Marlin

Had a great time running this race and hats off to the Pocatello Marathon for a well put together race!

Last Wed. I was stretching and felt my left hamstring start to ache and not feel right. It just didn't go away all week long and was still there on race morning. I decided to run it as planed and just take it as far as it will carry me. My plan was to run the first half or so under pace and from the hill before the high school and on to the finish at 10-15 seconds over pace if needed. Is this the best way to run most races - no - but it is what worked last year and I PR'd and made it into Boston. Saturday was a PR also so I hope it makes it into Boston.  We will see in two weeks.

Met the group at the start line and talked and had a great time. Lined up and the race got started and we were headinng down the hill and I was just in an easy run for the first mile and felt my hammy from the very start, after the first mile I moved the pace up to the planned race pace and just got comfortable. The miles went by quick and before I knew it I was at mile 6.5 on the up and back section of the course and saw Lynette coming down as I was heading up and saw Glen and Andrea on the down part of it. I was feeling good other then this hammy was just there and not getting any worse nor any better so I just kept going with it.

At mile 10 or so I saw Dane R. up ahead of me and I was getting closer  and closer and pased him just before mile 11. Now that made me smile and feel good and even had to give myself an ataboy :-)  Got to the half and saw Gray, Rex, and Rob as they were running down the road as a w/u and got some great energy from them. The course is now flatten out and could now feel the hamstring alittle more but not to bad. Made it through Inkom and was starting up a 1.25 mile uphill and just didn't want to push to hard on this and cause this thing to cramp up. Got up it and on the way down the other side and felt good going down.

Got to mile 20.5 and going up the Century High hill and my pace slowed alot, but got to the top and just kept it slow for a while and tryed to just recoup and get up to pace again. I now slowed the pace down to 10-15 sec below pace and felt the hamstring starting to get tight now around mile 23 and was just hoping it will hold off. I still feel very good and breathing was low but it was just the dang hamstring that was the problem. But still felt like I was able to hit a 3:13 time if it held out.

Ok, got to mile 24 and it didn't want to play any more and just locked up and had to stop for 30 to 40 sec to stretch it out and got going again and it happend again at mile 25 and had to stop and stretch again.  The 3:13 was out of the question and now just was hoping to make it under the 3:15 mark but was just short of that by 13 sec.  But this was a new PR for me and was so happy with my time considering the conditions.  I love this race and the course challenges me.

Splits was   1-7:45,  2-7:07,  3-7:16,  4-7:12,  5-7:08,  6-7:11,  7-7:18,  8-7:16,  9-7:09,  10-7:04,  11-6:59,  12-6:54,  13-7:28,  14-7:00,  15-7:23,  16-7:37 (hill),  17-7:37 (hill),  18-7:27,  19-7:17,  20-7:35,  21-8:26 (more hills),  22-8:18,  23- 7:36,  24 and 25 I had cramp issues and forgot to push the lap button, but the time for the two miles was 15:57,  and the last 1.23 miles was 9:03 time at 7:22 pace.

Great race and organization and will be back next year.

AM   easy jog up and down a 2 times on the west side of the Greenbelt.

AM   The mornings are getting cool now,  49' at 5:00 am.  Ran the Greenbelt to Sunnyside loop + some.  Legs are tight but got better every mile except the last mile they were starting to get tighter.  Seen Shannon on the run this morning

PM   5.83 miles on the elliptical this afternoon

AM   I had an awesome morning run, ran 6.0 easy mile solo fromthe Greenbelt to Pancheri to Freeman Park and back and was going to make one more smaller loop, but my wife showed up for her run and we ran together for 5.30 miles and just talked and had a great time. We ran from the Greenbelt and up SRL and back and she kept going on to finish up her run.  I am so glad she feels better and getting stronger  and is running again.

AM   Set out for a run this morning from the Greenbelt and got 1 mile down the road and turned around and ran back to the truck and went to the gym, legs felt tired and things just was not right.  Road the bike and it was much better and had a good workout even,     Ran two miles and road the stationary bike 1 hour for 24.3 miles.

PM   Ran 6 miles on the TM, 2 miles easy and 4 at MP.

         4.55 miles on the Elliptical after my run.

AM   5 easy miles around the Greenbelt.

PM   3 mile TM run, and 45 min. stairmaster workout for 5.69 miles.

Went and meet up with Jeff and Kami to watch Justin run his XC meet at Freeman Park, he did great as he is going to be an awesome runner like his Dad.

AM   Slept in alittle this morning, I went to the gym this morning because I wanted to get a good stretch in after my run and most of the time after running outside I never stretch as I find other things to do, and it seams that if I run at the gym I always stretch after my run.

Very happy with my pace and HR this morning as I felt good and no body soreness.   Ran 10 min W/U,  30 min at 30 sec. below MP,  10 min at MP,   10 min at GMP.   Stretched for 40 min. and sat in the steam room for 30 min.  Start of a nice weekend and can't wait to hang out with all my running friends tonight.

AM   Just an easy run up and down the west bank of the Greenbelt, low energy this morning.

AM   I ran on the TM at the gym this morning as it was windy and not wanting to deal with it, also it gave me a chance to check my HR at MP with some incline.  1 mile w/u - 4.0 miles at MP (139)

AM   Man it was cool this morning, gloves, hat, long sleeve shirt, and my new running pants.  Alittle over dressed but not to bad. Started from the Greenbelt and ran up to SRL and meet up with Jeff and ran up to Sunnyside together as he kept going and I turned around and ran back to the truck.  Saturday morning I am running TOU Marathon as I love this race also, I am going to just run and have alot of fun as I am running with a friend and a FRB member as he is wanting to better his BQ time, should be nice weather also.    A few weeks  back Mauri and I ran the Grand Teton Relay and one thing that we enjoyed was that we slept under the stars and woke up and ran our legs of the relay , it was alot of fun!   So I am going to do it again, I cancelled my room to the Holiday Inn Express and traded it for my sleeping bag, crazy but it is going to be fun.

AM   Easy run around my house this morning at 4:15 am

I love the Top of Utah Marathon as it is run in cool temps and what a great course and some amazing runners,  FRB runners, and friends show up to run this race.  Grats to Jake for the win - he did awesome!

Meet Karen Smith at the bus pick-up area and we rode the bus up together, and just had a great time in the tent talking with everyone before the start.  Got close to the start of the race and I went to turn on my watch and it would come on and turn of right away, NOT GOOD I know I charged it but I also know that I should have looked at it to see if it turned on when I pulled it from the charger before I left home. Oh well this was the first time I will be running a race with out a watch.

Meet my friend Glen at the start line as I told him that I would run with him to better his BQ time but what good am I with out a watch right, LOL.  We got beside the 3:25 pacer and talked some but we never really talked about strategy, pace or anything and just thought we were going to hang out with the pacer.

The race started and for the first 2 miles we ran with the pacer and worked our way through runners and  we had got in front of the 3: 25 pacer and was just there for another mile and got to the first aid station and the pace felt alittle faster and we were pulling away from the 3:25 some and I asked Glen if he was ok with the pace and he said yes and we kept going.  At mile 5 I had to stop and use the bathroom for pee stop #1 which some times this is normal and did not think nothing of it, and told Glen I would catch up to him. Ran past the pacer and caught up about .25 mile ahead of the pacer, and pace was around 7:35 or so still and was ok by me but asked Glen if he was ok and said yes.  I felt very comfortable running this pace and felt like a Z-1 run. We ran through some more aid stations and at mile 9 I had to stop and pee again and now this was not normal and did not know why as I was drinking the same fluid as I always do and told him I would catch up to him again. Got done and now the pacer was still behind me and caught up again and now we were about .25 mile ahead of the pacer still.

More aid stations and the same fluid intake as always and had to stop to pee again at mile 12, now this is not good and it dawned on me that I was running at a much lower HR and not needing as much H2O and just had to pick the pace up. Got up to Glen just before mile 13 and just had to keep going, felt bad but I think it was the best for the both of us,  got to the half with a time of 1:41:50 and just got into a good comfortable pace that I felt I could hold for the rest of as I didn't have a watch to tell my pace or time and you know it was kinda nice to run like that but was scared to death about it up at the start.

Now hitting aid stations with the same fluid intake and no problems and never had to stop to pee again. (humm)  I was passing alot of runners and felt good as we were running the rural area of the course and hit the rollers and some up hills and alot of right and left hand turns and felt the pace slow some but not to much. Around mile 23 I felt my hamstring just alittle bit but would come and go and didn't think to much about it.  Got to mile 24 and felt good and pace was just a bit slower then a few miles back but I was still passing runners. Got alot of energy off of the spectators the last few miles that help alot and turned the last corner heading for home and I could not beleive it, I seen the the clock turn 3:18 ish  and just couldn't beleive it as I finished with a time of 3:18:34 and just 30 seconds slower then last year.

1st half time was 1:42:30 - 7:49 pace

2nd half time was 1:36:04 - 7:20 pace   

Felt good about the second half of the race and pleased with the pace and my overall time.  Not my best OA time but it is my best 2nd half effort.

Grats to all my friends, Jake, Allie, Steve, Glen with a new PR great job, Karen with a new PR,  

AM   Felt good this morning, just nice and easy run.  2.36 miles solo and ran with my wife for the last 5 miles, she is getting much stronger and her fitness is coming around nicely and proud of her progress.  Great job honey and nice pace this morning! 

PM   3.87 miles on the TM at the gym, easy Z-1 run and 30 min on the elliptical for 3.62 miles.

AM   Started from the Greenbelt and crossed the Broadway bridge and down to Sunnyside on the east side of the river, from Sunnyside up to I-15 overpass and back ro SRL.. Did 10 min pick-ups through SRL and around the Greenbelt.  A nice run with cool temps,  I feel good with no soreness

 PM   4.35 miles in half an hour on the stairmaster,  spin class with Nick for 45 min but wanted to finish an hour so I got on another bike after the class and rode another 15 mins for 27 miles in an hour.

AM  nice  and cool this morning,  I ran with Mauri this morning  from the Greenbelt SRL, up to Sunnyside an back to the truck and made one more up and back loop on rhe west side of GB.  I am proud of Mauri, she did great this mormimg.  I do love running with her! 

PM   Easy run from the gym to Community Park a few times and back to the gym, 3.75 miles on the elliptical

AM   Tempo run this morning - .50 mile w/u,  7.5 mile tempo,  1 mile c/d

PM    Elliptical and stairmaster workout

Had to be in Jackson Hole by 6:30am this morning to set up a log garage that I built, so no run for today!

AM   Started my run from the house this morning, and wanted to run a 16 miler, ran the first 4 miles on the rolling hills around our house and the next 4 were flat as my turn around at 8 miles was at Teton Toyota and ran the same way back with the last 4 mile rollers, alittle hard over the last 4 but got it done.  Even pace and just nice and easy run today, wish this smoke would clear but have to say it is not as bad as Jackson Hole Wyo. has it, yesterday I set up a log garage in Jackson and my eyes hurt all day.

Stationary bike at home this morning

AM   10.0 mile bike ride before my run this morning.  7.17 mile easy Greenbelt run.  PM stairmaster workout.   Starting to not feel so well right now!

No run today, had a fever last night and all day today stayed home from work even.  

AM   10 mile bike ride,  and 7.30 mile run from the Greenbelt and SRL.  Just an easy run as I am recovering from a high fever over the last day but felt much better this morning.  :-)

PM   3.76 miles on the TM at the gym, and 3.18 miles on elliptical

AM   16.5 miles on the stationary bike at home before heading to the gym for a tempo run - TM tempo run.5% to 1.0% incline,  30 min progressive w/u, 50 min tempo run, .50 mile c/d.  Felt real good this morning and no soreness .

PM   4.03 miles on the stairmaster - 3.20 miles on the elliptical

AM   18.0 mile stationary bike at home before heading out for an easy 7 mile run from the Greenbelt to Sunnyside to JH Bridge loop.   Have been thinking about getting my wife a running companion, as it is dark out and she also runs before going to work also.  I just would feel better if she had a dog with her . We will see how things turn out!  Opinions welcome please.

AM    Set out for this run at 5 am this morning, not much to say other then the last 6 miles was the hardest 6 on a 20 mile run I have ever done. Not sure why but things just didn't go very well and I am alittle disappointed, low back was getting tight, felt like I was just dragging my legs along.  Well there is a reason for everything and I am sure it will make me a stronger runner mentally.  Talked to Craig and Curt as I was heading home as they were on there run, nice to catch up with them as Craig was running with his dog also (what a great dog).  I will pick up our new dog next week and can't wait for my wife to run with her, I think she is going to be a good addition to our family,  We are getting her from the Human society and the couple that is boarding her also happens to be runners and brings breads of dogs that make good running companions and finds good homes for them. She ran our dog yesterday with and with out a leash and called me to tell us how well she did and was good manered. Just have to wait until after she gets fixed on Tuesday and a few days latter to get her home.  Have been building a new chain link fence and a dog door for them to go outside freely.