Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 8.5 miles. Snow flurries!

PM - 4 miles. 

AM - 10 miles. Nothing hurts and I don't have any obvious structural weaknesses.

Here's a tip*: If your significant other goes to great lengths to help you with PT/rehab while you are recovering from an injury, don't use the "Bill Rodgers never had to do this crap!" argument to try and get out of it. You will not win the ensuing discussion.

*This is definitely not based on personal experience :-) 

PM - 4 miles. 

AM - 10 miles.

I've decided I'm going to continue to lay low for a while. No harder workouts for the time being, and I probably won't race again until Duluth. Rather than the 1/2 champs being the "peak" race of the season, its going to be more of a rust-buster to see where I'm at, and hopefully a stepping stone towards some of my other goals for the year. This approach might not be totally necessary, but I don't want to fall into the same trap I did over the past month - pressing too much because an important target was approaching, and then get absolutely nowhere (or take a couple steps back). I'm just going to focus on building up my mileage and getting healthier... and in June I'll just see how fast I can run off primarily base training. An e-mail exchange with a friend from Saucony and some good talks w/ Andrea this week have reminded me that if I keep pressing for short-term goals, it will be hard to accomplish some of the other things I want to do. So, back to easy miles.

PM - 4 miles. 

AM - 8 miles. Broke the one hour barrier.

PM - 5 miles.

Andrea and I went up to Alta today and skied with the other people who primarily ski there once its closed down for the year. Skiing in shorts is the best. Hoping the snowpack can hold on for another month! 

AM - 12 miles w/ Andrea (bike).

PM - 5 miles w/ the biker again.

You know how sometimes its annoying when those stupid Garmins measure a course wrong? Well, thanks to the most fantastic birthday present ever from Allie and James, I'll never have to worry about that again. I'm not sure if they developed it themselves or stole a prototype Fast Running Friend from Sasha, but this baby is legit. Its got 4 CPUs, 3-D holograms that show you where you are relative to the 1, 5, 8, and 10 minute guys, and it never runs out of battery because its powered by a sixth generation arc reactor that would make Tony Stark jealous. 

It said I ran 100 meters in front of our condo in 9.2 seconds so I don't even need to calibrate it! :-) 

AM - 12 miles.

PM - 8 miles.

Did some short accelerations this morning towards the end of the run. Did the same on Saturday as well. Part of Andrea's progressive rehab plan. So far, so good.

AM - 13 miles. Dimple Dell, mostly on the horse trails with a little road extension to the mouth of LCC at the top. Probably the first time I've ever broken 7:00 pace in the gully... there have definitely been gully runs where 90 minutes only yielded 10-11 miles :-)

PM - 3 miles in Fremont, CA before Andrea's appt. Surgery is a go for tomorrow morning. I really hope this is the end of the injury road for her... it's been a tough 9 months for her. She's done everything right the whole time, so it's time for some relief... and to get off the DL and back to kicking @$$

AM - 13 miles. Loops on the dirt trail around the lake in Fremont Central Park while Andrea was having surgery. They wouldn't let me scrub in! Convenient to have a nice park right next to the surgical center. Dr. Brown called me to let me know he was done... I was a little over a mile away at that point so I picked it up (5:17 for the last mile) on the way back to see my girl! She is doing well right now.

PM - 4 miles. Half-mile laps around our hotel. Wanted to stay close just in case.

AM - 10 miles. Just ran some neighborhood loops near our hotel in Fremont and found a dirt road that paralleled the railroad tracks, so did a few miles there as well. That will be all for today... flying back to SLC tonight will be quite a challenge. At midnight I would have said it was going to be impossible, but Andrea is doing a lot better now. Huge improvement from last night.

AM - 12 miles.

PM - 5 miles.

Andrea posted (well, dictated while I typed) her surgery report. Interesting stuff, but don't look at the pics if you have a weak stomach! 

AM - 17.5 miles. Ran from home up to SHP and met Kevin, Adam H, and Jon Kotter. We ran a Holladay loop (~10 miles) and the a lap around the park on the grass. Adam and Kevin stopped at that point, and Jon kept going with me back home. Nice run, beautiful out today!

PM - 4.5 miles.

9AM @ Highland tomorrow morning if anyone wants to join us for a run. 

AM - 17 miles. Ran up to SHP and met Kevin, Rob, and Nate. We did a Tanner/Zoo loop, then back home from there.

PM - 4 miles.

I haven't been logging it, but I've been doing my PT/stretching routine almost everyday lately. Andrea micromanages the entire process, which is actually greatly appreciated and very helpful.

AM - 12 miles.

PM - 7 miles. 

AM - 17 miles on the Dimple Dell gully trails in 1:57... sand and woodchips galore. 

PM - 4 miles. Concrete and asphalt galore. 

AM - 10 miles. Started from Kevin's house (no, I didn't spend the night) and we went up City Creek. Looped by the Capitol to see what those liberal legislators were up to. Pretty nice run. Except for second ave death hill.

PM - 5 miles w/ 8 x 200m in ~35 seconds. I'd like to call that 5K effort, but right now its probably about my all-out 800m pace. Andrea also did her first track workout of the year - she walked from the car to the grass near the starting line, laid on the ground while I ran, then walked back. Threshold effort.

AM - 16 miles. Jeremy Ranch. Humbling. No run can break you like this one, then give you brand new legs after a dip in that cold stream.

Morgan County has graded their section of the road, so get up there before it gets all rutted. No cows roaming yet.

PM - 4 miles. 

AM - 10 miles with Kevin, around my neighborhood. After Dimple Dell / City Creek / Jeremy Ranch the past 3 days, it was very nice to do a run with no significant elevation change.

PM - 5 miles w/ 8 x 200m in ~34-35 seconds. 

AM - 14 miles with a light progression over the last three - 5:42, 5:22, 5:20. The 5:42 was downhill. I was aiming to do something a little more substantial today, but this is the same weather that jacked my hamstring a month ago, and I'm not in shape to really go any faster anyways, so this worked out fine.

PM - 6 miles.  

AM - 20 miles. Long run on the Boston Marathon course. Started at my hotel (near Boston Common) and ran the course backwards until I was about a half-mile past the Newton firehouse, then turned around and did it the proper way. The hill right after the fire station is the toughest of them all (in my opinion). Glad I was able to do this today, as I'm guessing most of my runs over the next couple mornings will be along the river.

Skipped the PM run in favor of a long nap.

I'm in Boston for Saucony's sales meeting (aka "Saucony General Conference"). Tonight was the opening presentations and there were 3 fantastic talks by Richie Woodworth, Pat O'Malley, and Chris Linder. I feel very lucky to know these guys (and so many other people at the company). The Saucony team just exudes passion for the sport. Lots of exciting stuff on the way... I'm looking forward to the next couple days here.

AM - 10 miles. First 6 w/ a big group along the river and then 4 more solo in the commonz. Had a couple Irishmen in the group, thought for a second Bam had moved here instead of England.

PM - 7.5 miles along the river w/ one of the Saucony reps. Pouring rain... Fun!

AM - 10 miles. Started with the big group, similar to yesterday. Ran along the river.

PM - 7.5 miles. River run.

I'm so excited about Saucony's product line for 2014. I can't divulge too much, but the level of innovation is through the roof. I'll post some more info about it tomorrow, but in the coming days/weeks I'm going to start building a database of Utah runners who want to participate in wear/fit testing for new products in development. Stay tuned - there will be some good opportunities, and it's going to start with this blog.

Mile Erizione (captain of the 1980 USA "miracle on ice" hockey team) gave a surprise speech at our dinner banquet this evening. Really motivating stuff.

AM - 10 miles along the Charles River. Went earlier than the main group because I'm flying back to SLC this morning.

PM - 4 miles.

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm going to be assisting Saucony with their field testing of new products - primarily footwear in the short term, but also apparent at some point in the future as well. That doesn't necessarily mean "free shoes for FRB" but there are going to be some great opportunities. I have assured Saucony that we can build a strong testing program in Utah, and I truly believe that. We have a ton of dedicated, passionate, smart runners in the area - and Saucony really values that feedback as they develop new products. You'll have the opportunity to have a real voice in the process, as I'll be a direct liaison to their performance lab engineers, designers, and developers. Step 1 is to start building my database of runners who are interested in participating on some level.

Fill out this form to get in my database: Saucony Product Testing Application 

AM - 13 miles. 4 mile AT Tempo in 21:12 (5:18/mi) - 5:19, 5:21, 5:18, 5:14. 6 up, 3 down. Tempo loop. It's a start! Gotta drop about a stone of weight, but keeping the efforts shorter for the time being is better as I try to rebuild my hamstring strength anyways.

PM - 8 miles w/ 8 x 200m in ~35s 

Here's the form I need y'all to fill out to get in my tester database: Saucony Product Testing Application. I can't guarantee that everyone will qualify for every initial test, but the bigger and more diverse the pool of people I have to work with, the more options Saucony will have in terms of what shoes they send out this way.

Or you could just wear New Balance. Your call...

AM - 14 miles. Ten laps around Liberty Park on the woodchips/grass. Not really as boring as you would think. James and Kevin were there for the first 5 laps, so that made the time fly by.

PM - 6 miles. 

AM - 14 miles. First 6 easy and then into a 6 mile AT progression - 5:40, 5:36, 5:30, 5:24, 5:18, 5:13. Tempo Loop. Cooled down 2 more.

PM - 5 miles along the water in Hood River, OR. We spent the day sightseeing (ie. WATERFALLS!) along the Columbia River gorge. It was a wonderful sunny day in Oregon... hope that holds for the wedding tomorrow.

AM - 14 miles. Easy run along the waterfront and through the town. Hood River is very hilly once you get away from the water.

PM - 4 miles. Quick pre-wedding / post-pool+hot tub shakeout run. Windy out, and the kite surfers were getting radical.

AM - 4 miles. Lavender poisoning. The wedding we're in Oregon for was at a beautiful organic farm at the base of Mt. Hood. Unfortunately there was lavender everywhere, and I woke up this morning quite ill. The last time I felt this bad was after the Lavender 1/2 race last summer. Needless to say, I'll be skipping that race in the future. That vile weed cripples me! It took me 35 minutes to run these four mies so I figured bagging it there was the wise choice.

AM - 10 miles. Still pretty sick. Anything under 8 minute pace felt way too hard. 

PM - 7 miles. Not feeling much better than this morning. Wanted to go further but my stomach couldn't handle it. 

Enjoyed our weekend in Oregon, although Andrea and I both were feeling rough traveling home last night. Here's some photos of the Columbia River Gorge and the wedding near Mt. Hood. Beautiful area... but I'd have a hard time adjusting to the rain up there.

AM - 16 miles. 6 mile AT Tempo in 32:51 (5:29/mi avg) on the tempo loop. Splits - 5:22, 5:28, 5:28, 5:28, 5:31, 5:34. 6 up, 4 down. This one goes down as a regression run. Still not feeling back to normal... first mile felt harder than normal and I decided to slow down and keep going as long as I was under 5:30 pace. I was hoping I'd get to 8-10 miles, but I would have had to take the effort out of the right range to make that happen. On one hand I'm still recovering from being sick, but on the other hand I need to be realistic about the fact that I'm probably at my lowest fitness point over the past 2+ years. I am confident I can get myself back to a competitive level by sometime this summer. But for now, I'm going to do workouts that reflect my current level, not what I think I should be running based on what I've run in the past.

PM - 4 miles. 

AM - 14 miles. Super easy wandering.

Yesterday I got the chance to tour Rob Murphy's classroom. The only AP History class I've ever seen with a 4 foot poster of Steve Prefontaine on the wall. Made me wish I was 17 again! 

PM - 7 miles.

AM - 14 miles. AT Reps: 10 x 1000m (200m jog) in 3:13.5 average, on the track. 3 up, 3.5 down. I was aiming for the faster end of the AT spectrum, somewhere in the 3:12-3:15 range. I put them all in that bucket (not hard to do, as its not a very aggressive pace); splits - 3:14, 13, 14, 15, 13, 12, 13, 13, 14, 13. Another goal accomplished in this session was simply completing a higher reps/volume workout again... its been a while.

I think this is probably a realistic target pace for UV 1/2 next weekend (~1:08). In April I was about to rip my eyeballs out after running that time at the SLC 1/2, but right now it would actually make me pretty happy. But I will say that I'm very motivated to get to the fitness level where I view 1:08 as a halfway split in the marathon :-)

PM - 8 miles. Alta XC practice... ran 4 miles w/ the guys, then we did 6 x ~100m strides on the soccer field, at which point they were done. Then I did 6 x 200m on the track in 32-33 seconds, and another 20 minutes or so of easy jogging on the grass.