In search of old age PRs

AM: 7.05 miles.  Sugary House loop.  Very icy.  I tried to stay in the middle of the road, but it was tough with traffic this morning.  The sun peaked out the last mile and made it nice...but slippery.

PM: 3.5 miles.  Gym core work-out with a little change up this month.  More focus on the upper body.  Beat the snow!

AM: 15.5 miles.  Nice run this morning with some of the Fastrunning blog crew.  I ran from my house over to Sugar House park to meet up with the group.  Ran some good miles up Emigration canyon with Jake, Crocman Chad, Andrea and Emily then coasted down back to the house with Andrea.  Not much wind today, so good running conditions minus the occasional ice patch. 

A lot of people out running today.  I saw Richard Carling (sorry, I called him Ken) close to the zoo, then ran into one of my first running partners, Bonnie, on Wasatch Drive!  

AM: 7.05 miles.  Standard Sugar House loop.  The weather is going to be fantastic today!

PM: 3.5 miles.  Run to gym for core work-out.  Shorts and t-shirt today.

AM: 7.05 miles.  Windy, but warm morning today for a run to Sugar House park.  I dug deep into my closet this morning to run in some classic Fila Providences.  I don't think they make this shoe anymore (not since 1989-jk).  Its great for high arches.  

PM: 3.5 miles.  Before the snow hit...bye bye Spring-so sad.

AM: 7.05 miles.  Sugar House park loop.  Ice and snow on some of the sidewalks this morning, but the sun came out the last 1/2 mile.  I'm dreading the time change coming up soon.

PM: 3.5 miles.  Quick late lunch run to the gym.  I ran across a high school cross country team on the road, maybe East High?  Saturday is the dreaded Ogden/Striders 10 miler.  I could probably power walk the course faster than I can run it.

I was able to get this race in before flying out to Orlando later today. Not sure about the exact finish time (not posted yet).

The weather was perfect.  Below are my splits (this course sucks)!

Mile 1: 6:03.  Nice hill to start up with.  The leaders were taken it easy and warming up for the tough course to come.  I started in about 10th place.  I specifically looked for a few runners that I knew would be close to my time and just tried to stay close, but run easy.

Mile 2: 5:28.  Big downhill.  Too bad you have to come back up it.  Still a lot of younger runners screaming down this part.

Mile 3: 6:06.  More challenging with a good climb.  The race order really began to take shape.  I move up into 6th.  This is the same course as the 10K, so I know whats coming.

5K split: 18:16.  I was 18:15 a couple of weeks ago at the 10K.  It did not feel fast, so I was comfortable with it.

Mile 4: 6:14.  Start the long process upwards. Just trying to keep #4 and #5 in my sights.

Mile 5: 7:02.  The first of two big hills.  This is what makes this course so tough.  If you plow up the hill then you run the risk of not having the fast turnover needed for the last 5K.  I just ran it comfortable knowing another big hill was coming.  There was a younger guy in 4th and he let out some sort of scream...weird.

Mile 6:  7:01.  Made it to the top of #1 hill and now getting ready for #2 hill.  I think I will try to beat the screaming younger guy...

2nd 5K split: 21:16.  So, a little slower than my 10K a couple of weeks ago (39:XX vs. 38:40), but close to 4 miles to go!

Mile 7: 7:28.  OK, this hill was brutal, but I passed one person going up it, then the screamer at the top.

Mile 8: 5:38.  Good downhill.  I was glad to get some fast turnover after those 2 big lactic acid hills.

Mile 9: 5:58.  I can still hear the screamer guy muttering things to himself, not really a mantra but more "running angry."

Mile 10: 5:42.  One more climb to the finish.  Felt good coming in.  Finished 4th, got a some chocolate milk, coffee and a massage...nice!  I talked a little with the younger guy that was screaming.  Its how he stays motivated..OK.  He beat me at the 10K, so I was glad I was able to hold him off.

AM: 4.0 miles.  Rainy morning run in Orlando, but still warm!

AM: 6.0 miles.  Early morning run from the hotel to Seaworld in Orlando.  They had the gate open at Seaworld for employees and the sidewalk I was running on continued that way, so I turned in and got a good 1/2 mile in before exiting back toward the hotel.  Now, off to a trade show to stand for 8 hours!

AM: 6.0 miles.  Another early morning run before the second day of a four day trade show.  I headed north this morning to Universal Studios for a nice run.  I have now run in Orlando for 3 days and there are 4 other early morning runners that I already recognize on the roads...we are a committed bunch.

AM: 6.30 miles.  Another early morning run around the Orange County convention center.

AM: 6.2 miles.  Morning run around Orlando.  I've given up on getting any PM runs in.  The trade show ends at 5, then everyone meets at the bar at 6 and finally a 3 hour dinner.  Makes for a very long night with no time to run.

Short run with a co-worker before leaving Orlando.

Run at East High track with my kids.

I'm not able to run in the mornings this week due to my wife being out of town and me with the kids.  I was able to get a run in around Liberty Park and a little core work at the gym.  It's going to be another low mileage week.  I should be well rested for next week!

Another one day work-out.  Run around Liberty Park then to the gym for core work.

Perfect Spring weather!  Run from the house to Liberty Park then on to the gym for core then back again.  Lots of runners out today.

Same route as everyday this week; however, I wore shorts and a short sleeve shirt.  I was actually hot!  House to Liberty then gym for core.

I skied hard on Friday, so felt a little under the weather for a run on Saturday.  Switched the long run to Sunday morning and had good run up Emigration canyon.  Its funny how a long run can pull you out of cold or sore funk.

AM: 7.0 miles.  Windy, but I beat the storm early this morning.  Run from house to Sugar House park.  It took a few miles to get my legs moving after running up then own Emigration on Sunday.

I found out of the weekend that I'm out of town for the Ragnar Wasatch relay in June!  I felt bad letting our ultra team down, so I changed my family vacation plans.  How's that for dedication!

PM: 3.5 miles.  Run to gym for core.  It started out sunny, then rain, then snow.  Crazy.  Its sunny again.

AM: 7.05 miles.  Sugar House park loop.  A little colder this morning, but perfect running weather.

PM : 3.5 miles.  What started out as a nice sunny morning turned into heavy cloud cover later in the day. Quick run to the gym for core.  I have to travel again tomorrow, so no more 2 a days for the rest of the week.

PM: 5.0 miles.  Spent the day working in Oxnard/Malibu area.  If you ate a strawberry today, it probably came from here...strawberry fields forever.

Read an article on the plane in the Marathon & Beyond publication.  This guy named Dave Fereday has run every London Marathon since the start in 1981.  The cool thing is (besides running the marathon from ages 43 through 73) he shares his race running log in the article.  He's an engineer so he is all about the numbers.  Anyway he calculated a fitness factor based on his weekly average. He would ignore the 2 weeks before a marathon (tapering), but then average his previous 8 weeks.  Next, he would average the next previous 32 weeks.  Then by adding the two numbers together and dividing by 2 he would get his "Fitness Factor."  This factor was pretty spot on in predicting his race time performance.  If you want to check it out the article is labeled "The London Marathon From Inside".  By: Dave Fereday.

So, since it was a boring flight, I calculated my fitness factor based on Fall marathons.  I started running in 2003/2004 and did not keep a log.  My marathon times were 4:24:00 in 2003 and 3:56:00 in 2004 (Top of Utah).  I know my mileage was probably 15-20 miles a week.  Luckily, I received a Garmin as a gift in 2005, thus better records!

2005.  Fitness Factor 22.5.  Las Vegas Marathon 3:24:38

2006.  Fitness Factor 25.  St. George Marathon 3:27:39 (I had my appendix removed 2 weeks prior to the race)

2007.  Fitness Factor 26.5.  St George Marathon 3:02:15 (perfect conditions that happen once very 10 years--i.e. cloud cover, cold at the start, tail wind, etc...)

2008.  Fitness Factor 35.  Tucson Marathon 3:04.12

2009.  Fitness Factor 40.  Pocatello Marathon 2:52:54

2010.  Fitness Factor 43.  St. George Marathon 3:03:25 (super hot/cramping issues).

2011.  Fitness Factor 43.5.  St. George Marathon 2:54:06 (another hot one, but prepared with salt tablets).

So, the goal for 2012 is to get the FF to 50 and hope it leads to a 2:45:00 marathon or I can just wait for another day like 2007.  I think we are due.

Early morning treadmill run in LA.

Emigration Canyon run this morning with the group.  Head wind up & head wind down...strange!  There was a fund raiser bike ride going on, so tons of riders.  I had strong run and felt great afterwards.  I'm looking forward to the Striders 1/2 next Saturday.