A clydesdale no more!

What an amazing morning for a run.  I woke up a little late and missed the group run so I decided to just run a random route.  I ended up on the Bonneville shoreline trail in Centerville which was a good climb to get there.  I ran along that for awhile then stopped and took a little break.  Looking over the valley was amazing. The clouds were perfect and the way the sun was hitting the landscape was amazing.  I'm not sure if I have ever noticed how cool the area looks.  It reminded me of a Bob Ross painting (lots of happy trees).  The smells were amazing this morning too.  I'm usually not in to stuff like this but for some reason it really hit me.  Headed back home running various routes.  The pace for most of the run was easy but today's run wasn't really about running.

During the first half of the run my legs felt very dead.  They were numb and sore.  After warming up they started to feel better and I was able to get into a better flow.  While running I was thinking about a couple of 5k's that I was going to run this month.  I am not really feeling like I have much of a competitive streak right now so I may skip them.  I'm trying to get back to the place where running is fun again and I think that a running a race right now will do more harm than good.

Blah.  Just wasn't feeling it today so I cut the run short.  My legs still have that overall dead feeling for some reason.

It was a little wet and slushy but the temperature felt good.  I still cant' seem to get into a decent groove when I'm running.  It is probably due to the extra 10 that I'm carrying around.  I think that I would rather have the extra 10 and let the running suffer a little than be as thin as I was.

I could tell it was going to be a lazy day so I ran up to Mueller Park canyon to force myself to work a little.  Even if you run slow going uphill it is still a good workout.  Felt like it was a good effort going up but I had a hard time coming down.  I couldn't get into a groove and I started getting a nasty side stitch.  I seem to get these a lot when I run downhill.  It must be from my insides bouncing around so much.  I'm heading to the U game tonight and expect to freeze.  I don't have a good feeling about the game.

I got home late from the game last night and had to get some work done so I stayed up late.  Woke up early to get some more work done so I was very tired this morning.  I drove to the LPT and put in an easy 5.  Spent half the run on the dirt preserve trail and half on the paved trail.

I was so tired last night.  I have no idea what time I fell asleep but it was early.  I vaguely remember telling my son that he could sleep over at his friends house.  Since he wasn't there to watch my girls in the morning I had to cut the run short.  I'm kind of glad I did because I had very little energy this morning.  After the run my girls wanted to go running so we went out for a 1/2 mile run.  Emma surprised me a little and built a bit of a lead on Gracie.  Gracie is very intense and competitive so I told her to catch up to Emma and she kicked it into another gear and closed the gap and eventually caught her.

Ran to the park with the girls (1/2 mile) let them play for awhile then the plan was to run home.  Emma had a side stitch so she just wanted to walk home.  I tried to tell her that the pain is what made it so rewarding but I think the message was lost.  Gracie ran the whole way home.

Very rainy but the temperature felt good.  My legs felt a little sore which I can't explain.  My mileage is lower and there has been no intensity in my runs so I can not figure out why I would be experiencing any soreness.

I noticed that they had mile markers set up on the LPT so I wanted to go check out how accurate they are (based on my Garmin).  I was surprised to see a marker every 1/2 mile and they were spot on.  The only time that I was 0.01 off was after I went through the under pass and lost my signal.  I was starting to get a feel for the distance on the trail but this will be nice to have actual measurements.  The run itself was less than stellar.  I felt pretty blah the entire time.  Is it diet related, something physical or something mental?  I'm not feeling particularly motivated to correct it so it must be mental.

Too much work to do this morning so I could only get out for a quick 5.  After my usual 3 slow miles I threw in 1 mile at 5k pace.  Felt a little pukey half way through it but I think that is from the greasy pizza from the Pie that I ate last night.  It certainly wasn't due to the speed.  I could only muster 6:20.  That is certainly a lot slower than I expect but I was 10 seconds in the hole after the first quarter so I think that it is more a matter of becoming accustomed to the pace than an actual loss of fitness.

I left my contacts in too long so my eyes are killing me.  It is very difficult to focus which made running interesting.  I ran 5 miles then stopped at home and got the dog that I am dog sitting for another 3 miles. 

My eye is causing me a lot of trouble.  It was to much of a distraction running with one eye closed so I only got in 5 miles.  I'm going to try to get into the eye doctor today to see what is going on.

Met the Marks (Fly and Huans) for a long trail run.  It ended up being much longer than I anticipated and I paid for it towards the end of the run.  We started at Mark's house by the capitol and ran on the BST.  I really struggled running downhill today for some reason.  Every time we would hit a downhill section Mark (fly) would fly down the hill and I felt like I was hitting the brakes too hard.  We stopped at Red Butte Gardens to refill our water bottles after 13 or 14 miles and I took in way too much water.  We started climbing a little hill and I could feel the water sloshing around.  I walked for a bit to let things settle in then started up again once I felt like I could run with out puking.  This is also were I started to run low on fuel.  I think that the inefficient downhill running took more out of me than I expected.  Despite the struggles, it was still a fun run and I look forward to more in the future.  I discovered that I am difinitely a roadie and that trail running takes a completely different set of skills.

My eye was very tender this morning so I only put in 5.  My legs actually felt better today than they have in a long time so I was kind of frustrated that I couldn't put in more miles.  On a personal note, my dog died yesterday.  She was a 14 year old beagle and has not been doing well lately.  I had a pretty good idea on Friday that she wouldn't make it through the weekend and she finally gave in Sunday afternoon.  This will be the most difficult for my son because he has bonded with her more than anybody else.

Felt a little nauseous when I woke up this morning (hope I'm not pregnant).  After a couple of miles I started to feel better.  My legs are finally starting to feel fresh.  Once the eye thing is taken care of, I should be ready to get going again.

A little bit better every day. I've been stuck at a slow pace for over a month  but it is finally coming down.

My daughter woke up early this morning and didn't want me to go running so I guess I get an extra rest day this week.

Just plugging along.

Ran 3 miles to the rec center to meet the running club.  Today's run was just a preview of the 5k on Thanksgiving.  I am still undecided on the race and after today's run I am leaning towards not running it.  I ran with Jim and the pace should have been comfortable but for some reason I had a hard time maintaining a decent pace.  He started to pull away from me during the last 1/2 mile and I just didn't have the desire to keep up.  I'm not sure what is going on with my body.  I just couldn't get my legs to turn over.  When I finished the 5k (20:51) I didn't feel fatigued at all but during the run I had a hard time convincing myself to push.  I'm not sure how much of it is mental and how much is physical.  Ran back home and got my girls for a run around the block.

 My mileage is way low this week so I will probably go out tomorrow to make up for the missed day earlier this week.

It is starting to get cold.  It's not uncomfortably cold yet but it is getting there.  I felt pretty good this morning and feel like I'm starting to climb out of this slump.

Ran on the LPT this morning so I didn't take my Garmin.  I have measured mile markers 5 through 9.5 and they are accurate so I didn't think that I would need it.  I discovered that the 4 mile marker is just south of where I usually start running so I back tracked a bit to start there.  Based on time, the 4.5 mile marker seemed correct but the distance between mile 4.5 and 5 is way off.  I will have to take my Garmin next time to test the markers going from 5 to 0.  I decided to test my 5k pace between miles 6 and 7.  I hit 3:04 at the half mile marker and the pace felt a little too hard.  It was too dark and I missed the 1 mile marker but I estimate that I passed it in 6:15.  It didn't feel like it was supposed to.  I'm not sure if I'm ready to race a 5k knowing that my time will be at least 1 minute slower than I expect it to be.  There is another 5k near my house next Friday that raises money for the Juvenille Diabetes Research Foundation that I will run because I always try to support them but I'm just not ready for competition right now.

My left hamstring was a little sore so I opted for an easy recovery run.  Kept the pace easy for the most part until I passed a guy (he was on the other side of the road) and he started to push the pace.  As I picked it up he did as well.  We did this for a little over 1/2 mile until he dropped off.  

Really nice weather to run in this morning.  It is perfect for a race (too bad I'm not racing).  I kind of regret not doing the turkey trot but know it was the right decision.  Pace was pretty slow this morning but the run gave me some time to work through some things.  I'm pre-blogging the 0.6 that I'll be running with my girls at the kids k.  Should be fun.

My girls did great at the 1k.  Gracie finished in 4th and Emma finished around 9th.  Gracie took off and had about a 20 yard lead most of the time so I ran the whole way with Emma.  I could tell that she was really uncomfortable by the look on her face but she toughed it out.  She did walk for a few yards but started back up and finished strong.  They had a lot of fun and love showing off their medals. 

The 5k race was starting right as I was pulling into the parking lot and for s split second I really regretted not running.  It was good to see Kathie and Fly and finally meet Kimmy. 

It was very dreary this morning.  It actually felt very good to be out this morning.  I didn't over eat yesterday but I did drink more soda than I should have so I had to get out to burn it off. Drove to the LPT to check the accuracy of mile markers 0 to 4.  They were all exactly right according to my Garmin.  Every single one of them were where they were supposed to be.  Now I need to check markers 4 to 5 to see how far off they are.  Markers 5 to 9.5 are all perfect so it seems strange that 4.5 to 5 is so inaccurate.  JD mentioned that 10.5 to 11 is off also.  I am guessing that they knew where they wanted to start and end and the distance wasn't exact so they had to make it up in a couple of different spots.

Met the running club at Freedom Hills park in Centerville for a good trail run.  It was a really nice run.  There were a few sections that were tough (especially the 17% grade climb) but the climbs were usually followed by a flat section that allowed your legs to recover. As much as I struggle on the trails, I know that it does my legs good to get a little variation from the road.

Very nice morning so I wanted to get out for a little exploratory run.  I wanted to check out where the BST starts near the Eaglewood golf course and what the run was like.  The run started easy enough but then started to climb a little more than I expected.  Once I got up to the radio towers the run was more like what I expected.  Turned on to the single track trail and had a few ups followed by a few downs.  Eventually ended up on the top of some hill that overlooked the entire Salt Lake valley.  It was a pretty cool view.  I was able to see the entire run that Huans, Fly and I did a couple of weeks ago from a bird's eye view.  I can't believe how far we actually ran.  Hung out on top of the hill for a little way then made my way back to the car.