Journey from 238.5 lbs to 2:38:30

Ran with large group of cheetahs on a loop through Orem this morning.  We did some hill work, then some tempo work.  Splits were 7:17, 6:47, 7:27, 6:45, 6:21, 6:02, 6:22, 6:06, 5:58, 7:50 and another slow miles of cool down and warm up. 

I started having some quad strain after the run which turned into a race monday.  So took Tuesday off to rehab it alittle.  Went out in the AM for an easy 8 at a 7:46 avg pace.  Then went out for a trail run in the PM for another 7 over trail 51.  Followed Wes to keep my pace in check, then took a nice spill down trail 51 coming into dry canyon on the permafrost under the trail.  Ice is not my friend.  Trails were fantastic other than this 100 yard stretch of treacherous trail.  

Met the morning crew for a "recovery" run which ended up being 10.5 at a 7:02 pace.  A little faster than I would have liked this morning trying to take it easy on the quads, now the other one is starting to act up.  Lots of large knots in the quads that don't want to go away.

Ran the BST from the gun range almost to BattleCreek and back.  The trail was busier today than I have ever seen it, ever, in summer, spring, fall, and it was dusty like an August run after a drought.  Fantastic temperature to be out, nice inversion setting in.  When you look at Suncrest it looks like a wave of filth billowing over suncrest into Utah County.  

Did a new Loop through Lehi with Scott, Matt and Melanie.  The snow was a nice change of pace.  We averaged a 7:20 pace.  Felt good through the whole run, left leg is still not 100%. I then went to Jonathon's half marathon to help out.  Jody won the hilly, windy, meandering course.  

Couldn't get to sleep, woke up early.  Love those days.  So got up at 3:30 and headed out to meet the guys at Matt's at 5.  Matt lives 2.75 away so I ran there this morning to meet Matt, Jody, Reed and Scott for 10.   It was nice being warmed up before we started.  Did a couple of tempoish miles in the  middle.  Had to pull it back a little with the outside left quad still having a large knot in it and for the sub 6 mile the ache on the inner quad by the knee started coming back.  Hope to have a lot of miles to run this week, so toned it back for the last few.  Ate a bowl of cereal before I left and no gu's but did a Nuun and some gatorade slush during the run which barely got me back home again.  I felt like I should have gu'd up at some point the last few miles, but I figured I'd get home okay and fueled back up in hopes of a 2nd run this afternoon.  

 Ran 7 with Wes at lunch out to Utah Lake.  First half sucked the farther we went.  Was starting to bonk, by the time we hit 3 I was done.  Took some calcium pills, S-Caps and honey stinger chews.  By the time we hit 4, I was feeling good again.  

Got to bed earlyish, alarm seemed to go off 2 minutes later.  Made it out the door quick enough on my way to Scott's to park a couple miles away and run in to meet at 5.  Scott, Reed and Matt, out on our 10 mile Alpine loop.  Matt headed back after 3ish, hamstring issues.  I had a rough time getting going at a decent pace this morning.  Guzzled my gatorade at mile 3, gu'd at 5.  It was a recovery day so I don't think we went anything below 6:50, mostly around 7:10 I think, will have to check the watch later.  Will probably head out for at least 6 more later.   

Dragged myself out for 6 more.  Left leg is tightening up more, will have to spend some quality time with it tonight. 

Went out this morning with Scott with the intention of doing some speed work.  Did a five mile warmup around a 7-7:30 pace.  Then off to the races, for about 20 seconds.  Then the death march commenced.  

Headed back out for 9.25 meandering through Lindon with Wes.  A comfortable 7:44 pace.  Pace has been getting slower as the week goes on.  gee, wonder why.   I thought today was thursday for most of the morning, guess I was wishing it was thursday.

Ran a 1:36 almost half marathon this morning.  The first ten with Scott, Brody, Matt and Melanie.  Felt much better for that first 10 than my 10 yesterday morning, Running just over a 7 minute pace, just guessing on this one, wasn't too bad.  Was a bit nippely out this morning.  Puttered around the neighborhood for 3 more.  

Went out for a few more and was feeling pretty good.  Same loop as yesterday, just extended in a couple of spots.  Did a 5:57  at mile  7, was a little uncomfortable due to fatigue, but not too bad.  Can tell the legs are getting stressed, feel a few muscles on the verge of cramping.  2nd run at a 7:14 average with a 760 foot ascent/descent 

Ran 11 in the AM with ScottKeate.  Thanks Scott for keeping me motivated for these early runs.  Makes them much easier to do.  Another good morning run, not particularly fast, 7:24 avg, but good enough.  Calves/Achilles tendons very sore/creaky this morning, took 15-20 minutes stretching/walking around the house to warm them up.  

Did 9.5 on the PM run with a modified Lindon  loop from yesterday, mostly with Wes.  Last mile I was really feeling it.   7:41 average, average heart rate 132

Finished a week of 2 a day's to get to at least 20 a day with a 20 miler Saturday morning.  Ran with Jake and Andrea's group from Tanner park.  Rode up with Scott and Matt who have really helped me stay motivated and break new ground this week.  I am very surprised at how I have felt doing this kind of mileage and at a not too bad of a pace.  We averaged 7:09 for the 20 miles this morning with 1700 (garmin) feet of elevation change. It was fun running with a new group.  My right hamstring started to tighten up a bit yesterday, was able to stretch it out enough before the run that I didn't feel any effects from it during the run. Both my achilles tendons and calves are getting very tight and sore while I sleep, will need to spend some time with them in hopes of working out the soft tissue issues.  

Ran in the wind with Scott and Reed in Alpine

10 miles south on the JRT with Scott.  Hammy still pretty tight though going the 7:02 pace doesn't seem to bother it much.  Chiro will hopefully help make things start working properly. 

Loop in Highland

Loop in Highland in AM and South on BST for lunch.

Loop with Reed, Scott, Matt and Chad through highland, AF and cedar hills.  Legs still not 100%.  hammy tight, lots of calve issues, and left foot inflammation. 

South on the JRT with Reed

Missed yesterday with tight Hamstring, Hoping it will work properly come saturday.  

Ran Loop in alpine with Scott. 

Ran the Hale 10k course with Scott, Brody and Melanie, plus an extra 2.  Did a quarter mile pick up to see how the legs would feel, have been avoiding speed the last couple of weeks hoping the calves and hamstring will heal up.

Did an easy four around the neighborhood, with some strides thrown in .  Feeling pretty decent.  Legs finally feel recovered, still some sore spots in calves and hammy isn't 100%, but close enough, and things will work.  Looking forward to another large week next week.

Ran the Hale Freezes Over 10k for the third year in a row.  Always a fun race.  I knew going out that I wasn't going to be winning this one, but had hopes for a second place finish.  The last two weeks after my 126 mile week, I have been trying to overcome a lot of leg issues, hamstring tightness, calves locked up/cramping, foot inflamation, quad tightness, sore left knee, so have been pretty much tapering and just trying to get the legs back under me for this race.  

As the gun went off and we headed out the usual young crowd of high school kids who love to tear off into the lead never materialized.  Scott Keate slowly took the lead and began to pull away from the pack.  At about the .5 mark I heard someone running next to me, and I looked over and it was Clark.  He had won this race in October of 2010.   There was one guy maybe 20 feet in front of us and Scott maybe 150 yards in front by this time, and still pulling away.  I mentioned to Clark that we were going to get our butts kicked, and he asked if the lead runner was doing the 10k, I said yes, then Clark took it up a notch to try to chase down Scott.  I wished him luck with that and settled in behind the third place person.  Of course these first 2 miles you don't know for sure who is running the 10k and who is running the 5k. There are usually between 1 and 5 5kers in front of me through the first two miles before the head back down 4th north.  As we approached the split I noticed the one guy in front of me I didn't know was running the 10k or 5k was kind of listing towards a left turn, and sure enough I was in 4th heading down towards geneva.  He wasn't gaining on me anymore and I just hoped that as we hit the up hill I would be able to use that to my advantage again and catch those in front of me.  As we headed back up the hill on 4th north I caught the 3rd place guy and was gaining on Clark.  I was about 10 feet behind him as we hit the intersection when he attempted to cut the intersection tangent after crossing half way across and the cop directing traffic yelled at him, he put the breaks on to head around the cones and I caught him then, he mentioned how he should have run the 5k since we had a big lead on all the 5ker's, we chatted briefly and I continued on pulling ahead by a little bit.  I must have gained on him up the next steep hill and was able to hang on a decent pace until the finish.  I ran 17 seconds faster than in October, so still improving, though not as fast as I would like.  Guess I need some more focused, faster speed work.  My endurance seems to be significantly up since then.  I had thought Scott was going to run around a 34:20 or maybe a 33:50, but I made the mistake of telling him I thought that, and as is usually I found his speed button and he destroyed the course in 32:20ish.  Awesome race and always good to have your training partner humble you and give you something to strive for.  

Ran 12.5 with Scott, Melanie, Brody, Jody and Reed.  We did six half mile pickups.  First one was slow, 6:13, I think I didn't hit the lap for awhile, 2:46, 2:47, 2:37, 3:06, 2:46.

I guess if I go by the Yasso theory I should be able to do 10 of these at a 2:37 pace in order to run a 2:37.  Well, one out of six ain't bad.  Legs were really feeling it from Saturday after the 2nd pickup.  Felt like a much harder effort than the race.

Did six and change with Wes in the PM.  Picked a good route with some well timed unwanted stops.  Hoping the legs will hold up for another long week. 

Ran from my house to Matt's, ran 10 with Matt and Scott, ran home.  Bonked really hard just as I finished.  I guess I should pay more attention to eating when going that long.  Nice recovery run.  Have some tight spots in the quads, and right hamstring.  Hopefully they won't get too aggravated.