Dave's Addiction

Long way to the gym, then long way home. Too bloody hot to live. 

Speed Grab Bag

I accidentally left my car at work so I figured I would interval run and retrieve it. But it's not far enough so I started at the track. Once there (1 mile easy) I started intervals of various lengths with 3-4 minute jogging rests. The first 800 was on the track, the rest were on the road. Goal pace was 5 flat. I got

.5 at 4:52 pace

.5 at 4:58

.5 at 5 flat (finally nailed it)

.28 at 4:51

.36 at 5:13

.27 at 4:57

.23 at 5:05

.37 at 4:52

Traditional pre-race pickups, .2 on the flat at 4:20, .2 on the treadmill at 4:16, .12 uphill at 5 flat

I am so stupid. I thought it started at 7:30 so when I got turned away from the parking areas by the cop I was surprised. At 6:57 my sister called me an told me she was headed to the starting line with my bib and BY THE WAY IT STARTS IN 3 MINUTES. AUUUUGGHH! I ran the 3/4 mile to the line but it was too late - the huge crowd was shuffling through the gates. So the only thing I could do was wait around until 800 North was clear and then take off, hoping I could pass everybody on University. But it was tough - I was weaving and sudden stopping all over the place. Still got a 5:12 first mile, feeling a little tired but not too bad. Then everything got totally jammed up and I actually had to slow down for a time. Urk. Well it doesn't matter the @#$ nephew is going to smoke me even at my best anyway but I still have to try to break 18. The hill on 900 East was murder like usual but the crowd was starting to thin out since I had passed most of them (5000 runners) and I made it through the arch with a supreme burst of speed right at 17:59. Whew!

Then I found out that the Nephew of Darkness ran a 17:46.

 SaasaFRassWIggaNooga Riccken Raccken Frassa Rassen Ricca Frasser FudgeFudgeFudge Candycane Gumdropit crap.

I ran an extra 13 seconds on the distance alone, and probably lost 10 or so in the crowds. I know I missed another photo finish for sure.  But one cool thing - my Dad, whose mile time I am still trying to beat (4:27 high school) got in the race and actually ran in some places, finishing in 50 minutes. And I still got masters. I think. Better check the results. No, I'll just claim it :) OK I checked and there's a weird glitch with a 67 year old coming in at 15:50 who normally runs a 5K in 32, so I am adjusting my place accordingly.

Splits were 5:12,5:54(people),6:11(hill),5:25(bombing the finish)

Top of calves (or bottom of back of knees, not sure) oddly sore so I took it nice and 8 EZ to the gym.

Excellent run with Toni this morning up Hobble Creek, wouldn't have gone that magic 9th mile without him, felt like we were being pulled uphill. I did 4 fast from 12 to 16, got 5:45s (including a 5:51 on the mile that includes that nasty hill of the Hobble Creek Half) then at mile 17.5 I got a 67.5 quarter. Great way to finish the week.

EZ pace starting to degenerate from pure Krong to something a bit faster (7:17 today) but it still feels like I'm in the blue zone. Just ran around the town, will do gym later

Fun speed workout with the Lehi crew. It really is easier with the group. We warmed up 4 (seemed a little long) then farted around the track for a bit and got to work. Scott and Mike were out front setting what seemed like a deceptively easy pace, I can tell I need to go out slower on my 800s. I was feeling it by the end of each one though, but not as much as usual. I was shocked how easy it was to get through a 2:30 and a 2:28, but by interval 3 (2:30) the shorter than normal rests were catching up with me and I had to take a break for 4. Then I slammed a 2:23 with Scott for 5, possibly the fastest 800 I have done (well maybe not but it's pretty close). I was running out of time and wanted to do a 440 at the end so I did a 69 and took off to grab the fridge for the rental. I felt like I should have done one more at the end, so I didn't overdo it for the Hobbler Half on Saturday. Great workout, I need to do speed with other people more.

Now I have a new theory as to how you can win races. In training, you have to run really fast. Then don't stop for very long Then don't quit after just a few times. 

I couldn't bear the thought of three days without speed, so I ran to Whiting canyon EZ and did 10x10 hill sprints. Then I decided to simulate downhill race pace, which at Whiting is a bit faster than the Hobbler. I ended up with a 5:01 pace for 1.25 miles, felt pretty relaxed. Then I did EZ back home, which turned out to be a bunch of 6:30s (was 7:50s on the way up, nothing wakes the legs up like 10x10)

8 EZ past the candlemaker's mansion, down into the flats of eternal wind, then blown home along the highway.

Traditional pre-race pickups, .2 on the flat, .2 @ 14 on the TM, 5 flat on a 50 foot hill

I held it back!

I ran to the busses (about a mile) then did another mile in various warmups before the race. Too much - already sweating.

When the race started, Matt reminded me to hold back. And Iwas ready, even though it was really easy. My first two miles were according to plan (5:42, 5:38) and then I let it go (5:30, 5:42, 5:34) but then it started getting hot and thirsty so I stopped for a few sips of gatorade (5:53). I got back on the horse (5:44) but it was really getting miserable (5:59) and even with the slow start I was still feeling it a lot (5:51,5:49). I stopped for another drink (6:06) but once I hit that uphill and a last drink I felt like I weighed 200 pounds (6:06, 6:33). The finish finally came and I burned the last grass bit (4:58) but to my disappointment the clock had already gone to 1:16. But I still got a 28 second PR with the heat so maybe it wasn't so bad. I almost caught Mike Nelson in 4th place too! Right after I got in Mike, Matt and Justin did a cooldown run. I showed them a 3.5 mile course, but cooldown my eye - they were running 7:15 by the end and I got too dehydrated. Took me 10 minutes to run back to my house and three hours to get back to equilibrium, but got my second longest week ever!

Just about ready to head to Cheyenne tonight, in Nauvoo this week. Brutal workouts coming!

8 EZ in the humid soup south of Des Moines, Walnut state park. Not so EZ. 

Woke up a tad later than optimal for a speed workout in muggy Nauvoo. Sun shining the entire time, the original goal was four tempo miles. I stopped after the first one (5:44) and made a new goal of 4x1. Got the second one (5:47). Dying slowly, sweat dripping off shirt. Tried for a third, turned into a 2:52 half. Fourth was .82 at a 5:40 pace, not bad. Then I did .76 at a 5:25 pace. Then I swam across the lake to get back to the RV park. I believe this has had a good effect on my heat tolerance.

Time for the easy workout, out and back along the Mississippi river. Getting a little more used to the heat. Got up earlier too. Trying to get to Iowa City today to get emergency root canal. Camper blows out tire north of hwy 16, missed appt. Bummer. Ibuprofen handling it.

Out and back to the police station in Kearney, Nebraska. Much cooler, trying for a tempo. Still not feeling it.

6 bike and 8.6 run, really. Back home for emergency root canal with home dentist, cancels appt 1 hour before because wife is in labor, new appt Monday at 7. Down to 4 ibuprofin per day now from 12, I think the root is completely dead. Starting to feel odd pain elsewhere.

Diamond run, it's 4 uphill to the bench, 5 on the BST above Mapleton, 4 down Spanish Fork Canyon, and 4 back home. Kind of brutal today, ran the whole thing fast instead of tempo at the end.

I have been feeling a little fatigued in the workouts so with two races this week I am going to cool it a bit. 3 EZ around the original workout route from 7 years ago.

Traditional pre-race strides, .16 on the flat, .2 at 14 on the treadmill, 45 sec hill blast

A decent performance for me, but not what I was hoping for. Splits were 5:28 (downhill), 6:04 (uphill into wind) and 5:48 (neutral to downhill)so the effort was pretty constant and controlled. I hung out between the top two MMHS track guys for the first quarter, then it seemed likethey were dogging it so I passed them and almost lost contact but they caught me in the upwind portion. I let one of them pass me so i could use him as a wind break but it was the little one dangit (Hayden Cooper) so I didn't get too much advantage. Keeping up put me way past red so I backed off a little and the second one passed me shortly. We stayed pretty close, but steadily widening, and I missed the W by about 15-20 seconds. It's the fastest I ever ran that course by a second or two though.

Nice recovery run to Hobble Creek canyon

Pre-race strides again, .16 on flat, 14 MPH on the treadmill, 45 sec up the hill

Showed up at the start and could not believe my eyes - the battle of the titans was about to commence! I had so wanted to see this matchup, although I could never be there in person to witness the results for obvious reasons, but Scott Keate and Iain Hunter were about to duke it out for Scott's entry ranking in masters next March. I'll leave it to Scott to post the whole story, but since Iain was able to put him three feet under after Scott took the lead with a titanic 4:30 mile 5, I'm going to say that he debuts at a very solid number two. Fortunately his wife and the EMTs were able to dig him up in time and all looks to be well as I write this. I'll also say that I will never be bummed by getting repeatedly stomped by Scott, since it is crystal clear that he is willing to go wayyyy further into the pain locker for the W in addition to being a top tier athlete.

Anyway.

I have had an odd pain in my right adductor for the last few days, almost as if I kinked it or something. It goes away after I run for a tenth or so but otherwise it is there like an annoying kinked neck. So I warmed up super slowly, got everything shipshape, and went off super easy to make sure that nothing really got messed up down there. I was still with the lead guys, just not so much. Scott and Iain were way out front looking like they were on a fun run, gradually pulling away. I eased down the big hill and settled nicely into a 5:30 or so pace, 5:20 for mile 1 and 5:45 for mile 2. I didn't want to go too slowly though so I started picking it up off the couch. S&I went out of sight by 1.5, never saw them again. The high school kid I was running with hit the wall at mile 4, but a newly minted masters dude followed me and passed me at mile 7, hanging on nicely for what I thought would be third but ended up being second. Splits for 3-8 were 5:35,5:20,5:15,5:10,5:20, and 5:48.

Then we got to the nasty part of the course. Just at mile 7.5 at the fee shack, the temperature jumped 5 degrees and the humidity jumped 20%. It felt a little like Iowa again, and I knew that there would be no more speed today. Still though I wanted to try to tough it out but I could not get away with my no water trick in these conditions so I had to walk and drink through 3 aid stations to make sure I got enough to not crash. 9-13 splits were all 6:20, even with the walking breaks. Note that splits are (close) estimates because I ended with 12.98 as the course because the Garmin freaks in AF canyon.

We tended to Scott and taped Spencer's heel, then ran some cooldown while waiting for the interminable awards ceremony to finish. It was cool to be on the podium, but I would rather have not done it THAT way...

Muscles a little sore from Saturday so I did 1:10 on the bike, counting it as 8 EZ. Felt like a dip in an energy pool. Muscles still sore, but happy sore, not whiny sore. 3.5 of it was riding with my daughter to drivers ed. Fear the reaper, people, fear the reaper.

1.6EZ with 10 bike, not quite ready (still creaky calves)

I was thinking of a speed workout tomorrow, hopefully it will work out :)

Thought I was going to have to cut it short after 2 to the gym but the roller set the calves straight and everything felt great for the last 6. Time for some fun speed tomorrow.