Bret

AM - 4 miles easy before work.

 PM - rainy day - and I can't seem to keep enough dry shoes in the rotation so I opted for a 6 mile run on the treadmill at lunch instead of running outdoors. 

AM - still raining - 4 days now...4.25 miles easy in the neighborhood before work.  

PM - another 6 miles after work - ran with Ken and Richie and grabbed dinner at Courtside afterwards. Good to see the guys.

PM - easy 5 miles around the office park at lunch.  Race this evening - Midnight Run.

PM - late.   So this year's Midnight Run 5k was actually a reasonably good effort for me despite the seemingly ponderously slow time.   That part was a bit perplexing.   I honestly felt really pretty solid most of the race.  First mile was consciously conservative but I was not holding back much.  That mile was 6:03.  I felt like I held the same pace in the second mile, but probably lost a few seconds on the 180 degree turn-around.  That turned out to be 6:13.  

I raced well actually - moving up and passing runners throughout the race.  Somehow I lost time over the drawbridge despite feeling like the effort was at least the same or a little stronger than the first 2 miles.  Passed several runners in the last mile and except for one who got me back in the final stretch, I had no one pass me.  I really expected to see mid 18's on the clock when I headed to the finish.  

So - not a great time but finished 1st in my age group.  Connected with Doug at the start and chatted with him after the race as he walked to his car to change shirts - he was doing the 10k as well.  Very humid night by the way 91%.  Shirts were literally drenched as if we had been swimming.  Turns out Doug finished 2nd in our age group on a very conservative effort by him - knowing he was going to be doing the 10k afterwards as a progression workout- which I see from the race results showed that he finished in 47 mins - Nicely done. 

Good crowd for the event again - somewhere in the range of 1200 runners in the 5k and 500 or so in the 10.  

Did  a short cool down - thought about running with Doug in the 10 for a brief moment, and then thought better of it.   

PM - 8 miles easy on the treadmill during a storm.  Riley met me at the gym after her shift at the Palm - and she ran on the treadmill next to me and chatted.  

AM - 6 miles easy before the start of my day.  Slightly cooler this morning with rains overnight.

PM - 8 more miles in the evening after some storms. 

AM - easy 5 miles, late morning after watching a stunning stage of the TDF.  Too hot to run long, so will plan on doing more miles later in the day, hopefully following some afternoon storms.

PM - well the storms never developed so I headed out around 6:15, still quite warm.  Not a very good run - got around 12.5 miles in.   

AM - 4 miles easy before church.  Very tight in lower back and groin for the last couple of weeks - takes about a 20 mins to warm up to where it feels comfortable.  Bit of a nuisance more than anything else.

AM - 4 miles very early before my flight.  Felt much better today.  I had planned to do a second run yesterday afternoon but was really feeling increasing soreness and tightness in my lower back and groin and so I did some self massage, stretching and decided to take the afternoon/evening off with no second run.  Seemed to have done the trick.

PM - got in 6 after work - bit sluggish after a long day of work and travel.  

AM - about 5.5 miles this morning- felt ok, but not great.  Seem to be in a bit of a running funk lately.

PM - a little more than 8.5 miles after work on a hilly route. Very slow aerobic effort.

AM - easy 4 miles before work.  Almost felt as humid/muggy here in Atlanta as a summer morning in Florida.

PM - about 9.5 very hilly miles in some parts of Alpharetta that I had not yet run in - slow going but slightly better run this evening perhaps due to a light rain cooling things just a bit.   

AM - just about 4 miles easy this morning before heading to the office.  Flight home this afternoon and a meeting this evening may make it a challenge for a second run today.

AM - 8 miles early this morning before work.  Took about 3 miles for me to feel "normal" - little bit creaky and sluggish start.

PM - 7.5 miles with Richie in and out of rain showers and storms around Feathersound.  The cool rain was refreshing.  

AM - slightly more than 4 easy miles this morning - feeling better over the last few runs.

PM - a little more than 15 miles in the evening - slow and sweaty. 

PM - 6 miles easy on the treadmill.  Sore again for the first few minutes.  Otherwise fine.

AM - very early easy 4 before a morning flight.

PM - got in a slow tight uncomfortable run.  Groin issues are really not improving much.  Doing lots of stretching/self massage etc.  Beginning to think I may need to take some time off.  Runs are not enjoyable. 

AM - so I was thinking of taking the day off with no running - but I awoke with a lot less tightness and so I did a little stretching and used the "stick" for a bit and thought, maybe a short run to test things.  Surprisingly very little to no tightness and no pain at all.  Had a relatively normal feeling run.  No instability or weakness that I realized I was experiencing from time to time.  Weird.  6 miles of  pleasant running.

PM - got another decent run in this afternoon without any groin issues.  In Va Beach with the family for a few days - very warm here.

AM - easy 4.5 miles with Riley in Va Beach.  Very warm and she was feeling it - so we cut it short.  But no issues with my groin - so I have decided it may be fun to connect with Rob on Wednesday next week and do the Des News half.  

PM - easy 8 miles around the golf course behind my brother in laws house and around a lake in a nearby neighborhood. In vacation mode this week. Light running and different activities. Took my daughters to play golf yesterday. Today I tried paddle boarding.

No running today - busy with vacation activities and then headed out to the airport in the late afternoon - arrived late in Alpharetta - showing the family around the Atlanta area for a couple of days.

AM- got in a nice 9 mile run in this morning before church.  Spent the afternoon showing my family around the Atlanta area.

AM - 4 easy miles in Alpharetta.

AM - 4 easy miles before work.

Good race for me today - a PR by over 2 mins and on my birthday (so a nice gift!)

Rob graciously picked me up from the airport around 9:45 last night and we awoke at 2:30 am to head up the canyon for the Deseret News Half and Full Marathons this morning.  Rob was doing the full and I was doing the half. 

A little sketchy staging area on Little Mountain - basically sitting in the dark on the roadside on or near the guardrails - but no issues.  Cool and dry - actually almost chilly waiting for the start.

Went out conservatively not knowing how much the elevation / altitude would hamper my efforts.  Ended up running very smoothly down Emigration Canyon at 6:24 pace - a few faster and a couple of slower miles when thing leveled out a bit after exiting the canyon.  Passed lots of folks and never was passed.  Last 2 miles were a bit tough running solo along the parade route and then bumping up against the stragglers for the 10k finish.  Last mile was actually the slowest at 6:48 - false flat into the sun.

Happy with the effort - probably could have run a bit faster early on - but I think that made things even more enjoyable - knowing that I was holding back a bit.  Love the net downhill course! 

Flew out yesterday afternoon back to Atlanta arriving late and then up very early for meetings and travel late today back home - no room for a run.  Probably good for a day off - delay onset of muscle soreness today - very sore quads from the downhill pounding yesterday!

AM - easy 3 miles to shake out the soreness and lactic acid in the legs.  Slow to start but relatively decent after a mile or so.  

PM - 6.5 miles in the very uncomfortable midday mugginess of Tampa.  Really not a very enjoyable run once the heat took over.  Ran with Richie who joined me after a couple of miles.  He's nursing some nagging PF - and just arrived from a laser treatment and K taping of it - which he claimed really seemed to work.   

PM - 10 miles very easy this evening. Cut my big toe this morning in bit of a comical effort to redirect my elderly dog from using my driveway as a bathroom. Anyway - it was just painful enough to be a nuisance on the run later in the day.

PM- got 13 solid miles on on the treadmill this afternoon.  Tired of slogging through the heat and humidity for longer runs outdoors, I decided to stay inside - actually enjoyed this session.  Very little residual soreness now too.  

AM - 4 miles easy very early before my flight to Atlanta.  Tight hip flexors this morning.

PM - 6 more after work. Pleasant summer evening in Atlanta - a little warm but not hot and no humidity. Really nice. Could get used to this.

AM - 4 easy miles on a morning cool enough to actually need a shirt.  Pleasant little run along the Greenway Trail in the dark.  Severely tight again in the hip flexors and groin - takes a while to loosen up.  Lots of stretching and active release following the run.  Felt good afterwards.  

PM - 8 more on the treadmill at the hotel after work before a work-dinner.   

AM - 5.5 miles easy on a rainy muggy morning.

PM - 6.0 miles after a work dinner of Thai food.  Actually had a pretty good run.  Still tight in hip flexors - but did a trick I learned with a problem with my calf muscle a while back.  Run a bit and if it is painful or tight, stop and walk a bit - then restart - seems to allow blood flow to loosen the area.  Couple of starts and stops and it was much better.  They have fireflies at night in Alpharetta.   I have not seen those in years.  They don't exist as far as I know in Florida.   Reminded me of when I was a kid on vacation in the summer time when I would visit family in the northeast.