Runnin' down a dream

Marathon course with my wife and my mom. Good fun! Went by quickly. Averaged 7:45. 

Nice morning. Good run. Mall Dr. to 300 E

Speed Work! Haven't done this for a month. Did 3 minute sprints followed by 3 minute recovery. Avg .50 miles for sprints at 6:00 pace. My recovery lengths averaged .35 miles or 8:30 pace. Did that five times with a half mile warm up and half mile cool down. 

I am rotating between Brooks and Saucony. I love my Brooks! My Saucanys that I wore today give me blisters after about 8 or 9 miles. Just thought I would try them. Liking the Brooks better.

Ran from the top of Smith's Mesa (By Virgin, Utah) out to the Hurricane Walmart. 15 miles. This is a family favorite for a Bryce Half-Marathon training run. It drops quickly and then gives some good rolling climbs at the end. Parallels Bryce really well. First time ever that I chaffed though! It was humid and I had on last year's Bryce shirt, which is kind of heavy and has a lot of ink on the front. My nipples didn't actually bleed, but they sure felt like the should have been!

I hiked 8 miles with Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge. I am a hiking guide there. I ran two of the miles to get me to my 38 for the week. 

just a comfortable 5 after having done Smith's Mesa on Friday

Not much to say. Just a nice six. Caught up with Willy Heinrich for a bit and helped him run in his final 1.5

This was fun. I did 4.5 miles of 3 min sprint / 3 min recovery. I was very consistent on my distances for those three minute blocks. Sprinting, I would hit .5 miles or a 6 min mile. Recovery I would hit .38 miles. Intervals are hard, but rewarding. Having the Garmin hold you accountable is helpful. It's crazy how a little watch that beeps to stay run and beeps to say rest is just as powerful as a coach standing there with a whistle. After doing the interval training, I did a 5.5 mile loop to bring me to 10 for the morning. 

1 mile warm / 1 mile sprint 6:20 / One mile cool down. Just enough to prepare my legs for tomorrows race at Bryce Canyon.

Great Race! Personal Best! My high miles (high for me anyway) of 38 miles a week for the last 5 weeks, except for a sick week, have paid off. I ran faster than I ever have for this distance. 6:21 a mile for 13.1 miles. I am very excited. I was able to control my breathing better and recover more quickly during the race. My legs were also not as fatigued. The weather was great, even cold at the beginning, perfect over all though. I raced it out for the last 3 or 4 miles with Scott Bushar. After about 2 miles we realized we were in different age brackets so we didn't need to keep killing each other. We then just ran it out together. I pulled ahead of him with .5 to go, but then he burst past me with .25 to go. Beat me by a hair. Fantastic race. My wife, my mom, and my brother all got PR's at this year's Bryce too. A very enjoyable day.

Washington parkway loop. Comfortable 10 miles at about a 7:50 pace. Nice recovery run after Bryce Canyon. Wore my Sauconys, but I put band-aids on my big toes so I didn't blister up. Ran from 6:30 to 7:40 am. Beautiful Sunrise created by a very welcomed cloud cover. Saw sheep grazing and ducks swimming. Kind of a nice morning watching the world wake up. 

I felt empowered from getting my PR at Bryce. My high mileage is paying off. I guess I shouldn't have been to eager though, after a fast 13 on Saturday and then 10 on Tuesday, my shins weren't ready for 10 today. At mile 5 I felt a tear and now I have a serious shin splint issue on my left leg. Switching to the bike for a while to keep my hear rate up and stay conditioned without putting stress on my leg. I'll be back on my feet soon.