Chasing my Dreams

My legs did feel somewhat tired, especially on some of the uphills, which is good. I can't wait to hit up the Cache Valley hills again here in a week. 6:39 average running a loop I've never done before. My breathing was also a little harder than I would have liked, but part of that may have also been the temperature. 

My bowels were not in cooperation this morning following a lot of beans consumed yesterday. The legs felt fine other than my stride seemed a little restricted. Did stop to try and poop and what not. 6:35 average. 

The running was harder than I would have liked today. I was mostly running by feel. The cold air was influencing my ability to breath, and I felt pretty depleted food/energy wise. 6:29 average. I wanted to get the segment record in Stillwater, but it ends up that the course record was set by a guy biking that didn't change it on Strava, so I'm second on the leaderboard. 

Tried something different to mix things up, a trail run in the winter. It was quite refreshing and a great way to force me to have a nice and easy day: 7:59 average. There were a few pretty bad icy spots that slowed me down a lot. I also didn't really try on any of the hills, which was also a factor. If the trails were strictly packed snow, it would have been awesome. I also had a seed and some rocks in my shoe that were annoying for the whole run. 

It's getting harder to breath with the stupid inversion that is infiltrating the air. I actually felt better the faster I ran. 6:40 average for a jaunt through Hooper.

Hipflexors/upperquads are a bit tight today after yesterdays trail adventures.

My legs were feeling fantastic for the first 6 miles or so, however I could tell that I probably needed to stop and poop. I hit up Rob's construction site and used that honey bucket, then was back on my way. After another mile or so I had my pace back where I wanted and it still felt pretty good, but I was still feeling some GI discomfort. Unfortunately this GI discomfort ended up staying with me the whole run. Right around mile 12 I felt my legs kind of give out, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to hammer out the last 6.5 miles. At that point I tried to be mentally tough and make that the focus of the last third of the run, because it's important to do that on runs like today. I tried to keep the legs going as fast as I could, and still held a decent pace for the rest of the run, mostly from the mental toughness. I also fought the wind for the majority of the run.

6:18 average

I had some minor pain on the left ball of my foot towards where the toes attach, but it wasn't a big issue that I felt the entire run.

I didn't actually sleep for 7 hours, but I did lay in bed for that long. I could not go to sleep last night.

This run was an interesting one. The roads were really slick, so there were moments where I was either having to run slow in order to stay on my feet, or else I was churning but not going anywhere. I also slipped and penguin slid once. Other than that the run wasn't too bad. I did have to poop though, partially because of my body not being used to this schedule. The outside of right achilles hurt a little. 6:47 average

Ran all the hills to work on getting the fitness back. They really get the heartrate up there. I had to poop, so I hit the one at the top of the long hill. The outside of my right achilles still bothered me, especially during the second half of my run. 6:47 average

I forgot to set my alarm, so I ended up running in the afternoon. Luckily I had time with it being the first week of school. I met up with Tom and did an easy 5 miles with him. It was refreshing to hae some conversation during a run. I kept going after that and was going to pcik it up, but I felt a poop coming on and started my search for somewhere to go. After quite a bit of running I found a porta-potty in a neighbourhood by Green Canyon. That didn't prove to help the pain I was experiencing too much. I then started running again and after a mile was really hurting again. I made it to a gas station, but that didn't really help. I really suffered through the last mile, and the last half mile I had to keep stopping and could barely maintain 10 minute pace. 7:10 average, my legs didn't give me any problems. 

I was a little nervous after yesterdays run, but today was much better. My legs felt pretty good and I was really enjoying my run today. 6:37 average, with no leg problems at all. I did have to stop and use a porta-potty, but it was a normal stop and wasn't bad at all. I also don't feel like the hills are killing me like they were a few days ago either. Saw a handful of runners this morning, which was weird.

I forgot to mention yesterday that at the beginning of the run my left toe connection was bothering me. It was the same this morning, but it goes away after I get going. I was feeling pretty good for a lot of the run. I did stop and poop again, but it wasn't a problem. Right after I hit 7 miles I felt my legs get tired, but slowing down was probably a good thing because I was running harder than I probably should have been anyways. 6:37 average

Initially I just wanted to enjoy the morning, but once I got moving there wasn't stopping me. I mostly focused on working the uphills hard and then having some decent miles on the downhill. I'd forgotten how hard all of those hills are. If anything my legs were just tired today. I took a safety poop in Smithfield just to ensure I didn't have problems. After mile 15 I backed off and ran 6:20s for the rest of the way. 6:25 average

Just wanted to mix things up a little and shake the weekend out of my legs. I weaved around for a while and then continued my loop. Nothing bothered me today. 6:42 average, faster than I thought I would run today.

Tossed and turned last night while sleeping, so I didn't feel super rested when I woke up this morning. For the first half of my run my legs felt pretty dead/exhausted. This partially is probably due to playing foot twister last night at Home Evening. I did stop and poop at some newfound porta-potties. My legs didn't feel tired the second half of the run though. 6:38 average

6:41 average. I can't remember too much of this run, as I forgot to update this afterwards. I don't remember anything really hurting. Still trying to get my bowels used to this schedule and my new diet.

I wasn't confident with my prerun poop, so I ended up stopping moreso out of safety at the porta potty. I was trying to keep things a little easier today, but the second half ended up not really being relaxed. 6:45 average. My legs felt fairly good, but my IT bands felt a bit tight at the beginning.

My legs were very heavy today, and my breathing was harder than it normally is running how fast I was running, so that was an indicator that I was pretty tired. I also probably didn't sleep as much or drink as much as I needed to. 6:47 average. 

All the sitting I'm doing is killing my lower back and hips. I probably need to strengthen those areas.

Mentally I wasn't really ready to push hard, and with the weather I set out with the goal of enjoying the run. I experienceds all sorts of road conditions, including slushy and icy, so it wasn't exactly the best terrain for running fast anyways. During the last two and a half miles I really focused on driving my legs and keeping the form in my legs, which actually made a big difference in how well I was able to finish. 6:29 average.

6:43 average, my bowels were not happy today.. I felt some aching around my knees, but nothing major. It was in the single digits this morning, and I felt like I was running much faster than I actually was

I woke up a little stiff and tight from skiing last night and was going to take it nice and easy, but I can't seem to run slow by myself. My legs honestly felt fine once I got going. 6:47 average

It was another morning of not getting my bowels to cooperate. My legs still seemed a little tired, but that wasn't really slowing me down. It was another cool morning. 6:38 average. I'm wondering if the saltines I ate yesterday impacted my bowels today.. We'll see I guess.

The outside of my right foot at the ball (right below where the toe connects) felt pretty tender today. This may be a result of the shoes I've been wearing this week, as they are worn out right there. It also could be because my current trainers are beginning to get worn down right there.

My bowels played games on me today. I stopped at the porta potty to realize I didn't actually have to go, which was a kind of nice relief, but I was still stopped way longer than I would have liked. 6:36 average. The outside of my right foot almost feels bruised today, I think the shoes were a big factor.

Road conditions weren't ideal, so I didn't necessarily try to run fast. As a result I ran 6:55s, which was probably exactly what my body needed anyways. I stopped and pooped, but really got it all out after I was done with the run. 

I decided to stay in bed an extra hour and that made a big difference. I felt great getting out the door, and could tell it was going to be a good run when my first mile was a 6:25 with some uphill. I basically just let things keep rolling and got down to 6 flat pace by the time I was five miles in. I did stop and poop, but it was well needed and saved the rest of the run. Once I got to the long uphill in Smithfield I was really going and was able to really grind those hills, which didn't slow me down much. I then was able to put together around 5:40s for miles 12-15, then I ran 6:10ish for the final last bit of the run. 6:03 average. Definitely one of my best runs ever.

I had a hard time falling asleep last night, and then I feel like I tossed and turned most of the night. 

I got out the door this morning and felt kind of lethargic, but it got better the longer I was out. 6:44 average. I had to stop and poop because I couldn't beforehand. My feet were bothering me, probably because my shoes are about shot. My right quad felt especially tired, and the left ball of my foot into my toes hurt pretty good. 

It was a tough morning getting out the door and getting going. I much rather would have stayed in bed. I took things fairly easy the first couple of miles and then naturally picked things up after that. This run definitely helped me have a better attitude aboutt the day. My shoes actually treated me fairly well until 9 miles in, and then my left foot/toes started to hurt like they did yesterday. So I'll probably break out the new shoes tomorrow. It was pretty nice out this morning as well. 6:43 average

Unfortunately it was cloudy and I couldn't see the Super Blue Blood Moon. For the first like three miles my breathing felt like it was harder than normal, so I mentally knew I probably should run easier, but my legs didn't want to cooperate. However, once I hit like 6.5 miles, I could tell my legs were feeling pretty tired. 6:38 average.

I broke out the new shoes today as well. My right ankle feels bruised almost I think from my worn out shoes.. It went away after a mile though