Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 18 miles. Long(ish) run with 8 mile AT Tempo in 42:13 (5:17/mile). 8 miles up to Foothill and Sunnyside, and then ran the tempo on the SLC 1/2 Marathon course (approximately miles 2-9 of the race). Splits were all over the place, as it was windy and there are some hills in the middle - 5:14, 5:03, 5:18, 5:27, 5:28, 5:29, 5:14, 4:58. Pushed it down to HM effort on the last mile. Cooled down a quick 2 miles. Andrea biked along the whole way.

PM - 4 miles easy. 

AM - 10 miles. Easy horsepark loops.

PM - 10 miles w/ Andrea (bike) around the neighborhood and a couple horsepark loops. 

AM - 13 miles. First 10 easy and then 3 miles in 15:22 to finish. Was over by Rob's house and started thinking about the e-mail he sent me saying he was running Boston if its 110 degrees next year and all of a sudden it was 5:09, 5:08, 5:04 on the way home. Net downhill and a favorable wind so it wasn't really all that fast. Enough to clear the head, though. 

PM - 6 miles + 8 x 8s hills. 

What happened in Boston yesterday sucks. I've devastated and disgusted. Just sad about it.

But there were also some fantastic running performances from folks on this blog. While in the grand scheme of life, race times aren't the most important thing, I hope that those who ran yesterday (and worked hard for months and months to prepare) can eventually find some satisfaction and happiness in what they accomplished. That doesn't get taken away because of some senseless idiot(s).

AM - 10 miles. Failed workout. Plan was 10 x 1000m @ LT/HM pace. Ended up doing 5 x 1000m in 3:07-3:08 (200m jog) and then just stepped off the track and jogged home in the middle of the 6th rep. I've really been setting the bar high for toughness lately. No excuses, and no silver lining here.

PM - 6 miles. 

AM - 13 miles. Lots and lots of horsepark loops. Grass/dirt = good.

PM - 5 miles. Laps around SHP and then finished w/ 4 x 200m on the track in 31, 31, 31, 29. I know, I know... watch out middle distance specialists, I broke 30 seconds for a 200!

Got my new Saucony kit yesterday... I am thrilled that we now colors other than orange in the uniform. Don't get me wrong, I love traffic cone fashion, but the blue singlet is pretty sharp. And despite Lance's best efforts to ruin the color for all of humanity, I think its ok to have a little yellow in there again.

AM - 8 miles.

PM - 2 miles, quick shakeout. SLC 1/2 tomorrow. 

Photo from the start (SL Tribune). I just wanted to demonstrate that BJ is taller than me! 

OK race today. I figured 1:07 flat would win it, and I was right... unfortunately my legs didn't have it in them. 

I decided to take it out at an honest pace right from the start, basically to make Riley decide whether he was racing or just doing a workout. He came with me so I knew he was in it to win it as well. I had a small gap on him for ~3.5 miles, and we came through the 4 mile mark in 19:40. Then Riley threw down a monster surge (this was an impressive move... I honestly didn't think he'd maintain it as well as he did) and opened up a sizeable gap on me right away. The pace slowed a bit through the hills in the middle part of the course, and Brett Hales (who was lurking behind us in the faster opening miles) passed me ~10K. I maintained contact with Brett, and Riley was a good 70 meters out front. I tried to draw Brett back in on the 3300S downhill stretch, and closed the gap a bit. A little after 10 miles I threw in a surge, caught and passed Brett, and it seemed like Riley was coming back a little bit. For a minute I thought I might be able to reel him back in, but then I sort of lost momentum and the wheels came off ~11 miles. Riley ran strong to the line for the win, with Brett 10 seconds or so behind in second, and then about the same gap back to me in third.

So I'm obviously not thrilled with the outcome, but I was soundly beaten by two guys who were much better than me today. They earned and deserved the top 2 spots. I felt like I ran better today than I have in some recent workouts (and definitely better than the 5K last Friday), so hopefully I can build some momentum from here. 

Afterwards I was borderline hypothermic in the cold rain so I went and did my cooldown on the treadmill at the gym. They should add a minute to my time for that! :-) 

Andrea was riding in the pace car (driven by Amiee!) and took some photos. Everyone has snazzy new uniforms!...

Around the mile mark...

From 2013 Races

~3 miles

~10 miles

~11 miles
 
Splits - 4:56, 4:59, 9:44 (3-4), 5:05, 5:26, 5:23, 5:21, 5:00, 5:16, 10:31 (11-12), 5:53 for the last 1.1.

AM - 18 miles (2 up, race, 3 down)
PM - 5 miles shakeout.