Running For Trevor

AM #1:  5 miles along the Orchard loop

AM #2:  Track with Izzy.  Jogged 1 mile, walked 1 mile.

TAPER, RUN EASY, TAPER, RUN EASY, TAPER, TAPER, TAPER

I'll gladly except your friendly reminders. :)

Payson Onion Days 10k Tomorrow morning. (Just after I told the world I was going to taper and run easy....haha)  The 10k will basically be my last tempo workout before the marathon.  Clearly I am not specifically trained for a 10k, and I hate the course, and those are both excuses....  Realistically I should be able to run a 41-41:30 minute 10K with out going all out and risking doing anything stupid.  I am basically putting no pressure on myself because in the grand scheme of things this 10k is just another workout for me in prep for TOU!

Payson Onion Days 10k this morning.  I really do love these small town races and even though this course gets in my head because I run it basically daily I was excited to see what I could do.  This was my 3rd time running this race and I knew I was capable of a huge course PR.  My first year (first 10k ever) I ran 48:xx, last year 43:52, and I was secretly hoping to keep the 4 minute course PR trend alive...

I jogged up to the start from my house 2.25 miles.  Found Rachel at the start and picked up my packet.  I had written some silly goal splits on my hand and showed them to Rachel before the start.  She told me to just go out hard and see what happened.  I know that it is a positive split course (which I suck at) but I needed to practice running a positive split race in prep for TOU so I just decided what the heck.  I tucked behind Jen, Jane, and Kim and maintained my position for the remainder of the race.  6:11, 6:18, 6:26, 6:22, 6:39, 6:30, 5:59 for the final .23.  I definitely started out way too fast for me but I also proved to myself that I'm capable of holding it together.  This was a good race for me and a huge 10k PR!  Maybe after TOU I will focus more on these shorter distance races.  I actually felt really good & strong today and never even had that I want to puke my guts out feeling.  I just focussed on running a controlled effort and think overall I ran a smart race. 

Just a 1 mile cooldown jog and then my parents gave me a ride back to my house.

PM:  Just 1 mi with the pup.  It is still just too hot for her.  9:30 pace

8 miles easy Santaquin Orchard Loop.  It is starting to feel like fall in the mornings.

I am not very sore from the 10k yesterday but still took it really easy.

20 minutes upper body weights. 

PM:  2 miles easy 

brrrr when did it all of a sudden go from hot to cold in the mornings?  I'm going to have to pull the gloves out here soon. :(  7.2 miles along the typical orchard loop.  Started slow and naturally picked it up a little throughout the run.  Felt great this morning for some reason and finished with a 6:51 mi that felt smooth and easy.

15 minutes working on my massive muscles...

PM:  2 miles easy, planks & pushups.  So cold in the morning so hot in the afternoon...I'm getting confused!

6.5 miles easy Santaquin Orchard Loop.  Naturally picked up the pace towards the end of the run.  I am actually loving the extra half hour of sleep I am getting this week.  My body was ready for this cut back.

Still debating the SF 5k on Sat.  My left hamstring bothers me when I run fast and lengthen my stride and I just don't want to do anything stupid.  I'll most likely wait until Sat morning to decide on the race.

PM:  2 miles easy with the puperoni.

First time in such a long time that my alarm did not go off and I did not naturally wake up.  I finally woke up when I noticed there was light outside....6:50am  Glad I'm tapering! :)

7 miles on my favorite orchard loop.  I threw in some strides to test out the hamstring and everything felt okay as long as I kept it controlled and my form in check.  My hamstring only bothers me when I sprint and overstride which I shouldn't be doing anyway.

I will likely jump in on the 5k tomorrow.  For $15 I think it is worth a good workout (even if it is just a tempo) and I am confident that I am smart enough to reel things in at the first sign of pain.  The marathon is the goal race and the 5k is just a tune up to stay sharp. 

PM:  jogged for 10 min with Izzy.  Such a nice night! 

Whoa how did that happen?  I'll write more later but I am very pleased with the sub-19 and new 5k PR! :)

Alright I wrote a long report yesterday and my computer died on me twice so here we go again.  Luckily you'll get a shorter version.  I signed up for this race Friday night after waffling back and forth about whether to run it.  2 races in 1 week?  hamstring bothering me a bit?  I finally just decided to go for it and run it smart.  I knew that if I didn't overstride the hammy would be fine.  Friday night before I went to bed I quickly looked up the pace for sub-19 and then I proceeded to throw up in my mouth.  Having done no real SW in the past few months (because of the hammy and marathon training I've stuck to tempos) I really didn't think I could even run 800 meters that fast. 

I got to the race early and ran the course as a warmup.  I like to do this because I am OCD and like to know exactly what I'm up against.  I did some strides and felt pretty good.  I was so happy to see Melody at the start.  This was a very small 5k and I was worried about having to pace myself but when I saw Melody I knew it would be beneficial for me. 

Mile 1:  Melody and a group of about 5-6 guys started out in front and I positioned myself right behind them.  I felt good and went through the first mile in 6:01.  This mile was really flat with a few turns.

Mile 2:  This mile was the toughest with some gradual uphill and the turn around point that slowed me down just a bit.  I caught all of the guys in this mile and ran it in 6:10.

Mile 3:  This mile was a complete suckfest and I just did my best to keep Melody in sight.  I honestly did not look at my garmin the entire race because seeing 5's flashing on it just completely freaks me out.  So I just let Melody do the pacing and pushed to keep her in sight.  There was a small hill at 2.8 and I grinded up it as fast I could 6:04.  I am incapable of doing math while moving fast and had no idea how close I was to sub-19 so I just ran as fast as I could finishing the final .1 in 32 seconds 5:10 pace.

I was completely in shock and elated when I stopped my watch and saw my time.  What the heck I truly couldn't believe it!  It was really good for me to prove to myself that I was capable of more than I gave myself credit for.  A big breakthrough race for me and I am very happy with how things turned out.  Spanish Fork Running group put on a great event and the course measured exactly 3.11 right on!  After the race I cooled down 3 miles with Melody and Brandon (who rocked the half marathon) and then got to hang out with Teena, her daughter Sophie (who placed 6th overall female), her husband Ryan, and Smooth and her husband Larry.  It was a great morning surrounded with great company!

Final Thoughts:  The limitting factor for me yesterday was a lack of training at my VO2 max effort.  Physically my legs felt great but my breathing was definitely labored because I simply am not used to running that fast.  I really think I can add 50 seconds per mile to the time from yesterday 6:53-6:58 and hold that pace for TOU this Saturday. 

PM:  2 miles jogging with the pup.