Clyde's Comeback!

8 mile morning run. I forgot to set my alarm and didn't wake up until Mik'L's alarm went off. So time was shorter than normal. I did the GS loop starting with GS first and going up the sand trail to the powerline.... The construction guys have taken a trackhoe up the trail and now it's really sandy- like peeling out every step for a mile and a half.

No soreness from yesterday- however it usually takes a couple days to set in and the about 5 more days to slowly move out.

12.3 mile evening run. I had to skip the club run tonight because of a stake youth leadership meeting... The run was pretty good I didn't push the pace at all and ran the overpass loop in 126:24. That is a pending PR (I'll have to check the books and see later). Overall I'm feeling very good after yesterdays 20 miler with the tempo.

(Red Stratus 313.9)

14 mile run this morning. It was a out and back run with a negative split! Actually the whole run sucked. Between the run last night and this mornings run I've put a marathons worth of miles on the body in like 14 hours. I couldn't even get 7 min pace going this morning. Now we are off to Provo to the BYU track meet. I'll get a few miles in up there over the next two day.

(Landreth 183)

4 mile run this evening when we got to Lehi at the hotel. The legs are a little sore as I thought they would be. It took a couple days for it to roll in and most likely will take even longer to roll out.

(White Cumulus 274.8)

I ended up doing a 10 mile run about mid-day during the BYU track meet. I went out and back from the track up to Provo Canyon. It felt sore and slow going but the garmin said I won the race with the 7 min guy... 6:59 avg pace per mile.

This will be my last week over 100 miles until after the Ogden Marathon. I've gone 13 straight weeks with an avg of 100 miles or more and the body feels like it could use a little rest. So this next week will be around 70 and then the week of Ogden will be like 60 with the race. With that kind of taper I should be ready to roll.

(White Cumulus 284.8)

10 mile morning run. Very sluggish this morning. My form was all over the place- I guess it is just Monday. On the bright side it feels good to not have to worry too much about hitting any real kind of mileage this week.

I have a big Dr's appointment today (a physical and some tests to see why we haven't been able to have children- yet)...

(White Cumulus 294.8)

5.25 mile run this afternoon up to the powerline and back. It's out and back and I just took it easy and worked on form and breathing. On the way back I was so into my breathing focus that I about jumped out of my shoes when I came around a turn to see a little turtle staring at me. This was a tinny little guy and he makes two I've seen in 2008. This was the closest one I've ever seen to the house- inside a mile from the driveway.

(Blue Stratus 319.65)
 

10 mile morning run. Same loop as yesterday. Up to new overpass then back down dirt road across and over to GS and then back around Middleton. A nice morning to run. I'm in the typical pre-marathon stage. Everything starts to hurt, my form feels off and so on. Let the mental games begin... it sucks but the only thing good about it is that it happens every time and I know it's all smoke. I also saw the Bull riding to work on his Hog, and he rolled by to say "hi".

(landreth 193)

5 mile run this afternoon. The church loop. No highlights just out for over 30 min's to work up a sweat.

12.3 mile morning run with tempo miles mixed in. I did the standard loop but inside of it was two tempo segments one of 3.1 miles and one of 2.2 miles. This was a PR time for the loop- 1:21:37 for the total time.

I did the first 3.5 miles up to the overpass as a warm-up and then a 3.1 mile tempo from there down to Telegraph road, turned right at the car wash and onto Wagon Wheel- up around to Bulloch- then down past the school and over to Main.

Splits there were:

1. 5:12- Steep downhill. I actually hate running down this part.

2. 5:23- Mild uphill and level with some mild downhill at the end. Overall flat.

3. 5:42- Mostly uphill and around turns, a small downhill burst at the end but not much.

5:35 pace for the .1 and it was flat

Then I relaxed and ran 7 min pace up to the top of the dirt and down into GS- just about 1.5 miles to the paved road in GS.

Now 2.2 more miles of tempo from GS down past gas station and to the Middleton turn.

4. 5:33- A couple small hills and mostly gradual downhill

5. 5:33- Flat but with a lot of turns

5:20 pace for the .2

Now a nice 1.5 or so of cool down back to the house. Good workout to kind of finalize the training for Ogden. I may do like 2-3 800's on the road next week during a run but nothing too crazy. I hate to say it but I think I'm ready for a good race. I just need to try to relax between now and then. Today I have a good message scheduled that should help loosen up the legs.

(Red Stratus 326.2)

7.2 mile run at 1 p.m. My stomach finally calmed down so I could get out. It was a little warm right out in the direct sun light but nothing like mid-summer. The sand trail was fresh with a rain cover and I could see all the new lizard and snake tracks. I still got freaked out just seeing where the snakes had slithered across the sand.

(Blue Cumulus 332.7)

6.8 mile run tonight with the club. We did the "7 mile loop" that is not seven... and ran it in reverse. We just kept it at conversational pace and ended up behind the 7 min guy by a little. Avg pace was 7:04.

(White Cumulus 301.6)

6.5 mile run this morning. The old skool GS loop that I use to run every day. All on pavement and around people not turtles and snakes. I wore a pair of Brooks Adrenaline's that I don't wear for running usually. I was trying to see if the different platform would help me switch up the form from crappy to better. Because my form is really in dire straits right now. Anyways it could have helped... I'll do some grass barefoot tonight that should do the trick.

I didn't go back out tonight. I get kind of lazy once I start tapering my miles off for a race. It shouldn't be a big deal.

14 mile run this morning with Steve. We ran from the side of Washington Fields over to Sand Hollow to watch some of the Tri. It was really windy on the way out and when we got there Steve O. told us that the wind was bad enough to cancel the swimming for the event. There were thousands of people out there... sucks for them. Stupid wind! Anyways Steve and I talked to Steve O. for a while and then came back. The pace was very slow because Steve was having a hard day (he did 20 yesterday). Good run over all and I'm feeling very fresh and relaxed for the race next Saturday. Pray for no wind!

(Red Stratus 340.2)

3 more miles with Mik'L after we both got home. It was at a blistering fast pace. I didn't have the garmin but I could tell by the way the legs were feeling we were rolling- somewhere around 10 min pace at least!

Well here we are the very week of the Ogden Marathon. In a weeks time it will all be over other than the long painful recovery process. I'm really excited about the race this week. I've never ran the whole course but I did do the first half for the most part during the Striders Half and then drove the second part up and back and got a pretty good feel for it. My training has been very good since the last part of January. I feel like I'm in a position to run a very good race and it feels very exciting. The only things that worry me are the elements that are out of my hands- wind, freezing start, and something just going wrong during the race. But I'll hope and pray for the best and we all should have a great day.

It will be fun to see all the bloggers and see how good they all do as well. A few of the guys have a good chance to run record times and really break into the next level and that will be fun to be a part of it.

The only bummer is that I have to do this one semi-SOLO. I've never ran a big race without my cute little wife right there supporting me. This year she will be out of town and I have to go through the whole process without her and it scares me. So if you see me in Ogden and I just look "lost" I may need some assistance as I try to pull this one off with out Mik'L.
 

6.5 mile morning run. Good ol' GS loop. Had to hit a construction porta-potty because of the taco's and stuff last night. I really need to clean up the diet this week... Felt pretty good overall other than these blasted hamstrings that are still tight/sore. At this point I guess the only thing I can do is just try to ignore it and hopefully it won't bother me too much in Ogden.

(Blue Stratus 326.1)

6.5 miles this evening. Same GS loop. Felt good, almost too good. I hit about 2 miles at 5:50 pace and was what felt nice and easy. You gotta love it when 6 min pace feels easy on a training run. By the way that really has never happened to me before. The weather was great today. Overcast all day and a small breeze- just enough to cool you down.

(White Cumulus 308.1)

7.8 mile morning run. GS/PL loop with GS at the start. It was amazing out in the desert this morning as the sun was coming up. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else other than southern Utah. Nice and easy this morning as I get ready for a big day of work... the last one before the weekend.

Hamstring feels o.k. Maybe a 7.4 out of 10. It's not like it's this big injury other than I'm a little scared of what it will feel like after 23 miles of race with 3 something to go... I'll continue to stretch it every night and hope theres no issues.

(Landreth 200.8)

3.4 mile run this afternoon. The wind is something else this spring. I ran up to the golf course and then did .6 barefoot up the fairway and back- on the way back down I hit the last 400 @ 4:40 pace.  Feeling pretty good. Now it's off to watch the state baseball playoffs.

(Speedstar 89.9)

6.3 miles this morning up around GS and long through Middleton. The massive chunk of Halibut that I grilled up last night only caused minor stomach drama this morning. Work again today... bummer. I guess it keeps my mind occupied and free from stressing out.

(Blue Stratus 332.4 )

4 mile run this morning. Up the trail above my house out and back 2 miles. The weather is perfect right now and it sure is nice out in the morning. I just tried to relax and just run. I'll be driving up to Orem at around 1 p.m or so today and may do a little up there if needed to shake the legs out.

(Landreth 204.8)

3 easy miles this monning in Orem. Just trying to calm the system down with a little shake out. Feeling pretty good and looking forward to seeing everyone at the pasta party tonight.

(SS#2- 3)

Congrats to Ruth for taking first place this morning in the mile at the state track meet!

Bummer!

I ran with the group until around 8 miles then Logan and Seth pulled ahead. Sasha and I worked together until 12 when my stomach started cramping up and I just should have dropped out.

I got this mean cramp and I just thought it would work it's way out. I rememembered getting one in STG this year and it worked it's self out within 4-5 miles. But this one was more intense and within two miles it had me road-side doing a Sasha style #2 bathroom stop (I've never had to do that in a race). Then the pain just never went away. Anytime I'd try to push the pace I'd almost double over with a cramp. I tried holding my side but that didn't work either. Honestly I don't have a clue what it was from. I followed a simmilar pre-race schedule with food and stuff.... anyways it sucked and now it's over.

I thought coming into this race that a sub 2:30 was well within reach. I feel like if I'd have not had the stomach issues that would have been totally doable. Basically from mile 12 on I never got back in ANY kind of groove. I'm soo suprised someone didn't catch me because I just stopped caring about time- In fact at the aid station at around 18 I almost pulled out of the race but decided to just limp in so my mother-in-law wouldn't be waiting and worring the whole time.

Bottom line is we all have bad races. I've never had a bad marathon before and now it's over and I can move on.

Here are the lame splits-

1. 5:41

2. 5:42

3. 5:24

4. 5:24

5. 5:23

6. 5:25

7. 5:34- Rolling along with Seth, Logan, and Sasha

8. 5:40- Seth and Logan gap Sasha

9. 5:51- Sasha and I trade lead until 12 when I fall off the planet

10. 5:49- Interesting here Sasha starts doing these loud moan's and grunts for like 2 miles. It actually started to kind of be bothersome (No offense Sasha) But they were loud and frequent.

11. 5:56

12. 6:00- Cramp starts almost right at the mile marker

13. 6:08- trying to breath and work through it

14. 6:05- by the time we get to the bottom of the "major hill" am going slow and scouting out a potty spot.

15. 6:48- This must be my potty mile. I stop here and this is were I totally lose track of Sasha.

16. 5:53

17. 6:00

18. 5:50- Almost stop here but push on. I couldn't muster anything on the good downhill because when I'd speed up it would really start to hurt.

19. 6:01

20. 6:06

21. 6:05

22. 6:00- blah!

23. 5:48- Some good downhill here and I try to push just to see what happens.

24. 6:16- Now the tummy is really sore.

25. 6:29- Dodging halfers on in to my glorious finish!

26. 6:23

last portion was at 6:05 (what a kick)

I had a great time up there with Logan and company at the pasta party. Thanks Logan. We even got to sleep at Logans grandparents house up by the start. Logan and I spooned all night as we shared a bed. (maybe my problem during the race) J/K.

Did a little over a mile warm-up with the boys and had 3 quality potty stops before the race. (I should have been ready to go!)

Overall I really liked the course. Very pretty and a good running layout. It was great weather too. I'd like to try it again when I was having a good day.

(SS#2- 30.2)

A good rest day so far. The legs are really not too sore- maybe the least sore I've ever been after a marathon. That's the good news. 

The bad news is the longer I've been home and had time to think about it the more upset I get about Saturday. I went into that race in better shape than I've ever been before a marathon and it turned out to be a big disappointment. The sad part is I don't even know why I got all sore and cramped in my stomach anyways. So I can't fix the problem next time.

It wasn't the heat. To be honest I never really got hot. Once on the trail down in town I started splashing water on my head but that was at mile 23 or so. I started having pain at mile 12? 

The pace wasn't too fast. If that were the case I'd have hit a normal wall at like 20 or so on in.  I mean we're talking mile 12 and then from there on I never could get back into race pace due to the crampy pain.  In fact the legs wanted to go on several occasions. It just would hurt  in my upper ab's and I'd have to slow again.

My diet was very similar to previous marathons... so I'm not sure about that one either.

But like I said- I really wish I knew what the deal was so I could work on a solution for next time. I just needed to vent this all out. I've just been pretty emotional about it since getting home and it doesn't help that my little trooper wife is gone.

"Scream" That is what I feel like doing! 

6.5 mile run this morning. Up around GS. I love that loop. Legs felt a little tight but under the circumstances very runable. I should have stretched on Sunday and Monday instead of being a bump on a log. 

Mentally I'm feeling a lot better and ready to ease back into things. I told myself going into Ogden that I was going to take it easy for a couple weeks after the race- this was assuming that I'd have been able to push it hard all the way and I'd really need the recovery time. However even though I'm not going to need that recovery time I still might give myself a mental break and at least enjoy my trip to Orlando without pushing for mileage. So that's what I'm going to do. Then when I get back home on next week I'd like to work on some speed work for a couple weeks for WBR.

(Blue Stratus 338.9)

It's 2:45 a.m!!! I'm trying to get myself going this morning so I can drive down to Vegas to catch a flight. I woke up unaided at 2:20 and didn't have to  be up until 3 a.m. So here we are reading blogs and online newspapers. Hopefully I'll have the time and desire to get a few miles in when I get to the Swan resort in Disney World. 

4 miles tonight after a very, very long day. Finally here and ready for the R&R.

(Blue Cumulus)

Well lets see. The pain in my chest/ abb's has never gone away form last Saturdays race. Last night it woke me up in the middle of the night and made it difficult to inhale. On top of that the last 30 hours I have been spitting up dark blood.... not caughing but spitting. It frankly hurts to walk around the resort let a lone run. If things get any worse I'll go to a instacare or something to figure out what is wrong with me. Hopefully I can just start feeling better and enjoy the time here in Florida.

I looked up the symptoms on WebMD and most all of the things that came up are a very bad thing...

Double Bummer!

Still sick. Pain in the chest/ stomach, and still spitting up blood. I'm guessing this is a little more serious than a 24 hr bug. I'm just not going to go to a Dr. out here in Florida so as long as I can handle it I'll just wait until we get home. But I'm going crazy.... Here is a look into my OCD life. Right now at my fingure tips I have: Free- Room Service, Movies, Disney Park passes, Swimming Pools, Sun, Boat rides, Food (surf and turf to fruit loops), Shopping, and time to do any or all of it. But the only thing I want to do is put my running shoes on and go feel the burn of a good 12 mile run- and right now I just can't and it SUCKS. I've never had something serious enough that it may take me out totally. Right now the grim reality is that my beloved summer to train my brains out may just not happen.

7.2 mile run in a rain storm. I couldn't stand it and just decided to go out regardless of what happened. It hurt but not much more than it does sitting around.

(white Cumulus )

9.8 miles. I still have all the symptoms of ealier this week but like I said in yesterdays blog it doesn't hurt much more running than it does doing anything else.

(blue cumulus)

10 miles this morning around the resort and parking lot and stuff. Very little blood today so far and the pain in the chest was small. Actually this is as regular as I've felt for over a week. We will go to Typhoon Lagoon the water park today and then pack it up and fly home early Tuesday morning.

(white cumulus)

5.4 mile run this evening. We had a good day at the waterpark and came back to the room around 4 p.m. After almost feeling fine this morning I had a semi-bad pain in the side/ chest during the run tonight. I also started spitting up more blood after getting back to the room... So I guess it's a good thing we fly out in the morning. I can get home and find out what happend to my body. I'll have to get up at 2:30 a.m (Utah time) to get to the airport and catch our plane.

(Blue Cumulus)

Woke up at 1:40 a.m Utah time and started getting ready for a long day of traveling home. Flew from Orlando to Salt Lake and then from there to Vegas. From Vegas home we drove. 

After getting home we went to the track end-of-year party and BBQ at Dave's house. It was fun but now that I'm finally home and it's 9 p.m there is no gas in the tank for a run.

Still packin all the symptoms I've had so I'll be talking to a medical Doc tomorrow. But unless he forbids me to run I'll still try and get my miles back up so I don't get  too out of shape.

12.3 mile morning run. Regular old overpass loop. Ah back to the same ol' bump and grind. It feels great to be back home in the STG. The run was good too. I mean nothing record breaking but it was a 6:56 pace for the run- pretty good for me in the morning. I had almost no pain at all in the chest this morning but there was a fair amount of blood. To be honest I'm a little scared to find out what's wrong...

(Red Stratus)

8 miles this evening up around GS and back home the long way around Middleton. I had a bad pain in the side/ chest for the first 2.5 or so and then it worked it's self out and I felt pretty good.

6:36 avg.  

12.3 mile morning loop. I did the overpass loop in revers to mix things up. I didn't have a watch or garmin on but I could tell by the way I felt that the pace was scary slow. Just a little blood so far this morning and no pain- This stuff is about as random as it gets.

(Landreth )

10 miles tonight with the club. A good solid run tonight 6:36 avg for the trip. There is a lot of good talent down  here and it's fun to get everyone together. It will be really fun to have Dustin and Steve O. on the run too (who were both absent tonight). Everyone is excited about the summer and now all we have to do is stay healthy and get through the heat.

(Blue Stratus) 

1.5 mile run this morning. 

Not exactly what I had in mind. At the end of last nights club run my right quad (inner right on the tip) started to hurt a little. So I went home and used the stick pretty  hard on it. Anyways this morning I headed out for the standard loop and about .4 into it I had to stop and stretch, and rub it. I tried to push through and finish the workout but shortly after it was too much and I just had to walk back home. That was pretty humiliating- I've never had to walk home from a run before.

So I'm not sure what the deal is- At this point I guess I'll just look at it as a blessing. We are moving our office to a new office building today and I'll need all the energy I have for the move.

Honestly if it's not one thing it's twenty- right... 

I guess this means I get a goose egg. The quad is still really sore. I may try a few tonight after the sun goes down and it cools off.