My Running Log

I'm changing my 5-day running schedule to Mo-Tu-We-Fr-Sa, so I ran today to start off the year on that schedule. But I just ran my one mile loop because I ran yesterday and wanted to take it easy.

This morning I drove out to Antelope Island to do a training run for the Buffalo Run (buffalorun.org). There were about 10 runners, and I met some new people, which was great. We ran a loop on the hilly portion of the course. Some of it was on packed snow, and some of it was on fresh snow about 6-8 inches deep. That made it challenging, but I felt great on it. It was about 7.8 miles but harder than most of my miles.

Antelope Island is beautiful, and the course looks excellent for a trail race. It's hilly but not mountainous. So I'm now almost sure I'll do that race in March.

I might do some more miles tonight, not sure. But if not, I'll just say it has been a solid week of running, and I'm ready for a fun year of running. 

Ran 10 miles on the treadmill. The first mile and last mile were at 8 minute pace. The in between miles were at or below 7:00 pace. 69 minutes for the entire run. No incline, but the goal on these is fast turnover.

I didn't feel too good, possible due to the snow run on Saturday (sore hamstrings) or fasting on Sunday, but at least the week got off to a good start. 

5 miles easy in 37:21. Needed a recovery run.

Ran on the Bonneville-Shoreline trail up by the Huntsman. Ran out to the part where the trail forks. Snow was packed, so a little hard to get traction but very runnable. Enjoyed being above the smog ceiling. 9:16 average pace.

One hour of running on the treadmill. It's amazing how rejuvenating it can feel to do those paces that are more relaxed. Also, I think it's going to work really well to run on Fridays instead of Thursdays.

It was really smoggy today, so I ran inside. I decided to run a relaxed pace rather than push it a lot. That was a good idea. I felt like I could have kept going longer, without too much discomfort. So the long runs are starting to get easier. It makes sense that on the long run the emphasis is to get miles not necessarily to run fast. But at the same time, you don't want to go into jogging mode.

We had more people than treadmills, so for part of the time I had to use the elliptical and stationary bike. But I still feel like it was equivalent to running, based on time.

Our baby boy is due in a week, so it will be fun to see how that goes.

A couple other notable runners, Logan Fielding and Meb Keflezhighi are also expecting babies soon. So maybe that means I'll run as fast as them.

50 miles exactly for the week. That's great.

And to top it all off, I got mentioned on Burt's blog today! He said he wants to be like me, but I really want to be like him, somehow finding a way to run even when he has so many other responsibilities.

Did my Monday tempo workout (on the treadmill). 1 mile warmup, 0.5 miles at 8.6, then ran 7.7 tempo miles, then 0.8 mile cooldown. I decided to run for an hour and then do the cooldown. In that hour, I ran 9.22 miles. The full workout was in 66:16. I'm happy with it.

No baby yet. 

5 miles easy on the treadmill. 37:30. 1% incline for much of it.

No baby yet. 

Did the hill repeat workout (not random hills) on the treadmill, 7:00 pace. Started out at Level 9 for the first 3.5 miles. Then was struggling and bumped it down to Level 3 and finished strong. My legs were fairly sore. But it was a good strong run for me. 8 miles total in 57 minutes.

We thought the baby was going to come last night, but he must be too comfortable in there to face the cold world. Or maybe he knows about the smog.

10 miles in 75 minutes on the treadmill. Felt good.

 I've plateaued on weight loss.

We went and visited my parents in Utah County. On the way back we saw how bad the smog is (really bad), so I wasn't going to run in it. Instead I did my longest treadmill run ever. I set it to do some random hills (average 1% incline, Level 2 for most of it) to provide a little variety.

My wife and daughter came by to say hello, and my girl got really excited and wanted to run. So my wife put her on the other treadmill at 1 mph, and it was too easy. She want to run "fast" like me. It was really cute. I held her and ran at 4 mph for 0.2 miles, which was a good workout.

In the end, it was 22 miles on the treadmill in about 2:45. I bet there aren't too many bloggers who've done that before! :)

Average was 7:30 pace.

This week was good. Reached 55 miles. It's been good because I'm increasing my miles slowly but still getting good recovery.

No baby yet. Due date is tomorrow. 

Our little baby boy came this morning!!

I ran a mile around the hospital complex (in dress shoes) to celebrate (and keep my streak alive).

More details to come. 

Ran about a mile over to Murray Park and a little loop around. The baby is doing great.

Got 10 miles in on the treadmill after bringing the baby home and getting settled. 7:30 pace.

By the way, Baby Joshua was 8 lbs 2 oz. He looks like a runner. :) We couldn't feel more blessed that he is healthy and doing well. My wife is also doing great.

10 miles on the treadmill. It was a fartlek, alternating betwen 9.0 mph and 9.4 mph in 1/2 mile stretches. Threw in a few at 9.6 mph and some longer stretches at 9.0 mph because I was having GI issues and was feeling tired.

It was a very hard workout and not as fast as last week, but it will do.

I'm getting antsy to race. 

I was very close to running outside today, but went for the comfort of the treadmill instead. It started snowing at the end of my run, so I guess it wasn't a horrible decision. I ran 8 miles in 60:30. Started out slow because I wasn't feeling great, and then it got better.

It's been good to get three solid runs the last three days after three easy days. 

2 miles warmup on the elliptical, watching BYU win their 20th game of the season.

Then did a solid 1 hour hill workout on the treadmill. Ran it at 7:00 pace. Level 7. Random hills. It was challenging but doable. Going to Level 8 or 9 seems to be a big jump for me, but Level 7 is doable.

This week turned out to be not too bad as far as running goes (great otherwise). 42 miles and some solid workouts. I'm really liking what I've been doing with alternating hard runs with easy runs. I usually feel fresh and ready to go for the harder workouts.

Dustin asked what my next race was. So I looked around and found a 5K (Hale Freezes Over) down in Orem next Saturday, which I'm going to run. If it's not any more competitive than last year, I should have a shot at placing well. But I bet the competition will be stronger this year. 

10 miles on the treadmill at about 7:25 pace average. Feeling a little under the weather. This seems to happen about once a month lately. Thankfully it usually doesn't get any worse. 

6 treadmill miles in 43:30. Felt super good, despite still having a bit of a head cold.

Excited for 5K on Saturday. Signed up today. It's the Hale Freezes Over 5K in Orem, UT. Awesome freebies and great prizes. 

Enjoying being a father again, too. 

4 miles on elliptical (treadmill was being used) and 6 miles on treadmill (7:25 pace). Legs felt heavy tonight.

I decided to do the 10K on Saturday instead of the 5K. 

4 miles in about 30:15 on the treadmill. Race tomorrow. Excited. My goal is to run under 40 minutes. I will give it my best. I think if I do that, I will place in the top 3.

This morning I drove down to Orem, UT for a 10K that was put on by the Hale Center Theater. My wife and I really love going to shows there, and I found out they were giving season tickets to the top three finishers in each race. Plus it had been 2 months since I did a race and wanted to do one.

I saw that last year's winning time was 41 minutes, so I thought I might have a shot of placing in the top three. Here's how the race went. A few guys started out pretty fast, but I didn't want to go quite that fast. Then it thinned out quickly. I was in 4th place for the first two miles and averaging about 6:15 pace on this flat-downhill portion. Then a guy passed me, so I was in 5th place. But I felt good and wanted to just run relaxed and not get carried away. I was still in 5th place around the 3 mile mark when the lead runner turned around and started running towards us, even though he was supposed to go right. I figured he was a bandit, so that put me in 4th place. During the next mile I passed two guys, which put me in 2nd, and I could see the leader. I felt bad for him because he kept having to ask which direction to go, so eventually I made a push to run alongside him. For miles 5-6 the three of us battled back and forth. Then with 1/2 mile to go, I threw in a surge. With about 1/4 mile to go, I started to die and thought I would lose. But then I got a final bit of energy to push me through in 1st. Then I saw the earlier leader who I thought was a bandit. He said he went a different route that was the same distance and that he hoped nobody noticed. His time was really good, so I figured I really was 2nd place. When they gave the awards, they announced me as the winner, so I guess that other guy was disqualified.

So basically, I wasn't the fastest runner but I got first place. To be honest, I didn't care about winning and don't consider this a true win (because I wasn't the fastest), but I was very excited about the prizes. Season tickets to the Hale Center Theater and a Family Pass to Thanksgiving Point!! I was so pleased because these gifts I could share with my wife and kids as a small token of appreciation for how much they support my running. And on our tight budget, we wouldn't have been able to do these things otherwise.

I met a really nice guy named Ben who was doing his first road race. He got excited about doing more, which is cool. 

Congrats to the other runners! I hope I didn't cut anyone off or doing anything I wasn't supposed to. But if I did, I didn't mean to. 

Anyway, this race was really well run, and I would highly recommend it. Sean Murphy did a great job organizing it.