Clyde's Comeback!

Drove my boat over from the houseboat to Wahweap marina. Ran a big loop up to the main road that comes into Page then down by the dam and then back over to the marina on a road closer to the lake. Bill and Mike started out with me and then turned around at mile 3. We met back up at the boat. Ran too close to eating breakfast and it was too hot out. I struggled the last 3 miles. 

Having too much fun to run. We just couldn't get one in today. Don't feel bad about it at all. 

Bigger workout in my last day at Lake Powell. Bill and I drove over in my boat in the darkness of morning to the marina. Mike hurt his knee pretty bad in a tubing wreck gone horribly bad. Hope he's not too jacked... but it doesn't look good. Anyways me and the Bull set out to do the same loop I had ran on Thursday. But we extended it in the beginning around the campground and added some. I wanted to do a 7 mile tempo during a portion of the loop. 

Around the Stone Cliff loop with a short extension around Little Valley at the end. Just felt flat this morning. Running was hard. Never got warmed up but felt trashed only 3 miles into it. Something just doesn't seem right with my body and running right now. Grim.

Tempo Tuesday

Warmed up for 3 miles with Bill and Logan

6 miles of tempo with Logan. We both didn't seem to want to push it so we didn't. Started out slow hitting the first mile in 6:16 and the second mile in 6:06. Ended up hitting the last two in 5:37, 5:32 respectively to finish with a 5:48 avg but nothing super speedy today. I'm glad. I just don't feel it right now and forcing a workout would have only hurt in the long run. Hope to drop the weekly mileage to around 80 the next 3 weeks and really try and get some speed back in the legs.

Bloomington/ River Trail/ Morningside loop. Out early and enjoyed cooler temps (68 F when I left and 64 F when I got home). Just plugged along today. Didn't feel like a million bucks... maybe more like 50 cents. I'd love to turn the corner anytime soon and start feeling like a runner again. Rather than someone who's out forcing a run. 

5 miles this evening. Out and back into B-hills. 96 F when I left the house and 94 F when I got back. But it felt considerably better then weeks past. Had a big potty saved up when I finally got home. Should have stopped at the park. 

Mini workout this morning. 

2.5 mile warm up in to B-hills

1 mile at LT pace in 4:57

4 min recovery or .3 and a little walking

1 mile at LT pace in 4:54

A little over a mile and a half cool down back home. 

I've just felt like junk all week and needed to just see if the legs could even still function at a faster pace. The workout wasn't long enough to tell me any good indicator of fitness but at least I can get out of the hole. Hope to feel better in the few short weeks before STG.

10 miles at Club tonight. Aaron, Steve and I. The cooler temps help. 6:35 avg and we all had jacked up stomachs with potty stops. Even with the stops the legs felt better than they have been. Best club run for me in a long while. 

Logan came over early and we did the DC loop. I was really sore and slow this morning. Felt like an 80 year old. Just didn't recover very good from yesterdays two runs. So anyways we started slow and never really sped up. That was good. Glad the run is done and that I don't have to do it again until tomorrow morning. Hoping some rest today will help. 

20 miles down the marathon course. Stared in Veyo at the gas station and ran to the park of the marathon finish. Actually had to turn the corner and run down to 700 S to hit 20 miles. Then .5 mile cool down back to the park. 

Started out with Stephen just slow and EZ hitting the first several miles at chatty pace. 7:30, 7:47, then some 6:50's. Then by mile 6,7 we started hitting 6:02, 6:03. Last 13 miles splits were: 6:13, 5:46, 5:38, 5:33, 6:00, 5:25, 5:18, 5:35, 5:29, 5:30, 5:26, 5:16, 5:22. A solid 20 miles in 2:00:48 or  a 6:02 avg for the run. 

A pretty solid run for me. I didn't go into the day wanting to pound it out and kill it. Rather just keep it honest and let the legs flow on the downhill. It seems like I get less sore just letting it roll than I do running slower and trying to put the breaks on. Never went into "ATTACK" mode. Just milked it on the uphills and really stayed loose all the way... and only looked at my watch once. At mile 17 I glanced down and saw I had a chance to hit the 20 miles in 2 hours. So the last 3 miles through town was the only place I tried to push the pace. Very happy to get those miles rolling at the end of a long run and what's felt like a horribly long and hard week. Anyways very thankful for a solid run after a summer full of junk. It wasn't my fastest 20 miler down the course but it might have been my most laid back and smooth one. Actually enjoyed running for a change.

Nice cool morning. First one in the 50's since last spring. It was 58 F this morning and had rained last night so it smelled great and felt great. But it was pretty humid. I didn't get out until about 7:30 a.m because Mik'L ran 8 miles this morning before me and I had to wait til she got home. My quads are fairly sore from Saturdays run down the course. More sore to touch than they are sore to run. Just took the pace EZ all morning. I wore my compression socks to bed last night and though I'd just leave them on for the run. Mistake. I just can't run in those socks. By mile 3 I had to pull them all the way down over my shoes and take the pressure off the legs.  Their great for recovery but horrible for actual running... for me anyways. 

8.1 Around the B-hills loop again this evening. Cooler temps are helping the running. It rained about 20 mins before I left and then was partly cloudy. I just took it EZ and tried to help loosen up these tight quads. Felt pretty good overall. 

DC loop. Still sore but better than yesterday. Didn't get out until 8 a.m. Waited for Mik'L to be done and she took forever. It was ok though because there was cloud cover and it was still only about 70 F. 

Big Workout. Monday and Tuesday I was really feeling the soreness in my quads from Saturdays workout so I wasn't sure what to expect today. The plan was to do 2x 1 mile, and then a 2 mile at all at around LT pace.  Started off with a 2.5 mile warm up over into B-hills. 

1. Hit the first mile in 5:02. Not as fast as I've ran this mile but I was holding back to save some to finish the entire workout. 

  .3 mile recovery

2. Hit the second mile in 5:00. This was a weird mile because I got started and mentally drifted off. When I looked at the garmin at .4 I was only going 5:30 pace, then I had to compensate and then next time I looked at the pace it was 4:38. In the end I wish I would have just held a smoother mile instead of the up and down.

2.1 mile jog from B-hills over to the wood bridge closest to the DC. A little long for this recovery time but I just had to relocate over to the trail for the last 2 mile set. Up until now my legs had felt pretty fresh and good to go. No hangover from Saturdays workout at all... but then during this jog over to the DC I started to feel the soreness coming back to the quads... this 2 miler might get UGLY!

2 mile set in 10:41 (5:21 avg). Hit the first mile in 5:12. Just tried to stay relaxed and smooth not worrying too much about how the legs felt. Then I started to loose steam and ran the second mile in 5:29. Just couldn't push anything out and I'm sure I looked like a fish out of water flapping my arms all over up the trail as I was gasping for air.  However the second mile is much more challenging at tempo pace with it's little rollers and all.

Finished with a 4.1 mile cool down back up River Road and around the park. Hit this at a 6:59 avg.

Not a beautiful workout but a good one. Sometimes just pushing through a tough run really pays the bills down the road in a race situation.

EZ 10k this morning around the Stone Cliff/ Summit loop. Nice and cool at 55 F this morning. The low so far this fall. However it was really humid and I was dripping when I got home and it was only 66 F then. I do love this time of year!

9.8 miles tonight at club with Stephen. Just laxi taxi at a 7:12 avg for the run. Almost dark by the time we finished. 

Met Dustin B by the Dr's free clinic and we ran the river loop. No watch but pace was just conversational. Perfect temps right around 60 F and we didn't start until almost 8 a.m. Clear skies and no wind made this run almost perfect other than all the aches and pains of being at the end of a week. 

Well I planned to do a 22-23 mile run today with a little tempo mixed in. But my left knee and hammy ached all last night and I slept horrible. Had the alarm set for 4:30 but at 3 a.m I turned it off and wasn't even going to go running today. Woke up at 6:45 and decided to limp out and get something in. Off running by 7:15 and it was around 60 F. A perfect calm, cool morning in the STG. During my warm up I decided on a 8 mile tempo down to Bloomington on the river trail and back. Just wanted to try and hit MP. 

5.9 mile warm up north on River Road then around Morning side back up Riverside Dr and to the Dr.s free clinic to start the tempo.

8  out and back tempo from the Dr's free clinic down into Bloomington and a just across the Man-o-war bridge then back. 5:43 avg. 5:46, 5:43, 5:44, 5:43, 5:40, 5:38, 5:42, 5:48 just ran a smooth and controlled tempo on the trail. Nothing too hard or crazy and actually pretty good for considering how jacked I felt lying in bed before getting up this morning.

3.5 mile cool down from clinic back on River Road and around the backside of Jedora to the house. 75 F when I got home at 9:15 a.m. Hoping the weather stays nice today because we are taking our 4 employees out on the boat to Sandhollow and I really don't want to deal with wind.

Regular old DC loop. I played tramp dunk ball Saturday night from like 10 p.m to midnight and today I feel like I got ran over by a steamroller. It was a slow and achy run. Left just before 8 a.m with temps right at 60 F. Seems that is the norm right now. Highs at around 91 F during the day and over night lows of around 60 F. Ok but I'd like it colder for the marathon. 

5.6 miles this afternoon around the inner B-hills loop. 94 F outside. Felt hot but very doable. Just chugged along. I had an appointment with April after so I didn't want to get too worked up before going in. She did a number on my legs. But they seemed pretty good. No real big knots anywhere. I'm guessing as I cut the mileage the next couple weeks I should start to feel pretty Peppy... get it.

Wasn't in the mood to run this morning. So I cut it short and will have to get a few more in tonight. Legs kind of felt hung over after last nights massage. Plus I got bit on my left foot by an ant and it's kind of swelling and really not very comfy to run with. Shouldn't be a big issue but I hope the swelling starts to go down soon. 

Stone Cliff, DC and Little Valley loop. Out at around 7:30 with temps around 60 F and home around 9 a.m with temps around 74 F. Allergies are jacking my system up. Kind of got me sick yesterday and so I didn't run last night. Took some cold medication and then had that in the system this morning. Just kind of draggin. Didn't wear a watch so I'm not sure if the run was slow or super slow. Going to try and run a little mile repeat workout tomorrow morning if I can get over this funk. 

Last big workout before STG. 1 mile, 1 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile at around LT pace. 

Hit a 2.5 mile warm up and felt pretty flat. Knowing that's pretty normal I continued with the plan. Temps were nice and basically the same as it's been. 59 F at the start. It did get up to 98 F yesterday and I'm hoping in the next week it can start getting a little cooler. 

1. 5:04- felt pretty robotic on the first mile. But lungs were great and felt like I was able to bring the heart rate down quick on the recovery before the next mile.

2. 4:55- Another robotic mile but by the last quarter things started to flow. Stepped in a giant pile of dog crap during this mile and flipped a chunk up on my arm. Lucky but I didn't notice until after the mile was over:)

3 and 4. 2 mile section from the DC up to RR in 10:16 and a new PR for this stretch (5:02, 5:14). I got out hard but then continued to roll. Didn't want to hit the first mile so fast but was pleased with the outcome and overall effort. Didn't even have to dig too deep in the tank on the 2nd mile to keep it respectable. Very happy with this section for sure.

5. 5:10- I was already way ahead of my goal for the workout so really didn't pound this one. Ran from RR down the inner River trail to the parking lot. Just a solid push after the hard part of the workout was over.

Glad to get this one in the bank. Glad it went well too. Not to think that I rocked the world but for me it's a solid speed workout. Legs felt great the entire time other than a little stiff in the first couple miles. Most importantly I felt great on the ending miles whereas I've been know to die on them in the past... like last week.

EZ recovery run this morning. Around the middle B-hills loop with some extra around Jedora before coming home. 58 F felt nice and cool... I'd be happy if we could lose a degree a day from now til the marathon. 

7:16 avg kind of all over this morning. Mik'L ran Swiss days 5k so I waited for her to be basically done. I started out pushing Myler but Mik'L got back after only 1.3 miles with him. So I loaded him up in her truck and then started out to finish the run and week off. Had no real goal on time, distance or destination. So I kind of just ran and let the road be my shepherd. Went around the DC, Morningside and then back up River Road and around Jedora. Kind of felt wore out and glad to be running slow. 

B-hills loop then extended into St. James and home. Felt really good for a Monday. Legs wanted to go at around 6:30 pace for the entire run but I kept backing off and just trying to relax. It was warmer this morning than it was all last week. 62 F  for the low. I wish it would drop rather than climb. Looking like this race could be just as hot as last year...

5.6 miles tonight around the inner B-hills loop. It was around 93 F and the pasta and PB&J sandwiches that I had at lunch all created a bad mix. I really struggled and about barfed. Luckily I hit the golf course restroom and was able to make it home. Not a fun one at all.

Glad today wasn't race day. Because I sure didn't have my "A" game. Maybe a little hung over from getting sick on last nights run or maybe something else but I sure struggled today. Had planned to do one more mini workout before really hitting the taper hard. Today I wanted to hit 3x 1/2 mile repeats along the DC loop all around LT pace. As I warmed up the legs felt horrible but I decided to press on with the workout. 

1. 2:23- In B-hills- I could tell that running this hard was much harder today than it was last week. Lucky the distance was short enough to push through. 

2. 2:25- Up river trail from DC- Felt really choppy and had to find a porta potty in a construction site after this leg.

3. 2:22- Up River Trail finishing by Dr's free clinic- This one was actually my best one. Not just because it was the fastest. I just felt more of a flow. Maybe I finally got warmed up or maybe I could smell the barn.

Anyways got some turnover but like I said. I'm glad today wasn't race day. It would have been a bummer for sure. Hoping some solid tapering can help fix what ails me.

EZ inner B-hills loop this morning. 59 F at around 7:30 and quickly heated up as the sun came up. Don't look now but it's 99 F right now here in town... too blasted hot. The grim reality is that the marathon will be a little toasty so adjust goals and time. 

Woke up at 4 a.m and couldn't sleep so I got up and slowly got going. Out running before 5 a.m. and the temp was 62 F. It felt cool at first but by 1.2 miles into the run I was warm and I wasn't going tempo... I was just poking a long. Just took it smooth and easy around the loop this morning in the darkness. I'm at the stage of everything hurting before the race. Nothing feels ready to go. Mostly all mental. But I'm really not stressed for this race. Don't really have any goals. Don't know what to expect with the weather and it being too hot. So I'll just show up and try and have a fun Saturday morning run with the guys + a few thousand others:)

I know I'm DRAMA when it comes to races. So here's the latest. About noon yesterday I started to have a fever and body aches. Woke up this morning with a sore throat, body aches, head ache, slight fever, and a runny nose. I can't win.

Short little run around the schools and park. Hoping it's just a 24 hour deal and that by tomorrow morning I magically feel amazing.