Every Race is an Adventure!

May 18, 2024

15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Orem,UT,USA

Member Since:

Apr 03, 2006

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

HS/COLLEGE:
mile: 4:56, 2 mile: 10:21 (1978)
marathon: 2:52 (St. George 1982)
OLD MAN (20+ years later):
5K: 19:53 (Nestle/Art City Days 5K 2007)
10K: 39:55 (Spectrum 10K 2008)
half marathon: 1:26 (Hobble Creek 2008)
marathon: 3:07 (St. George 2007)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Get back to a BQ marathon time (currently 3:40).

Long-Term Running Goals:

Have fun running, keep fit, and fight middle age spread. Run consistently and injury free. Maintain a healthy balance between running and other life priorities. Encourage my ever-aging running buddies to keep running so we can continue to share runs on the trail instead of rocking chairs.

Personal:

Blessed to be married to Karen for 30 years. We have six children (4 daughters/2 sons) ages 16 to 30, and one wonderful granddaughter.

Favorite Blogs:

Click to donate

to Ukraine's Armed Forces

Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00
Altra Instinct 1.5 Lifetime Miles:						83.50
Altra Lone Peak 1.5 Lifetime Miles:						21.80
Saucony Guide 7 Blue 2 Lifetime Miles:						376.95
Saucony Fastwitch 6 Lifetime Miles:						200.05
Saucony Guide 7 Black 1 Lifetime Miles:						271.15

Wed, Sep 19, 2007

Easy Miles	Threshold Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Track speed mileage	Hill mileage	Total
1.80	0.00	12.40	0.00	0.00	14.20

When I got up this morning I discovered I had left all my running clothes in the washing machine last night. I had intended to put them in the dryer before going to bed. They were still pretty damp, and it was a little chilly this morning, so I threw them in the dryer and delayed my run a while. Fortunately, technical clothing dries pretty quickly so I was only about 27 minutes late starting my run. We have family prayer at 7:00am. When I left at 6:12am I only had 48 minutes to get in my 6 mile run. That would mean a minimum pace of 8:00/mi. I decided to try to hold a fast marathon pace for the 6 miles. My splits were:

7:42 - included my warmup

7:34 - includes a stop and walk through road construction

7:21 - slight downhill with tailwind

7:53 - slight uphill with headwind, includes a brief stop at a busy intersection

7:21 - 1/2 slight downhill/tailwind, 1/2 slight uphill/headwind

7:32 - slight uphill, includes a brief stop at a busy intersection

1:24 - 7:01/mi pace for the last 0.2 miles

I ended up running 6.2 miles, and finished the 10K in 46:47 (7:33/mi). The average pace was 5 secs/mile faster than my goal marathon pace, so I met my goal of running at fast marathon pace. I very much enjoyed the cool morning and the faster paced run. I feel pretty good. I hope I have enough left to keep up on the noon run today.

Nathan asked if I could head out at 11:40 today instead of 12:10 today as he had a 1:00 meeting. I agreed, but totally spaced on notifying Tom. We called him from the fitness center, but he was in the middle of some work and couldn't pull away just yet, so we reluctantly headed out without him.

Nathan also wanted to do the 10K Lake View run instead of the cusomary 5 mile run. I agreed, but was a little nervous about keeping up with him after running pretty hard this morning. I also thought it would be interesting to compare the two same day 10K's.

I managed to stay with Nathan until the last mile, when we stepped on the gas and pulled away. The whole run is pretty flat, the weather was a little warm but comfortable with a bit of a cool breeze. I pushed along pretty well without much discomfort. My splits were (morning splits in parenteses):

7:53 (7:42)

7:34 (7:34)

7:29 (7:21)

7:23 (7:53)

7:16 (7:21)

7:15 (7:32)

1:17 (1:24) - 6:30/mi (7:01/mi) for the last 0.2 miles

Overall 46:10 (7:27/mi) - This morning 46:47 (7:33/mi)

So for the two runs, a total of 12.4 miles, I averaged 7:30/mi. I'm very pleased. I'm pleased with the pace, and that I had enough endurance to do it twice in one day.

My legs still feel good and strong. I felt so bad about leaving Tom that I ran back and ran in with him. He had come out later and we had seen him on his way out as we were coming back. Actually, Darin was on his way out so I ran with him until we met Tom and then I ran back in with Tom. This additional run was about 1.6 miles at 8:13/mi.

I guess it was good we missed Tom, because I think he said he averaged just over an 8:00 pace for the whole run. He has his last run with the fast SF guys (Darin Cable, Steve King, et al.) tomorrow and wanted to save himself a little. I think he said he hopes to stay with them for at least 4 miles this time. I don't envy him (well I do a little) but I'm confident he can do it.

Comments

From Kerry on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 18:59:11

You ought to be feeling very confident. To be able to sustain the pace on your second run with Nathan after such a short turnaround. Even when I feel great after a run, I don't think I could run close to the same pace a few hours later.

From Paul T on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 19:21:42

Oh, I think you probably could. You'll never know until you try. I was very surprised that I could. It actually felt easier the 2nd time, running with Nathan versus running alone.

That "it seems easier to run the same pace with someone else than to run it alone" phenomenon is one reason I've told Nathan I'll try to run with him at least until Veyo, even though his goal finish time is 5 minutes faster than mine. I'm counting on that "running with someone else" boost to make up for running roughly 11 seconds per mile faster on average for those miles. In other words, if I back off and run alone instead of running with Nathan, I'm afraid it will feel just as hard as if I'd run with him, but I'll be 11 seconds per mile farther behind. Running with him might also put me in reach of my stretch goal of 3:15. (His goal is 3:15, with a stretch goal of 3:10.)

My plan is to not push too hard through the difficult middle section through Veyo and Dammeron Valley, but Nathan is such a strong uphill runner that I'm sure he'll pull away (if I'm still with him by that point) like he did around mile 10 of Hobble Creek. If I survive that middle stretch okay, I'll think about picking up the pace as the course transitions to steeper downhill.

What a grand adventure it will be. I can hardly wait.

By the way, we've decided to go down Thursday night instead of Friday. Does your family like to do the expo? Mine could take it or leave it. If yours feels the same, maybe we could hit the expo together early Friday morning.

From Kerry on Thu, Sep 20, 2007 at 11:37:39

I just love this time of year. The bright fall colors, the cooling temperatures and the sense of pent-up energy that always precedes the marathon, the sense of testing your limits.

We're going down late Thursday morning. My youngest daughter loves to swim, so that evening is the best opportunity. My oldest daughter won't be coming down with us this year as she'll just be getting back from a weeklong trip to Florida and can't afford to miss any more school (plus she really doesn't enjoy shopping, eating out and all of the other things we do in St. George). My wife and youngest daughter like to go to the expo, but we usually only stay about an hour. We'd love to have you join us if the rest of your family doesn't feel like going. We typically go over around 10 or 10:30.

Add Your Comment.

Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.

Debt Reduction Calculator

Featured Announcements

Most Recent Entries:

New Kids on the Blog
(need a welcome):

Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):

Recent Comments: