What lies within

We had a good crew today. I met Matt, Scott, Brandon, Reed, Jodi, Chris and Steve at the soccer fields in Orem. 8 miles up to a little past Vivian park. (7:09AP).

The plan was to do some tempo on the way down. Matt and I had talked about 5, I thought I'd just play it by ear but I wanted to get some good half marathon pace work in. I felt good from the start and just went by feel.

Splits: 5:23, 5:21, 5:06, 5:05, 5:12 

I went into this with basically fresh legs. A light 3 mile tempo run on Tuesday and easy miles since. 

General Poulsen threw the hammer down on mile 5 and blew past me. He's coming back with a vengeance. Scott, on his 3rd speed work out of the week was right there. Reed and Brandon hit some fast times as well. Big fun.

Afterward I did some barefoot grass laps (1.3m) with Scott with 3x200m bursts. 

+Scott, Matt and Reed.

Scott's loop, easy. Felt tired the first half, better the second half.  Beautiful morning.

Tempo run at Scott's house with Matt, Scott, Reed and Spencer. 4 up 3 down.

5k: 5:18, 5:21, 5:20, :31 - 16:31

Felt good.  Saturday primer. 

Easy run with Matt, Scott and Reed on the Murdock Trail. Perfect weather, fun conversation. Couldn't ask for more.

Slept in. Ran up in the foot hills with the dog. Beautiful weather and great terrain. I really like this area.

Ran up in the mountains above Strawberry reservoir with my cousin Tom. 10:30 ap!!! 

Matt and I drove to the Provo Mall at 3:30am! to get on the bus. We warmed up 2 miles with Jake, Rob and Karl. Weather was great. I was feeling pretty good.

Race started at 6am. Matt and I had talked about starting together and going out conservatively. The first 3 miles are pretty honest with a good sized hill at the end of the 3rd. 1-3 (5:29, 5:31, 5:38). After the 1st half mile I was having stomach cramps. Darn oatmeal! I think I'm up for a morning race routine change. It wasn't debilitating but quite uncomfortable. Legs felt pretty good, but not great. Justin ran 2-7 with us. It was awesome running with Matt and Justin, couldn't ask for a better group to share in the fun.

Mile 4 had a big downhill but then another big uphill (5:29). Still felt the same, yucky stomach, ok legs.

5 - 7 are the fastest on the course and we sped up a little, but with a consistent effort (5:17, 5:17, 5:26). At the end of 7 I was starting to feel it. The wheels were still on the bus but I was getting worried. Matt started to pull away, I wished him luck. He looked super strong.  

I stayed on pace for 8 and started to fall off a little for 9 (5:24, 5:34). Things started to get ugly. I felt drained. 10 and 11 were not fun (5:37, 5:51). I nearly walked up the hill on mile 11, at least it felt like it. Justin passed me at 10 and gapped me by a good bit up the hill.

At the top I felt a little rejuvenated. I let my head get to me and slowed down too much. Mile 12 (5:31). Felt way better than 10. Started catching Justin. 13 (5:37). .1 (:35). Finished about a second behind Justin. 

I didn't get my goal (<1:12). I did get a 90 sec PR. But on a way easier/faster course. I'm not too disappointed but I think I was in better shape. My diet and sleep the few days before the race were about as bad as I've ever had (vacation). 

Warmed down 5 miles with Matt and Brandon. I had a great time. Matt crushed it. 2 months off the couch. He's a machine. Reed ran well too.  

+Scott, Reed, Matt. Feeling beat, but not too bad. (7:12ap)

Track workout with Scott. Warmed up 4 with Matt and Scott.

Scott wanted to do 4 to 6 800s. I wasn't sure how things would go but I knew the half marathon was still in the legs so I didn't have high expectations.

Ended up with:

3x800 (2:20, 2:19, 2:24) w/ 400m jogging recovery
2x400 (69, 64) 

The first 2 felt good. The last one felt good for 600, then it didn't. I slowed down.

Scott did more and held the 2:20 pace. He's looking strong, watch out AF canyon half!

2 warm down with Scott trying to connect back up with Matt but we couldn't find him. 

Easy run with Matt, Scott and Reed. Return of the MOTHER + 2 mile run down to pick up my car.

PRT with Brandon, Reed and Matt. Easy pace.

2.2 with the dog and 2 with Ezra. 

Super fun race today. PR.

Picked up Matt at 3:30 and drove up to Tibble Fork. We had to leave early to beat the road closures. Somehow Toni drove up at 5:30...so, maybe it was unnecessary :p

2 mile warm up with Matt on the mineral basin dirt road. We ran into Scott and Spencer post warm up.

I knew Scott and Zack were going to start fast but I didn't think they'd go out like they did! Matt and I ran the first 8 together and our first mile was 5:00 and Scott, Zack and Walter were well ahead! 

Matt, Nate and I ran together down the canyon. Pace was low 5s and felt really solid. We even had some conversation getting to know Nate. It was so fun to run the first bit with Matt again (I don't know how long that'll last, he's making astounding progress!).

Just after mile 8 Nate made a strong move and strung the 3 of us out a bit. He powered through the last 5 miles and consistently pulled away. 

I tired a bit by 9 but was able to hold on with a good last 2 miles. I passed Walter just after 12. He had an amazing race, considering he ran UVM last week!

Scott had a great race but didn't quite crack the PR he was hoping for.  Zack ran very strong.

Splits: (5:00, 5:18, 5:17, 5:06, 5:06, 5:08, 5:14, 5:14, 5:29, 5:29, 5:37, 5:21, 5:27) from the Garmin, which is horribly inaccurate in the canyon.

3 mile cool down on the grass. Couldn't ask for a better day, nor a better group to share it with. The running community is truly unique and inspiring. 

Slept in. Easy run with the dog. Very slow. 7:50ap.

Didn't get a run in today. Too busy with work. Lame.

JRT with Scott and Matt. Still a little blasted from Saturday. Apart from the gnats it was a great time.

Easy run with the dog. Felt good. 1/2 pickup on near then end (2:34). 

Ragnar. Nuff said. This leg was good.

7.5 gradual uphill - 6:05 avg
3.9 up gardsman's pass - 8:45 avg

Why?

Easy run with Matt, Scott, Toni and Reed. 7:15

3 easy with the fam around the track 

Mother loop with Scott, Reed, Toni, Spencer, Matt and Karl. Had to take Karl on the Mother as initiation. 7:17

Met Toni, Matt, Spencer and Scott at the JRT for a pleasant 10. No gnats! 

.5 barefoot grasslaps with Scott

2.5 easy back from the mechanic 

Late night. Slept in and went out on my own. Legs were feeling good so I decided to throw in some speed. Initially the goal was 7-8 at MP. I got a little impatient. So, more AT/LT than just AT. Mixed course. First 2 were up, next 3 were flat or slightly down. Last one was flat.

Splits (5:50, 5:48, 5:36, 5:37, 5:33, 5:34) 

4 warm up, 4 cool down.

Foothill run with Copper. Very slow... but those hills still burn, no matter the pace. 1400ft elevation gain. 8:30. Too much for today probably. 

Scott is going to punish me tomorrow. 

long run 

Scott picked me up at 5:30 and we met Brandon, Toni and Bryce at the soccer fields in Orem. Plan was a 10 & 10 on the Provo River Trail.

We cruised up to Vivian ~ 6:50s. Water/potty break and then another 2.8 up South Fork.

I didn't think I'd make 10 but Scott planned on averaging 5:30s so I decided to go with him and hang on as long as I could. First 2 were kind of sluggish but then my body kind of woke up. I felt great the rest of the time. Ran 7. Sped up a little too much at the end, crossed the threshold and called it quits at 7.

Splits: 5:31, 5:28, 5:27, 5:35, 5:19, 5:14, 5:18

I ran another mile at 6:00. We grouped up at the drinking fountain and ran the remaining 2 as a group. 

I felt surprisingly good.