Terminator

AM:  10 miles up and down Provo Canyon with Mike, Toni, Reed, Dave, and Spencer. After 1.5 mile warm-up, did 3 mile tempo up the canyon (5:39, 5:42, 5:37). Felt very good. The 3rd mile was the most hilly. Thought about going another mile, but decided to err on the side of caution and finish feeling like I could do more. Mike looked great again today.

PM:  6 miles easy up and down Provo Canyon.

10.5 easy miles from my home (Thanksgiving Point loop) with Reed, Chad, Brandon, Scott, and Mike. As fun as always.

AM: 22 miles in St. George (solo). My brother is in town from Boston, so our family went to St. George for the weekend. Originally, my plan was to get my long run in on Thursday or Friday, so I wouldn't have to deal with it in St. George, but Mike planted the idea (note to self: "it's actually a no-brainer, Poulsen") to do my long run on a portion of the St. George Marathon course. I liked the idea, Jake reinforced it, and I made my plans.

My plan was to get it done early to avoid the heat down here. The place we are staying is right on the course at about the 24 mile mark. So, I decided to drive 22 miles up and then run down. I woke up at 4am, and my Dad was kind enough to drive me up. I planted gatorade at what would be my mile 5 and mile 10. I started at 5am. It was surreal feeling like I was the only living thing, in complete darkness, for awhile. I wore a t-shirt, reflective vest, and headlamp for my warm-up (10 miles). Then, I dropped all that stuff, including my shirt.

Then I did a 10 mile tempo. My goal was 10 miles at 5:20 average. I wasn't sure how that would go. It went better then expected. I did 10 miles in 52:34 (5:15 average). I felt extremely good. Felt like I could have kept going for miles, and I almost made the attempt, but I decided to stick to my plan and not over-do it. My only mile above 5:20 was the hill at ~ mile 18 of the marathon. Here are my splits: 5:18, 5:17, 5:15, 5:14, 5:13, 5:23 (uphill), 5:15, 5:14, 5:09, 5:10. For those of you familiar with the course, my tempo was certainly net downhill, but in addition to the big hill (at mile 18 of the marathon), there are several other brief hills, which I intentially attacked hard -- to attempt to gain good momentum for the downhills that followed.

Really felt good. Was a confidence booster. I saw hardly any runners the first half of today's run, but I probably passed ~ 150 runners during my tempo. That is always fun. Today's run was aided, but I'm good with that -- it's good practice on the actual course! Plus, I did some uphill tempo a couple days ago, so I was fine with a downhill tempo today.

AM:  12 easy miles from Scott's house with a large crew:  Scott, Mike, Reed, Spencer, Toni, Chad, Ty, and Chris. Legs feel fatigued but good.

PM:  6 easy miles along Murdock Canal Trail. Hamstring and upper body weights.

AM:  12 easy miles at Spencer's home with Mike, Spencer, Toni, Zak, and Karl.

PM:  6 easy miles up and down Provo canyon.

AM:  12 miles. 2 mile warm-up, 3 mile warm down. 4 x 2000m repeats from Karl's home in Orem with a great crew. 800m rest between intervals. All times were in the low to mid 6:20's. I didn't pay as much attention to times, except to notice that my mile times during the intervals ranged from 5:02 to 5:08. This entire run was an out and back course on the roads. Was a great workout. Zak and I ran together the whole time; he is in great shape.

PM:  6 miles on the Murdock Canal Trail.

AM:  10 easy miles from my home.

PM:  6 easy miles on the bark chip trail at Liberty Park in SLC. I had a work meeting in SLC, so afterword I just had to go to Liberty Park. We sure need more bark trails around here.

10.5 easy miles from my home with Mike, Chad, and Toni (Thanksgiving Point loop).

AM:  20 miles, Provo Canyon, 10 miles up and 10 miles down. Large crew (10 guys). Great run, and excellent, mild weather. 10 miles easy on the way up, then did an 8 mile tempo at 5:25 average (5:22, 5:23, 5:21, 5:29, 5:26, 5:24, 5:27, 5:23). Just went by feel today, and this is the pace that felt right. Felt very relaxed and comfortable. My goal for this run was to get a good workout, but to not over-do it. I feel like I succeeded. Mike and I ran together during the tempo -- he looked great! We even paced Sasha for a couple miles during the Provo River Trail 1/2 Marathon.

It's been a rough week health-wise. After a good workout Wednesday morning, I quickly developed GI issues, and I was vomiting and had diarrhea all day (sorry, TMI). I could hardly stand up because I felt like I would pass out. I think it must have been something I ate. That day, I couldn't keep any food or drink down until late afternoon (which I again threw up later). My weight dropped to 141 that day (not good at all -- definitely not the way to lose weight; I was clearly very dehydrated). I didn't miss any planned runs this week, although I probably should have. I did a second run on Wednesday evening (thought I could hack it, despite my wife pleading that I do otherwise). I did finish the run, and then promptly threw up everything again. Finally, later that evening, I began to improve, and I ate and drank as much as I could (several times during the night). I managed to gain 8 pounds in 1 day (I was 149 pounds on Thursday morning); I was happy about this.

Ok, enough whining. I'm finally feeling about back to normal.

PM:  Hamstring and upper body weights.

AM:  12 easy miles from Scott's home with a healthy crew:  Scott, Spencer, Reed, Chris, Steve, Jeff, Chad, and Ty.

PM:  6 easy miles on the Jordan River Trail.

I'm lovin' these Saucony Ride 7's. Very impressive!

10 miles from Scott's home with Reed, Toni, and Scott. After 4 mile warm-up, did a flat 4 mile tempo in 21:08 (5:17 average; 5:14, 5:15, 5:22, 5:14). Felt very good. Scott and I ran together step-for-step, which was invigorating. This won't surprise anyone, but he is officially back! Reed looked great also. Toni is sick and so he wisely went easy.

10 easy miles along the Jordan River Trail with Scott, Toni, and Jeff. Great morning.

8 easy miles from my home with Scott, Mike, Ty, Reed, and Toni.

4 easy miles with Ty.

A good race for me, and a PR (last year I ran 1:14:28 here). I'm very happy about my race. But, I'm not happy about falling apart the last 3 miles. I went for the win, and it probably cost me ~ 20-30 seconds. But, I would not have changed a thing. Sometimes, you just have to hold nothing back, lay it on the line, and do all you can to win a race. It's been a long time since I've approached a race in this manner. I enjoyed it. I'm very thankful to have been able to train consistently, uninjured, for 4 months. But, I'm hungry for more. I just need to get more training and miles under my belt -- and, of course, stay healthy.

Such a great group of running friends to hang out with today. Many great performances. Mike, Ty, and I carpooled to and from the race. Warmed up and warmed down with a large, talented crew.

My splits:  4:41, 5:00, 5:00, 4:52, 5:04, 4:58, 5:07, 5:07, 5:08, 5:03, 5:19, 5:29, 5:09 (for .94). My garmin said the race was 12.94 miles.

My plan was to hang with the leaders, no matter who showed up. I knew Zak James and Jacob Howell (the winner from last year) would be up there, and that there may be others. The race started and Zak darted out in the lead, and Jacob followed. I was ready for a fast start, but they were probably going ~ 4:20 pace for the first 1/2 mile, so I decided to hang back for a bit and then catch them. I progressively caught them from 0.5 to 1.25 miles. My first mile was 4:41, and I was still a few seconds back.

The three of us then stayed together through 9 miles. Jacob then made a strong, calculated move. I went with him; Zak fell back slightly. I knew this was the race-deciding move, and I had already decided to immediately respond to anyone that made a move. My next mile was a mostly uphill 5:03. That may not seem like much of a difference compared to the pace I was running, but because it was mostly uphill, and because I was trying hard to stay with Jacob, I crossed the red line and began to fall apart.

As can be seen from my splits, my last 3 miles were a bit of a death march. Zak caught me and passed me, and I was unable to respond. I really don't like how my last 3 miles went, but such is life. I went for the win, and it cost me. But again, I would have done the same thing if I had it to do over.

Jacob and Zak ran very well. Jacob ran 1:04:57, and Zak ran 1:05:48. My hat is off to them. A lot of other guys ran well today, including Mike, Reed, Ty, Spencer, Karl, Brandon, Dave, and many others. Karl ran a 1:09 at the end of a 120 mile week. Impressive! Brandon crushed his PR! So did Reed! Scott very wisely did a tempo effort and paced Brandon.  Scott is ready for a great one at TOU 1/2 next week. A great day with great performances.

Here are some pictures, courtesy of my wife. Sorry there aren't pictures of everyone. (obviously, my wife can't always capture everyone :)

AM:  12 easy miles from Scott's house with Mike, Chad, Scott, Reed, and Jeff.

PM:  6 easy miles on a paved trail in Lehi.

AM:  12 easy miles on Murdock Canal Trail with Scott, Mike, Reed, Steve, and Ty.

PM:  8 easy miles on a paved trail in Lehi. Ran 3 of the miles with my son, Ryan.

12.5 miles along the Jordan River Trail with Scott, Chad, and Toni.

Met a large crew in Orem. Ran up and down Provo canyon. Most guys did 10 miles. Because I will be out of town this weekend, I decided I'd better get my long run in today. Brandon was kind enough to join me. 10 easy miles up the canyon. Then did a 9-mile tempo down the canyon at 5:28 average [5:26, 5:19, 5:29, 5:30, 5:24, 5:27, 5:31, 5:30, 5:37 (uphill)]. Just went by feel. Felt great, but I can still feel the race in my legs (no surprise). Brandon ran an excellent tempo. He is an animal, and is really improving!

12 easy miles on the Murdock Canal Trail with Chad.

AM:  12 easy miles in Kentucky before my work conference.

PM:  6 easy miles in Kentucky after my work conference.

AM: 13 easy miles from Scott's home with Mike, Scott, Chad, Steve, and Bryce.

PM:  6 easy miles on the Murdock Canal Trail. 

AM:  Track workout at Lehi High School with Mike and Bryce. 4 x 1 mile repeats, with 800m jog between intervals.  5:00, 4:54, 4:56, 4:55. Felt very good. Mike and Bryce looked great. They are in great shape. Bryce only had time for 2 intervals (he had to get to work).

PM:  6 easy miles along the Murdock Canal Trail.

12 easy miles along the Jordan River Trail with Scott, Toni, Jeff, and Chad.

AM:  12.5 easy miles up and down Provo Canyon with Zak, Toni, Richard, Chris, and Steve.

PM:  6 easy miles up and down Provo Canyon.

12 easy miles from my home with Toni, Chad, and Scott (Thanksgiving Point loop).

AM:  22 miler up and down Provo Canyon. Ran with a great crew:  Fritz, Scott, Brandon, Zak, Toni, and Bryce. 10 easy miles up the canyon, then did an 8 mile tempo in 41:17 (5:10 average). Splits were:  5:09, 5:09, 5:05, 5:19, 5:05, 5:04, 5:12, 5:12. 5k was 15:55 and 10k was 31:52. Felt very strong. Zak and I ran step for step the whole way. He looked great. Fritz looked great also, and he wisely backed off after 4 miles because of sore hamstrings. Scott looked great, but he felt depleted and wisely backed off the pace after a couple miles. Brandon, Toni, and Bryce all looked strong as well. A very fun morning. Perfect weather for a run.

PM:  Upper body weights.