In search of old age PRs

Slow morning run around Sugar House park.

5 x 200 with warm up and cool down at the East High track.  I have the Provo 1/2 on Saturday, so will be taking it easy this week.  I plan to drop one 200 everyday, so I should be fresh!

4 x 200 at East High School with warm up and cool down.  

The track was full today at East High.  Mostly people in a "boot camp."  Ran 3 x 200 with warm up and cool down.

2 x 200 with warm up and cool down

Provo Half marathon this morning.  I have not run this race since 2007, so I was excited to try the course again.  At the start, there was a DEER walking up to every runner.  It was crazy.  I've never seen a deer that unafraid of people.  I met up with Coach Bill, Cindy, Craig and Marie at the top and we did a very short warm up.

The race started just a few minutes late, but overall it is one of the better organized Provo Half I've run in...kudos to Curt.

Craig and I both had a 1:18 goal, so we decided to alternate the lead every mile.  This was a mistake.  Craig was running really strong and around mile 6 I had to let him go.  He ran a 1:16:xx, so I probably slowed him down too much the first half.  Below are my splits:

Mile 1: 5:42.  Big drop and comfortable pace.  Talking to the other runners.  I take the first mile and was hoping to be around 5:55.  I apologized, but Craig didn't seem to mind.

Mile 2: 5:42.  More dropping and comfortable.  Craig is out front leading the pace.

Mile 3: 5:48.  I tried to slow down a little, but you probably need to take advantage of the drop when you feel good.

Mile 4: 5:38.  Big drop out of the canyon and Craig has kicked it up a notch.  I keep contact for my next turn.

Mile 5: 6:06.  I'm not sure if this split is correct.  We did take hydration and meet some friends on the course (Jeremy, Andrea and Travis).

Mile 6: 5:50.  Craig gaps me here and I can not keep up.  I tell him to leave me and get the 1:16.

Mile 7: 6:19.  Uphill part of the race.  Not too bad sense I am running by myself.

Mile 8: 6:34.  Steeper uphill and I see the leaders.  They are about 0.5 mile ahead of me.  Nice to see Sasha running strong in Crocs.

Mile 9: 6:01.  I try to get my pace back on the trail, but he hill zapped my legs.  There is no one around me so I begin to think about holding my place instead of speeding up.

Mile 10: 6:06.  The comfortable pace is gone and now I'm just trying not to get passed the last 5K.  I do the math and know I missed my 1:18.

Mile 11: 6:14.  The sun is out strong at the bottom.  I was disappointed I could not find the gear to get back to 5:55 pace.  I can no longer see Craig or Michelle.

Mile 12: 6:17.  I run into Travis again.  He ran a little ways with Craig and then came to pick me up.  He gave me some motiviation to get under 1:20 and finish strong.

Mile 13: 6:19.  I'm done!  I didn't hit my goal, but still a course PR.

At the finish talked with Water and Matt from the blog.  I was surprised to learn I was 4th in my age group and would have been 5th if Sasha had not won!  I need to get older so I can get out of this grouping (or they do)!  Had some pancakes, picked up my shirt then spent 15 minutes looking for my bag.  Good job to the race director, Curt, this year.  It's never smooth sailing at Provo, but this was one of the better ones!

5 AM run to Sugar House park before heading out of town to Steamboat Springs.  There sure were a lot of runners out at 5.  My legs were sore from the Provo Half on Saturday and going to Snowbird on Sunday with the family.  

I was disappointed with the my Provo race time, until I put it into Sasha's "race time predictor" and found I'm still on track to try and hit a 2:45 at St. George.  I think most of my disappointed came from Craig smoking me.  I plan on running TOU-Half in a couple of weeks and hope to get a sub 1:19 to stay "on-track."

Run on trails in Steamboat Springs.  It was 40 degrees the morning!  Autumn has hit Colorado!

Late day run around Sugar House park.  Today, I finally felt recovered from the Provo Half...just in time for a 22 miler on Saturday.

Trail run on the Pipeline in Mill Creek with JasRo this morning.  It was a slow pace, but the steep climb makes it a difficult run.

Nice, early morning group run up Emigration.  There were tons of bikers coming up as we finished.  I've never seen so many.  For some reason, many bikers think they own the shoulder of the road.  It was nice to be done before 8:30!

Run up to Wastach Drive then through "Dog" canyon (next to Tanner Park).  They are building a new paved trail through the canyon.  It will be great, because you should be able to avoid most of the dogs when it is finished.  Ran over to Sugar House park then back home for a long mid-week run.

Another long run up to the Avenues, through the UofU, above the Hogle Zoo then back into the Sugar House area.  I saw 3 different large groups out running early the morning.  

Interval work-out at East High.  9 x 800 with warm up and cool down.  I will be up to 10 YASSOs in September before St. George.  There was an Army fitness test going on while I was running (push-ups, sit-up and 2 mile run).  I don't think I could do 20 sit-ups to save my life!  

Run from the house to Memory Grove and back.  It was nice change of pace to run through the downtown area.

Nice trail run on City Creek with Drew and Trace A from the running group.  We found Treasure Box mine and all the old mining equipment from the early 1900's.  The entrance looked pretty small and scary, so I could not talk Drew and Trace into going in.  Next time we will bring a flash light.

Speed work in preparation for Top of Utah Half next weekend.  5 x 200 with warm up and cool down at East High.

4 x 200 with warm up at the track at Bozeman High School. I spent most of my time driving to Billings today for work.  Later in the week, I have to work at the University.  My plan is to take it easy again before the TOU-Half.

3 x 200 at Montana State University track.  There was a guy training for the decathlon by throwing the javelin.  It was pretty interesting.  His coach, who looked to be 80 years old, was video taping him.  It made me wonder how many people still participate in this event.  The only time I hear about it is during the Olympics.  Anyway, it was fun to keep a watchful eye out while I ran. 

2 x 200 with warm up and cool down at Bozeman HS track.

I was supposed to just do 1 mile, but seemed like a waste since I was waking up early to get this run in.  Did a 2 x 200 with warm up and cool down at East High track.  I hope I well rested for the 1/2 marathon on Saturday.

I planned on running the Top of Utah half today, but on Friday I had to fly to Asheville, NC due to my mother's illness (she's doing much better now).  Late on Saturday, I ran around the Biltmore House Estate until a security guard told me no runners allowed...really?  He said I could cycle if I bought a ticket...really?  I turned around and ran back to the hospital.

Run from the hospital to Asheville High School.  I ran ladders of 200-400-600-800-1000 then back down with warm up and cool down.  FYI: It is humid in the south.

I made it back to Salt Lake late Monday night, so I did an afternoon run around Sugar House park today.  It is nice to have cool weather.