Clyde's Comeback!

7.2 miles this morning. Took it nice and easy and really felt good. I had a lot of extra "build up" in the system from all the Super Bowl junk I ate yesterday but that made it's way through. The hamstring felt really good all day yesterday and maybe only a 2 out of 10 for pain this morning. I'm going to start hitting doubles again this week so I guess here we go...

We had a little planning session on Saturday night where we talked about the Squaw Peak 50 miler. For the next 16 weeks that's the goal.  

7.2 miles this afternoon. The same loop as this morning. I did the inner GS loop counter clockwise both times. So I had to deal with the long sandy hill. It was good though cuz it helped me keep the pace slow and just try to work on smooth form. Now for some good stretching and a ball workout.  

7.2 miles this morning. The same loop I've done the last two runs. I really don't love this run but just stumble into it and it works. The hamstring hurt a little more this morning. I didn't get my leg cures workout in on the ball yesterday and it really makes a difference. Now to finish off all the little painting projects around the house.

6 miles this afternoon. What a beautiful day. It was 65 or better this afternoon and it felt like 75. This is really the nicest time of year. In fact you don't really need it to be any warmer during the middle of the day- the mornings are still kind of chilly. Anyways I ran from the house out into the fields to one of our properties to meet Mik'L and do and inspection. I felt really good during the run and even hit a couple sub 6:30 miles after I got warmed up. Then I finished and got in the truck and we did inspections for the next hour or so and I butt really started to hurt. Right at the end of the leg or bottom of the bum. Ouch! It's not the best to finish a run and jump right into a chair... or set.  

7.5 mile run this morning. I was really tight from last night and went extra slow today. I did the middle GS loop clockwise. I'm getting closer to being done with my painting projects. The house look good and way different. Mik'L likes it and thats all that really matters. 

5 miles this evening up around the GS church. I had a billion things going on today and really didn't want to go but found a way to get out of the house and keep the mojo flowing. I felt a lot better tonight than I did this morning. Anywho it was a pretty good run and I'm glad I got out.

Big morning workout. I was going to reward myself and have a play day and then it kind of turned into wanting to run. I went out to ride the Zen trail out in Green Valley and the basic loop is 5.8 miles however depending on where you park it makes things longer. So from where I parked it ended up being a 7.6 mile ride. I had a blast riding it and didn't go all out but went fast enough to get some air when at all possible. The ride took 1:16 and while peddling back up to the Jeep I decided to run it again. So a very fair gauge would be to give myself 2.5 miles worth of running for the ride.

Then I started the run. I grabbed an apple and a drink and hit the trail. At around the halfway point I was way ahead of my biking pace but thought the coming downhill would even us back up. However I ran the loop in 1:05 and I wasn't pushing the pace at all. Kind of weird how fast you feel your going on the bike and how slow your really going. The whole day was amazing with perfect weather. Now to recharge and get ready for this evenings club run.  

 8.8 mile run this evening in 1:09 with the club. We went up into GS and hit the trail up to the powerline and then over to the trail that runs back to Washington. From there we just made our way back to the store. I kind of hit a wall tonight. In total today I didn't eat more that 700 or so calories. After my bike ride/ run and then another run I most likely burned over 2,500 or more and then just the calories I'd burn for normal life on top of that. So long story short about half way through the run tonight I was starving and my body needed fuel. I made it back to the store but only had enough energy to go to Burger King which is right around the corner and load up on calories. Not the best post run recovery food but in this situation it worked. 

7 mile run this morning. I really didn't fee the glow to go out today... and will not do a second run. I'm already way over the weekly mileage and tomorrows long run will add plenty. Today I did the mall loop and stopped by the running store to order my new BabyJogger from Steven. Then I made my way back and extended a little around Middleton to hit 7. Now to rest up for a big one tomorrow.  

Nice big workout this morning. We all met at my house at 6:30 a.m and headed up to take on the Broken Mesa. There was 8 of us when we left but after that things separated a little. The first few miles were in the dark... luck for me I have the trail memorized and it wasn't an issue- plus they had been out there with a bulldozer doing some work so it was graded flat. 

The trail climb from my house at around 2,800 to 5,100 and some change. We went out and back to the trail head by turkey farm road and it's exactly 11 miles from my driveway. Dave and I were out in 1:40:55 and back in 1:30 flat. So a big negative split but that is due to the major loss in elevation.

We all managed to trip and fall. I took a spill at mile 9ish on the way out and cut my hand up. But no one went down harder than Greg. I didn't see it but when he got back to my house I cleaned him up... it looked like a pretty good crash. Sorry Greg!

It turned out to be a really solid workout. I felt better than I've felt in a long time and at times seemed to be running completely pain free. Happy, happy, joy, joy! This one will be a good endurance base to have in the bag for the year.

 Good times and great oldies.  

11.2 mile run this morning. This turned out to be one that I will not soon forget. When I left the house the skies looked stormy but nothing was really happening so I went over into GS and then over to the Millcreek trail that we ran down the other night on the club run and then across the powerline and down around Middleton to the house. It was basically a very light drizzle up to about the top of the Millcreek trail. Then for about the 3 or so miles down the powerline it turned into a heavy rain and I was now soaked. This was all still just another day out on the trail but when I hit the trail that starts back to Middleton things just got "Buck Wild". The wild really picked up and so did a snow/ hail mixture that was coming in the direction of my eyeballs. I had shorts on and my legs just suffered a fierce beating and for the next two miles I just tried to stay alive basically running in a white out. When I got home I was just as soaked as if I'd just jumped in a pool and all the skin on my body that was exposed to the elements was bright red and starting to swell. Anyways I lived but it really sucked and that 11 miles or so felt like 20. I may do a short run this afternoon on the TREADMILL because I'm not going back outside today- Thank You very much.  

4 easy miles while rocking out in the garage on the treadmill. Ironically I was listening to Bob Dylen's "shelter from the storm".  

13.5 mile run this morning. I didn't know where I was going to go this morning when I left the house and ended up drifting over into GS and then up the trail that put me at the base of the Icehouse trail... Next thing I knew I was climbing it and on top of the mesa until I decided that I had enough uphill and then I went of the trail to my left and did some cross country stuff until I ended up coming out in the canyon behind the turkey farm. Then I just went over to the road and came back home. Interesting that the 13.5 miles took 2:02:30!!! I've done 20 mile runs that took less time. These trail runs don't trash you like out on the road but it sure takes a lot more time to get the mileage in. I did find a cool trailer hitch/ ball thing laying on the side of the dirt road and I'm going to drive up there now to see if it's still there. Finders Keepers!

11.3 miles this morning with Nate. We did the loop around GS, Poweline, and industrial. Then I did a short little extension around Escalera and back home. It looked like it was going to be cool but once we were out running I was pretty sweaty. The hamstring kind of bugged today so we'll have to monitor it a little the next couple days. 

6 miles tonight over to the church and back. I went the long way over and did YM and YW (Broom Hockey) and then ran back the same way with Taylor. I had to twist his arm to get him to do it but in the end he did good and was glad.  

7.2 miles this morning. I felt like poo. The hamstring was tight and everything else kind of jumped on the bandwagon. 

8.15 mile run tonight with the club. The regular parkway loop. My hamstring has been buggin overtime but I put some Wintercrest on and was able to handle it. I did however have to hit the gas station .5 miles before we were finished for a potty break. That BLT I had for lunch at Great Harvest was rockin out.  

I ended up not running today. The hamstring was still tight and I didn't want to push it and end up where I was 2 months ago. So goose egg I guess.

Kind of a bummer. The hammy is still tight and I'm not taking any chances. I'll start up again on Monday and try to keep my runs a little shorter in length but continue with the  daily doubles. We had an our annual meeting with Stone Cliff so I couldn't go out then even if I wanted to.   

8.6 mile run this morning. After a few days of a lay off I decided I'd get back out and try it. This run went like every other run I've done after a few days off. Kind of started out really tight all over, had stomach issues, felt kind of lurpy most of the run and took way longer than it should have. But other than that I felt pretty good and enjoyed the warm morning sun, with hints of spring everywhere. My hammy wasn't really that bad but I could feel a deep grind and I'll really have to watch it for a while. 

7.3 mile run this morning. I just missed a hail storm so that was nice. The hammy is tight but as long as I go slow and controlled I can get through a run. I'll try to keep single weekday runs under 9 or so miles and keep trying to catch 2 a day when I can. I'd like to just hang around 80 mpw for a month or so if the body will allow.  

7.8 miles around the outer GS loop tonight. As long as I take things slow I think I'm o.k (knock on wood). Last week I did 4 miles on the treadmill one night and got going a little too fast and I think thats what started the hammy hurting again. Anywho I felt pretty good tonight and was happy to see James H. out on his run too.

8.6 mile run this morning. I did the long GS loop in 1:10. It's slow going as most of it is on trails and uphill. Last night it rained most of the night and it made things pretty muddy this morning too. My hammy was tight and I started to wonder if this is even worth it anymore... It seems my drive to fight this injury is decreasing every day but I'm too scared to stop running for loss of fitness so the battle goes on. 

I'm kind of pumped to jump into some painting projects here at home today to take my mind off of running. I also tore the old gold and glass shower door out yesterday and the bathroom looks 10 times  better. Mik'L wants to switch all the gold fixtures out for brushed nickel... it does look a lot better so far.  

I got sick last night at the movie. Now it's for real and I feel like dying. 

Fighting a really bad head cold. Didn't see this one coming. 

Still feeling the symptoms but feeling better... until I tried to do something and then I felt like crap again. 

19 miles on  the bike- 1 mile actual running= 5ish running miles. 

After feeling really sick for what has seemed like days I finally felt like getting out of the house but not really feeling like running. My hamstring has been aching even on days of no activity so I'm going to have to scale back the miles. Anyways I went out on a Mt. bike ride in a rain storm. I left the house and road up the Middleton trail to the power line and then over to the base of the Icehouse... I couldn't resist the temptation to go up there. So I slowly made my way about a third up before slipping a peddle and coming to my first stop. Then I realized that I was still a little sick or something as I couldn't catch my breath and had to get off and sit on the ground for about 10 min's before pushing the bike up the rest of the step rocky portion. Once on the mesa I rode up to where we had watched the big deer heard a few weeks ago. There I parked the bike and hiked around for about 30 min's looking for sheds or antlers. I found three but they were all a few years old and crispy white. Then I rode up to where the trail splits to the Broken Mesa or Icehouse and I took the Icehouse over for a while until parking the bike and hiking around again looking for sheds. This time the only thing I found was a steady down poor of rain. At the farthest point away from the bike I decided I needed to get off the mountain because I was muddy and getting even more soaked. So I ran back to the bike and hit the downhill trail back to GS on the bike. I got completely covered in muddy water by the time I was on pavement. Then finally made it back around to the house... Kind of fun in a crazy way. But after being out for almost 4 hours I was totally trashed. 

The left leg (hamstring area) has really been hurting. Even on days I don't run it aches in the night. So I'm not sure what's going on but not running right now. 

I'm kind of flaking out here. Just can't get the body to do what I want. I'll keep looking to the future... 

On a brighter note it was amazing in STG today. It said it was 74 degrees at my house at 1:30 p.m.  I golfed 9 holes with my uncle Dave and I wore shorts and was hot! We did walk but not bad for February?

22.5 mile bike ride today up some nasty trails. Actually it was an amazing ride. I LOVED IT! I went back up on top of the mesa where I was Monday. I took the the Icehouse trail that splits off the Broken Mesa trail. Monday I was heading up it but it began to dump rain and I was still kind of sick so I turned around. Today I decided to take it all the way up to where it hits the Leeds road and then loop back down. I was killer because I climb from my house basically up to about 12 miles out. By the time I got to the top it had been two and a half hours. Then I bailed back down on the road to the water tank and then took the trail back into Middleton. I was flying all the way back and did it in like 45 min's. 

It was really cool to go do some more exploring up there. It's bigger up there than it looks like it would be from town. So I can explore my brains out and not run out of places. By the time I got back home I was pooped and hungry. I only ate a bananna before leaving and it wasn't enough to keep the fire going. 

The hammy is feeling better but I'm in no rush to run. I'm going to try and really work back into it slower this time...

Another 3 hour bike ride today. I had my garmin but it was being stupid so I'm not really sure how far I went. The only hard facts are that I left the car at 10:35 and got back to the car at 1:40. But it ended up being AMAZING anyways. 

If one couldn't tell I'm trying to fill my cup of playing before the baby comes (which is any day). I drove out to by Apple Valley to the Goosberry Mesa trail. It is a "Expert" level mountain biking trail that is a million types of awesome. I kept losing the trail here and there and that slowed me down time wise. Plus I kept getting off to take pictures of the 360 degree views. When I got out to the "point" where you can look off in every direction I ran into 6 other guys. They were from Onterio and when I said I lived in STG and had never ridden the trail before they about died. They went on to tell me how it's rated on of the top 5 slick rock trails in North America or something like that. They rode too slow and I had to pass them a few time (after I would stop to check things out).

On the way back I hit a rock the wrong way and pinched the tube causing a flat. So I had to get off and run while pushing the bike. So I actually did run for 1.3 miles avging 7:20 pace down the last double track portion of the ride.

What a sweet trail. If you've never checked it out you need to.