Terminator

AM:  Easy 20 mile loop through Lehi, Highland, Alpine, and Cedar Hills with Fritz, Scott, Mike, Kevin, Toni, Dan, and Walter. 6:40 average pace. Felt great. These group long runs are always fun. Then did hip, hamstring, and upper body weights. I'll post a picture of the crew from today (courtesy of my wife) when I can figure out how to do so.

Finally figured it out (thanks to Fritz' excellent advice). Thanks Fritz. Rough crew.

AM:  10 easy miles from my home with Mike, Spencer, and Reed. Though seriously about doing some speed this morning, but my hamstring is a bit tweaked from Saturday, so I decided to just go easy.

PM:  Upper body weights.

AM:  13 miles with Mike, Toni, and Dan. Warmed-up 3.5 miles down to Lehi tempo loop. Then, did 4 x 1 mile at 5:06, 5:15, 5:15, 5:04, with 1/4 mile rest in between. Felt fine, but tougher than expected. Air quality may have contributed. All 4 miles were at similar effort, but the 2nd and 3rd miles had a headwind (not thrilled with those 2 miles, but effort was similar, so that's Ok). Warmed-down 3.5 miles. Overall, I feel good about the workout. My hamstring is a bit tweaked, so I'll need to watch it carefully.

AM:  10.5 miles easy from my home with Reed, Mike, and Toni. Hamstring still tweaked but better than expected.

PM:  Hip, hamstring, and upper body weights.

Check this picture out. I'm not sure I've ever seen a distance running picture better than this. It's from the 2013 Dubai Marathon, where a record 5 runners broke 2:05. Unbelievable.

AM:  8 easy miles in Orem with Toni.

Day off. Hamstring tweaked.

AM:  SLC Winter Series 10k. 3rd overall, 33:19. I was very excited to race today. But, admittedly my excitement waned the past few days, because of the very real possibility of significant snow and icy roads. I drove up with Scott and Mike (thanks for driving, Scott). During the drive, we were reassured because of the mild temperature, minimal snow, and almost sunny skies. However, as soon as we passed the airport, we realized we had been falsely reassured. Suddenly, it was foggy, snowy, and the temperature dropped quickly. My uneasiness returned regarding the prospect of icy roads.

Warmed-up 3 miles with Scott and Mike. It began to snow hard during our warm-up. We realized it would be very windy and snowy during the 2nd half of this out-and-back course.

Blizzard conditions during the race. But, thankfully, the roads were not icy. A few slick spots, but not bad. I started in the lead pack. My 1st mile split was 5:10. My 2nd and 3rd mile splits were 5:18 and 5:18. I felt great. Riley was out in front, and Jake wasn't far behind. A runner named Nathan (I met him for the first time after the race), was in 3rd. I was in 4th, about 10-15 seconds behind Nathan. There was another runner right on my shoulder (I don't know his name).

Then came the turn-around. I expected to feel the wind and snow after the turn-around, but it was much more windy and snowy than I expected. I ran most of the 2nd half of the race with my eyes closed because it was so snowy.

I felt really good. I decided I didn't want the 5th place guy to benefit from drafting behind me the entire way home, so I decided to try to bury him. I dropped the hammer, and he quickly fell back.

Next, I focused on Nathan. I caught him in just over a 1/2 mile. Looking back, it probably wasn't a good idea to catch him that quickly into the wind. I put in a "spurt" when I passed him (I believe in passing with authority), and, to my surprise, he was able to go with me. He drafted behind me for about a mile. My 4th mile split was 5:28 (and the effort felt faster than the previous 3 miles).

Knowing I was working twice as hard has he was, I slowed down a bit so he could take his turn leading. He didn't take the bait. Realizing that letting him draft off me the whole way home might cost me the race, and because I was beginning to tire because of the effort into the wind, I pulled to the right and literally almost stopped running -- to force him into the lead. I then proceeded to draft off him for ~ 1/2 mile, after which I regained the lead to again take my turn. My 5th mile split was 5:36 (same effort, brutal conditions). We exchanged leads for awhile, and then with about 3/4 mile to go, he made a bold, strong move. I couldn't quite cover it, so he put 5-10 seconds on me. For a brief moment, I didn't know if I'd be able to catch him. My 6th mile split was 5:28.

But, I quickly snapped out of it. I immediately decided he wasn't going to beat me. Not today. Not this way. With about 1/4 mile to go, I made my move, and I rapidly caught him. When I passed him this time, I really put the hammer down. I wanted him to realize there was no way he could stay with me today. He put up a fight, and he did a great job doing so, but I rapidly extended my lead and beat him.

I love winning races with a kick. Obviously, I didn't win the race, but I enjoyed the fight for 3rd place. Of course, it's more enjoyable to have broken the competition before the end of a race, but I also enjoy kicking. It hurts, but it's fun. I've won many races with kicks, especially in college.

Warmed down 4 miles with many of the guys. My hamstring is not good. I felt it during the entire race, and also the easy running. I sure hope it resolves quickly. I think my mistake is that my combination of tempos and a long run last week was a bit too much for my body to handle at this point. Oh well. You live and learn.

What a great group of runners today! Seriously high-caliber human beings. I'm honored to be associated with them. Most fun I've had in a long time. Riley and Jake were very smooth and strong. It was fun to watch them gradually pull away. Fritz and Scott ran well given they were both not at full health. Fritz was VERY cold after the race -- probably had borderline hypothermia. Very glad he warmed up. Mike is getting sick, but still ran well given how he felt. Kevin, Collin, and many others ran great also.

Here are some pictures (courtesy of my wife). She was able to take pictures of Riley and Jake running, but for some reason she was distracted after I finished :) Sorry she couldn't take pictures of more of you running.

No running today. But I did do hip, hamstring, and upper body weights. My hamstring is definitely flared up. I knew that would happen by racing on Saturday, but I had to race! For me, sometimes the confidence a good race brings outweighs the potential for making a "tweak" worse. Others may disagree, and that's Ok. Plus, I just can't resist racing. I'm now paying the price for racing on Saturday, but I definitely built some confidence by doing so. I'm very glad I did it.

AM:  10 easy miles from Scott's house with Mike, Toni, and Scott. Hamstring definitely sore, but I got through it. Afterword, it didn't feel worse than before I started. We'll see how it responds.

AM:  10 easy miles from my home with Scott, Mike, Toni, and Reed. Hamstring still bad. Easy miles are all I may be able to do for awhile. I'm getting antsy for speed, but not yet!

AM:  10 easy miles from my home with Mike. Hamstring not improving, but doesn't seem to be getting worse. I'll just keep doing easy miles for now.

PM:  Upper body weights.

AM:  10 easy miles from my home alone. Had to run at 4:30 am so I could catch a flight, so I couldn't run with the 5am crew. Hamstring not good.

AM:  12 easy miles in Lexington, Kentucky. Ran with a running buddy I met while living here a couple years ago. Was great to see him. Averaged 6:35 pace. Felt like 7:30 pace; it's amazing how much easier it is to run near sea level with more oxygen. The pace was not good for the hamstring, though. It's not doing well; I may need to take some days off.

PM:  Hamstring not good, so time for some cross-training. Did 40 min on stairmaster; 1 mile of backwards running; and hip, hamstring, and upper-body weights. 

AM:  40 min stairmaster, then 1 mile swim.

AM:  60 min stairmaster (11.75 miles, 565 flights, 1020 calories, bucket of sweat, boring as heck). 11.75 miles? I don't think so. That's what the machine said. It also said I did 10 miles in 51:45. No way. I was definitely working hard, but not that hard.

I know, I know, not necessarily running-specific cross-training. But I personally don't care. Whatever it takes to get my heart beating is fine with me. I refuse to lose much of the fitness I've gained. The last time I had to cross-train was 3 months ago. Because I am now much fitter than I was then, it's amazing how much higher I have to crank up the machines to get the same cardiovascular workout.

Speaking of running-specific cross-training, I did quite a bit of running in the pool when I was in college and injured, but honestly, it was always way too easy; it never felt like a workout, even when I was really trying to push it. I know, I'm sure there are ways I could make it tougher, but things like the stairmaster do the job for me.

Hip, hamstring, and upper-body weights; 1.5 miles of backwards running.

AM:  8 easy miles from my home. Hamstring no better. Rest hasn't helped, so for now I'll just run anyway. 

AM:  10 easy miles from Scott's home with Toni, Mike, and Scott.

AM:  15 easy miles from my home with Scott and Mike. They went 20, and threw some tempo miles in. I kept it easy because of my hamstring. I finished just as the snow started pounding. Perfect timing. The last 20 minutes of my run probably dropped 15-20 degrees.

Hip, hamstring, and upper body weights.

AM:  Attempted to run. Hamstring worse, so I had to cut the run short.

PM:  Hip and upper body weights.

PM:  60 min stair climber (12.04 miles, 578 flights).

Hamstring is worse. My own fault. I admit it -- I'm as stubborn as they come. But, it's hard to not run when rest generally doesn't help. Oh well. Time to rest. I've got to get over this. I'm planning to take 1-2 weeks off running (more if needed). If I'm not able to get back to running within the next 1-2 weeks, I'm going to bag Boston. I sure don't want to do that, but I have no interest in running Boston if my goal will just be to "do Ok." I'd sure miss the social aspect though (great group of guys going to Boston). But, if it needs to happen, so be it. I'd then re-group and start working toward something else. I despise cross-training to the max, but such is life. I just need to buck-up, quite whining, and get to work. I'll lose some fitness, but hopefully not a lot.

AM:  60 min on stair master (12.1 miles; 581 flights).

PM:  60 minutes stairmaster (12.41 miles, 595 flights). Hip, hamstring, and upper body weights.