Relentless

AM - 11.25 Mall/AC/DI.  Worked my legs and hip over with the foam roller last night and I felt a bit better.  The harder workouts and higher mileage has cause my hip flexor to start acting up again, so I need to be smart about it and really take care of it for the next month until I can back off and let it heal up again.  (Kinvara3 265)

The final numbers are in - I ran 490 miles in January and drove 138 (in the Jeep).  

AM - 16.5 Dirt Mile Tempo. Up pretty early, as usual, to get done before heading over to the Mr. PVHS fundraiser - where my daughters all threw down 1 mile PR's by the way (Rylee, 11, 5:55, first sub 6!; Pyper, 9, 7:15, Laney, 6, 9:17, first race all by herself, and no walking!). Anyway... My stuff - plan was to run a series of tempos with progressing speeds. Decided to run it on the Dirt Mile to save me time not driving down to the River Trail, but ended up costing me time in my workout because it was dark and even with a light it was hard to see and I stumbled multiple times, plus the dirt is slower - but softer, so that is nice. Warmed up around King's Row for about 3. Then 20 minutes - goal pace was 5:35-:40, hit it in :42, just a little slow and I wondered if I could complete the workout. Mile recover between each set. 15 minutes - goal was originally 5:25-:30, adjusted goal was 5:35, got :36. Felt very good for short bursts and was really moving, but then would struggle to bring me back a little. 10 minutes - goal sub 5:25, got 5:26. Stomach was acting up pretty bad. I hate to say it out loud because I don't want the body/mind to give into it, but I have a touch of the flu that has hit the family again this week. Luckily made it through the rep and took care of things. 5 minutes - goal get as close to a mile as possible. Decided to just push out a mile at as best I could. Ended up at 5:10. The sun was starting to come up and I could finally see and it made a big difference (and of course, obviously going shorter). But I was pleased to end the workout well, make it through the workout near my goals, and be able to let my stomach settle. Sort cool down back home. (Last Ohana 416.25)

Week was about as solid as I could hope for.

Goals for next week: same mileage, around 110. A similar tempo workout Weds. with a 30, 20, 10, 5 minute set if I am feeling well, and a good long run on Saturday ending with a 5K with Rylee.

AM - 11.5 GS/AC/Lutheran.  Didn't feel like a very long sleep last night, so I was dragging at first and had to move it down GS to make it to practice on time.  (Connect 473.5)

afternoon - 6 2xHarts/home.  Usual Monday stuff where I don't get much in, but get to watch some amazing runners do their thing in workouts.  Also hit weights today.  (Free 751.45)

AM - 10 PV/AC/Lutheran.  I like to get a little extra sleep on Tuesdays if I can because it is usually a later night with church stuff.  So I slept in 15 minutes today and still got a decent morning in.  (Oregon 548.75)

afternoon - 8 Icehouse.  Up the monster hill on the Icehouse trail with the team.  Then ran home from the top of Green Springs.  (Boston 972.75)

AM - 10.25 Clyde's. With Clyde for thirst time in a month or so - good to have the old guy around. Thoroughly exhausted this morning, but still got up. (Stratus grey 1072.35)

afternoon - 20 River Tail - Tempo. Started off with a 30 minute tempo with the team. Mike and I hit 5:37, which was where I wanted to start and right in his range. Unfortunately my watch battery was dead and I had to keep bugging him for pace info. I jogged back toward the girls and Travis let me borrow his watch to finish up my workout - which was an extended version of the one I did Saturday (instead of 20/15/10/5 minutes of tempo, I was going 30/20/10/5. The workout went well. Sometimes I thought I was pushing too hard because the watch was set for pace and seemed to be reading pretty fast (during a tempo like this I like to have it set for lap pace and let it run the whole set for an average). So anyway it kept fooling me and throwing me off a bit, but I was very happy to have something to go by. Then other times I felt great and felt I could move along for hours at the pace - I guess that is the eventual goal. 20 minute set was in 5:30 ave. Then after a mile recover, 10 minute was at 5:22 ave. I felt pretty tired and didn't want to "go to the well" so to speak, and thought about just calling it. But then I convinced myself that a mile wouldn't do too much harm. S I got going for the 5 minute set. The watch was reading 4:45 and I knew I wasn't going that quick. It took about half of the time to get the legs to get into a flow and then I felt good. Finished strong (but not too strong) with a 5:02. Cooled back to school. Happy the workout is over - maybe the hardest I've ever done for marathon prep. Distances covered were something like (but just kind of from memory) 30-5.4, 20-3.5, 10-1.8, 5:02 mile (those might not add up right, but are just kind of numbers that come to my mind. (Rocket 604.5)

AM - 8 Hot Nails/AC/DI.  Snagged a couple of extra minutes of sleep and also cut the last section a mile short so I could get back for a parent/teacher conference (always fun!).  Felt okay this morning.  No soreness, a little fatigue by the end.  Mostly it will set in throughout the day I am sure.  Gives me an excuse to chill a little though for a couple days and run more with the girls.  (Landreth blue 890.4)

afternoon - 7 Old Mans.  Went out to the hill and ran a bit with the girls.  It was a good workout for them and got me moving a bit - which seems to help work out the kinks without putting too much craziness in there.  Weights after.  (Kinvara 797.9)

AM - 8 Parkway.  Just another shortened up easy run this morning.  The team had the morning off today so it was just me.  Warmer, but windy and lightning out on the horizon - looks like a storm coming in for the weekend.  (Hyper Speed 324.25)

afternoon - 6 Random Mall. Kind of all over as we delivered some flyers, but the mileage turned out perfect as my Hawk-o-meter is really honing in right now (I found out why on Saturday, right Logan!). Tons of laughs with Casey, Mike and Byron today. Then barefoot striders. (Barefoot '13 27)(Zero155.75)

AM - 16 Coral Canyon. Good morning run with Logan. Went out to DATS and then brought it back through Coral Canyon. Glad I decided to use the weekend to recover more. Pushing a big workout today would have been counterproductive I think.

morning - 4.25 Dixie. Ran this fundraiser race with Rylee this morning. I haven't ran a race with her in years,and she is running very well. So I wondered how quick she would go with me running with her. We warmed up for a mile and then chilled until the start. The course was a good fair loop course with gradual long ups and downs that wasn't going to turn in any burner times - and it ended up long also. Ry likes to start a little more conservative and pick people off throughout the run - which we did perfectly. No one passed us the whole race, but we passed many. I was very proud of her. She pushed super hard and got a great time (another PR) even with this cough that she can't seem to get rid of. We passed the 3 mile at 20:55, which really surprised her to be boing quicker than 7 minute pace. Then she finished strong trying to catch this kid that kicked it in the end when he realized an 11 year old girl was about to beat her. Ry ended up as the 2nd girl in the race with a 22:05 (6:53 ave.). (Kinvara3 285.25)

Good week. Particularly happy with Wednesday's workout and had a lot of fun running with Rylee today.

Goals for next week: I think I'll try today's workout on Monday and look for a good time trial of the DogTown 1/2 course on Saturday. Kind of getting excited to taper soon.

AM - 6 AC/Lutheran. With a bigger workout today and needing to drive to school so I could bringRy home, just an easy 6. (Boston 978.75)

afternoon - 20.75 Green Valley. 13 tempo. A little shorter version of the loop I did a few weeks ago. Warmed up for 6 and then got into my tempo. Going up Diagonal the wind was blowing decently against me, so I was excited that it would be helping me at the end when I would be most tired. Goal was to hit 5:40-:45 for 13 miles, which puts me on the slow end of my MP (around 95%). Things were good down through GV, but it was again windy. Coming up the river the wind should have changed, but it never did - it just got stronger. I felt I could have held the pace all day and was just hitting it with minimal effort through 10, but the last three up the river the wind just wore me down and I made a conscience decision to lose time and not stress my body too much fighting the wind. Ave for the first 10 was 5:43, then just over 6:00 for the last three. But still pleased with it. Like my new Adios - they will be my new marathon racers. (adios 20.75)

At the end I was kind of thinking about the race coming up and how much effort/time I have invested in it. In a way I am a bit nervous because of this and I want to do well, but I have also really enjoyed the journey no matter how it turns out. I never thought I would be in my fastest (marathon - even 1/2) shape at age 35 - especially with all that my body has been through. Life is good in many ways.

AM - 8.25 PV/AC/DI. Over to school for practice. Still a bit chilly for what we ere last week. (Connect 481.75)

afternoon - 10.25 River Trail. Ran out with the girls (and some of the boys) on their tempo. They did well. I enjoy running with them even though they might not say the same. Weights then ran home. Ready to be done by the end. (F50 440)

AM - 10.25 Clyde's.  Another chilly run with the Circle.  (Landreth blue 900.65)

afternoon - 8 Fields.  A nice easy run with the boys out into the Fields.  (HyperSpeed 2 265.25)

AM - 6 AC/Lutheran.  Just an easy 6 this morning.  Sleeping in a little has been very nice.  (Free 757.45)

afternoon - 8 x2DI/track.  Ran the warm and cool with the team and on the track while they did their workout.  Lizard came down - good to see her.  (Zero 163.75)

AM - 6 AC/Lutheran.  Another sleeping in and easy run.  Felt great this morning.  Hip has enjoyed this little dip in mileage the last two days.  (Rocket 610.5)

afternoon - 5 Prospector. Nice easy trail run with team on a beautiful afternoon. (VertK 60.5)

AM - 20 DogTown 1/2 Time Trial. Was really bummed a couple months ago when I found out that my hometown half was only a week away from Phoenix. So I planned on running it today to test fitness and for a good workout. I was a little bummed about how it went. Obviously there were a few factors that played into it: 1) it is just very tough to recreate the drive an push needed for a strong race in a time trial - especially a solo effort. 2) Logan had offered to help, but due to a couple things on my part I didn't arrange things and I really could have used him. 3) I was a bit hesitant to really push because although I know I am half PR shape, I am focused on Phoenix and didn't want to do something stupid and jeopardize my opportunity for success in two weeks. Those things being said, I still thought I could not only beat last year's time of 1:10:36, I could PR by going sub 1:09:50 without really even "killing it".

Ran over to the start in Coral Canyon for a 5 mile warm up. I tried to amp myself up a little and get some energy going. The first couple miles are the quickest and I worried if soloing I would be able to amp it up like I needed. I drank my gu/water mix before starting - mostly to practice running with it in my system since I haven't at all since St. George. Got out strong with 1-5:10(5:14 - last year), 2-5:14(5:18) grabbed my other drink I had dropped here on the way out. Wasn't planning on drinking it until 7 like in the marathon. Should have driven out and dropped it off there, but didn't want to take the time/gas, so I just planned on carrying it - ended up bugging me a lot and kind of throwing off my focus/effort more than it should have around miles 6 and 7. 3-5:11(5:22). 4-5:09(5:16) felt good and the miles were flying by. 5-5:14(5:27), so I have gained a good amount of time already and I am not stressing at all. Then back up the river and on each of the hills I kind of fall apart. Lack of focus? 6-5:44(5:36). 7-5:54(5:41) so now I have given a bunch of time back. Looking back on it, I just wasn't pushing hard. 8-5:12(5:15) kind of upset at myself because I know I just cost myself a PR, which wasn't the main goal here but was reachable and would have been a fun side-effect. So I pushed this mile trying to use the downhill and grab back a little time. 9-5:40(5:28) another hill another bad mile. 10-6:01(5:53) this is the biggest hill of the course and it comes at a hard time, but again I was just running, not in it mentally. 11-5:44(5:19) last year I knew Clyde was hunting me down and I burned the backside of the hill, this time I just kind of trotted. This is the mile that really cost me. I even really thought about just calling it a workout and being done so I slowed for a tenth or so. Then I kind of yelled at myself and said that this is really the meat of this workout, I need to push and practice running hard when physically and mentally weak not back off and be a baby. So tried to get going again. 12-5:31(5:21). 13-5:30(5:22). Finish-ended with a 1:11:09(1:10:35)... Lost a little here in the last couple miles, as last year I really worked these ones to distance Clyde. But at least I brought them back to marathon effort without too much trouble.

So... Whatever. It's done, some good, some bad. Maybe I will find a half in late spring that I can really race and focus on getting a PR. (Adios 40.75)

Good week. Body is feeling rested, but still kept mileage where I want it and got a couple good runs in.

Goals for next week: Mileage down to 80, have a good tempo next Saturday as I run the real 1/2 with some of the kids (don't get sucked into trying to race and win it or something stupid).

morning - 13 Prospector.  Planned on hitting 15 on the trail and then did some math and decided to go just a little shorter.  Real nice run this morning.  Love that trail.  Took the dog around at the very end.  (VertK 73.5)

AM - 6 PV/AC.  Ran to school and then the usual morning practice run.  Trying not to get sick.  (Stratus grey 1078.35)

afternoon - 7 2xDI/home.  Feeling exhausted today - not from running, but from life.  (Oregon 555.75)

AM - 6 AC/Lutheran.  Had to sleep in.  Body and mind required it.  So I missed the Circle run and just hit a usual morning in the rain.  (Connect 487.75)

afternoon - 8 2xDogPound.  Ran once with the team on an easy recovery run.  Then we hit the weight room.  Then I went back out and ran it again with a quicker pace.  Didn't time it, but effort was at Tinman or a little quicker throughout.  Mostly just wanted to kind of get some of the junk out of the legs and maybe break out of the funk I am feeling lately.  Have been sleeping in just a little and trying to beat this little cold I have in my throat and head.  Keeping it easy too, just to try and let myself get feeling better.  (Rocket 618.5)

AM - 6 AC/DI.  Another run of the same.  Added a bit on to DI to hit the 6.  (Boston 984.75) 

afternoon - 8 2xDI/track.  Just running around as the team ran their workout.  (Kinvara3 273.25)

AM - 6 AC/Lutheran.  Same stuff as usual.  (Kinvara 803.9)

afternoon - 8 Grass/Sandbergs. Barefoot on the grass felt great. Then an easy 3 with the team, followed by striders. (Barefoot '13 32)(Triumph silver 835.05)

morning - 17.25 DogTown 1/2. Maybe just a touch too much this morning, but it just kind of happened. Did a very short warmup with Logan and Scott. I planned on running a couple 2 mile sections at tempo and then just whatever else throughout. started off with Logan and Seth Wold for the first two miles. Hit right around 5:30 for both and was feeling super easy - just like it should. Wished them good luck and peeled off. Ran for a bit with the JP, Stoner and Mia for a recover mile and then hit another section through the canyon and back up the first part of the river (miles 4 and 5). I may have gone a bit quick here, but I truthfully was not pushing one bit (both miles came in under 5:00). Ran with Matt for a bit to help him go pick off a guy and then started a third set of 2 at tempo. Decided to do this to work and catch back up to the rest of the boys. These were miles 7 and 8 (up and down the Dam Rd.). Last week I really struggled on the hills; today I felt so much better and hit the Dam hill in 5:30 and down the other side in a good split also. I had worked up to Abel and Jason by the end of this one, but couldn't close the last 30 meters without picking up the pace too much, so I just chilled behind them and yelled from there as they turned to go up Majestic. I skipped this section and went to catch Mike for the final bit. at the turn around, I saw all the other boys doing very well and also Seth and Logan pushing to very good runs. Jumped in with Mike and helped him pick it up for nearly 2 more miles at mid 5:20 place (I think 5:25). So I actually hit 4x2 miles at MP. Then I ran in with most everyone on the team and made them sprint it a bit to practice finishing kick (always coaching!). Finished all this with running the last 2 or so with Ally. (Mana 304.5)

One more week down. Enjoyed resting a little. Don't like the feeling of feeling flat from cold and taper. S it was good to have a little workout today.

Well... Here we go. The week is here. Goals for the week: stay/get healthy in this sick infested home, school and world. I'll through a little bit of something quick in this week, probably Tuesday. And just try and be happy about whatever is given to me on Saturday (and maybe try and take just a little more!).

AM - 5 Target. Varsity milers joined me for a bit more this morning.  Felt great.  (Free 765.45)

afternoon - 5 Green Springs.  Easy 4 followed by barefoot striders.  (Zero 167.75)(Barefoot '13 33)

AM - 6.25 Target.  Out past Target this morning  with 2xmile on the way back.  Hit around LT pace effort.  Body wasn't sure what the heck I was doing at first, but slowly got going.  (Hyper Speed 2 271.5)

afternoon - 4.5 Grass/Hot Nails.  Mile and a half on the grass with Tyson and Mike; good to catch up with Tyson - had a good laugh when he wiped out after catching his toe.  Then Hot Nails easy with the team.  (Barefoot '13 34.5)(Stratus grey 1081.35)

AM - 4 2xDI.  Team had a Kosmin test this morning, so I just ran the warm and cool with them.  It was exceptionally cold this morning for being nearly March.  (Hyper Speed 328.25) 

AM - 5 AC/DI.  Feeling good.  Want to get it going.  Woke up at Ally's alarm and couldn't go back to sleep; just way too much running through the mind.  (F50 445)

Jeep mileage for Feb. 150

Running Mileage: 374.75