Maybe I'll Blog, Maybe I Won't

No run today.  Between school, work, a sore groin (guess it was residual from TOU?), and not really needing the miles this week I decided to bag it.  Oh, and also because I was busy screaming my guts out while watching the Aggies absolutely CRUSH BYU.  Amazing way to start out a conference weekend.  heh heh heh.  :)

First 19 miles of the Bear 100 course with Cody to take down the flagging.  Very enjoyable run and I felt really good for my first real long run since TOU.  The colors and weather were beautiful.  It was a great day for a run in the mountains.  I'm going to try and get out on the trails as much as possible before snow flies.  

3:40 (11:34/mi.) Counting stops.

Felt great today.  Didn't feel any residual fatigue either from TOU or from Saturday's run.  Went out in the rain and got soaked.  That felt nice.

48:04 (6:52/mi.)

Rainy run with Cody today.  But it was a really great one.  This is by far the best I've felt at least since TOU and probably before.  Runs like today are a big part of why I run at all.  Jardine got rained out, so we decided to do Green Canyon, but that got rained out too, so we started off on the BST out and back.  That went ok, but I guess my long nap today had done something weird to me and I felt really lethargic and almost sleepy.  But by the time we got back to the mouth of Green Canyon we were seeing blue skies and we were soaked anyway, so we went up the single track.  It was beautiful.  Between the clouds, colors, wet, and sunset it was one of the most scenic runs I've been on.  Who knew that a trail you've run umpteen times can always still surprise you when the weather or season changes?  I started feeling good and Cody apparently did too (minus one potty break) because we pushed the pace pretty hard, especially coming back.  I felt fantastic.  No hurt at all in the legs and I felt like I could go as fast as I wanted.  I was so motivated by this that I did another three once I got home, just for kicks.

1:43:08 (7:38/mi.)

Easy run around town.  Nothing special.

59:58 (6:58/mi.)

Another great run today on the River Trail.  I think I set a course PR...I will have to dig up the archives and check, but I know it was very fast and I don't remember doing it faster.  It felt effortless though.  I've been very pleasantly surprised with how well this week has gone and that for all intents and purposes I seem to be pretty well recovered from TOU much sooner than expected.  Hopefully it's the beginning of a good winter.  

1:32:57 (6:11/mi.)

Easy day.  No watch.

Easy 10 with Cody on Stump Hollow.  First time on that trail and I was very impressed.  If only it wasn't so far away.  But it's definitely worth the occasional run.  

1:31:30 (9:09/mi.)

Moderate pace today.  Felt nice and relaxed after a short nap.

 1:05:19 (6:48/mi.)

Green Canyon.  Put it in low gear and rolled all the way up.  Cruised back down the canyon.  Felt really great today.

 1:29:43 (6:38/mi.)

Easy run.

54:05 (7:12/mi.)

1:15:58 (6:43/mi.)

Easy run today.

50:42 (6:56/mi.)

Small Workout

Ran to Logan High to warm up (2.5 mi. in 18:45) then did 4x800 (GP 5:30/mi.) with 400 recovery between intervals.  Followed with 2x200 all out. 

Here are my splits:

4X800m

2:22 (4:44/mi.) Got a little excited to start with...

2:40 (5:20/mi.) Still fast, but at least in the ball park.

2:41 (5:22/mi.) Feeling good.

2:45 (5:30/mi.) Right on target...for the last one.  :P  But better fast than slow.

2X200m

00:29 This is as fast as I can go...Sheesh I've gotten slow in my old age!  :)

00:30 Done.

Ran another 5 miles in 34:53.  Pretty dead, but it felt nice to get a speedy workout in.  It's been awhile.

Didn't have much time tonight.  Huge calculus test on Friday and that class is eating me alive, so I've been spending a lot of time studying.  Sore from yesterday, but it kinda feels nice in a masochistic sort of way.

23:10 (7:28/mi.)

Small Workout

10 easy miles plus 5 at a pretty hard tempo.

1:42:00 (6:48/mi)

Easy run out around North Logan and Hyde Park.

1:17:00 (7:42/mi.)

Trail run with Cody.  Bunchgrass to White Pine Lake plus an out and back to the top of the ridge.  It was good to get out on the trails and this is becoming one of my favorites.  Very smooth and we were able to cruise pretty fast on the way back.

Chill run today--in more ways than one.  First snowstorm of the season.

46:43 (6:52/mi.)

Easy run in a snowstorm.  Wore my warm clothes for the first time this season.  Pushed hard the last mile.

Easy run out on the BST/North Logan.  Left knee was pretty sore for some reason.  Will take it easy the rest of the week.  Also seemed to be getting a sore throat today.  Hopefully I'm not coming down with something.  I want to run well on Saturday.

48:41 (7:43/mi.)

5k loop slow and easy.  Knee felt a little better, but then again I didn't run long enough to make it hurt.

22:49 (7:21/mi.)

No run today.  Drove to Provo and just hung out with a couple of friends down there.  Legs do not feel ready.  

This was my debut half marathon, which, as Paul pointed out on my facebook page is kind of strange, considering I've run two marathons and a trail ultra already.  But I had never actually done a half before today so this was new to me.  Here's the somewhat belated report:

Woke up at 6 AM, and drove with my friend Jamie to the bus pickup.  I thought that this race seemed to be more about dressing up than racing, and this was confirmed when we got to the pickup area and there were 2000 people in line and about 5 buses.  More buses came, but it took a long time compared to other similar events.  It was ok though, because I kind of expected it to be that way just from the tone of the event website and things so I wasn't too stressed about it.  After all, this is just a race to keep me motivated through my post-marathon doldrums.  Finally got on a bus at about 7:30 or so and did most of my race prep on the bus and talked with Jamie on the way up.  My "costume" was just my full body black winter spandex stuff with black gloves and a black "ninja" mask which I use in very cold weather.  Didn't look much like a ninja with a white SGRC singlet on (totally stealthy huh?), but oh well.  Maybe I should have bought some plastic katanas (sp?) to go with it.  Anyway, we had about an hour before the start once we got up to the staging area so I earned another star (** for the race) and went inside the big and very warm tent for awhile.  Temps outside were chilly, but not as bad as I expected.  Probably actually warmer than the TOU start.  Warmed up for about ten minutes and made my way to the starting line where I saw Walter and Steve (?) who was also wearing a blog singlet.  There were also a couple of fast looking guys wearing Utah Elite singlets (they would go on to take the top 2 spots).  I was happy to see that it would be at least somewhat competitive even with the party vibe.  Anyway, enough prelim.  We started about 12 minutes late, but apparently that wasn't too bad compared to the previous year.  There was a bus blocking the way about 100 yards out, and I would have paid 10 bucks to see the bus driver's face to see us all come around the bend full tilt while he was still crosswise in the road.  I was too busy trying to figure out how to get around to look though.  We settled into a very fast pace down the side canyon.  Mile 1 was a 5:18, mile 2 was a blistering 4:53, but I felt good and didn't really want to let that lead pack go, so I just tried to relax and hang in there.  3 miles was 15:30 according to somebody, but I must have accidentally pushed something on my watch because it had stopped.  So now I was running blind.  But I wasn't worried.  This was just for fun and to see what I could do.  Near the bottom of the first canyon I could start to feel some fatigue in my quads from the hard downhill, but thankfully we soon turned onto the highway with more reasonable grades and I quickly felt better.  I picked off a couple of guys over the next couple of miles and settled into 5th place with Walter nipping at my heels and some really really tall guy with a 10 foot stride dressed as a devil a little bit in front.  The two UE guys were in front followed by Steve in 3rd.  Some other guy was with Walter.  Anyway, we turned onto the River Trail and soon after I started getting some very severe cramps.  it got so bad that I actually had to stop and double over twice to relax it away.  The first time was right next to some old people roller blading and I think they thought I was dying or something.  I also had problems getting enough air, oddly.  Same scenario as coming down Dry Canyon at Logan Peak.  I fought through it though and slowly gained ground on the devil guy and somehow managed to stay ahead of Walter.  I kept feeling like I was starting to lose it, but I was somehow able to mentally tough it out through these miles and maintain a respectable pace.  Somewhere around mile 9 (the marker was WAY off, so I don't really know) Jamie's mom and siblings were there cheering and so that was nice to have someone there to motivate me through a tough section.  Somewhere in here I also got passed by another guy, who looked like he was doing really well, but he didn't end up finishing that far ahead.  With 5k to go, my right calf started cramping pretty hard, but with that short of a distance left I ignored it and turned my focus to beating the devil guy, who had done an admirable job thus far of staying just out of contact, even while carrying a wicked looking trident.  I was somewhat nervous as to what would happen should I try to pass him.  But I slowly reeled him in and FINALLY passed him just after the 12 mile mark.  He was actually very gracious and not devilish at all and we exchanged congratulations between breathing.  At this point I was dead, but I willed myself to push hard the last mile and was very pleased that I actually had a decent kick.  Finished in 1:10:38 which was much much better than what I had been shooting for and very unexpected, as I had been running without time for 10 miles.  I thought I had faded a lot more, but it turns out I wasn't going all that slow after all.  Overall I was very pleased with this race.  It was a fun time.  I don't know if I'll count it as any kind of PR, since it was such a crazy downhill affair but it was fun and a good first time half.  And I beat the devil.  :)