Denouement

Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon

Previous MonthRecent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesMichelleL's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewYear View
Graph View
Next Month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2007200820092010201120122013
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Kowloon Tong,Hong Kong

Member Since:

Jul 02, 2007

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Olympic Trials Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided:

5K - 17:11 (track Pre-kids and at BYU) (1998)

10K - 35:48 (track Pre-kids and at BYU) (1998)

10K - 35:34 (road - Shek Mun 10k 12/12)

1/2 Marathon 1:19:44 (UNICEF HM 11/12)

Marathon 2:47:08 (ING Hartford Connecticut 10/10)

Aided:

St. George Marathon 2:50:40 (10/08)

1/2 marathon - Hobble Creek 1:17:14 (8/08)

10K - Deseret News 10K - 35:02 (7/08)

Short-Term Running Goals:

PR 1/2 marathon AGAIN


Long-Term Running Goals:

Break 2:46 in Boston!

Personal:

I used to run for BYU, but only after trying out three times and finally walking on, so I was never a star. However, it was wonderful to run with great people and under Coach Shane. When you run with fast people, you can't help to improve! I graduated BYU in 1998, and didn't run a race until 2002, after having my second child. My hiatus and other crazy life commitments have made my competitive running suffer, but the last couple of years I have tried to get back into it the best I can. I have been married since 1996, to Paul Lowry, who is a runner himself. I have three boys (my three rascals), ages 12, 10, and 8.

After a great 2008 season, I was injured and eventually diagnosed and cross-diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, a type of arthritis disease, which precludes running for all but the most stubborn.  So I am on medications, trying to stay healthy, and seeing my PT often.  And running!  Now beating the streets in Hong Kong.

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
NB RC900 Black/yellow Lifetime Miles: 183.31
NB RC1300 Red/Black Lifetime Miles: 195.31
2012 MTR Lifetime Miles: 4035.70
890 Blue Lifetime Miles: 310.55
NB RC 1600 Lifetime Miles: 96.76
RC 1400 Lifetime Miles: 90.60
NB 890 Baby Blue Lifetime Miles: 233.26
NB 890 Electric Blue Lifetime Miles: 319.67
NB 890 Tokyo Turquoise Lifetime Miles: 163.54
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
209.0030.2533.104.000.000.000.00276.35
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.000.000.000.008.00

Easy mileage, though it is funny how much my "easy" pace can fluctuate during a given run.

8:46 ave pace.

In keeping with my desire to build more endurance, I skipped the track today and plan on doing a tempo-like pace up and down Payson Canyon with the fast folk (at least I will meet them and then try to wait a mile or two before they pull away).  We will see how it goes . . .

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
3.842.505.000.000.000.000.0011.34

Ran up Payson Canyon approximately 5.5 miles, then down and tacked some extra on on the end.

I ran with some speedsters.  For me going up was a tempo run, though they were running more at training pace.  I was able to keep strong the whole way up.  I fell a little behind those I was running with at about 4.25 up, but I didn't give up or reduce my effort much.  My time to the turn around is 46:10, about an average 8:54 pace up. 

I tried to run the downhill hard for the first three miles down, but naturally with working hard uphill, I found it hard to keep my pace even at the pace I normally run the canyon when I do an all downhill run.  My splits for the first couple of miles were about 6:50, 7:07, 7:40 (bad mile!), then 7:22.  I then slowed down to cool down to more like a 8-8:30 pace.  My legs, surprisingly my hamstrings especially, felt tired those last couple of miles.

Overall I think that it was a good run.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
9.150.000.000.000.000.000.009.15

8:49 average pace

I put on my heart rate monitor for my Garmin for the first time today.  My HR to start was alarming:   at an 8:36 and some downhill my average HR was 167.  Thankfully it dropped after the first mile, and the average HR for the workout was 148 (or 78% of 190 since I am 30).

Does anyone have experience with MRR and the efficacy of the 220 - age calculation?

I remember in college my HR in workouts seemed to be higher than others, so I am wondering if my MRR is not actually higher than the formula.  On Wikipedia it is noted that MRR has been studied and there are many formulas and they all have a standard deviation.  Hmm. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
11.285.000.000.000.000.000.0016.28

My goal today was to run about 15.5-16.5 and to run 5 miles marathon pace somewhere in the second half.   Overall pace was 8:11!

I started the marathon pace after 7 miles.  Ran on average 7:25 throughout the five miles.  The first mile was a 7:29 which was disappointing but for some reason the Spanish Fork winds were stronger than usual and we were headed straight into them that mile.   THe next mile we dropped to 7:17, then the third had the hill before Osborns so 7:24 for mile 3.  Mile 4 was a 7:19, and mile 5 had the Zephur hill and then a gradual uphill beyond that, so the best I could do was 7:35.   Our water/gatorade drop off was in the middle of the 5 miles, so that is cheating somewhat to have a break (probably 4 minutes) in the tempo run, but I'll make it harder next time I do this by waiting until after the break. 

The marathon pace miles reduced my overall pace, but my pace was faster than last week, not considering those miles, probably about 8:30 average.  I think I will try to do these "marathon pace" tempos within my long runs every other week.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
5.972.001.000.000.000.000.008.97

Now that my faithful Loafer Canyon buddy is in foriegn lands, I needed to figure out what to do with myself on Mondays.  I have been running up a canyon called Loafer Canyon.  Because a long, 4.5 mile hill can tend to spread out runners you really need to run with someone you are close to, pace wise.  Running alone is not very appealing since it is dark half of the time and there have been bear and wild cat sightings. 

So, I called another friend who doesn't like Loafer (imagine that, he doesn't care for 4.5 miles uphill).  Actually, Loafer Canyon is not an ideal uphill training run because it is so steep that for me I am fighting just to stay under 10 minute pace going up, and going down is so steep in some places I don't dare risk running down hard.  So I think the Payson Canyon up and down run will start to be more frequent on my running circuit.

Back to my run today, I ran long hill repeats with my friend Mark S.  We did a gradual uphill on Spanish Fork Center street, starting at Main and ending a mile to the east.  It is very gradual except for three steeper parts.  We ran the following paces:

mile 1 7:36

mile 2 7:24

mile 3 7:38

I think this workout will be great to add to my training.  Mile repeats are nice and long and can't be faked too well.  Add a gradual hill and you get one tough workout. I will try to add more repeats to get the endurance I need.  As it was today, the third repeat was very difficult to maintain pace.  I think next time I will try to keep at around 7:35 each time, and try to add one.  I won't be in town next Monday so this workout won't be repeated until the following Monday.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
9.030.000.000.000.000.000.009.03

Slow and easy 9:30 ave pace

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
8.270.751.000.000.000.000.0010.02

Wednesday morning we were to load up the car and head off to Keystone, CO for vacation.  I thought I could wake up early and get in a long run and do a tempo run while at it.  My goal was to run 12 miles with a 3 mile fast 7:00 tempo pace. 

However, I got bad sleep the night before (tossed for the last hour I was supposed to be sleeping--I hate that). 

As I started running I calculated how much time I had and realized I would have a tough time fitting in even 10 miles.  I started in Salem and headed to Payson.  I started my tempo right after mile 5, when I was heading North East on highway 89/189 (not sure what the name is).  Unfortunately, I had the Pettiteneet Academy hill in that first mile, fortunately there was a downhill after the uphill, but the first mile took alot out of me.  7:02 first mile. I started the first mile ok, but toward the 1.5 mile mark I started to lose steam and then started to question myself.  This is why I don't like to do speed on my own.  By 1.75 miles into the tempo I had given up on the tempo run (my pace for the .75 was about 7:35/mile). 

I seem to not have the toughness to do speed on my own.  This run was so frustrating.  When giving up I consoled myself with the thought that I would try to do a 4 mile tempo run on the treadmill while in Keystone at about 7:05 pace. 

Our drive to Keystone was bad, with lots of construction and delays on I-70 and a few sprinklings of boy squeals, fights, crys, whines, from the back row.  We rented a fullsized car so the three rascals were right next to each other.  It sure makes you appreciate the minivan where all the kids can be separated. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
9.520.000.000.000.000.000.009.52

Keystone CO.  Temperature at run start: about 45 F!  Elevation: over 9300!

Ran 8.02 in the morning.  Even though I often run at 4500-5000 elevation, the elevation here is about double, so I decided to take it easy and walk/run if necessary this morning.  It turns out I had a nice slow morning run.  It included trails, stairs, and only some walking in the first mile or when I tried to figure out where to run next.  I ran along the base of the ski slopes.  Then I followed the Snake River on the southside on a nice dirt trail, and came back up the Snake River on the north side on a bike trail.  My pace varied quite a bit.  The last three miles were about 9:30 and I felt pretty comfortable with that even given the elevation.  Overall pace ended up being 9:59. 

Went up the ski lifts with the family (my little boys were so brave!) and we planned to hike all the way down, but it ended up being 7 miles down on the mellow graded road.  A kind Keystone worker advised us of a hike called 11-7 (probably because the elevation at the peak was 11,700.  The hike was just a gradual uphill then gradual downhill loop.  Probably 3 miles (took us 1.5 hours with the kids).  I counted it as 1.5 miles on the log.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
12.800.000.000.000.000.000.0012.80

Ran from Keystone to Dillon and back on the bike trail which follows the Snake River then the lake by Dillon (is this Dillon Lake?).  The weather was cool.  The air was thin.  This is the not so favorable running route where you go downhill the first half of the run, then go uphill to get back.  I tried to run easy the first half so that getting back at all was feasible.  Thankfully the second half of the downhill is more rolling hills, with up and down.  I planned on turning back at 6 miles but was also hoping to hit the grocery store in Dillon for a drinking fountain before turning around.  At about 5.8 miles I was concerned but the grocery store came into view at 6 miles and I got there by 6.4 miles. I didn't get whacked too bad with the grade coming back up to Keystone; generally the first half of the run was worse than the first because the expectation of the uphill back was worse than actually running the uphill.  I was able to keep my pace under 9 minute/mile, which I was pleased about.  The average pace was 8:54 for the whole thing.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
4.000.004.000.000.000.000.008.00

Ran two miles outside.  It was cold (still in Keystone CO).  Then ran .5 on the treadmill as an additional warm up, then ran 4 miles at 7:08 pace.  At times I felt like I could go faster but my breathing was the bottleneck-it's probably the altitude.  I would think that this would translate into a 7:08 tempo pace on the roads at home (today's was easier because of treadmill but harder because of altitude, probably offsetting).  The first half of the tempo was harder than the second, and I think the second half was easier just because I knew it was half over.  I think that my competitive running psychology tends to be anxiety over fast/hard running to come.  I think tempo runs will help me to learn to be comfortable with faster paces not only physically but mentally too.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
4.650.000.000.000.000.000.004.65

Easy run in Denver before heading back to Utah.  Ave pace 8:45.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.000.000.000.008.00

Ran with SF group.  Went a little faster than they normally do, at about 8:40 pace after the first mile.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
11.080.000.000.000.000.000.0011.08

I  was supposed to run with a friend but they didn't show up :(.  It's much harder for me to run alone than with a friend, especially since I didn't have my mp3 player because I thought I would have a companion.  Hmm.

These can only be categorized as easy miles because they are slower than marathon pace, but I was pleased with being able to keep up a faster pace on an easy long run.  The average pace after the first mile was 8:07, with some variation (fastest mile was 7:48 and slowest was 8:23).  It felt harder than an 8:45 pace, my most common area for an easier run.  I was able to keep to the three steps per breath (in or out) in general, though actually timing it according to the steps seemed an effort to me.  Anyone know whether a marathon should be run at 2 or 3 steps per breath?  It seems to be kind of in between the two patterns to me. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
6.225.000.000.000.000.000.0011.22

Ran up Payson Canyon.  Was lucky that Craig showed up.  We ran together for the first four miles before he had to turn around.

1 - 8:35 warming up, feeling good

2 - 8:06

3 - 8:11

4 - 8:17

5 - 8:43

.38 - 8:44 pace

Total time up - 45:10, 8:24 pace, much better than two weeks ago (see Aug 2 blog) where ave pace up was 8:54.  I looked at each split going up from Aug 2 and I was better today on every leg (9:20, 8:50, 8:17, 8:44, 9:20, something like that - my husband just snatched the gps from my hands).

Once I turned around and headed downhill I didn't push it at all (just under 8 minute pace coming down).  I think I will do all downhill Payson run next Thursday, going downhill faster,  and switch off between these two workouts for the next month.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
8.030.000.000.000.000.000.008.03

This was an easy run, but I chose an especially hilly route without thinking about it.  Started uphill and thus gave myself a big fat 10:28 first mile.  Then I was running down Harry's Hill in Salem so pace picked up.  There were dark clouds to the north around Springville/Mapleton/SF.  By mile four I am down Zeffir hill and it is sprinkling.  Mile 5 brings a huge downpour, and I was wondering if I was going to get shocked in the ears because I had my MP3 player on but thought that maybe the action of turning it off would be more dangerous than leaving it on.  While it was raining hard a biker passed me from behind, and tried to say something to me.  I didn't see him (or hear him) until he passed me and had his head turned toward me.  I let out a huge scream, because it gave me quite a fright and I am a scaredy cat.  The poor guy, he probably had something very witty to say about the downpour that got swallowed up in my scream.  Well, that showed him!  Did I mention yesterday that I flagged down a car down Payson Canyon because there were two dogs on the side of the road barking at me and I was afraid?  My husband was not pleased I was more afraid of the dogs than a stranger.

My overall pace was 8:52, including the slow first mile.

Tomorrow is my first EVER 20 miler.  Does that mean I get to eat whatever I want today or tomorrow?  I am still trying to lose weight which means I probably shouldn't do either. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
16.814.000.000.000.000.000.0020.81

I did it!  I ran my first 20 miler!  Overall pace 8:08.

So we started at 5am at the Stake Center in SF.  I thought we started rather fast (mile one and two were 8:27 and 7:57).  I did loops when people stopped because I think the group stops too often and/or too long and I want to shorten the breaks to make the long training runs more like a race environment.  I ended up running with Alison and Craig for quite a bit of the run.  At Osborns (6 mile point) we met up with Gina and McKenzie, Pat Loss, and a fast couple from out of town.  I had planned on doing some marathon pace miles after Harry's hill (a 1 mile hill), but these fast runners were right ahead of me, and Pat encouraged me, so I started my tempo portion and he and I caught up to them (7:13 mile for mile 8), then the uphill started and my pace slowed but I was able to hang on to the fast crew ok up to the top of Harry's (splits were rather slow though, 7:55 for mile 9 and 8:44 for mile 10).  Mile 10 included some recovery jog.  Then when we started downhill and I pushed my pace again through the Salem stake center (7:30 mile 11 and 7:05 mile 12).  After this we slowed down a bit but kept to about 8:10 pace overall, with some faster and slower miles.  At 18-19 miles I felt pretty tired and like I was hitting a wall, but Alison was a great motivator and encouragement.  At the 20 mile mark I stopped and gave Alison a hug, I was so excited to have done it.  Then we split and she headed for home and I headed for my car.  On the last mile or so alone I got a funny image in my head like I was Forrest Gump and I was running like when he first run and his leg braces fell apart as he run and flew off him.  Only I imagined that my legs were going to be the pieces falling off me, perhaps at the hip bone, perhaps at the knee.  My legs were tired by the end!  I guess this is what the 20 miler is for.

When I got home I filled my tub with all the ice in the house and cold water.  I got in the tub and lined it with three plums, three fig newtons, and a bottle of water and told myself I couldn't get out of the tub until it was all gone.  So that served two purposes.  I forced myself to start refueling and I got my ice bath in.  After a hot shower, I got into some jeans and when I tried to put my second leg on I fell onto the floor.  While having a still damp foot may have had something to do with it, I couldn't help but to giggle at myself because my stiff legs probably are the main culprit for my clumsiness.  So, I also took 800 mg of ibuprofen.  I am hoping I can recover sufficiently for training next week.  We'll see!

Side note, I am down 17 pounds from tax season and am only one pound away from a realistic weight, but I will try to lose throughout my training if I can because my ideal racing weight is probably still 16 pounds away.  Every pound should help!

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
6.850.004.000.000.000.000.0010.85

My legs felt good waking up this morning, just a little sore from Saturday's 20 miler.  I do have some dull lower back pain, I think from the 2.5 hours of trenching and sprinkler work I did Saturday.  I took some Ibuprofen before my run. 

I ran a variation of the hill workout I did two weeks ago.  Two weeks ago I did mile long hill repeats, but I read in my Competitive Runner's Handbook that the distance for the hill repeat was too long because it makes the rest too long.  So I went to the hill and figured out how to shorten it during my warm up, which works well since both ends of the hill (beginning and end) are mostly flat, so the hill becomes shorter and steeper on average by shortening.  I started at 200 East and went to the Junior High sign, which is .67 or 2/3 of a mile.  I wanted to go just under 7:30 pace, since 7:26 is my goal overall marathon pace, and this is uphill.  That means the hill should be 5 minutes or less going up.  I wanted to do 6 reps, which I knew would be mentally tough because I was on my own, and two weeks ago I did mile repeats but only three.  So I decided that I would likely need a potty break somewhere in the middle so I would break up the workout into two sets of 3, thus making the workout somewhat easier but still a challenge for sure.

I got two miles of warm up in before starting the reps.

 

1 - 4:50 (7:16 pace). 

2 - 4:50

3 - 4:51

Between rep 3 and 4 I ran 1.37, including running to a gas station for a pit stop and running to the bottom of the hill.

4 - 4:58 Let myself zone out a little in the middle.  By the end of rep 4, jogging down the hill I told myself that I couldn't think about both the following reps right now, just try to do well on 5 and 6 will have to take care of itself.  Legs feeling tired (my quads are feeling it, not sure if from this workout or from Saturday).

5 - 4:51 I watched my pace closely in the middle which helped me stay on track

6 - 4:49 I again watched my pace but it was horrible at the start of the rep (headed for 8 minute pace at the top of the first steep part at 300 E).  I just watched my watch and didn't give up and shaved my pace down little by little.  The steepest part of the hill is at the end and I pushed it up not sure if I would even break 5 minutes but pushing hard, and actually got my best time.

Overall I am pleased with the consistency of the rep times.  Sure rep 4's time wasn't so great but I was happy I brought it down for 5 and 6.   I am hoping my endurance at higher speeds will be improved by these types of workouts.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
7.040.000.000.000.000.000.007.04

8:50 overall pace.  I was planning on a nice easy recovery run today and my body sure told me it needed one.  9 minute pace was sure feeling good.  My legs didn't want to go any faster so I didn't try to, other than just trying to keep below 9 minute pace.

800's on the road tomorrow! 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
4.560.000.004.000.000.000.008.56

This is my first non-hill interval workout on the road.  I wanted to do 8x800m @ 3:15 since my goal pace for the marathon is 3:15.   I met with Allison in SF and it was windy, but we warmed up toward the non windy side of town.

I did about a mile before meeting up with Allison, then we warmed up another .76, then started the intervals.

This is where a GPS watch is so useful.  I just have the lap pace in the big window and make sure that is 6:30 or better. 

1 - 3:14 (felt hard but like had to hold back to not overdo the first one)

We stopped and stretched after the first one, and jogged 2 minutes, then

2 - 3:08 felt much better than first one, fast because going downhill on Scenic Drive

3 - 3:12, felt good and like was still holding back

4 - 3:14, felt good but now starting to work to keep pace

5 - 3:16, had a hard time snapping into the fifth interval, so my pace was off on the first half and ran a significant negative split to close the gap, ran up the hill from river bottoms to upper SF neighborhoods during rest between 5 and 6

6- 3:14, was still cresting the hill by the time it was time to start this interval so had a little bit of uphill and I didn't feel quite rested, but felt better in the 1/2 half of the interval.

7 - 3:06, felt good

8 - 3:08 still felt good!

So I felt good about the workout overall.  I need to work on starting my middle intervals faster, but only went over my target of 3:15 once and that was by one second.  I guess next time (perhaps in two weeks) I will be doing 10x800m on the road. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
8.153.000.000.000.000.000.0011.15

Ran down Payson Canyon.  Before deciding to go I ran downhill by my home a couple of times to make sure my knee could handle it.  Yesterday I started to feel some tenderness in one knee, not while running but after.  I couldn't feel the knee so decided to do the run.

From the start my legs felt sore, probably from Saturday's 20.8, Monday's hill repeats, then yesterdays 8x800 workout.  I just took the run nice and easy, staying in the back of the pack.  My average pace down was 7:28, with three miles 7:05 or faster. 

I felt fine except for sore legs.  I had an ice bath when I got home and plan to pop some ibuprofen.  I'll need to take it easy tomorrow so that hopefully I won't have dead legs for my race on Saturday (I am doing Top of Utah 1/2 marathon).

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
5.150.000.000.000.000.000.005.15

Easy run, my legs were very sore from Thursday.  I shouldn't have done the Payson Canyon downhill run yesterday for optimal performance on the half marathon tomorrow, but I wanted to train through this so I guess my legs are ok being a little sore.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Race: Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:28:42, Place overall: 8, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
3.400.0013.100.000.000.000.0016.50

I ran about a mile before the race at a very slow pace to wake my legs up.  Had Ibuprofen before the race because my legs are still sore.  I did some good stretching.  I met a couple of guys that are on the blog.  It's always nice to meet people face to face.

The Top of Utah is a great race, superior to Hobble Creek because there were plenty of buses toward the end and plenty of bathrooms at the top, and even bathrooms along the route (fortunately I didn't need one, but just knowing it is there is comforting). 

My low level goal was to be under 7 minute pace.  My higher goal was to break 1:30, which meant being quite a bit under 7 minute pace.  I didn't think that I could beat my best ever 1/2, 1:28:51 at 2006 Hobble Creek just because the course is not as down hill.

My strategy was to be at about 6:45 for the first 6-7 miles so that I could use that under 7 minute pace time on the remainder flat miles if I needed to go slower than 7 minute pace, so that I could average 7 minute pace or better.

1 - 6:40 this was a good start, but I could feel the jolt of starting into a fast pace, it took a couple of miles to feel comfortable

2 - 6:50

3 - 6:40

4 - 6:47

5 - 6:36

6 - 6:40 I took 1/2 a gu at 5.5 miles

7 - 6:30 last good downhill mile, got flat after this mile

8 - 7:01

9 - 6:54

10 - 7:00

11 - 6:56 feeling tired but strong.  This mile had some uphill in it, at this point I knew if I stayed strong I would break 1:30

12 - 7:24 suckiest mile, there was some uphill, sun in your face (thus sweat in my eyes).  I was headed for a 7:40 at first but just told myself if I could finish with a split of under 7:30 I would have a good time, so the second half of mile 12 was faster than the first half

13 - 6:36 crested the hill and went downhill.  I think I could have pushed this last mile about 10 seconds faster but just didn't feel like it at the time.  I was happy to decrease my time so much from the prior uphill mile.  I guess I was still a little weak.

.1 not sure, I measured the course a little short (13 miles and 89 feet).  They had the timer right at the corner and I stopped at the timer, only to see the finish line around the curve ahead about 10 yards away, this probably added a couple of seconds.

So the course is not as fast as Hobble Creek, but I ran it faster!  And with sore legs!  This is an overall 1/2 marathon PR for me and I am very happy with it overall.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
10.040.000.000.000.000.000.0010.04

My goal was to do a 10 mile recovery run after the 1/2 marathon Saturday.  I have never really considered that "recovery" and "10 miles" could describe the same day, but since my mileage has been high for the last month or two, and I see the big dogs (yes that's you, all you guys who are always on the top mileage boards) doing that many miles or more each day, I thought it could work.

I think it did.  The first mile my legs were pretty tired, but they alternated between feeling tired and feeling good throughout the run.  My legs felt sore before the workout, but not as sore as last week after the speed one day then downhill Payson Canyon the next.  They never fully recovered for the Saturday race, so my legs feel better as I walk around today than they have since last Tuesday. 

The average pace for the 10 miles was 8:36.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
6.250.004.000.000.000.000.0010.25

Had to workout alone. Warmed up 3 miles then started into mile repeats.  My legs are still a little tired from the 1/2 marathon Saturday, but they were ok.  During my warm up I headed out for the farm roads, but it was pitch dark at 5:20 still and I got spooked by dogs barking who seemed to be approaching me and I couldn't see them so I turned around.  I stayed on Salem Canal road for the rest of the run.  I don't like running so much in the dark.  So I picked a mile on the Canal that I could do both directions.  My goal was to be 6:40 - 6:45 each mile.

1 - 6:44 going east, felt the 1/2 marathon in my legs as I got started

.5 mile rest

2 - 6:33, going west felt better on #2, which seems common

.25 mile rest and potty break

3 - 6:41 going east, I was happy to break the time from the first mile

.52 mile rest

4 - 6:46, heart breaking because I felt like I was going hard enough to break it, I thought I was going to be a couple of seconds faster.  This mile I had a hard time getting to the correct pace, and it felt hard to keep it once I got there.  I was close but off!!!

Ran just over 2 miles cooldown. 

So although I was sad to not be 6:45 or faster on the last one (can anyone say A-type personality?) overall I was happy to be able to do a speed work out on my own in the dark.  I would have waited until Wednesday to do speed, but my hubby needs me back early tomorrow so I won't be able to get in as many miles.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
5.332.000.000.000.000.000.007.33

Had to run early this morning and get back early because my husband had a meeting to get to this morning. 

I was very surprised that I was able to hook up with different fast runners throughout the run.  This was good because I only had an hour to run. 

Ended up with a couple of miles under 7:30 and 8:02 overall pace. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
7.585.001.000.000.000.000.0013.58

Was planning on running down Payson Canyon with three miles fast (below 6:45), but we ended up not having a driver up so we had to run up and then down Payson Canyon, with the Boy Scout camp as the turn around. 

Going up the first four miles were pretty easy slow (9:05, 8:49, 8:36, 8:41).  The fifth mile going up the canyon gets steeper and I pulled away from the group to try to do that mile hard.  I obviously didn't do the uphill at tempo pace, and when I do it's that fifth mile that is hard for me.  I ran the fifth mile in 8:38, which is actually faster than my last split for that mile during a tempo run.  I then had a slower .44 to the top (9:20 pace) and another .37 of circling around while waiting for the others to be ready to head down.

I told Mark when we started down, "I'm going to try to run this first mile under 7 minute pace since the first mile is the only serious downhill."  Well, I didn't see him much after that, but started seeing more runners coming up, including our own prodigal son, Tom Lee.   I ran that first mile in 6:00, I think my first 6 flat mile in 9 years, even when considering downhill (and this obviously was downhill).  I continued to push the second mile down but it was flatter and my split was 6:45.  After two miles down I knew I would slow if I didn't have company so I looped back for Mark who was running awesome, and we ran 6:46, 6:53 miles together.  He pulled away on the third mile and I had a 7:01 split for that one (dang, that sucks to be just over 7 minutes).  Once we got down to the bottom I tacked on another couple of slow miles (around 9 minutes). 

Overall, had 13.58 miles in 1:49 (8:02 ave pace)

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
8.001.000.000.000.000.000.009.00

Ran the Payson Canyon 10K route and continued west into the foothills to tack on more mileage.  Ran a varied pace, but over all it was 8:30, with a 9:05 first mile and one in the lower 7's in the middle, so I'm going to chalk that up as a marathon pace mile. 

The 10K course is very flat, which surprised me.  It goes through farm land to the west of the city.  I am happy about the flat nature because it should make it a great fast tempo run with Tom on Monday.  There is a slight uphill for the last mile, but I will try to forget that real soon.  I think a 6:45 pace for the 10K is doable but will be quite hard for me since I have been focusing on the marathon training -- lots of miles (at least by my standards) and tempos and speed geared toward the marathon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
209.0030.2533.104.000.000.000.00276.35
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
Recent Comments: