Craig's Running Blog

As most Saturdays in the season, I was running this as a coach for SaltLakeFit, a marathon training group. This was a run I was in charge of, so I had to set out hydration and mark the course. It was a 20 mile winding course through the Holiday and Cottonwood Heights area.

As a final 20 miler before St. George, this was going to be a decent workout. I had planned on doing the first 9 miles with Dominique and then the last 11 mostly alone at race pace. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to try something new, so I took Ibuprofin consistently for 48 hours leading up to the run to battle inflamation in my achilles. I found it helpful, but it didn't feel too different from the sports cream I've been using. So I think I'd rather use sports cream and localize the treatment rather than load up on Ibuprofin.

We had about 40 runners there, which is what I expected. To my surprise, Chris Pope was there, so I thought it would be good to run with him. Our PR and goal marathon times are about 5 minutes apart. Dominique stuck with us the first mile, then dropped back. Chris told me that he was going to run 9 miles, then some miles later in the day due to other commitments. So I still had 11 on my own. I ran the majority at race pace (6:20), but found that I needed to back off at the hydration stops and stretch out. The achilles isn't perfect, but it's decent.

Hill course in the evening. It feels great one minute, then the achilles flares up the next. I think I need to start using the sports cream for all runs up until the marathon.

Swim: 30 minutes

Usual 5 mile course. Felt terrible the first .5, but good after that. I had to stop after .5 and stretch for 3 minutes. Amazing what a difference that makes. Ran the last 4 averaging the goal marathon pace.

Same hill course as Sunday night. I used the sports cream this morning, and it made a difference. So that will be my crutch of choice for the time being. I warmed up with a slow mile, and didn't feel too bad. Stopped and stretched out for a minute, then took off. Felt faster than usual down the hills, but not as strong as I want to be going up. Decent run.

I did the pipeline/Porter Rockwell trail in Draper this morning. If I go all the way out to Bangerter Parkway from my house (which is the end of the trail), it is 8 miles. I cut it a little short to play it safe. I used the sports stick (icy hot) again and did a slow mile to warm up. After the warm up and stretch, I felt pretty good. At about mile 5, I felt great, which is a good sign. I was able to keep the pace at marathon goal pace (around 6:30) without issues.

I've been leaving the house before 6:00am every morning since school started, which is fine most days. I have to get my daughter up and ready for school at 7:30. The only problem is that the paved trail doesn't have lights, so it gets a little strange in the areas with a lot of trees. It's also unfortunate that I can't run the dirt trails when it's dark. Well, I could... but that would require a slow pace and a headlamp, which wouldn't help me much. I'm going to do a short run tomorrow afternoon/evening on the dirt instead of tomorrow morning. 

Interesting- I didn't see anyone on the way out, but I saw quite a few people on the way back as it was getting light.  I thought I would see more people getting their last real week of training in before tapering for St George.

This was a trail run up on the Bonneville Shoreline trail. It felt good to get back on the trails and mix it up a bit. I had to hold back a little bit due to the 14 miler tomorrow.

Lighter run than expected, because I ran with friends of mine that did the TOU last week. I couldn't get the motivation to do an extra 3 miles afterwards because I was too busy answering questions and so forth from the group members.

Interesting note: the fast miles felt good, then the slow miles at the end started to ache in the achilles area. I'm not sure why, but I've noticed that more than once. It's almost as though picking up the pace loosens things up better than the long, slow distance.

I am trying to determine if being a SLCFit coach is starting to hurt my training. In some ways, I think it is. I typically get up around 4:00am and don't get home until noon. If I was just running, I could be done in a few hours.

Warmup of 1 mile. It felt bad, but ok after the usual stretch and so forth. I finished off not quite as strong as usual, so hopefully the taper will give me some more energy.

Still trying to work out the taper schedule.

Same 5.5 route as yesterday. It went fine. Nothing great, but I ended strong. I think tomorrow will be a rest day and then I'll finish out the week with 3 simlar runs.

I spent the night last night with the achilles stretched, because I heard that can help. I finally woke up and was able to walk normally without having to stretch out first. Amazing. I took that as a sign to go out for a light run. I figured that a light run would be just as good (if not better) than a day off for the taper, as long as I feel ok.

I didn't apply any sports cream. It didn't feel great at first. I stopped after a mile (as usual), and stretched things out. Then I took off on the hill course. It worked out well. I felt a slight pain going up hill, but down hill was great (as usual). After the run, things felt good. Successful day.

Stretched out the achilles again during the night, and woke up feeling good. I was actually planning on taking the day off, but I felt so good that I had to get out. Warmed up for a mile, stretched, and then took off. Did 2x1 mile tempo at 5:55 and 5:57, and that was over some rolling terrain. So I'm pleased.

It was dark on the way down to Draper on the trail at 6:00am. I have to walk about 1/4 mile down the hill on a deer trail, and it's difficult to see when it's dark. I lost my footing at one point and caught myself with my left leg, but I landed pretty hard and felt my a slight pain in my knee. I've never had knee problems, so I wasn't too worried. The run was fine. I did notice that there was a dull pain in my left knee on the drive to work, but it doesn't hurt at all to walk or run, so I'm not going to get all worked up about it. A lot of things can defeat you mentally right before a big race.

No running. Just raquetball.

I had to go out to Vernal for a wedding reception, so that gave me the chance to run my favorite trail near the Green River. Actually, my favorite trail is in Dinosaur Ntl Monument, but the remote 4wd and dry creek beds by the Green River are a close second. Did a mile warmup. Things felt good, just a little tight. I went up 3 miles on the 4wd road to the top of the bluff that overlooks the river. Pushed it up the hill and again at the end. Coming back down was a blast, as usual. I opted out of the 4wd road and chose the dry river bed instead. There are so many dry riverbeds to run out here, and most of the time they are actually dry.

Same course as yesterday. Did a mile warmup. Things felt ok. I went up 3 miles on the 4wd road to the top of the bluff. Pushed it up the hill and again at the end. Coming back down was a blast, as usual.

swimming only

Mile warm up. 2x2 miles at marathon race pace (more or less), with some hills. Felt good by the end.

I am thinking a good taper this week will be another 5 miles tomorrow (Wed), then 3 miles Thurs and 2 on Friday. I am planning on some speed in there to keep things loose.

Easy today. I felt a little fatigued, but not hurt at all. Good sign. I'm not tapering as much as usual, so we'll see how that goes. I plan on running Thurs and Fri.

Nothing today. I got home last night and noticed a scratchy throat, so I got the Zicam going. I figured some extra sleep this morning would be good. I woke up with a very slight scratch in the throat, so I imagine I'll have some congestion on Saturday. Fortunately, it shouldn't be anything in my chest.

*crosses fingers*

Well, the sore throat and cold are still an issue- even more so today. I seemed to get more fatigued doing 1.5 miles than I can ever remember. I may have to scale it back at the marathon tomorrow, depending on how I feel.

This race was a bit mystery for me in terms of how I would perform... for a number of reasons. First off, I spent the majority of July and August battling an achilles issue. This was apparent after taking a week off before the Provo River 1/2 Marathon, racing, and then not being able to walk afterwards. Some constant stretching and strengthening during September helped, but it didn't help the missed training miles in July/August. The other big variable was a cold I developed a few days before the race. After battling it Thursday and Friday, I woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty close to normal, so that ended not being a factor.

 My friend and (sometimes) training partner Bob and I talked about running the first couple miles together. His goal was to break 3:00, which was similar to my goal (break 2:55). A couple months ago I had planned on breaking 2:45, but I knew that wasn't realistic this year. The big variable with Bob was this being his first marathon. I knew it was possible because he ran a 1:22 half at the TOU 1/2 Marathon, but experience is much more key at the marathon distance. We also tried talking Mark (aka "Red Dragon") into running the first 1/2 with us, but he was set on breaking 3:10 and running the first half conservatively (1:34-1:35). Our goal was to run the first half in 1:28-1:29.

So we took off and did a very conservative 2 miles in 14:08. I started to get impatient, so we gradually picked it up and started logging 6:30 miles at mile 3. Veyo and the gradual uphill to mile 12 slowed us down again to a 7:00 pace, but I started getting a second wind as we approached mile 13. The first half time ended up at 1:28:15, which I wasn't thrilled with because it was my slowest 1/2 time at St George ever. But, considering the goal, it was appropriate. Once we reached the downhill, I started to pick it up and temporarily left Bob. I tracked 6:05-6:10 miles going down the big hill to mile 16, where Bob met up with me again. I was surprised to see him, as he must have been logging sub-6:00 miles down the hill. After the hill, I kept a pretty steady 6:20-6:30 pace, and Bob gradually backed off and fell behind. I knew the hill before mile 19 would be tough, but I felt strong and passed a handful of people up it. I kept waiting for the wall, but it didn't come until mile 25, at which point I slowed down to a 7:00 pace and cruised in with a time of 2:53:05 and a -3:25 split.

Here are the splits:

Mile	Pace
1	7:15
2	6:53
3	6:21
4	6:26
5	6:31
6	6:14
7	6:15
8	7:28
9	7:04
10	6:56
11	7:13
12	6:46
13	6:31
14	6:25
15	6:11
16	6:05
17	6:12
18	6:20
19	6:38
20	6:24
21	6:14
22	6:33
23	6:20
24	6:35
25	6:46
26	6:58
.2	1:23

Generally speaking, I think I had a good, consistent performance. I bailed out on speedwork almost entirely this year due to a chronic achilles issue. So I think my endurance was ok, but I lacked the speed and threshold training that would have allowed me to pick up the pace. I think I can realistcally move these numbers down about 30sec/mile next year, which would put me right at my sub-2:40 goal. I've finished in the 2:40s twice, so I think that goal is very attainable.

I noticed times were a lot faster this year. Normally, a time of 2:53 would gaurantee a spot in the top 100, but I fell to number 121 overall this year. I attribute that to the weather more than anything else. Is it possible that runners are gradually getting faster with more information sharing and better gear? Possibly.

I keep thinking about next year. I think the different focus on my training that I've gained from veteran runners on this site will help.

I wasn't planning on running again until tomorrow, but I felt ok and figured an easy recovery run would help speed recovery. Did a nice, easy 3 mile loop at a 8:00 pace. The legs felt a little sore, but certainly not hurt.

I am planning on maintaining low and frequent mileage for the rest of the year to let things heal and so forth.

I felt a little better this morning. Legs were still a little sore in the quads, but I stopped after .6 miles, stretched it out, and felt pretty good. Instead of a 8-8:30 easy pace I did a 7-7:30 easy pace, which is ideal for my easy training.

One of the interesting things about my neighborhood (Hidden Valley Bluff in Sandy) is the geographic layout. It basically consists of a large 1.5 enclosed loop, so the traffic is minimal and it's popular for runners and walkers that don't necessarily live in the neighborhood. As I came back into my neighborhood with .5 to go, I recognized a lady up ahead that was running in the same direction. I challenged myself to pick it up and reach her by the time she got to my house. I picked it up to a sub-6:00 pace and reached her. It felt good.

Strange- my achilles isn't hurting me anymore. I guess I shouldn't say that and jinx myself, but I'm hopeful that gradually picking up and then sustaining my mileage over the winter will strengthen it without stressing it.

I think I felt about 90% this morning. No more achilles issues, but I'm still stopping after .5 miles to stretch things out. I would have done an even 5 miles today, but I played raquetball at lunch. I couldn't let these guys work me too bad.

It's hard to say how much I'll play raquetball this winter, but I would anticipate at least once a week. Maybe twice. I played with Adam today, who is much better than me. It's been a long time since I played someone better than me, so it's a pretty good workout.

Oh ya- got back on the usual 5.5 mile route this morning and it felt better than it has in months. The achilles is healing up nicely. I didn't even feel it. Now I just need to stay on top of it and keep strengthening it for the next couple months.

Anxious to do a 10k or half marathon in the near future, but unfortunately winter is coming. I may have to wait for the Moab 1/2 in March. :(

PM: I got home (somewhat) early to take advantage of the light a bust out a trail run. I am already tired of running in the dark in the mornings, and we aren't even to November yet. So I was able to get out at 5:30 in the evening and had about 1.5 hours of decent light left. I went up to the trail head and caught the Bonneville Shoreline trail. Took it down to corner canyon and then took an alternate single-track trail back to the Porter Rockwell trail. They were doing work on the alternate pipeline trail, to where it connects back to the Porter Rockwell trail and extends a few blocks to the north. Things felt good, but I was a little achy the last mile. So that's probably a good mileage to peak out at this week.

I had my daughters baptism in the morning, so I couldn't get out until after everyone cleared out of the house and Teresa decided to take a nap with the baby. I was wavering, but I finally decided to get out at 2:30. The weather was noticeably cooler and wetter than yesterday, but it was still shorts and long-sleeved shirt weather. Same route as yesterday, but I caught it short on the BS trail by taking the 4WD road back down to the trail head (rather than continuing on the BS trail to corner canyon). The 4WD road is a solid, downhill, mile-long, smooth dirt raod that I like to push the pace on. I came down it at a 5:30 pace today, which felt pretty good. I would like to take the whole road from Suncrest down to Draper as a tempo run before it gets snowed over. Maybe next week.

This was a slight alternate to my usual 5.5 mile loop. I found that starting at my house and ending at the bottom of the hill below my house (rather than at my house again) is a great way to get some more slight downhill training at the end. Everything felt good. I'm going to plateau at approx. 35 miles this week and probably hold that weekly mileage through the end of the year.

Did a hill workout and pushed it pretty good coming back. 5 miles. Not a huge deal, but it felt right.

I came back and had a message on my phone from Mexico. They had some problem with their video encoding I had to look at, so I didn't have time for any stretching. Drag.

Did the same run as Monday. It was a little wet and cool out, but it's not getting cold enough yet for ice. Good thing. Worked it pretty good on the downhill and ended up with a total pace of 6:36 over 5.1 miles.

The weather Saturday is going to be crap, so I don't know about the run. I'm thinking about doing it with Locomotion 'cause a friend of mine is providing hydration. But I hate most of their runs and I would much rather hit the trails. 

Slept in this morning until 6:15, so I had to make the decision of running a quick one in the morning or waiting until the evening. Knowing that work can extend itself into the evening sometimes, I decided morning would be my best option. So I ended up cutting about a mile off the run. I will make up for it tomorrow when I do my Friday afternoon trail run.

I somehow got out of work today at 4:00, and made it home by 4:30. I can usually do that on Fridays, and this was no exception. I had a party to go to at 7:00, so I knew I had to be done with the run by 6:00.

The weather was unusually warm, with a strong south wind blowing. This time of year, that usually means storm within 24 hours. I took off at an easy pace, up to the Orson Smith trail head on Highland Drive (in Draper). I went up the new connector trail to the Bonneville Shoreline trail. On my way up, I felt the familiar sharp pains in both achilles tendons, so I backed off and tried not to run on my toes up the hills. Perhaps I have been running too many hills this week? Hills seem to aggravate the issue- especially when I run exclusively on my toes up the hills.

I did a modified shoreline loop, and returned back the way I came. I would have run longer if I wasn't planning on running tomorrow at 7am with locomotion. That's one of the downers about scheduled group runs- it can confine your other runs.

I made it back home about 5:45 and thought it would be better to mow the lawn one last time this year. The shower could wait.

We met at 7am this morning at Wheeler Farm. After all these years running in Salt Lake, I haven't ever run around Wheeler Farm before. I found the loop to be short, but very enjoyable. As we started out, we did our first loop arond Wheeler Farm. I learned that the 5k that is run there on the first Saturday in November is a trail 5k that does 2 loops around the park. Sounds like my kind of race- except for the 5k. I was talking to some other runners about how horrible I am at the 5k distance. In fact- the pace I ran during my only 5k this year was exactly the same as my Provo River 1/2 Marathon pace. That says something about my lacking speed, or good endurance (or both).

After the initial 1.5 miles, we took off on the roads. Dominique showed up a few minutes late, so she was waiting at the parking lot. We took off together at an easy pace, passing most of the loco club members. This time there were 2 runners that made smart remarks as we ran by, which is pretty typical. It irritates Dominique, and I can't say I like it either.

Andrea was providing hydration for the run, and Bill was there to help out and say "hi". Alicia also showed, but she didn't run either due to an abdominal strain. We talked a bit about starting our winter training in 2 weeks. It sounds like both Andrea and Bill have been taking some time off since the marathon.

We asked Bill about his thoughts on consistent (6 days a week running). He didn't say it was a bad idea, but he did offer an interesting insight. When we say that people who run 6 days a week don't get injured, that's because people that do get injured are no longer able to run that often whilst injured. So it is accurate to say that runners who run nearly every day aren't injured, but what happens when they do get hurt? Just some more light on the subject. Personally, I am feeling really good now that I'm running consistently and averaging 35 miles a week. I am going to keep it up and gradually edge the mileage up.

Man, it was cold this morning. Right at 34 degrees when I got up. I gave myself some extra time this morning so I could dress warmer. I usually wear shorts down to 30 degrees, but I'm not acclimated yet to the cold. It turns out that I overdressed. I was too hot by mile 1.

Took the usual route up to Wasatch Blvd and down 1700 East to the bottom of the hill. I did some threshold speed during the slight downhill and worked it. It felt good, but I was more tired than usual at the end. I guess that's good. Not hurt- that's the key.

Need new shoes.

I checked the thermometer this morning. 40 degrees. Good enough for shorts. I should have ditched the gloves too, 'cause I was burning up at mile 3.

I decided to run the Porter Rockwell this morning. A relatively flat course that would allow me to get an extra mile or two with the same effort. It was dark, but I could still make out the trail well enough. The nice thing about the trail is no cars. I hate having headlights in my face.

I felt good after nearly 2 miles warming up. I decided to push it a bit. Did miles 3-5 at 6:15, 6:14, and 6:17, which is goal marathon pace.

Noticed a meteor yesterday, and 2 meteors today. There were probably more, but I wasn't looking up at the sky too much. I did some stealth kills on the trail, Wasatch Back style. Snuck up behind a couple girls first and cruised by them, scaring them. Then I snuck up behind a couple that were walking with a flashlight. Nice. 

New shoes have been ordered from Overstock. Yes.

This was a hill workout. Pretty tough at times, but the end felt right. I cut it a little short because I'll be playing raquetball at lunch.

I'm trying to get some people together on Sat for a trail run in Draper. Looks like I have 4 takers so far. The good thing about trail running is that you can't go that fast, so a small group will tend to stick together with people of relevantly similar speed. I can even run with someone on a trail that I would run 2 or 3 min per mile faster on a road. The uphills keep the group together. The downhills spread people out more, but you have to wait ever 1/2 mile or so at a trailhead or junction. Good times. If I could, I would do all my training on trails. I know my speed would suffer, though.

Played Adam in raquetball at lunch. Came out on top 16-14, 10-15, 15-6, 9-2 (when the lights turned off). Uh huh.

The 5-6 mile runs are getting easier. I only got about 5 hours sleep last night, but this was an enjoyable, easy run. around Wasatch Blvd and down 1700 East to the bottom of the hill.

I should have checked the temp before running this morning, because it was a little cooler and I could have used gloves. My hands were aching by the time I got to mile 5. It didn't help that I carried a water bottle.

Went out on the pipeline trail and came back on the porter rockwell trail. It was dark, but the moon was full. Nice.

Well, this was a pretty strange day. Dominique put out an email earlier in the week to our friends (about 12 or so) asking if anyone wanted to go for a run this Sat. I responded that I did, and we ended up having about 6 people interested. I even made a batch of fuel for recovery at the end on Fri night, and put it in a gallon container. One thing led to another and everyone flaked out except Natalie. Now Natalie is a fast girl (she just qualified for Boston at St George), so she wanted to run with me 'cause she figured the run would be challenging. Unfortunately, there were just 2 of us that showed up at 7:30. I really expected to be running with Dominique, but her son got sick at the last minute. Drag.

As it turned out, the loco club had shown up at Draper Park at 7:00, and were already a few miles into their run. As we were about to take off, we noticed them run by and start on the Porter Rockwell trail (the same direction we were going). So Natalie said "should we just run with them?". I thought it would be a good idea, 'cause I didn't want to carry conversation for 2 hours. Unless I know the other person I'm running with really well, I prefer not to do a long, easy run with just one other person. Shorter tempo runs are ok, 'cause you're concentrating on the distance and speed more. Anyway, in a larger group, you can shift betwen conversations and running mates if things start to get stale.

So we took off at the back of the loco club pack, and I started talking to Christina and George as Natalie took off in front of me. I told them I was running trails, so I would be taking off on my own after a mile. At the mile mark, George told me that the registration to 2 trail events in Feb and March are open for registration. Those are the Moab Red Hot 50k+ (which has a 30k? option this year). The other is the Antelop Island 50mi/50k/25k race. I would like to do the shorter distance of each, if possible. Especially if I can find someone to go down with to Moab. Dominique sounded interested at one point, but I can't remember if she put it on her schedule. Bob has also expressed some mild interest. Kris Lander may be up for it, but he's still recovering from knee sugery and is up to 6 slow miles now. Moab Red Hot is an awesome ultra for a first one, and even has the shorter 20-21 mile option.

Anyway, the run itself was good. I caught the shoreline trail and took it around to the back of the new Draper temple (still under construction) and then came back. I finished at the same time as the loco club. Tracy told me that Natalie was looking for me 'cause I took off on the trails without her. Oops. I'll have to make an appearance at her wedding reception in 2 weeks and apologize. :)

I say I ran 8 miles easy, but I don't know if the hills and trails are ever really easy. It still tired me out.

AM: Ran the 4.5 miles down to the Trax station. I'm taking trax today 'cause school is out, so I don't have to drop my daughter off.

PM: Will run the 4.5 miles home from the 10000 South station.

Put on my brand new shoes this morning. They felt a little stiff at first, but I was suprised to find my legs in really good shape at the end of the run. So I guess I did need new shoes after the usual 3 months/450 miles. Overall pace: 6:40

I felt a little fatigued after the double-run yesterday, but not too bad. It was mostly just a longer warmup than I'm used to. By the end things felt good. I can usually tell during the day if I'm in good condition by the ability to run at will. I was walking from one building to another at work today, and I had to run across the street to make the light while it was still green. No problems. Good sign.

Felt a little stiff this morning. I'm thinking about inserts for these new shoes, 'cause they don't have quite the arch support I need.

I went out on the pipeline trail and back on the porter rockwell trail. I decided to run 4 x 800 at 5k pace (5:15-5:30). Took it slow between the 1/2 mile intervals. No problems.

Running started out stiff this morning. I can't figure out if it's my shoes or what. No pain, just stiffness in the foot/ankle area, like I've lost some flexibility. It gradually got better and was finally good at mile 3, at which point I ran easily at marathon goal pace.

Halloween last night was so fun. I got a mask on and scared the girls in the neighborhood. I even chased after 2 groups. The mask was an "old man" mask- it looks very real. Then I went to some of my friends' houses and stared at them through the window with this creepy mask on. It was great. I took my son (5) and daughter (8) around the neighborhood while I was doing it. My daughter asked me why I was chasing teenage girls. I told her that is what happens when you sense the fear, you chase it. It's just like in the wild. If you ever run away from a dog, it will chase you. If you run at the dog or stare it down, it won't. Same thing in racing- when you have some idiot in front of you that keeps looking over his shoulder like you're going to pass him, you will. If you have some guy at mile 21 at St George looking like he's struggling, it gives you that extra motivation to chase his butt down.

This wasn't too bad of a run. I contemplated not doing it at all, but I want to be consistent. I'll be racing a 5k tomorrow, but steady training through the week shouldn't hurt that.

I hadn't run this one before, and I don't usually run the 5k distance 'cause I'm not great at it. 1/2 Marathon is my favorite distance. But Bill encouraged us to sign up, and I didn't want to sign up and not race it. So I signed up and raced it.

I got there an hour before the race. Bill, Andrea, Dominique, and Marie were already warming up. I saw them after they finished their first loop, so I joined up. I did a 1.25 lap with them, then did one at a 7:00 pace on my own. Got my stuff together and did 3 sprints. Everything felt good. I was ready.

Since this was an animal assisted therapy 5k, the race was open to dogs. That meant 90% of the crowd was there for a slow jog. It was also 2 laps around Wheeler Farm, so we started lapping people about 2 miles into it. The last mile was dodging people and cars. There was a point at mile 1.5 where we had to cross part of the parking lot. Since I was the leading runner at that point, a car passed right in front of me and didn't even see me. I hit the back window of the car with both my hands HARD to give them a message. I don't think it slowed me down to much- just 5 seconds or so.

I spotted some trouble at the begining of the race. Wasatch Athletics was providing the timing for the race, so there were a couple runners there from that group. Some older guy that was all decked out in the green singlets and shorts that they wear. Then you had Demitrio running the show behind the scenes. I also noticed some guy stylin' himself like he belonged in the UFC or some chiz, wearing some sort of short mohawk. He was talking Olympic Trials results with the other elite runners, so I got the scoop from him. He ended up passing me after mile 2 and winning the race- but I didn't get his name.

I pushed the pace the first mile. There were some younger kids running the race seriously, so I wanted to get ahead of them. After .25 miles, I didn't notice anyone behind me. I naturally slowed down and tried to calm down, knowing that a 5k is still long enough to have some respect for. The girl at mile 1 called out "5:10", but I think it was short. Still- it was a little fast. I wanted a 5:30 pace.

At mile 1.5, I started feeling fatigued. Not the same as a longer distance- it was mostly just the nervous system. I tried snapping out of it, but I didn't get a second wind until 2.5, and it was too late at that point to catch up to the first place finisher. He passed me just after mile 2, put some distance between us, and then I held on to the distance for the last 1/2 mile.

As I was coming to the finish, I noticed Dominique, without the dog she started with. I called out her name, and she gave me some encouraging words (with 100 meters to go). I saw her about 1/4 mile before that, but she was passing people and moving too fast for me to catch up until the end. I don't know what she was doing, but it was probably sub-7:00 judging from her finish time and considering she took 3-5 minutes putting the dog back in the vehicle before finishing off the first lap. So after I finished, I jogged back about .5 miles and ran it back in with her. She gave it a kick at the very end and I wasn't in the mood to keep up.

I talked with Bill, Andrea, Dominique, Marie, and Alicia a bit after the race. Andrea, Dominique and I stayed the extra hour for the entire raffle. I got some $15 gift certificate for a race id. Whoo hoo. We agreed to meet next Saturday at Ruth's diner to do Emigration.

I decided to take the route up Wasatch and back down Pepperwood. The downhill would be gradual, but the initial uphill would be brutal.

Took off at 6:00. Still dark, but I could tell it would get light while I was out. My pace up the big hill was right around 8:00. Tough. Once I got to the top and started down Pepperwood, I started cruising. It wasn't completely painless. My hamstrings were tight from Saturday's race. Still- I got the pace down to 6:00 and ran the entire thing at a 7:00 avg pace.

Good day. A little tired from yesterday, but not bad. I got out early and did the 5 mile loop. Things have been stressful at work, especially since I juggle a second job in my spare time. We release a product on Nov 12, so it should get better after that through the end of they year.

Easy run today. I thought I was playing raquetball at lunch, but that was put on hold until tomorrow.

I got off to a late start this morning (6:15), but it was still early enough to get in my 6.5 miles on the pipeline and porter rockwell trails. I was surprised at how many people I saw running or walking this morning. Maybe it's the decent weather. I must have seen 20 other people out.

I got warmed up and then started on my first 800 at threshold pace. Still a little tight/sore in the ankles. But the second, third, and fourth sets felt good. I passed 2 ladies at the end of my third 800, so I had to hold on to that one until I was out of sight so that it wouldn't look like I was dogging it. That one ended up being closer to 1200. That's my pride stinging me.

Read about the new "Run Easy" Reebock slogans that promote easy running. I don't agree. It sounds like a good discussion board topic, so I'll post it out there.

Perfect morning for a trail run, since I didn't have to go in to work until 5:00pm. I got out about 7:30. Perfect temp. Got these New Balance trail shoes that work pretty well- I've only worn them once. My Teva trail racing shoes are all worn out, so I thought I would try the New Balance again. Good choice.

I did the first 1.3 miles up to the shoreline trail. Once I was up, it was an easy 3 miles downhill back to the porter rockwell trail, then 2 miles home.

I didn't see anyone else out- probably 'cause they were working. HA!

Unfortunately, I will have to work on Sat morning and I won't be able to meet up with my crew. Drag.

Well, it's 4.5 miles each way to the trax station from my house. So I can run to the station, take the train into work, take the train back, and run home for an even 9 miles. That sounded good on a day like today, where I couldn't meet up with my running friends in the morning or run after work.

I was supposed to get in to work at 5am, but I decided to bag it after working until close to midnight last night. I took off from my house at 5:15, got to the station at 5:45, and took the next train at 5:58. I got in to the office at 6:18. 20 min is not bad at all. In fact, when there's any sort of traffice, taking the train is faster. It helps to work across the street from the trax station.

It was a busy, tiring day at work. So many things can go wrong when you build and release a new product- even internally. This is a new UI for all users in the company. What makes it copmlicated is its ability to communicate with the mainframe system of record.

This will almost get me to 40 miles this week. I've been hovering between 35 and 40 a week since St George. I think it's time to pick it up 5 miles this next week. I'll go for 40-45.

I got off to a late start, but decided to do a modified version of my 5 mile loop by going all the way up to 10600 South by the cemetary. That adds 1/2 mile on to the loop, giving it a total of 5.5 instead of 5 miles.

For some reason, the ankles were really tight and bothering me for the first mile. I don't really mind, as long as they are good once I warm up, which was the case this morning.

Very foggy this morning.

It looks like the group wants to run 15 miles this Saturday in Draper. Training with a spike in mileage on Saturday does not usually go well for me, but I guess 15 miles is less than 3x my weekly average. I should be ok. I'm sure it will be slow if it's with the group, which really makes it even harder for me.

This is the usual 6.5 pipeline/porter rockwell trail loop. Perfect weather this morning for shorts/gloves/hat/2 upper layers. I did some extra stretching after .6 miles that made everything feel good from there. I passed a few runners out there, but nowhere near last week.

Raquetball at lunch. It was 10-15, 15-8, 14-15. The lights went out on the last game, so we didn't finish. Pretty tough games.

Some running friends are trying to get together a night a week for a training run. so it looks like I might be running with a group on Mondays.

This was a pretty easy run. It felt good. I cut it off a little short just because of the cold, and I worked myself pretty hard yesterday in raquetball.

Man- it was cold this morning. I got out with some extra clothes on. I wanted to take it a little easier than normal because of the racquetball session at noon. Took the usual pipeline and porter rockwell trails through Draper. All flat, mostly easy.

Racquetball went well 15-12, 14-16, 15-5, 4-2. Had to get my racquet re-strung 'cause it broke last time, so that will be ready for our next games on Tuesday. Adam got worked hard. I think it's pretty cool that I've built up my endurance to this point, where I can run 6 miles in the morning and play racquetball at noon, and the guy I'm playing is dying at the end of the hour.

Nice morning. It turned out to be a smooth, easy run. I was a little tired from the run, racquetball, and core workout yesterday. No big deal.

It looks like the weather will be turning cooler next week. I am trying to find a race to participate in on Thanksgiving out in the Vernal area. There are plenty out here to participate in, but I don't know about out there. hmmm 

A group run at 7:00am. We had 12 of us there. Bill likes a group between 5 and 20, so this was a pretty ideal number. Bill had all sorts of gear for us- slant boards, hooks for our drinks, hydration, etc.

I kept bringing up the Ryan Hall video, and how I think the subject of "God" is in style. I explained to Dominique about what praising God whilst running means to me (as that is something Ryan Hall mentions in his video). To me, it isn't running itself that praises God, but it's the realization that your running ability comes from God, and then whether you thank Him for that.

I looked at the temperature today (68) and I couldn't help but go for a trail run. This could very well be the last day I get out this year, judging by the cold front coming in early this week.

I took some detours on some new trails, and ended up at Ghost Falls. I was a little sore in the ankles by the end of the run after the 11 miles yesterday. I guess I'm just not used to 8-10 mile days yet. I'll get there.

This was an easy run with a small group of 5. We went around Murray Park and the surrounding streets. Stopped by the new smoothie shop and got free samples off of them. Good stuff.

I didn't sleep well last night, but it's funny how that never seems to affect my run negatively the next morning. If I sleep poorly for a longer period of time, then I notice it in the run. But 1 night of light sleep never hurts me.

Did the 5 mile loop, and I did some nice strides at the end. It was obviously cooler this morning, but still at 40 degrees. Not bad at all.

I was talking with Mark about Boston. I guess he has already registered and has tickets. He wants to split a room to save costs, so I suppose I'll have to register and run it. I've wanted to do it at some point, but I wasn't planning on it this year. It will be something to look forward to in 4 months.

Cold morning! I knew I would take off from work early today, so I decided it would be warm enough at 4:00 to do a trail run. I was right (barely). It was only like 40 degrees when I took off at 4, and by the time I was getting home at 5:30, it was getting dark and even colder.

This was the usual trail loop. Nothing spectacular, but it felt good. I picked it up halfway through and did some marathon pace on the trail itself. That got kind of technical after a while, so I had to slow down.

We met up with Bill at 7:00am for an easy 10 miler up in Bountiful. I figured it would be a good opportunity to get some extra miles in. Knowing it would be cold, I dressed for it... but I was still freezing at the end.

I got a ride up with Andrea. The 4 of us weren't expecting many others, but we ended up having a pretty big group: Andrea, Johnny, Alicia, Jason R, Renan, Dominique, Gordon, Lona, Traci, and Bill.

Bill contributed some fresh bread and honey afterwards, along with the usual warm refuel drink. That was very nice. He also mentioned that we would be meeting and doing the same run Dec 25 and Jan 1. I'm sure I won't make Dec 25, but Jan 1 is a possibility.

Slept in a little this morning, but I still got out at 7:00. I decided to do the porter rockwell/pipleline paved trails rather than pepperwood. The flat paved trails would let me work on my speed, while the pepperwood loop is a beast of a climb and doesn't allow for that.

The pace was fast, the threshold 4x800s were good. 5:00 - 5:30 pace. I didn't have my Garmin, but I could tell that I was getting it down to 5:00/mile at times.

It was really strange. I saw this apparently homeless lady carrying a bench on a wheelbarrow along the pipeline trail where it crosses 1300 East. I watched her for a minute from across the street before approaching her. She turned to look at me, and that's when I could tell she was probably homeless. She looked Danish too- like someone I would have seen on my mission. I asked her if she needed any help, and she didn't respond. I was unsure at that point if I was in a dream or not, and I got that really weird feeling that you get when you have a surreal experience. I took off running on my route, but faster... as if the dream was going to catch up to me and eat me alive. I would have been freaked out if it was Halloween.

Met with the group up in Farmington. We took the road out to the bird refuge and back. It wasn't quite as cold as Thursday, but still pretty cold.

Bill had us do a mile tempo going out and a repeat mile on the way back. It wasn't too bad, but I was tired at the end.

Another sunny, warm(ish) day. I couldn't resist getting out on the trails in the afternoon. It was great. I passed quite a few moutain bikers and even a couple horses. Don't get me started on horses and trails. They do more damage to these trails than hikers/runners/bikers could ever do, and yet they are given preference and the right-of-way.

The usual Murray Park Monday night run. We stopped after a mile and did some 60 yd sprints. It took me about 4 to get fully warmed up, and we did 7 total.

After that, it was the usual course around the park and surrounding neighborhoods. Mostly easy.

6.5 mile loop on the pipeline and porter rockwell trails. Man, it was windy. Whenever it's windy like that I have a hard time sleeping at night. At one point, I had a 1/2 mile of uphill into the wind.

Snowboarding today, or at least something that resembled it. The powder was fresh, but there was no base. Spent too much time avoiding rocks.

A little sore maybe from snowboarding yesterday. Hard to say. It took 3 miles to warm up.

Everything felt good this morning, and I knew I had been a slacker this week. So I took it upon myself to go for the Wasatch-Pepperwood loop of 8 miles with a grueling 2 mile uphill (miles 1-3). That part was tough. Once I started coming down, it was nice. I felt good because I reached that point where you're going at marathon race pace and it's effortless. Of course, that was during a slightly downhill stretch... but still.

There was still some ice on the sides of the road. Pepperwood has a nice asphalt sidewalk (not concrete) that makes running really nice. However, about 20% of it was still ice, so I had to run on the road and avoid a couple cars. Nothing too bad.

I've got a fast workout tomorrow morning of somewhere between 8 and 10 miles that will include sprints and intervals. Those are always fun.

So the questionable weather turned into a decent snowstorm. I met the group at 7:00, and considered not even showing up due to the weather. About 8 of us showed, and  we decided on a 5 mile loop instead of the planned speed/tempo workout. After the 5 miles, I hit the Jordan River Parkway on the way home and did another 5 to even out the mileage at 10.

Snow and ice everywhere. 31 degrees. Not too cold, but you have to make sure to stay on the road without getting too close to the side.

I was anxious to get in a decent workout, so I did the Wasatch/Pepperwood loop of 7.5-8 miles. Fortunately, the cars were minimal. I left the house at 5:45, which beat the morning commuters.

I felt a slight twinge in the right knee like the old ITB injury that I had 2 years ago. It went away after a while, but that is something to keep an eye on.

A little warmer this morning. Shorts were in order. I scaled back just a bit knowing that racquetball was coming at lunch.

Had an insane day at racquetball. I was on. Took the series: 15-6, 12-15, 15-13, 15-2. My strategy was to be patient and wear the opponent out, which I did as the score of the last game was 15-2.

I knew that I had to get out for a run. I went snowboarding in the morning, but that just doesn't cut it.

I went to the YM activity at 7:00 and got home about 8:00. I decided it wasn't too late, so I got dressed and out the door by 8:15. The thermometer said 40 degrees. Perfect.

I didn't think I would see anyone else out on the paved trails around 9:00 at night, and I was mostly right. I passed a lady running in the other direction about 1/2 way through. That was eeerie.

It was a perfect run, though. Everything was smooth. I played the latest Interpol album on my ipod, which is perfect at night. Man, what a great album.

Missed the run yesterday due to snowboarding. I went 2 days in a row, and the achilles on the right leg was starting to bother me. Fortunately, I woke up this morning and it felt normal again.

It was raining consistently, but warm at 40 degrees. I decided to go out in shorts, which was ok. I wasn't planning on the shoes getting soaked, which they did at mile 2. I don't have to watch for puddles as much in Utah as I did in Norther CA, but this morning was certainly a puddle day.

Tomorrow should be interesting, as we're planning on some valley snow. Maybe like last Saturday?

This run was awesome. I got out early in the snow- about 6:00am. It was coming down pretty hard, but I had some good amber lenses on the glasses to keep it out of my eyes. It was amazingly soft. I had to get back for a morning Christmas party, so I didn't meet the group.

Again- a great morning for a run in the snow. I hit the pipeline and porter rockwell trails, knowing that there would be little or no traffic on the new snow. Sure enough- they had plowed it the night before, but there were a couple new inches on the trail. Perfect.

Man- it's just too cold and icy to run outside right now. I was supposed to meet some friends around Murray Park for a 5 mile run, but I went to the gym instead. Good thing. I heard it was awful on the busy roads among the ice.

I pushed it fairly hard between a 5:40 and 6:00 pace most of the time. It felt fine, but I took a swim and relaxed in the steam room afterwards to keep things loose.

Wow. Cold morning. 20 degrees as I headed out. I dressed for it, though.

Just a generic 5 miles, knowing I'd be at the gym at lunch for racquetball.

For some reason, I have been feeling the worst when I take a day off and then try to run the next day. That was yesterday's story. Today was better.

Still very cold, but not quite as bad as yesterday. 22 degrees. Things felt pretty good, and got progressively better up through mile 6. I was starting to get pretty cold in the hands the last 1/2 mile, even with 2 layers of gloves. I guess I'll have to put on the heavier ones Saturday morning when we're out in the cold longer. I ran a few times last year with a ski mask as well, and that worked surprisingly well (if you don't mind what you look like).

Full day of snowboarding, topped off with an easy run. It was surprisingly nice up at Brighton, as they had just opened Great Western the day before. We had a recruiting firm pay for a full day and lunch. Nice.

Again, I was thankful for my running because it gave me the endurance to be out for a full day while many of the others were done at 11:30. In fact, they started drinking at 11:30, had lunch with us at 12:30, and then kept drinking the rest of the afternoon. I don't know how they made it down the canyon.

Wow- tough hill. I met with the group. There were 14 of us, including the dog. We took that huge 700ft hill as hard as we could. The cold nearly killed us.

A nice early morning run before the sun came up on the porter rockwell trail. Nobody else was up, of course. Everything felt really good. Hands got cold by the end, but I'm not complaining.

Again- I had the opportunity to run with friends at 6:30 around Murray Park... or hit the treadmill. I hate the treadmill, but the thought of dodging ice on busy roads in the dark didn't appeal to me either. So I got a new pair of shoes at lunch and hit the gym. 6 miles, mostly at a 6:00 pace. I'll call it marathon pace because it's easier on the treadmill without the wind resistance and rolling terrain.

Yesterday on the treadmill wasn't horrible, so I tried it again today. Mentally, it was tough. Physically- no big deal. For some reason, they couldn't find me in the system and I didn't have my bar code tag with me. I'll have to make sure I take that with me from now on, so we don't spend 15 minutes trying to find me in a retarded system that only lets them search by name.

My racquetball buddy Adam is out sick- likely for the rest of the week. So I was watching these guys play while I ran on the treadmill. I watched this one guy play with a different style than I've seen before, and he had some decent success against an arguably much better player. He aced the guy several times on his serves. I think I'll try out a couple of his serves next time I play.

Wet morning. Rain- not snow. I slipped on the way down the hill and on the way back up. That's not something that happens very often. Reminded me of living in California, where I was dealing with wet shoes and mud all winter.

Anyway, I went out for a quick 6.5 miles, most of which was fast. I had to get back for an early dentist appointment at 8:00.

I spent this morning on the mountain. The snow was great- about a foot of fresh powder. Went up there with Rory and Hilt. We didn't want to come back to work, but decided we should.

Unusually warm day in the valley. But the storm came in suddenly about 4:00. I left work about 5:00 and it took me an hour to get 5 miles. As I passed the gym, I figured it would be a good idea to stop and get some miles in. So I did 5 on the treadmill.

The problem with treadmill running is that I get bored and I end up running faster than I probably should. Today was no exception. Even in my fatigued state from this morning, I ran at a 6:00 - 6:15 pace. If I was on the roads, I could have slowed it down to a 7:00-7:30 pace and done a couple extra miles. I'll have to work on that.

Man- I love fresh snow on the trail. Perfect. I got bundled up and wore my ski goggles for this morning's run. The snow slowed me down to a 8:00 - 8:30 pace, because they hadn't plowed the trail yet. That's fine. I was the first and only one on it, so there was no surprise footing. I did have a hard time finding the trail in a few areas because the snow was deep. I'm guessing 12 inches.

I didn't make it back home unti 7:30, then I took my time and didn't leave for work until 9:15. There has been some buzz on the Internet about the republican candidate Ron Paul, who shares my Libetarian views. So I did some research and got some good info on that front. Something to talk about at work, anyway.

Tough morning workout in Kearns. Bill planned it out with a 2 mile warmup, 10x200 sprints, 10x400 hill repeats, and a 1 mile tempo.

I promoted fastrunningblog last night, but I was still surprised to hear that about 6 of my running friends had joined up. Good deal.

Spent the afternoon on the mountain again snowboarding. Got Kristian up on the mountain for his first time. Zoe has been up a few times, so she didn't want a lesson. She should have still taken one. Man, I was beat when I got home.

The thermometer read "36" at dawn, so I knew it would be a shorts day. I decided to get in a couple extra miles because I had time. Took off on the pipeline trail and ran to the end, then came back on the porter rockwell trail.

Interesting thing- I've been running more miles this winter, and I haven't gained the usual winter weight that I put on by Christmas. In years past, I would be running 20 miles a week this time of year rather than 40+, so I think that makes a difference. If I can drop 5 pounds by March for the Moab 1/2, that will be ideal.

Another snow storm came in this evening, which means fresh snow on the trails in the morning. That's always a bonus.

Well, I wish I had something clever to say since this was Christmas day and all. I kept up the morning routine and got out of the house around 6:00 or so. Nice, fresh snow from the previous day's storm, which made the run slow and soft. Not a huge effort, but it was serene.

Got back to the house in time to be there when the kids woke up. That's always a good time.

It was a slow day, but that's only because the roads were nasty. On top of that, they didn't plow the trail yesterday because of Christmas. So I had to choose between a tracked out trail or main roads that had been plowed. I chose a little of both. Neither one was pleasant. I did the Sasha dance at one point, but caught myself before I fell.

I'm going out to Vernal/Roosevelt tomorrow with the family. I was looking at the weather out there- very cold. The high temp for today was 14 degrees (the low was 0). I can't imagine running in a climate that cold, but I'll just have to dress for it. The upside- after running in that for a few days, it will feel like spring out here.

The trails were plowed, but it was a day late. There was a remnant crust of ice and snow which made it ok to run on, but only in trail shoes. I hope this clears out for the group run on Saturday, which I won't be around for. I told everyone that the city plows these paved trails, and they normally do, but the snowfall on Christmas Eve screwed things up.

After I got back, we started packing our stuff for the trip out to Teresa's parents house near Vernal. I noticed the high temperature today was 14 degrees, with the low about -5. Not a good sign, but maybe I can get a couple runs in after dressing properly. Better yet, I may split the run up into 2 segments (morning and evening), so that I'm not exposed to the cold at one time.

As usual, we didn't get out of the house on time. We eventually left close to 3:00. We made a couple stops on the way, the last one at Teresa's sister's house in Duchesne, which added a couple hours to the trip. Finally got in near 8:00, had dinner, then hooked up the xbox and played Rockband until well after midnight. So much for a consistent sleep schedule.

Freezing. Completely freezing. I waited until 8:00 for the temperature to get up to -4, but I'm not even sure that was accurate because the thermometer was in the sun. I am so glad I don't live out in the basin.

I took a run around the lake. I had to keep moving, because stopping would cool me down to fast. To get out to the lake, I had to wade through a foot of snow. Needless to say, I got snow in my ankles and shoes. I felt like I had dirt in my shoes the whole run. When I got back to the house, I took my shoes off and saw the snow in there. It didn't even melt. Bad.

Another run around the lake. Same temperature- somewhere a little below 0. The low temperature in Roosevelt the night before was -25, so I hate to think what I was running in. My face mask was a completely solid piece of ice. It started rubbing against my neck and left a nasty wound.

There's a good marathoner from Roosevelt that has won St George in the past (I think he was in the top 5 this year). I wonder how he trains in this.

Ah- good to be back home. I took the trail out through Draper, and was glad to see about an inch of good snow on the ground. Temperature was a nice, even 25. I had enough time to do a full 7 mile loop, and felt great after about 2 miles. I wish it didn't take so long to warm up.