Age is just a number.

AM-6 miles on 7th out and back.  Some pickups in the middle.

PM-4 miles on 7th out and back. 

AM-10 miles with fartlek consisting of LT/MP pickups Canova style as usual.  Quite gusty and windy especially going up 9400 and 13th east.  Once I came back on 7th however I got quite the ride from those tailwinds..:)  

PM-9.2 miles easy after work out and back in cold rain and wind.  What fun.. But I'm glad I went out instead of the mill tonight.   Sandy bench via 8600s.

AM-Easy 10 miles.  Ft Union/13th east.  Snowy again.. The funny part is that it cleared up on my last mile coming home.  Oh well..  The whole time I saw so many people in cars dressed up for conference it got to my head a little.  Does this make me a sinner?  Do I really honor the Lord the way I ought to by running on Sunday?  I hear so many different opinions including those from my own church that it's hard to really know.  For those of you who really know me I think you know why I run on Sunday..  However, that being said I take my shoes off with still another uneasy feeling on another Sabbath:(  

PM-Easy 5 miles easy on the mill at home. 

AM-Easy 4 mile jog. 7th/8600 s out and back.  Starting my taper for the SLC Marathon now. Cross my fingers..

PM-Easy 6 miles on the mill after work.   

AM-Easy 10 miles on Foothill and Sugarhouse practicing different pacing on certain sections. This coming marathon will be more of a dry run this time around mainly because I just don't believe that I have enough 80 plus mile weeks in the bank for much else.  However that being said I do believe I can make a strong showing with the amount of work I have done so far.  I can not recall a time since 2007 that I have trained this hard and steady.  Well.. at least for a 3 month period.  Just have to pick a goal and not go in expecting anything too lofty such as a win.  In any event it should be fun and especially now that as I get older I run more and more with the idea of just relaxing and having fun for once.  So that leads into my other idea of a successful marathon; one where I can finally recall and appreciate the scenery also!  LOL!   

 By the way I am tapering albeit a very subtle one:)  I'm having too good of a time just running lately.  Gee that's a switch huh? 

PM-Track workout with Wasatch Athletics at the Olympic Oval tonight.  The workout consisted of speed changes with 1x mile in 5:09 and 10x400 (missed the second 400m due to a emergency bathroom stop..) So 9x400m  in 71, 67, 71, 69, 70, 71, 68, 70, & 66.  Felt a little sluggish at the beginning of the workout however it did get better as the workout progressed which was a good sign especially with a 66 last quarter:)  

 On another note after talking with a friend tonight about the workout and our kids I realized it's time to cut back and start spending more time with my kids. He always reminds of that and I'm glad because he's right; they grow up so fast and they are but only young for a short period of time..   I'm getting better at it however it's still one area I struggle on a bit. 

AM-Easy 4 mile recovery jog today. Felt ok considering the workout yesterday.  School treadmill.

PM-No run.  Just rest and lots of Chili and cornbread.  Yum..  

Easy 6 mile jog.  7th out and back.

Easy 6 mile jog on the mill watching CNBC and the budget battle.   I felt a little nauseated afterwards however it was not because of the workout..   Are you freaking kidding me?  Our country's very future is at stake and those cone heads on Capitol hill are playing politics over a what really amounts to a band aid anyway.  Cut the budget or shut it down I say.  Disgusting mess.. Out.  

AM-Easy 10 miles on 7th and 13th.  Why do I feel so sluggish today? HR is ok, pace was ok, avg at 6:55/mile.  I just don't feel right for some reason like there is no pop in the legs or something.  Ache in my hip and my knee also. Really strange.. Cold weather maybe I guess I don't know.

PM-13 miles after work with fartlek pickups in the middle.  Out to Cottonwood down VanWinkle and back.

Easy 10 miles jogging with one mile pickup at the end.

Easy 6 miles this morning.  As per the coach's instructions.  Yesterday was also supposed to be six also but with no second car I have been forced to run to work!

Took the day off.  Nice for a change..  Really debating on some things concerning Saturday though.  Might be good to move down in distance on the event maybe?  I'm not really convinced it's the right time for me to run a full marathon yet.

Easy 7 miles with pickups.  I need to just  remember to run my own race.

I really dreaded having to write this up today. I don't know what to say except that it just did not workout the way I thought it would today.  I did learn some things about my physiology however that is really making me wonder if maybe I should just hang up the racing shoes and focus on other areas in my life.  I don't want to write anything to lengthy today and besides I'm just not in the mood to elaborate or create excuses for myself.  It would just further enlarge the problem and  make me feel all the more disillusioned.  

So in a nutshell it was like this;  I never really felt strong from the start however about the time I started taking gels after mile 7 I felt very strong up until mile 17.  For some reason I just could not control the wild swings in blood sugar levels I was feeling and to top off all of that my hip was bothering me and my achilles tendon was stinging me.  Jeez! what else could go wrong I thought to my self!  Definitely not healthy in so many way ways.  You know I'm feeling old, frustrated, and just plain broken down... I have trained at my limit in the past 3 months and perhaps past it also.  I don't know if thats the problem or perhaps a combination of things however I do have my suspicions concerning the blood sugar issue.  What to do?  I just don't know at this point.  Right now I'm just feeling sheer frustration:(

Easy 5 miles this morning. 7:36/avg.  I'm not even freaking sore today!  What gives?

I wonder if Tim Noakes is really right after all with his theory of the central governor and it's relationship to the number of hard marathons you have run in the past.  The theory being that the more of them you run in a lifetime the slower your times will become after a period.  Gave me something to think about on this mornings run thats for sure.  Ugh.. Very depressing thought.

Easy 6 miles on 7th.  7:10/mi avg.  Ankle is sprained and stings a little but improved by mile 3 which is good.   Ice and IB again.   I can only think of the words of Paul that I heard earlier on the radio this morning.  Romans 5:3-5 "but we glory in tribulations also" over and over it stayed with me on the run.

AM-Easy 6 miles on 7th. 7:06/mile average. Legs feel really zippy but I have to keep things sane. Still getting stinging in the heel though but it doesn't seem to be getting worse. Knock on wood..  Just keeping it easy and real for a while.  To help speed healing I think I'm going to go get a book on vegetarian nutrition and possibly change to a gluten free diet also.  But slowly..  That is NOT going to easy at my house especially with Easter coming LOL!  Bring on the PEEPS!

PM-Easy 6 miles this afternoon at 7-8/min pace.  Warmed up slowly again to loosen up the tendon and felt ok.  I kept thinking to myself you know as tough as it was I'm glad I bailed on Saturday.  I lived to fight another day.. Too many races have I gutted out only to have paid the price later in prolonged recovery and with a lot of downtime.  One race resulted in feet so torn and bloody from the downs of Deseret News that the nurse at a med tent thought that stitches might be necessary!  I did not walk for 2 days afterward  LOL!   No.. This was definitely a smart and wise decision this time.  

PM2-4 miles on 7th and trax at 6:30-7/min pace.  Felt good:) 

Easy 10 miles this morning up 7th and 9400s.  Felt dull and achy around the ankle and now it's pulling on the lower calf muscle more.  It became so tight and sore by the time I got into work I was limping.  After talking to some friends at work I think it's time to pull the bike out.  Maybe I'll take it out to the copper mine and back.  Who knows it may be the best thing for me right now.