Journey from 238.5 lbs to 2:38:30

I'm guessing 7.5, messed up the watch due to skunk in trail and had to run through the golf course around the skunk.  The trial closed signs were put up this weekend.  The Jordan River Trail will be closed between 1500 North and the north turnaround from Spring 2010 to Fall 2011.  Send an email to udot to find out exactly when it will be closed so I can warn Thanksgiving point that their course for the half marathon will probably be closed the next 2 years.  This closure really sucks for my runs now.  Now both sides of the JRT are blocked by bridge construction.

Went out early, going south on the JRT.  Decided to work on form, efficiency and speed during the run.  My middle 7 mile splits were, 7:13, 7:15, 7:18, 7:23, 7:05, 7:10, 7:14 with a total average heart rate of 155.  After the 10k saturday this quicker pace feels much easier than it did before.  And it really helped my motivation to go out and push myself to be faster and longer.  

 Ran another 5 miles at lunch in Lindon.  Ran up 2000 for some hill work, ran with co-worker, trying to get him back in shape for trail season.  He is the one who inspired me to start running last year and got me from 238 pounds down to 193 last summer and ran my first half marathon. 

Ran a good 9 miles, felt tired from the 2 runs yesterday.

Went North on the JRT, they have started construction around the trail, so not sure how much longer it will be of any use.  Udot got back to me about the trail and supposedly the contractor will have the trail available for the thanksgiving point half in April.  

Was not feeling good most of my run, which I'm not sure if it was from what I ate yesterday, or just being tired, or both.  But it was still very good to get out and get the blood moving.

This was a half marathon race/training race from Orem to Highland put on my Utah running club.  It was a nice morning for a run, cool, a very light drizzle at times.  I went out with no expectations, no goals, other than to finish and not wipe myself out.  First time I have tried to keep any speed for this distance for 6 months.  My splits were, 7:03, 7:03, 7:05, 6:49, 7:03, 7:07, 7:00, 7:01, 7:24, 7:51, 7:17, 7:25, 6:37 with an average heart rate of 160, which is where I wanted to be.  The finish was actually higher in elevation than the start, with a couple of nice hills in the middle, mainly the temple hill.  Took me a couple miles to recover speed after that one.  Was pleasantly surprised that I ran as fast I did for the course, and in such a relaxed state.  Really enjoyed the run.

Went out North on the JRT and it is now fenced off just north of Olympic park, north of 1500 North in Lehi due to bridge construction.  Will be closed until fall of 2011.  So headed south on the JRT and tried to keep the pace up.  I thought I was running fast, but would look at the watch and see that I wasn't going as fast as I thought I was.  I ended up the same pace I had for the half on Saturday.  7:09.  splits of 7:47, 7:17, 6:51, 7:08, 7:07, 7:05, 6:54, 7:00.  With the average heart rate of 152.  At least the heart rate came down 8 beats from the run saturday.  I was hoping to keep the heart rate at 165, but didn't come close.  Maybe next time.

Ran south on the JRT for some easy miles. averaged 8:05 over the six miles.

Ran with Sasha and Jeff on the PRT.  Thanks for the advice and conversation, makes the 10 miles go by very quickly.  my max heart rate hit 186 on a half mile pickup of around 5:40 pace.  Very nice run, though a little on the slow side for the full pace.

Ran the PRT with Sasha and Jeff.  Another glorious day for a run.  Averaged 7:43 over the 15 miles.  We did 2 1.5 mile exertions.  I did a 9:22 on the 2nd mile and a half which pushed the heart rate to 180.  Felt pretty good, but knew I had burned through a lot of fuel on those 3 miles and at mile 13 I hit glycogen depletion and bonked the last two miles.  

Wasn't working today so went running a little later, headed south on the JRT down to the new bridge/road, and ran down the a new dirt trail they are building next to the new road a little.  

I average 7:13 over 10 miles and I did mile 8 in 6:18.  I was going to run 12, but had blisters forming the last mile or so, so left it at 10 miles, didn't want them to get any bigger.  It was a nice run, nice weather. 

Ran at lunch through Lindon on the trail.  Went with Wes the first 2 miles, he was running 4, I went the rest of the way to the end of the trail at our normal 3 mile turnaround and then did a timed 5k back to work.  My splits were 5:53, 6, 6:32, :36.  for a total time of 19:02.  I never felt like I was running with a form I would like to keep.  Couldn't stay up on the forefoot, though when I did it felt smoother.  Getting close to the end of the 2nd mile I was fighting to keep going at that pace, and ultimately I  slowed down.  I had an average heart rate of 171, and only approached 180 on the last uphill the last .2.  So I guess I could have gone faster looking at the heart rate. Tried body glide on the feet for the first time today, I had a blister from yesterday, I had run out of the silicone, and ended up with another blister in the same spot, so not sure if the body glide wasn't nearly as good, or if the foot was already damaged and just aggravated the existing blister.  I ran a total of 6 miles.

Ran with Sasha, Jeff and Brian on the PRT.  Was a nice run, very nice temperature, nice speed for the 10 miles.  Felt a little drained the last 2 miles from the run yesterday.  No real aches or pains to complain of, must not be doing something right, or enough of it, or maybe I'm doing it somewhat right so my body isn't complaining, either way, I'm not going to complain.

Ran a slow 4 miles with Wes during lunch.

Ran 1 mile with kids, then went out on the JRT and did 16.  Haven't checked times yet, but will probably update this once I have.  Felt pretty good the whole time, enjoyed the hills up to redwood road.  

Ran at lunch, up 1000 feet in 3.5 miles, ran down the hill and did 2 sub 6 min miles, love the hill assist as much as climbing the hill.  checked out the bonneville shoreline trail head heading to orem from dry canyon and it still has snow on it here and there, didn't feel like testing it out, yet, but was tempted.

Ran 9 miles in the AM on the JRT heading south at 7:47 overall pace.

Ran 5 miles at lunch with Wes in Lindon at 8:46 overall pace.

Went north on the JRT, at the turnaround, I decided to check out the dirt/gravel path that heads over to Pilgrams Landing which crosses the new front runner tracks line, the new dirt base for the new tracks was very inviting so I ran up the narrows next to the railroad tracks.  A very wide very nice, smooth dirt road to run on.  It's too bad they will ruin it with rail road tracks one day.  I noticed that my body liked the dirt much better than the pavement, so on the way back I tried to stay on the side of the JRT on the horse trail which felt much better.  But being sick the last few days and running a 2 a day yesterday, I was drained and couldn't keep my pace up very much.  Averaged 8:25 over the 10 miles.  I'm trying for my first 200 mile month, the most I have every run in one month before was in June 2009 with 175, which was before my various injuries started in August-December of 2009.  I went from 0 miles in November, to 25 in December, to 127 in January to Hopefully 200+ this month, just 3 more days, and need 32 miles.  So as long as this cold doesn't get any worse I should be able to make at least 10 miles the next three days.

Went south on the JRT in the AM.  Icy patches along the trail here and there really kept the speed down, but it was very nice out.

Well, I didn't make it out yesterday, which I was hoping to do so I didn't have to run so far today to hit 200, but that didn't work out so well.  So headed north on the JRT, at the turnaround, I headed east next to the golf course, over the railroad tracks and then north on the new track bed and just kept going.  I eventually made it to some neighborhood in bluffdale and didn't see anyway to continue by the river so I headed uphill to redwood road.  I noticed a canal just south of where I came out so went and checked it out.  Looks like one Davy Crockett describes on one of his long runs.  So I got on it and ran until I hit Bangerter.  Didn't feel like spelunking under bangerter so stayed on the road and continued west.  At the next corner I saw under bangerter what looked like a Walmart.  So headed over to relief myself of a little weight.  I still needed another half mile to hit 12 so headed east on 134th I think until the gps said 12, then turned around.  I took my camel pack with about half full of water and a 20 oz bottle of very strong home mixed gatorade, and a couple Gu's.  Didn't want to hit glycogen depletion completely since I  have never ran over 18.5 miles before and was in uncharted territory.  Running on dirt most of the distance was much easier on the body than the pavement sections.  I think I gu'd at around 10, and 18.  I averaged an 8:13 pace over the 24 miles.  I did see what looked like a couple of hoodlums burning something under the railroad bridge at the bottom of the narrows, but didn't feel like getting shot so just kept running.  I was almost tempted to just finish the marathon and add another 2 miles but running for 3:17 seemed good enough for the day, and I hit my 200.  I started off the day one mile more than I had ever ran in a month and hit a nice round milestone to finish the month.  Missed 5 days of running this month, so if I was a little more consistent hitting 200 actually wouldn't be that hard.