Rise from the Ashes

A very hilly 6.5 in the foothills behind my house.

Ran in H-town from my house, busted out the last three miles pretty hard. The last mile was in the mud going up a dirt road, what a way to finish a beautiful run.

Woke up late and got a great run in. Went out and back near the Copper Mine and Butterfield Canyon today. After I got back I busted out 3x200m hill repeats.

Ran down in the WJ today with a friend of mine that for some odd reason wanted to "pound some miles." haha, 2 1/2 miles @ 9:30 pace. After we finished we went and hit up Dunford Donuts w/ chocolate milk, nothing like powerfood!

Did an evening run tonight. I felt like running barefoot around the park near my house. After two laps i decided this wasnt cutting it so I busted out and ran around the hood on the park strips. I know, I know, thats too much for never running barefoot, but it felt really good and I paid close attention to how the feet were feeling.

Waited around all day today to run Butterfield Canyon with Jeff Walker. It was about 7 pm when we started and the perfect temps for a run. The way up was absolutely beautiful, with no rain. We made it 3.5 miles up, and Jeff was hurting so we turned it around. For those of you who dont know Butterfield Canyon is incredibly steep and is a tough run, so going coming down was a breeze. It literally started to pour as soon as we finished. After the run we went and hit up Arctic Circle, I got a banana cream pie and then we went back to his house for some delicious spagetti. Later this summer we want to camp up there and do the whole she-bang, 7 miles to the top of the world!

Met with some of the Bros from the team today down @ Centennial Park by the High School. We took a route the we have never done before down "Lovers Lane" Really fun run with Me, Alex, Dillon, Jaymin and Parker. The run started slow but we negative splitted every mile. Fun to get back with some of the guys today! Afterwards we went and made blueberry pancakes @ Jaymins house.

First day of XC today! most of the nucleus is gone, so it was me, Dillon and Jaymin. Jaymin led our indian line on the last mile. Man, its finally here!! Yes! Rise from the Ashes!

Tough lifting afterwards.

took a whole bunch of guys out to Bingham on the local canals. Just about everyone was there except Alex and the Kenny "the Jet" Smith. A super fun run and just chilled @ an easy pace.

core afterwards

The team came out to Herriman today up by Juniper Point if anyone knows where that is. Garlick and Christiansen had us do 8 BIG hill repeats. Dillon stuck with me and Zak, Jaymin, Will, Alex Schiffman and company were all right there.  Unfortunately, we still dont have Shane, the Jet and Alex Dutton back yet. The guys are much much tougher than we were last year, were going to be strong!

Just taking it easy for ragnar tomorrow

My first leg was Leg #6 @ 9pm. The first mile and a half is uphill, then a screaming descent down Avon Pass. Put together some quick mile times coming down. It was totally beautiful because of the sunset. Talked with Jonathan Nelson afterwards, as he had started just a couple minutes after I did, (I held him off by the way, so I was super pleased by that). :) haha, an incredible way to start it off...

My second leg was @ 3:30 in the morning, and boy was it lonely. I had Randy riding the bike alonside, so that helped a ton. We even listened Crazy Frog on his Ipod speakers which he had attached to his bike. This was a painful climb up to East Lake Reservoir. Pushed the whole way to put together a 7 minute average, it was brutal, but worth it...

The final leg was in a downpour @ about 11 a.m.. My goal was to run in the 18 for the 3.1 mile course. It was super fun, running through these huge puddles on the sides of the roads. I was incredibly soar so my splits got faster as I warmed up. 18:47 for the course which was actually 3.25...

Well Ragnar was a total riot and as tough as it gets. Personally I think I had one of the toughest legs in the whole race, with the exception of the Ragnar Leg. My team was #38 and we were Jaguars. It was mostly made up of the West Jordan guys, unfortunately, Jeff didnt do it. We also had Josh Shrewsbury and Tanner Smedley from Kearns High School. Erik Petersen was there as well from Bingham. Our team ran very well, even with 3 freshman! Our final time was 23:36 and we started @ 5 p.m. on Friday. You'll be seeing us again next Year, and congratulations to the thousands of runners that completed the 188-mile course! hooray for the Wasatch Back!

an easy 7 plus the warmup out into Bluffdale, and all on the Canals. My hips are sore from Ragnar, so im going to do core with some hip excercises.

an easy 5.5 on the canals of RHS. We saw 2 Bingham runners today...

Ugh, I woke up rediculously late after seeing transformers last night. Ive yet to run today, but am planning on getting out. For the next 2 days I will be pounding some awesome runs down near monticello, as I work for a biologist's survey program.

ran 5 in Milford, a tiny town out in the West Desert of Utah. The rest of the day I spent hiking up to some Mine shafts in the San Fransisco Mountains, so Im pretty beat. It was spinkling on the run and I busted out 2 tempo miles because of the lack of time.

A fun, wet 7 on the Dirt roads outside of Milford. I checked out Milford High's track on the way, it pretty nice for just a tiny 1A school! The hips ache a little but when I got back, busted out some major core, lunges, back, everything.

Took the day off today, Me and my ward where down @ Yuba lake water skiing, and my back is sore! looking forward to seeing the boys on Mondee, Alex will be back, hooray!

only did half the run today, we were doing the 4 canals. which is a bummer because that is my favorite run that we have... any who, the hip started bugging me pretty bad so i backed off and cut it short. Injury now is better than terrible injury later.

an easy 4 then brutal core and lifting

A relaxed but tough run up Butterfield Canyon, this time with the team. There was a lot of people there, but out of the Big V boys there wasnt many. Me, Alex and Nolan pounded it to the top of the switchbacks. While we were running we saw Copper Hills cross country team up there doing, something... haha, Jaymin was there but hung back with Coach Barnes, he moved the cone they were supposed to run to, it was pretty hilarious. My hip still hurts quite a bit, so Ill be taking it really really easy the rest of the week, just trying to mend it.

Took the bike out on Backus Highway this morning. It was a beautiful morning just below the Oquirrh Mountains, and it felt good to get back on the bike. I havent cycled for a LONG time, so I wasnt super fast and didnt go very far. 17 miles

an easy 4 on the soft canals. the hip is no good, hard lifting

Slept in, and skipped all of the 5 and 10ks and did some real running! Headed up Millcreek and parked below the gate (im a cheap skate). Headed up Rattlesnake Gulch, then onto the Pipeline. Just a Georgous run @ about 11 am. @ the Junction I hopped on the Granduer Peak trail, making it about halfway up. I forgot my water bottle and was suffering from dehydration, so I turned around @ 4 and 1/2. The hip was fine for everything but the last mile and half. Like coach said, just keep babying it. It felt good to go long and do some good climbing on the singletrack! My dad couldnt come with this time unfortunately, yesterday he ran 5+ hours to the top of Lowe Peak in the Oquirrhs. In rememberance of him I soaked my feat in the stream after.

A.M.  a fun 7 with all the guys out to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and back. Did a little indian file on the way up and back. good times.

P.M.  I had my VO2 Max test as well today @ 1:30.  I did it on a bike with all of the chords hooked up as well as with a large breathing tube, which I found to be really annoying.  Every 30 seconds they increased the watts (or difficulty), so at first it was super easy. After about 15 minutes I was hurting pretty bad, trying to keep it between the targeted 60-70 rpms... They pulled me off @ 18 minutes, then I cooled down. It felt good and I rode really hard. They are now sending the results to some doctor that is @ University Hospital as well. "supposedly my VO2 Max is 64..." dunno if thats good or bad, who cares really... :) 

A soft 5 out to Bangerter Wall and back on the canals. Everybody there today except for Kenny "the Jet" Smith, still recovering dangit. Pushed that last mile pretty hard with a group of about 7 or 8 of us. After the run Barnes had us do some killer lifting and Lunges. Yellow Fork tomorrow, theres going to be a lot of sore people tomorrow. Finally the Hip didnt bug me too much today.

Woke up and missed the team by about an hour, stupid alarm clock. Anyhow, I headed up the West Singletrack of Yellow Fork to make it one of the top ridges. Near the end I was kindly greeted by a 1200 ft monster climb. haha fun run but a little nerveracking because of getting lost. Overall, A very tough run but a great one to think and get and stay focused.

the hip was good for the most part today

An easy 5 with just about everybody. We went on two of the East and West canals, then played a fun game of ultimate frisbee. Afterwards, Me, Nolan and Jenica went out to Dunfords Donuts and stocked up.

Ran the Gulley with boys today. An awesome strength run through the hills and deep sand. We started out @ a 9 minute mile and worked down to a 5 flat @ the end. I really like doing this run, and Im excited for XC Camp with the boys next week!

This morning I drove out to Daybreak Lake and ran around on the walkways. I was hoping for 7.5 but was short on time and was constantly pounding the pace. The run was a lot of fun, and it was a beautiful overcast morning. Im not worrying too much about my mileage, just getting healthy and building up to when it really counts. XC Camp @ Lava Hot Springs on Monday!

A.M.  We parked 4 miles and 1500 ft below Coach Barnes cabin to begin the run. Because of all the nerves and excitedness everyone took off. The fact that coach said it would be a climb was a HUGE understatement. Me, Alex, Dillon and Nick hung tough together with Isaac, Jaymin and Bryce not too far back. We arrived @ the cabin in 33 minutes 36 seconds.

P.M.  Later that evening we ran an easy 5 out to the very top near the cabin. Nice and slow for a preview of the Mornin Mile.

A.M.  This morning we ran up the road one mile from the cabin as a warmup for the Mile race. Everyone was nervous but super excited, as the entire thing was a on a downhill. Dillon and Alex hung tough with me for 800 but we thinned shortly after.

P.M.  9 miles+90 degrees=redeem time. That evening after being frustrated with our mile, we took this run out H A R D. The run went from Barnes' cabin all the down into Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, dropping over 2000 ft, with most of it coming within 3 miles. Me, Barnes Alex and Dillon pounded the pace the whole way, with an average of 6:20's per mile. Alex was the stud today, beating us all to the famous Olympic Pool in Lava. The boys became men on this run, with all of the guys finishing in the next ten minutes or so! 32 foot diving platforms!

A.M.  An easy 2 with the team to get the lactic acid outta da legs.

P.M.  After we had gotten all packed up we warmed up to do a relay about a mile from the cabin. We ran the 1.5 mile loop twice, consisting of long on rolling hills up above Lava. This was a blast, something new for a lot of the guys.

P.M.  finally got the run done today, just went easy to get the lactic acid out of the legs. It was about 90 degrees when I finally got out from my house down the neighborhood and up a mile long dirt road back to the top of the hood. Took it way easy and enjoyed the run, keeping myself healthy and ready to rock.

A.M.  An easy 6.5 with the wolfpack down to the golf course on the canals. Now off to work the entire day!

A.M.  Met with Coach Barnes, Alex's, and Aubree @ the Smiths in H-town. We headed up into Rosecrest and around Fort Herriman Middle School. At the peak of our run we got up to the new Blackridge Reservoir @ the very top of Herriman, then back down Juniper Crest. Well, Im headed out to Snowflake Arizona for the next ten days, the hardest part is going to be running without the Team, but Ill get in some incredible running down there, is an running paradise.

Did the LA Freeway today with the guys.  We had a great bunch and had a blast on the run. After, we went to Magellebees Fresh and then over to Seven Peaks for the rest of the day.

Well, Im back on the blog! Today we ran all the C R A P out of the legs, painful the whole way, but we made it. It was snowing and headwind most of the run, so we took a hot shower after. Its time to gear up for Footlocker!

Ran Illegally around Riverbend golf course, you havent lived till you done that. It was another cold one, and the groin and calves are still sore from state. I will be setting a goal for Footlocker in the next day or so! Seeded race, go big or go home.

An easy three on the northwest canal with my boy Alex.

We met @ Centennial Park this morning. The quarter is finally over, and it feels good to have all of the stress off. We headed out to a strange part of Bluffdale to pound our first tempo run. Average pace was a 5:40, so it wasn't too quick, but it will get much faster and longer over the next month.

We met at Stocktons this morning and did a big loop on Lover's Lane down into Bluffdale, then all the way back on the park way. This was a progression run starting @ 8 minute pace then finishing down near 6 minute pace, kicking at the end. It was a beautiful October run.

Went out to Centennial Park for fartleks with the Barnes and the guys. They were all pretty fast and very consistent 5 flat pace. Warmed up and cooled down with indian runs. The lungs just werent doing it today, and I had a tough time breathing. Today it was nice running shirtless and race shorts.

We did a epic workout in Camp Williams area up ABOVE Herriman today. 6 hill repeats. The only thing was the hill was "fall on your face" steep. The goal was to run to the top without stopping. Alex, Dillon and I pounded every one of them in 2:15. Seriously, this puts other hill workouts to shame. My legs feel like a just did 1000 lunges, they quivered on the downhill... The cool thing is we now have access to who knows how many miles of trails up in the hills.

This was actually Tuesdays workout, just 4 miles and lifting on the Tready.

An easy 6 and core with Nolan and Stockton in the bottom of the dry canals. Only the Seniors today :)

Well, after partyin last night and a huge bean burritto a midnight, I headed down to AF for a little racing. It was the perfect temperature for a race, which was the Grass Relays course (with 3 laps) and some on the track. Felt really good today, and went out at 5:18 for the first mile. Felt good, but the stomach was killing me, coming in with two 5:35's to finish in 17:38. After the race, we went for a brutal run out around Lone Peak HS and down through some cool parks at a hard pace, 7:30 average, with the last 3 or so under 7. Its days like these that make you tough as nails, mentally and physically. Look out baby!

To conquer fear, you must become fear. Feast on the fear of other men.

We ran out in Hell's Playground today, up by Camp Williams, and did the dreaded hill repeats from last week, we did seven instead of six. All were roughly the same time, but this one was tougher physically. Mentally, they seemed easier, because I already knew what to expect. The hill is .2 and is "fall on your face" steep, going hard up it takes about 2:15 to climb. Then we ran back down to Foothill park and went and got chocolate milk. It's runs like this that will make us mentall and physical machines at Footlocker.

Pounded it to the Bangerter Wall on a beautiful leaf covered canal with just Prestwich. It was cooler, and the pace got quick and stayed that way, down around 7 the whole way.

800 repeats back behind Oquirrh today. Me, Alex and Dillon ran them all together at 2:35, along with Coach, Stockton, Bryce and Isaac. It was really tough to breathe because of the inversion, and the body was tired from last 5 days. Me and Stock busted out the last one pretty good, I worked on relaxing and kicking it in hard, not being afraid.

To conquer fear you must become fear. Feast on the fear of other men.

A tough 8 miles on some new maintenaince trails we found out in Hell's Playground, up above Camp Williams. This run could have gone on forever if we wanted because there are sooooo many trails up there. We pounded it pretty good on a run that was up or down the entire time. Where we stopped we had a beautiful view of the Salt Lake and Utah Valley's, its an incredible area. I am going to be one sore son of a gun tomorrow! I think this run will be our new "bread and butter" if you know what I mean.

My first solo run in a long, and it was WONDERFUL. I was able to just relax and enjoy, running a 7:30 average around Daybreak lake and the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. The temperature was a little chilly, but still in short shorts and a t shirt, even after that nice storm. The storm cleared out all the smog, so it was nice and crisp, easy to breathe. All in all it was a very refreshing run.

A cool 7 with my bradah G-Money out to the Copper Mine and back, great run, 7:30 average. It felt great, and dog followed us the whole way, and G is looking strong. :)

Started at Centennial Park with Barnes and the guys, then ran around Daybreak lake via the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. This was beautiful day for a run, and we paced it progressively. 7:30 exactly out, and about 6:45-50ish coming back, with a nice litte kick at the end. I felt way strong throughout the run, and really cranked it out. 

Today was a georgeous, so I decided to go run around the Golf Course by coach sloan's house. I did 2.5 nice and slow with a friend, then did it again with about 1.5 barefoot. Running barefoot felt great, and grass and temperature were wonderful.

Todays run reminded me of something... I LOVE to run. :)

a workout on the track this afterWe did noon, it was the first time on the track in months. We did 4's and 2's with 200 shag between everything, so a fairly short recovery. I busted out the Nike Shorts, gloves and even did a little shirtless. We hit between 69 and 72, as well as 32 or 34. I felt like the form was good, and the turnover was nice and quick.

Today we headed out to H-Town near Coachs house. We took the city pathway out near Butterfield Park and then up Emmeline near the reservoir. Dillon really pushed me most of the run, and then we ripped it for about the last 2 miles, hitting the last stuff @ about 5:15, downhill of course. The form felt good, but I need to work on mentally relaxing, I was all over the place today. I felt VERY strong running fast down the hill, so that was a big plus.

5 solo. :)

Me and Coach Barnes, as well as the saint ran to the top of Suncrest today, via Draper and Traverse Ridge road. I pounded ahead and went hard to the top, in just under a 9 minute mile, about 37ish for 4.25. Then Barnes cruised comming down and I fell back, hitting the second half at about 6:15's. Anyhow, a cold run today, and the saint kicked butt.

Ran to Bingham high and back today with Stockton and Schiff. Kept it nice and easy about 7:50 pace. Stock isnt coming tomorrow, so he wanted to crank the end... anyway, 1 mile later he and high hit about a 5:15-20ish mile back on 27th to the high school. Messed around a lot, and had a good, fun, clear, cool run.

Today we did 16x200's. Hit just about all of them in 33, and cranking the last one good. Felt very energized today, but the hip flexor was very soar! Of course from running hard around the track for the first time in a long time... anyhow, i feel as though my Vo2 max is getting much higher/stronger. The next thing I need to work on is calming down and settling into the pace, something I've always prided myself on but have struggled with as of late.

An easy 3.5 in WJ today on the canal, then barefoot strides. Felt great but took it really easy so I can pound it in the race tomorrow... either the human race or cottonwood heights, which is supposedly a classic.

Today I headed out to Draper for the Human Race. I was late getting there and didn't get much of a warm-up in, not to mention sitting @ the starting line for ten minutes. Count down then the race was off. I ran the first 800 or so with Summers and Erik Petersen, then left them to go hang on the leaders. I came through the first mile in 5:29, feeling fairly relaxed, but STILL not warmed up. From .5 on me and a kid from Judge ran the rest of the race together, sitting about 50 back from Garrett, and thats how we finished. I wish I had gotten out a little quicker, cause the lead Garrett had only got smaller after the first mile, so I guess I should learn from that. Anyway, a very fun, packed race, and I feel very strong right now, but I need to strength my upper over the next week to kill it at footlocker.

my splits were;

5:29

5:21

5:18

5:00 for the .1

16:32

a cold and fun 4.5 with my dad up in the playground. We went around the traills exploring, and got up into some pretty wild and unknown territory, back near South Mountain in the Oquirrhs. Its always nice runnin with my dad, the perfect pace and fun conversation.

Cranked on the LA Freeway today with Coach, Dillon, Bryce and Sam. We worked it pretty fast, especially the last 3 miles or so, like always. This run always seems to just smack you in face, especially as you come back onto flat ground in front of the temple. Barnes said we beat our fastest time by 2 minutes! Afterwards we went and got all you can eat french toast, unfortunately, my arches are cramping as I sit at the computer because of it.

An easy 5 out to a part of South Jordan where we have never run. In the middle of the run, we stopped to do some extreme yoga.

Ran up in Herriman today just below the Reservoir. Alex and Stock were hurting, so Me, Dillon and Bryce ran together. We did 5x400m hill repeats. They looked and seemed easy at the start, and ended up being pretty fast and tough. We hit 1:34, 1:30, 1:33, 1:33, 1:29. I felt like we were pretty smooth, but I had trouble remembering to relax my breathing. This was a good, mentally tough workout for the brutal hills at footlocker, and makes me feel like I can conquer the final hill with ease! Afterwards, we headed down to the park to do some fast strides with the spikes on, working on the kick and form, and again, I need to relax my breathing when I'm racing.

An easy five out exploring on the playground. My legs feel pretty beat up and I think its from my shoes, they are starting to get pretty hammered. It feels strange tapering, but I know Itll help when it comes time to rip that 16:43! hooray, we leave tomorrow!