Live To Run

AM: 3.5 miles in my jogging class at BYU. Gotta love having a class that gives you extra mileage.

PM: Another 3.5 miles at around 6:15 pace. Legs felt a little tired.

Well, today was my Tuesday Speed Workout. Since I am planning on racing this Saturday, I cut the workout down a little bit and did 4x1ks (usually would have been 6) with a 2 min recovery in between each. It was the first time I had done this workout on an indoor track and it felt pretty good. My splits were 3:00, 3:06, 3:06, and 3:10. Noah was great to have there because we took turns pacing. At the end, I was able to take him on all four which showed me that my work on my finishing kick is going well! Got in a little over a 2 mile warm-up and cool down giving me around 7 for the day.

AM: Had jogging class this morning so I was able to get some miles in while at school. Padilla made us do a farklet (2,1,2,1,2,1,1) which was strange because we never run speed in class and I already did a workout yesterday. Anyways, I guess it was a nice shake-out run for my legs and any mileage while at school is nice to get. Going for a run later on.

PM: 4.1 miles at 6:02 pace. Felt pretty good, but legs are definitely tired from the past two speed workouts I have done. Going to take the next two days with some slow mileage to prep for race day on Saturday. On a side note, I must say running is a great escape from all your worries and stresses. Having the chance to just clear your mind and run is an amazing feeling. This week has been tough for me, but today really got me to relax by running along the beautiful river trail.

 AM: Great run today! Did an easy 7 miles at about 6:34 pace. My legs felt so refreshed which makes me excited to race this weekend. The weather outside was amazing too. Threw in a couple 100m strides at the end. All in all, great day to run!

PM: Decided to do another 2 miles. Don't know why, but i ran it relatively fast. My splits were 6:00 and 5:13 haha. Nice and quick though! 

Great little 3 mile run @ 6:22 pace to prep for my race tomorrow. Felt like I was running 7 min mile pace. Definitely could have ran a marathon at today's pace, so might do the OKC one in April. Anyways, hopefully the weather stays nice for tomorrow.

AM: This was the day! What I had been working so hard for and it really paid off. I was feeling pretty good during my warm-up of about 12 minutes and the weather had cleared during it so it was a little nicer (still cold). After my warm-up, I ran into Derick Moody (ran 15:40 a few weeks ago), however he was doing the 10k.

Start: Took off at a pretty good pace. About slipped at the beginning because the roads were covered in ice/snow. Derick and I went out at 5:00 for the first mile, following the ATV that was guiding us. I felt pretty good and told myself I could keep going.

Mile 2: At about 1.5 miles, the 10k split off, so I had to say good-bye to Derick. When I took the 5k turn, I saw a huge half-mile hill and was sad cause I knew it would hurt my time. It was tough to get up and I didn't get to see my 2 mile split.

Finish: After getting up the huge hill, I just started to push it in. I already knew I had the victory, but I really wanted the PR so I stepped it up. After the hill, I could see the finish and my watch said 15:40 so I used my new kick to finish in a time of 16:28. Really happy with my results and will probably go for another 5 miles soon. Also Derick won the 10k in 33:06.

PM: Did another 4.1 with some heavy snow. Averaged right around 6:33 pace. Done for my 6 day week.

AM: Indoors, barefoot, 3 miles. It was nice way to start off the week and build some foot strength.

PM: 4.25 miles at a faster pace. Got midterms this week so I am trying to squeeze everything in!

Well the plan for today was to do a 5 mile tempo. However, that changed when Danny text me saying Derick needed a partner for this 2-man team relay that Merrel (shoe company) was putting on. It was a 6 mile race, where you alternated each mile person to person. My splits were 4:59 ,4:59. and 5:03. Derick ran really fast for his splits. Overall, we ran sub 30. Won a free water bottle from Merrel so I guess it was a good workout! 

Definitely felt it today. Woke up with fatigue this morning from yesterdays workout and my school stresses this week. Ran my miles today around 6:15 and just felt eh. Rest up for a workout tomorrow and hit the books!

Decided to replace my day off from Sunday to today. Had a lot to do. Going to hit 50+ for the week though.

Felt great today! Did 10 in 1:03:49 (6:23/mile). It was actually warm today (35 degrees ha), so I decided going a bit longer. Got 16 mile long run tomorrow and then easy on Sunday to finish the week off.

Set a new record for the longest run ever! 16.2 miles @ 6:27/mile pace. Karl and a guy named Zach came out and joined me. We went out on the  river trail and enjoyed the beautiful mountains, river, and lake. I felt really good about today's run as I was right on pace for sub 2:50 marathon and this was just a long run. Counting down the days to marathon time!

Down in St. George for the break so decided to get some extra mileage in. Did the first five with my Aunt who runs a lot at a recovery pace. The next seven I picked it up and was averaging right around 6:05 - 6:10 pace. So warm here in St. George that I went shirtless!

A decision has been made! I will be running the OKC marathon on April 28th! Really excited for this race! It was awesome last year and was my first half marathon, so I figured I would also make it my first marathon. 

Woke up sick today. On top of that, I had to get up at 4 am to finish a paper. Looking to hit the mileage hard again tomorrow.

AM: Did around 4.7 in jogging class. Gave us lots of time today to run which was nice. Did that in 30 minutes so pretty quick pace.

PM: 3.3 at about 6 pace. Did one mile at about 5:20 to just make up for yesterday. Speed tomorrow. 

Original plan was to do 2x2mile repeats at the indoor gym, but the track was so crowded I decided to do a mile, 800, 400, 400 ladder. Went 5:14, 2:30, 69, 69, which was okay. I just wanted something to get some turn over. 2 mile warm up and 4 mile cool down.

Went on a cold evening run with Noah. He hasn't been running so we ran it slower than usually. He left at 6 miles so I did the last mile at tempo effort right around 5:30 pace.

8.1 miles at 6:15 pace. Nice (coldish) day.

AM: 3 miles really easy

PM: 8 miles. 4 of them were by myself at a decent pace right around 5:50. Then, my roommate Diego wanted to go and try to break 6 at the indoor track for the mile. He has been training really hard to this so I told him I would pace him. We went into the final lap right around 5:59-6:00 pace and I told him to kick it. I ended up dropping 52 sec 322m last lap (65 400m) and he went 5:59!! I was really happy for him! Lots of miles today 

Went out to Murdock Canal with the guys from Runner's Corner for a 5 mile tempo. Warmed-up 3.25 then went on with the 5 mile tempo. Averaged right around 5:33 which I was happy with. Really cold tonight. Cool down of 1.25. 

Wasn't feeling too hot. Took it easy.

Starting to feel better today. Went for a night run and it was chilly

Ran the first half with my roommate at about 7:30/mile and then picked it up fast. Dropped 6:00ish for last half. It was warm today and I felt great! Good luck t o Jacob Buhler at Little Rock! He is going to kill it!

Ran about 5 miles by myself and 5 with some friends. Way warm today. Loved it. Nice week of mileage.

AM : Ran an easy 3 miles in class. Pretty nice.

PM: One of my buddies wanted to try and break 5 in the mile so I thought I would help him out. He dropped by the 2nd lap but still ran a 5:28 which I was really happy for him. I ran 4:54 really easily, by myself, which makes me happy because I know 4:30 is in my reach. Great day of running today. 

Decided it had been awhile since I did some hill repeats so I went to a hill nearby and did 4x550-600m repeats. Was averaging about 5:05-5:15 pace up them so I was pleased with that. Afterwards ran easy till I hit 7 for the day.

Weather was great outside (for Utah) so just took a nice easy day. Planning on doing some speed Friday and 18 (hopefully) on Saturday. Should be a good week of running!

Easy 7 today. Really busy with an 8 page paper to write. Yuck! Looking forward to the weekend though! Doing the Yeti 5k for fun! 5k run that is a 2500ft climb. The entire race is uphill and is followed by a 4 mile snowshoe hike. Should be a great experience and nice to just have a fun race (even though still going for the win, but obviously not the PR)

Race tomorrow

This was definitely a unique race. Decided to just have fun with this one and make it a good workout. Started out at the base of a mountain, were we ran a 5k uphill (15% grade a road sign said, crazy!) and then transitioned into snowshoes and ran 4 more miles on a switchback trail to the summit. Probably the hardest race of my life. On a side note, I won the race (or trail run or whatever you want to call it ha), broke the course record by 8 minutes, and won a trophy and cake yeti head! fun day!

Rest Day

AM: Ran 4 total easy.

PM: Ran another 5 easy. Getting ready for big races. 

Still feeling it from the Yeti Run. Did an easy 7 and once I got into I was moving (6:00 pace). Got a lot to do this week and big races coming up! Really excited, got to get through the week though.

Adding 4 I ran this Sunday to today cause I start my weeks on Monday

Well the last three days have been horrible. Flu and exams does not make for a good time. Feeling a lot better (although still some left over sickness) now.

Easy 8 today. Getting ready for the big race this weekend.

Amazing workout today! Ran a 1 mile warm-up and was feeling good. Started out on the Provo River Trail at the first mile marker and used a regular watch because I wanted an accurate reading of my fitness for this run. Decided with a 4-mile tempo. I love this workout. Went out in the first mile feeling faster than it really was...5:29. Was a little nervous about that, but kept the pace moving. Mile 2 was 5:23 (10:53). Still felt pretty comfortable and wanted to keep the pace rolling. Mile 3 is when I really started to push it as I hit a 5:11 (16:04) and then knew I was in good shape (although my body still felt the same pace as the earlier miles). Mile 4 was uphill to the first mile marker I had started at (out-and-back tempo) and came through in 21:25 (5:21 last mile). I am so pleased with my run today. Ready for the race this weekend. 2 mile cool-down after.

Only got 3 in today. Busy day as I opened my mission call. I will be serving in the Brazil Porto Alegre South Mission. I report to the Brazil MTC on August 7th, 2013 and will be speaking Portuguese. I am so excited!

Hit the track for some 400s in prep for the 5k next week at UVU. Decided I wanted to just run them at race pace (77 per quarter). There was a harsh north wind which was annoying on that side of the track. So, I went with 10x400m averaging 77 sec with 1 min recovery in between. My splits ended up being 78,76,76,73,74,75,75,74,74,74 making an average of about 75. Very good work. 2 mile warm-up and cool-down

8 easy

Something quick today for this weekend. 4x800m at the indoor track with 400m recovery in between. Ran 2:23, 2:25, 2:27, 2:27. Felt good this workout. Very fast. Ready for race day. 2 mile warm-up, 3 mile cool-down.

Stressful day of school

6.5 easy to prep for UVU invite tomorrow. Strides afterwards

First collegiate meet today - 5k. Didn't know what to expect. Hadn't been running as much as I should have lately so I went for it.

Mile 1: 4:57. Didn't feel too bad and was right on pace. Found myself right in the middle of the pack.

Mile 2: 10:20. Was a little off pace now and could have pushed harder. Just tried to keep moving.

Mile 3: 15:47. Pretty much suffered through this mile. Hoped for the best.

5k: 16:25. Not overly disappointed with my time but it could have been better. Just keep working hard. It converts to sea level time of 16:05 too so that is okay. 

Nice 80 min run today. Very peaceful and relaxing. Starting the marathon training.

nice chill 8 today

6 mile tempo today.  The goal was to do it at GMP (Goal Marathon Pace) - 6:20/mile. I figured I would go at what I thought was 6:20 pace the first mile and then go from there. Well, the first mile ended up being 5:52 and then I decided I would just hold a little faster than GMP for a beneficial workout. The splits - 5:52, 5:45, 5:55, 5:54, 5:30, 5:37 (34:37 5:46/mile). Good workout. Going to be doing longer tempos till marathon day. Thinking about adding about 2 miles to the tempo each time I do it. Leave me some feedback about that idea. 2 mile warm-up and 2 mile cool-down.

Another nice easy day..finished the last half mile faster than I should have because I wanted to be done ha. Time to kick back and just chill!

Really busy today. Got to prep for a 20 min lecture and midterm tomorrow! Yikes! Meant to take it easy today, but somehow averaged 6:20. Try to get in a late night run, but we will see.

Replacing my Sunday day off with today. Running 20 tomorrow. Do about 4 on Sunday, get me a good 55 for the week. My week starts on Monday. Feeling some tendon pain possibly.

First 20 mile run! Well, what can I say...it was long ha! I had to do it by myself, but it had to be done. First 10 was up Provo River Canyon in 1:06:13. Second 10 back down the Canyon in 1:04:04. Total time: 2:10:17 (6:30/mile).. Its marathon time!

Hurting on my right leg. Feels like the tendon. Going to "baby" it next few days. Can't afford anything right now.

Leg was killing me. Took day off and iced it.

AM: Leg was feeling much better. We had our 1 mile cross country race in jogging class. Course was the same as the BYU High School Invitational one- grass loops. Decided to run it at around tempo pace because it was just for fun. Won it it 5:15. Results on runnercard. 1 mile warm-up, 1 mile cool-down.

PM: 4 miles easy. Spoke too soon. Feeling some pain again. Decided to just stop it at 7 for the day even though I wanted to do more. Better safe then sorry in this case. Hopefully I recover fast and that this isn't too serious! 

Felt a bit better today. Did slow 8 around 6:45 pace. Been looking up injuries and mine really fits what is called a Baker's cyst. I do have some swelling behind the knee and that may be where my pain is centralized so I am going in tomorrow to see what is up. Good thing I have been getting a little better each day. We will see..

I am back! After x-rays and check-ups, I was told I only have a muscle strain. Thank goodness! Time to easy back into things and get ready for the marathon. Easy hour today.

Been slacking on updating my runs because of finals. I will try to be more efficient now. Marathon next week. should be fun

6 easy... did one mile at sub 6 for some turnover

First marathon ever. Very pleased with my time. Blog about the race later.

Here is that blog I promised:

Miles 1-7: I was told to start off slow and I definitely agreed with that advice. Having the chance to only do one 20 miler and then just easier runs because I was finishing up school reinforced my decision to start off slow. My buddy was pacing the 1:30 half group so I decided to stay with him until the half/full turn-off. It was a nice 6:50 pace and was having a good time just relaxing and talking to the people around me.

Miles 8-14: After the turn-off, I started to pick-up the pace. I guess the excitement was stored in me because I really started to pick it up. Most miles were low 6; however, I think one or two of them were sub 6. Came through the half in about 1:24 and had my summer Coach provide some GU for me there.

Miles 15-20: Started to feel fatigue right about now. Pace gradually slowed to around 6:30s, but was still running strong and got through mile 20 in 2:10, just what I wanted.

Miles 21-25: Struggle...big time! Suffered through some 7 to 7:30 miles until the last mile. I had good support of others to finish and that helped reduce the temptation to just walk.

Mile 26.2: I just remember seeing the finish line and wanting to be done. It seemed like it would never come. I pushed super hard and got there in 2:57:13. Really happy with the sub 3 first marathon. Going to take rest of the week off until some minor knee pain reduces. Want all to heal properly. Looking forward to the next marathon. 

Recovery Day

Recovery Day

Recovery Day

Recovery Day

Recovery Day - also got the Wisdom Teeth out today. Recovering well from that and knee feels good!

Recovery Day

Recovery Day - Last one. Time to put in work and drop some big times before I leave in August

Back in action. Leg felt way better today after limping last week in pain. Did a good 5 with Zach. Pretty hot outside. Ran around 7:05 pace. Good run to get back into it

Running like I did last week. BAD. Hurting in the thigh, seriously need to get in for the MRI. Ran 7:15s still.

Ran 30 minutes this morning with Zach. Both of are just getting back into it. Thigh felt better today, but still slight pain there. Just going to keep icing, resting, elevating, and rubbing it. Hoping for about 30 miles this week for my first week back

5 this morning with Zach. Leg felt awesome! Starting to run like myself again. Averaged around 7:05s.

Easy 6 with Zach. Hot outside, but not a bad run

Best run yet. Finally a solid distance with a solid pace (6:49/mile). Zach and Noah ran with me out on scenic loop. Glad to be back.

AM: 6.1 @ 7:05/mile. hot and humid. got to run earlier

PM: 4 miles on the bike at Gold's and lifted weights 

AM: 5 with Zach. Really tired and kinda slow. 7:20s. Hot weather.

PM: 2 miles on the bike at Gold's and lifted weights 

Did some weights and biking.

Weights and bike.

Been busy these past few days. Nothing I can really do about that. Just hit it harder next week now that the errands are done.

Good run today. Past the hour marker. Out to the school and back with Jake and Katie.

Speed session. First one for awhile. 2 mile threshold (11:44) and then 4x300m at around 56. Was favoring a leg still, so getting that checked out. Probable cause for my IT pain in the other leg. Surprised I could still go sub 6 in a workout ha

Found out the cause. One of my legs is over a half inch shorter than the other. IT hurts while running, but I have to wait for pad to be made for my shoe. Hopefully that comes soon.

Got leg issues worked out. Ran strong today (sub 7 min). 

Ran at the nice OP park this morning with Zach. Little bit quicker run (sub 7 pace) Looking to get some good altitude running in this week as I head to the Black Hills of Wyoming for a week of camping!

AM: 8 miles at Gary's Running Camp (6:45/mile)

4 @ 6:41 pace 

Tempo at 6:07 pace

6 at a pretty good effort. 6:39 pace for the entire run. Felt solid.