A Balance, Redefined

Ran with Sandra and Kaitlyn. Nice easy miles pushing the stroller around SH. My legs are noticebly sore from yesterday but it was well worth it for the mental break and the view...

My usual morning loop of SH. It was already pretty warm at 5:30am. I'm paying for my random running of Black Mountain Saturday but it was well worth it. Avg. 8:52

I ran an easy 10 this morning. My home loop plus ~2 loops of Sugarhouse. During the middle mile, I ran into Chad and the BS. Ran a little with them just catching up with Chad, it had been about a month since I had seen him. I could tell I was tired. When I told Chad which grant I was applying for I actually got the name backwards. My legs were feeling better but still only about 5-hrs of sleep and I was not ready to do a workout with them. Now a confession. Chad mentioned something about the “craigs” spelling? at the top of Little Black Mountain. Since I didn’t know what he was talking about I had a look on the internet to see what the summit elevation should be. Two different sites I found have it at 8040ft, putting my 7812 a bit shy. The strange thing is that one site has some photos of the final summit that looks familiar but who knows? The moral of the story is that I will just have to run the Steeplechase next year so that I know for sure that I made it to the “top”. In any case, the ~3000ft climb I did on Saturday was still exhilarating and has given me a taste for more. Who knows maybe I will run the Wasatch 100 before I leave SLC???

Nothing fun to report. Slept in an extra hour. Then did 3 outer, 1 inner loops of SH from home. Had to make it home in time for the neighborhood breakfast with the family. After a loop in the kiddy parade we just crashed and relaxed. Kaitlyn is still a little to young to stay up for the fireworks so early day.

Exact same run as yesterday (but about 4 minutes slower). Still just building base. It is amazing, I ran an hour earlier and it was about 10 degrees warmer. Stay hydrated today!!! The other crazy thing was the wind this morning. I hope none of you blew away.

Working from home today. So I ran with Sandra and Kaitlyn when they woke up. Not as hot as yesterday. Felt good.

AM, BST South, Out and Back. I ran this as an easy run. Started out at 8:51, 8:18, 8:27. Then I settled into a ~7:20 pace after going over I80. I kept this pace until mile 15 when I let loose a little. I didn't go crazy but I didn't hold back either. The last two miles to my house are aided with a 2-4% grade and I hit 6:34 and 6:18. After stretching for ~20 min and icing for 15 min my legs felt great. This is my longest run since Dec and I haven't had injury site pain for over two weeks now. Overall happy with the mileage and pace, overall avg. 7:31.

Overall, I'm happy with the way I feel today. I have a little lower back pain but nothing in the knee or butt. I want for a short walk with Kaitlyn and Sandra and otherwise had to work on the grant.

Still feeling pretty good. Same lower back pain but nothing I'm too concerned with. AM run, it was already pretty warm and this haze is a little depressing. Did my SH loops and then off to lab meeting. Now I'm back at the grant, one week from today and then I can refocus on running… Avg. 8:08

Great news I got a grant! I had been working on a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) grant due on the 16th. I had previously applied to an American Heart Association (AHA) grant back the first week of January. Due to funding cuts in government grants the funding rate of the AHA went from 30% to 27%. My grant was ranked ~27.5%. Therefore, I was the first grant not funded. However, I found out last night that one additional spot opened up. So long story short I don't have to (and can't also) apply to the JDRF.

My run was the usual AM SH loop. My back pain was completely gone (big surprise) think it was work related??? Avg. 8:15

Overall a good run. I did it acceleration style from home 3out/1in SH loops. Started at 8:30 pace and increased it 10-30 second per mile down to 6:13 then about 1.5 cool down back home.

Nothing special to report. Felt a little tired (early start 5:10AM). Took awhile to get the legs moving first mile about 9:15. Then settled into an easy pace and just got lost in the run. Avg. 8:11.

I finally got to run in the light. It was warm though still over 90 at 7:30. I felt good, rested, and awake. I pushed a little Avg. 7:12 with the first 5 at 7:03.

Exact same run as last week. However, my splits were a lot more even. I didn't start out as slow but I also didn't blast the last 3 miles. Felt good over all. A few of the bikers now recognize me and give thumbs up as they pass. Avg 7:28; a few seconds per mile faster than last week but actually felt easier effort wise.

Very easy 10.5 at SH park before church. It felt nice this morning even though it wasn't much cooler. My legs are a little tight but much better than last week at this time. This run also gave me 70 miles for my week. This was my goal for mileage. Now I'm going to maintain and start adding back speed work. Avg. 8:05

Rest day, early meeting.

Overall a good intro back to the track. I thought it had been longer but still a month since my last track workout. Met with the Black Sheep at East High. It was a fun natured workout with a retro theme. I tried my best to find something “retro” but Chad had me trumped with his short-shorts. The workout overall was some warm-up a mile and then six quarters. I felt I had a 5 min in me because of the 5K a few weeks back but I didn’t pace right and not ready for sustained speed. Chad was too nice to me in his blog entry. I had the first quarter and blew it. I was struggling finding pace. I left too much on my plate and overall wasn’t thrilled with my mile of 5:14, and not pacing correctly for Chad and Josh had me frustrated but they were cool about it. The quarters went a little better. I had fun with them and since I still had plenty in the tank after that mile, I really gave the last one a go, with plenty of help from Chad. It was nice ending with a 64, probably my fastest quarter in a few years. My calves are really punishing me now for it, but it was well worth it and it was great doing a workout and running with other people again. Speaking of other people, I saw Bill C with his “kids” at the zoo parking lot on the way in to work after the workout I yelled but I don’t think he saw me

I felt surprisingly good this morning. My calves are much better. I did end up with a blister that gave me some minor problems but other than that, it was still cool when I ran this morning. My usual 3o/1i SH loops. Avg. 7:57

I actually ran in the evening today. 8:15pm start. The weather wasn't too bad. My legs always feel more "peppy" in the evening. Still no major wear-n-tear from the track workout. SH 3o/1i from home. Avg. 7:23

More like sleep walking than running. Felt very tired this morning. Workout was to go as slow as possible. Avg. 9:12

Ran 11 on own and then immediately another 3.5 with the family. I felt ok.

Good run. Feeling tired but in a good way. Did inner loop outer loop alternating of SH. Avg. 7:35

Easy PM miles to SH and back. Avg. 7:38 Felt fine it was nice to have some moisture in the air again.

I did not know what to expect going into this race. I’ve only been back to “normal” mileage for about two months. I’ve only had a handful of speed sessions and no sustained speedwork. I told people that I felt I could be anywhere from a 34:30 to a 36:30. My plan was to go out as conservative as possible for the course and work from there. I hit the mile mark in 5:09, and felt very good about the effort to get there. At this point, there was still a crowd but no one I knew well. I could see Scott ahead so I thought I would gear off him. My next mile was 5:12, and I was very happy with that. At this point I started making up ground on Scott but he dropped off (I later found this was his plan from the beginning). At this point I also started doing a little back-and-forth with Brad Phippen. This really helped me maintain focus. Mile three I slowed as expected with the flatter mile, 5:37. I settled in there and ran the next two in 5:38 and 5:37. However, during the fifth mile I started to feel the wheels coming off. Also, at this point Brad passed me for the third and final time. My last mile was a disappointing 6:04. However, overall I am VERY excited about this performance. I ran 13 sec faster than last year (though I placed 4 spots further back). This was a good confidence builder and helped me realize that I had not lost as much fitness during my “time off” as I had feared. It also points out a big hole in my training and that is some longer interval/pace work. This used to be a staple of mine and I’ve stayed away since my injury but I think it is time to start back with the pace runs and longer repeats/Fartleks.

My legs spend five miles explaining to me why they hate me. Despite this I had a good run. It was my favorite weather, a light warm mist. By the end of the run my quads had let up a little but my right buttucks was sore. Fortunately not the same deep nerve pain I had earlier in the year but definately tender to the touch. Avg. 8:25

My quads have already forgiven me but my butt is holding a grudge. Nice easy PM loops of SH. Avg. 7:20 It amazes me the difference in average pace of my PM vs. AM runs. The effort feels the same in either case. 

I&M Canal run outside Chicago. It was more like swimming. They had just had a couple days of storms and running along the canal it was >90% humidity. I also figured out why training in Chicago is so much better for me. My diet... Running there you eat a few dozen bugs per mile so you never really get depleted ;.) Avg. 7:32

Easy run in the woods. It is nice to be back on familiar ground. I did a loop of my old trails. This is an 8-mile loop with two water crossings. There is only a 400 m stretch but otherwise you are completely immersed in trees. It was a good run. I added on a little so that I could run up the toboggan shoots, just because it's fun. Avg. 8:50.

Interesting to be back in the desert. It is amazing the difference. In Chicago you run three minutes and you're soaked. Here you jump in the sprinkler get soaked run three minutes and are bone dry... It was still a good run and all my aches and pains seem to be gone. Avg. 7:26

Long day at work, PM run to unwind. At least it was cooler at 8:30pm. No watch.

Track workout with Black Sheep. My head was not in it today.  I felt like I was dragging the whole workout. I think I was still tired from the long workday yesterday. Did a loop of SH, 4xhill, 800(2x600), 800(3x600), a mile of striders, and finished off with a loop with Chad. Good news is that my legs feel completely recovered from the 10K. 9.5 mile Avg 7:28. I find it funny that the overall pace of this run with all its different compenents comes out to about the pace I've been doing on my medium days.