Winning Back What I Lost

615AM: Easy + speed (7 x 100m strides). Didn't think that my legs would be this lifeless. I didn't feel any more tired than usual but I just couldn't get any rhythm going. I noticed that my HR was a bit elevated (up 5-10 bpm) too. I'll chalk it up to poor sleep this week and try to get more rest this coming week. I think my #1 goal is to get at least 7 hrs sleep every night.

130PM: Easy medium long run on a hot (80's), windy afternoon. Last longish run of this cycle. Tried a new route that goes through a local city park thinking it would have a water fountain. Turns out its the only park in the Treasure Valley without a drinking fountain. Who designs a park & leaves out a drinking fountain?!? Got through it and found water at mile 8. In hindsight it was probably good practice for pushing through fatigue and persevering.

10PM: Easy recovery run. Felt pretty good, much better than Lebron & Co. tonight.

6AM: Super easy short run. Didn't even get the HR to 130.  

930PM: Slept in this morning and got some good rest. Dress rehearsal workout tonight. Last non-easy workout before the race. Weather was super crappy so I ran this one on the TM at the club. 2M warm; 3M progression under marathon goal pace (7:18, 7:13, 7:08); 1.54M cool. Pulse and breathing were under control. 3 strides to every breath. Feel really good right now. None of the phantom pains and sluggishness I usually get during taper madness.

Noon: Happy National Running Day! 5 easy out and back miles on the GB from Ann Morrison Park.  Stopped to gaze at all the construction going on at Bronco Stadium. Football less than 90 days away.

1230PM: Easy + 6 x 10 secs strides on the GB from Muni Park to Barber and back.  Very windy today and I'm a little worried about the forecast for Saturday near Wallsburg, UT (start). Temps look near ideal but they're calling for 20-25 mph winds out of the SW.  That would mean the Provo River Canyon section and the last 10k down University Blvd will be a headwind. [/bangs head].

Is this why I got up at 0'dark thirty on so many cold winter mornings?  Is this why I ran all those long runs, tempo and speed workouts?

Headwinds, GI distress, and a lack of mental toughness. Those were the themes of the day. Started out strong, then the GI distress and headwinds began once we made the turn and hit the hills around the reservoir. Never recovered and hit the POPs 4 times between miles 11 and 16. Started walking for good after that last POP trip and even threw up once at mile 18.  I really wanted to drop but my son was gracious enough to get up early and run out to meet me at mile 21 w/ a gatorade bottle. We walked for a few miles together and then he convinced me to jog it in the last 5k. He's a good kid. Really proud of him. Saw the rest of the family at mile 25 and my little 6 yo was so excited. Hard to be too disappointed when he thinks I'm some combination of Ryan Hall and Usain Bolt.

On the upside, I met a bunch of fellow bloggers and even got to hang out and run w/ Marlin. Good guy and a real tough runner (he ran a PR today into that horrible headwind). Very happy for him.

No splits, because really what's the point? I'll be back, just a little down right now.

530PM: First easy post-marathon run. A benefit of not actually running a marathon is that you don't have a recovery period with all of the typical soreness. Kept it slow. Temp was 85 degrees which made any effort seem like a tempo.

Couple of days out from the UVM debacle and I'm still kinda shocked that it all went down like it did. I have to take th lion's share of the blame. The conditions were horrible and my body didn't do me any favors but I threw in the towel once my goal seemed out of reach. I think I can eventually resolve the physical problems, the mental aspect might be even more challenging.

1230PM: Mid 70's w/ lots of sunshine. Took yesterday off to take my two youngest fishing. Consequently, felt really strong today and ended up doing an unplanned 6M out/back progression run on the GB from the Firefighters Memorial (8:17; 8:00; 7:49; 7:39; 7:26; 7:11) cool. 

Did a little research this morning and found a company, PREV, that markets an herbal extract that supposedly aids runners dealing w/ diarrhea/upset stomach/nausea.  I figure its worth a couple of bucks just on the off-chance that it might help.  I'll try it on my next long run and report on the results.

615AM: Easy run. First morning run this week. Haven't begun a formal training program yet. I always find it a little more difficult to get up in the morning if I don't have a written training plan to adhere to. Getting out of bed and running just for the joy of running is something I need to do more of.  

1230PM: Another out-back easy run on the GB from AM Park  We're right in the sweet spot in terms of weather, mid to upper 70's w/ a slight breeze and abundant sunshine. It won't be long before we're pushing triple digits. Little surprised that we haven't done so already.  

2PM: Easy Medium Long Run. Julia Davis Park to Glenwood and back. Pretty warm, 80 with sunshine. Encouraged that I was able to get in a longish run only a week out from the marathon. In the past, I've neglected my training for a couple weeks post-marathon and was thus unable to build off of it like you would want. I'll ramp the mileage back up to 50+ next week and begin the next marathon training plan the week after that.

615AM: Easy + speed (6 x 100m strides). Felt really good this morning after taking Sunday off. Need to get back to running, at least a little bit, every day. I think the short easy run on Sundays really supports the fitness benefits derived from the Saturday long run.  I'd rank it a close second to the mid-week long runs in importance for marathon training.

Noon: Easy progression run on the GB from Muni Park.  Concentrated on a couple of form improvements that I've been trying to introduce- slight lean forward, better toe off, knee lift and backleg extension. I've always been troubled by the race pics that I see because in nearly every one of them I have both feet on the ground simultaneously, suggesting that my running form is more of a shuffle. 

6AM: Easy run. Gradually stretching out the midweek runs.  Very cool temps this morning after a dry cold front pushed through last night w/ high winds. Supposed to warm up quickly on the backside w/ temps near 100 by Thursday or Friday. Summer in the high SW Idaho desert has begun.

Audiobook of the Month: Running with the Kenyans by Adharanand Finn.  A story about a late thirty something Brit who uproots his family to go live and run with elite Kenyan runners for 6 months.

NYT article on endurance athlete Jure Robic.  Very informative article about a Slovenian utltra-bicyclist who literally goes mad during races and, more generally, how the brain acts as a central governor to limit athletic performance.  

620AM: Speed day! Warm; 3 x 1600m (6:31; 6:33;6:32) w/ 400m jogs; cool. This was harder than I thought it would be and more difficult than the last time I did mile repeats, approx. 3 wks ago. That's not a good indicator for how I'll run in my 10k this Saturday. I was planning on going out at 6:30/mi pace and trying to hang on from there. Considering how difficult this workout was that might be ill advised.  

615AM: Easy Run. Had to make a mad dash into Jack in the Box for a pit stop. This may be the first time anyone has ever had an explosive bowel movement at one of their restaurants who didn't actually eat their food.

1230PM: Easy 30 mins on the GB. Very warm today but a nice breeze made it tolerable. Saw perhaps a dozen people rollerblading.  Apparently, that's still a thing. 

630AM: Short, easy run. Just one run today. This is how I taper for a local 10k.  

Very flat and fast course that I ran my previous PR on last year. Later start so it was already above 70 when we started at 9am. I thought I was capable of running a little faster but I just couldn't get any power out of my legs. Never felt like I was maxed out cardiovascularly. I tried to surge numerous times in the last couple miles but it was not happening. I went out at 6:30 for the first mile and gradually drifted towards the 7:00 pace in each successive mile. Felt like I had more power at the end of my half Mara in May than I had at the end today. Did a 3m easy warmup early this morning, mostly to get the GI system moving, so that may have sapped the legs a bit before the race started. I don't usually do any warmup. Not elated but somewhat pleased with the 25 sec PR.

6AM: Short, easy run. Had to turn around halfway through due to stomach issues. Took PREV before my race on Saturday and it worked a little too good. This morning the dam finally broke, which was a rather inconvenient relief.  

1230PM: Short out-back progression run on the GB from Muni Park. Started slow and ended at 7:15 for the last mile.  

6AM: Easy run. Very windy w/ a storm brewing. Thankfully, only a light rain w/ the hard stuff never quite materializing. Felt much stronger today. Toyed w/ the idea of a tempo but opted for a steady pace and saving the legs for tomorrow. This is sort of a dead time in my racing schedule. I'm not locked into anything except SGM in October. I'll probably do Fit 4 Life in a few weeks and possible Pocatello Marathon the first weekend of September. That said, I could decide to use the weekends for hitting the backcountry. 

6AM: Easy run. Wanted to do some track work but the local HS has inexplicably chained all of the gates and I didn't think it wise to disregard the obvious message ("KEEP OUT!") and jump the fence.

The big story this morning is that I was hit by a truck. Really not as bad as it sounds. It was a pickup belonging to the Irrigation Dist. riding the canal path. I had my earphones in and didn't hear him approaching. I came around a blind curve w/ overhanging bushes so I didn't see him til the last moment. Luckily, he wasn't going very fast and I was able to put my hands on the corner of the hood and sort of push off to avoid direct impact. No injuries but it scared the crap out of me.  

1230PM: Hill workout on Military Reserve Trails. 700' vert. Very steep on the way down. I need to re-learn how to run fast down very steep downhills. Plan is to do at least 1 short hill workout per week and a long hill workout every other weekend. Temp was very mild (70ish) for late June.   

615AM: Easy run. Let the record reflect that I didn't bounce off any cars today. Also, I heard something about there being a very important opinion to be released by the SCOTUS today. Hmm, probably nothing to be concerned about. 

630AM: Easy run + speed (6 x 100m strides) before heading out to McCall for a long weekend of camping with my boys and my dad. 

7AM: Ran up from our camp at Hazard Lake near McCall to Upper Hazard Lake. Beautiful scenery but there's still a ton of snow, deadfall, several creek crossings and water running down the trail. Should be in great condition in another month but this is pretty much the first weekend that any hikers or campers have been able to get in there. Camp is at 7k feet and the trail gains about 500 feet w/ the last half mile being the steepest over the ridge to the lake over huge snowdrifts. I'll definitely have to revisit these trails in August when they're in better shape.