Clyde's Comeback!

Ran with Logan on our summer tempo loop. Both of us decide to forgo the tempo part. Hotandmuggy

Run from our campsite on Lone Rock beach at Lake Powell. Just up the road to the main road and back a couple times plus a little more. Felt pretty achy but was glad to get the run in. Youth Conference 2012

From camp up the beach to the road out to the highway. Then out 2 more miles to be at 5- then back. Found a Boston Red Sox hat. Wore it back to camp. Not into running when I'm down here. I love this lake. 

No  real run today. Just physically trashed from the week. Had soo much to do to pack up camp and get out of there. Plus we had scheduled to leave at 11 a.m so had to start early. Ended up being a fun weekend with the youth in the ward. I'm trashed. 

I did end up running from the first restroom back to camp once. Then from the main restroom once again after pulling the boat up there. So kind of a baby run I guess. 

DC loop. 82 F to start out this morning. Didn't seem too bad because the sun was hidden by the clouds... but about 8 miles into the run I was dead. Just seemed really hard to run this morning and the ankle was as sore as it's been in about 3 weeks. Sigh... 

Did the B-hills 8 mile loop in reverse then extended over to the DC and back to add a couple. 74 F out when I left the house but the sun was already out and seemed to hammer me. Ankle felt sore again- like I said yesterday- almost like it did 3 weeks ago. Running economy seems so far off efficient that I almost feel like I'm wasting my time. With the passing of Mik'L's uncle Dirk this morning at such a young age and coming from such good health 6 months ago. I have to remind myself that this is only running and it really wouldn't matter if I couldn't run at all. I'm sad for her family. Dirk will be missed. 

Up early to meet the guys but no one showed. Checked my phone and Logan had sent a text stating the obvious. I was limping around with a super sore ankle- and had the guys showed up... I'd have at least got in 10 or so miles. But I started up the road alone at 5 a.m and it was 81 F, the ankle killed and I just didn't have any energy (think I'm kind of sick). So after going up the road a little ways I turned around and came back home then got back in bed. Bummer. I'm not in a very good place right now with running... but I did it to myself. 

DC loop at 7:15 avg. Ankle was sore again but I don't know what to do. If it was November I'd be in a lot better spot. Due to the fact that STG is coming up I just can't stop running. I don't plan on doing anything great at this point in the race but would like to run it... somewhere under 3 hours- just because this will be my 8th straight. Anyways pushed myself out the door and around the loop. First mile was grueling at 8:15 and the next couple weren't much better. Ran into Stephen Abraham Lincoln Hooper Pope Abercrombie & Fitch down on the river trail below the DC. Good to see him out- he looks as fast as press say he is. 

I decided after visiting with Steve that: yes my ankle is jacked. But right now I'm sick from something else and it's really working the rest of the system over. Making the run feel way harder than normal (even with the ankle). So this is good news. Simply get healthy and the run's should feel much more doable even with an ankle that won't heal. 

To any one who reads my blog on a regular basis- Thank you and I'm sorry. It's more of a journal for me than anything. In fact since I joined the blog in early 2006 and since then I've faithfully blogged and it's the only time in my life that I've ever kept a record of any consistency- even better here than the 2 years as a missionary in norther England (sad I know). 

So again I'm sorry but it's been a downer lately. In the movie Office Space the main character is talking about his job and life. He says something to the effect of "I hate my job... Every day is the worst day of my life and so today is the worst day of my life, tomorrow will be ect. Anyways I feel much like him as related to running. Every run lately is the worst run of my life. So today was the worst run of my life.  (DC loop extend through the Secret St. 7:11 avg but it felt like race day effort)

UP in Orem. I had planned to get in 14-17 miles regardless of how crappy my ankle felt. But... we got up here Friday night for Mik'L's uncle's viewing and I got really sick. Head cold, body aches with all the fixins. It's been brewing up for about 4 days and finally caught me. So just had enough energy to get through the funeral stuff today. With all that emotional crap I felt hammered by the time we got back to her aunts house. 

2 miles with Ears and ran into Paul H for the last mile. 

7 more miles around the middle B-hills loop with the Secret Street at the start. Was really ready to be done at about mile 5 but pressed forward. Still kind of feeling the sickness in my bones but decided I'm gonna get a consistent week in with some doubles even if the mileage is lower... just need to get my body back and it'll only happen if I run. Ankle was pretty sore. 

Started out and ran into Paul first thing. Looped the park with him for the first 2.4 miles. Then did the same B-hills/ secret street loop as yesterday. Finally came home and got Ears and took her around her1.4 mile loop. By the time we finished the sun was blazing and it was around 84F. She was foaming at the mouth. Poor girl earned her day of sleeping today. 

3 miles on the treadmill

20.7 mile bike ride in 59:30- Road from my house out around the park then onto the southern parkway road. Took it down through the industrial park and to the overpass. Turned right and headed to SunRiver until I was out a little over 10 miles. Hit the 10 mile mark in 30:40 then came home a little faster for a negative split. It was 104 F in the shade and I'm guessing over 110 out on the blacktop- pretty breezy too which helped cool me off but slowed me down. 

I guess for my biking miles I'll just count ever 10 min's as a running mile. That's what I've done in the past with cross training stuff. Pretty good workout for my first official "Tri" stuff. My health isn't good though. Somethings not right with my system- been sickish for about 10 days. Super fatigued, pounding headache, swollen glands, drainage, fevers, confusion, body aches, ect. Guess I'm DR bound.

Woke up feeling sick. I feel like I'm in a free fall off the training bus. My symptoms are related to West Nile Virus. I remember the day I got two bite from a mesquito while out working in the ditch behind my house. The good news is I'm not a serious case that would require being hospitalized. Bad news is the fatigue and other symptoms can last over a month. 

2.4 miles around the park loop with Ears. She struggled and the pace was slow so I got home and decided to brave some more...

6.6 miles around the middle B-hills loop. Felt ok for the first 3 but the last 2 for sure felt like the finish of a hard marathon. Couldn't breath and my face was all grey when I got home. Ankle hurt too but not more overriding than the sick symptoms. I want my body back!

42 mile bike ride. Meet a group here in Little Valley. Out into Keyenta and then down into SunRiver and home. Didn't really push the pace at all but had a great ride. I really, really loved it. This new leaf of Tri training is such a breath of fresh air. I've struggled all summer to battle running and it's just not coming around. The body is ready for something else right now.

Legs felt good on the ride with no post ride soreness. Took about 2:10:00 or so for the 42 miles.

DC loop. Felt like some of my sick symptoms had died down over the weekend other than a slight fever and pounding headache ever afternoon/evening. So heading out on the run I was slow and legs were stiff from not running much lately. Ankle was sorish too. But the body felt ok and much better than any run in the last 10 days. Didn't feel like I was physically dieing at the end- which is a big plus right now. 

10.2 mile run around the DC loop at 7 a.m. Felt way humid today. I was just soaked by 6 miles and still had 4 to go. Felt pretty good on the run all things considered. Ankle is gonna hurt so I just have to expect it. No watch but kept it honest. 

40.1 mile bike ride. Got home from the run and helped Mik'L get Myler ready and out the door for his first day of school (preschool). Then I got on the bike and headed out at 9 a.m. It was 81 when I left the house and 90 F when I got home 2:05:00 later.  This one made me work. I was completely dehydrated by mile 30. Didn't take any gu or fuel all morning. I'll learn the tricks with time. Got home and the scale said I was 147.5- pretty low considering all last week I was over 155lbs.

Nice rain run this morning. Totally soaking out there and I got rained on every step of the way. Loved it. 69 F for the first time under 70 F in months. Legs kind of felt stale due to yesterdays ride and run. Ankle was about a 5 out of 10 on the pain scale. But the cool wet run made up for any discomfort. 

Did my first ride then run training workout. 44.2 mile ride out though the fields, up in to Washington and around Green Spring, Up over the parkway and down into Ivans into Santa Clara back over to the DC up to River Road and finally back around the park to the house. It was a great morning at 66 F when I got started at 7 a.m. Did the ride in 2:17:50 at an honest but not hard effort. Had lots of hills and traffic, lights, ect. Drank better today and took some sports beans on the ride then a GU at the house before running. Got home and quickly changed for a run. Did the normal DC 10.2 mile loop in 1:09:18. By far the best run I've had in a long time. Maybe I was just warmed up from the bike, maybe some health progress or even the cooler weather to start with. Although it was 84 F by the time I finished just before 11 a.m.

146 lbs after the workout. 

In northern Orem. Ran up to the canyon trail head then back to Mik'L's aunts house. 

Not really a race but I'll still fill out a report. Due to the issues I've had all summer my race goals turned into nothing. I would have bailed on this race completely if my wife wouldn't have been signed up too. So we were already going all the way to Logan- I guess I'll run the course and take a mental note for future summers where I may want to race it. 

Saw a bunch of boggers at the start. Warmed up with Jake, Adam and a few others. We did 2 miles then I did a little more. It was cold at the start. Under 50 F. I wish I would have had some more warm cloths. So I basically just ran not really to warm up for the race but to get warm because I was freezing. No gloves and my hands were ice until about mile 5 of the race. 

Didn't have a time goal at all. Just wanted to try and run a little harder than I had the last 2 months and in the last 2 months I haven't gone any faster than 6:30 pace. The gun went off and I went out semi hard but not killing it. Hit the first mile in around 5:45. I felt like I could hold this pace and just kind of settled in. The ankle felt pretty good. But my stride is not normal because of it putting stress on other parts of the body.

Worked through the first 5 miles and the guys who I started out with (Adam, Walter and about 3 others) had moved up around a 70 seconds on me.  I was just grooving a long not concerned at all about place and time. Until... about mile 7 and I could hear heavy breathing and a motorcycle behind me. I didn't and couldn't look back but knew it was the first girl. Time to decide. Just run EZ the rest of the race and get "chicked" or push a little harder and avoid being "chicked". It's been a long time since a girl has beat me in a race and even though I wasn't truely racing I didn't want it to happen today. So I got a little more serious from 7-10.7 where we turned off the main road and started the little up hill climbs.  During the Hollow road section I ran into Cody D who was running the opposite direction. He turned and ran with me for around a mile. His first words were. "Your about to get chicked". I thought, I know, I know.... but we chatted and kept her at bay. Anyways by the time we turned at the Maverick I'd gaped the chick enough to stop worrying and went back into EZ mode.

Finished and felt pretty happy about how the body held up. Most importantly it gives me confidence that I should be able to break 3 hours at STG so I can keep the streak a live.

A little over 5 miles of cool down. Most of them with a big group. Fun times. 

Good to see the blog community up in the great white north. We left Logan at noon and got home to STG at 8 p.m  after a bunch of stops a long the way. It was the longest drive of my life.

1:40:00 on the stationary bike. I think with this bike I'll do my 10 min's= 1 mile running and on the real bike out on the road I'll do ever 20 miles= 5 miles running. 

11.1 miles this morning with Dave and Logan. They met up at my house for the summer tempo loop. I didn't feel like tempoing. The calves are super sore. Especially my right calf (same side as the ankle injury). So I'll pass on any speed until they loosen up. But that being said everything else feels pretty good and they ankle only feels around a 4 out of 10 on the pain scale. Maybe running harder on it up at TOU half forced it back into position:)

Anyways I started with the circle and we went out to the 3 mile warm up spot. Then when they started the tempo I ran back over to River road down to the dr's free clinic then back up the trail until I met them coming down. I ran into them with around .3 or so left of their tempo so I pick it up for that short section... glad that's all I did. Then we cooled down back to my house. Nice morning with a low of 69 F when I got home. 

Ate and hydrated then got ready for a bike ride. Looped out to Quail then up around Leeds, back down through Hurricane and home. 53.4 miles @ 18.9 mph total duration 2:53:18. This is a very hilly course. I'm guessing every long ride I'll do around STG will be hilly... bummer. Felt ok but the legs didn't have much in them and by the time I got back into Washington fields I was ready to be done.

4 mile run on the treadmill

1:02:30 ride on the Tour de France stationary bike. I road all of stage 3 from the tour and it's elevation profile rocked my world. 

20.6 mile bike ride out to SunRiver and back in 1:03:15- I'll call this my time trail ride. Mostly all rolling but fairly open roads with minimal traffic and only a couple sharp turns. Kept the pace very up beat but not full bore. I'm not even sure what full bore is on the bike. 

15.25 mile run- got home from the ride and headed out for a run. The bad news was I didn't start the ride until just after 7. So by the time I got running it was already about 8:25. Full sun, hot and humid. I really struggled on the last 5 miles. Up to mile 10 I was right at a 7 min avg hitting 10 miles in 1:10:20. But I ran out of gas and hydro so the rest of the run was a death march with those miles around 7:15-30 pace. Legs just feel lethargic this week and I'm guessing I needed more of a recovery week from the half. Anyways another "brick" workout in the books. 

DC loop in reverse this morning. Left the house at around 7:15 did my loop and then it started raining. Dang! I would have enjoyed the run more with some rain. Felt so so. Even though I'm getting all ramped up to do tri's I need to be more committed to running for the next month. I feel like my run is so far off my "A" game that I'll never run the same again. True or not I just need to keep clipping off the miles. Ankle felt so so as well and much better on the second half as it was stiff early on.