We ran

I got Charles to run with me today. What I was doing was finally challenging enough for him to consider me a worthy running partner. I told him that I would like him to stay with me but he could run on ahead if he chose. Mostly he stayed with me. Sometimes he pulled way ahead and then jogged back to me until I caught up. But it ended up being a great workout for me as we run 11.6 miles in 97 minutes with Charles pulling me along. Near the end we had to deal with steep uphill.

I ran

At they gym. 6 miles. It was boring, except Nathan was there complaining I'm a snob cuz I don't write on this blog. So, now I did. And this is two in a row. And it's your turn, somebody. Let's talk about croxx training. I need some cross training motivation, especially if my heart is going to force me to slow down.

I pretty much just study and talk about studying.

what happens when you're too busy to run

This guy came out to look at me. He just stared at me; it was 11:30 at night so I didn't call Nathan. But I really wished I had a treadmill so I could make use of my (resultant) rapid heart rate and get some running in! Now it's Sunday and I just keep eating. And studying all day gives me the munchies. Bad. And not running does the same thing, sigh.

Is Anybody Else Going to Post?

I'll step right up folks and post my run for today, would really like to see what the rest of you are doing:

51F at beginning, 53F at end, 21.00 miles in 3:28:04, average pace 9:55 per mile. This was the goal run I had for last week but didn't make it, so I stubbornly added a half hour to the run and went for it again. It was about 10 degrees cooler and that helped, but I think my training helped too. This run puts me on target for a 4:20 to 4:30 marathon on New Years Day. A good day would be faster than that, but a bad day would be slower. Either way I should beat my St. George time unless heat is a factor, which is always a possibility around here.

When I anxiously peered out the window at 5:00 a.m. it was raining and gusty. That doesn't usually bother me for a shorter run but it gave me pause this morning. I knew my feet would be wet and my shirt heavy by the time I got done. I have a weak mind, what can I say. But I made it out the door and everything went pretty well after I got going. It never rained too hard, but my feet were wet and my shirt was heavy by the time I got done. My splits were:

10:20, 9:25, 9:46, 9:53, 9:59, 9:42, 9:53, 10:00, 9:45, 9:52, 9:53, 9:56, 9:51, 10:00, 9:47, 10:00, 9:56, 10:00, 9:58, 10:03, 10:05.

I learned a lot on this run. I got my hydration and electrolytes working pretty well so I could concentrate on my other systems. By the time I got 2/3 of the way in I was struggling with every mile, but I learned that I could push through when I don't have stomach issues.

Just Another Long Run

Given Stephen's emergence as a world-class marathoner, I am kind of embarrassed to post my humble efforts on this exclusive blog. But somebody has to keep it going, so here goes:

I had kind of a weird run yesterday. It was 56F at start, then 66F at end, so it was getting warm and that was part of the problem. I ran 17.62 miles in 3:00:00, average pace 10:13 minutes per mile. I did not take a heart rate monitor on this one. My one-mile splits were as follows:

10:43, 9:57, 9:49, 9:43, 10:10, 9:54, 9:52, 9:54, 10:03, 10:13, 9:55, 9:56, 10:09, 10:00, 10:12, 11:14, 11:17, 7:00 (.62 miles at 11:20 pace)

I ran 14.5 miles before I broke and started slowing, then after another mile I detoured into the golf course clubhouse for a bathroom break. Golf clubs are kind of exclusive places and it was the Saturday morning rush. The way you pull this off is just walk in like you know what you are doing, streaming sweat and red face like you just came off the practice tees, and dare somebody to stop you, kind of like a terrorist. They don't negotiate with terrorists -- nobody has the appetite to tell you not to go to the bathroom, it is beneath them and they just back off, hoping the "help" will show up and fix the situation.

I turned off my clock for that episode, then started it again and jogged the rest of the way to three hours at 11:15 to 11:20 pace. The good news is that just a couple of months ago I couldn't have run this whole run at even 12:00 pace, mostly because of the heat but that isn't all of it. I am definitely getting better and it won't be long before 10:00 seems slow.

The goal was to run 3 hours at a 10:00 pace, so I missed that. I had difficulties from the start keeping the speed up. I never got down to an overall 10:00 pace, though I got within 2 cumulative seconds once, but I never went negative. If the temperature had been 10 degrees colder I might have made it, but the lesson from this run is that I am probably not going to be ready to run my January 1 marthon in the low 4s -- mid-4s is more likely, which is nevertheless a significant improvement over St. George, especially considering this marathon is here in Flatlandia.

If I am feeling good in a week I will go on a 3:30:00 run and try again to see if I can maintain a 10:00 pace. If it is a little colder I might make it. If I don't make it I will back off, because I need to get a 4:30:00 run in at a slower pace if that is going to be my marathon time on January 1. The important thing is to be out on the course as long as it is going to take to run the marathon, not so important to do it at marathon speed, in fact they don't recommend that.

During the week I have been doing all my runs at low heart rate, running every day for 1:15:00. I'll probably bump that up by 5 minutes this coming week. 47 miles total for the week.

Easy living in AZ

Tough day. I slept in till 0700, didn't get out running till 0800, and managed to take four hours to go 20 miles, stopping twice for the 32 oz Powerade. (Finally. Did you know if you turn right at Germann from my house you can run 10 miles and never come into a source of fluids? Not even a mirage. I was talking to Nathan on my cell when I saw the Circle K, a beautiful sight to behold). Even 75 degrees must be dehydrating as I was still so thirsty for hours after I got back.

And there was a dog. I'm not as fast as Stephen, but I did turn around and run backwards and pretend to throw something as it chased me down the road. That worked, sort of. Except when I turned back around I ate a tree...I kind of twirled into it and tried to ignore the cars driving by..who were surely laughing and making blonde jokes. I am covered with tiny scratches but that's about it. Not even my ego really cares.

My fam is flying in tonight. I wish they would hurry. I miss them.

Halloween Run

I'm still paying the price, but I did it. I ran the Provo Halloween half marathon from the Timpanogos trailhead at Aspen Grove, down the Provo river 2000 feet into Provo. My goal was 2 hours, but, with all the downhill, it went faster than expected and I completed the race in 1:45:47, 8:04/mile and good enough for 4th place in my age division and one second behind the third place finisher. Over 700 runners participated, but I could only guess how many were in my age division.

I would be elated if I could come close to this time at the Logan run in Queen Creek on January 30. I'm sure that it will be a lot harder.

I didn't even run this morning. I'm still very sore. Hopefully tomorrow.