Run fast

Stairmaster and treadmill for 2.5. I think I have worked out most of the calf soreness from Ragnar.

Standard run through Millcreek. It was blustery out there.

Up to the loop and back in Montana.

Out and back on the Hebgen Lake Road with Josh. Big race tomorrow.

The ringers, i.e. Jake and Elijah, didn't show up so my decent time of 1:16:54 was good enough for the win. Jacob Howell and Josh were 2 and 3 and in the money. Highlight of the day was watching Josh and Charlie dart from the car straight through the start line because they arrived one minute before the kids' K. Josh even ran with the swag bag which ha to be a first. Overall another great showing at the Stampede. Amiee and my mom ran the 5k, Nicolai, Thomas and Charlie ran the kids' K and Josh and I ran the half. Most of the crew didn't stick around to see the half finish because they had to get to Weat Yellowstone to see the Argentina game. Luckily they won or else everyone would have been in a bad mood. Later in the day we crashed at our neighbor's cabin to watch the Netherlands/Costa Rica game because we don't have a TV. The Oranje won in a stressful shoot out. Even though most of us are of European descent I was the only person rooting for the Dutch. I don't think I can be blamed for that. I can't wait for the Argentina/Netherlands showdown in the semifinals.

Early run with Josh up the fireroad to a great look out spot and back. Josh and I raced part of the way down the trail and tied. Around 1,500 ft of climbing, 8:40 average up and ended the run with an average of 7:20.

cross training day at the gym. Hip was a bit sore, maybe from the trails over the weekend, but I am sure the runs did more good than bad.

Ran up to Wasatch Blvd, over to the zoo and back.

Ran through Research Park to the end of the dirt road near Red Butte and back. Sped up for a few miles on the way back. Some day I might try a flat run.

PM: a couple of miles around the office because I didn't make it to bootcamp. Stupid meetings.

5 miles to and from the gym and 5 miles on stairmaster.

15th loop with one fast mile (5:06) down 19th. I worse my Altra Olympus's so maybe I can count that mile at 5:03.

Left the house at 4 to run the Hobbler Half Marathon. Race started on time and immediately Dave Taylor sped to the front at about a 4:45 pace. I caught him at about .5 miles and then I ran with a young kid for about 2 miles until he dropped back. The scooter guy took the wrong turn at about mile 7 so I ended up running a .5 mile stretch down the road while the other runners stayed on the path. I figured this shortened the course by around .05 to .08 and then the course itself only measured around 12.95ish.  So my time came in at about 1:06:45 but it was more like a 1:08:20 effort, which is about what I expected. I felt good in the middle miles and only so so towards the end. I cooled down 7 with Justin who finished second. I have always liked this race because of the rolling terrain and Hobble Creek provides great scenary and shade. The purpose of today was to put in a good effort and get at least 20 miles. The purpose was served.

I just really wish they still awarded the winner with a Little Ladder. I am still jealous of Brandon Hebbert who got one in 2011. A watch isn't the same. :)

Splits: 5:09,5:06,5:08,5:08,5:07,5:08,5:09,5:20,5:17,5:23,5:18,5:24

12 mile with Allie and Josh around Sugarhouse. Maybe 1 mile of "trail' running (river crossings, single track, mud, dirt, rocks, etc.) and ended running through the SHTunnel. Action packed for a 12 miler.

After the run did a couple of crosstraining miles and stretching at the gym. 

11 around Sugarhouse and the U.

pm:  3 around the office. Toasty

Through Millcreek and around Olympus. My power was out when I returned which meant my car was locked in the garage.  The work gods turned it back on right when I got out of the shower so I wasn't late.

PM: boot camp (burpees, circuits, lunges, situps, pushups)

Crosstraining in the am then 4 after work

15th east loop with one mile at 5:05 down 21st.

The last time I ran this race my last mile was around a 5:30 so my main goal was avoiding doing that again. :) Warmed up on the course with Josh and got to the start line with 5 minutes to spare.  I went out with the leaders (Steve, Teren, Jason and Nate) and fortunately the pace felt manageable. Went through mile 1 in 4:59 then Jason pulled ahead on the downhill. Mile 2 was 4:55 and I was still feeling ok but definitely slowing as the course flattened. Nate passed me at about mile 2.25 and I didn't have enough to catch back up. Finished mile 3 in around 5:18 which wasn't ideal but at least it didn't feel like I had to kill myself to do it.  While I hate 5Ks I know they are good for me so I am glad I did it. This should be a good last tune up for Desnews!

Through Research Park and back on 23rd east.

Pre race warm up on the treadmill. 4x400 at under marathon pace.  Feeling pretty good.

This race had more ups and downs than usual. I woke up at 2:15 and immediately ate my new prerace breakfast, i.e. two pieces of toast with pb&j and a can of Monster Java.  I used to drink chocolate almond milk but the Monster Java got me through Ragnar so I am sticking with it.

I got to the busses at 3:30 and the temp on my phone read 86 degrees. That seemed odd but it didn't really concern me at the time. The bus dropped me off at 4:15 and I considered spending the next hour searching for the watch I lost but then decided a nap was more important. I have accepted that my Garmin 305 is officially gone. :( The wind picked up a few minutes before the race which I wasn't excited about. The race got off on time and to no surprise Jon and I were running elbow to elbow down the mountain with a little guy in green right on our heels. At mile three I learned that he is from Mexico and had run a 2:40 in his only marathon. Interesting I thought. He dropped back as we started up Little Mountain never to be seen again.

1 to 5: 5:12,4:56,4:57,5:06,5:19

Feeling ok here but it seemed like we were working and breathing too hard to hit those splits considering the extreme downhill. The wind was definitely a drag.

As we passed Little Dell and started the climb I knew I had to back off a bit or else it could get ugly. Even backing off we were both breathing heavily to hit 6:02 and 5:55 for miles 7 and 8. I will just say I was very happy to get over Little Mountain.

6 to 10: 5:35,6:02,5:55,5:05,5:31

After getting over the hill my spirits were lifted and miles 9 through 14 felt pretty good, although my splits looked slightly slow. Jon and I, still elbow to elbow, went through the half at just over 1:10, about 1:30 slower than in 2011. I refuse to accept that I have gotten slower so I blame the wind :)

11 to 15: 5:17,5:24,5:17,5:24,5:26

At mile 15.5 we turned up the hill at the zoo. It was great to see my pops, sister and Amiee right before the make or break Wasatch out and back. By this point I sensed that Jon was working harder than me and seeing salt on his face wasn't a good sign. Sure enough I started to pull away just past the golf course. 

16 to 20: 5:35,5:33,5:46,5:31,5:41

I was definitely slowing over these miles but it could have been worse. I never did look back for Jon but my dad did say at Foothill that he was "way back." I was surprised given that I only broke away three miles earlier. Just after passing my dad I hit mile 21 and saw a split of 5:59. Sweet I thought. Looks way better than 6. 

21 to 26
5:59,5:29,5:47,5:40,5:49,6:10

At this point I was just trying to keep it together and not have a meltdown in the last few miles. The 5th south and south temple downhills were much appreciated and a special thanks goes to Rob for helping me through mile 25. The gradual climb up 8th south was as fun and long as usual but at least when I rounded the corner on 9th I was done.

The post race highlight was laying in the kids pool filled with ice with Josh. That will expedite my recovery by at least a day. 

Congrats to all of the other racers, i.e. Allie for winning yet another desnews, Josh with a solid 4th place finish, Steve's second place finish in the half, James and Hille, etc.

Now off to Sun Valley for some river soaking, no running and mountain biking. Although I seem fine this race typically breaks seething so I won't be in a rush to start running again.

road bikes around Redfish Lake and saw some fancy/expensive cars called Bugattis.  They only cost around $2M each. Redfish Lake is awesome.

Mountain bike loop around Stanley, ID then hot springs/river soaking. The temperature only ranged from 30 to 90.

Amiee and I attempted an "advanced" level 10 mile mountain bike ride near Stanley.  Not a great idea because we spent more time hiking than biking.  Maybe with a year of practice I could be "advanced".

21 mile ride with Amiee near Ketchum.  We thought we were doing a 12 mile loop but after 13 miles we realized we weren't looping so we retraced our path back to the car.  I tipped over on one of the last climbs; a fitting end to an eventfull weekend in Idaho.

First run since the marathon. Ran a lucky 7 miles around Sugarhouse and then 3 miles of crosstraining at the gym.  A few tweaks here and there but overall felt relatively good.  I ran a couple miles with Jake who at the time was jogging north on his way to work which is in Murray.  It's a good thing he ran into me because I got him going in the right direction.

early morning ride up LCC with a buddy from high school. Climb wasn't too bad but my legs were fried coming back. 2:45, 43 miles, 4,700 ft