Joe's Running Blog

Trail run today. 1st 25 minutes were all uphill, I went on the access road being used to construct the new water tower at the base of Ben Lomond Peak in North Ogden. Headed east on the power line trail once I made it to the water tower, then home on 3100 north. I wasn't moving very fast, I can still feel yesterday's 20 plus miler, but I'll be okay. Stayed out a little late last night at the Weber County redneck bonanza, aka the Demolition Derby, but hey, I suppose we all have a little redneck in us.

Hard workout today, Daniels "T" workout. 8x1 mile @ threshold pace with 30 seconds rest. Decided I'd better do this one on the track at Weber High, and I even conned Casey Snider into doing some of it with me. Didn't know how much he'd be doing, but hoped for 2 out of 4 laps from him. My goal pace was to be under 5:20, and figured it would be a bonus if it felt easy.

1st one: 5:18, then 5:17, 5:16, 5:15, 5:17, 5:15, and 5:03. For the last one, Casey ran the 1st, 3rd and 4th laps with me, we were 77 on the first lap, 78 on the second, 77 on the third, and 71? on the last. I think that adds up to 5:03, or at least pretty close to it. Did the entire workout feel easy? No, it did not. I was a little fatigued from Saturday's run, but I think my fitness is at a decent level. We'll see how GSL 1/2 goes this weekend. It's off to Cokeville this afternoon for some high-altitude living and training.

65 minutes in Cokeville, most of it with Nathan. It sure is nice to have 55-60 degree weather for running. Short entry, gotta jet.

65 minutes again with nathan, a little slower than yesterday. Went out on the Poison Creek trail/road, then back through town and out on the Smith's Fork road for a mile or so. Felt pretty sluggish and tired, but glad to have it over with.

50 minutes in Cokeville with Nathan. Felt okay, not great. Spent the rest of the day in Afton in meetings for new teachers. 

Rest today. Traveled to North Ogden from Cokeville, hope to get a good night's sleep.

I don't know why I keep doing this race.  I had debated doing the xTerra trail run Friday night and then the Peak Performance 5K saturday morning, but figured I'd better show my face at a circuit race and wear the SLRC uniform a couple times this summer. I slept okay--not great--and made it to the registration in plenty of time. When I saw Paul Peterson, Pat Smyth, Teren, Dennis, I really felt like I should have done the trail race/5K combo instead. But I knew my training had been solid, and figured 5:20s would be very reasonable.

For some reason, I feel like something just isn't right. My hamstrings have been hurting for over a month now, and a race situation just exacerbates it. I don't mean to make excuses--Teren, Pat, Paul, Dennis, Sasha and many others ran great. Rather, I know I'm in better shape than 1:13, and I can't figure out why just six years ago I ran 1:08:08 on this very course and ran that day thinking "Who wants to go faster?  Who?" I don't buy that it's all in my head--my training is solid and I feel fairly fit most days, I feel something biomechanical is not right. I am going to spend some time and money getting checked out by my physical therapist, I trust her and feel she can get me back on track again.

Anyhow...the race. Teren took off like a scalded dog, Pat and Paul went with him, and I thought out loud there would be some road kill before 10 miles. I didn't think 5:20s would make ME road kill, but it did and Dennis pulled away at 8. Sasha dropped off at 6, and I was able to keep Dennis in range, and finally when we got to the island I changed rthythm and caught up to him and ran in with him. Overall, I was disappointed with how things turned out, I don't know what else to do other than to get checked out with the P.T. and see what she says.

I was amazed on the bus ride back to the start to see Bill and Sasha running back to the start. They both look fit, I'll bet Bill doesn't have more than 2% body fat. The guy looks FIT, like a gunny sack full of deer antlers.