El Burro Blanco

I slept in this morning and decided to do my run this afternoon.  I ran again with the cross country team.  We started out at a 7:30/mile pace and then went just over a mile at 5K race pace.  I took the top runner with me and pushed the mile at a 5:26/mile pace.  The wind was blowing pretty hard so it was a nice push.  We finished up the run by doing a total of 6.40 miles.  I went home and then did a few more miles.  I warmed up for just over half a mile and then did 3 miles at 5:18/mile pace.  Last major push before St. George.  I just had to get it out of my system.

5 miles in the morning.

5.15 miles in the afternoon. 

I did an easy 5 mile run this morning. I didn't need to worry about the pace.  I went and did another 5.15 miles with the cross country team.  We didn't push too hard since we have a meet tomorrow.  Weber High will be their for sure but we will have to see who else will be there.  I am enjoying running with the team and helping them out.  It is a lot of fun.

The cross country meet went well today.  It was here at Fremont and we represented well.  It was an open region meet and the only school not to come was Davis.  The girls took 1st and the boys took 2nd.  It was nice to see this today with region coming up next week.  I helped get everything cleaned up and then came home to run an easy 5 miles.  Just want to keep the legs loose.  Nothing to exciting to report.

I woke up feeling great but decided to just do another easy 3 miles.  I have a long drive ahead of me tonight going too St. George.  It will be nice leaving this afternoon so I can have all day tomorrow to just relax.  I might have to watch Prefontaine or Rocky to get me pumped up.  I am already pretty much pumped up though!

I had the race of my life today.  It is still surreal with what time I got.  I am stoked to have gotten a qualifying time.  I feel extremely lucky to have gotten the time I got.  I think it is a little unfair because others I feel were more deserving of a OTQ.  I truly have been blessed so far during time running career.  My GPS got messed up for the last few miles of the race but here are the splits up to that point:

1-5:27

2-5:33

3-5:20

4-5:21

5-5:24

6-5:16

7-5:21

8-6:01 - got to love Veyo hill baby!

9-5:52

10-5:42

11-5:53

12-5:37

13-5:30

14-5:25

15-5:12

16-5:19

17-5:13

18-5:07

19-5:20

20-5:10

21-5:04

22-5:30

23-5:15

I hit the first at about 1:12:52 and then hit the second at 1:09 something.  I am too tired to do the math but that is alright.  The watch was messed up for the rest of the race but that is okay.  I knew I would be close to a qualifying time once I got into St. George.  I saw Mike Vick and caught up with him and decided to push it in from there.  I saw the finish line and it showed 2:21:30 and I knew I had to really get the horses moving.  I crossed the line and was smiling and crying.  I couldn't believe it actually happened.  Today has been one of the best days of my life.  Dreams do come true if you truly put your mind to it.  Congrats to all the other bloggers.  Many PR's were set and fast times were achieved.

0 miles in the morning.

0 miles in the evening.

I was pretty trashed all day today.  The kids at school are going to call me "Gramps" because of my unorthodox way of walking now!  I have been drinking a lot of fluids and will see how I feel over the next couple of days to determine when I will start running again.  I am trashed but it still feels great knowing what happened on Saturday.  I wouldn't trade the pain for anything.

I woke up and felt light years better than yesterday.  I have still been drinking lots of fluids and stretching out quite a bit.  I got home and did 5 miles at 7:30/mile pace.  It was nice to get rid of some of the yucky buildup.  I will take it easy for the rest of the week and really get ready to rock and roll again next week.  Not much of a "Gramps" anymore!

We had the region meet today and it went well for us.  Fremont girls took 2nd in region and the boys came in 3rd.  Davis just plain smoked us.  It was fun talking with Corbin a little bit about the Olympic trials as we ran from spot to spot on the course to watch the kids.  I got home and did another easy 6 miles.  I am still just wanting to be cautious and not to anything crazy before the trials.  This week I am just going to ease back up towards my mileage.

I got home from a busy day at work at did 6 miles at a "blazing" 7:24/mile pace.  The legs are feeling much better every day.  I am very grateful for that.  I got a good run in and then went out for a celebration dinner with Katey for making the trials.  I think she is more excited than I am.  Glad to see everyone is recovering nicely.

It was a perfect day for a run.  It was overcast and just a little cold.  I went up towards North Ogden and then came back to the house.  I used to see a few more runners out there but with the weather getting colder, I don't see as many people out.  Oh well!  I have the road to myself I guess.  I was feeling pretty good so I pushed the pace a little.  I did the entire run at a 6:36/mile pace.  It felt great.  I think I will do 10 miles tomorrow and then really get going again next week.  Runner's World has a great article about the Olympic trials if anyone is interested.

Today was a great day for a run. I went back up towards North Ogden to get hill work done. It looks like their will be quite a few rolling hills in New York. I did the first 5 miles at 6:30 per mile. I was happy with the time because it was all uphill. I finished the run with an average of 6:22 per mile. I got a nice cold bath afterwards to help the legs. I am excited to get going again next week. I realized once again how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place. We are really lucky to also get to run here.

6 miles in the morning.

11 miles in the early evening.

It was a good start to the week.  The air was crisp and not a whole lot of traffic early this morning.  I couldn't ask for anything better.  I did the entire run at 6:55/mile pace.  I will do a little bit longer run this evening.  I got home and was feeling great.  My mindset on training has really improved.  I am focused on each workout and the importance of it.  Before I did some workouts grudgingly and didn't think much of them (i.e. intervals!) but now recognize each workout is only helping me out more.  I went up towards North Ogden again but took a different route.  I turned down a new street and found some great rolling hills.  I am trying to find more of these to help get ready for New York.  I felt good and did the entire run at a 6:09/mile pace.  A bit of a push but still felt controlled.  I am heading up to Logan tomorrow to do a big workout with Paul.  It will be nice to push one another.

15.25 miles in the afternoon and early evening.

I ran 3.25 miles after school with the cross country boys. It was an easy 25 minutes at 7:24/mile pace. I am excited to see how they do tomorrow at state. I then drove up too Logan and did a great workout with Cody and Paul. I let Paul draft off of me since I drafted off him the first time I worked out with him. We are even now! The workout was a fartlek: 10x2-minutes @ CV pace (roughly 5:05/mile on flat terrain) with 1-minute recovery jog between intervals. Afterwards, 10x20-second strides @ 3k-5k pace with 40 seconds recovery. I copied and pasted this from Paul's blog.  Hopefully you don't mind Paul!

Interval	Distance	Pace
1	0.40	5:04/mile
2	0.39	5:11/mile
3	0.39	5:10/mile
4	0.38	5:20/mile
5	0.39	5:06/mile
6	0.41	4:59/mile
7	0.40	5:05/mile
8	0.39	5:11/mile
9	0.39	5:06/mile
10	0.41	4:57/mile

It was a nice push because the faster times were going downhill and the slower times were going more uphill. I was glad to see flat road. The strides at the end felt alright. I was pretty tired. Nice, fun rolling hills in New York so this workout should help. The entire run was at a 6:37/mile average. It was a good workout for me. Paul and Stacy were nice enough to invite Katey and me over for dinner. Good Indian food and great conversation. Stacy is enjoying the blog and maybe converted Katey to join as well. If Katey joins, I'm afraid that Katey will vent on how crazy I am for running so much. She is a great support!

10 miles in the morning.

6 miles in the evening.

I got a good night's rest and woke up at 4:30 to get my run in before work.  My legs were a little tight but it was nice moving at a slow pace to loosen them up.  The weather was a little cold but perfect running weather.  The smell of rain also made the run enjoyable.  I did the entire run at 7:24/mile pace.  I will be at the state cross country meet later so I will get my run in late in the evening.  Hopefully the weather is alright.  The meet was cold and really wet.  5A had the bad course because it was really slippery.  The boys took 9th in state and the girls took 5th.  We had a 2 and 1/2 hour bus ride home due to a wreck.  I was able to catch up on some much needed sleep.  I got home and the weather was still freezing cold but I went out and did another 6 miles.  I saw my breath this evening.

5 miles in the morning.

9 miles in the early evening.

Another brisk morning.  I got 5 miles in.  I didn't wear my watch and wasn't too terribly worried about my pace.  Just trying to keep the legs loose.  I put the tight sleeves, long-sleeve shirt, gloves, and hat on and went for a nice 9 mile run.  I have been reading ChiRunning and wanted to try some of the things that it mentions.  I wanted to focus on my arms and the way they move while I run.  It says to keep them in closer to the body and really focus on staying relaxed.  I did this and noticed a big difference.  Running seemed to be more efficient today.  I did the entire run at 6:24/mile pace.  I wasn't expecting to go that fast but it is a nice push before a big workout on Saturday with Paul and maybe James.

2 miles in the morning.

9 miles in the afternoon. 

My right Achilles tendon wasn't feeling too hot this morning. It was quite tight and bothering me. I went home and took some Ibuprofen and iced it. I hope this isn't anything. I will be take it easy this afternoon with the miles and see how I feel afterwards.  I felt good this afternoon and went out for a nice 9 miler.  Katey rode her bike alongside me.  It was nice having conversation with her.  I did the rolling hills up into North Ogden.  The Achilles feels better tonight.

Katey and I went out too Fremont in the cold and windy weather to run the Kash4Kids 5K race that the SBO's do each year.  The wind was blowing about 40 mph and I knew it was going to be a slow race.  The top runner on the cross country team wanted me to pace him so we went out and ran together.  We were lucky to hit 7:00/mile pace going into the wind.  He drafted behind me which was fine.  I wasn't going out to set any records.  I ended up taking 1st and winning $20.00.  I gave it back to the kids since all the money from the race is a fundraiser for needy kids at Christmas.  Katey actually said she had a good time.  It was fun this morning.  I was worried about the weather because I knew Paul and James were coming down to do a 15 mile progression run.  Paul and James showed up and the weather was awesome!  It was a little cloudy but mostly sunny.  We did the rolling hills route up into North Ogden.  The pace was slow on the way up but we hit 5 miles at about 6:00/mile pace.  Paul wanted the rolling hills and we got it today.  It was nice having James running with us as well.  The conversation was great and with the weather it turned out to be a perfect day.  The snow came afterwards so we really lucked out.  The Achilles felt really good afterwards.  I am glad for a day off tomorrow to make sure I ready to roll for next week.  We averaged 6:24/mile for the entire run.

It was quite a rough day at work and I was happy to get home and clear the mind with a good run this evening.  I went and did the same route that Paul, James, and me did last Saturday.  Lots of rolling hills and then some more uphill climbs.  I did this run at a slower pace than on Saturday.  I finished the run with an overall 6:49/mile pace.  It felt really good.  I felt much better afterwards.

3 miles in the morning.

8 miles in the evening.

I was in bed by 8:30 last night and I needed all the sleep I could get.  I had a major headache but felt much better this morning.  I went out for an easy 3 miles without the watch.  It was nice.  I helped out at the Fremont football game (we won) and the weather was fairly warm.  The sun went down and it cold chilly.  I am getting used to it now so it doesn't bother me.  I'm sure people driving in their nice, heated cars think I am crazy with my shorty shorts!  I did another easy 8 miles at 6:53/mile pace overall.  I am heading back up too Logan to do a big workout with Paul tomorrow.  I didn't want to push to much today.

Big Workout today with Paul.  I am glad that I took it easy the last couple days because I needed the rest for this one.  We did 4x200m strides on the track to warm up (35s each), and then did a 4x4-minute fartlek @ CV pace with 2 minutes recovery on the Millville Hill Loop.  Paul mentioned I might not be happy with him half way through the run due to the hills and he was right.  I made it through the first 2 intervals fine and then half way through the 3rd one my legs started acting up.  Paul was about 20-30 yards ahead of me for the last 1 and a half intervals.  I don't have my times for the last two.  I was pretty disappointed with not being able to keep up but days like this happen.

Interval	Distance	Pace	Comment
1	0.77 mi	5:12/mile	gentle uphill
2	0.78 mi	5:07/mile	rolling

I was happy to get such a good workout in.  It felt like I was running with Jon tonight instead of Paul because he had to stop at the Port-a-potty!  It got dark on us, so we had to slow it down quite a bit the last couple miles due to not wanting to roll an ankle. 6:40/mile average pace for the run.  A touch slower than Paul because of the mishaps on the interval work.  Still fairly pleased to get such a nice run in.

I was a little disappointed with my effort yesterday running with Paul so I decided to do a mini tempo run.  I went back up towards North Ogden with all of the wonderful hills.  It seems like I am doing this run quite a bit but I know it will help me in New York.  I did the first 5 miles at about 6:40/mile pace and then turned it on all the way home.  I hit low 6:00's and ended up with 6:24/mile pace overall for the whole run.  I was pleased with this.  I need to not let sub-par workouts get me down.  I am blessed and truly lucky to even be running.  An easy day tomorrow and then I have another date with a 15 miler on Saturday with all of its lovely rolling hills.

I got home from a long day of work and did an easy 11 miles up into North Ogden.  I did the entire run at 6:49/mile pace.  It was a nice day for a run.  The sun was out and their was no wind.  I am glad to have nice weather for the next couple of days.  I have a couple days off because of UEA.  I will sleep and run.  This is the life!

James came down to my place and we did the same 15 miler that we did last weekend.  We went up towards North Ogden with the rolling hills.  Rolling hills, rolling hills, rolling hills!  I keep dreaming and thinking about rolling hills.  We kept the pace slow (right around 7:00/mile pace) for the first 7.5 miles.  On the way back we hit low 6:00's.  It was a little windy with most of it coming from the North Ogden Divide.  It kept us cool and made us push harder.  We finished the run at 6:32/mile pace overall.  The conversation was nice and we kept talking about how wonderful the weather is this time of year.  We are lucky to live in Utah!  I am happy with this week and am really stoked for next week.  It should be lots of fun!

5 miles in the morning.

5 miles in the evening. 

The weather was hot this morning and so I went out for an easy 5 mile run without the watch. I will do a mini speed workout tonight.  I was going to go up too Logan to run with Paul but wasn't able to due to Katey working late.  I did the same workout as Paul (2 x 1600m @CV pace with 800m rest).  I did this workout at Ben Lomond High School.  The first one was 4:52 and the second was 4:57.  It was a nice little push before the trials.  I will get the miles in the next couple of days but really taper for this Saturday.  

I was up in Logan spending time with Katey since I had UEA break.  The weather was a little chilly but it is comparable to how it will be in New York.  I went for a 10 miler up towards Smithfield and back to the in-laws.  I got a couple hills in their and ended up doing the entire run at a 6:55/mile pace overall.  It felt good.  I will get a couple miles in tomorrow and then probably take Thursday off due to a long day of travel.  We will see.

I did a nice 6 mile run this afternoon without my watch.  The weather was great and the falling leaves made the run quite relaxing.  Katey and I fly out tomorrow.  I still can't believe I am going to be running with the best of the best on Saturday morning.  I plan on going there and trying my best while having the biggest smile possible.  I feel truly blessed to have this opportunity.  Thank you fellow bloggers for all of the support.  It is very much appreciated.