September 12th- September 18th "Equinox Marathon"

Mileage for the Year 2011
2,331 miles

Mileage for the week 9/12- 9/18 "Equinox Marathon Week"
53 miles

9/18
Off- Recovery

9/17
28 miles (Equinox Marathon 3:03:33 for 6th place)

2 mile warm-up- easy
26.2 miles- 3:03:33

It was a beautiful day in Fairbanks. I would have to say it was perfect running conditions. Fairbanks is so pretty in the fall. The leaves were amazing. This is such an awesome event. The community in Fairbanks really supports this run. Which is amazing, because it's such a tough marathon.

I felt pretty good this year coming in. My goal was definetly to run a sub 3hr. marathon. I was pretty confident that I could accomplish this. I just didn't feel very good right out the gate. My legs felt tired at mile 4? Which isn't a good sign.

I believe my training was good, but the bottom line is that I don't run enough on the trails. If I ever want to get good at this marathon, I need to suck it up and focus on running trails and get better on the technical sections like the out and back, and the chute.

I'm still pleased with my race however. I never felt good, but I didn't quit and battled to the end. The equinox can be very humbling for sure. I can't wait for next year though!!!!!

Here are my splits off my Garmin:

Mile 1: 6:26
Mile 2: 6:11
Mile 3: 6:42
Mile 4: 7:14
Mile 5: 5:59
Mile 6: 6:57
Mile 7: 6:18
Mile 8: 6:02
Mile 9: 6:25
Mile 10: 9:24
Mile 11: 9:08
Mile 12: 8:51
Mile 13: 8:50
Mile 14: 6:50
Mile 15: 8:07
Mile 16: 7:47
Mile 17: 6:48
Mile 18: 6:30
Mile 19: 6:37
Mile 20: 6:05
Mile 21: 5:57
Mile 22: 6:49
Mile 23: 6:49
Mile 24: 6:10
Mile 25: 6:47
Mile 26: 6:58
Last .2: 1:22

Overall: 3:03:33 6th Place

9/16
4 miles

Just a quick shake out run.

9/15
6 miles (6 x 100m striders)

Nice and easy

9/14
Off- rest day

Easy walk outside. 3 days till Equinox!

9/13
9 miles (3 @ Marathon Pace)

3.5 mile warm-up
3 miles @ MP (5:30, 5:34, 5:28)
2.5 mile cool down.

Felt great. I went a little faster than MP, but felt controlled and easy. Last workout before the Equinox. Just some easy five milers left. I'm ready!

9/12
6 miles

Super easy on the treadmill. Feeling good.

September 5th- September 11th

Mileage for the Year 2011
2278 miles

Mileage for the week 9/5- 9/11
50 miles

9/11
Off

Getting a rest day for next weekend. I've run 106 days out of the last 109, so it's been a pretty good summer.

9/10
12+ miles

Ran with Jerry today on the chester creek trail from his house to Taku Lake. I felt really good today. Averaged 6:15 pace for the run, but had a few miles sub 6 min. and it felt easy. Taking a rest day tomorrow to get ready for the Equinox. I'll probably go for a short walk though. Can't wait until next saturday!

9/9
7 miles

Ran pretty easy around south roads. Averaged 6:53 pace. Beautiful day today.

9/8
9 miles (3 x 1 mile @ 5K pace)

3.5 mile warm up with 6 strides
1 mile @ 5:08 pace
400m jog
1 mile @ 5:09 pace
400 m jog
1 mile @ 5:08 pace
2 mile cool down

Felt pretty good. Did the workout on the South track. Last bit of fast running before the Equinox.


9/7
7 miles (6 x 100m striders)

Nice and easy again on the roads near south. Did some striders on the turf at south.

9/6
6 miles

Recovery miles on the treadmill. Need to take a real easy day.

9/5
9 miles

Ran with Jerry today. Felt pretty good. A little fast for recovery, but felt good to run outside.

August 29th- September 4th

Mileage for the Year 2011
2228 miles

Mileage for the week 8/29- 9/4
73 miles

9/4
18 miles (Tempo, Long, Tempo)

Felt a lot better today. I believe I'm getting rid of this cold finally. Still a little congested. Decided to give the workout a go, so I can start tapering for the Equinox on Sept. 17th.

3 mile warm-up w/ strides
2x2 mile tempo (5:28, 5:28) 400m jog (5:28, 5:28)
6 miles- general aerobic pace @ 6:42 pace
3 mile tempo (5:30, 5:30, 5:25)
2 mile cool down

I'm pretty stoked this workout went good. Nice to have this in the bank. My first 4 tempos felt great and I was on such a consistent pace. All 4 at 5:28 and I was on the Hanshew track. I tried to keep a decent pace on my 6 mile section where I ran to Dearmoun and around Lake Otis. My last 3 tempo miles went by so fast and it felt pretty good. I was starting to get tired on the last mile though. 2 mile cool down. To make up for being congested the weather was pretty optimal.

Time to start my taper for the Equinox and get my body ready to run fast. I feel a lot more confident than I did 2 years ago.

9/3
10 miles

Kept it pretty easy again today. I woke up pretty congested. Had breakfast and coffee and laid around on the couch until I felt better. I was happy to get 11 hrs. of needed sleep last night. I'm sure that will help. Felt pretty good during the run, but wanted to keep heart rate low. I would really like to get one more workout of tempo, long, tempo in the books before I start tapering a little for the Equinox. Suppose to do it tomorrow, but may push it back another day until Monday.

9/2
7 miles

Easy pace again. I guess I really am pretty sick, so I need to keep it easy and rest. Suppose to do tempo, long, tempo on sunday, but I may push it back until I know I'm better. Need to take advantage of this weekend and rest!

9/1
10 miles

General aerobic pace. Felt suprisingly good after how crappy I felt last night and this morning. Need to get rid of this cold I caught. Ran my south loop with extra.

8/31
12 miles (6am/6pm)

Both at recovery pace. Morning was on treadmill at school. Afternoon was to Huffman and back.

8/30
10 miles

Started off easy, but was General Aerobic pace for most. Legs starting to feel better again. Ice bath!

8/29
6 miles

Easy. Legs still beat up from Lost Lake on Saturday.