Brink Tri's

Ran with Will. We had to do our mile test today for the fitness challenge.  I had to run the mile in 6:57 to get max points.  Will took off fast, I was struggling to keep up and it was good to have him pacing me.  I finished in 6:53 - 4 seconds to spare.  I felt like I couldn't have gone any faster.  It was a flat course and I gave it all I had.

This is the last week for the challenge.  I hope to keep up my speed work.  I'd like to see if I can get that mile time down, closer to 6:30 would be nice. 

I ran with the SF running club. It was a nice morning.  A little cold with a little wind, but not to bad for February.  It's been a while since I ran this far, but I have a 1/2 marathon coming up in 3 weeks and need to get some mileage in.

Just a short run before lifting weights.

Loop West of Novell.

Went to Gold's today and got in a swim.  It's been a while since I've been swimming, but I have to pick it up, the triathlon will be here before I know it.

Started out to run the 5 mile loop, but added an extra mile.  

I went running with the SF group.   Did a pretty quick pace for the first three miles and then slowed down a bit.  Todd Baker showed up this morning and meet up with us about mile 4 and I ran with him.  We went up through the park and around the Golf Course.  It was a little windy, but not too bad for Feb.

I took my Garmin and mark a couple of point from work.  I marked the 1, 1.5 and 2 miles.

I went to Golds Gym today and got some swimming in.

I just did the normal route West of Novell.  I tried to push it a bit, ended up doing it with an average pace of 8:22.  

I did 10 miles with the SF running group.  I got there a bit late and had to park at the church at the top of the hill.  That turned out to be good, because I only wanted to do 10 or less.  I had to be back early, plus I have the half marathon next week and want to be rested for that.

I started a carbo depletion right after this run.  I've had a hard time losing weight lately and am hoping this will push me over the edge.  I haven't done this in a while but the plan is to eat no (or very little) carbs between now and Tuesday at noon, after my run at lunch time.

Day 3 of no (or very little) carbs.  I went running with Lori around Elk Ridge.  We did a lot of hills and we didn't go very fast.  I wasn't feeling that great, but actually not to bad considering what I've eaten lately - meat, lettuce, cheese, celery.

This was my last run before I could eat carbs again.  I have been feeling tired and weak from the carb depletion, so I guess it's working.  I went out and ran 4 miles.  

Here are my splits, I could tell I was getting tired fast:

 8:53

9:27

10:04

10:50

 The goal of my carbo depletion was to lose some weight and store up extra carbs and glycogen before my half marathon this weekend.  I was in a weight loss/exercise contest at work that started in November and went through the first week in Feb.  I started out at 184 lbs.  At the end (three months later) I was at 179.  I had only lost 5 lbs.  I needed to lose another 10-15 lbs.  

I started my carbo free diet last Saturday.  I didn't weight until Sunday morning and I was  178.  When I weighed again this morning I was 173.  That's 5 lbs in 2 days, and the water weight was only .5 lbs loss.  I have been drinking a lot of water.  And that only included 2 of the 4 days I did the diet.  I figure I must have lost at least 6 lbs over the weekend.  So I accomplished my goal, I'm just not sure if it's health to only eat meat and cheese and otherwise starve yourself.

I just went and did an easy, short run with Will and then lifting some weights and riding the bike for a bit.

They reported this race distance as 13.16 and sometimes I saw 13.2, but my watch reported 12.9 and my wife got 12.95.  The mile markers started getting off from the very beginning at mile 1 and slowly got worse.

It was a very nice course.  Mostly on trails or quiet roads.  The main trail come down out of a pretty canyon and then followed the river for a ways.  It was well marked and lots of traffic control.  The finishers metal was a cute little dog tag.

Here are my splits:

7:37

8:01

8:13

7:54

7:59

8:45

9:37

8:10

9:01

9:40

8:33

8:16

.9 *8:37 (pace)

 I was pretty pleased with some of my splits coming in under 8.  A little disappointed with a couple of miles that were in the high 9's.  That's where I did a little walking at the water stations and had a hard time getting going again. 

Overall it was a fun race, with about 400 runners.  After my last half, last fall, my only goal was to come in under 2 hours.  We had a great time in St. George running and visiting friends.

I finally got out and did a short run. I've taken a couple of days off since the Half marathon.  My calves still felt a little tight, but otherwise I am feeling great.