Clyde's Comeback!

Inner B-hills loop. Nice and easy to start off the week and month. I'm running the Lake to Lake relay this weekend down here and need to really get things going this week before trying to race. I'll try and clean up the diet along with running a few doubles and doing a lot of core workouts. Then a mini taper on Friday and hopefully I'll feel semi racey... we'll see. Blue skies out today- should be a good one. 

8 mile run this afternoon pushing Myler around the B-hills/ River loop. He never fell asleep but never made a sound either. Must have been really into the run. I felt pretty good- all things considered. Just relaxed and tried to keep hips and stride square with smaller strides to minimize pain from hammy. 

B-hills/ River loop this morning. It was pretty warm for a morning run and I worked up a good sweat. Got home and stepped on the scale for the first time in about a month- 155lbs. Not too bad. I thought I'd be closer to 160lbs because I've been eating like a mad man. Still I'd like to be around 150ish for a better race weight. I guess it will come if I stop with the soda, ice cream and other ish in my diet.

Legs felt slow but strong on the run this morning. No major pain from the hammy- nice because I was only going around 7:30 pace for the entire run.  

5 miles tonight out in Hurricane with my uncle and my aunt. She road a bike while we ran. Pace was slow but not too bad. Whatever it ended up being it was just right.  

Nice run this morning with Paul H. We went out by the hill below the new airport and ran some dirt roads then dropped over and looped the Stone Cliff hill. It was just a touch chilly for the first two miles then after that it was amazing. When we finished it felt like a summer morning while chatting on the street. Should be another good day- yesterday it was 70F out here in Little Valley. 

Anyways the run was great too. We just ran a conversational 7:25 pace and the legs felt great throughout. No pain at all. I know it's not forever but once in a while a pain free run sure feels like a million bucks.  

Club run tonight at the dC. We just went out and back up the river. On the way up the pace seemed nice and smooth. Then we turned around and had a nice headwind on the way back. I hate wind! I decided to just try and run relaxed with good form and hit around a 7 min avg. Ended up hitting 7:03 for the run. I felt really good for whatever that means. 

B-hills loop this morning. It was 35F and just a little chilly. I hoped that the 30's were gone until next fall but maybe a few more weeks until we can write them off. 

The legs were a little stale today. I just couldn't ever get into a good groove. Most likely I'll relax and won't run again until the relay tomorrow. But if I'm feeling frisky I'll do some barefoot tonight to help the form straighten up.  

Ran the Lake to Lake Relay today with Bill, James, Dustin and Steve. We had a good time and ran pretty good too. I ran legs 5, and 10- so kind of the anchor legs. Our order was kind of messed up because Steve had to leave early. So it went: Steve, Dustin, James, Steve, Me, Bill, Dustin, James, Bill,  Me. 

Not the best case for everyone but me. I had the total rest time but some of the guys had to run just two legs after running. Kind of tough to do- but they did great. We were in third place after the first leg and then Dustin and James put us into 1st by my first leg.

Leg 5- 5.6 miles (should have been 5.98). I ran it in just under 29:00 but forgot to stop the watch so I didn't have an exact.

Splits: 5:25, 5:30, 5:53, 5:38, 5:43, 5:34 pace for the last part.

My garmin said 5:38 avg for the leg but might have been a little faster if I'd have stopped the watch. Nonetheless I was happy! Going into the race I thought I'd be thrilled to avg 6 min pace for my legs. I just didn't know what to expect after not racing or running hard for so long. Anyways the leg is like .5% grade downhill for the first 2 miles and then a solid mile or so climb then drops for about a mile and levels off to finish. Not a hard leg but with the climb not easy- it was rated 7 out of 10 for difficulty. I felt good with no hammy pain and only about barfed once at the top of the hill climb.

Then I handed off to Bill who ran a solid leg, then he to Dustin, then Dustin to James and James back to Bill. When Bill took off we had around 4 min and 20 second lead. But Bills leg was tough- and for that matter the wind had picked up and everyone from Dustin back had been fighting a headwind. Bill on short recovery was running against the 2nd place teams fastest runner (Kory). So Kory caught Bill and gapped him by around 1 min and 30 seconds. I totally didn't want to run hard and had been dreaming about relaxing on the finial leg to a win...

Leg 10- 4.8 miles in 28:22 for an avg of 5:55.  This leg starts with a .5 mile climb and then you drop down the other side for about the same. Then it's a gradual climb to mile 3ish and levels off or kind of rolly the last couple. 

Splits: 5:21 (got out fast... maybe too fast), 5:44, 5:58, 6:37, 5:54 pace on the last .8.

So I was trying to run down the lead kid here and caught him at around mile 3. As we climbed up the dam by the lake I could see the finish line stuff and people were yelling "go, finish hard". So I thought I was basically done... Not when I got to the entrance to the parking lot I realized we still had to go out and back a long the lake and I just about died at the thought. Here the wind was pounding (hence the 6:37 mile). I just couldn't go any faster against it and it was warm or maybe even hot now as the sun was roasting me. Mouth dry and legs done I went out the the turn around and then back to the finish. Not a strong or pretty finish but fun to have caught the (Decker team) and got a win for us.

Overall I'm really excited about how the legs did today. Like I said if you would have given me 5:59 avg pace last night I would have taken it. Hopefully I can use this race to spring board myself into some faster training workouts and maybe find the runner I lost 16 months ago? 

A.M.

B-hills/river loop. I felt pretty good at the first part of the run with no signs of race soreness. But the last couple miles or so the quads kind of said "yes we are". Nothing too bad and the hammy was only mild with pain as well. I think after Mik'L rolls it out tonight I should be pretty good for the week. 

I'll try and get in a pretty solid week of mileage and maybe one good tempo or something. There is only 2 weeks until The Spectrum 10k and I'd really like to be a little more confident before that race.

 P.M.

Ran out in the fields then over to my in-laws to meet Mik'L and Myler. I just ran smooth and easy. It was cooler out but it felt almost perfect. Hammy was kind of naggy but not too bad.  

B-hills/River loop. I got soaked in the rain. I left the house at 7:30 and it rained the entire run. Other than being cold and wet I felt pretty good. Just kind of in a daze as I made my way around. I'm in awe at the amount of rain this season. I've never seen rain like tis in Utah before. There is a wether station at a school just a mile from my house and it has recorded 8.79 inches of  rain for the year. The avg is like 2.5. With more on it's way this has to be on pace for some kind of record. 

I had to laugh as I was running down by the river. It was running high and muddy almost at a flood level. But above the trail there were some new puddles made from the rain and the ducks were sitting on them like it was real pond. Kind of funny.  

7 mile run on the treadmill at noon. Kind of a crazy morning at the house so I waited until Myler went to sleep in his pack and play and then ran. I watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for the first time in at least 10 years. That was the only good part. I struggled on the treadmill. I felt like I'd been on there for ever and looked to see I'd only been running for about 20 min's. Anyways 7 painful miles in 52 mins. 

10 miles tonight after Mik'L got home for the office. I started out doing the B-hills/River loop. But when I got over into B-hills I decided to just turn around at mile 5 and do a out-n-back. On the way back I picked up the pace but not full tempo. Just a little faster and harder effort than normal running pace.  

Started throwing up in the middle of the night (late Wednesday or early Thurs) been sick to my tummy ever since. 

Stomach still very uneasy today. No vomiting but not able to really eat and put anything down. This sucks. 

Actually felt semi good this morning. However I haven't really eaten anything since Wednesday night and so I would be too weak to run. Plus Mik'L had a early morning meeting that lasted all day so I just planned on a extended recovery until Monday. This week ended up just fizzling out. Sad cuz I was feeling pretty good early on and looking forward to racing next weekend but now there is a slim chance. 

Oh lovely. The stomach flu I had last week turned into a fever/ head cold in church on Sunday. I could feel it getting worse and worse every hour. In the end I had some bad night sweeting and it felt like my eyeballs were going to melt from the fever. It seems I've been sick more this year than the whole rest of my life. I'm blaming it on Myler... he's too little to defend himself and makes an easy target. 

75 degrees today here in the STG. With weather like that how can you not feel better? Well I finally came out of my funk and got the body going again. When Mik'L got home from work we did a family tour de the fields. She pulled the dogs and Myler in the bike trailer while I ran. It was a nice evening event. I felt like I hadn't ran in 6 days and had been sick. Supper Sloppy but that was to be expected. 

Pushed Myler in the jogger this morning. We did part of the B-hills loop over to the DC. Then up the trail to River Road and back down the other trail into B-hills again. Then back over to River Road and home. It was a perfect day out. I had on only short shorts and a running tank. When we got home at around noon it was already 70F. Lovely! Legs felt ok as I pushed a sleep boy around. We hit the run in 1:29:59 so right at 7:30 avg. 

2 hour mt. bike ride with my cousin today. We did around 11 miles up on the Barrel Roll trail. It was hot, I got sun burned. Good ride though. It's been a long time since I had the bike out.  

Went to Club and ran with James and Haydo. James and I did a mile before Hayden showed and then we all did the Bloomington loop. I barley made it back to the restrooms before having to go BIG #2. Wow it was a stressful moment wondering if I'd make it back. 

6:56 avg around the B-hills/River loop. I went back into B-hills instead of going up by the golf course so it added .1 from the regular loop. Felt kind of o.k. but not amazing. Still packing some bugs around in my system. I could use a Z-pack. 

B-hills river loop tonight. I didn't get out until 10:30 p.m so it made for a late night run. For me that's really late. I had a busy day working in the yard and just didn't get out earlier. Anyways tonight the run was pretty good. Nice and peaceful out. The legs felt pretty good. I didn't have a watch but from the flow of it I'm sure we passed the 7 min guy before the run was over. 

Went to Star Nursery today to buy some plants for around the house... Well I got carried away and bought 20 palm trees, 2 fruit trees, and 2 Wilson Olive bushes. That made for a long, long day of digging holes, shoveling dirt, wheelbarreling dirt and compost ect. I started the process at 8:30 a.m and didn't finish until 6:30 p.m. I got plenty of sun a long the way and in the end was DEAD. I really wanted to run as to start the week off strong and get things going with my training but I guess I'll start tomorrow. The yard looks good and is really coming along.    

Out and back over to the DC and back. It was breezy but still nice out this afternoon/ evening. Ran nice and smooth over and then a little faster on the way back maybe 6:30ish pace on the way home. I really felt good- not typical for the first of the week. Hopefully I'll be able to load up on some miles and kind of be able to really train this week. 

Out and back into B-hills. I was heading out to do the loop and then just over halfway I decided to turn around. Not sure why. It just sounded good. Felt good, a little hungry but the legs were feeling great. 

B-hills loop with Don. I was tired this afternoon and had to push myself up and out the door. But 2 miles into it I started t feel better. It was a nice easy jog to loosen up the legs for the night. 

12.3 miles this morning. Ran with Paul today down around B-hills and up to River road. It was a very nice spring morning. A little crisps as the sun came up but perfect after we warmed up. The loop seemed shorter than this but that's due to Paul's great conversations. I had to loop into the DC for a potty stop. It could have been the brats I had the night before.

8.1 miles with the club. We looped up around Southgate and then did the Bloomington loop. On the way back Steven was feeling frisky so I went with him. Hit one mile at 5:40 and the other one just at 5:29. Then did a short cool down after so the legs wouldn't cramp up. Felt good to run fast but maybe because it was only for 2 miles.  

Ran the same loop that Paul and I did yesterday- but added .1 and thought it was going to be more. I pushed the pace most of the run. All the way out to Bloomington I had a bad headwind then once on the river trail I kind of got a tail/ crosswind that felt great and pushed me all the way up to River road. The last mile or so I could feel my legs were spent and just had to go into relax mode. 

Earlier in the day I hauled off a large tree off the south property line. I had to cut it down because it was old and dead. Then I hauled 2 flatbed trailer loads of bark onto the side yard. That equaled about 25 loads shoveled into the wheelbarrow. Fun stuff. I'm kind of getting sick of yard stuff. Luckily I'm about done with my project list.  

Good long run today. We met at my house and did the parkway loop with a little extra added on. The first 4 miles were smooth and slow between 8:10-7:40 min miles. Then Steve took off at around 6:20 pace and at first I just let him go but after a mile or so I started to at least match his pace. So we did that until mile 10. Then (out on the overpass by Sunriver) Steve stopped and we all got back together. We hit the river trail and headed up to the DC. Up the trail was still under 6:20 pace but it felt comfortable. Then from the DC back to my house out around the Knolls it's like 6.1 miles so I decided to try and hold sub 6 min pace back. I did and it felt good... I mean hard but very doable. Not bad at the end of a long run in my current shape. Ended the run with a 6:46 min mile avg. Good run and a pretty solid week with not running on Monday. 

A.M. B-hills loop this morning. It felt like a Monday morning run as the legs were stale and not too motivated. Plus I'm sick of the shoes I ran in- they are done. Looking forward to another good week with a little mini relay race on Saturday. 

P.M. Ran from my house out through the fields back over to my in-laws house. Just a shorter run before Cafe Rio for dinner. Calves are kind of sore... kind of delayed from Saturdays run I guess.  

A.M. B-hills/River loop. Calves weren't as sore today as yesterday. It was a beautiful morning. No wind and just calm and springy. I love seeing all the new growth: flowers coming up, leaves and blossoms on the trees, grass nice and green. 

P.M. B-hills loop. Legs felt really good and had the wind not been at a gail force and I not being rushed for time. I would have did an impromptu longer tempo run. But Mik'L was waiting for me and the wind was blowing so hard it blew my neighbors dog over (so she claims). Before the wind picked up it was 80 F today. The first time of the year. Last year It was 80 F like the very first week of March or maybe even the last day in Feb.  

5 mile warm up

6.2 miles at Tinman tempo

6.1 mile cool down back home 

Well I was going to do this workout at 5 a.m but didn't get up. I paid the price because early this morning the weather was nice and mild. By the time I did the workout the wind was howling and beat me up pretty good. I started out out around the Knolls  and then made my way over to the freeway. The 5  mile mark put me on down by the river below the gas station. There I started the tempo. The plan was to hit tinman (6 min miles) for just over 6 miles. But the wind was just pounding and I hit the first mile (should have been the easiest one of them all due to grade and freshness) in 6:07 but it was a true 5:20 effort. That put me over to the bridge before the Bloomington loop. Then I did the loop (which is 3 miles) and back up the trail by the river to the Dixie Center. I actually stopped the tempo at the wood bridge just as you cross the river before the parking lot of the DC.

Anyways finished the tempo with a 5:59 min mile avg. On paper thats exactly what I wanted but I paid much more of an effort to get it due to the wind. From there I ran back home through Bloomington Hills and back around the Knolls (again) for an extended cool down. Even then when I didn't care at all what the pace was the wind was punishing. I honestly hate the wind.

This was a good workout. It will have to be my long run for the week because of the relay this weekend. I'll get a few more "tempo/ race" miles then but not much. I'm pretty spent now... and I've got to go plant a garden for my mother-in-law!