Cool Runnings!

AM - woke up at 5:30, dressed and got ready for the half marathon.  My calf was still bugging me a bit, but not as much as before, so I was kind of hopeful that I might be able to still run a good race.  Got to the start at 6:10, went to the bathroom, warmed up and then did some strides.  I could feel my calf during the strides, and that had me worried before I even started.  Took off, and ended up starting a bit too fast, but found my pace fairly quickly.  First mile was around 6:25, I believe.  At this point, I wasn't very confident in my ability to be able to maintain this pace, and I think I started experiencing some negative mental attitude at this point.  My calf was still in the back of my mind.  Second mile was about 6:55, I think.  I felt like I was already redlining here, even though this was slower than my anticipated marathon pace.  On top of that, I was feeling concerned about my calf, and didn't want to risk seriously injuring it this close to St. George.  Mile 3 was 7:15.  I felt like I was already wasted - not good, and my calf was starting to tighten up.  I decided at this point that I was going to bag the race and start walking once I got to the aid station and pace Laura through the rest of the half.  This had been my plan B ever since I had the problem on Saturday.  I never thought of quitting, but I decided at that point that this race was no longer about me, as I would not have been able to get a PR, and would have run a major risk of getting a more serious injury.  I started walking at the 3.5 mile mark, and ended up walking for a mile before Laura caught up to me.  I admit, even though I knew I had decided what I was going to do, it was pretty discouraging seeing all of those runners pass by me.  I didn't start feeling better until I saw Laura start to catch up to me.  Then I focused on trying to get her up to her target pace.  We did manage to slowly improve the average pace by a few seconds per mile by the time we reached the turnaround, and then it was almost all downhill, which helped her, I think.  We hit some low 10:00 miles and had one mile below 10:00, and then Lybi joined us at the 8.5 mile mark.  I was trying to be a good pacer, but I kept letting her fall behind me.  Finally Lybi and Laura settled into a routine of catching up to me and slugging me on the shoulder in order to motivate her.  At about mile 11, I think she started to run out of gas a bit, as our splits were slowing, but she toughed it out, and finished very strong.  After the race finished, my calf was quite sore and tight, and we gathered up everyone and then headed back to Mike and Laura's, where I put some ice on my calf and sat down on the couch while Lybi finished packing us up.  Overall, a disappointing experience to not have been able to race this the way I wanted to, although I realized that the altitude had really affected me, and I would not have been able to hit my splits anyways, so the disappointment was eased by being able to help pace Laura.  In addition, we were able to have a good time visiting with Mike and Laura, and we brought Lybi's parents with us from New Mexico, where we stayed Friday night, and then Lybi's other sister Rebecca came over on Saturday evening as well, and they stayed until early Monday morning.  So I rate this as a great family time, good time being a pacer, and not so good race (for me).  Oh well, that's life.  I am going to go easy on the calf the rest of this week - all cycling for me, and will have Lybi scrape and massage the heck out of it.  No more MP miles until my calf feels 100%.

AM - Well, after several days of forced inactivity due to my calf issues, I was finally able to run again this morning.  I took it real easy and just ran 2 miles (so far) with Sparky, untimed, but it felt really good.  We have not had very much time together this week, so Lybi has not had much opportunity to scrape and massage my calf.  But we just decided that we will have her do this during couples scripture study at night - I will read to her while she massages my legs.  Sounds like a good idea to me . . . in fact, we did this last night, and that may have made a difference.  I have a big old knot deep in my calf that needs to get worked out.  At this point, I am still confident I will be able to do St. George.

PM - ran another 4 (fairly) easy miles outside.  Calf felt okay, but I could still feel the knot that was there.  Maybe I'm not getting enough electrolytes or something . . . 'cuz my other calf is starting to get tight as well, but in a different place.  I dunno.  I also noticed that my hips were pretty tight last night, so I am going to start stretching them out again as well.  Average pace of 7:45 on the evening run.

AM - 2 easy miles with Sparky, untimed, then 4 miles by myself.  Average pace for the 4 mile run was 7:40/mile.  It actually felt pretty easy, so I'm not too worried about the pace.  Afterwards, I took Sam out for 1.65 miles in 18:00.  He did a good job, although I think he is getting used to running on the treadmill, and it was harder for him to run outside because he didn't get any assistance from the road.  I also think I probably ran a little bit faster with him than he was used to.  I will try to get another 4 miles or so in later this evening, after working on the calf.  Quite  a busy day ahead of us - Lybi has a funeral at 11:00, then I am headed to the temple for a 3:00 session, where two new converts are going through the temple for the first time, and then we have a date to go on.  On top of that, BYU is playing today at 12:00, and I would like to be able to watch the game.

PM - 6 miles, all outside.  It was a bit muggy, but not too bad.  First I ran 4 miles in my Tangents - started off easy, first mile in 8:00, then I sped up without realizing it, but it felt really good to my legs.  No soreness at all in the calf.  Next 3 miles were approx. 7:05, 7:00, 7:05.  A tad slower than my actual anticipated marathon pace, but close enough that I will call them that.  Felt very good.  Last night, I had Lybi work on my piriformis and gluteus medius, and it appears to have made a huge difference.  I realized that my hips were extremely tight, and that may have been causing me to overcompensate in my calves.  More work tonight while I read her scriptures.  I feel like I get the better end of this deal - all I have to do is read scriptures to her, with comments from both of us interposed, and I get scraped or massaged or both!  So back to this evening - I came home, got some water, had to run a pair of glasses over to one of Lybi's piano students who had accidentally left them at out house, then when I got back, I put on a pair of wal-mart brand aquasocks I had gotten for the ridiculous amount of $1.00.  This was to allow me the benefits of barefoot running with a bit of cushioning and protection from gravel and such on the roads.  They worked wonderfully!  I am going to go back tomorrow and pick up a few more pairs so that when these run out I can continue to use them.  I like the idea of being able to strengthen my feet and lower legs while not actually injuring my delicate feet from the various detritus one finds on the road and sidewalk.  Felt good, I could definitely feel some muscles working harder than normal, which I consider to be good.  Two miles on the aquasocks, average pace of 8:00/mile, felt very easy.

AM - 3.5 easy miles, untimed.  1.5 miles by myself, then another 2 miles with Sparky.  The weather was nice - in the 70's.  Legs felt good, although a little bit stiff when I first started out.

PM - 3.5 miles on the treadmill, first 1/2 mile at 8:30 pace to warm up, then the rest at 8:00 pace.  Felt good.  Have a bit of a tickle in the back of my throat I hope goes away by tomorrow - maybe allergies?  I heard them say on the radio today that ragweed pollen is very high here right now.  Legs feel good.  After the run, did some core exercises.  I want to get into the habit of doing this, because I am positive it will help with my running.  My foot muscles (adductors and pronator muscles) are a bit sore today from my aquasock running last night.  That was to be expected.  I believe it will also help me in my running.

AM - Slept in after being sick yesterday with a sore throat.

PM - 3.5 miles (so far) on the treadmill.  Throat feels better, and I had a frustrating experience that I really needed to run off, so I hopped on the treadmill.  After a quick 1/4 mile warmup, I upped the pace to 7:30/mile.  At the 1 mile mark, I bumped up the pace to MP (6:53/mile), felt good to get my legs moving good.  At the 3 mile mark, bumped the speed up to 6:40 pace, held that for 1/2 mile, then it was time to let Sam get on the treadmill.  Planning on doing some more easy miles later (have work to do first)

PM - 2 easy miles with Sparky, untimed.  Felt good.  Then another 4 miles by myself, total time 29:19, average pace of 7:20/mile.  First two miles at 7:30 pace, but it felt pretty easy.  Last two miles at MP.  The third mile still didn't feel very hard, was right at 7:05 or so, second mile felt a bit harder, but not real hard, right about the same time.  We don't have the cradle for our Garmin right now, so I am just guessing on the mile splits.  Legs feel good.  Long run tomorrow.  It is supposed to be nice and cool as well . . . Wahoo!

AM - 12 miles outside.  The weather was beautiful - in the 60's when I started and the sun was just barely starting to come up.  Ran 6 miles, then came home and got Sparky, ran 3 miles with him untimed, then dropped him off and did another 3 miles, with the last mile being at MP or possibly 1/2 MP (not too sure).  Total time for the 9 miles that were timed was 1:08:13, average pace of 7:35/mile (including that last mile which was somewhere under 7:00 pace).  Legs felt good, although I was pretty tired after my run.  Hoping to get in an 18-miler next Saturday to get me more prepared for SGM.  Starting to really look forward to it!

PM - 3 miles with Sparky, untimed.  Felt pretty easy, but had a really little niggle in my calf, which I stretched out when I got back with him.  Then another 4 miles by myself, average pace of 8:05/mile.  Glad I was able to keep the pace nice and easy.  The temperature was still in the 80's, but it felt cooler because the wind was blowing, at times gusting fairly good.  I am aiming for 7 miles every day this week, and then 15-18 miles on Saturday to get me back over 50 miles again for the first time in a while.  This will be my last long run before SGM, so I would like to make it count, and not wimp out on it.

AM - 3 easy miles by myself, average pace o f 7:50/mile.  Temperature outside was pretty nice, although I will be even more excited when the temperatures are in the low 60's or 50's when I run.  Another 3 miles with Sparky, decided to time the run with him to see how fast (or slow) I was actually running with him.  Average pace was actually about 8:07/mile - faster than I thought.  It appears I sped up during the course of the run with him, as I had started out with him at about 8:40 pace.  Legs felt good, other than a little bit of tightness around the point of the insertion of my hamstrings in the back of my right knee.  Worked on stretching that area out this morning, and will do some more stretching later this evening, as well as core exercises.

PM - 1.65 miles with Samuel, average pace of 11:30/mile.  His knee was hurting him during the run, so we stretched out his leg, which seemed to help.

AM - 2 easy miles with Sparky, average pace of 8:20/mile.  Felt good, no soreness, just slept in a little bit because I was still pretty tired when I woke up at 5:00 to go for my run.  Tried to work on pulling in my stomach, which seems to help with my form and how easy it feels to run faster.  I really need to work on my abs - I keep meaning to, but forget to do it.

PM - 5 miles in the evening after the boys were in bed and asleep.  Still in the mid-80's outside, but it felt very pleasant.  Warmed up the first mile, 7:44, then started on a 4-mile tempo run at MP.  First two miles were right on target - average pace of 6:52/mile.  Then I found a good rhythm for the second two miles and took off.  Second two miles of the tempo were at an average pace of 6:26/mile - definitely 1/2 MP.  But they felt good.  Legs did not feel tired at all, more effort cardiovascular-wise.  On the last mile, I could tell my breathing was a bit labored, but not real bad - I probably could have kept up that pace for a 1/2 marathon, but definitely not a full marathon (at least not yet, anyways).

PM - 6 total easy miles.  Started out with 4 miles, average pace 7:55/mile.  Felt nice and easy, which is exactly what I wanted it to be after yesterday's tempo run.  Then came inside and put on the aquasocks for another 2 miles, average pace of 8:05/mile.  Would have been a little slower, but I picked it up the last 1/2 mile to see how it would feel.  Probably won't do that again - my feet are telling me now that it wasn't such a great idea.  Not bruised, but complaining a little bit.  I am extremely excited to have found out today that I will be able to start in the last elite corral instead of with the field.  This will have a few big advantages:  1) I don't have to wade through all the masses who were in the very front when they had no business being there and 2) I will be able to start with the group of the FRB'ers who are going to be trying to break 3:00.  I am going to go ahead and put my goals out there right now (again, if I already did):

Gold:  2:55 - I don't think I am capable of any faster right now with my current level of fitness and mileage.  This would be a 20 minute PR from last year.

Silver:  3:00 - To break 3:00 would be awesome, I would be on top of the world.  This would be a 15 minute PR from last year.

Bronze:  3:10 - this would still be PR by 5 minutes, would be the fastest Boston qualifying time (even though at 35, my BQ time goes up to 3:15).

AM - 2 easy miles with Sparky, untimed.  My feel still felt a little bit sore from running on the aquasocks last night - more because of the last 1/2 mile I ran in them.  Looking forward to running another 4 miles this afternoon/evening, nice and easy.  18 miles planned for tomorrow.

PM - 4 more easy miles, average pace of 7:45/mile (I believe).  It was still fairly warm out, but felt pretty good.  The average pace would have been a little slower, but during the first mile of the run, I got chased by a dog (for a very short distance).  Although it didn't really scare me, it did surprise me, and I got a big jolt of adrenaline rushing through my body, which took a while to dissipate.

AM - I did it! 18 miles, and I actually felt pretty good. First 10 miles outside, average pace of 7:55/mile. Then came inside and ran on the treadmill for the last 8 miles, avearage pace of 8:21/mile. Total time of 2:26:00, average pace of 8:07/mile.  Legs are not too sore, but I did feel kind of depleted afterwards (that was the point of doing this run).  No more long runs before St. George - all next week I will be doing 6 miles/day, total of 36 miles, and the following week I will be dropping down to 4 miles/day.

AM - no running, slept in on account of staying up too late to read one of my birthday presents - the latest book in the Eragon series by Christopher Paolini called Brisingr.  Very enjoyable read.  Hard to put down.

PM - 4 easy miles.  Never felt taxed, felt easy on the legs and lungs the entire time.  I felt like I was just loping along (which is probably good).  Ended up averaging 8:05/mile, perfectly acceptable for recovery miles after a long run on Saturday.  I have decided that even with the mileage goal I have this week, I am not going to be too fussed if something happens to mess that up - these next two weeks are technically my taper weeks, so I want to be able to have fresh legs for St. George.

PM - another 4 miles this evening.  Didn't have time for more because Lybi had her missionary splits and it took a long time to put the boys down.  3 easy miles, last mile at MP.  Total time was 30:13, average pace of 7:33/mile.  Felt good, but I was a bit bummed I didn't get to do all 6 miles.  Better 4 than none, though.

AM - 2 easy miles with Sparky, untimed.  Legs felt good, no lingering soreness from the long run on Saturday.  Not much else to say.  I am sincerely hoping I will be able to get in some more miles today - I have webelos scouts at 7, and then I have work I have to do immediately afterwards which will take quite a bit of time.  I may have to bite the bullet and do some running as soon as I get home from work.

PM - 1.25 miles (so far) running from home to the church for webelos scouts.  Did not get a chance to run back home as I had to stay and help clean the building, which put me off my schedule for my work I have to do tonight.  I am hoping I will still be able to get in a few miles.

AM - 2 easy miles with Sparky, average pace 8:20/mile, then another 4 easy miles by myself.  First two miles by myself were average pace of 7:48/mile, second two miles were average pace of 7:31/mile.  Everything felt good, it felt good to get out and get the miles in.  After a really late night of work last night, I slept in a bit and did my run when I got up, and went to work late.

PM - 4 miles by myself.  Warmed up the first mile, but the legs were feeling fresh, and the first mile was 7:30.  Then the horses started neighing, so I let them out - next mile about 6:45.  Was planning on easing up the third mile, but it ended up being just a touch under 7 minutes, and the last mile was right about 6:50.  Average pace for the 4 mile run was 7:00/mile.  Then I took Sparky out for 2 easy miles in the aquasocks, untimed, but it felt very easy.  I wore my new Nike DriFIT RaceDay shorts, which I loved.  They felt very good.  I am considering trying to scrape off the Nike swoosh before SGM so that it doesn't look like I am wearning gear from different manufacturers (vain, isn't it?)

AM - 3 easy miles outside by myself at 7:40 average pace (naturally sped up as my body warmed up), then another 2 easy miles with Sparky at avarege pace of 8:30/mile.  It felt good to run today.  I am getting really excited for St. George - less than a week away now, and I am feeling good.  My legs are good, I feel in good shape - the only thing that has been concerning me has been a mildly sore throat.  This could just be due to allergies - I am not sure, though.  Poor Adam has been sick for a few days now with a fever and sore throat - I just hope I don't catch what he has - that would be disastrous.  I have decided that instead of 4 miles/day this week, I will go ahead and do 5.  I ended up not running on Saturday becauses we got up early for Lybi's race (I was the cheerleader that day), and I was tired from not enough sleep, so I didn't run in the morning, then took Sam and Joey to a birthday party at the pool and messed up something with my shoulder diving off the high dive.  I have a wicked knot there right now that keeps coming back.  I am considering going to the chiropractor this week, but we will see.

AM - slept in until 5:30, ran 2 easy miles with Sparky, untimed.  I decided when my alarm went off at 5:00 that it was more important this week to make sure I get enough sleep than it was to get in all the miles in the morning.  I will plan on doing another 3 miles this evening, whether on the treadmill or outside.

PM - Okay, I may have done something rather stupid here . . . <start big cheesy grin>.  I went out for a run, and my legs were feeling so good, lets just say that the horses were neighing so much they could not be restrained.  After starting off at what felt like a pretty easy pace, I took off fairly quickly and hit the first half mile at about 6:40 pace, around 1/2 marathon pace.  I apparently sped up from there, because I was at 9:18 for 1.5 miles.  I didn't look at my watch for the second 1.5 miles, but knew the second 1.5 mile split was 9:25.  Total time, 18:44, average pace of 6:15/mile.  This is totally at my 10K pace, and I absolutely could have sustained this for another 3 miles, probably more.  My legs felt and still feel fine, although cardiovascular-wise, I could tell I put in a good effort.  I cooled off, and was amazed at how quickly I felt completely recovered.  Let the smackdown begin . . . <end big cheesy grin>.  I promised Lybi I would not run any more fast miles the rest of this week until it is race time, and I plan to keep that promise.  Please tell me I didn't do anything to jeopardize my chances of breaking 3:00 at St. George!