Clyde's Comeback!

Same loop as yesterday. About the same effort and body feedback. Overall just happy to get out and run. I'm tired of worrying about what I can't do: can't run the mileage I'm use to, can't go out with the guys, can't race, ect. Today on my run I just felt blessed to be running. So I know this sounds like Jon Bytheway but  I'm just going to focus on what I can do from here on out. 

Another run around B-hills. Started out around the park then the middle B-hills loop and finished up through the secret street around Little Valley. Feel like I may be on a road to recovery although today's run hurt pretty bad. Just took it slow. I was going to wear the gps to see just how slow these runs are but it wasn't charged. 

54.6 mile bike ride. A big group ride was heading out this afternoon and I decided it's been long enough- time to try riding again. Tempo was slow and for the first 30 or so miles I kept getting ahead and having to stop and wait.

We went out through the fields up around the south side of Coral then up by the Walmart distribution center. Took a new road (for me) up around the crusher sales office above the freeway and it drops back in to coral canyon. Then we went back up and down the dump hill and turned north onto the parkway then back into town. Up over the "Dixie" road and out into Ivans- then up through Snow Canyon and back down the course all the way down Bluff. Then I split from the group hit the bathroom at the DC and finished on the trails around B-hills and the park back home.

I started to bonk going past Entrada so I took some shot blocks and gatorade. Ended up dropping my bottle in the road and not being able to pick it up because cars were on me. So I had to loop back around to get it. Here I ended up tipping over because I couldn't get my foot out of the clip and unknowingly bent my derailer. Finally got going again and the group was waiting at the park entrance. So we started the big climb up through the park. When it got steep I tried shifting to my climbing gears and found out that the derailer was bent and it wouldn't shift. So I tried to climb in the harder gears for 2\3 of the way up. But one by one the group passed me and finally my legs were gone and I had to get off the bike and try bending it back. Luckily it worked and this made things much easier but I was one of the last ones up the hill... humbling.

Anyways after months of not doing much I hope today can help me turn the corner to get some more workouts and rides in. By the time I got home I was really trashed and super hungry. Luckily my wife had already ordered Cafe Rio and it was on it's way!

Fairly good run today. Started out with doing the outer B-hills loop. Pain was less than half of what it has been. Wore a watch today to see just how slow I've been running. 7:14 avg for the run. Although today was a little faster than it's been because the pain was down. Beautiful blue skies and calm morning with a low of 30 F. Continuing with the extra insert in the right side to help even out the longer left. Seems to be really helping. Now if I can just keep it smooth and ez and continue to build my volume back up the next couple months.  8.2 miles

3 more miles after I finished the B-hills loop with Misty. Over to the park, around the grass twice then back to my house. 32:14 or 10:46 pace. She did great and held the pace consistent throughout the run.

DC loop. Was a little tighter than yesterday but I also tried a new insert in my left heel that seemed to raise the foot up and help a little more. So overall another positive run. Didn't get out until after dropping Myler off at school so it was 9:15 or so. Just beautiful for running. Trying to work on ways to keep those hips loose. One things that sucks is doing sit ups or side sit ups seems to be counter productive and knots things up. So my abs and core are really suffering because just as soon as I try and work them out everything starts to hurt again. 

Finally was able to go out on a big boys run. It's been weeks since I joined them for the Wednesday morning run so today I was actually excited to wake up at 4:45. Pace was slower which I needed as we chatted it up. Feeling so so today. Maybe a little extra sore and tired from the recent up in volume but as long as I stretch it out good I should be ok... 

After the run I hit the spinner for 30 mins on a pretty EZ effort. Mainly wanted to loosen up the legs and hips. 

Out to the freeway and back around B-hills. One of our old tempo loops. Felt pretty good today. Like not full swing but moving forward for sure. Just tried to stay loose most of the run but 50:00 into it I decided to up the effort and try to beat the 7 min guy home. 10 miles at a 6:58 avg. So a good 20 min push to end it but felt pretty doable. Just trying to put one day at a time into the books. 

35 min swim at Summit. Finally got things in order so I can get in the pool. For not really being in the mood this swim went really well. It's an outdoor pool that's heated to 83F so it was kind of magical swimming out there at 7:30 last night. 

Ran over to the DC on the regular loop but once I got there and hit the potty I just decided to turn around and run back. For some reason the 6 miles back the same way seemed easier than the 4.2 to finish off the loop. Pace was slower today but I didn't have a watch to see just how slow. Felt kind of sluggish today. A mixture of doing a swim workout last night and Myler waking up through the night- so not much sleep. Had some ran and wind but temps were warm and I had to strip a layer off for the ride home. 

12 mile run-Started the day off by doing the same out and back run to the DC as yesterday. No watch but kept the effort honest. Felt a little better than Friday on the run and much better after. For some reason on Friday I was just trashed after the run and could hardly function. Continuing to try different inserts and set ups in my shoes to see what works the best for my left hip. But so far it's allowing me to get out and log some miles- thankful for that. 

 52 mile bike ride- Basically did the same ride as last week. Today it was solo. I headed out with the intentions of doing it much better, fast and positive than last week. So I did it faster 17.6 mph avg over last weeks 17.4 and I felt more in control and comfortable this week. But I got beat up by the wind. It rocked my boat the entire ride. It was super hard coming from the west. So from Coral Canyon back over to Ivans and into Snow Canyon it was just brutal. By the time I got home I was trashed. So a plus that I could do this ride better with way worse conditions however I really hated it. I enjoyed riding back in the fall before my accident in early December. But the last couple times out on the bike I've just loathed the time. Hopefully with some better conditioning in the legs over the next few weeks I'll start to enjoy it more.

DC loop this morning. Temps at 24 F. I thought we were past the cold stuff... good thing I haven't planted the peas yet. A little more stiff and achy than last week. But maybe it's just Monday. Came home and stretched good. Then headed to the pool. 

35 min swim at Summit. I can drop Myler off at the daycare at Summit for 90 mins. So it will work out good to allow me to swim while he plays. I've never been a gym joining type of guy. So I wont start now. I'm only doing a month to month thing... hoping it will only take a couple months to warm up enough so I can swim at the lake. But for now I'll try to really get in as much as possible since it's only 2 miles from my house.

DC loop. 24 F this morning first thing but I didn't run until after dropping Myler at school so around 9:30 and by then it was pretty nice out in the sun. Starting our adding on project here at the house. Turning the garage into rooms and building another garage. So I've had lots of work to do just in prep. Myler tried to help but was more work... but we had fun wheelbarrowing bark. 

19 mile run this morning. Started out with the guys on the regular Wed's loop. It's 10.2 miles long. Then I headed out for another loop. Cut it off a little short of a full loop by skipping the park. But I knew I had to run again with Misty so saved some miles for later. 

I just wanted to see what a good long run felt like on the body. It was ok. Hip held about where it's been. Overall I'm just out of shape and the hard parts of the run were do to that more than anything. But I didn't die off and held basically the same pace on the second lap as we did  on the first. 7:34 avg. Never tried to push... just wanted some long miles. 

3 more miles. After the long run I had about an hour to recover before going out with Misty. We just went over to the park, did two loops then came back. She rocked it today hitting a 9:34 avg for the run... way faster than last week.

B-hills loop. Felt pretty good the day after the long run. Just really slow. I only went 6 today because there's just a lot to get done here at home. 

Over to the DC and back. Felt really slow on the way over. The heavy legs loosened up a little on the way back so pace was a little faster then but still slow. Hip seems to be ok. The only issue is sometimes it almost feels like it could pop out of socket. It just feels really weak and unstable. But the painful grinding, tightness from before seems to have passed. 

15.2 mile run. Went to Summit to run with the club. Steven and Ben took me on a tour of the fields. Steady run but not fast. Felt pretty good and in control of the situation all the way thru the finish. Just trying to rebuild my great wall of China fitness base that was lost. Best week in a long long time. 

Now off on the cycle. 

56.5 mile ride today. Great weather helped this to be the best ride for me in a while. Legs seemed to have some juice today as well. Felt in control the whole ride. Even up Snow Canyon I kept it in check whereas the last couple time up I've basically tapped out. Upped the results from 17.4 mph two weeks ago, 17.6 last week to 18.7 mph on this ride. Basically hit the 56 mile mark at 2:59:30. I'm gonna have a hard time going much under 3 hours in the half IM for the bike leg. It was super busy in town today and so those sections with traffic might have been a little faster but I'm not taking as many chances now post wreck.

52.2 mile ride. Hit a really solid brick workout today. For the first time in a while I got on the bike first then ran. Legs seemed to have more power on the uphills for sure this way. Road basically my same Coral canyon, Crusher, half IM loop course. I planned on doing 56.5 like last Saturday but at 52.2 I got a flat... Luck for me I was only a mile from my in-laws and it was super EZ and fast to have my father in-law come pick me up and take me home. I was only 2 miles from home on the closest route. So total downtime between bike and run was roughly 12 min's. But I killed the ride today for me. Last weeks PR of 18.7 mph avg was blown up as I hit 20.4 mph avg today. Really was able to ride the hills strong and felt really good all the way through until the stupid flat. Someone told me that the benchmark "good" time up Snow Canyon from payhouse to payhouse is 19 mins. Last Saturday after running first I road it in 21:00 but today I hit a 18:40. So I was pretty pumped about that.

13.1 mile fields tempo loop course. Got home changed cloths really quick and went potty then started to run. Right at first my left hip felt super weak and felt as if it could pop out of socket. So I babied it for a mile and it warmed up. Just put it into a smooth controlable pace all the way around. Ended with a 6:46 avg for the run. My best or fastest run since the STG marathon. So after riding good and then finishing it off with a solid run I was very pleased... and ate 5 brownies to reward myself.

Middle B-hills loop extended back through the secret street. Left hip felt super slippery today. The first mile it sent sharp pains and acted like it was sliding out to the left. Very weak on the stability side. By mile two it felt more stable but the whole run was sketchy. I'll take the rest of the day off... and finally plant my peas. 

20.4 mile run. Started out with the regular Wednesday morning loop. Logan was the only one who showed up. The two of us stood in the cutout of my garage door and took shelter from the downpour... then we headed out. Got soaked to the bone. Pace was slowish. I had my gps but didn't have it working correctly. We stayed warm by running and chatting it up. Got home and hit the potty, changed shirts and shoes then did another loop. It rained on this loop until it turned to snow. Finished up the 20.4 mile run soaked and pretty cold but other than that I felt pretty good. 

4 more miles with Misty. Had about 70 min's to kill before Misty came for her run. Took a long hot shower and ate 4 pieces of toast with a chocolate/ banana protein shake. Was pretty spent but by the time she got to the house the legs were ready again. We did a big loop of Little Valley and hit our longest run so far. She rocked it with a 38:35 or 9:39 avg. We'll be looking for 5-6 next week.  

Slow grind around the DC loop this morning. No watch but I could just tell it took forever. Everything was just a little stiff and unresponsive. The right ankle (the one that was broken) has been more stiff lately- I'm guessing due to the recent up in volume. But it's kind of giving me a slight limp while running. I'll try 800mm of Ib and see if it takes the edge off. 

Really didn't want to run today... but once I got out it seemed better than yesterday. No watch but not as slow. Kind of cooler at 28F. 

Fields loop via the Washington park then down into B-hills and back over to River Road. Crazy that this loop was exactly what I needed for distance. I wanted 15.1 to put me at 80 for the week and nothing more... so when I ran into the cul de sac I was pumped to not have to add on. Really felt hammered today. Some of my "pains" came back and then hip, and lower abs were sore. Could have pushed it a little too far this week but will Dr up over the weekend and see how it goes on Monday. 

Since I've been able to get back out on a normal basis I've wanted to crack off a 80 mile week at least once before the half IM in May. So I guess I got that out of the way and can not focus on mileage from here on out. I only got in one ride this week (monday) and no swims. So hopefully the weather will warm and I can get a little more well rounded in my Tri training. 

B-hills loop. Nothing else to report. 

Super hard run. Woke up at 2:30 a.m and was wide awake. Sleep wasn't happening so I finally just decided to go for a run just before 4 a.m. Tried a different insert and it was horrible. Withing a mile things just didn't feel right, by mile 5 I was hurting pretty good and by 8 I was all but walking. Every symptom of my injury came crashing back... it was super painful. But I really didn't stress about it because I knew it was the shoes and insert. Just drug it back home slow and then started what turned out to be a super bad day on the addition construction project... bad news all over the place. 

Just did one loop on the DC course today. I just didn't have it in me to do a long run today. Hip felt much better but I can tell it was super sore yesterday so best not to push it. But the run went waaay better than yesterday. Hoping for some positive news and progress on the building today. Need the footing dirt to pass the compact test or we could be SOL on the whole thing. Been super cold too. 25 F the last two mornings and yesterday the wind was just super cold even though temps said it was around 53F... I froze the whole day. 

5.3 miles with Misty. Looped out around Silkwood and Bridal Gate. Didn't take a watch so I'm not sure on pace but it was consistent the entire run and about what we've ran in weeks past. She rocked it and was conversational the whole run!

Ran the same loop as Misty and I ran yesterday. I took the gps today to check distance for sure. Then I milled around LV to get some more miles in. Still chilly at 28 F this morning and it marks the 3rd day in a row of being out super early... 4:00, 5:15, and 5:00 today- these are summer hours for me.