This week in running 5/3 - 5/9

Day	Mileage / Workout	Comments
Sunday	7	Was pretty dead from the previous day's half marathon. Nothing but easy
Monday	6	Just logging more miles.
Tuesday	7	Started out slow but picked up the pace the further I went.
Wednesday	7	7 intervals in roughly .25M with walk break between each. No watch / no Garmin. Felt tough.
Thursday	9	Mostly easy, but felt good throughout
Friday	4	Just getting in some miles and enjoying the cold, wet air
Saturday	Off	Heavy Rain and have plans for the day
Total miles for the week: 40- YTD: 904

Week's Summary

Yet another pretty good well in terms of volume.  Sadly, my legs were just shot for most of it.  I got in one quality workout: Wednesday's.  I wouldn't call it a huge success either but at least I dug deep and cranked out a speed workout session.

I think the cumulative miles and successive weeks of racing has put me in a little bit of training debt.  I am hoping this taper week will allow my legs to recover.   Mentally, I still have a strong desire, but after a day of work I am usually fairly tired physically.  Combine that with some poor food choices, and it doesn't leave me in a good training frame of mind.  I have been tempted to switch to mornings, but the thought of waking up at 4am-ish to train doesn't excite me much.

Mileage / Racing Addiction

This week was supposed to be a bit of a "down" week.  I was shooting for mileage in the low 30's.  With the continued decent weather and the need to drop a pound or two (thanks Golden Corral) I kept the mileage fairly high.  

Trust me, I don't mess around with the final week before a marathon in terms of volume so next week should be fairly low.  

Believe it or not I *was* going to register for a race this weekend.  There were a zillion races and I suspect had I not felt flat all week, this post would have been about a half marathon.  Again, with the Ogden Marathon next Saturday (as of this writing), I want to perform well.  So I sucked it up and said no.  Maybe I should start a group like Runner's Anonymous or Racer's Anonymous.  As I sit here, I felt like I missed out on something.

Ogden Marathon

Well, I am going into the Ogden Marathon next weekend.  I am a little nervous but I am praying for nice weather.  In 2013 I ran it and it was cold, wet and I went out WAY too fast in the first 8 miles.  By mile 10 I was thinking about jumping on the sag wagon.

This course is really great for racing -- the downhill isn't too insane and it comes when you need it: around mile 15 - 22.  There is a nasty uphill around mile 14 - 15 but even that is doable.

So next Friday after work I'll be heading up to Ogden to pick up my bib and then heading south a bit to camp out in a hotel in Layton.  I'll be up at Saturday around 3:30AM eating and packing up my stuff and then rolling into Ogden no later than 4:45 to catch a 5AM bus to the top of the mountain.  So I hope to have redemption over my flat performance that I did in 2013. 

This isn't really a destination marathon but it is a big deal event as people come from all 50 states to do this one.  There are usually thousands of runners and the course is fairly scenic so it definitely has a "big" feel to it.

Upcoming Races

I started to look at the details on the Boys Chase Girls Race Half Marathon at the end of the month and I have pretty much opted out of it.  I have to be on a bus at 5AM up near Morgan, UT (which is on my list of places to visit) and while I would love to do it, it means leaving the house at about 3:30AM at the latest to make that cutoff.  I could rent a hotel / motel room, but I am already doing that for Ogden next weekend, so I'll try to find something more local and save my pennies for other destination races.


Here's my schedule though:

5/16: Ogden Marathon - Ogden Utah (registered).
5/30: Jordan River Marathon & Half Marathon (maybe -- not sure what distance)
6/13: Helena Governor's Cup Marathon (in planning stages)
7/11: Dam 15 Miler in Jordanelle / Park City Utah (definite)
9/5: Jackson Hole Wyoming Marathon (very very probable - I booked the hotel already)
10.18: Denver Rock n Roll Marathon (planning stages, but probable)
11/15: Las Vegas Marathon (definite)