A Balance, Redefined

Week starting Dec 06, 2009

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Location:

Vestavia,AL,USA

Member Since:

May 31, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

Marathon Top 10 Finishes: 7 Bridges ('15), Utah Valley ('13), Salt Lake City ('08), Top of Utah ('07), and St. Louis ('04). Ran around the equator (24901.55) in 4,388 days.

Personal Records
Marathon 2:39 (SLC '08)
1/2 Marathon 1:12.30 (Provo River, aided '08)
10K 34:16 (Track, sea level '00)
10K 33:15 (Des 10K, aided '08)
8K 25:32 (Crack of Dawn, aided '13)
5K 16:44 (Track, sea level '00)
5K 16:07 (Running of the Leopards, aided '12)
 

Short-Term Running Goals:

NYC Marathon November 3, 2019 done 

London Marathon October 3, 2021 done

Tokyo Marathon March 3, 2024!!!

And my largest challenge to date, raise $20,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my cancer survivorship and in memory of those lost to blood cancer...
DONE! $26,403.70

https://pages.lls.org/tnt/al/london2021/awende

Long-Term Running Goals:

Enjoy being a Masters Runner.

Get under 3 hours one more time...

Personal:

Grew up outside Chicago and joined the blog while I lived in Salt Lake City. Now living outside Birmingham. I am married with two daughters. Wife thinks I'm crazy for doing marathons. And yes I am crazy I'm a scientist for a living...

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 331.25
RM 090416 Lifetime Miles: 136.06
Saucony Type A Lifetime Miles: 200.18
Nike Vaporfly Pink Lifetime Miles: 122.22
Saucony Ride #37 - Black Lifetime Miles: 56.50
Saucony Ride #38 - Neon Lifetime Miles: 53.50
Saucony Ride #39 - Grey Lifetime Miles: 59.50
Brooks Launch #38 - Grey Lifetime Miles: 65.25
Brooks Launch #39 - White Lifetime Miles: 57.50
Brooks Launch #40 - Blue Lifetime Miles: 54.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
71.000.000.000.000.000.000.0071.00
Asics DS-Trainer #5 Miles: 29.00Saucony Rides #7M Miles: 16.50Asics DS-Trainer #4 Miles: 14.00Saucony Rides #6B Miles: 11.50
Night Sleep Time: 46.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 46.00Weight: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.000.000.000.008.00

Slept in this morning. It was nice. Mostly family stuff. Including some shoveling and playing at the park with my daughter. Did not feel like trudging in the cold after dark though and just did a treadmill work out. Increase speed every quarter mile for 8 miles. Nice to break a sweat. Avg. 6:40

Asics DS-Trainer #5 Miles: 8.00
Night Sleep Time: 8.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.50Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
2.500.000.000.000.000.000.002.50

AM: Night a restful night. Up a number of times from a teething baby. Ended up sleeping in to make up the difference. The commute run was cold and windy. Not sure what the windchill was but the straight temp was 17F. Avg. 9:25

PM: Goose egg. Had planned on doing a few more because of the rough start to the day. However, I had dinner with a job candidate and by the time dinner was done and the food was sitting in my stomach I scrapped it...

Saucony Rides #7M Miles: 2.50
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.000.000.000.007.00

AM: 4.5 mi Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. The weather outside is frightful and my dear I'm running in it. Doesn't exactly rhyme but oh well. I'm upset with the weather reporting agencies yesterday I checked three websites and they all said 19F and calm, it was anything but. This morning they said 17F and 5F windchill and though it was cold and snowing I was dripping sweat by the end of the run. I had to get into work extra early this morning so I was one of the first out in the 2-3 in of snow we had. I love laying down the first foot prints in a fresh snow. No Garmin this morning. Safe to say it was slow... Commute run via lower campus. 

PM: 2.5 mi The commute run is so much more fun in reverse. Left lab at 5:05 and entered my house at 2:25 and that was only because I got caught by a light. The snow was mostly cleared which had it's pros and cons. It was nice not breaking through the snow but most places were pretty slick. So it was more like skating home. Avg. 6:30 on the nose HR 153 happy about that effort

Saucony Rides #7M Miles: 7.00
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
11.000.000.000.000.000.000.0011.00

AM: Brrrr... Today was 8F with a -1F windchill. Still not as cold as what some of the bloggers are dealing with but it is the coldest I remember running in UT. Fortunately with all the cold days in a row I finally have my clothing down to a science and felt nice and toasty the whole way in. Tonight I have to weigh myself to see how much extra poundage I'm carrying. Yesterday was corrected I have too many commute runs. This morning I did the same version as yesterday. 4.5 mi Avg. 10:19 HR 127

PM: Long work day. I did get an hour family break in the middle but was on campus from 6:20am-7:25pm... I did the commute run home as a warmup for a treadmill workout. I ran straight to the scale and am wearing 7.8 lbs of clothing to stay warm in this single digit weather. Evening temp 9F with a -F windchill. The commute portion of the run was 2.5 mi Avg. 7:19 HR 163. Then after the clothing weigh-in 4 mi on the treadmill at 6 pace HR 159. Pretty happy with that HR for the pace... Funny that I am going over 1 min/mi faster at a slower HR. Shows the clothing really makes a difference.

Saucony Rides #7M Miles: 7.00Asics DS-Trainer #4 Miles: 4.00
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.000.000.000.0010.00

AM: Somehow it continues to get colder. Weather.com had it at 4F; -10F wind chill for my zip this morning. I wore the same amount of clothes as yesterday (sorry Jon I was dressed before I remember about weighing it dry). I actually felt fine the whole way. I saw two people walking dogs that looked miserable but I also saw another runner on 13th who looked like he was moving despite the weather. I just did the commute run via SugarHouse. 6 mi Avg. 10:12 HR 123 I think I've mentioned this before but the last two miles really affect this average with a climb of ~500ft. 

PM: Just some treadmill miles. 4 mi

A quick plug for an old friend and teammate. John O'Malley was on my team in Knox and has to be one of the most dedicated coaches I know. Here he is with the quote of the day on letsrun.

 

"Lukas might be the best distance runner in American high school history. Trophies gather dust, but decency and caring for others grows richer with time. As far as talent, I think Lukas' event is the marathon and I think he could be an Olympic medalist in the marathon some day."

Lukas Verzbicas' Sandburg HS coach John O'Malley. Verzbicas ran 8:57 indoor 2-mile and 14:18 indoor 5000m last year and still is short of his 17th birthday. He'll run the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships this weekend against, among others, Nike Cross National champion Craig Lutz.

 I guess John new what he was talking about:

Footlocker Cross Country Nationals

Results - Men                                                                    
1 Lukas Verzbicas 10 MW,Orland Hills,IL 15:07.8 1


Asics DS-Trainer #4 Miles: 10.00
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
11.500.000.000.000.000.000.0011.50

Same time up. Seemed slightly warmer 8F/0F. Commute run via Memory Grove and a little extra up City Creek to get some mileage. On the way down to MG I warmed up a little too much but the extra heat was nice while headed up the canyon. Then to top it all off I finished the run with a Chad sighting in the last miles and still made it into work by 7am. Avg. 8:44 HR 143

Tomorrow already ends week one of my 18 wk training routine. I do not feel in as good as shape as in '08 but there is still a long time to go. I'm happy that the mileage hasn't caused additional pain on the knee. I'm trying a few different things this time around. 1. Sit-ups and push-ups every night, 2. A number of 20+ miles at least 10 if not a full 18, 3. On Paul's advice quick runs (with the cold and snow these have been my treadmill miles). 4. I'm hoping to work in more speedwork than I have the last 18 months but between the cold/snow etc we shall see. Things I'm keeping the same is that I'm shooting for almost the exact same mileage in the '08 training period ~1300. It is 8 and tonight is the department Christmas party so time to get some work done...

Saucony Rides #6B Miles: 11.50
Night Sleep Time: 6.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.50Weight: 0.00
Comments(13)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
21.000.000.000.000.000.000.0021.00

AM: Ho Ho 10-Miler, the brain child of Chad and Sam. There was a good showing ~35 people. We ran a looping course through Holladay. It was fun and Sam went all out with bagels, fruit, hot chocolate and coffee at the finish (a 1/2 block backwards run up a hill). It was good times. Had a chance to meet a few other local runners and catch-up with some others. 9.8 mi Avg. 7:12 HR 150

PM: The day really warmed up. It started out the hottest day all week and kept going. By the time my PM run came around even though it was dark again it was well above freezing. I did a new home loop as a "quick" run. 11.2 mi Avg 6:49 no HR monitor

 

Asics DS-Trainer #5 Miles: 21.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
71.000.000.000.000.000.000.0071.00
Asics DS-Trainer #5 Miles: 29.00Saucony Rides #7M Miles: 16.50Asics DS-Trainer #4 Miles: 14.00Saucony Rides #6B Miles: 11.50
Night Sleep Time: 46.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 46.00Weight: 0.00
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