Artichoke's Running Blog (Ken Spence)

5 miles in 44:58, 9:00 pace average.  6:10 a.m.   Through town up Vine to mouth of Middle Canyon and back via E. Broadway, cemetery, and Skyline.  Nice evening run. 50 degrees.

11 miles on stationary bike.  43:26.  5:30 p.m.

5 very slow and easy miles at 5:05 a.m.  45 degrees.

Didn't cycle or run today.  Thought I'd take an extra day prior to the run on Saturday/  I hope the hamstring handles those downhills okay.

Traveling to St. George.

Snow Canyon 1/2 Marathon.  Near disasterous today.  Did fairly well through 9 miles holding at about sub 8 pace.  Wasn't trying to run real hard because of the left hamstring which did fair throughout.  Suddenly at about mile 9 I got a bad cramp in my right calf muscle.  I had something similar happen in the Deseret News in 2009 but was able to run through it without much problem.  Today was different as it kept getting worse.  I pulled of twice and stretched it and walked some and was able to continue, but finished a lot slower than I had hoped.  Still hurting tonight, so it's probably more than a cramp and likely a strain.  I think a couple of weeks off may do me some good.  Stretching and light cycling is about all I will attempt.  Nice day weather-wise.  Cool at the start  until we got moving.  I like the new course starting up in Diamond Valley.