Everything You Didn't Want to Know About My Runs

Easy four mile run.  5 x 10 sec. hill sprints.  I'm getting faster at these.  I don't think they are helping with my injury, though.

Just the Facts

9 miles in 81 minutes.  Right on pace.  It was hard with the sprints yesterday, but it felt good to do it.  I had a dentist appointment at 8:30, so I just stayed close to home.  I didn't want to be four miles away if, for some reason, I had to stop running and walk.  So my route was a combination of my two four-milers in kind of a figure-8 pattern.

Ran into Lysa twice. This was the second day in a row that I saw her out running.

 Just the Facts

Slow four mile recovery run.  5 x 10s hill sprints.  Ran with Stacie.  Didn't see Lysa today.

 Just the Facts

Cross-Training!

I've decided to cut one of my runs each week and exchange it for some mountain biking.  I think my mileage is a bit too high on the schedule I've been doing (it has me doing 45 this week) and my leg needs some time off each week to recover.  Plus, I really like biking

I hit my favorite trail up Millcreek in between thunder storms.  For the first time, I was able to do the Desolation Lake Loop.  This was my first time up there this year.  The spring/summer run-off has really done a number on a few sections of the trail.  The bit up to Dog Lake was especially bad.  I've tried to do the Desolation Loop before, but I've never been able to make it to the turn-off before it got too late.  This time, I was not stopping nearly as often nor for as long.  I only needed to take breaks because my legs were burning.  Before, it was my cardio that was the limit.

The scenery was amazing.  I saw a rainbow in the Uintahs from the wasatch crest above The Canyons ski resort.  I saw two moose and a deer hanging out in a meadow on my way down from Desolation Lake.  I saw lightning--thankfully just as I was just about down to the parking lot. The Cottonwood Ridge at dusk from the Wasatch Crest is a spectacular sight.  There were lots of bugs.

Just the Facts

Do You Wanna Know How I Got These Scars?

I did 19 miles with Stacie this morning.  She ran hard yesterday, so I knew this was going to be difficult for her, but it is nice to run with her and she keeps my pace down so that I don't over-do it.  We were going to go leave a car somewhere last night and run to it this morning, but she was busy helping Jane prepare for pioneer trek next week.  So we had to do an out-and-back and that meant Wasatch again, only I found a slightly better way up it this time.

Was late getting going.  I couldn't find my water bottle.  I had left it in my running bag from the Island Park trip.  Stacie had to find it for me, which had her happy.  Then my watch wouldn't find the satellites.  It eventually found them--about 10 miles into our run.

It was a good run.  I felt good the whole way without any trouble from my leg.  I'm starting to feel like I could survive a marathon.  The next six weeks will be about being able to run it, though.  I finally figured out how to eat gel on the run.  I am using eGel (the e is for electrolytes, not electronic, though that might be cool) because it has more calories and a ton of electrolytes.  The problem with it is the packet size.  They are an ideal width for a white rhino or a hippo or something with a much wider mouth than me.  I figured out that I put the packets in my mouth, bite down, and pull the packet out, leaving the gel inside my mouth.  Then I try to swallow when I'm not breathing.  I have to repeat this a couple of times to get all the e-gel out and the width of the packet ends up slicing the corners of my mouth.  So I've been feeling a bit like the Joker from "The Dark Knight" all day.

Recovery after the 19 on Saturday.  My quads were dead.  They felt like bricks.  I just plodded through this at an easy pace.  But I thought back to the Dam 2 Dam run I did at Sandpoint Reservoir in St. George back in February.  It was a 5 mile race.  I was just starting my training and I was thinking back how difficult mile 4 had been.  I'm still not even sure how I did that last mile, but seeing the finish line is powerful motivation even if it is a mile away.  Now 5 miles is an easy run that I can do with sore legs and not a lot of heavy breathing.

 Then 6 x 10s hill sprints.  My first one was a little shaky, but I did good after that.

 Just the facts.

Ten mile pace run.  Tried to get this done in 90 minutes.  It took 91:32.  Not bad for coming the day after dead legs with hill sprints.  I think I could have come in under 90 minutes with a rest day, so I feel good about the pace.  I had to add a mile to my 9 mile course and the extra mile was more uphill, so it was a more difficult course to maintain my 9:00 pace on.  Legs were still tired, but not nearly as dead or heavy.

Just the facts.

Another easy five mile recovery run with hill sprints.  Got tired of the usual stuff we have been running so Stacie and I ran a different course this time.  It was good to just have a general idea of how far five miles is, run it, and discover that I was right on.  Legs felt good.

6 x 10s hill sprints.

Just the facts.

14 mile bike ride up to Little Cottonwood on the Temple Quarry trail and back.  Decided to go find Stacie on the ride home instead of going straight home.  I found her at Buttercup and Petunia, just west of Buttercup Park.  There were hot air balloons out this morning.  I felt bad because I figured they would be gone by the time I got home and could tell Cami and I knew she would have wanted to see them.

Workout Data

My First 20: A Tale of Two Halves

On January 3, 1993, the Buffalo Bills were playing the Houston Oilers in an AFC playoff game.  The Bills were missing their starting QB, Jim Kelly, and were led by the backup, Frank Reich.  Houston destroyed them in the first half--going into the locker room with a 28-3 point lead.  With half a football game left against an unknown QB, all they had to do was mail in the second half and they were off to the next round--or so they thought.  Buffalo came back and tied the game in regulation and went on to kick a winning field goal in overtime. As unstoppable as Houston looked in the first half, they just looked sick, tired and inept in the second half.  This pretty much describes my first 20 mile run.

I went out fast.  I wanted to see how long I could maintain a 9 minute-mile pace.  All the significant uphill on my course was in the first 10 miles.  My splits were 9:10, 8:44, 8:46, 9:46, 9:42, 9:36, 9:32, 9:50, 9:50. 10:34.  That put me at 1:35:30 for the first half with all the hard uphill behind me.  All I had to do was cruise the downhill second half and I could come in close to 3 hours--or so I thought.

For some reason, the second half was a lot more difficult than anticipated.  I was tired from the uphill running and I figured I could recover after about half a mile and settle back into my faster pace.  I never got back to that pace again.  The last five miles were a disaster.  My iPod died, then my watch died at 16.5 miles.  The iPod didn't bother me so much as I wasn't really planning on running with it.  But when I measured out my course, I only knew that 20 miles was somewhere along the Porter Rockwell trail in Draper and I was depending on the watch to tell me where that was.

To make things worse, I was feeling sick to my stomach.  It really slowed me down.  My legs felt good and my wind was fine, but the sick feeling was directly proportional to my effort level.  This kept me from running hard and pushed me more towards walking--which I did a few times in the last couple of miles.

I felt similarly on my second run in the Ragnar Relay this year.  I'm not sure where it came from, but I want to blame my diet.  I worked through lunch the day before because Lizzie had a soccer game in the afternoon that I wanted to attend.  I didn't want to eat late because we were going out with my family for my sister's birthday--where I ended up protein loading at Tucano's.  This is not the best strategy for fueling the day before a twenty mile run. 

I was really glad to get to the end of this one and I am also glad that I will be attempting two more 20-milers before the marathon.  Had this been my only one, I'd be concerned about the race.  I hope this does not happen again so that I can feel confident in my ability to do this.  After feeling so good the week before, I had some serious doubts today. 

Really it comes down to poor preparation in every way.  I hadn't charged my equipment and I hadn't properly charged my body.  (Stacie had left me home to watch Josie (who just turned two Friday) the two consecutive nights before the meatfest.  Now, Josie is a big time party animal, so hanging out with her is always fun, but you never can get anything done that you had planned.) 

I thought about calling this Murphy's Run, but I don't want to tempt Murphy.  While a number of things did go wrong, no where close to anything that could have gone wrong did go wrong.  I'd list some of the things that I'm glad didn't happen, but this entry is too long as it is.  At any rate, I survived twenty miles and while I didn't finish strong, I did finish.  I had to.  I left my car in Draper the night before.

Partial Workout Data

Recovery Week

Five miles of light jogging with heavy legs.  I think I did about 11 minute miles.  I didn't really breathe hard at all--which is what a recovery run is supposed to be all about, right?  But my legs felt like they were giving me all they had.  I haven't really done my stretching routine for a while now and I need to.  I'm starting to tighten up all over the place.  I'll need to do it tonight for sure.

I skipped the hill sprints today.  I think I am going to start doing them just once a week.  I'll do 7 on Wednesday and then stay at 8 until I start tapering for the race.  I also think it is about time to retire the Glyceryns.  I'm just not quite ready to break out my new ones at this point.  I think I'll start breaking them in after my next 20 miler.

Data

Legs were still heavy today.  Felt like rubber instead of bricks, though.  It took over 3 miles to warm up.  

Data

Rode up to the temple quarry trail and up to the first bridge and back.   Still can't believe how fast the Tour of Utah riders rode up that canyon.

I left my GPS watch on after biking yesterday.  It had no battery left this morning.  I was trying to do a 6 mile run at or under 9 minutes a mile.  I just went without GPS.  I'm pretty sure I was close, I just don't know if I was over or under.  Good run.

I hope they bring this Zombie 5K somewhere close to here next year.  It looks like it could be a lot of  fun.

12 miles with Stacie.  This time my watch worked the whole time--which was nice, however, I can't get the data off of it for some reason.  It was difficult to get out this morning--I really hate running in the morning.  It takes me forever to get ready; I don't have time to stretch afterwards; and I'm always a little later for work than I want to be.  But I have to because when I run at night, it takes me forever to fall asleep and I get sleep deprived and then I get sick and can't run.

This morning we had an 8:00 soccer practice and 2 soccer games at 9:00.  We needed to be home by about 7:45, but didn't get out until just after 6:00.  I guess I should have slept in and run later in the morning.  I ran fast yesterday, so there was no way I was going to make this run in under 2 hours.  It seemed more difficult than 12 miles should be.  One plus was that I found a bonus drinking fountain in the 8th mile.

We ran into Lysa in the 10th mile.  Literally.  She was coming up the hill and we were going down it.  We were on a collision course and when I'd zig, to get out of the way, she'd zag.  I'd zag and she'd zig.  This continued until we were face-to-face and I had to stop.  I guess when you run as much as I have been all over my neighborhood, you just tend to keep running into the same people.  I didn't see white pants man, though.  I haven't seen him for a few weeks now.  I'm starting to get concerned.

It is definitely time to retire my shoes.  They have a lot more miles on them than this blog says because I was running in them before I started tracking miles.  I've got another pair just like them that haven't been worn yet.  I think it is time to start breaking them in.  

Data

8 miles of mountain biking on the Big Water trail at the top of Millcreek Canyon.  Saw two moose, a mother and a calf, just off the trail by the first bridge.  I stopped and took a couple of crappy pictures with my phone.  Then I went to dog lake and then over to the Great Western Trail via the Little Water Trail--which is some intense downhill.  There were a couple of spots where I could not have stopped if I wanted to.  (I probably ought to get a bike with disc brakes.) 

The part of the GWT just after the Little Water junction is my favorite part of that trail so I went out a ways and then turned around and continued down the Little Water Trail.  More intense downhill.  My forearms are tired from braking so much. Apart from the stop to take a picture of the moose, I only stopped to turn around.  I've never been able to do that before up there. I also overtook a few riders at various places--which is something I haven't often been able to do.  I think of myself as a slow rider, but I'm getting faster.  It is a lot of hard work, but it is more fun to be in shape.

10 miles the morning after mountain biking--I couldn't ever quite get under 10mm, but that's OK.  (I need to get "Save it for the Race" printed in the inside of my contact lenses.)  Stacie decided to do her own schedule so we ran slightly different courses this morning.  She left before I did.  I wasn't sure how far or where she was going, so I didn't know if I would see her.  But when I got to Buttercup Park, there she was.  It was nice to see her.

New shoes.  They felt very soft and pillowy when I put them on.  But they also felt kind of heavy and clunky.  After three miles, they started feeling a bit rigid in the center of my feet.  I think five miles might be a bit far for a first run, but who knows?

Ran with Stacie at a nice, easy pace.

 Data...

Put 10 more miles on the new shoes.  I  tried to get in under 90 minutes, but it took me over 100--which put me slightly over 10mm on the average.  But I was running hard, so I'm logging these as fast miles.  Shoes felt better today, but this was a difficult run.

This was not a fast course.  Usually, I run my pace runs on a route that has steep, short uphills with long gradual downhill sections.  It's cheating, but it sort of matches the St. George Marathon profile, so I don't think it is necessarily wrong.  This course is kind of backwards from my usual route with more elevation change.  I drop down early, climb higher for longer, and then finish coming down.  I  believe this is better for my legs while being not so great for my ego.

Another problem was that I gave blood two nights ago.  I did double reds which meant they took a good chunk of my VO2 max.  (Now that I think about it, maybe I should have kept my donation so I could infuse it just before the marathon.  Wouldn't that be a scandal?  Get busted for blood doping just so I could finish in the top half of my age group.  At any rate, somebody is going to be receiving some high quality o+ some time soon.)  I was breathing a lot harder than usual for a medium run at that pace and my chest has been feeling all day like I had been mountain biking at high altitude instead of jogging around the neighborhood.  I can't help but think that that had to slow me down.

Incidentally, when I was being checked before donating blood, the guy reading my pulse said, "Are you a runner or a biker?  I don't get readings this low unless you are dead, or a runner."  I think I might be getting in pretty good shape.

Also, saw Lysa on her way up Newcastle while I was heading home--trying to survive my last mile.  Tomorrow should be interesting.  20 miles at about half the speed of smell.  Then an ice bath.

Data...

Twenty miles with Stacie.  I tried to keep up with her, but it was difficult.  Was very slow today and felt like I did running at the top of Guardsman in the Wasatch Back Relay--breathing hard but still not getting enough oxygen.  This time it was anemia instead of altitude.  (I donated a lot of blood Wednesday night.  I hope I can get all those red blood cells regenerated by October.  I guess I need to start eating a lot of red meat for the iron.)

We kind of stumbled upon the course of the Rivalry Relay as it went down Wasatch and into Draper, but didn't see a lot of runners.  We were passed by one girl who probably hadn't just run 15 miles like we had.  It was really starting to get hot at that point.  The relay must have been crazy hot as the day went on.

 I really hate the Porter Rockwell Trail in Draper.  It's not so much the trail as it is that I'm always running it on the last two miles of the longest run in my life.  There is this wooden dinosaur skeleton in somebody's back yard that is always mocking me as I stumble along the path.

Came home and took a 5 minute ice bath.  That was nice.  I kind of wish I was still in it, but I had to hurry and get ready and go to Sydney's soccer game.  Her team won, 2-0.

Last weekend was a doozie.  I've been extra tired and extra hungry.  I slept in yesterday and didn't run.  I did my five mile recovery run today instead.  I'm a full minute per mile slower than I was before I gave blood.  I ran as hard as I could this morning and could only manage just under 10:00 per mile.  Is it too late to call the Red Cross and ask for my blood back?  I'll re-donate it after the marathon.

Blood Doping: You're Doing it Wrong

Six more miles in a running funk.  I hate this.  10:15 pace.  It hurts, I feel sick, and I don't want to run any more.   The whole time I'm asking my legs for more and they reply like Scotty, "We're givin' it all we got, Captain!  We can't take this much longer!"

I almost got hit by a car again.  I was running (well, more speed-walking) on the left-hand side of the road and approaching a T intersection where the body of the T was intersecting the road I was on.  A car came up to the intersection with the intention of turning right onto the street I was on.  The driver was only looking to her left, and finding a small window of opportunity, started gunning it just as I was running in front of her car.  Luckily she saw me and was able to stop.  I usually run behind the car in that situation and had done so earlier on the same road.  I was thinking about work at the time and got lazy, I guess.