Joe's Running Blog

Okay, okay, it's been too long, and people have hassled me too much, I'm finally back, again. February was a tough running month, what with the arrival of baby boy Sullivan Roy Wilson and near-constant sub-zero temperatures then entire month. March was so-so, some weeks would be good, and others were about 10-15 miles per week. Not sure I want to put that out there for everyone to analyze and dissect. But what the heck, right? We're all runners on here, and we all go through the peaks and valleys of a runner.

My immediate goal is go get my carcass ready for Casper Marathon on June 8. I think I can do well at it if I have 5-6 more solid weeks of training like most of April has been, so hopefully I can get my butt out the door each morning for a decent run, and then keep adding some runs in the evenings. I've been going on some hard-day workouts with the Cokeville track team, and I'm reminded of how far out of sprint shape I am. Ouch.

Anyhow, this morning was a solid 7 miles, 10 minutes with the boys distance runners and the rest on my own. I'm hoping to add some evening runs to get my daily mileage over 10/day.

Only time for 5 miles this morning, started with the team, and finished by myself. Thought we had faculty meeting at 7:15, so I cut my run short so AnnMarie could get in a couple miles, and that's about all she had time for. I get to school, and no faculty meeting. Bummer. I REALLY need to get in another run tonight, especially since tomorrow I'll only have the chance to run once, due to my night class in Afton I must attend. Out.

Met my goal of getting in another run, though it was only four miles and not without some drama. I didn't get out the door until about 9:20, so it was plenty dark and I decided I'd better gear up with a headlamp and reflective vest. I ventured east until main street intersects Hwy 30, then turned around and headed out west to the "west side" to my two mile mark, then turn around again and head for home. Basically, my four mile loop. On my way back into town with about 1 mile to go, I see a car approaching from the south--behind me. I move over to the west side of the road, so I'm clear on the other side of the road from the vehicle. As the car approaches, I glance over my shoulder to check where the car is, and much to my surprise/dismay/fear it is no less than four feet clear of me and approaching fast. I jump into the barrow pit, and let out a phrase that rhymes with firetruck. No luck in catching a license plate i.d, all I could do was hope for a train to pass through town soon enough to block this car from crossing the tracks and escaping my wrath. No luck with the train, so the best I could do is finish my run and recount to AnnMarie what had happened. My guess is it was probably some high school punks--probably students of mine, but if I find out who it is, they'll have a broken windshield and tires flattened--but just on the bottom side. Too much drama for 4 measly miles.

5.5 miles this morning, started out with the team and finished on my own. No cars to run me off the road like last night, just a boring morning run. It's supposed to rain/snow sometime today, so I'm glad I got the run in. AnnMarie got hers in, I'm still working on getting her signed up on the blog.

Ran to the top of "Big Hill" and back. Tough and steep incline, and lots of Wyoming wind. One of those runs you're glad when you're done. Actually, I can't think of a run that I'm NOT glad when I'm done.

Airport and back run. Cool crisp run, had to hustle because AnnMarie graduates this afternoon from Weber State with her Bachelor's of Nursing. So is she now a bachelor? I hope not. I'm proud of her and all the hard work she's put into it, it seems like she's been going to school for quite some time. Woo hoo!

Ran to the "west side" with AnnMarie. I let her set the pace, and toward the end of the  run she commented we/she probably started off too fast. Busy day today, we will be excavating for our home, moving lots and lots of dirt, but also burning some deadfall, and cleaning up lots of schtick that's on the property we're building on here in Cokeville. My sister & brother-in-law, brother and sister-in-law are also in town with their kids to help out. Hopefully we can get done what we need to.