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Today was not the coldest or the wettest or the driest, but I think it was the slickest day that I can remember.  At about 32 degrees, we got a mix of rain and snow and ended up with ice.  Didn't get much traction on the streets and sidewalks.  Still did OK: 5.51 miles in 46:48 for an average pace of 8:30/mi and 153bpm.

March came in like a lion.  We got a couple of more inches of snow and I trudged through more snow than ever this season, although it wasn't as slick at 25 degrees.  Running as the snow falls is one of my favorite things and that was my reward this morning.  Another reward was a surprisingly good pace:  5.49 miles in 1:02:51 for an average pace of 11:26 and 127bpm heart rate.  Didn't expect to do so well at low heart rate, but I'll take it.

12.34 miles in 1:44:53 for an average pace of 8:30/mile and 155bpm, 162bpm max.  Miles 11 and 12 were mostly uphill and my slowest (besides first mile), but my fastest rate was in the final stub, racing downhill at 6:07/mile.

I was looking at some expected marathon times based on mile times.  According to what I read, I would need to be able to run a mile in 7:00 to reach my 4 hour marathon goal.  I haven't measured my mile time for a long time, but I don't think I've come close to a 7 minute pace for a few decades.

3.03 miles in 29:51.  My whole objective today was to measure my mile time.  I ran a slow warmup mile and then a fast mile and a cool down mile.  I was disappointed with my mile time of 7:40, but I misjudged the end of the mile and I still had a little left.  Hopefully, I can get my mile time down to 7 minutes before the June marathon.

6.48 miles in 54:57 for an average pace of 8:29/mile and 155bpm.  All but the first warmup mile were between 8 and 9 minutes/mile, but miles 3, 4, and 5 were all under 8:10.  That makes a super Tuesday for me.  If Romney can blow away the competition today, all the the better.

Today I ran short and easy, but not at low heart rate.  How's that for a cop-out?  It was a choice between that and skipping the entirely.  So, I ran 2.61 miles in 23:61 for an average rate of 8:56 and an average heart rate of 142bpm.

Good run today:  7 miles in under an hour and 7.34 miles in 1:02:22 for an average pace of 8:30/mi  The first two miles were the slowest at 9:55 and 8:27.  All other miles were between 8:20 and 8:10.  Made up for yesterday's easy run.

I've decided to go with Hal Higdon's intermediate level 2 training schedule.  That meant 14 miles today.  I planned the route last night and started out according to plan.  But then I thought, it's plenty light to run up the canyon.  When I got to the mouth of the canyon, it was closed to all traffic, including runners.  So, I made a U-turn to resume plan A.  But then the milage didn't work out.  So I did some weaving around to get to the 14 mile distance at the end.

All told, I ran 14.1 miles in 2:04:02 for an average pace of 8:48/mi.  Not exactly my fastest pace, but I'll take it.  It is my longest distance for a while.  Hopefully, this new schedule will lead me to a four hour marathon.

 I did some core exercises instead of running yesterday due to some nagging pain.  I think I need to do more of that to prevent injury.  I think I'll try doing planks every evening.

One mile of warm-up, one fast mile, and a mile of cool down.  Did a little better than last Monday.  Got a 7:30 mile on the track compared with 7:40 last week.  Hopefully, I can do even better next time.

54 degrees this morning!  I think spring is coming.  Got a little more spring in my step today too:  5.54 miles in 45:55 for an average pace of 8:18 per mile with these splits:  9:05, 8:25, 8:08, 8:01, 7:48, and 8:17.  Kind of pleased with the 7:48 mile.

It was time for an easy day.  Low heart rate training (at 125bpm) resulted in 5.62 miles in 104:18, for an average pace of 11:27/mile.  All miles and partial miles were between 11 and 12 minutes.

A sharp pain in my left ankle caused concern, but I was able to run through it while my heart rate fell to 117bpm.

Didn't feel strong today for a couple of miles, but finally managed 5.67 miles in 48:06 for an average pace of 8:29/mile with these splits 9:26, 8:49, 8:15, 7:56, 8:08, and 8:16.

Saw a couple of deer this morning, but that may become more rare as the weather warms up.  It was 51 degrees.

10.32 miles in 1:25:35 for an average pace of 8:18 per mile.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Fastest laps were 9 and 11 at 7:57/mi.  Breaking the 8:00 barrier is getting to be a little more common, for which I'm pleased.

Ran through the snow in my brand new flat shows.  Snow was falling and I was making the first tracks in the undisturbed snow on the sidewalk.  Tough to beat that.  I managed to stay out of the deep puddles for about 3 miles.  Then my feet got soaked to the skin.

GPS was dead.  Not sure about distance or time.

Today was colder and dryer (27 degrees and no snow falling).  Ran  a slightly different route to get 8 miles and guesstimated a little short: 7.98 miles in 1:07:24) for an average pace of 8:27/mi.

Knocked another 8 seconds off my mile time with a 7:22 mile, a cool down and then a 7:33 mile.  It felt like I still had something left at the end of the second one as I reached a top pace of 6:05.  The track provides a flat surface, so these times are legitimate.

Unfortunately, the Utah Valley marathon for which I have been training is full and I won't be able to run in it.  I didn't think it would fill up so soon.  I'm continuing my training schedule for now, in hopes of finding another one.

I went to bed last night with lots of aches and pains, but nothing serious.  I was uncommitted to a run this morning.  But I woke up in time for a short run and I don't remember having a faster run:

5.65 miles in 46:01 for an average pace of 8:08/mi and the following splits:  9:10, 8:24, 7:54, 7:37, 7:43, and 7:59.  I don't think I've ever strung together so many 7's at the end of a run.  Maybe the occasional speed training is helping.

This was my first run up the canyon for several months and it was nice at 48 degrees.  I feel like I'm on the edge of over training, so I started out pretty slow and had a little energy left at the end.  But, I still feel pretty wiped out after burning 2000 calories.  The run took 2:35:15 for an average pace of 9:34/mile.

I'm now considering the Deseret News Marathon on July 24th, which will put me on a different schedule.  But, I figure it won't hurt to maintain the current schedule for a while.

Ben told me he ran a 5:20 mile, But he wasn't sure it was a mile.  Having missed my morning run, I decided to run it myself with the Garmin.  I ran the same distance in 5:37, but it was only .80 miles, which came out to a 7:02 pace.  I took off on a sprint and had to slow way down.

5.68 miles in 47:44 for an average pace of 8:26/mile in a cool 38 degrees.

6.13 miles in 50:17 for an average pace of 8:12 per mile.  Felt good today.  I had thought that my flat shoes would be speeding me up.  But, so far, that hasn't been the case.  But I was more rested this morning than yesterday.

Decided to run at low heart rate for today's easy run:  4.62 miles in 50:07 for an average pace of 10:52 per and average heart rate of 128bpm, in spite of a malfunction when it shot up to 188bpm.  Those low heart rate runs leave me feeling great, but I don't do them much any more.

17.4 miles in 2:41 is an estimate based on forgetting to restart my GPS  That comes out to about 9:15 per mile.  Out of the measured miles, I got 16.04 miles in 2:25:59 for an average pace of 9:06/mile.  I'd say is was a pretty good run up to Vivian park and back.  But my feet didn't think so.  My flat shows give me less support, and I injured my left foot.  Hopefully, it won't have long term effects.