I Hate Cedar Snow!

P.M.  Recovery run with the team.  I ran it at a decent pace though.  I hit about 7:00 pace for most of the run and picked it up to 6:00 pace for the last half mile.

Planned day off

I am sick again.  I dont know if it ever fully went away.  I hope it doesnt effect me too much tomorrow.  I might jog a little bit later to loosen up the legs a bit.

This is my first race report on the blog so I hope it goes well.  I have been sick off and on the past 2 weeks.  It has been frustrating and I had hoped it would not affect my race.  I dont think it did too much looking back on the race now.  The weather did for sure, but everyone else has commented on that so I wont.  The good news is that it was a PR for me.  This was the first marathon that I have actually ran good training mileage for.  I knew before the race that I could run under 2:40 for sure, and maybe low to mid 2:30s if I was feeling good.

I did not warm up before the race.  Just headed to the line and hoped for the best.  I wanted to be able to hook up with a group at some point with the wind and all.  The first few miles I just went by feel.  The lead group was not too far ahead at this point.  The first 7 miles went by quick.  My splits were 1-6:05, 2-6:08, 3-5:52, 4-5:48, 5-5:55, 6-5:41, 7-5:47.

Then I took my first GU as we headed into Veyo.  As we started up the hill, I could see a group of bloggers about 50 yards ahead.  I thought to myself, do I dare push it this early to catch them or sit back for a few miles.  Well I decided to go after them.  It was a good choice.  The pack was Jon, Walter, Kory, Cody, James, and a few others.  We ran the hills very conservatively and talked most of the time.  Splits: 8-6:45, 9-6:51, 10-6:52, 11-6:51, 12-6:21, 13-6:03, half in about 1:22:00.  Took 2nd GU at mile 13. 

By this time, the pack was splitting up a bit.  I stuck with James and Walter though down into Snow Canyon.  We started to pick it up, but I knew it would be tough to break 2:40. Here are the splits through 20: 14-6:13, 15-5:48, 16-5:44, 17-5:53, 18-6:00, 19-6:27, 20-6:08. 

Around mile 18 or 19 I took my 3rd GU and decided to make a move.  I could see Jon in the distance stopping to adjust his socks and thought I might be able to catch him.  But the problem was that my left shoe came untied.  It didnt get too bad, but I didnt want to stop to retie it for fear of getting cramped up.  James and Walter came by me on the downhill and I could not go with them.  I started getting side aches on both sides and just tried to relax.  Right at mile 23 I almost threw up but kept it down.  As we got onto Diagonal, my cramps got worse.  I had to slow to about 7:00 pace.  Cody passed me and I feared that others were close behind.  The cramps continued until mile 25 and then stopped almost immediately.  Cody had a sizeable lead on me but I decided to try to close the gap.  I passed him right before mile 26 and had a good finish.  Actually felt good and had some left.  Splits after 20 are: 21- 5:56, 22-6:15, 23-6:14, 24-6:23, 25-6:33, 26-5:56, .2-1:13.

I want to thank the bloggers I ran with for helping me out.  The main ones were Jon, James, Walter, and Cody.  I used James for a windblock most of the time.  Thanks James!  I will be back next year looking for a bigger PR. 

P.M.  Well today was a recovery day for the team after Pre-region yesterday, so I decided to get back into it.  I ran with one of my varsity guys and talked about the plan for region next week.  We starting out at about 8:00-8:30 pace into the wind and then finished at 6:30 pace.  It felt easy except for my quads were a little achy.  7:30 avg.

P.M. Speed work for the team today.  It is my last speed day for JV and was fairly easy for varsity too.  I had them do a mile at their goal race pace.  Then JV did 6 x 200 and varsity did 5 x 400.  I did the mile with JV at 5:54 and then just ran on the track while they did the rest of the workout.  I did do one of the 400s with them in 1:12 and that was tough on the legs.  Will do an easy run tomorrow and then call  it a week.  I will bump up the mileage to about 30 or maybe a little more next week.

A.M. Ran with the team up on to the golf course to watch SUU in their meet.  They won pretty easy.  Cam Levins won the race.  Evidently, according to Coach Houle, he is the next SGM winner next year.

P.M.  Easy run with the guys before region tomorrow.

No run today.  However, my boys took region today.  They were way pumped and so was I.  We beat Cedar 31-45.  Hurricane was next with 52.  My top 4 runners took 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th.  Their times were 15:44, 15:49, 15:50, 15:52.  Our 5th runner also PRed with a 16:54.  Hopefully that gap will close more at state.  I never thought we would have 4 runners under 16 min.

P.M.  Ran the shorter trail run with the varsity boys today.  They were still on a high from yesterday.  Hopefully that will carry into next week.  They should be in the top 3 for 3A with a chance at 1st or 2nd if they run like they did yesterday.

A.M.  Another easy day this morning for the team.   We ran the Auto Mall route.  Some of the guys picked it up towards the end and I kept the pace easy.  Legs still wont turn over very well since the marathon.

A.M.  It is nice being off of school for 5 days.  We did a speed workout today.  2 mile warm up, then 2 x 800, 2 x 400, 4 x 200, .5 cooldown.  Each of the repeats got progressively faster in pace.  Two miles of speed work was easy for the guys now.  I ran towards the back of the varsity guys and dont think I could have managed much more.

A.M.  Finished of the week with a good run.  First time that I have felt great at a good pace since the marathon.  I ran about 3 miles on the track before the team got there.  I did some 100s, 200s, and 400s at a decent pace  just to mix things up.  It felt great.  Then we ran a little over 4 miles as a team.  We started off slow, then picked it up about halfway through.  It wasnt a planned pickup.  Things are just flowing for them right now.  We ran the last 2 full miles in 6:51, and 6:28.  It was easy for all of them I think.  We are getting excited for state.

A.M.  I have decided to slowly build my mileage back up.  I plan to be at 50-60 by next month and hold it there through the winter.  That being said, I ran a couple of miles on the track before practice this morning.  Then we ran about 3 miles easy and came back and did some 200s and strides on the track.  The team is ready for state.

A.M.  We are up at state.  My plan was to run to Sugarhouse, measure the course, then run back.  I figured from our hotel at 45th S 6th W to Sugarhouse would be about 4 miles.  However, it was 6.5.  I was a little mad by the time I got to the park knowing that I would have to run 16 total.  The course measured 3.00, which has been disputed by some that said the course was 75 m short this year.  I ran the course before it was completely marked, so maybe I ran the correct course.  Who knows.  All I know is that my guys ran well.  My 1st and 2nd guys ran great, my third and 4th were a little back, but my 5th did well.  So it averaged out to be a good day.  We placed third behind Park City and Ogden who dominated.  It would have taken a miracle to beat them today.  Park City better watch out next year though. 

Holt, if you read this today, I am going to call you tonight about NXN.  I got your number from Logan. 

P.M.  Ran on the treadmill because I had to babysit.  I usually dont mind the treadmill too much, but today was horrible.  I would keep it on a display that did not show distance.  One time I switched to distance expecting to see about 5 miles and I was barely over 3.  Oh well.  I better get used to it as winter is approaching.  7:22 avg.

A.M.  I did not call this a race report because the race didnt have a name and it was low key for charity.  Regardless I wanted to go out and run hard and see what kind of speed I could muster up after the marathon.  One of my best runners, Ben Jarvis, ran it.  I knew if I could keep him within 30 seconds that I would be doing good.  The course is honest but fairly slow.  It runs up Cedar Canyon then back down. 

I started out close to Ben (a few seconds back) with a 5:42 1st mile (uphill).  There was a guy that started out with us the first 1/4 mile then started fading.  He ended up running over 20 min.  He wasnt too happy after the race.  Then I slowed to a 5:50 (up then down),  then I picked it up to a 5:21 (down) and finished at 4:53 pace.  3.13 miles total.  Ben had his lead on me after about 1.5 miles and the gap stayed pretty steady the rest of the way.  So I know Ben is reading this, you kicked my butt.  He ran 17:18 and I ran 17:32.  I was 16:53 at 3 miles, which pleased me.  I have never stayed in good shape after the marathon before, so time to train hard this year. 

We ran the course before as a warm up and part of it as a cool down.

P.M.  Ran with a couple of varsity guys.  Did a new route.  Ran the first part of the Auto Mall route then took a trail over a hill and under the freeway.  Then we went back by the bus garage.  Ran pretty hard.  6:41 avg.

P.M. Long trail run with a few of the guys.  Tried to keep it nice and easy after yesterday, but still ran at a decent pace.  It seemed really easy.  7:22 avg.

P.M. Ran 1.5 miles on the track before practice.  Then ran another 4.5 with a couple of the guys.  7:10 avg.

P.M.  Ran a few laps before practice then ran did CJs plus Spirit extension.  7:12 avg.

P.M.  Easy by myself.