Clyde's Comeback!

Freeway loop again but then extended back around the park at the end to pick up a little more. Felt so so today. Nothing bad or great. Just a run. Started out with a warm hat and gloves on and took it off 6 miles into the run. 

River Road/ DC loop then extended all the way back around Jedora at the end. I was up early and out running by 5:20. It seemed like it was going to be a lot colder than it was but at 45 F it was warmer than the last couple days. I guess the wind just makes it seem colder. The wind was a pain for the first couple miles then I turned off river road and never really felt it again. 

Trying to get the boat winterized today. 

Middle B-hills loop this morning then extended around Little Valley at the end. It was a chilly 33 F this morning and for the first time of the season I put on some tights. Maybe a little over kill but early in the year I'm not use to the cold and have to take extra measures. Not a bad little outing and I wasn't cold at all. Legs felt pretty good too. 

Glad I got the boat all winterized and back in the storage unit. Now I need to get my little portable green house built over the top of the garden to save the tomato plants before frost kills them off. 

Went to running club and was greeted by no one- So this was a solo flight. I started out and thought I'd just do a few and call it because it was already 7 and dark out. Started out going up to the corner and back to see if anyone else was coming. Then headed south into Bloomington to do the regular club loop. It was a nice evening and basically perfect running weather. I felt good tonight too. The best post-STGM run I've had. Clicked a long for the first 6 miles under 7 min pace and then the last 4 miles most likely were under 6 min pace as I picked it up. I didn't have a watch but just felt smooth and fast. I'm grateful for runs like this every once in a while that make the other junk runs seem worth it. Finished and felt like I hadn't even ran.

B-hills loop in reverse then extended around Little Valley. Kind of slower and achy this morning. Expected after running later and a little longer last night. It was warmer this morning than yesterday but it felt pretty chilly. Still pretty good running conditions. 

Little morning run with Logan. Met him over at DHHS and looped into Bloomington then back up and through B-hills to the high school. 7 min mile avg and we started very slow with one of his girl runners. Windy and coldish this morning and really not that fun to run in.

Mik'L is out of town working in PHX off and on the rest of the month so today starts the "Pushing Myler in the Baby Jogger if I want to run" phase. I was dreading it and took my time getting out the door. We left about 9:30 a.m and by then the sun had come up and pushed all the fog off. Temps were pretty good for the little guy who was bundled up. We went out and back around the park and into the fields til we were 5.25 out. Then flipped it and came home. It wasn't horrible but wasn't great either. But I'm glad to be able to do what I can do when I can do it. 

Same run as yesterday. With all the basic details the same. Me, Myler, brisk but nice weather... blah. 

DC loop. 31 F this morning but the sun was out and I never was cold even running in shorts. Felt really slow more or less like I was dragging a plow. Just couldn't get anything to roll. But it was nice to have Mik'L home from PHX and not have to push Myler in the jogger. 

After my first morning run I came home and hydrated and had a little breakfast. Then saw Mik'L off to the office and after it warmed a little I went back out pushing Myler around the inner B-hills loop. Kind of tired and it was kind of a mental battle but I need to re-teach the legs how to run when they are tired... then after they learn I'll have to teach them how to run fast when they are trashed. 

Stone Cliff loop extended back around Little Valley for my half marathon. From the microwave time I think it was around a 1:26:50 for ther half. Tried to hurry a long but not go too hard. Got home and headed down to Vegas for the day with Mik'L who's working for her dad. Myler and I will get some room service and take a nap.  

Freeway loop. This is such a hilly course for me. I really need to become stronger at running hills- hopefully one day I'll run this loop and think "it's basically flat or downhill". In the meantime it feels like lots of climbing but feels good in the end. I extended around the schools again at the end to add a couple more. No watch but a pretty consistent push throughout the run. 

Out running by 4:50 a.m to be done before Mik'L had to leave for a meeting. Ran two loops on my DC/ Bloomington Hills course. Hit the first loop feeling pretty smooth and fresh. But by the last mile of that loop I was kind of breaking down and wondering how I'd do another lap at all... faster was almost out of the question. Hit the first 10.15 in 1:11:15 or a 7:01 avg. Stopped at the house and dropped off my ear warmers (it was pretty nice this morning not too cold at all). Grabbed a GU and a drink then headed back around. 

As I started the second lap I wanted to just run it faster than the first lap but didn't have any real time goals. Ended up hitting the second lap with a 5:52 avg. 59:22 for the 10.15 mile loop.

1. 6:30- From my house out to River Road and headed North to about the crest of the hill. Got out of the gates slower but was still drinking and not really committed yet to the workout.

2. 6:00- Down River Road to the river bridge. This should have been my fastest mile. It's the best downhill on the whole loop. But I still couldn't get going. As I turned off River road onto the trail I looked at the watch and it was 13:00 for the first 2.1ish. I wasn't doing that great.

3. 5:53-From the bridge and onto the trail headed to the DC.

4. 5:45- Down the River trail and hit mile 4 just before coming to the new park at the DC.

5. 5:53- Across both rivers and up the hill onto the trail headed for B-hills. At mile 5 I looked at the watch and realized that at 29:55 or so I was still technically alive to break 60 min's for the loop... dang I had to keep grinding.

6 5:45- From the end of the trail into B-hills. My GU had finally started to Rocktane me and this was a pretty solid time for a mile climbing up and around B-hills.

7. 5:43- Hitting my stride now as I work through the hardest parts of the loop.

8. 5:46- Maybe the hardest mile. Just past the golf course up several little hills back through the boro of B-hills.

9. 5:35- Down a small hill and across River road the headed over to the park. Another solid mile but I'm starting to feel it falling apart.

10. 5:44- Start this mile right around the elementary school headed back for the barn. Starting to let out a few vocal grunts and a few of my neighbors might have seen the real Superfly.

.15 @ 5:47 pace- Not hard kick to the finish. During the mile from the park back home I did the math and realized I was way under 6 min pace and therefore happy with the days work.

Solid 20 mile run in the bank. My first real workout since STG marathon. I needed a good long run before next weeks Grand Canyon run. The tempo was just something nice at the end to help the miles go by. Happy with the results. Now we're off to Vegas for a couple days of work... well Mik'L has to work I have to watch our wild animal.

Didn't have time for any more this morning and besides that my legs were pretty unresponsive. Calves got sore Sunday morning and the rest of the legs just felt heavy from Saturdays run. It's ok though because with this weekends long runs at the Grand Canyon I shouldn't push too hard this week anyways. 

The uneventful half this morning. Around the Stone Cliff loop then a little extension at the end. Legs felt way better than yesterday. Not speedy but not draggin either. 40 F on a nice wind free morning. 

DC loop. Another really nice morning the run was just there. Nothing amazing nothing bad. Finished up and then did property inspections all morning... yay. 

DC loop again but different direction than yesterday. It was 33 here at the house at sun up but on my run as I came around the park at just after 9 there was ice everywhere (on grass, trees and bushes) from the sprinklers. Guess it time for the city to turn off the water... Felt pretty good this morning no watch but a consistent pace. 

Ran the Rim to Rim to Rim run this weekend. Traveled with Paul and Sarah Harmer, Greg Ashcroft, and Bob & MaryJo Hermadson.  We did it a little different than some. We ran from the North rim today down to the river then up the South Kiabab trail. Then took the buses over to the lodge and stayed the night there. Then woke up and ran down the Bright Angel trail and back over to the north rim. 

On the way over I ran the 21.5 mile leg in 4:07 total time. I stopped a couple times once for about 15 min's at Phantom ranch. So total running time from the north to south rim was around 3:45 give or take.  

We all started out together but within a mile I was all alone the rest of the trip while running. The downhill is steep but I made good time and hit the bridge by the ranger station in 45 min's. From there down to Phantom ranch it's basically a 2% downhill grade on a fairly runnable trail. I was feeling good, it was a super nice day and I rolled that section at around 6:30 pace. I reached Phantom Ranch in 1:50 min's from the time we left. But I had to go potty bad by the time I got there. So between the restroom, eating a cliff bar and some GU blocks and kind of checking it all out I was there a little over 15 min's. Made the short little run from there over to the bottom bridge that crosses the Colorado river. Had to wait there for a bunch of mules (maybe 10 of them) packing in people and that took about 3-5 min's. So once I was on the bridge and in the middle of it I looked at the clock and it was 1 p.m. From there it's all work and then some. 7+ miles of ruthless climbing out of one steep old canyon. I crested the rim by the bus stop at 2:49 p.m.

Woke up at 6 a.m and went and got breakfast at the lodge. I was solo this morning because the other guys in the group wanted to leave one hour later and give the sun a chance to come up and warm the temps (It was 25 F when I stared down the trail). I had to get going. Had to be back in STG well before 4 p.m so Mik'L could get off to the shuttle and fly to PHX. However I did take my time getting breakfast and let the sun come up until it seemed good enough to see. Made my way from the lodge over to the Bright Angel trail head and started down at 7 a.m sharp. This way was much prettier than the south Kiabab trail and I'm really glad I came this direction even though it is like 2 miles longer. Well worth it and I'll always go this way in the future rather than up SK trail which seemed like I was coming out of a canyon on Mars. Just not very pretty on that side. Anyways once I got down in the canyon just a short distance the temps started to get warmer quick and I soon took off my gloves and ear warmer. The rest of the day was basically perfect at just over 40 F and sunny with no real wind. Saw a nice 4x5 point buck just an arms length off the trail. It took 1:40 to get down to Phantom ranch and the downhill hurt today. Legs got really tight over the night. I think that's the advantage to running it all in one day is that you don't sleep and have time to stiffen up. Then from Phantom Ranch up to the ranger station it took about 1:25. From the ranger station up to the top is the "all business" section. It's basically 6 vertical miles with over 5000 feet of elevation gain. This last 6 or so miles took basically 2 hours and I really struggled the last half hour. Wanted to break 5 hours total time but just ran out of gas. I took a GU before the last 6 miles but wished I'd had one more for the last 45 min's or so. Still put together a solid effort for my first R2R2R run. Glad I got my feet wet with the overnight stay first and maybe next time I'll eat the whole enchilada. Total running time for my 2 crossings was around 8:30. Total time for both crossings was 9:11.

Running wasn't even an option. Quads feeling really sore from the weekends festivities. 

Took another day off for good measure. Quads were still very sore... too sore to touch with the stick or roller. 

B-hills loop. My legs felt somewhat ready to run this morning so I laced them up and headed out. Took it slow and through a mile I was sore but felt like things were loosening up... By mile 2 I should have just stopped. Total death march back around the loop. Legs are still super fatigued and sore. Quads are like JACKED! I guess this will end up being a EZ recovery week and I won't plan on much until next week. Just hoping to get fully recovered by Monday. 

Felt a little better than the day before until about mile 7.5 then again it was a death march back home. Quads aren't just sore they are super heavy and fatigued. 

Ran down in Vegas. It was mid afternoon before I got out. By then it was just over 70 F and just amazing outside. I ran in shorts and a running singlet. Still felt hot too. Kind of just looped all over the place south of the Monte Carlo. I was testing out my new GPS from Timex. So far I like it good. 

Didn't run today. We came back home from Vegas and I had planned on getting out once we got home. But by that time I was just trashed and fell asleep on the couch. 

Out before the sun came up. The temps were cool but very runnable for this time of year. Basically did the DC loop and extended down into Bloomington on the trail then back up to the trail past the truck stop. Slowly got things going this morning and by mile 2.5 I was at a 7:26 avg. Never pushed the pace but kept it honest the rest of the run and finished right at 7:00 before turning into my cul de sac. Good run to start the week. 

Ran with Logan this morning here from my house. Just did the DC loop with no variations. I was planning on going elsewhere but decided to stick with that route as it has multiple porta potties. But then I never ended up needing to stop so go figure. Run was slow but good. 

Same run as Monday (DC loop extended around into Bloomington). Felt soreish and slow from start to finish but still ran it faster today than on Monday. Hit a 6:53 avg today and a 7:00 avg on Monday. Nothing amazing but a solid run nonetheless.