Joe's Running Blog

Great way to start off the New Year. Got on the treadmill--it was 23 degrees below zero this morning, so I figured the treadmill would have to suffice. Only 6 miles, but I'm pleased with it and it's much better than what I've been doing lately. Got on the bathroom scale this morning also, and though I'm definitely not pleased with the numbers, it's a starting point and that's all I needed. I don't necessarily believe in resolutions, but rather goals, and one of them definitely is to get under 135 lbs. I know I'll race and feel better if that's where I'm at or under. The soft plan right now is to shoot for a spring/summer marathon, possibly Des News, and see what happens. I'm helping a friend Nate Wilcox break 3:30 in the marathon at Ogden, and I'll be running that with him to help him reach his goal. Best to all for a great 2008!

Good run today. Nothing special, just got in a decent run on the treadmill while watching "Coach Carter". As I was getting my shoes on, I noticed the incline on the treadmill was set at 2%. AnnMarie indicated to me she had to raise it to get some of Myles' cars from underneath. No problem. However, when I began running, I forgot the incline was set, and I thought to myself "I'm not surprised I feel a little sluggish, but this is crazy!" Usually I run one minue at 7:30/mile pace, then pick it up to somewhere in the 6:50 to 6:40 range for a mile or two. Anyhow, I felt so "sluggish" that I left it at 7:30 for over 6 minutes, before I remembered the incline was set! So I dropped the incline to zero, and at every mile thereafter I would increase the speed. Finally on the last mile I increased the incline at 1/4 mile increments, finishing at 4%. I was working a little, but it was one of those good feelings of hard work. Three days in a row of running, and 4 out of the 5 days. Played basketball this morning at 6 a.m, in what was possibly my worst game ever on record--which would mean it was pretty bad, since not many of my games are on record. I think I shot 1 for 10, and would probably have trouble hitting water if I fell outta boat. Oh well, it was some decent sprint cardio early in the morning. I'll try to go again tomorrow morning. out.

First semi-hard workout of the new year. AnnMarie is down in Ogden for a doctor check-up, so I figured I'd feed Myles breakfast then hop on the treadmill while he played with his cars and/or watched a video--"Signing Times w/Alex & Leah". I'm certain I'll have those videos memorized in their entirety if I put enough miles in on the treadmill. Anyhow, I wanted to do something with some hill intervals in it, and I wanted to get between 6-10 miles. Started out at 7:30 pace for a couple minutes, then down to 6:55. I realize that isn't too fast, but considering I'm at 6300 feet elevation, and the treadmill is in the same room as our fireplace, I can tell my body is working hard to keep cool, and not to mention I'm packing around a couple extra pounds. Anyhow, down to 6:40 after 2 miles, then 6:30 after 4. So at 6 miles, I start playing with the incline. One minute at 1%, one minute level. One minute at 2%, one minute level. So on, up to 6%. And I cranked the speed to 6:25-6:22/mile. Then finished up with one last mile at 6:15 pace. Good workout, my lungs and legs were feeling it, but it felt good to work hard for over 50 minutes. If I'm lucky enough, I'll maybe get in 3 more miles tonight. 

Another good tm run this morning. At first I thought it might be a short run, as my hamstrings were quite sore/tight, probably from yesterday's incline workout and also playing basketball yesterday afternoon. Anyhow, after a 2 minute warm up at 7:30 pace, I put the pace at 6:50 for a few miles, then began what I suppose is a "step-down" run. Every mile, I increased the pace 8 seconds per mile. I finished at 6 minute pace for the last mile, which in and of itself isn't that tough, but in the boiler room of a den in which the treadmill is in, I found myself working quite hard to not only keep cool but keep the pace. At exactly 10 miles, I hit stop and straddled the belt of the tm. No cool down, no jogging. It felt great. Wife made waffles, eggs, and bacon for "brunch" since it's after 11 a.m. Tomorrow will definitely be a recovery day.

Every tree, shrub and vertical structure is frosted and coated with snow, we had snow and wind all through the night. However, it's surprisingly warm for January in Cokeville, so I may even venture out for tomorrow's run.

Nice recovery 5 on the tm. Again, the treadmill room is absolutely sweltering, so I've enlisted the help of the spray bottle for/from the ironing board to keep me somewhere short of melting. Saturday's run indicated that I'm woefully out of shape, as I was wiped out for the rest of the day. Took yesterday off, and with a somewhat rough day at work, I only wanted to get in 5-6 miles. On a somewhat unrelated note, it looks like our home in North Ogden will either rent or sell shortly. We're excited about those prospects--mostly because then we won't have two house payments! I hope it works out.

Another 5 on the treadmill, in the cooker of a room with the fireplace blazing. Watched part of "Where the Red Fern Grows". Not your typical training movie, but it does have special meaning to where I currently live. The main character in the movie "Billy Coleman" is played by Stewart Petersen, who lives here in Cokeville. He was in a handful of other movies, and for those LDS bloggers on here, you will recognize him from a couple church videos. Anyhow, he's a great guy and I teach two of his daughters at school. Check out the movie, if it doesn't motivate you to have a pet, it will make you cry because the two dogs in the movie die.

To answer wheakory's question, I'm not sure if I'm going to shoot for my same fitness level I previously held. I hope things work out where I can--there are loads of guys in their early to mid 30s who are competing just fine, I don't see why I can't be one of them. Or at least try.

Finally! A chance to run outside today. I realize neither of those previous two fragments were complete sentences, please forgive me. The temperatures in Cokeville soared into the 20s today, allowing me an opportunity to venture outside for my run. My goal was to make it to the top of "Big Hill", which is directly east of Cokeville. If any of you out there have travelled through Cokeville en route to either Jackson or Yellowstone, Big Hill is the well...big hill due east of the Flying J. Can't miss it. There's a radio tower up there, a shooting range on the south side of the hill, and a county dump on the east side. Anyhow, I didn't feel like running in foot-deep snow, so I turned around at the dump and then went out on the Smith's Fork road for a ways until it was time to turn around. 45 minutes total, and a further reminder of how woefully out of shape I currently am. I feel...fat. I know I've gained a couple pounds, but I just feel like a meatball out there, rolling along. Anyhow, that's the run, in a nutshell.

Decent run on the 'mill today. My motivation to run wasn't all that great to begin with, but I forced myself into a run and, as always, was glad I did. However, some bad news to report on the treadmill; yet further evidence I need to lose weight. I believe the deck of the treadmill has a fatal crack in it; therefore, when I land on the tm, it "gives" or "sags" significantly, stretching the belt and causing untold further damage. I don't know if nordictrack will replace the deck, I won this tm at St. George 2005 Marathon. If they won't, I don't think I'll go for a replacement deck; I'm not sure what I'll do. Brave the elements and go outside, I suppose. Anyhow, glad to get the run in the books.

Bad news on the 'mill front. The deck is officially gonzo, so I layered up and braved the cold. And lemme tell ya, it's COLD here in Cokeville. And slick, and I get weird looks from people driving. Only got 4 1/2 miles in, but it was a solid pace the entire way, and for once I didn't feel like a meatball like I have for the past two months or so. I don't know if Nordictrack will replace the deck or not, if they don't, then we'll probably take some money from when we sell our home and get a nice one. We have used this one often, so we figure it's a worthwhile investment. Out.

With the mill on the fritz, I happened upon a bit of luck. I guess the town hall here in Cokeville has two heavy duty treadmills in the basement of the senior center. Yee haw. With any luck, I would have the place to myself. I finally made it over there about 5 this evening, and hopped on one of the treadmills. Nice toy. Unfortunately, it was steaming hot in there, seemingly almost as hot as our den room where our own mill was recently laid to rest. Anyhow, I decided to do a mini-fartlek workout. Basically, I did 5x1 minute hard with one minute recovery. The last one was a 2 minute effort, so I felt good about it and even survived. Maybe I'm not a meatball after all.

Early morning basketball, and the mileage entry is an estimate, but I'm gonna count it as something. Too bad I can't count the elbow I took to the chest as something, too. I'm told I have a new nickname--"fetch". Our team rebounds it, someone hucks it down the court, and I fetch it. I actually scored a few buckets this morning, and definitely got a good workout.

The previous meatball comments made about myself were not intended to draw sympathy or warm fuzzies from anyone, though I appreciate the encouraging words from those who commented. But trust me, I've got a ways to go before I'm back to where I was even last spring. But I'll get there, of that I know. I think I'm going to run the Casper marathon, June 8th, in Casper, Wyoming. Don't know why exactly, but I think it will be a good one. Definitely low key, and winnable. I don't even think there are any prizes to speak of, but it will be one in which my family and friends can come watch. Should be fun. My plans are still to pace my friend Nate Wilcox in the Ogden Marathon, he's trying to break 3:30. I believe if he stays injury-free and keeps training smartly, he'll smash 3:30.

Stacy, if you read this, I commented on your blog last night, but I believe it was on your entry for 1/14/08.  Thanks, Joe.

Solid workout today, probably the best of 2008 for me. Decided to give the treadmills at the senior center another workout, and despite the heat and boredom of no tv, I hopped on and after 5 min of warm up, and did alternating 2 min hard @11 mph, 1 min recovery @ 8 mph. The pace for those is 5:27 and 7:30, respectively. The first two hards were exactly that--hard. But after that, my heart rate fell into a predictable rthythm and on the last two, I increased the pace a little. Nothing too spectacular, but a good step in the right direction. Makes me wonder how the heck in college we would do 15X1000 meters at 2:58-3:00 with 60 seconds rest. Those were what we called "come to Jesus" workouts. We were on our knees, begging for mercy. out.

Great run today. Ran from AnnMarie's parents' house in Layton, as that is where she is staying until it's time to go into the hospital for delivery of child #2. We're not due until the end of Feb, but I don't think we'll make it that far. anyhow, decided to hook up with nate Wilcox, who lives just off Gordon Ave at about 3400 west or so, so I decided to run out to his place, and then run with him for 60 more minutes. It's just under 5 miles to his place from where I started, and after a little warming up, I kicked it into cruise control and picked up the tempo a little. Total run was just a hair over 90 minutes. After breakfast, went to Cabela's in Lehi with Myles and Nate and probably walked another 5K in that place. It's huge! Great store. 

Early morning basketball, I seem to be playing a little better now. I wouldn't go so far as to say the Jazz will be calling anytime soon, but rather, I don't feel like a liability as much anymore. I get in a good workout and treat it as such--as soon as my team has the ball, I'm off and running. I'm going to call it max vo2 miles, cuz well, it doesn't fit into any of the other categories. Works for me, probably not for the purists out there.

Ran on the senior center treadmills this evening, 6 miles. Feeling a little beat up from the long run on saturday, as well as the basketball this morning, but I'm glad I went 6 instead of 5. More of a mental battle than anything, but one that I won anyhow.

It's been a rough week for running. After getting kneed in the calf while playing ball last Tuesday, it hurt to even walk, let alone run. I managed 4 miles last Thursday, and all I've done since then and today was 45 minutes of basketball saturday night. Aargh!

anyhow, I got on the treadmill after school and got in a solid 5 miles. Tomorrow is my night class in Afton, so I'll have to play ball early in the morning if I want to get any exercise in.

Early morning basketball. I know it's not true max vo2 training, but it's definitely a workout. Plus, we won two of the three games we played.