No Free Lunch

Afternoon 14 mile trail run at a methodical 8:30 pace. I was more thrashed from Saturday's workout, and not so much by the heat.

Met the running club at the Dixie Center, then Aaron and I later split off for ~10 miles. 6 of the miles were up-tempo (~6:20's) but still conversational.

Met Aaron for an evening track workout. Temps a bit hot and the legs a little fatigued, but I was ready to go. 12x400 at 77, followed by 2x200 -- all with 200m jog recovery (~65-75 seconds). Twice we changed direction on the track. We warmed-up 2 miles and then ran right into the intervals.

01 - 76

02 - 77

03 - 76

04 - 77

05 - 76

06 - 76

07 - 76

08 - 76

09 - 77

10 - 76

11 - 74

12 - 73

13 - 33 (200)

14 - 31 (200)

I was pretty much done in after interval 11 but kept digging away. Aaron was completely out of control as usual. His first interval was in 67, then all 68's, then 66 for the last 2 400's. I don't know what it means, other than that he is substantially faster than I am. We actually had a very good system - he would chase me the first 350m, then in turn presented me with a target the latter 50m.

5 mile warm-down on the infield. Good workout - we both exceeded our average goal times.

8 miles out-and-about the hilly paved backroads of Green Valley and Sunbrook.  This proved another good test for the shin.  Legs were fatigued from yesterday's workout, but felt fine otherwise, so I decided to challenge myself on the hills.  At one point I passed a gathering of ladies on the far side of the street.  One shouted out, "Look a *jogger* holy cow!".  Had I had my rolled-up copy of Runners' World on me, I might of had to go to town on the lady.

Good run.

6.25 miles, with several strides.  Not a pretty day down on the farm.  Legs were pretty well gone.  Step count ~168.  Lots of stretching.  There was a hint of shin pain but it appears to be just tissue.

11.25 total miles today, drag drag dragging in the heat and humidity.  Rain/cooler temps on the way!

St. George marathon course with Mike, Erica, & Staci (guy). What an alluring early morning - overcast and very cool, on the heels of a desert rain. This run was an ambitious test for my shin. The shin was great. My limit turned out to be the quads, my legs are not yet accustomed to long runs on pavement. Finished with several up-tempo miles (~5:50's) over rolling hills before opting to shut it down and call it a good morning. Staci put in a great run, 20 miles. Next weekend will hit 16-18.

9 miles with the club. Very funny crew, the run flew by. I felt good and it was a fine evening, so I continued for an additional 6.5. Farther than yesterday's run over the hilly marathon course. All of the miles the past two days have been on pavement and the shin continues to be a non-factor. I'm still leery of long steep downgrades though.

Another refreshing, invigorating evening.  Misty, overcast skies with a seductive breeze.  Had it been 10 degrees cooler I may of shed precaution and followed a random trail in the desert for a long time. 

Track workout w/Logan tonight.  Reasonably short and sweet - Logan is tapering for the Bryce 1/2.  It was a thrill running with Mr. Fielding, an Olympic Trials qualifier in the marathon.

My legs were a shade tired, otherwise everything was in good working order.  Workout as follows:

0.5 + 1 mile warm-up; 8x400 w/200 jog; 1 mile warm-down + 7 mile run.

1 - 76

2 - 73

3 - 73

4 - 73

5 - 72

6 - 71

7 - 71

8 - 69

I trailed Logan about 2-3 seconds on most intervals.  I was really tiring after #6 but kept hammering to maintain contact.  Logan was simply on cruise control and looking good!  Afterwards I tacked-on another 7 miles at ~7:15-7:20 pace and stretched awhile.  Legs are feeling healthy.  So I will keep it rollin', to quote the sagacious Mr. Holt!

~5.5 today, missed any T-showers.  Kind of wish I hadn't.  Long runs this weekend.

15, in the heat!

My Sunday run mates were out of town this weekend, so I hopped on a dirt trail in the Snow Canyon area, figuring that the St. G road course would still be there next weekend.  I began the run a little after high noon with 2 frozen rock-solid 24-oz water bottles.  A little hot at first, then 12 miles into the run dark storm clouds rumbled into the region and ate the sun.  I was expecting/hoping to get dumped on but didn't.  Anyway, this was an encouraging run - good effort throughout (though only ~7:30 ave?) and no heat/hydration issues.  Bottles ran dry w/ 2 miles to go.  From the period just before the run to just after I went through 100+ ounces (3 qts.) of water!  Looking forward to a good week.

Up-tempo run this evening.  Starting at the Dixie Center trailhead, I headed east into Washington, then doubled back.  The legs were sore from the get-go - perhaps I should've backed off - but about 0.5-mile into the run I hit a rhythm and just went with it.  9 miles at ~6:15-6:25 pace, which isn't much to write home about, but the effort was there.  Stretched for a good while afterwards, which is helping.

I ran, 20 minutes following a large sugary dessert.  This may of been a mistake, as I was hitting 6:50's for what should have been a recovery run!

561x2 steps over 1609m in 6:45 = 166 step-count.  Too low.  Signal to me that I was fatigued.

6xstride.

Interesting day.  Firstly, in a sleepy stupor, I half recollect a telephone conversation with my sister.  Something about wiring my life savings over to her account.  In the evening, plan was to find a trail for 13-15 miles.  But one thing led to another, and I returned home with 45 minutes for a run.  So impromptu workout, fartlek-style up some hilly hills in the neighborhood, and recovery pace down the flipsides.  Worked on the turnover too.

11 miles, easy & steady 7:10.

15 miles, morning trails at Snow Canyon (West Canyon mostly).  It was hot.  The legs required a mile or 2 to get going, then I found a decent groove.  Following the run though I was out of it the remainder of the day.

4 miles.  Initially planned for ~10, but needed a relative rest day.

19 miles, on the renowned ski jump that is the St. George marathon course.  Encouraging run today, maybe the micro-fracture is in the past.  Ran w/ Mike Schramm (Stacy & Bill also in the mix).  First 15.5 miles flew by (~7:08 ave), just talking and enjoying the morning.  Then 2 miles at 5:55 & 5:53 (~MP along that particular segment of the course), and a quick 5:20 last mile.  Legs feeling good this evening, we'll see tomorrow.  Probably the calm before the storm.

80+ miles this week, and more miles at MP or LT pace during next weekend's long run.

14.5 miles in the evening, on and over and around the matrix of paths between Bloomington and Bloomington Hills.  Body/legs were feeling a bit depleted, but held a steady effort (~7:05-7:15).  Probably faster than I should've been running.

9 miles easy.  6xstride.

10 miles.  Another friendly local neighborhood hill festival.  8 miles at ~marathon pace effort, though I don't know how fast I was truly running.  Just hard effort.

Good run with Logan, Aaron, & Kamm this evening.  Aaron and I branched-off a little later on the 10-mile loop, then got *cough* LOST in Santa Clara.  I never thought I'd make it out alive.