes from the lack of practice at those speeds and running alone.

10x100 with a jogging start is a good workout to get some practice.

If you could convince some speedy guy to challenge you in the workout it would help as well. Even if you had something steady moving to chase, that would help too. Another thought is crank the treadmill to 15 mph and see how long you can stay on it, but that needs to be done with some precaution.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.501.500.000.0017.00

I ran out on the Pittman Wash this morning.  A total of 12 miles in 1:28:08.  During the run I ran a mile in 5:27 (2:50, 2:37) and later on a half mile in 2:40-41.  I was simply trying to practice running relaxed, so I wanted to speed up for a bit to try and relax while running a marathon pace effort.

PM: 5 miles in 39:48. 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 12.00New Balance 758 Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.001.000.000.0016.00

I was going to do a speed session on the track, but when I woke up this morning my left calf was pretty tight so I decided to just run easy with another 1 mile pick up at marathon pace like yesterday.  I kept my average pace just slower than 8:00 per mile for the first 6.5 miles, and then ran 1 mile in 5:24-25 (2:41-42, 2:43).  I focused on relaxing again, just like yesterday.  I then finished my run for a total of 11 miles in 1:24:30.

PM:  5 miles mostly on the grass barefoot.  I sped up at the end to finish in 40:00.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 11.00Barefoot Miles: 4.25Crocs Miles: 0.75
Comments
From Andrea on Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 15:18:56 from 72.37.171.52

The mile pick-up is a good idea. I should incorporate that every once in a while in my training!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.001.000.000.0016.00

I ran 11 miles this morning, running another 1 mile pickup, just like the last 2 days, finishing it in 5:17 (2:33, 2:44).  I got a little too excited at the start of my mile pickup, so I slowed down a fair amount in the second half to make sure that I got practice running more relaxed.  Total time of 1:25:05 for 11 miles.

PM:  5 miles easy. 

Brooks Axiom Miles: 5.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 11.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.004.000.000.0020.00

I ran 20 miles today.  I wanted to get out early in the morning so that I wouldn't have to deal with the heat so much, but I was slow (nothing new there) and I didn't leave until later on.  The temperature outside was 102 degrees by the time I finished my run, and it really affected me during the 4 mile tempo I ran at the end of the run, as I only ran 23:20 for 4 miles despite a net downhill and plenty of water stops during the early and middle portions of the 20 miler.  Total time for 20 miles was about 2:16:40.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.006.000.000.0015.00

I ran 15 miles this morning.  I got up at 4:40am so that I would have time to get in my run before heading off to school.  Low temperature this morning was forecast at 87 degrees, and I imagine that it was accurate.  

I ran a 3 x 2 mile workout starting 5.75 miles into the run, just trying to hit a solid marathon effort.  I ran the first repeat in 10:52 (5:25, 5:27) followed by a one mile recovery.  The second repeat was an 11:08 (5:44, 5:24).  This repeat was slower because the first mile was uphill, I had a 180 degree turn halfway through and I ran back down, whereas the first repeat had a net downhill for both miles (net downhill, but still slow because of rollers, heat, sharp turns, etc).  The last repeat was also a 10:52 (5:34, 5:18) with both miles giving me a net downhill, while dealing with a short but nasty hill in the first mile.  The effort was fairly consistent for all three repeats.  It is hard to say how fast the effort was worth in good conditions (flat, cool, etc) but I did not feel like I was ever really hammering the pace, which is good.  I finished by running home, with a total time for 15 miles of 1:43:13.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school in 1:03:11.  Total of 8.6 miles.  I started off quick at the beginning of the run, but purposefully slowed down partway through the run so that I wouldn't stress myself too much.

PM:  I ran home from school in temperatures that were in the 105-107 range.  I think this was the hottest run I have done all summer, but to be honest I think that the runs I did in about 102 degrees at 1-2pm were worse than this (5-6pm) because the sun wasn't shining as directly on me.  Total time was 1:03:13. 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.501.000.001.5018.00

I ran to school this morning, and then added on some extra mileage on the track after I got there.  During the run I did a pick up for about a mile at a slower marathon pace, as I was trying to catch up to the bus (I would have caught it too, but I got stuck at a light that the bus made it through just before I got to UNLV).  After I got to school I ran 6 x 400 on the track, with 400 recovery (average recovery just under 2:00).  Splits for the 400's were 68, 68, 68, 67-8, 67, 66.  I was pleased that I got progressively faster over the course of the workout.  The splits were not as fast as I wanted, but it was pretty windy, so that cost me a second or two on each repeat.  I finished with a total of 13 miles for the morning in a time of 1:30:26.

PM:  I ran 5 miles in 37:55.  Kimia picked me up at a park on the way home from school so that I would not get too many miles in for the day.

The month finished well for me.  I have gone over 400 miles for the first time (total of over 426 miles) and I have gotten in some solid workouts recently.  I just need to stay consistent with things, avoid injury, and get in lots of mileage at marathon pace. 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 13.00Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.951.000.000.2517.20

I ran to school this morning in 1:05:41.  I ran 4 sprints during the run of about 15 seconds each in order to get my legs moving, and to remind my legs that they still need to be able to pick it up if needed.  Total of 8.6 miles.

PM:  I ran home for a total of 8.6 miles in 1:01:11.  During the run I ran 1 mile fast, with a focus on staying relaxed at a marathon effort.  Time was 5:19 for 1 mile.  I was lucky to not get stopped at the stop light on Green Valley Pkwy during this mile (the markers on the road cross this light, so I have to get lucky if I run hard through this stretch).

Brooks Axiom Miles: 8.60Adidas Adizero Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:18:06.  I kept things easy, and my average HR for the run was only 127.

PM:  5 miles in 40:30.  My legs felt more tired than I expected them to.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.009.001.000.0020.00

I ran another treadmill long run today.  This is the third time that I have done this over the last 3 months, because it allows me to run fast in temperatures under 80 degrees, whereas when I run outside I often have to deal with temperatures in the 90's, even when I run early in the morning.  I set the treadmill to a 1% grade during the tempo to simulate air resistance, and I turned a fan on me to simulate a little air movement just like last time.

I started with a warm-up of 9 miles, starting off slow, then slowly speeding up, and running the last mile at 9.6mph before starting the tempo (57:48 for the first 8.5 miles, for an average of 6:48/mile).

I ran the tempo in a similar manner to how I ran it the last time, starting at 11.3mph (5:18 pace) for the first 5 miles.  However, this time I did not increase the pace to 11.4 mph after 5 miles, waiting to speed up until I hit the 7 mile mark.  At 7 miles I sped up to 11.4 mph, and at 8 miles I increased the pace to 11.5 mph.  After 9 miles I slowly increased the pace over the last mile, finishing at 12.6 mph, with a closing mile of 4:56-4:58 (didn't see the exact time, but it was somewhere in that range).  5 mile splits were 26:32 and 26:02 (52:34 for 10 miles).  I was much happier with this 10 mile tempo than I was the last time I did this.  Last time I struggled to maintain pace, whereas this time I felt smooth, relaxed and controlled.  To be honest, 5:18 pace felt easy.  I was also happy with my HR, because I have felt lately like my cardiovascular fitness has been improving, and my HR stayed around 169-171 for most of the time I was running at 5:18 pace (in the past it has been just a little higher than that at that pace).

So, this workout was by and large a validation for me that my fitness is where I want it to be (at least it is trending in the right direction).  Seeing that I did this at the end of a 100+ mile week feels good too.  I still felt strong at the end of this workout, and I even ran my 1 mile cool down at 6:40 pace because I wanted to get the run over with, and my legs did not feel hammered.  Total time for 20 miles was 2:00:20 (6:01 pace).  At the end of the workout it was 72 degrees with 52% humidity in the lab.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 20.00
Comments
From Paul on Mon, Sep 05, 2011 at 13:01:18 from 24.10.141.104

Good idea to run a bit on the treadmill. Seems like it's difficult to get a meaningful workout in outdoors in Vegas.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.001.000.000.0015.00

I was originally planning to run a 2 x 3 mile workout for this morning, but my legs were still a little sore after Saturday's workout so I scrapped that plan.  I still ran 15 miles as planned, and instead of running the tempo I just kept the pace a little faster than I normally run (I was running 6:40-7:20 pace for most of the run after I hit 2 miles in 17:46).  I also ran a 1 mile pick up in 5:09 from about 10.5-11.5 miles during the run.  Total time for 15 miles was 1:48:01.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 15.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

Easy run this morning.  10 miles in 1:17:34.  No more soreness from Saturday's workout, and my legs felt good (my legs felt super tired last night, so I wasn't sure how I would feel come daylight).

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.205.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning, running a 5 mile tempo on the way.  I had to stop a few times during the tempo because of stop lights (just after my approximate 2, 3, and 3.5 mile markers), stopping for about a minute after 2 miles, and for 10-15 seconds the other two times I stopped.  There was a mild headwind for most of the run, which slowed me down a little, and I also struggled to push the pace and relax at the same time (when I would relax my HR would drop to about 150, and when I ran a marathon pace effort my quads felt like they were going to fall off).  Total time for the 5 mile tempo was 27:18.  I probably have not recovered completely after the hard workout I did last Saturday even though my legs feel fine.  I imagine that I may still be experiencing some neural fatigue, or my quads may not have recovered completely despite feeling fine at slow speeds.  Total time was 55:23 for 8.6 miles.  Temperature was 81 degrees when I finished the run.

PM:  I ran home, running a total of 8.6 miles in 1:01:45.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 8.60Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning.  I tried out the new racing flats that I just got last Saturday.  They felt pretty comfy, but I will need to change how I lace them before I race in them.  I ran a total of 8.6 miles in 1:01:31.

PM:  I ran home this evening.  Total time of 1:07:03 for 8.6 miles.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60Puma Faas 200 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles easy this morning.  My left calf has been bothering me off and on for a few weeks now, so I kept the effort super easy to try and give the calf a rest.  Total time of 1:19:46 for 10 miles.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Race: 9-11 remembrance 9.11k (5.3 Miles) 00:27:21, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.705.300.000.0021.00

I ran a 9-11 memorial race this morning.  I picked this race for 2 reasons:

1.  It is one of the only road races in Vegas that is longer than 5k.

2.  I thought that a race benefiting the families of the people who died in the terrorist attacks would be a good race to support.  I guess that I am a fan of the whole patriotism thing.

The race itself was billed as a 9.11 kilometer race, and I assumed coming in that it would not actually be 9.11k.  I got to the course at 5:00am, and decided to check things out as part of my warm-up.  What I saw helped me realize how beneficial it can be to have the complete support of local police, fire departments, and city officials.  The entire course was marked exceptionally well, as cones blocked off every single side street along the race course, with additional cones marking every single turn.  I feel like it was literally impossible to go the wrong way, and it made the pace car completely unnecessary.  It was also kind of cool to race in a situation where streets were shut down so completely.  In many big races I have been in we only get a lane or two on the road, whereas here we were in the center of downtown Las Vegas, and we had entire streets shut down.  On the negative side, there was not a single mile marker during the race (the race director, who is not a runner, did tell me he would fix that for next year), and the end result was that the course was short.

The race started at 6:10am, with temperatures at 80 degrees at the start.  There was some wind during portions of the race, but I doubt that the wind had much of an effect on times, maybe 5-10 seconds tops.  There were a ton of turns during the race, and that slowed me down some, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be prior to the start.  It is hard to know how much the turns cost me.  The course was as flat as you will find here in Vegas.  There was a mild elevation drop throughout the race, which you gained back in the last half mile, but even that didn't really seem like a true hill as I barely even noticed I was running uphill.  Overall I liked the course.  It was a great course for spectators who are willing to run a little themselves in order to see the runners.

After the horn went off starting the race I shot to the front, with two other guys attempting to come with me.  I had not expected any competition, so I was a little surprised by this.  Unfortunately it didn't last long as the first guy dropped off after a half mile, and the second guy fell back after about 6:00 (it ends up that he ran collegiately at Florida, but is out of shape now).  From here on out I was running alone.  I decided that since there were no mile markers I would just hold my heart rate steady at about 179-180 bpm for the rest of the race to try and keep the effort honest.  that worked fairly well, but as the race progressed I felt like the heart rate was even, but the effort was getting easier.  This may mean that I was getting into a good rhythm and I could have sped up some, or it may mean that my HR was climbing as a result of the heat, and I was slowing down in order to keep my HR steady.  Overall the race felt very relaxed, so I was quite happy with how things turned out.  I always felt like there was another gear if needed, and I felt like I could have held the effort I was running at for a fair amount longer than I did.

I finished with a total time of 27:21 (the official results are way off).  Second place was about 2:40 behind me, and third place was about 2:50 back.  I only beat the third place finisher by 1:20 at the 5k I ran in August, so considering that this race was only about 2.2 miles longer I think I did better comparatively.  I measured the course with the blog's course tool and it measured out to about 5.3 miles.  Who knows how accurate that is, but it at least gives me a reference point to base my performance on.

I ran a three mile cool-down before picking up my trophy and driving home, putting me at 13 miles total counting my warm-up and the race.  The trophy was actually pretty cool, as it was a solid glass replica of the twin towers, with a logo of some sort and "overall winner" etc, etc etched into the side of the glass.  The trophy itself is pretty heavy.  I will need to weight it one of these days.

After I got home I went out and ran 8 miles to get myself up to 21 miles on the day.  I ran the last 8 miles in 56:57 (26:56 for the last 4 miles). 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.00Puma Faas 200 Miles: 13.00
Comments
From steve ash on Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 15:44:06 from 24.10.169.210

Awesome.. You are one of the most intelligent in your training I have ever seen. Well deserved:)

From Jake K on Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 16:14:22 from 67.177.21.60

Great run Jeff. You training and racing has been incredibly solid... you have that OTQ in you. I'm excited to see what you can do this fall in the marathon!

From Burt on Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 19:26:44 from 206.19.214.144

Congrats on another victory!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.500.000.000.5010.00

I ran 10 miles this afternoon with Anita in the running stroller.  After running the race on Saturday I decided to give my body a little bit more of a break than I have given myself recently, so I only ran once today.

During my run I ran 8 hill sprints (one was actually downhill, while seven were uphill) of about 100m each.  Running hill sprints while pushing a stroller took a lot more out of me than I thought it would, so my legs felt drained at the end of the workout.  Total time of 1:19:05 for 10 miles.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 10.00
Comments
From Andrea on Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 19:20:39 from 72.37.171.52

Doing stroller hill repeats is ambitious!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.201.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning.  I felt better at the start than I was expecting, so I decided to run a fast mile about halfway through the run in order to practice running relaxed at a marathon effort.  I was dealing with a headwind, so I did not expect the time to be fast.  I started out a little too hard, but after a couple minutes I was able to relax more and get into a nice rhythm.  I was surprised to finish the mile in 5:12, as I thought the wind would slow me down to about 5:20 even with the harder effort at the beginning.

From the beginning of the run there was a light rain coming down on me (light enough that I wasn't getting wet).  About 6.5 miles into the run the rain started coming down on me a little harder, and it got progressively worse from that point of the run until I got to UNLV.  By the time I got into the lab I was soaked, and I could feel the water swishing around between my toes (the roads near the school were all partially flooded, so I had to run through a fair amount of water).  I sped up some during the last mile so that I could get indoors a little quicker.  Total time for 8.6 miles was 59:10.

PM: I ran home, 8.6 miles in 1:04:01.  I had to stay late at school today, which was not fun.  The only good thing that came out of it was that my clothes had dried off by the time I was leaving school to run home.  Overall, coming home late sucks, as I left the house before the little ones were awake this morning and I got home after they were in bed.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60
Comments
From Rob on Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 19:52:11 from 72.254.11.154

Myth Busters proved that the faster you run in the rain over the same distance the wetter you get. So in your case you were completely soaked where a person walking the same distance probably would have stayed dry.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.203.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning.  There was a little rain near the end of the run, but nothing like what I got hit with yesterday.  I ran 2 x 1 mile repeats during the run, followed by 2 x 1/2 mile repeats.  All distances were approximate, based on measurements I made while driving.  The two half mile repeats are probably the least accurate for distance, while the 1 mile repeats are more accurate as the city street layout has major intersections at 1 mile increments.  Anyhow, splits were 5:23, 4:58, 2:40 (maybe long?), 2:40 (just matched the time/effort for the previous repeat without regard to distance).  Total time for 8.6 miles was 59:38.

 PM: I ran home from school, running 8.6 miles in 1:03:38.  My legs felt a little tired, but nothing that a good night of sleep wont fix. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning with a time of 1:03:10 for 8.6 miles.  I ran 1 mile in the middle of the run that was not quite a "fast" mile, but was faster than usual, running it in 6:00.

PM: I ran home from school with a total time of 1:04:40 for 8.6 miles.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60New Balance 758 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran an easy 10 miles this morning.  My calf felt a little tight, but not too bad.  I finished in about 1:14.

PM:  I scratched my second run for the day (5 miles).  I was just super tired, and my calf wasn't feeling happy either.  I may just need to keep the mileage in the low 90's now that school is in full swing rather than try and get into the 100's some more.  I have been more tired this week than I thought. 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.004.000.000.0020.00

I slept in this morning to help with the fatigue I was feeling yesterday.  That seemed to help a lot.  Unfortunately it did not seem to help with the sore calf, so I spent the morning massaging the calf, rubbing wintercrest on the calf, taking ibuprofen, and icing, all in an effort to get my leg feeling good enough to run a full 20 miles.

By the time I got out the door it was about 90 degrees outside, which is honestly not that bad considering that I have done many runs at 100+ degrees this summer.  Unfortunately my calf was still bugging me when I started running, and withing the first half mile of the run I was already wondering if I would need to shorten the run to 15 miles (or less).  Fortunately, the calf slowly started to loosen up (starting at about 1 mile), and by the time I was 2 miles into the run I didn't feel any discomfort at all, and I knew that running the full 20 miles wouldn't be a problem any more.  I was also glad that today's run was a planned "easy 20", meaning that I would only run a 4 mile tempo near the end, and also meaning that I would not need to change workout plans to avoid injury.

I started out running the first mile between 7:25 and 7:40 (not sure of the exact time because I didn't start my watch at first), and then sped up to 7:05 for the second mile.  After that I was hitting miles fairly consistently in the low 7:00 range or faster for the rest of the workout.  I hit 5 miles in 35:32 (based on the estimate of 7:40 for the first mile), made it to 10 miles in 1:10:05 (34:33 5 mile split).  I started my 4 mile tempo at about 14.75 miles, and hit the 15 mile mark in 1:43:52 (33:47 for 5 miles).  Splits for the 4 mile tempo were: 11:02 for the first 2 miles (missed the first mile marker, but the first mile was maybe a couple seconds faster than the second), followed by a 5:34 for mile 3 (lots of turn, tunnels, etc in this mile), and a final mile of 5:16 (total of 21:52 for 4 miles).  I ran the last 5 miles in 29:26 to finish with a total time of 2:13:18 (again, estimating the first mile at 7:40, which was a conservative estimate to begin with).

So, all in all I think it was a solid workout considering it was 90 degrees outside during the run, and I only stopped for water 3 times (at miles 4.75, 10.5, and 14.25), while only drinking maybe 12 oz of warm water each time I stopped.  I never really felt too pressed during the workout today, which is a good thing because this workout was supposed to be easy.  I was also glad that my calf still felt loose and didn't tighten up after I finished the workout today.  Hopefully that carries over into next week.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.004.000.000.0012.00

My calf was feeling decent today, but not 100%, so to be safe I changed my workout from 2 x 3 miles at marathon effort (15 total miles) to 2 x 2 miles (12 miles total).  I also did the workout in the afternoon so that my calf would not be stiff (mornings do that to me).

After going to the mall with Kimia and the kids I ran home and then did the rest of my run on the Pittman wash.  I ran my first 2 mile interval uphill, and it was slow despite an honest effort (11:56).  I am not sure why it was so slow, because even with the uphill I thought it should have been 30+ seconds faster.  The second 2 mile interval was downhill, and the splits were closer to what I was expecting (5:27, 5:24) as I finished with a time of 10:51.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning with a time of 1:08:58.  I kept the pace really slow because despite feeling good at the beginning of the run my calf started to complain just a little over a mile in.  No pain during the run, and it was probably good for me to run so slow.

PM: I ran home from school with a time of 1:06:46.  This run was similar to the morning run, just a little bit faster in part because the last few miles were downhill in comparison to the uphill I had on the way to school this morning.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

The original plan was to run some short speed work (i.e. anything between 200-800m for repeats).  However, I knew after my calf was still feeling a little weak yesterday that it was unlikely for me to actually run any speed work today.  So, I just ran to school easy with a total time of 1:03:52 for 8.6 miles.

PM:  I ran home with a total time of 1:05:04.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning with a time of 1:05:28.  My calf is slowly starting to feel better.  The muscle felt tight at the beginning, but about 2 minutes into the run I stopped at a stop light and stretched it out for a few seconds, and had no problems for the rest of my run.

PM:  I ran home from work in 1:05:38.  I left a little later than normal so I didn't have to deal with the sun to the same degree as I normally do. 

Asics Speedstar Miles: 8.60Adidas Adizero Miles: 8.60
Comments
From Andrea on Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 16:05:03 from 72.37.244.100

Sometimes taking a short stretch break does the trick!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.001.000.0010.00

I performed a study here in the lab this morning.  I ran about a mile warm-up, followed by running on the treadmill and in the water with electrodes stuck all over my right leg.  I ran on the treadmill at 8.0, 10.0, and 12.0 mph.  I ran a total of about 3.5 miles by the end of the test.  I won't count the water running for mileage, but the effort was pretty hard for the 10 minutes or so that I was in the water.  After finishing the test I ran another 6.5 miles on the treadmill to finish my run for the morning.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.9013.100.000.0021.00

I ran another half marathon time trial today on my 2 mile loop that goes past the apartment complex that we live in.  The last time that I ran a time trial here I finished in 1:11:40, so I was shooting to better the time this go around.  The main differences between last time and this time were that I started the time trial later this time (7:20 vs. 5:40), it was not as hot this time (about 75 at the start vs. 80-84), there was more wind this time (but not too bad, and only for about 4 miles from 6-10), and I had to deal with more sun (thus negating any positive effects related to lower temperatures).  The end result was that the course was by my estimation a little faster during the first half than last time, and a little slower during the second half.

I started the time trial at the midpoint of my 2 mile loop, after first running a 3.5 mile warm-up.  I stashed a water bottle on top of a power box so that I could hydrate about half-way through the time trial.  I also put a gel pouch in my shorts so that I could decide if I liked it before running my next marathon.  The first mile has a net downhill but starts uphill, while the second mile has a net uphill but starts flat.  Overall, the loop is very hilly and it does not help that I run this loop 6.5 times with four 90 degree turns every loop.  One of the turns had some dirt spilled on it and I couldn't get good traction, so this slowed me down by a couple seconds per lap as well.  The loop also measures out to 2.01 miles on the course tool, so whatever splits I give will be somewhat inaccurate and probably just a little long.

After I started the time trial I felt strong going up the first hill.  That was a good sign.  Going downhill felt harder than normal for some reason, but not too bad.  I went through the "mile" in 5:21 and then hit the uphill "mile" in 5:29 for a first lap time of 10:50 (5 seconds slower than last time).  I kept the effort the same and somehow sped up for the second loop to finish it in 10:45 (5:15, 5:30).  I still felt very strong at this point, but on the third lap my heart rate monitor stopped working correctly and in the confusion of trying to get it to work I ran the 6th mile of the time trial a little too fast, considering it was uphill, and I finished the third lap in 10:47 (5:22, 5:25).  It was at this point that I noticed a wind that had picked up, which would affect me for the next few miles.  I was also starting to feel the effects of the sun that was beating down on me (I should have gotten out earlier this morning).  This, in addition to running mile 6 a little too hard, resulted in a slowdown for the 4th lap and I came through in 11:08 (didn't catch splits).  I ate my gel during this lap, and I drank my water as well.  I can't say that I liked the gel much as it was too thick for my taste, and I was hacking up phlegm for the next couple miles.  The next lap was also finished in 11:08 (5:28, 5:40), and at this point I was 33 seconds ahead of my pace from the last time I ran my time trial here.  I actually wonder if I mentally relaxed too much, as I was way ahead of pace by the time I was 6 miles in.  I picked the pace up for the 6th lap to finish it in 10:58 (5:26, 5:32), and followed this up with a final "mile" of 5:20.  I added a little extra time to make it to the "half marathon" distance, finishing in 1:11:13.

Overall, the time was 27 seconds faster than the last time I ran this time trial.  The first 2 miles were 5 seconds slower, and the last 3 miles were 6 seconds slower, meaning that I ran the middle 8 miles 38 seconds faster.  I imagine that most of the difference came between miles 2-6, but I will need to check that blog entry to be sure.  I am pleased that the finishing time was faster, although I wish that the difference would have been more considerable.  A 27 second difference could be chalked up to nothing more than differences in weather conditions, despite my feeling that conditions were roughly equivalent.  In sum, the workout was a solid workout and nothing more.  I just need to keep building off of training like this so that I can run a solid marathon in November.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 21.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I was planning on cutting back the mileage this week, but ran into the problem of not being able to find an easy solution regarding how to do it (running to school adds up mileage quick).  I ended up deciding to take an extra rest day (Kimia's begging helped in making that decision).  I have the feeling that I should have run at least a few miles today, but in the long run I do not think that this will affect me adversely and it may even help me if I am able to feel stronger and more relaxed as a result.  I still feel guilty however.

Comments
From Paul on Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 17:42:18 from 24.10.141.104

missing a day won't hurt you. Hope you enjoyed it.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.204.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning in 1:05:02.  I did not feel like I was working hard, but my HR was in the mid to upper 140's for most of the run, which seemed rather odd.  I am still trying to figure out why it was so high.

PM:  I ran home this evening.  I needed to hurry home so that I could go on visits for the elders quorum, so I ran fairly quick.  I ran part of the run at what I will call a slow marathon pace.  I'm not sure how far I ran at this pace, but I will call it 4 miles.  Total time of 54:51 for 8.6 miles.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.000.000.000.0011.00

I ran to school with a time of 1:05:19 for 8.6 miles.

PM:  I was supposed to run a graded exercise test in the afternoon before running home, but when I got to the Ex Phys lab to perform the test the equipment was having trouble.  I ended up waiting around until after 6:00pm, and then just started running home without performing the test.  Kimia needed to have me watch the kids so that she could go visiting teaching so she picked me up after what I will call 2.4 miles.  If I had known this would happen I would never have skipped Monday's workout. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 2.40Adidas Adizero Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.200.002.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning in a total time of 1:04:06 (I think?).  The HR was higher than it should have been.

PM:  I ran home from school, running 4 x "800m" on the way home.  This consisted of two approximate half mile segments in 2:19, 2:25 that I "measured" based on the cross streets as I was running.  I had about a half mile recovery between the repeats.  Following the second repeat I ran a mile easy, and then ran two more repeats.  Because I didn't have any cross streets to estimate for a half mile I just ran the last two repeats in 2:30 each with approximately half a mile recovery between these repeats as well.  Total time for the run was 1:00:36.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:16:49.  My legs felt tired because I did a wall sit for 3:00 right before leaving as a test of sorts to see how my legs would feel running after doing this.  I actually do wall sits a fair amount, but I usually do them after I run, so it was a different feeling than usual.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.009.000.000.0020.00

I got up at 6:20am this morning with the plan to finish a 20 mile run before general conference at 9:00am.  I should have known better than to think I could get out the door quickly as after I got up I ended up needing to massage my calf out, perform some hip exercises to try and relieve the stress on my calf (its odd, but it seems to work most of the time), and take care of Anita including diaper changing, play time, feeding her breakfast, etc.  In sum, I didn't get out the door until almost 7:40am, so I only had the time to run 12 miles before conference.

I finished the 12 miles in 1:17:25, starting out in around 8:30 for the first mile, and then speeding up until I was running around 6:30 pace.  I sped up a little more after 7 miles, and I averaged sub 6:00 pace for the last 5 miles.  I will count those 5 miles as marathon pace miles, because despite the somewhat slow speeds these miles still felt like there was a decent effort involved.  It was a strange feeling, as on the one hand I felt like I was barely working, while on the other hand the effort felt much more difficult than I would have expected.  It is like there were two physiological systems fighting with one another, and toying with my perceptions, as the one system was performing adequately and the other struggling.

PM:  After the priesthood session of general conference was over in the evening I went out again to make up the mileage I missed in the morning.  I ran 8 miles in 51:59, running a 4 mile tempo from miles 2-6 in 22:07-09 (I missed the ending mile marker because it was dark so I am not completely sure about the finishing time).  The first 2 miles of the tempo were rolling with a net uphill, and the final 2 miles followed the same path in reverse.  The course is not fast, but for my purposes it works, as the uphill/downhill segments are generally not so steep that they completely throw off pace one way or the other.  

The results of the tempo (not the finishing time) were rather strange, as my heart rate seemed just a little low (160-165bpm) during the first two miles (5:44, 5:43) considering the effort (I was expecting high 160's).  My heart rate is usually higher when I am running uphill, and it was actually lower than normal despite an honest effort.  During the second half of the tempo my HR began to drop, first into the low 160's (160-161), and then progressively lower until it was hovering in the low 150's (150-154).  The effort felt no easier, and my time for the third mile (5:27) was relatively equivalent to the first two miles (when adjusting for net incline/decline).  During the first half of the fourth mile I continued to experience the same issues, although my HR stopped dropping.  I felt like I was working pretty hard, yet my HR was not rising as high as it should have (indicating lack of recovery).  This caused some alarm, as I really backed off the mileage this week to try and give my body a break.  However, during the second half of the 4th mile I began to feel more relaxed, the pace began to feel easier, my HR increased, and I sped up.  I finished the last mile somewhere between 5:12-5:14.

So, suddenly I was feeling the way I expected to feel for the entire tempo... what was wrong earlier?  I can't really make too big a deal of this all, because in the grand scheme of things it probably means very little, but it is still rather alarming when my body does not respond the way I expect it to, when I have so much experience watching my body consistently respond in the same manner.  I feel more strongly now that the decision to cut mileage back this week was probably the correct decision to make.  I just need to manage things correctly so that I am ready for the Santa Barbara marathon come November 12th.  Total time for the combined runs today was 2:09:24 for 20 miles.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 20.00
Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 19:11:09 from 192.168.1.1

Low HR is not bad if you are hitting a fast pace and are able to keep it. I would be concerned if it dropped alongside with the pace. If that is the case, then you either need more sleep, or more carbs.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles with Anita in the running stroller, finishing in 1:21:05.  I felt pretty relaxed while running, which should be expected considering how slow I was running.  It had rained so it was much more humid than normal.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.200.000.002.0017.20

I ran to school this morning, running 8.6 miles in 1:05:44.  It was the coolest weather that I have run in since I was in California a few months ago (approximately 70 degrees).  At the beginning of the run I was actually wishing that I had a shirt with sleeves (short or long) rather than the sleeveless jersey that I had on.  It rained on me a little while I was running, but it was not bad.

PM:  I ran home from school in the evening.  On my way home I ran 9 x 1 minute hard, 2 minutes easy.  After the third and seventh repeats I had a little more than 2 minutes recovery (about 3:45 and 2:30) because of stoplights, and after the first repeat I ran the last 30 seconds of the 2:00 recovery fast because I had to speed up to get through a light before it turned red.  My average pace when the fast and slow running was combined was somewhere in the range of 6:20 per mile (maybe a little faster), but I am not sure how fast I was running the hard sections.  Total time for 8.6 miles was 59:48.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 8.60Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning.  I started off really slow (somewhere in the 9:00 range for the first mile), but I sped up to around 7:30 pace after the first mile and felt good.  It was cold (about 60 degrees) so I wore a long sleeve shirt for the first time this fall.  My hands got cold while I was running, so I may wear gloves when I run to school tomorrow as the low tonight is supposed to be 53 degrees, which is frigid compared to the nightly lows we were getting in the mid 70's just last week (today the high is only supposed to be 71).  On the plus side of things, my HR was super low this morning as a result of the low temperatures and my average HR for the run was only 123 near 6 miles, whereas yesterday morning when I was running about the same speed my average HR was around 131.

Unfortunately, I stopped my watch at a stop light and when I started again I did not press the start button hard enough so my watch did not start.  I did not realize this error until I was already over 8 miles into my run, so I do not know how long it took me to get to school.  I was on pace for a high 1:05 (similar to my run yesterday) when I stopped my watch.

PM:  A little rain was coming down during parts of the run home, which was not bad at all.  The sudden change in temperatures in addition to a solid amount of wind however was not fun.  I made it home with a total time of 1:04:50 and an average HR of 126.  It is amazing the difference that a 20 degree drop in temperature will have on the HR. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60Adidas Adizero Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.300.001.500.0015.80

I ran to school this morning with a total time of 1:02:59 for 8.6 miles.  During the run I ran 1 mile at a simulated 5k race effort, and after a half mile easy I ran an additional half mile at that same effort.  The results of the workout were rather surprising as I ran a 4:36 for the first mile, followed by a 2:13-2:14 for the half mile.  I was only shooting to go sub 5:00 for the mile, and to see the finishing time so fast was actually kind of exciting.  I have to say that this is the most excited about a workout that I have been in quite some time considering its insignificance.  I do think that I was working a little harder than 5k race pace to be honest, but it was not significantly harder.  I am also happy because I am not worried about the distance being short despite running this on the roads.  I have measured this section of road with my car and with the course tool, and both come out to 1 mile (and according to the course tool it may even be 10 or so meters long).  I am sure that the half mile was short, so I don't care much about the time I ran there.  The purpose of running the half mile was only to simulate running fast and relaxed when already fatigued.  All in all, the workout doesn't really mean much in the long term, but it makes me excited for the 5k race that I am running on Saturday.

PM:  I ran most of the way home, however about 3.5 miles into the run my left calf seized up on me... not good.  I was able to keep running after I stopped to stretch out the muscle, but I had to keep the pace no faster than 8:00 miles or the calf would start screaming at me again.  Kimia ended up picking me up a little less than a mile and a half from our house.  Total time of 58:03 for what I will call 7.2 miles.  

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 7.20Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60
Comments
From fiddy on Thu, Oct 06, 2011 at 14:12:46 from 155.101.96.134

That is exciting! Suggests sub 14:30 shape.

From jeffmc on Thu, Oct 06, 2011 at 21:22:18 from 131.216.80.154

I sure hope so. At least 14:45 unless my ability to hold pace is worse right now than I think it is.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I woke up this morning and it hurt to walk.  Things didn't seem so bad when I went to bed last night, but it hurt to walk this morning and that scared me.  I ended up deciding to skip the run today to try and get my calf healthy as quickly as I can.  I don't want to mess up my body this close to my goal marathon.  On top of that, I have a 5k I am running tomorrow and I don't want to mess up the calf worse by racing when it hurts.  During the day I did some little exercises to try and stretch out the calf like hopping and skipping.  I also massaged the muscle and wore long socks to hopefully help support the muscle a little better.  By the end of the day the calf was feeling a lot better than when I woke up in the morning, but there was still some minor pain when I would try to hop or skip at all.

Race: Red Rock 5k (3.107 Miles) 00:16:07, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.900.003.100.0010.00

I ran the Red Rock 5k this morning.  I was worried about how my calf would hold up given that I only strained the calf a day and a half ago.  I have had these issues for years, but I have never had a race so soon after developing pain.  My primary concern was messing up the leg badly enough that training would be hampered in the last few weeks leading up to my fall marathon in Santa Barbara on November 12th.  However, there was $500 on the line for first place here, with money going 5 deep, so I still wanted to run (I also didn't want to waste the entrance fee I paid).

I was really careful in my warm-ups to start out slowly, stretch out the muscle, massage, and perform some light skipping exercises to try and stretch the muscle dynamically to prepare myself to race without hurting myself worse.  I also wore some tight soccer socks to give my calf just a little bit more support than normal.

Most importantly, I was praying to my father in heaven asking him to help me not hurt myself any worse.  To be honest I do do not even know if God cares about how well I run.  In the grand scheme of things running pales in importance to so many other aspects of our lives.  But still the same I found myself praying last night and while I was warming up, asking my heavenly father for help.

Even then, I doubted that my calf would hold up the way I hoped.  I worried that it was going to be really painful and that I would mess up the entire culmination of the marathon prep that I started in June.  I wondered, where is my faith?  If I do not believe that God will help me what good are my prayers?  I then resolved to trust in the Lord and have faith that things would work out.  A few minutes after making that resolve I suddenly felt a very peaceful feeling come over me.  I knew that it was an answer to my prayers, and while I was still unsure how my calf would hold up during the race I knew that everything would be ok, and that whatever happened was the will of the Lord.  I continued to feel some slight pulling and nagging in the calf throughout the rest of my warm-up, but I knew that everything would turn out okay.

I stepped to the starting line a few minutes prior to the start of the race, and I looked around to see where my competition was.  I was shocked to see only one other runner who appeared to be fast, and based on his jersey I knew he was a local.  Where was all the competition from the Flagstaff based runners?  The last time this company put on a race with prize money I placed eighth, and I had figured that with half the prize money we would see half the competition, meaning that 4 or 5 fast guys should be here from out of town.

The race started, and I took off at the front of the pack.  From the time that I started the race any discomfort that I had been feeling in my calf previously was gone, and I knew that my prayer had been answered.  No one made any attempt to go with me either... confirmation number two of the answer to my prayers (it is harder to hurt yourself if you are not pushing as hard in an attempt to beat faster runners).  From here on out I was able to focus on running hard without doing anything silly, rather than on competing with other runners.  The race starts off downhill for about 2 minutes, at which point you start to head uphill, followed by a super steep grade for about 20 seconds.  Once I crested the top of the short but steep hill I was greeted by a nasty headwind.  Where did that come from?  There was no wind during my warm-up, and now two and a half minutes into my race and I am getting blasted.  I was glad that no one tried to hang with me at the beginning of the race because it means that no one was close enough to draft off of me.

The runner in second place was attempting to stay as close as possible, but as I went around a corner near the mile mark he appeared to be about 10 seconds back.  10 seconds in elite runner terms at the mile mark of a 5k = game over under most circumstances, so I knew that I was mostly running for time from here on out.  The problem was that running for time was mostly worthless because the wind was still beating against me.  On top of the wind, the course was constantly rolling up and down.  It has to be one of the most deceptively slow courses that I have run in a while.  There is semi constant uphill to break up momentum, followed by downhill so short that it doesn't help you at all.  I ended up going through the mile in 4:59, followed by a 5:16 for mile 2 (10:15 total).  During the third mile we hit a long sustained uphill stretch just before the 3 mile mark that was not fun, but my pace only got marginally slower during this mile as I hit the 3 mile mark in 15:35 (5:20 for the mile).  I crossed the finish line in 16:06 (official time of 16:07) with the second place runner coming through with an official time of 17:01.

So in sum, I am extremely grateful that I was able to run the race without any pain, and I know that my father in heaven was watching out for me.  As a bonus, I won $500 dollars for placing first, which is exciting.  I have no idea how to quantify my performance, because the course was slow, it was windy, and there were no elite runners to gauge my performance off of.  Nonetheless, I am happy with how things turned out.

Puma Faas 200 Miles: 10.00
Comments
From Jake K on Sat, Oct 08, 2011 at 21:53:16 from 71.95.204.66

Glad you got through this with no major issues Jeff. And $500 isn't too shabby for a 5K, either!

Get that calf taken care of so you can put the finishing touches on the marathon training.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 16:58:14 from 192.168.1.1

I love this repeating phrase in the Old Testament that says "The Lord has delivered him into your hands". Sometimes you pray, but it is your turn to be the lamb in the thicket - maybe your competition has prayed just as fervently, or maybe it is the time for your faith to be tried. Other times you find the lamb. But the Lord does care about how fast you run when He can use it as a tool to increase your faith or the faith of others.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles today.  I kept the effort really easy in order to not stress the calf any more than necessary.  Total time was 1:18:58.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.600.000.000.0018.60

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:16:39, running to Kimia's work to drop off Anita's shoe that she threw out of the stroller, followed by running to school.  I was tempted to run something fast because I was feeling kind of antsy, but I want to be careful with my calf so I held back.  I might run some "slow" speed work tomorrow (I know, it sounds funny) maybe just barely faster than 6:00 pace just to get moving a little quicker without really stressing myself too much.

PM:  I ran home in 1:09:08, which is 20 seconds slower than an 8 minute average pace per mile over 8.6 miles.  I was running really slow because my calf just seemed a little weak tonight, and I didn't want to risk doing any damage.  Things were fine running slow, and finally after 6+ miles I started to wake up a bit and I sped up a fair amount during the last couple miles.  After how I felt running home I think I just need to hold off on speed work until my calf is feeling stronger (even if I get impatient).

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 18.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning with a time of 1:05:55.  I felt good, but my calf still felt a little weak.  Lately, my HR seems to be higher than normal as well.  Average HR this morning was 135 when normally I would expect sub 130 in these temperatures at this pace.

I ran home from school in the evening with a total time of 1:02:56 for 8.6 miles.  I am starting to suspect that my HR being high lately may have something to do with additional allergens being present in the air as a result of the rain and cooler temperatures that we have had lately.  I'm not completely sure yet, but that is my suspicion.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 17.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.600.000.000.0011.60

I ran to school this morning with a total time of 1:04:26 for 8.6 miles.  HR was still high, 138 average for the run.

PM:  I ran 3 miles on the way home, at which point Kimia picked me up so that I could get to practice for the choir that I joined a while back. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 11.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:16:03.  My HR was still really high during the first third of the run, with an average of 136, however I was able to get it lower as I focused a lot on my breathing and I averaged 129-130 for the rest of the run.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 10.00
Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 19:18:28 from 192.168.1.1

That sounds like there is a possibility of a malfunctioning HRM. I've noticed that if the contacts are too dry, the reading is higher than what it is. Sometimes it is glaringly obvious. Other times it is only 5-10 bpm too high, which make it difficult to catch, and you would not even suspect the problem until you speed up and all of a sudden start seeing a lower HR.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.9013.100.000.0021.00

My calf is starting to feel better as I have not run hard all week, so I decided to go ahead and do my last planned half marathon time trial.  Since my HR seems to be freaking out recently, in addition to the calf problems, I decided not to go out as hard with the hope that I would be able to finish faster at the end.  I suspect that the HR issues may be asthma/pollen related as my mileage of late has been low, so I would not suspect over training, while it has been cooler and we have seen a fair amount of rain.  Maybe I need to get one of those crazy masks that Galen Rupp wears?

I did a 5.5 mile warm-up in a little over 40 minutes (40:35 I think, but maybe 40:25) after which I started the time trial.  My HR was high during the warm-up (averaged around 135) so I suspected that even without going out hard my HR would be where it normally is when I go out harder.

The first mile of the time trial felt really easy but my HR was up near 170 like normal.  I hit the "mile" marker in 5:27 and finished the first lap in 11:09 (19 seconds slower than last time).  I kept the effort the same and finished the second lap in 11:07 (22 seconds slower than last time, 41 seconds total).  I decided to start picking up the effort a little after 4 miles, and made it through the third lap in 10:59 (12 seconds slower than last time) for a total time of 33:15.  My HR was now in the 175-177 range, where it stayed for the rest of the time trial, occasionally climbing up to about 180.  I kept the effort strong for mile 7, and after 7 miles I grabbed my water bottle even though I didn't really need it (temps were in the high 60's and low 70's, so I felt cold for a while).  Getting the water was a bad move, as I believe that it pulled blood away from my muscles to deal with the water which caused me to slow down again while my HR stayed high.  I finished the fourth lap in 11:10, and followed that up with an 11:12.  I tried to push harder during the sixth lap to speed up, but nothing really came and I finished that lap in 11:09.  I closed with a final "mile" in 5:31, and finished the time trial in 1:12:34 (1:21 slower than last time, and 0:54 slower than the time before that).

Overall it wasn't too bad.  I was not expecting to go as fast this time as last, and this time I was dealing with the HR issues.  If nothing else this helped me to experience a little discomfort so that when the marathon comes in 4 weeks I will be able to push through it.  Despite being the slowest time trial I have run all year (I have run four of them since July) my legs felt the worst at the end of this one.  I'll take an off day in a workout rather than the marathon itself.  I finished 21 miles total in about 2:10:00

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 21.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles today in 1:20:08. My average HR for the run was 130, so it was still a little higher than it would normally be, but it seemed to be a little closer to normal than it has been recently.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.205.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning, and I ran a speed workout (1 + 2 + 2 miles) on the way there. I ran the first mile in 5:13 with an average HR of around 174 running slightly uphill the whole way. I was happy with the HR on this mile.

I had a recovery of about 4 minutes after the first hard mile (3 min running and 1 min at a stop light) and followed that with my first 2 mile repeat in 11:00 (5:29, 5:31). The slow splits are mainly due to wind which got progressively stronger during the second mile, although there was no uphill during this stretch. My HR was lower (average around 170-171) during the 2 mile repeat than during the first hard mile, which was also good considering the effort was not as hard, however there was a brief stretch when my HR spiked for some unknown reason before returning to normal (possibly due to HR monitor error, but possibly not).

I had a longer recovery after the first 2 mile repeat of about 9 minutes. The second 2 mile repeat was a 10:48 (5:18, 5:30) with the first mile possibly being just a tiny bit short (but no more than 5-7 seconds I would imagine). This repeat was also windy, but flat just like the other. My HR did not agree with me on this repeat, averaging around 175 for 2 miles. This told me that while my breathing issues seem to slowly be getting better I am not 100% back to normal yet.

Total time for 8.6 miles was 56:15.

PM: I ran home from school. I missed restarting my watch at a stop light and didn't notice until I had gone almost a mile. Total time was 58:27 and the missed time brings me up to 1:06:10-1:06:20. Average HR was 130 for the run.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 8.60Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60
Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 19:24:58 from 192.168.1.1

This does show that there is a small problem of some sort, possibly.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.200.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning with a total time of 1:06:11. Average HR was 129. Overall results appear equivalent to last night (average HR of 130 and total time that was similar), but I think that this was a better result as running to school gives me a net increase in elevation of over 200' whereas running home is the opposite.

PM: I ran home from school this evening in 1:06:35 with an average HR of 129. I started off pretty slowly, and by 4 or 5 miles I was running near 7:30 pace without an increase in HR in comparison to the beginning of the run when I was going slower.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.002.501.500.0015.00

I ran to school this morning with a total time of 58:36.  I was in the mood to run a little quicker, so I just cruised a little under 7:00 pace for most of the run (although the first mile was more like a 7:45).  Total of 8.6 miles.

I ran at school for my second run today.  I ran over to the track, and after a brief warm-up I ran a 400-800-1200-1600-1200-800-400 ladder with 60 seconds rest (just over 100m running on average) between repeats.  The goal was to try and relax as much as possible while hitting splits right around marathon OTQ pace (5:18/mile).  It was somewhat windy and temps were in the 80's so the effort was harder than what my effort will be when running my next marathon on November 12th, but that was fine.

Splits were 1:16, 2:34, 3:52, 5:15, 3:54, 2:33, 1:10.  The wind was not very strong during the first three repeats, but it picked up a bit during the 1600 and the following 1200 before dying back down again.  I was surprised at how easy the final 400 felt.  My general feeling while running was that a 36 second 200 did not feel much different than a 40 second 200.  I will need to make sure to not press too hard early on in the next marathon, which may be difficult when differing efforts do not feel too different.  I guess that is what the HR monitor is for, but I can not become too dependent on that either.

Total of 6.4 miles for the run, with 4 miles of total speed work. 

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 6.40
Comments
From Andrea on Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 22:01:48 from 67.177.21.60

Nice workout!! You planning a taper soon?

From jeffmc on Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 22:16:36 from 131.216.80.154

I will kind of start a taper about two weeks out, but I won't really start tapering until 8 or 9 days out. I personally think that too much of a taper is a bad thing, so I don't want to back off too much.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran in Reno this morning after driving all last night from Las Vegas to attend a conference.  Luckily I did not have to drive so I was able to sleep some in the car.  Unfortunately I was not able to sleep more than a few hours, so I was very tired by about 10am.  At 11am I was able to go to sleep and I slept until 3pm, so I felt much better.  I ran an estimated 10 miles in 1:17:58 at 6am.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.005.000.000.0020.00

I ran an estimated 20 miles this morning in Reno in 2:12:04.  I suspect that it may have been a little longer than 20 miles because of some mile markers I saw on the roads while I was running.  I ran the last 5 or so miles at a marathon effort.  It was hard to gauge the effort being at altitude for the first time in months, with much colder temperatures than I am accustomed to (around 40 degrees).

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 20.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.250.750.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles today, running about .75 fast in order to catch up to a couple guys I saw out running on the trail ahead of me.  Total time for 10 miles was 1:17:39.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.201.000.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning with a time around 1:06 (not sure about total time because I didn't start my watch after stopping at the stop light at Maryland Parkway.  HR up until that point was averaged at 139, and it was likely higher over the last mile or so after my watch got stopped.  I am still not sure what is going on there.  Things had gotten back to normal by the end of last week, and now the same issues have come back again.  I did notice that when I really zoned out my HR would drop to 130-132, which is where it should have been based on the pace.  As soon as I would start to think about my HR it would shoot up to 140-145.  When I would focus on breathing deep and getting plenty of air HR would drop to about 137-138.  In normal situations it doesn't matter what I do with my breathing, as my HR will stay fairly consistent as long as the effort is even.

PM:  I ran home from school in 1:05:28.  My HR only averaged 130 for the run, so it seems to be right back to normal again.  It seems very strange that my HR can be off the charts in the morning, and then no higher than normal in the afternoon.  Maybe there was something in the air which irritated my breathing, but the wind cleared it out by the evening?  On the way home I did run 1 mile fast in 5:35 in an attempt to practice running relaxed.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60
Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 19:31:31 from 192.168.1.1

Try a tempo of two laps on your half marathon time trial course. See what happens in the second lap. Run the first lap in about 11:00, second give it a push like you are racing something longer than a 10 K, but shorter than half. See what pace this produces and at what HR. If you hit 10:15 at any HR, I would not worry about all the HR deal at all.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.600.000.000.008.60

I ran to school this morning with a time of 1:06:33.  Average HR was 131.  It was windy, otherwise I would have made it to school faster.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.105.000.000.0014.10

I ran out on the Pittman wash today.  On the way there I took a detour to drop off some things at Kimia's work which I will count as .6 miles (more than .5 but less than .7 is what I figured).

Later on in the run I ran a 5 mile tempo in 27:28 (5:24, 5:28, 5:36, 5:41, 5:19).  I am glad that I was only trying to hit marathon pace effort on this tempo and not faster, because the conditions were brutal.  There was a strong wind that was gusting throughout the tempo, so even when I thought I should have a tail wind it still felt like the wind was in my face.  There was also a fair amount of rolling and climbing (although the course gave me a net drop).  The general layout of the tempo was as follows:  mile 1, gradual downhill and fairly straight; mile 2, mild net downhill but rolls a lot, includes running through a tunnel with a couple turns; mile 3, zero net uphill/downhill but has 14 turns and a 180, plus two nasty uphill sections with corresponding downhill that I couldn't take advantage of due to the turns; mile 4 was the same as mile 2 but in reverse, while mile 5 was the same as mile 2 following a 180 at the beginning.

I was rather happy with the 5:36 on the third mile considering the circumstances, but it did feel like the wind died down during that mile so it may not have been as difficult as it seemed.  The first mile should have been much faster than it was, because that mile gives me the majority of the net downhill during the tempo, but that was the worst mile in terms of the wind.  Miles 4 and 5 were also pretty bad in terms of wind, but the wind was a little weaker during miles 2 and 3.  I had to push fairly hard during mile 5 in order to get under 5:20 for that mile, but I was happy with how relaxed I felt when I sped up despite fighting a headwind.

Total mileage for the main portion of the run was 13.5 miles, plus the detour (so 14.1 miles total) to finish with a total time of 1:37:40.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 14.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.001.000.000.0014.00

I ran 14 miles today at a fairly brisk pace.  It just felt good to cruise at a pace that was not hard but not slow, rather than trying to run super easy like I normally do.  It also felt good to toss the HR monitor for today.  Some days I feel like I am a slave to it, so once or twice a week I just use the cheap walgreens watch that I have.  I ran 1 mile fast about 9 miles into the run in 5:16.  It was the same mile that I started with when I ran the 5 mile tempo yesterday.  There was no wind today, so it was expected for the mile to be faster, but I was happy because the pace felt easier as well.  I finished 14 miles with a total time of 1:30:43.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 14.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.308.000.000.0018.30

I ran 10 miles easy at the start of my run, followed by running 8 miles on my 2 mile loop at marathon effort, but picking it up some the last 2 miles.  I made it through the first 10 miles in 1:15:07, then ran out to the start of my 2 mile loop, ran my 8 miles hard and finished by running back to the house for a total of 18.3 miles in 2:01:42.

I was able to mark out quarter mile marks during the first mile of the 2 mile loop (when starting in front of my apartment complex) in order to give myself better feedback while running, and this was the first time that I had the opportunity to take advantage of these marks.  I was surprised to a certain degree by what I found out, as I learned that the uphill sections on this course really slow me down a lot.  When I would hit 5:20 pace on the flat sections I was hitting about 6:00 pace on the uphill sections.  This is a little deceptive because it was windy, and it was just my luck that the wind was killing me on these uphill sections while providing no net effect on my pace during the flat sections as a result of buildings blocking the wind (i.e. virtually no tail wind at all during the tempo).  But, it still seems evident that the hills slowed me down a lot.  The second mile where I don't have any quarter mile marks was windier than the first, and the 2 mile (distance is actually a little longer than 2 miles) splits showed the effect of the wind.  Splits were: 11:16, 11:16, 11:16, 10:54.  I was consistently hitting about 5:20 pace on the flat sections at the beginning of each loop with a HR of about 170, which is consistent with what I tend to see in more controlled environments like the track or the treadmill on a 1% grade.  The HR jumped to about 177 during the last loop, which felt manageable, but not for more than 8 miles I would imagine.

Overall I am happy with the workout.  It wasn't supposed to be a killer as I run the Santa Barbara International Marathon in 2 weeks.  I just need to start fine tuning things now that the race is getting closer.  I feel better prepared for this marathon than for any other marathon that I have ever run, so I am somewhat excited and nervous at the same time.  At least I am busy with the family, work, and school so I don't really have any time to dwell on things.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 18.30
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles today in 1:14:56.  No HRM today.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.201.002.000.0017.20

I ran to school this morning.  On the way I ran 2 x 1 mile in 5:09 and 4:56 with about 11:00 recovery running between repeats.  The first repeat was using mile markers that are painted on the street.  This mile has a solid net uphill (almost zero downhill), and there was a mild headwind.  The second mile was along the same stretch where I ran a 4:36 mile a few weeks ago.  The headwind was stronger during this mile, but it is almost completely flat.  I also had to deal with a UPS truck pulling right in front of me, costing me a few seconds as I had to run around it.  I don't know how much time the uphill/wind/detour cost me on the repeats, but the HR was similar on the second repeat to what I was getting when I ran the 4:36 mile a while back, while the effort felt slightly easier.  I would guess that eliminating the wind/detour on the second repeat would get me somewhere in the 4:40-4:45 range.  On the first repeat I am less sure, but as HR was lower I imagine that minus the wind/uphill I would have been in the 4:50-5:00 range.  Who knows.  Total time for the run was 1:00:46 for 8.6 miles.

PM: I ran home with a total time of 1:01:43.  I ran 1 mile hard about halfway through the run in 5:08.  I felt very smooth and comfortable during this mile (4:56 mile from this morning backwards) and there was no wind, so nothing extra to slow me down.

Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 8.60Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.100.000.000.0016.10

I ran to school this morning in 1:06:02.  I kept the pace pretty easy, and my average HR was only 129.

PM: I ran home from school, and Kimia picked me up just over a mile from the house so that we could take the kids out.  I ended up running a total of 7.5 miles in 57:14.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 7.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.450.750.001.0014.20

I ran to school this morning.  I kept the pace easy, but it was faster than I normally run on the way to school.  Total time of 1:00:50 for 8.6 miles.

PM: I am starting to taper down a little more with the marathon coming up next Saturday, so instead of running home Kimia came and picked me up from school.  I did my second run on the track at UNLV and I ran 4 x 400m with 400m recovery between each repeat.  The goal was to remind myself what it feels like to run fast without killing myself, with an aim to hit 65-66s for the 400's.  I did a 2 mile warm-up and then ran a couple strides which added an extra 200m.  I then started the 400's.  Splits plus recovery were: 1:06, 1:59, 1:04, 1:51, 1:06, 1:55, 1:05, 1:55.  My total time for 2 miles was 12:01.  There was another guy at the track running 1600m repeats while I was running my 400's.  After I finished I asked if he wanted me to pace him through the repeat he was running (he was just finishing the first lap).  We ended up running the last 1200 in 3:58.  Running just under 5:20 pace felt so easy.  It kind of shocked me how easy it felt.  I know that it should feel easy because it is my marathon goal pace, but I did not expect it to feel that easy.  After finishing I ran just a little extra to get a total distance of 5.5 miles, plus that extra 200m I ran early on.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 5.60Adidas Adizero Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

I ran 10 miles easy this morning.  Total time of 1:15:48 for 10 miles, with an average HR of 129.  It was windy (and uphill) on the way out, and I had a tail wind on the way back, so my time returning to the house was much faster than the first half of the run (39:13, 36:35).

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.002.0012.00

I only ran 12 miles today as I am now fully into my taper for the marathon next Saturday.  I ran a 3200 time trial as part of my workout.  It was somewhat windy (not terrible, but windy enough to cost me a fair amount of time), so I was not entirely sure what to shoot for time wise.  I decided to just run hard and hope for the best.  Splits were: 1:10, 1:12, 1:11, 1:10, 1:12, 1:14, 1:14, 1:11.  Total time was 9:34.  I felt strong through 5 laps, but struggled some during laps 6 and 7.  I was a little peeved because I felt like I gave up mentally.  If there was someone with me, even if I was leading I think that I could have maintained 1:11's.  I also know that I had more left in the tank on the last lap.  Overall, despite my annoyance with myself, I was very pleased with how things went as I equaled my weak 3000m pr from 2003 splitting 3000m in 8:58.  If this would have been a race I think that I would have finished in the high 9:20's, as I would have been more motivated, and the wind had to have been worth something in the vicinity of 10 seconds.

Puma Faas 200 Miles: 12.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.800.000.200.006.00

I did a short easy run this evening.  I ran a few strides during the run to get my legs moving.  Total time of 47:20 for 6 miles.

Adidas Adizero Miles: 6.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.600.000.000.008.60

I ran to school this morning.  The run was good, and I finished 8.6 miles in 1:06:23.  Near the beginning of the run I decided to catch up to a guy on a bike as he rode up the hill on Warm Springs Rd.  My HR got a little higher, but for the most part it got no higher than 160 bpm, so I will not count it as fast mileage.  When we got to a light a little bit later the biker commented that I was making him look bad.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.000.500.000.506.00

I ran my last speed work before the marathon on Saturday.  Total of six miles, with an 800 in 2:20, followed by a 400 recovery and an 800 in 2:40.  I didn't want to do anything too hard, but I wanted to get a little more practice relaxing at marathon pace.  The 2:20 on the first 800 was mainly just to get me tired enough to make the next 800 feel more like the pace will during the marathon.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 6.00
Comments
From Andrea on Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 17:43:53 from 72.37.244.100

Good luck this weekend!! Believe in your training and have confidence :)

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.750.000.000.006.75

I ran 6 miles this morning in 46:38.  A little while later I ran an extra three quarters of a mile at school, with a quarter mile of it barefoot on the treadmill.

Barefoot Miles: 0.25Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 6.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.000.000.002.00

I ran 2 miles easy this morning.  I ran a couple strides at the end of the run.

Asics Speedstar Miles: 2.00
Race: Santa Barbara International Marathon (26.21 Miles) 02:40:22, Place overall: 4
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.8026.200.000.0028.00

Long story short, I ran the slowest marathon I have ever run despite being in the best shape I have ever been in.  I am not sure exactly why it happened, but I need to see a doctor to find out what is wrong.

Long story not so short.  I got up in the morning, ate a small breakfast and hopped on the bus to the start line at 5:30am.  I chatted with people in the high school gymnasium for a while, and went out to warm up at about 6:40.  Warmed up with Michael Wardian for about a mile and a half.  I noticed that my HR was abnormally high (average HR of 146 during the warm-up).  I thought that it must be wrong, but when I checked manually I found out that it wasn't.  I hoped that the issue would resolve itself within the first couple miles of the marathon.

The race started and despite running at an effort that should have given me a HR of about 170, my HR was at 180.  In retrospect I also think that my HR was maxed out at 180, despite the fact that normally my HR max is 186-188.  I still held out hope that my HR would go down to normal levels, but it never did.  I hit 2 miles in 10:35, and from a muscular effort things felt very easy, but with the high HR I decided to slow down some to see if the HR would get under control.  A 5:25 mile led to a HR of 177-178, followed by miles of 5:37 and 5:34 with a HR around 175.

Miles 6-8 had some uphill in them, and I was able to get my HR down into the low 170's (although there were still some spikes up into the 180 range on occasion).  Mile splits were 5:50, 5:53, 5:49.  Miles 9 and 10 flattened out (net downhill) and I had splits of 5:38 and 5:42.  The HR monitor stopped working correctly around this point of the race (I was taking HR manually to verify that it was/wasn't working).  In general up to this point my HR was about 10 bpm higher than the effort indicated.  From here on out I began to have problems keeping my HR at normal levels consistently, as it would sometimes stay in the 170's (I should be able to run an entire marathon with the HR between 170-173), but at other times it would drop and I would have trouble even holding a HR over 160.

Throughout the rest of the race I would just check my HR manually on occasion to see where it was at as the HR monitor was not picking up the HR properly.  In general it was reading higher than what I was measuring manually (high 180's), but on occasion it was reading low (120's-130's).  Mile 11 was a 5:56, followed by a 5:54 and a 5:54 to hit 13 miles in 1:13:47.  HR was more normal in these miles, as it was around 160 when I tested it during mile 11.  Mile 14 was a 6:16, followed by a 6:10, a 6:04, and a 6:19 (1:38:36 for 17 miles).  My HR jumped back up again in these miles into the 170's.  From a muscular standpoint I never really felt like I was working hard, yet I still was never able to really push myself.  At times it really felt like I was just running a long moderately paced tempo run, yet when another runner flew by me during mile 16 there was nothing I could do to respond (he was running at about 5:30 pace when he passed me and finished in 2:30).

I stopped watching my splits very closely after this point until I hit mile 23, so I either didn't even see them, or I don't remember them because it was unimportant to me.  From mile 17-23 I was dodging a lot of the half marathon runners on a bike path as they started the half marathon late (originally I thought that they would be mostly off of the bike path by the time I got there).  The hills through here were also bigger than I had anticipated.  I made it to the 23 mile marker at 2:18:01 (6:34 average pace from 17-23) and proceeded to head up the giant hill that marks the beginning of the end about a minute later.  I ran mile 24 in 7:28 (Wardian ran this mile in 6:30 and finished in 2:22:37, and he didn't blow up) followed by a 2 mile downhill to the finish.  I ended up with a time of 2:40:22, which is officially my slowest marathon ever.  During the last couple miles I took my HR a couple times, and it was in the low 160's while I was running about 6:50 pace downhill.  My HR is normally about 20 bpm slower at those speeds.

So, overall this race was a major bummer.  My goal in coming here was to shoot for an OTQ time, and it feels like my attempt to do so ended before it even started.  I don't know what was wrong, but whatever it was it can't be good.  I plan on getting my heart checked out soon, and I want to get some blood work done as well.  I hope that whatever is wrong can get fixed easily, and if it can't, hopefully I can at least find out what is wrong so that I don't drop dead at 30 from heart failure.  More than anything I don't think I am so upset about my performance as I am mad at my stupid heart for not cooperating with me.  I am also peeved that I do not know what is wrong.  If I knew what was wrong I would do something to fix it and I would move forward.  My ignorance annoys me.

Puma Faas 200 Miles: 28.00
Comments
From Jake K on Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 15:46:59 from 155.100.226.53

Jeff - sorry to hear that things didn't go well. I checked the results on Saturday and figured something must have gone wrong, because you've put in consistent, solid training for months and months... and you are obviously in shape to run in the 2:20s on a BAD day!

Hopefully you can figure out what is going on, and I really hope its something that isn't a serious problem.

From Holt on Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 17:01:29 from 204.113.55.41

Man, sorry to hear that it didn't go anywhere near planned Jeff.

Get it all figured out and keep pounding out the workouts and you'll get there.

From Fritz on Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 14:24:58 from 65.116.116.6

Hey Jeff, Sorry to hear that things didn't go as planned. I hope you get this figured and will be back in time to beat me again at the Painter's Half.

From jtshad on Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 14:37:35 from 204.134.132.225

Sorry this race didn't turn out the way you expected. You will bounce back, as talented a runner as you are.

Hope you can peg your issues and get them resolved. In the meantime, keep you head up and remember everything else you have going for you to keep you positive.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.000.000.000.005.00

I didn't run much this week as I wanted to be careful just in case something is wrong with my heart.  I had two resting EKG's done during the week, and both came back normal (not surprising).  I am getting blood work done at the beginning of next week to see if there is something wrong there.  I ended up running about a mile a day during the week just to get my legs moving a bit.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.000.000.000.001.00

I ran about a mile today just running too and from my car to wherever I was going.  I will start normal running again tomorrow.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.000.000.009.00

I ran to school this morning in 1:05:58.  My resting HR was 38 bpm this morning right after I woke up, but while running 7:40-7:50 pace my HR was in the 140-150 range when it should have been around 130.  So, whatever is wrong it does not seem to be affecting my resting HR, but it really messes with my HR during exercise even when the effort is easy.  I got some blood work done today as well, and I should find out soon if there is something wrong that pops up on those tests.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.600.000.000.008.60

I ran to school this morning with a total time of 1:02:45 for 8.6 miles.  My HR was still higher than it should have been, but it was not as high as yesterday when pace is taken into consideration.  Average HR of 142, which is about 5-7 bpm higher than it should have been.  Hopefully I can find out soon what my problem is.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 8.60
Comments
From peds endo doc on Thu, Dec 01, 2011 at 09:27:15 from 24.56.44.189

jeff...I think you are going to need an exercise stress test with a cardiologist monitoring you ekg during exercise. ask your doctor to refer you to a cardiologist.

From Jake K on Fri, Dec 02, 2011 at 16:10:37 from 155.100.226.53

Hey Jeff I just saw the letsrun/puma giveaway thing. Nice job scoring some free shoes :-)

Hope you are feeling better

From jeffmc on Fri, Dec 02, 2011 at 18:24:23 from 68.227.2.226

Jake,

The shoes already got here in the mail arriving today, which is a quick turnaround seeing that I only found out about a week and a half ago that I had won.

Dad,

I am going to meet with a Sports Medicine specialist next Tuesday, and I will go from there. The blood work came back fairly normal, but maybe there is something abnormal considering I am a runner. I will ask her about running a stress test.

Do you know of any hormones that can potentially cause spikes in HR? I want to rule out any possibility of an auto-immune disorder in addition to heart problems, etc.

From peds endo doc on Fri, Dec 02, 2011 at 20:41:24 from 24.56.44.189

hyperthyroidism ( suppressed TSH) can elevate your HR. also pheochromocytoma (but your blood pressure should be elevated too with that. glad you are seeing a sports med doc. she should send you to a cardiologist.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.007.000.000.007.00

I have been sick for the last few days, and I ended up not running.  I still am sick, but I had to get to school this morning, and running was the only way that was going to work.  On the positive side, Kimia was able to drop me off part way there so I only had to run about 7 miles.  The problem was that with the recent HR issues I have been having, plus being sick, by HR was through the roof.  My average HR was close to 170 for the run, despite averaging about 6:40 pace for 7 miles.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 7.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.000.000.002.00

I felt like I had been hit by a truck yesterday morning, so I didn't run, and today I only ran 2 miles.  Being sick is no fun.  I also found out that the blood work I had done came back normal, so evidently I was testing the wrong thing, because something has been wrong with me for the past while.  Being sick just exacerbates the problem.  I also wonder if being a runner has masked my problems as what may be abnormal for me (be it iron levels, hormone levels, red blood cell count, etc) might still be within the levels considered normal for the general population.  I scheduled an appointment to see a sports medicine specialist next Tuesday, and they told me that she is a runner, so hopefully there will be a little more insight on her part than what the standard sports medicine Dr. can provide.

Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 2.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.000.000.000.001.00

I ran a mile from our apartment to the home of the people that Kimia works for as a nanny.  Anita was with me and I didn't have a stroller, so I ran with Anita on my shoulders.  My back was sore afterwards, but otherwise it wasn't so bad.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.500.000.000.002.50

I ran a little in the new Puma running shoes that I got free from the letsrun.com/Puma Faas challenge.  The run was more intermittent than continuous, as I ran a mile to Kimia's work, and then I drove to school and ran from the car to the lab and a few other places as I ran some errands.

I had another Dr. appointment today, and the doctor I talked to gave me a referral for a cardiologist here in town.  So, I will be performing a stress test here soon. 

Puma Faas 250 Miles: 2.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.600.000.000.008.60

I ran to school this morning.  Total time of 1:01:57.  It is frustrating that something is wrong right now, because something just does not feel right, and as of the present time I have been unable to figure out what it is.

Puma Faas 250 Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.000.000.009.00

I ran to school again.  My legs feel great because I have not been doing anything lately, and I want to push the pace when I run, so I really have to maintain caution so that I do not push myself too much right now.  The funny thing is that my legs feel great when I run, but when I wake up in the morning I feel like I have been hit by a truck.  I used to always associate this feeling with the heavy mileage I was running, but now I am not so sure.

Despite my attempts to not run fast I did get excited for a bit when a guy on a bike turned in front of me and I realized that I could catch him if I just sped up a little... so I did.  My legs felt so good to speed up, but it was frustrating that my HR was over 180 and I doubt that I was going any faster than 6:00 pace (I timed a mile in 6:38, with less than half of it catching the bike, and the rest at about 7:00 pace).

I ran a little extra in the evening.  Probably a little over a half mile, but I will call it 0.4 

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 8.60
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I got chest X-rays done today.  My next step will be to get the Stress test and Echo scheduled.

Comments
From crockett on Sat, Dec 10, 2011 at 18:12:20 from 71.32.235.128

I sure hope they figure things out soon for you.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.000.000.002.00

I only ran 2 miles today.  I ran the first mile with Anita on my shoulders.

Puma Faas 250 Miles: 2.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.000.000.009.00

I ran 9 miles in 1:07:08 with an average HR of 155.  My HR was climbing steadily throughout the run, and got as high as 174 near the end (I had to speed up for about 15 seconds to get across the street before the light changed).  My average HR over the last 3 miles was 160.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 9.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I had an appointment with the cardiologist today.  We ended up setting up an appointment to perform a stress echo on Monday.  She also told me that she could hear a slight murmur when she listened to my heart.

Comments
From Russ on Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 15:23:07 from 74.114.3.253

I hope the test on Monday gives you some answers. It has to be nerve wracking not knowing what's up.

From jtshad on Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 16:13:51 from 204.134.132.225

I hope your test went ok today and that you can get some answers. Hang in there.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.000.000.000.001.00

Just 1 mile today with Anita in the stroller.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.001.000.000.002.00

I performed the stress test and echo today.  The test went well.  I will count it as 2 miles because I was going for about 19 minutes, but I honestly don't know the distance (and I am sure it was actually shorter but the effort seems about right).

I found out that I have acute pericarditis.  So basically, I have some fluid buildup around my heart which appears to have been caused by the illness I had earlier this year (end of May).  Apparently it was an added stressor on my system for the last few months, and eventually my body could no longer handle the stress.  I need to take large doses of ibuprofen to try and get rid of the fluid, and if that doesn't work there are other things to try.

The good thing is that I don't have any heart problems.  Heart function is fine.  There was some minor tricuspid prolapse (backflow of blood into the atria), but evidently 80% of people have that to a very minor degree and I don't need to worry about that. 

Adidas Adizero Miles: 2.00
Comments
From jtshad on Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 13:50:42 from 204.134.132.225

Glad to hear you have an answer to the issue that was plaguing you and you have treatment options to get it resolved. Prayers are answered!

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 14:44:47 from 67.222.225.187

Interesting. I suppose that explains a lot of things. You can now brag that you've run a 2:40 marathon with acute pericarditis. It is also a testimony to how well a strong heart of a trained athlete can mask a problem. It is very fortunate that the technology has advanced enough to where your problem was exposed.

I did a quick search and found this:

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/pericarditis-000126.htm

It recommends garlic and hawthorn among other things as general heart strengtheners on top of ibuprofen.

Ibuprofen is a blood thinner as I understand. I wonder how it affects the oxygen transport capability of the blood, and if anything needs to be done to counterbalance it.

The thoughts I had on the training to recover. Keep the daily mileage even and consistent. So if you find that going 8 knocks you out for two days, go 4 or even 3, find something that you can do daily and recover from.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

I gave myself a couple days after the stress test to see if my body relaxing and taking lots of ibuprofen would help give me a jump start on recovery.  I ran 4 miles today, and the results were encouraging.  My HR was still elevated, but it was not as high as it has been recently.  HR was around 140 on average.  It has been a while since I have been able to run more than a few hundred meters without my HR jumping into the high 140's and 150's, so it was nice to see 130's flashing on the screen at times during the run.

Puma Faas 250 Miles: 4.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.500.000.000.004.50

I ran out the same way I went yesterday, but I added on a little extra and ended up with about 4.5 miles.  Average HR was 137 for the run.  I picked up the pace just a little bit for about 50-70m at the end to let my legs feel what it is like to get going faster.  Total time for the run was 34:08.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 4.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I did a bit of cross training today.  Hiked up to flatiron in the superstitions near my parents home in Arizona.  Total of 7 miles round trip, with about 4,000 ft elevation gain to get to the top.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Another day of cross training of sorts.  Went out walking for 4+ hours, while wearing Shayon the entire time adding an extra 20 pounds or so.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.500.250.000.004.75

I ran out on the canal trail near my parents home.  Took a detour near the end of the run to avoid some dogs.  Estimated at about 4.75 miles

Puma Faas 250 Miles: 4.75
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.006.00

I tried to run a little farther today, and I did not feel good at all during the run.  My HR was higher than it has been, and I felt sluggish.  Total of 6 miles.

Saucony Kinvara Miles: 6.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.000.000.002.00

I felt like crud today, so I only ran 2 miles just to get my legs moving.

Puma Faas 250 Miles: 2.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2980.44461.2243.1521.543506.35
Adidas Adizero Miles: 644.30Asics Gel Ohana Racer Miles: 605.30Nike Free 5.0 Miles: 591.25New Balance 758 Miles: 152.50Brooks Axiom Miles: 293.65Asics Speedstar Miles: 468.00Pearl Izumi Surge Miles: 6.20Barefoot Miles: 40.00Saucony Kinvara Miles: 430.70Crocs Miles: 2.25Puma Faas 200 Miles: 71.60Puma Faas 250 Miles: 23.85
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