Maybe I'll Blog, Maybe I Won't

really tired today. I think this week's faster pace, high miles, failing shoes, and a few late nights and early mornings all conspired against me today, so I went ahead and took it easy in anticipation of tomorrow's loooonnnng run that I am planning. Hopefully I'll be able to get some good rest tonight and have a good day tomorrow.

Oh, and I've got some questions about the marathon (i'm running the st. george marathon on oct. 8th i believe), so if anyone has any tidbits they would like to share please feel free:

Question 1: when do I start doing "speed" work and how much of it do I do? what types of workouts are good? I don't know what the heck I'm doing as far as the marathon goes so I don't even know if you really do speed...it's probably definitely not what I, being a former miler/2 miler, would call speed so if you've got advice I'm open.

Question 2: How do I taper for the marathon? What kinds of workouts should I do while tapering? do I totally cut the miles or just ease off a little or what? I'm planning on peaking out at 80 mpw the first week of sept or before...is that too much too late?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Guide: 439.0

woke up and felt like I got hit by a train.  ran 7.5 easy which I probably shouldn't have done...needless to say I couldn't handle a long run as intended.  Just got worse as the day went on and currently am running a high fever and it hurts to even move let alone walk or run.  Trying to drink a lot but sore throat is making that difficult.  I'm going to bed.  peace out y'all.

still feeling pretty badly today.  hope I get over this soon.  bad sore throat.

terrible day today.  Still sick.  went to work and was okay then this afternoon and evening things just spiraled quick.  Worst sore throat I've ever had.  maybe strep...if I'm not better tomorrow I'm gonna not go to work and call the doctor.  No running today...there is no way.  Grr.  this is super frustrating because this is when I was really hoping to pick up some good miles and I can't do jack.  

Woke up this morning and still felt terrible so I called in sick to work and went back to bed. Took some ibuprofen which seems to work much better than tylenol. Don't think it's strep (no fever since saturday) but called doctor anyway and he is calling in a prescription antibiotic or something.

Feel quite a bit better around noon. Ibuprofen plus amoxicillin seems to be helping. We'll see...if I feel good enough I may try to go on a very very easy run but that's still up in the air.

Still feeling quite a bit better. went on a 4 mile jog to keep things loose and stuff. Promised my mom I wouldn't even breathe hard so I didn't...that's how easy I ran. Anyway, I hope this is over tomorrow. My immune system seems to have taken a summer vacation this week. I think I've had about every symptom possible with the exception of upset stomach. I even discovered this afternoon that I have pinkeye. so that sucks. I'm gonna try my best with this week and just be happy with whatever I can get without killing myself. I'll try to have a positive race at the Fair Run this weekend so maybe that will help make up for things.

Feel better today, but didn't go running again...just playing it safe and trying to get better as fast as humanly possible.  coughing alot but that's normal for me to cough for a couple of weeks after being sick.

6 miles today!  felt very good most of the day.  Still very tired though.  Still coughing quite a bit, especially after the run.  But the run felt great!  Legs felt pretty strong.  moderate pace with a couple of surges just to see what I could handle.  Should get better and better the next couple of days and have a great race on saturday.

 Guide: 456.5
 

5.5 easy today.  ran to the Intermediate School and did 2x150 M striders and 2x150 accels barefoot on the grass.  Sprint form feels a little wierd...I will work on that some more when I get the marathon out of the way.   took the rest of the run easy.  prep for race tomorrow.  Feel pretty good.

Guide: 462.0

Got up at five and ate some rice with no milk and drove w/ Johhny down to the high school. Nobody was there yet at 5:45 so just started warming up. Ran about 2 miles of warmup and stretched and stuff. Talked to Karl and another kid that is running for Dixie State this year. Race started, took off with Karl and felt pretty good. Hung with him for about a mile then he really picked it up...I've got no speed in my legs...I was trying to run faster but just don't have any fast twitch or something going on. No speedwork at all since May I guess. Not abnormally tired, although this past week of being sicker than a dog may have been affecting me. Didn't lose any ground on him after about 1.5 miles and just kinda hung in there and make the most of it. Could hear the kid from DSC behind me and just tried to break him and get a gap on him. Worked pretty well as he wasn't within striking distance after the 2nd mile mark. Really turned it on with about 800 M to go...turned the corner and Karl had got some distance on me with his amazing amount of leg speed...couldn't do anything with that so just tried to kick as hard as I could...got going for a few seconds then breakfast started to knock at the door so I had to curtail my acceleration to try to keep it down until after the finish. Had no idea where DSC kid was so I didn't want to waste any time puking. But it didn't do any good because I lost it about 20 M out anyway. It's quite a trick to throw up while kicking it in and not get any on yourself...I was mostly successful in that attempt. But got across the line and heaved a few times and was fine after that. Note to self: 1.5 hours is not enough time in between eating and race...not in HS anymore--metabolism apparently isn't what it used to be :) Finished in 16:40...missing my HS PR for that course by 20 sec. if I remember right. Still a good time.

I forgot to start my watch until about 25-30 seconds into the race but here are my splits as far as I can guess:

5:17: Where the heck is my speed? not hurting at all, but first mile is usually 5 min or less.

5:25: A little tired but holding out well.

5:27: (had to guess this one, no mile marker) feeling pretty worn out and trying to get something faster going in the legs, but not happening.

:31 Feeling like puking and actually doing so.

Overall evaluation: All things considered: good race. good time. Splits were slow but pretty even. I'm happy with the whole arrangement. But I have no speed anymore...I guess that's what I get for running virtually nothing faster than 6:45 except on rare occasions. Will try to speed up my pace on my training runs because that is super frustrating. grr. Once I get the Marathon out of the way I'll be able to spend a little more time and energy on getting that together so I can actually run sub 5's for my 5k :) One thing I did notice though is that my endurance seems much better than previous races. Afterwards I felt like I could run the whole thing again. My legs were not even tired at all. The mileage must really be helping with that. This is a very good sign I think.

Type A2 Racers:  12.4

Guide: 465.0

Bench Lake loop with extentions. Easy to moderate pace with the last half being faster. Felt pretty good but I've been really tired and sleepy today. Overall a good run though.

Goals for this week: 70 miles, long saturday run, and have a positive week in general :)

Guide: 478.5

12 to Farmer's Market in LaVerkin and back plus a 2 mile extension. Felt pretty good mostly. Was a little tired because I went swimming and cliff diving out at the lake beforehand and the last couple of miles were a bit sluggish but overall it was a good run. We'll see how I feel tomorrow about it. Really starting to need new shoes...will try to stop and get some tomorrow.

Guide: 490.5

10 miles in the heat.  Ugh.  I can't wait to move to Logan on Monday and get out of this...not that I don't love So. UT but trying to get decent mileage in this heat and still get to bed at a decent hour is killing me.  Actually I didn't go to bed until 1 so it really sucked at work.  But the run was good...just went slow since I was a little sore from Monday and Tuesday.  Just got it done.  Oh, and I got new shoes...some more Saucony Progrid Guides except these ones are orange.  But I like those shoes. 

Guide Orange: 10.0 

8 miles around town...Angel Heights plus extensions. Just kind of went how I felt and I actually had a pretty good pace...not killer but not 7 min either. Felt really good even with my lack of sleep etc. got a good nap in today.

Guide Orange: 18.0

10 miles in the heat again.  slow and easy to rest the legs up a bit for tomorrow.  Just around town today.  Nothing really special.

Guide Orange: 28.0 

17.5 out past Sky Ranch and back with extensions. Felt good for the first 14 miles or so...well, tired but good considering, but the last three about killed me. I am so freaking DEAD right now. Great way to have a last run in Hurricane. Moving up to Logan on Monday and will be able to split up my mileage better...I'll have time in the mornings to do 2-a-days so it will be less stress on me. And I will actually get sleep too. Anyway, I am pleased with the run today as it's kind of a milestone...the longest run I have EVER done my entire life by like .5 mile. So that is cool. Anyway, 26 is gonna kill but oh well.

Got my goals for this week too: 70+ miles and a long run today. That puts me back on track of where I wanted to be by now even though I was sick and stuff. Now I just need to do a few more weeks of mileage and get faster...much, much faster.

Guide Orange: 45.5

Got up early and ran with the XC team for their AM practice.  5 miles at a pretty good clip...about 6:15 pace or so.  Drove up to Logan and had to get all my crap unpacked and put away and that took me about half the night so unfortunately I wasn't able to get anther run in. :P  Didn't even get to bed until 12:30.

Guide Gold: 495.5 

9.5 miles up around North Logan area...trying to figure out this town and find some good runs.  This one was pretty good.  The altitude was killing me though.  Not sure how high it is but definitely higher than Hurricane and there are lots of hills.  Good run though.  Beautiful weather.  I ran at like 8 am and it wasn't even hot at all.  It was great.

Guide Orange: 55 

AM: Went down past the Temple and to this little park that my friend was telling me about yesterday. There was a little creek and I soaked my feet in it for a minute and it was really cold and felt good. Altitude is still getting to me but it was better today than yesterday. Felt pretty good.

PM: 4.5 just a loop around here. Just went easy. Felt better than the morning runs I've done. Maybe I'm just not used to running in the morning. Altitude could be a factor to. I still feel like I can't breathe right even when I'm not running. Hopefully I'll get over that in a week or so.

Guide Orange: 65.5

AM:  8 miles around 7 min. pace.  Just looped around Logan starting at my pad to 1600 E. and then across on 1900 N and down main past walmart and smiths and then up 400 N. and cut through campus back to my place.  Felt better than previous mornings but still can't breathe well...feel like I have a cold all the time and my head is full of phlegm.  yuck.  But good one this morning.  More tonight.

 PM:  2 more easy tonight.

Guide Orange: 73.5

Guide Gold: 497.5

Sick or something all week...this week was terrible.  Don't know if it's the altitude or effects from strep or what but it was a bad week.  No running.  Just trying to get over it.