AZ Run Dad

12 miles w/ last 4 half marathon effort.  Since I switched marathons I have to do the taper week again.  With fresh legs I went a little faster on the last 4 than last week.  Last 4 were 5:39, 5:37, 5:38, 5:39.  Those weren't easy but it felt good to work and get the legs going.  My legs felt really good this morning so the first taper worked.  The weather in Sacramento looks terrible so I feel I made the right decision.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the race tomorrow at CIM.  I believe it will be a war of attrition.  It will be so mentally difficult to maintain a positive attitude in that wind and rain.  I think some slow times will win some good money and deservedly so.  

Ran 8 easy + strides then went to watch my sister PR in the half. Very proud of her. Watching a race is very inspiring. Lots if good results from CIM. Great day for running friends. Now it's my turn next week!

4 easy

8 miles: Last little bit of intensity: Kept the mileage low but added a little intensity this morning. I warmed up a couple miles then did 4 x 1 mile with 2 min jogs starting at marathon pace progressing down to under half marathon pace. 5:53,5:48,5:35,5:26. were the splits. Felt good!

6 miles easy on mostly dirt on the Phoenix Canal.  Feeling great and I'm excited to race this weekend.  My theme is patience, patience, patience! With the exception of the world's very best most good marathons are run by people who have patience in the beginning of the race.  

8 miles with 8 x 1 min pickups at HM pace.  I'm running a marathon this weekend in Tucson.  Here are some pre race thoughts.

4 easy miles + strides.  Just getting ready for the race.

Exciting day to say the least.  I went into the race feeling fresh and ready to go.  Most of the morning was pretty stress free.  Got to the bus on time, got bussed to the start, asked to get off the bus while we waited so I could go to the bathroom.  Took care of that then waited by the start for my coach John.  He was going to run the first half or so with me.  When I went to drop my bag at the bag drop I couldn't find my phone so I had to go back and look for it at the start but didn't see it.  That added some stress and took away my warmup but I really didn't care too much.  It was just a phone and it was a marathon so I didn't need to big of a warmup.  I normally do the lunge matrix and leg swing before every run but I didn't have time so I ran out a quarter mile, peed in the bushes and ran back to the start.  The first 1.5 miles are extremely downhill and John and I said no matter what no faster than 5:35.  We were 5:42 for the first mile and 5:54 for the second.  Those felt very easy and then the course was pretty tough for the next two miles. Some fairly steep ups and we were at 4500 ft.  Those were in the 5:50 range and there was some heavy breathing going on.  After 4 the course drops nicely until 10.  We were able to settle into 2nd place running very comfortable high 5:30s to low 5:40s miles.  At 10 miles we turned off the highway onto a side road out and back for 3 miles which was hilly.  John stopped running with me here at 10 miles. I knew this section was coming and would be tough.  My goal was to not worry about lost time here.  I could see the leader when he came back and I figured he was about a minute ahead of me.  I ran miles 11-13 in 5:57,6:09,5:47 and I was still feeling strong.  I came through half in about 1:15:30 and I was uncertain about how the rest of the race would go.  I wasn't feeling amazing or anything but not bad.  Also, when we got back on the highway at 13.5 there was another nice stretch of downhill.  My family was out there and I was seeing them every 2-3 which was awesome.  I was told that I was 70 seconds behind first place at 14 miles.  I would get those updates the rest of the race. I never had any really bad patches but this part of the race was long and lonely.  Most of the miles were around 5:45 during the next six miles and I was gaining about 5 seconds per mile on the leader.  By 18 miles I started to think I had a good chance to catch him.  At 20 miles the downhill really lightened up and it felt tough to go from downhill to "flat".  I could feel my quads suffering from the downhill but I felt like I was doing okay.  At 20 miles I had the lead down to  20 seconds and I started to think about winning the thing.  I remained patient and I knew that I still had plenty of time to catch him.  As the course flattened out at 20 my pace dropped to the low 5:50s but I still felt okay.  I finally caught him at 24 miles and as I passed him he said just pass me now I don't want to get nipped at the finish.  I thought that was a little strange but I didn't have much energy to think to much about it.  I just passed him and went on trying to keep it together.  Just after 24 we ran behind a shopping center which included a steep 50 ft hill.  It's not much at all but that really did me in.  I never really recovered from that and I felt like the last two miles became a crawl after that.  I had no idea how he was doing behind me.  It was weird to be in the lead and having people cheer me on and yet feel so weak at the same time. My quads were officially gone now and although 25,26 were 6:08,6:14 I felt like I was shuffling and slowly moving by the 2:30 half marathoners.  I heard footsteps just before mile 26 and he was back.  I knew this would be trouble.  I gave it everything I had to stay in front but he passed me.  My wife Allison was there and she ran along side of me screaming encouragement.  I could hear in her voice how bad she wanted it for me and I threw one last surge at him but my legs were gone and there was nothing there.  My legs were buckling.  He ended up putting 12 seconds on me in that last .25.  I staggered across the line and saw him throwing up.  I guess he earned it.  I was frustrated that I was so close and couldn't find more but the more I thought about it there was just nothing in my legs and I tried my hardest and that's all I can ask for.  This was about a 4 minute PR for me.  Yes, it's an aided course but so was my PR from St. George.  Even with the downhill it was still my best overall marathon performance.  It turned out to be a great training cycle with PRs in the 5k,10k,1/2 marathon, and marathon.  I'll take a break now and run mostly  easy until January.  The marathon is extremely difficult.  That's all I have to say.

Walked 1.25 miles in 30 minutes while my wife worked out in the hotel gym.  My legs are shredded.  I did some leg swing to try to loosen up but my range of motion on those was about 50%.  Hey, at least I did something.

45 minutes on the elliptical machine. Nice workout. Kind of a slight push the whole time. Feeling good.

Still no exercising this week but I wanted to share a blog I wrote about the things I learned from the marathon. I'm getting excited every Saturday now to hear about the Utah guys Saturday runs. It's very inspirational to hear about the big group going out and hammering these runs with 2:20-2:25 guys all over the place.  Sounds like fun.  Have another good one today guys.  I'll be back running in a couple days. 

4.2 easy miles: Really excited to run again after 8 days off. Just a nice easy run. Felt a little awkward and tight for a mile but loosened up nicely. It sure felt good to be running again!

6 easy miles. Felt good.

45 minutes steady effort on the eliptical

6 miles easy then some strides. Felt like a caged animal being released since I didn't run for a couple of days. I'm trying to be super conservative coming back from the marathon so it must be working if I'm itching to run. Anyway good run. About 6:40 pace.

8 easy miles around Gilbert. Got out nice and early. Happy to be done and spend extra time with the family. 6:50 pace and felt pretty good. 

6 easy + strides. Short run in the morning then headed to work. Busy day. 

I was able to get a quick run in between Christmas #2 and Christmas #3 for the kids. What a busy day. I'm glad to get back to normal. I'm excited for a little workout tomorrow.

Did my first track workout since the marathon. It was just a light workout but it was nice to get out there and run faster even though it felt a little funny. I can't wait to be back in shape. I did 3 x 1 mile w/3 min jogs in 5:23, 5:23, 5:18. It was hard enough but I could have done more. Good starting point. I was happy with it.

8 miles easy today around 6:50 pace. I finally feel like I'm getting back into a normal running groove again. My body felt pretty good after yesterday's little workout. I got the roll recovery R8 for Christmas and it's been awesome. It's like a foam roller on steroids. It hurts so good!

8.1 miles: Ran to the track and did 8 x 200 in 36 seconds with 200 jogs. Felt good to get some speed in. Nothing big or exciting about the workout but a good starting point from a speed standpoint. It was cold in Arizona this morning. We were about 32 degrees. Spoiled yes!

10 miles: Longest run since the marathon. Felt just okay today after being up a couple of times in the night with my son. I'm glad I got out there though. I pushed the last two miles in 12:05 (6:15,5:50) and that wasn't easy. It did feel good to push and have to mentally push through some discomfort. It's been a while. As usual it was a great way to start the day.

6 mile regeneration run and then 6 x 100 strides after. I felt tired today. I'm not sure if it was the 10 miles yesterday or following my son around asking him if he has to use the potty 200+ per day. I hope its the latter. Be safe tonight everyone. I will be going to bed at 8:30.