The goal of this workout is to simulate and practice marathon pace.
Tonight, I was planning a half marathon after work. The weather was still hot for a long-ish run (about 90F) but definitely getting a bit cooler than the past few days.
From the start, I felt the back of my legs a bit tense, probably from yesterday's speed workout. I still decided to go for it. With my next marathon in a couple of weeks, I really feel compelled to push the runs a bit more than usual. 
I know this can be a mistake though. The risk is not only of increased injury, but it can also be counter-productive. If your body is not well recovered, the quality of the workout will suffer. Sometimes skipping or spacing a workout is the best bet. 
Tonight I was feeling fresh enough to attempt it though. If I could stay at about 7:00 min /mi pace, I knew the workout would be worth while both physically and for my self confidence.
I started downhill fairly fast, feeling good and locked the first mile in 6:15.
The next 3 miles were a slight uphill and I managed 7:05, 7:13, 7:04.
So far so good...The next miles were a mix of flat portions and rolling hills.  I was a bit winded but still feeling good despite the heat. I finished the next miles in 6:56, 7:08, 7:12 and 7:06. By the end of mile 8, I was really running out of juice. Not only was I starting to be very hungry (it was 7:30pm and I had not had anything to eat since lunch) but the recent workouts were starting to catch up with me. My legs were feeling shot, very tense and a bit sore. 
To avoid risking injury I decided to call it a day and jogged the 5.25 miles  back home, still feeling good about the workout.
I had managed to stay right on pace: 56:01 for 8 miles (7:00 min/mi pace).
Tonight I will sleep well.

The most effective way to improve my speed and something I may have slightly neglected in the past is speed / interval training.
Yesterday, I did another short (4 miles) easy recovery run just to make sure my legs were ready for this.
The interval session is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical one. In order to perform well in a speed session, you need to be ready mentally. The amount of mental toughness it requires to keep pushing when it starts to hurt is the main limiting factor of a good interval workout. 
I have resumed interval training only a few weeks ago, after neglecting it for a few months due to a bit of laziness, lack of concentration and distractions from other activities (swimming, biking, strength training...etc). 

As I mentioned before, I have started a swimming class: "Total Immersion".
I have never been a swimmer and all I have ever been able to manage is breast strokes with poor form. 
Obviously this could be a problem when trying to undertake an Ironman race...
Monday night at 7 pm, I met my coach for a second private session. In fact I arrived an hour early and practiced some more total immersion drills from class #1.
The first time I ever tried my kicks a couple of weeks ago, they were producing absolutely no movement, no matter how hard I was trying. I am happy to report that today, while still not effortless, my kicks are moving me at a reasonable pace. Even coach exclaimed: "Good, that is a strong kick. You're really cruising!" Okay, I understand the value and power of positive reinforcement and I know I am not yet an Olympian but I definitely feel the difference.
Today we added some arm movements along with the kicks. I am still struggling a bit trying to keep a mental checklist of where all my body parts should be at all times but I really feel this is taking shape. Proper swimming form is really about the quality of the movement. There are so many important details, body position in the water, hand position, elbow orientation...etc to keep track of to swim efficiently, this is going to take a lot of practice and repetition.
I remember the awkwardness of my movements in the water at my first lesson a couple of weeks ago. But today after only a few practice sessions, I actually felt comfortable in the water. Wow! How motivating. I can't wait to go practice some more...

Sunday was still hot but despite a lot of soreness in the legs I decided to go for an easy run with the dogs.
5 gentle loops at 9:30 min/mi is all I needed. I have been skeptical of the effectiveness of recovery runs but I have to say this run seemed to really help relax my legs and alleviate some of the soreness.

The Rivalry relay is my favorite race of the year. I love the extra organization and preparation it takes to move 6 runners towards a common goal. The relay is 62miles, spanning from the University of Utah (close to downtown Salt Lake City) and Bringham Young University (Downtown Provo). This year, almost 80 teams competed in this amazing race.
I love this race because I always feel more pressure than at any other running event to perform my best for the team. I love this mixture of extra tension, team support and team spirit. This is the second time this team has undertaken the relay. However Michael (1st from the right) swapped his runner's spot this year with Naty (1st from the left) due to health concerns. Florian (2nd from the right, replaced a runner from last year).

The race preparation started months ago. Like last year, I prepared an "goal" worksheet to assign running 'legs' to everyone and defined target times and paces.

To establish who would run which legs, I kept in mind everyone's strengths. I considered the length of the leg, its difficulty, total ascent and descent, the recovery time between legs, last year's performance and the current fitness of the team. After integrating all this data and reviewing it with Michael, I cut down the goal time by a good 30 minutes.
I submitted the goals to everyone and we started practicing our legs a few months in advance and adjusted the times based on everyone's feedback.
This year, we projected a 8 hours 45 minutes total race time. This was tremendously ambitious given the actual 10hr25 time of last year's race.

The race started early this year. I woke up around 3:45am, had a 650 calories cereal breakfast and drove straight to Thierry's house. We all gathered there before driving the starting line for a 6:30am start. 

On the start line the excitement was palpable. Jean-Philippe (JP) would start it for us. His experience and athleticism was a great choice for this leg. 
Right from the start, the inexperienced teams started full on, sprinting uphill from the starting line. A tall, thin athletic guy with an unfortunate haircut sprinted from the starting line leaving Jean-Phi in the dust. We would later nickname him Keke, a French slang word matching his ostentatious yet ineffective pacing strategy.  
After a couple of hundred yards, JP's even and calculated pacing produced a much better than projected time giving a more than 3 min edge on goal time.
Thierry followed and shaved an additional minute and a half off.

When I started leg 3, I felt all my excitement and energy commanding me to sprint out of the gate. The air was still very cool and I felt ready to give my all. I wanted nothing more but leave it all on this leg. It was tempting. We had only a few seconds lead on the next 2 teams. 
But I knew better... A few weeks ago, I had practiced this leg with Florian. We had then experienced the some of the worst conditions I have ever run in. Blistering temperatures in the 100's in the middle of the afternoon, direct sunlight with a very strong head wind which completely annihilated my will to run within 2 miles. 
My target pace for the leg was 7:04 min per mile which I had to sustain for 5 miles (website announced 4.85miles but I measured it at 4.98).
On that training run I still remembered my first mile, climbing the hill in the heat, against the gusts of wind, glancing at my watch: 7:05 min. I had managed to keep that first mile on pace then, but declined very quickly afterwards, barely finishing at 9 minutes per mile.
This time, it would not happen. I started conservatively, keeping my breathing deep and regular, my limbs loose and holding just a bit back for the miles to come.
Soon, a runner past me, with a long but labored stride. A minute later, another runner, a blond young man with a red shirt and a long, bouncy stride dashed past me nearly sprinting. 
I did not panic, I would follow my plan to maximize the pace on the entire leg. In that first hill, I was feeling good.. taking my time , holding on just so that I would not be out of breath. I knew that after that first mile it was all flat and downhill. 
I finished the first mile in 7:07. A bit faster than I had planned but I knew the conditions allowed it. I slowly passed the runner with the labored stride. The quick uphill had taken a toll and when I passed him he could not follow. 
The guy with the red shirt was in sight some 150 yards in front of me. I slowly increased my pace to 6:50 min/mi then about 6:30 and caught up with him near the end of mile 2. 
In front of me now, in the distance, just a few runners that had started 30 minutes before us. In mile 3, I kicked it up another notch and finished it in 6:13. I wanted the other teams to have no hope of catching me again. 
I continued to push hard in mile 4 and 5, averaging a pace of 6:40 min/mile for the leg. At the relay point, when I turned around, the competition was no longer in sight.

Florian took the next leg. If the other teams were hoping to catch us on this leg, they were in for a surprise. Florian, in his early twenties is an inpired runner. He has been training incessantly for about a year and is without a doubt our fastest runner. 
His leg was much shorter than mine but also more difficult with more uphill sections.  While Florian took on the most difficult legs of the race, I took on the longest distance since I am the endurance specialist of the team.
Not surprisingly, Florian destroyed his leg and completely annihilated our direct competition averaging 6:34 min/mile. There might be faster teams than us but not in our starting corral, and we would not see any of the teams that had started at the same time as us until the finish line.
Laurence (Lolo), JP and Thierry (Titi) followed with their leg and by the end of leg 8 we were beating our goal by nearly 10 minutes. 

The leg 9 is the most dreaded leg of the relay. It is a brutal ascension of Suncrest, with about 1200 feet gain over 3.4 miles. This is a punishing, relentless climb, a true test of mental strength. Florian was prepared for this challenge. He had practiced it over half a dozen times in the past few months. 
Before the leg he confessed his apprehension as well as his eagerness to run it again. 
Florian was ready. Not just ready for the climb, but ready to inflict a lot of pain upon himself. Florian, more than anyone I know, has the ability to push his body to the very edge of its limits. 
This ability to push beyond the pain, beyond every signal of your body telling you to stop is truly inspiring.  

He started fast, very fast. 7:40 min for the first mile. On his way up he passed countless teams. He was giving it all. His face was strained, his eyes injected. 
I have run this leg before and I know that if you survive mile 2, the following mile is even more punishing. Just before the Suncrest sign, near mile 3, the incline reaches its maximum. I remember my head spinning from the effort attempting this climb in the sun at slower than 10:30min/mile.
The sun was getting harsh and a hot, the dry head wind was not helping either. 

I was waiting on top of the hill at the next relay point. I will remember Florian reaching the top of the hill. This picture of shear pain and triumph encapsulated in one glorious moment is something I will not forget. He finished the climb at an absurdly fast 8:41min/mile average. Wow.
I did not have to time to acknowledge him. Each seconds he had given me had had been costly. I was not about to waste an instant. As soon as I felt the plastic relay band touch my arm I was off. 

He had climbed it, I was going to descend it. 
Before starting the leg Flo had asked me: " So what's your goal pace for the downhill portion again?". 
-"6:00min/mi" I answered.
 -"Oh come on..." he smiled, "there's the written goal and the unwritten one in the back of your mind".
-"Alright... I reckon that I can do it in 5:40min/mile average" I replied.

I sprinted off the starting point at 5:05 min/mile. I had to go as fast as possible in this first mile to avoid falling behind my target 5:40 min/mile after the 2 short hills of the beginning. I am not sure you can call them hills, but there are slight climbs a couple of hundred yards long in two areas before mile 2. These are not very strenuous unless you try to tackle them near your top speed. It can really asphyxiate you for the following miles.

I reached the end of mile 1 in 5:45. Great. Now. the challenge for me was to maintain the speed over 4.2 miles. I knew that the last 0.2 miles were a small climb as well, so I really had to maintain the pressure.
The runners I passed were like obstacle in front of me. I was passing them so fast that I startled  a few of them.
Mile 2: 5:39min. Keep pushing.
A fast downhill can be quite a punishing exercise. The pounding from each step is amplified due to the increased drop from the decline. In fact, I had injured my back a few weeks back while practicing Suncrest downhill. Not this time though. I had trained for this for weeks after my injury. Strengthening my core daily with various tortures. 
However, the relentless pounding was taking a toll on my quads. 

Mile 3: 5:30min This was now getting hard but not unbearable. I felt I could still maintain this pace for a bit longer.
Mile 4: 5:35min. I was now starting the last short uphill portion to the finish line. The finish line was unexpectedly not in sight. It was farther than I had planned during training. Mental blow. No yielding. Everything I had left had to be left on that hill to maintain the pace.
Right then the legs were starting to burn, my heart was peaking. I was full throttle... I finally saw the relay point. Just a few more yards...
Last 0.21 miles 6:36 min/mi pace.
My overall pace for the leg 5:40. Mission accomplished!

JP took the relay and beat the projected leg time by another minute. Naty followed in the cruel heat missing projected pace by just 30 seconds . Laurence continued and started to show signs of fatigue. Her back was the main concern as she was starting to cramp. 
Leaving Naty and Laurence to handle all of their legs later in the day may have been a miscalculation on my part. The heat and direct sunlight was making the runs all the more challenging and it was taking a heavy toll on them. 
Both Naty and Laurence were soldiering through and pushing through the pain, maintaining us nearly 15 minutes ahead of our goal time.

Thierry handled leg 14 with an amazing 7:00min/mile average pace before leaving me to complete the last leg of my day. 

Waiting in the sun for the relay, I knew this was going to be hard. The sun was pounding and my legs were shot. The combination of hard running and rest had allowed my legs to stiffen beyond what I am ever experiencing in training. My left quads in particular, were giving me some concern. I could already feel some soreness building up, probably from the earlier downhill section.
I knew the course pretty well. It was still fresh in my mind as I had just practiced it a week prior. 
The first part was mostly downhill but after 2 miles, it was going uphill. My plan was to start conservatively fast and take advantage of the downhill portion but leave some juice for the more difficult second half.
I started the run about 200 yards behind the next 2 teams. 
I was not going to let him get away though.
Mile 1 and 2 were done in about 6:45 min/mi average and I easily passed the first runner. But as soon as I started the uphill portion I felt a distressing lack of energy. The breeze had completely vanished, and the sun was doing its worse. I noticed that the next runner in front of me was struggling too. In fact, I was slightly gaining ground on him. 
It was just a mental game at this point. My pace was dropping but I kept pushing. The runner's stride was slower now and I decided it was time for me to drop the hammer. I negotiated the uphill (Mile 3) in 7:22min/mi. 
I passed in front and put a sizable gap between me and him.  Now I just had to finish.
In mile 4, I completely blew up. The accumulated previous 13 miles of hard running were starting to show their effect. I finished the mile in a painful 7:44.
My competition however was not close anymore. In front of me just the next relay point I sprinted the last 150 yards and completed the last 0.46 miles at 6:38 min/mi pace.

Naty was next and again she beat her leg goal by 24 sec. 
The main concern was now for Laurence. She had started to suffer from intense back pain and this leg was going to be a test of mental strength. It was short (a little over 2 miles) but very hilly. We knew this was going to make or break our goal.
Thierry and I decided to run with Laurence, to provide as much mental support as possible. She was going to need it. 

Lolo was pushing through pain and cramps. 
She finished her leg increasing the pace mile after mile and nearly collapsed at the relay point. We could not have been more proud of her.

Last but not least. It was Florian's honor to wrap it up. His plan was to go as hard as he could, hoping he would not blow up. The sun was strong overwhelming now.

At the start of this leg, there was a "fast fishbowler" team member (last year's winners) that was going to be running with him
Florian later reported, "it made me smile: I liked the competition and well intended to leave him in the dust." 
At the beginning of the leg the fishbowler actually caught back up and Flo had to step it up not to let him pass. 
Pace was 6:07 min/mile when Flo looked at his watch. For a split second he wondered if he should let him go as he knew he could run well under 6min pace after the 1.3 mile mark.
However, he decided to take on the challenge and they ran side by side for 3  painful minutes. 
Next time Flo glanced at his watch, it was 6:20 pace, the fishbowler was slowing down and his team was about to give him water. 
At this precise moment Flo decided it was perfect timing to take off. 
5 minutes later the fishbowler was out of sight.
Now Flo was undertaking a mental struggle against himself. 
With his legs screaming in pain he pushed on to maintain the pace. 
At the last turn, the whole team joined Flo to run together to the finish line, ending a day of pain, glory, victory, wild emotions, suffering and team spirit.

We finished 3rd mixed team out of 37 and 6th overall (out of 76 teams)
Flo finished 3rd for the Suncrest King of the hill competition.
I could not be prouder of the team and more grateful for this wonderful experience.

Today, I am taking it easy again. Just did about 40 minutes of volleyball with friends and after plunging and twisting my legs a couple of times to catch the ball I finally realized what peril I was exposing myself too.
Tomorrow the relay starts at 6:30 am, which translates into a 3:50 - 4:00 am wake up. Sounds like a sleepless night for me as I rarely manage to sleep before 11:30 pm.
Besides that I feel excited to run the relay. I am not really in top physical condition, but I should be able to bring a good contribution to the team and I can't wait to give it my all. Race report to follow.

More kick practice at the pool. I stayed there about 45 minutes.
I am definitely starting to see some improvements both in my ability to breath properly and in the efficiency of the movement. Now, I probably resemble more a chicken drowning in the pool than Michael Phelps but hey.. Improvement is where it's at right now. 
Other than that I am taking it easy tonight, resting the legs for the race on Saturday. 

Here we are... Less than a week  before the Rivalry Relay race. This race will be an excellent training run to prep for my marathons.
I will be running 3 legs totaling 13 to 14 miles. My first leg is leg#3. Fairly easy although I trained on it a few weeks back and it can be very challenging with a strong head wind. Also, I will have to be careful not to start to fast in the first hill. I plan to run it at 7:04/mi avg pace
My second leg will be leg 10. A complete downhill from the top of Suncrest down towards Lehi. I planned a 6:00/mi avg pace
My third leg is Leg#15. A hard 3.9 mile leg with a tough hill towards the end. I have never run it so I think I have to try it tonight. Goal pace is 7:48/mi
Update: I ran that leg at 7:08. Piece of cake. This leg was a lot easier than I thought it would be. It starts with some downhill sections for about 1.5 miles, then becomes more or less flat. The last couple of miles are a slight to mild uphill and this is where I'll have to remember to keep some energy for the end. The main difficulty will be to pace this right.

I ran an interval session yesterday. 6x400m (0.25mi) with 1 min recovery. I am barely starting to resume interval training. In order for me to qualify for Boston I will have to run faster than I am at the moment and this is the only way I know to improve my speed. 

Today I took my first swimming lesson.
I decided to learn using the Total Immersion methodology. 
First step was to do some kick practice at the pool. In the beginning, it was a bit discouraging as kicking hard in the pool resulted in a lot of bubbles and splashes, but no movement at all.
But after a few pool lengths and constant adjustment and advice from my coach, I was able to move at a modest pace. Breathing was done by rotating my torso half way on my back. However, this kick exercise was so hard that I had to spend most of the time breathing on my back rather than practicing head down in the water. 

This was really challenging and uncomfortable for me. I swallowed a lot of water, felt constantly out of breath, the water was getting inside my ears and I even got an ear infection as a result. 
I am not discouraged though. I know it will take a few days of practice to learn the movements and feel more at ease.