Craig's Running Blog

This was an honest effort, but I didn't get much sleep the night before 'cause I got into New Jersey late.

About the same effort as yesterday with some upper-body workout. I also ran a mile on the treadmill barefoot.

I was in NYC late last night. I need to stop doing that. I didn't have time to run in the morning, but got in some miles after work.

Very wet day. I got in about six miles, but that's all that I could manage with the time.

Flew back in last night. We all met up at Emigration Canyon in the morning at 6am. Early. We went up over the hill and noticed that the 10 mile race was starting. Stevie was the only person I knew running it. She looked strong as she ran by- I'll have to check to see if she won it. We went up towards East Canyon as far as we could, but the road was still closed for winter and we only made it a half mile beyond the gate. Then we came back and ran down to the bridge by the gold course (near I-80) and back. A little over 20 miles.

I developed a cough after the long run yesterday, which got worse overnight. It kind of a mix between congestion in the chest and a sore throat. I hope it's not too serious. I really don't feel good- think I might have a slight fever. This isn't the best timing, but it never is.

Went out to the olympic oval in the evening. I was feeling the effects of the cold and didn't want to run. I didn't do anything fast, but I did manage 5 miles.

Felt equally terrible in the morning, but I forced myself to do a slow 3 miles. Didn't get much sleep during the previous night due to a cough.

I'm not 100%, but I'm on the mend. I felt good enough this morning to do 7 miles. Nothing too fast- I had to catch myself a few times and roll back. The ankles aren't 100% either, so I think I need to work on them tonight.

Got some gua-sha work on my ankles last night. After a tight mile warm up this morning and a stretch, things felt loose and great.

AM: Just had time for 5 miles. I'm trying to make sure I have enough sleep to get completely over the cold. Will go for another 3 in the evening.

Light day.

Met with the group out at Kearns. We had a good showing of about 16 people, 12 of which completed the entire 16 mile workout. Did the slow/easy parts of the workout with the whole group, while Walter and I pushed it on the difficult intervals.

Part 1: 6 x 615m

Pace: 4:53, 4:53, 4:48, 4:48, 4:43, 4:43

Part 2: 6 x 350m

Pace: 4:37 for all

Part 3: 6 x 150m (hills)

Pace: ??? (not timed)

Part 4: 1 mile tempo

Pace: Not timed, but felt like 5:30

I got home in time to get ready to go skiing. Kristian and I went up there. It was a bit difficult getting him up the lift for the first run just due to the logistics of it all, and because he had only been up once before. After that, he didn't fall all day and beat me down the hill each time. Not bad for a 5 year old. I kept asking if he wanted to try another lift, but he liked the comfort of the same hill.

We stopped about 3:00 and had a hot dog. I talked to some people at the table from Boston about the marathon and so forth. It's interesting to get others' perspectives on Utah. My experience is that most visitors really like it, and most people from Utah like the state as well. However, the transplants (people from other states that now live in Utah) don't seems to like it too much. Part of that is due to neighborhoods that are tight within the Mormon circles, and those that aren't Mormon feel like they're missing out of socialization within the neighborhood. The other part that's difficult for people is living in the general culture of UT, where things are closed on Sundays and the night life is very low key.

My right ankle was still hurting from snowboarding on Saturday, but it felt better after I did a few miles. I had to cut it short, thinking I would run in the evening in NJ once I got there. However, I always underestimate the time it takes me to get to the hotel from the airport. On top of that, I had a conference call with Japan at 8:15, which cut my evening short.

AM: Had to throw my normal running shoes out because they were nasty from my last trip out here. They got mold in them, and they weren't worth salvaging. Wore my performance trainers this morning and did 7 miles. It all felt good. I'll have to grab some new shoes at lunch.

Lunch: New shoes. The usual Missuno Wave Riders, with a good insert for my arches. I'll give them a test run tonight.

PM: Ran an extra 4 miles in the new shoes. Felt really good.

AM: Did 7 on the flat trail. It took a couple miles to get warm, then it felt good.

PM: Did 2 on the treadmill at the hotel. 1 with shoes and 1 barefoot. Everything is feeling ok.

AM: The usual 7 on the flat trail. I picked it up for a couple miles at the end (marathon pace), and everything seemed in order.

I found out yesterday that the Ogden 1/2 Marathon is full! 1700 people have filled it. I am on the waiting list now, so we'll see how that goes.

AM: Pushed it a little to get the feel of the marathon pace. It all felt good. I am still congested though. I have to get over that..

AM: 5 easy miles before the drive from New Jersey up to Boston...

PM: Met Mark at the airport. He wanted to do 3 miles in Boston, so I went with him. Things feel ok.

Ran it with Lance Armstrong, and pulled away a bit at the end. Details...

I could not believe the number of people at this race. The last count I heard was over 27,000, which is the second largest Boston marathon ever. The 100th running of the marathon peaked at over 36,000.

I was staying downtown at the Hilton. Mark (http://reddragon.fastrunningblog.com) got us a room with his miles. He told me that he tried to pay for a second room and they wanted over $900 a night for it over the marathon weekend. Wow. His wife, Elizabeth, sent some fruit and tea/juice to us the day before, which was nice to have in the room. She also sent us a post-race chips/beer/rootbeer package. I called Teresa and told her about it, and she said (in typical Teresa fashion): "I wouldn't have thought of that." Funny. But make no mistake, Teresa supports me in crazy ways that most spouses wouldn't put up with. I can train and/or race anytime/anywhere and know that she will never have an issue with it.

The night before the race, I went to the hot tub on the 7th floor and hung out with other runners in the hotel. There were all types in there- the older novice that was out of his league, the young hero who was going to run it hurt, and the veteran who had all the answers. I let them know that I was going to run it with Lance Armstrong, since our goal times were the same. They wanted a report the next day after the race, so I guess I was committed.

We boarded the buses at early in order to make the 10:00 start. The suggested 6:45 time seemed excessive, but then I saw the massive number of runners lined up for the buses. We waited in line through about 3 waves of buses before we got on ours at 7:05. When we departed on our bus, I looked out and saw that the lines were even longer than when we first got in them.

We hit some nasty traffic on the highway out to Hopkington right before the turnoff. The roughly 30 mile ride took us 90 minutes. When we were stopped in traffic with the other buses, some runners got anxious and had to relieve themselves off the side of the road. At first it was only guys, but then some girls did it too. There was no good tree cover. I saw one girl get done with her business and then wag her butt back and forth to air out. Mark and I had a huge laugh over that one.

I don't know if it was nerves or what, but we got to the start and waited in lines to use the portable toilets twice. I was so hydrated that I would have to stop on the course about mile 9 to go again, which is somthing that I always try to avoid. I called Traci and Natalie (a couple girls I train with) to see where they were. They told me, but the number of people made it too hard to find them. Anyway, the toilet lines ate up about 45 minutes, so by that time we had to get moving over to the start. We through our drop bags in the proper buses and headed across town to the corrals. I was in the first corral, while Mark was in the third. We did a couple laps on a side street, stretched for a second, and then said "good luck" and made our separate ways. I spend a few minutes trying to find Walter in my corral, but I couldn't spot him.

The start of the race was kind of silly. They were introducing some of the elite runners, but there's no way anyone in the race could see them. I guess that was more for the spectators benefit. Then they did the Star Spangled Banner bit and we were ready. The next thing was weird- they anounced "Now for the start of the race, Walter Brown...". I guess he was the guy that fired the gun. Did I hear that name wrong?

I didn't have a watch on for this race, so I started off running by feel. My ankles were very tight and sore, but I felt great apart from that. It would take 7 mles before that pain subsided. I don't know what the deal is with that, but I need to work on strengthening the ankles. About mile 2, I noticed the guy in front of me looking over to his left. I looked to see what he was starting at, and it was Lance Armstrong. I could have easily missed him early on in the race because there were so many runners. He seemed to be going too slow, but I learned later that he was just running conservative in the first half. I hung wth him for about 5 miles, but then I got anxious and pulled ahead. By this time, I was really feeling good, and I would continue to feel good until about mile 22.

The girls at Wellesley were crazy. I had heard about them, but I wasn't prepared for the sheer amount of noise. I had heard that they compete for kisses, but let's get one thing straight- that wasn't going to be my thing. I saw a couple runners from Japan stop with their cameras. I noticed a few other runners stop for a hug or a kiss on the cheek. About half way through the line of girls, I came up on this sign that said "Kiss Me! I'm Mormon!". Well, at that point it's just mandatory, you know.

I came across the half mark at 1:25:16. That was conservative, so I needed a good negative split to break 2:50. Fortunately, I was feeling good and I knew I could stay strong for at least another 8 miles.

About mile 16, I started hearing chants for "Lance!", so I knew he was right behind me. He came up beside me, which gave me a little motivation to pick it up. The cheering increased 2-3 times as we approached the crowds and they saw him. That crowd support boosted me up the hills. I noticed the hills, but I hit them strong and felt good at the top of each one.

At mile 22, it started to get tough. I was kept pulling ahead of Lance by about 100 yards, only to see him catch up again. I was passing guys left and right. It was about a runner every 5 seconds. At the dip at mile 25, Lance pulled ahead again and gave me the motivation just to keep pace with him. I ran right behind him through the last couple turns and into the final stretch, where I got some time on film. I reached deep at this point and found some energy to pull ahead, trying to come in under 2:50. I crossed the line at a gun time of 2:50:53, and I knew it didn't take me more than 30 seconds to cross the start. Sure enough, my official time was 2:50:30. A good effort for Boston, especially considering I can't shake this cough left over from a cold I've battled for the last 2 weeks.

Went to the doctor today to see if I can get over this cough. It started as a cold and the maraton aggravated it. I decided to go out to West Valley to the office of a friend of mine- Chris Valentine. I knew he would hook me up. He got me some codeine cough medicine and an inhaler. I've got some sort of bronchitis, but nothing that needs antibiotics. Should be ok to run with the inhaler.

Not a bad morning, once I got warmed up. It was cold, and the first mile gave my ankles grief. I stopped at mile one, stretched the lower calf muscles and achilles, and then ran again. After that, things were good, and mile 2 - 6.5 were very smooth. I actually felt a little fatigue in the quads left over from the marathon, but it was very slight. Looks like I'm cleared to start training again.

The cough is getting better. I was wheezing back at my house when I stopped running, so I took a hit on the inhaler and felt pretty good after that. Haven't had any coughing during the day today, so hopefully I'll be 100% in a day or two.

This was a interval/speed workout for most of the group, but I took the drills easy. Here's what Bill had to say about the workout (to save me some typing). Terrilee runs a massage/rehabilitation clinic near 5400 South and 700 West. It was well worth the time.

Team!

We had an OK run a week after our races; despite our being a little roughed up, the weather was good, and I'm told the course/area was attractive, so we will likely return for more workouts there.

Thank you to all who attended the stretching seminar at Terrilee's location last Saturday.  I want to impress on you all as to how important stretching is to all runners who want to be competitive and healthy (I'm not sure that leaves any runner out).  I meant it when I said that I want all of us to have stretched at least 6 times before next Saturday's workout (Emigration Canyon, Ruth's Diner 0600 start).  We can count last Saturdays seminar as 1, but if you took off on Sunday, now you have to stretch every day, or do double workouts.  If you missed the seminar, and for that matter, if you have not taken advantage of my offer of a personalized strength training seminar, shame on you.  I am doing all I can to give you the opportunities to fulfill your potential as runners; step up to the challenge.  We have big races ahead of us and your teammates depend on your performance.  Are you going to let them down?  So stretch: you have the knowledge and the gear, get with it.  I promise you, 3 weeks of stretching and you'll be amazed at how good you feel and how fast you run.

A special thank you to Terrilee for having us; not an easy task.

Coach Bill

Trail run. Up to Ghost Falls in Corner Canyon (Draper). From my house it's about 4 miles each way, and about 6 of those miles are single-track trail.  I took my time.

AM: Short tempo run, doing 3 miles at marathon pace after a 1 mile warmup. I cut it short for intervals this evening. I've been implementing the stretching we talked about on Saturday, and I'm noticing some results. We'll see what difference 3 weeks makes.

PM: Did 4 miles at the Oval: 6x50 sprints and 6x300 intervals.

AM: Somewhat easy run on the trail. The weather was very nice and warm. I came back on a dirt trail that parallels the paved Porter Rockwell trail. I heard someone calling my name, so I took off my headphones and said "hi" to a neighbor of mine named Pascal. He's a consistent 1/2 marathon runner, and hopes to do his first marathon at St George this fall. 5 guys in my neighborhood signed up together- one of them is a 14 year old kid!

AM: Just did 3 on the paved trail and got some milk on the way home. Will be doing another 5.5 or so this evening.

 PM: Did 5.5 with the group. We had myself, Andrea, Johnny, Tracy C, Natalie, Traci H, and Katherine there. Katherine is new to the area from New York.