Dare to be great!

Went out this afternoon after work. It was quite windy, 1.5 warm up then 2x1 mile repeats @ 6:40 pace, with a 2 minute recovery in between. I am guessing this is about my 10K pace about now, or hopefully it will be in a month or so. Finished with a 1.5 mile cool down. I don't know if it was the wind or what but I had a hard time getting my breathing under control. I'm glad I got out when I did.

Met up with the Fleet Feet running group to run the course for the Shamrock Half Marathon located in Saratoga Springs.  It is a loop course with a fair amount of hills.  I felt pretty good during the run, kept it easy until about the last 3 miles. last 3 7:20,7:09,6:45/ Average pace for the run 8:03. 

I ran this race last year and plan of doing it again this year.  It will be interesting to see where my fitness is this year compared to last. 

Went to the local track again this morning.  1.5 warm up then 10 x 400 with a recovery lap in between.  Kept my laps right about 93 this morning.  .5 cool down.  Felt pretty good, I felt bad about missing my run yesterday, pesky work.  It was either run late at night then get up at 4 to head to the track, or be a slacker and try to get a good workout in this morning. 

Ran around the hood this morning. Recovery pace, nice and easy. Felt good to get out.

Went to the gym to run on the treadmill this morning. Got a new work car last night and when I tried to leave at 5:15, it's alarm went off and it took probably a minute to shut it off. I'm sure my neighbors are happy with me.

1.5 mile warm up at 8:49 pace then 3 x 1 mile repeats at 6:39 pace with a 2 minute jog in between. 1.5 mile cool down at 8:49.

I wanted to run the treadmill to be able to better maintain the pace as I tend to float the pace on the road.

I have to remind myself to trust in my training plan as I tend to compare myself to where I should be in later in the cycle. I just need to focus on my run for that day and not let negative thought enter my head.

I have tried to develop a running/racing mantra the last few weeks. So far I have come up with Focused Fluidity and Power. It is still a work in progress.

Woke up early to run again this morning. It must be a record, 4 days in a row running before work. I have been trying to go to sleep much earlier and it has been nice, even though my wife calls me an old man. Just a easy recovery run around the house this morning. I tried to bundle up a little more to burn off some extra calories, my diet has not been the greatest this week.

After 2 years of planning to run Provo Canyon we finially made it up there for a training run this morning.  We had to take a cut around near the mouth for some construction and up near the Bridal Veils parking lot the trail was covered in ice so we turned around there and headed back.  It sure felt good to head back down with the wind at your back.  We had to go an extra 2.5 past the car to get the full 13.  My legs felt pretty good during the run.  Just ran relaxed until the last 2 then pushed the pace a little bit but not very far out of the comfort level.  AP for the run 8:16

We'll have to run this more in the future.  If the Utah Valley Marathon wasn't a week away from Ragnar I'm sure I would sign up, the canyon would be fun to run down.

Went out again this morning for a jaunt around the neighborhood. 8:19 AP for the run. Finished with 2 sets of hill sprits and one legged hops. Felt pretty good this morning. There is a storm forcasted for tomorrow, hopefully I can get my track workout in somewhere.

Hit the local High School track again this morning.  It was a nice morning to run.  Warmed up 1.5 then did 12x 400 with a recovery lap in between.  Laps were 95,91,92,91,93,92,93,94,93,92,92,92.  Finished the workout with a 1.75 mile cool down.

It was a promising workout, the laps actually felt better the longer I went.  Maybe it was the goo I took was just kicking in, I haven't taken one in weeks. 

Had the day off so I went with Laurel to the gym this morning while the kids were at school.  She headed to the spin class and I hit the treadmills.  1.5 warm up then 4 x 1 mile repeats at 6:39 pace with a 2 minute recovery in between.  The last .5 I bumped it to 6:34.  Finished with a cool down of 1.75

I felt pretty good today, I think the speed work I have been doing has really helped.  Between work and going to a hockey game I did not get a run in yesterday.  There was some ice/snow this morning, but now the sun is shining and looks good outside. 

Nice recovery run around the hood this morning.  Even with taking Wed. off I am set to hit my biggest mileage week yet.  Good times.  I had a hard time logging into this site this morning and yesterday.  I don't know if it was just me or not.  Geez I almost went into withdrawls not being able to log in for a few hours.

Started at the house this morning and headed towards the crossroads then to willow park.  From the park went north on the JRP up and around Camp Williams, then hit redwood and back home.  Pretty nice morning for a run, went with Chet.  My ankles were a bit tight from the higher mileage this week, lungs were fine.  AP for the run 8:25

Made a delicious peanut butter, banana, carrot, and chocolate shake afterwards.  I love my vita-mix.

Roads were all icy this morning so I waited till this afternoon to head out. Just went around the neighborhood. AP 7:51 I hope I am not coming down with a cold. Felt early symptoms this morning, we'll see. My right calf has been tight lately, and somtimes it feels like shin splints. Tried to feel it out on the run today. Hopefully it goes away.

I have a 5k time trial this weekend, so I need to be healthy for that.

Another 5:00 AM track workout by my lonesome. 1.5 warm up then 8 laps at 5k pace with a recovery lap in between. 1.5 cool down. Laps were pretty consistant 94,92,94,94,94,94,93,93

This weekend I am doing a 5k time trial. I hope I can lock in the pace and flow. I can't help but think when it is freezing and dark outside but I am still out there pounding away,it has to pay off.

Kind of a hard run this morning.  It was just an easy recovery run around the house.  I bundled up more than usual to get a sweat going.  I still think I am fighting the start of a cold.  I didn't press the pace at all and kept it slow.  My legs were just feeling tired, and my right leg/knee has still been giving me problems. Hopefully I can kick this soon and get back into a flow. 

Well the plan was to do 3x1 miles at 10k pace.  Went from the house to the only semi flat area around.  1.5 mile warm up. 1st mile repeat at 6:46, 2 minute active recovery then 2nd mile at 6:49.  The last mile felt really hard, probably all the congestion in my lungs and the strong headwind, anyways decided to call it there and just finish off with a couple miles at base pace back to the house.

I hate to not finish what I intended to do, but got to play it smart.  I think I am learning from what others have done of haven't done on this blog.  This week is a recovery week anyway and might as well try to recover.

Jogged over to Chet's house to help him carry up his food storage from the basement.  It was hard but managed to run the quarter mile back home to make it an even .5  Why does my running partner have to move?  My legs need to recover today, they feel heavy and weak, still have congestion, cold symptoms.

Went with Chet to the Draper Trail this morning for our yearly 5K time trial.  Warmed up with him for a mile and a half then finished stretching.  It was pretty windy during the run.  I have been feeling a bit off this week with cold symptoms, so I didn't know what to expect during the run, but I have been training hard the last month of so. 

I guess my math was foggy so early in the morning because the course was off .08 miles.  So the run turned out to be 3.18 miles for me.  Chet started a minute or so before me so I could have a rabbit to chase and he could have someone chasing him. 

The first mile had a fair amount of rolling hills and wind, my split was at 6:32.  I hit my lap button with 1.5 left to go, so my next splits were a bit off.  The next .69 averaged 6:35.  I was still feeling in control here but my pace was not what I was hoping for. I tried to push the pace for the last 1.5 as I have run this stretch in the past a lot before so I knew what to expect. The next mile came in averaging 6:22, with the last .5 at 6:07.

The average pace for the run was 6:25.  If I would have ended at 3.1 the time would have bee 19:54 according to the average time.  I am still processing what to think about this time trial.  I did negative split the course so I am happy about that, and since I ran by myself I guess I did win.  I also beat my time trial last year and it was not a good week to run, so it gives me some confidence going into the year.

Went out this moring by my lonesome and hit the trail.  Went south into the ranches up and around a little loop and headed for home. 7:59 AP for the run.  Felt really good during the run, legs and lungs felt good.  I think the recovery week last week really helped, plus I got some good sleep last night considering I got up a 5am to run.  Should be a great training week.

Finished the run with two sets of hill sprints and running with no arms.

Woke up early this morning and looked out the window.  There was snow on the ground but looked like the roads were fairly clear.  Got on my outside running clothes and planned on heading over to the local high school track.  I opened the front door to leave to see it was still snowing and quite windy....so I wussed out and drove to the gym instead.

1.5 mile warm up then 3 x 1K repeats at 6:22 pace with a 3 minute cool down in between each repeat.  Finished with a 1.5 mile cool down at 8:41 pace.

I was all by myself in the gym and didn't have any music of anything to really keep me occupied.  Treadmills are not my favorite.  

Had some time during the lunch break at work so hit the gym and went 3.5 miles.  I kept it at a relaxed pace and only had 30 minutes.  AP 8:41 1st mile at 1.0 incline the rest at 1.5.  Felt good to get a little sweat going.