It's just that simple

Canal banks + Cassia Park - 45:10

First run in 3 days. Came down with a virus and had pretty bad aches, fever, and stomach issues. Made it through the run without having to make any pit stops, but was abnormally sweaty and achy throughout it. Hopefully I'll be back to normal tomorrow. I have a marathon in a month and my training the last month has sucked!

Canal banks + Borah track - 45+

Not much time to run today. Tried to do something of moderate quality, without overdoing it. I ran 5 of the 7 miles at a 6:13/mile average, a bit under my marathon goal pace. I felt a bit better than yesterday so that's encouraging. Nice warm, sunny day again today.

A.M. - Canal banks - 20+

Easy jog with Leo. He did pretty well - chased a few ducks and swam quite a bit - and I felt OK for 6 a.m., so I'm calling it a success

P.M. - Greenbelt - 46:05

Started at BSU and went upstream onto the dirt section. Went out 25 minutes then came back at a tempo pace for about 20 minutes (3.4 miles @ 5:56/mile pace). Finished with a 1.5 mile walk with Emily.

Greenbelt - 46:25

Had the city track meet today, which finished up just before 9 p.m. Left the stadium and got my run in. Stopped in Municipal Park for 6 x 20 second strides on the grass, then did 6 more strides on Warm Springs Golf Course. Wore my new Nike Triax Structure. Shin still in a lot of pain but it's not bad enough to stop running.

Canal banks + treadmill - 1:10

Took an easy jog with Leo on the canals for 18 minutes, then did 52 monotonous minutes on the treadmill at home. Recovery day. Sleep pattern has been horrible this week.

Greenbelt - 1:49

Had a nice run tonight on a great evening. Did 6 miles relaxed at 7:15/mile pace, then did 8 miles right around goal marathon pace (6:17/mile) before doing an easy 2 mile cooldown. Ran out on the stretch past Warm Springs Golf Course all the way up toward Lucky Peak. Felt pretty strong and I'm happy with the workout.

Run to Gold's and back + treadmill - 1:10

Easy recovery run at 9 pm. Shin sore while I was on the treadmill so I just slowed it down to a managable pace and that seemed to take care of it.

Weights, core and stretching - 20 min

2.5 mile wo, 10 x 400, 1.5 mile wd

Jogged an easy warmup with Leo, then did a workout on the track. I want to work on some easy intervals at 5k pace for the next few weeks before the marathon. I did all the 400s at 1:18/1:19 and took a 400 jog in about 2 minutes. It was pretty windy, but a nice workout to turn the legs over. Shin real sore on warmdown.

P.M. - Was going to do a 30 minute run, but hiked in Twin Falls instead.

A.M. - TFHS track - 22:35

Ran with the dogs over at the track while everybody else walked. My shin was hurting pretty bad again and I wasn't feeling great, so I just cut it short.

P.M. - Canal Banks - 21:15

Back in Boise. A quick run before dinner at a solid pace. Feeling a bit better than this morning.  

Greenbelt + Military Reserve - 2:30

Thankful that I got this one done. I felt horrible the first 4 miles, but when I hit the trails in the reserve, I just tried to relax and have a nice run. I ended up doing 10 miles in the reserve, before finishing up on the greenbelt at a little over 7:00/mile pace. Windy, but a great sunny day out and lots of flowers were blooming in the hills.

Canal banks - 21:53

A short one today (shorter than planned) and I felt horrible. Tomorrow will be a better day.

Canal banks + treadmill - 54:41

Another rough one today. First part with Leo, then finished on the treadmill. Need to get some sleep tonight. Shin real sore throughout the whole run; hopefully will feel better tomorrow as I'd like to do something a little quicker paced.

2 mile wo, 24 minute fartlek, 2 mile wd

Very tired and it was hot out, but I wanted to get a decent workout in. Wore my trainers so I wouldn't hurt my shin too bad. I actuallly felt ok during the run today. Did the fartlek at the BK track.

3 x 2:00 @ 5:27 pace; 2:00 recoveries @ 6:50 pace

2 x 1:30 @ 5:13 pace; 1:30 recoveries @ 7:16 pace

2 x 1:00 @ 5:06 pace; 1:30 recoveries @7:22 pace

2 x :30 @ 5:03 pace; :30 recoveries @ 7:35 pace

I like this workout because it's short and if you keep the fast segments somewhat easy like this and the jogs at a reasonable pace, it's a good aerobic workout as well.

Canal banks - NT

Easy run on the canals. Shin pretty sore, but I'm sure I won't feel it tomorrow.

Great Potato Half Marathon - 1st place - 1:17:25

I feel like I accomplished today's objective: a good, even effort without thrashing my legs too much or really going to the well. It was a warm morning, but not too bad as the race started at 8 a.m. It was worse for the marathoners. Led the last 11 miles of the race. Went off course twice following the lead biker, which was really rough mentally. The course does live up to its reputation of being poorly marked and unorganized, but that's ok. For a local YMCA race, you really can't complain. Part of the problem was the course had to be detoured a couple of times due to greenbelt construction, which put it about .2 long, according to 2 Garmin readings (mine had it at 13.22). All things considered, I think the time was solid for the effort and conditions.

Splits: 5:57, 5:53, 5:53, 5:47, 5:50, 5:45, 5:46, 5:50, 5:50, 5:55, 5:52, 5:54, 5:59, 1:13

Ann Morrison Park + Greenbelt - 40:02

Legs a bit sore, but way better than the day after any of the previous half marathons/marathons I've done. Ran at about 10 a.m. It was warm already, but I was able to follow it with a nice dip in the pool.

Canal Banks - 38:40

Felt a little off today. Not much sleep last night and my shin was really sore again. I'm planning to have a pretty solid rest of the week and then just do a one week taper. With the days I've taken off here and there and the overall lower mileage, I don't think I need to taper more than that.

Biked to work and back - 30 minutes round trip

No run. Shin pretty sore and I caught up on some sleep with a big nap.

Biked to work and back

Canal banks - 35+

Not good news. I warmed up to do a workout, but the shin was just too sore. I limped along for 4.5 miles at just under 8 min pace and it wouldn't get any better. I have had a stress fracture once and it felt a little bit like this. Hopefully it's just tissue damage near the bone. The pain shoots up and down my leg and weakens it to the point where it feels like it might buckle. Most days aren't this bad.

I think my new game plan for the marathon on the 31st is to try to x-train and maybe jog a few minutes a day and see if that will get me to the line.

Biked to work and back - 30 minutes total

Elyptical - 10 minutes

Treadmill - 15 minutes slow. No improvement. Probably shouldn't have done anything at all. I think the next few days I'll take completely off (hate to do it so close to a race but no alternative).

Biked about 17 miles in 1:05

Walked easy with Leo for about 30 minutes

Walked for about 2 hours near Sagehen Reservoir. The ground was nice and soft and the trails were flat, and we were walking very slowly so my shin didn't hurt too bad.

Treadmill - 21+

Tried to jog a little today. Moderate amount of pain, but I was able to do 2 miles at about a 10 min/mile pace. 26 at 6:20 pace shouldn't be much harder....right?

Canal banks - 20:42

Ran a little over 2.5 miles. Walked 20 minutes a little later. I would put the odds of me starting the marathon at about 60% to run and 40%  to not run.

Canal Banks - 20:13

About the same as yesterday. No worse, which is a good sign. We'll see how things look tomorrow, but as of now, it's likely I'll run.

Canal Banks - 22:25

Quick run after work before flying out to Portland. Leg is doing a little better. Still a little pain in the shin, but it is better than yesterday. Was able to get under 8:00/mile pace for the first time in a week and a half.

Run in Newport - 22:08

Ran from the Shilo Inn over the Yaquina Bay Bridge and back. Shin feeling a lot better, so tomorrow will be a go. New goal is to PR (sub 2:50).

Newport Marathon - 2:43:12 - 4th place

Wow, this one was a surprise. My body managed to hold up and I pulled out a 7 minute PR from my first marathon, New York City. My primary goal was a sub 2:50, and I would have been really happy with running 6:20 pace (about 2:46). Given some of the injuries I've had spring I feel great about this. I guess my unintentional taper (16 miles last week and 13 this week) didn't hurt me too bad.

The race conditions were ideal. Calm, cool and no rain. The course is flat almost the whole way, and after the first 4 miles, there's no sharp turns or anything to deal with. Most of the run is along the bay and it's really quiet and scenic. A way different experience than New York City for me.

Sean Sundwall put on a clinic. Running 2:22 is amazing in it's own right, but you don't see many runners go 2:22 running solo the entire way and winning by 19 minutes. That was a very impressive performance and I'm happy for Sean for breaking the course record and running so awesome. There was a lot of buzz at the race about his effort Saturday. Congrats to a talented runner and a good guy.

My race was pretty consistent. Except for mile 3, in the first 19 miles, my splits never varied by more than 9 seconds! I kept them all between 6:08 and 6:17. I was able to stay in a groove, keep hydrated and fueled and not worry too much about the other runners in the race. At about mile 20, some calf cramping started and my quads starting feeling hammered, but I stuck with it. My calves never fully blew up, which has happened too many times in the past year. I tried some different things that I think worked out. I had great course support from the other runners and from my wife driving the last 10 miles and stopping every few minutes to encourage me. I ended up moving into 4th place the last half mile and holding off a couple of runners that were not too far behind. Second through 7th place were all within about 3 minutes, so it was relatively deep up front for such a small race (750 registered).

My legs are absolutely destroyed today, but amazingly my shin isn't sore. Everything else is. I plan to recover and then try to build a little bit of a base this summer. I know my mileage is still very low by marathon standards. Maybe I'll try another one this fall.

Half marathon splits were 1:20+/1:22+. I'll probably put my mile by mile splits down at some point for my own reference.