AirSpy - I Run I Hurt I Like It

Treadmill.

Treadmill. Rockin!

Sunday rest.

Sick.

Sick.  :(

 2:00 plank.

Still a bit sick but couldn't stand it any longer.  Treadmill.

2:30 plank.

Still a little sick, but better than previous day.  Ran 5 at 7:49 then last mile at 6:50.

Treadmill. Cold in throat and chest is almost all gone now.

Treadmill.

3:00 plank.

Sunday rest.

Night run on TM.

Had to work at 4:30 a.m. so did an afternoon run on TM.  Was rockin but too many interruptions and had to stop.

9 on TM

3:30 plank

In OC for business. Ran at Crystal Cove. Waves were angry and tide was high so I was fighting the ocean for beach to run on. Got wet a few times. Watched sun rise over Morro canyon.  The energy was amazing!  Loved it.

Travel and work schedule did not cooperate. Up early to get to airport.

12 on TM all at 1.0 percent incline. Solid workout. Ran with tighter laces on L shoe. Seemed to help with L foot pain. I think it's an old soccer injury flaring up on me. The tighter laces helped during run but I can feel the pain after running. Hopefully will pass.

Sunday rest

All at 2.0% incline on TM, most at easy pace.

TM at 0.5% incline.

Mixed in four 400s at 5k pace.  Feeling strong for Saturday at Painters!

10 min. on spinning bike to get legs loose for race tomorrow.

Cold morning (about 38 degrees) but fortunately not raining or snowing.  Started a little fast with first mile at 6:19. Keith and I paced each other at 1:28 pace until mile 10.  I faded hard but wanted to hit my goal of 1:30 and guaranteed entry to NY marathon so I kept pushing.  Got to mile 13 at 1:29:34 and gave it all I had.  Clock read 1:30:03 when I crossed, so I was a little bummed.  Didn't think my gun / chip differential was 4 seconds but got good news an hour later - my chip time was 1:29:59.9.  Love the 0.9 part of it!

I may have garnered another clue to my stomach / dehydration problems. I drank a full cup of gatorade at the first aid station and felt sick for a few miles. I pushed through all of that but had a number of moments where I felt like I could have pulled over and vomited. I skipped the second aid station because my stomach felt so bad, and I drank only tiny sips of water at the third and fourth stations. 30 seconds after finished I had to find a bush and empty my stomach. It was still loaded with gatorade somehow. Maybe the sweetness of the gatorade is shutting my stomach down? I know some people dislike the taste. I don't mind the taste, but perhaps the sugar content is doing something to me? Anyway, perhaps I need to avoid the gatorade in future races and use pills or something for electrolytes?

I kept pretty good split times.  Here they are:  Mile 1 - 6:19; m2 - 6:42; m3 - 6:35; m4 - 6:45; m5 - 6:58; m6 - 7:01; m7 - 6:42; m8 - 7:02; m9 - 7:05; m10 - 6:36; m11 - 7:21; m12 - 7:23; m13 - approx. 7:01; 0.1 - approx 0:24.

Rest and recovery!

Left foot still sore.  Decided to rest it for another day or two.

Another day of recovery.

Another beautiful run in Newport.  Ran down past CC promenade with idea of doing the beach run but the tide was so high there was zero beach, so ran back to Newport Coast and then went all the way to top and looped through Pelican Hill and back to Marriott.  Felt great.  Legs mostly recovered from Saturday's race.  Submitted my application for the NY marathon last night!

Two back and forth cycles along Crystal Cove upper path from Newport Coast to El Moro. Beautiful!!

L foot and L calf both in considerable pain. Had to rest.

L foot and L calf both in considerable pain. Had to rest but did go skiing with Ben.

Sunday rest. L foot and L calf feeling a bit better this morning. Will try running again tomorrow!

Ran for 70 minutes. Did 8 miles all at 7:30 pace then took it down a notch for cool down until 70 min. Legs felt strong. L foot still hurting. Need a way to navigate from here to Boston with some decent training etc. if possible. Then I can rest the foot and start up again for St. George and NY.

Rested foot again.

Did one mountain loop of Newport Coast / Pelican Hill and then an out and back along top path at CC.  Really pushed the pace for stretches and felt great!

My brother Tom met me and we did about 5.5 - out top path of CC then back on the beach. There was enough sand to run on today. It was absolutely gorgeous!

Decided I need to stay off of my L foot until I can get checked and make sure I'm not doing permanent damage.

Absolutely thrilling 5k race by Lagat at Reebok Invitational today!! New American record 13:11, and Lagat did most of the work.  What an inspiration and a treasure to watch.  He is looking so smooth.  I am excited to watch him the rest of this season and beyond!

Dr. Johnson looked at xrays and did not see any evidence of a stress fracture - good news!  Diagnosis for now is tendonitis.  It's pretty painful, though.  He suggested a steady course of Alleve for anti-inflammation.  We'll see but at least I know it's just some pain and most likely not causing permanent damage to the foot.  Boston here we come!

Back at work, felt good to be running again. Ran 70 minutes total. Almost all at 7:30 pace or better. Not sure I would call those "Easy Miles" but there you go.  Take that, treadmill!

Knocked out another 70 min run at 4:45 this morning before heading to airport.  Kept average 7:30 pace. Foot is painful but I'm back in play!

75 min. run from Laguna up PCH to Crystal Cove trail all the way to end of Pelican golf course then back. Really pushed tempo in certain spots.  Beautiful day.  Beautiful run!

Still feeling tendonitis in L foot and difficult soreness in L calf area. Continuing with daily Alleve.

Easy run in Laguna along Cliff and Heisler Park.

Skiing at PC with Ben and Smiths.

Great run from Laguna Cliffs motel to CC past cottages on beach and back.

Cranked out a tough run to mouth of LC and back. Hills, cold and gunky air. The runs in CA are spoiling me.

Did some fast miles in middle - first at 6:40, second at 6:30.

Mixed in some hard pace and grades.

Did 3 loops of Pelican Hill - very long uphill stretch, then long downhill.  Then finished with 5.5 miles along CC, rewarded myself with final 2.5 on the beach.  I'm worn out but glad - really my first long run since the half in January and it felt good.  And what a beautiful day!

 The sand is pretty much all back at CC.  The ocean is so powerful.  Thousands of tons of sand were gone a month ago and now it's all back.  The universe takes and gives.

The treadmill conked on me 5.4 miles into my run - started making funny noises - clearly not functioning properly.  I wasn't going to go much farther today - taking it easy after yesterday's long run - but what do you do with a treadmill that isn't working?  Not very easy to ship somewhere.  Should I be upset that it's malfunctioning or should I be proud that I outlasted the machine?

La Caille loop. Was dragging at first. Cold temps and tired legs from Wednesday's long run. Keith caught me in the middle of a tempo run at mile 7 so I picked it up and joined him. That totally helped!

Lame excuse but had family in town and got schedules screwed up.

La Caille loop.

Travel.

Down and back on CC path with Tom next to me on bike. Then Newport Coast / PH hill loop.

Got up at 4:20. Ran from Newport Coast to Beach Blvd. in Huntington and back.  Was able to really push pace hard in stretches.  Did the 10 miles out in 71 minutes and the 10 miles back in 74 minutes, total running time 2 hrs 25 min.  Average pace of 7:15 / mile.  Overall it was a tough run, especially in stretches on the way back (but no surprises there).  I fought hard all the way home so I'm proud and confident in my condition right now.  Good to have first 20 miler in the bag this season.

Up towards LCC and back, in the middle of a snowstorm with several inches on the ground already.  Tried out the new spikes and they worked great.  Legs certainly tired from yesterday but was able to go and feel strong at times.

No run but did get several hours of skiing in at Snowbird with W, B, R and Steve.

Rest.  Also fasted 24 hours.  Good for cleansing.

Speed work!

Did 5x 800 at the Alta track, with a mile warm up, mile cool down and easy stretches in between.  My splits:  2:52, 2:53, 2:56, 2:57, 2:55.

Next time I'll do a few more splits.

The L calf is making this difficult but fortunately the tendonitis in the L foot seems to be subsiding.  Starting running in new shoes last week and perhaps they are making a difference for the tendonitis. But the L calf is not good. And it feels deeper than a muscle pull. Fighting through it. Too far in to stop now. Will have to rest after Boston.

L calf in bad shape so took a rest day.

Did loop up NC and down through PH, then down to end of CC promenade and back up beach to boardwalk path.  Ocean was violent this morning but what a beautiful run!!  L calf was trouble but feels a bit better today than yesterday.

Another 20 miler from NC Marriott to Beach Blvd. and back.  Out in 71:20, back in 74:20, total 2:25:40.  Dragging in places but ran solid feeling strong in others.  L calf complained for a while but then felt a little better and now, mid-day, actually feels better than yesterday.  Perhaps the post-run hot tub soak helped?  It certainly helped the mind and soul!

Resting the foot and calf.

Resting foot and calf.

Rest

To mouth of LC and back, ran tempo in several spots. Bitter cold but good run.

Tired from time change. Interesting how an arbitrary clock shift can affect you. Rested calf and foot.

Easy run to mouth of LC and back. Getting pumped for Moab and Boston!

Easy run on Wasatch to get loose for Moab! My foot and leg hurt with every step, but I am pushing forward through Boston.  I appreciated the smells of a crisp morning in the foothills.

Spent 20 minutes on spinning bike staying loose for Moab tomorrow.

Started off strong and solid, running at 6:40 pace but got sick near mile 8 and puked. Pulled myself together and kept going but had to take 45 seconds off my pace for a few miles. Sent Keith ahead and he finished in 1:27. What a competitor! I toughed the thing out. Split times:  Mile 1 - 6:21, Mile 2 - 6:28, Mile 3 - 6:27, Mile 4 - 6:52; Mile 5 - 6:40, Mile 6 - 6:45, Mile 7 - 6:56, Mile 8 - 7:31, Mile 9 - 7:30, Mile 10 - 7:42, Mile 11 - 7:53, Miles 12 and 13 and 13.1 - 15:24 (missed a split somehow). Final time 1:32:33.  I am proud of how tough I was after getting sick.  My 2005 Moab time was 1:37, so I can be happy with a course PR!

Watched NY Half Marathon on 3/21 and saw Haile G. running in second place have to pull over near mile 8.  Looked to me like he threw up over the barricade.  Happens to the best of us! :)

Raced to end of promenade then ran back on beach.  Beautiful!

Well, between the injured foot, pain in the lower leg (stress fracture?) and family visiting from out of town, I've had to lay off. Hopefully next week get going again just in time for Boston!!

Good brisk run up to LCC mouth and back home.

Walking around NYC.

Walking around NYC.

Walking around NYC.

Walking around NYC.

Walking around NYC.

Back on the treadmill for an evening run. Good to run again.

Felt great on treadmill again.  Leg hurts and foot hurts but the heart and lungs are rocking.  It's great to be alive and I am very excited to be running Boston again in 10 days!!  After Boston, will have to take time off to heal.  Probably get x-ray on the leg.

Great run in CC.  Very difficult to go slow.  Legs feel great.  How long can I hold the pace at Boston?  Looking forward to Boston big time.  Will my stomach cooperate?  I am going to run the race of my life!

Fun run on beach.  Just keeping loose.  Boston here we come.  Looks like cool weather with possible tailwind!

Nice "run out" with Nick around Boston.

5 miles on treadmill.  Good to be running again!

Up to mouth of LCC and back at 11:00 a.m. Felt pretty depleted afterwards but a good run overall.

Met with dietician Abby Larson at Peak Academy at the U of U - regarding my stomach troubles during marathons and some halfs.  She observed that I generally don't eat or drink before training runs and I generally don't drink during training runs whereas on race days I eat before race and drink during race.  My stomach may be sensitive, with sensitivity heightened during intense running, which reduces the "osmolarity" - ability of stomach to digest / absorb what is in there.  So, she suggests eating an additional hour earlier on race day and then also eating toast and banana or drinking slimfast before training runs (2 hrs ahead) and then drinking Gatorade during training runs in order to train stomach for race conditions.  Worth a try!

 Registered for Utah Valley Marathon June 12.

One loop up Newport Coast and around Pelican.  Then down to end of CC and back on beach. Great run.  Ran hard.  Weather is warmer and I was sweating.  Drank Gatorade 15 min. before and then halfway during run to train stomach like Abby Larson suggested.

Up to top of LCC from Peruvian then all the way home, through snow, rain, etc.  6 min. pace down the canyon.

Awesome run with Keith.  Incredible terrain.  Super difficult course.  Rocked it.

Rocked a quick run up toward LCC and back. Legs feeling strong and fully recovered (at least for 6 miles) after Sapper Joe. Even left foot and left lower leg did not complain today as they normally do. Getting excited for June 12 UV Marathon!

An excellent race!

Leg 1 - 6.9 miles

Leg 2 - 8.5 miles

Leg 3 - 4.5 mi

Up to Bell Canyon trailhead (3 mi. mailbox) and back.

Ran a great race.  This organizer has a knack for good courses and cool shirts but some horrible logistics.  Race started almost 30 minutes late.  The mile markers were wildly inaccurate although the overall race course measured very close to 13.1 miles.  But having inaccurate mile markers made it difficult for me to know how I was doing since I was only wearing a simple watch marking splits but no Garmin showing pace or distance.  Some very tough hills mixed into miles 6, 7 and 8, but overall a fun course.  Due to a bad marker at mile 12, I thought I had no shot at breaking 1:30 so I waited at least 60 seconds for my friend Keith to catch up to me so we could finish together.  If I had known my real time, I would have hustled in for a PR (currently 1:28:40).  Felt great at the end.

Hiked up to first falls in Bell Canyon with Danielle, Will and others.  Beautiful.  Would make a good trail run until the point where the trail crosses the bridge.

Very well organized race and a fun course except for the last few (4 +/-) miles.  Legs were a bit tired perhaps from the previous week.  I went out very fast.  Not sure why but I made an attempt at glory.  First mile was 5:30.  Much faster than I meant to do, but oh well.  3 mile split was 18:10.  Then backed off to 6:30 miles until the 6 mile mark.  Around mile 9 I started crashing and by 11 I was in survival mode.  Glad I did it though!

Beautiful early morning run up to mouth of LCC and back.  No injuries, no strains.  Not sure how I went from tendonitis in left foot and what felt like a stress fracture in the left leg to not feeling any pain at all, other than I have reduced my miles considerably in between the various races.  Probably a sensible explanation.  Not sure that the reduced miles will work for me when I run D News in 9 days, but we'll see.  It's a nice feeling to be running without that type of pain!

Bought a guy's bib so I could run (Steven Labat from craigslist).  He was in the 30 division but in Corral G since he was hoping to run a 2 hr. half.  I poked the middle of the "G" out and managed to get into Corral C.  Corral C started about 10 minutes after Corral A - they allowed each corral to get a buffer before letting the next one go.  I ended up leading Corral C for the first mile, where I got slowed by the slower runners of Corral B.  A very difficult 8 mile tempo run on Thursday took its toll on my legs by mile 7 or 8 and then I caught up to Stori who was running from Corral A, so I slowed to her pace and enjoyed a few miles at that pace.  Fun running through Angel stadium!  Then pushed hard for last two miles.  Fun!

Very warm at the start, unlike most St. George starts. Felt sluggish up Dammeron Valley miles 10 through 12. Crossed half at 1:34. Felt lightheaded at mile 22. Fun running with Steve, Keith and Ryan. My 3rd best St. George (out of 6) and 7th best marathon overall (out of 21), but still felt like I should have done better.

Here are my splits:  1-6:53; 2-7:05; 3-6:53; 4-6:40; 5-6:46; 6-6:28; 7-6:03; 8-7:50; 9-7:32; 10-7:57; 11-8:07; 12-8:28; 13-6:55; Half 1:34; 14-7:55; 15-7:07; 16-7:41; 17-7:56; 18-7:59; 19-9:20; 20-8:02; 21-7:11; 22-9:10; 23-8:14; 24-11:11; 25 (brain cramp-forgot to mark, but last 2.2 took me 20:43).