Chris Rogers Training Log

AM... [E] 5 mile run (33:38, 6:43 pace).  Easy run on the normal Bountiful main street loop.  Stopped at Viewmont on the way home and did 5x100m strides.  Felt very sluggish for the first 15-20 minutes, and then started feeling good.  Maybe I'm actually becoming a marathoner if it actually takes me 20 minutes to start feeling good!

 Planning on the Salt Lake 10-miler tomorrow.  I got an e-mail from Sports-Am saying the race is down in numbers but "distinguished."  Not quite sure what that means, but hope to see some of you out there!
 

AM... [R] Salt Lake 10-miler (56:45, 5:40 pace).  This one could be classified as a lack-luster performance on my part.  Just as with Ogden, I didn't feel comfortable starting around 5 miles, and basically starting tracking on 5:40ish pace (give or take).  It seems like most everyone else did the same--the time between each of the first four runners and their final finish was essentially the same at mile 6 as it was at the finish (or pretty close anyway).  The first two miles are uphill before turning into Emigration Canyon and going down for the last 8.  The first mile wasn't too bad as far as inclines in Utah go, but the second mile was definitely a challenge.  Mike Kirk and I were hanging around each other for the first two miles and both of us ran around 6:40 for the second mile.  Once we turned toward the downhill Mike bolted past me and was hoping I would come along--after the race he said it was a lot faster than he had wanted and didn't realize it until the mile marker... I came through in 5:26 for that mile.  The 4th mile was my fastest, and sounded like that was the consensus among others as well.  It was also about the point that Chad came tearing by me.  He was rolling--I ran a 5:03 and he still went by me like it was nothing.  After passing me, Chad put some distance on me, and I essentially ran alone, trying to hold 5:40's for the rest of the race.  Although I didn't race that well, Wasatch Running Center was stellar as always... going 1-3-4-5-6 in the race.  Just missed the sweep!

Considering I've done absolutely no workouts since Ogden I can't be overly disappointed with my performance.  I do think I was in better shape last year at this point, and for some reason just haven't felt very comfortable with faster runs since Boston (both races and workouts)--I need to figure that out.  I may need a more extended break--but not until after Wasatch Back Relay.  Here's the splits for those interested... 

Mile #1 - 5:40

Mile #2 - 6:40

Mile #3 - 5:26

Mile #4 - 5:03

Mile #5 - 5:18

Mile #6 - Missed the Marker

Mile #7 - 11:30 (for 6 and 7, 5:45avg)

Mile #8 - 5:42

Mile #9 - 5:48

Mile #10 - 5:35

Warmed up about 2 miles with Mike and then cooled down with the WRC runners VERY SLOWLY--1 mile max. 

PM... [XT] Did a one hour hike with the dog on the trail up by the Bountiful Temple.  Was a good evening for a hike as it was cloudy and the heat wasn't too bad--also a good break from running after yesterday's downhill 10-miler.  The only problem was I chose a trail which was several downhill for about 3/4 of a mile on the way back to the car--quads weren't too happy with me.  Back at it tomorrow...

PM... [E] 8.4 mile run (54:33, 6:29 pace).  Did the 800W Btfl/1500S/Orchard Drive Loop (I'm starting to track all my routes on allsportgps.com).  The goal for the run was to not worry about pace at all--just go as I felt and not look at my watch at all.  It's amazing how quickly the pace can drop when you're not worry about it.  I actually felt pretty good, and the heat wasn't terrible since it was mostly cloudy outside.  Good stretch after.

L... [E] 8.3 mile run (53:54, 6:29 pace).  Huntsman/2nd Ave/City Creek/11th Ave Loop.  Was warm and windy, with the wind picking up as the run continued.  Started out feeling OK early in the run, but after the downhill section my back starting bothering me a lot--I actually had to back off some when I got up to 11th Avenue because it was becoming more painful.  Not sure what that was about, but tried some heat during the evening which seemed to help some.  Probably will take tomorrow off since it still hurt walking around during the evening.

Off...  My back is feeling a little better today, but still sore.  I'm thinking I'll try to get back at it tomorrow, but try to stay on flat routes for the remainder of the week.

PM... [E] 8.25 mile run (53:14, 6:27 pace).  200W/Centerville/Orchard/Viewmont Loop.  Started out very easy and slow--close to 7:00 pace, and continued to build throughout the run.  Felt sluggish and off during the beginning of the run, but felt better as the run continued.  Didn't really want the pace to be 6:27, but tried to just go off of feel and not worry too much about overall pace.  Stretch w/rope after.

PM... [E] (48:45, 6:43 pace).  I'm taking the advice of Sasha and Paul and making an effort to get my "easy" days under control.  From now on, I'm becoming a physiology geek and strapping on the HR monitor to make sure I don't go much above 75% of max HR on easy days.  Theoretically my max HR should be 191, but I'm figuring I'm probably closer to the 193-195 range.  Therefore, trying to keep the avg. HR for the run at or under 150.  Today was the first HR monitor day and avg. 148 for the run, and I could definitely tell the difference from what I've been doing on my former so called "easy" days.  I sure hope this helps!  Rope stretch after.

AM... [E] 9.75 mile run (68:08, 6:59 pace).  Woods Cross/Mill Park/800W loop plus another .25.  HR monitor worked its magic again and kept the pace easy--HR avg 147 for the entire run.  Amazingly enough I've actually felt good on my runs the past two days (imagine that).  It actually felt like I was holding back today and was working my rear off to keep the HR monitor under 150.  Some of the run back toward Bountiful is uphill, which was part of why my HR started creeping up.  For those of you who regularly use a HR monitor--how do you factor hills into your HR avg on easy days?  For instance, if I do an easy run with lots of hills, your HR will obviously be higher.  So... do you just back off the pace to keep your HR low even though it becomes incredibly easy--or do you keep the pace roughly the same and let your HR go higher and just realize that the increased effort is because of the hills on that portion of the run?  I'm still figuring out how best to utilize the HR monitor on easy days, so any insight is appreciated!

PM... [E] 5.8 mile run (41:09, 7:05 pace).  Avg. HR was 151.  W Btfl/400N/Main St Loop.  Easy run to start the week.  Was about 85 when I headed out the door, but didn't feel too bad.  HR was probably a little high based on temp and slight uphill, but as some of you recommended the other day, I'm going to try to use the HR monitor as more of a guideline to keep easy runs under control and not worry about specific readings (e.g., I don't want to jump up to 170).  Planning on three workouts between now and Wasatch Back, and then its into the St. George Training Plan.

PM... [E] 8.3 mile run (57:15, 6:53 pace).  Avg. HR 155. Huntsman to Liberty Park, 2 loops around the outside on the grass, then back to Huntsman.  The hill on the way back really beat me up--HR was as high as 178 after reaching East HS.  Probably a little tough to be called a true easy day, but just looking to keep mileage up until I start up for St. George the first week of July.

Off

PM... [Q] 7.3 mile run (47:29, 6:20 pace).  Up in Park City after work meetings.  Had to squeeze a quick workout in between the meetings and baby class.  Ran 12 minute warm-up from park, up toward PC on 224 trail.  Then 4 x 4 minutes [T] pace (which at this point is comfortably hard--didn't worry about pace, just went on feel) with 3 minutes recovery.

L... [E] 6 mile run (41:21, 6:52 pace).  This run was harder than the pace actually looks.  Started at Willow Creek Park on Old Ranch Road again, but went toward mountains on the East which had a pretty good climb thrown in.  Footing was uneven and rough.  Legs felt the pounding a little bit on the way back.

Off

AM... [Q] 10 mile run (64:00, 6:24 pace).  Very hot out and didn't feel all that great, but managed to keep run fairly quick.  Warmed up 15 minutes then 3 x 4 minutes [T] pace.  Easy for a little stretch and then tried to build a quick, steady pace (although a little slower than [M] pace) for the rest of the run.  Very dehydrated when done--should have got out the door earlier.

AM... 11.5 mile long run (1:18:20, 6:48 pace) in Park City with Kyle.  Started at Kimball Junction and ran up 224 trail to Kearns Blvd.  Looped back on west side of trail and back through Willow Creek to Kimball Junction.  Good run--felt much better than yesterday.  Stretch after.

PM... [E] 5 mile run (34:43, 6:54 pace).  Nice easy run, didn't worry about pace--just went off of feel.  I'm getting better at keeping the easy runs truly "easy."  Stretch after.

PM... [E] 7.5 mile run (51:34, 6:52 pace).  Had planned on a workout, but a) wasn't very motivated and b) wasn't very motivated.  Instead just did an easy run.  Will plan on doing a progressive run tomorrow.  Next week starts the St. George program.

PM... [E] 7.2 mile run (47:58, 6:39 pace).  Bad news folks... Today's plan was to warm-up 15 minutes and then progressively decrease pace down to around 5:40ish.  Well, about 3 or 4 minutes into building, I started to feel a shooting pain in my left hamstring by where the tendons connect to the outside of the knee.  Not good timing for the Wasatch Back Relay.  I tried to keep some sort of pace on the run, but it definitely affected my stride length--felt almost like when you start locking up really bad at the end of a marathon.  I'll keep taking advil the next two days, and will try to stay on the flat tonight to not aggravate it any further.  Light stretch with rope after.

PM... 3 mile run (20:48, 6:56 pace).  Went down to Liberty Park to stay on the woodchip path and try to avoid aggravating my hamstring situation any further.  I ended up bailing a little over 20 minutes because my hamstring remaining extremely sore.  I tried stretching, but that seemed to further compound the problem.  I'll keep icing and taking advil and hope for the best at the Wasatch Back Relay this weekend.

PM... 15.71 mile run over 3 legs. I was runner #3 of the MarathonGIS.com relay team, so I ran leg #'s 3, 15 and 27.  Here's the synopsis of each...

LEG #3 (5.66 miles, 34:20, 6:03 pace)...
I received the wristband from Dustin Ence, who unfortunately ended up following a BYU runner off-course. Dustin's Garmin said that he had tacked on about an extra mile or so, so we figured we gave up around 6 minutes. All in all that wasn't a huge deal--only one team passed us (Runner's Corner--a mixed team). I took off a little bit hard for the first couple of miles to try to catch the BYU and Runner's Corner runners. I caught both of them about 2 to 2 1/2 miles into my leg--maybe a little too hard for a couple of reasons... 1) it was way hot and 2) my hamstring that has been bothering me since Wednesday was still not feeling good. After catching those two I continued to put distance on them, and by the exchange zone we had moved into 2nd place overall and gapped BYU and Runner's Corner by 2 minutes and change (maybe 3, I can't really remember). My pace had slowed down significantly and I was off my projected pace of 5:58, but considering the heat and how my hamstring felt--I'll take it.

LEG #15 (4.95 miles, 29:53, 6:02 pace)...

I was a little worried about this leg.  My hamstring was really bothering me after the first leg, and I wasn't too sure how it would hold up for the rest of the relay.  I asked the guys in the van to make sure they didn't get out in front of me by much more than 1 mile.  The temperature was a cool 47 degrees, but after the earlier legs there were no complaints from me.  My hamstring hurt quite a bit, but I figured if I could at least hold around 6:00 pace I wouldn't be too disappointed.  I was able to do that and handed off to Cody for a blazing 5K.

LEG #27 (5.1 miles 30:53, 6:03 pace)...

I was hoping to run a bit faster on this leg as there was quite a bit of downhill.  However, the downhill really aggravated my hamstring and I had to back off the pace quite a bit to hold things together.  I managed to hold roughly the same pace as the first two legs, but that pace was 2:00 slower than we had projected.  Aerobically this leg felt entirely easy, my hamstring just was not allowing me to push myself any faster.

I loved meeting everyone and being part of the team, and would love to do this again next year!  Hopefully I'll be healthy and be able to make a little bit more of a meaningful contribution so we can drop our time even lower.


 

Ragnar Relay... see Friday entry

Off... Recovery from WBR, and hopefully some healing for the hamstring.

Off... Bad news.  I went and saw the athletic trainers at the U of U this afternoon to have them take a look at my hamstring.  There is visible swelling and the back of my leg is starting to get black and blue.  Based on those symptoms and my demonstrated range of motion, they believe I have a second degree tear of my biceps femoris.  Not good.  Basically I'll be on the icing/compression plan for the next 3-4 days, and then may be able to throw in electro-stim after that.  They recommended not running for 2-3 weeks, but will also re-evaluate as I continue treatment.  Looks like I'm going to be on a steady cross-training diet here for the next couple of weeks--I'll look at it as an opportunity to work on upper body strength as well!

Off from running (injured). Did 6 exercise ab circuit, 65 second per exercise w/15 seconds rest.

Off from running (injured).

Off from running (injured). Did 6 exercise ab circuit, 65 second per exercise w/15 seconds rest.

Treatment @ U of U included heat, ultrasound (3.0 for 7:00), massage, stretch, light leg curls with both legs, 2x5 bridges on stability ball and electro stim/ice (21 for 15:00).
 

Off from running (injured).

Treatment @ U of U included heat, ultrasound (3.0 for 7:00), massage, stretch, 1 set of light leg curls with both legs, 2x5 sets of light single leg curls, 2x5 bridges on stability ball, heel slides w/left leg on stool and electro stim/ice (22 for 15:00).

Off from running (injured).  Yesterday's rehab was too much for the hamstring--it was not happy today with increased swelling and occasional shooting pain.  Will need to back off more on Monday.

AM... Lift @ club.
Chest Press (machine) 2x10 (95#)
Shoulder Press (machine) 2x10 (45#)
Incline Press (machine) 2x10 (60#)
Pullovers (machine) 2x10
Curls 2x10 (45# straight bar)
Tricep Extension 2x10 (40# dumbbell)
Upright row 2x10 (45# straight bar)
Reverse Flys 2x10 (5# plates)
Seated row 2x10 (90#)

PM...
Did 6 exercise ab circuit, 65 second per exercise w/15 seconds rest.