AZ Run Dad

AM: 8 easy miles toay. Actually slept in until 5 for the first time in months. Wtih the exception of the first half mile I felt pretty good coming off of a harder effort yesterday. Great way to start the new year.

PM: 4 miles easy

10 miles around the neighborhood. After 3 miles a picked it up for 6 miles averaging probably low 6:20s then did 1 slower mile to finish. 

10 miles easy + strides. I felt really good running this morning. It was just easy but it's nice to feel fresh as I'm increasing mileage. I still don't feel close to fit or fast but I can appreciate the fact that I feel healthy and fresh. I have a long way to go before Boston so there is plenty of time. It would aslo help if I could lose 10 pounds in 4 months.

16 mile long run with pickups: I warmed up just about 3.25 miles then went straight into 4 x 2 miles with a 1 mile easy jog between each set. My goal was HM pace which is probably around 5:55-6 right now. I ended up running a litttle too fast which made it so I was fighting hard on the last set. However, I feel good about this workout and the direction I'm headed. I would like to get this one down to 5:30 pace and 1/2 mile jogs by Boston. Splits for the 4 x 2 were 11:36 (5:50, 5:46), 11:39 (5:52, 5:47), 11:37 (5:52, 5:45), 11:39 (5:52, 5:47). The mile jogs between were about 7:20 pace. I cooled down with very tired legs until I hit 16. Going to try and head to the Saucony outlet today where I can still get my all time favorite shoes the Kinvara 2s!

7 miles: Easy loops around the neighborhood to start the week. 

AM: 8 miles easy around the neighborhood.

PM: 5 miles at the park on the way home from work. 6 x soccer field strides.

Track Workout: met with some folks at the SCC track at 5 am. I haven't done a workout on the track for a long time so it was a nice change. My Dad has offered to open up our shop one day a week for me while I train for Boston. This will enable me to meet with a group at 5 am once a week. I will rotate between a workout and hilly run on those days. Anyway today was 16 x 400 with 100 jogs (30 sec). I averaged about 82 and felt pretty good. The short rests made the workout. 

10 miles easy after work. I didn't set my alarm to run by accident this morning so I had to do it after work. Luckily I didn't have too long of a day so it wasn't too hard to get going. A lot of soft surfaces.

I ran 6 miles easy then did an 4 mile LT tempo in 5:48, 5:46, 5:42, 5:43. I felt good today although I did get a little fast toward the end. I'm definitely seeing improvement now and it feels good. Now I just need to run that pace for 22 more miles.

18 mile long run with John. John writes my schedule and coaches many people here in Phoenix. We had some wonderful geeky running talk for a couple of hours. I'm glad he was there or this would have been extremely boring. We met at Kiwanis Park in Tempe and ran along the canal most of the way. Averaged 7:08 pace so not too exciting today.

8 miles easy around the neighborhood. Big training breakthrough today as my Monday easy run went up to 8 miles from 7.

10 miles with VO2 Max Repetitions: I did my usual warmup with drills and strides then did 4 x 1 mile with three minute jogs. My goal was 5:20. Splits were 5:26, 5:22, 5:21, 5:17. A little slower than goal but I'll take it. On December 3 I did this workout over 20 seconds per mile slower so there's some proof of improvement in the last 6 weeks. It hurt but this workout is supposed to. I wasn't sure if I'd ever run a sub 5:20 mile again so I was happy to see the number on the last one. Cooled down a couple miles to finish.

AM: 8 miles with A couple of loops in the neighborhood and some running in the adjacent neighborhood. 

PM: 5 miles with 6 x soccer field strides

12 hilly miles in Fountain Hills. I met a group at 4:45 and we splintered from there. The route had 1200 + feet of climbing. Good tough run especially since I normally gain 30 ft a day in my neighborhood. I should be able to meet for this route every other week which will be nice.

10.6 Miles with a speed workout: Warmed up about 4.5 miles with some drills and strides then did 8 x 1/4 mile repeats with 1/4 mile jogs in about 2 min. Splits were 77, 74, 75,76, 74,72,76,73. These felt good. It was nice to get some real turnover and feel fast. The long recoveries were nice so I could be good and ready for the next rep and keep good form. Cooled down a couple miles after. 

Long Run with progressive finish. After 10 miles I started at AT pace and worked down to faster than LT pace. First 10 were about 6:55 then I went 6:16, 6:07, 6:00, 5:53, 5:55, 5:42. Cooled down one mile after that. I almost stopped at 15 but I'm glad I kept going and was able to drop some time on the last faster mile. Nice mental boost. Overall pleased with this run.

8 miles easy around the neighborhood. 7:13 avg. Everything is feeling good as I start another week!

AM: 8 Easy around the neighborhood. 

PM: 5 including 5 x 10ish sec hill sprints. Near 80 degrees, shirt off, no watch. Perfect.

AM: 10.45 w/Cruise intervals: warmed up my standard loop with some drills and strides then did 8 x 1k with 30 second jogs. With the short rests this was meant to be a strength workout. Splits were 3:26, 27,26,27,26,26,26,20. I kicked it in on the last one. Average for the 5.45 miles including the jogs was 5:42 pace. The first half of the workout felt pretty comfortable and I was working on the last few. I'm pretty happy with this one. Cooled down a couple miles after.

PM: 5 miles easy on the way home from work. Another shirtless 80 degree run.

10 miles easy this morning. Legs were tired and so was I. Day off tomorrow though!

18+ mile long run on the Phoenix Marathon course: Met with a small group and we got a ride up to the start line and ran back down. I ran the first 13 miles pretty easy around 6:45 pace. There is a lot of downhill there and it beats you up while aiding you at the same time. It's a weird feeling when the course flattens out. One I'm definitiely not used to. At 13 miles I picked it up for four miles and ran 5:59, 5:55, 5:47, 5:38 on a flatter section then jogged it back to the meeting point. Once I got going on the faster part I felt really good. Good run for Boston training and I nice reminder about downhill running. 6:37 avg. 

10 miles easy. We took the kids to Moster Jam last night and didn't get to bed until 10 which is the middle of the night for me. I actually slept in past 5 and waited for my wife to finish her run. That meant running in sunlight for the second day in a row. New record! Anyway, great weather, nice run on the dirt.

8 miles easy and early

AM: 10 miles: Warmed up my usual loop with drills and strides then I did 2 x 2 miles in 10:48, 10:51 with a 3 min recovery jog. I thought I would have to fight to hit 11 min which was the goal for this workout so I was pleasantly surprised. First one felt really good and second one was tough. Cooled down a few miles after. 

PM: 4 miles with Ariana on the way home from work.

10 miles around the neighborhood 

12.2 Miles in Fountain Hills. We had a nice group at 4:45 for this one. Plenty of hills at a moderate effort. 

7.3 miles including 6 strides along the ocean in Carlsbad. Planned a vacation with my wife and found a nice competitive 10k while we are here so I'll be racing tomorrow. Hoping to go under 35 minutes. We drove the course today and it's an out and back along the ocean with some rollers. I'm looking forward to it. 

Solid race for me today. We were here on vacation and found this race online and it turned out to be a good one. They have an elite division and give some good prize money so the field was very competitive for both men and women. The course is and out and back along the Pacific Coast Highway in Encinitas, California. If you are ever in the area in early February I would recommend this race. The course starts out with a slight uphill for the first mile then a big downhill the second mile, flattens out for 3-4, back up for 4-5 then you get a slight downhill back towards the finish. It is not a negative split course because the big hill is in the second half. 

I was in the elite corral and everybody got out pretty quick. I felt like I was in last or close to last right from the beginning. I opened with a 5:32 first mile into a decent headwind and felt a little labored so I slowed down just a little. Even with the big downhill  my next mile was 5:42 but I think that made my race. The course flattened out near the turnaround and I was starting to feel pretty good. Mile 3 was 5:41. When we flipped I started to pick it up and start picking off some runners. Mile 4 was 5:33 and the headwind was now a tailwind. I was starting to feel really good as we headed back up the big hill. I ran mile 5 in 5:32 and was still feeling great. I ran the last mile in 5:18 and passed a couple more people down the stretch. I ended up running 17:25/16:49 which isn't supposed to happen on this course but I guess I ran it well. It looks like I had the 5th or 6th fastest 2nd 5k by looking at the results. I finished 15th and was well under the 35 min barrier I was hoping to break. I feel like I'm in a good spot heading into the meat of Boston training. Today was 1:53 faster than my 10k on Thanksgiving which is nice to see. I cooled down 6 mileswith my wife Allison who returned to racing after a long injury season. She ran the 5k in 18:10 and was 4th. Time for a beer and some football to finish off this vacation. Not bad!

Splits: 5:32, 5:42, 5:41, 5:33, 5:32, 5:18, 56 sec for last .2.

AM: 8 miles easy with Allison in Carlsbad. We started in the dark at 5:00 so we could beat traffic. Nice run and legs feel great.

PM: 4 miles back at home.

AM: 8 miles around the neighborhood.

PM: 5 miles including 5 x 9 sec hill sprints all out

AM: 11.5 miles with 8 x 1k on the track with 200 jogs. Splits were 3:22-3:25. Felt good and completely in control. Good workout coming off the race. Not too hard but definitely working. We had four people in our group and 6 total at the track at 5 am. Perfect way to start the day.

PM: 4.25 miles at the park on the way home from work including 4 strides in the grass.

12 miles around the neighborhood a bunch of times. Body feeling good.

22 mile long run on the Phoenix Marathon course: Met some people at the 16 mile point and got  a ride up to the top. I ran alone but that's what I was planning on so no big deal. I ran the first 12 at a moderate effort and felt really good today. Going down the hills felt much better today than when I did this a few weeks ago. First 12 were probably about 6:40 pace. After 12 I went straight  into 6 x 1 mile with 1 min jogs in 5:47, 5:46, 5:43, 5:43, 5:44, 5:45. Those felt pretty good but the last one was tough. I jogged another 1/2 mile then did two miles in 5:59, 5:48. I cooled down until I hit 22. The end of the run was tough but I felt really good today and this was meant to be hard. I like the fact that I felt a lot better handling the downhill today. 6:25 pace for the whole run.

10 miles slow and then 6 strides after. I was definitely tired from yesterday but I feel good and healthy. The strides at the end felt great. 7:30 pace.

AM: 8 miles easy

PM: 4 miles easy + 6 x 9 sec hill sprints

13.1 miles w/ 8 x 1 mile on the road with 1 min jogs. Usual warm up loop with drills and strides then the workout. Splits were 5:33, 5:35, 5:33, 5:34, 5:34, 5:36, 5:34, 5:27 (kicked it on the last 1/2 mile. Target was 5:40. Didn't feel especially great today but was able to keep these pretty quick without going to the well with the exception of the last one. Pretty happy with this one. Cooled down 1.5. 

PM: 5 miles at Freestone park on the way home. Almost didn't get off the freeway to do this but glad I did.

8 miles 7:30 pace. Taking it easy until half marathon Sunday.

I got an email for a mile race in Southern California on March 16. Looks fast and fun. There is prize money. I thought some of you fast guys might be interested.

The Encinatas Mile

12.2 Hilly miles in Fountain Hills with Ricardo, John, and Brent. Nice easy run and great conversation. 7:23 pace. I tried the recovery boots at a local running store here yesterday. They are inflatable boots that compress and decompress around your legs to help with recovery. I quite enjoyed them and my legs felt great after. Not scientific but hey at least I felt good. 

6 miles + 6 x 100ish strides. I'm racing a half marathon tomorrow so just a little run today. I feel good going into the race.

I've done this race a few times and I really like it. It's has a small local feel and is well organized. The setting is really nice and the course is challenging. I chose to do this one again this year because I think it will help with my long term goal which is Boston. The course is a hilly out and back near the base of the Superstitioin Mountains. I knew my friend Ricardo would be doing the race and we are really close right now. We planned on working together as much as we could. When the race started we were racing for 2nd place fairly quickly. My goal for the first two miles was to be conservative and not look at the watch until the mile markers. Well the first one felt easy but it was a 5:57 which was a little too conservative. I picked it up immediately and my race was on. Ricardo and I ran side by side and progressively brought the pace down. I felt like we were running hard but just barely within my limits. There were a couple of moments where I almost let Ricardo go but I made the choice to run his more aggressive race and see how it played out. We made the turn in 37:50 or so and I started to feel pretty good. The mental side of heading for home plus running by and receivng encouragement from the other runners gave me a boost. The hardest part of the course comes at about 8 1/2 to 10 1/2 miles with a couple of miles of uphill and today a headwind. Ricardo asked if we could share the work each half mile during the stretch and I said yes. He lead the first 1/2 mile and I literally felt like I was jogging so when I took over at 9 miles I put a gap on him and that was the last we ran together. I could feel the difference right away of runnning solo and in front vs behind. I suffered pretty good the rest of the way up the hill but bottoming out with a 6:01 mile. I had put about 10 seconds on Ricardo in the 10th mile. The last 2.5 miles are a slight downhill and we had the wind in our favor so I was able to pick it back up and have a decent finish. I feel like I ran really hard and couldn't have got very much more out of myself. I was able to see my wife and kids with about a 1/4 mile to go which was great. This was 7 seconds slower than I ran last year so I'm happy with the progress I've made since taking a break. The winner was a high 1:11 and was a spec in the distance for most of the race. I finished 2nd in 1:15:05 and Ricardo was 15 seconds back. By the way Ricardo just turned 50! He has been breaking all the state age group records the last few weeks since his birthday. Overall happy with the race and my effort. Great day of running!

Splits: 5:57, 5:51, 5:49, 5:34, 5:37, 5:48, 5:43, 5:34, 5:49, 6:01, 5:48, 5:28, 5:33, 28 seconds

Course Profile from a random runner

AM: 8 miles easy around the neighborhood. Legs are tired but no trashed like I though they might be. I think the Myrtl Routine really helps and is the main reason I haven't been injured for the last year. Definitely worth 10 minutes a day.

PM: 5 miles on the way home at Freestone Park

AM: 8 miles around the neighborhood. 7:20 pace

PM: 4 miles with JT and Ariana. A few slow strides mixed in.

AM: 11 miles around the neighborhood. Legs feeling close to recovered from the race. 

PM: 5 miles + 8 x 9 sec hill sprints

15 miles in Fountain hills with Ricardo, Brett, and Brent. 1 min pickups during the first min of the last 8 miles for just a little turnover. 10k effort. Overall moderate effort. About 1400 ft of climbing. 7:04 pace

21 mile long run: ran about 8.5 easy around the neighborhood then changed into the A6 (first time wearing these: A+ awesome shoe!) then did 3 x 3 mile LT efforts with 1 mile easy between. I was thinking 5:45ish but I felt great today and ended up a bit faster. Also wanted to keep the recovery miles at a normal easy pace rather than a shuffle. Splits were 17:02 (5:42, 5:40, 5:40), 7:05, 16:56 (5:40, 5:39, 5:37), 7:07, 16:52 (5:41, 5:39, 5:32). Finished easy after that. The faster parts felt hard but I felt smooth and had something left at the end. Recovery week paid off today! 6:22 AP

10.7 miles in Tucson. My wife was running a 5k down there so I went with her and ran before the race and some of her cooldwon with her. Nice setting at the base of some pretty large mountains. Fun morning as I got to watch her win the race on a loop course which was spectator friendly.

AM: 10 miles around the neighborhood. 

PM: 4.75 including 8 x 9 sec hill sprints

Warmed up with usual warmup loop and drills and strides the did 6 x 2k on the road with 90 sec jogs (about 8 min pace). Splits were 6:43, 6:45, 6:43, 6:46, 6:46, 6:38 (kicked last 1/2 mile or so). I felt really good and while this was a tough workout I felt like I still had something left in the tank.  I ended up averaging 5:41 pace for 8.43 miles including the jogs during the workout portion of my run. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the Utah guys at the Phoenix races this weekend. I'll be doing the half but as of right now my plan is to run it as part of a longer run and only run some of it hard. We'll see if I can execute that plan. 

AM: 8 miles

PM: 5 miles including 4 strides in the grass. 

15 miles in Fountain Hills with Ricardo, John, Brett, and Ron. My legs are very tired but we kept it easy and I have an off day tomorrow so that will help. 7:17 pace

Plan today was to do this as a hard workout with an 18 mile run with the last 10 in 57:30 (5:45 pace). I am racing a 15k next weekend and was given an entry into Phx so that is why I did this. Anyway, I parked a few miles from the start and ran along the course before flipping and running back to the start with about 5 minutes to spare. I ran about 4.5 miles there. I took the first three miles easy and ended up running with some friends averaging around 6:35 or so before picking it up at mile 3. It was somewhat fun passing so many people but as I got to the faster people I crept up on them more and more slowly. I ended up within seconds of 57:30 for 10 miles and ended with a time of 1:18:32. Running the 10 miles faster was not easy by any means but it wasn't half marathon effort either. I'd say my effort felt between half marathon and marathon effort. The weather turned out to be much better than expected with not much rain and only a slight headwind most of the way. Just my opinion but the conditions probably were costing about 5 seconds a mile which is not bad. I cooled down another 3 miles after and I was pretty beat. 

12 miles around the neighborhood a few times. I was tired for this one after yesterday. I plan on  a bit of a down week heading into the 15k next weekend then another few weeks in the mid 80s before Boston. The key is to stay healthy and consistent for the next 6 weeks. If I do that I'll be as ready as I can be. 

AM: 6 Miles

PM: 4 miles with Ariana on my way home. 

12 miles with VO2 Max Reps: typical warm up with drills and strides then 10 x 1/2 mile on the road with 2 min jogs. Splits were 2:31,33,37,32,37,32,35,32,35,31. Odds are slightly up/evens slightly down. Hard workout but I felt good. Nice to have the strength for 10 of these today. Easy the rest of the week!

AM: 8 miles

PM: 4 miles 

10 miles this morning about 7 min pace. Thought about sleeping in and doing this after work but very gald I didn't. 11 hours on my feet followed by an hour and fifteen minute commute wouldn't have had me too excited to run. 

6 miles easy + 6 x strides. Legs felt good this morning. I've been tired all week so it's nice to feel a bit fresher today. Racing Mountain to Fountain 15k tomorrow. 

This is always a great race. I ran a 7 second PR but I went out aggressively so I was kind of slow in the last 5k. I just raced and only looked at my watch when it beeped for the miles. This is always my best approach to racing. Anyway first mile is uphill before a few solid downhill miles followed by a couple miles of rollers leading into a nasty 1/2 mile hill at about 7 miles. After that the last couple miles are overall down with a couple of bumps. I got passed by Sara Hall just after a mile and was pretty much 15-20 seconds behind her most of the race. Splits were 5:38, 5:11, 5:25, 5:16, 5:22, 5:37, 5:40, 5:52, 5:31, 2:03 (.4) for the last part. I'm happy I went for it today I just faded a little too much in the last 5k with the big hill. I wanted to run about 30 seconds faster but I'm still happy with this. Met Jeff and Jon Coyle from Idaho (super nice guys) and saw tons of running friends. Always a great morning at this race!

AM: 6 miles

PM: 4 miles with Ariana on the way home

AM: 10 miles

PM: 4 miles

Mostly easy all week to fully recover from the 15k and get ready for a few more tough weeks of training before the marathon.

12 miles around the neighborhood + 6 strides. My legs felt pretty good today so I was able to run a few miles under 7 minutes for the first time this week. I got a relatively late start because my Dad felt bad when I told him I had to get up at 2:15 to get 12 miles in before work so he opened up for me. I slept on until 3:30 and it was great. The neighborhood is much livelier at 4:30 than at 3. 6:44 AP

15 miles in Fountain Hills: started out by myself at 4:30 then picked up with the rest of the group who had twelve on the schedule. Started pretty easy but ran the second half pretty strong. I felt good today. Not that I have been running this run hard but today was my fastest pace on the route by far. The best part is that it felt really good and I had a lot left. About 1500 ft of gain today. AP 6:43

12+ miles: Got up early and got this in so I could follow the Gate River 15k where my wife was running. Easy run with some strides the last couple miles. About 7 min pace. Tomorrow is a long run with a nice MP chunk. Looking forward to that one.

20 miles: Pretty big group this morning with most training for Boston. We met in Fountain Hills and started with 10 easy miles over hills before everybody running 10 at their own marathon pace. We ran the fast portion down the Beeline Highway so we dropped about 300 ft over those 10 miles. The first 10 were 1:12 and I did the second 10 with my coach John in 58:09. We were targeting 5:50 pace so we executed nicely. The goal was to not push much beyond marathon effort. I felt good and definitely had a good amount left. It was a really nice morning and it's great to get out with such good people. 

Finally uploaded four months of training:

First part of the run:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/462551123

Second (faster portion):

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/462551134

AM: 6 miles easy. 

PM: 4 miles easy + 6 strides in the grass.

12 miles around the neighborhood a handful of times. Legs felt pretty good and weather was terrific. Could have used a few more minutes of sleep but oh well. Workout tomorrow.

AM: 13.65 miles with LTish repeats: normal warmup (2.85) including drills and strides then I did 8 x 1 mile on the road with 1 min jogs between each. I was thinking right around 5:30 going into this session. Splits were 5:27, 5:26, 5:24, 5:24, 5:25, 5:22, 5:24, 5:18. This was one of my better workouts ever (hopefully that actually translates to something good!). Very similar splits to the same workout I did 3 weeks prior to my half marathon PR last April. The best thing was that while this was a tough workout I never felt like I was grinding to hit those times. Cooled down a couple of miles with my wife.

PM: 4 miles easy at Freestone Park

12 recovery miles around the neighborhood too many times. These long recovery runs have been my least favorite part if this training cycle but I know they will make stronger.

12 miles with VO2 Max intervals: I warmed up 4 miles with my usual drills and 6 strides then did 20 x 1/4 mile with 30 seconds walking rests. I averaged 76.5 and it was a a tough workout. This workout is mentally tough because of the short rests and volume. I never felt like I was pushing  too hard but it was never easy either. I feel really good about this workout. 5 miles at 5:06 pace is solid work for me. I think I have a decent 5k in me next weekend at Carlsbad. It's not really marathon specific but we love Carlsbad and it's a great excuse for a family trip. I will do my biggest long run workout the following Saturday which will be 16 days out from Boston. Nice to have those couple extra days with the Monday race.

24 mile long run with a large group at South Mountain in Phoenix. This is a pretty hilly run. We did 2 x San Juan Rd. twice to make the 24. The goal today was just time on the feet a bit longer than our marathon times. I felt really good and was surprised to see that we averaged sub 7 pace. Desire Davila Linden is staying with one of my friends so she joined us for some of the run (she only had 20 scheduled). Not every day that you get to run with an Olympian. All in all this was a really good run. I feel very good and can't ask for much more at this point. 6:55 avg . After the run (and a shower) we went to brunch and had a couple of beers with friends and Davila Linden. Yes Olympians do drink beer!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/466658897

AM: 8 miles 

PM: 4 miles with Ariana. 

AM:10 Miles easy around the neighborhood. 

PM: 4 miles with Ariana on the way home.

10 miles with VO2 Max repeats: typical warmup loop with drills and strides then 5 x 3/4 mile w/slightly longer than 1/4 mile jogs so I could start in the same spot every time. Jogs were all 2:11-2:13. Splits were 3:42, 3:43, 3:42, 3:42, 3:44. This was one was hard. Probably the hardest workout I've done this cycle. I'm really pleased with the splits and I'm pleasantly surprised to have some speed in the middle of marathon training. 2 mile cooldown to finish off the workout.

12 miles in Fountain Hills. Nice and easy today. Legs felt pretty good which was very postive this morning. 7:29 AP

6 miles. Headed to Carlsbad for a 5k this weekend with my family. 

6 miles in Carlsbad. Kids did the junior races. Made for a fun and crazy morning. 

15:38 and a PR today. Completely went for it and it paid off. A lot of pain but no fear. Kilometer splits of 3:05, 3:05, 3:12, 3:10, 3:04. 3 weeks to Boston!

We are here with the kids and my wife's parents so my wife and I got to warm up together which was nice. We ran about 3 miles and made it to the start area with about 15 minutes to go. Plenty of time for some drills and strides. They have individual races for under 29, 30-39, masters, and the elite races which are unbelievable to watch. My wife and I were in the 30-39 race. The race atmosphere is lively and competitive. I was excited. When the horn went off my goal was simply to stick  with the lead group as long as I could. The group wasn't a tight pack but I was up towards the front. I went through the first mile in about 4:52. It already hurt but I didn't care. I continued to push and went by some guys. I was probably in about 10th place around at the first mile. The harder part of the course is the second mile. It has a gradual hill and was into the wind which wasn't much today. I passed a couple of more guys during mile 2 and I continued to push as hard as I could. Even though I was hurting I was overcome with confidence. I came through two mile in around 9:52. It was exciting to see that there were only a handful of guys ahead of me. I contined to put the pedal down as hard as I could. I was able to have a decent finish and ended up in 6th place. Obviuously I'm really pleased with this result. I am proud of the way I competed today and once again I had a good race when I didn't pay much attentiion to my watch. I'm not going to read too much into this for my marathon training other than that I am pretty fit right now. Using this same strategy in Boston will result in a quick death. No thanks! This is a great race and a highly recommend it. 

8 miles easy in Carlsbad. Ran from the hotel down to the ocean and along the ocean for a bit. Pretty much my dream run minus the part where I had to run through the busy freeway entrance and exit. 7:42

AM: 10 miles easy around the neighborhood. Actually felt nice to be back running my loop. My version of comfort food. 7:06

PM: 4 miles + 6 x strides in the grass. No watch.

AM: 12 miles with an AT Wave workout/tempo. Warmed up a little over four miles with some drills and strides then did 8 x 1k w/a 200 float. Averaged about 3:33 for the k and 48-50 for the 200. When it was done I had run 6.02 miles in 35:07 so about 5:50 pace. Pretty much a tempo run. I cooled down a couple miles to finish the run. Felt okay but not great. The quicker 200 float kind of made this one harder than I thought it was going to be. 

PM: 4 miles easy at Freestone Park. Last one of the cycle!

12 miles in Fountain Hills with John, Ricardo, and Ron. Nice and easy today.

20.2 miles w/16 at marathon pace was the plan today. Met the Boston crew in Fountain Hills and we warmed up about 4.25 miles mostly uphill then we all started our faster segments. Ariana Hilborn ran 10 with me and my coach john ran a few with is in the middle and I was on my own for the last 6. Much of the 16 faster miles were downhill with a couple of up hills in the beginning. Ariana and I were probably about 5:46-7 pace for 10 and then I ran the last 6 faster probably averaging 5:43. I was 1:32:06 for the 16 which is 5:45 pace. I felt great for a large portion of the run but I was weakening toward the end with some miles in the low 5:40s. After this run I feel like I can definitely run 5:50 pace in Boston but5:45 pace will require a near perfect race. I will error on the slow side.

Faster portion of the run: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/474253473

10 miles easy around the neighborhood. Considering yesterday's run I felt great this morning. Weather was perfect and I finished as the sun was coming up. 

8 miles around the neighborhood. I feel pretty good after Saturday's long run. I feel almost 100% recovered already. Nice sign so close to the marathon.

10 miles with some strides in the last two miles. Getting bored already with no doubles. Super excited for Boston!

10 miles with 10 x 1 min on/jog at 5:15-5:30 pace. Felt good to go quicker. Perfect weather. 

12.15 miles in Fountain Hills: Met the group at 4:45 for our last Thursday hill run before Boston. I've really enjoyed these runs and although they've mostly been easy I think adding hills has really helped me this cycle. 7:12

10 miles with small VO2 max workout: Warmed up usual 2.85 miles with drills and strides then did 6 x 1/2 mile with 2 min jogs. Splits were 2:30, 2:29, 2:30, 2:29, 2:31, 2:31. I actually had 10 on the schedule but I was already grinding so I called it at six. I think cutting it was much smarter than struggling for four more reps. 10 would have bee a big workout anyway so it's probably a blessing that I was flat today. Cooled down 3 miles. Last fast stuff for a while.

12 miles with the Phoenix Free Soles. Basically we did the last 6 miles of the Mountain to Fountain course in reverse. Mostly easy with a moderate push on the big hill. I got my Phoenix Free Sole singlet that I will wear next Monday. Everything feels good physically so I know I'm ready for Boston. 7:05 

8 miles around the neighborhood.

No run today. Taper. 

Last workout today. 5 x 3/4 mile between HM and M pace with 1/4 mile jogs. Splits were 4:08, 4:12, 4:13, 4:12, 4:10. Felt comfortable but not easy. These last workouts never feel easy. It was nice to get some turnover with killing myself. I woke up with a cold this morning so hopefullly that doesn't get too bad.

8 miles: felt good. Leaving for Boston in the morning. Couldn't be more excited!

6 miles easy along the Charles River in Boston. I did two miles at marathon pace then watched my wife get a PR in the BAA 5k. There is a ton of excitement and fan fare for this race. The downside is that it's tough to do anything because it's so crowded. Quite an experience to say the least.

Easy shakeout and some strides along the Charles River. Just me and a few hundred others out early for a shakeout.

Not want I wanted today but I don't have any regrets. I was very content with going out slow as everything I had heard was don't go out too fast. I started with my coach John in the huge crowd. I did have time and space for the Lunge Matrix and leg swings but there was no room for any warmup. I didn't mind because I knew that would make us go out even slower. First mile felt like a complete jog and it was hard to move there were so many people. I thought it would thin out quickly but it didn't. We ran the first mile in 5:56 and the second mile in 5:42 (garmin splits). My watch was way off from the mile splits so I should have just hit lap at the markers but I didn't. It was hard to run the tangents correctly because there were so many people that you couldn't move over that easily. I felt pretty good in the first few miles and they went by quickly. 3 and four were 5:48 and 5:47. I got a bottle from my sister at 6.6  and carried it for a while sipping on electrolytes. Miles 5,6,7 were 6:00, 5:54, 5:51. I was really happy that I was executing and felt well within myself. I hit another 6 flat at mile 8 and I checked in with John and he said he felt blah. He was gone after that. I was still feeling good and there were still a ton of runners around. The crowds were literally nonstop the entire way. It was kind of surreal. Miles 9 and 10 were 5:55, 5:56 and I noticed some fatigue setting in at this point. One of my training partners from home had a friend who lives on the course around 10.75 and I had planned to get a bottle from him. I heard my name being yelled out but it was behind me so I ran about 10 seconds back to get the bottle because I thought it would be worth it. At that point I saw my buddies from home who were all trying to run about 2:36. I was happy they were right there and I could run with them. We ran together through half with splits of 5:59, 5:55, 5:57. I was feeling good again and thinking I would crush the last portion of the course because of my slower start. We hit half way in 1:18:10 and we lost Ricardo from our group shortly after that. The screams for Phoenix (on our singlets) were non stop and motivating. We ran 14,15, in 5:54, 5:52 and we lost Bret. It was just me and my buddy JT now and I knew what was coming with the hills. 16 has a big downhill in it and we hit that in 5:46. Now it was time for the hills. I hit the first one and I didn't feel good but not horrible yet. Mile 17 was 6:04. At that point things began to fall apart. JT left me and was surging up the hills in a hurry (he ran a negative split 2:35). 18 and 19 were 6:05 and 6:06 but insided I knew my body was failing me. Just keep pushing, keep moving I told myself. 20 and 21 were 6:13 and 6:35. After Heartbreak Hill I was pretty much in hang on mode. Miles 22 and 23 were 6:14, 6:23 and I was barely hanging on where I thought I would be killing it. I was getting passed left and right it was very humbling. At 24 my friend Brett passed me but he didn't have much left either. Mile 24 was 6:28. The crowds were deep and terrific but I felt so bad and was so focused on just keeping moving that I didn't enjoy them. I saw the Citgo sign but it seemed so far away. I was dissppointed in myself but I had a new challenge which was to finish the best I could and I wanted to accomplish that. No walking, no quitting. Mile 25 was 6:31 and 26 was 6:34. I did enjoy the final straight down Boylston and played to the crowd a little bit. I was finally there! I passed my friend Brett and actually close half way decent. I was relieved to cross the finish line and proud that I didn't quit mentally. It's not easy to stay postive and motivated when things fall apart. When I crossed the line my legs were 100% gone. Shortly after I crossed I saw reporters around Meb and I went over and told him thank you. He gave me a high five  and soon all the runners were giving him high fives as they heard he had won. Pretty cool. I'm not sure what happened to me. I thought I was in better shape than my performance and nothing went wrong. The weather was pretty good, no injury, no GI issues, I went out conservatively. I still fell apart though. The marathon is just really hard to knock out of the park. Thanks to all those who support me!

40 minutes on the eliptical. Still some slight soreness in my legs. I'm going to run until Monday. Mostly annoyed at my Boston performance and I'm eager to train again. However, I plan on being smart about and not rushing things.

5 miles around the neighborhood: First run since Boston. Felt fine. My plan is to run easy next week then resume training for the half marathon. 

6 miles easy. Still felt a bit akward for a few miles. Weird how not running for 5 days can make you feel.

6 miles again this morning. Felt more fluid today. 

8 miles around the neighborhood. Felt normal. Even had a couple miles under 7 min.

10 + Miles around the neighborhood. I started easy and picked it up gradually to a moderated pace. I ended up averaging about 6:50 pace for the whole run and felt pretty good.

12 miles in the neighborhood and then out on the canal as the sun was coming up. Really nice run this morning. Eased into it then moderate for a while then last two in 12 minutes. Last two were a little harder than I would have liked but it felt good to push a little for the first time since Boston. 6:45 avg. 

8 miles easy + 6 x 100ish strides. Continue to feel good after the marathon. Workouts next week.

8 miles around the neighborhood. Nice 65 degree morning. 7:04 

8 miles with a tempo: warmed up four miles then straight into a four mile tempo on 23:08. Splits were 5:50, 5:52, 5:46, 5:40. Tempo wasn't easy but I could have out together a couple more around 5:45 this morning. Happy with this first workout post marathon.

AM: 8 miles 7:20 pace 

PM: 4 miles + 4 x 10 sec hill sprints at Freestone Park. Felt good to double again.

10 miles moderate progression. Started easy and made it down to 5:42 for the last mile. I didn't plan this is just happened to turn out that every mile was faster than the previous. Once I got going I just rolled with it. 6:30 avg.

10 miles with 8 x 1/4 mile repeats: Horrible execution this morning. Workout was 8 1/4 mile repeats with equal jog. My goal was nice and smooth 74s. Instead I started with a 68 then took a few repeats of 73 to truly recover and then went too fast again with some 71s and 72s. A very uneven workout this morning but oh well. 

16 mile long run: Solid long run this morning. Started with 9 miles averaging 6:35 then went straight into a 5 x 1 mile workout with 1 min jogs between each repetition. Splits on the miles were 5:46, 5:43, 5:42, 5:38, 5:40. I was working on the last couple. After the miles I ran another mile and a half or so to finish off the run. 6:22 avg. for the whole run. Overall this was a hard long run which was exactly what I was looking for. I believe you must practice running fast when you are already tired in order to do so in a race. I didn't do that very well in Boston and I hope to improve on that. 

8 miles. Feeling beat up physically today. Tired, sick and waking up in the  middle of the night early morning has me dragging. 7:22 avg.

8 miles easy. Felt  better this morning. 7:05

10 miles starting at Freestone Park and then along the canal. I finally cracked this morning and went back to bed after I had my running shoes on. I was close to making it out the door but didn't make it. Anyway, stopped on the way home and got 10 in. Felt pretty good but the heat made it a little tough. 6:59 avg.

12 miles with a VO2 Max workout. I warmed up 4 miles with drills and strides then did 2 x 2 mile on the road with a 3 min jog between. Splits were 10:48 and 10:44. I went out faster on the first mile of both so I had a bit of a positive split on both reps. This workout was pretty hard, especially the second mile of the second rep. I was happy with the times though and I feel very fortunate to have completed it. It's been a tough week. Cooled down about 4 miles to finish off the workout.

18 miles: Another solid long run today. I started with 10 at 6:42 avg. pace then went straight into 2 x 3 mile with a mile easy between. I ran the first set in 5:43, 5:40, 5:39, ran a mile in 6:57 then did the second set in 5:39, 5:40, 5:34. The second set was tough. I'm trying to get used to running the faster parts off a faster pace in the beginning. The mornings are warming up but it wasn't too bad this morning. 6:23 average pace for the whole run. Tired!

Recovery miles around the neighborhood. 7:20 pace.

8 miles mostly easy with the exception of four laps at the track where I ran the straights really hard and the curves at a steady pace. Nice work for developing some power. 7 min avg. 

12 miles with 8 x 1/2 mile reps on the road with 2 min jogs. Warmed up close to 5 miles including drills and strides then I did the workout. My goal was to start conservative and work my way down in groups of two reps. Splts were 2:37, 2:37, 2:34, 2:34, 2:31, 2:31, 2:34, 2:28. With the exception of the 7th rep it looks I accomplished my goal. This was a tough workout as most of my workouts are. The last 1/4 of the last one I was really pushing hard to get under 2:30. This was my first true VO2 Max workout since Boston so I'm pretty happy with it. I feel like I don't have a ton of power/pop in my legs so to hit these splits is pretty good for me. 

8 miles 7:25 pace. Was sore from yesterday's session. 

10 miles around the neighborhood. I thought about some sort of workout but opted to run easy instead. I didn't quite feel all the way recovered from Tuesday. 6:59 pace

16 mile long run: really nice morning for running. I ran 8 mile at around 6:45 pace then went straight into 6 x 1 mile repeats on the road with 1 min jogs. Splits on those were 5:37 5:34 5:33 5:32 5:29 5:21. Felt pretty good today. Pushed the last half of the last one. 6:22 avg

12 mile group run at South Mountain. Felt blah today but that's what I expected. South Mountain is always tough no matter how slow I go. 7:10 avg.

8 miles easy then 6 strides. I'm always on a tight schedule so it was nice to sleep a little bit later and run as the sun was coming up.

Got up super early for a workout, made it outside and felt horrible. Lack of motivation, forefoot pain, funny stomach. Perfect storm. I made it 1/4 mile before a started walking back to my house. I jogged a little on the way back to make it back to bed quicker. Fell back asleep and felt good about it.

10 miles with VO2 Max workout: did the workout that I failed to do yesterday. Motivation has been tough the last few days. It was mentally tough to get going but I made it through and had a pretty good workout. I warmed up 2.85 miles with drils and strides then did 4 x 1 mile on the road with 3 min recovery jogs. Splits were 5:13, 5:11, 5:13, 5:07. Tough workout and I was extremely happy to get through it. Hopefully this will lead to some stronger motivation. 

10 miles around the neighborhood. About 7:15 avg.

8+ miles then 6 x 100ish strides.

8 miles mostly easy with 8 x 15-20 sec surges in the last few miles with untimed long recoveries.  I was going to do Rock and Roll San Diego tomorrow but my wife got sick and ended up in the hospital for a couple days so we obviously scratched that one. We have to decide on the Gary Bjorklnad Half (June 21) in the next couple days. 

16 mile long run starting with a 12 mile progression and then a 4 mile cool down. 12 mile progression started at 7:02 and ended with a 5:31. Averaged 6:12 for that and was pretty much done. I couldn't have gone much further. Durin the 4 mile cooldown I could tell I was wasted. It was a warm morning which helped with the suffering. Too bad its only going to get worse. Splits for the progression were 7:02, 6:46, 6:38, 6:33, 6:24, 6:17, 6:08, 6:00, 5:50, 5:44, 5:37, 5:31. Although I was wiped out I feel pretty good about this run. Right now my running is going pretty well but I'm just not motivated enought to completely lock in to all the other stuff. 

8 miles to start to the week. 

10 miles around the neighborhood. Felt pretty good this morning. Just under 7 min pace.

3.75 mile warm up then into a 4 mile tempo with splits of 5:42, 5:33, 5:28, 5:20. 2.25 cool down. Tempo was tough towards the end. I didn't look at my watch once during the 4 miles. It was kind of fun to check to see what the splits were . Maybe I should do this more often. Our trip to Duluth for the Gary Bjorkland is off so I'm not training for anything at the moment. 

8+ miles easy around the neighborhood. 

14 miles: 3+ mile warm up then into 3 x 2 mile repetitions with 3:30 jogging between. Splits were 11:05 (5:31, 5:34), 10:56 (5:29, 5:27), 10:56 (5:28, 5:28). This was pretty hard. I couldn't have done another set at that pace today. I didn't have a plan when I walked out the door so I'm really happy with this workout. 4 miles cool down after. For the time being I'm enjoying not being on a schedule and just making up things as I go. 

9 miles as the sun was coming up. Still some decent feeling air in the morning these days. Not much longer. 

8 easy miles. I actually saw other human beings out this morning. Boy Scouts moving things from a house was an interesting 3 am sighting. 

8 miles including strides: Decided to sleep in this morning which meant if I was going to run it was going to be on my way home. Since it was 108 degrees I was going to be happy with four miles. Fortunately I felt good enough to get eight miles and some strides in. I really didn't think I could make it that far so I was really happy to get this one in. It's super dry here right now or esle this wouldn't be possible for me.

10 miles with 10 x 1 min on/jog around 5:15 avg. 

10 miles with some random attempted workouts. Started a slower 5 mile tempo with a sluggish 6:11 and called it off. After a 1/2 mile of jogging I decided to do something faster so I ran a 5:21 mile and that was enough so I finished with some easy running. 

Ran some trails in Pine, Arizona. They were pretty hard. I average 9:30 pace or so for about 45 minutes of running.

Nice little run on some small back roads in Strawberry, AZ. I saw a family of Elk which was cool. 

8 miles. I was happy that I answered the bell this morning. That was the hardest part.

8 miles or so on the way home from work at Freestone Park. Just a Timex today but I know some of the mile points  so I can take a pretty solid guess on the mileage. It was 105 degrees but felt fine with the wind.

10 miles at 7:09 pace. Seemed long. Up at 2:30 is harder than it used to be.

6 miles easy. Fortunate to get my butt out the door this morning. 

8 miles mostly easy but did pick it up some on the last two.

8 miles early in the morning. I might be done getting up early to run for good.

In Tahoe. Out early and found some trail running along the lake for a mile or so. So peaceful. 

4+ miles in the heat of the day then my first time trying Crossfit. I am weak and it was hard. 

4.6 miles in the heat on the way home and I added a spin class with my wife a little later.

Some hot miles on the canal and a class called Insanity at the gym later. It was pretty hard. I'm quickly learning that being a runner doesn't mean you'll be good at other fitness activites. 

Just a guess on the mileage. I ran for 46+ minutes. It was really hot and I probably shouldn't go longer than this when it's 108 out.

5 miles on the treadmill before another grueling crossfit workout. Wow those are hard.

Ran for an hour outside. I am so sore from non running running workouts.

8 miles with a few harder at the end. Last one was 6:02 which is my top end these days. I'm still extremely sore from crossfit.

5 miles then Crossfit class. 

6.5 miles outside in the afternoon then a tough spin class in the evenening.

5.5 miles on the treadmill and a crossfit workout in the evening.

Easy run in Flagstaff.

45 minutes on the treadmill. Hilly.

5 miles in the heat and then crossfit class. Seemed a little better running today with dryer air. Should be 115 in a couple days. 

45 minutes on the treadmill with 10 x 2 min on/1 min off about 6:10 pace for the "on" and 7:30 pace for the "off". 1.0 incline the whole way. Spin class later in the evening. 

Not sure on distance but I went for 35 minutes and it was incredibly hot. Brutal run.

Hilly hour on the treadmill. 116 outside today. No thanks.

No running today. Just a Crossfit workout. Decent amount of rowing and a ton of squats. My hip flexors are insanely tight and I struggle to even get into a squat postion with no weight. 

8 miles outside. Ran hard for the last couple. Spin class later in the morning.

8 easy this morning.

5 miles outside (hot) and a crossfit class a little later. 

Treadmill running with 11 x 2 min/1 min off around 6 min pace for the on. Spin class later in the evening.

Incredibly hot out for this one. Crossift class later in the evening.

40 min on the treadmill with a 22 minute tempo around 6:15-6:20 pace. Incline a 1.0. Crossfit workout later in the evening.

5 miles outside. Brutal conditions with a mid 60's dewpoint. Happy to be done today.

8 miles around the neighborhood and adjacent farm land followed by a crossfit class followed by a spin class. I saw a 5:50 mile today which I haven't seen for a couple months. I definitely earned my date night beers with the morning workouts. 

8 humid miles around the neighborhood and farms again. My hamstrings and glutes are trashed from one of the workouts I did yesterday.

45 minutes on the canal. Calling it 6.5 but really I have no idea. 

50 minutes on the treadmill all at 1.0 incline. 10 minutes warm up then 6 x 4 min at around 6:05 pace avg with 2 min jogging at 7:30 pace between each one. Sad to say but this was pretty hard. I was completely saturated from head to toe.

6 miles in 45 minutes early then a crossfit class. 6 minutes straight of burpees is hard. Kids' first day of school today so I took the day off and my workouts in early. 

5 miles outside. Ended the run with a great deal of pain in my glute/lower back. It's been coming on for a couple days but now I can hardly walk. I tried the eliptical after but I can't do that. I think the bike will be okay. 

First run in nine days. A little pain during and a lot after. I've been rowing, spinning, and doing crossfit to stay in shape.

20 minutes on the treadmill.

20 minutes on the treadmill.

10 miles with my wife in Long Beach. We were slow. 

My injury is getting better. Very little pain today after 10 yesterday. 

5 miles on the treadmill followed by a PR for the 2000 meter row then a spin class with my wife, sister, and brother in law. Fun afternoon exercising at the gym.

5 miles outside on the way home from work. Too hot to be enjoyable. Crossfit class later with my wife. 

5 miles on the treadmill then some lifting after. 

8 miles around the neighborhood. Ran the last couple miles harder and even broke 6 minutes. I thought I might not ever do that again.