A clydesdale no more!

My girls have been sick for a couple of days and I woke up with a sore throat this morning.  I must be getting what they had.  Drove out to the Birnam Woods trail head of the LPT and headed north.  Ran 4 miles out then headed back (confirmed that the distance between the 10 and 10.5 mile markers is 0.7 miles).  The snow started falling at the turnaround point and it was snowing the rest of the way back.  I started to feel pretty run down on the way back.  Hopefully I can hold the sickness at bay.

I was too sick and it was too cold outside so I bagged the run this morning.  I am such a slacker.  With everybody gearing up for Boston I am starting to get the itch again.  Right now, I am leaning towards Boston 2010 being my comeback marathon.  With that said, I really need to get myself back into shape.

Still not feeling well and I could only muster up enough energy to get in 5 miles.  Just took it easy and kept the pace slow.  It was raining but it actually felt good for some reason.  

Another snowy morning.  This is starting to get old.  Met the running club at the LPT.  I was going to get a few miles in before the club run but I could tell that my body wouldn't hold up.  I ran 8 miles and I could feel the effects of being sick this week during the last 2 miles.  I'm off to St. George for a few days to get away from this snow.  The storm better not follow me.

It's amazing how much easier it is to run when the weather is nice.  My hands were cold but everything else felt good.  Left the condo and headed west.  Stumbled across some trails so thought I would explore.  Turned out to be the Bear Claw Poppy trails (I think that is what it was called).  It was a nice and quiet area and the trails were fun to run on.  When I was going up hill I almost fell a couple of times and realized that the "pop" that I felt last week when I was moving a tv was probably a hernia.  I'll have to keep an eye on it.

My kids talked me into staying in St. George an extra day (I'm such a pushover).  After skipping yesterday's run, I couldn't miss another day so I woke up got in a couple of hours of work then headed out the door.  Ran up Dixie Drive until I found a bike path and followed that for a few miles.  It dumped out onto a road that looked very familiar to me.  As I approached I realized that it was the marathon course right before you get into St. George.  I was hit with a flood of memories (pun intended).  That is the point where my legs started to burn and feel out of energy and Rhett, Paul and Matt started to pull away before I got my second wind.  It was a reminder of the reasons why I run races.  It felt good and made the rest of the run a lot easier.  After the run, I took the kids to the Chuckwalla trail for a little hiking and playing on the rocks.

Happy Birthday to Emma and Gracie!  My girls are 7 years old today.  

The temperature was perfect for running this morning.  I guess another storm is coming in so I have to enjoy the good weather days when we have them.  Other than some tightness in my hamstrings, everything felt really good.  I am starting to question my self diagnosis of a hernia.  It hasn't bothered me for a few days and I only notice it when I go up stairs or a steep hill.  Maybe it's just a strain.

Cold and rainy.  A perfect day for an easy run.  I was really tempted to skip the run this morning and it took a couple of miles for me to start enjoying the run but I'm glad I got out.

My legs felt dead today - very strange.  I'm not sure what the deal was.  Pretty uneventful run except I came as close to getting hit by a car as I ever have.  A car on a cross street was turning right and didn't bother looking to the right.  She stopped and I thought she saw me so I continued through the street.  She started her turn and never did notice me.  Luckily I was paying attention and was able to jump out of the way.  She missed me by no more than 3 inches.

Drove to the LPT to meet the running club.  Got there early and put in 3 miles before the club run.  Ran 7.6 miles with Trevor who always makes me run faster than I want.  I accidentally left my watch at home but I believe we ran the 7.6 miles in 54 minutes.  The last couple of miles took more work than they should have.  I really felt out of shape.  It was a good run, though and I felt good after the run was over.  My feeling is that my lack of weekend long runs has really affected my endurance.  We all went to the Paradise Bakery afterward but I had to leave early to coach my son's soccer practice.  Unfortunately, we were the only ones that showed up at the practice.  We don't have the most dedicated team.

I'm not sure if I should log these are running miles or not but it was a lot of work so I am going to count them.  I needed one of those "clear your head" runs so my intent was to run to Elephant Rock.  I didn't realize how much snow there was on the trail.  The first little bit was packed snow and I was able to run on it.  I then had some sections of just muddy trail and thought that I was in the clear.  Shortly after the clear trail, I got into 2 foot deep snow (a little less than 2 miles into the run).  I started walking and decided that since my plan was to go to Elephant Rock I was going to keep going until I got there even though I knew it would take a while.  It didn't take long for me to realize how stupid this was.  I was walking in 2 feet of snow with only running shoes, and shorts.  I wasn't cold but since my lower legs were exposed they were getting scraped by the frozen snow when I would break through the snow.  I continued on thinking that my destination was just around the corner but I never found it.  I got to the 3 mile marker (I never noticed the mile markers before) and thew in the towel.  I had another 1/2 mile to go and I wasn't having fun anymore.  Coming back down was a lot easier than going up.  Once I got to the section where I could run again, my feet were too cold and soggy to maintain a decent pace so I just slogged along.  It was an adventure and I'm glad I did it but will be better prepared next time I go.

I took a nap yesterday while the kids where with their mom and OD'd on caffeine while at the Hannah Montana movie last night so I had a pretty restless night.  Got out the door a few minutes late due to work and could only get in 7 miles.  My knees and shins felt pretty beat up from yesterday and I really couldn't get into a good groove.  My garmin was dead and I couldn't find my regular running watch so I'm not sure of the time or pace (probably a good thing).

Excellent temperature but it was a bit windy and it started to rain towards the end of the run.  My legs still don't feel like they should but it was better than it was yesterday.  My shoes are approaching 500 miles and I can feel that they need to be replaced.  I'm not sure if I will be able to get a new pair of shoes after finding out about the sizable donation that I have to make to the IRS.

A cold, wet, soggy run. The rain was coming down really hard.  I was due for some hills so I ran up to Bountiful Blvd. then back home.  I felt like I was in cruise control and really didn't push the pace. 

I'm putting this in writing because otherwise I won't stick to it.  I am going to stop drinking soda pop.  I have gotten in the habit of getting one 20 oz bottle a day and I'm starting to feel the effects.  I allowed myself to drink it because I want to keep my weight up and figured all of the extra empty calories would help in that regard (I know that doesn't make sense for a runner to say that but I have my reasons).  I don't really like the way I feel so I'm going to go without for awhile to see if I feel better.

My legs didn't feel very strong this morning.  I'm going to blame it on the cold weather.  It's got to start warming up soon doesn't it?

My girls had a soccer game at 9 so I couldn't meet the running club this morning.  I did see Kathie on the LPT so that counts for something.  My plan is to start increasing my weekend mileage slowly.  I felt really good during the run.  I averaged 7:28 for the run and it never felt like much of an effort.  The only time I pushed the pace was when I was approaching the trail head where I was going to jump off the LPT and I could see a couple of runners ahead.  I made it my mission to catch them before the turn off.  I was able to catch them just before the trail head.  

Not too much longer before I start complaining about the heat.  It was cool this morning but the end is in sight.  My pace was all over the place ranging from 7:15 - 7:50 but the effort felt consistent.  Good luck to all the Boston runners.  It looks like it is a great day for a run.

Same run as yesterday and I ran it 1 second slower.  I didn't feel particularly well to start the run.  My upper legs were sore and tight.  After 3 miles, I started to feel better and my form started to feel more fluid.

Warmed up with 3 easy miles then wanted to get in a couple of miles at tempo pace.  My only problem is that I have no idea what tempo pace is for me right now.  I decided to just ignore the watch and go by feel.  I thought that I would only do 2 or 3 miles because my legs are not acclimated to the quicker pace.  First mile felt decent but was a little slow (6:47).  Second mile felt great (6:31) so I decided to go for 1 more miles.  Third mile was a bit slow (6:49) but it included an overpass and the stretch of road that I always struggle with mentally.  I felt good so I thought I may as well throw in 1 more mile.  Last mile was 6:37 and was easier than I expected.  Finished with an easy mile to cool down.  Felt really good during this run and feel like I'm ready to get back into it.  

I had a moral dilemna during the run that I was hoping all of you that are better than I am could help me with.  As I was running, I saw a $10 bill on the side walk.  I slowed and thought about picking it up but then thought that it wasn't my money so I should leave it.  My only problem is that I know the next person that comes along will take it and the rightful owner will not get it back. 

I am so sick of this hot weather (j/k).  Great morning for a run.  My legs are a little sore from yesterday's tempo run which indicates how out of shape I have become.  Kept the pace very easy.  My plan was to only go 7 but I extended the loop to get in the extra mile because I was feeling alright.

My left hamstring was really sore this morning so I ran a little less and kept it slower.  

Started off with 6 miles before the club run.  I felt really good during the run.  My intent was to keep the pace slow as I am building up my weekend mileage.  Averaged 7:45/mile and it was really easy.  Met up with the club and did another 7.1 on my own.  I wanted to get in 14 today but I had to coach a soccer game so I felt like I needed to cut the run short.  I was in charge of the water this morning and ended up waiting around while others finished.  I could have and should have gotten the other mile in.  I averaged 7:15 for the last 7.1 and felt great during the run.

Just the usual.  Nothing fun, new or exciting.

WINDY.  The wind was really blowing.  Of course, I didn't mind it when I was running with it but it took a lot of work running into it.  I think that I commented last week that I needed new shoes.  Still have not bought a new pair and I am definitely feeling it now.  I think that I squeezed the last mile out of this pair. 

Got my new shoes last night and wanted to break them in with a tempo run.  Brooks updgraded to the Adrenaline 9 which usually means the exact same shoe with a higher price tag.  They were more expensive but I'm not sure if it was because of the new model or if Striders is just more expensive than DeBoers.

Warmed up with 3 easy miles then started a 4 mile tempo run.  Felt really good through out the entire tempo run.  Splits were 6:27, 6:32, 6:40, 6:30.  The slow mile was the overpass and ugly stretch that always slows me down.  It is encouraging how good I felt during the run.  I was really questioning if I could break 20 minutes in a 5k right now (6:27/mile) since I have not done any hard running for a few months.

Nice and easy recovery run.