Training in Montana

Off day. 20 pushups while waiting for the shower to warm up. Walked from the basement to the 10th floor in my office building just now to get the tired bugs out. Need to do that more now that I'm off caffeine.

Nice run today, perfect temps (38 to 44). Ran from home to the Y then did a 7 mile loop. Felt pretty good. Tried gummy bears for my nutrition and worked OK. Stomach a teeny bit upset, more than gels and jelly beans but our Wal-Mart no longer sells gels or jelly beans and I don't want to spend a bunch on them. Will have to find them online.

AP 9:34. Splits 9:55, 9:09, 9:16, 8:51, 9:35, 9:47, 9:54, 9:53, 9:37, 9:38, 9:34, 9:26, 9:35, 9:26, 9:17 (last .5). Avg HR 141; Max HR 157.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/76712852

Nice & easy 2.9 miles today. A bit windy but nice enough for shorts, which is awesome. I need some new black tights - my royal blue 10 yr old tights are ugly as crap but I can't see spending $ when what I have works fine. But I'm sure my kids wouldn't claim me if I wore them with them around. AP 9:30, Avg HR 145, Max HR 164, Elevation up 335, down 365.

1:30 plank, 1:00 side planks, 1:00 bicycles, 15 pushups (+ 20 this morning). Squats, shoulder raises, and curls also.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/77262019

4 mile tempo run. I wanted to keep an 8:30 average to see if I can hold that in my upcoming 18.6 mile race. I'm doubtful, but I'll try. It's easy for me to keep a 9:30 pace on my long runs, so knocking a minute off that easy pace might be possible.

The high school track is on my typical route so I headed inside after a brief warmup to see if I could train my legs what an 8:30 pace was. I'm glad I have a GPS watch for that as it was tough to keep it to 8:30. I'd either go faster or slower, but it worked out. Ran 1 mile on the track, then headed back to the roads for a bit. The watch says I only gained 94 feet but it looked like a lot! Glad my race is mostly all downhill. Up the hill I kept it mostly at 8:30ish but after turning around it picked up to a 7:30 or so mile. I can't sustain that for long but feels good to run "fast", which in the 7's is fast for me.

AP: 8:22, Avg HR 155.

2.75 easy miles today. Squats, shoulders, curls X 3. 2:00 plank, 1:00 side planks, 1:00 bicycles, 20 pushups.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/77607048

4.55 mile tempo run with a .4 warmup first. Tried to make my average pace 8:30 but I'm having a hard time doing that. Ended up faster than that. I tried to do my uphill part at 8:45 then planned 8:15 for the downhill. I think my uphill was a bit shorter than down as I made it quicker than planned. 36 degrees out with a light drizzle that faded.

AP 8:13, Avg HR 154, Max HR 171.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/77778763

5.3 by myself this morning, AP 8:44, then hurried home and the whole crew (minus oldest sleeping over son) went to a 5K run/walk. We started with the walkers 30 minutes early and walked the first bit then my wife and 5 year old daughter stayed behind while I gently jogged with the 9 and 7 year old boys. We ran most of the rest of the way, taking 30 second walk breaks only a few times. AP 13:03, total 5K time 40:19. And the best part is the boys had a blast and thought running was fun! Wahoo - I hope my kids like to run and start to join me on my shorter runs. I have to figure that one out. How do you all get your kids involved in your runs? Have them meet you somewhere on your run for a little bit? Run with them afterwards? Haven't done much to figure that out but I'd love to make it a family affair.

3.8 mile run, supposed to be easy, but it felt really good in after a mile or so and I realized I was running in the mid 7s and my HR was about 155. Beautiful outside - 63 F - and a bit of a wind so running without winter clothes must have sped me up. Plus didn't run super long Saturday so the legs were very fresh. The last 0.3 miles or so I let it go to see how long I could sustain a kick. I kept it under a 6 minute mile for the last 90 seconds or so, definitely at the top end of my range.

AP 8:05, splits 9:14, 8:14, 7:48, 6:48 (0.79 miles).

Did weights afterwards. 3X12 lunges (12lb bells), 3X8 shoulders (12lb), 3X10 curls (25lb). 1:00 bicycles, 1:00 plank, 25 pushups.

5 fartlek miles, 1/2 warmup, cool down. Never done fartlek before and I have to say, I think I like it! I also love my GPS watch, although it takes forever to find satellites when I walk out of the YMCA to run. Must be the satellites from the TV station next door or something. Anyhow, I did a little warmup, finally got the GPS working, and headed out. My first up tempo run was up a small hill at the park. Not bad. Then jogged a bit, then ran faster than normal up an incline, from one street to the next. Walked and cooled down then jogged, and ran fast to a mailbox in the distance. Felt really good. Jogged for quite a ways, then ran fast from 17th St. to 13th St., about 3 minutes, and kept my pace in the 6's. I then jogged a ways more and did my last fast run from the golf course entrance to the stop lights. Coasted back to the park, then walked most of the 0.5 back to the Y. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/78844293

1:00 plank, 30 pushups (plus 30 this morning).

Easy run today, just ran from my house to the main road and back before work this morning.

AP 9:00 or so. Taper to my April 23rd 30K in St. George. Dreading the 14 hour drive...

4.38 mile tempo run plus warmup/cool down. Gusts of 35 MPH, thankfully not straight on, but angling head on. Felt good. Tried to keep at an 8:30 and did okay going up hill and into the wind but sped up too much with no wind and slight downhill. Need to keep working on that. Ended with 1/2 mile on the track to get in my miles.

AP 8:10; splits 8:28, 8:15, 8:09, 7:48, 8:15 (0.38). Avg HR 154, Max HR 166.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79200635

The plan had me running 6.2 but I stayed up late Friday night and couldn't wake up early Saturday. Had to forego the run to build a chicken coop. Got it mostly done before guests arrived at 6 PM. I am slower at building stuff than I am running, and that's saying something.

Nice easy run today. Cool outside with snow in the forecast, but felt good, and the cold kept most people inside the gym so it was peaceful. AP 9:48, Avg HR 140.

Treadmill miles. Snowing today (happy birthday to me) and didn't want to get wet through the puddles so ran inside for the first time in a while. Warmed up for .35 or so then did my 3.7 tempo run. Stayed at 7.1 mph with a 2 incline. Didn't wear HR monitor so don't know, but I got warm and wished I was wearing a sleeveless shirt even though they look stupid. I was too hot and no fans nearby so did the dorky thing and hiked up my shorts sleeves to uncover my shoulders. I ran much cooler even though I looked like a wannabe sleeveless shirt guy. Oh well. When I was nearly done my wife texted to say she was on her way to pick me up, so I hurried and finished & showered and she took me to Jimmy Johns for my birthday. Yum. Hadn't been there before, new one opened downtown, and their bread rocks. Great sandwich & pickle, but could do without the friendliness. Creepy when you walk in and everyone behind the counter says hi. Creepy! After work will pack the car then head out tomorrow at 4 AM for the 14 hour 15 minute drive to St. George. Red Mountain 30K - here I come!

Short slow run to keep the legs warm. Ran on the St. George river trail - gorgeous. I would love to have a trail like that at home. Looking forward to hanging out in St. George then the run Saturday morning.

My first race report so bear with me. I'm kind of all over the place & a bit long winded.

The goal: I was hoping to run an 8:30 pace, but I wasn't sure I could do it. I had done 8:30 on my tempo runs and it felt good but not great. I'd only done one long run of 15.5 and I averaged a 9:30 pace for that. I was confident in my core workouts though, which was new for me in the past 3-4 months.

The organization: The Red Mountain 50/30K was a great small race. I did the 30K which only 45 of us ran, so not sure about the 50K but it seems like a well organized event. The aid stations were awesome - tons of gu, Heed drink, and lots of other goodies, and the volunteers were helpful. So now the actual race.

The prep: It rained on the car as we drove to the busses so it didn't seem promising, but it held off for the rest of the day. We boarded a couple school busses and at the appointed time headed to the starting point. Got there and 4 portapotties awaited, which was perfect for 45 of us. It was a bit chilly but I had on a long sleeve shirt and that worked great. I used the john a couple times, added more body glide, got in a decent warmup, then put my long sleeve shirt away in my drop off bag.

The race: We got started on time and headed off. Perfect weather - cloudy with a bit of a breeze. My goal was an 8:30 pace and I did my best to keep that at the beginning, but got talking to a few different people and fell off pace a bit, but that was okay. The first aid station was mile 3 and I stopped and took water and Heed then took off again, feeling good. Not long into the race I realized that I should mentally split the race into three 10K races, and that strategy worked great. My first 10K was about a 55:00 split which I felt great about. Before the second aid station I was starting to feel hungry and really needed to pee. I was glad to see aid station two. Got some Hammer Gel (Montana Huckleberry in honor of my state) and some electrolyte drink and water, peed, then headed off again. I ran a couple miles with a guy who was doing a similar pace, but left him as I wanted to push an 8:10 pace, which I'd been doing for a while and felt good doing. At the third aid station I took more gel and electrolyte, and knew I was nearly halfway done, but that didn't matter - mentally I was nearly done with my 2nd 10K. Just as I neared 12.4 miles, I heard footsteps behind me and wondered who was running so fast - didn't recognize the guy so yelled out "50K?" and he said yes. He was hauling. The 50K started an hour before we did. He's the only one who passed me after the start and he won by a long ways. Knowing that I only had a 10K left was awesome, as I knew the big hills were coming up. I also started reeling in a girl who skipped a couple of aid stations and was way ahead. I passed her at the bottom of the big hill, and went up the hill making good time. At the steepest parts I was doing a 9:30 pace, which I felt great about. Got to the top and hit an aid station. Took more gel and electrolyte and hit the loo for the last time. Another guy ahead of me left before me and I was trying to reel him in. He had to walk after 1/2 mile so I passed by, my last pass. We then had some rolling hills before the last hill. The last aid station was at the bottom of the last hill and I only took a sip of water and poured the rest on my head. I went up the hill feeling good and kept my pace in the 8's. I saw my Dad at the top of the hill and that got my legs going. I passed him doing a 7:30 pace, which felt okay but was a bit too fast. I knew we were close to the finish, but the course forced us to do a big loop before the finish so that messed a bit with my head. I slowed my pace on the stretch of dirt road down to a 9:00. Once we got back on pavement I picked it up. There was a guy ahead of me by 1/4 mile and it was nice to see which direction to take to the park. After making the last turn I picked it up a bit then saw my wife, boys, and nephew looking for me. I waved and told them to go back to the finish line. I got to the park and followed the arrows without knowing how far I had. I sprinted until I realized I still had a ways. My boys were running with me, but I was going at a good pace. When I got close enough to the finish I sprinted and got up to a 4:36 pace for the last bit, then crossed the finish line. I felt great! By my watch, I ran 19.1 miles, not the 18.6 that was advertised. Not sure why the discrepancy. 

The result: Ran a 2:43:36, good enough for 9th overall and 3rd in my age division. AP: 8:35. I was hoping for a 2:40 and just missed that, but I am really happy with the results. I was able to run strong up the hills and I was able to finish strong, which were my two biggest worries. I ran a negative split race which I am stoked about. It was a beautiful day for a run. My thighs are killing me from the hills! It's a good hurt, but stairs are tough to walk down. :)

Splits: 

Mile	Total Time	Cum Time
1	00:08:55	00:08:55
2	00:08:55	00:17:50
3	00:08:16	00:26:06
4	00:08:35	00:34:41
5	00:08:27	00:43:08
6	00:08:28	00:51:36
7	00:09:20	01:00:56
8	00:08:23	01:09:19
9	00:09:51	01:19:10
10	00:08:12	01:27:22
11	00:08:18	01:35:40
12	00:08:58	01:44:38
13	00:07:53	01:52:31
14	00:08:16	02:00:47
15	00:09:57	02:10:44
16	00:07:59	02:18:43
17	00:07:57	02:26:40
18	00:08:14	02:34:54
19	00:07:54	02:42:48
20	00:01:05	02:43:53

Garmin Report: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81053674

Raining and windy outside so treadmill today. I probably shouldn't be running yet as my quads are still really really sore, but I had to get in some miles. Started out real slow, at a 4.2 to get warmed up, then after a bit moved to a 5.0 for a while, then 6.0 and topped at a 6.5. Bumped it to a 7.1 for a few seconds but quickly backed down as my legs aren't ready to run faster. Afterwards I did some curls and tricep work. Planned to do some planks but that lasted 30 seconds as my quads were screaming. Didn't realize how much leg work goes into planks. I'll wait a few days and let the muscles rebuild before doing more strenuous stuff.

Beautiful day outside. Too bad my legs are still dead from the weekend race. Went real slow and felt okay but definitely not good. Will keep going slowly and may take a few days off.

Took the last couple days off as I'm tired and lacking motivation. I guess it's the post-race blues coupled with the post-vacation blues. I haven't not felt like running in so many months that it's kind of freaking me out. Got a good night's rest last night (fell asleep watching TV, which never happens) and I should be up for a nice long run tomorrow. It was interesting going a couple days when I wasn't even interested in looking at running magazines. I normally devour them.

Went running with a friend who's been struggling with her runs. She did a 30K last June and is training for it again but couldn't mentally get past 6 miles, so we did 8. During the run she was still struggling so we switched to the Galloway 4:1 run/walk. It worked well for her - I think she'll start doing that. We also figured that her recent dead legs may be due to a medication she switched since last year's run.

It was a chilly morning, 32 with 20 mph wind gusts. Felt great during the run but had a hard time warming up afterwards, but I think I was just psyching myself out of going outside again to finish the chicken coop. It was a long windy day.